July 2002
Nancy Smith, Editor
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Nancy Smith
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Happy Fourth of July, folks! Hope you're able to squeeze a little holiday parading of your favorite vintage tractor in between the picnicking and the fireworks displays.
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In this issue, our Rusty Iron columnist, Sam Moore, writes appropriately about cultivators. To many 'old timers,' July is synonymous with cultivating. Sure enough, Sam's column triggered memories for my husband, Richard. During his teen-aged years, about mid-June each summer, he and his dad would bolt the 2-row cultivator to their Farmall H, and then every day 'til the end of July, Richard would be in the fields, cultivating corn, milo and soybeans.
Many a farm kid learned to handle a tractor doing this solitary task, and gained a good measure of patience in the process.
Last month we featured a Florida collector, Lester Landrum, and his 1950s Holder garden tractor. Recently, he was kind enough to call with an update on the responses he has received. The calls have been pouring in, and Lester says they've come from all over the country, including Oregon, where he has a report of a number of Holders still in use. He says he's keeping track of who calls and what they've got to say, so he can share the information down the line.
To me, helping collectors connect with each other to share information, and enthusiasm, is one of the fundamental services Farm Collector provides to its readers. It was neat to hear about Lester's experience, and he's just one of many of you who have taken the time to call.
This issue's Perry Piper column, 'Growing up on Muddy Creek,' is, sadly, his last on farm life. Were he still living, he surely would be writing, and FC readers would have more of his wonderfully vivid accounts to enjoy, but that is not the case.
We all will miss his pieces tremendously, but we want to welcome Delbert Trew, who has bravely agreed to step into Perry's shoes. We're excited that he has agreed to share his personal stories on growing up in the Texas countryside, and we hope you all will enjoy them as much as you have enjoyed Perry's!