On the south side of our quarter section of land, I erected some fences to contain our three cows. The fences outlined a big pasture, which included the two little heart shape ponds that never ran dry. Probably because of the water supply, there were a lot of badger burrows in this field. Badger burrows were a hazard. The cows could break a leg in these deep tunnels. Humans could also hurt themselves this way, plus, badgers were not friendly animals!
Therefore, it was necessary for me to rid our pasture of these pests.
In the late summer I hired a contractor to swath our 50 acres of oats, then while looking around for a man with a combine to thrash them, I found a job with a neighbor that lived about four miles away. He had just purchased a new self-propelled combine and our deal was that I would run this combine harvesting all his crops before coming to our farm. On his farm he was growing flax, wheat, rye, oats, and barley. This looked like a good deal for me, so I agreed. I ran this new combine every day for over a month, without any rain to slow me down.
The combine ran well but needed routine maintenance. While changing the screens in the machine, I had the misfortune of having a wrench slip off a bolt. The edge of the screen cut a notch (1¼ inches long and ¼ inch deep) just above the thumb knuckle on my right hand. This happened close to the farmhouse. However, the lady there could not stand to help me because of the blood I was losing. I managed to get a clean towel from her, and tightly wrapped my bleeding hand. I jumped in my car and stopped by home on the way to town to pick up Cora and Roger. Cora drove me into Taber to see our doctor who closed up the wound with a half dozen stitches. After dropping Cora and Roger off at our place, I returned to my job. Not much slows a farmer down when the harvest has to be done.
I completed the combining two days later, and drove the machine to our farm where I parked it at the north end of our oat field. The combine was due for an oil change, so I placed an empty bucket under the motor and removed the oil plug, allowing the used oil to drain. The owner had said he would be at our place early in the morning with the new oil, so I walked the half mile to the house to join Cora and Roger at the supper table. A few hours later, I woke up to the sound of a howling wind. Snow was flying horizontally past our windows! I got into my winter clothes, jumped into the car and rushed over to the combine. I brought a funnel along to pour the used oil back into the engine. Then I used a piece of cardboard and couple of blankets to cover up the radiator which already had slivers of ice in the water. I was worried it would soon freeze solid and split the core. About ten minutes went by before the water in the radiator started to circulate. I was relieved that I got there in time to prevent the radiator and the engine block from freezing, since that would have split them both. Just a few minutes later, a set of lights turned into my field from the north. It was the ‘boss’, who owned the combine. He was very pleased to see I had everything under control and had saved his new combine from certain destruction. We sat in his pickup for a few minutes while the combine ran, then shut the engine down and drained the water from the radiator. We left the machine there until we had enough good weather to resume combining.
During the winter, I made an application to the ‘Veteran’s Land Act’ to see if we qualified for some help to buy farm machinery. They said I did and came through with enough money to purchase a new Model M John Deer tractor, which came with a two-furrow plow, a four- row crop cultivator and a bulldozer. It took a couple of weeks for the check to arrive. Then I went in to see my John Deer dealer and drove the tractor home. Cora drove the Studebaker, pulling the two-wheeled trailer with all the other machinery, and arrived at the farm twenty minutes before I did. We were now ready to farm with our own machinery. In the spring, I spent the rest of the V.L.A. money buying some calves from Dad. This money, a total of $2,260.00, gave us the start we needed as independent farmers.
Model M John Deer Tractor
The snow continued to fall through October, November and the first half of December. We were able to combine our oats between Christmas and the new year. Because we were delayed by the weather, the Canada geese, pheasants, ducks, jackrabbits and mice feasted on our 1951 crop before we could harvest. We still got 100 bushels to the acre. Then, the animals gleaned the field for more food until spring.
As usual, we were invited to Mom and Dad’s house for Christmas dinner. We enjoyed a good meal with the family, and some time to catch up on each other’s activities. Mom roasted one of her huge turkeys with all the trimmings. For dessert, Mom’s steaming plum pudding was topped with her butterscotch-rum sauce. Mom and Dad loaded us down with many gifts from under their tree. My brothers Art and Ed were also home for the holidays. Ed was planning on re-enlisting in the Air Force, and expected to be posted to France. It was really good to have a rest from harvesting, and to enjoy time with the family.
...to be continued...
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