First, to answer Paul Works’ query about his hay press: I would look to Dain as the maker. Dain used a lot of BP numbers and they were a noted hay machinery manufacturer. That is why Deere & Company bought them out in 1911.
Second, I am looking for the cast iron scatter tube that fits under each of the four seed flutes on the American Harrow Co. broadcast seeder pictured above. They hang on the castings shown and are about 6 to 8 inches long. I am willing to pay top dollar for one to four of the tubes, which aren’t pictured in the photograph.
– P.T. Rathbone, Lucky Star Ranch, Rt. 1 Box 734, Marsing, ID 83639
SAW BLADE HOLDER LOOKS FAMILIAR
I have some pictures of a saw blade holder that my dad made about 30 years ago. It looks suspiciously like the item submitted by the Grensings in the September issue of Farm Collector.
My family was in the saw milling business from about 1935 until 1992, which leads me to believe that my dad made this thing from memory. I don’t think he invented it.
His saw holder was made to fit into a vise, the same one shown in the picture. If the object in your magazine is one of these saw holders, it is possible that it is designed to be clamped to a tailgate, with the nail-like point stuck in the ground to stabilize it.
– Skip & Betty Cleveland, Palm Bay, FL
‘ROAD WORK’ HIT THE SPOT
I am a 60-year-old city kid who has spent the last five years of retirement trying to become a farmer. A horrendous task to say the least. I have restored a cultivator and am on my second H, and I have subscribed to your magazine for about three years. It is delightful and very informative.
I am a strong fan of ‘Muddy Creek,’ which is what prompted this note: I was so impressed with the November piece on ‘Road Work.’ It contained many of the small yet necessary details about the entire scope of building a road and yet explained the differences in the teams, their harness work and the drivers themselves. Without rambling, I would like to say this was extremely informative and also entertaining. Keep up the good work as this city kid still has a lot to learn and hopefully a long way to go. Thanks!
– Larry Greer, Council Bluffs, Iowa
CHICKEN WATERER IDENTIFIED
I read with interest the comment from Lawrence Bockhold who was trying to identify the brown ‘jug’ that he found while walking in the woods 45 years ago. I have a similar one, below left, that has sat on our fireplace mantle for just about the same amount of time. I have always known it to be a chicken waterer, which is why there is a hole on the side towards the bottom. Mine is missing the bottom, which I believe was how the ‘jug’ was filled with water.
– Robert Ingalls, 7800 ‘T’ Dr. N., Battle Creek, MI 49017
Editor’s note: Roger Eldred of Shepherd, Mich., and Carldon Broadbent of Beloit, Kan., also wrote to identify the chicken waterer. Roger notes the tan band around the bottom is a water mark. He adds, ‘They are hard to find and I believe it was because they were left out in cold weather and froze up and broke.’ For more history on waterers, Carldon suggests, readers might check the vintage poultry equipment story on page 23 of the December issue of Farm Collector.
WANTED: MUSEUM DISPLAY IDEAS
Our community is in the process of establishing a local museum. I am to be in charge of the antique equipment and agricultural display. I would be interested in any ideas as to displays, procedures and guidelines that other museums have used. Thank you.
– Gerald Goetzinger, Box 668, Martin, SD 57551, (605) 685-6414.
THE STUFF OF MEMORIES
I am sending photos of a Fowler Cultivator like my dad bought in the 1920s and a Marvel Cold Water Cream Separator like I used in 1936-’37 on our small Tennessee farm. They are not the ones we owned, but just like them.
Regarding the separator, during the 1920s, my father had a silo and milked up to nine cows – not many by today’s standards but a good many to milk by hand. He sold cream, and had enough milk to justify a De Laval cream separator, which had to be cranked until it got up speed and the bell began to ring.
With the coming of the Depression, the herd shrunk and there wasn’t enough milk to justify using the De Laval, so it was sold. For a time, the milk from our few cows was allowed to stand until the cream rose to the top. Then we skimmed it off with a large spoon.
Then someone came out with the blue Marvel. An equal amount of cold water from the well and the milk was poured in. The glass gauges in the front would show the level of the milk and when the cream had risen. Normally it was left overnight, or from the morning’s milking until late in the day. The spigot at the bottom was opened and the funnel-shaped bottom with a gauge showed when all the watery milk had been drained off, and a different container could catch the cream that was ready to run out. The hogs got the watery milk, sometimes mixed with shorts left from milling wheat into flour. This separator, shown without its top, belongs to Walton Westbrooks of Shelbyville, Tenn., who is a collector of old things from the farm such as foot adz and carpenter planes.
Regarding the cultivator, this one belongs to Carter Woodruff of Murfreesboro, Tenn. It is the only Fowler I have ever seen other than the one we owned in the 1920s.
My uncle worked on a farm near Brentwood, Tenn., and it was there that Dad saw a Fowler, and finally bought one. By removing the small plow in front, a row of young cotton could be straddled, leaving a narrow strip, easy to thin with a hoe. The horse or mule could be hitched to walk beside the row, or two could be hitched to it. In the early 1960s, Dad gave our Fowler away. I would like to know where the Fowler was made and for whom it was named.
– Dick Poplin, 112 Lee Lane, Shelbyville, TN 37160, (931) 684-2678
