The Lucknow Sentinel, 1989-03-08, Page 31eveiops internal market
G frorm page 10
range.
"If you look at the price of our product
(y rn) , there's no way a farmer should Dose
that money."
So, Bourgeois decided to change all that
by developing an internal market to
'.reduce the surplus of wool on the world
market by creating a demand for that pro-
duct in the Canadian market.
"If the internal market was developed, I
felt it could be done for a benefit to farmers.
The Philosopher's Wool is a vehicle for
farmers to'get a better price."
So far he has been successful. They sold
1,000 pounds of wool the first year, 3,000
pounds the second year and 10,000 in the
third year. They keep approximately 8,000
pounds of wool, in warm earthy colors, on
supply at the shop.
"1 expect larger rises in the future, We'll
be paying farmers a top price, but we'll be
fair to the consumers too.
"I think wool should be worn by everyone.
I want to see wool affordable to ordinary
people."
Lots of wool is not cleaned when it's
bought, but Eugene is sent only the cleanest
wool farmer's have. "We don't have to use
chemicals or acid when we wash our wool
because farmers are selling us clean wool."
Other wool goes through two wash cycles
to remove burr, hay and 'grass from the
fleece. The wool is put into an acid bath and
everything is dehydrated completely, he
0 0 0
Fern, Edition '89 — Page 11
INURE
valuable resource o
says. This results in prickly, scratchy, un-
comfortable wool to wear.
"We avoid this uncomfortable feeling by
washing the wool lightly and basically keep-
ing the lanolin levels high. Then when the
wool is spun it hasn't been treated harshly
so it retains a Dot of its own natural oils. It's
virtually waterproof and comfortable."
Canadian wool is stronger than most other
wool because of the way farmers feed their
sheep, he says.
"What I wanted to do with the wool was
develope a high quality wool like Icelandic
wool. I wanted to show we were better than
that. Our wool almost never wears out and
it's less expensive than Icelantic."
After developing the yarns they focused
on developing the patterns. He thought,
"It's great to have the yarn, but then what
do we do with it?"
The future of Philosopher's Wool will in-
clude its own processing and wool washing
plant. He has received a lot of interest from
farmers in five other provinces and the
United States. Already there is a British Col-
umbia group marketing their wool under the
Philosopher's label.
"I can see it becoming a North America
wide industry.
"I still feel like I'm going to wake up one
day and see all these costs I haven't noticed.
Therefore, I'll go slow.
"Once we're going successfully, then we'll
go after larger markets."
CUSTOM SPREADING
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• from page 6
from these runners, thus providing an
abundance of fruit.
Stawberries are planted 5000 to the acre
and raspberries 2000 to the acre.
The soil at their West Wawanosh loca-
tion is clay loam. Berries require well
drained soil, high in organic matter.
After the strawberries have finished pro-
ducing, the tops are cut off and a fertilizer
program followed to promote regrowth.
The Morrisons use 500 lbs. to the acre.
Chopped wheat straw is used as a mulch
to protect the plants during the winter and
spring. When chance of frost has passed,
the mulch is raked into the pathway and
provides a drier walk for pickers.
As with all crops, weeds and insects can
be a problem. According to Ralph, the
most important weed control is to start off
with a clean patch. The plants are sprayed
with a weed killer prior to mulching.
If spraying for insects is necessary, the
operation is carried out in the spring prior
to the fruit setting. Each year varies.
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Irrigation ran have aisignificantimpact
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which means poorer or less fruit.
The Morrisons use a solid set, overhead
pipe irrigation system in the strawberry
fields. A frost alarm goes off when the
temperature falls to -2 degrees celcius.
The sprinkling system would then run until
the sun comes out and starts to melt the
frost. The sprinklers are located every 60
feet.
The raspberry fields are irrigated with a
trickle irrigation system, comprised of
underground lines.
Strawberries produce for approximately
three weeks, followed by the raspberries,
which also has a three week schedule.
Unfortunately, all berry lovers have
about 14 weeks to wait before this
delicious, mouth-watering fruit is theirs
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