May 2, 1894 thru May 3, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me ..... especially with input on Bert's coded entries?

Wednesday, May 2, 1894 --- Bert declares it "a cool nice day to drag", and indeed he spends the day dragging - about 7 acres in the forenoon. Russell does the sowing with the drill. In the afternoon both Russell and Bert dragged a field at S. C. Avery's place. The day ends with chores of course.

Thursday, May 3, 1894 --- A hot day, and Bert went to Milo Dye's place and got 15 bushels of seed oats to sow on the Avery place. Presumably Russell sowed these oats, and Bert spent the rest of the day dragging. Bert reports that he "commenced to grunt". I presume this to be a sign of some sort of medical problem. A medical dictionary defines grunting as abnormal, short, deep, hoarse sounds in exhalation that often accompany severe chest pain. The grunt occurs because the glottis briefly stops the flow of air, halting the movement of the lungs and their surrounding or supporting structures. Grunting is most often heard in a person who has pneumonia, pulmonary edema, or fractured or bruised ribs. Given his symptoms described over the next few days, I would guess he had pneumonia or a severe cold?

Bert's codes are a bit hard to decifer? He tends to spell badly anyway, and there may be some additional errors in his use of his code? Our earlier deciphering of 19.8.9.20 as s.h.i.t seemed to fit nicely in an entry about hauling manure, so a straight substitution code - A=1, b=2, etc. seems right.

18.21.19.13.15?.12.12, 13.15.5.15.4.25.5
rusmoll m oeo dye ???????

I assume this code translates to Russell Moses Dye - Bert's employer.

Bert then reports that R. Moses Dye took the old sow off. A sow is a female pig, and the second code here translates well --- 20.15 2.15.1.18 --- to boar. This would refer to taking the sow to visit a male pig at somebody else's farm for breeding purposes. The smaller three or four number code makes no sense to me -- 19.14.2.8 ---- snbh

Any help with reading these numbers or with decoding options will be appreciated!

April 31 thru May 1, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Monday, April 31, 1894 --- "A warm nice day". Russell and Zette with to Naples to shop and get the grain milled. Bert helped them load up the grain to take to the mill in Naples, and then he hitched up and got "ten loads of 19.8.9.20 manure" from Milo Dye's place.

Bert inserts the first of several "coded" entries here... 19.8.9.20. I have noticed a number of coded entries in the diary, but this is the first one I've run into as I go through the year blogging about his diary entries. I started with a simple number for letter of the alphabet substitution. For ease I started with 1 for A, 2 for B, 3 for C, etc. After a couple of minutes of reciting the alphabet and counting on my fingers I came up with it! (blogger's note - it took me about 5 minutes to stop laughing here) H = 8th letter, I - 9th letter..... S and T come right together also at number 19 and 20!

He then went to Mr. Avery's farm and got the spring drag and the drill. Mr. Avery lived in Ingleside, and was a blacksmith, and had probably done some repairs on these two essential pieces of farm equipment.

The drag would be pulled by horses over the plowed soil to break up the soil into finer pieces.
There were many types of drills that were invented and manufactured. Generally, the grain drill was pulled by horses and allowed a space for a rider. A grain box was used to hold a supply of seeds to be planted. The planting mechanism included tubes through which the grain fell into furrows made by discs or shoes attached to the bottom of the drill.
Tuesday, May 1, 1894 --- They prepared the north field at Milo Dye's place with the drag, and then sowed oats. Bert then notes that Elmer Bardeen arrived at Russell Dye's place on a bicycle. In those days it would have been one of those high wheel "penny farthing" style bicycles. They would have been quite rare at the time, especially in hilly country like the Italy Valley area south of Naples at the base of the Finger Lakes!

April 29 thru April 30, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Saturday, April 29, 1894 --- Chores as usual. They did some plowing until it began to rain very hard for the rest of the day. That left time for a few odd jobs like cleaning up corn stalks left after the cows finished the good parts, and "putting up a grist" - cleaning grain ready to go to the mill for grinding into cattle feed, or maybe flour for cooking? Otherwise it was lunch, combined with sitting in the house, and standing in the barn - watching it rain! Bert then went over to his brother Herman's house to stay the night.

Sunday, April 30, 1894 --- Bert just spent the day with Herman and family - "got up at six o'clock this morning. a fine morning and a nice day"

April 26 thru April 27, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Thursday, April 26th, 1894 --- Bert comments that he started wearing "lether" (sic) boots today, and also saw the first "warty toad". I presume these events both mark the arrival of spring? Or at least the arrival of dryer weather? Bert plowed all day, and Russell plowed most of the day. Plowing requires at least partially dried out soil - very hard to plow mud! -- another sign of spring. Chores of course. Bert comments - " a nice day and it was hot part of the time"

Friday, April 27th, 1894 --- Bert notes some more signs of spring - the first Martins, Swallows, and the first potato bugs! I love Bert's odd drawings that he adds once in a while.
Russell and Bert finished plowing the north field. W.E. Clute came by and bought 6 pigs at $2.00 a "hed" (sic), and Pa - John Babcock - came by and bought 50 fence posts at 5 cents each. Russell and Zette went to visit a neighbor - "the Aldens" ??? Can't make out the name for sure. Bert finishes --- " it is now 10 o'clock and i think i will go to bed"

April 24 thru April 25, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Monday, April 24, 1894 --- Chores as always, with rain all morning and some of the afternoon. Bert went up to E. Haynerr's, and helped "change" some oats. (not sure what that means?) Bert then took Ned down to Milo Dye's for him to go to L. D. Foxes funeral. I think Ned is one of the horses. Bert evidently stayed at Milo Dye's place, and "picked over seed potatoes" until Milo got back home. He then came back home to Russell Dye's place and he and Rus went down to Mr. Avery's place and got a load of oat straw.

Tuesday, April 25, 1894 ---- A nice bright sunny day, and Bert and Russell pick stone all morning and part of the afternoon. They then packed up 8 bushels of good potatoes, and Russell took them to Naples to sell. Bert set up hop poles till night, and then did the chores. (I almost thought chores weren't going to be mentioned today?)

Side note - I've gotten a great book on the history of growing hops in the US, and am very excited about it. I've just started reading it, but have already discovered that for a while, this part of New York State was the main hop growing region of the US. (Eastern finger lakes region east to the foot hills of the Catskills) I'll write more about this when I get some more information under my belt. Much thanks to my friend Marty who told me about this book, and also was the one who found this diary.

Title: Tinged with gold : hop culture in the United States / Michael A. Tomlan.

Published: Athens : University of Georgia Press, c1992.

April 22 thru April 23, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Sunday, April 22, 1894 -- It being Sunday, Bert takes a day off. He borrows a horse and buggy from his brother Herman, and goes to visit his father - John Babcock. He doesn't get there till around 1 PM, and he leaves around six o'clock. He says he didn't get home till 11 PM which is pretty late for those days. I'm thinking that John Babcock may live further away than I thought because even in a horse and buggy in the dark, 5 hours is quite a long time. Bert does not mention any particular problem with his travel. He probably walked back from Herman's after returning the horse and buggy? Still, at 3-4 miles an hour? and time to put away the horse, etc... it would seem John may have lived several miles away. I had thought he lived closer? Bert mentions that "Pa gave me a nice woolen horse blanket for a present today."

Monday, April 23, 1894 --- It is a rainy day, so Bert and Russell work in the barn cleaning oats. They then go out in the woods and cut thirty four fence posts 34
Mud

then
we
done
the
chores

I'd love to know why Bert often does these odd arrangements of his words! I couldn't get this editing program to repeat Bert's arrangement.... picture below.

April 20 thru April 21, 1894

If you follow Bert's diary regularly, you can skip this paragraph. I will not be transcribing each entry since most of Bert's diary is pretty clear. You can read the original more easily by clicking on the image above to view a larger version. I will be including this paragraph, or something similar in each entry so that new readers will know they can click the image to enlarge it for easier reading. Also, there will be some links to the right of the page with relevant information that may be of interest. My notes will include the basics of what Bert talks about each day, along with my own personal thoughts, research, information gleaned from past or future entries, etc. If you have information or suggestions that may help my research, please e-mail me.

Friday, April 20, 1894 -- Bert continues to set hop poles at Milo Dye's place. He says that he set 78 poles in 10 and a half minutes. (I've got to learn more about this process because the hop poles I have read about are 10 - 12 feet tall, and fairly large, so setting them at a rate of one every 10 seconds would be quite a feat! - Any input from anyone reading this would be greatly appreciated. I have ordered a book about the history of hop growing in the US, so I'm hoping this will clear up this mystery.) In the afternoon Russell Dye set more poles, and Bert "punched holes" in the poles until five o'clock when there was a thunder storm!

Saturday, April 21, 1894 ---- Bert declares it a "fair" day. After doing the morning chores, Bert caught sheep for Russell to tag. Bert apparently herded the sheep into some sort of rack to hold them for placement of ear tags? Russell then took the sheep over to Milo Dye's place. Probably the tagging was to identify his sheep vs. his father's sheep? Bert took down the racks, and then picked stone all afternoon. He picked 8 loads of stone. He then did the chores, and afterward went over to Herman Babcock's, but evidently met him on the way, and they both returned to Russell Dye's place.