[AT] IH Grain Binder

[charlie hill]

We only had cotton on the farm that one year and only a few acres of it. 
Daddy had to plant it because there was some sort of allotment we were going 
to loose if
we didn't actually grow a crop.   I don't think it was a subsidy deal.  It 
was just that the farm had a cotton allotment that had to be grown every so 
often.   Folks here
didn't grow cotton back then and I understand why.   That little patch we 
had was at best 2 or 3 acres and it took (if I remember right) 8 or 10 
people two days to pick it.
There is a lot of cotton grown here now, now that there is modern equipment 
to farm it with.   For a few years in the late 80's-early 90's the guy that 
tended our place
had the whole farm from hedge row to highway planted in cotton.   The farm 
has never been as clean and weed free as it was when planted in cotton.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: David Bruce
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:52 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] IH Grain Binder

Charlie,

Years ago we would hand pick corn at least a couple rows for the JD
model 100 snapper (pulled by an Allis D-14) to have a path to start the
field.

I never picked any cotton but my mom did and she swears it was the worst
farm work she ever did - much worse than those sand lugs.

I was the first grandchild and by the time I was old enough to be of any
real help my grandpa had retired from farming.  My dad continued farming
as a hobby for some years so I got the farming experience somewhat.
Picked corn and tobacco, slopped hogs and helped with the slaughter.
Carried fertilizer in 5 gal buckets to feed the 2 row Allis planter when
planting corn and soybeans.  Tossed hay bales and actually walked home
from HS and fed the cows on my way home.  And no not through snow and
not up hill both ways <g>.

All of this and the realization one could not make a living farming the
same acreage the same way led me to college and another career path.

David
NW NC



On 10/2/2012 10:50 PM, charlie hill wrote:
> John did you ever pick corn by hand?  When I was a child (before age 9) 
> our
> farm was tended by tenant farmers.  My dad ran a service station from 4 am
> to 8 pm 6 days a week and my mom taught
> school.  The tenant farmers were often my "baby" sitters.   I can remember 
> a
> couple of days helping them pick corn by hand.  They had a wagon they 
> pulled
> with an Allis B that they named "Alice Mae".
> We would walk along beside that B and break the ears by hand and throw 
> them
> in the wagon.  I'm sure I didn't do much but I can remember doing it.   I
> also picked cotton one day when I was about 10 or 12.  That has to be the
> hardest work I ever did.  Much worse than pulling sand lugs.   Not as 
> dirty
> but harder work.   We got paid a penny a pound for picking.  I think I
> picked 40 lbs. all day long.  LOL.
> I told daddy I wanted to do it and he let me.  If I had ridden in the 
> truck
> with him running errands he would have spent more than 40 cents keeping me
> in honey buns and Pepsi's for the day.   Now you
> know why I only picked for one day!
>
> Speaking of your Dearborn picker, I've always wanted one of those Gleaner
> tow behind snappers.  I just like the looks of it.
>
> Charlie
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