The Rural Voice, 1987-01, Page 24uwlub „ : •'• rwrrtn em,um(.wiwtu•
. �••
COMPLETE LINE OF
ANIMAL FEED
— Hog
— Veal
— Dairy
— Beef
— Poultry
— Pet
treleaven's
feed mill ltd.
box 182, lucknow, ont. NOG 2H0
519-528-3000
1-800-265-3006
FARM SIGNS
CUSTOM
• Custom
designed
• Hand
painted in
living colour
ALSO
• Consignment
sale signs
• Fair signs
• Truck
lettering
without
frame & posts
$385.00
+ PST
CaII or write
today for
free estimate
s
\n }Nri�t�
t El3l.yf EINi"`�
Sign Shown
2 sided
48" x 55"
$525.00
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FARM ANIMALS
our SPECIALTY
L,Lg/ SIGNS
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AND GRAPHICS
23 QUEEN ST.. ELMWOOD
ONT NOG ISO
519-363-3817
We specialize in signs for the farm industry
20 THE RURAL VOICE
THE LEGACY OF
WM. SAUNDERS
by Alice Gibb
William E. Saunders was a
passionate man. Although
he was a druggist, his passions
weren't reserved for inventing pills
and potions to cure the ailing. No,
the passion of William Saunders
was reserved for horticulture and
its companion science of en-
tomology, or the study of insects.
While other men were dreaming of
inventing a better mousetrap,
Saunders was trying to develop ap-
ple varieties suited to cold climates
and attempting to publish research
proving that some insects were ac-
tually beneficial to agriculture.
Saunders, an enterprising man
who opened his own drugstore
while still a teenager, launched his
hobby of horticulture by conduct-
ing some breeding experiments in
his garden. His interest in cross-
fertilization, however, soon
outgrew not only the family's back
yard, but also a farm in east Lon-
don.
In fact, in 1886 W.E. Saunders
was named the first director of
what was to become Canada's
most important garden, the Cen-
tral Experimental Farm in Ottawa.
But back in 1868, the same year
that the Fruit Growers Association
of Ontario was formed, Saunders
purchased a 70 -acre farm outside
London. Within five years, that
acreage was covered with 2,500 ap-
ple trees, 700 plum trees, 500 grape
vines, and a variety of other fruits
from gooseberries to cherries.
Members of the Fruit Growers
Association toured the Saunders
farm annually to study the results
of the druggist's latest hybridiza-
tion experiments.
By 1880, Saunders was regarded
as the leading authority in Canada
William E. Saunders
on both horticultural and agricul-
tural crops. His reputation was
strengthened with the publication
of Insects Injurious to Fruit. Il-
lustrated with 400 woodcuts, this
impressive guide was used as a
textbook well into the 1950s.
While Saunders' research was
flourishing, Canadian agriculture
experienced a severe depression in
the 1880s. The government, as
governments always do, appointed
a special committee to examine the
reasons for the economic setback.
The committee reported "that the
cause was principally due to
haphazard and faulty methods of
farming and (was) not the result of
deficiencies in our virgin soil ... "
The solution, in the committee's
estimation, was experimental
research farms to test crops and
farming practices. Minister of
Agriculture Sir John Carling, also
a Londoner, turned to horticul-
turalist W.E. Saunders for help. In
short order, Saunders, then 50,
turned his drugstore over to two of
his sons and set off on a fact-
finding mission in the United
States, visiting small experimental
farms there that operated in con-
junction with agricultural colleges.
In February of 1886, Saunders
came back to Sir Carling with an
ambitious plan to establish five
research farms across Canada. In
June, Parliament passed an act
establishing the experimental
farms, and to no one's surprise,
Saunders was named director of
the program. He held that position
for 23 years.
The Central Experimental Farm,
on 466 acres just three miles from
the House of Parliament, opened
first. Then Saunders located the