[AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?

Tue Jun 7 15:05:07 PDT 2005

Ralph,

That describes the implement I used to a "T".  I've marked my rows out that 
way for several years.  This year, because of physical limitations, I just 
drove a Cub across the garden many times, each time running one wheel in the 
previous track until I had established a grid pattern on the freshly plowed 
ground (sand).  This made the rows a little farther apart.  Then I placed a 
little fertilizer at each intersection.  I guess the fertilizer was too much 
for the seed since the sweet corn didn't germinate too well.  :-(   I plan 
to get fresh seed and try again.

George Willer

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ralph Goff" <alfg at sasktel.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?

> This "checked rows" thread reminds me of a potato patch some of my 
> relatives had when I was a kid. Every potato spaced evenly on the square 
> and diagonally. Interestingly they never used any type of mechanical weed 
> control, just a hoe. But it looked so precise and well laid out and I 
> guess this is what they wanted. I never could figure out how they did it 
> until seeing the "implement" they had built. It was the general shape of a 
> garden rake and as wide as 3 rows. It had 3 pegs in it that contacted the 
> ground as they dragged across the garden. Do this operation in two 
> directions and you will end up with a perfect checkerboard garden. I've 
> got a picture of that garden somewhere from way back in the sixties.
>
> Ralph in Sask.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dean VP" <deanvp at att.net>
> To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 2:37 AM
> Subject: RE: [AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?
>
>
>> Al:
>>
>> Boy, you sure are right about the checked field being a "thing of 
>> beauty".
>> Well, until the third time cross cultivating and the tractor would beat 
>> you
>> and the cultivator to death. :-)
>>
>> One of my Dad's favorite Sunday afternoon habits was to drive slowly 
>> around
>> the neighboring farms and admire the fields as the corn came up and grew
>> overnight. I suspect he was also the local "correct police" relative to 
>> who
>> had not gotten their check rows exactly straight. :-)  There was a bit of 
>> an
>> art to that.
>>
>> I have a vision yet of my dad pulling back on that checked wire with a
>> seemingly trained tug to get each movement of the wire exactly the same 
>> from
>> planter pass to planter pass. His checked rows had to be perfect!  I 
>> never
>> saw a checked row out of place on his fields and I spent many, many 
>> hours,
>> days and years cultivating those same fields.
>>
>> A good JD model 290 corn planter has been on my want list for years. 
>> Never
>> have found one in good enough shape or at a price I was willing to pay. I
>> did find two rolls of check wire still on the spools a few years back 
>> when I
>> visited NW IA. Stored inside and in good shape. They were inside a 
>> building
>> at a farmer who also had a farm equipment salvage business. I picked up a
>> bunch of parts and told him my next trip I would pick up the two spools 
>> of
>> check wire.  The next year I went back to pick them up and the whole 
>> salvage
>> yard was gone.  Scrap iron prices had reached a point where the owner 
>> just
>> cleaned everything up and it was all gone including the two rolls of 
>> check
>> wire. I have kicked my self repeatedly over and over for not picking them 
>> up
>> when I saw them the first time.  A dumb move. Haven't found a good 290
>> either.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dean A. Van Peursem
>> Snohomish, WA 98290
>>
>> I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the
>> storeroom door
>>
>>
>> www.deerelegacy.com
>>
>> http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
>> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Al Walker
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 1:46 AM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?
>>
>> A nicely checked field of corn was always a "thing of beauty" and a
>> "sight to behold" for me.  It sure seemed
>> like you could cultivate on the diagonal, but don't recall ever seeing
>> anyone do it that way.  My planter is equipped for "checking", but I
>> haven't yet followed up on any of the leads that I've been given on
>> locating some check wire.  Some day . . . .
>>
>> Al in NW MN
>>
>>
>>>As a youngster on the farm I have a lot of memories of the issues related
>> to
>>>planting corn in checked 40" or 42" rows so that the rows could be
>>>cultivated both ways. But I have no recollection of ever cultivating at a
>>>diagonal. Was this ever done in any part of the country?  I would think 
>>>it
>>>would have required completely different settings on the rear wheels of 
>>>the
>>>tractor and cultivator. And not be all that beneficial anyway.
>>>
>>>Just curious if it was ever done and for what reason. Senility is setting
>>>in!
>>>
>>>Dean A. Van Peursem
>>>Snohomish, WA 98290
>>>
>>>I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the
>>>storeroom door
>>>
>>>
>>>www.deerelegacy.com
>>>
>>>http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>AT mailing list
>>>http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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