By: Bernie Thill 

 Having been raised on a farm 77 years ago, there are many memories as I lived on the farm for my first 17 years. The barn was a great place to play with my neighbors on a Saturday or Sunday being very careful not to disturb the cattle if in winter time, we liked hide and seek – the best going  overhead to the hay loft to hide. 

Time to feed the cattle after school, change clothes as soon as I got home and a quick fresh hot bun or two or three. There were no bales of hay, (all loose) and I used a fork to carry it to the cattle mangers. 

The silo was attached to the barn (a new addition to the barn in the 30’s). There was no electricity in the barn until the 30’s, always being very careful of fire from the kerosene lantern. The barn was very old and always needed repair, especially the roof as part of it was quite flat. Lots of tar and patching, being very careful not to fall through on weak or rotten boards. There were concrete gutters which helped for cleaning out. There was a metal carrier attached to a steel rod about 100 plus feet long. It went all the way through the barn along the gutter and you hand pitched the manure into it. When it was full, you pushed it out on the cable and dumped it. The carrier was hung on wheels with roller bearings in them. (Keep them well oiled.) 

Milking time was always interesting and very challenging at times. Some cows would kick you with no warning, you then put steel shackles around their legs to stop that. In the winter, you would tie their tails so they couldn’t switch you. Otherwise, you got a face full of manure and pee (caused from when the cow laid down.) 

Also, you had to be very careful and cautious in the winter or summer when walking behind the cows that were lined up in the stanchions. Because, if they coughed, you got a nice juicy job of manure shot at you. You had to be prepared to duck or run. 

The cows were trained to come in the barn winter or summer, to their individual stanchions. In the winter, the cattle were run outside while the barn was nicely cleaned every day. Trying to hurry to clean the barn so the cows wouldn’t freeze their teats. I had orders not to scratch the frost from the barn windows as the glass would crack. There was always an inch or so of frost on the windows and you would look for a crack in the glass to look outside. 

Another pleasant memory of the barn was you had a cup in a clean place and would fill it with fresh warm milk while hand milking the cow. I would also squirt fresh milk at the waiting cat. It would sit up and catch the milk. (Watch for dad!) 

Haying time was very hard. My brother would hand pitch hay up to the hay loft and my dad and I would store the hay in the loft. It was always very hot in there. The pleasant memories of that was after haying, the rainy days came and everybody rested. So I would go up in the hay mow and lay down and listen to the rain drops hitting the roof, enjoying the very sweet smell of fresh cured hay. It wouldn’t be long and I was in slumber land. 

The two horses were our only means of power to operate the farm till the tractors came in. (It was the early 40’s for us because of finances.) They had their own separate stalls. They came in every day in the winter to eat ground feed which was very important for them to keep strong. When I walked behind them to go to another area of the barn I would always have to talk to them because  the one would kick at any movement from behind. 

The barn got a coat of red paint, not too often, because of the expense. This one particular old barn with all the pleasant and unpleasant memories has fallen down and gone, but the memories will never be gone. 

P.S. Normal winters then were –30 to –40 degrees and 3 to 4 feet of snow.