AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN CANADA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 54

AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN CANADA.

By

J. A. D. Potts.

During the past five years agriculture in Western Canada lias undergone a remarkable change. Up to and including the year 1914 the farmers of “the West” were not in very happy circumstances. In the early days, when the pioneers trekked in “prairie schooners” for hundreds of miles across the vast, grassy, undulating plains to make their homes on the land, life was full of hardship and danger. The buffalo still ranged “the great Canadian desert,” as it was called, m large herds; the wolves and coyotes howled to the moon on the long winter nights, undisturbed by the presence of man, and the redskin still held sway, where now the crops of ripening, golden grain wave in autumn breezes. From Fort Carry west, to where the waters of the Pacific lave the shores of what is now known as British Columbia, was almost terra incognito. Several trading posts had been established by the Hudson Bay Co., but these were pushed out into this vast region of blistering summer heat and rigorous winter cold with the primary object of reaping the rich harvest of furs brought in by the Indian and half-breed trappers. Nevertheless, these posts were the advance guard of a civilisation that was to sweep the red man from the homes of his fathers and carry him in its train to some of the highest positions under the new dispensation. At these trading posts, and at the mission stations built by the missionaries of the Catholic Church, agriculture on a small scale was carried on, and at one of these stations—Port Simpson—a demonstration farm is now being run under the auspices of the Dominion Government. The experiments carried out by the factors of the Hudson Bay Co. and the brothers of the church proved the great fertility of the soil of this supposed arid waste, so that when Sir Garnet Wolseley marched out from Fort Garry to subdue the recalcitrant Indians, and, subduing them, made the country safe for settlement, a great “trek” took place to the west in the wake of his expedition. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police, then established as the outcome of that expedition, have been a great factor for good in the development of the west, for without the aid of the redcoats development must necessarily have been a slower process, and no men are more respected by the Indians, and no men have greater power over them, even to this day, than the members of this force. Supplies for Winter. Railroads as a means of transportation were then unknown on the prairies. Oxen provided most of the means of traversing the vast, unbroken distances across the plains, with the result that much difficulty was experienced by these daring and hardy spirits before their final destination was reached. Bringing in supplies for the winter meant spending weeks and sometimes months on the trail, and when the temperature fell so far below zero that the mercury disappeared in the glass, or a howling blizzard raged, the terrors of the trail were such that none but the most daring and robust spirits could brave. Driving an ox team, whose speed is scarce commensurate with their great strength, the time spent on the trail was not generally a very pleasant interlude in the life of the western pioneer. Hunting and fishing, the settlers contrived to add to their larder, and with a cow, a pig, and a few fowls, they considered themselves very fortunate. Growing crops for sale was not generally a good business proposition, hence very little cultivation was attempted, the settlers merely squatting on their homesteads—in some cases for 10 or 15 years —until the railway would pass through their territory. Cattle and horses could be bought for a trifle, and all the feed necessary to carry them over the winter was to be had for the cutting. In districts hay, luscious and fattening, though its appearance belies it, is still to be had for the trouble of cutting it, growing wild on the prairies. To the Women must be given a large share of the credit for the building up of the west as it is to day. Through their patient effort, unconsciously laying the foundation of a new civilisation, a glorious heritage has been bestowed upon the present generation. The hardships which they endured unmurmuringly, in order that a. home might be established on the land and security assured for their children fills us, knowin«- these things, with admiration. True gentlewomen, they have given everything they possessed—social advantages, even life* itself —but the monument which they have built is enduring and shall last until the end of time. With the coming of the railroads into “the back of beyond” the lot of the homesteader became a happier one; happier, at least, in this respect, that its coining brought that civilisation which he had sacrificed when he had answered “the call of the wild” nearer. He now began to grow crops of grain upon the plains, which hitherto had been considered to be of the nature of a desert. The virgin soil, untouched since the band of the Creator had fashioned the earth, produced bounteous crops, but, unfortunately, the markets were restricted, and facilities for handling and storing his produce lacking. Crops were grown, in many cases to be

burnt when ready for harvesting, the price obtainable being insufficient to warrant the cutting of the grain. The use of the by-products of grain was almost unknown, and many millers burnt the bran and shorts in order to generate steam with which to run their mills. Line elevator companies set the price to be paid for the grain, and this was the maximum obtainable. The Canada Grain Act was not then in existence to protect the graingrower through standardising the grade of the grain, lor not only did the elevator companies pay a ridiculously low price for the grain, but they also graded it as they pleased and deducted a high percentage from eacli bushel for foreign grain or weed seeds. CattJe dealers bought hia stock at prices which scarcely compensated their owners for the trouble of raising them, and the railroad companies charged as much as, and more than, the traffic would or could bear, until the Railroad Commission was brought into being in order to regulate the freight charges. Thus was the farmer exploited until the beginning of the present century, when a noticeable change was to be seen in the conditions under which the farmer operated. Nevertheless, many farmers still remained in a state bordering; on penury, battling with nature and adverse social and economic conditions. Farmers’ Organisations now began to spring into being in an effort to remedy the conditions under which they had then to work and to secure better conditions for the future. At Indian Head, Saskatchewan, a small body of farmers met, and from that meeting the Grain Growers’ Association—the most powerful organisation of its kind at present in the world —was evolved. Lender the name of the LTiited Grain Growers’, Ltd., including as it does the Farmers’ Unions and Associations of Alanitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, this trust, for it is a farmers’ trust, has been the means of securing legislation and forwarding the interests generally of the whole of tho farmers of the ivest. It is not to ba wondered at that in a country such as Western Canada, where agriculture is tho most important industry, that the farmers should have risen to the eminence in present-day Canadian public life which they have now attained. Formerly relegated to a back seat in business and politics, the opinion of the leading farmers is now courted and their services sought as expositors of the new democracy. Such men as the late W. Green, the founder of the Grain Growers’ Union, together with Thomas Sales, of Langham; W. \A r . Wood, a Canadianised American, president of the United Farmers of Alberta, and ALP. ; J. ALHarg, president of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers’ Association and of the United Grain Growers, Ltd., and Cabinet Minister in the Borden Government; C. Dunnig, treasurer of Saskatchewan, and organiser and president of the Greater Production Campaign during the war; \V. Henders and Roderick MacKenzie, of the Manitoba Grain Growers and the Council of Agriculture; Thomas Crerar, of the United Grain Growers, Ltd. ; George Langley, father of the Hail Insurance Act and the Farmers’ Co-op. Elevator Act, are some of the men who nave been the means of raising the status of the Western Canadian farmer. All of these men are products of tha West, and have proved conclusively that business capacity and a thorough knowledge of government in its relation to the nation and the world at large, men of largo vision and untiring in their pursuit of the ideals which they hold, are not confined to any one class, hut flourish as well on the soil as in the haunts of finance, learning, or big business. Witn the formation of protective organisations and the passing of the Canada Grain Act agriculture began to take on a more stable aspect. In the older settled districts, such as Alanitoba, a solid appearance of prosperity pervaded the whole atmosphere of agricultural life ; but Saskatchewan and Alberta, being still in the making, had to undergo further privations before moving from the borderland of mere existence to a position of comparative affluence. Handicapped through being a long distance away from his port of shipment, with the consequent long overland haul thus adding to the cost of getting his produce to market, handicapped also by bad roads, or no roads at all, making the transportation to the cars a long and expensive process, and further handicapped by a miserable price for his produce when it did finally reach the market —a price which ofttimes did not pay the expense of growing and handling it, — he kept plodding patiently on with a supreme faith in the future and the good that it might bring. Again, The System of Agriculture necessary to be followed in order to secure a crop from off the western farm lands, throwing, as it does, one-third of the land out of crop every third or fourth year, has militated against the farmer with a small holding, and has prevented him from making any great headway. A living has been made from farms of from 160 to 320 acres, but until the war began in 1914 it was after the 1915 crop that the farms of the West began to wear a prosperous look, for 1914 was a year of drought and for many destitution, the Government that year expending over 13,000,Q00d0l for food for man and beast and for seed grain for the 1915 crop in order to keep those farmers who had suffered loss through tho drought on their farms —farming on the majority of such farms was a hand-to-mouth affair. The bulk of such farms are wholly grain farms, for on such a small acreage there is room for little else beside. To grow a bushel of wheat on the prairies of Canada at the present time costs Idol >U cents; this, with the present fixed price of 2dol 21 cents, leaves a gross profit of 91 cents a bushel with which to combat tbe high cost of living. The average yield of wheat, taking a period of 10 years, is 17 bushels to an aero (the yield for 1919 gave an average of 9JZS bushels

to an acre), so that the gross profit from an acre of wheat would be 15dol 49 cents, leaving, even yet, very little for emergencies. (In normal times the average price obtainable for wheat is about 10 cents a bushel, which, with an average yield of 17 bushels to an acre, returned a gross income of lldol 90 cents from one acre.) The cost of growing a bushel of wheat is made up as follows: Del. Seed grain, 1| bushels to an acres, at 3.60d0l a bushel .. .. 612 Ploughing (with horses) 4.00 Discing 0.85 Harrowing twice 0.80 Drilling (seeding) 1.00 Cutting grain .. .. .. 1-25 Twine .. .. 1.08 Stooking 1-00 Threshing, at 20dol a bushel .. .. 8.40 Transportation of cars and rail to head of lakes 0.30 Treating grain for emut 0.20 Wear and tear on machinery and horses 0.10 Interest on land, at 8 per cent, on 25 dol, the average price of land .. .. 2.00 Cost of growing an acre of wheat .. 22.10 Cost of growing one bushel, average yield 17 bushels to an acre .. .. 1.30 It is the custom in most parts of the West to take two crops off one ploughing, thus reducing the cost of growing the grain; but as the yield is from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent, less the second year this seeming advantage is cancelled. The area of the three western provinces is 369,869,898 acres, 12,853,120 acres of this being water. Of the balance, most is rich alluvial soil, splendidly adapted to graingrowing, as analysis and experiment has proved. Analysis of the soil in different parts of the prairie has shown that, in its virginal condition, it contains 18,0001 b nitrogen, 15,5001 b potash, and 67001 b phosphorus to an acre —practically unlimited fertilisation if the soil is properly handled and a system of land robbery eschewed. Unfortunately, owing perhaps to the vast area or virgin soil yet to be found on the prairie, many farmers Rob the Land, — and when it refuses to grow further crops move on to pastures new. This problem, however, is being handled in a sensible manner, and the farmers of the West are beginning to realise that it does not pay to farm poorly. Much of the credit for this change of mind is due to the propaganda work carried on by the various Government departments of agricuture and to the work being done on the demonstration farms run by the Dominion Government. The importance of railways and canals in the development of Western Canadian agriculture cannot he overlooked. A means of transportation, cheap and efficient, has been provided by way of the Great Lakes and the connecting canals to Montreal, thus eliminating the long overland had with its consequent delays and high carrying charges. All Western Canadian grain is sold on the Winnipeg Exchange, and routed principally via Fort William or Port Arthur, at either of which points it is transhipped, so long as the lakes remain free of ice, which is generally until about December 1, and sent by way of the lakes and canals to Montreal or Duluth, where it is again transferred into ocean-going freighters. When the Welland Canal ,s deepened, however, and other necessary improvements made it will he possible to carry the grain direct from Fort William or Port Arthur by ocean freighter to Liverpool or anv other overseas destination. During the year 1901 the three prairie provinces exported between them 55,500.000 bushels of wheat; in 1906 this had increased to 136.000,000 bushels; increasing again in 1915 to 250,000,000 bushels. The acreage under wheat in the same provinces in 1901 was 4,234,000, in 1906 6,200,000, and in 1915’ 11,500,000 acres. Formerly, until the close of the nineteenth century, Ontario was the leading wheat-producing province in Canada; but this has changed. Saskatchewan now holds the premier position, and last season (1919) produced nearly 50 per cent, of the whole of the wheat produced in Canada, The history of Canadian agriculture has been one of Continual Struggle —- and sacrifice; hut the untiring effort and unflinching spirit of the hardy men and women who have blazed the trail has left a heritage of glorious worth and un equalled opportunity to the present generation. Vast territories still remain to be settled, but the pioneer of to-day has a smoother road on which to walk than that on which his brother of 30 or 40 years ago had to tread. Tragedies, however, are still enacted amid the great silences of the prairies and despair still lurks where the Borealis sheds a silvery light upon trie glistening, snow-clad plains and the icy hands of winter are out-stretched for six months of every year, ready to clasp the hand of the unwary in death’s cold salutation. A great future lies ahead of the western grain-grower. Railways, canals, and swift and capacious ocean freighters have brought his market to his hack door; legislation has paved the way for his advance, and soon he will be the autocrat of Canadian public life. TTe has manv injuries to remember, but that these will be forgotten in the interest of the nation at large is a foregone conclusion, for his is a magnanimous spirit: and. moreover, his interests and those of the people over whom be will rule are in the future. So the “dead yesterdays,” with all their burden of wrong, and wrapped in the cerements of misunderstanding, shall be allowed to lie undisturbed in the tomb until the dust o' these days, mingling with the living poul of the ever-present, shall make of the fabric of life a perfect whle. “Each for all. and all for each” is the motto of the various farmers’ organisations of the West, and that is the spirit which they will assuredly carry ino all the problems and duties of government.

The telescope, like many other groat inventions, was discovered by accident. A spectacle-maker’s children were playing with some glasses, and, after arranging them in a certain way, saw a distant spiro apparently brought before their eyes. They told their father, who forthwith made a crude telescope.