When horses pulled the plow
Subtitle: life of a Wisconsin farm boy, 1910-1929
By: Olaf F. Larson
Series: Wisconsin land and life
Publisher: The University of Wisconsin Press; University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Madison, Wis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9780299282042; 9780299282035
Subjects: Tobacco farmers; Farmers; Tobacco farms; Rural conditions; Farm life; Childhood and youth; Biography; History
Other titles: Life of a Wisconsin farm boy, 1910-1929
Description: In 1910, when Olaf F. Larson was born to tenant livestock and tobacco farmers in Rock County, Wisconsin, the original barn still stood on the property. It was filled with artifacts of an earlier time: an ox yoke, a grain cradle, a scythe used to cut hay by hand. But Larson came of age in a brave new world of modern invention, tractors, trucks, combines, airplanes, that would change farming and rural life forever. "When horses pulled the plow" is Larson's account of that rural life in the early twentieth century. He weaves invaluable historical details, including descriptions of farm equipment, crops, and livestock, with wry tales about his family, neighbors, and the one-room schoolhouse he attended, revealing the texture of everyday life in the rural Midwest almost a century ago. This memoir, written by Larson in his ninth decade, provides a wealth of details recalled from an earlier era and an illuminating read for anyone with their own memories of growing up on a farm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-176).