Agriculture and Farm Life between wheat and hay, some twenty percent would have been planted to barley. Oats and potatoes along with minor plantings on some farms of turnips, flax and peas made up the balance of cultivated crops. The basic hay mixture of timothy and white clover was changing with the introduction of cowgrass7 (the perennial red clover that is still common today). Hay cut from the river marshes still represented an important source of winter fodder for the settlement's sheep, cattle and horses. Between 1810 and the early 1820's the area farmed in Marshfield almost doubled with farms being established on the north side of the St. Peters Road . Fencing not commonly used in the early years of settlement increased as the area of cultivated land and both neighbours and livestock became more numerous. The snake fence made from "longers" or poles about fifteen feet in length was widely employed. Snake fences zigged and zagged but they were stronger and turned animals better than straight rail fences. Photo by William Hall , 1906 Courtesy of Grace Swan Grace Everton (Auntie Grace) posing on a zigzag log fence in Suffolk The use of fences to control livestock and the gradual importation of improved types of livestock from the Old Country and the "Boston States" led to a gradual improvement in all livestock. Agricultural Societies or groups of farmers were formed to pool resources for the importation of improved breeding stock. Ayrshires in 1839s and 1840 and Shorthorns around 1850 were the first named breeds of cattle imported. Potatoes Potatoes to the early settlers of Marshfield represented an extremely valuable food crop. Potatoes could quite easily be produced on newly cleared land, often being planted in small hills around decaying stumps. Two major current pests of the potato, late blight and the Colorado potato beetle, were unknown to the early settlers. However, by the 1840's late blight had arrived and caused much damage. The Colorado potato beetle did not arrive until the later part of the nineteenth century. Shipments of potatoes from PEI to neighbouring colonies started quite early after settlement. The first recorded shipment of potatoes from Marshfield 9 occurred in 1838 when David Ross shipped 80 bushels of potatoes as part of a cargo to Quebec . Popular varieties of potatoes exhibited at the Provincial Exhibition in 188810 were Burbank, Bliss ' Triumph, Pearl of Savoy, White Star, Beauty of Hebron , Mclntyre and Empire State. Development of new potato varieties was common at that time as people would plant the seed from the seedballs formed on the potato plants. This was done to make a start with virus free plants when the "mother variety" had "runout" (became unproductive) due to virus infection. It was the development of the "Certified Seed" potato industry during the teens and twenties of the 1900's that made potato production a very profitable component on many farms in Marshfield . The Stetson Farm , , has a long history of seed potato production and the longest history in the community of continuous potato production, right up to the present day. Other families to specialize early in seed potato production were the MacBeaths, Scotts and Godfreys.11 Five to seven acres of potatoes would be the average acreage grown on most farms. However, at times the Stetsons would have as many as thirty acres of seed potatoes in production. Fertilizer, for the potatoes, would come out from Charlottetown by rail to Suffolk Station in 150 to 200 pound jute bags. The nitrogen, phosphate, and potash would 1 '•-;; !*> . Trjott'l- and Disirtv «*k# Quick ro* ol Bfctrwittiyr for A- A. *e*«ttli, M*x»aii* J «, *- 8. X. Courtesy of Athol MacBeath From The Farmer's Guide, October, 1925 -170-