The Huron Expositor, 1976-07-08, Page 15Letters are appre:iated by Bob Trotter Eldale Rd Elmira our N3B 2C7
. Old joke is still true
It's an old joke but its point is still true.
A journalist was interviewing people on the street. He
stopped a factory workeroand asked him what he would do rf
he won a million dollars.
The worker. in his imagination. spent it on luxury items
a few minutes. The same question was put to a housewife.
to an accountant and several othersain the street.
Finally. a farmer was asked what he would do with the
money.
"I guess Id go right on farming until 1 ‘vent broke.'' he
said.
The truth of the story was told recently when Jack How-
ard, secretary-manager of the Ontario Vegetable (:rowers
Marketing Board. wrote his swan song .lack retired the end
of May after 20 years with the board. •
"The only future candidates for farming could well he
Olympic lottery winners,- he said in his parting newsletter
to members. "How lung can Ontario farmers Mice the up-
and-down`fluctuation of future markets while. at the same
,time pay more for goods and services they require. 111(1
operate on land with values grossly infl a ted hy s:peculat
Mr. Howard said farmers must compete with loreign
countries whose daily wage rates arc less than thettpnifill1111
hourly wage in Ontaray
lnd one of his roost telling points dealt with wilts
''Our tariff structures were set up during the Macken/ie
King regime and are hopelessly inadequate today and set
our feder'al politicians still seem to feel that agriculture Is
the saerificial Iamb to prom ele sales of manufactured goods
in export markets "
(do nut knip'.4111 ie4ranot cat ions cilnt dined in that state-
mentxbuL tpren yo ear many farmers talking, yini get soon'
idea Of the archai drills still ex isjing n in this country which,
in these days'i INT(' CUMPet It um. appear to he discrimina-
tory, • •
Farmers. according to Mr Howard,' are always the last to
benefit from rising markets and the first to suffer when the
decline sets in "We face a situation of rising costs. lower
prices aratreduced acreage
"I'nder these conditions greed take's over and some grow-
ers adopt the -screw-your-neighbor . policy. The selfish.. in
seeking, to destroy others. will ultimately destroy them-
selves and the industry
Pretty strong words. aren't they''
'Who can doubt a man who has had 20 years experience see -
mg a marketing hoard growl'
Speaking of marketing boards. Mr Howard made other
telling points in his letter.
In his time. the, number of vegetable growers in Ontario
decreased t ruin 12.000 in 1956 to ahout 2.700 this year
Which should stop the mouth-flapping by a number of
people who criticize marketing boards by saying that these
beards alV.set up to keep inelf icient growers in business.
It s a thorn I've always fell was nonsense. anyway
But hear this %%Jodi knocks the statementopinade by great
numbers of editorial voaters oometropoliticp newspapers
who claim 'antlers are melt tenet( and give life to this lie in
their ivery -towered tomes.
The value et vegetable processing 'trips has increased
Irian Sill N million in lariti to $62 million last.year Anil this
tremendous int•rease. in production from 306,260 Ions In
195ii to 71)6,761 Iasi year was accomphshed by a reductien
in numbers Id almost, 70 percent
In other words. fewer farmers produce more than twice as
moil) tod.ry 20 years ago
S,fi where due' this charge of melt iciency come t rem ''
ind gingd hick in far Jock Howard. in your retirement.
\griculture needs more linen such ;is yeti who have the rem--
d e,: to sif e ,i k up nd h.is e the statistical e hience to hack
sour slate:rum ,
Bayfield farmer
Tries, growing mustard crop
- TAKING A CLOSE LOOK — Elaine Stewart of Usborne township takes a close look
over the shorthorn heifer class in the 4-H judging contest held in Seaforth last
Wednesday. 4-H club members from across the county had to judge what they
thought was the best animal in each different class and give reasons for their
choice: (Staff Photo)
Call for an Appointtnent Now!
WRIGHT. CHEV, OLDS LTD
527-1750 Seaforth
M .
Massey Ferguson /.
•
30.
So far •tlicuc has been a lot of
interest expressed in the crop by
his neighbours, both good arid
had. . •
"Sonic of niy neighbours want
to leap the fence and splay the
field before it spreads to their
farms„" sitys James. '.•bilt`They
shouldn't worry. This•mtistard is
very sensitive to weed.sprays and
is much easier to kill than wild
••intistard. • Unlike `Wild mustard
this seed does not have the ability'
to lie dormant in the ,ground 'for
years at a time before sprouting."
Treflan and .Puradan maY be used
to control steeds and flea beetles
in the crop.
Bill Ferguson has, set up 2
permanent hive's ,in the hushjusf
behind the mustard field.
Mustard is .an excellent honey-
producing crop and the bees
make the mist of it,
"I've tasted some of the honey
off the honey-combs hack there
cash crop. If he is successful in
making money this, year. he hopes
to grow even more next year. he
expects to get 45 to 5(1 bushel to
the acre but will by happy' with
Chassis Maintenance
1. Brakes
2. Shocks
3, Tires
4. Ball Joints
5. Tie Rods
I nc oot in the
furrow* bYdia.
TEN POINT,
INSPECTION
We Check the Following:
positor
6. Idler Arm
7. Wheel Bearings
8. Wheel Seals
9. Universal Joints
10. Coil Springs
Despite rainy ather and
muddy fields 192 eon itors
shoWed up for the annual Huron
County 4-H livestock and field
crops judging competition at the
Seaforth Fair grounds last
Wednesday. .4
Sharon Colclough of R.R,1,
Clinton won the senior di\ '.ion
competition with a final score of
Competiition keen as
LOOKS GOOD TO ME — Robert Eedy of R-.R.4, Walton gives this dairy cow a long,
hard look before deciding that it is number one in its class.,Robert was participating
in the 4-H judging competition held in Seaforth last Wednesday. (Staff Photo)
411er s iudge •
eight competitors. .6.0.$1401PPPf
In the intermediate division 3 Wok the ;lender PPTIIPOtitiOn: Ayeti
open to young people 15 to '17 57 ptikgrp".0*.qppr4...4gg,aitqt4
years of age Oscar Meier of with a Score W80. Orae.A.Bori4(
R.R.4, Brussels came first out of RB.2, LuelcrioWeginefg9t14.WW.I.1
49.competitors with a score of 729 - 4 score of 674 pointa,.
points-Close behind with scores
of 721 were Jean Siertsewa and
Sandy Marshall of R.R.3, Blyth
for.,,second place.
'1110 HILION
SPEtIALII
FRONT END
ALIGNMENT 1 495
[North American) cars only
WHEEL BALANCE 2 95
plus weight each
i 10 %off
1 ALL GM PARTS
L. All' is( to JULY .31st/76
•-••••
. To most area farmers a field
covered in the flowering yellow of
the mustard plant would be a field
to spray and plow under, To
James Cleave of Bayfield, the six
acres .of waving .Mustard is an.
investment in the future.
James has planted the six ttereS.
Of mustard to see if it is a vi.able
alternative to corn and beans as a
cash crop for the. area. His
"domesticated" mustard differs
from wild mustard' in several
ways ., The seeds of the wild
mustard arc black and drum-
shaped and contain more , oil
where the domesticated seeds are
round ,and yellow. In fact, if you
cheek, almost any farm kitchen
around pickling time you are
almost sure to find a jar of the
small yellow seeds.
Wheai the seeds are cleahed
and ground you have the
powdered mustard widely used hi
salad dressings and regular table
use.
There is a big demand for the
mustard seeds as in addition 'to
being used in the home, the
mustard powder is widely used inn
such processed meats as hot dogs
and bologna to help preserve the
meat. Both the United States and
Japan are large importers of the
powdered mustard and this
demand is growing.
James became interested in the
idea of growing an alternative
cash crop after talking with Bill
Ferguson of Zurich. Bill was
looking for a good honey-pro-
ducing crop for his bees and
James wanted an alternative to
beans as a cash crop. They first
thought of growing rape which is
an excellent honey producing
crop. The seeds contain the oil
most vegetable cooking oils are
made from. Unfortunately, there
is nowhere in Ontario to get the
rape seed processed so it was not
economically viable.
It was James' son. Barry, who
first noticed several articles last
winter concerning the growing
demand for .mustard. . There was
a processing plant being built just
outside of Ottawa so they jumped
In the truck and went to talk to
them. They returned with 50 lbs.
of seed and. a contract.
No special equipment is needed
to sow/or harvests the mustard ,
The seed should be sowed around
8 lb.s to the acre as early in the
spring as possible as it will stand
a fair bit of frost. James sowed it
with a grass seeder hooked
behind the drill. Harvesting is
about the same time as grain
crops and the mustard can be
Straight combined. The reel and
knife are set for combining wheat
while the inside screens used are
the size used for clover.
"As far as James knows, he is
the only one in the county
growing commercial mustard as a
4
USE
EXPOSITOR
WANT-ADS
Phoite 527-0240
The novice divlsjOP open tO.
young people 12 tO.Vkyear$of age
entering the indzing.00Mpetit*
for the first time and last year's
pro 4,fri members were 134.1 by
.Dianne - Oldfield
Seaforth with a
was' followed by' Mnrgatet
of B.R,1, Centralia' who had a
score of 670 points •
Tom Coates of R.R.1, Centralia
won the pre 441 division. over 24
other competitors. eleven years of
age with a final score of 627. Lisa
Thompson of R.R.S.' *Ingham
came in- second with 617 points.
Oscar Meier of R.R.4, Brussels
was awarded the Blatchford
Feeds Trophy for the highest
score in the entire competitidn.
The Canadian. National EXhibition
Shield was given to Dianne
Oldfield of R.R.4, Seaforth, for
having the most points in the
novice group and John Van ..Vliet
of R.R.2, Brussels won the CIL
'trophy for the highest score in the
swine seetion':' 4."'
Murton Brock of RR. I .'Granton
was awarded the Huron County
Milk Committee Award for the
highest score in the Dairy section
with a score of 98 out of a possible
100. Dave Mewhinney of R.R.I.
Lucknow was awarded the
Cyanamid trophy for the highest
score in the sheep section and
Roger Morrison . .ot nnn. R.R .1
Lucknow won the HuronCOunty
Cattlemen's Association Award
for the higgest score in. the beef
section.
The Winston Powell award was
won by Oscar Meier of R.R.4,
Brussels for highest score in the
horse judging section.
Competitibrs had to judge nine,
different classes..
Tracking tht.
queen bee
It wasn't easy to find a queen
surrounded by thousands of
workers irc her beehive -- until
now.
Queen bees at the Agriculture
Canada Beaverlodge, Alta.,
Research Sation arc being
outfitted with small tags that can
be deteCtrecl by a geiger counter
.without disrupting the worker
bees in the hive. A queen can be
located in her hive from a
distance of 18 inches when she's
wearing her tag.
and it is really good," says
James.
-1:Aery hotly is laughing about
our mustard field now', hut Ihey
siill ant to go back anti take a
look at it." says Jame", "The 're
interestc•<1 abet tier Ihcv v ant to
admit it or not."
What v ill it nu.Nin to the
froutiCrs in this n
c\o ,riment
"if sse'tr surct'ssful. it means
farmers, ss ill be able to sink their
money into another crash crop
besides corn and beans.. The only
drawback -now .is sac have to take
the seed all the way to Ottawa to
get it processed tint if enough
mustard was being' grown in the
area I'm sure a processing plant
'mild he built a lot closer than
that
tFrom.the Exeter Times
Advocate:
718 points out of a possible 800.
Barb Miller of R.R.3, Exeter and
Harry Franken tied for second
place in the competition with a
score of 714 points each. The
senior division which is open to
young people between 18 and 30
years of nee and to all those who
are graduatAs of a two year
diploma course in agriculture had
MP
Massey Ferguson
We're starting our summer
celebration right now ,-
with special prices on
many new MF units.
LOOK AT OUR BIG SAVINGS:
ME 235 Tractor SAVE $200.00
MF 255 Tractor SAVE $200.00
MF 265 Tractor SAVE $200.00
MF 275 Tractor SAVE $200.00
ME 40 Forklift SAVE $400.00
ME 50A Backhoe Loader SAVE $700.00
MF 30 Tractor W/Loader and Backhoe SAVE $400.00
Come in soon and check out all the savings during this special sale! '
Limited to available inventories until- [July 30, 1976]
BO es Farm Supply •
527-12'57 Seafdrth , Ont.
riurtienairroweaseeserararaeniaimieilmorm-