story
THE PERKINS
JOURNAL, Thursday, July 22, 2010 - A5 "
By Charles Wall
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Johnson grass
Johnson grass is a plant My son Robert uses John-
that was introduced to our son grass for grazing, but
country over a hundred years he rotates the grazing. He
ago. Traditionally through moves the cattle to another
the years, it has been consid- area and lets the Johnson
ered as a pest and a weed, but grass recover. He is not
it has also been used for hay trying to eliminate it, but he
and grazing, wants it to continue.
The other day I was pick- There are some hazards
ing up large square hay bales to grazing Johnson grass,
from a meadow which had because summer drought
tall Johnson grass. The bales stress sometimes causes it
were four feet high and eight to have toxic conditions,
feet long. With the ample commonly called Johnson
moisture we have had, the grass poisoning.
Johnson grass had grown The story is told that Elmo
up over four feet high, and and Lyle Barnes father
I was having some trouble would load a milk cow in
finding those bales in the the stock racks in the back
tall Johnson grass. (I was of the pickup when they had
using a tractor with a front to drive cattle down the road
end loader to load the bales to another pasture. Then if
on a trailer), any of the cattle became sick
The hard-to-find bales from eating Johnson grass,
in the tall Johnson grass Mr. Barnes would get some
reminded me of a similar milk from the cow, and give
situation with Johnson grass it to the sick animal. The
back in 1942. My dad and milk would counteract the
grandfather had cut a field poisoning and the animal
of wheat with a binder, and would recover.
the bundles of wheat were . When Johnson grass is
in shocks scattered around dry, itbums readily in a wild
the field, fire. This indicates that it is a
The normal practice would possible source of alternative
have been to have the thresh- energy. Maybe someday it
ing machine and a crew of can be usedto make into cel-
neighbors to come and thresh lulose fuel.
the wheat, but that didn't If a person inadvertently
work out that summer, grabs a handful of Johnson
The alternate plan used grass, the blade of the grass
that summer was to pull will cut his handjust like the
Grandpa's combine with blade of a knife.
the tractor around the field, Johnson grass growing on
from shock to shock, pitch- roadsides causes blind cor-
fork the bundles into the ners at rural intersections.
combine, and thresh the The county mowing crew
wheat that way. : and, local residents try to
The only trouble was that keep intersections mowed.
with the various kinds of My late cousin Bud Prib-
field work that summer, the benow was a Kansas State
threshing job was delayed, Trooper. Fifty years ago we
and my dad and grandpahad family reunions here,
were still working on that and he would admonish me
threshing job in August. By to mow the intersections by
then, the Johnson grass had our farm, to prevent blind
grown up tall, and it was comers.
difficult to find the shocks
of wheat.
Grandma Wall would go
ahead of the men and the
combine and find the next
shock, while the men were
threshing the previous shock.
The Johnson grass was tall,
and Grandma was short.
Grandma would hold up a
pitchfork so the men could
see where to pull the com-
bine for the next shock. So
they were having the ,same
trouble finding the shocks
in 1942, as I was having the
other day, in 2010, in finding
the bales of hay.
As a plant Johnson grass
is aggressive and persistent.
It is especially a nuisance in
the traditional row crops like
cotton and corn. It grows up
from both roots and seed.
Crop rotation with wheat
and summer fallow can
eventually eliminate it. Con-
tinuous grazing by cattle will
eliminate it, because it is so
palatable. The cattle graze it
to the ground, and eventually
kill it out.
s on
Often when a historian to boot camp, During one
is researching a project, he of their final tests before
or she may stumble upon becoming firefighters,
unexpected unanswered the young women had to
questions. This is the successfully remove and
case for John Withers at replace their face masks
the Sheerar Museum of while being locked in a
Stillwater History. chamber filled with poi-
Withers has been sonousgas.
researching the history of The Volunteer Firefight-
Stillwater'sfirefightersand ers were extremely suc-
police officers for the"First cessful, respected by the
Responders" exhibit open- community and received
ing in September. During national recognition.
his research, Withers dis- Their fire chief, Betty Joe
covered a brief time in his- Kerby, was the first woman
tory when college women to attend the National Fire
were the firefighters of Department Instructors'
Stillwater. This took place Conference as a delegate.
in1942 when the majority Stillwater's success with
of the men were shipped the program inspired the
offto fight other fires over- discussion of women as
seas in World War II. firefighters across the
Stillwater Fire Chief nation
J. Ray Pence carefully In his discovery of the
selected college women collegiate women firefight-
for the program. They ers, Withers discovered a
would undergo the same mention of Junior Coed
training that the men did, Firefighters, high school
which was often compared girls. Withers is looking for
,t,
any additional information please contact the museum
that anyone can offer about by phone, (405) 377-0359, "'
the Junior and the colle- email at sheerarmuseum@
giate Coed Firefighters. If sbcglobal.net, or feel free
you have any information, to drop by!
M0ment ment. ibility, when it came upon
the Chrysler Building. The
Tl II l tl¢ - • On July26,1931, a swarm plane swerved to avoid the
of grasshoppers descends on building, but the move sent
• On July 30, 1619, in
Jamestown, Va., the first
elected legislative assem-
bly in the New World
-- the House of Burgesses
-- convenes in the choir
of the town's church. Its
first law required tobacco
to be s01d for at least three
shillings per pound. Other
laws included prohibitions
against gambling, drunken-
ness and idleness. Sabbath
observance was made man-
datory.
• On July 29, 1909, newly
formed General Motors
Corporation acquires the
luxury automaker Cadillac
Automobile Company for
$4.5 million.In 1954, Cadil-
lac was the first automaker
to provide power steering
and automatic windshield
wa~her~ as standard equip-
crops throughout the Amer-
ican heartland, devastating
millions of acres, especially
in Iowa, Nebraska and
South Dakota. The swarm
was said to be so thick that it
blocked out the sun and one
could shovel the grasshop
pers with a scoop.
• On July28,1945, a United
States B-25 Mitchell bomber
crashes into the Empire
State Building, killing 14
people. The freak accident
was caused by heavy fog.
The bomber was flying
low, seeking better vis-
it straight into the north side
of the Empire State Build-
ing, near the 79th floor.
• On July 31, 1964, Ranger
7, an unmanned U.S. lunar
probe, takes the first close-
up images of the moon --
4,308 in total. The images
were 1,000 times clearer
than anything ever seen
through Earth-bound tele-
scopes. ,:~:
• Aug 1, future
President George Walker
Bush is suspended from
flying with the Texas Air
National Guard for missing
an annual medical exami-
nation. Bush was given an 7;
honorable discharge from
the Air National Guard
in 1973 to attend Harvard :
Business School.
• On July 27, 1981, Adam
John Walsh, age 6, is
abducted from a mall in
Hollywood, Fla., and later
found murdered. Adam's
father, John Walsh,
became a leading victims'
fights activist and host of :
the long-running television
show "America's Most"
Wanted."
(c) 2010 King Features Synit.,
Inc.
Horse-Drawn Z
Mower
In 1847 the first of what eventually be over
100 brands of horse-drawn mowers was offered for
sale. By the time Perkins area was for
settlement, fiOwwex, the bad (and the designs
among them had been winnowed out. The Perkir
settler could choose from proven, dependable
machines.
This truly was an agrieultmal tnil ao. With the
hozse-dmwn mower (and the :horse-drawn rakes and
which quickly followegO hay crop could be
put in the barn wtth only a small of the labor
that was required using hand tools, and with a
significant increase in the quality the hay.
The Farm Tool mid Equipment Collection at tbe
Oklahoma Territorial Plaza contains afine example of
a McCormick-D dng No. 7 HoeseDrawn Mower.
Dist. 1 Lincoln Co. Commissioner
Republican Primary July 27
• Has faced 3 Natural Disasters Head-On... Working Closely with
FEMA & State to Overcome Creat Adversity in the District
• Fiscally Responsible - Watches After Taxpayer Money
, • Developing Long Range Improvement Plans - Three New Bridges
Underway, Three More Coming -... Two Paving Jobs Done, Two
More Coming... Don Helps Every Community inthe District! -
GET OUT AND VOTE... LET'S GIVE DON A FULL 4-YEAR TERM
Paid for by Don Sporleder, Box 700, Davenport, OK 74026
[::, .:: ................... ........ ....
Come in for Hometown Service
Friendly & Familiar Faces You Know
East Hwy. 33 • Perkins
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