[AT] Checked rows - Corn planting?

[Ralph Goff]

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
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at