THE WHEAT CRISIS

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10596, 4 March 1895, Page 6

THE WHEAT CRISIS

The latest report received in Victoria from Mr J. M. Sinclair, the farmers’ delegate to enquire into the wheat growing question in America, gives the following, information regarding the situation in Canada: —Ontario i-i the most fertile province of Canada, and has produced for many years nearly twice as much wheat as the colony of Victoria. The decline in prices has resulted in a decreased acreage of wheat, and more attention is now being given to dairy farming, the dairy produce being largely exported to Europe. The average area under wheat from 1882 to 1893 was 1,462,703 acres, and' in' 1894 the declineiu the acreage is estimated-at 10 per | cent. The farms average about 160 acres, and the settlement may therefore be regarded as dense. It is almost the universal practice to use the single-furrow plough. Sowing is chiefly done by drilling the seed in, and from one to one and a half bushels is the usual seeding. Harvesting is done with the reaper and binder, and threshing with the steam thresher. The average yield or wheat’ per acre, for ,'an autumn-sown crop for the past twelve years was twenty bushels, and for it spring-sown crop fifteen bushels.. The total average yearly production for the last twelve years was 26,661,377 bushels. The'farmers stated that the ruling price of the: season for wheat, viz., la 10a a bushel, left them no profit, and it was only their other farm products that enabled them to pull through. Cheesemaking for export to Great Britain was looked on as the most profitable pursuit. The exports of cheese from Canada to Great Britain amount to £2.600,000 per onnmu. Fruit-growing is on the increase, Ontario now having over 200,000 acres planted in orchards. On the production of wheat in Manitoba, ft province of Canada bordering on the United States frontier, Mr Sinclair says that the province is over larger than Victoria, and consists of broad prairies, with rich black soil resting on clay. The climate of Manitoba is more severe than that of any settled portion of North America. Last season there-were over one million acres under wheat, but it was anticipated that the low prices would cause a distinct decline in the area sown

next season. The land is ploughed early in the autumn, mostly with single-farrow ploughs, but owing to the severity of the winter thesowing does not take plaoetillthe spring. Sowing is dona by drills, and from one to one and a half bushels of seed is sown after the snow melts and the thaws. Late spring frosts often occur, doing an immense amount of damage. The Manitoba wheat is rich in gluten and is considered the beat grown in Canada, but in his opinion is not equal to that grown in the northern portion of -Victoria. The average yield is sixteen bushels an acre and the cost of production 2s a bushel. At the time of hia visit wheat was selling at Is Bd, and this low price had completely ruined hundreds of farmers, who were compelled to leave their farms to the mortgagees, the property being quite unsaleable even at JSI an acre including improvements, although near a railway station. Mr Sinclair concludes by saying “ the Victorian farmer has nothing serious to fear from competition in wheatgrowing in Manitoba. Although having a great extent of excellent soil, the severity of the seasons will always militate against Manitoba becoming a good agricultural country able to compete with other countries in supplying the world’s markets.”