Jack’s Winning Words 3/9/07
“If mistakes were haystacks, we’d all keep a cow.” (Canadian Proverb) My wife’s grandparents kept a cow during the depression of the 30’s. That cow, along with the garden in the backyard, provided food for the family. Have you ever kept a cow, hoed a garden, or built a haystack? ;-) Jack

FROM REV. JOHN IN MINNESOTA: GROWING UP IN THE BRONX DURING WWII I STARTED A "VICTORY" GARDEN IN A VACANT LOT AND SOON ABOUT HALF A DOZEN OTHERS STARTED GARDENS ALSO. I WAS ONLY 12 OR 13 AND FELT AS THOUGH I WAS DOING SOMETHING FOR THE WAR EFFORT.

FROM S.H. IN MICHIGAN: We did all those on the farm in Iowa, I remember particularly shocking the oats or hay, even as a little kid, into kind of teepees standing all over the field. What a neat thing to make mistakes into something so fortuitious as haystacks fit for cows to eat.

FROM J.J., THE NORWEGIAN: yes I have hoed a field, had cows and built many a haystack during the first 20 years of my life.I also removed cow-manure and spread on the fields as ferttilizer all by hand.

FROM J.T. IN WISCONSIN: My Dad planted a garden in our backyard. And In a small barn behind our home in Ironwood, MI, he kept a cow and chickens. Dad did the milking before going to work as an engineer at the mine and after returning home in the evening. My job was to come home from school at noon,change into "barn clothes", carry water and push down hay from the loft for the cow, change back into school clothes and return for classes. After school - collect eggs and deliver some to customers. Saturday was "clean the coop day". Summer gardening chores - helping plant, weed and harvest the crop. We were thankful to the Lord for good crops. Chores kept us out of mischief (for the most part.)

FROM PR BOB IN THE COPPER COUNTRY: Yes to all three. I've milked numerous cows in my boyhood. Dad had a herd of 8. I've hoed many a garden... starting with Grandma's and then my mothers.
Built haystacks? You bet. A set of wooden teeth 12 ft.long---set at 10 inch intervals to create a 16 ft. wide area.--- and then mounted on 10 inch tall and 8 inch wide steel wheels --- was called a "bucker" One horse would be on each side and you would drive the team to pull the bucker forward over a row of hay until the bucker was full. Then, you would turn the team around and deposit the load unto a "stacker." The stacker had a double set of similar teeth. One set lay on the ground while the other set was attached verticle. The ones on the ground were only 14 ft. wide so that the horses and bucker could straddle the width and pull the bucker teeth up on top of the staker teeth. You would then back the horses and the bucker away from the stacker and let the load of hay rest on the horizontal teeth of the stacker.
My job was to use one horse to empty the stacker. The method of doing so was that a 75 ft. rope would be run over a set of pullies and attached to a hitch for the horse. As the horse pulled the rope away from the stacker the rope lifted the stacker teeth from a horizontal position on the ground unto a verticle position. When the teeth were verticle the hay would slip backwards over the back teeth and deposit the hay on top of that which had previously been lifted and deposited. If the alfalfa was really green then you needed to spread salt over every layer that was 2 ft. deep. The salt helped dry the hay and prevent the hay from catching on fire from the heat generated by the fermenting of the hay.
Now you have your agricultural lesson of the day.

FROM G.S.: Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.
He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received A steady stream of refusals.Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him.
"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, Hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed
next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No
sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens
were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down.
Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew. When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by
grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.