A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine.

Coming from a long line of farmers, my family has many “wives tales,” or farm folklore sayings that appear in all sorts of circumstances. What do I mean by “wives tales?” Old sayings that don’t have any scientific backing to them but have been handed down from generation to generation as wisdom and truths. I would love to cover all my favorite “wives tales,” but I will spare you all the boredom and just cover one that has a lot more meaning to it than meets the ear.

“A stitch in time, saves nine.” Back when farming first started, farmers relied on horses, mules, and oxen to pull their equipment and work the land. Harnesses made of leather were used to attach an animal to the desired piece of equipment. Those harnesses took one heck of beating. Between being in the sun all day, to being soaked in animal sweat, the leather would crack and the stitching would rot. My Great Grandpa was very meticulous on checking all his harnesses before and after working to make sure they were in proper working order. If he found a stitch coming lose, or one that was rotting, he would take the time to re-stitch it before anything else was done. He would just say to my Grandma, “A stitch in time saves nine.” By fixing that one small damaged stitch, my Great Grandpa, was able to keep his harnesses in working condition and he was able to keep working his fields by not being holed up with a rotted and falling apart leather harness.

The phrase may have been primarily used for farming and fixing harnesses, but it is also a very insightful phrase. The stitch, can be used to describe any problem, trivial or major. By taking the time to fix the problem when it first starts to appear, you save more time in the long run by not having to fix an even bigger and nastier mess. When it comes to farming, it really pays off to fix the tractors and equipment when a problems fist shows up, rather than wait and see how much worse it can get. You can even apply the phrase to family and friends. Don’t wait to help someone you know needs help. Don’t wait to tell your family how much you care. By doing it now, you save a lot of heartache and lost memories. Or in other words, “A stitch in time, saves nine.”

Although I wish this was a picture of my Great Grandpa, sadly it is not. But I imagine that he had a similar outfit and leather harnesses.

Walters, Claire. “Horse and Plow” Photograph. Webshot. "History of Plows." Gene and Matt Tractor Sales. Gene and Matt Tractor Sales. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. <www.geneandmatttractorsales.com/historyofplows.php>.