Flemish sugar beet growers in Wallaceburg, Ontario

Lucien Brunin (right) with Flemish farmers in Wallaceburg, Ontario. Most Belgian settlers in this area in southern Ontario arrived from East- and West-Flanders to work on sugar beet or tobacco plantations. Varlez noted the expertise and diligence of his compatriots, as well as their solidarity and stubborness which made it virtually impossible for farmers from other countries to succeed in the area.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 17/08/1929.
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17623751

When mechanical horsepower fails...

Varlez and Brunin visited several Belgian farms in Wallaceburg. Kamiel Van Watteghem, a fertilizer supplier, originally from Moerbeke, drove them in his Plymouth. At one point the vehicle ditched on a dirt road, but fortunately help was at hand from a Belgian farmer with a pair of horses.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 17/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17624907

The first dairy farm in Fort Garry, Manitoba

While he omits to mention their names, Varlez describes this couple (possibly members of the Bossuyt family) as the pioneers of all Belgian dairy farmers in the area of Fort Garry, now a district in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the 1920s Flemish families (mainly from Wingene, Ruiselede and Moorslede) had become chief dairymen in and around Winnipeg. Several continued to play an important role in the Manitoba dairy industry for decades.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 29/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17625676

Dairy farmer Adolf Van Walleghem in Fort Garry

Dairy farmer Van Walleghem from Wingene posing with his son in front of their stables in Fort Garry. Varlez was impressed by the efficiency and the tidiness of the Flemish farms, which served as a model.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 29/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17626018

A model dairy farm in Fort Garry

Varlez described the dairy farm of the Gobert family as one of the most beautiful in the area. They owned 78 cows and the stables were spotless.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 29/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17625808

Bruxelles, Manitoba

Bruxelles in the southern prairies of Manitoba, was founded by Belgians in 1892. On their visit in August 1929 Varlez and Brunin were welcomed by the priest Heyman, a Dutchman from Venlo. According to Varlez there were about a 100 Belgian farms around Bruxelles.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 30/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17627441

Belgian gentry on the Canadian Prairies

In Bruxelles Varlez and Brunin met baroness de Veyrac from Ghent and her husband chevalier d'Hondt from Bruges. The couple arrived in Manitoba in 1910 and invested their capital in a farm. After several hardships by the late 1920s they cultivated large swaths of land, had several farms and children, and finally started to make some profits. The countess is pictured here just after she slaughtered a calf. According to Brunin, she regretted her children never received a proper education.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 30/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17627846

Belgian farmer near Bruxelles, Manitoba

Contrary to the official propaganda, life for migrant settlers in Canada, especially in the middle of nowhere in the Prairies of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, was extremely tough due to the harsh climate, the isolation and the lack of social security. One in three had to give up the dreams of the promised land and eventually returned to Belgium. Several crop failures in the "dirty thirties" only enhanced the number of misfits.
Photo by Louis Varlez 30/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17627546

"Belgian Club" in Saint Boniface, Winnipeg

Yet there were lasting contributions and achievements from the Belgians in Canada too, as demonstrated by the Belgian Club in Saint Boniface (Winnipeg), Manitoba. Founded in 1905 the Club has been serving the Belgian-Canadian community in the area to this day. Membership was initially exclusively Belgian and by the time Varlez and Brunin visited the Club, it counted over a thousand members. The Club kept different entertainment and recreation sections. Brunin noted that both Belgian language groups lived in perfect harmony.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 31/08/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17625908

Modern Dairy Limited in Saint Boniface, Manitoba

Lucien Brunin (centre) with Alfred Arthur De Cruyenaere, the successful Flemish entrepreneur and founder of the Modern Dairy Limited, and contractor De Buck in front of the new building of the Modern Dairy. De Cruyenaere, originally from Kortrijk (Varlez mentions Wingene) arrived in Canada in 1912, working for the Winnipeg police force before beginning a home delivery route for milk. In 1920 he founded the Modern Dairy Limited, which by 1929 employed a staff of 37, mostly Belgians. The building mentioned here, at the corner of Rue St. Joseph and Rue La Verendrye, was demolished in February 2019.
Photo by Louis Varlez 01/09/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17626125

Turkey run in Alberta

Travelling with the Canadian Pacific Railway from Winnipeg to Calgary, Varlez and Brunin visited the turkey farm run by a Belgian named De Jonghe in Strathmore, in southern Alberta. With agriculture still the dominant economic activity in Alberta in the 1920s, the Belgian turkey farm stood out. "It takes a Belgian to break with monoculture", concluded Varlez.
Photo by Louis Varlez, 03/09/1929
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12117/17648418