You Can't Farm Without Horses

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Source: Edward Ellsworth Laughlin (In his own words.)

My dad (Donel Laughlin) was always looking for new ways to do things. He was a farmer and a livestock dealer (horse trader). That was a lot like being a used car salesman today.

I was about 12 years old at this time. Dad spent a lot of time reading farm magazines, always looking for easier and better ways. This is the time that McCormack-Deering came out with the first row-crop tractor, the Farmall. It had two small wheels close together in front and the rear wheels were wide enough apart that they would straddle the rows of corn. The cultivators and other implements that adapted to the Farmall would double any horse-drawn tool and do it easier.

Dad announced to anyone who would listen that we would farm our 250 acres this year without horses. People said it could not be done, the soil would be totally ruined. It would be packed so hard that nothing would grow.

We sold the horses and ordered the tractor. When it came in it was a thing of beauty. It was RED. The seat was up so high, you could look straight down on your work. I would work at any speed that I wished all day long. You didn't have to feed it or clean up behind it.

Dad figured how to operate the great machine. Then he put me up there so high and went through the operation with me.

I spent most of my summer on that big red tractor. It was one really unforgettable summer. We farmed that year without horses. Dad did come back to a couple of teams the next year – we needed the extra utility. The soil remained tillable and as everyone knows, you don't see many horses in the field in our world today.

For more stories about the Laughlin families, visit Laughlin Family Stories.