Clinton News-Record, 1984-09-05, Page 311\7ighbor!y food um
By Shelley McPhee
Wheat has been a Shelley
crop. in Huron
County for more than a century. James
Scott in his 1966 book The Settlement of
Huron County wrote that by 1850, wheat was
the mgst popular crop with oats coming se-
cond. Some 15,400 acres of wheat were
grown on Huron soil, yielding 214,739
bushels. Oats covered 8,271 acres and
brought in 199,141 bushels.
Scott wrote, "Previous to;1850 the annual
yleidofnwheat, according to the Thomas Mc-
Queen in the Journal of Transactions of the
Board of Agriculture' in Upper Canada,lwas
less than 3,000 bushels. By 1856, 100,000
bushels of wheat were shipped from the lit-
tle port of Bayfield alone. Incidentally, this
marks the beginning.of the only period in its
history that Bayfield showed any signs of
commercial success.. For a few years. a
great deal of local wheat was taken by
wagons to elevators down on "the flats" in
Bayfield to be transported by water for sale
elsewhere in the country or for export. Slow-
ly this industry fell off as more and more
wheat was carried by rail to the port in
Goderich. If a railway line had its lake ter-
minal in Bayfield the story might have been
different, but another and larger centre
once more took precedence and eventually
Bayfield's role as a shipping point for wheat
dwindled to nothing."
With the steady increase of the wheat
acreage; farmers began using new and im-
proved cultivation and harvesting methods.
By 1871, Scott wrote, there were 591
threshing machines in use, 6,295 fanning
mills, 995 reapers and mowers. Much of this
equipment was made locally.
Scott wrote. "The final phase of the
development of agriculture came with the
advent of the threshing machine and steam
engine. Now crews of men would move from
farm to farm on a regular schedule,
threshing the wheat. Threshing days
became a tremendous community event
Pow 11
stOy in farmers' minds
A threshing scene from days gone by. (photo courtesy of Dan Hallahan) -
and continued to be until the combine came
into general use. Today there are very few
of the old type threshing outfitsleft in Huron'
County but for 50 years this was a prominent
feature of farm life and the threshing
machines were in foundries right in the
county itself.'
home cured ham and eggs, bowls of oatmeal
porridge and .buckets of coffee issued forth
on the crisp. morning air. To hear the rattl-
ing of a farm wagon miles down the gravel
road as the sun was bursting into view m the
east, flooding the trees with sunlight and in
their autumn foliage they in turn projecting
The harvest season was, as James Scott, their magnificent colors• for all to see.' To
heardescribed a time for men and women, boys conversations such asthese of the tom
that
foolery
and girls to join together in work and in fun. that went on time •makes
younger person think that progrss did rob
The Blyth Standard in its September 2,
1964 issue reported, "To listen in on a con-
versation of the men who manned' these
smoking giants, in their working days, one
feels that a threshing bee was something
they enjoyed even if it was work. You hear.
discussed, 'We used to rise at 3:30 a.m, on a
brisk October morning to fire the engines.
and clean the flues, feed and harness the
horses. In the farm kitchen savory smells of
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Welcome
THRESHERMEN REUNION
VISITORS
Footwear -Boys' Wear -
Men's Wear and
Ladies' Jeans
"Many instore features"
Hours: Open 6 days a week. Monday to
Saturday 9 a.m.-8:15 p.m.. (During Blyth Summer Festival)
WEBSTRIUS
Clothing and Footwear
Main St. Blyth 523-9709
i
WELCOME
TO THE
23rd Annual
TNRESNER'S REUNION
DAVE'S
CAR OI INC
*New acid free oil.
Prepare your vehicle
for the cold months
ahead.
Phone for an
appointment:
5234343
Drummond St. East
�... Blyth
i
Winterize
Your �` �
Car...
us of those days.
Issac Cranston of: Ashfield Township own-
ed one of the powerful threshing machines.
The township history book Frontier Ways to
Modern Days recalls the work of the iron
giant in the early 1900's. •
Isaac owned a theshing machine and did
barn threshing for. years. At that tune the
sheaves were put in the barns and threshing
wouldn't be finished until the first of
November. The men -who ran the threshing
machine usually stayed all night at the a
place where they were working. Some of the
places, the women didn't like their bedding
all dirtied with threshing dirt. One night the
men didn't have enough covers so they got
up and put their clothes on and went hack to
bed.
"Another place they were coaxed to stay
all night but didn't know why until the next
morning. The farmer had sold a team of
horses the day before and had $400 in the
house and didn't want to be alone.
"It has been related that on February 14,
1934; Isaac shovelled out his lane, pulled the
machine out and went to thresh for a farmer
who hada large. barn lull of .sheaves. This
operation took a coupleeof days-°
For women too, harvesting was a busy
time as they prepared;meals for more than'
a dozen hungry, hard working men.
In a July 1883 issue of the Clinton New -Era
a refreshing new drink recipewa published. =;
"Among the many cooling :drinks recom-
mended for the harvest field is the follow-
ing: to one gallon of water add one eup full
of boiled cider. It is an agreeable drink and
without bad effects, provided that the water
is pure." . .
Threshing days were not .without serious
tragedies and accidents. One early
newspaper item recounts, "A most terrible
accident occurred on the farm of Malcolm.
Cameron, Stanley Township, whickresuited
in the death of a highly esteemed resident.
Arthur Wanless was engaFged in threshing
for Mr. , Cameron with his ' steam engine
when an explosion took place and the, engine
was blown to atoms. The foot board was
crushed and fell upon a man narked Munn of
Hay Township. He was badly scalded and
terribly injured."
And ,there were years the crop prospects
were equally as disastrous. In August 1883,
The Clinton New Era reported, "As it is now
a well -ascertained fact that the wheat crop
is not one of the worst, but the very worst, in
this section, in the memory of the oldest in-
habitants, considerable anxiety is being felt
as to its affect upon the physical interest of
the community, aS it is the most important,
crop of the farmer, the most money being
obtained through it, and the one which he
looks to for paying his store bills. If this crop
alone was the only one which the farmer had
to complain about the prospect might not be
so gloomy, but there were others that will
not yield very great returns." '
Still it is the memories of successful
harvests, of neighborly good will and work
that remain most prevalent in the minds of
the old time farmers. These memories and
the love of the steam machines help to keep
the enthusiasm and attendance high at
events like the Pioneer Thresher Show in
Blyth.
•
stringers break on
bridge 100 years ago
STANLEY- TWP. - One Friday evening
last, as the steam thresher of Thomas Din= •
sadle was crossing a bridge on the sideline
five, between 3rd and 4th , concession
Stanley, the stringers on one side gave way,
upsetting the enginer, but fortunately not
falling entirely, being caught by the sound
stringer, but the injuries were such as to re-
quire near $100 to repair.
(c
Mr. J. Deeds, who was driving at the time,
narrowly escaped with his life. Neighbors
were quickly on the scene and placed the
engine on solid ground, and Mr. Dinsdale,
with his usual alacity, at once took
measures to repair damages, so that the
engine, will be in working order with the
least possible delay. •
oft slalma.
Welcome
to the 23rd Annual
THRESHER'S
REUNION
Como In and see us or give us a
call and lot us help look after
your crop.
* WNITENANV
* CORN * SOVREAIYS
*,RANEY * WHEAT
* MIXED ORAIN
Howson Mak
Elevator Division
Blyth, Ontario
5234624 or 5234241
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