Berthoud Weekly Surveyor June 26, 2014 Page 5

A LOOK AT BERTHOUD

Then & NowSurveyor Columnist

Mark French

Not that many years ago, a farmer irri-gating his crops was a common summer sight in the fi elds around Berthoud.

Rubber hip boots, a straw hat, bib overalls and, more often than not, a long-sleeved shirt, charac-terized the dress of these farmers who tended their water through the heat of the day and the cool of the night.

The amount of ditch water available to them was limited to the number of shares they owned, so little was wasted during an irrigation season that extended from May to September. Many of the old irrigation practices have changed with the

use of modern, center-pivot sprinklers, but the need for crop irrigation will not diminish as long as there is farming in the Little Thompson Val-ley.

A canvas dam, that measured perhaps four-by-six feet, and sharp-point shovel were essen-tial irrigation tools for the early farmer. Once a

farmer stopped the fl ow of water in a ditch by setting a canvas dam, he made a series of shal-low cuts in the ditch bank to direct the water toward the fi eld. Then he shoveled shallow chan-nels from the cuts to the crop rows so the water could start its downhill trickle to the lower end of the fi eld.

While setting a dam in a ditch required some experience and skill, shoveling channels from the cuts in the ditch bank to the crop rows demanded tedious, back-bending work. In many cases, the channels dug for the fi rst crop irrigation could be used again during subsequent irrigations.

Irrigating also required farmers to walk a great deal. After the water was directed into the rows at the high end of a fi eld, the farmer slogged a good distance to the bottom of the fi eld to see which rows had been soaked. Upon his return to the top of the fi eld, the farmer blocked the channels leading to the soaked rows to avoid wasting water by running it over ground that was already wet.

In the 1920s, J.P. Thompson, who had a harness shop in Berthoud, invented a leather “heel and boot protector” that was marketed to farmers who were plagued by discomfort that resulted from their socks sagging and bunching up in backs of their irrigation boots. His device, that was intended to prevent blisters and sock

heels from wearing through, con-sisted of thin leather straps that were strapped around the heel and tightened with small metal buckles.

Thompson patented his in-vention, and in 1924 sold it to a national company. There is an example of Thompson’s heel and boot protector in the collection of the Berthoud Historical Society.

The snapshot that accompa-nies this article shows John Wag-gener, Sr. and a hired man pos-ing for a photo while irrigating a crop. Even though local farmers spent endless hours irrigating, such photographs are seldom found in family photo albums.

Jane Waggener Vielehr, who is the granddaughter of John Waggener Sr., contributed the photograph for this article. Jane’s father, who was John Waggener Jr., is well-remembered in the Berthoud community. The farm remains in the Waggener family and is located in the Sunnyside district northeast of Berthoud.

It’s irrigating season in the Little Thompson Valley

By Pam MartinSpecial to the Surveyor

Teens and tweens got their “hands on” some DNA on Tuesday, June 10, as CU Science Discovery educator, Kat Penzkover, took an enthusias-tic group through the stages of ex-traction.

Kids smashed strawberries, then strained out the pulp, added deter-gent (to break down the cell walls), poured in some rubbing alcohol and then patiently watched as the DNA precipitated upward, looking very much like “snot,” according to one ob-servant source.

Strawberries make a great labora-tory subject because they’ve got lots of DNA; eight sets of chromosomes in every cell to be precise, which is one

key to why they make such tenacious ground cover.

“Attendance for the Summer Read-ing Program has been awesome,” said Youth Services Librarian Christy Headrick. “For the teens, especially, we’ve already beat our highest atten-dance record from last year with 25 kids [for DNA Extraction].”

Hands were clapping and patting thighs in time to the Amber Waves Band, which took to the stage in the Berthoud Community Center on Wednesday, June 11. As part of the library-sponsored Fizz, Boom, Read program for ages birth-11, this fam-ily-friendly performance had kids (and Headrick) dancing in the aisles. Audience members were shown what distinguishes music that’s made for

folk, as in, why “fi ddling” is different from playing the violin (even though they’re the same instrument). Then after a brief instruction on how a reel’s tempo is different from a jig’s, band mom, Cheryl Costello, left the mic so that daughter, Alexandra, could treat the audience to vocal styl-ings with the soul of bluegrass.

Please join the Berthoud Com-munity Library District on Tuesday, July 1 from 2 – 4 p.m. for the teen program face-off on who knows the book best? The Book Duel (extra cop-ies on hand of “A Wrinkle in Time”).

For kids, join us on Wednesday, July 2 from 2 – 4 p.m. for the Space Alien’s Big Bang Show; humor, mag-ic, and juggling — oh my.

Photo courtesy of Jane VielehrJohn Waggener Sr. (right) and a hired hand (left) paused while irrigating to pose for a snapshot. Photos of farmers at work are surprisingly scarce and highly prized by the Berthoud Historical Society.

Look at Loveland Photo by Pam MartinLocal children participate in a DNA education presentation at the Berthoud Community Library on June 10, where the learned about DNA extraction.

Kids get busy this summer at the Berthoud Community Library

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