Our First Massy Harris Combine Drill (1950 ish)
As a second tractor father went quite modern and bought the latest Fordson, a Fordson Major, basically it was a "long legged" version if the Standard Fordson, only these had three point linkage and side brakes and taller rear wheels.
Along with it he had a two furrow mounted Ford Ransome plough, and a nine tined cultivator, he had already got a set of trailed Massy discs, and he had corn drill, it was an eleven spout Massy Harris coulter drill. This had been converted from a long pole for two shires horses to pull, to a short one with a clevis to hook behind his tractor. He had done a similar amputation on the pole of his binder.
The corn drill now could be pulled at a fast four miles an hour all day, with just the stops for filling the hopper. Across the back of the drill was a long handle that the man driving the horses could lift and lower the drill spouts, it also put the metering of the grain out of gear at the same time. Now it was pulled by the tractor a "running board" had to be fitted for a man to ride on the back to operate the handle and check that all the spouts were running. This made it a two man job although they were able to cover a greater acreage than he would with the horses.
He didn't stick that set up for many more years, as the drill was getting run off its wheels, wheels with wooden fellows and iron spokes, and the coulters badly worn.
It was after he had changed his old Standard Fordson for a Diesel Major he bought a new drill, this was a Massy Harris combine drill that he was able to sow the fertilizer at the same time as the corn. This had disc coulters and a trip cord for lifting and lowering the discs, and meant that once again it was a one man job. On good going this could be pulled at six to eight miles an hour, the new Major had six forward gears and the fifth gear was just right in dry conditions.
The drill still had steel wheels and had thirteen spout/ discs and because of the corrosive fertilizer it had rubber pipes to the coulters. Some of the fertilizer father bought was Humber Fish Muck, as it says its from the docks at Humberside, this was stinking job and came in powder form. It came in fine mesh hessian sacks of 1cwt. (50kg to you lads) and was unloaded off the delivery lorry, carried on ya back into a shed and stacked, then man handled out again onto a cart to take in the field.
Originally father had a horse drawn fertilizer spreader which had two large wheel at each end of a long box (hopper), in the bottom of the hopper was a row of plates, like dinner plates that turned slowly, with half of the plate inside the hopper and half carried the fertilizer out behind the hopper, this gap had a plough type scraper that could be adjusted to what amount of fertilizer was required. Then just above the plate at the back were two spinners to each plate, these were on a long full width rod to flick the product out. It was called a "Plate and Flicker" spreader. So this plate and flicker spreader became redundant for the spreading on corn ground, although he had fitted it with a drawbar.
When the Humber Fish muck was put in the combine drill on a dry day it went through very well, but on a foggy autumn days it clogged down the rubber spouts and every now and then they had to be taken off and cleared out, this meant a man had got to ride on the back to make sure all spouts were running. At a later stage the fertilizer company became aware of this problem with these new types of drills and started to produce it in granule form to try to over come the clogging.
In time the manufacturers brought out granulate compound fertilizer, which ran more reliably through the drill and these were sold in plastic fertilizer bags, when these had been man handled on and off transport a number of times they got pin holes and tares that would let in the damp and go rock hard. Then it became palletised. And later still into one half ton bags and then realised they could not get a full load of twenty tons on an artic trailer bed and upped the content to 600kg's.
All of my years I have ploughed.
All of my years, I have ploughed the fields,
To grow the crops, produce good yields,
Once was done, with teams of horses,
An acre a day ploughed, with frequent pauses.
The pace was slow, but made no mess,
No skidding or ruts, for them to address,
Seed broadcast by hand, or horse drawn drill,
Harrowed to cover, seed sown with skill.
Always a rotation, few annual weeds,
Do not get a hold , not aloud to set seed,
Thistles in the corn, hoed out with a spud,
Walked through the crop, pull all docks you could.
Cut crop with a binder, three shires to pull,
Followed by the men, stook the sheaves by armful,
Stays in the stook for two church bells,
Carted and stacked, threshed in winter grain to sell.
Countryman
Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.
Susan Taylor