SEGMENT: FARMING & ENVIRONMENT

Bert Aikman>UIS Collection A's>UIS Collection, Segment 3

SEGMENT: FARMING & ENVIRONMENT,

duration 08:50
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ENVIRONMENT
Description of Farm. Trout Farm was 160 acres. Dad was there 2 yrs. Trout farm was nearer timber land & has "whiter soil". It will grow good wheat. Mentions problems with chinch bugs.
FARM EQUIPMENT
George Folks started farming with teams of horses & oxen & did not plow that deep. After a while "plow-pan" was created. Tractor allowed them to plow deeper, cutting through plow-pan.
ENVIRONMENT
Discusses differences in soil due to where glaciers were & where timber was. Describes dad's farm, how much in crops, how much in timber/pasture. Cleared land in winter. 15 acres farmable, the rest in timber & pasture. Many blackberries, raspberries. Creek on land. Drainage determined productivity. Discusses ditch digging to drain land. Work on a "scraper". Mentions ditch on "Gerlach Place."
FARM WORK
Discusses digging of drainage ditches to create more arable land to improve productivity.
CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENT
Discusses draining of swampland. Before drainage this swamp was wasteland.