Cows Don’t Know It’s Sunday: Agricultural Life in St. John’s. By Hilda Chaulk Murray. (St. John’s: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 2002. Pp. 338, photographs, index, bibliography ISBN 0-919666-53-1)

This publication is a detailed account of the agricultural community which existed in and around St. John’s in the first half of the twentieth century. As the author rightly points out, “much has been written in Newfoundland about fishing and the lives of outport people”; by comparison, the province’s agricultural history has been sadly neglected (9). Murray initiates her study with a brief account of the historical developments which prevented the growth of agriculture from flourishing in St. John’s for several years (13-33). Farming was never an intuitive part of Great Britain’s mandate for exploiting Newfoundland’s resources. Like permanent settlement itself, agricultural activity was discouraged because it was viewed as being a deterrent to the fisheries. Despite such policies, by the late 1700s, to protect supplies and goods held over for the annual fisheries, some overwintering was necessary in the colony. This in turn led some settlers to establish kitchen gardens and to take up small scale animal husbandry. By the 1770s, some lands in and around St. John’s had also been allocated mainly to certain military personnel (24). Although Newfoundland was always viewed as being "unsuitable for farming"(29), with the onset of the Napoleonic wars, the resident population of St. John’s suffered great hardships because vessels were prevented from crossing the Atlantic with supplies (30). Early nineteenth century agriculturalists such as William Carson, with a vested interest in making Newfoundland a viable colony, advocated that for political, social and economic reasons, it made sense for settlers to own and cultivate lands. Realizing that some agricultural production was essential for the colony’s survival, the British government initially granted settlers permission to lease lands (33). From the 1830s onward, individuals were then allowed to purchase land grants. Agricultural activity within the St. John’s region blossomed. By the early twentieth century, dozens and dozens of farms surrounded St. John’s, supplying the resident population with considerable agricultural produce by way of fresh vegetables, butter, milk, eggs, poultry, beef and other meat products. Murray is not the first to document this agricultural activity in St. John’s. Cultural geographers such as John Mannion (1974, 1987: 358-363) and Robert MacKinnon (1981, 1991: 32-61) have created important studies that provide a critical template for other researchers to build upon. Murray’s research does offer something new because it takes into account the activities of the farming community within living memory, covering the period mainly from the 1920s to the late 1950s. Murray initiated the study in 1991 with her friend Isobel Browne. The two women worked together over a three year period tracking down and then interviewing informants who were able to provide details about farms, farm families and farming practices. Following Browne’s untimely death, Murray continued on. The final work is based primarily on extensive oral history interviews with 84 informants (7) supplemented by substantial archival research. Murray lists no less than 118 farms in and around the city area (284-290) known to have been in existence which she came across as part of this study. Many of her informants were able to give details about a number of these properties because they had either lived on them or near them. The author has had to cover considerable territory in this publication; her initial manuscript extended to 800 pages. Faced with the choice of a reference book, an historical document or an account of people and their connection to the farms, she chose the latter (12). As with her earlier work, More Than 50%: Woman’s Life in a Newfoundland Outport 1900-1950, Murray’s talents as a folklorist shine through. She is keenly interested in the details of …