England isn't the only reference point. I did specify North America when I speculated that conditions were better in the countryside and I referenced four sets of American gg-grandparents. My grandfather described what a typical, small family farm was like when he was a boy in south central Wisconsin in the 1880s:
"The farming was largely subsistence. People took their grain to the grist mills and had it ground into flour. The grains taken were wheat, rye, maize, and buckwheat. Almost everyone had a patch of sugar cane [=sorghum]. There were squashes, pie pumpkins, rutabagas, beets, carrots and cabbage to be put away with the potatoes in the cellar. During the summer, apples had been dried, sweet corn dried, jams and jellies made, and some had begun to can fruits in mason jars. By my day, most every farm had an orchard with apple trees and sometimes with cherries and plums. Everyone expected to grow their own strawberries and many had currents, gooseberries, raspberries and blackberries. All farms had cows, fowls, turkeys and hogs; many had geese and some had ducks. The hogs were butchered; hams and bacon smoked in the smoke house, and lard made in quantity. Milk, butter and cottage cheese were produced in sufficient amounts. As an addition to the diet, most of the farmers did some hunting and fishing. Many looked for wild berries and expeditions were made into the scrub pine regions further north in the blueberry season. Most of the farms had a melon patch where they grew both watermelons and muskmelons. In the fall, hazelnuts and hickory nuts were sought and put away for winter use as was a stock of pop corn. Most every farm had sheep. Most of the wool was sold but, in many houses, there were spinning wheels and the women had cards and teasel. They knit socks, mittens, scarves, and caps. Wool was an excellent substitute for cotton in making comforters and quilts. Those who had geese plucked them in season and the feathers acquired made the best pillow filling."
