Vermilion Asks For A Demonstration Farm

In April 1911, the weather was good in the Vermilion area and seeding had already begun with many expecting it to be one of the best harvest years in the past decade.

Many felt at the time that Vermilion deserved to get some recognition from the provincial government for the great crops grown in the area.

The recognition many wanted was a demonstration farm.

The Vermilion Board of Trade put forward the possibility of having such a farm by sending a delegate to Edmonton to speak with the provincial government. At the time, many were hopeful that such a farm would be established. As it turned out, with the Vermilion Agricultural College, the community ended up getting far more than it asked for.

That wasn’t all that was going on in the community at the time.

Hans Harrison, a new arrival from Nebraska, purchased three-quarter sections of land south of Vermilion. The purchase cost him $600, which would be about $18,000 today.

W.J. Pheeps also bought a large plot of land in the area. He had purchased the land the previous year but by April 1911, he had arrived from Montreal to begin his farming life.

With the community’s population increasing with each passing month, many residents wanted more proper trails and roads to make travel easier in the area.

A petition, signed by many residents, was sent to the government asking that the trail system in the Vermilion area be improved. There was also the concern that better roads were needed due to the increasing number of vehicles on the road. At the time, there were a few dozen cars owned by locals, including six bought in the previous month alone.

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