Determined to Remove Grievance of Farmers: Sir Wilfred Declares Government Has Secured Evidence of Mixing of Wheat and is Pledged to Punish the Guilty Parties” So reads the title of a front-page article in the Manitoba Free Press of Tuesday, July 19, 1910. The body of the news article reports on a meeting between the
Farmers of yesteryear protected western wheat quality
Blending wheats of different grades was a scandalous crime that drew action from the PMO’s office
‘Binder Wars’ changed Prairie farming
Hand tying stooks effectively limited a single farmer to 25 acres and the invention of mechanical binders was a game changer for both producers and the farm equipment industry
The 1880s were known for the “Binder Wars” — a time farm machinery manufacturers slugged it out for supremacy in grain binder sales. It was no ordinary battle as hand tying of wheat sheaves was the biggest, single limiting factor on Prairie grain farms at that time. Stooking was critical because the slow-maturing varieties of
Brandon was worth the trip — if you were looking for draft horses
Many of the leading horse dealers in the country made their home in Brandon and brought in stallions and mares from Europe, Ontario and the U.S.
The flood of settlers pouring into the West around the turn of the last century also meant a surge in demand for draft horses, and that turned Brandon into the draft horse centre of the Prairies. The town was home to many of the leading horse dealers in the country, such as Colquhoun and Beattie,
The Massey 101 was one cool machine
Stylish and powerful, the redesigned tractor won the affections of farmers across the country
When it came to marrying style with functionality, James Duncan was the Steve Jobs of his day and his Massey Harris Model 101 Senior was — and is — as cool as anything to come out of Apple’s design lab. With its streamlined hood, bright-red paint with yellow wheels, chrome trim, and louvred side curtains
A game changer in grain farming
Australian engineer Tom Carroll was convinced that self-propelled combines were the way of the future
What was designed by an Australian, built in Ontario, field tested in Argentina, revolutionized grain farming, and — 75 years ago — was sold to a Rapid City farmer? Full points if you guessed the first commercially successful self-propelled combine, and bonus ones if you knew it was the Massey Harris Model 20 purchased by
Multi-tasking tractor was also a truck. It could power your sawmill too
The Avery 12-horsepower tractor was nothing if not versatile. The combination truck/tractor could carry 3,000 pounds in truck mode, and pull a three-bottom plow in the field. When fitted with a belt pulley on its front, it could power a 22-inch cylinder threshing machine, a circular saw, or water pump. But with a price tag
Boom times for farmers a century ago were good for equipment makers, too
It’s one thing about farming that hasn’t changed with time. It’s one thing about farming that hasn’t changed with time
Last year was a pretty good one for most Prairie grain farmers — but things were hopping a century ago, too. This 1912 photo of the American Able Company storage yard in Winnipeg is proof not only of good times, but that farmers of that age — like their modern counterparts — were quick toProducer Cars In The Horse-Powered Era
It’s a showpiece of Prairie ingenuity – and proof that farmers’ interest in producer cars dates back more than a century. While going through a circa 1906 edition of the Canadian Thresherman and Farmermagazine, Manitoba Agricultural Museum director Alex Campbell found an ad for a “portable elevator” built by the Carberry Wood and Iron Works
Down Under Plow Found In Museum Boneyard
While researching the Cockshutt engine plows used to set the recent plowing record at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, much information on the Cockshutt company was unearthed. Cockshutt not only sold plows in Canada but also in the U.S., England, Scotland, Australia and other countries. A twin-bottom walking plow, the “Kid Kangaroo,” was built for the
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
