From: brother Harold
Caintown, Ont.
25 June 1916

Dear Gordon -

The Lower School exams are over and I am very glad. They were quite hard and I hope very much that I get through all right. We finished up last Tuesday, but I did not get home till Wednesday evening about seven o'clock. Joe McAvoy was going to bring me home, and about 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon he came along. He had a team and so we got all my things on the wagon all right. Mc McAvoy has bought a farm out near Athens and when we were just about to it, one of my boxes fell off and everything in it fell out. We drove into his farm and I packed the box up again. We stayed there till about five o'clock, picking up brush, fixing fences, etc., and then started for home. He took my things off at Uncle Jim's factory and I walked home. Next day, Uncle Jim brought out most of my boxes but one hasn't come yet.

My, I am glad that I am home. When I arrived here, I found the garden had just been ploughed and dragged, and nothing in yet. The ground was still very rough, so next morning I went up to Poole's and got Burton to drag it again. He came about one o'clock. Then, Cecil and I marked off the lower part of the orchard for potatoes. We moved the path left to between the next rows of trees (from the road) so that now the potato patch is far larger than the remainder. By noon yesterday, we had it all planted with potatoes, four rows of corn, one row of beans, and Arthur's corn plot also planted in the remaining ground. We are going to plant quite a few strawberry plants tomorrow and fill the rest up with beans, peas and potatoes. We hope to have lots of potatoes for the winter as some say food will be an awful price. Our orchard is loaded with apples. Some small trees are beginning to bear, and mother says she will do up all the apples she can and not buy any other fruit as sugar is nearly ten dollars a bag. We are not going to plant any carrots, beets, lettuce or other vegetables because we want all the potatoes we can grow. There are plenty of Yellow Transparents, McIntoshs, Snows, Talman Sweets, Wolf River, Russets, Spitzenbergs, Red Astrakans amd Duchesses. I wish they would soon get ripe and that you could get home once in a while to have some. We got most of our seed potatoes from Grandpa's, as ours were nearly done.

Gladys will be trying exams all this week, I think, and then she will be home.

Is it very muddy up there? Barriefield is very muddy and several soldiers deserted.

We got most of our seed potatoes from Grandpas, as ours were nearly done.

Second Form didn't have any promotion exams this year, we were promoted on our year's work.

Everybody around here seems to be quite well and all those lazy boys like the Whites and George Howard and Ed are around yet. I don't know yet whether I shall stay at home next term or go to Brockville; it is either one or the other and I hope it is the latter.

Is Petawawa Camp very near the Ottawa River? It must be nice in camp if it isn't muddy. I just love to sleep in a tent. I am wearing one of your old outside shirts, I suppose it will be too small for you when you come back. I would like to see you now, you say you are pretty well tanned.

Mother and Arthur get out of school next Thursday. I guess Cecil and I will go up there and have a visit that day. Clarence has not returned from Athabasca Landing yet. Cousin Grace was very sorry to have him go. Hoping you will soon be home. I remain -
Your brother,
Harold