The idea of special trains to promote better agricultural practices was developed in Canada in the early years of the 20th century. In 1904, special trains brought farmers to the
Dominion Experimental Farm in
Indian Head to demonstrate farming techniques.[2] In 1906, a Special Seed Train ran throughout the
Canadian Prairies to advertise the
Seed Act and warn of the dangers of
weeds.[3]
In 1913, the Government of Canada passed the
Agricultural Instruction Act "to assist the provinces by grants of money to carry on educational and instructional work for the benefit and encouragement of agriculture".[4] Two trains called "Better Farming Specials" operated in
Manitoba in 1913, demonstrating farm equipment, live stock and home economics.[5]
A more substantial "Better Farming Train" was devised by
William Motherwell of the
Saskatchewan Department of Agriculture.[6] Motherwell was a firm believer in
scientific agriculture and had the enthusiastic support of William Rutherford, a former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and then Dean of Agriculture at the newly formed
University of Saskatchewan at
Saskatoon.[7] Rutherford offered the full assistance of the College of Agriculture to promote the latest information on agricultural research and how it could assist farmers. The train itself was provided at no cost by the
Canadian Pacific Railway and operating expenses were borne by the grant.[4]
Formation
The train consisted of between 13 and 17 cars with exhibits and equipment for demonstrations and lectures. The train was divided into five sections: Livestock, Field Husbandry, Boys and Girls, Household Science, and Farm Mechanics. Each section had a lecture car and one or more demonstration cars.[8] A
flat car also carried displays and
stock cars carried horses, cattle, sheep and pigs.
Operation
The Better Farming Train operated in June and July every year from 1914 to 1922, targeting a different area of the province each year.[9] Prominent professors from the college, including
Grant MacEwan,[10] and agricultural officials from the department served as demonstrators and lecturers.[11] The train typically stopped in two communities each day.[12]
Summary
The table below is a summary of train operation.[4]
Year
Distance travelled (miles)
Places visited
Attendance
Operating cost
1914
1,344
88
36,000
$7,000
1916
1,946
135
37,109
$6,742
1915
810
56
22,673
$4,787
Other agricultural instruction cars
A separate Special Dairy Car, also known as the Travelling Dairy, ran in Saskatchewan in 1916 to promote better
dairy farming practices. It was staffed by the Department and College and hauled by the
Canadian Northern Railway. It was fitted out as a lecture coach with a
stereopticon and exhibits.[11]
Following the Better Farming Train, a single agriculture lecture car for the University of Saskatchewan was attached to various trains from 1923 until the early 1930s.[13]
^Clinton Lorne Evans (2002). The War on Weeds in the Prairie West: An Environmental History. University of Calgary Press. p. 133.
ISBN1552380297.
^
abcDominion aid to agricultural instruction in Canada: A review of the work performed by the Provinces with the moneys granted under the Agricultural Instruction Act during the four year period, 1913-1917. Department of Agriculture. 1917. p. 6.
^Dominion aid to agricultural instruction in Canada: A review of the work performed by the Provinces with the moneys granted under the Agricultural Instruction Act during the four year period, 1913-1917. Department of Agriculture. 1917. p. 13.
^Hayes, Patrick (15 November 1996).
"The Better Farming Train". University of Saskatchewan. Archived from
the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
^Ron Brown (2008). The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore: An Illustrated History of Railway Stations in Canada. Dundurn. p. 141.
ISBN1550027948.