The Rural Voice, 1992-12, Page 31
1
R.V.
Editor: Keith Roulston
editorial advisory committee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron County
John Heard, soils and crop extension
and research, northwestern Ontario
Neil McCutcheon, farmer, Grey Cty.
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.
George Penfold, associate professor,
University of Guelph
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
contributing writers:
Adrian Vos, Gisele Ireland, Cathy
Laird, Wayne Kelly, Sarah Borowski,
Mary Lou Weiser -Hamilton, June
Flath, Ian Wylie-Toal, Susan Glover,
Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Darene
Yavorsky, Peter Baltensperger, Sandra
Orr, Yvonne Reynolds, Dorothy Smith
marketing & advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
advertising sales:
Merle Gunby
production co-ordinator:
Tracey Rising
advertising & editorial production:
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Anne Harrison
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printed & mailed by: Signal -Star
Publishing, Goderich, Ontario
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Published monthly by The Rural Voice,
Box 429, Blyth, Ontario, NOM 1HO, 519-
523-4311 (fax 523-9140). Publication mail
registration No. 3560 held by North Huron
Publishing Co. Inc. at Goderich, Ontario.
Behind the Scenes
Christmas is a -coming, ready or not
Given the fact we really never had
a summer this year, it's hard to
believe that it's December again. But
it is, and even if many crops are still
in the field, it's time to think
of Christmas.
Cathy Laird takes a look
at an unusual farm this
month: a Christmas tree farm
run by the Owen Sound
Kiwanis Club and the
proceeds from the sale of
trees harvested goes to
benefit children in the area.
When the cold winds
blow, the idea of a warm fur
coat becomes more appealing. Sandra
Orr looks at the business of raising
the mink to make those fur coats
when she visits a Huron county fur
farm.
The co-operative movement in
Ontario is undergoing a massive
restructuring as United Co-operatives
of Ontario tries to return local
branches to their roots as community -
owned enterprises while UCO
becomes a wholesaler to the local co-
ops. We'll take a look at the progress
of the move. We'll also take a look at
Hensall District Co-op, one of the
most successful of the independent
co-ops and 28th on the list of the 50
largest co-ops in Canada.
While a surplus of food production
capacity is a problem in Canada, in
China every square inch of
soil is being pressed into
service to feed a booming
population. Shirley Hazlitt, a
farm leader from Benmiller in
Huron county, took part in a
tour of China last year and
gives her impressions of that
vast land.
Christmas is a time for
decorating and for giving and
our Rural Living section
provides tips. If you'd like to give
gifts of food, our food editor Bonnie
Gropp offers recipes guaranteed to be
in good taste. Christmas crafts from
some of the many local craft supply
stores are also featured.
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger looks at
miniature roses as Christmas gifts
and how to keep them flowering.
Our book review looks at the
evolution of road -making machinery
that has allowed us to go from muddy
backroads to high-speed highways.
From all of us at The Rural Voice
to all of you, have a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year. — KRO
Update
Our October issue updated the work of Andy Dixon, the retired Centralia -arca
farmer who has been working to prove trees can be one of the most profitable
crops farmers can grow on their land. One of the problems is cash-flow: even if a
farmer can make big money growing walnut trees, he can't afford to wait 60
years to harvest the crop. One of Andy's experiments was looking for ways to
get more immediate returns by intercropping trees and crops that bring more
immediate returns.
The most recent issue of Highlights of Agricultural and Food Research in
Ontario shows others have been working on the same problem. Andrew M.
Gordon, Peter A. Williams and Marinder K. Kaushik of the Department of
Environmental Biology at the University of Guelph report on their experiments
with intercropping at a 30 hectare site at the University involving such tree
species as red oak, Norway spruce, black walnut, white ash, white cedar, red
maple, silver maple and Carolina poplar along with soybeans, barley and corn.
The researchers found most of the technical problems thought to exist can be
overcome. Survival of trees was found to be better in later maturing crops. The
trees also helped cut nitrate leachate.
The researchers explored silvipasturing: pasturing animals among the growing
trees. They also investigated the planting of buffcr strips near rivers and ditches,
showing that farmers can gain economically while improving water quality.
Trees, thought an enemy in pioneer times, may become farmers' best friends0