I suppose you are wondering how it is we get the wicks for the candles,
save at the expense and trouble of bringing them from England. Well,
you must know that there is a plant which grows here plentifully,
called milkweed. It has a silken down like unto silver in color, and we
children gather it in the late summer.
[Illustration]
It is spun coarsely into wicks, and some of the more careful housewives
dip them into saltpetre to insure better burning. Do you remember that
poem of Master Tusser's which we learned at Scrooby?
Wife, make thine own candle,
Spare penny to handle.
Provide for thy tallow ere the frost cometh in,
And make thine own candle ere winter begin.
When candle-making time comes, I wish there were other children in this
household besides me, for the work is hard and disagreeable, to say
nothing of being very greasy, and I would gladly share it with sisters
or brothers.
Mother's candle-rods are small willow shoots, and because of not having
kitchen furniture in plenty, she hangs the half-dipped wicks across
that famous wooden tub which we brought with us in the _Mayflower_.