[AT] Corn Binding/Hay

[Greg Hass]

The  site George Willer had showed a true beet knife. We had one laying 
around for years. The first year my dad farmed he harvested 10 acres of 
beets with that knife all by himself. He never grew beets again. The hook 
on the end had nothing to do with cutting. My dad said you would swing the 
knife with the hook and put the hook through the beet leaves in order to 
pick up the beet without bending over for each beet. You would then grab 
the beet and with one swing cut the leaves off the beet. You would then 
hook another beet and repeat the process. At that time the beet plant was 
very fussy and wanted you to top the beet with one swing, not hack at it 2 
or 3 times. Oddly enough, he said that when beet harvesters first came on 
the scene, they would chew the ends of the beets all up, but that was ok.
Greg Hass
Michigan