Making Hay

June is the month when hay is on the minds of many farmers and in the fields waiting to be cut.

Rowe, being predominantly agricultural and horse driven, was no different in the early days. The difference we see in many of the old photographs is that it was all done by hand.

The men would gather to swing their scythes early in the morning and allow the hay to dry in the field. They didn’t have the weather forecasting that we do now and I often wonder how stressful this whole process must have been. Once dry, the hay was raked by hand into piles that would be tossed onto a wagon drawn by horses to be returned to the barn. Eventually the raking was done by a horse drawn machine.

  • Haying with Joe Magnago toward the west end of Ford Hill Road

  • Fred Browning on B.T. Henry's wagon

  • Hay rake at Henderson farm

  • Haying on the Williams farm, 1946. Left to right – Francis Jackman pitching hay, Jim Williams driving the wagon, Nancy Williams (his mother) on the wagon, Fred Williams beside the wagon, horses Prince and Daisy.

The loose hay was pitched from the wagon into the hayloft of the barn in preparation for winter feeding. Barns often had ramps on a gable end to allow the wagons to be driven in at a higher level and enable a farmer to get the hay in with greater ease.

There is a plethora of photographs of people in town haying and for all the work, it seems people had a good time at it as well. It may have to do with the saying, “Many hands make light work.” This job required a team effort and there was great satisfaction when the job was complete. It seems to have been an event that was recorded more often than any other seasonal chore.

Then there were those who used haying season as a reason to go for a hayride in their Sunday best, and pretend to pitch a little hay. That’s a moment to record for posterity.

E.D. Henderson driving

Text by Joanne Semanie. Photos from the Museum collection.