Joe Brown, father of Barbara
Source: MHHA archives
"Summer months were always busy on the farm. Our dad, Joe Brown, was a curious man who created an experimental farm and researched useful methods of rotating crops, raising chickens for poultry and eggs and helping the land produce in a fruitful way. His knowledge was through farming manuals purchased from McGill University.
Summer was always a very busy time. Our father, Joe Brown, was a curious man who set up a real experimental farm to find the best practices for crop rotation, the most efficient ways to raise poultry and produce eggs, or any new way to help the land produce better. His interest was rooted in the agricultural textbooks he bought at McGill University and their experimental farm.
The Brown farm consisted of more than 90 acres, almost 70% in forest and the rest in segregated fields where hay and corn was grown and harvested. It included vegetable gardens, mostly for market locally or shipped to Montreal. The land in those hills was mostly rock and poor earth and had to be shifted from one area to another to grow crops. The supply of manure from the cattle was used to fertilize the crop areas.”