CPR Demonstration and Supply Farm Virtual Reward Virtual Cache
CPR Demonstration and Supply Farm Virtual Reward
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The CPR demonstration and supply farm: 1908-1944. When programs were launched by the Canadian government at the turn of the 20th century to bring in settlers from Europe and the United States, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) used the opportunity to sell land it had received through its construction agreements. Among its holdings were large sections of arid lands which it promoted through the Western and Eastern Irrigation Districts.
To facilitate this, a Demonstration Farm was established at Strathmore by the CPR in 1908. It was the first in a larger program that by 1915 would involve demonstration and experimental farms in Alberta at Brooks, Lathom, Bassano, Tilley, and Cassils. There were also mixed farms set up by the CPR, with three in Manitoba, four in Saskatchewan, and six in Alberta. To accommodate these agricultural projects, the CPR formed the Department of Natural Resources in 1912 with its head office situated in Calgary.
The maintenance of Demonstration Farms was in line with the CPR's general policy of endeavouring to foster a prosperous agricultural community. The Company believed it saw a difference between land selling and colonizing, and therefore to succeed at the latter, a "somewhat" paternal administration was required to accelerate the results it strove to achieve, namely, "the greatest possible measure of development in the shortest time." (1) The railway's land policy indicated that "when a parcel of land had been sold, the company's interest in the transaction would not cease with the sale. In fact, it only commenced. The railway company was vastly interested in the success of every individual purchaser, who at once became a valued patron of the road."
The purpose of the Farm at Strathmore was to attract people in order to sell them irrigable land. The Company realized that the bulk of the settlers taking up residences in the Irrigation Block would have little knowledge of the proper methods of irrigation farming so it staffed Demonstration Farm with experts who would advise and assist them.
Strathmore was a logical choice for the Farm because of the town's location on the main line of the CPR. It is about thirty miles east of Calgary and near the centre of the Western Irrigation District. There the Demonstration Farm could show prospective farmers what could be done on irrigated land.
In 1905, with the development of the irrigation system, the original hamlet of Strathmore was moved four miles north and centered around the 5,600 foot siding there. This move to its present location is what gave the town its legacy "the town that moved".
The only Building left of the Farm is the Supply Barn it has been restored on the inside and it is used for Private Functions and Banquets. The access road to the barn is locked but is visible from the service road.
To log this cache as a find message me with "How many windows are visible on the east side of the Barn not including the one in the front" and "A picture of the locks on the gate."
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