The cradle was of peeled hickory bark.[41] Ploughshares had to be imported, but harrows and sleds were made without difficulty; and the cooper work was well done.

Chaff beds were thrown on the floor of the loft, if the house-owner was well off.

Each cabin had a hand-mill and a hominy block; the last was borrowed from the Indians, and was only a large block of wood, with a hole burned in the top, as a mortar, where the pestle was worked.

If there were any sugar maples accessible, they were tapped every year.
But some articles, especially salt and iron, could not be produced in the backwoods.

In order to get them each family collected during the year all the furs possible, these being valuable and yet easily carried on pack-horses, the sole means of transport.