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JAMES
DUTHIE WAS BORN in Cummiston, Aberdeen, Scotland in October 1855. James
arrived in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1879 and spent part of a year
there. In the fall of 1880 he arrived in Guelph, Ontario, where he
registered as a member of the first class at the Ontario Agricultural
College and spent most of two years there.
In June 1882, he, along with Henry D. Smith arrived at Brandon, which
was the end of the Canadian Pacific Railway line at that time. Seeking
land near water and trees for mixed farming purposes, he chose 1-6-24
in the Hartney district, where he continued to live until his death in
1932.
He was one of the first trustees of the first Presbyterian Church and
was an elder for over 40 years. In 1892 he was the first President of
the Hartney Agricultural Society. He also served as a Municipal
Councillor, President of the Shorthorn Breeders Association, and the
Manitoba Cattle Breeders. In 1900 he was Master of Hartney Masonic
Lodge and in 1923 District Deputy Grand Master. For more than one term
he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Manitoba Agricultural
College in Winnipeg and served as Chairman.
Adapted from A Century of
Living, page 309.
The
Hartney Farmers’ Institute
In 1890 the Manitoba government passed an act authorizing the formation
of Farmers’ Institutes in any district where petition of 25 or more
requested this. The members of such an institute were to pay a 50 cent
fee to be matched by a 50 cent grant from the government for each paid
up member. The institutes were to hold periodic meetings for the
discussion of farming practices and the importation of good seeds,
plants and animals to their own districts.
Thirty-four of the most progressive farmers met the home of J.M. Fee in
1893, signed the necessary petition and formed a Farmers’ Institute.
They met monthly thereafter and at each meeting one of more members
gave a paper on a farm subject. W.B. Muir who had one of the best
gardens, spoke on “A Farmer’s Garden,” James Duthie on “What is a Good
Herd,” William Laughland on “The Selection of Good Seed” and John
Aikenhead on “Dry Fodder and Ensilage.” They frequently invited S.A.
Bedford of the Brandon Experimental Farm to instruct them in better
farming methods.
At a meeting in 1896 the wives of the members were invited to hear a
paper by Miss Eva Underhill of the Barber district on “Labour in the
Household.” At the close of this entertaining evening, Mr. Aikenhead,
the president, invited all those who had taken part in the program to
an oyster supper at the hotel.
To show the results of good agricultural methods the men of the
Farmers’ Institute organized an Agricultural Society in 1893 and held
the first Hartney Fair in October of that year in the incompleted mill
building. The first prize list of that year offered a special prize of
$5.00 for the blacksmith “shoeing one horse all round fastest and best”
and a special prize of a child’s rocking chair for the “handsomest baby
at the fair.”
In 1900 the Agricultural Society secured a tract of 15 acres formerly
held by the CPR and built thereon a structure to serve as a display
building for the fair and as a rink in the winter. The building was
ready by June of 1902 and that year the fair was held in the summer
instead of in the fall, with baseball and lacrosse to amuse those not
so keenly interested in the stock-judging rings.
Fair day was a day apart, and followed a pattern through the years. The
stock to be shown was placed in the show building the day before the
fair or early on fair day, groomed for display until they shone. Other
exhibits were in place early too so that the judges of all but the
livestock could finish their work before the fair opened at one o’clock.
By noon the streets were alive with teams and buggies, the livery
stables were full of horses and their yards of vehicles of all kinds.
People hurried to the fair ground or loitered to talk to friends on
their way. The band struck up a lively tune as the musicians marched in
their smart uniforms toward the fair, followed by a crowd of admiring
boys. In 1911 William Laughland was invited to the Provincial
Exhibition in Winnipeg in honour of his having been the winner of the
Hundred Dollar Gold Medal for the best 25 bushels of Red Fife wheat at
the fist provincial exhibition, as well as having won the highest
awards at Antwerp, Paris, Glasgow and St. Louis.
Adapted from The Mere
Living, page 129.
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