In 1932; wheat hit an all time record low j
of 32'? a bushel, but with crops failing and
dust storms,- the price of wheat had climbed r to 67¢ in 1934 In 1935, the rust year for this ' area, smart farmers burned their crops, o- .
’ thers cut them and could not pay for the twins "It was jokingly suggested that every farmer
should keep- at least one, dog as he never“
knew when he might have to eat it ” Times
were hard but the age of electricity wasupon us. Electric lights were the ‘luxury’ longed , for by many and in 1936 the new Hydro: station south of Arrow River was installed» V ,. to carry 33, 000 volts of electricity. Very. ;
few farm homes had electrical power or wa—‘ for systems; a few had" motor driven units; supplying, electric light only. Money was as scarce as "hen’s teeth." But how very for: tunate this area was to have an abundance on wood for fuel and wild raspberries, straw- “berries,.. Saskatoons, cranberries and black currents, as wild fruit while some picked hazelnuts by the bag in the valley. , .r .,
Wloodsawtng Bee
1939 brought the declaration of war and
local boys trooped off toiive years otwar .
‘and waiting; During this time, the district
felt the pinch: of rationing 11d such commo~ V -dities as sugar,- tea and: gasoline Some- ~ crossed the line to the U S. A; to purchase -‘ " 100 pound bags or sugar in preserving time. ' V For those ladies meetings, several would take
Threshing Scene V_-
trucks, tractors, etc. With the coming cie ec tricity in 1949, the sad irons were laid away ice wells were filled in and replaced byi're irigeration the local theatre was empty,
people set glued to their T. V ’s, cigarette replaced the thim‘ble and quilting needle; fa
flies were smaller, allowing more time to freedom of women. As the stores becam stocked with all the desirable commoditie in family sized packages, the daycf the seli
sufficient farm table became obsolete”;
During this period, the returned men wer being rehabilitated, under the Veteran’sL Act. Many settled in this area. There a revival of family life, recreation becam. part of our community life again,-,with teams, curling etc., and aimed intere youth activities Much help was given by 11 local Agricultural Representative inthis . as well as leadership in modern farming practices. The planting of trees, soil testing
- experiments with seed plots, fertilizers
improvement of cattle breeding. and re d with the use of silage becoming more pr valent Hog breeders introduced improv
ments in this field with importedbreeds etc
By the time the ‘60’s had rolled around the results of automation. with littl i
a little "dab” of tea, to make that much - ' -'
appreciated refreshment. Shortage of labor ’ , end gasoline brought about the ruling that no ' ’
gas station could be open before 7 3.111., or » ‘ '
ter '1‘ p 111., and no Sunday sales. The labor ' shortage at this time was acute: Farmers 1 pooled their machinery and help, the outcome"
theing the use of such labor saving machin-
ery as tractor sweeps, and one man oper-_ ;
ated tractor-binder units, and finally the.
soother and combine became general. Hora»
es gradually disappeared, going mostly for
for and mink meat and the age of mechanir- V cation gradually had emerged Women form-_ 'V ed a inner part of the labor force! running '
' ' V$weop on front of tractor