® Ontario ontario institute of pedology - Agriculture and Agri-Food ...

Historical DevelopmentMr . C.C. Farr, a former factor of the Hudson Bay Company, settled on the shore of LakeTimiskaming in about 1888, becoming an independent fur trader and farmer . Some six years later,he had been joined by several other families and had named the hamlet Haileybury. He discoveredthat the soil was very fertile over a large area, and urged the government to extend the railroadfrom North Bay and open up the country to settlement .The government signed a contract in 1902 for the building of the Timiskaming and NorthernOntario Railway. The Cobalt silver strike a year later likely hastened the completion of the railroadand the settlement of the agricultural land of this district .The town of Haileybury was virtually destroyed by a forest fire in 1922, with over 600 of 800homes burned. Its first citizen was a casualty of this fire. The town was later rebuilt with the helpof government grants .Agricultural Land Use StatisticsThere are a total of 571 farms (4) in the Timiskaming District, with most of themconcentrated in the Englehart-New Liskeard agricultural area .The total land area of the District is 203,675 acres (82,427 hectares) of which 127,226 acres(51,488 hectares) were reported as improved land in 1988 (4) .Table 2 . Area and average yields of crops grown in the Timiskaming District in 1988 (4)Crop Acres Hectares Average YieldsOats 6,400 , 2,590 59 bu/acBarley 16,400 6,637 55 bu/acMixed Grain 8,500 3,440 55 bu/acHay 61,000 24,687 3 .3 ton/acTotals 92,3ü0 37,354The crops grown in the region are used to support a livestock industry which includes bothdairy and beef farming enterprises. The yields are highest in northern Ontario, and comparefavourably to those reported for many counties in southern Ontario.