The Rural Voice, 1980-06, Page 28Farming in the past
How you keep 'em on the farm
BY ADRIAN VOS
Almost 70 years ago the problem of a
lack of young people on the farm was
discussed by an American writer, C.C.
Bowsfield. King Solomon could have said
today what he said 3,500 years ago:
"There's nothing new under the sun".
Listen to this: "With all the drift toward
the work.
If the farm is not that large, it is simple
for Pa to go out and buy a couple of farms
for the sons. Never mind the girls.
Presumably the fathers-in-law should look
after them.
In the case that Dad buys for the
young-uns, they can repay on easy terms.
but long hours with low returns. But
sometimes it's because they can hardly
afford to turn down an offer to buy, as this
secures their pension plan, a plan that
would have a much lower return if they
sold to their children at a reasonable price.
Bowsfield said: "The modern farmer (of
1913) is not simply a corn planter, a wheat
the country that we hear so much about
today, (in 1913) it is a drift of men quite
well along in years, and not a movement
that takes the boys and young men back to
nature. The shops, the factories, the stores
and the offices are swallowing up sturdy
young fellows everywhere."
Bowsfield makes some suggestions for
solutions to the problem. If the farm is
Targe enough split it into two or three
parcels, each large enough for a young
family. Pa and Ma remain on the old
homestead, and when they get old and
feeble, their sons are close by to help with
A young boy takes his father a drink to break up the monotony of
spring plowing. This is a photo from the historic collection by
Goderich photographer R. Sallows now owned by the Ontario
Ministry of Food and Agriculture. (Photo by Sallows)
Actually, our modern agricultural
advisers have it easy. All they have to do is
to dig up an old book on farming and copy
it s contents. Hear this: "A delightful way
is for the young folks to form a partnership
if they are old enough to do useful work on
the farm. The girls should have charge of
poultry and flowers, while the boys
manage vegetables and fruit."
Not everything is the same as it was in
1913. Some of our older farmers would
prefer that their children move away from
the farm. Sometimes that's because they
have soured on farming, as being nothing
grower, a cattle breeder, a sheep feeder, or
a poultry raiser, but often all of these and
more combined. His farm. therefore, must
be planned with reference to all of these
operations and the harmonious dovetailing
together of the different parts. In planning
his farm for profit, the farmer must see all
the different problems in a comprehensive
way at the outset, omit the features that do
not pay, and strengthen those that do."
And a parting shot of wisdom: "It
depends mainly on the man himself
whether he is going to prosper anywhere or
not."
THE RURAL VOICE/JUNE 1980 PG. 27