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What the Shakers didnrt eat in season, they dried for the winter, selling any
surplus to the neighbors. Although the Indians knew the art of drying corn
for food, the Shakers are said to be the first to engage in the occupation on
a considerable scale. It became an important industry, especially at New
Lebanon, where in 1828 they built kilns for the purpose and marketed the
product in convenient containers. At first the process consisted merely of
boiling the corn on the cob in great iron kettles, cutting off the kernels with
hand knives, usually two or three-bladed affairs screwed to a vise or a table,
and drying them in the sun on large boards. Later a drying house was built.
The New Hampshire and Maine societies, especially, did a good
business in maple syrup and sugar. Shaker dairy products were always in
demand because their milk herds were made up of fine imported cattle; their
barns and stables models of cleanliness, the walls often ceiled and kept spot-
less. In fact, they had a marked influence on improving dairy conditions in
the country and furnishing good, wholesome milk to the public.
The Enfield, N. H. community in 1843 owned 1200-1500 sheep which
gave them wool for the famous Shaker flannel, both for their own use and sale
to the world. In 1853, Union Village in Ohio exported over $8000 of blooded
Durham cattle to Europe, Hancock and West Pittsfield colonies raised
English Berkshire hogs and were known for hams. The Tyringham, Mass,
community barn held 40 yoke of oxen, the Canterbury, N. H, community had
a barn for 100 cows. The Shakers never bred horses and never used mules.