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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-10-23, Page 17Checking on cattle is Isobel Gibson's job (gexpositor ..... • .** "•• arm*. •.• 1.F.111-1 ••••7•4 war", • • • • i• 1,1••••r• (Editori noo : A ot of women who smite people society see as newsworthy are being written about in this International Women Year. Many more other women regoing about their lives and eir jobs as they have always done and are getting no special credit from anyone. Farmer's wives are probably typical of this group. Expositor reporter Nancy Andrews interviewed five rural women about their lives and their • 'work. Although she talked to e few individuals, her story is meant as an appreciation •to all farm wives and to help explain to ., urban people what being farmer's wife • can mean-) Gayle Campbell, Who grew up on a farm, feeding +:31110 • V SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 23, 1975 —SECOND SECTION PAGES 1A — 8A Involved with the farm Five rural women talk ab ut their lives ii (By Nancy Andrews) International Women's Year is as good a time to talk about farm women as any: This year, the modern "ms" has been given a lot of media coverage with her success stories on how she managed to get ahead. Other women, are equally deserving of praise, although their contribution-. may seem hardly newsworthy. Farm wives have the same pioneer.• spirit as their predeces- sors who accepted the challenges of necessity and did what had to be 'done. This is probably the only, itharacteristic all farm wives) share. s • It is probably not an inappropriate time to salute farm wives, because with mechaniz-. ation, the possible extinction of the family farm, the expansion of farm's into large businesses she herself may become a figure 'of the past. As one woman said,, instead of the farm being a partnership Itetween a farmer and his wife, the large farms are in partnership with the banker. This. reporter visited with several farm wives in the area, and one of the first things she learned was that there is no such .thing as a typical farm wife. The work they do, the number 4, of hours they work outside in the fields or in the barn depends on the type of farm operation, whether mixed farming; or a sow operation, the degree of- mechanization, and the wishes 'of both the wife, and farmer. Cleaning out the barn, pitching manure is ,one of the rather unpleasant tasks around the farm. One farm woman was aghast when asked if she cleaned out. She said never, her husband always did that, yet another woman said she does that but never drives the tractor. Some farm wives admit that the farm is a partnership, with decisions being made between them. Another said her husband makes all the decisions and she mates her plans from there. One woman worked off the farm after she was married, but • never liked it because she always worriled about what her family was doing. The family and farm ran smoother when she was around to help out, she said, Another women said her husband would never let her get a job off the farm, if ,sheever did, he said she could get an apartment too. 6 One wratan who got a job off the farm, said during 'the spring she ,regtets not being able to work in the fields and feel the wind in her hair, the grit in her teeth. But' the job came in the winter, when there wasn't much doing on the farm, she said. All the women interviewed never thought about the duties of being a farmer's wife, before they 4), got married. They just accepted them. The phrase, "I'm a farmer's wife," has a subtle meaning for rural people who h ear it. They realize that being a farmer's wife means more than just being married to a farMer, it's almost a trade. Salute Not all women who are married to farmers work on the farm, but this is a salute to those who do. The typical response of the farm women when called for an interview was to laugh and say why me, "What should I say, I'm not doing anything extraordinary?" Half way through the interviews, they usually say they know exactly who should be interviewed too, , someone who single handed runs a farm, rides tractor all day and is known throughout the neighborhood as a hard-working farm woman, The women were interviewed not becuase they were extraordinary, but because they, like many other womep,work aid share the load of running a farm. Florence McLlwain lived in Colborne township as a girl and later, moved to Goderich. Although they lived on . the outskirts, they still had horses and chickens. Everybody, had —them then, she said. , When she married George', he was working in town, but later he bought the 100 acres in Hullett whieh they farmed for '33 years. He died a year ago in June and 4 •75 acres were sold which left 25 that she still farms with the help of her son. The purchase of the farm was a joint decision but what he said went, he was the head of the house, she said. • ,,nl worked right along with him. On 100 acres, you don't make enough to hire any more than you have to," she said. Did Milking "He wasn't very fond of milking, I always did it," she remembers. ,. "There were very 'few who didn't 'work. If they didn't go to the field, they looked after pigs and chickens. Any of the ones who lived around here went to the' barn.lt was expected of your. You just did." "When it came to pitching in, everybody helped. Some were school teachers who came home and did chores.' It, just seemed the natural thing to do when they were on a farm," she said. Besides raising her children and helping .out on the farm, she worked at a grocery store a couple days a week, and did papering and housecleaning. In addition to that the family picked* cucumbers. The meney she said went to pay off the farm. They ,made a living out of it, she said.The money would be pooled, and it would go into a general fund. Her husband was a woodsman unloaded bats in Goderich and worked threshing. She never used to get up very early she remembers. She'd get up abOut 6:30 a.m., but it was about eight o'clock before she got to the barn. "A lot would have their chores done by then, " she said. The kids had to be gotten ready for school and breakfast was usually over by then. Does Chores She has six cows, calves, ducks and ehickens.She does the chores but her son helps with the tractor work. Her son would have purched the farm if he had the means c 13 ut he enjoys his job with a feed cdmpany, she said. Her daughter she said told her if she had to go to work, it wouldn't be on a farm, and promptly set about becoming 'a nurse. ' 'They had about three horses, and had one until about a year • ago. The horses were used to cut 'hay, for hauling logs, and Stones and for Cleaning out the barns. Near-the end, it came to the point, they had nothing to hitch the horses to„ the tractor being able to do most the work. In 1972, one of the horses they had for over 30 years' died. Because ,of the size of the barn doors,, a tractor can't be used to' clean the barn, so' she uses a wheelbarrow and throws the pig manure out the barn window. Mrs. McLlwain said it takes about two hours in the morning and at night to do her chores. In her area, she has seen a lot . of family farms taken over by the Hullett Conservation Authority and can name the farm houses and barns that used to dot the area. ' There used to be a lot of big dairy herds in the area, but they have all gone, not too many milk now, she said. Statistics show, she said, the young don't want to be tied down with milking cows. Women's Liberation, she said: "It's not meant for me. It didn't really interest me. I don't know that much about it." "I think if women thought they were supressed they would up and beat it," Mrs. McLlwain said. Kathleen Beattie of Winthrop does outside chores which includes driving the tractor and baler when needed, helping innoculate the pigs on the Beattie's 300 acre farm and doing "anything there is to do." Mrs. Beattie said there are no set hours she works in the barn because during seeding and harvest and when the sows are farrowing or having piglets both farmer and wife work all hours. For any extra help, "sure you give them their meals" besides doing a lot of canning and freezing," she said. • "There is not too much time to think about yourself. I wouldn't trade my job with, anyone, because it's different every day." Mrs. Beattie has been married 32 years, and has three children. She was raised on a mixed farm, where "you'd rather be outside than inside." Never T ought She never ought about whether she nted to be a farmer's wife, since she and her husband went together throughout their youth.' They lived just mile& from one another and area• kids like themselves used to meet at the church's annual Christmas Concerts. Mrs.Beattie would have liked -to have been a nurse, because her mother was sick so much but that was imposSible, she remembers because she didn't go to high school as she :was needed at home. In those days, you boarded with someone in town to attend high school or travelled that distance daily. Maybe if she wanted her education more, she said, she would have been like a neighbor girl who drove a horse and cutter from Winthrop to Seaforth to attend high school. Seamstress Her mother, she remembers, was a seamstress in town and "no way, was she a farmer's wife..." When Mrs. Beattie was a bride, it was the accepted thing to work out on the farm, opt a lot ' don't today, she said. Times change and in those days women looked. after the chores which included milking cows, feeding ducks, and chickens. Then farms had a little bit of everything, ,but that has changed and quantity and specialization is stressed. "I feel I'm liberated. I do what I want to do. I don't feel I'm tied down." She and her husband Ken sit down and talk about any kinds of plans or changes for the farm, and both of them help to make the final decisions. Whether a woman helps out on her husband's farm depends on whatever a person enjoys doing. "I like animals. Everybody doing their own thing as they talk about," she laughed. \When this reporter called Mrs. Beiffie, a woman answered the phone, said she wasKathleen Beattie. She coulgt have an interview with the reporter that Morning. because ,,,„she wasn't home; she was collecting for a shower. Later, Mrs Beattie laughingly explained she was at a eighbor's collecting for a community shower, and since the woman was on the same party line she answered her own call. The church, she said, is still the center of the community with showers being held for engaged girls, and tfie ham suppers. The community is like a big happy family, she said. Still Intact Until about five years ago, they had never been away. "We didn't think the place could get along without us, but it was,intact when we got home," she said. Since then she and Ken have been 'out West, to Ireland, Scotland, Holland and Florida. "It's an interesting world. It certainly givek ,yepti a different outlook". It banishes the attitude "Us for, no more," nevertheless' "the farm is a good place to come back to," she said. "The farm'is a partnership if you're going to make a go of it," Mrs. Beattie said. Womens liberation, would do a lot of good if it gave' urban women a better knowledge about the relationship between consumer and producer "Buy cheaper and buy better," she recommended. A lot of woman could do well to bypass the middlem6n. Many of the food shortages are man-made, she said, and people contribute to them by stock-piling things when they hear of an impending shortage. She recommended people saying: "I don't need sugar, I'm not going to buy it, and just aid off." "You know that shortages are being created when the price for beef for instance sky-rockets, due Supposedly to shortages, and in three months the bottom falls out of the market." In one case, it was explained by a lot of part-time farmers entering the market, but any farmer knows ' it takes at least three years to raise a steer. Mrs. Beattie said a farmer's wife is "a handy girl to have around." She's "a doctor, lawyer, Indian chief," because ne cares for the sick animals, gives them their shots, keeps the books, and runs here and thessif . anything breaks, and a part has to be found. Mrs. Beattie said she has all the modern conveniences, except a dishwasher. Ken joked that if she had been away a day longer while their daughter was being born, he would have got me Foi: a farmer and hiwife, there is no such thing as an eight-hour day. If you :want to :take an afternoon off you. can. On the other hand, other times you work day and night. This reporter remembers meeting one farm wife who had moved to town, and said she' felt lost without the outside work to do. "I'd think you'd have to have an outside interest. If I had to stay in the house, 'I'd be .up the walls," Mrs. Beattie said. Never Obsolete The farmer's wife, she said: "I 'don't think she'll ever be obsolete, there are too many meals to get. Some might not like to do that type of thing," she added. Mrs. Beattie mentioned the many barns that are empty now, because farms have got larger. So there seems to be fewer farmers and farmers wives in the rural community than before. Ruth Papple is well-known as• an "Institute member in the Seaforth area, and forty years ago was taken to her first meeting when she was 16 years old. Ruth and Gordan , who have two grown up children, hu' 24 cows on their 100 acre farm. Mrs. Papple was born on the same farm, and although a lot of people are trying to buy the farm, "they'd have a hard time moving me," she said. Mrs. Papple was an only child, and she had to be interested in the farm,b ecause money wasn't floating around then, she said. Both Gordan and herself are active in the community, and although they have never been away for a long vacation, they've enjoyed many Of the attractions of the area. "I drive the car. I think all farm women should know how to drive. It's difficult to depend on someone to drive you all the time, " she said. Mrs. papple 's day usually begins around- 7 or 7:30 a.m. when she Res to feed the fowl. After that it's straight to the barn where she helps feed the calves, helps milk and clean up. An hour and a half later she returns to get breakfast, and do the general housework. At about five o'clock, site helps bring the cows in, washes them up, and milks them which takes another two hours. • Every night, the Papples have a big meal after they return from the chores and when extra men are working on the farm that means 2 big meals. A custom has changed in the county for casual labor always ate at the farmhouse when they were working on the farm; but, now they sometimes bring their lunch. "I love cooking and baking", extra mouths never bothered her, she said. Mrs. papple, who has a garden, said: "It's really pleasant work, to see things grow' and pick your own vegetables. Of course it's work. We work on the garden as a family, we all love it. There is nothing like a patch of ground. It's unbelievable what you can get out of a small garden." A farm, she, said, it's on a fifty-fifty basis. Both the husband and wife have to enjoy country living, and their kids too. "On big mechanized farms, you can see how kids can be driven away by toll much work, We're past wanting a big farm," she said. Much aoser Farm women have always been a part of tilt farm, but urban and rural. women have come much closer, and are on equal footing, with modern conveniences, she said. Years ago , farm women didn't have hydro, or telephones, or indoor plumbing. "That was changed," she said. About farm women who do work away from the farm, she said: "I think it's quite alright and it could be ,a great financial help to their husbands." "It's too bad for a girl to get a good education and not take advantage of it," she said. "In the city, women just have their houses. I think I'd miss the outside work. I'd cert ainly have to get out, It would get to me." Town people can't understand how farmers and farm women can get to like their animals, she said, but the Papples have all their cows named. Guernseys look much the same, so .people ask how they tell them apart. She tells them the same way you recognize a neighbor on the street. Each has some little . thing that distinguishes' it from the others. . In the country, you have a real friendship with your neighbors. Of one set of neighbors, she said: "If they need help we're there and if we need, help they're here. They are marvellous neighbors." Mrs. Papple said it used to be 'that women didn't have anything to do with the finances and would only be given grocery money to handle. Farm women are much more vocal and know a lot of the ins-and-outs of the farm's operation, she said. The difference is probably education.. "My mother wouldn't know when the insurance was due, trivial things. These things that weren't very important, are very important now." she said. Mrs. Papple said she thinks country people enjoy the simple pleasures like a quiet walk more than town people. A niece, who had spent a lot of time on the farm as a child, came to visit when ,no one was horrie, with her husband and kids and left a sign on the door, that said, "Sleeping under the maple trees, see you in the morning." Several lawn chairs were out on the Papple's lawn, and she said: "There is nothing like an evening in the country, you sit on the lawn and watch the sun set." Mrs. Papple said one evening their granddaughter spent the night, and they let her stay up to see the moon rise.They told her to watch real carefully. She watched and was fascinated when the moon rose over her grandfather's barn. See the Moon So the next day, when her mother came to pick her up, she told her mom to sit down in the lawn chair, watch real carefully and the moon would rise over the barn. Gayle Campbell was raised on a farm, and even when she had a job with an insurance company, would help out in the hay on her vacations. "I've always done it, I dOn't mind," she said. Mrs. Campbell has three kids, ages 11, 9 and 8 and laughs when she remembers being told her * husband always 'said' his wife would •never work out. This is the first year she hasn't milked Cows. She 'and her husband, Les, mix farm 385 acres. They used to have milk cows, but now have a couple of sows, beef cattle, 'chickens, rabbits and a goat. In the spring she helps cultivate and rake' cuts their (Continued on Page 8A)