The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-05-23
Planting Corn.

The corn planters will be busy
this week. Those who ride on the
highways will pass fields striped with
the parallel rows left by the planter
wheels and hear the fusillade of
checkrowers. And some of these will
recall earlier days ere the checkrower
had made it's appearance. For be it
known that both corn planter and
checkrower are modern inventions.
Some of these will bark back to
the youth Of forty years ago, who
dropped corn when they preferred
fishing for bullheads In those an
cient and honorable days the field
MARKER and exaggerated stone boat
with two or four runners, followed
the drag as the next step in the some
what complicated process of corn
planting. 1t was drawn by a team
and skillful dragging between line
OF flags set one at each end one
in the middle of the field, kept the
turrowed rows made by the marker
runners straight from end to end.
TO drive straight was an accomplish
ment. When the field had been
marked one way it was "checked'
by crossing it with the marker and
was then ready for the troopers.
Boys usually dropped the corn from
pals and baskets, putting mot more
than five and not less than three"
kernels in a ''check." One man with
hoe could usually cover for two
boys, the shining hoe flashing close
to bare heels having a decidedly
stimulating effect on the activity of
the troopers.
That is the way grandfather plant
ed his corn He plowed it with a
double-shovel' pillow and one horse
making a round to each row. He
husked it five men to wagon, or
two men and boy, who husked the
down row. and he insisted on the
removal Of each ribbon" and all the
silk.
Then came genius who invented
single handed planters. These were
contraptions with an iron point
which thrust into the soil and a re-
ceptacle from which the seed was dis
charged by means of a grip lever.
This eliminated the coverer and
made planting a mans work. Then
some observing or lazy person con-
ceived the idea of a double planter,
ers set row apart. From this the
evolution to the horse planter was
easy. The first horse planter had
and a dropper. The wooden wheels
on a moist day uncovered about as
much corn as they covered. They
We're soon succeeded by metal wheels.
1t was rather neat job to estimate
-
seed to coordinate precisely with the
check mark and good choppers were
in demand at corn planting time.
There were those who attained such
dexterity that after the corn was up
it would have been found almost i'm
possible to say which way the rows
were driven or dropped. A good corn
dropper took as much pride in his &C
6ompllshment as a champion wing
shot and was a great deal more use
and benefit. He commanded fabu-
lous wages, often attaining $3.50 for
sixteen hour day.
Somebody, nobody now remembers
who, invented a checkrower 1t was
of cord with buttons at regular in
tervals. 1t stretched and wore out
quickly, but it furnished the begin
ming and all that American invention
asks is an idea. The wire checkrow-
er followed it almost Immediately.
Dropping became a lost art
There is whole history of western
farming which goes along with that
of corn planting. There is the ad-
vent of the corn cultivator and the
sldeboards on the corn wagon and
the corn binder and all that has gone
to make present day corn fields three
times as wide and long as those of
grandfather And the farmer has
changed with tools and methods.
Get granddad to tell you about farm
ing and prices an processes when he
began working for himself. Mar
shalltown Times-Republican. ..'
Never, can tell when you'll mash a
finger or suffer cut, bruise, burn or
scald. Be prepared Thousands re-
~ on DR.. Thomas Electric Oil. Your
druggist sells it. a Csc and soc. st