I spent many days/weeks pulling a hoe in the cotton, corn, watermelons and everything else. I milked the cows and cut the firewood, and I never got paid, but I got a good home and family.
One summer (early 1960s) one of my uncles bought a small farm and wanted to fence it. He was a very shrewd businessman and always came out on the good end of any deal. He came to me and my younger brother offering my brother and me $.10 per hole to dig the post holes. He and his son, my cousin, would set the posts and string the wire. He agreed to pay my cousin the same that I made. I had no idea how many post holes I could dig in a day, but we agreed to do it. He lined my brother and me out on how to space the holes and how deep to make them. Some of the ground was easy digging, some was through woods, and some was in rock. In a day and a half my brother and I dug all the post holes. I made $36.00, and my brother made over $20.00. My cousin later told me that he got nothing, but my uncle paid me and my brother without any static. All other farm work was going for $3.00/day. Memories.
WA