Souter Farm

The photo shows Carr Souter planting potatoes, 1935-39.  The farm is 160 acres at Lot 14, Concession A, Widdifield Township.

The farm was originally obtained in 1912, and for the first few years was used mainly as a source for firewood (for the family’s brickyard), and a place to raise racehorses (for the racecourse located at the present-day Scollard Hall Secondary School site). 

Due to a downturn in their contracting business in North Bay, G.S. Souter moved the family to the farm, which was mostly bush at the time. Through trial and error and a lot of hard work, the family scraped a living.  When the soil was tested in 1935 it was recommended that they specialize in growing potatoes, and by 1939 Carr Souter was making headlines for producing 5000 bags of potatoes through the use of “scientific farming.”  

Similar to all area farms, the Souter family had milk cows, some cattle and horses and grew their own vegetables as well as their well-known potatoes. The farm continues today with many of the same crops, with the addition of Christmas trees.

Memories of… Harvesting Potatoes
“It is imperative, when harvesting potatoes, that all of the stalks and weeds be removed before the spuds are dumped into the roothouse for the winter.  Any green foliage left will rot and generate heat which in turn will rot the spuds.

One fall, in the late 1950’s, Dad had to hire an inexperienced chap to help with the harvest.  (When harvest time comes along in September, you had to get the potatoes out of the ground before the frost.)  The man was told repeatedly to be sure to clear all off the stalks and weeds.  Well that didn’t happen.  As a result we lost 20% of the crop to rot, which really affected the bottom line.”

— Ken Soutar