The last year milk was shipped to Dundas, the farmers received an average of $1 .96 per hundred pound.

Billy Taylor of Strathcona recalls hauling cheese boxes from Acorn’s Mill in Souris to Dundas. He was paid $25.00 for five trips over rough gravelled roads. Another man who hauled cheese boxes from Souris was Art Ross. One such trip was made on a very windy day. As he descended the hill in Rollo Bay, a heavy gust of wind hit the wagon loaded with about 200 light, bulky cheese boxes. The wagon took a lurch and tossed Mr. Ross into the ditch. He was not seriously hurt but definitely shaken by his experience.

Like most local industries the Dundas Cheese Factory was forced out of business in the late 1950’s. Competition from Central Creameries in Charlotte— town who offered the farmers higher prices played a big part in this closing. The building was later burned to the ground as a Halloween prank.

STARCH FACTORY

The Starch Factory in Bridgetown was located on the same property as the cheese factory.

On June 20, 1910, the men at the Annandale Lumber Company were busy sawing lumber for the frame of the starch factory. This lumber was cut in Felix Morrison’s woods. After all the sawing had been completed, the lumber was rafted up the Boughton River to Bridgetown.

A short time later the construction of a three storey building at least one hundred feet long and fifty feet wide was started. The upper storey did not

extend outward as far as the lower floor, giving the building a rather unique ap- pearance. ’

There was a cookhouse upstairs and bunkhouse for the hired men to stay in

overnight. One lady recalls going up to the cookhouse and getting nice fat molasses cookies.

Most people recall digging the potatoes all morning and then taking the potatoes in their cart to the factory. Ned Clay would be there to weigh the cart and potatoes. After the potatoes were unloaded on to an escalator belt, the cart alone was weighed. Mr. Clay then calculated and informed the farmers of how many hundred weight of potatoes they had. Nelson Acorn recalls receiving a total of forty cents a hundred weight.

After going into the factory on the belt the potatoes were washed by going through a trough of flowing water. The potatoes were ground up and went into a large boiler. After being boiled for a length of time the starch settled to the bottom. There would be about two feet of solid white starch at the bottom. After the water on the top was drained off, the starch was shovelled out, put into carts, and taken to the drying room upstairs.

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