A Pieceful Life - Part 12 - End of Autobiography

One time a representative of various magazines; as chatelaine, McLean or whatever their names, came to our place offering many magazines in trade for the chickens. So mother with the girls agreed to this deal, and led him to a chicken coup where he picked about a dozen of the best chickens, catching them easily by a long wire hook. I wasn't home at that time, and when I came home, they boasted with their deal. I asked him if he gave you any assurance as receipt, that you will get those papers. Well he did not give them anything, and they didn't know who he was, so they never saw those magazines but were short of a dozen of chickens.

Later I bought an upright piano in Saskatoon for $65.00 (of course secondhand) and hired my nephew Bill Shakotko with a truck, to bring it home. After loading it onto the truck, and on the way home, we stopped in front of Russian-Ukrainian storekeeper to buy the things we needed. He offered a salted herrings he had about dozen of one gallon tin cans, and said if they will be good you will pay me later $.25 for each can. So we took them and loaded on the truck and started our way homeward. On reaching home in the evening, we unloaded the piano and Bill drove home taking with him some of that cans of herrings. I don't know what he'd done with his hearings, but I left mine outside on the ground overnight. The next day when sun was shining on the tin cans, so from the heat of the sun, tin gallon cans with herrings exploded or burst open and I had thrown them to a pig pan and forgot about them.

After a couple days my wife ran breathlessly to me, saying our chickens are sick; they are sitting everywhere in a yard and in the chicken coop with their mouths open, so look in the book, what kind of a poultry disease is this and what to do. Well I did, but found nothing certain but similar; and it said some kind of cholera, and the treatment a salty water. Then I remembered about the herrings and ran to a pig pan, and sure enough they were still there, as pigs were wiser than chickens, they did not eat them, but chickens were nibbling or pecking with their beaks at the herrings. The result of it: dead chickens, and mostly young ones. As it was haying time just before harvest, so when I bring a load of hay to the yard, and from the yard I throw the dead chickens on the hay rack and take them away someplace. So those salty spoil herrings, robbed us of our chickens, especially my wife's toil, raising and caring for them at spring and summer and then all in vain. That storekeeper never mentioned about the price for these herrings. Seems he was glad that he found somebody that took them out of his store, otherwise he had to hire somebody to get rid of them.

Now looking back at the years, when the children were at home yet we had a joyous time, as the house was full of music and singing, and oldest daughter Vera has learned to play on organ and piano, and the younger two daughters learned from her. Such joyous periods, comes only once in a lifetime and the replacement of them follows joyless time, when children are getting grown up and says: goodbye to you leaving home and old folks, to sing themselves the sad songs now.

This was the period for cultivating the land by horsepower yet. During these years, besides the home raised horses, I bought nine of them, paying from 75-$90 dollars per head. Because some have died from various reasons; or the age, sleeping sickness, urinary troubles, after drinking cold water after being perspired. One gelding died after unsuccessful castration by my brother, using old method splints. One mare while grazing in a ravine stuck into sinking mud up to her belly. Nick Lupish while working at my brother's place saw the situation of my mare, and they both tried to pull her out by the horse, tying a rope to the tail of mare. Result! They didn't pull her out, but pulled out her tail with a backbone. Then Nick told me, and I had to shoot her, before pulling out.

Beside the sulky (one furrow, I had only on gang plow (two furrow) so the plowing was a slow job, but when the sons were growing order, and were still at home, so I bought another gang plow, of course used one, and they were helping me so the work progressed faster now. Of course due to rocks, I have more work to do at the blacksmith shop yet, straightening bented shares, frogs and beams.

As you know already of crop failures in this district, from various atmospheric conditions, my brother Eli was disappointed of farming here at Lizard Lake, Saskatoon. Being ordained Baptist minister, he traveled and visited Baptist churches, and being in Hyas, Saskatoon he heard about the bordering Manitoba farming districts in the vicinity of Benito, Durban etc. where many farmers were selling their lands, because they were of advanced age, and their children received higher education, and didn’t want to farm anymore. So brother Eli went his way there and found as it was told to him, that many farmlands were for sale. He acquired there for himself and family two quarter section of land with old buildings and two story house for $5000.00 of course on terms, and in 1938 he moved to Durban, Manitoba with his wife, three sons and four daughters, leaving one married son in his old place at Lizard Lake. Later some of the farmers moved there too.

In the following year of 1939 or 1941? I went by car to Durban, Manitoba with my two older boys and with a farmer friend, to visit my brother with his family and of course to see the farm lands in the district. We investigated and found out that the soil there was black or without rocks or stones, infested with many weeds as at that time there wasn’t chemical weed killers on the market yet. I have seen many farmers at their places and talked to them. Many of them mostly agree, and wanted to sell this land.

As at farming business wasn't profitable and their educated children, did not want to stay on the farms. Asking average price for the quarter section of land was $3000; so price and the soil of land appealed to me, especially that the land was free of stones, but I was indecisive what to do at that time. On coming home I was thinking a lot, weighing in my mind what is the best thing to do. To continue farming here, or dispose of everything and move to Manitoba, to start farming there, by buying land and buying power machinery.

There were two obstacles on the way:

First: If I sell everything here, I won't get much for it, as the land has not much value in our district, and the old horse machinery is worthless too, so if I move out of here, and has to buy everything there, I will get myself financially into a debt.

Second main obstacle: education of my children

As my children had intellectual faculties for the education, and were craving for higher education, so being in debt and further from educational institutions I could not be able to support them. Taking all this into consideration, and being myself with a limited education, and my wife wasn't even a day at school, only at home father taught her to read and write in Russian language. So we-my dear wife and myself-decided for the sake of our children to stay where we were now, and continue to support them in their strive for better education.

As the price for coarse grain was low, so we decided to roll our sleeves higher and get involved in hog production. Though I never like to keep hogs more than one or two. Now for three years, we had about 70 of them, feeding them with chopped grain. As I was not a businessman and by looking at them I could not determine their weight. So at first I made a cage to weigh the hog to until I got some experience.

Whenever hog’s weight reaches 180 lbs. they are taken to markets, and the average price per head comes to 17 or 18 dollars, and the money obtained in this way, is then sent to Saskatoon for board and other expenses of our children. At other times when hogs weren't ready yet, a load or two of wheat was sold and the money was sent for their needs each month. Later when we disposed of our hog business, their support was mainly from the grain. (Two youngest children were in Biggar for their 12^th grade in 1945-46 year)

Now from December 10, 1942 till September 17, 1951 I was gradually acquiring my power machinery during those nine years.

Michael's List of Machinery 1942 to 1951

(See separate machinery list)

First I bought Wallace tractor and power Binder at auction sale on December 10^th, 1942. In 1944 I bought Massey tractor on sale too, nearly new, and also in the same year I bought 8 ½ ft. One Way. As the price for grain in 1944-45 was higher, so I was able to buy some machinery.

In the fall of 1949 I bought 12 ft ???  and John Deere pull type Combine. My nephew had such combine, and I was asking advice from him and he recommended me saying “that it is good and he likes it, but when I started to thresh, I found it differently. Swath is too heavy for this size of combine, and sieves are very short, just like in farming mill. So one has to pull it away very slow on Level land, but when it happens to go uphill, then you lose all the grain as it goes over the top of sieve especially barley. When Alex Elenko saw me combining near his place, he was wondering if I was moving or standing on one place all the time, so I was compelled to buy a bigger combine.

On September 17, 1951 I bought 12 feet self-propelled I. H. C. Combine, giving mine in trade in. As this combine had no stone catcher, so on the first fall of operation, the stone caught into cylinder and the breakage occurred not only in cylinder, but it was torn out of its place in the side frame of machine. Thanks to my nephew Steve Elenko, who was mechanic, so he welded for me. Also I got new cylinder, and also ordered from Brandon Manitoba, Stone Catcher, which I didn't install as it wasn't suitable. I did not install the new cylinder either, as by straightening the old one I left in its place.

Michael's List of Cars 1918 to 1977

As for the stone catcher, I have been examining the convex plate, that is in front of a Cylinder and decided to turn upper side down, and it worked it made a sizable trough for the stones, and after that we had no trouble, but from time to time had to throw out the stones from that trough. Also twice some of the crop in swaths due to early snow, was left for wintering, and was combined in the spring but was badly damaged by mice and also by neighbor’s cattle.

The following years from 1935 to 1946 are the years of higher education for our older children in the city of Saskatoon. The oldest son Alex was attending Bedford Road collegiate for grades XI and XII in the years 1935-36 and 1936-37. Later the mastered knowledge of technology in electronics, and in later years he worked as technician of radio and TV. He went to Ontario in 1942 or 43 in the spring.

Second son Leon in 1940 entered Bedford Road Collegiate for grade XII on completion of grade XII, in 1941 he entered normal school. Due to teacher shortage early in March of 1942 he entered a normal school, where he finished school term. Then he was employed by our neighboring school, but in the fall of same year 1942 he resigned and entered University. In May 1946 completed University with a degree of mechanical engineer, and in July 8, 1946 started to work I. H. C. In Hamilton, Ontario.

The Lucy and Michael Shakotko Family 1946
Reissa, Esther, Watler, Vera
Al, Lucy, Michael, Leon

The older daughter Vera on completion of her grade XI at collegiate, and to Secretarial School and also saving school, which she successfully completed and was working for a while in Saskatoon. Later she left for Toronto, Ontario where she worked as a Private Secretary.

Second daughter completed her grades XI, XII and entered normal school, and on obtaining teacher certificate she teached in many schools across Saskatchewan.

During all these asforesaid years, from 1935 until the fall of 1946 our children has to live in rental rooms with board and sometimes boarding themselves in Saskatoon, in an effort to obtain higher education. Our two youngest children Riessa and Walter completed their grade XII in Biggar in 1945-1946 year, and entered Normal school and University in Saskatoon too.

In 1946 or 1947? Our eldest son Alex came back from Ontario to help us in farming operation. By his initiative and mutual consent we decided to buy house in Saskatoon. He started to look for one, that will be not far from University and Normal school. In September of 1947 we bought two story one in city Park 526-5^th Ave North, for $6000. As I rented two rooms for Reissa and Walter at Haudek’s where Leon previously lived and now having our own house, I moved them into this newly bought house, apologizing to Haudeks about moving out.

They are nice people and whenever I meet with them always have a little chat with them, and they always ask about Leon.

Now as we acquire the house we decided to move ourselves into the city for the winter months. Though not quitting farming yet but we had to dispose of our livestock, so we sold them all, leaving only one or two cows from the in care of neighbors. Later these cows were sold too. The horses in wintertime were roaming the prairie yet, but later were sold for mink meat at 16-17 dollars Per head. It was a pity to part with such faithful Servants, especially home raised ones, but power machinery replaced them and they weren't needed anymore.

Now providing ourselves with meat, dressed chickens, butter and also with wood for kitchen range stove and coal furnace we moved into Saskatoon. The house needed some repairs inside, especially plastering the walls in some broken places, which I was doing myself. Also later decorated with wallpaper. Later I converted coal furnace into oil but it wasn't practical, so still later I bought new furnace for natural gas, and also new water heater and relined chimney also put on a new roof and painted stucko surface.

 Besides our own students, we were providing board and room for other University students for quite a number of years. So we have quite a family to feed, and kept Mother busy in preparing meals, but it helped us financially. Much later kept only roomers, until the fall of 1966. So for 19 years we had lodgers. It helped us to pay expenses but there was much noise that became unbearable for our older age.

Now after spending winter in the city, in the spring of 1948 we left for farm to continue our farming operation. As there was no quota for rye and the price was high, so I bought some rye from Alex Zadenko, elevator man at Straun, at $3.00 per bushel, and seeded that year 65 acres of rye, also 159 acres of wheat and 70 acres of oats. Though the price dropped in fall considerably for rye, one thing was good that I could sell it without quota.

I also bought chickens from one farmer. It was late in the evening and dark in the chicken coop, and they were setting already on their roost, so he picked them up one by one, and I place them in containers, I think it was bags, but he didn't tell me that his chickens were diseased. So gradually one by one they died. So this is the last time I was buying chickens. Afterwords always was buying eggs in store. Mr. Balfour the storekeeper in Cando was always saying to me “What kind of a farmer you are, that you are buying eggs?” Well I am a suitcase farmer, I answered him. Since then always in the spring was buying chicks from the hatchery, and also couple of (piglets) young pigs. So in the fall we will have supply of fresh meat for the coming winter in Saskatoon and also butter.

In this way we were farming for some years; winter in the city and summer on the farm, and the house in the city was vacant, we didn't rent it. Really it wasn't vacant, now and then relatives or acquaintances used it, even without our knowledge, but it was okay with us, the skeleton key, was always there outside the porch in the crack of plaster for their use.

On many occasions whenever I came to see our neighbor Mrs. McMillan was asking me “I wonder who owns this house and who lives in it.” There is always many strange people here. Well it was this way until our city house, became our home, (until now home was at the farm) and we did not go to the farm for whole summer, to stay there, but only for weekdays, and for weak end (for Sundays) always came back to Saskatoon. Also we rented rooms 20 we had roomers all the time now, instead of University students just for a University term.

Reissa completed her teacher course, and now was teaching school in Saskatchewan. Walter completed his four year course of University in electrical engineering, and in 1951 left for Ontario.

We continue to farm from the city, as Suitcase farmer's, as saying says, always going to and fro, with a one ton truck. As in need of money I sold my car in the spring of 1947, and for six years we had no car. In 1950 Alex bought a quarter section of land for himself, so shortly after that I rented him half of each of my three other quarters, leaving for myself the one with the buildings, so it will be equal and the different varieties of grain, will be on both permits, and it was this way, until 1958.

In 1951 I bought from a farmer in Rosthern two truckloads of Malting Barley (my small truck) as I heard that if grain is ripe and plump, you can sell in a year one carload without quota. So in 1951 I had sown 45 acres and in 1952, 165 acres of Barley and it surely helped us considerably, as each of us could sell a carload of Barley, without quota, otherwise you can sell much on quota.

In the fall of 1957 I sold my three quarters of land to son Alex for $9000 without interest, with payments of $1000 each year possession of first of January 1958. I left for myself yet one quarter that across the road to the east, containing 95 acres of aruable land. As I had grain on land from the land I sold, I have to apply for special permits each year, until I sold it.

We continue to go to the farm until 1966-67 for shorter periods and not so frequently. This is the last year I had a permit to sell grain, as I rented my quarter of land to Alex for couple years, and then in June of 1969 I sold him my last parcel of land for $6000 cash.

1965 Michael and Lucy Shakotko

In the fall of 1966 we sold our house on 5^th Avenue for $12,000 cash, and bought nearly new one more suitable for us at 803 McMillan Ave. for $15,300. I still had to go to the farm in 1967 to sell my remaining grain on my last permit, and these were the last days of our farming, though tired, but we retired from farm work now. Settle down in our cozy home, to our deserved rest and more peaceful life.