Since it's spring seeding in both Ontario and Saskatchewan during the time of this letter and Noah talks about his equipment, this week's images will be on that theme.
Different brands of pre-1920 Seed/Grain Drills, courtesy of Prairie Postcards, Peel Library, University of Alberta
Author of Letter: Noah Clement Draper (24 yrs old)
Dated: Apr 24/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dearest Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, Noah has turned the paper lengthwise and written straight down both pages.
People/places mentioned in this letter:
*Will - William Rigler, married to Noah's sister, Ethel
*Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
*Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister in Belhaven
Alf - Noah's hired farm worker
Sam - Noah's horse
Other mentions:
*diptheria
** Deering seed drill
** Kentucky seed drill
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more posts on this
person.
** see Genealogy Notes below
Dated: Apr 24/11
Addressed to: Miss E. Nelson, Bellhaven, Ont., Dearest Ethel
Mailed from: Grand Coulee, Sask.
Relationship: Courting
Profession: Farmer
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, Black ink, but looks grey in places and pencil-like in others.
Writing Paper: Thick, textured, linen-like paper, 9 inches x 6.5 inches. Paper is folded in half, with a front and back page, but inside, Noah has turned the paper lengthwise and written straight down both pages.
People/places mentioned in this letter:
*Will - William Rigler, married to Noah's sister, Ethel
*Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joe Perrault
*Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister in Belhaven
Alf - Noah's hired farm worker
Sam - Noah's horse
Other mentions:
*diptheria
** Deering seed drill
** Kentucky seed drill
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right column for more posts on this
person.
** see Genealogy Notes below
| Grand Coulee, Sask. April 24/11. Miss E. Nelson, Belhaven, Ont. Dearest Ethel;- Received your letter last Friday and was glad to hear you had escaped . the diptheria. Hope you are well as this leaves me. also as buisy. Ha. Ha. Say Kid I have had a big time getting a drill to suite me. ordered one from the Deering people. lost about four days over it so yesteraday I tookit back & went in to Regina |
| and got another make. New Kentucky brot it home & set it up today and it is a dandy. I drove in the buggy to Regina. and my man took the waggon. I left the buggy in to get painted. & Alf. that is my mans name led Sam out behind the waggon & I came home on the local & brought up a team from the Coulee, got home about 2 am. so just laid down in the stable & slept untill 4.30. that is the third night I hve been out. so I feel like bed. but as I am going down to the office tomorrow night thought I would not miss this chance. Say Ethel dont you get a letter every week? I have not missed writing once. but I have missed your letters. & Oh gee aint I cranky. I guess. ma???? Well Isuppose you have nearly finished seeding down there by this time. We have Wills wheat in & will have about 2 days yet at mine we sow from 40 to 45 acres a day with 2 drills. |
| Well May will soon be here wish I were down for the 24th. Oh you fishing. Well Ethel Veda is not going down to college untill after mid summer hollidays. but is going to the public school now. Tell Sadie to be careful how she starts her letters to the young men. Ha. Ha. Well Ethel I guess I will have to close for this time & am looking for a letter so good bye. from your Lover. x x x x x x x x x N. C. Draper |
Genealogy Notes
Noah talks about needing a new drill for seeding his crop. For whatever reason, he's not happy with his Deering model, so he brings it back and buys one with the Kentucky brand.
Deering sounds like it belongs to the John Deere company, but it's not. William Deering (1826-1913) was an American businessman who established the Deering Harvester Works in 1880. In 1902, the Deering Harvester Company and three smaller agricultural equipment companies merged with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company to form the International Harvester Company (IHC).
Deering sounds like it belongs to the John Deere company, but it's not. William Deering (1826-1913) was an American businessman who established the Deering Harvester Works in 1880. In 1902, the Deering Harvester Company and three smaller agricultural equipment companies merged with the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company to form the International Harvester Company (IHC).
In 1911, LA Langford uses a 4-horse team and an IHC grain drill to seed land in the Hanna, Alberta area. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives of Alberta.
Here's an illustration from the 1910 Kentucky Grain Drill catalogue. The big difference that I see is that with the Deering a drill, the farmer stands on either the foot boards provided at the back, or on the top of the seed hopper as in the photo at the top of this post, whereas the farmer sits at the back of the Kentucky Grain Drill. I wonder if that's why Noah calls the Kentucky make a "dandy"?
Sometimes called a seed drill, and other times called a grain drill, the purpose is to plant all the seed at a uniform depth. Before the seed grain drill was invented in 1701 by English pioneer agriculturalist Jethro Tull (1674-1741), the seed was broadcast by throwing it - a very inefficient method of sowing.
Sometimes called a seed drill, and other times called a grain drill, the purpose is to plant all the seed at a uniform depth. Before the seed grain drill was invented in 1701 by English pioneer agriculturalist Jethro Tull (1674-1741), the seed was broadcast by throwing it - a very inefficient method of sowing.
Although many farmers still use the updated versions of the older type, modern ones use hydraulics to shoot seed and fertilizer through tubes and into the ground.
I took the following video of an air drill in action from my front yard. It's not the best footage, and the sound is horrid due to the wind, but it will show you how drills have changed over 100 years.
I took the following video of an air drill in action from my front yard. It's not the best footage, and the sound is horrid due to the wind, but it will show you how drills have changed over 100 years.
