Historical Articles Archive

My dog is a mongrel. He is partly Scotch collie and the rest cur. He is worth his keep many times. He catches gophers; he drivers [sic] the horses and cattle; he will hold a pig if I tell him to do so; he will chase a coyote; he will only bark at visitors in daytime, but will not admit strangers at night; he will guard a blanket or coat left by me until he starves; he will go with the kiddies (two little girls) to play and will see that nothing molests them; he will bark and chase away...

A good farm dog is a valuable asset to any farmer, but a poor one is worse than nothing. To train a dog correctly is no easy task. In some respects it is about as big a job as training a child, and some people do it with as much care. The first things in training a dog is to make friends with him. No one can train a pup successfully who hates dogs, unless he can properly conceal his feelings. One who likes and understands them can teach dogs and make them do things that the uninitiated...

In the last article we discovered that the real strength of Protection lay in the fact of unemployment, wherefrom anything that will “make work” is taken to be a blessing. Similarly the effects of machinery, and of labor-saving inventions, have frequently been looked at with dismay by those whom these things ought to benefit, because, as a matter of fact, the benefit did not often come. Trade is, indeed, a labor saving invention, and protective tariffs, in their effort to prevent...

The fact that the eight-hour day was dragged into the Peace Conference does not dress it up in any more attractive form to present to the Canadian electorate, and it is evident that our parliamentarians and legislators realize how ill-timed any eight-hour day legislation would be at present. In fact, none of them show any desire to risk burning their fingers by enacting an eight-hour day, which they must know is not in the best interest of agriculture, manufacturing industries or the nation...

I believe the rural community is becoming extinct. Ontario is becoming a province of urbanites and semi-urbanites who are destroying the rural community. The urbanites are becoming more rural and the rural people are becoming more urban as they enjoy all the amenities of city living. Geographers and census-takers are finding it increasingly difficult to define the limits of metropolitan areas. They are becoming one big transitional zone, neither urban nor rural, sometimes referred to as...

I was much interested in a picture of a woodland scene shown in the “Advocate” two weeks ago, presumably a sugar-place- a pretty scene all right and one that might rightfully belong to a park, but pathetic when viewed from nature’s standpoint and man’s failure to grasp the intent of the all-wise Power guiding his destinies. Desecration! Can I choose a better word to express man’s heedless, senseless management of what he thinks to be his own affairs. I sometimes...

During the Year 1834, there will be four Eclipses, which will happen in the following order. The First will be an eclipse of the Sun, on Saturday, June 7th, and visible here. Sun Rises - 4 h. 26 min Beginning of Eclipse - 5 h. 15 min Middle - 5 h. 42 min End - 6 h. 27 min There will be about 1 ½ digits eclipsed on the Sun’s southern limb. The Second will be an Eclipse of the Moon, on Saturday, June 21st, visible here, and total. Moon Rises - 20th day, 7 h. 43...

American truck farmers and some of the most skilful market gardeners in the world, like the “maraichers” around Paris, have long planted certain vegetables according to the phases of the moon, the rule generally being to plant some varieties of seed with a waxing moon and others with a waning moon. The idea goes right back into the midst of antiquity. Foresters in many parts of Europe will quit a job rather than fell trees at a time of full moon when they know that the timber...

The hydrogen bomb has moved the dangers of war right out to your farm doorstep. It also has given you - the farmer - a new and grave responsibility in the defense of your nation. We don’t want to alarm you, but you should understand the sobering facts recently revealed by the Atomic Energy Commission and how they affect you. First, distance from city targets no longer is a guarantee of safety for the farm family, even though a superbomb might explode hundreds of miles away. Recent...

People respond to the words "Emergency Measures Organization" and "Civil Defence" in various ways. Some people have responded by attempting to learn and participate in the E.M.O. programs. Others have taken the attitude that we will wait and see. Still others have thrown up their hands and said, "If this happens I don’t want to be here." While it is true, that if an enemy unleashed an all-out attack on the North American continent, thousands and even...

My wife and I have just returned from a trip to the coast; we couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked to, as we had to get back in time for haying. Now that we are back, we are wondering why it is that we have lived here all these years without taking a trip such as we have taken this summer. We’re both feeling a whole lot better for having taken the holiday, and even though I’m a little over sixty, I feel as though I can hold my own with the boys through another...

Adam may or may not have tried his hand at weather-prediction, but it is written that as far back as the time of Noah, that gentleman prophesied a long, wet spell, and, unlike a lot of later weather prophets, he had such faith in his own prognostications that he took measure to meet the situation. Further than that, subsequent events proved that Noah was a 100 per cent. prophet. Many of his successors, however, showing a lower batting average, it became increasingly apparent as time went on...

Scores, yes hundreds, of reasons have been advanced to account for the boys leaving the farm to engage in urban occupations. The problem is unsolved. Perhaps if all the sound reasons advanced were put together in one volume they would cover the case. In dealing with the subject of the trend of population cityward, by far the largest percentage of writers discuss the problem from a very one-sided point of view. The boy would seem to be the only person that the rural district cannot afford to...

The Countryman is a welcome weekly visitor with us, and is very instructive and interesting. The page, “Practical Discussions by Practical Farmers,” always gives first-hand experiences of farmers in different lines of farming, and in various localities. We may argue with some views, and not with others, but all have beneficial ideas. How are we going to keep the boys, especially the farm-born boys, on the farm? The majority of farmers are not making bank interest on their...

Last fall I spent a half day at an auction sale. Perhaps I had better say that I spent several days, as I have a weakness for auction sales. There is no better place to meet your neighbours and have a friendly chat. On the particular afternoon in question, however, I went more out of curiosity than of any other reason. The man who was selling out and moving to town was rated one of the best farmers in the neighbourhood. I had known him for years, and the thing about him that I had always...

The following article is focused on the concept of Canadian citizenship and whether our current system of democracy serves the needs of the public. This author reminds all Canadian citizens that it is their responsibility to ensure our government systems are not corrupted by human selfishness and hubris. With the celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial, it is important to reflect on how Canadians should continue to strive for a true democracy. Canadian Citizenship: True and False...

A female farmer who wanted to highlight the importance of farmers to food production and stability wrote the following poem. In particular it focuses on how in 1920 the production of food did not meet the needs of the population. As of 2017, this issue continues to be a problem not only in Canada but worldwide. It is thus necessary to reflect on the important of farmers to human life and strive to correct a continuing problem found in food accessibility and farming jobs. If Farmers go on...

Is farming the industry of food production, or is it a way of living- or is it just something we talk about? And what is a farmer? We speak of farmers as though they were all alike. That we know is not true. There are wheat farmers, cotton planters, cattle, sheep, and hog raisers, fruit farmers, dairy farmers, not to speak of the diversified farmers, who try a little of everything. But they do have this in common: they are all sections of an industry which only to a small degree has as...