“I grew up in Cape Breton. During the 1930’s Depression nobody had any money. The farmers were barely able to feed themselves by growing large gardens, and canning, drying and pickling the veggies.
“As far as meat was concerned having beef cattle was a losing proposition. It cost more to feed the cattle than the farmer could get at the slaughter-house.
“Except for this one guy.
“He had a herd of 250 cattle at the start of the Depression. When everybody else was running around losing their heads he quietly went to the government offices and took out a trapper’s licence.
“Once a month he’d slaughter a cow and use that unsaleable meat to bait his traps.
“He spent the entire Depression quietly out in the woods trapping animals for their fur.
“That farmer was the only one in the whole municipality that made any money for the full ten years of the Depression.
Rick Ranson 