Hello people!! Now how have you guys been? =)

I don’t know about you people, but I just got off the back of one of the more enjoyable weeks that I’ve had in a long time. My past seven days were spent kayaking, touring Parliament Hill (funny how this place never bores me), chilling out with friends from Vancouver and Toronto, and yes – of course – doing a little of Project: From Sea To Sea every now and then. Speaking of From Sea To Sea, I was actually on the road again today, eager to visit and document what would be my fourth stopover in the Great Museum Trek thus far.

Today’s visit however, promised to be a little different. Around a week ago, snuffleupagush.wordpress.com received a reader comment on the Project: From Sea To Sea page (the first ever for that article!), and what at first appeared to be yet another section of two cents’ worth instead turned out to be the impetus for the selection of a fourth destination in the Great Museum Trek; and also the catalyst to what was perhaps the most informative stopover in Project: From Sea To Sea thus far!

This aforementioned reader comment was from none other than one from the Manager of Programs and Visitor Services at the Canada Agriculture Museum herself – Marie-Sophie Desaulniers – and with her delightful opinions on From Sea To Sea, actually was an invitation to a special tour of her workplace.

In my opinion, to say no to this would be akin to declining a bucket of water when one’s head is on fire lol.

Thus arrangements were made, and at 8.30 am I boarded the OC Transpo #3. Having only passed Prince of Wales Drive on my bicycle before, I was rather worried that I would not be able to make it to the museum on time. However – thankfully – at nine o’clock, I found myself staring at this sign here:

Canada Agriculture Museum.

Sophie had said that she would meet me at the admission booth of the Canada Agriculture Museum at 9.00 am, so without any hesitation I marched straightaway into the grounds of the facility. At this point I have to admit that I had no inkling what to expect of this visit whatsoever. Indeed, it was the first time – ever – that I would have the benefit of being with someone from the governing body of a facility with me throughout my visit to said facility. I was possibly even a bit nervous, guessing at the prospect of the possible presence of expectations of myself – and even of this blog – as a result of this visit.

Sights on site.

However, there was in truth nothing of the sort =) I arrived at the admission booth proper at 9.10 am (yes, ten minutes late *insert embarrassed face here*) and stood by the steps of the booth, pondering my next move. It was here that I realized “I don’t even know who I’m supposed to look for!!“. Thankfully, the reverse statement was not true – the door of the booth opened and I finally met the person who had been instrumental in organizing this inaugural visit of mine. Even if I was not ready for her – I found myself fumbling for my pen and papers – Sophie certainly was ready for me, and raring to show off the barns that were her pride and joy, along with the customized facilities of the retrofitted Canada Agriculture Museum.

After a brief “hello, very nice to meet you session”, we were off!! This was to be our first stop:

The Horse and Cattle Barn.

At this point I have to say that close to 90% of the information that I might provide here must be credited to my tour guide, Marie-Sophie. The wealth of information that she possessed with regard to her workplace – which she was clearly very passionate about – was simply staggering; I can safely say that without her to show me around, my visit would not be as informative and thorough – possibly even a lot less fun!!

We began with the horses in the stables near the entrance:

Pictured here are what is essentially the remnant of the initial concept of providing draft horses to all the Experimental Farms across Canada. These Farms were initially set up by the local governments in order to obtain the scientific advancements necessary to allow for sustained agriculture in Canada. This ideal makes sense as one understands that although Canada does have a lot of land, it has certain limitations such as the presence of frost and also varying durations of sunlight throughout the year.

Other animals in the barn:

(this pig is HUGE btw; the next picture is for scale @.@)

@.@

Here I was also made to understand – via Sophie’s explanations – that unlike Malaysia, Canada wasn’t originally an agriculture-based country; again, think of the weather patterns and this makes sense. Therefore as a result, there technically aren’t any farming animals “native” to the country; however, what was cool is that there actually have been numerous attempts to create an “indigenous” breed of horse/sheep suited for helping to work a Canadian farm. Not only that, many of those cross-breeding cum experimentations actually took place at this very facility (before it was the Canada Agriculture Museum, it was first an experimental farm). Here is the coolest/best example I can find:

The Rideau Arcott, a form of local sheep. The “Arcott” component of its name is actually derived from a combination of the phrases “Animal Research Center” and “OTTawa”. Cool eh? =D

And to drive the point home, another example of such “local” animals was the Canadienne – a smaller, sturdier and more resilient version of your standard workhorse. Such animals would be worth wonders in a land where harsh winters and random showers are the norm.

But let’s move on to other stuff; the next place we headed off to was the open pasture region beside the barns:

(XD?)

Again I have one more piece of completely random information to share with you guys, thanks to Sophie; here goes: donkeys are very useful animals to have around on the farm, not only for their labour capabilities but also due to their use as an alarm system – apparently the racket that they raise upon seeing coyotes and/or similar predators is deafening. Very useful indeed – especially when you have sheep stupid enough not to notice that their enemies are around in force lol!

Moving on -

Aside from revenue from educational tours, the Museum actually also produces its own milk and sells them on a frequent basis; running a dairy farm is more complicated than one would think actually. It was here that again, I benefitted immensely from having someone from the Museum around – I was told that the milk production process can get fairly convoluted at times, with the degree of difficulty constantly increasing with the higher amount of bovines that one has to tend to. Consider the mechanics for a second: to begin with, bear in mind that the cows have to be constantly lactating, and secreting milk.

This means that they have to be pregnant. Thus, the schedule for artificial insemination and pregnancy data recording comes in. The next thing to consider is the fact that the cows – once pregnant – will have to give birth; now in comes the calculation for the dates of labour and subsequent recuperation. Now, it wouldn’t be a very good idea to have all the cows pregnant + giving birth at the same time would it? We definitely would not want a few months of non-stop milk production only to shudder to a halt every now and then as the wait for the cows to give birth and lactate occurs; no, they must take turns. More calculation. Now, having said that, factor in the possibility of disease and antibiotics.

Unlike many other countries, Canada has very stringent regulatory processes regarding dairy produce – antibiotics, growth hormone and the like must NOT be present in any products from a facility; the penalties range from heavy fines to ultimate closure of the dairy facilities. Therefore, this necessitates extreme care to ensure that the farm mechanics tow the line, ultimately resulting in further factors to be included in the dairy process.

Not that easy eh? =)

So appreciate your milk folks – making it sure wasn’t easy!!

And yes, all these cows have very succint and well-thought up names:

=)

See that metal bar? It’s apparently used to toilet-train the cows; a small electric shock is sent through it to the cow if ever she steps too far forward while doing business – this ensures her investments fall outside, and not inside, her stall.

There was also a calf development section:

Namesake.

I randomly have a story about my time in this area: there was also a family of three in the place at the time I was there – it was a father who was carrying his two year old son, with his daughter trotting about on the ground below him. As the father knelt to let his son pat the calf, he turned to his daughter (who was at the adjacent cage) and said:

“Sweetheart, do you want to come over here and get a kiss from the calf?”

So the little girl ran over – cute as can be – to the cage her father was pointing at. She knelt by the calf – who at this point was extending its tongue over to her – but instead ignored it, put her arms around the eager animal, held it firm, and then kissed the top of its head.

XD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The father was like @.@ I tell you LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!! He was like, “Umh, I meant the other way round,” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

XD XD XD XD XD XD!!!

Having shown me much of the Museum already, Sophie brought me over to the building adjacent to the National Capital Commission Scenic Driveway, where the special temporal exhibits for the Museum were housed. It was here that she would drop me off, needing to get back to her desk in the administration building. Somehow, I felt that despite saying “thank you” at least a dozen times, it definitely wasn’t enough to convey my sincere appreciation for her willingness to spare some time with this avid blogger intent on going ad mari usque at mare lol.

As she turned to leave, I focused my sights on the next exhibition at hand:

Brewer’s Gold – The History of the Hop Industry In British Columbia.

If none of you knew what hop is prior to this then there is good news – neither did I!! It turns out that this farm produce is actually used in the beer – and sometimes ale – flavouring process (ah, that explains why we never heard of it before eh? XD). It was a big farming craze once, but after the first World War the hype slowly died down. However their agricultural legacy simply lives on:

Hop industries in Western Canada.

Hop growing/harvesting equipment.

Smatterings of the hop growers’ culture.

I like this picture =)

Another hop-growing pastime. This one is for Kar Yian

The hop craze was effectively put to rest after the increasingly strong advent of insects, disease and the like. Almost gone are their trademark traditions of a 12~20 hour heating process and sulphur-based bleaching principles.

Hop wasn’t the only temporal exhibit around; adjacent to it was this:

TRACTORS!!

The exhibition site for these monstrosities of human engineering was placed within the room that led out of the Brewer’s Gold section. Upon entry, these massed examples of a metal collossus greet you by way of towering above your head, just as the simulated hum and rattles of their old gas engines break forth from the speakers nearby.

The Fordson – one of the first tractors to be produced on an assembly line, and it was noted for its reasonable capabilities. However, it tended to have a hot seat (literally) and was prone to flip over when  it got mired in mud.

This one here was actually intended to be a cross between a car and a tractor, and it was marketed as the “only vehicle you’ll ever need”. In trying to be successful in two different fields, it failed at both: the tractor component of the vehicle was simply not suited for the road, and one could never hope to do a farm job properly with only the strength of a standard automobile at hand.

The sign of the times.

The tractors exhibit was my last stop proper at the Canada Agriculture Museum – I had traversed the entire museum in the span of four hours, and was just starting to get hungry and thirsty from all the walking. I actually contemplated staying around in order to document the ongoing dairy events – cow-milking, the butter/beer demonstrations and the like – but in order to do that I would have to stay at the Museum until 4.30 pm at least, which was something I did not have the luxury of doing. I did however, spend another half an hour simply walking around the area, taking pictures and occasionally listening in to some of the activities going on, which proved to be an enlightening experience as well.

I boarded the #3 back to the University of Ottawa at around 1.30pm, and found myself heating up lunch in residence about an hour later. On a whole, I would say that the Canada Agriculture Museum earns a well-deserved tip of the hat: what really impressed me – and I’m judging independently from my personal experience here – was that the Museum successfully managed to cater to families and their children by making sure that there was something for everyone. As far as I saw it, it was an amazing outing for the children who were on-site, and for their parents as well.

This statement would therefore illustrate that the Agriculture Museum – much like its sister, the Canada Science and Technology Museum – is aimed at children and their budding families, which puts it slightly out of the range of young adults such as myself and most of the readers of this space. However, I would still highly recommend a visit – especially for those of you from Malaysia – because there is still a considerable amount to learn about “Western” agriculture and the dairy process in Canada, both of which I found very enthralling. This surprised me a bit – I won’t lie here – because I was never one with much patience for crops and animals, but the Museum actually made me see beyond my personal bias and allow me to come to terms with the place that most of my food comes from.

Strange words coming from a 20 year old, I know, but I really enjoyed my visit, so there you go =)

There are some opinion pieces I have on the Museum though, which would probably have increased its efficacy even further in my eyes: for one, I felt that the Tractors exhibition was somewhat under-exploited and fell somewhat short of the mark which I had expected it to achieve. In my humble opinion, the scale of the exhibition itself is the problem – there was just a tad too little going on. In extension, it was also hard to catch the words of the speaker’s voice-overs because of the simulated tractors insistently trundling on in the background. I also felt that the magnitude of the presence of “farm animals” left somewhat to be desired; but as I understand from Sophie, this was unavoidable due to ongoing renovations at the Museum – so this isn’t really an opinion piece; more of my ruing a missed opportunity to get acquainted with the cuter critters of the countryside.

So that brings me to the end of my spiel for today – again, I tip my hat off to the Canada Agriculture Museum for a job well done! At this point, I also daresay that I might return in the future, as I am convinced that there is much, much, more than the museum has to offer – so cheers for that!

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The Canada Agriculture Museum can be found by the Prince of Wales Drive in Ottawa, just by the Ornamental Gardens and the Arboretum near Dow’s Lake, which is in turn adjacent to Carleton University. The Museum can also be reached by public transport – take the #3 Nepean Centre OC Transpo bus service and disembark at the Prince of Wales stop. The Canada Agriculture Museum is open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm daily until November 1st.

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The author would also like to take this opportunity to convey his appreciation and sincere thanks to the Manager of Programs and Visitor Services at the Canada Agriculture Museum, Marie-Sophie Desaulniers. Without her assistance, this blogpost will not be the cohesive and informative entry that it currently Congratulations on a job well done, and also on having a museum one can truly be proud of!!