14
Pynaert Harvest Gang1960's
15
While the world celebrated the end of the Second World War, many people took the opportunity mainly out of necessity to immigrate from the war torn Europe to start a new life in Canada. Seeking employment, a vast majority of the immigrants drifted to the tobacco farms where they learned the necessary skills of working in tobacco.16
Harvest in Progress
17
At the time, most of the immigrants had travelled to this new country with little money in their pockets and as a result these hard working farmers, started out growing on the shares system for other tobacco farm owners; until a time they could afford to buy their own farms. Share growers often resided on one farm for several years before moving to other farms or take the step of purchasing their own farms.18
Greenhouse
19
During the flourishing days of the tobacco industry in Ontario, the moving date for tobacco farmers was on March 1, just as the last of the crop was sold and time to begin seeding the new crop.20
VanPraet1960's
21
There were many different nationalities; however, it was mainly the people of the Belgian, Dutch, Hungarian, Lithuanian and Portuguese heritage, who turned towards growing tobacco.22
Pynaert Harvest Gang1960's
23
The names of the tobacco farm owners in the Bothwell area reflect this fact: Coone, Cosyns, Covemaeker, Demaiter, DePelsmaeker, Dewulf, Feys, Hauspie, Herr, Huszka, Meersseman, Mesenberg, Pynaert, Sarapnickas, Staels, Stenger, Van Acker, Van Braeckel, Van Damme, Van Dyke, Van Goethem, Vannieuwenhuzen, VanPraet, Verecken, Verhelle and Verstraete.24
Harvest Gang
25
Today, the census for the Bothwell area still lists the many names of former growers who have remained in the area after retiring from growing tobacco and those of the next generation who carry on in the industry.26
Demaiter Farm
27
Tobacco Farming and the Impact on the CommunityUntil very recent times, tobacco was considered to be a labour intensive industry. For the tobacco farmer and his family it was a stress-filled year with long hours of hard labour. For the tobacco labourer, it was an opportunity to make good money for six weeks of hard work
 |
 |
 |
 |