The old-fashioned apple cut was a very informal affair. Each guest upon arrival was expected to take a plate and knife, select a seat and some apples, and begin work without disturbing anyone else. The “cut” usually lasted for an hour or two. Twenty or thirty people could, and did usually, accomplish a good deal in that time in the way of work as well as say and do a great many of the commonplace things that country people ordinarily indulge in when thus congenially thrown together. After the work was finished and the _débris_ cleared away, a surreptitious fiddle was sometimes pulled from an old grain bag and started up. “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” “Money Musk” and “The Arkansaw Traveler” composed the stock of the average fiddler thereabouts in those days, and any of them was enough to set all heels, with the slightest proclivities in that way, to kicking in the French Four, Virginia Reel or Cotillion. At some houses dancing was looked upon as improper, and in its stead some simple games were played. The festivities usually broke off early, as all had long distances to go. Dissipation in the matter of late hours could not be indulged in very much, because of the very general country habit of early rising. The gentlemen did not often forget or fail to be gallant in the matter of escorting the ladies home. Usually the demands of etiquette were satisfied with the gentleman “going only as far as the chips,” as it was commonly expressed, meaning, of course, the place where the wood was hauled in front of the house and chopped up for firewood. “Going as far as the chips” was an expression as common and as generally understood in that day as going to the front gate would be now. The front gate then was generally a few improvised steps to assist in climbing over the rail fence at some point near the “chips” or wood pile. “Spinning Bees” and “Quilting Bees” were exclusively feminine industries. With each invitation to a “spinning bee” was sent a bunch of tow sufficient for two or three days’ spinning, which the recipient was expected to convert into thread or yarn by or before the date fixed for the party. The acceptance of the tow was equivalent to a formal acceptance of the invitation. On the appointed day each lady took her bunch of spun tow and proceeded early in the afternoon to the house of the hostess. The afternoon was usually spent in the usually easy and unconventional manner that might be expected when a dozen or fifteen able-bodied women of the neighborhood, who had not seen each other lately, are assembled. This was, of course, long before the newspaper or magazine had reached their present perfection, and before the daily paper “brought the universe to our breakfast table.” The surest way for a lady to avoid being the subject of comment was to be at the meeting. The gentlemen always came in time for tea and to see the ladies home.