Farm Boys
Page edited 10-Feb -22. MT
Source: Edward Ellsworth Laughlin (In his own words.)
Attitude
A farmer is tied down to the soil, the livestock and the never-ending work. A lot of the success of the family farm must be attitude. Over the years, I have seen how attitude affects the success of the farm.
Many farmers are hard drivers. They never look up from their work. The sons of such farmers are the driven. They often come to resent the work and the farm. They usually can't wait to leave the drudgery. They head off for the cities on pay day every week.
You could almost always pick out those kind of farmers, just passing down the road. There was a look of neglect. Implements were left out to rust. Gates were sagging. The boys just didn't care. They were going to get out from under their work as soon as possible.
Then there were the other farmers who were just as hardworking, but with a different attitude. My Grandpa and my Dad were that kind of people.
Dad would say, "Boys, we are going to get this corn planted real quick, but done right. Then we are going fishin' for two or three days. By that time, the fish will be fightin' and hungry!"
Well, you know the ground would be smoother and the corn rows would be shorter when you were thinking about those hungry fish.
The County Fair
Right after wheat harvest time in July, Grandpa would say at Sunday dinner, "We have to get this wheat crop harvested pretty quick because the Fayette County Fair is only two weeks away. We are all going to take off for the fair, it's the biggest fair around.
My brother and I had been saving for months for the big fair. We would probably have two or three dollars each.
To us kids, the fair was truly awesome. The crowds, the noise, the smells - everything was so exciting. The concessions were too tempting to resist. Our little bit of money would not last very long.
Broke, Scott and I would wander sad-faced through the crowds. Eventually, Grandpa or Dad would find us and say "You boys must be broke," and give us each a quarter. We would be much more careful with this last lonely quarter.
The Fayette County Fair is still my idea of what a country fair should be.
Harvest
The largest harvest of the year was the corn. This was all done by hand. The ears of corn were each and every one husked and broken from the stalk and thrown into the horse-drawn wagon, then shoveled off the wagon into the crib. This was very hard and long work daybreak to dark.
But, for us, there was always a promise of a week or two of hunting to follow. This hunting time was the end of a long season of hot and tiring labor, but it was fun just the same.
After we completed the harvest, the implements had to be greased and put away so the farmer would be ready for the winter season. When we were done, everyone was ready to go hunting, laughing and joking all the way. We were content with being finished with the hard work, even if it was just for a little while.