Agriculture and Farm Life

Almon in 1932 she moved into a typical country home of the time.

Light was provided by oil lamps and lanterns, water carried by the pail from the barn, wood and coal were used for heat and fuelled the kitchen range and there was an outside toilet. All bread was baked at home, butter was churned, soap was homemade, all the clothes, diapers and bedding were washed by hand. All these chores were combined with raising eight children and seeing to homework under the light of a kerosene lamp.

Little understood now would be the day to day isolation encountered by women like Ida. The Woods were over a mile from the highway and from mid-November until mid-May the only means of travel was by horse and wagon or sleigh. Taking the children to school by horse and sleigh provided Almon and other men a chance to see each other. This opportunity was denied to Ida and other women who were tied to the house. Church and the Women’s Institute were strongly supported by such women as much for their social interaction as for any other reason.

Livestock

Marshfield has long been known for the quality of the livestock produced by the farms in the community. William Miller of Marshfield was a noted early breeder of Ayrshires. He was followed by Tupper Ferguson of Craggan Farm and by Almon Wood and Sons, East River Farms.l3

Before the end of the nineteenth century there were a number of importations, including those of Benjamin Heartzl4 on the border of Marshfield in East Royalty who had imported purebred stock of both Holsteins and Jerseys in the late 1880’s.

Courtesy ol Irving Boswall Fitting sheep for the Prov. Exhibition, Keir and Lyle Boswall, ca. 1956

-l73—

Courtesy ol Stella Boswall Irving Boswall and champion Yorkshire. Royal Agricultural Winter Fair 1992.

An early breeder of Holsteins in Marshfield was Henry Boswall of Tulloch Farm. Over the years under Henry, his son Lyle and his grandson Irving, Tulloch Farm has bred and exhibited Holstein and Shorthom cattle and Yorkshire Hogs. Today the Rosevale Farm of Athol, Gordon and Malcolm MacBeath and East River Farms of David and Bruce Wood have two of the best herds of Holsteins in the Province.

Albert J. Boswell and family established Marshfield Jerseys in 1950. Today this herd recognized across the country and beyond is located on the Springbrook Farm of Wayne and Linda Boswell and family.

The development of herds of cattle purely for the production of milk represented one of the first forms of specialization on Island farms. While this specialization was carried out for a long time as a part of a mixed farm operation, it was only when local cheese and butter factories started to operate that it really became practical to regard milk as a cash income earner.

Milk from farms in Marshfield would have been delivered in cans to the Dunstaffnage Co- operative Cheese and Butter Factory from 1895 to 1946. Lorne Gibson of Springbrook Farm, Marshfield served as butter-maker at this factory before moving to Manitoba and eventually becoming Canadian Dairy Commissioner. Ludlow Jenkins, also from Marshfield, was butter-maker at the Dunstaffnage Factory from 1925 to 1930.15

Exhibitions A key component from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day has been the participation