Agriculture and Farm Life

be packed separately and would have to be mixed together by shovels on the floor of a shed and then rebagged to haul to the field. Cecil Stetson recalls that it was “a great saving of time and work when the Island Fertilizer Company started shipping blended fertilizer by the bag.”

Courtesy oi Cecil Stetson Potato spraying at Stetson’s. Gordon Stetson on the sprayer and his children Laura and Cecil

Popular varieties12 during the early years of seed potato production in Marshfield were Irish Cobblers, Green Mountains and Bliss’ Triumph. Later in the century Irish Cobblers were still popular but were joined by Sebagos and Purple Chiefs.

After harvest and grading the bagged seed potatoes could be loaded on a railcar at Suffolk and shipped through Ambrose Ferguson, agent for the Potato Grower’s Association. Often the potatoes would only go as far as Charlottetown by rail and then be loaded on a ship. Destinations for Island seed potatoes at that time were the mid-Atlantic States and as far south as Jacksonville, Florida.

When many farms grew a few acres of potatoes it would often be common for groups of three to five neighbouring farms to pool resources to own a potato sprayer or duster and a digger. Sharing of work was especially true at harvest time. The potato harvest would commence after the grain crop was in and the crew would spend several days on each farm harvesting the crop that was commonly stored in the clay floored cellars of the farm houses.

While it was a busy time for all hands it was the lady of the farm who had to plan and cook the huge meals demanded by the hungry crews. The cooking was usually done on a wood—fired range and between meals an afternoon snack would be prepared and sent to the field crew. As potato production became more intensive and mechanized

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in the early 1960’s most Marshfield farms phased out potato production in order to concentrate on livestock.

Farm Life

Farms in Marshfield have been and continue to be family affairs. In many cases more than one generation at a time would be active on the farm. A tradition, now gone, was for the son destined to take over the farm when he married to bring his bride to live in the farm house with his parents.

This type of arrangement could be a blessing or a sentence and sometimes both. Imagine the tensions, seldom brought into the open, as the new wife struggled to define her role and create a home for herself, her husband and children under the eye of her in—laws. On the positive side such arrangements did provide for mutual support for the legion of household tasks revolving around meal preparation and child care. However, there was a loss of privacy and control for all involved.

Outside on the farm the father—son relationship had developed over a longer time frame. However, the whole question of farm succession was in many cases always in the background. A man of middle age may have contributed to the farm for thirty years before he secured any property rights in the farm, usually as the result of the death of his father.

Counesy oi Elizabeth MacLeod Nestled in a stook made of sheaves are Wally and Don Wood.

ca. 1937

A sense of what it was like to raise a large family on a Marshfield farm during the 1930’s and 40’s is provided by Wally Wood. Wally’s mother, Ida, was from Charlottetown and used to having what are today considered basic amenities such as electricity and running water. When she married