The Archives of Ontario Celebrates Our Agricultural Past: A Collection of Agricultural Images

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A Collection of Agricultural Images | Sources and Resources

There are photographs depicting agriculture in many different records groups in the Archives' holdings. This page focuses on three different collections. The first two include photographs taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s and illustrate early agricultural practices. The third collection includes photographs taken by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture in the 1970s and 1980s. Photography of the Bartle Brothers Photography of Reuben Sallows Photography of the Ministry of Agriculture	Click to see a larger image (78K) Getting hay for the sheep, [190-] William Hampden Tenner Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 311-1-0-10-15 Archives of Ontario, I0002349

The Bartle Brothers, Simon Peter Bartle (1875-1956) and Herman Arthur Bartle (1877-1958) were professional travelling photographers in Glengarry and Stormont Counties during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were the sons of Dr. Charles Bartle, a physician, and his wife, Charlotte (Shaver), of Dixon, Osnabruck, Stormont County. Simon attended public school in Morrisburg, where he obtained an art teaching certificate and likely also studied photography. After completing his formal education he returned to Dixon and embarked upon a career as a photographer. In this enterprise, Simon was assisted by his younger brother, Herman. The Bartle Brothers travelled throughout Glengarry and Stormont Counties, photographing area residents and a variety of local subjects. Their careers as travelling photographers ended ca. 1914 when the Bartles purchased an Osnabruck Township property together and went into mixed farming.
Click to see a larger image (82K) Farming scene (removing rocks from ground?), Eastern Ontario, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1731 Archives of Ontario, I0002528	Click to see a larger image (90K) Farmers filling a silo, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1730 Archives of Ontario, I0002527

Click to see a larger image (249K) Raising a barn, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1740 Archive of Ontario, I0002529

Click to see a larger image (63K) Preparing cheese for transport, cheese factory, Eastern Ontario, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1622 Archives of Ontario, I0002508	Click to see a larger image (68K) Inside the cheese factory, Eastern Ontario, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1617 Archives of Ontario, I0002507

Click to see a larger image (79K) Machinery and farm equipment shop, Eastern Ontario, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1610 Archives of Ontario, I0002504	Click to see a larger image (99K) Frost and Wood, farm hardware store, Eastern Ontario, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1611 Archives of Ontario, I0002505

Click to see a larger image (329K) Farmers moving hay into a barn, [between 1895 and 1910] Bartle Brothers Glass plate negative Reference Code: C 2-10232-1729 Archives of Ontario, I0002526


Reuben R. Sallows was a commercial photographer specializing in agrarian and pastoral scenes. He was born and raised on a Huron County farm. He moved to Goderich in 1876 and within a few years owned his own photography business.
Sallows developed a reputation as a craftsman in formal portraiture, pastoral photography, and stereoscopic images. Besides working for the Canadian Pacific Railroad, Grand Trunk Railway, and Department of Agriculture, Sallows specialized in "domestic scenes, pictures of rural life, views of nature in her wildest and loveliest moods, hunting, fishing, boating, camping and outdoor pastimes" (Busy Man's Magazine, May 1909). For more information about the Archives of Ontario's Reuben R. Sallows collection click here. Click to see a larger image (161K) Loading hay into barn, 1919 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-4-0-0-16 Archives of Ontario, I0002296

Click to see a larger image (60K) Haying, 1917 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-4-0-0-2 Archives of Ontario, I0002282	Click to see a larger image (49K) Sowing spring wheat, 1919 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-3-0-0-14 Archives of Ontario, I0002275

Click to see a larger image (89K) Farm boys taking a ride on a cart, 1907 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-2-0-0-1 Archives of Ontario, I0002251	Click to see a larger image (185K) Sheep grazing, 1919 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-2-0-0-8 Archives of Ontario, I0002258

Click to see a larger image (186K) Man picking apples in an orchard, 1919 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Ministry of Agriculture and Food Reference Code: RG 16-276-10, 352 Archives of Ontario, I0016110	Click to see a larger image (151K) William Elsley in field with harvest, [ca. 1910] Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Ministry of Agriculture and Food Reference Code: RG 16-276-10, 2374 Archives of Ontario, I0016113

Click to see a larger image (300K) Woman feeding a calf, 1910 Reuben R. Sallows Black and white print Reference Code: C 223-2-0-0-5 Archives of Ontario, I0002255

The photographs of the Communications Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and its predecessors document many aspects of agriculture in Ontario. Subjects include field crops and soil, horticulture, animal science, agricultural pests and diseases, agricultural engineering and economics, and the family farm and rural way of life.
Click to see a larger image (149K) Woman bottle feeding a newly born calf, Kitchener, March 22, 1983 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 83-B167 Archives of Ontario, I0003188	Click to see a larger image (116K) Cows grazing on a farm, June 22, 1977 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour negative Reference Code: RG 16-276-2 77-B208 Archives of Ontario, I0004462

Click to see a larger image (115K) Agricultural labourers transplanting celery to a field, May 25, 1984 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour negative Reference Code: RG 16-276-2 84-B453 Archives of Ontario, I0004460	Click to see a larger image (144K) Man tending to bees in a hive, University of Guelph, June 6, 1988 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1, 86-B906 Archives of Ontario, I0003221

Click to see a larger image (124K) Loading baled trees on a truck on a Christmas Tree Farm, October 15, 1973 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 73-B528 Archives of Ontario, I0004481	Click to see a larger image (122K) Woman picking grapes, 1988 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 88-B1114 Archives of Ontario, I0003177

Click to see a larger image (180K) Flower greenhouse, October 20, 1977 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 77-B674 Archives of Ontario, I0004478	Click to see a larger image (147K) Mechanically harvesting tomatoes, Leamington, September 10, 1986 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 86-B1915 Archives of Ontario, I0003180

Click to see a larger image (153K) Women sorting and grading fresh peaches for sale at market, August 19, 1986 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 86-B1112 Archives of Ontario, I0003176	Click to see a larger image (129K) Farm produce, Kensington Market, Toronto, July 19, 1986 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 86-B819 Archives of Ontario, I0003235

Click to see a larger image (363K) Farmer harvesting hay, 1985 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Colour print Reference Code: RG 16-276-1 85-B1087 Archives of Ontario, I0003166
Click to see a larger image (194K) Two women and two men stand beside a horse-drawn harrow, [between 1900 and 1920] Photographer unknown Black and white print Nell Maciborka fonds Reference Code: C 163 Archives of Ontario, I0014235

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