Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-09-19

! cred BY the next morning the DlruS
! had picked up what remained IN sight
! The crop that came up was uSuaus
| pretty thin as a consequence ana the
| yield of oats generally about twenty
| five or thirty bushels. a good many
| times it was much less. Wheat maue
! from eight to fifteen bushels. we
! thought that the latter was an I'M
usually good crop.
| There was some corn varied on thus
! sod by turning over the 500 on 'he
/ hills, but it was so tough that II was
almost Impossible to tenu the corn.
( With the double plow such as useA
now it would have been imposslpie' pu'
with the single one horse plow IL was
| possib!e to dodge the sod and not tear
! all of the corn out of the ground iiai
the gophers had left. after planting.
| The corn proposition was even worse
TO handle than the small grain. on ac-
count Of the gophers and black bros.
The corn was usually planted Win
s;,s,e nIarter or hoe, the double horse
,.n+er ,ras unknown a few acres a
day was the limit. The black birds USED
"a si, /, the sloughs and watch you
nlant. singing away as nerrily as
nerrily as could be, because thes
knew as soon as the young corn came
ont of the ground they were READY 10
pull II I'D and eat the sprout.
The gophers were not as parllcuiaI
as this. They would sit around tneii
ho,es while you We're planting ana as
soon as you had left the heid, the'
would find the planter marks anu pr
coed TO lift the hill OF seed pe'ore -
had time to think about sernina'ine.
II was a fight from the moment ~ =.
got the corn into the ground unt,
was large enough to DEFY tlie
birds from pulling 1t up II we
half stand we CONSIDERED ,iia-
-. nrativ i;;cI,.. For several weeks
after the corn was pianteo lne ..a9,
nr u,n-nbers of the family would "ain
no acid with loaded gun like
.e,tineI preuared to knock over .he
80 ,,,ock bird or the striped gopher.
1.-ba, fall came and the corn got 10
.ba ,.oas-ing ear stage there was an
,,ha- fight 20 save the crop. The oiach
,,tr.ze ducks geese, prairie chickens,
,r.,,ae aud eyerv species of hird usea
ga,,,er in the fields and make ne'
-. ,ri+f the corn II not closely watcheu
-. .t,;e stose. the crop would De man
/ ,o+o, ,,n before YOU knew II. III was ho
.,,,,,,, thing 20 see thousands OF tnese
II i
90 me- birds In q field at once. IL WIZ.
have been a hunters paraolse
+ha, time there were few hunters aiia
what there were secured 50 much sa.'.e
in short time that they dld no. cale
,,rco for Il. We used to stano IN "a.
harm door OF the old Bacon farm a.ia
rhoot prairie chickens. ducks, geese anu
| cra,es. They were so tame that II 'oon
good many shots 10 drive them OH
Going back to the farming PROPOSE
ton II took the whole force OF lns
farm TO get the crop IN the grouna.
After spring once opened tnere was
M rest for man or teams. Inc ma
chimes used were 50 small 5hat on
man and team did not aceo'hpt.sn
| much. Today. one man WIN MS
head Of horses and his thirty 100. ofas
f! vii, do more than six men dla III
those DAYS. The farmer today puts II,
his fine grain in a week if the srounn
is ready and he often prepares anu
n,,ts i, in. in that time. 1t took weeks
then to prepare the old SOD 'or '''e
seed.