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Clinton News-Record, 1974-01-17, Page 4PAGE t/Ews--RECORD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1974 Editorial Comment Best farmland being lost to cities ; The relentless flow of concrete from Canadian cities is smothering some of the, country's best farmland and an Agriculture Canada scientist says im- mediate action should be taken to defend what remains, pn, Williams, an agrOCIInlatologist With the department's Chemistry and Biology, Research Institute, says far- mhand is already scarce in areas with the best growing, climate. . jHe suggests that a system of zoning laws, grants and tax controls could be used as a short-term solution while long- term protection of our food source awaits comprehensive studies of the ur: ban threat. One of the ironies of Canadian geography is that urban centers are con- centrated on top of what was once ex- cellent farmland, Montreal, Tor onto and Vancouver, for example, have devoured thousands of acres lying in the warmest parts of their respective provin- ces. "Most Canadian cities developed from settlements in locations with excep- tionally favorable climates for farming," says Mr. Williams. "The good agricultural capability of the' surroun- ding land helped the early growth of the cities, but urban expansion is now eroding this capability at an alarming, rate." One of the most obvious examples is in the Toronto area. The city's urban ex- pansion is being guided by the east-west road and rail routes running along the north shore of Lake Ontario and by the northward thrust of a four-lane ex- pressway to Barrie, Ont. Both these development patterns cover parts of the warmest five percent of Canadian far- mland. Farmland, like oil, is not in limitless supply, Mr. Williams says. People should not rely on the false security they might feel when looking at the vast, un- populated expanses dominating the map of Canada. Only one-twentieth of ,the country consists of improved farmland and a miniscule two 'percent of that small amount is blessed with excellent rainfall and temperatures. The amount' of farmland available is not by Itself an adequate measure of a country's food potential . Singe a hard climate drastically cuts the agricultural value of even excellent soil. Although Canada has twice as much farmland per person as the United States, our climate makes Canadian land only half as productive, on the average, as that in the U.S. Instead of increasing to meet growing food demand, the land suitable for far- ming in the climatically favored parts of Canada is actually decreasing at a rate of about 100 acres per 1,000-person in- crease in the urban population. Mr. Williams estimates that about 400,000 of Canada's 160,000,000 acres of farmland are covered by urban development every ten years. Unfortunately, those 400,000 acres tend to come from areas most climatically suitable for farming. "Nearly half of the farmland losses to urban encroachment in Canada is coming from the best one-twentieth of our farmland," says Mr, Williams. "This is a serious problem, if not a crisis, and it is cause for concern, and perhaps alarm." Although detailed surveys of urban en- croachment and future food needs must be made before a solid program of land protection can be prepared, some im- mediate defensive action should be taken, he says. "The required studies will take time and in the meantime, fur- ther substantial losses of farmland are likely unless interim measures are in- stituted to prevent this. "There is considerable land which is poor for agriculture but is fairly ac- cessible. It would seem desirable to direct urban expansion onto such land rather than onto good or even fair far- mland." Mr. Williams _recommends the im- mediate protection of as much good far- mland as possible while awaiting creation of an effective planning program. "Diversion of farmland to urban use might be discouraged through policies relating to such matters as regional in- centives, highway route planning, taxation and municipal zoning." • The Jack Scott Column NM "Drop that -- t 're only for our regular customers!" Sugar and Spice/By Bill. Smiley Cat and mouse game and I'm the mouse From our early files . • • • • • • Amalguntaird 1924 THE, CLINTON NEW ERA Established 1865 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1801 "ft5 64014 oo 11A0A4 110 CANADA" Clinton News- f zecoled 01*C A Comm alsonberuni , C ty anadian Metreesper Asesolsileii Published every Theraday at Clinton, Outride Otter • James Fibigerald Osnaral Minot/or, HOward Mime betioad CNA Moll ritetratkitt n1.. (MIT Hite 00 HURON' COUNrY siseiber, bnMrb Weedy We get letters Dear Editor: Enclosed is a cheque for $8.50 in payment for the current year. I would like to point out the delay we have had in receiving your paper during the past year. It is usually Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday of the following week before it is received in our mail box which is a distance of 26 miles from Clinton. This week I've been hatching it, and I must say that I miss my wife. It's not that I can't cook and wash dishes and make the bed and do all those other silly things that our poor wives have to do day after day, year after year. No, there's no problem there. It's the danged cats. They're driving me out of the remnants of what was once a fine mind. I'd rather live with a herd of goats than with two cats, I've concluded. Take one elderly she-cat who has been spayed. She was quite content with life. She is beautiful and very, very distant, except when she's hungry. There isn't a bone in her body that, is friendly. She just wants you to keep your distance, feed her well, and let her bask on a sunny stair-tread. In return, she will guarantee not to make a mess in the house. I had just begun to tolerate her, it' not like her, af- ter about six years. Now, add a boisterous young tom cat. He's as agile as an orangotitan, has an appetite like a polar bear, has the man- ners of a pig, and itesickeningly friendly, He has completely disrupted What Was a fairly quiet, peaceful household. He is driving the old cat out of her nut, He follows her around, licking and kissing her, until she spits, takes a swipe at hit and makes him back off long enough for her to skedad dle to one of her hideouts, He looks hurt. All you have to do is settle down with a newtoptoper and a OP Of teei and he's quite likely to totte flying through the air, Sending the paper one way and the tea the other, es he seeks You can no doubt under- stand that the news are somewhat stale by that time. There has also been times when I would like to see the detailed list of an auction sale which is usually published two days prior to the sale. I usually find out the following week that there were articles I was in- terested in but it is too late by then, This past week we received solace for his yearning heart. Given any encouragement whatever, he'll climb all over you, digging his claws into your shoulders because he doesn't know any better, smooching your face and neck in a wet, disgusting fashion, before thumping himself down for a rest on your stomach or chest or any other part of you that suits his convenience. ,Two minutes later, he hears the old cat sneaking around, digs his claws into your knee and takes a flying leap, off to court her some more. There's absolutely no sex in- volved, He just wants to be loved by a second mother, but she is a happy, childless widow, and wants to stay that way, You can't even feed them together. She is a dainty eater. He eats like a wolf who has just broken a long fast. Put down two bowls. He gulps his while she is sniffing hers, then shoulders her aside and gets into her grub, while she bats him ineffectually, then retreats in disgust to sulk under a bed, She is a bed sneaker.under, since he arrived. And if there's anything more difficult than getting a determined old cat out from under a bed, I'd like to see it, The only way to do it is go under the bed after her, with a broom or mop. You wind up, puffing, stuck under the bed, while she has darted off and is under one of the beds in one of the other rooms. She's as slip- pery as en eel and a heck of a let More cunning. Meanwhile, during the half hour you chase the old Cat, trying to grab any of her ex- tremities so that you can throw her out, where she should have been long ago, his Arrogant young rtibt) is having the run of the kitchen, our copy on the Saturday for some unknown reason, possibly new arrangements have been made where it is being sent out earlier or something unusual happened. You should no doubt give consideration to selling at a lower rate to those at a distance in order to in- crease your circulation. Sincerely, A. L. Lobb RR 2 Centralia He's not a bed sneaker- under. He's a counter-walker. And a cupboard-door-opener. One leap and he's up on the kitchen counters, strolling, snif- fing, licking. Don't leave the butter out. He'll down a quer- ter-potind, straight. Give him three minutes alone and he's somehow opened the cupboard door below the sink and is gaily into the garbage. He'll eat anything: baked Potato skins, left-over soup, stale lettuce, fried eggs. The only time I have seen him a bit nonplused was on New Year's Day, Maybe he had a hangover. I was half- drowsing in a chair, and wat- ching him out of a corner of my eye, in' case he took a flying leap and threw his arms around my neck to kiss me, which I abhor, He'd caught a mouse, it seemed, though We've never had mice in this house. He would slam his paw on it, pick it up in his teeth, chew it and swallow it. A tiny mouse, Thank goodness he's good for something, Then he'd throw up the mouse, and go through the whole business again. I got a bit alarmed that he'd throw up more than the mouse one of these titres, onto the rug. I in- vestigated, He was trying to digest one of those wide elastic bands. Every time he hit it, it would jump, so he thought it was alive and chewed it and swallowed it, but couldn't keep it down. That's the kind of stupid eat he is. tint he's getting smart very quickly, When I try to grab him and throw hire out in the snow after a feeding, he goes by me like a cheetah going by thinocerous. Sure wish my wife would get hotne, It takes two of us to hang die the two of them, Dangerous age The man at my office who is the father of two daughters and who looks upon me as a god- like figure, having survived the raising of three of the same, got to talking yesterday about "the dangerous ages" 'of little girls. Looking back on it now, as if from a great height, I would think that maybe 12 is the worst. One night when she is 12, far example, the phone will ring around a quarter to ten and it will be a male Voice asking for her. "Why," you will say, all confused, "she's gone to bed and who is this, please?" "Oh," the male 'voice will say, very sophisticated, "this is Alan, "and would you please remind `h er of our skating date tomorrow?" "Yes, I will, Alan," you will mumble, and you hang up the thing in a dazed sort of way, Then you may go to the ,bathroom and look at your face in the mirror for a long, long time and you begin to wonder about making out a will.. And then, in the morning at break- fast, you tell her that Alan called about a skating date and then you hear again the giggle. 10 YEARS AGO January 16, 1964 Two new varieties of white beans have been licensed in Ontario and will be available for 1964 planting. A.D. McLaren of the Western On- tario Agricultural School's field crops branch in Ridgetown told the second session of Farmers Week yesterday that Michelite 62 and Sagin4w, both developed at Michigan State University will be included on the department of agriculture's 1964 recom- mended list. Both kinds are more disease resistant. Nearly 700 farmers were warned not to plant sugar beets this year on ground that was treated with atrazine last year. Because of the extremely dry fall, farmers would be losing a large percentage of their crop if planted in atrazine treated grounds. Atrazine is a fairly new chemical for weed control used extensively in South- western Ontario's corn belt and has no damaging influence on corn. A former resident of Clinton is the son-in-law of Canadian millionaire publisher Roy Thomson who has just received the Baroncy title in Queen Elizabeth's new year's list of honours. Ellwood Campbell married Roy Thomson's daughter Audrey and they now have three daughters. Mr. Campbell is the eldest son of Mrs. George Campbell now living in Brussels, Her brother Robert B. Campbell' works at Pickett And Campbell Ltd, 25 YEARS AGO January 20, 1949 Western Ontario was visited by one of the word, windatorees in years Tuesday evening and during the night, when heavy damage was done to buildings, power and telephone lines. The giggle! This is the sound that bridges the gap between childhood and maturity and you hear a great deal of it, won- derfully melodious and gay and yet a sound of uncertainty and confusion, the ancient blend of • laughter and tears. Ah, what music the giggle makes when she is 12! And then you catch yourself looking at her with somewhat furtive, sidelong looks when she is absorbed in something. The first faint blush of womanhood is there to be seen like the first pink stain of dawn and you marvel at the legs that seem to be stretching longer by the day and the space between the .strong, white teeth is gone. Sometimes 'there there are flashes of the old tomboy, but more of- ten now, at 12, there's the ten- dency to be sedate and to fuss for long periods with her hair. Sometimes, when time hangs heavy, she may help her younger sisters dress their dolls, but more often she is lost in her own reverie, a little girl, really, yet clearly on the brink of something enormous. You notice the changes in the Trees were uprooted by the hundreds and many roofs were partially or wholly 'blown off. The power in Clinton was off from 2:32, a.m. till 7:53 a.m. The town library is one of the oldest buildings around as has just been discovered. Inside is a tablet which reads "Carnegie Library 95". However, it was discovered that the date was 1915 and that something has happened to the two figure "1" as they have apparently drop- ped off. Huron County's new Warden for 1949 is John Wilfred Arm- strong and he will represent the municipality in which he was born, Hullett Township. He was born on lot 2, concession 8, on July 3, 1896; second soh of Mr, and Mrs. Matthew Arm- strong. He resides just south of the village of Londesboro, the capital of Hullett. Frank Strathearn, Stratford, was re-appointed Bandmaster of Clinton Citizens' Band for 1949. There is still no snow to speak of despite the fact of the date being January 20. However, colder weather arrived yesterday. In the mean- time California and points south and west have been digging themselves out of several feet of snow. 50 YEARS AGO January 17, 1924 The Greenland Plaindealer has given the following hint to make bees do double duty. Messrs. Watts and Cudtnore have tried but BO far can not Vouch for its success. Convert your bee hives into incubators and let your bees hatch out chicken eggs. All that has to be done is to remove the top or half storey from the hive and tack screen Wire over the lower part of the frame with a few Pleas of flannel on it, Next little things. The pictures of the Walt Disney characters no longer hang over her bed. Now there's a picture of the reigning rock star who is, it• turns out, not much older than she. There is, too, the diary. Each night, 'curled like a kitten in a corner of the chesterfield, she laboriously enters the saga of her day in the little book with the bright green covers. It's a book that comes between you, the first real reminder that your paths through the forest must inevitably drift apart. There's a lock on the diary and a tiny golden key and it is not wise to joke about what is being entered there. This is private terrain.„ Trespassers will be prosecuted. And 'though you know pretty well what the diary holds—or think you know—you have an insatiable curiosity to look within it, not for what is there but because you are reluctant to lose any part of her, to have any part locked from you. .Now, at 12, she has become sensitive to criticism and there is a new independence in her outlook. She has a way of place the eggs on top and finally a few more pieces of flannel. The heat from the bees will hatch the eggs out in regular time. Mrs. J. Diehl has a Christ- mas cactus which has 113 blooms on it at present. Mr. Thomas Fracer, Bayfield Road, received by way of a New Year's remembrance, a booklet of "After Dinner Speeches" by Sir John Willson. Mr. Fracer and Sir John Were boyhood friends together when they lived at Hills Green, Stanley Two. Huron County shipped its second load of honey to England last week. The first carload, some time ago, and the present one have been sold through the Ontario Honey Producers' Association. Clinton's new hospital was opened on Saturday. After a program of addresses and or- chestra music the hospital was ready for service. saying, "Oh, Daddy" in an exasperated way that cuts you down to the size of a. midget. Your old reliable banter begins to fall with a heavy thud and you play rough-house and tickle her only when you are sure she's in the mood for it, for 'otherwise you will be bruising the new dignity that she is feeling. And you find that more and more you are playing to her, as an audience, painfully aware 'that you are something less than god-like in her eyes. Yet sometimes you score with her and her laughter and the quick, fleeting admiration in her eyes is like the roar of ap- platzse. from a great crowded theatre, You would rather have her look of love than knighthood from the Queen. And then, perhaps, the next day you see her at the frozen pond skating arm-in-arm with Alan (because you have'gone to spy, you /lonely old man) and you think how simple everything seemed when she was 11 and how complicated everything has become now that she is 12. 75 YEARS AGO January 19, 1899 Miss Phoebe Allen and Miss Alice Burnett of Clinton were the guests of Mrs. F, Dayton in West Tuckersmith for the past week. Mrs. Algey in Goderich held a euchre party which was slightly different. She had all the guests come in full dress and presented them with a heart or spade bearing the name of the person they were to represent. The whole Royal family was represented as were numerous lords and ladies of historical rank. On Sunday night, a young man from a neighbouring village drove over to Mr. A, Thompson to spend the evening and when he was about to return, found his cutter gone and as a result had to stay the night. The new water bed is great—if you have a bad back you use hard water! Dear Editor; It has occurred to the writer that a short history of our Home for the Aged should be of interest to many of your readers. Of late, I have been gathering bits of history of 'for- mer days and am endeavouring to put them in readable form. Believe it or not, I ant 10 years older than Huronview, so I would ask that my readers be tolerant toward defects which no doubt you will detect in these ramblings. ' -The first building at Huron- view was built in 1895, by a contractor by name of Sam Cooper of Clinton. Mr. Cooper was an Irishman from the old sod (but no one ever held that against him). The first superintendent was Mr. Daniel French. In 1907 Mr. Mutch took over followed by Mr, J. Brown in 1916, Mr. J.B. Reynolds in 1919, Mr. R.A. Robertson in 1922, Mr. John Jacob in 1924, Mrs. Jacob in 1939, Mrs. Pocock in 1955 and Mr, Harvey Johnston in 1956. During Mr. Johnston's time the title was changed to ad- ministrator and when Mr. Johnston retired in 1969, Mr. Chester Archibald came to us. There are 100 acres of land in connection with the Home and until recently it was far- med successfully. In fact, the place at one time was self- supporting. The Home was first : known as the House of Refuge, then the County Home, and was given the name of Huron- view in 1960. • Something that many people do not know is that there is a cemetery on the grounds, where a lot of the residents of years ago are buried. There has been a cairn built with the names of the former residents buried there inscribed on it and the last name recorded was in 1929. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the home life, which we residents are enjoying at Htirohview. It is a' well known fact that the supreme virtue of anyone's life is love and I am sure that the watchword here at Huronview is love. All the staff are so kind and con- siderate with the folk in their care, it would be rather unfair to name any personally. However, there is one who deserves special mention - Mrs. Jacob, the supervisor of nurses, who makes time in her busy days to take a personal interest in each one of us. Our lives are interwoven With the friends we learn to know And we share their joys and sorrows, As we daily come and go. We do not ask for the stars or moon Or the gold at the rainbow's end; We only want our cozy room And some love that we can spend. Hank (R. Henry Leishman) Huronview News-Record readers ere en. .couraged to express their opinions In letters to the editor, however, such opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the News-Record. Pseudonym* may be used by letter writers, but no letter will be published unless it can be verified by phone. we get lets Huronview