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The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 26Dairy F 'r'r . srQu iprrnent OSC vtv:Its HEALTH SCK O1 cc To be enjoyed each and every day... Thanks to the dairy farmers of Ontario who provide us with delicious, high quality products all year long. Say "Thanks" During June Dairy Month Buchanan and Hall Ltd. 615 Huron Road, Stratford, Ontario 519-271-4793 1-877-893-4628 pasture Mat® THE�i is .�,aieelevr/1N COW COMFORT Pasture Mat is the only cow mat that feels, gives and behaves hke natural pasture — thereby reducing impact -related injuries. Pasture Mate features: ° Multi -celled mattress filled with uniformly sized rubber crumbs. ° Mat is protected by a tough, wear skin. ° Will not tear, stretch or lose shape. ° Works with new and existing facilities ° Non-organic does not support production of bacteria i • Patent Prndfi.y 1A'110HAVING '1'llf POLY PILLOW'"' The friendly alternative to the traditional wooden brisket board. It's smooth curve protects dew claws and allows natural leg extension. While it may not be a pillow exactly, the Poly Pillow is the perfect complement to your mattress. "What else would you expect from the people who invented the cow mattress." • Design Regiatratione Applied For For more information, call 1-800-235-7445 or email: young@golden.net fitt ORTTtr ONTARIO PROMAT LTD. m SFAF (519) 527-2284 • FAX (519) 527.1458 ti 22 THE RURAL VOICE frightened by the thunder and crashes of lightning, took off with all the speed they could muster, a far cry from their usual slow and steady pace. We seemed to fly over the path to the barn, across the fields straight up the gangway to the haymow. I ducked as the top of the Toad came near to the top of the big door, and we came to a thundering stop. What a sense of exhilaration and excitement, pleasure and fear! Ontario artist Kathy Hagerman captured those feelings in her painting Rush Before the Storm ‘‘ hich now hangs in my living room. In the decade between 1945 and 1955 farming practices changed dramatically. For a few years we used a buckrake on the front of the tractor to scoop up the hay and deposit it on ropes strategically placed on the barn floor, then hauled it up to the mow by a pulley attached to the tractor. In the '50s we changed again to the bales that are still a common sight, a much more efficient manner of haying, I suppose, but somehow not nearly as picturesque as the old way. A drive through Mennonite country in June or July may still yield a glimpse of horses and wagon, and the sounds of the shouted directions "Gee!", "Haw!" and "Whoa!" to the team as a farmer gathers his.hay into the barn. Some things change as they must but the end of June still brings clumps of rosy peonies and spikes of purple irises, the sweet taste of strawberries warm from the sun and the, aroma of freshly cut hay as the evening sun sets behind the maple tree, while farm families rest in the twilight on the back verandah.0 Barbara Weiler lives in St: Catharines, ON.