Dr Thomas Bassett Macaulay - The Macaulay Land Use Research ...

Family gathering at log house,
Mount Victoria Farm, 1905
Main barn at Mount Victoria
Farm
Photo of ‘Lord Aberdeen’,
the Clydesdale stallion of
Mount Victoria Farm, 1917
Farming
Although T.B. Macaulay was an astute and widely respected businessman, his
true passion lay in his hobby: farming. Dr Macaulay was particularly interested in
solving many of the agricultural problems that had plagued Canadian farmers, and
established Mount Victoria Farm in Hudson Heights, near Montreal. The site was
originally planned as a weekend and summer residence, for the Macaulay family,
free from the bustle of Montreal.
It soon evolved, however, into a
large, extremely innovative and
successful experimental station,
where work was conducted for the
development of strains of maize
and soya beans better suited for
Canada’s shorter seasons. Later
the research station would become
renowned for the improvement and
increase of high-producing Holstein
cattle. The farm was the pride, joy
and, indeed, the life of Macaulay.
Although it was the Holstein herd
of cattle that made Mount Victoria
Farm famous, T.B. Macaulay also
had a strong love of horses. The
farm was home to a fine herd of
pure bred Shetland ponies, one
of which was proclaimed Grand
Champion of North America.
Just after World War I Mount
Victoria Farm was home to two
very famous equine residents;
the first was a grand Clydesdale
stallion named ‘Lord Aberdeen’
and the second a Hackney stallion
named ‘Wildfire’. The selection
of Shetland ponies and the name
‘Lord Aberdeen’ gives strength to
the assertion that Macaulay had
a special link with his Scottish
heritage.
Two hangings that advertised
the Mount Victoria Farms and
its most famous occupant,
Joanna Rag Apple Pabst
All American Bull:
Improving the
Holstein Breed
Recent estimates are that 95% of all Holsteins trace their
origins back to Macaulay’s original herd.
T.B. Macaulay, together with
Joe Chandler, Mount Victoria’s
Farm Manager, bought Johanna
Rag Apple Pabst from a dealer
in Wisconsin for $15,000, a
price which would set a new
high for the purchase of a bull
post World War 1. Johanna Rag
Apple Pabst, or ‘Old Joe’ as he
was otherwise known, sired 51
daughters who made 96 records
that averaged 15,234 pounds
of milk and 613.5 pounds of
fat. Macaulay was convinced
that through selective genetics
he could develop a strain of
4% Holsteins from the right
foundation.
To establish the blood line,
Macaulay bought a cow
named ‘Oakhurst Colantha
Abbekerk’ for $900 in 1924,
and after successful breeding,
it was estimated that every
All American Aged cow, save
two, carried strong Johanna
Rag Apple Pabst bloodlines.
This was an amazing
accomplishment for Macaulay.
In fact the most dominant
building at Mount Victoria
was not the lodgings of T.B.
Macaulay, but instead the barn
that housed the prized herd of
Holsteins.
T.B.Macaulay’s most famous
Holstein, the legendary
Johanna Rag Apple Pabst.
Dispersal sale of herd after
T.B. Macaulay’s death, 1942
T.B. Macaulay’s grandson
Doug Macaulay at dedication
ceremony, 1995