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The barn at Glen farm19th century
Glen Farm, Coopers Road, Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia Canada
Credits:Raymond Lewis
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Barn at Weatherbie farm20th Century
Bayhead, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Rhoda Weatherbie
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21. Weatherbie FarmIn mid 1840's the four Weatherbie brothers Sam, Charles, James and David bought parcels of land in Bayhead near Tatamagouche, to start farms. James came from Tatamagouche and in 1873 married Alice Murphy from Cape John, Pictou County and they had a daughter Lenore.
In 1877 his wife and daughter visited her parents in Cape John which is near River John. One of Alice's brothers had just returned home having sailed from England. Little did they know that he was incubating smallpox. Alice and Lenore returned home but shortly became sick with smallpox and died. James cared for his wife and daughter but failed to become ill - possibly he had immunity from working with cows and possibly contracted cowpox at some stage..
Fear of the disease meant that the bodies could not be buried in the cemetery, so James dug graves in a nearby field. Friends and neighbours left food for James to eat and attended the burial from across the field - the minister conducting the service from a distance away. After burying his wife and daughter, James then returned to his house and set fire to it - burning everything as it was thought this would stop the spread of infection.
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Weatherbie farm20th century
Bayhead, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Janet Hallett
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Farmhouse at Weatherbie farm19th Century
Bayhead, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Janet Hallett
121
A year later in 1878 James married his cousin Sarah Weatherbie and had nine children with her. A son James, born in 1887 at Bayhead, married Sadie Chambers of Wallace. The third eldest of James and Sadie's children is Janet Hallett. Janet recounts that her grandfather inherited his father's farm at Weatherbie Crossing near Tatamagouche. It was a mixed farm with cattle, pigs, horses, hens and a large family garden, meaning that the family was largely self sufficient.He supplied cream to the Tatamagouche Creamery all his working life and the farm had cream can number 21. He and his wife kept a herd of 45 to 50 head of cattle. Of their ten children, their son Teddy took over the running of the farm when he reached adulthood. He made hay on several nearby properties, such as the Ross farm in Waldegrave, and expanded the barn with a shed to keep pigs. After Teddy passed away, the buildings and some of the property that made up the farm were sold. The current owners tore down the barn in 2006 and started a mercantile and café business on the site.
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Rhoda Weatherbie21st century
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Rhoda Weatherbie
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22. Treen FarmSam Treen's father Vernon and mother Lottie bought the Blue Sea property on the Malagash Peninsular in 1945. The previous owners Gilbert and Elizabeth Treen-Purdy were loyalist settlers who arrived in about 1800 from Connecticut. There were about 180 acres- 80 of which were cleared for hay, grains and pasture with the remainder wooded.
Father and son had twelve milking Ayrshire cows plus twelve young stock. The cows were milked by hand and then by machine. In the early days they shipped cream to the Malagash Creamery which was owned by Timothy Suman, however on his retirement the Creamery there closed and cream was then sent to the Scotsburn Creamery by rail two times a week, until the Tatamagouche Creamery opened.
Cream was kept cool in the well. They used 59lb cream cans and their cream number was 496. George Semple or Henry Ferguson would collect the cream two times a week with usually two or more cans sent. Sam recalls that cans were given out by the creamery. His father also produced whole milk which was sent to the Malagash Cheese Factory.
There were four horses , two of which were used to work the land -. A tractor was bought in 1952 -prior to that a 'group' shared tractor was used which, together with a thresher and wood saw, was taken from farm to farm. The thresher was gas run, and after working it the men were covered with dirt and dust - their lungs were affected, and Sam was ill at night afterwards. Doctors believed that the cold air breathed in during winter work probably saved these men from serious disability
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Treen farm from the air20th century
Malagash, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Sam Treen
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When his father died in 1970, Sam took over the farm, keeping only Ayrshire cows which produced cream with 5-6% butterfat. In 1950-1960 the family changed to beef cattle with 70-80 head as well as pigs. Sam only kept a few dairy cows for making his own butter using a barrel churn and press with the buttermilk drained off. Sam later bought several farms on the Malagash peninsula and in the end had about 200 acres of cleared land and 200 acres which provided lumber. He worked the woods himself in the winter, returning home only for lunch and at night. Sam also did his own milling with a grinder and hammer mill.Sam left farming in 1997, selling the property to a Bayhead man who rents the house and uses the land for beef cattle.
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Sam Treen, owner of Treen farm20th Century
Pine Street Tatamagouche.Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Sam Treen
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23. The Straitside FarmKeith Irving's father bought the 200 acres that made up the farm, which at the time was half pasture and grain and half wooded. Keith, born in 1938 was one of seven children. He recalls milking cows at the age of six. His father had a herd of 100 Holstein cattle, of which 20-22 were in milk at any one time. There was a hand-cranked cream separator and about 8-10 cream cans whose number may have been 656.
In 1945, Keith recalls his father bringing in horses from Western Canada and breaking them before selling them on. He kept five horses that he used around the farm for ploughing, haymaking etc. As a little boy Keith sat on a small seat in the front of the hay wagon and drove the horses to the barn for unloading the hay and controlling them while the hay-lifting pulley system carried hay to the mows.
For a while, Keith's father sent cream to the Tatamagouche Creamery every two days. Cans were kept cool in the well until collected. Collections were made by Donald Mundel of Pugwash in the early days. Later it was sent by rail to Scotsburn Co-op as they paid a little more and Keith's father believed in cooperatives.
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Straitside farm from the air showing original barn20th century
Pugwash, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada
Credits:Keith Irving
Pam Gunn
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In the early 1960's a switch was made to milk production - his father paid $300.00 for a 125 lb milk quota. He and two other farmers in the area shipped milk to Amherst, but with the Scotsburn takeover of that dairy, milk was collected by Scotsburn tankers.When Keith's father died he left a number of debts to be paid off, so Keith took various jobs including working at the Pugwash salt mine. Since that time he has bought several farms and his holdings now total 600-700 acres with 50 Holsteins, 40 of which are milking at any one time. This produces 1000L per day or 45 Kg of butterfat. He breeds his cattle carefully with excellent results, winning many awards, including the Master Breeder Award in 1991 and a Superior Product award in 2000. Until a few years ago he attended various Agricultural Fairs.
The original barn is now replaced with a larger one onto which has been added two extensions. This complex houses the milking area, a place for calving, a section for calves, hay storage and machinery. There is separate room for a large milk tank and milking equipment. Keith is justly proud of his farm and achievements.
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