The Story of Andy Kjearsgaard
It was a fact of life (and still is, in most cases) that every farm boy had to help out. There were routine chores like cleaning the barn, chopping firewood and weeding the garden, and seasonal jobs like haying and harvesting.
To prove up the homestead, Dad had to clear at least ten acres every year. Around Dickson this meant:
• clearing and burning the brush
• grubbing out and pulling out the stumps
• breaking the soil
• picking roots
Clearing and burning
This was a winter job, done by men and older boys using axes. Larger diameter trees were cut about 3 feet (1 m) above ground, limbed, piled and hauled home for firewood. The removed limbs and small brush were piled separately for burning.
Grubbing Out and Pulling Stumps
As soon as the frost was out of the ground, we grubbed out the stumps. Arne and I used spades, grub hooks and axes to expose the stump's roots, then chopped out as many as we could. When we finished each stump, we'd put a certain type of leathery leaf in our pockets as a record. Dad paid us for this hard job––a penny (one cent) per stump.
Later in the spring, we used a team of horses to pull the stumps out and haul them to a pile. We'd burn them next winter.
Breaking
Dad paid a contractor to break up the soil, using a tractor and breaking plough.
Picking Roots
The school year ended at the end of June. July First was Dominion Day––a day for fun. On July second, we started picking roots. They had to be removed to prevent damaging our equipment when we prepared the seedbed. We hated this dirty, back-breaking job but we did it.
Dad needed our help.
Adapted from the 1994 Heritage Book,with permission from the Federation of Danish Associations in Canada
Teaser:
• See how picking roots leads to a lucky strike.
