Charles Sherwood Noble | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Charles Sherwood Noble

Charles Sherwood Noble, agriculturist, industrialist (b at State Centre, Iowa 16 May 1873; d at Lethbridge, Alta 5 July 1957). He developed the Noble Blade, a cultivator that gave dryland farmers everywhere their first sure method of protecting soil from wind erosion.

Charles Sherwood Noble

Charles Sherwood Noble, agriculturist, industrialist (b at State Centre, Iowa 16 May 1873; d at Lethbridge, Alta 5 July 1957). He developed the Noble Blade, a cultivator that gave dryland farmers everywhere their first sure method of protecting soil from wind erosion. He homesteaded at Knox, North Dakota, in 1896 and at Claresholm, Alberta, in 1902. In 1909 he purchased 2024 hectares near Lethbridge and founded the town of Nobleford. He farmed 13 134 ha by 1918 but lost everything to drought and depression in 1922. In the 1920s and 1930s he and several neighbours experimented with soil conservation methods, including the blade cultivator. Noble took the best of these ideas, patented a blade support system, and manufactured the Noble Blade, which cut off weeds below the soil surface, leaving the stubble undisturbed. He was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire(1943) and received an LLD from University of Alberta (1952).