Lushton farm 2

Thanks to Dad (Carl) for sending me the aerial picture below, probably taken sometime between 1958 and 1960. The photo looks to the northwest; the corn rows above the north shelterbelt are oriented north–south. For additional background on the Lushton farm, see here.

Grandpa owned the south half of the quarter (80 acres), half of which he bought for himself (1927?) and half of which he received as a gift from his father (Peter P). The north half of the quarter was owned by Grandpa’s older brother Peter, who bought 40 acres from their sister Anna to go with his own 40-acre holdings. The dividing line between the two parcels of land was the north shelterbelt.

The green space between the two shelterbelts was a pasture; the curve of the terraces is still visible in the photograph. Both the terraces and the north shelterbelt were intended to slow down erosion as much as possible. The mid-1930s were the Dust Bowl years, and soil conservation was a significant concern. The north shelterbelt contained five half-mile-long rows of trees, stretching from the east boundary of the quarter to the west boundary. The shelterbelt was planted as part of the Great Plains Shelterbelt (under the Works Projects Administration). The federal government funded the planting of the trees; the property owner was responsible for their care after that. I have it on good authority that Grandpa paid the younger kids 25¢ (or possibly 35¢) a row to hoe weeds from among the trees. Not everyone spent his earnings wisely.

The house (1) was built in 1897, thus before Grandpa and Grandma bought the farm. Square nails were used in its construction.

Directly east of the house was a brooder house for young chicks not yet ready for life in the regular chicken coops (5). A second brooder house (3) was located directly north of the white one.

Between the north brooder house and the chicken coops was a feed bin (4). As its name implies, it held feed for all the livestock. It had to be filled three or four times a year.

If I understand correctly, the chicken coops (5) were two buildings joined by a central walkway; to the west stood a small white granary (6) and a corn crib (7).

A machine shed (8) was south of the chicken coops, with an elevator (9) that Grandpa had built to the south of it. Several small buildings (10) were located west of the machine shed and elevator, and the barn (11) was on the south end of the farmstead.

Please email me with any corrections to the above or further details that you would like to share with everyone else.