Welcome back everyone! Did you like yesterday’s post? I thought it was pretty fun, but we covered a lot, so today let’s take it a little slower. My name is Stephen McLachlin, and I’m from the Backus-Page House Museum. This series is going to cover farming from the founding of the Talbot Settlement in 1803 all the way to the early 20th century, all from the comfort of your own home!
In the early 19th century, the settlers brave enough to live in Ontario found an abundance of challenges standing between them and a prosperous farm.
Traditionally, less adventurous farmers in that time period would have been able to plough their fields, but this was not the case with farmers in Ontario, whose fields were covered in tree stumps and large rocks.
This meant that farmers would have had to rake the entire field by hand or get their work animals to pull the top of a fallen tree, that they called a “rough drag”, over the soil. Either way, the difficult terrain made even the most basic farming extremely uninviting.
Removing stumps from a field was no easy task either, the roots of the felled tree would eventually rot away, but farmers could expect to wait seven years before the stump could be removed.
Even after all the physical obstacles were removed, Ontario fieldwork was far from a pleasant undertaking. Swarms of biting insects, ranging in size from gadflies to horseflies terrorized both animals and farmers alike.
To combat the pests, farmers wore netted headgear, layers of grease, and used smoke, which all served as makeshift bug repellant.
The difficulties didn’t end once the crops were planted, however. Frost was a constant threat to farmers, as was excessive heat or humidity, which would also destroy crops.
Harvesting was hardly easier than planting, the sickles used by farmers were essentially the same tools as the ancient Egyptians used 4000 years ago for the same purpose, though they were made of sturdier material than their archaic counterparts.
Farmers would have had to bend over and grab the stalks of wheat, then cut them with their sickle, laying the crops to the side to be collected by other workers. Most farmers could not afford to hire extra hands, so family members and neighbors were often called upon to help. This process was strenuous and slow, adjectives that neatly summarize the farming industry in that time.
Starting a farm in the early 1800s was a daunting task, but Canadian settlers overcame all obstacles with impressive resourcefulness and ingenuity to make a living.
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.
