Zutphens Dagblad, 4 February 1956
He is working on a new life there
Winter 1951 in the Netherlands, an important meeting about a burning issue. A meeting that may have escaped the attention of the Dutch people and certainly did not have a report in the press, but whose results have been no less drastic in the life of a family, rooted by generations in the familiar surroundings of our beautiful Graafschap. The meeting was a family gathering of the Kortens at the parental farm “Lensink” below Aalten.
The subject is familiar to many families in the Dutch countryside: what to do when the children grow up, get married and want to stand on their own two feet, have their own farm? A problem, although not new, but increasingly topical as the population increases, land is lost due to the construction of industries and the construction of roads, expansion of cities and airports. A problem for which no reclamations can provide a solution, tragic because of its unsolvability in its own country.
Lensink
“Lensink” is a farm, twelve hectares in size, where father Korten and his family already got the most out of it. A farm, which gives an existence to one family, but can no longer be divided. Under the roof of the familiar farm, a decision was made on that day of 1951. If no solution could be found in their own country, they would try it across the borders. Many had already gone before, including to Canada, also from their own area. And the reports heard from overseas about the experiences there raised hopes that perhaps a solution to their problem would be found.
It must have been a melancholy farewell in the autumn of that year. Farewell to the farm, the familiar surroundings, to the children who stayed behind because other ties bound them in the old country. A melancholy perhaps hidden behind the excitement of the big event and the nervousness of the preparations, but also gilded by the expectations of an uncertain future. Have those expectations been met? Was the solution found in Canada that was no longer available in the Netherlands?
In the autumn of 1955, four years after leaving the Netherlands, Korten will answer that question in the affirmative. In his cautious way, he will point out what was achieved at that time, with an open eye for the difficulties that lie ahead, but also with confidence in his own abilities and grateful for the horizons that have been opened up for him and especially for his children. Perhaps there will be those who, seeing the results, say that it is easy to achieve success with such a bunch of big children. But does that make any difference? In the Netherlands it might have been achieved only partially or never. The young families will have to struggle longer to get this far, may have to make more sacrifices for it and have more difficult early years. But they have the strength of youth.
How Korten is doing now
In October 1951, the family arrived in Canada and traveled on to a small town in Southern Ontario, not far from Hamilton. An old acquaintance from Aalten made sure that the family found work and shelter on a fruit farm, while a place was found for the family of a married son on a farm nearby. Korten stayed there for two years. The children were given work in fruit and tobacco cultivation, where good wages are earned during the summer through long days. The joint income was saved and in the summer of 1953 the time had already come to look around for companies for sale.
By that time, Korten will have become accustomed to the big difference between the Netherlands and Canada, where farms are offered for sale in abundance. Good and bad, cheap and expensive, big and small. He drove around with his sons for many hours, visiting companies, before he had made his choice. The available financial resources imposed limitations, the company had to be large enough for his family and offer development opportunities for the future…
If someone had told Korten before his departure from the Netherlands that he could once again call a vast vineyard his own, he would have laughed at him. But that unexpected happened, because in November, barely two years after his departure, the family moved into a farm, large 45 hectares, half of which were with grapes; the company that Korten had chosen. One can imagine that it means quite a change for a Dutch farmer of the mixed farm when he exchanges his place among the cows for a life in the middle of the vines, especially if he has no experience with grape growing.
The Kortens were in that position. A lot of adaptation was demanded of them again, much was and still has to be learned. Neighbors in this region, where many grapes are grown, gave advice and Korten now also knows that he can turn to the Information Service for advice. The pruning in the winter, tethering in the spring, the watering and tillage, the harvest, everything was new and strange. Gradually they grow into it and learn the tricks of the trade and the demands it makes.
Warden’s and Niagara’s, Concords, Fredonia’s and Diamond’s, grape varieties that each require their own care, are names that no longer sound strange to them. And that’s what this company needs more than anything else: expertise. Several times during the last few years it has changed hands, it was neglected and polluted when it was moved into. Production is still below normal, which is not only due to the fact that most of the vineyard is still young and not at full production. Pruning should be improved and old trunks removed. The buildings should be refurbished, but in Korten’s eyes that can wait a while. First production must be brought up to standard. And that already requires enough time and capital.
For his sales, Korten has a contract with a wine factory in the area. The price he receives for his grapes is fixed in the spring and is different for the varieties. Over the past year, these prices ranged from $80 to $100 per ton. These grapes are processed into wines and grape juices. Some varieties are more popular than others and Korten can count himself lucky with a considerable variety in the varieties on his farm, which ensures that he is more assured of good sales than when only a few varieties are grown. He sells a small part of the harvest as hand grapes to wholesalers or directly to the public. Although he can charge more for this, it also takes more work and time to prepare the baskets. Moreover, this sales are very limited.
Grape cultivation is subject to significant risks, such as frost and hail damage, plant diseases, bird and insect damage, against which the grower can only partially insure or arm himself. Sales do not cause Korten any headaches and he gets a good price for his product. For sales, the Canadian grape grower is to a considerable extent dependent on exports to the United States, where production is regularly increasing. However, much has already been done in the field of marketing organization by grape growers’ associations.
However, it does not look like there will be any major difficulties in marketing in the future. On the Niagara Peninsula, where Canadian grape cultivation is concentrated and where Korten has his business, the same phenomenon is occurring that our own country knows so well: more and more land is being taken up for industrialization and the area cultivated with grapes is also declining. This region, so ideally suited for climate and soil type, has a great attraction for industry due to its location in a densely populated part of this country and the presence of excellent transport facilities. Although this development is not in the general interest of fruit cultivation in this region and there is talk of setting up regional plans to steer this in the right direction, it means a guarantee for the grower for sales in the future.
In addition to the vineyards, the company has more than 20 hectares of arable land and grassland. Originally, this was all in grass, but Korten only has two dairy cows and two heifers and decided to tear up part of the grassland. On the arable land, he now grows wheat, oats, corn and tomatoes, the last crop on a supply contract with a cannery. The cattle are also in such a state that he would like to keep more cows, especially because he needs the manure so much on the farm. But he is not yet sufficiently well equipped to be able to put money into this now. It is still “all hands on deck” to meet the obligations that have been entered into with the purchase of the company and also to develop the company.
The boys work with others whenever they can be missed, either in the construction company or in tobacco cultivation. Despite the heavy burdens, however, there is the satisfaction of building a life and the confidence in a future without fear of the problem that drove them to Canada: what are the boys going to do? There is now sufficient space for development on their own farm and beyond. Mother Korten now makes her own wine, not much but from “own cultivation” and good taste, to taste on special occasions. And on those occasions, she and her husband will sometimes reminisce about the time in Aalten, on the “Lensink”, where a son now holds sway and a young family grows up.
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