CHAPTER VII .-- The Spinster's Kemp.
A kemp, or camp, is a contest of industrial skill, or a competition for priority in a display of rustic labor.

Among men it is principally resorted to in planting potatoes or reaping of corn, and generally only on the day which closes the labor at each for the season; but in the sense in which it is most usually practised and contested, it means a trial of female skill at the spinning of linen yarn.

It is, indeed, a very cheerful assemblage of the fair sex; and, although strong and desperate rivalry is the order of the day, yet it is conducted in a spirit so light-hearted and amicable that we scarcely know a more laudable or delightful recreation in country life.

Its object is always good, and its associations praiseworthy, inasmuch as they promote industry, a spirit of becoming emulation, and principles of good will and kindness to our neighbor.
When a kemp is about to be held, the matter soon becomes generally known in the neighborhood.

Sometimes the young women are asked, but in most instances, so eager are they to attend it that invitations are unnecessary.