Big Farmers of days gone by
By Joan Janzen
Back in 1911, the Big Four Farm (officially called Eagle Lake Farms) at Flaxcombe was one of two Canadian land holdings owned by the Hon. Edward G. Strutt and his son, John J. Strutt. The history book ‘Little Town in the Valley’, records the history of Flaxcombe and surrounding area, providing information about the land owners.
The land purchased had been primarily railroad land, owned by land promoters and land speculators. Local people considered Hon. Edward G. Strutt to be a wealthy English aristocrat. Because he was the son of a Lord, he used the prefix ‘the Honorable’ with his name.
Photo: Men from the Big Four Farm at Flaxcombe are pictured eating in a tent at one of the camps. The sign on the wall said “Eat and Get Out”.
He did manage to visit his farm in Flaxcombe on several occasions, but didn’t appreciate the mosquitoes and the rustic conditions. A story was told that he arrived at Flaxcombe by train and stayed at the Silver Hotel. Before retiring for the night he placed his shoes outside the door of his room. The next morning he confronted the manager, demanding to know why the porter had not shined his shoes.
However he was recognized as the most knowledgeable agricultural economist in England, and the success of the Big Four Farm was credited to his insistence on keeping precise records of each operation. Different crops and methods were used, with unsuccessful ones rejected and successful ones retained.
The operators brought in seven large gasoline tractors to the farm, which was comprised of 10,000 acres. The farm also had four large steam engines and separators, eight 15-30 McCormick-Deerings and three 10-20’s. They were know to pull five 22-run drills at seeding time, seven binders during harvest and six grain tanks. They also had 75 horses and 75 mules, and at one time owned two to three thousand sheep.
The farm was divided into four camps, which is why all the locals called it the Big Four Farm. Each camp had a large house as well as bunk houses for the men, large barns and out buildings. Employed at each camp was a foreman and a crew of at least twelve men, and up to fifty men during harvest. The farm had 300 steel granaries which were all full in 1915. It was one of the few successful farms at the time as it was capably managed and adequately financed.
Edward’s second son, John supervised the farm in Flaxcombe. Along with his wife and two small children, John moved to Camp 3 in 1918, planning to build a house. The excavation was made for the basement, but this was all the work that was ever to be done on it. The depression of the excavation can still be seen on the northwest corner of 24-30-26.
The family decided to return to England, and Mrs. Strutt passed away in 1919 during a flu epidemic. It was a devastating blow to John, nevertheless he managed to return for a brief visit to Flaxcombe each year at harvest time.
In 1927, his father Edward returned to inspect his farm interests in Flaxcombe. Because things were turning out less than satisfactory, he made arrangements to sell the farm. It was sold in 1929 to the Western Trust Co. for $250,000. The implements and stock were sold separately by auction at one of the largest auction sales ever held in Saskatchewan. Many buyers came from the United States.
In subsequent years the Western Trust Co. sold the land to individual farmers who had difficulty paying for it as they were just entering the ‘dirty thirties’.