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. 

Ontario Agriculture Week: The Early 1800s

 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. 

History Meme Tuesday #12

Ontario Agriculture Week: The Before Times

     Woah, would you look at the time, it’s Ontario Agriculture Week already! I’m Stephen McLachlin from the Backus Page House Museum, and today I wanted to take this opportunity to look back in time to see what the life of a farmer in the Talbot settlement would have been like throughout history.

The Backus Page House Museum does not claim to be a voice for the Indigenous peoples mentioned in today’s post, we are only using existing archaeological evidence to construct a rough image of early agriculture.

No summary of agriculture in Ontario would be complete without first discussing the agricultural advancements of the area’s First Nation groups prior to contact. There is evidence to suggest both neutral and six nations Iroquois groups originally lived in this area of Ontario, so we will be referring to the indigenous peoples of Ontario as Iroquoian, though distinctive Iroquoian culture didn’t fully develop until roughly 1000 CE.

The first evidence of plant cultivation was in the Archaic Period, which lasted from roughly 8500 BCE to 1000 BCE. People would have assisted edible plants that were found in the wild, but this was only the first step towards basic horticulture. At this time, the Iroquois would have moved seasonally, making any permanent agriculture difficult.

By the Early and Middle Woodland Periods (1000 BCE-500 CE and 500-900 CE respectively), the Iroquois had begun to construct larger settlements, though they were still only using them seasonally. By this point, the Iroquois had begun cultivating the famous “three sisters” crops, beans, maize (which we know as corn), and squash. This early agriculture was still small scale, but crops were now being planted and grown intentionally, a major leap in progress toward modern agriculture.

In the Late Woodland Period, lasting from roughly 900 CE to 1650 CE, the Iroquois constructed massive permanent settlements complete with longhouses and defensive barriers that may have been built to keep attackers out. With the construction of permanent settlements came expansion of agriculture as well, with large fields of crops replacing the smaller scale endeavors seen in the Early and Middle Woodland Periods.

That brings us to European contact, which seems like a good spot to end today’s post, but before I go, how about an agriculture fun fact?

The corn we’re familiar with is called “green corn”, and it wouldn’t have been what the Iroquois would have harvested. Instead, they would have waited until the corn hardened into “flint corn” which could be used to make the staple food “hominy” and was much easier to store.

 

References

Anderson, Jacob M. The Lawson Site: An Early Sixteenth Century Neutral Iroquoian Fortress (London: Museum of Ontario Archaeology, 2009).

 

History Meme Tuesday #11

Raffle Winners 2020

 All the raffle tickets sold during the Heritage Farm Show so we went ahead and did the draw early.  Thank you to everyone who contributed the prizes.  

Prize 1 - Toy John Deere Tractor is Isaac  Rowe

Prize 2 - Gift Package is Rene Brooyman

Prize 3 - Painting is Jackie Beunan

Bonus draw for 2 passes to Life in the Talbot Settlement living history weekend on September 26 or 27, 2020 is Barb McGill

Congratulations to our winners and thank you for purchasing a ticket in support of the annual Heritage Farm Show.

Heritage Farm Show Thank You

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Heritage Farm Show 2020 

Government of Canada

Ontario Parks

Municipality of Dutton Dunwich

Dutton Dunwich Firefighters

West Lorne Optimist Club

Agricultural Centre Funders George Kimble and Theresa Cutler McPhee 

Alisa Abbs

Cathy Attridge

Diana Arthur

The Back Pages Band

Toby Bawden & Darlene McLain

Heather Brady & Rob Robbins

Don & Betty Ann Bobier

John & Angela Bobier

Greg & Sue Bogart

Gerald & Marguerite Boyd

Yvonne Brooks

Carlaw Sanitation

Earl Chappell

Liz Clarke

Don Clayton

Brad Conway

Andrew Conway

Paul Daniel

DJW Mini Backhoe Service

John Drummelsmith

East Elgin Spinners and Weavers

Brian & Liz Elliott

Rob & Janice Ellis

Elgin Poultry Association

Mike Englehart

Dave Farr

Jason Farr

Ted Farr

Krista Ford

Ken Ford

Mel Franke

Marcus Frazer

Scott Galbraith

Jerry Galbraith

Lyle Garrett

Wayne Gaudon

Ted Gill

John & Beth Goldsworthy

Bill & Karen Goncalves

Ken Gowan

Bill Graham

Mike Hentz

Henk Heyda

Brad Hinds

Marg Hulls

Doug Jennings

Mark & Kim Jewell

Martin Joldersma

Gary Kalita

Andrew Knoop

Littlejohn Farms

Jamie Littlejohn

Peter Littlejohn

Trevor Lyons

Sharon Mannering

Maxill

Bruce & Lin McCann

Hugh & Joyce McFadden

Shelley McGee

Colin McGugan

Sheila McGugan

Ian McKillop

Alan McKillop

Betty McLandress

Beth McLellan

Cal McMillan

Matt Minnema

Dan Miotto

James Ouellette

Shawn Paton

Katlyn Reintsma

Edith Richardson

Bruce and Lin McCann

Mike Price

Paul’s Barbershop & Clock Repairs

Brad & Joanne Reive

Reider Electric

Ron & Barb Ross

Harold & Cindy Ross

John Sanders

Dennis Shoebottom

Pam Silva

Don Skipper

Robert Slee

Joe Smeekens

Gord Smith

Yvonne Taylor

Bill & Helen Tedford

Bas Veraart

Dave Vowel

Doug Walker

Catie Welch

Dave Welch

Nick Wells

Jim & Leta West

Dave Wheeler Automotive

Barb Wheeler

Jake Wilkins & Olivia Griggs

Ron Wilkins

Murray Wickerson

Bill & Kathy Wiersma

Ted Willsie

Emily Williamson

John & Mary Wilson

 and everyone who brought cars, tractors, equipment and helped in any way to make this a successful event.