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The Rural Voice, 1979-06, Page 10a lot about farms and the future. She reads farm articles and almanacs and is inter- ested in the possibility of returning to the past and using more animal labour on the farm. "It all depends on the size of the farm." said Karen. "And it would be a lot more work." When asked about the need for educat- ing farmers Karen agreed that farming is a business and that young farmers should be taking courses to keep up with new ideas in farming. Kids should be careful with machines Doug Craig had some definite thoughts about farming. Although Doug lives in Blyth he helps out on his grandfather's farm outside of the village. Doug is 12 and already hopes to farm when he gets older. The hard work on the farm does not stop Doug and there is really nothing that he does not like doing among his many chores. Doug helps work the land and believes that if kids drive machinery they should be responsible enough to be careful. "Education is a good idea but you need experience as well," Doug says. And experience is just what he is getting with his chores which range from cleaning and feeding animals to heavier jobs during harvest. Christa Walden and Nancy Snell, both 10 years old and living in the Westfield area work on chores that they both are not fond of. Christa is in charge of a duck pen and the care and feeding of the hunting hounds. Her favourite time of year is maple syrup time when her family gets its large operation going and the kids help get the sap made into syrup and ready for market in the surrounding towns and cities. Nancy was quiet about her job, helping feed and clean out the pigs. She is one of six children and all but the youngest help in the barn. The only chore that Nancy dislikes is watering the sows. "They grab at the bucket and spill water all over" said Nancy. Also living out towards Westfield is seven year old Dean Whitfield. Dean lives on a farm and helps wash the cows before and after milking. When asked if he would like to continue farming when he grew up Dean laughed 'I want to be a farmer' 10 year old says At the Hullett Central school in Londesboro in Huron County the majority of the children are from area farms and dairy industry seems to be very popular. All of the children who talked to Rural Voice did chores at home and a large number were interested in farming as a career when they got older. Brian Dale and Bill Preszcator. both 12 years old, live on mixed farms but there the similarity stopped. Brian is more PG. 8 THE RURAL VOICE/JUNE 1979 and said he would sell the farm for "hundreds of millions of dollars". Dean then would spend all the money and work at Douglas Point where his dad works. Dean didn't seem to think school was necessary to farm and if he needed any help he would ask his Dad. A future dairy farmer? A dairy farmer of the future could be young Richard Roetcisoender. Richard is only seven but already thinks he would like to farm. He helps wash and belt the cattle before milking and is one of five boys who help their parents in the barn. Although Richard does not particularly like his chore he would still consider farming when he gets older and plans to attend agricultural college first. When the children were asked for their impressions of farms of the future there was a look of puzzlement. None had really imagined a farm of the future. Farms would remain the same with the same barns and maybe bigger machinery. If you had problems how do you think you would look? These Hullett Central school kids would come out fighting and lick any farm problems with a show of strength. They are (from left) Majorie Siertsema, Joy McClinchey, Susan Van Egmond, Mark Wallace, and Rodger Cunningham.