Here was the means of making more
manure; he had his cow, and he had also straw enough for her provender
during the winter. The cow by affording milk to his family, enabled them
to live more cheaply; her butter they sold, and this, in addition to his
surplus meal and potatoes every year, soon made him feel that he had a
few guineas to spare. He now bethought him of another mode of helping
himself forward in the world: after buying the best "slip" of a pig he
could find, a sty was built for her, and ere long he saw a fine litter
of young pigs within a snug shed. These he reared until they were about
two months old, when he sold them, and found that he had considerably
gained by the transaction. This, department, however, was under the
management of Kathleen, whose life was one of incessant activity and
employment. Owen's children, during the period of his struggles and
improvements, were, by his advice, multiplying their little capital as
fast as himself. The two boys, who had now shot up into the stature of
young men, were at work as laboring servants in the neighborhood. The
daughters were also engaged as servants with the adjoining farmers. The
boys bought each a pair of two-year old heifers, and the daughter one.
These they sent to graze up in the mountains at a trifling charge, for
the first year or two: when they became springers, they put them to rich
infield grass for a few months, until they got a marketable appearance,
after which their father brought them to the neighboring fairs, where
they usually sold to great advantage, in consequence of the small outlay
required in rearing them.
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