Back in the 60's, my uncle, Jack worked for an agency that was in charge of enforcing the tobacco acreage allotment for tobacco farmers. Each farm, depending on size could only grow a determined acreage. So, once a year, armed with a tape measure, they would visit all of the farms in the county and measure the tobacco fields. Anything over the allowed allotment was chopped down on the spot.
It was quite the job in the heat of summer to deal with the tape measure method of measuring the fields. Jack came up with the idea of a wheel on a stick that they could push around a field to get the measurements. He made a drawing of the device and submitted it for a patent. The rest is history.
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