News from our rich agriculture history

The Farms.com farm and rural history website is dedicated to celebrating and digitizing the last 150 years of success in the Canadian agriculture and food industry. The agriculture and food industries in Canada have a rich heritage of innovation, and have laid a foundation of excellence upon which we continue to grow. We celebrate Canada’s food and agriculture innovations on these pages.
Factors Essential to Increasing Fertility
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED | MAY 16, 1912 | THE FARMER'S ADVOCATE

The increase in soil productivity, if such is ever made, must depend largely on the four following factors, cited by C.R. Barns of Minnesota Agricultural College, viz: (1) A liberal and persistent use of fertilizers; (2) the careful selection of seed, which, if persisted in year after year will of itself result in a great increase in yield; (3) a systematic rotation of crops; (4) better

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Chromated Zinc Chloride Ad

This advertisement appeared in the June 1949 issue of Canada Lumberman. Taken out by the chemical manufacturer, Canadian Industries Limited, it is an advertisement for

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BOXED HAND CHURN

This boxed hand churn was used primarily by women on the farm to make butter for household consumption. Like all butter churns, the boxed hand churn involved agitating

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PATIENCE WINS IN TRAINING A DOG
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED | OCTOBER 9, 1919 | THE FARMER'S ADVOCATE

A good farm dog is a valuable asset to any farmer, but a poor one is worse than nothing. To train a dog correctly is no easy task. In some respects it is about as big a job as training a child, and some people do it with as much care.

The first things in training a dog is to make friends with him. No one can train a pup successfully who hates dogs, unless he can properly conceal his

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lives lived

Charles A. Zavitz

1863 - 1942

Little is known of Charles A. Zavitz’s early life save for his birth in Coldstream Ontario, 1863. By the 1880s however he had left Middlesex County for the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, Ontario. In 1887 the University of Toronto agreed to issue Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degrees to a select and competent class of O.A.C. diploma graduates. One of only five inaugural graduates Zavitz quickly secured employment at the school as the assistant superintendent of experiments.

During his first years Zavitz conducted valuable research and secured the construction

Stewart A. Brown

1898 - 1966

Stewart A. Brown was born in 1898, Southwold, Elgin West, Ontario. His parents, Mary Brown and Duncan Brown, were of Scottish descent. One of the premier men in Canada’s cattle industry, Stewart Brown was a remarkable breeder, exhibitor, exporter, and judge who left an undeniable impact on the industry. Throughout his career he dedicated himself to the improvement of the cattle industry, demonstrated by the various positions he held.

Brown’s career in the farming industry began early in his life. His parents were both farmers and he was born and raised on the farm. In

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