Hillside cultivation is no easy matter, and hilltop farming is not much better. The natural difficulties that beset Western North Carolina hill farmer are the source of much humor and exaggeration; however, the story of the cliff-top farm, where the fields were reached by ladders and the mule and plow were hoisted by block and tackle up the cliff, is no myth. Slightly exaggerated is the story of the motorist on a narrow valley road who, perceiving a great commotion and a cloud of dust ahead, pulled to one side and stopped his car. As the cloud settled and a gnarled figure emerged rubbing his elbow and beating the dust from his denim jeans with a tattered hat, the startled traveler inquired:
“What in the world happened?”
In a tone of plaintive disgust the dusty one replied:
“That’s the third time I’ve fell outen that danged cornfield this mornin’ and I’ve still got seven rows to grub.”