October 26, 2012 Coats Museum News
Some of you who have been riding my paper canoe through the pages of time in the small community of Coats may not know what farm life was like in earlier days. In order to thrive, the farmers had to utilize every part of the plants and animals that they raised. For example, the blades on the corn were pulled and dried to make fodder. “Fodder “ ?
Shall we paddle down Carsie Denning, Sr.‘s memory lane and learn about “fodder pulling”. Carsie recalled prior to the mid-nineteen forties, almost all farmers in this area used mules rather than tractors for farm work. Very few tractors could be seen in the fields, but sometimes one could stand still and see more than ten mules pulling plows and cultivators. The standard food for these mules was fodder and corn. The fodder was really part of the cornstalk in the form of dried leaves.
A farmer would not leave the corn stalk standing in the field with the leaves not being “pulled”. This work was always done in hot weather and it had to be done after the corn ears were matured but before the leaves began to dry on the stalk. Work would begin early in the morning when the grass in the middle of the rows was still covered with dew—sometimes so much that it would wet the bottom of the overalls almost up to the calves of the legs. Also, sometimes if a rain had fallen the night before, the dirt would be sticky and ooze up between the toes and around the sole of the foot making a mud shoe. Yes, most young folks went barefooted after May and before if they were out of sight of their Mamas who always discouraged going barefooted for fear that they would get that dreaded “ground itch” That’s another story so let’s go back to Carsie’s story.
A short break was taken for “dinner”, and then pulling fodder resumed until sunset. Farm hands and older children pulled fodder. The task was simple enough. One did the same process for each stalk and there were only a zillion stalks in a corn field. One pulled the stalk over carefully not to look directly up for the corn tassels might release a few of its tiny particles which seemed to love falling into one’s eyes in the hottest part of the day when the salty sweat was already playing havoc with “fodder pulling”. Some pullers were tall enough that they did not have to pull the stalk over to reach the top leaves. No leaf or blade was left but the mature corn was left to completely dry on the stalk.
Both hands were used for pulling the blades and when the hands were full, the leaves were placed together to form a bundle called a “hand” or “tie”. A couple of the blades were used to tie the bundle and it was then hung on one of the stalks. Usually a “hand” would be on about every four stalks. The sun would dry the leaves in about three days. Rain was very bad for the fodder so the weather was watched very closely. After the “ties” were dry, a worker would gather three “ties” and tie them together to form a “bundle”. The “bundles “were taken to the barn and stacked carefully in rows. Do you wonder how they got the bundles to the barn?
Many mule stables were beneath a loft that housed the fodder, which made the feeding process easier. There would be enough fodder and corn grown to feed the mules on the farm. It was very rare that a farmer had to buy feed for the animals who survived on homegrown fodder and corn.
The corn ears were harvested several weeks after the fodder was removed from the stalk. Most farmers shelled it after they had a community corn shucking which is also another story. Most farmers shelled the corn to feed the mules while some fed the entire ears. Wonder how many ears were fed to the mule?
Most stables had a trough for the corn and a rack for the fodder so that the mule could eat after work and be ready for the work next day. Some farmers may have fed some oats and rye to the animals but fodder was a standard food.
A few questions for Carsie—Did the mule eat the entire corncob or did they eat the corn from the cob? What happened to all those cobs if they did not eat them? Again, let me emphasize that the early farmer utilized everything produced on the farm—even corncobs and yes, the stable manure. The corncobs were put into a hammermill that ground them up. They were mixed with cottonseed meal and cottonseed hulls and were fed to the cows.
Recall that I said that stable manure is another story and that farmers utilize everything on a farm. A mule will generally drop manure in the close vicinity each time. Some say that a mule is cleaner than a cow. When spring came to the farm, farmers would load a wagon full of manure that had been retrieved from the mule stable with seed forks. Did I share that a mule also goes into the same stable and if there was more than one mule, each knew which stable to go into? Once the wagon was full of manure, the mule pulled the wagon to the field where someone stood on wagon and pitched the manure as evenly as possible to have even distribution of the nutrients. Mule manure was normally drier than cow manure and was easier to strew.
Did you say that is not how you heard the manure fertilizer story? Let’s try again—Some farmers did put out the manure by hand. The farmers sometimes used fertilizer bag to make an apron-type apparatus that was tied around the person. It was filled with manure and the person would walk the field and evenly distribute the manure by throwing the arm and hand in a slinging motion. Wonder if they were glad when the apron was empty because there would be a little break while walking back to the wagon for more manure.
Did another reader say, “That story is not correct”? Let’s try again-Some farmers had a manure spreader. The manure was put into the spreader and the mule and later the tractor pulled it through the fields to be fertilized. Regardless of the technique used, the result was twofold- the stables were cleaner for the animals and the crops would have nutrients during the growing season.
Becky Adams, Lynda Butler and H.L. and I spend hours at the museum each week and so look forward to making it a place that the Coats folks will want to bring visitors to share our town heritage. We had our first major disappointment this past Saturday. For weeks we had worked on a grant to pay for our glass encasement of our immense collection of military uniforms dating from the Civil War to Iraq to protect them from coming in contact with body oils. We had had two lengthy calls from the director of the grant but we failed to win it after all of our hard work. Our spirits were lifted when a former Coats resident who lives in Siler City came by to loan us the fiddle of his relative who had played it in the Fiddlers Conventions that I wrote about in the early 1920’s. Thanks Jessie Baird.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COATS MUSEUM NEWS APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON OCTOBER 26, 2012.
Some of you who have been riding my paper canoe through the pages of time in the small community of Coats may not know what farm life was like in earlier days. In order to thrive, the farmers had to utilize every part of the plants and animals that they raised. For example, the blades on the corn were pulled and dried to make fodder. “Fodder “ ?
Shall we paddle down Carsie Denning, Sr.‘s memory lane and learn about “fodder pulling”. Carsie recalled prior to the mid-nineteen forties, almost all farmers in this area used mules rather than tractors for farm work. Very few tractors could be seen in the fields, but sometimes one could stand still and see more than ten mules pulling plows and cultivators. The standard food for these mules was fodder and corn. The fodder was really part of the cornstalk in the form of dried leaves.
A farmer would not leave the corn stalk standing in the field with the leaves not being “pulled”. This work was always done in hot weather and it had to be done after the corn ears were matured but before the leaves began to dry on the stalk. Work would begin early in the morning when the grass in the middle of the rows was still covered with dew—sometimes so much that it would wet the bottom of the overalls almost up to the calves of the legs. Also, sometimes if a rain had fallen the night before, the dirt would be sticky and ooze up between the toes and around the sole of the foot making a mud shoe. Yes, most young folks went barefooted after May and before if they were out of sight of their Mamas who always discouraged going barefooted for fear that they would get that dreaded “ground itch” That’s another story so let’s go back to Carsie’s story.
A short break was taken for “dinner”, and then pulling fodder resumed until sunset. Farm hands and older children pulled fodder. The task was simple enough. One did the same process for each stalk and there were only a zillion stalks in a corn field. One pulled the stalk over carefully not to look directly up for the corn tassels might release a few of its tiny particles which seemed to love falling into one’s eyes in the hottest part of the day when the salty sweat was already playing havoc with “fodder pulling”. Some pullers were tall enough that they did not have to pull the stalk over to reach the top leaves. No leaf or blade was left but the mature corn was left to completely dry on the stalk.
Both hands were used for pulling the blades and when the hands were full, the leaves were placed together to form a bundle called a “hand” or “tie”. A couple of the blades were used to tie the bundle and it was then hung on one of the stalks. Usually a “hand” would be on about every four stalks. The sun would dry the leaves in about three days. Rain was very bad for the fodder so the weather was watched very closely. After the “ties” were dry, a worker would gather three “ties” and tie them together to form a “bundle”. The “bundles “were taken to the barn and stacked carefully in rows. Do you wonder how they got the bundles to the barn?
Many mule stables were beneath a loft that housed the fodder, which made the feeding process easier. There would be enough fodder and corn grown to feed the mules on the farm. It was very rare that a farmer had to buy feed for the animals who survived on homegrown fodder and corn.
The corn ears were harvested several weeks after the fodder was removed from the stalk. Most farmers shelled it after they had a community corn shucking which is also another story. Most farmers shelled the corn to feed the mules while some fed the entire ears. Wonder how many ears were fed to the mule?
Most stables had a trough for the corn and a rack for the fodder so that the mule could eat after work and be ready for the work next day. Some farmers may have fed some oats and rye to the animals but fodder was a standard food.
A few questions for Carsie—Did the mule eat the entire corncob or did they eat the corn from the cob? What happened to all those cobs if they did not eat them? Again, let me emphasize that the early farmer utilized everything produced on the farm—even corncobs and yes, the stable manure. The corncobs were put into a hammermill that ground them up. They were mixed with cottonseed meal and cottonseed hulls and were fed to the cows.
Recall that I said that stable manure is another story and that farmers utilize everything on a farm. A mule will generally drop manure in the close vicinity each time. Some say that a mule is cleaner than a cow. When spring came to the farm, farmers would load a wagon full of manure that had been retrieved from the mule stable with seed forks. Did I share that a mule also goes into the same stable and if there was more than one mule, each knew which stable to go into? Once the wagon was full of manure, the mule pulled the wagon to the field where someone stood on wagon and pitched the manure as evenly as possible to have even distribution of the nutrients. Mule manure was normally drier than cow manure and was easier to strew.
Did you say that is not how you heard the manure fertilizer story? Let’s try again—Some farmers did put out the manure by hand. The farmers sometimes used fertilizer bag to make an apron-type apparatus that was tied around the person. It was filled with manure and the person would walk the field and evenly distribute the manure by throwing the arm and hand in a slinging motion. Wonder if they were glad when the apron was empty because there would be a little break while walking back to the wagon for more manure.
Did another reader say, “That story is not correct”? Let’s try again-Some farmers had a manure spreader. The manure was put into the spreader and the mule and later the tractor pulled it through the fields to be fertilized. Regardless of the technique used, the result was twofold- the stables were cleaner for the animals and the crops would have nutrients during the growing season.
Becky Adams, Lynda Butler and H.L. and I spend hours at the museum each week and so look forward to making it a place that the Coats folks will want to bring visitors to share our town heritage. We had our first major disappointment this past Saturday. For weeks we had worked on a grant to pay for our glass encasement of our immense collection of military uniforms dating from the Civil War to Iraq to protect them from coming in contact with body oils. We had had two lengthy calls from the director of the grant but we failed to win it after all of our hard work. Our spirits were lifted when a former Coats resident who lives in Siler City came by to loan us the fiddle of his relative who had played it in the Fiddlers Conventions that I wrote about in the early 1920’s. Thanks Jessie Baird.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL THAT THIS COATS MUSEUM NEWS APPEARED IN THE DAILY RECORD ON OCTOBER 26, 2012.