Don Herr, who died at the age of 90 on May 3, 2020, will be remembered in many ways in this community. CLICK HERE to read his obituary.
His family remember him as son, brother, husband, father, uncle, grandfather and friend, saying that Don was an exceptional role model to his children, sharing his love of wood working and carpentry skills; and helping in the building of each child’s home.
He took great joy in attending all events involving his children and grandchildren, who always knew where he was in the stands. His sense of humor and love of life will never be forgotten and his homemade bread baking skills will be missed.
Several years ago, the Icon interviewed Don Herr and his brother, Bill, about rodeos in Bluffton and also about farming in the 1940s and early 1950s.
The Icon intenda to use the interview in a book published soon titled “Bluffton Anthology: A Creek Runs Through It.”
A portion of that interview follow.
But, before we get to farming, here’s a Bluffton rodeo story reflecting Don’s skills in the arena. Don’s dad would keep the points scored by the contestants and the winner would receive a trophy. Don earned nearly 20 ribbons and one trophy during his rodeo days.
Don Herr on farming
Here’s a portion of that interview with Don talking about farming.
Before 1941 we farmed with horses. So until I was 11 years old it was strictly with horses. We had four horses – two teams. We had 60 acres and farmed 40 acres right behind it.
In 1941 we bought a Silver King tractor for $600. It had one wheel in front. These were built in Plymouth, Ohio. We drove down there to get it and we drove the tractor home. Hiram Spallinger in Columbus Grove was the dealer.
I had three runaways on horses by the time I was 11. I was mowing hay with the old horse mower and clear at the back of this second farm we hit a bumble bee’s nest. Those horses just went crazy. They took off. I couldn’t hold them. They pulled their bridles off and I took after them.
This was at the north end of the field. It was a one- half mile long field. They ran clear to the other end until they ran out of gas and stopped. The team still had the mower hooked and they actually mowed at a gallop for about 100 yards. And then it tipped over and they dragged it clear to the other end of the field.
Our Silver King tractor lasted for 15 or 20 years. It went 33 miles an hour. It was about the fastest tractor on the road. We had typical grain crops, hay and corn. Soybeans actually came later.
My uncle, Forrest Herr, said they’d actually raise the soybeans and cut it and feed it to cattle for hay. Those beans were black. We had a field of them. I hated those things. The dust on them would get on your – and you were sweaty anyhow and it would make you itch like crazy.
Milking process
We’d milk twice a day. We had a pipe line. We had a milking parlor. We’d walk in six cows and would milk three at once. While three were being milked the other three would wait. The milkers would set underneath the cows and when they were done we’d swing them over to the next cows.
We had a 3700 gallon tank where we stored the milk. It was big enough that we had to build an extension on to the milk house to get it in there. A good cow in a day’s time will give 7 to 145 gallons of milk.
Before we acquired the tank we stored the milk 10 gallon cans and a big cooler. Then we had a separator. You’d run the milk through the separator and it would separate the cream from the milk – we didn’t know what to do with it extra milk, so we fed it to the hogs. Today we drink it. That was good milk. Today they put a lot of stuff in it to keep it on the grocery shelves.
Don Basinger from Pandora would come pick up the milk or the 10-gallon cans of milk. The cost of milk was the problem. In 1964, when we finally sold the cattle, we earned $4.65 a hundred (100 pounds of milk). Now its more like $14 or $15 a hundred.
Everything was right there on the farm
In the 1950s it was a struggle to make a living entirely on the farm. When I was old enough I started to work outside the farm. Back in those days you had everything right there on the farm. Hogs, chickens, milk cows.
Swank’s meat market had a freezer where you could store your meat. That was quite a thing in those days. If you didn’t do that you either had to cure that meat like you cure a ham, with brown sugar and salt and then stick it in the oats bin. The oat bin was so dry that it would absorb the moisture out of that ham. That’s how you preserved it.
In our family, Forrest, Woodrow and Millard farmed together. Bill and I farmed together with our dad. And then my Uncle Jerome farmed for a while.
Don was involved in a threshing ring in the 1940s. We didn’t have enough room to put all our straw up in the mow, so we went behind the barn and built a rack and filled it with straw and that would give us an extra storage. .
The end of the thrashing ring
The combine ended the thrashing ring. The first combine the Herr’s bought was a Massey Ferguson. It was a seven-foot pulley type combine. It was pretty big back then – 7-foot wide. That was taking off a lot of wheat in those days. We got our first combine in say, 1946. I was a sophomore in high school.
Today’s combines could be 35 feet. Now they are in cabs sealed against dust.
