45 The Family Farm

A chronicle about the village of Mt. Brydges would not be complete if the farms of the community were not mentioned.

Caradoc township was a farm area, composed of 50 to 100-acre farms. General farming was the type of agriculture utilized on each acreage. Specialized crops like tobacco arrived in the late '30s.

Mt. Brydges had several farms within the village limits. Hiram Gillam, John Wyatt, Henry Hawse, Ernie Sutherland, Wm. Farrow and several others all farmed various sized acreage.

The economy of the village depended on agriculture. Each business derived much of its income from the farm trade and merchants stocked goods and equipment necessary for agriculture.

Both railways had facilities for shipping cattle, hogs and horses. Car loads of feeder cattle arrived frequently from the West and fat steers would be shipped each Saturday to the packinghouses.

Most families in the community had a farming heritage and each spring demonstrated their agricultural background by planting backyard gardens.

The turn of the century saw a structured farming industry that demonstrated farming was a profitable business and required considerable planning and dedication.

The land had been cleared during the mid-1800s, farms were defined and line fences established. Farm buildings were constructed to meet the needs of farmer. The Ontario bank barn became a common sight on the farms and large farm dwellings replaced the log houses of the pioneers.

Farming became mechanized with horse drawn equipment. During the period from 1850 to 1930 such implements as the grain binder, the hay mower, the seed drill and riding plough had replaced the scythe, cradle, walking plough and broadcast planting.

The rural community had many changes in its appearance during the last part of the 1800s and the first half of the 20th century. Factories that manufactured implements were constructed, roads built to connect rural communities and with the advent of the automobile the days of the village store at the country crossroads were numbered.

The family farm produced more crops than the family could consume. The era of the cash crop came into being and farmers started to plan for crops with a market value.

Those who engaged in farming became recognized as a political factor, and this group needed education and services. The products of the farm required controlled markets and export markets to other countries. Food for the growing nation became a very important part of Canada in the first half of the century.

The horse and manual labor were the main source of energy for the farm and it was not until the 1920s and early 1930s that farm electricity became the expansion program of the electrical utilities.

Farm tractors only came into general use on the farms of Ontario in the mid-1930s when the small Ford-Ferguson, Massey Pony and Farmall replaced horsepower.

At one period the only education offered the families of the farmer was either the public school education of the one-room school, or home learning. The advent of high schools outside the cities saw numerous sons and daughters of the farm families take their place among the professionals of the country. Schools taught agriculture as a principal subject.

Two wars, better paying jobs in the cities, shorter hours of work in factories and expanded education all had a part in creating a shortage of people to operate the family farm, and with the advent of better machinery and farming methods that allowed for cultivating larger acreages, the family farms in many areas of Ontario became a memory.

The farmer of the era when a 100-acre farm was a large operation was a busy person, especially during the spring to late fall period.

Planning the crop, crop rotation in order to get the best returns from each acre, careful soil preparation, weed eradication, soil conservation and using proper fertilization were all part of the necessary organizing before spring planting.

Feed for the milking cows, horses, pigs, chickens and beef cattle had to be considered when the farmer planned what would be grown in each field. There was also pasture for the cattle and horses and field crops like potatoes, turnips and sugar beets that could be sold for cash to pay the operating expenses of the farm. Money was needed to support the model 'T' and to pay for the cream separator.

Weather had a lot to do with the spring planting. Some soils could not be cultivated until they reached the right stage of dryness, other soils had to be worked before they dried too much and the spring winds would blow the top soil about. A late spring meant some crops could not be planted as the growing period between spring and early fall frost would be too short.

Every member of the farm family had a part to play. The youngest child could help with some of the chores, and older children had a routine of chores that kept them busy before school, after school and during periods of no school. Working on the farm was part of rural upbringing.

The farm wife was an essential part of every family farm operation. They not only - kept house, raised the family and took care of daily necessities, but they also had to make time for numerous outside activities,

The garden had to be planted and tended; the berries and fruit harvested for canning; chickens, ducks and geese raised; cream churned; eggs gathered and washed; in some cases produce prepared and taken to market. Women also helped in the fields at harvest time. This was all considered part of the daily life of the farm wife.

Farmers, before the new era of the 'factory farm', had time to help each other. A barn-raising was a social event, everyone gathered to help with the timbers or feed the neighbors. Harvest time was exciting. The big steam engine that powered the separator, the neighbors who came with their teams, those who fed the sheaves into the threshing machine, built the straw stack, carried the grain to the bins - all had a part in the threshing. The meals that fed those who helped with the threshing are one of the memorable parts of each harvest.

Dawn to dusk was the average farm day; cows had to be milked and livestock fed regardless of the weather. Planting fields, harvesting crops, mending fences, cutting wood, and repairing buildings were all part of farm life, and still come Sunday the family took time to attend their church and sometimes even to visit family or friends on the way home.
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