Ontario (Canada) will shortly have a Provincial Agricultural
Museum, following in the footsteps of it’s sister provinces,
Saskatchewan (Western Development Museum), Manitoba and British
Columbia. The new Museum, a project of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Food is being built on a 92 acre site near Milton, Ontario,
about 30 miles west of the city of Toronto. The main administration
building is nearing completion, and will be ready for occupancy in
early 1975. The development plan for the total site is now
complete, and a concentrated effort will be made during 1975 to
have the roads, water and hydro services, parking lots, perimeter
fences, public washrooms, entrance gates and basic landscaping done
in 1975 and succeeding years.
Main Building-Ontario Agricultural Museum – This building now
under construction near Milton, Ontario, the home of the annual
‘Steamera’ will house the provincial Museum’s
administrative offices, board rooms, reference library, restoration
and exhibits shop, storage facility and the main exhibition hall.
Plans call for it to be open to the public by 1976.
The Province of Ontario acquired the 92 acre farm site alongside
Highway 401 (The MacDonald-Cartier Freeway) in 1966, passed
enabling Legislation which created the ‘Ontario Agricultural
Museum’, but in the intervening years the project has been
lying dormant in the face of more pressing demands for public
funds. In 1966 the Government of Ontario acquired the well known
‘Matthews Collection’ of artifacts from the late Charles
Matthews of Langstaff, Ontario, and the bulk of that collection is
now in the hands of the Agricultural Museum. It consists of steam
engines, tractors, gasoline engines, threshing machines,
horse-drawn equipment, hand tools, household furnishings, and other
artifacts. Some of this collection has been restored over the
years, but the Museum is now embarking on an accelerated, selective
restoration program.
One of more than 20 tractors, and 15 steam engines in the
Ontario Agricultural Museum collection. This Fairbanks-Morse,
restored by Museum staffer Garnet Pattenden, is well known to
Ontario residents as it appears at Fairs, Plowing Matches, etc.
Early in 1974, R. W. ‘Bob’ Carbert, former Farm
Broadcaster, and farm organization official, who has been
associated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for 6-1/2
years, became the General Manager of the Museum. He is now
organizing the Museum program, recruiting staff, mobilizing the
support and enthusiasm of rural people in the province, and aiming
at an official opening of the first Exhibition Hall in 1976. The
Museum had a very popular display at the 1974 International Plowing
Match near Georgetown in late Sept., and the General Manager is
working closely with the several Steam Clubs, and the various farm
groups in the province in developing a program for the future.
The Museum’s first building includes an exhibition hall 60
by 110 feet, a restoration workshop, warehouse, boardroom,
reference library and archives, as well as administrative offices.
It is constructed of rough-cast concrete blocks, is 20,000 square
feet, and will be the ‘nerve-centre’ of the site. Included
in the total site plan is a 45 acre ‘Pioneer Farmstead
Park’ which will recreate 6 complete sets of farm buildings,
each representative of different building styles, materials, and
parts of the province, as well as periods in the development of the
agricultural industry in Ontario. The barns will be used for the
display of equipment, the houses will be furnished in the period
they represent, and the yards, orchards, and fields will be
landscaped with typical stone, split rail, stump and other early
fencing materials. A rural crossroads community of a church,
school, store and blacksmith shop will bring added character and
authenticity to the Museum project.
A large demonstration area is already in place, with a 30 foot
oval track approximately 1/4 mile in circumference, with a grassed
infield and grassed slopes on the sides to afford a good view of
machinery demonstrations, parades, concerts, and other events
planned for this stadium area.
Because it is a public project, financed by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food, the Museum is seeking the co-operation of
public spirited citizens, within and beyond Ontario, in providing
the artifacts necessary. ‘The people of Ontario have indicated
they want a permanent home for the artifacts of Ontario
Agriculture, and the Ministry has moved to provide that place’,
says General Manager Carbert. ‘Now it is up to the rural
community to assist us in assembling the artifacts. Actually, we
have been thrilled with public response, despite the escalating
prices being paid for antiques of all kinds. It is very clear now
that rural people sincerely want to provide an opportunity for
future generations to learn about the early days of agriculture and
rural living. Consumers, and they outnumber farmers more than 10 to
1, really do not appreciate the role of agriculture and food
production and we feel the Ontario Agricultural Museum can, in some
small way perhaps, help to bridge that gap in understanding, and at
the same time rekindle in the hearts of farmers themselves, a few
fond memories of the past.’
Anyone wishing further information on the Ontario Agricultural
Museum should contact the General Manager, R. W. Carbert, Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Parliament Buildings, Queen’s
Park, Toronto, Ontario.
This is an old Case Tractor, which I got from my Dad, Frank
Bruhn. Would anyone know the date of tractor?
THE GOLDEN ROLL
PHILIP R. PETERSON, 74, of Ragan, Nebraska departed this life
December 31, 1974. He had worked around steam engines and threshers
since early boyhood. He made a replica of the 65 Case steam engine
in 1960. His other hobby was restoring antique gas engines, which
included a 1910 International 6 HP Titan engine, Tom Thumb,
Dempster, Cushman, Hercules, etc. He loved farming and was
interested in improving methods of agriculture. He was a gentleman
who had an abundance of talents and love for his fellowman. He will
be greatly missed by his family and will be remembered by his many
friends at the Antique Engine and Threshers Association Show held
at Bird City, Kansas and the Stratman Steam Show at Wilcox,
Nebraska.
Submitted by Mrs. A. D. Gustaf-son [daughter], 5450 Lk.
Jessamine Drive, Orlando, Florida 32809
