From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   Cliff D. Weller wrote:   
      
   > In article , firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
   > says...   
   >   
   >>Cliff D. Weller wrote:   
   >>   
   >>   
   >>>I will venture to guess that there were two book   
   >>>that were considered essential to most MARRIED   
   >>>households:   
   >>>   
   >>>A Bible   
   >>>A cookbook   
   >>   
   >>I'm not so sure about the cookbook.   
   >   
   >   
   > I'm not sure about that either - it was a guess.   
   >   
   > Okay, then how about A Farmer's Almanac? I guess   
   > I should look and see when the latter was first   
   > published...but the history link on their site   
   > isn't working and I couldn't answer my question.   
   >   
   >   
   If not that, then some things like it. I suspect that sort of thing gets   
   common as the frontier moves west of the reader. Once ranching becomes a   
   matter of managing cattle, controlling genetics, etc., rather than   
   literally catch as catch can, cattle news becomes important. I see a   
   reference to the Farmers Almanac being around since 1818. It wouldn't go   
   out of date quickly, being packed with lots of stuff relating to   
   agriculture that wasn't specific to the year of publication.   
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)