Times Advocate, 1984-10-03, Page 13A VISITING VETERINARIAN — Herman Reid, a veterinarian from Guyana is spen-
ding three months on a post graduate fellowship at the Centralia Veterinary Col-
lege. He is shown in the centre in the post mortem room with Gaylan Josephson,
the director of the veterinary diagnostic laboratory and pathologist Ernie Sanford.
Nobody would call her
beautiful but she had a
wholesomeness, an air of in-
nocence and inner strength
that shone through the brown
eyes and right through the
lens of her eye glasses.
She was wearing a flowered
dress, maybe 10 years old,
and her sturdy, tanned legs
were well -muscled. She was
nervous because she had
never been interviewed by a
reporter in her life.
"Why talk to me?" she ask-
ed. "Why not talk to my hus-
dand? He's the one who has
been holding down two jobs.
trying to get this hog farm out
of the red."
Yes, ma'am, but you are
also holding down two jobs.
You have slugged it out right
beside him on the farm while
raising two husky boys. You
have helped at seeding time:
you have nursed the pigs
through scours and
!bne foot in the
furrow' by p ,
...uu•rk. ,'ra 0 SOD I•o,,,• E 464 Nd UT, On, N7. id
pneumonia. You have driven
the tractor at harvest time.
You have cooked the meals
and you did the choresalone
while your husband was stuck
in town on his part-time
welding job. And you did it
with a couple of kids trailing
after you.
"Oh, I never minded the
hard work," she said and
brushed a stray hank of hair
from her face with a wonder-
fully feminine gesture. "We
have always wanted to farm
and we both love animals.
especially pigs. People have
the wrong idea about pigs,
you know. They are a very in-
telligent animal and they're
really clean. Did you know
that, if given the space in a
barn, they will use one corner
as a bathrom and keep the
rest of the stall clean'
"Yes, I guess you would
know about that.
"It isn't the hard work and
READY TO SHOW — Gayle Lewis is ready to show her
calf Nellie at the Ilderton Fair, Saturday.
Custom combining
Ploughing 8 Trucking
Call
K & J Elder Farms
236-4468
it isn't the pressure of keeping
a family on the go. It's the
uncertainty, the wondering if
the market will go up enough
so that we can at least break
even. It's the bank interest,
too, that kills you. It's the
doubt about whether it will
rain enough or too much.
"It's all the problems that
go with modern farming."
She grew up on a farm and
has a great love for the land.
She worked for a short time
after she married to get
enough for a down payment
on a hog farm with her hus-
band who also got a city job
when his home farm had to be
sold.
"We didn't have children
for four years just so we could
save enough to get started
here. Our plan was to get
started slowly while Jim kept
his town job. But the kids
came earlier than we plann-
ed and I had to quit my job."
Well, to make a long story
short, this lovely lady with
her two strong boys and her
hard-working husband, were
forced into selling their hog
farm because the manufac-
turing job which her husband
had in town got blown away.
They tried desperately to
keep the farm going and took
the fatal step of expanding
three years ago on the advice
of their banker. Jim got a few
part-time jobs but none lasted
long enough to keep a cash
flow. They were forced out of
business.
They are living in an apart-
ment in town and Jim has a
job as a janitor in a school.
And he hates it. His sweet
wife feels chained in the
apartment. When the children
are in school, she will try for
another job.
"And we'll be back," she
said with a determined tilt of
her prominent chin. "We love
farming. It's where we're
happiest even with all the
pressures."
This is typical of the eternal
optimism of true farmers.
They love the land. It is dif-
ficult for city people to
understand this obsession.
They do not feel a part of it.
But unless this country can
do something -- anything -- to
keep people like Jim and An-
nie on the land, we will all suf-
fer for it someday.
Cancer
can be
beaten1-
CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY i
Test Plot Open House
Area corn and soybean growers
are invited to attend a
Seeds
8
Open House
at
1st farm East of Dashwood on the south side of Highway 83.
Sat., October 6, 1984 -Time 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Refreshment Prizes
Everyone welcome
Doesn't like Canadian weather
Times -Advocate, October 3, 1984 Page 13
Veterinarhin from Grana studies at Centra/fa
labOrleato(i7htiVed 11;8=
A veterinarian from country, especially at this
Guyana is spending the next time of the year.
three months at the Centralia
Veterinary Laboratory to in-
crease his knowledge.
Through the co-operation of
the Canadian Industrial
Development Agency which
assists Third World countries,
Herman Reid will be doing
post graduate work at Cen-
tralia towards a fellowship in
pathology.
Reid received his Doctor of
veterinary degree at
Tuskegee in Alabama and his
Masters at the Royal
Veterinary College in London,
England.
Although it is not his first
time in Canada, the South
American native says he does
not like the weather in this
TO GET FACTS
A provincial fact -finder has
been appointed to examine
the issues in a contract
dispute between the Mid-
dlesex County board of educa-
tion and its 385 elementary
teachers, the education rela-
tions commission annnounced.
Gene Swimmer of Ottawa
will prepare a report in the
next 30 days.
Gaylan Josephson and. has built up considerable ex-
pertise particularly in swine.
Josephson says his depart-
ment handles more than 1,800
pigs in any one year. There
are no .boundary limits and
many animals come from as
far away as the northern
United States for post
mortem diagnosis.
Cattle make up 30 percent
of the animals brought to the
Centralia facility, 10 percent
are poultry and the other 10
percent are in the
miscellaneous category.
pathologist Ernie Sandford
A
in
FAMILY FLOAT — Jill and Matt Borland were aboard
Saturday's Ilderton Fair
parade.
the Borland
:tf
Family float
T -A photo
Sandford said a wide varie-
ty of animals are included in
their diagnostic work. Among
these are a variety of small
animals. He added, "We have
also worked on fish and
penguins. The latter have
come from Storybook
Gardens in London".
Reid says his stay at Cen-
tralia will allow him to
broaden his knowledge of the
veterinary business and be
exposed to practical ex-
perience in post mortem and
microscopic examinations.
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