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I TOOL TIME -- These are the tools that lie in thé same place as they were left by Garland Cathcart. His repair shop was cut into pieces and re-assembled at the museum. However, photographs were taken to ensure the tools were returned to the same spots from which they were taken. ' COMMUNITY CALENDAR • LIFESTYLES • SPORTS • COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENCE • TV LISTINGS Wednesday, April 8, 1998 :\t a j- / 6 HAND-GRAFTED -- This is a shovel that was hand-made by William Tennant. It has a thin covering of metal along the blade and was given to the museum in 1997 by the owner's grandson. grandson. FIX-IT SHOP -- This repair shop was moved from the Cathcart property and set up several years later at the Clarke .Museum and Archives. Viewing can be done through a large window on the west side of the shop or from the door, when opened, IF THE SHOE FITS -- Orthopedic horse shoes? If you're a non-farmer, you probably wouldn't have thought they existed, but they do. This set of nickel shoes was made by brothers Andrew and James Morrow in the early 1890s. They were custom-made for horses with leg and foot problems. WIIAT IS IT? -- This device is actually a turnip-planter. Museum Curator Mark Jackman indicates where the seed is placed. Underneath is the hollow hollow blade which puts the seeds in the ground. Clarke Museum's Farm Collection: An Insightful Reminder of Our Past by Laura J. Richards Staff Writer The red, paddle-like object stands next.to a couple of adzes. But, upon inspection, you realize it is not a paddle. paddle. It is, in fact, a home-made shovel. The shovel is completely made of wood, except for the covering over the blade. "There is a thin covering of metal that has been hammered hammered on," pointed out Mark Jackman, Curator of the Clarke Museum and Archives. The round-edge shovel was given to the museum in 1997 by Lionel Tennant. It was his grandfather, William Tennant, who had made the implement that weighs in at about five pounds. It is one of many farm implements and pieces of farm machinery on display at the museum inside and out. Out on the lawn of the museum is a repair shop that came from the Cathcart Estate on the 6th Concession, east of the 115/35 highway. Jackman says Garland Cathcart probably built it in 1916 because "that is the date carved in the door." • The tiny shop was built by a short man for his own use. Stepping through the door -- where most people must duck to ensure they don't strike their head -- one sees a veritable feast of old farm implements. "We photo-documented all of the tools and catalogued catalogued them," Jackman said. "We then cut the building into five big pieces and brought it down in a pick-up truck. IN LIVING COLOUR -- The Massey Harris farm equipment manufacturing manufacturing company started in Haldimand Township and then came to Newcastle Village. This swing-arm reaper was a brightly-painted showpiece showpiece that never went into the fields. "Then we raised money to reconstruct it. The reconstruction reconstruction was done by Mark Stapleton. Everything went back in as it was," he recalled. The only things that are actually different from when the shop was on the farm are that there is a concrete slab floor and the chimney flue does not go through the roof. Jackman explained that is because, "the rain would just pour down the flue." It is also required for insurance purposes. Jackman said the fuel used by Cathcart was charcoal and did not throw out the type of heat that coal would produce. Because of that, Cathcart did not need a brick flue and he used a wooden one. The charcoal would have been made by Cathcart on his own farm, using wood from the surrounding area. The shop was used to do repairs to farm equipment, including patches and welding. "This is a really unique piece. I don't know of any other museum that has such a piece," Jackman said. Another interesting artifact in the collection is the turnip planter. Jackman noted the planter the museum owns is for two rows, but some could be expanded to 20 rows. . What happens is that as the planter is dragged along by horses or oxen, a device "pulls the dirt up into a mound and then the hollow blade fixes the seeds which are dropped down from the seed carrier. Then, the round wheel at the back pats down the soil." The swing-arm reaper from the Massey Harris Company Ltd., was never used. It is, in fact, a "showroom piece with its original (red and turquoise) paint." It is hoped that when the item is finally put on display that it will be motorized so people can turn it on to watch how the swing arm flails about. Another show item is the nickel horseshoe collection. made by brothers Andrew and James Morrow. The sparkling shoes show off the skills the blacksmiths had. In addition, the collection is full of custom-built shoes that could have been used by horses with "orthopedic"-type problems. The shoes won the brothers prizes at fairs-across'Ontario and T at the 1893. Chicago World Fair they picked up the first prize. From the chicken incubators to the Linton plow made in Oroiio, the museum grounds and the new storage/program -facility at Kirby provide an insightful look into this area's agricultural past.