Dad was a skilled farmer. He had attended UK AG school for a couple of years and he had 3-4 generations of ancestors who were farmers. He was careful in his use of land by care
ful rotation of crops, erosion control and the nature of crops in the rotation to preserve nutrients in the soil. He also took care of wildlife by planting a field of a seed and cover crop like lespedeza for the birds. This was probably related to his interests in bird hunting. The loss of these crops is blamed for the loss of the quail population in our current habitat.
He prided himself in his judgment of good stock and went a lot a local and state fairs to keep informed. I think he was involved in judging stock at some of these fairs. I recall being taught “stock judging” in 4H club. Mr. Bob Hume was the county AG agent who mentored the club. We were taught characteristics to look for in good and bad stock.
I never developed much skill in this art – I couldn’t tell a good hog from a bad hog. Mr. Bob was a distant relative and was the brother of Aunt Dody’s husband, Uncle Phil. The 4H club was about the only group social activity outside of school available to me and provided recreational event as well non-parental farm mentoring. I recall a weeklong 4H club trip to the Smoky Mountains in about 1939 lead by Mr. Bob and one of the Grant County school teachers.
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