While working on this project it was also realized that a photo in this booklet, labelled “Bird’s eye view of Austin, Manitoba”, shows the Museum elevator in use. A photo of a Museum artefact in use is rare for the Museum to have. The elevator in the photo marked Western Canada Flour Mills Co. Ltd. was built in 1905 and sold to Manitoba Pool Elevators (MPE) in 1938. Sometime after that the elevator became an annex to another MPE elevator in Austin and used as an annex until 1975. In the late 1970s, the elevator was donated and moved to the Museum by MPE. As the driveway, scale and associated equipment had been removed when converted to an annex, MPE rebuilt the driveway to wagon standards and installed a wagon scale with built in wagon lift that MPE found at Grandview.

Up to this time it was thought that this elevator had been built with the ¾ length cupola it currently features as no one could remember a different cupola on it. However, the photo shows a much smaller cupola centered on the top of the building. Many early elevators were built to this design however the small cupola was cramped and larger cupolas were introduced to provide more space for the leg and gerber. By the 1920s, full length cupolas were a standard design feature of elevators. Many elevators with small cupolas were later rebuilt to larger cupolas, including this elevator.

Another obvious change is the siding. As built, the elevator had wood clapboard installed and painted with red oxide paint. MPE began installing pressed tin tiles as siding on many of its elevators in the 1950s to reduce maintenance costs and probably this elevator was tinned then.

The photo is also interesting as it shows that the elevator in front of the WCFM elevator was built to a noticeably different design. The cupola runs, not at a right angle to the tracks, but parallel to the tracks.  There were a number of early elevators built to this design which differed in other aspects from the standard design that was emerging in 1905 when the WCFM elevator was built. The main body in this early design was rectangular where the main body of the standard design was square. The driveway was not enclosed but merely had a canopy over the scale and pit. Photos of elevators of this design are not common but one photo shows a much smaller square structure on the end of the main body. This structure runs to the top of the elevator. It would be about the right size for the leg so perhaps the leg ran on the outside of elevators built to this design. In the promotional book there is a photo of the Peoples Flour Mill at Austin which featured an elevator of this design beside the flour mill. This photo does not show the leg detail but shows other details. No blueprints for this design are known to the Museum at this time.

Another interesting item in the photo is the large square structure in front of the rectangular elevator. Looking at what can be seen of the construction, it does not appear to be an annex. And annexes in this time period seem to be rare, probably because the technology to fill and empty them at the time was neither developed fully and costs at the time did not warrant annexes. But if is not an annex, what is it and why was it built so close to the elevator?

The Austin promotional books are being printed and are on sale at the Museum. So drop by, pick up a copy and spend the day looking over the Museum collection including the Museum elevator, currently the oldest elevator preserved on the prairies. Who knows maybe the booklet will persuade you to move to Austin?

The photo, taken in October of 1910, shows the tractor plowing with an eight bottom Cockshutt engine plow with a set of wooden harrows trailing behind the plow.  Magnus Wilson is person standing at the end of the plow and holding a shotgun. He must have combined a bit of shooting with inspection of the plowing.  A Mr. W.S. Bailey is standing to the immediate right of Magnus Wilson and has a bicycle with him. Magnus Wilson’s son and Robert Wilson’s father is the lad on the plow. The tractor operator is unknown. Note the operator’s platform on the tractor. Not much in the way of creature comforts there! The device being pushed ahead of the tractor is a self steering mechanism which freed up the tractor operator to also look after the plow. However that raises the question of whether the operator stopped the tractor if a plow needed to be lifted or whether he let the tractor self steer and crossed back to the plow to work the left lever on the offending bottom? If so not much margin for safety.

The Big Four tractor entered production in the US in 1906. If the promotional book is to be believed, the Big Four was the first tractor with a 4 cylinder engine.  The Big Four was a sales success with demand outstripping supply. In 1909, the Gas Traction Company of Winnipeg was organized and purchased the Canadian patent rights for the Big Four from the Gas Traction Company of Minneapolis which owned the design and manufactured the tractor in the US. Gas Traction of Winnipeg wasted no time erecting a factory in Elmwood, a suburb of Winnipeg with the first tractor rolling out of the plant in March 1910.  In 1912 Emerson-Brantingham purchased the Gas Traction Companies and the Winnipeg plant was closed. Production of the Big Four continued until 1920 however Emerson-Brantingham was also producing smaller and lighter tractors soon after purchasing the Gas Traction Companies. Emerson-Brantingham was sold to J.I. Case in 1928.

The Bill of Sale is rare in the Museum collection as this sort of paperwork usually was not kept for any length of time. This bill was issued October 10, 1910 to Magnus  and shows the cost of the tractor as $2900.00 As well, Magnus purchased from the Gas Traction Company 270 gallons of gasoline ($48.60) 48 gallons of cylinder oil ($24.00) 36 gallons of summer black oil (($6.84), 25 pounds of axle grease ($.75) and 25 pounds of cup grease ($1.75). Most startling line in the receipt is the $90.00 deposit on the steel barrels used to hold the gasoline. But then barrels cost money and, as they were useful for a whole range of activities and products, were prone to “disappearing”. Given gas tractors were an emerging technology in 1910 and large areas of the Prairies would not have had fuel dealers at that point, it makes sense that the Gas Traction Company was also in the business of supplying petroleum products.

The promotional book contains a wealth of information on the Big Four tractors such as features and a history of the design, discussion of the economics of operating horses and steam engines on the farm versus gas tractors and testimonials from satisfied owners of Big Four tractors. The book includes photos of various Big Fours operating in the field. A photo of Magnus Wilson’s tractor is shown plowing.  As well there is a letter from Magnus phrasing the tractor. The promotional book is of quite good quality and obviously was meant to convey to the reader that the Gas Traction Company was a quality outfit here to stay.

Magnus Wilson was an early settler in the Gladstone area arriving in 1880. He was a blacksmith by trade and so opened a shop in Gladstone. He also built and repaired carriages and other vehicles. Magnus later branched into brick making and operated a brick works near Gladstone for a number of years. Magnus owned farmland in the area however other people operated these farms for Magnus. Magnus’s  son and grandson did go onto to farm in the Gladstone area.

Through the 1890s to 1910 Sawyer Massey was a major builder of Canadian steam engines however the emergence of gas tractors posed problems for Sawyer Massey. The Massey family felt gas tractors were the future however the other partners in Sawyer Massey felt steam engines still had a place. The Massey family felt strongly enough about the issue that they sold their interest in Sawyer Massey.  After the departure of the Massey family, Sawyer Massey changed its mind and moved into production of gas tractors. They produced a number of sizes of tractors. The first model produced was a 20-40 which was then followed by a 30-60 tractor. The 20-40 seems to have been more powerful than thought as this design was later re-rated as a 25-45. These tractors made use of various components in production for steam engines such as wheels, some drive gears and the steering axle and gear. Sawyer Massey also moved into the production of smaller tractors producing two models an 11-22 and a 17-34 using engines from outside suppliers. The tractor seen here is a 25-45 tractor equipped with a Sawyer Massey designed and built engine.

The photo illustrates the problem that threshing machines posed, the need for large numbers of men. There are seven men in the photo and probably there are more men elsewhere. There was usually an engine man tending the tractor, a separator man tending the separator or threshing machine, two sheaf pitchers per sheaf wagon and for efficient operation a crew would need at least three or four sheaf wagons. And then a grain wagon or two would be needed to haul grain away into an elevator or grain bin. If you were running a steam engine you would also need a water wagon and a man to constantly haul water. A crew then may consist of over 10 men and probably closer to 14, all of whom usually needed to be fed and housed on the farm. Some custom threshing operations featured “cabooses” or shacks on wheels in which the men slept however it is more likely the usual accommodation was the barn loft or a straw stack with the horse trough serving as washing up facility. Many accounts of early steam engine men mention sleeping on the engine’s deck using grain bags as a blanket and the heat from the boiler keeping them warm.

Food was prepared by the farmer’s wife and feeding three meals to a threshing crew was a major undertaking which would require not only her but at least one helper, if not more, in order to generate the volume of food needed for breakfast, lunch and supper. Some accounts of threshing operations mention crews quitting en mass as the food was not adequate in terms of quantity or quality. Bachelor farmers would be particularly hard pressed and so would need to hire a cook if one could be found. Of course in years when manpower was plentiful a bachelor could get away with feeding the crew a steady diet of stew, using a wash tub on the stove for a giant pot and replenishing the contents after every meal with whatever was at hand, vegetables, potatoes, beef, chicken, wild birds, gophers and other wild life.  However in achieving economical meals, the crew may rush the job to escape poor meals by “crowding” the separator and throwing grain over. Grain thrown over would cost the farmer more than he saved with substandard meals.

Manpower in the threshing days was such an issue that the railways operated “harvest special” trains in which they offered cheap fares to the prairies from the Maritimes and Eastern Canada where manpower was more plentiful. As wages at harvest were relatively decent large numbers of men came to the prairies for harvest. To a fisherman, used to life on a fishing boat where work was hard, wet and cold and the accommodations equally as wet and cold, with the prospect of drowning thrown in, a prairie harvest could be seen as an excursion particularly if you found work on a farm with a wife and number of daughters who were skilled cooks.

 The photo shows the top or runner stone. The centre of the runner stone has a round hole cut all the way through it. Under the runner is another stone, the bedstone. The bedstone has no centre  hole . Into the working faces of both the runner and bedstone are cut a pattern of grooves. There are a number of deep grooves called furrows that run from the centre of the stone out to the edge of the stone.  From each furrow run a number of shallower grooves called cracking grooves. These grooves run to the edge of the stone. The pattern of grooves in a set of millstones should, in theory, match each other. Millstones should not be touching each other but be separated very slightly from one another. This produces better flour and reduces wear on the stones.

 There is a handle visible on the runner stone which is used to turn the runner. While the runner stone was turned, grain was trickled through the hole. The furrows attempt to move the grain to the outside of the stones while the runner is being turned. In doing so, grain is feed to the  cracking grooves. In theory, as the cracking grooves in the top stone turn over the grooves in the bottom stone, a scissoring action takes place and the grain is broken up into flour.   

As this is an old and rare artifact, no attempt was made to remove the runner to examine whether furrows and cracking grooves were cut into the faces of the stones in this mill. The runner turns easily so it appears the runner stone is separated from the bedstone in some fashion. If the runner was resting on the bedstone it would be much harder to turn.  It appears a paddle of some sort was run around the stone on an ongoing basis to push the flour to the outlet visible on the side of the mill.

Examining the table it is evident that it was rebuilt at some point before it arrived at the Museum. The well area is built from 3x4inch material and the area around the stone is built with what appears to be planed material. Most cut lumber before 1900 was rough cut or unplanned.

Red Fife wheat was in great demand in Manitoba in 1880. Red Fife had a very high gluten content compared to other wheat varieties of the time. This high gluten content made for a superior loaf of bread.  Manitoba, for reasons of climate, produced Red Fife with higher gluten content than Red Fife produced further south.  However millstones had problems in milling Red Fife as a stone mill tended to crush Red Fife rather than cutting it. As well, the millstones built up heat when milling hard wheats which damaged the gluten in these wheats .  By 1880, steel technology had progressed to the point where steel rollers were possible. The faces of steel rollers were covered with sharp ridges which basically chipped the kernel of wheat apart and did not build up gluten damaging heat. Steel roller flour mills quickly appeared in the 1880s to process the rapidly expanding acreage of Red Fife wheat in Manitoba.

This stone mill, however crude the flour produced by it, was still a useful tool to have if you were pioneering on the Manitoba Prairie in 1880. Money was always an issue and milling wheat into flour would save the homesteader money.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is now open year round. Between the tractors, machinery, buildings and other artifacts of Manitoba’s pioneer agricultural era, an informative day can be spent at the Museum. For more information, the Museum’s upgraded website is at http://www.ag-museum.com/

As to why the steel barrel was shaped like a wooden barrel, probably very early steel barrels simply followed the general design of wooden barrels. Even more importantly a barrel, particularly when full, was easy to handle with this shape. When moving barrels any distance by hand, the barrels were usually laid on their side and rolled. With a straight wall design changing directions was a problem solved by brute force. However with a curved side wall, the barrel could be tipped in the direction you wanted the barrel to go while rolling it and the barrel turned in that direction.

The Museum was happy to accept donation of this barrel as it aids in the interpretation of the pioneer tractor era. The appearance of gas and kerosene tractors on farms posed a fuel storage problem. Wood, coal and straw used to fire steam engines could just be piled on the ground for storage. Obviously one could not do this with kerosene or gas. Wooden barrels were used to store fuel in the early days as evidenced by a letter to a 1908 edition of the Canadian Thresherman and Farmer in which the writer talked about the economy of his tractor but noted that the wooden barrels used to store kerosene on his farm did leak and so he was not quite sure how much the tractor had actually burnt. Steel barrels were the solution to this issue.  And with barrels, if the local fuel dealer did not offer fuel delivery then the farmer could take the barrel with him on a trip to town and get it filled by the dealer. How common on farm delivery of fuel by a fuel dealer was in the pioneer era is not known.

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is now open year round. Between the tractors, machinery, buildings and other artifacts of Manitoba’s pioneer agricultural era, an interesting day can be spent at the Museum. For more information, see the Museum’s newly upgraded website at http://www.ag-museum.com

Threshing Competition at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum’s Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede

With the sheaves loaded, the teams race their racks to their threshing machines for the final half of the threshing competition.  One rack has already pulled up beside the steam separator and from smoke and steam belching from her stack the Case steam engine is working up to speed driving the separator.  The racks have not yet begun to pitch sheaves into the gas outfits separator. Overall this year the steam outfit took the threshing competition. However, on this day, even with the steam outfit getting a jump on the gas outfit, the gas outfit crowded their separator hard, rapidly gaining ground and appeared to be on the way to a win before a separator belt was thrown off, plugging the separator.

Tug of War at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum’s Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede

A feature of the afternoon grandstand show at the Reunion is the Tug of War between volunteers of all ages from the audience and the Museum’s 18-50 Case steam engine. On this day, the crowd battled the steam engine to almost a draw with the Case spinning out at one point, digging a hole. However the Case finally wore down the crowd and dragged the lead person over the line for the win. Other days of the reunion featured just as hard fought battles between the crowd and the engine, with the volunteers even winning on Friday. The steam committee chairman for the Museum, Robert Beamish, states this year’s Tug of War was the closest of any past reunion. Children enjoy participating in the Tug of War and usually make up the majority of people participating but this year for some reason men joined in the battle on all days.

This particular Avery gas tractor is owned by the Manitoba Agricultural Museum and is a 1920’s vintage 25-50 Model. It is a 4 cylinder with a 6 ½ X 7 inch bore and stroke, and is a horizontally opposed engine. This type of engine was popular with various manufacturers from 1912 to the mid 1920’s. This configuration of engine is only currently used in a few small modern engines and not with today’s industrial agricultural engines.

The origin of this engine consists of two 12-25 hp engines put side by side with each other on a platform to create a 25-50 sliding engine. A sliding engine consists of the engine mounted on a frame that slides back and forth on the main tractor frame. The whole engine is mounted on a plank that when slid back, causes the tractor to go forward. And when the whole engine is moved forward it causes the tractor to move backwards. There are two gears on this tractor. The first is a crankshaft, or pinion, gear. The second is the intermediate/reduction gear. This gear meshes with the forward or reverse driving gear.

This tractor runs on kerosene, with an engine speed of 700 rpm at full throttle. It has two forward speeds and one reverse speed. Most of this machine is made from cast iron, including the gear that has now been replaced.

The original gear, measured at 50 inches diameter, was showing signs of weakness as long as ten years ago. Eventually a piece of the gear was actually broken out, and because of this, the entire tractor was rendered inoperable. A team of volunteers prepared a proposal for restoration funds to be taken to the Board of Directors, where it was approved.

A temporary weld of replacement metal for the missing piece was created in order to cast the new gear. A band was sealed around the outside perimeter and hub for shrinkage. It was cast as a foundry blank at Matrax Industries in Winnipeg, MB with a new type of metal called Ductile-80. Additional work was done by General Metals in Winkler, MB. The teeth for the gear were cut by volunteer Ryan Penny from Winnipeg, MB. He used an automatic gear cutting machine built by the Newark Company in 1906. This job took 45 hours.

The labor to remove the old gear and install the new gear was done between October 2010 and April 2012. It was done by a handful of volunteers, who had to remove the rear wheel and the locomotive style cab, in order to access the gear. Once the new gear was in place, volunteers had to put everything back together properly!

The Avery Co. was founded in 1874 by Robert Avery, a Union soldier in the American Civil War, and his brother Cyrus. After the war, Robert returned home, and he began a series of inventions to aid in the process of farming including a seed drill he had designed while a Prisoner of War in the infamous Andersonville prison camp. He apparently sketched out the design in the dirt of the prison yard using a stick as a drawing tool.

Over time, the Avery Company grew successful with a string of successful farm machinery products including the “Yellow Fellow” separator. Unfortunately the Avery Company could not keep up with the rapid technological changes that occurred after World War One. Business began to slow down because of a lack of innovation in new products. The Avery Company suffered the same fate as many early farm machinery manufacturers, bankruptcy in the early 1920s, reorganization of the company and resumption of business, bankruptcy in the 1930 with yet another reorganization seeing the company continue on. However the US entry into World War Two saw the company shut its doors forever.

Another museum project is complete, and, with the new gear, the tractor is now operational. This project couldn’t have been done without a team of great volunteers! So come on out and take a look at this veteran of Manitoba’s pioneer agricultural era. May 29th would be an excellent date for a visit to the Museum to examine the sliding engine arrangement on the Avery 25-50.

 We often forget that these questions we ask ourselves, and the plans we make, were once extreme luxuries, and it is easy to get sidetracked and forget to be grateful for the things that are provided for us today.

 The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is one of a few places in Manitoba that can show us some of the life of Manitoba’s bygone pioneer era. Although the museum is a wonderful place to visit all year round, for four days out of the year, the Theshermen’s Reunion and  Stampede allows the museum to come to life. As important and fascinating as the machinery, horse shows and all the displays found through out the grounds are, there are other movements going on at the same time. The Reunion Ladies Activities (RLA) is home to a group of volunteers who are dedicated to providing a window to look through and see a glimpse of the lives of pioneer women.

Baking is demonstrated by providing cinnamon buns, baking powder biscuits and homemade pies. Fresh apples with caramel sauce, coffee and lemonade are provided as well. It’s important to note that this is not merely a bake sale. RLA is expressing the importance of homemakers in the pioneer era. Bread was a huge caloric staple, and growing your own food was of utmost importance. Native fruits, like saskatoons, were used in pies and preserving/canning was an essential job to learn in order to provide food for the family during the harsh prairie winter.

 Baking skills were passed down through each generation, and the members of RLA are determined to preserve and show these skills.

 RLA has a wide range of homemaking skills demonstrated throughout the days of the reunion. Called ‘Hats and Aprons’ there will be crafts to look upon, including wagon wheel rugmaking, tallow and lye soapmaking, hardanger, embroidery, crotcheting, quilting, spinning, carding, butter churning, etc. There will also be a doll museum display for interested avid collectors to inspect.

 For over 25 years, the Reunion Ladies’ Activities has put on a fashion show, complete with a raised runway and live models. Starting at 4pm, this fashion show demonstrates RLA’s collection of vintage fashion. All of the pieces are original and have been donated by various people, most of them members of the Manitoba  Agricultural Museum.  Some of the clothes date as far back as the 1890’s, are tenderly cared for, and proudly worn by volunteers.

 So come on down to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum and if you visit during our Theshermen’s Reunion, July 28 to 31, be sure to come by the Reunion Ladies’ Activities, located in the Pioneer Building, for a relaxing and educational stop!  The 2011 feature at the Reunion is the Pioneer Trades of Prairie Canada. Visit the Museum’s website for more information – http://ag-museum.mb.ca/

]]> http://ag-museum.mb.ca/2011/07/17/reunion-ladies-activities/feed/ 0 http://ag-museum.mb.ca/2011/07/15/volunteer-and-visitor-stories/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=volunteer-and-visitor-stories http://ag-museum.mb.ca/2011/07/15/volunteer-and-visitor-stories/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:41:48 +0000 admin http://ag-museum.com/?p=1062 The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is interested in finding out about our volunteers and visitors.  Do you have a story to share with us about your museum experience?  We are looking for: