Poor soil, harsh climate, a short growing season, and long distances to market handicapped Adirondack farmers. Subsistence farms -- those producing just enough to sustain the family -- were more common than those that produced a large surplus for market. Although the typical farm family provided for most of its own needs, cash was necessary for things like spices, cook stoves, and taxes. Men earned money through seasonal jobs -- guiding, logging, and working at camps or hotels. Women worked outside the home at times too, but they also made money at home by converting raw materials into marketable goods.

In 1870, Eunice Baker wrote to her daughter Julia Baker Rice Kellogg, who lived on a farm near Minerva, New York, " . . . I feel very sorry you have to work so hard but that has been my lot ever since I was big enough to work . . . "