As the older farmers passed away or retired, fewer sons took up the task of tilling the soil. Some farmed part-time, and still do. [But the crops are less varied, and co-operation less necessary. Today, farming. has all but disap- peared in Southport.

With the mushrooming of Southport as a residential community the farmland was acquired by people who could afford to pay more to buy a residential site than a farmer could to keep the land in agricultural produc- tion. Farming itself changed. In some areas farms became bigger and more specialized, but in Southport there was little room for expansion, and less interest in doing so. Now many residents find it hard to imagine that where their houses stand potatoes, carrots, turnips, grain, and hay once grew.

Many factors led to the demise of farming in our community. The growth of Charlottetown, a dramatic change in attitudes toward farming, and a revolution in farming itself, all lead to the slow decline of what re- mains the province’s most important industry. The decline in farming also marks the transformation of Southport from a strictly rural community

near Charlottetown, to a suburban community closely tied to the capital ci- ty. Yet some of the farming lifestyle maintains an influence in Southport.

Driving cows on Stratford Road.

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