Corrigan, Wettlaufer
Methods Different
By MRS. N. D. 1CKES, SR.,
Things have changed down on
the farm since the turn of the
century. The last word in machin
ery 50 to 55 years ago now com
mands a good price as a museum
piece.
But the farmer’s physical work
load has been lightened. The con
trast is the basis for this story.
Back in 1905, Bill Corrigan re
sided on a farm a few miles west
of Emmet. He was a hard-work
ing Irishman, a master horseman,
and his delightful brogue enter
tained the neighbor kids.
Let’s talk about Mr. Corrigan’s
» farming methods. The walking
plow had lately been replaced
with a nifty three-horse hitch—■
a riding lister, no less.
The walking plow quickly
lost its appeal when horse pow
er was brought into use com
plete with an iron seat.
Mr. Corrigan brought his fam
ily from the East at a time when
land could be had for the taking,
either as homesteads or as timber
claims. Even his daughters, Katie
and Sarah, now deceased, staked
out adjoining claims and lived to
gether in a shack built on the line
while “proving up” on their land.
Neighbors and friends found
the Corrigans fine folk and good
neighbors. It was a pleasure to
engage Mr. Corrigan in conversa
tion.
His son, Patrick, lives on the
homeplace and a daughter, Mrs.
Julia Staples, now resides in At
kinson.
The go-devil was invented as
a means of tending the listed com,
readying it for the third opera
tion — laying it by with the cul
tivator. Its inverted trough for the
protection of the small plants and
the dished-wheel departure label
ed it as something new, indeed.
Horses of all breeds and types
went to the fields and were driv
en on the roads. A good deal of
the fanner’s wealth was repre
sented in his lineup of horses.
Some bred their horses for size
and strength and took pride in
their stables of matched teams.
They fed them well and provided
them with fly nets for their sum
mer comfort and blankets to keep
them from taking cold after exer
cise or work had warmed them
up to the sweat stage.
A good horseman reflected good
judgement in the fit of the collar,
adding a sweat pad as the season
progressed and the horses work
ed down in weight, slimming his
neck to where the collar was too
loose.
Resting his horses at the ends
of the fields and pausing to let
them blow after a hard pull on a
hill gave the master time to shift
the horses’ collars and cool the
necks, often easing the weight
with a folded handkerchief while
he speculated on the advisabiltiy
of changing the length of the tugs
to maintain equal draft.
It made a difference to a
horse who was his driver. The
care made a lot of difference,
too, in the amount of service
the farmer received in return.
Some farmers were careless op
erators and cared not a hoot what
the horses looked like or how
poorly prepared they were for a
summer’s work. Some with a
<m trader’s instinct were apt to swap
animals right out of harness just
for a change. It was not uncom- j
mon to see a slim-legged Hamble
> tonian requested to pull her share
> alongside a draft animal built for
■ rugged type. The heavy type
were often asked to take to the
; road when trips to town were im
perative.
The colt crop each year was
certainly a nuisance. A man
needed help in hitching and un
hitching, whether the colts were
left in the barn or allowed to fol
low the mares. Colts always have
had the habit of getting into all
the mischief possible, causing
tangle-ups in the harness and run
aways.
The accident hazard was ever
present threat to a family’s safe
ty. Who could predict what a
horse would do when it became
entangled or when it saw a piece
of paper swept along by the wind?
“Kicking over the traces” was
not just an idle phrase. Things
could happen fast.
Some drivers were easy on
their teams while others were
careless and thoughtless and tried
the endurance of their horses each
time they hitched up a team, rac
ing to the hay or cornfield at
breakneck speed just for the
thrill. The moderns of that same
stripe are screwballs behind the
steering wheel of a ‘hot” car.
A few hundred dollars would
start a young couple up In
farming and the hard working,
frugal ones were soon among
the prosperous inhabitants.
Roads were maintained by men
who worked out their poll tax
each year, supervised by a road
boss or overseer. County and pre
cinct bridges had a way of going
out with every hat’d rain. Traffic
was not very heavy those days.
Towns were equipped with
hitching posts and at least one was
placed near the gate to the house
yard where the team was hitched
while the man of the house chang
ed into his Sunday best and
waited for the missus to appear.
Buggy whips, lap robes and
foot warmers were standard
gear and a spring seat atop of
a two- or three-box wagon was
a luxury. A man’s legs could
take a lot of punishment stand
ing, absorbing all the bumps and
jars before some back-achey,
leg-weary, thoughtful individual
accomplished the invention of
the spring seat to take his
weight off his feet.
Grain was bound, stacked and
threshed. And the men followed
the horse power or the steam en
gine threshing machine from har
vest to snowfall time.
Corn was picked with a peg and
the day began long before it was
light and choring was done by
lantern light. However, farmers
had smartened up some since
their boyhood in the East where
they picked, three to a wagon, a
man on each side and a boy man
fully trying to keep up the down
row created every round.
The invention of a bang or throw
board, and the scoop end-gate,
was indeed appreciated by the
corn pickers.
_ l a i •
W16 wwjo anu OUUICU1I1C5 UH2
big girls helped pick the com,
then went to school till farm
work started in the spring. The
age limit was 21 instead of 16
them.
Fifty years and a whale of a
lot of inventions have changed
the farm picture into something
like an Aladdin presto-change af
fair. Farm equipment has stepped
up in tempo so a farmer equipped
with a line of modem machinery
can tend a very large acreage. If
it seems expedient, a 24-hour
working day can be maintained
with a change of men (not hors
es). In fact, if he did not farm a
good deal of ground, the expendi
ture would not be warranted.
Let’s drop in on Mr. and Mrs.
Kenneth Wettlaufer and family.
They make extensive use of a
four-bottom plow and diesel-pow
ered tractor—just a part of their
mechanized layout.
The Wettlaufers reside three
miles northwest of Page. They
own and rent 480 acres of land.
They have four sons who will be
handling the tractors and ma
chinery very young, in accordance
with modern custom. Mrs. Wett
laufer gives a hand with the
chores and with the errand run
ning.
They are trying to build up
their place and improve it as they
go along. The high cost of equip
ment and maintenance make it a
slow go, but if a man farms he has
little choice except to buy a farm
because there are few to rent.
Since the modern farmer uses
multiple-row machinery he can
do his work without much hired
help. Often the missus and the
kids can help out enough to get
by. Some times brothers or
friends team together to keep
things going more smoothly.
Many of today’s labor-saving
machines were born directly out
of the man power shortage era
brought about by World War II.
The farmer at the turn of the
century would have held up his
hands in horror could he have
glimpsed this four-bottom plow
turning the sod ait such a rapid
rate and followed by the planter,
rotary hoe, cultivator and corn
picker, all multiple-row inven
tions.
Small grain farming includes
drills with seeding and fertilizing
attachments, windrower and com
bine, eleminating the need for a
threshing machine and the feeding
of the crew it took to operate it
A power mower, side delivery
rake and a one-man baler make
short work of the alfalfa and wild
hay harvest.
atraw piles' mere are none—
thanks to the straw spreader at
tachment on the combine that
scatters thinly a film of chopped
straw evenly upon the stubble
field in wait for the one-way
that will turn it under in time for
the rains to bring up a nice cover
ing of green manure that will be
incorporated in the soil, come
spring.
Midwesterners have borrowed a
page from the thrifty European
peasant and do not allow compost
material to pile up and leech out,
as was formerly done. Now it’s
hurried out to where it will en
rich the land.
The term “hybrid” was prac
tically unknown a half-century
ago. Practically all of our best
seeds are hybrid varieties and
the hybrid crosses have invaded
the animal kingdom as well. Hy
brid chickens are much in de
mand.
New, too, is the seed coating
which gives a boost to fertility
and brings the seed up quickly.
Seed coating gives strength to
make a fast growth to meet the
infusion of liquid or gas fertiliz
er, which gives them what it takes
to withstand that critical period
when a crop waits patiently for
belated rain.
Modern man does not trade his
bed for a lantern in the morning
but arises at a more reasonable
time and climbs onto a comfort
able seat on a trcator that houses
hidden and unlimited power.
Chores are a small part of the
daily grind and some have done
away with them altogether. For
those who still believe dad’s
statement that your profit lay in
your chores, there are conven
iences that take the drudgery
out of their doing.
The price of modern machin
ery heretofore mentioned, aug
mented by power grinders, rub
ber-tired and flare-board wagons
and all the household gagdets,
would buy the best farm in the
country. Acquiring a farm and
standard equipment is represent
ative of a lifetime of hard work.
Modern man’s missus thinks she
is so busy flipping switches that
control her modem conveniences
that she seldom gives thought to
the ways of her mother and
grandmother. Judged by the
standards of her grandmother’s
day, she would scarcely measure
up. _
However, the pattern of birth,
education, marriage, parenthood
and death proceeds according to
the tradition. Modems can’t guess
the changes that will make us
back numbers and relegate our
present modem equipment and
ideas into complete discard.
O’Neill News
Mr. and Mrs. Bud Lanman and
Larry of Verdel and Mr. and Mrs.
George Mellor of Spencer visited
the Roy Lanman’s on Sunday.
Mrs. John Grutsch entertained
six guests Thursday afternoon in
honor of the fourth birthday an
niversary if her daughter, Ann.
The Robert Devoy family
moved to O’Neill from Sioux City
Sunday. Mr. Devoy is a partner
in the Gilligan Drug store.
Mrs. Betty Mayes and sons of
Joplin, Mo., came Wednesday,
July 27, and stayed until Sunday
in the C. R. Foree home.
Mr. and Mrs. Don Godel of On
awa, la., spent the weekend with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd
1 Godel and family.
Dr. and Mrs. R. L. Owens and
children left Saturday night for
their home in Kansas City, Mo.
They have been visiting for t the
past two weeks in the home of
her parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. J.
Golden.
Mrs. Z. M. Sessler of Denby, S.
D., is visiting the Roy Lanmans.
Misses Margaret Ann and Mary
Sue Donohue of Bonesteel, S.D.,
are visiting at the Dr. E. M.
Gleeson home.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Spittler
of Ewing visited Sunday in the
Fred Grage home.
Mrs. Len Webb and son, Jackie,
of Mitchell came Sunday to
spend two weks with Mr. and
Mrs. Raymond Eby and relatives
at Page.
Mother Virginia, formerly of
O’Neill, came Wednesday and will
remain until Friday. She is visit
ing her brother, Felix R. Sullivan,
and other relatives here.
Kitty and Susie Donahoe of
Omaha spent from Sunday, July
24, until last Thursday at the
Bernadette Brennan home.
The late BUI Corrigan, an Irishman with a delightful brogue, farmed about the turn of the cen
tury between Emmet and Atkinson. In the photo (above), taken in 1905, he poses aboard a four-home
go-devil. The equipment, complete with riding seat and dished wheel in rear, caused farmers to aban
don the old walking plow.
Norman Wettlaufer, only a lad, drives his father’s diesel-pow
ered tractor which is shown (above) drawing a four-bottom plow.
Multiple-row mechanized equipment means fewer hired hands;
also necessitates a larger all-around operation to justify the ex
pense of buying and operating the equipment.
Graze Cattle on
Treated Pasture
Pasture may be top-dressed
with superphosphate at any time
without danger to livestock or
pasture. Cattle or sheep may lick
up some of the phosphate, but it
is not harmful to them.
Actually, phosphate will supply
some of the mineral that cattle
need, reports an article in the
August issue of Successful Farm
ing magazine. However, super
phosprate should not be used in
mineral supplements for livestock
because it contains some fluorine.
Before nitrogen or mixed fer
tilizers are spread, livestock
should be removed from the field
and not turned in until the next
day. If there are any lumps of
nitrogenous or mixed fertilizer,
livestock should not be permitted
in the field until these lumps dis
appear, warns the article.
Nitrate, ammonium salt, and
urea are somewhat poisonous to
livestock, if there are lumps of
these minerals in the field, the
animals may lick up enough to
make them sick. But if these ma
terials are free-flowing pellets or
powder, th animals are most un
likely to get enough to harm
them, says the article.
Miss Marilyn Fetrow of Omaha
spent the weekend here.
... -
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GILLIGAN R «L 1
Phone 87
AT PUBLIC AUCTION
AUGUST 8, 1955
Sale 1:30 p.m. Courthouse Lobby, O’Neill
O'NEILL BUSINESS PROPERTY
*
Parcel 1
Lot 27, Block 22, Town of O’Neill. The former P. J. McManus
store building, two story, brick and frame building, located on
O’Neill’s Main street, Ya, block from center of town. An excellent
location, with ample space for mercantile establishment. Second
story is suitable for conversion to living quarters.
Parcel 2
Lot 26, Block 22, Town of O’Neill. Lot size approximately 21 x
1 60 feet, now occupied by small frame business building. Locat
ed in the heart of the business district, this lot would make ideal
location for new business building.
For details on terms and conditions of sale, see
Legal Notice of Referee’s Sale
WM. GRIFFIN, Referee I
— O’NEILL, NEBR. —