{"id":1723,"date":"2021-12-09T12:14:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T16:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/geolab\/?p=1723"},"modified":"2022-03-09T13:18:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T17:18:40","slug":"energy-on-the-thomas-maltais-farm-and-jonquiere-chicoutimi-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/geolab\/2021\/12\/09\/energy-on-the-thomas-maltais-farm-and-jonquiere-chicoutimi-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy on the Thomas Maltais Farm and Jonqui\u00e8re, Chicoutimi, Qu\u00e9bec"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Figure 1a The farm of Jean Maltais (circa 1906). Jean was the eldest son of Thomas Maltais whose 1871 Census of Canada farm energy profile we highlight in this piece. Jean and his younger brother Louis inherited their father and mother\u2019s farm in Jonqui\u00e8re, Chicoutimi, Qu\u00e9bec. The two brothers, Monsieurs Jean and Louis Maltais, won the gold medal in Quebec\u2019s 1899 Concours Provincial de M\u00e9rite Agricole–the 1899 Agricultural Merit Contest. <\/em>Photo used with permission. McCord Museum View-4076.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Maltais Farm in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s Chicoutimi Region is an example of a Livestock-Focussed Farm with Grain Surplus. Thomas Maltais (b.1833\/ d.1890) reported owning 300 arpents, or 102.6 ha, within the Jonqui\u00e8re census subdivision (CSD) in 1871.[1]<\/sup><\/a> He also owned an additional 140 arpents (47.9 ha) outside the Jonqui\u00e8re CSD. He had two houses, eight barns, stables, or outbuildings, three sleighs or summer carriages, five wagons, five plows, one threshing machine, and one crib.[2]<\/sup><\/a> Thomas and his wife Hermine (b. 1835\/d. 1917) had five children in 1871: three daughters, Georgiana, Marguerite, and Philomene, who were 16, 15, and 13 years old respectively, and two sons, Jean, 11, and Louis, ten. They also had a young man, Jean Brapard, age 20, living on the farm. Given the genders and ages of the Maltais children, Jean Brapard was probably working as a farmhand to help Thomas get some of the heavier farm work done. The two brothers, Jean and Louis, farmed the land together after their father\u2019s death in 1890, and they won the gold medal in Quebec\u2019s 1899 Concours Provincial de M\u00e9rite Agricole–the 1899 Agricultural Merit Contest. In 1881, Georgiana was still living on the farm, along with her brothers Jean and Louis, Jean\u2019s wife Philomene, and the couple\u2019s child Thomas who was two months old.[3]<\/sup><\/a> The year 1891 found the family diminished due to father Thomas\u2019s death in 1890.[4]<\/sup><\/a> However, the third generation was quickly expanding with seven grandchildren between the two young families.[5]<\/sup><\/a> By then, Jean, Louis, and their families were listed as separate households situated next to each other, and their mother, Hermine, aged 57, was living with Louis and his family. Ten years later, in 1901, Jean and Louis, still listed as separate households situated next to each other, were farming 94 ha together. Each had his own house and outbuildings. Jean\u2019s house had eight rooms, and he had four barns, stables, or other outbuildings. Louis\u2019s holdings were smaller. He had a five-room house and two barns, stables, or other outbuildings.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1b Thomas Maltais (b. 1833\/d. 1890). Photo from Ancestry Family Trees, Ancestry.ca<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The judges of the 1899 Concours Provincial de M\u00e9rite Agricole awarded Jean and Louis 92.0 points (out of a possible 100), winning them the gold medal. The next highest score was 91.90. The judges noted that, in general, the cultivation methods of the Maltais brothers did not exceed other farmers. They worked their fields on a five-year rotation. In the first year, a field was sown with cereal along with clover and millet. Years two and three saw the same field in hay, and in years four and five the field was used as pasture. What made the Maltais farm stand out was its orderliness, cleanliness, and the thoughtful consideration given to farm management. In particular, the judges noted the care the Maltais brothers put into preserving the legacy left to them by their parents, Thomas and Hermine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1c. Lots 19 and 20 of Range V in the Jonquiere CSD comprised Thomas Maltais\u2019s farm. Both lots were on the River Sable which is a tributary of the Saguenay River. George N. Tackabury. Tackbury\u2019s Atlas of the Dominion of Canada<\/em>. Montreal: George N. Tackabury, 1876, https:\/\/numerique.banq.qc.ca\/patrimoine\/details\/52327\/2826692?docref=SXd-5oWHz97GK5EOMzWjmA<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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