History, Natural History & the Arts
Oh, the joy of October – the month of apple harvest and autumn foliage.
“The farmers of this village are now gathering their apple crop. They report the crop good,” The Granville Sentinel reported on October 6th, 1876. [Read more…] about October On The 19th Century Farm
This summer Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa, NY, opened an exhibit: “Century of Ice Cream! The Dake Family and Stewart’s.”
One might wonder why this successful business, with almost 350 convenience stores is named “Stewart’s” and not “Dake’s.”
Actually, the original founder of Stewart’s had a strong reputation for high-quality dairy products, long before the Dake family purchased the business. [Read more…] about Donald Stewart: The Man Who Founded The First Stewart’s Shop
A century ago, Corinth, in Saratoga County, was home to some of the top Rhode Island Red chickens in the state. Backyard hens have become popular in recent years but poultry breeding was a big business in the earlier 1900s. [Read more…] about Adirondack Poultry Yards: King of the Rhode Island Reds
With their marvelous interpretive-dance routines, complex social life, and delicious honey, honeybees are widely respected, but they’re anything but sweet to wild pollinators. In fact, a surfeit of honeybees is a big threat to our native bees and butterflies. [Read more…] about Honey Bee Keepers, Curb Your Enthusiasm
August 1884 opened with a promising outlook for Warren County farmers, but as the month continued the weather would be an up-and-down roller coaster ride.
“The recent rain made vegetation revive so that it looks quite promising,” the Horicon correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls on August 1st. [Read more…] about August 1884, An Early Frost In Warren County, NY
A July 1876 heat wave ripened Washington County garden crops early.
“Peas, summer squash and cucumbers are plenty,” The Granville Sentinel reported on July 21st. “The mercury climbs up every day into the nineties and drops only to seventy or eighty at night.” [Read more…] about July On The Farm In The 19th Century
In Ray Bradbury’s 1952 science fiction story A Sound of Thunder, Eckels, a time-traveling safari hunter accidentally steps on a butterfly during prehistoric times, which triggers a massive change to the eco-system when Eckels returns to 2055 society.
If it’s so that a single action can have consequences centuries later, I wonder about ramifications from the mass extermination of butterflies by a witty, well-meaning, 19th century Hague (on Lake George in Warren County) cabbage farmer. [Read more…] about 19th Century Tales Of Cabbage Worms
There are still a few people who remember that Sullivan County apple producers at one time shipped apples to every state in the country except for Washington and Oregon.
Perhaps the largest apple producer in Sullivan County at the height of the industry here was Martin A. Smith of Fremont Center. [Read more…] about Apple Orchards Are Returning Again to Sullivan County
On June 3, 1876, it was 92 degrees “in the shade” at Fort Ann, in Washington County.
“The season of picnics, excursions and camp-meetings is at hand,” The Granville Sentinel proclaimed. Six days later the heat gave way to refreshing rain. [Read more…] about The Optimism of a 19th Century June
If April showers bring May flowers, what do May showers bring?
Optimism for a prosperous agricultural season.
“The weather for the past two or three days has been quite warm and spring-like, with frequent showers, and Mother Earth is fast putting on her robe of green,” the Putnam correspondent reported in The Granville Sentinel on May 12th, 1876. “The farmers have nearly finished their sowing, but we have not heard of much planting being done yet. Winter grain is looking finely, and the prospects are good for an abundant harvest.” [Read more…] about Washington County Farmers In Spring, 1876