The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 28r
Fairs reflect the day-to-day rural life. Old
fairs show us how much we've changed.
History on show
Looking back at fall fairs you can see how
farming and rural life has changed. A
comparison of the diversity of livestock and plants
from old fair prize lists to today shows how
endangered some species have become
By Larry Drew
Whether your muse is
livestock or poultry,
orchard or garden varieties,
seed crops, or "home manufactures",
there is a wealth of inspiration to be
found looking back at the annual fall
fairs.
I recently came across the 1962
Prize List of our local fair held by the
Raleigh and Tilbury East
Agricultural Society. It reminded me
of the days of my youth when the
whole family would carefully select
and prepare the annual entries of
stock, seeds, and the choicest of
vegetables with much care and
attention.
Dad would be busy with plans and
preparations for the local fair board
— and being a lover of livestock he
24 THE RURAL VOICE
anticipated being called to judge in
the livestock categories in which we
didn't have an entry. Anticipation of
each year's competition definitely
ran high for us kids as we pulled out
our prior years' ribbons while
reviewing the current year's prize
list. Perhaps our best Plymouth Rock
or White Leghorn would bring home
the 75 -cent first prize!
I'm sure farm families have been
going through such an experience
recently with the fall fair season
upon us, and this fall fair fever is
certainly an experience that farm
families have shared for generations.
I have a newspaper clipping from the
1870s that lists the prize winnings of
what was then called the "Raleigh
Agricultural Exhibit". My ancestors
fared .ell in the "home
manufactures" competitions —
including prizes in hand -spun and
woven necessities ranging from
''blankets" to "fine shirts". I'm sure
my great grandmother and her whole
household worked diligently to earn
these prizes, even though the
prizewinner named each time was
William Drew, my great-grandfather.
Interestingly, only the man of any
prize-winning household was ever
named.
While the long -held association
between farm life and fall fairs
continues today, my old prize lists
brought about a snore serious
reflection of the changing face of
agriculture. What 1 was reminded of
most was the sheer diversity of
livestock breeds and crop varieties
that thrived in our townships just a
few decades ago. For example, just
back in 1962 the classes for sheep at
our local fair included no fewer than
eight breeds — the Leicester, Oxford,
Southdown, Cheviot, Shropshire,
Cotswold, Suffolk, Dorset, plus an
"any other breed" category. Today,
Rare Breeds Canada now rates six
of these breeds as endangered. Four
of these breeds, the Cheviot,
Shropshire, Cotswold, and Dorset are
now considered rare, with less than
300 registered breeding females left.