We also read that in early New England:

Every farmhouse was a manufactory, not of one kind of goods, but
of many. All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the
spinning-wheel and loom could be heard. Carpets, shawls,
bedspreads, tablecovers, towels, and cloth for garments were made
from materials made on the farm. The kitchen of the house was a
baker's shop, a confectioner's establishment, and a chemist's
laboratory. Every kind of food for immediate use was prepared
there daily; and on special occasions sausages, head cheese,
pickles, apple butter, and preserves were made. It was also the
place where soap, candles, and vinegar were manufactured.
Agricultural implements were then few and simple, and farmers made
as many of them as they could. Every farmhouse was a creamery and
cheese factory. As there were no sewing machines, the farmer's
wife and daughters had to ply the hand needle most of the time
when they were not engaged in more laborious pursuits. During the
long evenings they generally knit socks and mittens or made rag
carpets. [Footnote: Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p 64, from
"The Farmer's Changed Conditions," by Rodney Welsh, in the Forum,
x, 689-92 (Feb., 1891).]

THE PRICE OF INDEPENDENCE

But even under such conditions as those described, the farmer and
his family were not wholly independent. Even Robinson Crusoe on
his lonely island was dependent upon the tools and equipment that
he saved from shipwrecks, and that were the product of other men's
labor. So, also, the pioneer farmer had to maintain some kind of