An examination of of some historical aspects of the period 1860-1890 in Prince Edward County[*]
Page 1 - Introduction and Reasons for the Barley Days
Whenever ancestors spoke of the "good old days", chances are they were referring to the Barley Days. The Barley Days lasted from 1860-1890 in Prince Edward County and were an era of great prosperity in the area.
Hop pickers in Bert Cooper's Milford yard.
Industry in the County prior to the Barley Days was based around forestry. The area was covered in trees and Loyalists along the St. Lawrence River had to remove some in order to build homes. They burnt trees to clean the area and sold the lye that the ashes produced as a cash crop for creating soap. Around this time in the late 1700s, the Great Lakes area was shipping its abundance of wood to Europe in the form of square lumber.
After the logging boom, Prince Edward County had exhausted its lumber resources and had to devise a different way to generate revenue to the area. Farming and agriculture seemed like the most natural next step to draw revenue to the area. When County farmers began to grow their own grain, they could not have imagined the prosperity that lied in wait. Hops began around the 1840s in Ameliasburgh, Sophiasburgh and Hallowell. Hops add flavour to beer, stop undesirable ferments and aid good yeast production. But hops were never as economically important a crop as barley.
The background reason for the Barley Days was the American Civil War. The Civil War began in 1861 and lasted until 1865, and it opened up a large import market for barley entering the U.S.A. that Prince Edward County helped to fill. The foreground reason for the Barley Days was; the U.S.A. raised taxes on whisky by 400% to help raise fund to fight the Civil War. The average citizen was forced to pay a $2 tax on what should have been a 25-cent tax. $2 was a lot of money in the 19th C. and not many people could afford this tax, so they chose to drink beer instead of whisky. In fact, U.S. beer consumption jumped sixteenfold as a result of the extreme whisky tax. As beer consumption jumped, brewers in New York who needed barley for beer-making purposes relied on Prince Edward County barley to help meet their needs.
* [back] - This project was developed by Isabel Slone (one of the Society's 2007 "summer students") and was in part funded with a grant from Young Canada Works, in part with a grant from the Municipality of the County of Prince Edward, and in part with this Society's research funds.
"Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala ya kwanza ya kitabu cha ""Mambo ya Nyakati za Barley"" (Surat ya 1) ""Mambo ya Nyakati za Barley"" (Surat ya 2) ""Mambo ya Nyakati za Barley"" (Surat ya 3) ""Mambo ya Nyakati za Barley"" (Surat ya 3) ""Mambo ya Barley"" (Surat ya 3) ""Mambo ya Barley"" (Surat ya 1) ""Mambo ya Barley"" (Surat ya Barley) ""Mambo ya Barley"" (Surat ya Barley) ""Mambo ya Barley"" (Surat ya Barley) " Siku za Barley ziliendelea kutoka 1860 hadi 1890 katika Kaunti ya Prince Edward na zilikuwa enzi ya ufanisi mkubwa katika eneo hilo. Wakusanyaji wa hop katika uwanja wa Bert Cooper wa Milford. Viwanda katika Kaunti kabla ya Siku Barley ilikuwa msingi karibu misitu. Eneo hilo lilikuwa limefunikwa na miti na Waaminifu-washikamanifu kando ya Mto St. Lawrence walilazimika kuondoa baadhi yake ili kujenga nyumba. Walichoma miti ili kusafisha eneo hilo na kuuza mchanga uliotokezwa na majivu hayo ili kutengeneza sabuni. Katika miaka ya 1700 na 1800, eneo la Maziwa Makuu lilisafirisha kuni nyingi za Ulaya kwa njia ya mbao za mraba. Baada ya mlipuko wa ukataji miti, Kaunti ya Prince Edward ilikuwa imeisha rasilimali zake za mbao na ililazimika kubuni njia tofauti ya kuzalisha mapato kwa eneo hilo. Kilimo na kilimo vilionekana kuwa hatua ya asili zaidi ya kuvuta mapato katika eneo hilo. Wakulima wa Kaunti walipoanza kukuza nafaka zao wenyewe, hawangeweza kuwazia ufanisi uliokuwa ukingojea. Hops ilianza karibu na miaka ya 1840 huko Ameliasburgh, Sophiasburgh na Hallowell. Hops kuongeza ladha ya bia, kuacha fermentations zisizohitajika na kusaidia uzalishaji wa chachu nzuri. Lakini hops hazikuwa kamwe mazao muhimu kiuchumi kama shayiri. Sababu ya msingi ya Siku za Barley ilikuwa Vita vya Wenyewe kwa Wenyewe vya Marekani. Vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe vilipoanza mwaka 1861 na kuendelea hadi mwaka 1865, nchi hiyo ilipata soko kubwa la kuagiza shayiri nchini Marekani, na Prince Edward County ikasaidia kuijaza. Siku ya Barley ilifanyika mwaka wa 1940 wakati Marekani ilipofungua ushuru wa whiskey kwa asilimia 400 ili kusaidia kukusanya fedha za vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe. Kwa mfano, raia wa Marekani alilazimika kulipa kodi ya dola mbili kwa kile ambacho kingepaswa kuwa kodi ya senti 25. """Dola mbili ilikuwa pesa nyingi katika karne ya 19 na watu wengi hawakuweza kumudu kodi hii, kwa hiyo walichagua kunywa bia badala ya whiskey." Kwa kweli, matumizi ya bia nchini Marekani yaliongezeka mara kumi na sita kutokana na ushuru mkubwa wa wiski. Wakati matumizi ya bia yalipokuwa yakiongezeka, watengenezaji wa bia huko New York waliohitaji shayiri kwa ajili ya utengenezaji wa bia walitegemea shayiri ya Kaunti ya Prince Edward ili kusaidia kukidhi mahitaji yao. "Mfano: ""Mfano wa ""Mwanzoni mwa mwaka wa 2007"" wa Isabel Sloane, ambaye alikuwa mwanafunzi wa mwaka wa 2007 wa Shirika la Mafunzo ya Kijana la Canada, na ""Mfano wa Mwaka wa 2007"" wa Shirika la Mafunzo ya Kijana la Canada, na ""Mfano wa Mwaka wa 2007"" wa Shirika la Mafunzo ya Kijana la Canada."