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Bright and early the following morning, I'd go back to the roundhouse and put an armful of wood in the engine, dump some oil and oil-saturated waste on the wood and light this mess. When it was burning well, I'd shovel in a load of coal and hike off to school.

I received 50 cents a day for this work, except for Saturdays, when I got $1. That was about all any man earned at that time.

Ed Portz, Box 24, Andrew, IA 52030

Chopping cotton - the easy way

During the 1930s and 1940s, farmers were still thinning their cotton and chopping weeds and grass from rows with what was commonly known as the "hoe." Some hoes were goose necked or straight necked; some were heavy or light, with wide blades or narrow blades, and all got heavier as the day progressed. The straw boss had the job of leading the field, and all choppers or "hoe'ers," as some were called, were expected to maintain a steady gait and not lag behind. When reaching the end of the row, the choppers loved to take a short break, especially if a large shade tree was there. The straw boss used this time to sharpen the hoes while the water boy served water from a large galvanized bucket with an aluminum dipper. Sometimes a 10- to 20-gal-lon keg or barrel was filled with cool well water and carried to the field in the bed of an old pickup truck. The keg was covered with a tow (burlap) sack to keep the water cool.

During this period, someone, somewhere, was thinking and experimenting with a mechanical device that would hopefully put an end to the hoe for thinning cotton. Of the many types of cotton thinners/choppers that were manufactured by various farm equipment and supply companies, a few survived the scrap yard. To my knowledge, not one of these mechanical contraptions was very efficient. Under certain ground/soil conditions, they worked, but not nearly as well as the old standby -the hoe!

I do not know who the manufacturers were of the two types of cot ton thinners/choppers shown in the pictures. My father, being a progressive farmer, was willing to try out new ways of getting the job done. Somewhere he found and bought these two contraptions to see if either would work. Of six boys in the family, none remembers where Dad got them, although we do remember working with them. A tractor powered one, while the other was pulled by mules or horses. If anyone knows the company that made them, the year and color of each, please contact me.

The unit at left looks like a tractor cultivator. The triangular-shaped hoes oscillated as the tractor moved forward. It was powered by the tractor PTO shaft and lowered or raised by a hydraulic cylinder. Mules or horses pulled the unit shown below. The wheels supplied power through a chain-driven gear arrangement. The four circular blades on each side rotated as the unit moved along the row. The blades could be raised or lowered by hand levers, and foot pedals were used for steering. 

Burton Marsh, 2511 S. W. Rockhouse Road, Madison, AL 35756;  (256) 340-7339

New life for a 20th-century 'antique'

I thought your readers might enjoy seeing how I put my old satellite receiver to a good use. It lets in just the right amount of sunlight. The 6- by 6-inch square legs and frame are made out of treated cedar. I made the cupola on top by putting an all-thread through an old, large funnel and a metal rooster. Then, I used a solid brass ball to top the rod. The bottom of the rod makes a good hook for a hanging plant. The finished gazebo measures 12 1/2-feet wide and 18-feet long. Note the black rectangles on each leg. Those are "down lights" that I made from 5- by 5-inch square aluminum tubing and I capped the tops. The small sign above the entry was made from cedar with a router and a rounded bit. It reads, "Rancho Notsogrande."

It's a very relaxing and enjoyable part of our backyard that I had a lot of fun building at very little cost.


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