Faribault -- Aug 23-1904

Dear Lucy,

I must not procrastinate any longer. I know you will wonder why you dont hear from home. Your last came all right and we was glad to learn that you was all settled in your new home. Wont it seem good to you that the rent bill is stoped and that the place on which you live you can call you own. And that what you do in the way of fixing up is for yourselves. The children will enjoy helping to fix up too. There is so much to do in summer. One hardly has time to enjoy the nice weather. Crops are good. The folks are stacking now. The harvest time was never better. No bad storms to injure the grain. _______ Wheat $1.00 bushel. Potatoes will be a good crop this year. The price may go low. Small fruits was plenty and prices good. We dont have many apples yet. Will when the trees get larger. The plum trees are full and lots of grapes on our vines. We have had ripe tomatoes since the 1st of Aug.

Father has 14 swarms of bees. Has extracted between 35 & 40 gal. of basswood & clover honey. We dont raise as many chicks as you do, not over a hundred, mostly White P. Rocks. Our old fowls are Lanshans & Manoricas. They are good layers. We thought we would try another breed. Eggs are climbing up a little, 16 cts now. I suppose they are much more with you. They dont get down to 10 ct any more. I expect it is on account of so many being used for cold storage. Do you have any school where you are? Tom Loyd is out from Los Angeles. He says that everything is booming there now. Mr Hummel and wife are hear too. They are going to the old county on a visit. I had a visit from Mrs Wood that used to live in Dundas. Her husband was gardener there. He died last winter. She expects to go to Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz Co, Cal. She has two brothers living there. Aunt Mary visited me last week. She is quite well and smart. Will be 70 next Nov. She still lives at Farmington and rents part of her house. She is considerable fleshy now. I am not near as fleshy as I used to be ____ rheumatism troubles a geed deal now. I have been having a very lame back for a while. I am trying sits baths and a wet bandage around my back at night. It is helping me. Father is quite well and able to do considerable work for a man most 73. The rest of the folk are in usual health. The last I heard from Mary, the were getting along nicely with a prospect of good crops.
I must close with love to you and all the rest of the family.

Mother

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