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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-10-11, Page 251 1, I 40 Ilderton Agricultural Society "Thank You" Left to Right Les Charlton, Teo Van Steeg, Gary Van Steeg, Todd Charlton Champion Market Steer exhibited by Todd Charlton purchased by Lobo Abattoir at $2.35 per lb. Left to Right Bill Scott (Judge), Ralph Bo:, Ray Filson Reserve Market steer exhibited by Ray Filson purchased by Ralph Bos Meats at $1.40 per 1 lb. Thanks to the following buyers: Ralph Bos Meats 7 head, Darlings Food Market 5 head, United Co-operatives 4 head, Denfield Livestock Sale 3 head, Lobo Abattoir 3 head, R.E.M. Lethbridge 3 head, Les's Country Meats 2 head, Rok Bros, Walls Feed Mill, Paul Toohey, Theo Gysbers, Hill Stewart Mutual Life of Canada, McNaughton's Tours, Pfizers Seed Corn, TE Scarborough, Crunicans Orchards, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Special Thanks to Auctioneers Hugh Filson and Tom Robson also Tom Robson for donating calves to Calf Scramble. CALF SCRAMBLE SPONSORS Hodgins & Hayter Farm Drainage; Urbshott & Galloway Insurance; Denfield Livestock Sale Ltd.; Merton Junior Farmers; R9rl Stumpf, Denfield; Bob, Susan and Sarah Earley in memory of Donald Edwards; KEE Crest Farm; Ron Edwards Chev & Olds, Ailsa Craig; Walloy Ready Mix, London; Big "0" Drain Tile Co. Ltd.; Stott's Elevator, tU COP nsurarte 00 FOR WINTER WHEAT CALL DONALD WEIGAND RR 1 DASHWOOl? 237-341P ••• GwG $ 1399 KIDS' DENIMS & CORDS ALL DENIMS &CORDS 99 or Less CHECK THE BRANDS AND THE PRICE WE'VE GOT THE JEANS FOR YOU! GuuG SCRUhhiE FLARE IME ® SCRAIE Boot Cut ninftanilnnai * STRAIGHT LEG DENIM & CORD * MacJEAN DENIM & CORD carhartt * BUFFALO JEANS * FOXY WIDE & STRAIGHT LEG PANT * DENIMS & CORDS * TROUSER LEG * STRAIGHT LEG * BOOT CUT * PARALLEL LEG * AVENUE * PLEATER UFO * PRE-WASHED PLEATER * PRE-WASHED FLARE & WIDE LEG * CORD FLARE Port Elgin Kincardine Goderich Walkerton Listowel Exeter 604 Goderich 779 Queen Suncoast Mall 313 Durham 208 Main St. 397 Main St. 832.2754 396-4441 524-2425 881.0222 291.1310 235-1767 Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, the harvest is far from over. In the "Klondyke" area south of Grand Bend, farmers are ,.now in their busiest time of year. If the weather this month is as warm and sunny as it was in September, they say it is the nicest time of year. Harvest is hectic Onions and potatoes are the favourite crops in this area: huge amounts have already been stored away, and there is plenty more to come. At Klondyke Gardens, a branch of the United Co- operatives of Ontario, manager Irvin Ford says that this year's potatoecropis of excellent quality, According to Ford, the good potatoes are the result of a dry summer, "When it's dry there's less yield, but better quality," he says. Unfortunately, the market value of potatoes at the present time is very low. While consumers should be pleased with the low prices, in rich market garden SOON TO BE JUICE — Big boxes of celery are loaded up to go to Chatham where they are made into V-8 juice. Arnold Wolfe works on the farm of Charlie Srokosz. He had 7,500 acres Never turned a furrow I • FIVE MINUTES TO UNLOAD — Eddie Mommersteeg backs a loaded wagon into their storage barn. The onions fall out a door on the back of the wagon, and are carried to huge mountains of onions by a conveyor belt. One of the first men to recognize the value of the rich soil south of Grand Bend was Doctor Gordon Hagmeier. The 92 year old doctor still looks over his 4,000 acre farm on a daily basis. But, he adds, "I've never turned a furrow in my life, to this day I haven't." Dr. Hagmeier grew up in Hespeler, Ontario, along with his brother Edwin who is now 95. Their father was a prominent businessmen, and operated the biggest department store in Hespeler. It was also the first store in the area to have an elevator, Dr. Hagmeier adds. After he trained in the medical profession, Dr. Hagmeier opened the Preston Springs Sanitorium near Preston, Ontario. He practised surgery there. It was a big private hospital, with 100 beds, he says. To get away from thehectic life at the hospital, Dr. Hagmeier purchased Lake Smith as a duck hunting preserve. Lake Smith was an inland lake just east of where Pinery Provincial Park is now. Dr. Hagmeier later drained the lake when he discovered it was actually covering valuable farm land. For several years, Dr. Hagmeier entertained friends in the hunting lodge, and used Lake Smith as a game preserve. But even- tually, he says he had trouble keeping the poachers off, and it became more nuisance than pleasure. "I had a man chasing poachers but they could run as fast as he could." Then in the thirties, came the yearof the great drought. Crops all over southwestern Ontario were drying up, Dr. Hagmeier says. But when he came to his game preserve around Lake Smith he noticed that the land was still lush and green. His neigh- bour, Johnny Wilson said "It's the land, doctor, the land," he remembers. Immediately, Dr. Hagmeier began buying up the land that surrounded Lake Smith. At that time it was mostly woods, brush and swamps. He hired men and bought machinery and began to clear the land. He had big ditches dug for drainage. Eventually he had about 7,500 acres of land, most of which he purchased from the Canada Company. In 1937 he began the Haig Farm operation. It was the only farm in the area, Dr. Hagmeier says He brought the first combine into the district. He consulted with friends at the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, and on their advice grew grains. He hired managers and workers on the farm, while he carried on with his work in medicine. In 1946, his son-in-law, Bill Schlegel, took ,over as farm manager and still holds that position. When immigrants trom Holland came to the area after the Second World War, Dr. Hagmeier sold large chunks' of the Haig Farm to them. This soil was more suited to vegetable growing which the new Canadians wanted to do. The Haig Farm stayed with grain, corn, and beans. Another big piece of land was sold to the New Venice Corporation. In 1955 Dr. Hagmeier had Lake Smith drained', and kept at the task of clearing bushland. Finally this year, most of his land is cleared. This summer there were 2,000 acres of soy beans, 1,000 in wheat and another thousand in corn. Manager Bill Schlegel says that there are four men working with him on the big farm. Two new combines have been purchased recently--one is 18 feet wide and the other is 22 feet wide. These huge machines speed up the harvest process a great deal, according to Dr. Hagmeier. The larger one is worth about $117,000. farmers say that it isn't worth it to sell the potatoes right now. The grower is being of- fered about 21/2 cents a pound right now, while it costs them more than 3 cents a pound to plant, grow and harvest the potatoes, Ford says, For that reason the growers are hanging on to their potatoes right now. Most potatoes are being put into large storage buildings. "The growers are not in a hurry to sell, they'd be losing money anyway," Ford says. Once the harvest is finished, the growers will have the winter months to bag and prepare the potatoes for sale. Down the road from Klondyke Gardens, the Mommersteeg farm is busy with the onion harvest. Luke Mommersteeg along with his brother Eddie like many of their neighbours, are bringing in cooking onions by the wagon load. Luke drives a tractor which hauls an onion com- bine. The onions are pulled from the ground and lifted by conveyors. The tops are cut off, and eventually the onions are tossed into bulk wagons. Luke's nephew Bob Mommersteeg. drives another tractor pulling a wagon. Bob makes sure the onions are falling off the combine and into the wagon in even heaps. Luke's wife Jean sometimes rides on the combine to remove sticks that might get in the way, and make sure things are rolling smoothly. Eddie is kept busy with another tractor hauling the wagons back to the storage building as soon as they are filled. The onions are piled in mountains inside the storage. It takes about 20 minutes to fill a wagon and five minutes to unload it. The seed was planted last May, and the name of the variety is "improved spice"- -a delicious cooking onion, the Mommersteegs say. On farms farther south, lush green celery is being packed in big wooden boxes. Celery, because it requires Dr. Gordon Hagmeier manual labour, is not grown 20 years ago. On the farms of Kwarciak processing celery in the quantities that it was Charlie Srokosz and Stan is being cut with what they HUGE NEW COMBINE — Haig Farm manager Bill Schlegel is dwarfed by the immense size of the new 22 foot wide combine. Schlegel is about to climb on the combine for another day of harvesting. The Haig Farm uses this machine and another like it to harvest their 4,000 acres of wheat, corn and soy beans. T-A photo COMBINING ONIONS — Luke Mommersteeg watches the row of onions carefully, as he drives the tractor pulling the combine. His nephew Bob Mommersteeg drives a tractor pulling the wagon into which the onions fall. T-A photo land call bean knives. The sharp blades are fastened on the bottom of a tractor and cut off the celery stalks just below the ground. Then the stalks arepicked up by hand and packed in the boxes. The celery grown by Kwarciak and Srokosz is on consignment for Campbell Soups. The boxes are trucked to Chatham where they make up one of the eight vegetables in V-B juice. Stan Kwarciak's wife Cathy says they are paid $100 a ton for the celery--because it is processing celery tops and all of the stalks can be used. It takes about 21/2 of the wooden boxes to make up a ton. The Kwarciaks hire local labour at $3.50 an hour to pick up and pack the celery. Some farmers have found it necessary to bring in off- shore labour, but the Kwarciaks say they have no problem hiring good workers in the area. Carrots are another popular crop in the black bog south of Grand Bend. The rich powder-fine black _soil proves excellent for both table and factory carrots. A drive through the bog land reveals much to be thankful for, in this fine fall weather, as the crops con- tinue to roll in. "FALL. 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