Brev 4

Elva wrote a letter about farming operations:

John and Josephine Hendrickson moved to a smaller farm closer to Glenfield
after a fire destroyed their house in Eastman Township. It consisted of 1/2
section, or 320 acres, in Glenfield Township. This is where Leila and I
were born and grew up. It was good land but had three sloughs that could
not be farmed. Farm machinery had accumulated from former operations - such
as a plow, cultivator, drag, drill, and binder, all to be pulled by horses.
They were operated by a hired man after our father became ill. Mother would
be a big help, and later Arnold and Henry as they became old enough.

Crops raised were wheat, barley, and oats. The wheat and barley were sold
to the grain elevators in Glenfield. The oats were stored on the farm in a
grainary and supplied food for the horses and milk cows.

Farming was the main occupation in Foster County and required hard work
The ground had to be plowed in the fall or spring. Then the seed bed had
to be prepared and seed planted with a drill. Hopefully, the weather and
rainfall would be favorable so a good crop would grow and ripen. Sometimes
hail and grasshoppers would do some damage. After cutting the grain with a
binder, the bundles had to be shocked. The was a job that Mother would help
do for several years.

Threshing was always an exciting time on the farm. Mother's brothers, Anton
and Bill Johnson, would drive their engine and threshing machine over the 3
1/2 miles to do our threshing. It would take 1 1/2 days if the weather was
nice. The several bundle-haulers would bring their horse drawn
hay-rakes to gather the bundles from the shocks till their racks were filled
to throw them into the 'separator' when the engine started it up. Horse
drawn wagons would haul the grain. The threshers would pause to eat dinner
out in the field at noon. It would be brought from Anton's cook car by
Mother's sister Alma, in her Nash car. The men would feed their horses on
the premises and return to Anton's farm to spend the night. They would
return in the morning to continue threshing another day or till done.

Another job on the farm was to keep fences in good condition. I can
remember Mother being out fixing them. It was a big job to have the hay mow
filled with straw for winter.

End

Elva and Leila fly back to North Dakota tomorrow. Donna and Roberta will
meet them. Please let us know if you have any further questions about the
Hendrickson family and please keep us informed about new information you
obtain.

Regards,
Jim