The best of the first stores in Dallas would hardly be dignified by that name now. Only a few necessaries were kept in any of them, and “necessaries” then had a much scantier meaning than now. A few of the commonest and cheapest cotton cloths were kept in stock; the woolen goods used for winter wear, for both men and women, were all homespun. It took many years for the storekeepers to convince the farmers that they could buy heavy clothes of part wool and part cotton that would be as durable and cheaper than the all wool homespun. The time spent on the latter was counted as nothing, and the argument failed. A few other goods of kinds in daily use, such as coffee, tea, sugar, molasses, tobacco, powder, shot and flints and rum were of course necessary to any complete store. Hunting materials and supplies were in great demand. A hunter’s outfit at that time was proverbially “a quarter pound of powder, a pound of shot, a pint of rum and a flint.” The flint was the box of matches of that day. Before the invention of the lucifer match, the matter of keeping fire in a house, especially in winter time, was one of extreme importance in that sparsely settled country. Everyone burned wood then, about there, and fire was kept over night by covering a few “live coals” with ashes in the fireplace. Sometimes this failed, and then, if no flint and punk were at hand, some member of the family had to go to the nearest neighbor, probably a mile or more away, and bring fire. It is not difficult to imagine their sufferings during the winters in this respect. Had food, clothing and other things been plenty and good, this hardship could have been better endured; but they were not, and worst of all, there were almost no means of procuring them. There was an abundance of game and fish for a time, but they did not satisfy a civilized people. EARLY AGRICULTURE The only plow in use then was the old-fashioned shovel plow. The only iron about it was the blade, which was about the shape of an ordinary round-pointed shovel. This was fastened to the lower end of an upright post. To the post were attached handles to hold it with, and a beam or tongue to which the team could be hitched. This plow was jabbed into the ground here and there between roots, stumps and stones, and with it a little dirt could be torn up now and then. There was no patent plow in use then, nor could it be used there for many years after we settled in Dallas. Nor could we use a cradle for cutting grain. At that time the ground was so rough, and there were so many stumps and roots and stones, that we had to harvest at first with a sickle. CROPS AND PIGEONS