The Rural Voice, 1988-09, Page 95FARMING NORTH
TEMISKAMING'S LAND AND PEOPLE
Cash cropper John Phillips has lived in Temiskaming for all of his 70 years. Through the highs and the lows, he is ever
the optimist: "It is a good time to start farming now while land prices are low." Story and photos by Bob Reid.
otential and Temiskaming:
the two words are heard
together so often that they are
almost synonymous in conversations
about this Northern Ontario district.
From the time settlers paddled up
the Ottawa River into the large lake
the district is named for, the potential
has been there. The tall stands of
pine, the gold and silver -bearing
granite rock of the Canadian Shield,
and the fertile clay -based soils were
all derived long ago from an ancient
lake bottom.
To a large degree, the potential of
the forests has been exploited. Saw-
mills have led to the development of
several small towns and a thriving
lumber industry. Kirkland Lake,
located in the district's north end,
became famous for the "Mile of
Gold," one of the richest deposits of
that precious metal in the world. And
the accidental discovery of a rich vein
of silver at Cobalt by a railway worker
throwing a poorly aimed hammer at
a curious fox was the ultimate in
"striking it rich."
Both these industries have seen
their zenith come and go while the
thousands of acres of farm land con-
tinue waiting for the time agriculture
will fulfil the potential the fine -
textured soil has long promised.
The lakeside town of New
Liskeard is considered the commerce
centre of the Temiskaming farming
region. Its population of 5,500 has
never experienced the dramatic growth
and sharp declines associated with the
mining and lumbering towns, but has
evolved slowly since the early 1800s.
Visitors to the area no longer
arrive by canoe or steamboat. Instead
they enter the Wabi River Valley by
driving over the valley's rim on
Highway 11, an extension of Highway
400 leading north from Toronto. After
travelling through a few hundred miles
of rocks, lakes, and trees from Orillia,
the contrast is startling.
18 THE RURAL VOICE