Loading...
The Rural Voice, 1979-09, Page 6Emma Franken and children BY LISE GUNBY "Now," said Emma Franken, "we often say—how did we ever do it?" It's a natural question to ask of a woman who has managed for the last seven years, to raise nine children and manage a dairy farm successfully. When her husband, John, died suddenly in 1972, their youngest child was a year and a half old, the oldest sixteen. They had been planning to enlarge the farm and milk 50 or 60 cows. "Wc 11 do well if we can keep up what we do now," she told herself at the time. But in seven years, the Franken family has added a silo, a lean-to, a milkhouse and granary to the property. They milk 30 cattle and have sows as well, which they went into three years ago. They have 150 acres, and rent another 50. Harry is the oldest, 23 now. He helped out on the farm , taking his high school classes part time. He is now farming and rents land near Teeswater, with beef, Holsteins, hogs and cash crops. Margaret is now 22, and soon to be married. She recently graduated as a nurse. "Margaret hauled manure the first summer because Harry missed so much school." said Mrs. Franken. Eddie, 20, and John, 19, are now farming on the next sideroad to the Franken farm. They rent the land, have 90 cattle and 100 sows. "The kids would be lost in town," said Mrs. Franken, "they would have to find jobs...1 sometimes think I have troubles now, but if I had all those kids in town I'd really have troubles." Paul, 18, has been working on the farm since last November. He worked in a factory for a while after he left school, said his mother, but found it "awful." Paul has 15 cattle of his own, and puts the money he earns from farm work back into the animals. He also owns half of the sows, she said, because he is working at home with her. Mike is 16, Tom is 15 and David is 11. Tom works for his two older brothers, Eddie and John, when he is off from school in the summer. "David and Mike help in a big way " at nome, saiu Mrs. Franken. "They all help." Mary Anne is the youngest and helps out in the house and the barn. "They're all pretty good workers, every one of them," Mrs. Franken said, "That doesn't mean I never complain—to them. But I give them a pat on the back when they do well." Each of the brothers and sisters are given their own heifer when they turn 10 years old. "I don't mind feeding a few cattle for them," she said. The first complaint heard from farmers is that their children aren't interested in farming, she said. But the young Frankens are interested and if there's a job to be done, they go and do it. Emma Franken "I really have no explanation for it," said Mrs. Franken, "unless it's because we give them a calf or something of their own." They also get a pig of their own each year. She said she keeps an eye on where their proceeds go—it's theirs to spend, but she doesn't want them t • thrnw it away_ They take turns on the tractor when ploughing or planting, eating in shifts. "That machine never really sits still," Mrs. Franken said, "My neighbour figures I run a restaurant service, because there's food on the table all day long." The Frankens have a healthy garden. The kids help with the tilling while Mrs. Franken does the hoeing. "1 really like working in the garden," she said, "You get time to think about things—it's relaxing." Mrs. Franken had no experience with farm life until she married. "I knew which end you milked the cow on, but that was about the end of my knowledge," she laughed. "I'm not saying that everything got done perfectly in the first few years," she said, "I mean, you have to set your priorities. But lately, it's getting to be pretty good." Mrs. Franken is also the president of the Catholic Women's League in St. Augustine and is involved with the St. Joseph's Community School Association in Kings- bridge, a group working towards making use of the school year-round, rather than just during the school year. They are now raising money for playground equipment. Paul, Mike, and Tom belong to the 4-H Calf and Horse Clubs, and John finished his eighteenth project last year. Last year, the family hosted the Twilight Dairy Show, and had 150 visitors. "We really enjoyed it," she said, "The kids did a lot of work for it...to get everything spruced up." They've even been able to get away for holidays in the last few years, to a 4-H fair on the Southern Ohio and Indiana border. The whole county gets together to show their animals and enjoy the entertainment, and live at the fairgrounds for a week. The Frankens also show their cattle locally, and last year had the Junior Champion in Huron County. Theirs is a story of success. Perhaps they will now have time to sit back and enjoy it, for a fewminutes at least! "I think," said Mrs. Franken, "that things are finally on the up and up." Family Corporation --Scott Farms Ltd. BY LISE GUNBY In 1913, James Scott purchased 59 acres of farmland on the northwest border of Seaforth in McKillop township. In 1923, Mr. Scott went into poultry. His first hatchery was in the back kitchen of an old house. In 1960, the farm became a corporation. James Scott's son, Bill, was named vice-president. Today, Scott's Poultry Farms is a four -farm complex with a total of 412 acres. PG. 4 THE RURAL VOICE/SEPTEMBER 1979 'fhe farms employ six tull-time staff. Eggs are hatched in rows of trays closeted behind heavy metal doors in walk-in incubators. Each week, 26,000 chicks go through the hatchery. Prevent- ative medicine in the form of innoculation of the chicks can be carried out at the rate of 7,000 per hour with a machine. Every year, three million eggs are produced. The Scott's have approximately 13,500 layers and 16,000 starter pullets.