Central Experimental Farm
Leader: Franz Klingender, Central Experimental Farm
Reading | Lectures : Harris, Julie and Jennifer Mueller. “Making Science Beautiful: The Central Experimental Farm, 1886-1939” Ontario History, 89, 2 (1997): 103-123.
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During CHESS 2009, we went to the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, where I had always imagined mad scientist farmers manufacturing pigs with plastic stomachs and chickens that lay potatoes instead of eggs.
Our guide led us through the operations of the farm in such an entertaining and knowledgeable way that I learned that the Experimental Farm was established to teach immigrants how to farm in the harsh Canadian climate while developing breeds of livestock and types of grain to ensure the survival of these new farms.
We were able to see the changing agricultural and technological landscape of Canada because of this. This became clear when we met the Canadian cow. This is a hearty cow with short legs and great bulk particularly well-suited to endure a Canadian winter without the advantage of modern shelter. With the development of agricultural landscapes and the addition of well-insulated barns, the advantages of the Canadian cow dwindled. It did not produce as much milk as smaller breeds and was soon replaced by more profitable cows.
This showed us how farms have changed in Canada over the past century as well as how the Experimental Farm changed along with it. The Farm is now dedicated to saving the Canadian cow from extinction because of its importance to Canada’s past. This living history of both the Canadian cow and the Central Experimental Farm was so fascinating that even though our guide whispered to me that the pigs with plastic stomachs were there if I only knew where to look, I was not disappointed when I didn’t find them.
Photos by Alan MacEachern
