De-tasseling

When I was a teenager in Iowa one of the rites of passage was the summer job de-tasseling corn. I did that for a couple of summers until I was old enough (16) to get a job that wasn't out in the fields. Detasseling is hard work but you won't get a better paying job when you're 14.

I am always reminded of the summers I spent in the fields when ever I see a field of corn.

Detasseling is part of the process of making hybrid seed. A seed company will plant two rows of variety A and six rows of variety B. We detasselers would walk down the six rows of variety B and pull off all the pollen tassels (pictured above) . This way all the corn will be pollinated by variety A and a hybrid is formed.

What we had to eat in our lunch wasn't very important. It was usually some sandwich that would get partially crushed before lunch. More important was what we brought to drink. Sally and I used to pack our lunch and make up our drinks the night before. Lemonade was best. We put our chosen drink in a clean plastic gallon milk jug and popped it into the freezer. In the morning it would be frozen solid. I can't remember if the two of us shared a gallon jug or if we each had our own. I think it would have made more sense to have our own.

We had to get up very early to walk with our lunch and drinks to the pick-up point. A big yellow school bus, usually a really old one, would collect us at the pick-up point and after it had hit all the pick-up points, the bus drove us out to the fields. Always being so sleepy at this part in the proceedings, I hardly remember being picked up or waiting for the buses.

The fields were cool in the morning and the stalks of corn would be damp with dew. A long sleeved shirt protected you a bit from the chill. There would be a quick morning break. During the morning break a little bit of the frozen lemonade would have thawed. Enough to give us a drink before we started working again.

Generally after the first break, the dew will have gone. The long sleeved shirt can be tied around your waist and you can work away in your shorts and swimming suit top. I do remember wearing those baseball style caps that the seed corn companies we were working for handed out. I don't remember wearing any sunscreen at all. I was very cavalier with my skin back then.

The company that we always worked for was Pioneer Seed Corn. My theory was that the infinity symbol on the company logo represented the length of the corn rows. They had HUGE fields. It took so long to reach the end of them. Sometimes we'd just get down one row and it would be break time. A second row, going back brought us near to our starting point and lunch time.

At lunchtime, the gallon of frozen lemonade would be mostly thawed leaving a little for the end of the day. After lunch the long sleeved shirt went back on to protect your skin from the worst of the sun's rays. It would get very hot out there. With the corn surrounding us any cooling breeze was deflected by the tall corn. Towards the end of the detasseling season, some pollen would be out and flying. It would stick to our sweaty skin and itch.

By the late afternoon we were finished. That last little drop in the gallon jug had melted in the summer heat and was warm. Looking back now it was probably good that the last drink wasn't chilled. We were often overheated by this time.

After the bus had dropped us off and we had dumped our stuff at the house we would make straight for the town's swimming pool. A cooling afternoon dip in the pool was exactly what was needed. I don't think I have had a more refreshing swim since.

It is no wonder I used to eat like a horse. Working in the fields, then walking to the pool and swimming. That's a lot of physical activity.

As hard as that it, I think perhaps walking beans is worse. Walking beans is where you walk down rows of soya beans with a very sharp "corn knife". I found a picture of one under Bean Hook. The inside curve is sharpened to cut like a scalpel. The flat bit on the outside curve is sharp too. It is used to hook and slice carry over corn that has popped up in a newly planted soya bean field. It will go right through the sole of your shoe if you accidentally step on it.

When walking beans, the sun beats down on you from early morning and you can't wear shorts. I tried wearing shorts the first day. I discovered that the bean leaves brushing against your legs starts out being unpleasant and before you get half way down one row, begins to hurt. You then have to get back to the end of the row where your jeans were. Not an experience you ever wish to repeat. You wear your trousers while walking beans.

This sort of work builds character. Because I had these hard manual labour type jobs as a teenager, I now have loads of character. I also have a dodgy shoulder that still hurts if I move it wrong.