{"id":1846,"date":"2022-01-21T10:24:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/geolab\/?p=1846"},"modified":"2022-03-09T14:51:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T18:51:01","slug":"energy-on-the-edmund-and-eduoard-houle-farm-and-the-nicolet-csd-nicolet-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/geolab\/2022\/01\/21\/energy-on-the-edmund-and-eduoard-houle-farm-and-the-nicolet-csd-nicolet-quebec\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy on the Edmund and Eduoard Houle Farm and the Nicolet CSD, Nicolet, Quebec"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Figure 1a. Holstein Herd of M. Houle (Georges-Edouard Houle) in Nicolet, 1942. Photo used with permission. Biblioth\u00e8que de Archives nationales du Qu\u00e9bec, photograph 07402.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Houle farm in Quebec\u2019s Nicolet region is an example of a small but Emerging Dairy Farm with Intensive Cash Crops (tobacco and wheat). Like many farms in this series, Ferm Houle was a multi-generational operation. In 1871, Edmund Houle (b. 1847\/ d. 1931) was head of the farm.[1]<\/sup><\/a> The 23-year-old was married to Marie (ne\u00e9 Roy), one year his senior, and the recently married couple had no children. Edmund\u2019s father Edouard (b. 1813\/ d. 1878), a widower, lived next door with his 21-year-old daughter Luce. Both Edmund and his father Edouard were listed as cultivators when the 1871 Census of Canada<\/em> was taken, but, whereas Edmund reported having 50.6 hectares (ha) of land, plus livestock, crops, and firewood, Edmund\u2019s father reported no lands or produce.[2]<\/sup><\/a> It must be that Edouard and Luce benefitted from the family farm\u2019s productions of which Edmund had recently become head. We assume that Edouard was actively farming the 50.6 hectare parcel alongside Edmund and that both Marie and Luce worked on the farm, as well. For the purpose of this energy profile, we have combined the two households. This means the size of the farm, livestock, crops, and firewood on hand does not change but that the labour supply doubles and the energy outputs would have been shared between two households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edmund was at least the third generation of the Houle family to farm this parcel of land in the Grand-Saint-Esprit part of the Nicolet seigneury. His grandfather Gabriel Houle had farmed 27.5 ha in the 1830s. By 1871, the farm had grown to 50.6 ha. Edmund continued to develop the farm so that by 1900 there were approximately 65 ha, and new agricultural buildings were in place, including a two-story barn and stable.[3]<\/sup><\/a> The Houle farm impressed the judges of Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s 1907 Concours Provincial de M\u00e9rite Agricole (Agricultural Merit Contest), earning Edmund and Marie\u2019s son Georges-Edouard (b. 1886\/ d. 1937) a bronze medal and recognition for his farm.[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1b. Georges-Edouard Houle (c. 1932). Image clipped from Concours de Merite Agricole<\/em> 1932.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Five years later, in 1912, Georges-Edouard Houle won silver in the same competition. In 1927, he won gold, and his farm\u2019s size had increased to 85.5 ha. He won gold again in 1932.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1c. Clip of cadastral map of County of Nicolet, 1930. Nicolet, Plan du comt\u00e9 de Nicolet d’apr\u00e8s le Cadastre. Carte de comt\u00e9 de Quebec \u00e0 l’ \u00e9chelle. 1:63 360. \u200b\u200bBiblioth\u00e8que de Archives nationales du Quebec, 1930, https:\/\/numerique.banq.qc.ca\/patrimoine\/details\/52327\/2244837<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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