had moved up north. Dr. Saunders crossed Red Fife with wheat from Russia, India, Australia and from Africa. A new variety called “Marquis” was intro- duced to the prairie farmers, which matured earlier and stood to rust well. It was superior to Red Fife. In later years, Thatcher replaced Marquis. Thank— fully our plant breeders have always come to the rescue of the prairie farmers. HISTORY OF THE HOLLAND BEEF RING 1919 — DECEMBER 14, 1963 When A. K. Berry was a butcher in Holland, he used to load up some fresh meat, usually beef, in a covered box built on democrat wheels and pulled by a team of light horses. He delivered this fresh meat early in the morning to people who lived in the Camille area. Everyone appreciated this fresh meat instead of much fried and cured pork. Mr. A. K. Berry and his granddaughter, Mae Berry, accidentally, were pitched over a high grade near the Jack Mayers farm. This ended his butcher business. Mr. Berry had his shoulder broken and it never healed right. Mae was seriously hurt. The idea of fresh beef, once a week, lived on. A beef ring was formed in 1919. H. V. Hooper was elected President and Duncan Jamieson was secre- tary-treasurer. They hired James Furber to do the killing and cutting up of the meat. Each member supplied his own bags for the meat in the courses of twenty weeks, he received all various cuts. The slaughter house was built just west of the southwest corner of the Holland Agricultural grounds. James Furber sold his land east of the village of Holland to E. J. Biglow. The executive of the beef ring had neglected to get title to the ground on which the slaughter house was built. Mr. Biglow refused to sell the land but would allow the mem— bers of the Beef Ring to move the building. The Holland Agricultural Society was asked to rent a site in the southwest corner of their grounds for the sum of $5.00 per year. The main part of the slaughter house was made of concrete and was quite heavy. It was raised up and moved about thirty feet east on to the Agricultural Society’s land. Some people had full shares and others half shares. For years 30—35 farmers had fresh meat for twenty weeks. When hydro came to the farms in 1948 the need for the beef ring declined. The membership dropped until in 1962 the members numbered only six. Animals were slaughtered about four weeks apart at the last. The members who took part in 1962 were: Norman Mahon, Alex Lovie, Oliver Graham, Walter 61 Drummond, Mel. Jeffrey and Lorne Drummond. A wind—up meeting was called on December 14, 1963. The beef ring had $197.87 on hand and the slaugh— ter house. It was agreed that all be given to the Holland Agricultural Society. Walter Drummond, as President of the Agricultural Society thanked the members for the donation of the funds and building. The concrete was buried and the roof and a lean— to was lumber. This was saved and used as an office when showing horses and as a place to sell programs for the races. The Secretary—Treasurers for the beef ring were: Duncan Jamieson, Jas. W. Stevenson, Roy Mills, Lorne Drummond, W. Ferris and Walter Drummond. The following is the list of butchers who were hired to do the killing, cutting, etc: Jim Furber, Bill Newby, Jim Griffin, Arthur Harrison, H. A. Brown and Jack Carson, Mr. Colley, Bill Long, Wes. Cliff, Bob Birdsell and Tom Templeton. THE LESLIES The Manitoba South East Zone nominated the Leslies of Holland as the Commercial Family of the Year. Jack and his sister Jean live on the home farm, which was established in 1926. Lawrence, a brother, lives south of the home farm. He has two children; Neil, who is also interested in farming and an enthu— siastic hockey player with Steinbach Hawks, and Anne who attends high school in Treherne. The Leslies farm 600 acres of crop land and 200 acres of hay and corn. They own an additional sec— tion of pasture in the sand hills near the Cypress River. They also lease 2,000 acres of pasture from the Crown. They have an excellent rotation program set up with their hay land. Between Jack and Lawrence they run about 250 head of cattle with 100 cows calving in the spring of 1986. The cows spend until December in the sand hills at which time they are brought home. The steer calves are fattened and shipped out in July. The top end of the heifer calves are sorted out for replacements. Each spring they sell approxi— mately 30 open heifers to commercial buyers for breeding stock. The cattle are fed on round bales of hay, straw and corn silage. The Leslies have bought some top replacements out of Bar Pipe and Little Red Deer herds in Alberta. They stress eye appeal as well as size in purchasing their herd sire. To them a good herd sire means they may have to pay the price for him. Besides farming, both Jack and Lawrence are involved in community projects. Jack revived the racetrack in 1979 when he was director of the Great Western Race Association. Jack has also served as president of the Ag. Society, school trustee, member