Canadian Papers in Rural History
Volume II (1980)
The Adoption of the Gasoline Tractor in Western Canada
by Robert E. Ankli, H. Dan Helsberg and John Herd Thompson, pp. 9-40.
Messrs. Ankli, Helsberg and Thompson provide a rigorous accounting of the micro-economics behind the decision of thousands of individual farmers to substitute petroleum-driven tractors for horse power, which is nothing less than the agricultural revolution of the twentieth century.
The Shell-Mud Diggers of Prince Edward Island
by David E. Weale, pp. 41-58.
Professor David Weale uses the techniques of oral history to recapture not simply the technology of mining manure from the sea, but also to show the social context in which the particular technology flourished.
Trading on a Frontier: The Function of Peddlers, Markets and Fairs in Nineteenth Century Ontario
by Brian Osborne, pp. 59-82.
Tracing Property Ownership in Nineteenth-Century Ontario: A Guide to the Archival Sources
by R.W. Widdis, pp. 83-102.
R.W. Widdis's work on tracing property ownership is a virtual guide to filling in, farm by farm, the historical map of Upper Canada.
The Seasonal Round of Gentry farmers in Early Ontario: A Preliminary Analysis
by James O'Mara, pp. 103-112.
In detailing the yearly round of the gentry farmer, James O'Mara shows that a sensitivity to the calendral, repetitive, and ritualistic aspects of rural behaviour can be useful.
A Company Community: Garden Island, Upper Canada at Mid-Century
by Christian Norman, pp. 113-134.
In his study, Christian Norman clearly establishes that one can analyse rural productive activity, not just as a productive unit, but as a functioning and well-integrated social system.
The Role of Shipping from Scottish Ports in Emigration to the Canadas, 1815-1855
by James M. Cameron, pp. 135-154.
Listening to Rural Language: Ballycarry, Co. Antrim, 1798-1817
by Donald H. Akenson, pp. 155-172.
Donald Akenson suggests that rural historians should learn to use their ears as well as their eyes; and, in discussing the Ulster Scots dialect, he indirectly points to one of the major influences on the everyday speech of large numbers of Canadian country people.