Harvest Time

Driving around the country side this time of the year, we can observe the farmer riding his large farm tractor pulling a large reaper which not only cuts the wheat stalks, but mechanically threshes or separates the grain from the stalk and hulls and can place the cleaned kernels in sacks or blow them into a large wagon being pulled along parallel with the reaper.

The same can be said about the harvesting of corn. The farmer drives his machinery through a field of corn—the machine picks and cleans each ear of corn, which is then pulled back to the barn and stored by mechanical means into a large corn crib for winter's use. These methods seem so simple. Perhaps they are, but lets compare the present day with the methods of harvesting back in our pioneer days.

Cutting of grain was done with large hand sickles which were implements long and curved like our present day small garden trimmers. When sufficient grain was cut, it was gathered and bound together by making the long stems work like bindertwine we used to know. Then the bundles were stacked and gathered later.

About 1840 the four and five-fingered cradle became a popular and useful instrument. Now the farmer could cut a swath of grain in one sweep that took his father several minutes to cut. Several farmers working together could cut a large field of grain in one day. The wives and children would follow up with long hand-made wooden rakes, tie the wheat into sheaves or bundles and stack them. There was a knack in stacking grain. After a number of shocks were stacked together a capper was always placed on top, the ends would be spread down over the tops of the lower bundles. This was for water to run off in case of rain.

About the Civil war period mechanical reapers made their appearances. These horse-drawn machines could cut and gather the grain into bundles. Then about 1900 the reaper and binder came into use. This new machine not only cut and gathered the grain but mechanically tied the bundles and dropped them off to be picked up and placed in stacks. Then came the combine which performs all the things the two previous machines did, but also now separated the grain from its stalk.

When the pioneers gathered their sheaves of grain into the barn, in order to separate the grain, they had to spread them on the barn floor, then they knocked the grain loose by means of a flail, which was two wooden rods. One was about five to six feet long and two inches in diameter with a groove in one end. The second was about three feet long and about the same in diameter as the long one. This short piece was fastened to the longer rod by means of a rawhide thong, which could rotate freely around the grooved end. The short piece was then beat down upon the grain. This system became quite an art as the short end was made to rotate rapidly yet beat down flat on the wheat at each swing. I saw my grandfather use one of these when I was a child. He was so deft in its use that it was almost impossible to believe the small piece stopped momentarily on the grain.

After the kernels were beaten loose from the stalks, the straw was then removed with a fork. The grain and chaff were then gathered up on a large canvass and by means of tossing the contents up and down the chaff was usually blown free from the grains.

My grandfather obtained a new fangled machine called a 'windmill'. By means of turning a hand crank rapidly it would blow the chaff into the barn floor and the heavy kernels would drop down into a bin where they could be removed by means of a shovel. Other farmers purchased machines that could be powered by hitching horses to a pole and by walking them around a circle, the gears would rotate in a tumbling manner, thus separating the grain, chaff and straw.

Another method was a slanting treadle machine in which a horse would be placed on the treads and by its continual walking the working parts caused the grain to be threashed. Later one or two men in each community or township obtained a steam engine and a threashing machine. With this combination, they traveled from farm to farm performing the fall threashing. Their fees were based on the amount of grain or bushels threashed. This was also a very busy day for the farmer's wife because she had to prepare the meals for many men.

Hay making time for the early farmer was also a back breaking chore. Grass was cut by the same cycle that was used on the grain. Later a large scythe commonly called a 'dutch scythe’ came into use. The grass was then raked, by the children and wife, into rows to dry. When sun cured, it was hauled into the barn by wagons. About the turn of the century, the mowing machine, pulled by horses, made the chore much easier. This was followed by a horse drawn rake with long curved steel prongs to pick up the hay and deposit it into long rows. Either the wife or one of the younger children was assigned this job. Yes, every member of the family worked hard.

Today, the farmer uses his tractor to pull a large bailer, which picks up and packs hay into large bales.

In the fall corn had to be harvested. This was also one of the food products the settlers obtained from the Indians. After the first frost, the corn was cut with a long knife blade which was fastened into a wooden handle. The tall stalks were stacked into large shocks and placed into straight rows. The sight of a field filled with corn shocks resembled a make-believe western Indian village with rows of tepees.

Each ear was husked by hand. The farmer made his own type of husker, usually from a strip of leather and short hickory stick. With this implement they could tear off the dried husks from the ears of corn. Many farmers would hire neighbors to help husk their corn crops. Sometimes families would agree with the farmer to husk his field of corn on a share. Years ago, a farmer would hold a 'husking bee'. The corn shocks would be hauled into the barn, then the neighbors would be invited to come and help husk the corn. After all the corn was husked the barn floor would be cleaned and a square dance would be held.

Generally every farmer had his barrels of cider stored in the cellar. One or two was for the years supply of vinegar, while the others would be kept for treating his friends to his hard cider. Each farmer tried to have the reputation that 'he' had the best in the community. Husking bees were quite popular in many farm areas. Such events are unknown today. Also, we may drive many miles in the fall before we find a field with the old-fashioned rows of corn shocks. Modern machinery now cuts the corn stalks, husks the ears and throws them into a wagon as it is pulled through the field.

The old-fashioned methods of farming are gone. The sickle, the scythe, the cradle are relics of the past. I doubt if any farmer today would trade his present day methods of working his fields for those used a hundred or more years ago.