By Ed Stozek
In 1918 a group of Western Canadians met at Winnipeg to solve an urgent problem.
They wanted every prairie farmer to gain knowledge of the value of shelterbelts for home improvement, productive gardens, more pleasant living conditions and the betterment of farm values.
The Canadian Pacific Railway agreed to provide a railway car to the Forestry Association of Western Canada and along with the Canadian National Railway agreed to move the “classroom on wheels” free of charge to communities located by their tracks.
The railroad car was designed as a travelling classroom including living quarters for the “travelling lecturer.” Long rows of seats were set up like a motion picture theatre with a screen at the front and an operating booth at the rear. This facilitated the showing of lantern slides and motion pictures promoting the benefits of tree planting, forestry and shelterbelts.
The travelling lecturer planned and delivered the presentations, kept daily records and produced annual reports. One report noted, “Last summer a Tree Planting Car (TPC) was sent on a trip over the prairie provinces with the object of showing settlers how to improve their homesteads with shelterbelts. One rural school was found where out of eighteen pupils only three had ever seen a tree. There are said to be thousands of children in Southern Saskatchewan and Southern Alberta who have seen only the scrubby growth along the coulees.” (Jan. 26, 1923, Dauphin Herald and Press)
An article in the July 3, 1931 Dauphin Herald and Press acknowledged that the annual TPC tour included stops from Sinclair to Souris and along the Estevan line from that point to Pierson. “13 towns were visited, 33 lectures were held with townspeople, farmers and school children numbering 4,900.”
The car had a seating capacity for over 100 people and with free admission the average attendance was 148 with overflowing crowds at each stop. The TPC became a fabric of Canadian life and a social highlight for many prairie folks. The object of encouraging the planting of trees as windbreaks preventing soil drifting, moderating wind damage to grain crops, helping to conserve moisture and beautifying rural and urban home surroundings was very successful.
“Splendid assistance was given those in charge of the car during the tour by officials and employees of the TPC, postmasters, school teachers and editors of both local and city newspapers.”
For the 37th annual tour, Dauphin was part of the TPC itinerary. The TPC was parked at the CNR station on June 20 and 21, 1957. All Dauphin area residents were encouraged to take advantage of the car’s visit. Alex Paton, an experienced horticulturist noted for providing entertaining programs with practical lessons delivered the program, answered questions and helped with garden problems. Members of the Dauphin Horticultural Society took special interest and arranged to hold their meeting in the car on the evening of June 20.
The TPC never distributed trees. It relied upon various tree nurseries to provide the stock that the travelling lecturer advocated to be planted.
For example, in 1901 the government of Canada established the Forest Nursery Station at Indian Head located east of Regina with the purpose of researching, cultivating and supplying hardy trees and shrubs suited to the prairies.
Between 1901 and 2001 more than 570 million evergreen and deciduous tree and shrub seedlings were distributed. The site was dismantled and ceased operations in 2013.
When the TPC was “retired” in 1973 it was moved to the Sandilands Forest Discovery Centre near Hadashville. It was estimated that in its 53 years of operation it had travelled 420,000 kms, hosted 1.5 million visitors and promoted the planting of half a billion trees on approximately 100,000 farms. At the Sandilands location the car remained stationary and served as a teaching facility with displays and exhibits. On Nov. 8, 2022 the car was re-located to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum at Austin.
During its tenure as a classroom on wheels, crowds of students arrived in the afternoon and townspeople and farm folk congregated for the evening presentation.
All were eager to learn about the importance of shelterbelts on the prairies.
