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As a newly founded town, Bothwell Ontario, was placed on the economical map by the discovery of "Black Gold" (oil) in the late 1860 with its success running into to early 1900's. After the second boom of oil and several fires that destroyed nearly half of the boomtown, Bothwell merely survived as a community.

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The Harvest

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With the hard times that befell the town, the sandy loam soils of the Bothwell Sand Plains also provided marginal farm land for those who seek out a living in the farming industry until a new gold was introduced - green gold - tobacco.

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Flue Tobacco
August 2008

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Burley, a light air-cured tobacco, was the principal type of tobacco grown in Ontario, until World War I when chewing and pipe smoking which became less fashionable with the change of times, gave way to cigarette smoking.

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Loading the Kiln
1950's

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At this time, a new method of drying tobacco leaves had been proven successful in the Southern United States. Flue-cured method of drying tobacco produced a lighter flavoured leaf suitable for the new machine-made cigarettes that were automatically rolled and packed.

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Tobacco Map of Ontario

Credits:
Courtesy of Delhi Tobacco Museum & Heritage Centre

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The Sand Plains of the Neutrals thin soil that is commonly found around the Bothwell area was considered to light for profitable production of burley on a large scale, but ideal for cigarette leaf tobacco turning large amounts of worthless farmland into highly profitable tobacco farms.

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Hand Tying Table Gang
1960's

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The first pioneer farmer to bring this new method to Bothwell was Leonard Wilkins Sr. in 1937 followed by George Herr. Others soon followed in former's footsteps to developing the sandy loam soils in Bothwell into an extremely profitable income for many: Albert Demuyere, Hector Feys, Valer Demaiter, Joe Staels Sr. and Maurice and Madre Verstrate.

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Loading the Kiln
1950's

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It is documented that in the late 1960's, there were approximately fifty farms growing flue-cured tobacco within a twelve kilometre (seven-mile) radius of Bothwell on farms that were once regarded as "poor, marginal land". Bothwell once again hit a third boom, only this time it was with a Green Gold.

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Pynaert Harvest Gang
1960's