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The series consists of films created or acquired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and its predecessor agencies, between 1928 and ca. 1981.

The agencies responsible for creating the films are:
Ministry of Agriculture and Food, 1980-1981
Ministry of Agriculture, 1976-1980
Dept. of Agriculture, 1928-1976

The item is a reel of b&w documentary film from 1929. "Opening ceremony of the Seventeenth Parliament of British Columbia. Shot of War Memorial and Empress Hotel from west wing. Highlanders march past, band, soldiers in front of buildings. Dignitaries arriving. Lieutenant-Governor [R.R. Bruce] inspects Guard of Honour. Group of Cabinet Ministers in top hats. The Premier, Dr. S. F. Tolmie. Minister of Agriculture, Hon. William Atkinson. Children celebrate 24th of May at Parliament Buildings. Parliament Buildings greenhouse. Head gardener checking plants in greenhouse. Plants in cold frames. Bedding summer plants. Grooming beds. Sprinklers on lawns. Mowing back lawns of Parliament Buildings. Correct way of packing tulips for market demonstrated." (Colin Browne)

The item is a b&w answer print of a documentary film from 1929. "'A bird's-eye view of our Okanagan fruit section.' Long Lake, on way to Kelowna from Vernon by train. Storefront window (Kelowna?) of Department of Agriculture, Horticultural Branch, office. A shipping point on Okanagan Lake -- wharves, buildings, ferry dock. Vineyards, irrigation systems. Orchard without irrigation, and with flume and furrow irrigating. Alfalfa growing in orchard to help crop. Horse-drawn spraying of fruit trees. Tank-truck with arsenate of lead and sprayers. Codling moth traps pulled up into trees, buckets of poison. Banding trees against codling moths. Thinning pears and plums. Wire screen protectors around base of tree to deter mice. Greenhouses. Family life -- kids, mother, car and dog in the Okanagan." (Colin Browne)

The item is a b&w documentary film from ca. 1928. "The Poultry Inspector from the British Columbia Department of Agriculture visits Rose Comb Red Farm and inspects their hens, chicks, cows, pigs and bees. He also visits a Boy's and Girl's Poultry Club in Grindrod, where the school principal has been instrumental in establishing such clubs. Later he visits another mixed farm and looks over 600 Barred Rock chicks. He marks and culls the 'slow featherers' and Looks over the pigs and cows. There is also a [long shot] of the 40-acre orchard." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of b&w documentary film. "Long wordy introduction and explanation of how sheep are bred and how breeds come into being. A flock of pure-bred Shropshire sheep on the run in a field. Flock with lambs. Men holding two rams back, side, and front to explain breed characteristics. Doing the same with two unshorn ewes and two Iambs. The "Kerry Hill" (Wales) sheep -- The Speckled-Faced Rent Payer! Map of England showing where Kerry Hills come from. Origin of Kerry Hill sheep explained. 'Charles Eccleston of Vancouver Island is an old Shropshire sheep-man. With the assistance of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and the Empire Marketing Board he imported the first Kerry Hills to America."' Views of Kerry Hill sheep while explaining salient features." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of b&w documentary film. "Mr. J.B. Munro, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, beside some beehives. Mr. Helmer, manager of Nicola Lake Ranching Co., shaking hands with visitor at a gate. Herd of purebred shorthorn bulls, cowboys working bulls. Steers in a field ready for shipping. Men look at Shorthorn bulls imported from England and a British Columbia bull. Clydesdale stallion. Pigs walking through a stream. Nicola Lake. At Guichon Ranch, a cowboy in chaps plays at being a wild west gunman and fires his pistol off until arrested by a man with a car. Cars leaving Guichon Ranch bound for Douglas Lake. Chuckwagon hauled past camera by four horses. Pan Douglas Lake, quarter horses feeding on the range. Pan across Douglas Lake Ranch buildings from a hill. Meeting of the British Columbia Shorthorn Breeders' Association at Douglas Lake Ranch, posing. Mr. Ward, manager, and Alex Davie of Ladner parading past camera. Members proceed to lunch. Three cars drive through a swollen creek -- 'A cure for squeaky wheels.' Members look over stock, including a Shorthorn bull imported from England. Group of members including Mr. and Mrs. Ward. Herd of purebred Shorthorn corns with calves. Shot of a roundup -- a cowboy and a calf. Stray cattle. Chapperton Lake and surrounding country -- pan. The film ends with the following admonitions: 'The Provincial Department of Agriculture is organized for the benefit of the farmer and the welfare of the province. The department is yours. Make use of it.' and 'On behalf of the farming industry we welcome the new settler. It is your duty as a neighbour to help him.' (Colin Browne)

The item is a colour documentary film from the 1930s, about the production of cauliflower crops.

The item is a four part colour film documentary about agriculture in the Okanagan, from 1942.
Part 1: Okanagan Fruit-Growing: fruit and vegetable growing -- irrigation, harvesting, packing and delivery, plus valley scenes.
Part 2: Okanagan Livestock: cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, sheep; dairy products; Okanagan Valley Co-Op Creamery; Interior Exhibition at Armstrong.
Part 3 Okanagan Seed Growing.
Part 4 Okanagan Agricultural Activities including footage of Valley scenery (especially farmland), demonstrating variety of agricultural production; Interior Exhibition, including parade with pipe band, novelties and livestock; Armstrong's "Victory Torch" monument and possible Victory Loan parade.

The item is a b&w documentary film reel from 1928. "Cleaning up, burning and ploughing land in readiness for planting. Levelling soil before sowing with one-horse drag. Sowing fine seed with hand sower. [Close-up of] demonstration of sowing. Planting lettuce sets for seed. Sowing sweet peas. A month later -- plants up. Flailing garden peas with a hand flail after they've been brought in by a horse-drawn wagon. Dwarf beans, lettuce and radish. Pan across flower-seed farm. Picking, screening and drying. Dahlia seeds. Picking sweet pea seed. Turning, fanning, screening and sacking seed. Rows of onions lying on the ground and being picked. Several pans across field and out over ocean. There is no indication of where this was photographed, but the Saanich Peninsula seems likely." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of colour nature film made sometime in the 1930s. "Includes shots of Easter lilies (dogtooth-violets), peacocks, dogwood, daisies, trilliums, periwinkle, Indian paintbrush, honeysuckle, yellow daisies, broom, Oregon grape, yarrow, fireweed, and many others. It appears as if most of this film was shot on Vancouver Island." (Colin Browne)

The item is a b&w newsreel print from 1945 showing the Yalta Conference and the Battle of Germany.

The item is a reel of documentary film from 1930 titled Ayrshire cattle sales at Armstrong and Kamloops. "Excellent pan of Kamloops from height, looking down eventually into a street lined with cars. Indians in full regalia on appaloosa ponies. Bronco riding in a ring. Celery field and harvesting near Armstrong, B.C. Field of cabbage. Pan of fertile bottomlands. Salmon Arm farmers visit illustration station where Exhibition corn is grown. A combine in action drawn by a tractor. A two-horse team hauls the cart to collect the wheat. Stocks of grain in a field being loaded onto a horse-drawn wagon. Scenes of Ayrshire auction at Armstrong: Mat Hassen presents Percy French with winner's trophy. Ayrshire prizes awarded. Dunwaters, Davidson, Forest & Wells, outstanding at auction. Auction: $305.00 average for 30 two-year heifers. New owners parade their purchases. The Laird of Fintry. Pan of cattle. Fall fair at Lumby, crowded grounds & buildings. Veteran MLA J. H. Schofield of Trail. Donald Graham, a 'veteran of the first Riel Rebellion, 1870, poses. He came to the Okanagan Valley in 1874." (Colin Browne)

The item is a 16 mm b&w, silent documentary film from the 1930s. It is about poultry raising.

The item is a reel of b&w documentary film containing two sections, from the 1930s.
"1. A visit to Premier S.F. Tolmie's farm Cloverdale. Tolmie discussing his garden, inspecting his potatoes, working in the fields, prodding cows into barn for milking. Mrs. Tolmie and he posing several times, individually. Cloverdale consisted of 1300 acres, 400 under cultivation, and Tolmie took great interest in all agricultural pursuits. When he resigned in 1933 after five years as Premier of British Columbia, he dedicated himself to setting up a model farm on his land.

2. Simon Fraser Tolmie died at Cloverdale on October 14, 1937; his funeral was held on October 16, 1937 in Victoria with full honours. Scenes include flag at half mast. Coffin being carried down Parliament Buildings' steps and placed in hearse. Empress Hotel. Cars in the procession and the hearse in front of the Parliament Buildings. Entourage driving up Government Street with crowds lining the street. Procession continuing along Quadra Street. Procession on way to Royal Oak Burial Park. Removing the coffin from the hearse at the cemetery." (Colin Browne)

The item is a copy of part of a National Film Board news reel print of one of the items in Eye Witness no. 21. The Hon. Nancy Hodges is seen at home, at work as a columnist for the Victoria Times newspaper, and in her role as Speaker in the Legislative Assembly of B.C. in Victoria.

The item is a film reel containing five short film items from the 1920s and the 1940s, spliced together onto a single reel:

1. Various shots of Bouchie Lake Fair, 1948.
2. Treating seed grain -- C.I.L., Shows Mr. T. Leach demonstrating how seed grain is treated chemically to prevent harm to it during germination, 194-.
3. Sheep shearing contest, Willows, Victoria, BC, Scenes include men shearing sheep, 192-.
4. Grading and packing apples -- Vancouver Winter Fair, 1928.
5. Gardens, flowers and ornamental shrubs, 194-.

The item is a reel of b&w documentary film from ca. 1931. "Vancouver Island bulb grower and his home and garden. October, planting time, bulbs being shaken from the back of the tractor into every second furrow, then placed by hand. Spring cultivation with a rototiller. Men in overcoats inspecting plants for disease and insect damage. Pan across field of daffodils. Pickers picking blooms to improve the bulb, then dumping them into a heap to be destroyed. Pickers playing in a pile of flowers. Men inspecting good blooms. Diseased or insect-smitten bulbs are rogued, or dug up and destroyed. Huge litter of cut blooms being carried away by pickers. Bulbs ploughed out of the ground by a tractor that once was a Ford car. Helpers collecting the bulbs from the top of the furrow. Bulbs in baskets, transported to drying sheds. Loose bulbs are unloaded into drying trays for storage. Stacking trays in storage shed, unloading truck." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film from 1928. "Scenes include Manager and office staff of the New Westminster Fair. A young boy travelling to the fair on a toy horse and sulky. Decorated teams of six horses, each hauling large wooden carts with proud drivers to the fair-grounds. Two of the carts are: "Ruby Stock Farms -- Portland Oregon" and "Mainland Transfer Co. Ltd." Scenes of Clydesdale horses, an Ayrshire bull, a Guernsey bull, a Jersey bull, a Holstein cow, an Ayrshire bull and a small model bull-pen. A prize-winning Tamworth boar among several other boars and sows. Winners of best sheep breeds shown and named. Sheep dog demonstration. Mountain lambs, controlled by dog. B.C. honey display --stacks of bottles in display booth, First Prize shown." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film from the 1930s. "Saanich Boys & Girls Club at Sooke, looking at and wrestling with young heifers. Adults making presentations. Starting a Boys & Girls Club. Kids lined up on school steps. Teacher asks who'd like to join. Kids receive boxes of eggs for hatching. Young girl prepares her hen for laying. Potato and Calf Club. Field day at Sea Island. Calves, picnic, spuds. Richmond and Delta Boys & Girls Club members in a field examining crops. Boys & Girls Club livestock judging in Vancouver: cows, horses & calves being judged outdoors and indoors." (Colin Browne)

The item is a b&w film documentary from the 1920s. "Depicts the harvesting of peas, almost all mechanically, from cutting to processing, showing automatic shucker and sorting by girls." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film made sometime between 1923 and 1939. It shows the proper procedures for profitable production and marketing of Canadian wool.

The item is a reel of educational film from the 1930s. It is an account of the importance of the horse to man, from the time of the Creation to pioneer America.

The item is a reel of documentary film from the 1920s. "Seeds being culled, cleaned, planted and nurtured on Experimental Farm, probably near Sidney. Later, men in suits examine various types of grain being grown on the farm, all named with signs: 'Western,' 'Garnet,' 'Manchurian,' 'Victory,' etc. Pan across farm and fields." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of instructional film from 1929. It depicts the production of woolen goods, by manual labour and mechanical means.

The item is an instructional film in two reels:
"Part One deals with the initial stages of growing and training an apple tree, and shows the steps taken from cross-pollination to seed selection and on to budding, pruning and top working. Part Two begins with bridge grafting and then shows entomologists in the laboratory studying insects that attack fruit trees. The various life stages of the codling moth are examined and explained. A horse-drawn spray unit moves through an orchard in British Columbia. The need for three and four applications of spray are explained and the stages at which it must be done. Scene of a spray and dust manufacturing plant. Blossom time in Quebec. Cultivating around the bottom of the trees to prevent the moisture being sapped by weeds. A grass mulch around the base of trees. Wire protectors around the trunk to discourage mice from eating the bark. Scenes of irrigation works in British Columbia, showing sluices, flumes, etc., costing about $14.00 per acre-foot. Thinning fruit in July, remaining apples left about six inches apart. Ripe apple in sunlight. Much of this film was shot on an experimental farm, probably in Ottawa." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film from ca. 1931. "'Suffolk rams, shoring massiveness and great strength, with strong hams.' Two rams being shorn on both sides, front and back, and their features being pointed out with captions and a man with a pointer. Flock of Suffolk sheep. [Close-ups of] features of ewes. Suffolk lambs and ewes." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film from the 1920s. "Students are shown field crops, fall-sown oats, Jersey cows, poultry incubator, tulips. An 'Alfresco lunch' is provided by the farm at long tables outside. Minister of Agriculture W. Atkinson and Deputy Minister J.B. Munro and their wives join them for lunch. Minister makes a speech. The VIP's size up the crops and pose with their wives. They inspect the bees and the grapes in the greenhouses. Mr. Toomer, the gardener, in greenhouse. Pan of the Dominion Experimental Station. Vancouver Island Horticultural Association is entertained by the superintendent at outdoor tables for lunch and speeches at Sidney. The advantages of paper mulch demonstrated. Various shots of Horticultural Association group." (Colin Browne)

The item is a reel of documentary film from the 1930s. It shows turkey farming on Manitoulin Island, Ontario.

The item is a documentary film in two reels. Tobacco growing, curing and processing at the Totem Plantation, Sumas Prairie, BC. "Identical to TOBACCO GROWING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, except that the opening shots present a picture of the McKercher Company executives and give a plug for the company. Nowhere on this print is the British Columbia Dept. of Agriculture mentioned, although the government may have produced the film. Perhaps McKercher's put up the money, or some of it." (Colin Browne)

The item is a film news reel from 1939 of the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada and the United States. "The Castle Films production of the entire visit is [black and white] and is about 360 feet long. The sections filmed in British Columbia show the Royal Hudson pulling into Vancouver (with a good shot of the engine and tender); the Guard of Honour in Vancouver; the arrival and departure of the King and Queen; the arrival and departure of the King and Queen at Vancouver City Hall; and the arrival of the King and Queen at the Parliament Buildings, Victoria, and the inspection of the Honour Guard by King George. The BC Dept. of Agriculture footage is on colour stock and is 140 feet long. Scenes include: the yellow convertible and the King and Queen's limousine driving through the crowds on Government Street in Victoria. Victoria City Hall. Crowds at the Parliament Buildings. Three nurses beneath a sign reading 'First Aid Post.' Highlanders and veterans marching down the street. Tumultuous crowds massed at Parliament Buildings, soldiers, etc." (Colin Browne)