four o'clock
The other two men , who came after breakfast , were brothers , named James and Asa Doane , or Jim and Ase , as they were familiarly addressed . I was reckoned too young to mow with a scythe , though Halse and Addison mowed for an hour or two in the forenoon . I had plenty to do , however , raking , spreading , and stowing the hay in the barn . In haying time we boys were called at half-past four o'clock every morning , with the hired men . It was our business to milk and do the barn chores before breakfast . Often , too , there would be a load of hay , drawn in the previous evening , to stow away , in addition to the chores . Mowing machines and horse-rakes had not then come into general use .