Fertilizing
Although children dreaded cleaning out the barn and the chicken
house, the result of their labor was free fertilizer that helped
to renew soil nutrients and increase crop yields. Horse and
cow waste was shoveled into a manure spreader and driven around
the field as the machine flung the material on top of the soil.
Chicken manure was spread on the family's vegetable garden
by hand.
Written by Claudia Reinhardt.
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A manure spreader
at work in front of a plow. |
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"We'd
have … the team of horses on [a] manure spreader and
pull it close to the door. From there on we used the shovel
to pick up the manure, throw it in the spreader… [When
the spreader was full, we'd] take it out to the
field … throw it in gear, and it would throw the manure
out." -- Herbert
Heine (Quicktime required) |
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