With the passage of time, many changes were evident. By the turn of the century nearly every farmer held his land in fee simple, and rent was no longer sent away to maintain absentee proprietors. Although they were no longer tenants, the improvement in the farmers’ lot was, however, often more apparent than real. Many of them subsequently became bur- dened with debts owed to local merchants, banks, and governmental agen- cies such as the Farm Loan Board. Farming methods had greatly im- proved. Gangplows were in use everywhere, a man and three horses doing as much work as was formerly done by two men and four horses. Cul- tivators of various kinds were supplementing the tooth-harrow, while the mowing and reaping machines and the potato digger had revolutionized work in the harvest fields. A correspondent from Mount Stewart, writing to the Examiner in 1900, remarked that the days of hand-binding were evidently numbered, judging from the number of binders sold in that section of the country.

The last two decades of the 19th century witnessed a trend towards dairy farming on the Island, and, during the spring of 1893, under the superintendence of John R. Doyle, the construction of a cheese and butter factory at Mount Stewart was pushed rapidly to completion. The factory, now the double tenement building on MacIntyre Drive, was one of eleven located in various parts of the province. Although the local directors owned the factory buildings, general over-all management was in the hands of the Dairy Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture. During 1901, a peak year, the Mount Stewart plant took in 889,833 pounds of milk and manufactured 82,418 pounds of cheese and 2,990 pounds of butter. .By 1913, hOWever, the business was in decline, and it was reported that, during the previous season, it had operated only on a part—time basis.

The early 1900’s were remarkable for the number of self—help or- ganizations designed to improve the quality of agriculture. One of the earliest was the Farmers’ Institutes set up to meet the increasing desire on the part of farmers for instruction in matters relating to farm work. By 1901, the Mount Stewart Institute had 87 members. The President at that time was Isaac Jay, a resident of the village, and the Secretary was Joseph F. Doyle of French Village. The lecturers often found the prac- tical common sense and know-how of the farmers instructive. At one meeting, the expert, illustrating his talk with a large picture of a 01de- dale horse, remarked that the audience should note the animal’s sloping shoulders. An old farmer was quick to point out that, if the shoulders sloped, a collar would cut off the animal’s wind, and “all the ‘budder’ will do is choke.” Another lecturer asked his audience how a field, al- ready plowed in the fall, should be prepared for sowing the following spring. Isaac Jay thereupon advised a cut of the wheel harrows and a double- angle cut with the spring tooth. The instructor had never heard of the double-angle cut technique, and Mr. Jay’s explanation resulted in its spread, through the medium of Institute meetings in other centers, to all parts of the Island. The Institute movement was relatively short-lived. By 1906, the membership of the Mount Stewart group was down to 33, and the general status was reported as “weak.”

The “Good Seed Movement” flourished at about the time the In- stitutes were waning in popularity. Aiming at the improvement of farm crops through the promotion of better seed selection, the people in charge held meetings in the farming communities to which farmers brought the wheat, oats and timothy seeds they expected to sow in the spring to have

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