glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Those pioneers had it tough, working out in that heat, the horses too
Lunch in the field, is it just me.
- Thread starter Greythundercloudys
- Start date
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
thats a lesson you’ll never forget
Yeah, I know the Boomi pub, I bet it hasn’t changed
yeah, we used to use a lot of spray seed on the channels. Wasn’t it paraquat & diquat, I think that was the difference between gramoxone & sprayseed. I don’t even know if it’s still available, haven’t seen it for years. Nasty stuff
I have sprayed it with a boom on a cabless JD ( 4020 ) as well, but always wearing a full face respirator, gloves & overalls
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
apparently, in 1920 ( there was a massive drought here from about 1915 - 1920 ), Rex & Roy ( my grandfather ) were sharefarming some extra country & planted 900 acres of wheat, Roy broadcasting the seed by hand & Rex following with horses dragging a set of harrows. That was the season the drought broke
- Location
- 200 miles N,NW of New York
Blimey,
900 acre broadcast seed by hand by 1 guy, and 1 guy harrowing in with horses,
How times have changed
Cab-over Pete
Member
- Location
- Kenilworth, Warwickshire
We used to go baling and wrapping for a local Irish chap who had made money in groundworks and bought a small farm where he kept Blonde cattle.
He was a cracking bloke, big fella with a booming voice and lots of stories about growing up farming in Ireland.
At tea time all “the skins” had to be in the house for a meal. Now, bearing in mind we had a fantastic cook in our mum when growing up and that I have never paid for a meal out that was better than we have at home, this Irish kitchen was a sight to behold, even to us.
The table would seat about 12-15 people and it was piled with food. Meats of all sorts, fresh veg, salad and fruit, huge bread rolls, cakes, biscuits etc etc and juices, beer or tea to wash it all down.
The conversation was always lively and your plate was piled high if you made the mistake of handing it to anyone else who offered.
And every meal we heard John bellow out “The more you eat, the more you’ve been paid lads!!”
He was a cracking bloke, big fella with a booming voice and lots of stories about growing up farming in Ireland.
At tea time all “the skins” had to be in the house for a meal. Now, bearing in mind we had a fantastic cook in our mum when growing up and that I have never paid for a meal out that was better than we have at home, this Irish kitchen was a sight to behold, even to us.
The table would seat about 12-15 people and it was piled with food. Meats of all sorts, fresh veg, salad and fruit, huge bread rolls, cakes, biscuits etc etc and juices, beer or tea to wash it all down.
The conversation was always lively and your plate was piled high if you made the mistake of handing it to anyone else who offered.
And every meal we heard John bellow out “The more you eat, the more you’ve been paid lads!!”
Aspiring Peasants
Member
- Location
- North Pennines
Very low cost though. Back to the future
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
they were hard men & probably just very lucky that it rained at the right time, otherwise it would have been all for nothing . . .
- Location
- sw scotland
Bit off the tea topic but heard a story of a farmer who died working hay by hand on a hot day. When a neighbour called to offer condolences to his widow she replied that 'he was done for working anyway,' and that they had carried his body to the edge of the field until collection later as it was too good sunshine to waste.
Not disputing this story but just trying out the figures for fun.
900 acres is a square 2087 yards x 2087. Supposing the man was really seeding by hand, not a hand held spinner, would he do 4 yard bouts? If so that would be 521 passes up the field. Could he do 4mph all day? He has to cover 618 miles so that's 15 days of 10 hours with no breaks. Maybe the weather was perfect and they had plenty of time but it will still be a hell of a feat! And I haven't allowed anything for picking up more seed every time he runs out or how far he has to go to get a refill. I reckon he needs a whole team supporting him.
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glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Wheat planting goes on all winter in uk, 5 months
Oz wont be so different
Dukes Fit
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
That's got me hankering after a Ganmain pie and a Carlton dry
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
haha I have no trouble visualising 360 ha ( 900 acres ), very aware of its size.
they had plenty of time, as I said, it was at the end of a massive drought & I think it was a last ditch of desperation. They believed it was going to rain ( I don’t know how ) & just went for it. Apparently every morning they sat bags of seed at the right distance so there was minimal time wasted getting more
Yes, I agree that it sounds like a huge effort ( which is why I told the story ), but certainly doable. I’ve certainly spent more than 15 days without a break planting crops using tractors & 8 or 12 m gear.
I was offered a job last year planting dryland cotton west of Moree with a 36 m rig & they were looking at a time frame of 2 weeks non stop
. So even today, 15 days to plant a crop isn’t unusual, even if the scale is a lot differentBack to Rex & Roy, tbh, by the time they put out seed, organised horses, got to the paddock etc etc I’m guessing the hours were longer than ten & im thinking it was more like a month than 2 weeks.
They were a different generation & frankly, compared to crossing the Palestinian desert on a horse for weeks on end with only the food, water & ammunition they could carry ( the charge on Beersheba, they’d run out of water & basically had nothing to lose ), I’m guessing it wasn’t the hardest thing they’d done in their lives
hard, strict devout Methodist’s. I’m guessing they did stop for Sunday church . . .
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Aspiring Peasants
Member
- Location
- North Pennines
Thanks for posting that, I find stories of folk like that inspirationalthey had plenty of time, as I said, it was at the end of a massive drought & I think it was a last ditch of desperation. They believed it was going to rain ( I don’t know how ) & just went for it. Apparently every morning they sat bags of seed at the right distance so there was minimal time wasted getting more
Yes, I agree that it sounds like a huge effort ( which is why I told the story ), but certainly doable. I’ve certainly spent more than 15 days without a break planting crops using tractors & 8 or 12 m gear.
I was offered a job last year planting dryland cotton west of Moree with a 36 m rig & they were looking at a time frame of 2 weeks non stop
Back to Rex & Roy, tbh, by the time they put out seed, organised horses, got to the paddock etc etc I’m guessing the hours were longer than ten & im thinking it was more like a month than 2 weeks.
They were a different generation & frankly, compared to crossing the Palestinian desert on a horse for weeks on end with only the food & water they could carry ( the charge on Beersheba, they’d run out of water & basically had nothing to lose ), I’m guessing it wasn’t the hardest thing they’d done in their lives
hard, strict devout Methodist’s. I’m guessing they did stop for Sunday church . . .
it was one of those nights tonight till 10 50 rained off with about 10 acres of rape left!
flywheel
Member
- Location
- wae up north
Old Hugh had whisky on his corn flakes. Lived to 93
Greythundercloudys
Member
- Location
- 200 miles N,NW of New York
Is that Covid19 in a bottle ?
looks like an advert for a fancy combine a fancy car crap food and drink ideal for a bad diet .
Good food and drink should be prepared at home not bought off from a takeaway.
- Location
- 200 miles N,NW of New York
Good lord, the wife might be carting too keep costs down and delivered,
or just finished work to subsidised the farm
and called on way home at chippy,Either way, that is better than nowt
