The plows used by the early settlers had but one handle, and no one at¬ tempted to make a straight furrow. For forty years these crude and primitive implements were used, but in 1810 two-handled plows were introduced. Grain was cut with scythes and sickles, and threshed by beating it with flails on a wooden floor as Boaz did in the days of Ruth. Some farmers had hand-operated fanners to separate the grain from the chaff. Others made use of nature's winds. The first threshing machine arrived in 1828 and was driven by a tread mill, a cumbersome machine that developed power by horses walking on an inclined, endless belt. It was a dangerous engine; for sometimes the brake mechanism would fail, and the horses would go faster and faster until, at a wild gallop, a fall might result in broken legs or necks, or a worker might be severely injured, or even killed, in attempting to save the mill and the terrified animals. The first reaper appeared in the 1830's. This wonderful machine did not attempt to tic the straw into sheaves, and it was necessary for the harvesters to bind them with wisps of twisted straw. (Brchaut 61) It was also in 1841 that a census was done on the Island. In it, the follow¬ ing entry appears. 1841 CENSUS LOT 48 James Doyle 8 R.C .'s 2 persons paid own passage 3 Persons native to Ireland 5 Persons native to P.E.I. 100 acres of land 40 arable produced last year; 60 bushels wheat 50 bushels barley 200 bushels oats 650 bushels potatoes 6 horses 8 neat catdc 15 sheep 7 hogs. "These farmers had no road 4 miles from Ch'town by water, 8 by land." 5 yrs of lease expired 20 yr lease Rent in currency 4 shillings Quality of land: 2nd best quality (The only mysterious thing here is that there were three persons native to Ireland. I have checked later census for Margaret, the oldest child, and found her a native ofP. E .l, not Ireland) Although they had no road, access to the water gave them a number of advantages. As a means of transportation the river proved very useful. For that reason farms that bordered on the river were more valuable. On the falling tide they could make a trip to Charlottetown a lot more easily by rowboat than overland with a horse and cart. They would make use of the rising tide to return jnTH^ZZZW**?"'"'"!""J rTa&SV -.!,-« 5##3$?2 np*iv»t«a jMrnu w*s»c; 24