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History of Farming in Ontario

<h2>The Modern Period, 1888-1912</h2> In 1888 a new period in Ontario's agricultural history begins. The working forces of agriculture were being linked together in the new department of Agriculture. Charles Drury, the first minister of Agriculture, held office until 1890, being succeeded by John Dryden, who continued in charge of the department until 1905, when a conservative government took the place of the liberal government that had been in power since 1871. Two factors immediately began to play a most important part in the agricultural situation: the opening up of the north-western lands by the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886, and the enactment, on October 6, 1890, of the McKinley high tariff by the United States. The former attracted Ontario's surplus population, and made it no longer profitable or desirable to grow wheat in the province for export; the latter closed the doors to the export of barley, live stock, butter, and eggs. The situation was desperate; agriculture was passing through a period of most trying experience. Any other industry than that of agriculture would have been bankrupted. The only hope of the Ontario farmer now was in the British market. The sales of one Ontario product, factory cheese, had been steadily increasing in the great consuming districts of England and Scotland, and there was reason to believe that other products might be sold to equal advantage. Dairying was the one line of agricultural work that helped to tide over the situation in the early nineties. The methods that had succeeded in building up the cheese industry must be applied to other lines, and all the organized forces must be co-ordinated in carrying this out. This was work for a department of Agriculture, and the minister of Agriculture, John Dryden, who guided and directed this co-operation of forces and made plans for the future growth and expansion of agricultural work, was an imperialist indeed who, in days of depression and difficulty, directed forces and devised plans that not only helped the agricultural classes to recover their prosperity, but also made for the strengthening of imperial ties and the working out of national greatness. The British market presented new conditions, new demands. The North-West could send her raw products in the shape of wheat; Ontario must send finished products—beef, bacon, cheese, butter, fruit, eggs, and poultry—these and similar products could be marketed in large quantities if only they could be supplied of right quality. Transportation of the right kind was a prime necessity. Lumber, wheat, and other rough products could be handled without difficulty, but perishable goods demanded special accommodation. This was a matter belonging to the government of Canada, and to it the Dominion department of Agriculture at once began to give attention. The production of the goods for shipment was a matter for provincial direction. Gradually the farmers of the province adapted themselves to the new conditions and after a time recovered their lost ground. General prosperity came in sight again about 1895. For several years after this the output of beef, bacon, and cheese increased steadily, and the gains made in the British market more than offset the loss of the United States market. It was during the five years after 1890 that the farmers suffered so severely while adjusting their work to the new conditions. With these expanding lines of British trade products, the values of stock, implements, and buildings made steady advance, and in 1901 the total value of all farm property in the province crossed the billion dollar mark. Since that year the annual increase in total farm values has been approximately forty million dollars. The following statement of total farm values in Ontario, as compiled by the Ontario bureau of Industries, the statistical branch of the department of Agriculture, is very suggestive: <table summary="Values of Farms in Ontario by Year"> <caption>Total Farm Values</caption> <tr><td>1885</td> <td align="right">$958,159,740</td> <td class="p-l">1895</td> <td align="right">$931,989,574</td></tr> <tr><td>1886</td> <td align="right">989,497,911</td> <td class="p-l">1896</td> <td align="right">910,291,623</td></tr> <tr><td>1887</td> <td align="right">975,292,214</td> <td class="p-l">1897</td> <td align="right">905,093,613</td></tr> <tr><td>1888</td> <td align="right">981,368,094</td> <td class="p-l">1898</td> <td align="right">923,022,420</td></tr> <tr><td>1889</td> <td align="right">982,210,664</td> <td class="p-l">1899</td> <td align="right">947,513,360</td></tr> <tr><td>1890</td> <td align="right">970,927,035</td> <td class="p-l">1900</td> <td align="right">974,814,931</td></tr> <tr><td>1891</td> <td align="right">971,886,068</td> <td class="p-l">1901</td> <td align="right">1,001,323,296</td></tr> <tr><td>1892</td> <td align="right">979,977,244</td> <td class="p-l">1902</td> <td align="right">1,044,894,332</td></tr> <tr><td>1893</td> <td align="right">970,361,070</td> <td class="p-l">1906</td> <td align="right">1,189,119,120</td></tr> <tr><td>1894</td> <td align="right">954,395,507</td> <td class="p-l">1909</td> <td align="right">1,241,019,109</td></tr> </table> From the above table it will be seen that the closing of the United States markets in 1890 was followed by a depreciation in general farm values which lasted until 1898, when the upward movement that has continued ever since set in. And now let us see how the population was changing, as to its distribution between rural and urban, during these years. First, we shall give the assessed population. <table summary="Rural vs. Urban Population, 1884 to 1909"> <tr><td></td> <th>Rural</th> <th>Urban</th></tr> <tr><td>1884</td> <td align="right">1,117,880</td> <td align="right">636,187</td></tr> <tr><td>1885</td> <td align="right">1,126,554</td> <td align="right">658,406</td></tr> <tr><td>1890</td> <td align="right">1,117,533</td> <td align="right">800,041</td></tr> <tr><td>1895</td> <td align="right">1,109,013</td> <td align="right">848,377</td></tr> <tr><td>1900</td> <td align="right">1,094,246</td> <td align="right">919,614</td></tr> <tr><td>1905</td> <td align="right">1,059,379</td> <td align="right">1,042,881</td></tr> <tr><td>1909</td> <td align="right">1,049,240</td> <td align="right">1,240,198</td></tr> </table> The Canadian Pacific Railway opened up the wheat lands of the West in 1886. At that time the rural population was nearly double the urban; in 1905 they were about equal; and six years later the urban population of Ontario exceeded the rural. The Dominion census figures are as follows: <table summary="Rural vs. Urban Population, 1911 and 1901"> <tr><td></td> <th>Rural</th><th>Urban</th></tr> <tr><td>1911</td> <td align="right">1,194,785</td> <td align="right">1,328,489</td></tr> <tr><td>1901</td> <td align="right">1,246,969</td> <td align="right">935,978</td></tr> <tr> <td>Increase</td> <td align="right" class="total">....</td> <td align="right" class="total">392,511</td></tr> <tr> <td>Decrease</td> <td align="right">52,184</td> <td align="right">....</td></tr> </table> It will thus be seen that during the past twenty-five years there has been a steady increase in the consumers of food products in Ontario and a slight decrease in the producers of the same. The surplus population of the farms has gone to the towns and cities of Ontario and to the western provinces. Now for a moment let us follow these people to the West. Many of them have gone on the land to produce wheat. Wheat for the European market has been their principal product, therefore they in turn have become consumers of large quantities of food that they do not themselves produce but must obtain from farmers elsewhere. But not all who have gone West have become farmers. The Dominion census of 1911 gives the following statement of population for the provinces and districts west of Lake Superior: <table summary="Population West of Lake Superior"> <tr><td></td> <th>Rural</th> <th>Urban</th></tr> <tr><td>1911</td> <td align="right">1,059,681</td> <td align="right">681,216</td></tr> <tr><td>1901</td> <td align="right">446,050</td> <td align="right">199,467</td></tr> <tr> <td>Increase</td> <td align="right" class="total">613,631</td> <td align="right" class="total">481,749</td></tr> </table> The western provinces are generally considered to be almost purely agricultural, and yet the percentage increase of urban population has been nearly double the percentage increase of rural population. And this rapidly growing urban population also has demanded food products. Their own farmers grow wheat and oats and barley. British Columbia produces fruit for her own people and some surplus for the prairie provinces. There is some stock-raising, but the rapid extension of wheat areas has interfered with the great stock ranches. From out of the Great West, therefore, there has come an increasing demand for many food products. Add to this the growing home market in Ontario, and, keeping in mind that the West can grow wheat more cheaply than Ontario, it will be understood why of recent years the Ontario farmer has been compelled to give up the production of wheat for export. His line of successful and profitable work has been in producing to supply the demands of his own growing home market, and the demands of the rapidly increasing people of the West, both rural and urban, and also to share in the insatiable market of Great Britain. Another element of more recent origin has been the small but very profitable market of Northern Ontario, where lumbering, mining, and railroad construction have been so active in the past five or six years. The result of all this has been a great increase in fruit production. Old orchards have been revived and new orchards have been set out. The extension of the canning industry also is most noticeable, and has occasioned the production of fruits and vegetables in enormous quantities. Special crops such as tobacco, beans, and sugar beets are being grown in counties where soil and climatic conditions are favourable. The production of poultry and eggs is also receiving more attention each succeeding year. The growth of cities is creating an increasing demand for milk, and the production of factory-made butter and cheese is also increasing, as the following figures for Ontario from the Dominion census prove: <table summary="Production of Cheese and Butter in Ontario Factories"> <tr><td></td><th>Butter</th> <th>Cheese</th></tr> <tr><td>1900</td> <td align="right">7,559,542 lb.</td> <td align="right">131,967,612 lb.</td></tr> <tr><td>1910</td> <td align="right">13,699,153 "</td> <td align="right">157,631,883 "</td></tr> </table> For the past ten or twelve years the farmers of Ontario have been slowly adjusting their work to the new situation, and the transition is continuing. While in some sections farms are being enlarged so as to permit the more extensive use of labour-saving machinery and the more economical handling of live stock, in other sections, particularly in counties adjacent to the Great Lakes, large farms are being cut up into smaller holdings and intensive production of fruits and vegetables is now the practice. This, of course, results in a steady increase in land values and is followed by an increase in rural population. The farmers of Ontario are putting forth every effort to meet the demands for food products. The one great difficulty that they have encountered has been the scarcity of farm labour. Men have come from Europe by the tens of thousands, but they have been drawn largely to the growing towns and cities by the high wages offered in industrial lines; and the West, the 'Golden West' as it is sometimes called, has proved an even stronger attraction. It seems rarely to occur to the new arrival that the average farm in Ontario could produce more than a quarter section of prairie land. Signs, however, point to an increase in rural population, through the spread of intensive agriculture. Before referring to the methods of instruction and assistance provided for the developing of this new agriculture in Ontario, reference should be made to one thing that is generally overlooked by those who periodically discover this rapid urban increase, and who moralize most gloomily upon a movement that is to be found in nearly every progressive country of the civilized world. In the days of early settlement the farmer and his family supplied nearly all their own wants. The farmer produced all his own food; he killed his own stock, salted his pork, and smoked his hams. His wife was expert in spinning and weaving, and plaited the straw hats for the family. The journeyman shoemaker dropped in and fitted out the family with boots. The great city industries were then unknown. The farmer's wife in those days was perhaps the most expert master of trades ever known. She could spin and weave, make a carpet or a rug, dye yarns and clothes, and make a straw hat or a birch broom. Butter, cheese, and maple sugar were products of her skill, as well as bread, soap, canned fruits, and home-made wine. In those days the farm was a miniature factory or combination of factories. Many, in fact most, of these industries have gradually moved out of the farm home and have been concentrated in great factories; and the pedlar with his pack has disappeared under a shower of catalogues from the departmental city store. In other words, a large portion of work once done upon the farm and at the country cross-roads has been transferred to the town and city, and this, in some part, explains the modern movement citywards—there has been a transference from country to city not only of people but also of industries. Whether this has been in the interests of the people is another question, but the process is still going on, and what further changes may take place it is difficult to determine and unwise to forecast. And now let us see what agencies and organizations have been used in the development of the special lines of agriculture since the creation of the department in 1888. We have stated that the Agriculture and Arts Association had been for many years the directing force in provincial agricultural organization. It held an annual provincial exhibition; it issued the diplomas to the graduates of the Ontario Veterinary College; and it controlled the various live stock associations that were interested in the registration of stock. Shortly after 1888 legislation was enacted transferring the work to the department of Agriculture. The place for holding the provincial exhibition was changed from year to year. In 1879 a charter was obtained by special act for the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, the basis of which was the Toronto Electoral Agricultural Society. Out of this came the annual Toronto Exhibition, now known as the Canadian National Exhibition, and the governmental exhibition was discontinued. The Ontario Veterinary College was a privately owned institution, though the diplomas were issued by the Agriculture and Arts Association. The royal commission appointed in 1905 to investigate the University of Toronto recommended the taking over of this association by the government, and as a result it passed under the control of the department of Agriculture in 1908, and was affiliated with the University of Toronto. Since that time the diploma of Veterinary Surgeon (V.S.) has been issued by the minister of Agriculture, and a supplementary degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Science (B.V.Sc.) has been granted by the university. The taking over of this institution by the government, the resuming by the province of its original prerogative, was accompanied by an enlargement of the course, an extension from two years to three years in the period of instruction, and a strengthening of the faculty. The herd-books or pedigree record books were, in most cases, Canadian, and it was felt that they should be located at the capital of the Dominion. These have therefore been transferred to Ottawa and are now conducted under Dominion regulations. The Ontario bureau of Industries was the basis of organization of the department. As other work was added the department grew in size and importance, and the various branches were instituted until there developed a well-organized department having the following subdivisions: <ul> <li>The Agricultural College,</li> <li>The Veterinary College,</li> <li>The Agricultural and Horticultural Societies Branch,</li> <li>The Live Stock Branch,</li> <li>The Farmers' and Women's Institutes Branch,</li> <li>The Dairy Branch,</li> <li>The Fruit Branch,</li> <li>The Statistical Branch,</li> <li>The Immigration and Colonization Branch.</li> </ul> Each branch is in charge of a special officer. In addition to the above there is a lot of miscellaneous work, which as it develops will probably be organized into separate branches, such as farm forestry, district representatives, etc. John Dryden was in 1905 succeeded as minister of Agriculture by Nelson Monteith, who in 1908 was succeeded by J. S. Duff. Under their care the department has grown and expanded, and through their recommendations, year by year, increasing amounts of money have been obtained for the extension of agricultural instruction and the more thorough working out of plans inaugurated in the earlier years of departmental organization. The history of agricultural work in Ontario in recent years may be put under two heads—expansion of the various organizations and extension of their operations, and the development of what may be called 'field work.' Farmers' institutes and women's institutes have multiplied; agricultural societies now cover the entire province; local horse associations, poultry associations, and beekeepers' associations have been encouraged; winter fairs for live stock have been established at Guelph and Ottawa; dairy instructors have been increased in number and efficiency; short courses in live stock, seed improvement, fruit work, and dairying have been held; and farm drainage has received practical encouragement. Perhaps the most important advance of late years has resulted through the appointment of what are known as district representatives. In co-operation with the department of Education, graduates of the Agricultural College have been permanently located in the various counties to study the agricultural conditions and to initiate and direct any movement that would assist in developing the agricultural work. These graduates organize short courses at various centres, conduct classes in high schools, assist the farmers in procuring the best seed, advise as to new lines of work, assist in drainage, supervise the care of orchards—in short, they carry the work of the Agricultural College and of the various branches of the department right to the farmer, and give that impetus to better farming which can come only from personal contact. The growth of the district representative system has been remarkable: it was begun in seven counties in 1907, by 1910 fifteen counties had representatives, and in 1914 no fewer than thirty-eight counties were so equipped. At first the farmers distrusted and even somewhat opposed the movement, but the district representative soon proved himself so helpful that the government has found it difficult to comply with the numerous requests for these apostles of scientific farming. Approximately $125,000 is spent each year on the work by the provincial government, in addition to the $500 granted annually by the county to each district office. The result of all this is that new and more profitable lines of farming are being undertaken, specializing in production is being encouraged, and Ontario agriculture is advancing rapidly along the lines to which the soils, the climate, and the people are adapted. A study of the history of Ontario agriculture shows many changes in the past hundred years, but at no time has there been so important and so interesting a development as that which took place in the opening decade of the twentieth century. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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