redeli
"Useless Billy Coach"
I cropped tobacco on foot,then on string harvester,and on buck harvester.. enjoyed every minute of it... especially string harvester if you had a good looking gal stringing for you
I still do this. I put some on my 5yo lil girls arm last weekYep, I have seen that as well. Lots of ole farm folks chewed tobacco and dipped snuff. If you got stung by a wasp or yellow jacket one of the men that had a chaw would grab you and put some tobacco spittal on the sting. It did help or it seemed to.
Our process was - the square baler was connected to the tractor and the stacking wagon (long flatbed on wheels) was connected to the square bailer. 2 guys stood on the stacking wagon and as the bales came up the chute from the square bailer, you grabbed them and turned around and stacked them up.I'm not talking about sitting on a tractor baling hay. I'm talking about walking through the field as fast as you can in 90 degree heat chunking 100-lb bales on the back of a truck one after another, then packing it into the oven-like barn, and winding up covered in hay stuck to your sweat down inside your clothes. Seemed like too, you were always putting it up while a big black cloud of a thunderstorm was brewing on the horizon, and they would be hollering at you the hurry! hurry!
Some of the hayfields around here were so steep that you had to walk beside the baler and catch the bales as they came out so that they didn't roll off down the hill into the creek.Our process was - the square baler was connected to the tractor and the stacking wagon (long flatbed on wheels) was connected to the square bailer. 2 guys stood on the stacking wagon and as the bales came up the chute from the square bailer, you grabbed them and turned around and stacked them up.
Was tough but your way sounds alot more back breaking.
I'd never seen one of those.
I remember my eyes being about level with their knees,lol. The other kind with the stringers up top was OK during the hot pants era. Not quite as fun though.I cropped tobacco on foot,then on string harvester,and on buck harvester.. enjoyed every minute of it... especially string harvester if you had a good looking gal stringing for you
We didnt have to deal with "steep". We were basically at the bottom of a valley topography wise. Just unbelievable solid black, rich soil.Some of the hayfields around here were so steep that you had to walk beside the baler and catch the bales as they came out so that they didn't roll off down the hill into the creek.
That's some pretty farmland. Where is that?We didnt have to deal with "steep". We were basically at the bottom of a valley topography wise. Just unbelievable solid black, rich soil.
View attachment 1044465
Connecticut River Valley.That's some pretty farmland. Where is that?
They grew "Shade" tobacco, I've read about that. Has anyone ever grew with that system?Conne
Connecticut River Valley.
Otherwise known as "The Type of Yankee Land Not Alot of People Think About When You Hear Yankee Land"
Oh and I know you are into Native American stuff.....That's some pretty farmland. Where is that?
Most of the farms grew shade grown. Different type of tobacco. I just always worked at a broadleaf farm which was out in the open.They grew "Shade" tobacco, I've read about that. Has anyone ever grew with that system?
Color postcard shows a typical Connecticut River Valley shade tobacco farm scene. Wooden tobacco sheds line one side of a dirt lane opposite an extensive field of nearly full grown shade tobacco plants under cloth netting.
You could drop an anvil in that dirt and a anvil tree would grow. The kind of dirt a farmer dreams about.Grown in the northern state of Connecticut, Connecticut Shade is agreed as the best wrapping leaf available. The state of Connecticut has great soil for growing tobacco. “The Valley has been producing tobacco for more than 300 years.
Looks like they grew some in Georgia.
"Tobacco growth and exports really exploded in the region with the introduction of the railroad into the small town of Havana in 1902. This region of Florida, along with a few others in Connecticut and southern Georgia, were once responsible for close to 95 percent of the nation’s shade tobacco production."
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shade-tobacco-museum