HOEING CROPS

  Hoeing crops was a huge part of my growing up years.  I started when I was about 10 years old and ended about age 20.  Every summer we hoed various crops--cotton, maize (milo), corn, peanuts, and castor beans, We mostly hoed weeds in cotton, corn, and maize fields.
    Early in the morning, around 7:00, while it was still cool, we would go to the field and start our day.  The rows were usually 1/2 mile long.  Each "round" was all the way up and back down the row, which would be 1 mile.  How many rounds a day we made depended on how many weeds there were. It was always nice to be able to take 2 - 4 rows at a time and get across the field quickly.  That rarely happened.
    We hoed all kind of weeds.  The main ones I remember are what we called careless weeds, white weeds, iron weeds, devil claws, tumbleweed, grass burrs, goatheads, and crab grass.
Below are pictures of each weed.

Tumbleweed

Tumbleweeds dry up and then blow away scattering their seeds.


white weed


Goathead


Crab grass


Grass burr


Devil's Claw  These weeds were very sticky and STUNK!!


Devil's Claw made a nasty seed.


Careless Weed


Iron Weed
I do not know the real name of this weed.  I
never found a picture of it on the internet.

















    The cotton is where we would usually get terrible white weed patches.  The weeds were very tough and dulled a hoe quickly. Hoeing them did not kill them, but actually multiplied them as they came back from the roots.  Repeated hoeing and plowing would eventually get rid of them.
     Iron weeds and careless weeds could get extremely tall.  One year we hoed some maize.  The weeds were as tall as the maize which was about waist high.  My brothers used shovels most of the time.  I had to use a hoe, but they would get the really big ones for me. If we could we would pull the weeds up by the roots.  That was easier than hoeing the tough stems.  **
      One year some of the ground in the field got missed being sprayed with weed killer.  This was before GPS.  So all kinds of grass came up in the maize.  It was so thick you could barely see the crop.  Eldon and I hoed all morning and maybe got half way through the field, 1/4 mile.  I am not sure, but we may have quit and hired some hoe hands to finish that job.
     Weldon was the only smart one.  He would file his hoe every few rounds. I didn't know how and guess Eldon didn't care.  He was strong enough it didn't matter.  My dad would file our hoes every morning and and lunch time.
      After every round, we would stop and get some water and rest for a few minutes.  Eldon never was very tired and urged us to get going quicker than I liked.  If it was really hot, we tried to sit in the shade of the pickup.  There were no trees.  Sometimes my mom would bring us a coke that we had put in the freezer.  That icy cold slushy drink tasted so good on a hot afternoon.
      Our day usually ended around 4:30 or 5:00.  Sometimes we would go back after supper if it was especially nice or if we were trying to finish a field.
       Sometimes I look back and wonder how we hoed all day long and in the heat.  It was not easy.  I think it made us stronger, healthier, and more appreciative of the money we got paid.  Hard earned money was not spent on just anything.  My dad never tolerated being lazy and not working hard.  He did not want us to stand around in the field leaning on our hoe handles.  We were urged to take breaks, but the lesson to be learned was "An honest day’s pay for a hard day’s work".


**  ( I think Holly, Cindy, Tammy, and Ethan will remember using a weed whip on these kinds of weeds in the church parking lot at Bloomfield.  The weeds were at least waist high or taller.  It took several days, maybe weeks to knock out those weeds.)