HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-07-16, Page 60•
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Pickers on the Durst farm
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Orchards once thrived here
14• cash crop that has almost totally disap-
pearev+. from the township is the apple crop.
Th -'disaOpearance is due probably to
,several causes: pests, fungus, frosts and
labor shortage have all contributed as w ll
as the depletion from the soil of the elements
necessary.
The annual crop brought in considerable
revenue, not only to the farmers but to
manufacturers and laborers. The growing
of the small trees was a business in itself
and the Stewart Nursery at Benmiller fur-
nished trees for many of the later orchards,
though the first trees were imported.
The manufacture of the barrels was a con-
siderable industry in the cutting and join-
ting of the staves and heads from stave bolts
of the softer elms. Then numerous coopers
were employed in the shipping season, as
the average day's make ran about fifty.
Teamsters were also employed delivering
these barrels to the orchards by team.
Pickers were then employed in picking the
fruit; these being mostly the farmer's
families. Picked fruit was sold to buyers at a
price ranging from fifty cents to $1.25 a bar-
• rel of packed fruit, though later that price
was paid for the fruit on the trees. Packers
then ingangs of two to five followed, pack-
ing at least ten barrels per person a day, for
Page 34+
Happy 150th Colborne Township!
00o
\ILLEfl\S
REAL ESTATE INC
3 North Street, Goderich 524-2667
Les Willem Gordon Hill Bruce Ryan Noma Farrish
5244451 482-3307 524-7762 529-7152
Murray Rourke
524-2569
which they received around twenty'cents a
barrel. Little attention was paid to the
careful handling of the fruit, which con-
tributed to the low price received in the
British and Western markets. The annual
output cannot now be estimated, but it was
considerable in this township.
The culls and inferior varieties were dried
in kitchens and in evaporating plants, one of
which was in Saltford, others in adjoining
towns and villages, employing many hands,
both men and women. The finished product
was mostly shipped to the West and Europe.
The peelings found a market in Belgium.
Large quantities of culls were made into
cider, which was turned into vinegar. Apple
butter also was made by all farmers' wives;
this has become a lost art but in the early
days made a welcome addition to the
farmer's menu.
The natural black cherry, which was
grown in large quantities, especially on the
Maitland and First Concessions, has totally
disappeared. The trees were first brought
from around Stratford and Elmira and be-
ing seedlings were of no standard variety,
some were sweet and small, others sour and
of a fair size. The fruit was sold on the trees
or in eleven -quart baskets, the average
price around se0enty-five cents, • and was
canned for winter use.
•
What's the one thing nicer than spending a
hot and lazy summer afternoon stretched mit
under a cool•shade tree on a rich green,
weed free backyard carpet of lush grass.
,Cool Drink and good book in hand?
Enjoying a fun, filled 150th Celebration blessed
with gond friends, good weather, good cheer!
and no weeds.
•
COLBORNE TOWNSHIP 1-5-0
Still serving you with that
same nostalgic courtesy.
•Happy Birthday Colborne*
59 Hamilton St., Goderich Ph: 524-8307
Thomas
Cools,
TRAVEL 4
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