[AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?

[Cecil Monson]

> Cecil,
> 
> When I was a kid we did all the corn cultivating with a one row horse 

drawn sulky... usually about 20 acres  The corn was never check rowed,

but Pop thought it should all be cultivated four times.  I don't think

it ever happened, though.  The team was also needed to make all the loose

hay.  No tractor was used at all for hay making until I left home.
> 
> George 

	
	I also had the pleasure of cultivating corn - and soybeans too -
with a single row horse drawn sulky cultivator. The kind you have
stirrups for your feet to swing the cultivator gangs left or right to
make sure you don't plow up any corn. The team of horses my father had
me use were the Belgians - "Punkin" and "Maude". Weighed 1800 - 1900 lbs
each and moved about as slow as molasses in January. A good rig for a
10 or 11 year old kid as I don't think they could run if they wanted
to so were safe for anyone to drive. I never realized until seated
behind them for a few hours just how many times a good horse farts.
What I couldn't figure out was how come they always farted when the
wind was toward me. Or maybe it just seemed that way. The field I had
to cultivate was a 40 acre rented piece with rows 1/4 mile long. I can
tell you that it seemed to take all summer to cultivate that piece. My
father cultivated the rest of the corn and soybeans on the 160 acre
piece with the little Ford 9N. Anyhow, I really didn't mind once I got
used to it and just practiced my day dreaming and tried to stay alert.
I remember now that I had to watch Punkin all the time. He seemed to
know when my attention wandered and then he would snatch a hill of corn
to eat. Eating with the bridle on and the bit in his mouth didn't seem
to bother him at all. I guess he had had a lot of practice before he had
me as a driver.

Cecil