Hay Bailing

When I was about 12-13 years old in Virden, my brother in law, Laurence Smith, bought one of the first one man string tied bailers from International Harvester. He would pull it with a tractor (Farmall by International Harvester) and start the bailer and it would automatically feed the hay, tie it, and let off the bale. Laurence did custom bailing for the farmers in the area and he charged them $3 a ton. He had me take the tractor and bailer to the people's farms and bale their hay. He paid me .25 cents a ton. I could make $2-3 a day, not counting the travel time.

Hoeing Cotton Weeds

When I was 10-13 years old I used to hoe the weed in cotton fields. I would get paid .10 cents a row. Some of the rows were a quarter mile long. When I matured, I was paid .02 cents a pound to pick the cotton. If I worked all day long I could make $2.

Potato Shed

When I was about 12 years old in Virden, New Mexico I worked in the potato shed during potato season. The potato shed is where they sorted potatoes by quality and size into #1 or #2 etc. I was lifting 100 pound sacks of potatoes and working about 13 hours a day. I was getting paid .33 cents an our. I was saving money to get a motor scooter.