MANITOBAN WINTERS

Evening Star, Issue 22688, 30 June 1937, Page 1

MANITOBAN WINTERS

SH&W FDR MANY MONTHS AMim SPRING 6MWTH T— I The description of Maniotoba’s seasons, here given, is from the pen o{ Mr A. G. Street, well-known agricultural writer in (Britain. He farmed in Canada for several _ years before th« Great War. He writes:— I suppose the Manitoban climate hay one compensation—from October until April there is no uncertainty abouti it at all. On the contrary, there ia the absolute certainty of snow and frost for the whole of that period. Even so, when ' February cornea most farmers have had more than enough of it. From October until Christmas they are busy hauling frain; Christmas makes a welcome reak; in January those who have it cut a little wood, and those who have no trees to cut haul coal, home from the nearest railhead, and say to every neighbour they meet: “ Gee, but it’* cola. Yes, sir. In January Manitoba,, she’s cold all right, all right. You betcha.” -

But when Feburary comes, every* body is tired of that everlasting white scene, and lon® for spring and thaw; out. During February and March the sun gains a little power, and the snowsparkles. The whole countryside is a white glare; one’s eyes smart and ache; and, if anyone persists in looking at the glittering white canopy for too long, snow blindness comes to close the eyes for a while. At last, somewhere about the end • of March, when everybody is fed up and tempers are snappy, the wind turns and the snow begins to melt. Mack patches appear in the white blanket, and soon comes » short period—about three or four days —when it is impossible to get to town either by sleigh or wheels. There is not enough continuous snow to run a sleight, and deep drifts of unmelted snow still remain to block a wagon. This period is used by a horseplough farmer as an opportune time to clip liia teams. For three months they will_ have been running wild over the prairie and the snow-covered stubbles, during which play -time they will have grown jackets on them like hears.' But in early March the working horses will have been stabled and well-fed in; readiness' for the work of spring seeding. ■ Poor devils! When they begin their work their collars will set halfway np their necks. A fortnight later those same collars will be blocked out with a thick sweat pad to make them small enough to fit their shoulders; for their, winter holiday fat will have melted away like the snow. \ A few days later the stubble fields, for six inches deep,-, are of the con-; sistency of porridge, while.,underneath— - lies hard frozi-n ■soil.V'The moment th 4» melted soil on top is dry enough to* carry; horses and tractors put they come . hauling ' ploughs over tho fields. And from that moment everybody is busy before dawn until after dark.

The land is ploughed and dressed the seed-is sown, and the crop comes up green, long ; before the frozen earth underneath this miracle has thawed out. > This work is done while blackbirds—black, red, yellow, and green blackbirds—flit in dozens among the willow bushes, while the frogs in. the sloughs formed by the : melted snow croak incessantly, and while everybody —man, beast, and even tractor—is dead tired.

But always it gets done. "Wheat goes in in April, oats in May, ‘ barley in early June, and green feed or very late oats to be used as fodder, until July s advent calls a halt. Then comes Manitoba’s short but tropical summer, which enables harvest to start in August. September and early October are given over to threshing and fall ploughing,dnd then once again comes the intense cold and the white blanket of winter. _ The rapidity of the growth of Manitoba’s spring-sown corn is amazing. No sooner is u seeding M finished than barvest is hut a few weeks away. I have seen barley, a six-rowed variety, sown, in June and a good crop of 40 bushels per acre harvested in early September; and April-sown marquis wheat cut in August which yielded 50 bushels or strong grain. I have also seen the whole crop on. dozens of neighbouring farms cut down a fortnight before harvest by a hailstorm as clean as though a scythe had been over every inch of it. When that happens the farmer who has insured against hail collects his money, and the farmer who has homo his own risk grins and bears it. But both get out their ploughs and set about preparing for next year. ina» is the mainspring of all farming them is always a next year.