Village Crier

“Does It Pay? . . . . and the Page man asked the question that enters into every business transaction in these intensely practical days.” – JKG

This book is a collection of the majority of interviews John Kenneth Galbraith wrote while he was the cub reporter for the St. Thomas Times-Journal, 1925-1932. The interviews read like conversations from the past. Read only the articles of interest to you one at a time, or read cover to cover to get a feel for the times – the frustration of farmers with ever changing standards and regulations or the success and pride of the Topnotchers that shines through loud and clear. A surname index has been included so that readers may find their kin and hear the voices of their grandfathers or great uncles. These men speak plainly about conditions on southwestern Ontario farms during a time of great change. Change was not always embraced with enthusiasm in the rural community. Pasteurization and new health legislations had come into force, along with the Clean Seed Act, the gasoline engine, electricity and refrigeration, just to name a few. All of these followed the largest conflict in the world – the First World War. Along with all these changes came the crash of ’29, prohibition, crop failures, the Great Depression and the prelude to World War II. How did they cope? Throughout these articles, note how some of the problems faced some eighty years ago are still faced by farmers today. So much changes; yet so much stays the same. Can we learn and improve on our past mistakes? Can we look at mistakes made then and try not to repeat them? Can we take past successes and re-invent them for today’s farming community that still faces economic challenges? Can each of us take the advice offered by these Topnotchers and apply it to our own situations? Only time will tell. “John Kenneth Galbraith’s writing reveal that issues farmers faced 80 years ago are issues farmers are still confronted with today. I will always treasure that I had the opportunity to know the man from Elgin County who was the most influential economist of the 20th century.” —Steve Peters, MPP “Clearly John Kenneth Galbraith’s Elgin roots never left him. His life story and accomplishments remind us that our rural way of life can inspire global achievements.” —Brian Masschaele, Elgin County Cultural Services Director

________________________________________________St. Thomas Times-Journal, April 4, 1925 M.B. STAFFORD, OF SHEDDEN, PINS FAITH TO WELL-BRED AYRSHIRES Shedden Dairyman Tells Something About This Superior Breed Of Cattle And How To Get The Best Results From Them; Pure Bred Stockmen Have Had Up-Hill Fight “They’re difficult to get acquainted with,” the Plowman remarked to M.B. Stafford of Shedden as he looked at his fine herd of Ayrshires. “That’s so,” replied the owner, “but they’re worth getting acquainted with. You see the Ayrshires are close kin to the old fashioned Highland cattle (from Scotland). You know how wild they were!” And the Plowman recalled the stories of Highland and Lowland robber raids in the old days to which so many people are constantly harking back to. To this day there are places in Scotland known as the Robbers’ Glen and the Robbers’ Path and other names suggestive of the struggles men had an hundred years or more ago to retain their own. Was it not the gallant McPherson who had sworn a feud against the clan McTavish but who was deserted by all his followers, save a faithful remnant because the rest “had gone off to drive the cattle.” And by the way the cattle did not always head toward the north, for thieves abounded quite as plentifully to the south of the Scottish boundary as to the north of that dividing line. All that is past now and Englishmen and Highlanders vie with each other in support of common ideals of justice, mercy and brotherly good will. Not only did these animals acquire habits of watchfulness and a wonderful fleetness of foot by dodging robbers, but to get their feed they required to climb many a rugged hill on which larger breeds would have fallen to destruction. “They’re rustlers for feed,” continued Mr. Stafford. “They are always after pasture. In a field where other cattle would starve these will work and almost dig for food. They are ahead of other breeds in that respect.” Plowman recalled the fact that the hills of Scotland are not always knee deep in pasture. Unless the ancestors of the Ayrshires had been able to secure food under the hardest of conditions of pasturage they simply would have gone out of existence. Like Scotchmen themselves Ayrshires will get a good thing if it is to be had by hustling or by digging or by any other fair means. Retain Characteristics So here we have in Canada this superior breed of cattle that have a way of retaining the characteristics of their ancestors. “Here is a good type female,” Mr. Stafford continued. See this fine, regular triangle mark in the face. We like that in our animals. See the brown markings about the eyes, the ears and the nose. This marking is also characteristic, originally,” Mr. Stafford continues, “the Ayrshires were completely brown in colour, though some were darker than others. Then came the day of the white cow with the brown spots. The tendency nowadays is to work for the white animal. Colour is secondary, but just now the Ayrshire fashion sets itself for the white animals. We like a triangle face with plenty of breadth between the eyes, showing a strong nervous system, delicate feminine lines, throughout the face, without too much length. We like the distinctly dished face and horns that come up straight and then curve sharply back. By the way, you needn’t take an Ayrshire into the show ring if the horns have been removed. The neck must be slender and well formed. The shoulder should be delicately molded and distinctly wedge-shaped. The back line should be straight and the loins strong to support the udder, and a good length be found between the hook-bones and the pin-bones. There must be good depth of body, showing food capacity. We can’t get milk from a cow that doesn’t eat plenty of food. We must make no mistake about that.” “Now look at the udder. See how long it is. Notice, how the teats are placed so to speak, on its four corners. We find that we can get as much milk from the front teats as we can from the hind ones. This is a characteristic that we prize highly. You see the milk wells are large and deep and the milk veining good.” “Then feel this hide!” The Plowman found the hide, thin, elastic and pliable. It had nothing leathery about it. The hair was soft and almost oily. “Now that is the way the Ayrshire hide should be,” continued the herdsman. “That shows quality. Indeed, quality should appear everywhere. We don’t breed the Ayrshire for size but for quality. We should find quality in every line and in every action.” Quality In Milk Pail “But what about the test of the milk pail?” the Plowman inquired. “How are the Ayrshires when it comes to performance?” “Quality shows there again. I think it was in 1923 that out of 1,500 Ayrshires under government test that the butter fat was over 4 per cent. There is no difficulty in having these cows produce from forty to sixty pounds of such milk per day.” “And how long will they keep up this flow of milk?” “Well we have had some difficulty at times in drying up our milkers in time to give them sufficient rest before calving. In every sense they are persistent milkers.” “Look at it this way in the matter of milk yield. Two-year olds will give anywhere from five thousand to nine thousand pounds of milk per annum. Four-year olds will yield seven thousand to ten thousand pounds per year while mature cows produce anywhere up to fifteen thousand pounds, all these averaging well over four percent butter fat. So you see the Ayrshire is a good producer. Not only is she a good producer but she is an economical producer. Men who know declare that the Ayrshires have been known to produce seventy-four dollars worth of product from fourteen dollars worth of feed.” “And what do you feed?” “Ensilage is the backbone of our ration. In addition we feed plenty of alfalfa and clover hay. Along with this we feed rolled oats and oil cake. One has to use a good deal of judgment in feeding. He must not stint the cows but he must not put them off their feed. We feed according to results. We must feed for profit rather than for glory. We like to grow our own feed as far as possible.” “Then about beginning?” “You see the Ayrshire nature? You see, too, they are a real money-maker for the man who will take pains to manage them. The money is in them for the man who will take the pains to get it out. The would-be Ayrshire man must settle with himself if he is to use the cows as he ought. They are by no means a quarrelsome breed of cattle. But they are nervous, yet this nervous force may all be turned into money by the man who has patience and brains.” “When this has been settled the next step is to get some real foundation stock and then to work quietly, breeding out weaknesses and breeding in the best qualities. This is a man’s job and a job that will more than pay for all the trouble and expense.” Stockman’s Uphill Fight Too much praise cannot be given Ontario’s pure bred stock men. For many a day to venture on “pedigreed” stock was to invite disaster. These were the days of trickery on the part of salesmen and of inexperience on the part of the purchasers. As far as the buyer was concerned, he was long on guessing and short on facts on which to base his judgment. Then came the days of organization; but some suspected that the organization was to the advantage of the strong, and the unscrupulous and the cunning. This unhappy condition has been superseded by organization by business farmers, a unifying of farm forces based on sound business principals. Along with this organization on the part of the farmers has gone efficient aid from the government in testing for and contending against such diseases as tuberculosis, to say nothing of testing for records of performance. The day in which the government agent in such important work could secure or hold his position through political or other “pull” if it ever was here, has gone forever. A government agent in matters of this sort must be both efficient and honest. He must be a man without a price. If such a menace as a corruptible official as this is discovered now he is liable to be dismissed as soon as electricity can find him. Such a low-down affair is a bad mess composed of knave, rogue, and traitor, fit only for the pest house. Pure bred stockmen will have none of him and the government knows it. Hard on the heels of the government official comes the field man employed by the stockmen themselves, an official selected by the stockmen themselves to promote their own interests. This man must make good. He is chosen for business reasons and is dealt with on business principles. Where men’s home and business reputations and financial welfare are at stake, the field man knows that he must walk straight and step lively. An incompetent or dishonest official will not be tolerated. Further, the pure bred stock men know their animals and can test them out with scales and testers and acids with the best of them. Records attested to the last decimal point and actual available in the animal himself or herself together with knowledge of markets are sufficient to protect any purchaser of ordinary common sense and experience. The biggest enemy of the pure-bred stock business is the reckless and inexperienced plunger who simply does not know anything about what he is undertaking. From such the pure bred stock men implore to be delivered.