The Rural Voice, 1979-12, Page 3This month
Special features
Beekeeping P. 5
Mink, a luxury fur P 6
Rabbits and cages P 7
Fancy Chickens P. 8
Mice for the labs P. 9
One day courses P 10
Dairy and swine workers P 10
L)o you have all the answers! P 11
U. of G. agricultural seminar P 13
Photo feature, Royal Winter Fair . . P. 28
Regular features
Letters to the Editor P. 2
Farming in the past P. 13
Keith Roulston P. 14
Voice of a farmer P 16
A matter of principle P. 17
Up and coming P. 18
Rural news in brief P 19
Advice on farming P 31
Mailbox of the month P 35
The Rural family P 37
The young rarmer P. 41
Gardening P. 44
Rural Voice want ads P. 46
Bruce Federation P 47
Huron Federation P 48
Cover Photo
by Bev Brown
the rural
Voice
Published monthly by McLean Bros. Publishers Ltd., Box 10, Blyth, Ontario,
NOM 1H0. Telephone 523-9646 or 527-0240. Subscription rates: Canada $3;
Single copy 50c. Editorial board: Bev Brown, Sheila Gunby, Alice Gibb, Rhea
Hamilton, Adrian Vos and Susan White. Advertising representative: Barbara
Consitt, Telephone 527-0240. Staff reporter: Debbie Ranney. Authorized as
second class mail by Canada Post Office. Registration number 3560.
Inside the Rural Voice
We're still here
1979 has been busy year for farmers. Producers of all
commodities have felt squeezed at times by the weather, market
uncertainties, and in some cases government policies with which
they did not agree.
It hasn't been an easy year. And as the last month of it looms,
with interest rates at an all time high, the future doesn't exactly
look rosy.
But if there's one thing working on a magazine like Rural
Voice can give you, it's perspecitve. And from farmers in
different commodities we hear a lot of evidence that farmers are
essentially cautious optimists. They've got to be.
And from reseaching columns like Farming in the past and
attending agricultural history conferences we learn there've
been other tough economic times, periods v, hen the future
looked bleaker than now and yet farms still thrive here in a
relatively prosperous farming area. We've survived before and
we will again.
John and Monica Ladell in their new book about Ontario's
Century Farms, called "Inheritance" talk about the qualities this
area's earliest farmers had.
The book says:
"Now a days tenacity is not always one of the prized virtues. If
something doesn't work right away, it seems smart to give up
and try something else. Yet nothing could have been more alien
to those who stayed on their land year after year, generation
after generation. The century farmers continued to farm through
years when what little cash there was went to pay the mortgage;
years when the farm produced well but the markets were poor, or
years when markets were good but, through drought, floods,
disease or maybe just bad judgement, harve3ts were disap-
pointing."
Ontario's farmers don't give up and that applies as much to
those who are relative newcomers here as to the families on
century farms.
That's something to be proud of indeed as we head into 1980
and a new decade.
A Christmas issue
We hope the spirit of Christmas is tucked here and there
throughout this December issue of Rural Voice, and we hope you
enjoy it.
From the celebrating pig on the front cover to the special
Christmas recipes in the Rural Family section, we've focussed on
what is the happiest time of the year for many of us.
Of special interest are two stories from young farmers, Jean
Douglas in Perth and Kathy Underwood in Huron about "What
Christmas means to me." Both are thoughtful and practical and
could give you a different slant on the Christmas season this
year.
The whole family will enjoy the special Christmas recipes that
a few Rural Voice readers have shared with others in the family
pages, that is if anyone gets time to try new recipes during the
traditional pre -Christmas rush.
And if your find yourselves getting too rushed, and
overwhelmed by the holidays season, slow down and read Giselle
Ireland's tip on how to make Christmas a time for family sharing.
Mery Christmas to you and yours from all of us here at Rural
Voice.