Memories of Haying
This photo by Hartley Trussler is of an unspecified North Bay farm. Anyone with information about the farm is welcome to email Naomi Hehn at naomi@northbaymuseum.com.
Memories of... Haying
“Hay was an important crop in the early days. When a farmer had his barn full of well-cured hay it was like money in the bank.
The job we kids liked best was hauling the hay into the barn. While the hay was pitched on the hay rack of the wagon we could tramp it down. It was great fun jumping and tumbling around in the soft hay as the old wagon jolted over the rough ground. Then, when it was “mowed away” in the barn, we could climb up on the beams and jump into it and pack it down so more hay could be stored in the mow.
Haying was hard, hot work. You sweat like a horse and there was no shower waiting for you. At the end of the day you took a skinny dip in the mill pond before crawling into bed.”
— Hartley Trussler