The Rural Voice, 1992-06, Page 42Ontario
Agricultural
Museum
shows the
way we were
by June Flath
The Ontario Agricultural Museum,
located near Milton, Ontario, has
much to teach everyone.
You can learn that in 1895 the first
farmer's market in Ontario was
already 120 years old; that 20 per
cent of the Ontario population makes
their money, directly or indirectly,
from agriculture; and that at the turn
of the century one farmer produced
enough food for 12 people. Today,
due to increased efficiency, that same
farmer feeds 120 people.
The Museum, devoted entirely to
the history of Ontario agriculture,
consists of 30 buildings, plus a
variety of displays and exhibits, and
covers 80 acres (32 hectares).
"The Museum shows the evolution
of agriculture through settlement time
to the present day Ontario," says
Fatima Agostinho, the Museum's
Promotions and Public Relations
Assistant.
There are three segments to the
Museum: a series of Farmsteads, the
Crossroads Community, and a
collection of Display Buildings.
The Farmsteads represent
particular stages of development in
Ontario agriculture, says Susan
Bennett, the Reference Librarian for
the Museum.
The first farm site shows the
settlement era of the 1830s. The
house, barn, implements, and animals
are all consistent with that time.
38 THE RURAL VOICE
Daytripping
Costumed interpreters carry out
period tasks. Men do logging,
cropping and woodworking. The
women cook, clean and care for
children in the one room shanty.
"Pre 1850," says Ms. Bennett,
"they used oxen and depended on self
reliance."
The wheat boom of the 1860s is
the stage for the next farmsite. "It
was a market driven economy," she
says of the time period. `There were
new types of animal power, not just
the plow and oxen. This was the
beginning stages of mechanization in
agriculture."
Both an 1890s site and a 1930s
site are under development.
The Museum's goal, says Fatima
Agostinho, is "to promote
agricultural awareness, to develop
and maintain a provincial attraction,
to stimulate public awareness of the
evolution of Ontario agriculture and
foods systems, and preserve its
heritage."
The Farmsteads only scratch the
surface of that directive. There is
also the Crossroads Community, a
collection of services and business
common to rural Ontario between
1900-1950.
Here, skilled artisans practice their
craft for visitors at the blacksmith
shop, wheelwright, pumps
manufacturer, shingle mill, harness
shop, and a variety of others. There
A rare Beaver tractor is one of the
newest examples of old implements at
the Ontario Agricultural Museum.
is also a school, community hall and
church.
Getting the buildings on site has
often been a challenge. The Lucas
house, at the 1860s farmsite, was
moved on skids in one piece; while
the school house was dismantled,
then reassembled on site at the
Museum. The John Deere dealership
building was constructed using
original 1930s blueprints, plus tools,
materials and methods of that time
period.
The final segment of the Museum
is the Display Buildings. Some, says
Fatima Agostinho, are walk-through
displays with scripts for visitors to
read. Others follow a specific theme,
and are interpreted by staff in period
costumes.
Among others, there is a dairy
exhibit which displays processing
methods, from milking by hand to
present day computerization. There
is a transportation shed with a
collection of carriages, cutters,
sleighs, and wagons; an apple
industry display; and an exhibit of
Ford products dating from 1919-
1953.
Some 70,000 people visit the
Museum yearly, with 40 per cent of
these in school groups, says Fatima.