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Film, Video Cutting and Windrowing Hay with a Swather

About this Item

Title

  • Cutting and Windrowing Hay with a Swather

Names

  • Fleischhauer, Carl (Interviewer)
  • Purser, Margaret Sermons (Interviewer)
  • Muceus, Annebet (Narrator)

Created / Published

  • July 8, 1982

Headings

  • -  Ninety-Six Ranch
  • -  Activities
  • -  Haying
  • -  Swathers
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  Motion Pictures

Genre

  • Ethnography
  • Motion Pictures

Notes

  • -  Annebet Muceus cuts and windrows hay with a swather and then describes the grasses that are cut and talks about the swather.
  • -  Haymaking consists of cutting the grass or alfalfa, allowing the plants to cure in the sun and air, forming windrows (the latter two steps may occur simultaneously), and storing the hay. Although the underlying process has remained the same, technological changes have transformed haymaking between the postwar era and the present. The story is the same throughout American agriculture -- increased mechanization has reduced the need for labor.
  • -  The swather combines the functions of the mowing machine and the rake. It cuts the hay and lays it in rows for the baler. On the Ninety-Six, some hayfields produce a thin crop, and a "V-rake" is used to pull together two swather rows for the baler. Having half as many rows in the field saves time when baling, and the thicker hay forms a better bale. The rake was not in use when this footage was shot.
  • -  Ranchers in the region figure they will need one ton of hay per cow per winter. This footage was shot in 1982, after Les had reduced his herd size. A few years earlier, he had put up three thousand tons every summer, but now makes only three hundred. Les says that he can get from three to four tons of hay from an acre of good alfalfa; one or one-and-a-half tons from native grasses; and amounts between these two for mixed fields. The meadow Annebet Muceus is cutting here is a mixture of alfalfa, bromegrass, and native grasses, with only a small amount of non-nutritious bronco grass.
  • -  Annebet Muceus had been a student at the University of California at Berkeley when she moved to Lake Tahoe and subsequently to Paradise Valley. Although not a year-round, full-time worker on the Ninety-Six, she has worked there steadily since the late 1970s.

Medium

  • 3/4 inch video

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1991/021: NV82-VT2

Source Collection

  • Paradise Valley Folklife Project Collection (AFC 1991/021)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • video

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is not aware of any U.S. copyright protection (see Title 17, U.S.C.) or any other restrictions in the material in this collection, except as noted below. Users should keep in mind that the Library of Congress is providing access to these materials strictly for educational and research purposes. The written permission of the copyright owners and/or other holders of rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices and Privacy and Publicity Rights for additional information and restrictions.

The American Folklife Center and the professional fieldworkers who carry out these projects feel a strong ethical responsibility to the people they have visited and who have consented to have their lives documented for the historical record. The Center asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. Researchers are also reminded that privacy and publicity rights may pertain to certain uses of this material.

The Buckaroos in Paradise collection includes copy photographs of numerous historical still photographs, works of art, and other objects that are owned by the families or individuals identified in bibliographic records for those objects. The collection also includes audio and video interviews with individuals who consented to the inclusion of these selections here.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance.

Credit line

Paradise Valley Folklife Project collection, 1978-1982 (AFC 1991/021), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Fleischhauer, Carl, Margaret Sermons Purser, and Annebet Muceus. Cutting and Windrowing Hay with a Swather. July 8, 1982. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/ncr002397/.

APA citation style:

Fleischhauer, C., Purser, M. S. & Muceus, A. (1982) Cutting and Windrowing Hay with a Swather. July 8. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ncr002397/.

MLA citation style:

Fleischhauer, Carl, Margaret Sermons Purser, and Annebet Muceus. Cutting and Windrowing Hay with a Swather. July 8, 1982. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ncr002397/>.