Howard Waidron Roper
H. W. Roper is a man who provided leadership in many fields of agriculture during his lifetime. He was a farmer, livestock breeder, showman, judge, dairy plant operator, sire selection coimnittee and semen sales in N .S., Annual Breeders Co-operative, leader in breeder organizations, set up sales organization, and operated a successful quality sales program of dairy and beef cattle of selected breeding stock for a number of years.
Mr. Roper was born on a dairy farm in P.E.I. on July 1, 1906. He left school at an early age to work on the farm with his father. He utilized the winter months of 1920-21 to take a technical course in agriculture in Charlottetown.
When he was seven years of age his father gave him a purebred Guernsey calf, "Rose of the Villette", a calf imported from the Isle of Guernsey. He has been interested in Guernseys since that date.
He left Prince Edward Island when he was 19 for British Columbia where he lined up a job on a fox ranch with a former P.E.I. fox breeder. He returned to the Island later that year to work on the farm with his father.
He continued working on farms until 1931 when he purchased a milk business in Halifax, which he operated for two years. Mr. Roper sold his milk business in Halifax and in 1934 he and his father bought Beech Hill Farm and moved back to Princeport, Colchester County, Nova Scotia. While at Beech Hill they milked 100 cows and operated Beech Hill Guernsey Dairy Sales. They carried on this operation for 16 years.
In the period 1927-30, Mr. Roper acted as part-time fieldman for the Maritime Guernsey Breeders. He participated on a committee that was organized to study the possibility of setting up the Canadian Guernsey Breeders Journal. The necessity for the journal was agreed to and Mr. Roper served as its editor for the first two years of operation.
He was a part-time classifier for Guernsey cattle from 1948-50 and was named President of the Canadian Guernsey Breeders Association in 1950.
When he was 16 years of age he took a carload of cattle on the Maritime Show Circuit showing in Charlottetown, Halifax, Saint John, St. Stephen and Fredericton and back home. He followed the same circuit the following year plus showed cattle at the Maritime Winter Fair and the Royal Winter Fair.
His big show year was 1929 when he showed in Brandon, Regina, Calgary, Saskatoon, Edmonton, the Canadian National Exhibition, Springfield, Mass., Wooster, Mass., Brocton, Mass., Maritime Winter Fair, Royal Winter Fair and Ottawa Winter Fair. After selling the cattle in 1950 he went to work for the Nova Scotia Animal Breeders Co-op. as Sales Manager. He played an important part in the early development of the organization. He was in charge of semen procurement, sire analysis and setting up the establishment of quality sales under Nova Scotia Animal Sales.
Although Mr. Roper retired from N .S. Animal Breeders Co-op. in 1970, he continues to carry on a sales management program.
In community developement programs he served as Secretary of the N .S. Livestock Council, Central N .S. Holstein Club and he also played an important part in the establishment of the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame Program.