Times-Advocate, 1979-10-11, Page 25 (2)•
•
Harvest is hectic
Even though Thanksgiving
has come and gone. the
harvest is far from over. In
the "Ktondyke" area south
of Grand Bend, farmers are
now in their busiest time of
year. If the weather this
month is as warm and sunny'
as it was in September. they
say it is the nicest time of
year.
Onions and potatoes are
the favourite crops in this
area: huge amounts have
already been stored away,
and there is plenty more to
come
At Ktondyke Gardens, a
branch of the United Co-
operatives of Ontario,
manager Irvin Ford says
that this year's potatoecropis
of excellent quality.
According to Ford, the good
potatoes are the result of a
dry summer. "When it's dry
there's less yield, but better
quali " he says.
Unf rtunately, the market
value of potatoes at the
present time is very low.
While consumers should be
pleased with the low prices,
ir
SOON TO BE JUICE — Big boxes of celery are loaded up to go to Chatham where they are
mode into V-8 juice Arnold Wolfe works on the farm of Charlie Srokosz.
He had 7,500 acres
Never turned a furrow
One of the first men to
recognize the value of the
rich soil south of Grand Bend
was Doctor Gordon
Hagmeier. The 92 year old
doctor still looks over his
4,000 acre farm on a daily
basis. But, he adds. "I've
never turned a furrow in my
life, to this day I haven't."
Dr. Hagmeier grew up in
Ilespeler, Ontario. along
with his brother Edwin who
is now -95. Their father was a
prominent businessmen, and
operated the biggest
department store in
Ilespeler. It was also the
first store in the area to have
an elevator. Dr. Hagrneier
adds.
After he trained in the
medical profession, Dr.
Hagmeier opened the
Preston Springs Sanitorium
near Preston. Ontario. He
practised surgery there. It
was a big private hospital.
with 100 beds, he says.
To get away from thehectic
life at the hospital, Dr.
Hagmeier purchased Lake
Smith as a duck hunting
preserve. Iake Smith was an
inland lake just east of where
Pinery Provincial Park is
now. Dr. Hagmeier later
drained the lake when he
discovered it was actually
covering valuable farm land.
For several years, Dr.
Hagmeier entertained
friends in the hunting lodge,
and used Lake Smith as a
game preserve. But even-
tually. he says he had trouble
keeping the poachers off,
and it became more
nuisance than pleasure. "I
had a man chasing poachers
hut they could run as fast as
he could."
Then in the thirties. came
the yearof the great drought.
Crops all over southwestern
Ontario were drying up, Dr.
Hagmeier says. But when he
carne to his game preserve
around Lake Smith he
noticed that the land was still
lush and green. .His neigh-
bour. Johnny Wilson said
"It -'s the land. doctor. the
land," he remembers.
Immediately, . Dr.
Hagmeier began buying up
the land that surrounded
Lake Smith. At that time it
FIVE MINUTES TO UNLOAD -- Eddie Mommersteeg
backs a loaded wagon into their storage barn. The -onions
fall out a door on the back of the wagon, and are carried
to huge mountains of onions by a conveyor belt.
was mostly woods, brush and
swamps. He hired men and
bought machinery and began
to clear the land. He had big
ditches dug for drainage.
Eventually he had about
7.500 acres of land, most of
which he purchased from the
Canada Company.
In 1937 he began the Haig
Farm operation. It was the
only farm in the area, Dr.
Hagmeier says He brought
the first combine into the
district. He consulted with
friends at the Ontario
Agricultural College in
Guelph, and on their advice
grew grains. He hired
managers and workers on
the farm, while he carried on
with his work in medicine. In
1946, his son-in-law, Bill
Schlegel, took over as farm
manager and still holds that
position.
When immigrants
Holland came to the area
after the Second World War,
Dr. Hagmeier sold large
chunks of the Haig Farm to
them. This soil was more
suited to vegetable growing
which the new Canadians
wanted to do. The - Haig
Farm stayed with grain,
corn, and beans. Another big
piece of land was sold to the
New Venice Corporatidn.
In 1955 Dr. Hagmeier had
Lake Smith drained, and
kept at the task of clearing
hushland. Finally this year,
most of his land is cleared.
This summer there were
2,000 acres of soy beans,
1.000 in wheat and another
thousand in corn.
Manager Bill Schlegel
says that there are four men
working with him on the big
Wm. Two new combines
have been purchased.
recently --one is 18 feet wide
and the other is 22 feet wide.
These huge machines speed
up the harvest process a
great deal, according to Dr.
Hagmeier. The larger one is
worth about $117;000. Dr
trot❑
in rich rnarket gar
.en
Kwarciak processing celery
is being cut with what they
farmers say that it isn't
worth it to sell the potatoes
right now.
The grower is being of-
fered about 2k2 cents a pound
right now, while it costs
them more than 3 cents a
pound to plant, grow and
harvest the potatoes, Ford
says. For that reason the
growers are hanging on to
their potatoes right now.
Most potatoes are being put
into large storage buildings.
"The growers are not in a
hurry to sell, they'd be losing
money anyway," Ford says.
Once the harvest is finished,
the growers will have the
winter months to bag and
prepare the potatoes for
sale.
Down the road from
Ktondyke Gardens, the
Mommersteeg farm is busy
with the onion harvest. Luke
Mommersteeg along with his
brother Eddie like many of
their neighbours, are
bringing in cooking onions by
the wagon load.
Luke drives a tractor
which hauls an onion com-
bine. The onions are pulled
from the ground and lifted by
conveyors. The tops are cut
off, and eventually the
onions are tossed into bulk
wagons. Luke's nephew Bob
Mommersteeg drives
another tractor pulling a
wagon. Bob makes sure the
onions are falling off the
combine and into the wagon
in even heaps.
Luke's wife Jean
sometimes rides on the
combine, to remove sticks
that might get in the way,
and make sure things are
rolling smoothly, ,Eddie is
kept busy with another
tractor hauling the wagons
back to the storage building
as soon as they are filled.
The onions are piled in
mountains inside the
storage. It takes about 20
minutes to fill a wagon and
five minutes to unload it.
The seed was planted last
May, and the name of the
variety is "improved spice"-
-a delicious cooking onion,
the Mlommersteegs say.
On farms farther south,
lush green celery is being
packed in big wooden boxes.
Celery, because it requires
Gordon Hagmeier
Ilderton Agricultural Society "Thank You"
Left to Right Les Charlton, Teo Van Steeg, Gary, -
Van Steeg, Todd Charlton Champion Markit Steer
exhibited by Todd Charlton purchased by Lobo
Abattoir at $2.35 per Ib.
Left to Right Bill Scott ▪ (Judge), Ralph Bos, Ray
Filson Reserve Market steer exhibited by Ray Filson
purchased by Ralph Ms Meats at $1.40 per 1 Ib.
Thanks to the following buyers:
Ralph Bos Meats 7 head, Darlings Food Market 5 head, United Co-operatives 4 head, Denfield Livestock Sale
3 head, Lobo Abattoir 3 head, R.E.M. Lethbridge 3 head, Les's Country Meats 2 head, Rok Bros, Walls Feed
MiII, Paul Toohey, Theo Gysbers, Hill Stewart Mutual Life of Canada, McNaughton's Tours, Pfizer's Seed
Corn, TE Scarborough, Crunicans.Orchards, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool:
Special -Thanks to
to
Auctioneers Hugh Filson and Tom Robson also Tom Robson for donating calves to Calf Scramble.
-: , '�, ,'� ` *;CALF SORA %BLE SPO(�SORS
Hodgins-& Hayter Farm Drainage;. Urbshott $ Galloway Insurance; Denfield livgstock`Sele t:td.; lldertott
Junior Farmers; Karl Stumpf, Denfield; Bab, Susan and Sarah Earley,in memory of Donald_Edwards; KEE
Crest Farm; Ron Edwards Chev & Olds, Ailsa Craig; Walloy Ready Mix, London; Big "0" Drain Tile Co. Ltd.;
Scott's Elevator, Lucan.
manual labour, is not grown 20 years ago. On the farms of
Chaff lit} Srokosz and Stan
in the quantities that it was
HUGE NEW COMBINE — Haig Farm manager Bill.Schlegel is dwarfed by the immense size
of the new 22 foot wide combine. Schlegel is about to climb on the combine for another day of
harvesting. The Hoy Form uses this machine and another like it to harvest their 4,000 acres of
wheat, corn and soy beans. T -A photo
COMBINING ONIONS — Luke Mommersteeg watches the row of onions carefully, os he
drives the tractor pulling the combine. His nephew Bob Mommersteeg drives a tractor pulling
the wagon into which the onions fall. T -A photo
land
call bean knives. The sharp
blades are fastened on the
bottom of a tractor and cut
off the celery stalks just
below the ground. Then the
stalksarepicked up by hand
and packed in the boxes.
The celery grown by
Kwarciak and Srokosz is on
consignment for Campbell
Soups. The boxes are
trucked to Chatham where
they make up one of the eight
vegetables in V-8 juice.
Stan Kwarciak's wife
Cathy says they are paid 5100
a ton for the celery --because
it is processing celery tops
and all of the stalks can be
used. It takes about 212 of the
wooden boxes to make up a
ton.
The Kwarciaks hire local
labour at 53.50 an hour to
pick up and pack the celery.
Some farmers have found it
necessary to bring in off-
shore labour, but the
Kwarciaks say they .have no
problem hiring good workers
in the area.
Carrots- are another
popular crop in the black bog
south of Grand Bend. The
rich powder -fine black soil
proves excellent for both
table and factory carrots.
A drive through the bog
land reveals. much to be
thankful for. in this fine fall
weather, as the crops con-
tinue to roll in.
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