News from our rich agriculture history

William Blackwood was a skilled machinist and agriculturalist, who served as a visionary instructor of agricultural engineering at the Ontario Agricultural College for most of his career. He taught at a time when most farmers were still using horse-drawn machines and rural Ontario was plagued with inefficiencies, making his innovative work and visionary mind all the more important. Blackwood ushered in a transitional era of scientific ingenuity and expansion, during which time steam and gasoline powered tractors first began to develop into viable farming equipment.

William

Isidore Charles “Toby” Nollet was one of Saskatchewan’s premier agriculturalists during the post-World War II era. He was born on November 18, 1898, in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota. He spent the early part of his life in America, attending St. Benedict’s Academy and St. Thomas Military College in Minnesota before joining the American Expeditionary Force during the First World War as a non-commissioned officer. Upon his return from overseas service, he moved to Western Canada with his father, first settling in Kelowna British Columbia before ultimately settling in