floors of wood, with running water, milk rooms, silos, lofts, etc. Machines are used for milking, tractors sweep the barn clean twice a day, and the farmer's own trucks deliver the morning milk straight to the dairy, while separators take care of the evening milk, with the calves and pigs getting the skim. When interviewed, the family stated they had 40 milch cows, 50 head grazing, no one knew how many pigs, a couple of hundred or so sheep, plus lambs which had not been counted at all.

The feed for all this livestock was grown on the farm, and the grain was ground at the farm. Five tractors did all the work in the fields, although there were a few horses left "for old time's sake," but they were never harnessed except occasionally in winter to pull a sleigh over deep snow.

The outstanding feature of the Aho farm, however, is the family itself. Although Jacob Aho had died, in 1954 his wife was still living on the farm, together with seven sons, four daughters, three daughters-in-law, two adopted children, twelve grandchildren and one hired man. All of these 30 persons, lived under the same roof, ate at the same table, took part in all the farm work, with no distinctions of individual privileges or property rights. Nobody gave orders, for everyone knew what he had to do, had in a sense grown up to whatever had become his responsibility. The young men in the family did not leave home, any more than did the daughters when they married. The sense of unity was so strong that all took part in raising the children, who were looked after by anyone who happened to be on the spot, without asking whose child it was.

They were all deeply religious, with a solid love for home and family, and political and economic differences of opinion of the outside world had not penetrated into the heart of the home. Everyone lived in harmony. There has never been discord about working conditions or in the sharing of the profits. Customs and usage are taught the children at home, and inherited tradition is strong and well-preserved, with the 19th century spirit still strong, and the Finnish dialect of Alahärmä preserved in speech.

When the Finns began to settle around Wolf Lake, it was a part of Green Valley Township, and it was not until 1896 that it received an identity of its own. However, when that was achieved, the first local elections reflected the Finnish dominance

194