3/24/81

Introduction

More on the Silo
Scope and Content Note: Built in 1915-1916. Father decided to change and build “hip” roof in 1946. Roof's design described. Anecdote about putting up silo pipes.

Milkhouse Built Adjacent to Barn in Early 1930's
Scope and Content Note: Former milk cooling method was to pump water over ten-gallon milk cans. Swiss cheese production required better cooling and milkhouse. First cooler was cold water in a pipe system over which milk poured. Electric bulk cooler bought in early 1960's.

Windmill Supplies Water from 1917 to the Present
Scope and Content Note: Originally built about 1917 in bottomland for cattle water; moved to present location on upland in 1927. Family members and neighbors laid pipes by hand from well to farm buildings. No leak in system until 1977.

Blacksmith Shop Built South of House in 1916
Scope and Content Note: Built by father, Bennett Paulson and Benhard Brusveen. Part of building made into auto garage. First Ford Model T bought in 1926; father bought Model T touring car in 1929 and converted to truck to haul milk and grain.

Hog House Built South of Barn in 1939-1940
Scope and Content Note: Logs cut on the farm hauled in wagon to sawmill in Postville. Well-built building held five brood sows; lean-to in back used as tractor shed.

Chicken House North of House
Scope and Content Note: Built before Brusveen born; still stands on farm.

Cornerstone on Southwest Corner of Barn Laid by Maternal Grandfather in 1921
Scope and Content Note: Was stonemason all his life. Paternal grandfather, a blacksmith, also a good woodsman, grubbed prairies and cleared land west of New Glarus.

Grandparents All Came from Norway
Scope and Content Note: Mother's parents, Thorston and Ingeborg (Ellefsrud) Ragnhildrud, brought her to the United States in 1884. Earned living by farming, stonework and bridge construction. Father's parents, Haldor and Marit (Venden) Brusveen, brought him to the United States in 1885. Earned living by blacksmithing, clearing timber and some farming.

Specific Location of Brusveen Farm
Scope and Content Note: Straddles York Center Road in middle of Section 11, Town of York, Green County. Parents earlier owned 26-acre farm straddling present State Highway 39 at Drummond Valley in Section 6. Before buying that farm, had worked on the 60-acre Venden farm now bisected by 39 just north of Highway 78 in Section 5.

End of Tape 2, Side 1

Introduction

Brusveen Baptized, Confirmed, Married at York Center Lutheran Free Church
Scope and Content Note: Old church located southeast of York Memorial Lutheran Church which is at junction of Highways 39 and 78. Was torn down and replaced during congregation's centennial celebration in 1955. Discusses membership schism in late 1800's. Brusveen has served church in different capacities.

Leaves School after Eighth Grade to Help on Farm
Scope and Content Note: Father 54 years old at the time; Howard felt obligated to help.

Begins Full-Time Carpentering in 1950
Scope and Content Note: By 1949, farm could not support both families. Brusveen sold share of cattle to work with Olin Nelson. One of a crew of five that built barns and homes. after Nelson died in early 1950's, worked with Bernie Barr, Arthur Juve and Orvin Phillipson to build homes and barns, install barn cleaners, etc.

Father Rents Out Farmland in Late 1950's
Scope and Content Note: Decided farm becoming unprofitable, so rented to neighbors. Howard disturbed because land cropped and nothing returned to soil.

Howard Brusveen Buys Farm in 1959-1960
Scope and Content Note: Money borrowed from local source and Federal Land Bank for land contract purchase. Paid $100 per acre. Laid out upland on contours and strips. Also rented about 20 acres from nearby 40-acre farm.

Interview Interrupted by Arrival of Visitor

Tape-Recorded Interview Resumes after Visitor Leaves

Gets Clear Title to Farm by 1966
Scope and Content Note: Bought out interests of parents, brother, sisters; converted all debts to Federal Land Bank. Bought almost all used equipment, through Bank of New Glarus. Savings in Bank of New Glarus was basis of credit.

Makes Own Farm Repairs
Scope and Content Note: Bought welder; worked in shop adjoining garage. Had no repairs made in town; left good working equipment when he quit farming.

Resumes Basic Corn, Oats, Hay Crop Rotation after Contouring
Scope and Content Note: Contouring consolidated upland 41 acres into 77-foot wide strips running from one property line to the other. Tried to keep at least half in hay.

Seed Information from Old Neighbors in Early Years
Scope and Content Note: Criteria for hay seed choice were thriftiness in summer and survival in winter. Corn seed came from best ears in field; dried in attic of house.

Corn Planting Done with Hand Planter until 1946
Scope and Content Note: Plant marker marked three rows at a time; could plant five or six acres a day with two hand planters. Still uses one planter for garden sweet corn.

Begins Using Hybrid Corn Seed in Late 1930's
Scope and Content Note: Impressed with Alvin Paulson's results after he won bushel of hybrid seed in mid-1930's. Improved drought resistance; higher yield. Open-pollinated varieties used before hybrids were Golden Glow and another variety. [Brusveen recalled the hybrid's name, Yellow Murdock, in an unrecorded discussion on July 7, 1981.]

Use of Commercial Fertilizers Begun in 1938
Scope and Content Note: Very little used at first, for corn. Each year, gradually increased amounts. Never keen on commercial fertilizer; now convinced of its overuse.

Pasture Land Used until 1977
Scope and Content Note: About 40 acres, open wooded; could not go in with implements so pastured cattle there. About nine acres in bottomland plowed under and reseeded occasionally.

Pastures and Water Supply Both Improved by Contouring
Scope and Content Note: Well on hill was critically low by 1959. after contouring, water held on hill instead of running down valley. Galvanized steel pipes laid in 1927 now need replacing, especially under barnyard; water level itself not reason for improvement.

End of Tape 2, Side 2

Introduction

Brusveen Grows Oats during Entire Farm Tenure

Hogs Raised until Early 1950's
Scope and Content Note: Breeds included Duroc Jersey, Spotted Poland China, Belted, Land Race. Land Race lean but difficult to raise to 220 pounds. Hogs and chickens gone after early 1950's, after which grains fed to dairy cattle.

Chickens Raised until Early 1950's
Scope and Content Note: Kept from 100 to 125 chickens per year; kinds included White Rock, Plymouth Rock, White Leghorn, Brown Leghorn, Bantees. in early years, eggs brought important income to buy boots, clothes, groceries.

Work Horses
Scope and Content Note: Heavy-footed Clydesdales great work horses. Mares bred for colts in addition to field work. Colts sold; not needed on farm. Description of various wagons pulled by horses.

Rocks Picked from Fields Every Season
Scope and Content Note: In early days, rocks picked, piled, unpiled, hauled to crusher, crushed for lime; lime hauled to and spread on fields.

Every Farmer Owns Surrey Before Model T's Arrive
Scope and Content Note: Description of surrey. First area Model T Ford bought by Bennett Paulson. Brusveen given first ride to York Center Cheese Factory and back.

Plows Seven to Eight Inches Deep Using Horse Power
Scope and Content Note: Farm soil shallow loose soil over deep red clay. if plowed too deep, moldboard would not scour. First had walking plow, later obtained David Bradley riding plow which was used until first tractor purchased.

Buys Tractor from Erb Implement Company, Inc. in New Glarus
Scope and Content Note: Tractor, unlike horses, did not eat anything when unused. Had steel lugs and mounted 16-inch plow. Bought corn cultivator and corn planter in 1946-1947; worked for neighbors for extra income. [Also see Tape 1, Side 1, 25:10.]

Other Tractors Obtained
Scope and Content Note: Sold Allis-Chalmers B to George Lewis of Forward. Bought McCormick H in 1946 from brother-in-law Ed Jorenby. Was first tractor in community with rubber tires. Dependable even in coldest weather; kept until 1977, by which time had also bought two McCormick Super C's.

Corn-Raising Implements Change from Horse-Drawn Cultivator, Planter and Binder to Tractor and Combine
Scope and Content Note: In 1950's, father began to rent neighbors' combine for harvesting. Brusveen continued renting in 1960's. Combine covered 30 to 40 acres per season.

Buys First Grain Binder from Zumpker Brothers of New Glarus

Buys Used Haybalers
Scope and Content Note: Bought first at auction in Belleville, second from neighbor in exchange for pick-up truckload of corn plus $75. Brusveen fixed up both balers; probably still used in neighborhood. Service important in keeping good farm machinery.

End of Tape 3, Side 1

Introduction

Converts First Allis-Chalmers B Tractor to Rubber Tires Soon after Purchase
Scope and Content Note: Four-inch lugs on gravel road would “just about shake the liver out of you.”

Later Uses Grain Binder on Neighbors' Lands for Extra Income
Scope and Content Note: Binder a McCormick with four levers; had to operate one or another constantly. Earlier-owned binder, also with no bundle carrier, was much heavier, requiring three horses to pull it. Anecdote about once shocking grain behind binder without rest as a storm was coming.

Shocks Corn Behind a Binder Also
Scope and Content Note: Heavier and slower work; bundle carrier used behind binder eliminated need to run during shocking.

Other Equipment
Scope and Content Note: Corn elevator bought as junk and rebuilt; also owned auger elevator. Corn picker owned during last six or seven years on farm.

Never Irrigates

Begins to Use Commercial Fertilizers in 1940's
Scope and Content Note: Used sparingly because expensive; also, felt it was a contaminant. Discusses similarity between fertilizers and nuclear fallout as contaminants to environment.

Brusveen Writes Often to State and National Government Representatives
Scope and Content Note: Responses varied; has no respect for local politics. Believes should relate “Golden Rule” to political problems; international examples of its neglect discussed.

Uses Some Commercial Fertilizers and Pesticides in Later Years
Scope and Content Note: Fertilizer use minimal before 1960. Insecticide use required after 1970 when Brusveen grew corn two consecutive years on bottomland. No major insect problems. Herbicides not used very much.

Noxious Weeds
Scope and Content Note: Yellow rocket first seen in mid-1960's. Every year, family members all pulled out weeds after rains. Mustard also a problem; pulled twice a season from corn fields. Used scythe and corn knife in open, wooded pasture to cut thistles, a three-day job for whole family.

Family Members Work Both on and off Farm
Scope and Content Note: After 1930, brother Thomas worked another farm a few years before becoming a barber in Monticello. Both sisters hired out to help support family. Howard worked farm at home; wife Avis helped with farm work after marriage. Howard a full-time farmer besides carpentering during later years.

End of Tape 3, Side 2

Introduction

Works at Both Farming and Construction
Scope and Content Note: Even while full-time carpenter in 1950's, Brusveen did chores and field work when needed by father. Earlier in father's tenure, neighbors often worked together on their construction jobs.

Full-Time Farmer and Part-Time Builder after 1960
Scope and Content Note: Construction work included adding onto Sylvan Erickson's barn, installing barn cleaner in brother-in-law Byron Kittelson's barn. Had green chopper during last ten years, so collected and fed green chop forage before and after construction work most days. Green fed forage more effective than pasturing.

Brusveen Himself Does Most Work with Implements in the Field

Brusveen Children Help on Farm Before Eventually Leaving
Scope and Content Note: Steve, born in 1950, a good, conscientious farm worker but did not like milking. Now a fourth generation woodworker who lives in New Glarus and works in Madison. Betty, born in 1953, also helped on farm; later worked with deaf people.

Exchange Work with Neighbors
Scope and Content Note: Worked well without formal record keeping until around 1970. Seasonal help not needed except back in days of cooperative harvesting work. Women made meals together. People enjoyed the company although outside work was hard and dirty. Cooperatively owned 22-36 McCormick International Harvester Tractor succeeded steam engine later.

Family Garden Furnishes Large Part of Food Supply
Scope and Content Note: Father and children prepared garden; mother and Avis cared for it and canned. Garden hand hoed.

Neighborhood Butchering
Scope and Content Note: Neighbors often butchered beef or hogs cooperatively on various farms during winter months. Describes goodness of home-canned meat.

Garden Care More Intensive Than Field Care
Scope and Content Note: Plowed in spring and cared for with hand tools. Area was 40 feet by 60 feet. Shared sweet corn, planted around edge of field, with raccoons. Cultivated garden in early days with riding horse and one row cultivator. Later used two-horse cultivator with pin-break to avoid rock damage.

Farm Shifts to Emphasize Dairy Production in Early 1950's
Scope and Content Note: Kept some chickens and brood sows until the mid-1950's. in 1946, sold eggs to Southern Wisconsin Produce for 74 cents a dozen. No higher in price today, which doesn't seem right.

Size of Dairy Herd Expands from 12 to 25 Head Between 1920's and 1970's
Scope and Content Note: Included all ages. in 1920's and 1930's, no milk produced from December 1 until around March 15 each year. in later years, kept about 15 to 16 milkers at a time; cows freshened to keep milk flow even all year. Cream separated from first milk in spring and made into butter; stored at neighbor's springhouse all summer.

End of Tape 4, Side 1

Introduction

Stream on the Farm
Scope and Content Note: Farm stream was deep enough for fishing. Anecdote about falling off bridge into water as child. Stream fell in size after well drilled.

Dairy Feeding Done Largely by Hand Through the Years
Scope and Content Note: Before hay baled, loose hay in field put up into haycocks with dump rake. Cured for two or three days. Harpoon fork used to hoist hay to mows. Seven mows in barn; each held about 1,000 pounds of hay spread with a fork. Temperature probably at least 100 degrees in mow.

Feeds More Grain, Feed Supplements and Green Chop after Silo Collapses
Scope and Content Note: Fed mostly concentrated grain rations and hay in winter. Fed hay and grain also in early years if silo froze up. if a dry year, fed shredded stalks combined with diluted molasses; enough to sustain dry cows through months.

Begins Buying Feed Supplements and Concentrates Periodically after Early 1940's
Scope and Content Note: Some roughage not nutritious enough. Experimented after obtaining information from advertisements in farm papers.

Need for Supplements and Medications Increases after 1960
Scope and Content Note: Seemed to be more diseases among livestock than before Brusveen purchased farm.

Improves Grade Herd of Early Days to Purebred Standards
Scope and Content Note: No paperwork kept. in 1930, got purebred calves from Roscoe Smith near Monroe for 4-H project; home improvement of herd begun at this time. by the 1960's, utilized artificial insemination from purebred bulls. Hogs were improved also.

Keeps Bull from Time to Time Before Artificial Breeding Becomes Reliable
Scope and Content Note: Artificial breeding part of attempt after 1960 to build more productive herd and farm; began to haul 60 acres worth of hay from nearby rented land.

1936 as a Year of Summer Drought and Winter Deep Snows
Scope and Content Note: Harvested only seven loads of hay instead of normal 30 to 40 loads. No land available to rent to obtain extra hay. Rain in September allowed harvest of foxtails and any other plants. Salvaged everything possible from fields. Winter had five weeks below zero degrees; couldn't get off the farm for over three weeks. No mail delivery was possible for two weeks.

In 1930's, Everyone Works Own Farm So Little Nearby Land to Rent
Scope and Content Note: Brusveens and relative rented farm halfway to New Glarus for several years in early 1930's.

In 1960's, Brusveen Rents Land Wherever Possible
Scope and Content Note: Used three tractors for convenience. Rented on halves of crop instead of renting for cash.

Health Prevents Desired Expansion of Farm to 120 Acres
Scope and Content Note: Wanted to buy 40-acre farm to the northeast. at first, lost out to a higher bidder; later chances passed up because of developing problems with neck and shoulders.

Builds Up, But Never Registers, Holstein Herd
Scope and Content Note: Herd was of registrable quality, however. Also had purebred hogs for breeding stock. Hog variety switched from time to time to follow market demand.

Returns Crop and Animal By-Products to Land When Possible
Scope and Content Note: Spread manure with tractor-drawn spreader from 1940's on. Piled manure until he had time to put it out on corn ground. Crop residues salvaged when useful for feed or put back in ground for humus.

Hauls Milk to York Center Cheese Factory until 1967
Scope and Content Note: York Center factory remained in operation, but smaller farmers lost control when cheesemakers increased volume, relied on larger pro- ducers, and reduced quality of product. Next, sold milk to Pure Milk Products Association (PMPA). Considered PMPA satisfying to an extent, but overall, thought all cheese discriminated against farmers. Last two or three years, sold milk to Milwaukee Cheese Company in Monroe.

Remains Grade B Milk Producer until Retirement
Scope and Content Note: If health had permitted, would have updated barn and upgraded equipment to produce grade A. Felt, however, he was already producing milk under grade a standards.

End of Tape 4, Side 2