The proverb was recorded by John Heywood in 1546: “Whan the sunne shinth make hay.” It appears to be of English Tudor origin. The phrase was used in a non-farming context in 1673 in Richard Head’s Canting Academy: “She … was resolv’d … to make Hay whilest the Sun shin’d.”
It takes several days to make hay once the crop has grown mature. Most important, there should be no rain during that time. First, it must be cut and allowed to dry in the warm sun. Next, it must be gathered in a way that makes it easy to store until it is fed to livestock. Stacking in the field was a common practice. Several people were needed to tend a large field. The stack shape was designed to shed water. Claude Monet painted many beautiful scenes with haystacks in them. This is one of my favorites.
Claude Monet | Haystacks (Midday) | 1890-91 | National Gallery of Australia
More modern times brought tractor and raking technology. It sped up the preparation for storage. The rake sweeps the dried hay into fluffy windrows ready for a baling machine to access. My oldest sister is seen in this 1953 movie taken by my mother. Mom had a hard time seeing through the small viewfinder. Often, her subjects were not centered in the field of view. It adds to the charm. We appreciate her role as family cinematographer.
Most people couldn’t afford their own baling machine. You hired someone to come do the job. The Moore Brothers are in this movie. The hay baler formed rectangular blocks sized for a man to lift and stack on a wagon. The wagon was pulled near the hay barn directly below the large doors leading to the haymow. Large metal forks were inserted into 6-8 bales. A trip rope was handled by one person who would drop the bales in the haymow when they heard the call. We used a tractor to pull up the bales. Driving the tractor was a boring job as you went back and forth all day. All the action was elsewhere.
Neighbors got together to help each other harvest the hay in the shortest time. Paul H. is driving the tractor pulling the hay wagon to the barn. Dad and Dean C. are setting forks. Brother Ron is driving the tractor for pull-up. I don’t know who is in the haymow arranging the bales.
How I See It 
Love the old home movies, Jim. 🙂 Having dairy farms up and down our road, this was a familiar sight growing up. I loved to watch the bailer moving rhythmically up and down and popping out fresh bales. My brothers and boy cousins would gather them to build forts (which the farmer didn’t mind as it made it easy to pick them up later to bring to the barn) and for a few hours we would play our games of ‘cowboys and indians’ or ‘war,’ which was what most kids played back then.
Did you ever see my post on our local CSA farm’s horse powered haymaking? It might be of interest. http://wp.me/p3O3z4-wR
What a beautiful post you had about the horse-drawn haying. You captured it so well in words and pictures. Love the ear covers.
We had fun, once the bales were in the barn, by making tunnels and forts. Some tunnels were quite long and multi-leveled. I don’t remember feeling itchy or sweaty. We must have been a mess.
Sure, a mess. But you got to have a bath every week.
yep…and I got the tub water after my sisters and before my younger brothers.
Thanks, glad you liked it. Yes, kids are oblivious to much. We never used insect repellent or sun screen, must have been very tan with lots of itchy bites, but all I remember is the fun!
Wow! I am impressed! This is a fantastic piece of historical documentation. Tell your sister that I am following in her footsteps _ I insist on raking the hay – I don’t want to lose the leaves! c
Thank you, c. And, good for you. Save those savory leaves. Lots of nutrition in them.
Reblogged this on Our View From Iowa.
Mom remembers the pleasures of playing in her grandfather’s haymow. They stored loose hay, perhaps because they only were feeding a pair of horses and a cow or two. Or, they may not yet have had balers.
There was a haybarn that burned down a few years ago in a town I often visit. Apparently it was spontaneous combustion. I gather that can be a problem if the hay’s not dry when baled and stored. Here in Texas, you often see the plastic-covered round bales edging the fields. I had an aunt, born and raised in Chicago, who swore up and down that those bales were the source of shredded wheat biscuits. She was a smart lady, and had a responsible job, but we never could sway her on that. She could have been putting us on, with a straight face. I hope she was.
Yes, they can catch fire that way. It gets pretty hot if the hay isn’t cured and dry enough. The bales provide lots of insulation. They make an intense fire.
Those plastic lined ones remind me of tubes of sausage. 🙂
My husband’s family were farmers~how they would love to have film of it in action like this. Paul tells happy stories of the hay mow too.
I think the big round bales I see nowadays aren’t as much fun but I do like Monet’s paintings of haystacks.
Makes sense you would like the paintings. 🙂
Did you see the link in the comment by Eliza? It was to haying with horses. Very nice post.
I did, and it was lovely. I understand that many farmers are beginning to realize that returning to horses is more sustainable. Still, tractors are neat.
Some of my happiest childhood memories revolve around bringing the hay in and playing in the haymow! Thanks for the reminders!
My mother’s people were farmers and they were among the happiest I’ve ever encountered. There is profound satisfaction in a family group collectively making a living off the land. In my earliest days I recall chickens and pigs but those gave way to only cattle before long. But there was always a large vegetable garden every year and canning in the fall. Wood stoves, carrying water from a well. Churning buttermilk for beverage and butter. Milking the cows. Splitting wood.
I submit that human beings and leisure are fundamentally incompatible and that goal-seeking is essential to happiness. When reasonable goals are absent, strange things can occur. A couple of years ago I read in our local paper about a couple who were obsessed with collecting all things Roy Rogers. Every room in their home was full of Roy Rogers pictures and memorabilia.
I agree with your leisure submission. Life with known and possible tasks gives direction and reason. A basic reason is to be able to eat food that you made and that tastes good.
Don’t you think these things you mentioned are some reasons for the unrest and pain in the world. People are pushed from their routines, homes, and land into refugee status.
We gave goats and chickens to our grandkids for Christmas via Heifer International. Most are old enough to know why.
Roy Rogers obsession? Hmmm…not for me. I did enjoy the TV shows as a kid. 🙂
I’m familiar with Heifer International. As charities go, it is possibly the most inspirational. Good for you! 😀
Nice family history post, Jim. Very informative as I know little about haying. I think we’d all be better off with a farming experience to help us deal with life in a more sane manner. Too many take food for granted and have no appreciation for the farmers’ hard work. And it is hard even with modern technology to help them along.
We were fortunate enough to visit a Monet exhibit in Boston quite a few years ago and got to enjoy several of his Haystack paintings. The museum did an excellent job, of course, with lighting and they looked just wonderful.
Happy New Year to you and Melanie.
I’ve been fortunate to see farming from the viewpoint of the 50s and from that of the high tech side today. Tractors and combines today can drive themselves guided by GPS and stay on course to within a few inches. Neither time period was/is easy, as you point out.
Wednesday night on PBS we watched an interesting show about food. If you missed it, I suggest you try to find it and watch.
Happy New Year to you guys. May it be peaceful and inspiring for you.
Thanks for mentioning the PBS program, Jim. I will look for it.
See if this works for you.
http://video.iptv.org/video/2365635287/
It did and didn’t. For some reason, Firefox doesn’t play the audio in quite a few videos. But I was able to have audio watching it with Google Chrome and will watch more later. Thanks!
I use Chrome. It’s been quite a while since I used Firefox. I hope it plays clear through.
I think it will, but we are going to see if it’s available on Comcast On Demand rather than sit in front of the computer.
We use Chromecast to watch computer on the TV. So many devices and alternatives today. It is hard to keep track.
I think that is possible also on our TV, but at some point I just throw in the towel and stick with what I know. 🙂
BTW…if you have not read his book, Omnivore’s Dilemma”, it is worth picking up a copy. There is also a book for this video and I’ll look for that.
I’ve heard it referenced many times. Sadly, I haven’t read it. I shall put it on my list.
It’s a real eye opener regarding agribusiness and livestock.
We saw that show when it aired. I remember Michael Pollan’s admonition to eat mostly things that look like food. Sounds obvious, but he was contrasting “food” with things that fill the breakfast cereal aisle, snack aisle, and candy aisle in supermarkets.
I forgot to mention that we’ve been to the Art Instituted in Chicago many times. They hold a large collection of Impressionism works, many by Monet. There are always some Haystack and Wheatstack paintings on display.
This is something that is unheard of on this neck of the woods, as we obviously don’t have winters. However, I remember when going to Florida and seeing the big round bales, and not knowing what they were for. Even Florida has these in rural areas where they get frost. Monet seemed to be obsessed with light, he did several works studying how light falls on subjects. Lovely post!