Ontario Agriculture Week: The 1830s

 Guess what time it is! That’s right! It’s time for our next Agriculture Week blog post! Hi, I’m Stephen McLachlin with the Backus-Page House Museum, and this week we’ll be talking about farming in the Talbot Settlement from 1830-50. 

The challenges that faced farmers in the early 19th century were still mostly present thirty years later, with a couple notable exceptions. Farmers began to organize hunting parties to reduce the number of wild animals eating their crops. The rattlesnakes native to southern Ontario were eventually exterminated by the hogs brought by settlers. 

In terms of technology, a more efficient harrow was developed to replace the “rough drags” originally used, and several kinds of lighter ploughs assisted farmers in clearing fields. 

It is important to note that many of the tools that defined farming in the mid-1800s had already been invented long before they were commonly used. For example, scythes and cradles replaced sickles as the primary tool used to harvest grain, but the invention of the cradle was by no means recent at that time. The cradle, a modified scythe that had wooden protrusions along the handle to catch recently cut wheat stalks, was introduced to the United States around 1800.  

The cradle turned the harvest of wheat, which was normally a full day activity for a whole team of workers, into a two-man job, with one cutting and the other collecting the stalks.  

Though wheat was still the primary agricultural export of farmers in the Talbot settlement, in the mid-19th century, farmers began to diversify their crops. Wheat prices rose and fell unpredictably, leading to experimentation with a variety of new crops.  

Corn, barley, and tobacco became more prominent in Ontario, with tobacco being especially lucrative compared to how cheap it was to grow.  

Things are still a little slow in the Talbot settlement, but just wait, things are about to change fast. With that said, thanks for reading and I hope you check back with us tomorrow! 

  

References 

Guillet, Edwin C. The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman: Volume Two. University of Toronto Press, 1963. 

Jones, Robert Leslie. History of agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880. University of Toronto Press, 1946.