James Wilson Robertson

James Wilson Robertson (2 November 1857 – 19 March 1930) was a Canadian educator and cheese producer. He emigrated from Scotland to Canada at the age of 18, and was later appointed Canada's first Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying. He was also a professor at the Ontario Agricultural College in the field of dairy.

Early life and education Robertson was born on 2 November 1857 in Dunlop, East Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the fourth of ten children of John and Mary Robertson (née Wilson). Robertson received no additional schooling after he was fourteen. After leaving school, Robertson became a leatherworking apprentice in Glasgow.

Early career Robertson moved to Canada in 1875, and eventually became a supervisor of cheese factories in Ontario. Robertson was successful in running the factories and ran eight of them by 1884. In 1886, he was hired to the position of professor of dairying at the Ontario Agricultural College. Robertson visited dairy-producing regions in the United States and Denmark, and brought practices he learned there back to Canada. From these trips, he encouraged storing corn in silos, which helped Canadian dairy farmers to make more money throughout the year. This cooperative still exists today, with nearly five hundred farms, since then renamed as Darigold.

While working at the college, Robertson appeared in travelling lecture series, and was sought after by colleges in the United States to join their faculty as well as by politicians who wished to hire him. In 1890, Robertson was appointed Canadian commissioner of agriculture.

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