{"id":1526,"date":"2018-08-29T09:22:35","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T13:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2018-10-28T13:52:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T17:52:48","slug":"plowing-match-death-of-a-tractor-cucumber-ordeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1526","title":{"rendered":"PLOWING MATCH … DEATH OF A TRACTOR…Cucumber Ordeal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BY ACCIDENT, WE FOUND A PLOWING MATCH<\/p>\n

(AND MET QUEENS OF THE FURROW)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
august 24, 2018<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s \u00a0going on?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLooks like a time warp\u2026those tractors date back to the 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy \u00a0so \u00a0many on one field?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd \u00a0why pull two morrow \u00a0plows\u2026obsolete as the pocket watch.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd three of the plowmen are not men at all\u2026three women\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSpecial women\u2026they are the QUEENS OF \u00a0THE FURROW.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cLook at these guys\u2026in serious combat.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDoing \u00a0what?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCompetinng\u2026with ancient tractors hauling two \u00a0furrow plows.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy would \u00a0anyone in \u00a0their right mind \u00a0want to do such a \u00a0silly thing?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTheir is a \u00a0romance to plowing that seems to have escaped from your head.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRomance? \u00a0Like \u00a0a love affair?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPrecisely\u2026let\u2019s par the truck and \u00a0enjoy this magic moment.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cHow many of these plowmen and plowwomen are actually farming?<\/div>\n
\u201cWell there were 74,000 less farms \u00a0in Canada between 1991 \u00a0and 2011\u2026that left 205,730\u2026and since \u00a0then a lot more have disappeared.”<\/div>\n
\u201cFarms \u00a0don\u2019t disappear\/\u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cYou are correct\u2026they get bought by bigger \u00a0farmers\u2026corporations. There was \u00a0a time that 100 acres was a viable farm in Ontario. \u00a0Now<\/div>\n
a farmer \u00a0needs nearly 400 acres to succeed.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSee those tractors \u00a0at this Halton County Plowing match\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAll kinds of them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cEvery one obsolete\u2026too small.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cLook over there\u2026there\u2019s a \u00a0young woman plowing.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd \u00a0she has \u00a0some kind of \u00a0banner\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBanner says \u2018Ontario Queen \u00a0of the Furrow 2017-2018\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat will be the Donaldson girl\u2026 see the man watching?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOnly man \u00a0watching, you mean.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRight. \u00a0That will be her dad, \u00a0Dough Donaldson\u2026he\u2019s an auctioneer.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBet he has \u00a0seen a \u00a0big change in farming\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRight now he is coaching\u2026trying to help his daughter win this plowing match.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Message from Kailey Donaldson, 2017-2018 Ontario Queen of the Furrow<\/h3>\n

Receiving the title of Ontario Queen of the Furrow has been a remarkable experience thus far. I cannot thank the Ontario Plowmen\u2019s Association enough for allowing this incredible opportunity to be available for young women. I started my rein as Ontario Queen by attending the Peterborough County Plowing Match. Since then I have travelled to many different banquets, parades and events throughout the province. I look forward to continuing to work with the 2018 Queen Committee as they plan a fantastic week for all the Queens!<\/p>\n

To all the ladies in the Queen of the Furrow program<\/a>, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so make the most of this tremendous year ahead. As an unknown author once said, \u201cYou cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wish you all the best in the upcoming busy spring season, and look forward to meeting many of you at Plowing Matches across the province. Before you know it, September will be upon us and the\u00a02018 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo<\/a>\u00a0will be showcased in Chatham-Kent! I\u2019d like to extend my best wishes to all the many great volunteers who will make this event possible. I could not be more proud and excited to represent the Ontario Plowmen\u2019s Association and to be a part of history!<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnother Queen of the Furrow driving that Ford tractor\u2026two \u00a0furrow plow competition..”<\/div>\n
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\u201cAnd here \u00a0comes still another Queen \u00a0of the Furrow\u2026Halton County Queen. \u00a0Must \u00a0be \u00a0a Queen for every County in Ontario at the big plowing match.”<\/div>\n
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THREE PLOWMEN IN STRAW HATS \u00a0WITH A COCKSHUTT 35<\/div>\n
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\u201cReal family \u00a0affair, right?\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou got it\u2026and we\u2019re competing with old Mr. Fisher\u2019s Cockshutt deluxe 35\u2026unchanged\u2026no new \u00a0paint<\/div>\n
to disturb the \u00a0old girl.”<\/div>\n
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STORY : \u00a0MEMORY (BELOW)<\/div>\n
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THE SAGA OF OUR FARMALL \u00a0A TRACTOR: \u00a0LIFE AND DEATH OF \u00a0A MACHINE<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cHoly Smoke\u2026look at that\u2026a Farmall A, market gardening tractor from 1950\u2019s\u2026touches me deeply<\/div>\n
both joy and sadness.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGrow up.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, \u00a0really, \u00a0that was our \u00a0first tractor\u2026bought it from Al \u00a0Fox for $350 which \u00a0was a \u00a0lot of money<\/div>\n
in 1965\u2026waste of \u00a0money dad said.<\/div>\n
“He \u00a0turned out to be correct as I remember.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the sad part of the story\u2026only owned the machine for that one glorious summer.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIf you learned \u00a0to take care of things the disaster wouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2018Hardly a disaster\u2026no one hurt.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cwrecked the tractor though.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow was I to know the radiator was filled with water\u2026assumed anti-freeze.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRemember that winter \u00a0morning when you checked it\u2026parked out behind \u00a0the \u00a0back house for the winter.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYep\u2026engine block was split as if \u00a0cleaved with an \u00a0axe\u2026ruined\u2026traded it to the scrap \u00a0man Elmer Plaister<\/div>\n
for a roller and set of \u00a0harrows. \u00a0Both useless.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cTakle \u00a0a look at the Formal A below, \u00a0enough to make \u00a0a grown \u00a0man \u00a0cry.”<\/div>\n
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AUTUMN \u00a0OF \u00a01965<\/div>\n
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\u201cLet me me share \u00a0the \u00a0sense \u00a0of wonder we had \u00a0when we bought it. \u00a0$350. \u00a0 Dad said I was a \u00a0“goddamned \u00a0fool to waste my money\u201d. \u00a0But that did \u00a0not stop him<\/div>\n
from helping me plow the front field. \u00a0I am \u00a0sure the local farmers laughed at us. \u00a0Used \u00a0a decrepit single furrow plow<\/div>\n
made \u00a0for horses. Take a look below.<\/div>\n
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That\u2019s me driving\u2026trying to plow straight furrows. \u00a0Rather, I was trying to keep dad in a straight line. He<\/div>\n
was holding the handles. \u00a0He cursed and yelled<\/div>\n
all that fall afternoon as we went back \u00a0and forth. \u00a0We laughed so much that tears ran down our<\/div>\n
faces. \u00a0Dad called the plow a \u201cson \u00a0of a bitch\u201d as \u00a0if that was \u00a0a \u00a0term of endearment.<\/div>\n
That\u2019s \u00a0mom way \u00a0back behind laughing as tears ran down her \u00a0face. this<\/div>\n
stupid venture was a family affair. \u00a0Mom\u2019s parents had recently died. Wonderful people.<\/div>\n
Granddad and Grandma \u00a0Freeman. \u00a0They liked Dad \u00a0in spite of his ribald humour and<\/div>\n
cursing. \u00a0We were a happy family.<\/div>\n
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“Our furrows were nowhere near the knife edge straight lines \u00a0carved by the Halton Plowmen and Plowwomen<\/div>\n
at the plowing match. \u00a0Not even close. \u00a0The occasional rock \u00a0in our field \u00a0nearly pitched Dad \u00a0over the plow<\/div>\n
handles which made him holler with great glee, \u201cstop the goddamn tractor\u201d.<\/div>\n
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SUMMER OF 1965<\/div>\n
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Here is a \u00a0better picture of \u00a0the Formal A. \u00a0Beautiful machine. \u00a0In this picture we have<\/div>\n
hooked the Freeman Democrat to the drawbar. \u00a0Not pretty but functional\u2026sort of.<\/div>\n
Could be used to haul sacks of cucumbers \u00a0to the crossroad.<\/div>\n
Why? \u00a0Because that year we had \u00a0a \u00a0contract to grow cucumbers \u00a0for Mathews Wells<\/div>\n
pickle factory in Guelph. \u00a0Pickles sold under the name Rose Brand. \u00a0My cousin Ted<\/div>\n
worked for them. \u00a0\u201cdo you want to really farm, Alan, try \u00a0cucumbers.\u201d \u00a0So we did\u2026Eric, Marjorie and I. Our cucumber field<\/div>\n
produced \u00a0lots of cucumbers\u2026big fat ones, long crooked ones and \u00a0a few small perfect<\/div>\n
cucumbers which were the kind the factory wanted. \u00a0We picked \u00a0then sacked them all up in grain bags<\/div>\n
and hauled \u00a0them up to the crossroad for pick up. \u00a0Lots of sacks full. \u00a0But not many<\/div>\n
desirable cures. \u00a0Most of ours were dumped. \u00a0 No one eats big yellow cakes or short<\/div>\n
knobby cukes or short crooked cakes. Rejected. At the end of the season we received<\/div>\n
a \u00a0check for $58. \u00a0Our costs were 20 times \u00a0that measly $58. \u00a0That was \u00a0when<\/div>\n
it dawned \u00a0on me that farming was a \u00a0tough game with many losers and only a few<\/div>\n
winners. \u00a0 I \u00a0don\u2019t know \u00a0if cousin Ted Freeman was \u00a0disappointed or amused. \u00a0I suspect<\/div>\n
the \u00a0latter.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat is that building in the background?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMy \u00a0barn\u2026built from scrap \u00a0wood that drifted \u00a0into Sunnyside \u00a0beach in Toronto.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLooks unprofessional.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTruth\u2026damn thing \u00a0fell down \u00a0before winter came\u2026no place to store<\/div>\n
the Formal A.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLuck \u00a0seems to escape you.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLeft handed\u2026tools are made \u00a0for right handed people.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLame excuse.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cDad could be infuriating at times but he also had a kind of charisma\u2026some people loved him.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSome hated him.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTrue\u2026he had a term for his detractors.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLike?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCalled them \u2018mealy mouthed sons of bitches\u2019 or worse.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cLoved \u00a0the horses though\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSpent most of \u00a0his spare time at various racetracks in Ontario\u2026even as far as<\/div>\n
Batavia Downs in New \u00a0York State.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhose \u00a0 money?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHis own for starters \u2026 and money he could beg, borrow or \u00a0steal from anyone<\/div>\n
naive \u00a0enough to believe his blather.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cGrade \u00a08 education and a \u00a0few months in \u00a0Grade 9 at Fergus District \u00a0High \u00a0School.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDid \u00a0he quit?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cnot exactly\u2026he was \u00a0booted out and \u00a0asked \u00a0to come back \u00a0with his \u00a0father.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBooted \u00a0out of \u00a0school?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes\u2026he \u00a0and \u00a0a friend \u00a0thought up a great joke that backfired on them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJoke?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSort of a joke\u2026bad \u00a0taste joke \u2026 bothered \u00a0dad because \u00a0it ended \u00a0his education.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat did they do?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGirls and \u00a0boys \u00a0had \u00a0separate \u00a0back \u00a0houses\u2026toilets\u2026outside \u00a0the school in 1915\u2026wooden affairs \u00a0with<\/div>\n
trap \u00a0doors \u00a0for clean out.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThis does \u00a0not sound nice.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDepends on your sense \u00a0of \u00a0humour I guess.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd \u00a0they \u00a0got some nice \u00a0big snowballs\u2026lifted the trap \u00a0door and fired them up at a bum.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot very funny.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThey were young\u2026farmers kids\u2026thought it was \u00a0a \u00a0great joke.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cBad result?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cVery bad. \u00a0Dad never went home\u2026principal wanted him to come \u00a0back \u00a0with his \u00a0father. Instead<\/div>\n
dad hid in the \u00a0swamp\u2026stayed at a neighbours for a bit and then headed for Saskatchewan<\/div>\n
and his first job.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDoing?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGets us back \u00a0to horses. \u00a0He \u00a0spent the winter of 1915-16 alone in a barn with 16 horses. \u00a0No<\/div>\n
farm house\u2026just the barn. \u00a0 Dad slept there. \u00a0Horses \u00a0kept the barn fairly warm and \u00a0dad<\/div>\n
tended \u00a0them while the winter winds coursed the prairies.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDid he do the plowing in the spring?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot sure what happened\u2026know \u00a0he spent several years on the Harvest crews. \u00a0He lived<\/div>\n
a \u00a0rough life for sure. \u00a0Then headed back east to become \u00a0a \u00a0tire \u00a0builder\u2026big boom in rubber<\/div>\n
work as motorized vehicles\u2026cars, \u00a0trucks, \u00a0tractors\u2026replaced \u00a0horses in 1920\u2019s.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLots of race horses though.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLots \u00a0of racing \u00a0tracks around\u2026Duifferin, Thornclille, Woodbine, Fort Erie, Batavia. etc.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAny more \u00a0stories?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cToo many\u2026filled 300 pages of them\u2026this is enough though for now.”<\/div>\n
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BACK TO THE PLOWING MATCH: \u00a0HALTON COUNTY AUGUST 2018<\/div>\n
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\u201cPlowing \u00a0is one of \u00a0the great pleasures in life.\u201d<\/div>\n
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ALAN \u00a0SKEOCH<\/div>\n
AUGUST 2018<\/div>\n
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BY ACCIDENT, WE FOUND A PLOWING MATCH (AND MET QUEENS OF THE FURROW) alan skeoch august 24, 2018 \u201cWhat\u2019s \u00a0going on?\u201d \u201cLooks like a time warp\u2026those tractors date back to the 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s\u2026\u201d \u201cWhy \u00a0so \u00a0many on one field?\u201d \u201cAnd \u00a0why pull two morrow \u00a0plows\u2026obsolete as the pocket watch.\u201d \u201cAnd three of the plowmen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1632,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions\/1632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}