Epp sisters Anna Klaassen (1904-1976) and Maria Nickel (1903-1957) work together on the family farm in Saskatchewan stooking sheaves of grain. Stooking required workers to gather the cut grain into sheaves and then to stand the sheaves upright to help dry the grain before it is threshed. It was back-breaking work. The worldwide crisis known as the Second World War forced many sectors to do more with less. Necessity led to innovations in many areas, including agriculture. New machinery became more widely used, as farm labourers were harder to find. To produce 100 bushels of wheat in 1900 took 100 hours of labour, but by 1958 that was chopped down to 26. What innovations will our current crisis promote?
For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.
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(Photo from Mennonite Heritage Archives)
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