Vermilion School of Agriculture - Yearbook (Vermilion, Alberta Canada)

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□ VERMILION SCHOO 1 I j J. W. G. MORRISON, K.C. j i I i i I Barrister, Solicitor, | Notary i - ! Giles Block Vermilion, Alberta t I F. J. RICHARDSON, LL.B. i J | Barrister, Solicitor, Notary j I Office Phone, 172; Res. Phone, 150 1 I | VERMILION ALBERTA j I- T T i i DRS. SCOTT CLARKE ! j I Dental Surgeons I I I i j Mackenzie Block — Next to Royal Bank j PHONE 82 VERMILION, ALTA. [ 1 I I I [ OF AGRICULT U R E 1 j D R. J. J. K N O L L j I Physician and Surgeon Phones: Office, 204; Residence, 186 VERMILION ALBERTA I I I I -- 1 W. E. SUTTON i j Life, Fire, Hail, and Auto I Insurance 1 i i “INSURE IN SURE INSURANCE” f Phone 206 Vermilion I . J r ” . t PHONES: 106 - 153 MAIN ST., VERMILION 1 I GEORGE LAW I I McLaughlin and Pontiac Automobiles ! Repairs and Supplies Skates and Hockey Sticks - -H 1

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Refreshment Headquarters for Particular People □ VERMILION SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE □ Vermilion ' s Popular Cabaret de Luxe Excellent Service in Cheerful Surroundings — “A Home Away from Home” Hcme-made Candies Quality Chocolates Cigars and Cigarettes Fresh Fruit in Season First St. South, Vermilion G. CAPATOS, Proprietor [ 40 ] Try Our De Luxe Ice Cream—“More Smiles per Gallon

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□ VERMILION SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE THE CATTLE SHOW (Continued from Page 25) There would always be an imposing array of quilts and counter¬ panes, home-made, of course, and a more lowly appearing exhibit of hookmats, rag-mats, and rag carpets. That part which might truly have been styled fancy work contained much that have been acknowledged as beautiful at any time and at any place. It must be admitted that in this goods department there were many repeaters, and some of the quilts, mats and crochet work grew quite familiar and home-like through regularity of appear¬ ance. The best example of tnis was a set of finely crocheted articles that were annually exhibited by a man whose wife had been dead for some years—a fine demonstration of the old saying “being dead yet speaketh.” In poultry, there would be hens, ducksa geese and turkeys, with very little that could be described as pure-bred; but even then people were beginning to send away to get settings of eggs that were advertised in a few of the papers. The hens most in vidence were the White Leghorns, with their immense headgear and their yellow legs, but there were some Rocks, and one or two exhibits each of Brahmas and Buff Cochins. It is a fact that a county fair would sound rather flat without the crowing of the roosters, fro mthe shrill call of the spunky little ones to the throaty, croupy declaration of the big fellows with feathers on their legs. The pigs were white or black according to breed, but in addition there might be classes for cross-breds or even for those of doubtful derivation. The white pigs were likely Yorkshires, or Chester-Whites, and it seems as if there were flop-eared whites called Suffolks. The blacks were, of course, Berkshires, with their short, blocky bodies and noses constructed on the same principle, but turned abruptly upward in a most intriguing way. There were no red pigs until near the close of the century, when the Department of Agriculture, at Ottawa, imported some long- nosed, unorthodox red pigs that were called Tamworths, pre¬ sumably because they came from the place made famous also by Scott’s “Marmion.” Size, not quality, counted when it came to placing the awards in the swine classes; thick smooth type with plenty of size. It would have been ridiculous to advocate market¬ ing pigs that had attained not even two hundred pounds in weight; most of our pork went to the lumber woods and every¬ body knew that what the shanties called for was mature, respon¬ sible pork, that carried a noble percentage of fat. The sheep were all of the long-wool type, and the breeds represented were Leicester and Cotswold, with the former strong¬ ly predominating. The whole exhibit was not a large one, despite the fact that every farm carried a flock; nor was the reason hard to seek. There were very few who cared to take the trouble of handling pure-breds, and the project was looked upon in just that light. It was so much easier to buy a sire from a neighbor or to trade with him for one and then, as the famous New York alderman said about the proposed gondolas for Central Park, “Just let nature take its course.” It is only too true that, with the exception of comparatively few, little interest was taken in the matter of introducing pure blood, and therefore the showing of pure-bred sheep was all too slim, and the line-up of nondescripts only served to demonstrate the absence of breeding-up tactics. It is only fair to say, however, that there were some fine animals shown at times, apd that the improvement was due to importa¬ tions from Western Ontario. The cattle of our district were essentially of the dual-pur¬ pose type, and it does not matter which way you spell the first part of this compound word. They were inclined to be leggy, were of necessity good rustlers, and if fed decently would put on a fair amount of flesh. They were also passable milkers considering the opportunity given, but since our records were estimated in terms of pails or poi ' tions thereof, it is not much use to discuss these cows as producers. It is quite probable that the milk of many of them would have tested high, but that is only reasonable! supposition. The animals shown at the fair were generally in pretty decent condition, because they had behind them a summer of pasture, when good cows were expected to catch up what they had lost during the winter. It was only too often the case that the cattle were brought through the severe winter on the mini¬ mum of feed, and cases were known of farmers assisting their cows to rise in the morning, by a lift upon the appendage that nature presumably had provided for the purpose. Ask any old- timer what was meant by “on the lift” and that look of his will mean that he remembers the time when the only straw used tor stable bedding was that which was too coarse for even the hungry animals to negotiate. However, in the fall most of the cattle were looking well, and there was always quite a string of them along the fence. The judges were local farmers who had shown a constructive interest in cattle improvement, or local butchers who might have been presumed to understand fleshing, and once it was a High School teacher whose knowledge of animal conformation was presumably gained from a study of figures in bas-relief during his life among the classics; perhaps he made a good job of it as did the others, but this will always be open to question. There was little acquaintance with pure-bred cattle except in the case of occasional sires, so the judges some¬ times had little in the way of guidance. It is hard to say what mixture of breeds produced the polyglot of colors which most herds presented: red and white, yellow and white, solid colors, and brindle. There were polled animals also, and nobody knew when or how the horns had been lost. At a guess, one might say that there were traces of Shorthorn, Guernsey, Ayrshire and Quebec Normans, now called French-Canadian; also there may have been some Red Polls brought into the country. It is said that a system of criss-cross breeding is productive of vigor and hardiness—these cattle had such or they never would have reached the Cattle Show. The real thrill of the show came from the display of horses, for this was still the day of the horse in all his glory, nor did anyone expect to live to see the day when sensible men would debate the comparative merits of the horse and the tractor, to see the day when the gas wagon would almost have relegated the driving horse to the rank of the also-rans. Stallions were first led in the show ring, plunging, rearing, and neighing, led by brave men,—sometimes so brave that they did not hesitate to employ a whip to make their charges still mjre obstreperous. Next came the younger horses, and after that the mares alone, or mares with colts. The latter class was also productive of mild excitement, when the little chaps got lost, and the matronly old farm mares would cut up quite a disturbance. There would next appear the wonderful “rigs”—single horse and buggy, “two-forty, tail over the dashboard,” or team and buggy; what an opportunity was (Continued on Page 50) [ 42 ]