CONTENTdm
Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway Company
Agriculture
Land tenure
Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection
Book advertising the benefits of settling and farming in western Canada.
application/pdf
Western Canada /fQf p§p '^X Iff ;*mmm -x. "W- 1" j m . ■ .• . ; ■••^'. '. ■■■ ' ." ■ CANADIAN PACIFIC Canadian Pacific Railway Company's "EMPRESSES" OF THE ATLANTIC EMPRESS OF BRITAIN. Length 570 feet. 14,500 tons, EMPRESS OF IRELAND Hold the ATLANTIC RECORDS Between Canadian Ports and Liverpool. Sailing Lists, Rate Sheets and all information from any Railway or Steamship Agent. GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT : W. G. ANNABLE, MONTREAL, QUE. —— ~ffcl'f e. /f<st4. '99? MAIN STREET, WINNIPEG, CAPITAL OF MANITOBA. POPULATION, 1874, ABOUT 2,000; 1909, OVER 120,000. ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS CITIES IN THE WORLD. Western Canada Manitoba Alberta SasKatcHewan -How to Reach If- How to Obtain Lands How to Make a Home B 09 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE The Land of Opportunity 5 Growth of Population. 11 Educational Facilities in Western Canada 12 Soil and Climate of Western Canada 12 Land for Immigrants 15 Railway Development 16 Manitoba 18-23 Grain Farming 19 Mixed and Dairy Farming 20 Fruit and Ornamental Trees 21 Bee Keeping—Cities and Towns in Manitoba 22 Liberal Exemption Law—Land for Immigrants 23 Saskatchewan 24-31 Climate 26 Increasing Wbeat Area—Flax 27 Stock Farming 28 Dairying—Towns in Saskatchewan -... 30 Alberta 32-45 Climate of Alberta—Cereal Crops in Alberta 33 Bow River Valley Irrigation Block 36 Live Stock in Alberta ' . 39 Dairy Industry in Alberta 42 Poultry in Alberta 43 Game, Taxation, and Chief Towns of Alberta • . 44 System of Land Survey 46 Free Homestead Regulations 46 Synopsis of Regulations 48 Minerals 49 Government Land Offices 50 Railway Land Regulations—Terms of Payment 52 General Conditions 53 Towns 53 The Canada North-west Land Company 53 C. P. R. Irrigation Project 54 British Codumbia—Stop-over Privileges 54 Settlers' Effects 55 Information for Settlers 08 How to Commence ; 58 Importation of Animals from the United States and Newfoundland 59 Immigration Statistics 61 Crops and Live Stock—Milling in Western Canada 62 Mills and Elevators ..... 63 How to Risach the Canadian West — 65 Settlers' Reports 66-79 Western Canada i> t Embracing Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan TflE IiflflD OP OPPORTUNITY •BSTERN CANADA offers to farmers, merchants and capitalists as wide a certainty of profit and prosperity as any country on earth—in the larger degree, perhaps, to farmers. It is the last great area on this continent where anything like the settlement of the western and northwestern states of the union can possibly happen again. That remarkable history is being repeated now on the western Canadian plains, on a large scale, with rapid movement and rich returns. All the requisite forces are present in highly organized form, and more fully than they were in the western states twenty or thirty years ago. Values grow fast; the soil is rich, the crops are large, the climate is definitely favorable, and the railway systems keep abreast of, or lead, the incoming population and the founding of new towns. The attention of all the world was drawn to Canada last year, by the celebration of the tercentenary of the foundation of Quebec. That foundation, broadly speaking, marked the beginning of the country's life. The commemorative festival was important to the eastern provinces, but significant also to the west, since the country is one. But in view of the rise of Western Canada to its new position as an active, wealth-producing, wealth-conferring part of the Dominion, it has been suggested that the next celebration might fittingly be held at Winnipeg in 1912, to mark the centennial of Selkirk's settlement at Port Garry, in 1812. That settlement was the beginning of life for Western Canada. Lord Selkirk's sturdy Scotchmen worked their way down to the Red River from Hudson Bay. Rumors of their success and of the excellence of the soil soon began to be heard in the east, and a small movement westward set in. It never ceased, but until after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, it took on no very great volume. Since that time, and particularly within the last ten years, a great new country has been shaping itself, until all the elements of a permanent state are now in operation, in WESTERN CANADA. quality equal with any enlightened nation, and growing in strength and harmony. Western Canada has come into the family of nations. This is the Canada that a little more than a third of a century ago was roamed by the hunter and the trapper—" the great lone land " that appealed to romance and imagination. The history of its transformation, when fully written, will add an interesting chapter to the absorbing story of the colonization and development of the important outlying territories of the British Empire and of the great plains of the American Republic. When Eastern Canadians first learned that west of the Great Lakes between Winnipeg (or Port Garry as it was then known) and that other far oft Hudson Bay post called Edmonton there lay a possible wheat field 900 miles long by at least SOO miles broad very few of them were able to form the slightest conception of the full effect that the discovery of this hitherto little-thought-of territory was to have on the future of Canada, and, indeed, on the destinies of many old world peoples, but fortunately there were patriotic and far-seeing statesmen and shrewd level-headed and equally patriotic business men and financiers who saw clearly and at once that here had been found the great opportunity of the century, and combining their forces they inaugurated that vast scheme of railway construction which united the east with the west, opened up the country, and which eventually resulted in the organization of those three marvelous agricultural provinces of Western Canada—Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. At stated, the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway from ocean to ocean through Canadian territory first disclosed the real capabilities of the western plains, and the favorable nature of their climate. Time and the course of events have widened the scope of that disclosure, and opened a wheat field of some 150,000,000 acres, having a productive power equal to a world supply. This was a discovery of positive fact that compelled attention and dissipated doubt, and a stream of settlement immediately began to flow into the country. Thus the development began, and since then many of the stupendous possibilities of those early days have become accomplished facts. It has been demonstrated that Western Canada with its tremendous dimensions, its wealth of resources and the strength of its material might, presents to the home-seeker the great opportunity of the age, and seizing the opportunity the settlers already here and those yet to come are destined to play a most im- WESTERN CANADA. portant part in solving some of the intricate economical problems that now confront the statesmen and philosophers in the older portions of the world. Canada is a country of great distances. Extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it is more than equal in size to the United States, and in fact, covers 3,614,000 square miles—one-twelfth of the land surface of the earth. The Eastern Provinces of Canada are a land of woods and forests, of sea ports and harbors, lakes' arid' .valleys, corn lands and pastures, more extensive than half a dozen European kingdoms, practically all throbbing in some degree with the energy of strenuous commercial activity, and rich in agriculture, timber and minerals. Three times the size of the German Empire, and five times larger than Great Britain and Ireland, the provinces which make up the agricultural regions of Western Canada are a vast plain, watered and drained by three great river systems—the Red and the Assiniboine in Manitoba, the Saskatchewan in Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the Peace and Athabaska in Northern Alberta. With a gentle slope to the east and a slight tilt to the north, thjs plain stretches for fully a thousand miles from the Rocky Mountains on the west to the granite country of New Ontario on the east, and from the International Boundary on the south to a yet-to-be- determined point on the north. The river systems make this plain JASPER AVE., EDMONTON, ALBERTA. WESTERN CANADA. THRESHING WHEAT NEAR MACLEOD, ALBERTA. one vast network of interesting valleys, the topographical features, as well as the climate, in a large measure accounting for the remarkable productiveness of the soil. It has been estimated that one-half of this area is well adapted to cultivation, and that nearly all the cultivable area will produce wheat. Explorations show that for a hundred miles or more at a time no poor soil is seen in any direction, and explorers confidents predict that wheat culture will yet extend to what even now is regarded as the remote north. And the crops that these lands produce open the eyes of the wheat farmers of Russia, France and even of the Dakotas. Dr. P. T. Dondlinger in his recently published "The Book of Wheat" says: ."The greatest wheat crop ever recorded in the world's history as being produced on unfertilized land was that of Western Canada in 1901, where 63,425,000 bushels were harvested from a little over 2,500,000 acres; an average of over 25 bushels per acre." A very important consideration in this connection is undoubtedly the climate, and many wrong impressions regarding Western Canada frequently prevail on this point. It will interest and probably astonish many to be informed' that Edmonton-a thousand miles northwest of Winnipeg-has as high an average annual temperature as St. Paul, in Minnesota, five hundred miles south of Winnipeg; but a glance at any map having climatic lines will show that this is true. Further, that Northern Michigan and Manitoba have similar temperatures, and that as we go north and WESTERN CANADA. west the influence of the winds from the Pacific have a marked effect in modifying the climate. The mean temperature for July in Winnipeg is 66, which is higher than in any part of England. Winnipeg is on the same parallel of latitude with London. The average diurnal range is also much greater than that in England, being from a maximum of 78 degrees to a minimum of 53 degrees. This high daily temperature during the growing months, with the long hours of sunshine, mature the crops quickly. In Alberta remarkable characteristics of the climate are the light snow-fall and the warm chinook winds, and especially is this the case in the southern part of the province. Both cattle and horses can remain outside the entire winter, living and doing exceedingly well on the sun-cured buffalo-grass which covers the plain. The stream of settlement which began to flow into the country on the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad continued with varying degrees of intensity for many years, but it was not until the dawn of the twentieth century that the real rush began. Since 1900, when the people.of the republic to the south began to fully appreciate the agricultural possibilities of Western Canada, and to realize what a wonderful agricultural country lay immediately to Mass U'4"-^ *£&■:>■■ ^fj^ft i^mm:W/W&MmA ;&'■-.¥-■'? -mm[myv0 WORK HORSES ON A REGINA. FARM, 10 WESTERN CANADA. the north of their own boundary, the influx has continued with ever- increasing volume. During the last five years, 350,000 settlers from the United States have crossed the line into Canada. These were almost without exception families of experienced and successful farmers, who took along their household goods, liye stock, and farm machinery, together with amounts of money supposed to average not less than $1,000. The British Islands have sent three or four times as many people in the same time, but there has been also a large inflow from the central and northern states of Europe, and from southern Russia—farmers, nearly all, who have settled themselves in new homes, and are farming actively. With regard to capital, the development of Western Canada has been unique, for with the twentieth century discovery of the West by those who came to make their homes in the country, there has been concurrently a corresponding awakening of the investing class and the capitalists to the opportunities offered them. The result has been a remarkable inflow of capital from England and European countries.and from the United States, and there is no lack of funds for either public or private improvements. To sum up—what is the immediate outlook for Western Canada? It is a country that is now a long way beyond the experimental stage—a country that has been tried by the most exacting test to which a new country can be put, and has come triumphantly through the ordeal. There can be no doubt now that the settlers who are so rapidly peopling the Great West of Canada and making their homes here, are destined to be the wheat producers for the British Empire, and that they will also make up for all deficiencies that may arise in other countries. In this connection there seems to be no limit to the expectations that may reasonably be formed. For instance, what were once, in the imperfect knowledge of the country, supposed to be semi-arid districts are now, on thorough investigation, found to be capable of producing full crops, and of providing richer opportunities than can be found elsewhere for cereal and garden roots, for dairying and for stock raising. In other districts, which were once little thought of, winter wheat is revolutionizing the character of the whole territory, and elsewhere irrigation is proving an assured method of getting the best results. Once it was thought that there were large areas of doubtful rainfall. The soil was known to be first class, but natural conditions were thought to be too uncertain to justify any attempt at settle- WESTERN CANADA. 11 yBiSJfcj'i m SCARTH STREET, REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN. ' ment. Later explorations and practical experience have shown that conclusions in this regard have often been reached too hastily—and it now seems certain that there is very little really waste land in the whole vast territory. Much of the land once thought impossible is now under irrigation and is producing crops that are almost beyond belief. GROWTH OF POPULATION. The 1906 census gave the, population of Manitoba as 360,000, Saskatchewan 240,000 and Alberta 185,000. The total of these three provinces in 1901 was 419,512. The total in 1906 was 785,000, an increase in five years of 365,488. 12 WESTERN CANADA. All this has been accomplished without what one might call a " boom." Business and production have kept pace with the advance of farm lands and other real estate. While there has no doubt been some speculation, the actual settler has established himself on the soil, and by actual work has brought values up to and beyond the expectation of the most sanguine. EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES IN WESTERN CANADA. The educational facilities of Western Canada are the very best. The allowance of school lands is most liberal, giving the provinces a large income for the support of their public school systems. The residence of four rate-payers and twelve children is sufficient to secure provincial aid for a rural school. The amount of aid is determined by the average daily attendance and the number of school sessions in the year. The teachers must be duly qualified and a high standard is set. All the provinces maintain high schools in the larger towns. These schools are housed in handsome and elaborately equipped buildings and offer a great variety of courses. In Saskatchewan and Alberta provision is made for the maintainence of separate public schools by the Roman Catholics. - Manitoba has a large and flourishing Provincial University at Winnipeg which is destined to be a strong rival to the older eastern institutions. The Agricultural College, also at Winnipeg, is most modern in every particular. A number of buildings, thoroughly equipped, a large farm, and a competent and enthusiastic staff form an institution that is doing much for the cause of agriculture in the West. The young Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta are both just starting their Universities with liberal grants from the parliaments and a strong, general support on the part of the people. In addition to the public systems there are many private and church schools and colleges of various denominations scattered all through these provinces. In short, the intending settler need have no fear that his children will be deprived of the advantages of education. SOIL AND CLIMATE OF WESTERN CANADA. Professor Thomas Shaw, an eminent agriculturist, writer and lecturer, after a recent trip through Western Canada, spoke in the following terms on this subject: " The contemplation of this great country is bewildering, whether (viewed from the stand-point of size or resources. In size it is an WESTERN CANADA. 13 K •v'.-Y-'-'--' ;i4SS:s*2W;ssf ■ ■■;>•£,' -..":».?»-":;s V"\wiob- "W1«j: ! S:;;«.;-w;;?.;-'■;;*;/-■;;* ;.;.;.>y;;*' .;;>;;";""'; ■; " ;:' -:; ■ ■• ;': V ' • ' V ••' '. AM-v- ,*,';vft .■■■■■■. ,> . ■ GRAINS AND VEGETABLES GROWN ON CALGARY, ALBERTA. ATED LAND, empire. Our party has been travelling over it as fast as the engine can carry us for the past sixteen days, and we have only seen a very limited portion of its entire area. Its resources are almost fabulous in the aggregate, whether viewed from the stand-point of minerals, timber or agricultural production. But beyond all question, the agriculture of this country will be its greatest industry through all the centuries. " The first foot of soil in the three provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta is its greatest natural heritage. It is worth more than all the mines in the mountains from Alaska to Mexico, and more than all the forests from the United States boundary to the Arctic Sea, vast as these are. And next in value to this heritage is the three feet of soil which lies underneath the first. The subsoil is only secondary in value to the soil, for without a good subsoil the value of a good surface soil is neutralized in proportion as the subsoil is inferior. The worth of a soil and subsoil cannot be measured in acres. The measure of its value is the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash which it contains, in other words, its 14 WESTERN CANADA. producing power. Viewed from this stand-point, these lands are a heritage of untold value. 'One acre of .average soil in the North- West is worth more than twenty acres of average soil along the Atlantic seaboard. The man who tills the former can grow twenty successive crops without much diminution in the yields, whereas the person who tills the latter must pay the vendor of fertilizers half as much for materials to fertilize an acre as would buy the same in the Canadian North-West in order to grow a single remunerative crop. " Next in value to the soil is the heritage of climate. No citizen of North-Western Canada should be anxious to apologize for the climate of his country. Good as the soil is, it would never have brought supremacy in grain production in this country had it not been for the climate. The blessing of the climate is three-fold. It consists in the purity of the air, in the temperature of the same, and in the happy equilibrium in the precipitation. Every one knows the value of the pure air of this country, viewed from the stand-point of health. But does everyone know the inestimable character of the blessing which pure air proves to the agriculture of the country? It prevents the rapid decay and transformation of the vegetable matter in the soil, and also the too rapid transformation of inert fertility, thus virtually precluding the waste of nature's assets. In this fact is found one explanation of the extraordinary fertility of ■:-m ■r : ~iSi& STREET SCENE, CALGARY, ALBERTA. WESTERN CANADA. A RANCH BARN YARD.—FEEDING THE CHICKENS. the soil. The cool temperature of the summer nights is responsible for the large relative yields of the grain. Raise the temperature of the summer days and nights, and the yield of grain will be proportionately reduced. The relatively cool temperature is one of the agricultural glories of this land. The relatively light precipitation is also a great boon to the north-western farmer. It grows his crops and does not destroy them when grown. Nearly every portion of these three provinces has a rainfall of 15 or 20 inches; enough to grow good crops of grain on farms that are properly tilled, and not enough to waste the fertility of the soil through cracking. In this, another reason is found for the wonderful producing power of th°>=e lands. LAND FOR IMMIGRANTS. The new-comer has the choice of four ways of securing a farm; he may homestead 160 acres and secure an' additional 160 acres through preemption by ultimately paying $3.00 an acre and complying with certain regulations; he may buy land from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, or other holders, he may rent an already 16 WESTERN CANADA. cultivated farm, or he may buy an improved farm on the crop payment plan. The terms on which nearly all the farms are leased is the half-share plan. The owner of the farm provides the seed (and if he is wise, sees that it is clean and of the best quality); he also pays for one-half the threshing and half the twine, and in return gets one-half the crop put into the granary on the farm. The tenant does all the work and also the statute labor, which is generally five days for a half-section, and he, too, gets one-half the crop. To buy a farm on the crop-payment plan the holder in most cases asks a cash payment of from $500 to $1,000. The purchaser delivers in the nearest elevator one-half the crop till the land is paid for. The price is agreed upon and six per cent, interest is charged on the unpaid principal: The purchaser, if the land is of good quality and near to market, runs no risk, as he always has a fair return for his labor and in a few years owns the farm. Opportunities to rent farms in the older settled districts are not uncommon, and are often worth seizing. The farms are rented generally during the winter or early spring for a year or more, the rent depending largely upon the kind and value of the improvements. RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT. As showing the great development of Western Canada, the total length of Canadian Pacific Railway lines in operation between the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains is now 4557 miles, and .in spite of unfavourable conditions the year 1908 saw. no decrease in the rate of expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the three prairie Provinces. During that year there was constructed and placed in operation the following new mileage:— Moose Jaw Branch—Prom Moose Jaw to Outlook 120 miles Pheasant Hills Branch—From Asquith to Wilkie.. 75 Weyburn—Stoughton Branch 37 " Sheho Extensions—Sheho to Wynyard r,0 " Teulon Branch—North of Teulon 20 Total 302 miles. The four first-mentioned branches run through districts unsurpassed for grain growing, in most of which the Company has still considerable areas for sale, which should, now that ample railway facilities have been provided, prove most attractive to those looking WESTERN CANADA. 17 ^MBKI^B^^^^^^^^HP LOADING WHEAT ON CARS IN WESTERN CANADA. for new homes. The townsites at the various stations on these new extensions are rapidly becoming centres of importance; particularly is this the case at the three new Divisional points, Outlook, Wilkie and Wynyard. During the year about 60 miles of the Medicine Hat section of the Main Line was altogether rebuilt in connection with the Company's scheme for a four-tenths of one per cent gradient between, the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains, and the work of double tracking the main line between Winnipeg and Port William was vigorously carried on and practically completed, the value of this undertaking to the whole of Western Canada being clearly proven by the large proportion of last year's crop transported to the head of the Lakes prior to the close of navigation. In addition to the above fully-completed construction, there was graded ready for tracklaying, on the Pheasant Hills branch—between Wilkie and Hardisty—130 miles, on the Virden-McAuley branch 10 miles, on the Mowbray branch 6 miles and the Lethbridge-Macleod cut-off 34 miles in length. A striking feature of the last mentioned is the steel viaduct over the Belly River at Lethbridge. This viaduct is 314 feet in height above the river's bed, and over a mile in length. It is the largest structure -of its kind on the Continent. \* j ]Wfl|UlTOBfl | *'\ ANITOBA is the pioneer province of the West. For years the Red River' Settlement in the fertile valleys of the Assiniboine and Red rivers was the only agricultural community in the wilderness of the West. After the province entered the Confederation in 1870, with a population of only 1700, it became the scene of Canada's first immigration efforts. What was accomplished is now being repeated in the new provinces to the west. So the conditions here may be taken as a fair index of the whole. It is the smallest of the western provinces, measuring but 65,000 square miles, yet it has 27,000,000 acres of arable land, about one- sixth of which is under plow. The Dominion census of 1906 gives a population of 360,000. Mos* of this population consists of emigrants from Great Britain and the United States and Eastern Canada, and some from the northern countries of Europe. The province may be divided roughly into two parts. Southern Manitoba, extending from the United States border to a line drawn through the lower ends of Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg, is a great, wheat-growing prairie, broken near the centre by a line of hills and traversed by the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Northern Manitoba comprises two distinct sections. The eastern portion, broken by great lakes and heavily-wooded belts east of Lake Winnipeg, is largely unsurveyed and little settled, though holding immense wealth of pulp wood and minerals in reserve for the future. The western part is parklike, with rolling prairies dotted with groves of poplars and broken by a series of wooded hills, the Duck and Riding Mountains. This portion of the province is rapidly overtaking the older southern districts in population and crops. Manitoba is a thoroughly settled community, and in nearly every part the difficulties of the pioneer are a thing of the past. A glance at the map will show the excellence of the railway communications. From Winnipeg the branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway spread out like a fan. The main transcontinental line passes through Winnipeg, and extensions are built as needed to keep pace with, and sometimes even to anticipate, the rapidly-increasing population. ; - MANITOBA. 19 mMMMiiiilMtSBSI ;■....■, >■..■. ■■■■.■ fe^K IHlssif -JSiK . «sS; A FARM GARDEN, NEAR BRANDON, MANITOBA. Telegraph lines connect every part of the Province with Winnipeg. The telephone and electric light are found in all places of importance. The postal service is thoroughly well organized and reaches every part of the Province, while the public schools are efficient and numerous. The climate of Manitoba is typical of the interior. The winters are cold, but the air is dry and the days bright. Spring comes early and suddenly. The summers are warm and the days long, making the growing season equal to that of the states lying to the south. GRAIN FARMING. " Manitoba hard" wheat is famous in the markets of the Old World. The deep, rich loam of the Canadian prairie, reinforced by its heavy subsoil, contains the exact elements necessary for the production of the clean, flinty berry so ■ much prized by . millers. And the wonderful thing about this soil is that its fertility lasts. There are old Red River Settlement farms that have been cropped for over thirty years and still produce, as regularly as the changing seasons, twenty bushels per acre of " No. 1 hard." Many yields of 30 and 40 bushels per acre are reported by the threshers each year. The average yield of wheat per acre for 1904 and 1905 was 20 MANITOBA. about 20 bushels; the average price per bushel being 85 cents and 65 cents respectively. The cost of seeding, harvesting and marketing being reckoned at $6.00 per acre, we have a balance ranging from $11.00 to $7.00 clear profit to the farmer. When it is remembered that land can be had for from $8 to $30 per acre, according to location and improvements, the financial aspect of Manitoba farming may be appreciated. The coarse grains are proportionately successful. Oats weigh from ten to twenty pounds per bushel more than the standard and the crops run from 40 to eighty bushels per acre. The barley is of unusually high grade, while many a settler has gone a long way towards paying for his farm with a crop of flax sown on the first " breaking." In 1907 about 4,900,000 acres were under plow in Manitoba On this land the farmers raised of wheat, 39,688,266 bushels; oats 42,- 233,140; barley, 16,752,724 bushels; flax, 317,347 bushels; rye, 83,688 bushels; peas, 27,521 bushels; potatoes, 5,920,161 bushels; besides the large crops of roots and cultivated grasses. The total grain crop for 1907 was 99,102,679 bushels and ail this in a year that was notorious all over the world as a " bad " year for agriculture! MIXED AND DAIRY FARMING. For many years Manitoba was treated as almost exclusively a wheat-growing country, but this is changed now, and stock-raising arid dairying are attracting much attention. On December 1st, 1907, the number of horses in the provinces was set down at 173,212; cattle, 463,862; sheep, 14,442; pigs, 118,243. Cattle raising is especially profitable, as there is a splendid market close by. At least 80,000 cattle are required each year for home consumption. In 1896 the Provincial Government established a dairy school in Winnipeg, which has been a great success. It is fitted up in the most modern way, and has trained many of those now in charge of the creameries and factories throughout the Province. Any resident of Manitoba may attend without paying fees. The dairy statistics for the Province of Manitoba for 1907 are: Pounds Price per lb. Value Butter, dairy 3,239,006 20.5 $662,161.92 Butter, creamery 1,577,238 24.5 386,123.31 Total $1,048,285.21 Pounds Price per lb. Value Cheese, factory 1,408,310 12 168,997.20 Total dairy products ^1,217,282.43 MANITOBA. 21 Dairy butter shows an increase of $1.22 per 100 pounds in the price. Creamery butter shows a slight gain, with an average price of 24.5 per pound. Manitoba has great advantages as a dairy country. The pasturage is very rich and nutritious, with an abundance of variously- flavored grasses; the water supply is excellent, and ample both for watering the stock and for use in the dairies, streams of pure running water being often available, FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES. No better currants (black, red and white) can be grown than in Manitoba. Gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries yield regularly crops of the finest fruit and stand the climate well; crab apples, too, are heavy bearers, and when well sheltered hardy varieties of the standard apples can be grown where the altitude is not too high. Ornamental trees and shrubs do well, and some farmers now have *li*i*y;g APPLE PICKING ON STEVENSON FRUIT FARM, NELSON, MANITOBA, 22 MANITOBA. their lawns very, tastefully adorned with such trees and flowering shrubs. The Dominion Government supply from the Experimental Farms 1,500 trees to each applicant owning a farm in Western Canada. These are delivered in good condition at the nearest station free of cost. All that the farmer is expected to do is to take good care of the trees. Some of the early settlers now have groves of trees which will supply them with both shelter and wood for fuel for years to come. The seed of the box alder or soft maple can be gathered in the fall of the year in abundance. Trees of this variety are no more trouble to grow than a crop of turnips. Apples are grown successfully in many parts of the province, and it is believed that in time the production will fully supply the local demand. At a convention of Manitoba market gardeners, held recently, Dr. Thompson, a successful fruit-grower, stated that he believed there was no country where small fruits could be grown with less trouble than in Manitoba. There were few insect pests or diseases to interfere with their growth. Dr. Thompson called the attention of the farmers to the fact that when more was grown than was wanted, they would find a very profitable local demand for it. Ho . had, therefore, no hesitation in advising the farmers of Manitoba to grow small fruits. BEE KEEPING IN MANITOBA. The same long summer days that ripen the wheat make it possible for the bees to store quantities of honey. The luxuriant vegetation and the increasing cultivation of a number of varieties of clover make bee culture easy and profitable. An apiary of ten hives started four years ago has increased to one hundred arid five, and produced nine thousand pounds of honey, and in the interval twenty- five hives have been sold. This is an example of the profit to be derived from bees. The work involved is slight and the market is large in the home cities. Bee-keeping in the West has passed beyond the experimental stage, and honey as well as wheat is now a product of the prairies. CITIES AND TOWNS IN MANITOBA. Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, and the largest city in Canada west of Lake Superior, is about midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 1870 its population was 215; in 1874 it was, 1,869; in. 1902, 48,411 and in 1908, 120,000, and it is steadily'in- creasing. Winnipeg is naturally a centre for the wholesale and MANITOBA. 23 jobbing trade of the North-Wiest and every branch of business is represented; all the principal chartered banks of Canada have branches here, and it is the third city in all Canada in the amount of its manufacturers' output. There are extensive stockyards, and immense abattoirs, arranged for slaughtering and chilling the meat for shipment to Europe and other markets. There is ample cold storage in the city for dairy produce, etc. It is an important railway centre, from which both East and the West may be reached. Branch lines run to nearly every part of the Province and a branch of the Canadian Pacific connects with the Soo line at Emerson, thus affording a direct and easy route to St. Paul, Minneapolis and Chicago. The yards of the Canadian Pacific Railway at Winnipeg are the largest in the world operated by one company, and contain 120 miles of track. ' Winnipeg is the political as well as the commercial centre of Western Canada. The Legislative and the Departmental buildings of the Manitoba Government and the chief immigration, lands and timber offices of the Dominion Government for the West are located here. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company has its chief offices in the West in Winnipeg, and also the head offices of its land department, where full information regarding the Company's land can be obtained. The largest towns in the province outside of Winnipeg are on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway:—Portage la Prairie, 56 miles west (population about 6,000) lies in the midst of the famous Portage Plains; and Brandon (population 12,000,) 133 miles west, is developing into an important jobbing and even manufacturing centre. Both cities are important railway junctions and distributing points for large areas of magnificient farming country. There are many other important towns, with populations ranging from 1,500 to 5,000. Grain elevators have been erected at nearly every station. Stores will, be found in every town facilitating the business of the neighboring settlements. LIBERAL EXEMPTION LAW. . Manitoba has a liberal exemption law; that is, the law protects from seizure for debt, where no mortgage exists, ,a certain number of horses, cattle, swine, and poultry, some household effects and a year's provisions, so that if a settler who has not mortgaged his property is overtaken by misfortune, he cannot be turned out of his house and home. I SHSJ\RTCHEWflfl 1 HE Province of Saskatchewan, containing 229,229 square miles, may be divided roughly into four parts: (1) North Saskatchewan, which embraces an area of about 70,000,000 acres and which has not as yet been generally opened to settlement: (2) Central Saskatchewan, through which flows the main Saskatchewan river, and its principal branch the North Saskatchewan; (3) Southeastern Saskatchewan, which is a continuation of the grain growing areas of Manitoba, and includes the great wheat plains of Regina and Moose Jaw; and (4) Southwestern Saskatchewan which, westward from Swift Current to the Alberta boundary line and south to the international boundary line is a rich ranching country occupied by great herds of cattle. By this division it will be seen that practically all of the central and southern two-thirds of the Province is a potential wheat growing country. Grain growing in Saskatchewan may be regarded as only in its beginning. When we consider how small in proportion to the whole of the province is the area now under cultivation, we may well stand amazed at its possibilities. The crop districts Into which the province was divided for statistical purposes previously to 1908 have a" total area of 73,171,780 acres. The total area of the grain icrops in 1907 was 3,058,638 acres, or 4.18 per cent, of the area of the crop districts at present outlined. That it has come to be known as one of the greatest wheat producing sections of the American continent is due chiefly to five conditions:—1st—It has a soil particularly rich in the food of the wheat plant. 2nd— It has a climate that brings the plant to maturity with great rapidity. 3rd—-On account of its northern latitude it receives more sunshine during the period of growth than the country to the south. 4th— Absence of rust, due to dryness of climate. 5th—Absence of insect foes. Anyone who visits Saskatchewan at the close of the crop season will be impressed by the very remarkable fertility of the soil. Evidence of its ability to produce a high average yield ol wheat, oats, barley and potatoes for many years in succession with ont the application of any fertilisers or even by' the growing of leguminous crops is found in the experience of a great many of the early settlers who have been for years producing these crops from the same land without any apparent diminution of the yield. The soil is generally clay covered with twelve to eighteen Inches of SASKATCHEWAN. 25 11 MARKETING GRAIN AT INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN. rich loam, which after a second plowing makes a fine seed bed, easy to work and productive of the flinty No. 1 hard wheat which has made Western Canada, famous in the wheat markets of the world. The oldest settled portions of Saskatchewan are along the Canadian Pacific Railway, where in the famous Indian Head and Regina districts may be found farms which have been under crop now for ten to twenty-five years. On these farms may be seen prosperous, deep-verandahed farm houses surrounded by well-kept lawns and big trees, neat fences and gravelled paths. All along the main line are splendid towns, whose rows of big elevators give evidence of the agricultural riches of the country through which the railway passes. Through Central and Southern Saskatchewan, railway construction has been most rapid, as settlement has increased. For example, the growth in the population of the Last Mountain Lake district from 2,561 in 1901, to 23,553 in 1906, was such as to support the demand for a railway, and .the Kirkella branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway was extended and now gives through communication between Winnipeg and Saskatoon. Large areas of good soil, 26 SASKATCHEWAN. wiell-fiitted in all respects to meet the needs of agricultural communities, also made necessary the important branch from the main line at Moose Jaw, northwesterly to the Saskatchewan, which will ultimately be carried on to Lacombe in Alberta. In fact throughout Central and Southern Saskatchewan branch lines, contemplated and actually under construction, will shortly bring all settled parts of the district within easy reach of the railway. CLIMATE. The British Islands lie in the same latitude as the Province of Saskatchewan. Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, the greater part of Germany, and about half of Russia are north of Regina. Edin- burg, Scotland, is farther north than any of the settled parts of Saskatchewan. Christiana, the capital of Norway, and St. Petersburg, Russia, "are in the SOth parallel of north latitude,—the northern boundary of Saskatchewan. The climate of Great Britain and of some other countries in Europe is of course influenced by the Gulf Stream, and it is recognised that the influence of the ocean in regulating climatic conditions and in preventing extremes is important. There are, however, a number of features pertaining to the climate of Saskatchewan that combine to make it a very pleasing one. The elevation above the sea, which is from 1,500 to 3,000 feet, insuring clear and dry' atmosphere; the comparatively light precipitation, adequate, however, for all practical purposes; the equable temperature during the winter months, and the light snowfall; the very large proportion of bright sunshine; the summer breeze and the clear pure air, and the absence of destructive storms; these are features of the climate of Saskatchewan that may be emphasised. Precipitation occurs principally during the period of vegetation. The total rainfall is not much greater than is required to bring the crops to maturity. June and July are the wettest months in the year, although May and August are only moderately dry. Two- thirds of the annual precipitation occurs in the form of rain between April and September. The temperature during the summer season rises frequently to about 90 degrees; but the days are tempered by a never-failing breeze, and the nights are cool and pleasant after even the hottest days. The winter, which usually sets in about or shortly before the beginning of December, and continues without interruption until the middle or end of March, is cold; SASKATCHEWAN. 27 but the infrequency of thaws and the equability of the temperature cause a noticeable absence of pneumonia and those kindred troubles that are so much dreaded in more moist and changeable clirnates. Little has been said here of Northern Saskatchewan, but there is an extensive belt lying in a latitude north of the middle of the province and extending in a northwesterly direction, at present covered with heavy spruce forests, which is extremely fertile. ' Mr. J. Eurr Tyrell, M.A., F.G.S., who spent several seasons in that region while acting under instructions of the Geological Survey, states that that area is essentially suited for agricultural purposes, _ and that it is for the most part excellent agricultural land. He saw potatoes, carrots, cabbage, turnips, cauliflower, and all the ordinary garden produce growing there. The summers are warm, and the rainfall is sufficient. The number of hours of sunshine is greater in that latitude than farther south. INCREASING WHEAT AREA. The wheat growing areas of Saskatchewan are constantly being enlarged. "Where at one. time the plains west and south of Moose Jaw were considered io be fit only for ranching, today they are being rapidly occupied by prosperous farmers whose main industry is the growing of spring wheat. In the vicinity of Halbrite, Weyburn, Yellow Grass, Estevan, Milestone and Rouleau, along the " Soo" Line, wheat growing is the important industry. Moose Jaw, until.' recently thought to be the western limit of the wheat growing area of Southern Saskatchewan, is now the centre of a large farming district. To the north and northwest the population is growing very rapidly and there are numerous settlements of contented and prosperous farmers. Along the line from Moose Jaw to Outlook and the projected line from there to Stettler, are immense areas of the finest wheat growing lands. FLAX. Flax growing is an important source of profit, particularly to the new settler who wishes to get a crop on first year's breaking. The following statement shows cost and returns' of flax crop raised last season from prairie newly broken, by Mr. S. T. St. John, of the Luse Land Company, of St. Paul, Minn., who hired the land broken and sown to flax and did not have an opportunity to give 28 SASKATCHEWAN. the matter any personal attention, nor did he see the land from the time it was broken until flax was threshed. This case, which is not an exceptional one, will indicate the actual cost when one desires to hire everything done. In a great many instances the work could,be done for less than this statement shows and the expense reduced a great deal if the owner could give the matter personal attention. Cost of raising 2,303 bushels of flax on 165 acres of land in Canada. Wilcox, Saskatchewan. Breaking per acre 3.50 Seed per acre .70 Drilling per acre -75 Cutting per acre .80 Threshing per acre 2.10 Hauling to market—1% cts. ~>er bushel .21 Total cost per acre $8.06 Average yield 14 bushels at $1.11—$15.54 per acre Total yield for 165 A. 2303 bu. flax at $1.11 per bi $2556.33 Total cost for raising same 1359.60 Net profit on 165 acres $1196.73 Finished sowing this flax June 16th. It all ripened before frost and graded No. 1. STOCK FARMING. There are in the province some districts especially adapted to raising live stock in connection with mixed farming, and these generally speaking are included in the great "park belt" or semi- wooded area north of the Qu'Appelle River and particularly in that part tributary to the M. and N.W. branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. According to the Dominion census of 1901, there were in that year 217,053 cattle in the territory now comprised in the province, and, in 1906, there were 472,854, or an increase in five years of 255,801. In 1906 there were shipped east from Saskatchewan 15,812 cattle; and in 1907 the shipments aggregated 20,271. In 1901, there were 73,097 sheep in the province; and in 1906 the numbei was 121,290. The value of the sheep and lambs exported annually from SASKATCHEWAN. 29 % U. . " **" • ■'. • feW^iSffiSjissg ■k *•> " ,.' •*>^. *^ f*l' ?■;'»"■ *.*".-*. vM'^!^« ',,s JKsjP1** -V ■ '" ^^HWt**V #? ■"'■"■tfjUtftyf/:" CATTLE NEAR MAPLE CREEK, SASKATCHEWAN. Maple Creek and adjacent stations amounts to about $100,000. About 300,000 pounds of wool is shipped annually from those stations. The value of it varies with the different seasons. In 1906 the price was about 17% cents per pound, and in 1907 the quotations were about 2 cents less than in the previous year. The swine industry has developed rapidly with the increase in settlement; and the number of hogs in the province has increased from 27,753 in 1901 to 123,916 in 1906. Elevator screenings and low grade grain furnish a cheap and satisfactory food for swine; and the wonderful development in grain growing will furnish a further impetus to this branch of the live stock industry. The short buffalo grass of the Cypress Hills region is producing cattle which bring their owners from $40 to $50 per head. In this district the winters are mild and the snowfall so light that cattle, horses and sheep graze the entire year. The grasses to all appearances become dry about midsummer but actually they are green and still growing at the roots, forming excellent pasture both in winter and summer. The success of the cattlemen is shown in the importance of Maple Creek as a stock centre, the entire district being excellent for ranching. .30 SASKATCHEWAN. Stock raising is general throughout Central and Southern Saskatchewan but in Central Saskatchewan the cattle must be fed and sheltered from three to four months every winter and sheep require the same care as cattle and do better in small flocks. DAIRYING. The natural conditions in certain parts of the province are eminently suitable for mixed farming and dairying. Within the province itself there is a splendid rnarket for butter during the winter months, especially if it is fresh made. In recent years the supply has not been equal to the demand. Co-operative dairying, although in its infancy, is gradually becoming more prominent, and the creameries now in operation are being well supported. The movement during the past two years has been decidedly in favor of co-operative dairying, and there are indications that the farmers are reverting more to this line of worjt. Most of the creameries arei under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, Regina, which supervises all business transactions relating to the operation of the creamery, with the exception of arranging for cream delivery. That is attended to by a local board of directors. Butter sales are effected by the department, and advances on cream are made direct to the patrons twice each month. These advances are based upon the wholesale price of butter at the time of payment, and are forwarded regularly, even if the butter is not sold. They constitute an advance payment only; and at the end of the summer and winter seasons, which terminate on the first of November and the first of May respectively, the season's business is closed, and after deducting the actual manufacturing cost, the balance is forwarded to the patrons. The average price realised for butter for the season of 1907 was 24.22 cents per pound. • TOWNS IN SASKATCHEWAN. Regina, formerly the territorial capital and now the capital of the province, has a population of about 10,000; is on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and is the terminus of the Arcola branch from the south-east. Prince Albert, the oldest town of size in the province, with a population of 6,000, is located on the Saskatchewan River, near the centre of the province. SASKATCHEWAN. 31 Moose Jaw, population 10,000, is a divisional point on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway; it is an important business centre and is situated in one of the best wheat sections of the province. It is the point where the Soo line, running to St. Paul, Minneapolis and Sault St. Marie, connects with the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The branch line being built northwesterly has now reached Outlook at the crossing of the Saskatchewan and will open up immense tracts of finest wheat lands. Saskatoon, with a population of about 7,000, is a thriving town on the through line to Edmonton, and is rapidly developing into an important distributing centre. Weyburn, on the Soo line, is becoming a very important business centre. Outlook, Wilkie and Wynyard are important divisional points on the Canadian Pacific System. There are many other important towns, and at nearly every station are elevators, stores and all the business facilities which the settlers require. f<tt*:':;i2i:H%; E;;;;"U--'£ :;;;'\ % cm* ^.:m:;mf;i THRESHING WHEAT NEAR CARON, SASKATCHEWAN. j ^§p ALtBE^Tfl ifr I LBERTA, the great stock-raising, farming and mineral province, is situated between the Province of British Columbia on the west and Saskatchewan on the east. It embraces 253,540 square miles, or one hundred and sixty-two million acres. It is double the size of Great Britain and Ireland and much larger than either Germany or France. Its present population is less than two hundred thousand; but there is ample room for hundreds of thousands of prosperous farmers. The district may be divided into three great sections: Southern Albert-a, which embraces the area lying between the International boundary and a. line drawn east and west through the town of Olds on the Calgary and Edmonton railway, Central Alberta, which includes the rich Edmonton district, and Northern Alberta, stretching to the north from Athabaska Landing. Northern Alberta.—Comprising roughly the great valleys of the Athabaska arid the Peace Rivers, has not yet been surveyed and opened to general settlement. But for many years vegetables, coarse grains and wheat well ripened by the long sunny days of the northern summer, have been grown at the Hudson's Bay Company's posts and other pioneer settlements. Central Alberta includes the rich valley of the North Saskatchewan River. The area is well wooded and watered and the settler is thus able to provide shelter for his stock at a small outlay. Pure water can be obtained at a depth of from 15 to 30 feet. River and woodland, hill and dale clad with grass and flowers and dotted with groves of Aspen, Poplar and Spruce, delight the eye; the lakes which abound reflect the bright blue skies above, and the magnificent valleys of the Saskatchewan lend boltdness to a landscape otherwise full of pastoral charm. . Southern Alberta contains one of the richest soils in Western .Canada. Rolling eastward from the Rocky Mountains the Foot Hills extend for some 70 miles, until they merge gradually into the vast prairie plateau of the Province. This plateau is one of the finest stock and grain raising areas on the Continent. A few years ago the whole of Southern Alberta was given up to ranching. Today it is making marvellous strides in grain producing and mixed farming. It is found that its gently rolling prairies are fairly breaking the hitherto supreme record of Western Canada in the quantity and quality of their wheat, oats and barley production. ALBERTA. 33 A CALGARY FARM. HOUSE. CLIMATE OF ALBERTA. There is no more healthful climate to be found in the world than that of Alberta, " Sunny Alberta," it has come to be called. The summers are bright with clear, cloudless days, and cool nights. The autumns are especially delightful. It is seldom that it is cold for more than a few days in succession even during the winter, and then follows a warm period heralded by the " Chinook," a warm, dry wind blowing from the west across the plains, whose principal characteristic is its power of melting the snow and drying it up. It is seldom that there is sufficient snow to use sleighs. The winter generally breaks up early in March with a grand blowing of the warm winds from the west. The climate of Southern Alberta hinges on the Chinook wind, which exercises a moderating influence at all seasons. ». CEREAL CROPS IN ALBERTA, Winter Wheat.—This cereal is the leading crop of Southern Alberta and is also grown, to a small extent, in the North. The expansion of winter wheat production in Southern Alberta constitutes one of the most far reaching Canadian agricultural developments of recent years. Never in the history of Canada has 34 ALBERTA. any single crop in any part of the country come to the front with such giant strides as has winter wheat in Southern Alberta. In 1900 the area seeded to winter wheat was less than 500 acres. In 1901 it was very little over 1,000 acres; 1902, 3,500 acres; 1903, 8,300 acres, 1905, 32,000 acres; 1906, 43,660 acres, and in 1907, 84,000 acres. Taking as an example the district around Calgary, which is fairly representative of the whole of the winter wheat area of Southern Alberta, we find the average yield of winter wheat since 1902 has been: 1902, 24 bushels'per acre; 1903, 23y2 bushels per acre; 1904, 28% bushels, 1905, 32% bushels per acre; 1906, 26 bushels per acre and 1907, 21% bushels per acre. The; average yield per acre for the whole of the. United States for the same years is as follows: 1902, 14% bushels per acre; 1903, 13 bushels per acre; 1904, 12% bushels per acre; 1905, 14 bushels per acre; 1906, 15% bushels per acre and 1907, 14 bushels per acre. ' , In regard to quality Southern Alberta fears no competition. " Alberta Red " wheat is gradually becoming a standard. . Wheat of this variety took the. Gold Medal at the famous Portland Exhibition in competition with the very choicest winter and spring wheats produced in the United States. Winter wheat in Southern Alberta is one of the safest crops grown, and gives uniform and satisfactory results. Winter wheat is produced on summer fallowed land only, which insures economy in time and labor. The crop ripens earlier than spring wheat and all danger of frost is entirely eliminated. Winter wheat culture can be systematically pursued with the certainty that nothing will intervene to hinder each particular farming operation in good season. By way of conveying information on the possibilities of winter wheat production, it may be mentioned, that Mr. C. Nathe of Macleod has just threshed 3,700 bushels from 60 acres of larid, being at the rate of 64% bushels per acre. A. E. Burnett, some 40 miles south of Calgary, threshed recently 4,280 bushels of winter wheat from 71 acres of land, or at the rate of 60% bushels per acre; and P. A. McAnally, near Crossfield some twenty miles north of Calgary, threshed 596% bushels from nine acres, or at the rate of 66% bushels to the acre. Crops of from 48 to 55 bushels per acre are common and a winter wheat crop of less than 35 bushels to the acre is not considered .worthy of note. The price this year is 70c to 80c per bushel, delivered at the elevator. alberta. v^«^^a«^^M^ ■ t :^*&£... % iaStlfil '■/.■''*••'■'••■v--. ' ,-i"y.-'.' ■ -hv". .'.'. :•■ ■■:. , ■'.'••. . T-J- :-■•". . •; .- ^■$•31* iMSIfliftilllfBl IllipPllll iiM^:s^^*^^^^^^^Sis^#i &$?&&-« WINTER WHEAT NEAR CALGARY. Spring Wheat.—The prize wheat of the Province at the Provincial Seed Fair in 1907 came from near the Southern boundary, and the Wheat which won first place at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 was grown in the Peace River Valley, near the northern boundary. When we consider that grain of such high quality can be grown at the extremities of the Province, it speaks well for the possibilities of the crop throughout the whole land. It is grown successfully in all parts of the Province and each year sees a great increase in the area sown. The increase for 1907 over 1906 was 66%. per cent. The yields have been uniformly good and when compared with those obtained in the neighbouring States to the south of the line have been as uniformly high. An average of 21.27 bushels per acre over nine consecutive seasons is no mean average for the whole of the Province. In 1898 the average yield was 25.27. In 1899 the average yield was 28.74; in 1901 it was 24.58, and in 1906, 23.07 bushels per acre. Oats.—There is no section of the province where oats of the very highest quality cannot be successfully produced. The prize winning sample of oats at the Paris exposition was produced in Alberta. While the southern portion of the Province has become famous as a section admirably adapted to growing a high quality of winter wheat, the central portion of the Province has become equally well 36 known as a district that grows large crops of a superior quality of oats. A yield of 115 bushels per acre is not uncommon in the Edmonton district and from 50 to 60 is regularly obtained. While 34 pounds is the standard weight for a bushel of oats, those that won the first prize at the Provincial Seed Fair, weighed by the Dominion Grain Inspector for the Province, tipped the scale at 48 pounds. The same official stated that Alberta was prepared to advocate a standard grade of oats calling for a weight of 42 pounds to the bushel, and also made the statement under oath that 85 per cent of the -Alberta oats examined by him would weigh over 42 pounds to the bushel. It will thus be seen that oats of a very superior quality can be grown. It is this fact which has led to the establishment in the Province of two large oat-meal mills. It is not unusual to see a large field of oats standing over five feet high. There is a large market for oats in the province of British Columbia and the Yukon territories, and shipments have also been made to Oriental countries and to Great Britain. Barley.—There are two varieties of barley produced in the province, the six-rowed barley principally used for feeding purposes and the two-rowed barley utilized entirely for malting. The six- rowed is the principal barley crop in Central Alberta at the present time and probably preponderates also in Southern Alberta, although the production of a high class malting barley in the latter district is rapidly coming to the front. It has been found that the malting barley raised in Southern Alberta is fully equal to the famous Gallatin Valley barley produced in the State of Montana, which is invariably exported to Germany. A standing offer has been made by British maltsters to pay from 10 to 15c per bushel premium on all two-rowed barley fit for malting purposes produced in Southern Alberta, especially if raised under irrigation. Barley is a heavy yielder in Alberta. Instances are on record during the present year (1908) where crops have threshed out as high as 78 bushels to the acre. 40 to 55 bushels are, however, generally considered satisfactory returns. THE BOW RIVER VALLEY IRRIGATION BLOCK. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company owns three million acres of the rich Bow River Valley lands. The tract-has an average width' of 40 miles from north to south, and extends from Calgary eastward ALBERTA. 37 HEADGATES MAIN IRRIGATION CANAL, CALGARY, ALBERTA. 150 miles. This block of land lies along the main line of their railway, and is supplied with a first class passenger and freight service. The Railway Company has here undertaken the construction of the largest irrigation system in the Western Hemisphere. About one third of the system is now finished, and the land, in this section has been placed upon the market, at a price and upon terms that are attracting settlement from all over the world. Farmers everywhere are rapidly adopting the insurance principle. They insure against the deafh of live stock and the destruction of crops. In Western Canada they go still further and insure against the absence of the necessary rainfall to produce the greatest possible crop. Drouth is the bane of agriculture in every portion of the globe where the soil is tilled and where crops are grown. Countries with the highest average rainfall have at times suffered an almost total loss of crop from the absence of moisture at the time of the 38 ALBERTA. growing season, when it is specially needed. Consequently, artificial watering of crops, or irrigation, as it is commonly called, has been resorted to on a more or less extensive scale in nearly all countries where the natural conditions admit of it. • The application of water to the soil is not nearly so complicated ' a matter as conducting the ordinary cultivation and harvesting operations of the average farm. The year 1S0S has fully demonstrated that this land under irrigation will produce crops that would be impossible under the ordinary system of agriculture. There have been raised, here this year the finest of all kinds of root crops, cereals, oats yielding above 100 bushels to the acre, wheat 60 bushels, and barley 91 bushels to the acre. That the soil and climate are particularly favorable for the cultivation of sugar beets is attested by a report on a carload of •beets from the Irrigation Block, made by the Knight Sugar Company of Raymond. The beets analysed 19.2 per cent saccharine arid 88.1 per cent purity, a most phenomenal result. A standing price of $5.00 per ton exists for all sugar beets delivered at any railway station in the Block. Throughout the sugar beet districts of the United States, the average ruling price for beets is only $4.18 per ton. It will thus readily be seen, that with an assured beet crop yielding 14 to 22 tons per acre the farmer on irrigated lands in Alberta will prosper. In studying the economic side of irrigation however, the first fact that must be clearly grasped is, that the backbone and foundation of irrigation enterprises taken as a'; whole outside of the tropics, is not by any means the production of either fruits, cereals, roots or garden truck, but the feeding and finishing, of live stock. This has been the history of irrigation development in every State of the Union. The proof of this contention is that the total irrigated acreage in crops in the United States at the time of the decennial census was sixty-four per cent in hay and forage. The actual figures are: Total acreage, 5,712,000 acres; in hay and forage 3,666,000 acres. This tells the tale. The railway company maintains demonstration farms, with capable managers, for the guidance of settlers and there they keep pure bred sires of the best breeds of live stock for the settlers' free use. The company has organized an administration department, and undertake-to break, harrow, seed and fence land for its patrons 39 MAIN CANAL, TWO MILES BELOW HEADGATES, C. P. R. IRRIGATION PROJECT. in advance of their taking up their homes upon it. . In fact, in a hundred ways the company interests itself in the welfare of the settlers; not from philanthropic motives, but as a business enterprise. The company expects this particular tract to become the most closely settled mixed farming, stock raising and dairying community in Western Canada. LIVE STOCK IN ALBERTA. Horses.—Alberta occupies a somewhat similar position to Canada that Kentucky .does to the United States in regard to horse breeding. Owing to its high altitude, dry and invigorating atmosphere, short and mild winters, its nutritious grasses and inexhaustible supply of clear, cold water, it is pre-eminently adapted for horse breeding, and the Alberta animal has become noted for tits endurance, lung power and freedom from hereditary and other 40 A1BERTA. diseases. Nearly all the breeds of horses known are represented on the Alberta farm and ranch. Heavy draft horses are now finding a ready sale at highly paying prices. Teams weighing 3,200 lbs. and upwards, are worth $400 and more. Between 2,800 and 3,200 the average price would be $350, and the value of teams weighing between 2,400 and 2,800 lbs is $300 and upwards according to quality. Owing to the mildness of the climate, horses can be wintered out at a nominal expense and without grain or even hay feeding, consequently no country in the world can exceed Alberta in economical horse raising. Cattle.—The cured prairie grasses put a finish on beef almost equal to grain. Alberta is now supplying the Province of British Columbia with beef, as well as the Yukon Territory." In addition, a large export business is done. The cattle of Alberta are of much better quality and breeding than the average run of range cattle in the Western States. The best pure bred bulls are being generally used. The city of Calgary is the home of the largest pure-bred IRRIGATED CROrS PAY WELL IN ALBERTA. 41 cattle auction in the world. This sale takes place during the month of April each year and on that occasion stockmen gather from far and near to purchase their bulls and to transact other business. Shorthorns, Herefords, Polled Angus and Galloways are the chief breeds, while a few Holsteins and Ayreshires are produced. Where dairying and beef production go hand in hand, a good milking strain of Shorthorns is found most profitable. A train-load of four year old steers from a ranch near Cochrane, after being driven 140 miles, and shipped by rail 2,300 miles to Montreal, weighed at the end of the trip, on the average 1,385 lbs. Pour-year-olds, and long threes have during the past four years netted the owners from $40 to $50 on the range; three year olds and good cows, $30 to $37 each; old cows from $24 to $28. Calves from six to eight months old are worth from $10 to $14. Sheep.—Sheep, in common with other stock, have always prospered on native Alberta grasses. Mutton and wool now command top prices. Flo'ck-masters in Alberta will not be affected for many years to come by the great fluctuations in sheep products. Woollen mills are being established in the west and a good local market for mutton is available in British Columbia, the Yukon, and the Province of Manitoba. During the past year some 5,000 head of Alberta sheep were sent to the Manitoba market, and no more being available, it was found necessary to draw upon the Province of Ontario for a considerable number. These sheep were thus sent some 2,000 miles to supply a market right at the front door of Alberta. The markets in British Columbia and the Yukon are susceptible of expansion, as considerable mutton is now being brought in from the United States and the Colony of New South Wales, amounting to over 20,000 carcasses annually, which also might be supplied from Alberta. Hogs.—As might be expected, in a district where the dairying industry is growing so rapidly, hog raising, affording as it does the most economical method of realizing the largest profits from skimmed milk and other dairy by-products, is a very important branch of farming in Alberta. The soil conditions and the climate, which are so eminently suited for dairying, are also productive of those crops which make the cheapest pork. The mildness of the winter season makes it unnecessary to have the costly buildings which are essential to profitable feeding in the winter time in colder climates, thus enabling farmers of moderate means to have fat • 42 ALBERTA. hogs to sell when the highest prices are obtainable, during the late winter and early spring months. For some years past the fluctuation in prices has been very slight, the net prices received by the farmers being seldom over five cents in the autumn and six cents during the spring and summer months (live weight), and at these prices farmers have made good profits. Big packing houses have been established at Edmonton, one company alone having recently erected a million dollar plant. Calgary, also, has an excellent packing establishment. DAIRY INDUSTRY IN ALBERTA. Some years ago Alberta dairymen became dissatisfied wilt the private creamery system, and asked the government to tak'. charge of these institutions. The Dominion authorities fell ir with the request, placed experts at the disposal of the dairyman, and eventually organized co-operative creameries, subject to the control of the patrons, through boards of directors but under absolute Government management. The patrons separate their milk at home and bring the cream to the dairy station from three to four times a week. The cream is then carefully tested and weighed, and at the end of every month each patron gets the equivalent of his cream in butter, and receives a cash advance of ten cents per pound. At the end of 30 to 60 days a cheque for the balance due each patron is sent to him from the Department of Agriculture. A uniform charge of four cents a pound is made by the Government for manufacturing, and one cent a pound, is deducted to create a fund for purchasing buildings and machinery, of which the patrons become part owners to the extent of the amount which they contribute in this manner. Any settler having the means to procure a few milch cows can thus insure a cash income from the first day he starts on his land. Here is Alberta's dairying combination: a never ceasing abundance of the best foods for cows, nutritious native grasses, supplemented by alfalfa and peas, an abundance of pure fresh water, the absence of mosquitoes and flies, with the provincial creameries taking charge of the cream, manufacturing it into butter and finding the best markets, all at a nominal cost of four cents per lb, a cheque to the farmer the first of every, month and a home market already greatly in excess of the production and constantly and rapidly expanding. The following table will show the volume of increase In output during the past three years:— ALBERTA. 43 js«5 *aa; AN ALBERTA WHEAT FIELD. Average Lbs. Value t price per No. Butter at No. lb. at Year Creameries Manufactured Creameries Patrons Creamery 1904 7 293.356 $60,443.38 444 20.67 1905 12 813.430 173,671.40 1201 21.35 1906 18 1,050.356 222,970.77 1755 '' 21.23 While the dairying statistics for 1907 have not as yet been compiled, there was an increase of three creameries and 2 cents per lb in the average price of butter at the creameries in the year. POULTRY IN ALBERTA. There is a large field in Alberta for the industrious poultry raiser. A few hundred chickens will yield a good income. With eggs at 25 to 60 cents per dozen and dressed poultry at from 15 to 22 cents a pound on the home market, little need be said about the profits of this valuable feature of the Alberta farm. No less than $367,950 worth of poultry and eggs were imported into one Alberta city by jobbers alone during 1906 for distribution at Alberta .and British Columbia points. It only remains for farmers to go into the poultry business on a larger scale in order to have this 44 ALBERTA. money circulated in Alberta. The climate is ideal for poultry raising and the markets are the best in Canada. Turkey raising is becoming, an industry of importance. Thousands of these birds are grown and fattened for market in the coast cities, and thousands of dollars are brought into the country every year through this business alone. Where large areas of wheat stubble may be utilized for forage ground, the expense of putting turkeys on the market is very small indeed. GAME IN ALBERTA. Alberta is an attractive country for the sportsman. Wild duck of all varieties, geese, prairie chicken, blue grouse, snipe, partridge and all other native small game are usually plentiful, while in tlu- north and the mountain regions of the south, deer, moose, and other large game are by no means uncommon. Bands of antelope are also often seen on the plains in the south. Trout of several species abound in most of the streams and lakes of Southern Alberta. TAXATION IN ALBERTA. No expensive system of rural, municipal or county organization exists in Alberta. There is instead a simple and economical law in operation, known as the Local Improvement Act, under which districts of varying area are organized. Each quarter section of land, consisting of 160 acres, owned or occupied, is taxed to the extent of $2.00 and not exceeding $8.00 per annum. The only other tax levied is that for schools. The total tax for all purposes on a quarter section seldom exceeds $12.00 per annum. CHIEF TOWNS OF ALBERTA. Calgary, the commercial metropolis of the Middle West, is a city of some twenty-two thousand inhabitants, situated on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Calgary's monthly bank clearings average well over four million dollars. Calgary has twenty-nine manufacturing establishments, some of them on a very large scale, whose output of manufactured articles last year amounted to three million dollars. The municipality "operates its own electric light and power plant and is now installing a- system of street railways. The pay-roll of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Calgary, which is the grand divisional centre between Winnipeg and Vancouver, is over one million dollars per annum. The railway ALBERTA. 45 company has just expended a quarter of a million dollars on a new station building. Calgary is the headquarters for the British Columbia Land Department and the Irrigation Department of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Edmonton, a city of about twenty thousand inhabitants located on the Saskatchewan River, is the capital of the Province. The provincial Parliament buildings now in course of construction will cost $1,250,000. Edmonton is the distributing centre for its district which stretches northward to the Arctic circle and, as a result, the number of wholesale houses and manufactories is multiplying rapidly. The city operates all its own public utilities, including a system of street railways, and enforces a modified system of " single tax" to the great satisfaction of the citizens. The fur trade of the North is centred at this point and the three great railway systems of Western Canada all enter the city. Strathcona, on the south bank of the Saskatchewan River, has a population of four thousand and is at the present time the northern terminus of the Edmonton branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This is a splendid agricultural centre and the seat of the University of Alberta. Medicine Hat has a population of 5,000 and is located on the, banks of the South Saskatchewan River. One of the features of this city is a natural gas supply which is being used to heat and light most of the business and dwelling houses there. Medicine Hat will, no doubt, become an important manufacturing centre. PLOUGHING THE PRAIRIE IN WESTERN CANADA. 46 WESTERN CANADA. SYSTEM OF LAND SURVEY. The land is divided into " townships " six miles square. Each township contains thirty-six " sections " of 640 acres, or one square mile each section, and these are again subdivided into quarter- sections of 160 acres. A road allowance, one chain wide, is provided for between each section running north and south, and between every alternative section east and west. The following is a plan of a township: Township Diagram. N SIX MILES SQUARE, FREE HOMESTEAD REGULATIONS. Any person who is the sole head of a family, or any male over eighteen years old, may homestead a quarter-section (160 acres, more or less) of available Dominion land in Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta. WESTERN CANADA. , 47 Entry.—The applicant must appear in person at the Dominion Lands Agency or Sub-Agency for the district. Entry by proxy may be made at any agency, on certain conditions (which may be ascertained from the Secretary of the Department of the Interior or any Dominion Lands Agent) by father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister of intending homesteader. A fee of $10.00 is payable with the application for homestead entry. Homestead Duties.—Six months residence upon and cultivation of the land in each of three years. A homesteader may live within nine miles of his homestead on: a farm of at least 80 acres solely owned and occupied by him, or by his father, mother, son, daughter,. brother or sister. ■' ■ .'. Pre-emption.—In certain districts a homesteader in good standing may pre-empt a quarter-section alongside his homestead. Price $3.00 per acre. Duties—Must reside six months in each of six years from date of homestead entry (including the time required to earn homestead patent) and cultivate fifty acres extra. Purchased Homestead.—A homesteader who has exhausted his homestead right and cannot obtain a pre-emption, may take a purchased homestead in certain districts. Price $3.00 per acre. Purchased homesteads may be acquired on any available lands on either odd or even numbered sections south of township 45, east of the Calgary and Edmonton railway and the west line of range 26, and west of the third meridian and the " Soo " railway line. Duties- Must reside six months in each of three years, cultivate fifty acres, and erect a house worth $300. Patent.—After the expiration of the period fixed by the Dominion Lands Act and the fulfilment of the required duties application should be made for the issue of a patent. Proof of such . fulfilment must be made before the local Dominion Lands Agent or such other person as may be authorized by the Minister of the Interior. Failure on the part of an entrant for a homestead to apply for patent within five years from date of entry shall render the homestead liable to forfeiture. In the case of a pre-emption failure to apply for patent within eight years from date of entry shall render it liable to forfeiture. 48 WESTERN CANADA. SYNOPSIS OF REGULATIONS. For Disposal of Minerals on Dominion Lands in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. COAL. Coal mining rights which are the property of the Crown may be leased for a term of 21 years, at an annual rental of $1.00 an acre» Not more than 2,560 acres shall be leased to one applicant, which in surveyed territory must be contiguous and must be described by Section, Tp and Rg., and in unsurveyed territory must be staked out. A royalty at the rate of five cents per ton shall be collected on the merchantable coal mined. All applications should be submitted to the Agent of Dominion Lands for the district in which the rights applied for are situated; and should be accompanied by a fee of $5.00 in each case. The lease shall include the coal mining rights only, but the lessee may be permitted to purchase a certain area of surface at $10.00 an acre. Permits to mine coal for domestic purposes may be issued on application to the Agent of Dominion Lands for the district in which the lands are situated for an area not exceeding three acres, which area must previously have been staked out by planting a post at each corner. The frontage must not exceed three chains or the length ten chains. Rental $5.00 an acre per annum, and royalty 20 cents per ton anthracite coal, 15 cents per ton for bituminous coal and 10 cents for lignite coal. Sworn returns of the quantity mined under a permit to be made monthly. No rental to be charged if the permittee is the owner of the surface. , PLACER MINING AND DREDGING IN THE RIVERS. Placer mining claims generally are 100 feet square; entry fee $5.00, renewable yearly. On the North Saskatchewan River claims are either bar or bench, the former being 100 feet long and extending between high and- low water mark. The latter include bar diggings but extend back to.the base of the hill or bank, but not exceeding 1,000 feet. Where steam power is used, claims 200 feet wide may be obtained. An applicant may obtain only two dredging leases of five miles each for a term of twenty years, renewable at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. The lessee's right is confined to the submerged bed or bars of the river below low water mark, and subject to the rights of all persons who have, or who may receive erftries for bar diggings or bench WESTERN CANADA. claims, except on the Saskatchewan River, where the lessee may dredge to high water mark on each alternate leasehold. The lessee shall have a dredge in operation within one season from the date of the lease for each five miles, but where a person or company has obtained more than one lease one dredge for each fifteen miles or fraction is sufficient. Rental $10.00 per annum for each mile of river leased. Royalty at the rate of two and a half per cent., collected on the output after it exceeds $10,000.00. Jitte g"i^fik fip: «*¥*'"• i .■,%^£*:%!i'te..~>-.... v-■ Sgpr-i**;*;,,- • ■* K. : :. • .- ,. J- '■ ■:•* '■ • V i * SteW* '■ H_* >-' .fK'-i "V*.-. i -.V STEAM PLOUGHING ON THE HENSHELL FARM. MINERALS. For years past placer gold in paying quantities has been found on the banks and bars of the North and South Saskatchewan, also on the Pembina, Smoky, McLeod and Athabasca Rivers. In the main range of the Rocky Mountains mineralized veins of copper with a small percentage of gold and galena veins carrying a fairly large percentage of silver have been located. .Prospecting work has been done on a number of the leads but up to the present not enough to prove them at depth. From the fourth meridian west to the boundary of the Province 50 WESTERN CANADA. H of Alberta and British Columbia vast areas are underlaid with rich deposits of lignite, bituminous and anthracite coals. The coal mines at present in operation have increased their output to fairly well supply the market but much yet requires to be done. The lignite coals on the eastern boundary of the coal belt are being mined at Cypress Hills, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, Edmonton, Sturgeon River and Morinville districts. The cost at the mouth of the pit ranges from $1.50 to $2.50 per ton. A superior class, of coal to this (geologically termed lignitic) is mined principally at Lethbridge and Taber where over $3,000,000 has been invested. This is also mined at Milk River Ridge, Pot Hole, Woodpecker, Crowfoot and Knee Hill districts. The coal mined is shipped or can be obtained at the mines from $2.00 to $3.00 per ton. The true bituminous or steam coal is mined south-west of Pincher Creek, a number of mines in the Frank-Blairmore district and at Canmore on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Prices $2.00 to $2.50. The most important anthracite deposit is near Banff where the Bankhead Mines Limited have;'an. output capacity of 2,000 tons per day. The anthracite dust is made into briquettes which have received a rea^fy sale in the domestic'market. This is the only anthracite miiie being operated in Canada and for this class of coal will supply the market from Winnipeg to Vancouver with a hard coal equal to that shipped from Pennsylvania. GOVERNMENT-LAND OFFICES .(Figures are inclusive.) Winnipeg District.—Includes all surveyed townships, Nos. 1 to 44 north; ranges—all east 1st meridian, and ranges 1 to 8 west; also townships 1 to 3, ranges 9 to 14, and townships 4 to 7, ranges 9 to 12 west. Yorkton DistrIct.—Townships 17 to 38, ranges 30 to 33, west 1st meridian; townships 19 to 38, ranges 1 to 6, west 2nd meridian; townships 22 to 38, ranges 7 to 9, west 2nd meridian; townships 24 to 38, ranges 10 to 12, west 2nd meridian.. WESTERN CANADA. Brandon District.—Townships 8 to 12, ranges 9 to 12; townships 4 to 12, ranges 13 to 14; townships 1 to 12, ranges 15 to 22; townships 1 to 14, ranges 23 to-28; townships 1 to 16, ranges 29 to 34, all west 1st meridian. Dauphin District.—All townships lying- to the north of the Brandon district and north of that part of the Yorkton district lying east of 2nd meridian and west of the Winnipeg district. Estevan District.—Townships 1 to 9, ranges 1 to 18, west 2nd meridian. Moose Jaw District.—Townships 1 to 14, ranges 19 to 21; townships 1 to 16, ranges 22 and 23; townships 1 to 18, ranges 24 and 25; townships 1 to 19, range 26; townships 1 to 20, range 27; townships 1 to 21, ranges 28 to 30, all west 2nd meridian; townships 1 to 22, ranges 1 and 2; townships 1 to 25, ranges 3 to 7; townships 1 to 30, ranges 8 to 30, all west 3rd meridian. Regina District.—Townships 10 to 18, ranges 1 to 6; townships 10 to 21, ranges 7 to 9; townships 10 to 23, ranges 10 to 12; townships 10 to 23, ranges 13 to 18; townships 15 to 23, ranges 19 and 20; townships 15 to 29, range 21; townships 17 to 29, ranges 22 and 23; townships 19 to 29, ranges 24 and 25; townships 20 to 29, range 26; townships 21 to 29, range 27;'townships 22 to 29, ranges 28 and 29; all west 2nd meridian; townships 23 to 29, range 1; townships 23 to 38, range 2; townships 26 to 38, ranges 3 to 7; townships 31 to 38, ranges 8 to 10; all west 3rd meridian. Lethbridge District.—Townships 1 to 18, ranges 1 to 24, west 4th meridian; townships 1 to 12, range 25, west 4th meridian to B.C. Humboldt District.—Townships 24 to 42, ranges 13 to 20; townships 30 to 42, ranges 21 to 29; all west 2nd meridian; townships, 30 to 42, range 1, west 3rd meridian. Calgary District.—Townships 19 to 34, ranges 1 to 24, west 4th meridian; townships 13 to 34, range 25, west 4th meridian to B. C. red Deer District.—Townships 35 to 42, from 4th meridian to B. C. Edmonton District.—Townships north of and including township 43, west 4th meridian to B. C. Battleford District.—Townships 31 to 70, range 11, west 3rd meridian to 4th meridian. Prince Albert District.—Townships north of and including townships 39, ranges 1 to 12; townships north of and including township 43, ranges 13 to 28; west 2nd meridian; townships north of and including 43, range 1 west 3rd; townships north of and including 89, ranges 2 to 10, west 3rd meridian. 52 WESTERN CANADA. RAILWAY LAND REGULATIONS. The Canadian Pacific Railway Lands consist of odd-numbered sections along the Main Line and Branches, in the Lake Dauphin District in Manitoba and in Central and Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. These are for sale at the various agencies of the Company in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, at prices ranging from $8.00 to $25.00 per acre. Maps showing the lands in detail have been prepared and will be sent free to applicants. TERMS OF PAYMENT. If land (not exceeding 640 acres) is bought for actual personal settlement within one year, the aggregate amount of prinicpal and interest is divided into ten instalments; the first to be paid at the time of, purchase; one year's interest to be paid at the end of the first year; and the remainder of the instalments annually thereafter. The following table shows the amount of the annual instalments on a quarter section of 160 acres at different prices:— At 160 ACRES CASH 1st yr's pay't INT. $ 8.00 per acre..$191.70 .$65.28 and nine instal'ts of .$160.00 9.00 .. 215.70. . 73.46 •' 180.00 10.00 .. 239.70. . 81.62 " 200.00 11.00 " , .. 263.60. . 89.78 " 220.00 12.00 .. 287.60. . 97.96 «< It 240.00 13.00 .. 311.55. .106.10 " 260.00 14.00 .. 335.60. .114.32 « 280.00 15.00 " I. 359.50. .122.44 " 300.00 Purchasers who do not undertake the settlement conditions are required to pay one-sixth of the purchase money down and the balance in five equal annual instalments with interest at six per cent. Interest at six per cent, will be charged on overdue instalments. WESTERN CANADA. 53 GENERAL CONDITIONS. 1. All improvements placed upon land purchased to be maintained thereon until final payment has been made. 2. All taxes and assessments lawfully imposed upon the land or improvements to be paid by the purchaser. 3. The Company reserves from sale, under these regulations, all mineral, coal and petroleum lands, stone, slate and marble quarries, and lands with water power thereon. 4. Mineral, coal and timber lands and quarries will be disposed of on reasonable terms to persons giving satisfactory evidence of their intention and ability to utilize the same. Liberal rates for settlers and their effects are granted by the Company over their railway. TOWNS. The Company offers for sale at its Land Office in Winnipeg lots in the towns and villages along the Main Line and Branches. The terms of payment for these lots are:-—One-third cash, balance in six and twelve months, with interest at eight per cent. For full information apply to F. T. GRIFFIN, Land Commissioner of C.P.R. Co., Winnipeg. Information as to prices and terms of purchase of railway lands may be obtained from all station agents along the Company's Main Line and Branches. In no case, however, is a railway agent authorized to receive money in payment for lands. All payments must be remitted direct to the Land Commissioner at Winnipeg. THE CANADA NORTH-WEST LAND COMPANY. This Company owns 525,000 acres of selected lands in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.. These lands are on sale at the various land agencies of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. For maps and further information application should be made to the office of the Land Company at Winnipeg. 54 WESTERN CANADA. A.' : WINTER WHEAT AT NANTON, ALBERTA. C. P: R. IRRIGATION PROJECT. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company are developing by irrigation a tract of 3,000,000 acres in the famous Bow River Valley in Southern Alberta. This block of land is attracting homeseekers from all parts of the world. In addition to its great natural advantages the settler within its limits secures an assurance of sufficient water in periods of light rain fall. Land is offered at low prices and on the most liberal terms. Actual settlers may purchase homes on the crop payment plan. For further information apply to . J. S. DENNIS, Superintendent of Irrigation. Calgary, Alberta. . BRITISH COLUMBIA. For descriptive pamphlet of British Columbia and particulars of lands, town lots, and timber areas for sale or lease by the Railway Company, in that province, write to J. S. Dennis, B. C. Land Commissioner, Calgary, Alta. STOP-OVER PRIVILEGES. Intending settlers holding through tickets to points on the Canadian Pacific Railway west of Winnipeg are given the privilege of stopping over at stations where they wish to inspect land. If stopover is desired, application should be made to the Immigration Office of the Company at Winnipeg, in case the settler's ticket does not specifically provide for stop-over privileges. WESTERN CANADA. 55 ,-.:sl! s*3««i.:.s;.;;g:™;j tt:;:;s:;Ji:-S*I: ii?iiiiiii;-s% 2J;:B gmimft ROUND STREET, LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA. SETTLERS' EFFECTS. Freight Regulations for their Carriage on the C. P. R. 1. These rates are subject to the general rules and conditions of carriage adopted by this Company, also to the car service and warehouse storage rules as published in tariffs relating thereto, and will apply only on shipments consigned to actual settlers, and are entirely exclusive of cartage at stations where this service is performed by the Railway Company's Cartage Agents. 2. Carloads of Settlers' Effects, within the meaning of this tariff, may be made up, of the following described property for the benefit of actual settlers, viz.: lave Stock, any number up to but not exceeding ten (10) head, all told, viz.: Cattle, calves, sheep, hogs, mules or horses; Household Goods and personal property 'second-hand); Waggons, or other vehicles for personal use (.second-hand); Farm Machinery, Implements and Tools (ill second-hand); Softwood Lumber (Pine, Hemlock, Basswood or Spruce—only), and Shingles, which must, not exceed 2,000 feet in all, or the equivalent thereof; or in lieu of, not 56 WESTERN CANADA. in addition to the lumber and shingles, a Portable House may be shipped; Seed Grain; small quantity of Trees or Shrubbery; small lot Live Poultry or pet animals; and sufficient feed for the live stock while on the journey. Settlers' Effects rates, however, will not apply on shipments of second-hand Waggons, Buggies, Farm Machinery, Implements or Tools, unless accompanied by Household Goods. 3. Merchandise, such as groceries, provisions, hardware, etc., also implements, machinery, vehicles, etc., if new, will not be regarded as Settlers' Effects, and, if shipped, must be charged the regular classified tariff rates. Basis of rates will not apply on automobiles, hearses, omnibuses, of similar vehicles, as forming part of a shipment. While the Canadian Pacific Railway is desirous of continuing to give liberal encouragement to settlers, both as to the variety of the effects which may be loaded in cars, and the low rates thereon, it is also the duty of the Company to protect the merchants of the North-West by preventing as far as possible the loading of merchandise of a general character in cars with personal effects. Agents both at loading and delivering stations must personally satisfy themselves that contraband articles are not loaded, and see that actual weight is charged for when carloads exceed 24,000 lbs. 4. Top Loads will not be permitted.—Agents must see that nothing is loaded on top of box or stock cars. This manner of loading is dangerous and is absolutely forbidden. 5. Passes.—One man will be passed free in charge of full carloads of settlers' effects when containing live stock, to feed, water and care for them in transit. Agents must fill out the usual live stock form of contract. • 6. Settlers' Effects, to be entitled to carload rates, must consist of a carload from one point of shipment to one point of destination. Carload shipments will not be stopped in transit for completion or partial unloading. 7. The minimum carload weight of 24,000 lbs. is applicable only to cars not exceeding 36 feet in length; larger cars must not be used for this business. If the actual weight of the carload exceeds 24,000 lbs. the additional weight will be charged for at the carload rate. 8. The minimum charge for less than carload shipments will be 100 lbs. at regular first-class rates. 9. Should a settler wish to ship more than ten head of live stock, the additional animals will be charged for at proportionate rates over and above the carload rate for the settlers' effects. 10. Less than carload shipments will be understood to mean only Household Goods (second-hand), Waggons, or other vehicles for per- WESTERN CANADA. 57 ROSS AVENUE, RED DEER, ALBERTA. sonal use (second-hand), and second-hand Farm Machinery, Implements and Tools. Settlers' Effects rates, however, will not apply on shipments of second-hand Waggons, Buggies, Farm Machinery, Implements or Tools, unless accompanied by Household Goods. Less than carload lots must be plainly addressed. Every effort will be made by shipping and receiving agents to prevent the shipping of commodities other than those authorized above at Settlers' Effects rates. Agents at shipping and receiving stations will carefully check all shipments. If they find any contraband articles are being shipped, they must make a careful inspection of packages, and charge regular tariff rates on any such articles found. Receiving agents will be held accountable for the checking of shipments originating on connecting lines. 11. Shipment of settlers' effects from connecting lines will be charged from the Canadian Pacific junction point the settlers' effects rates from that point. 12. Gar Rental and Storage of freight in Cars.—Under this tariff, when freight is to be loaded by consignor, or unloaded by consignee, one dollar ($1.00) per car per day or fraction thereof, for delay beyond 48 hours in loading or unloading, will be added to the rates 58 WESTERN CANADA. named herein, and constitute a part of the total charges to be collected by the carriers on the property. Consignees are allowed twenty-four hours after notice of arrival of shipments in which to give orders for placing or delivery of cars before the forty-eight hours free time mentioned herein begins. INFORMATION FOR SETTLERS. Newly arrived immigrants will receive at any Dominion Lands office in Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta information as to the lands that are open for entry in that district, and from the officers in charge, free of expense, advice and assistance in securing lands to suit them. Full information respecting the land, timber, coal and mineral laws, as well as respecting Dominion Lands in the Railway belt in British Columbia, may be obtained on application to the Superintendent of Immigration, Department of the Interior, Ottawa; the Commissioner of Immigration, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Dominior Lands Agents in Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta can furnisr. information only regarding land in their respective districts. i ■ HOW TO COMMENCE. The question, "How much money is necessary?" is a difficult one to answer. It depends upon circumstances. Very many men have gone into Western Canada without any capital and have prospered. Generally it may be said that a settler commencing on a half section will need four good horses, which will cost from $600.00 to $700.00; harness, $65; one breaking plow, or a combination plow, $27.00; one set of harrows, $25.00; one waggon, $75.00 to $80.00, if new, - and if second hand, $45.00; one seeder, $85.00; one mower and rake, $95.00; two cows, $80.00: provisions for himself and family, about $200.00. A habitable house, 18 by 20, one story high can be built for $200.00. It will, of course, have to be added to for the winter. He should also have one brood sow, $15.00; forty or fifty hens, $15.00. With this outfit he will be in a position to commence comfortably, and will be much better off than most of the early settlers were twenty years ago. Some of those who had scarcely any capital are now in independent circumstances. The outfit mentioned will cost about $1,500. When the first crop is ready for harvest a binder will be required, but it can be paid for out of the proceeds of the crop. WESTERN CANADA. 59 A young man entering for his homestead, ( say, in May or June, for which he pays the Government agent $10.00, can with practically no capital start for himself. If he is willing to work and understands horses and general farming he can earn from $160.00 to $180.00 for the summer season. He can employ a neighbour to break ten acres on his land, and in November can put up a cheap house at, say, from $40.00 to $50.00, and live on his land during the winter months, when the wages are not as high as in the summer season, thus complying with his settlement duties. He can do this for three years, and at the end of that time will be entitled to his patent. He will then be in a position to borrow sufficient capital on the security of his homestead to purchase the outfit necessary to enable him to devote his whole time to the cultivation and improvement of his farm. A settler with a family old enough to work can follow the same course. To enable a settler with a young family to start comfortably on a quarter section of free grant land, he should have at least $500.00 to $1,000.00 capital. IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND NEWFOUNDLAND. Sec. 30.—All animals imported into the Dominion of Canada from the United States and Newfoundland must be accompanied by a statutory declaration or affidavit made by the owner or importer stating clearly the purpose for which said animals are imported, viz.:—Whether for breeding purposes, for milk production, for work, for grazing, feeding or slaughter, or whether they form part of settlers' effects, or whether they are entered for temporary stay, as provided by these regulations. , Sec. 31.—Said declaration or affidavit must be presented to the Collector of Customs at the port of entry, who will decide whether the animals are entitled to entry under these regulations, and who will notify the Veterinary Inspector of the Department of Agriculture in all cases where the regulations require an inspection to be made. Sec. 32—On and after March 1, 1907, the importation of branded or range western horses, mules and asses, other than those which are gentle and broken to harness or saddle,- is prohibited. Sec. 36.—Horses, 'mules or asses forming part of settlers' effects shall be inspected and should be accompanied by:— (a) A satisfactory certificate of mallein test dated not more than thirty days prior to the date of entry, and signed by an inspector of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry; or, 60 WESTERN CANADA. (b) A similar certificate from a reputable veterinarian, provided such certificate is endorsed by an inspector of the said Bureau of Animal Industry; or, (c) A similar certificate from an inspector of the Canadian Department of Agriculture. Sec. 37.—If not so accompanied such horses, mules or asses may be submitted to the mallein test by an inspector of the Canadian Department of Agriculture at any time after their arrival in Canada. If found to react within a period of six months of date of entry they will be destroyed without compensation. Sec. 38.—If on inspection at the boundary, glanders is found in any consignment, all animals comprising it shall be returned to the United States, but non-reactors may be again presented for entry and further test after the lapse of a period of not less than fifteen days from the date of the first test, provided that satisfactory evidence is produced to the effect that they have not, during the said period, been .in contact with affected animals. Sec. 39.—Horses, mules and asses found to be, or suspected of being, affected with any contagious disease may be returned to the United States or otherwise dealt with as the Veterinary Director General may order. Sec. 40.—All cattle shall be inspected, and if so ordered by the Minister, may be detained, isolated, submitted to the tuberculin test, dipped or otherwise treated, or, in default of such order, where the inspector has reason to believe or suspect that animals are affected with or have been exposed to contagious or infectious disease. Sec. 41.—Cattle found to be. diseased, or suspected of being diseased, may be returned to the United States, or otherwise dealt with as the Veterinary Director General may order. Sec. 42.—Cattle for breeding purposes and milk production six months old or over, if unaccompanied by a satisfactory tuberculin test chart signed by a veterinarian of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, must be detained in quarantine for one week or such further period as may be deemed necessary, and subjected to the tuberculin test; cattle reacting thereto must be returned to the United States or slaughtered without compensation. Sec. 43.—-Importers may be required to furnish a statutory declaration that the chart produced applies to the cattle it purports to describe and no other. Sec. 46.—All swine must be accompanied by a certificate signed by a veterinarian of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, WESTERN CANADA. 61 :i;>;"*;;;;;;.-;;.: ;-;:;;> f/;;i;2-.£:;';V'";,;;:;j;l ;;fftE;.EK:;C3*v. ; £©»»«*&&. ; fc'Sfi' ;:* •'■■ '■'■ '-■' K:i:vi;::,:;i-4; ;;; / >r;> :.■:■> ";'■£[ i afSiSK-sR; ~ ;;.:t'i;?;- ;:'■'..;;,;;; •■■ ..;'•;.;';.;..;. ;.'; v,.»',;; ^w&-^ ;;.;;"';-' HARVESTERS FOR THE WHEAT FIELDS OF WESTERN CANADA. stating that neither swine plague nor hog cholera has existed within a. radius of five miles of the premises in which they have been kept for a period of six months immediately preceding the date of shipment, but such swine shall nevertheless be inspected, and shall be subjected to a quarantine of thirty days before being allowed to come in contact with Canadian animals. Sec. 47.—Swine found to be suffering from contagious disease may be slaughtered without compensation, returned to the United States, or otherwise dealt with as the Veterinary Director General may order. , Sec. 44.—All sheep and goats shall be.inspected, and if so ordered by the Minister, may be detained, isolated, dipped or otherwise treated, or, in default of such order, where the inspector has.reason to believe or suspect that the animals are affected with or have been exposed to contagious or infectious disease. Sec. 45.—Sheep or goats found to be diseased, or suspected of being diseased may be returned to the United States, or otherwise dealt with as the Veterinary Director General may order. . IMMIGRATION STATISTICS. The number of immigrants into Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta has been increasing steadily for 'he last few years, a marked 62 NEW ONTARIO. feature being the number of settlers from Great Britain, Ireland and the United States. The official figures for the years, July 1, 1900, to June 30, 1907, for Canada are:— British. American. Continental. Total. 1900-01 11,810 17,987 19,352 49,149 1901-02 17,259 26,388 23,732 67,379 1902-03 41,792 49,473 37,099 128,364 1903-04 .. 50,374 45,171 34,785 130,330 1904-05 65,359 43,652 37,255 146,266 1905-06 .. 86,796 57,796 44,472 189,064 1906-07 ' 120,779 74,607 56,652 252,038 1907-08 84,351 56,860 62,860 204,071 Of the British immigrants for the twelve months ending June 30, 1908, 62,991 were from England, 769 from Wales, 15,727 from Scotland and 4,864 from Ireland. CROPS AND LIVE STOCK 1908. According to information from the Provincial Agricultural Departments and other reliable sources the crop areas and yields of 1908 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were as follows:— Acres Average Bushels Winter Wheat 104,350 Spring Wheat .. 5,667,523 Oats 2,682,941 Barley 885,500 Flax 184,589 In conjunction with a satisfactory yield the prices of this crop have been very profitable and it is estimated that on the basis of December 1908 prices its value to the farmers is very close to $125,000,000. The season of 1908 has also been very favorable for live stock. Up to 1st December 87,000 head of cattle had been shipped from the western ranges to the old country markets and 13,000 head to the butchers and feeders in the Eastern provinces. This represents an additional revenue of about $4,000,000 to the farmers and ranchers of Western Canada. MILLING IN WESTERN CANADA- Wheat-flour milling is the most important manufacturing interest in Western Canada, and the product not only finds a ready market 22.98 2,397,963 18.43 104,455,289 34.52 92,626,054 25.15 22,276,752 10.84 2,001,491 NEW ONTARIO. 63 tiiv*i;;i;^N^^;;^i^;*^—^;^ ROAD AT BRANDON, MANITOBA. throughout the whole Dominion,, but is exported to Great Britain, Newfoundland, South Africa, China, Japan and Australia. Mills are located at different points throughout the country: one at Fort William with a daily capacity of 3,000 barrels; one at Keewatin, having a daily capacity of 6,000 barrels; another at that point, 4,000 barrels; one at Winnipeg of 3,800 barrels. Another mill has recently been completed at St. Boniface with a capacity of 4,000 barrels. Other mills are in course of erection. There are also oatmeal mills in operation at Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Pilot Mound, Calgary and Strathcona. MILLS AND ELEVATORS. The grain elevator system throughout Western Canada is perfect, the facilities now existing being sufficient to handle, if necessary, 150,000,000 bushels of grain in less than six months' time. The 64 NEW ONTARIO. fli rapid increase in the storage capacity is one of the best indications of the continuous development of the country's agricultural resources. In 1891 the total storage capacity was 7,628,000 bushels; in 1901, 18,879,352; in 1902, 23,099,000; in 1903, 30,356,400. For the year ending June 30, 1904, the total storage capacity was 41,186,000. ,. The Canadian Pacific Railway terminal elevators at Fort William have a capacity of 8,500,000 bushels; " D." containing 3,500,000. The following is a summary:— Canadian Pacific Railway: Bushels. ~ Ontario '.'.'.'. 13,605,000 '". Manitoba 15,502,200 Saskatchewan and Alberta 11,864,000 ■;'. '; ;. :';:../;, : 40,971,200 Canadian Northern Railway: ';.' Ontario.. ..'.../...;...........,............ 7,000,000 Manitoba; Saskatchewan and Alberta 9,739,000 - ■■:;'.-.- ■ 16,739,000 Grand total 57,710,200 CANADIAN PACIFIC GRAIN ELEVATORS AT FORT WILLIAM, THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD. NEW ONTARIO. 65 '-, ". :Sp^P|si:ii:li:^i^;i|lp •KfflS :1lil:-l|:ipi:i f:;;||i|||||:; .<''•£■ '■".- SSI "i Mi >-'-«'iV>-;Vi'i'-'';MI^S HOW TO REACH THE CANADIAN WEST. Colonists arriving in Canada at Quebec or Montreal in summer, or Halifax, or St. John, N.B., in winter, travel to new homes in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta or British Columbia by the Canadian Pacific; Railway direct. Settlers from the Eastern States travel via Montreal, Prescott or Brockville, and thence by the Canadian Pacific; but if from Southern and Western New York and Pennsylvania via Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Toronto, thence. Canadian Pacific Railway; those from the, Middle States either by Toronto, or St, Paul and Emerson, Man., or Minneapolis and,Portal via St. Paul; from the Middle Western States by Portal (or, if for Manitoba, by Emerson, Man.); from the Pacific Coast States by Vancouver or Sumas, or through the. West, Kootenay mining regions and Canadian Pacific from Rossland and Nelson. On the same fast transcontinental trains with the first-class cars are colonist cars, which are convertible into sleeping cars at night, having upper and lower berths constructed on the same, principles as those of first-class sleeping cars. No extra charge is .rnade for this sleeping accommodation. Second-class passengers, however, must provide, their own bedding. If they dp not bring it with them, a complete outfit of mattress, pillow, blanket and curtains will be supplied by the agent of the company at the point of starting at a cost of $2.50—ten shillings. The trains stop at stations where meals are served in refreshment rooms, and where hot coffee and tea and well-cooked food may be bought at reasonable prices. All trains are met upon arrival at Winnipeg, or before reaching that city, by the agents of the Government and. Canadian Pacific Railway Company, who give colonists all the information and advice they require in regard to their new home. Actual Results of Farming In Western Canada , From S3.000 to $35,000 IN FIVE YEARS. DUNDURN, Sask. Febr. 24, 1908. In July 1902, I became anxious to learn something more about the Canadian North West than what I could find in the printed matter sent out by the Canadian Government. So I started out on July 1st 1902 to have a look at the country. When I arrived at Winnipeg I was somewhat surprised to see such a prosperous city. I then went to Regina, Sask., and from there up the Prince Albert branch and located at Dundurn, Sask. At that time one did not have large fields of growing grain to look at, there being only a few places under cultivation, but from what I could see of the crops, their growing and the rich loamy soil, I decided it was surely the place for one to start farming. I returned to my home, then at Brizil, Indiana, sold my little farm there at a sacrifice, loaded up my household effects, with six horses, in the car, and on August 15th, 1902, started for Western Canada, landed at Dundurn, Sask., August 23rd with a capital of about three thousand (3,000) Dollars, bought a half section of land, and took a homestead of 160 acres, making a farm of 480 acres. In the year 1903 I raised 682 bushels of flax, 82 bushels of wheat and 303 bushels of oats, besides breaking 100 acres for crops the next year. In the year 1904 I raised 2,370 bushels of wheat, 1,30.0 bushels oats, and 700 bushels of flax. In 1905 I raised 4,239 bushels of wheat, ACTUAL RESULTS. and 3,200 bushels of oats. In 1906 I purchased an additional quarter -section of land, and raised 8,200 bushels of wheat, 4,300 bushels of oats. In 1907 I purchased an additional half section of land and raised 8,500 bushels of wheat, 4,000 bushels of oats. I now have 960 acres of good land, and with anything like a good season for 1908, will raise 20,000 bushels of grain. I may say that my best yield per acre on 140 acres, was 43% bushels of wheat, in the year 1906: and my poorest yield per acre was in 1907, bringing 21 bushels for my entire crop of wheat. 1907 was what we call a bad year, , owing to the season being late in opening up, although the good prices received for grain made it the best moneyed crop. The lowest price I have taken for wheat during the five years I have lived up here Was 62c and the best price 92c. My small capital of $3,000 with which I started on, has grown during the five years into a capital of thirty-five thousand (35,000) dollars. Last year my farm paid 12 per cent, on an investment of $50.00 per acre, but counting on $30.00 per acre for which it would sell, would be much more. I know of no country where one can start farming where it will be more profitable than Western Canada. We have good schools, good laws and the Government that is helping the farmers to make this one of the very best farming countries in the world. We raise about everything, in our garden that we did in Indiana. The winters of 1907-08 have been the best I have ever spent during my life, have had only a few cold days. ■ The snow is now melting fast, and it looks like we will have an extra early spring. The longer we live here the better we like the country, and people are happy and contented with their lot in Western Canada. . N. E. BAUMUNK. Willi! A FIELD OF RED FIFE. 68 ACTUAL RESULTS. CONVINCING PROOF OF PROGRESS. Section 4, 15, 16, W—2, Lajord, Saskatchewan, 29th August, 1908. As a girl of 18 I engaged to come out from Norway as a help to a country family in South Dakota, and came out by myself to South Dakota, and after serving them a year and thus paying for my passage, I engaged in another family and afterwards married Mr. Stenorson. We farmed in South Dakota with little success. If we had 10 bushels of wheat to the acre there we thought it an exceptionally fine crop. So we came here five years ago with very little, and took up a homestead. • , We broke only eight acres during the first breaking season, as every one of our horses took sick. But with our butter and eggs, and baking and washing for the Norwegian bachelor homesteaders around, and boarding two of them through the winter we managed to get through. Next, spring my husband had, very much against his will, to sell a young team of horses to buy seed, etc. We had enough oats for feed and seed and a little for sale out of our first crop. The third year we had good crops off about 30 acres wheat and oats. The fourth (that is last) year we sold a car of seed oats for $1,000, and by the crop from 60 acres of flax-, paid about half the price of a quarter section bought on crop payment plan for $12.50 per acre. Besides this we had a lot more oats for sale, part of this being his share of a farm my husband worked for two-thirds share. This year we are harvesting from our own and the land on two- thirds share a heavy crop of oats, and the flax promises a yield per acre from 15 to 20 bushels. We had to buy and have paid for a great deal of machinery, and a team of horses, $425.00, including: — 1 Drill $125.00 1 Waggon '... ,. 1 Disc Plow.,... ..'•■ .. .'. ■-.. .. .'.] .. .. 75.00 1 Cockshut Plough.... .„......-. ...... 69.00 1 Pulveriser.. .... .. 4 Sets Harness....... .. .'. .. .... .. •••••• 1 Wind Mill.. .... .. ...... .. .... 60.00 ACTUAL RESULTS. 69 We have 18 head horned cattle and 10 horses, 2 pigs, 50 turkeys and hens; and although we have not yet built a grand dwelling house, we are quite comfortable. I am glad we came to Canada and I would not go back again to Dakota for anything. I am proud of being able to help my husband during the hard times when we were starting. And now I would like to go back to Norway for a visit to see my old father and mother again. There are a number of Norwegian families successfully farming here, and we would be glad to have more of them come to a country in which we have all done so well. Since 1st January last I have made 700 lbs. of butter from the milk of 5 cows. We sowed 10 acres of Brome grass which came on well and this year 15 acres have been seeded in rye grass. PAULINE STENORSON. •«#s •■ *,*SsR1 &"*V-i/<n»''ti WM :-&fci»' . -A Tf'-5ts3#?:;*s|Si*llsXI.J;: wmsc m :'&BM::'i:A :'i,'^: -5;fifi5S?;Ji!?8|IS|l -•.'iahi^i'fi'y'i:'. .;»•„,# :-•■'■:■:'. i WB0m00mAM0B I'. »..i vili:.-. -.t^J^JSf ii|l-ftl ilillwSliii s&as^sswiiiii REAPING IN SASKATCHEWAN. 70 ACTUAL RESULTS. HE KNOWS OF NO OTHER COUNTRY AS GOOD. Reston, Manitoba, 28th August, 1908. I was born near Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland, and as a boy of 12 came out with my people to Ohio, and after two years there , went to Township Howick, County Huron, Ontario. I was 18 years in Ontario pioneering in the heavy timber clearing it, where it takes a good axeman a month to chop down the trees alone, and then there is the logging and burning, and after that it takes from 7 to 10 years to get rid of the stumps. AH of which is very different from the ease and speed of breaking ciear prairie in this country and getting it into good cultivation. After that I was six years in Michigan On a bush farm again, and in the spring of 1878 I came by E'isher's Landing down the Red River by steamboat to Winnipeg, worked that summer in Winnipeg and that was the last time I wrought for others. In the fall took up a second homestead, about 15 miles N.W. of Wolseley. I moved from there to this place in 1888, and have been here ever since. My son took up a homestead and pre-emption, and I bought a quarter section from the Government at $2.50, and another from the C. P. R. at $3 per acre. In 1888 commenced breaking, and had the whole half section under cultivation in five years. I bought two other quarter sections from the C. P. R. in 1897 and 1898, and have them all under cultivation, except 40 acres for pasture. During all this time my lowest crop of wheat per acre was 10 bushels in 1907, and my highest average all round was 31 bushels. I estimate the average for the last twenty years at 18 bushels. Oats in 1907 gave 34 bushels. The average yield is about 40. In 1892 I started a lumber business in the town and came to live here altogether in 1898, and although leaving the farming to be done by hired labor, I find it pays still. Two of nay sons have farms near here and one having a whole section and the other % section, with fine dwellings and other buildings. They have been very successful., There is no other country that I know of where farmers can do as well as m this country. Every one in this district who has been steady and industrious has done well. Many of them have become wealthy by farming alone, and the gradual increase in value of lane!, ACTUAL RESULTS. 71 acquired when it was cheap has made some of them rich. Land under cultivation with buildings is now worth from $25 to $30 per acre, and land not cultivated is worth at least $15 per acre. WM. BUSBY. SPLENDID OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE. Section 10, 7, 26, W—1. P. O. Pipestone, Manitoba, 27th August, 1908. I came out in the summer of 1880 and worked with Mr. Kenneth McKenzie, Burnside, the first summer. Next winter my brother and I worked in the lumber camp. We bought a team of oxen out of our summer's wages. In the spring of 1881, we came out here and squatted on this land which was not yet surveyed. We after survey got each a homestead and pre-emption on this section—he on the E% and I on the W%. Later we bought other land at intervals and I have now 1,000 acres under cultivation. We generally summer fallow about one-fourth of the land, and take off two or three crops of wheat off the land in the Pipestone Valley, and every alternate year off the lighter soil of the uplands. We then take one or two crops of oats depending on the condition as to cleanliness. We also sow some barley. There is no exact rule except being guided by the condition of the ground. I have sown native rye grass with much success and satisfaction taking off from two to three crops of hay and then grazing for a year or two. I find this refreshes the land; but the soil is so generally strong that I have a field of 160 acres which I have had under cultivation for the last 24 years during which 18 good crops have been taken off it, and this year there is a crop of at least 30 bushels good wheat thereon. My average crop of wheat during the twenty-five years has been easily 20 bushels per acre. This year it will be over the average. Oats run from 40 to 60 bushels, and barley about 35 per acre. Potatoes have always been a good crop, and all kinds of garden vegetables grow well. I grow turnips and mangels to feed the cows in fall and early winter to keep up the flow of milk as long as possible. 7> The climate is extremely healthy for live stock of all kinds. I have kept an average of 50 head of cattle, grade short horns, during 72 ACTUAL RESULTS. the last twenty years. Have always sold cattle off the grass, and they have been profitable. Pigs thrive and pay well, I am partial to Yorkshire. I only raise a sufficient number of horses for my own use, using Clydesdale sire and grade mares. I was educated as a farmer on my father's farm at Bee Edge, Coldingham, Berwickshire. As there.were no prospects at home for a. young man like me I came to Manitoba, and started with little or no money. Having gone through all the hardships and experiences of early pioneering, I have now attained a position of independence and comfort which would have been impossible of attainment in the Mother Country. With the experience I now possess I would recommend any old country farmer with sufficient means rather to rent improved land in Manitoba on shares than to go pioneering and buying experience in the unsettled and newer parts of the country. In this way he would acquire a valuable experience for further exercise in a new district if he went there, or to be used on any already improved farm which he might decide to buy after a year or two farming on shares. To young men of agricultural experience but without prospects at home I would like to say that if they have health and strength and habits of steadiness and industry they will find here in this country, beginning as I did on new land the opportunity of arriving at a position of competence and independencs which conditions in the old country deny'to those without money. WM. LOTHIAN. WELL SATISFIED WITH RESULTS IN A VERY HEALTHTUL CLIMATE. Lajord, Saskatchewan, 28th August, 1908. I purchased 2% sections in 1903, and broke 200 acres with a steam- plough in 1905. In 1906 sowed flax and,had 20 bushels per acre, sold for $1.09 net at Lajord. Broke another 400 acres that year. In 1907 sowed flax and oats on the 600 acres and had good crops. Also broke 400 acres and put in flax which yielded 15 bushels, and sold it for $1.27 per bushel net at Lajord. I also sold the oats, off 350 acres, at 55c per bushel for seed; and calculate I got $32.00 per acre, the yield being from 50 to 80 per acre from different fields. I broke the rest of my 2% sections in 1907, and bought another 1% sections, nearly all of Which I broke that year, ACTUAL RESULTS. 73 This year, 1908, I have 1,700 acres in crop—800 of oats, 850 of flax, and 20 acres each of barley and potatoes. I have already 800 acres of oats harvested. The yield of all these will be at least as good as last year. I imported for seed from the Gardens Seed Company, England, 200 bushels " Abundance " oats, and 35 bushels two-rowed malting barley. These have produced splendid crops, probably 20 per cent, better than if from native seed, for in the opinion of Mr. Bedford, formerly Superintendent, of the Experimental Farm at Brandon, these oats will, yield 80 bushels to the acre, and the barley will go 50 bushels. Of live stock I believe in raising thoroughbreds, and I have 13 head Percheron horses, 3 stallions and 10 mares, besides 30 woaking .horses. Of fowls we now have 350 Plymouth Rocks and 300 chickens, all bred from 50 originally imported. I found a good and abundant supply of water at 45 feet deep. The soil is a very strong fertile clay, running 18 feet deep. It is too strong for wheat until a crop of two of flax or oats have been taken off it, at least it always does better, as wheat sown as first crop runs too strong to straw. It would be impossible to do the work I have done without the steam-plough. As soon as the grain is cut, ploughing is commenced, the shocks being transferred to the ploughed ground, which when so treated before threshing is as good as summer fallow. I was asked by the United States Secretary of Agriculture (an uncle of mine) to report on the work of my steam-ploughing. I am also experimenting on a manure spreader of which my brother and I are manufacturers under the name of The William Galloway Company, Waterloo, Iowa, where we have the largest manure spreader factory in the world. As I could not stand the confinement of the office I came up here as much for the benefit of my health as to go on a farm. I was born and bred on one and like the life., and am certainly well satisfied with the results, both financially and physically for this is a very healthy climate. GALLOWAY BROS., Per J. W. GALLOWAY. 74 ACTUAL RESULTS. RANCHING PAYS WELL. Camrose, Alberta, Address:—Ferry Point P.O., 11th September, 1908. In 1893 I drove across from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Wetaskewin 1st August, via Whitewood, S. D., Sheridan, Wyoming, Bellings, and Great Falls, Montana, and McLeod, taking 52 days en route, leading one horse and driving a team. I took up land south of Duhamel where I joined my mother, sister and three brothers who had come in by railway. After working on the C. P. R. construction in British Columbia yearly for sometime and coming back to buy young stock seven years ago I began ranching with 40 heifers and I now'have 250 of this year's calves. I have been selling every year since. This year I sold twice—29 grain fed in spring for $60 a head, and 67 for $1,950. The steers were $36, the fat farrow cows (10) at $30, and 13 heifers at . $20 off the range. I put up wild hay and feed them in the shelter out of doors all winter. They get water from-the flowing springs the water being piped into troughs. I do not milk any cows and only sow enough oats and barley which is chopped for feed. I keep a few horses and mares for use and breeding 20 head in all, 4 being thoroughbred race mares, stabling the latter in winter. THE DOUGLAS FARM, INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN. ACTUAL RESULTS. 75 My brothers have all been engaged in mixed farming and raising a lot of cattle at Springlake and Daysland and Duhamel. They have done well in grain. At Daysland my brother Victor has a 200 acre crop mostly fall wheat and oats. No frost. Last spring he realized at $4.75 per 100 lbs. $68 a head for his grain fed 3 and 4 year old shorthorn steers, fed outside in shelter. I think, although my brothers are doing well as mixed farmers, I think I am doing better with less work, and do not run any risk from hail and frost, while my stock have always been as healthy for stock as it is for all members of our family, who all originally came from near Acton, Ontario. W. E. CAMPBELL. INVESTED $100,000 IN LAND AND STOCK. Section 17, 9, 18, W—3rd, Lethbridge, 8th Sept., 1908. I came here from Lexington, Kentucky, three years ago and purchased 2,000 acres agricultural land, with which I was so well pleased that I bought 4,000 acres more a month or so after. In May, 1907, I commenced breaking the sod, preparing 600 acres and having it ready for sowing 300 acres fall wheat in August. This spring I put spring wheat in the remaining 300 acres. I harvested the fall wheat, beginning 29th July and finished in twelve days. It has yielded 37 bushels per acre which was sold f.o.b. here for 83% cents. Harvested the spring wheat immediately after the fall wheat and finished by middle of August. It yielded 27 bushels per acre and sold f. o. b. here for 87% cents. Having studied the Campbell system of dry farming, and visited his station at Lincoln, Nebraska, I believe it to be the best system for this country; and judging from the crops I obtained on new land in imperfect tilth I anticipate great results by the adoption of Mr. Campbell's methods later on. I have ordered his machinery and, from this time on, intend to carry on operations strictly in accordance with the Campbell theory. I broke 1,600 acres this season, and hope to have the whole 6,000 acres under cultivation next year. I do all my ploughing, discing and harrowing by steam power. 76 ACTUAL RESULTS. Besides the wheat I had 100 acres of this spring's breaking under oats, which ran 60 bushels; and 30 acres barley yielding 40 bushels. I come from the Blue Grass country of Kentucky, and have leased 20,000 acres for grazing, on which I have 1,000 head of shorthorn and Hereford cattle, and 100 brood mares, imported Kentucky thoroughbreds. One of my stallions, on the ranch is Rainbow, 16 years old, won the Brooklyn handicap and the American Derby, tied the world's racing record, and won $40,000. When I brought up my horses from Kentucky, thinking that the wild native hay would not agree with them, I brought up Kentucky timothy hay to gradually wean them. Putting the imported timothy and the native wild hay side by side before them, they left the former and took the latter; and now my imported mares run ou<t all winter on the range and thrive as well as they did when stabled every night in Kentucky. I expect their progeny born here to fully equal those reared in the South. No one having previously gone into the business here on such a large scale, many thought I was making a rash and daring experiment, when 1 invested $100 000 in land improvements and stock. But off the land already cropped I have had cash returns1 which more than pay for it twice over and all the expense of cultivating it. n fact the net profit on my land under crop has been $20 per acre, representing interest at 10 per cent on a value of $200 per acre. I bought the wild land at $7 per acre, and would not now dispose of it for $30 if I could not buy other equally good land for less than the latter price. I entered into this business not with profit as the main object but as much for recreation from confinement to an office for a number of years which had almost ruined my health. Now I never have an hour's sickness and consider the climate most healthful and particularly beneficial for those affected with tubercural troubles. A. S. BOWMAN. WESTERN CANADA IS ALL RIGHT. Sections 14 & 15, 9, 21, W 4th. Lethbridge, 7th September, 1908. I came here from Yellowstone, Montana, 16th March, 1905, and broke 38 acres putting in 6 acres wheat, 6 acres barley and balance ACTUAL RESULTS. 77 in oats. On 23rd July a hail storm damaged the crops, but I got 24 of barley, 37 of oats, 18 of wheat to the acre. I did not expect anything after the crop was cut down by hail; but it was irrigated and grew again fast so that as we had no frost I harvested it on 12 October. After the hail I thought I would irrigate in order to get a crop of hay but it came on so well that I finally secured that crop. That summer I also broke 28 acres in June and sowed winter wheat on 10 September. This yielded 37% bushels per acre, being cut 15th August, next year. On the 38 acres I put in oats, which gave 56 bushels per acre- under irrigation. In the third year I put in 160 acres of spring wheat and oat,s> which yielded 24 bushels wheat after being damaged by a snow storm on 10th September, and 56 bushels oats cut on 20th September, and sold 1,100 bushels to the Government for seed at 50 cents. In the fourth (present) year I have again spring wheat and oats, which I expect thresh 25 and 40 bushels respectively; the spring flood having damaged the irrigation ditches, so that in this dry season I only got the water about middle of July, I sowed alfalfa on 3rd June, 1907 on 13 acres of irrigable land, and cut it in fore part of August and got about 1 ton per acre. This year off two cuttings (3rd July and 1st September) I got 3 tons. Alfalfa does as well here as in Montana where the price used to be $3 while here it is $8 per ton. The price of oats' averages about the same as I got in Montana, while that of wheat is about 10c higher (80 & 70). All my land is irrigated. I bought it for $17 per acre, and could easily have sold it several times for $50. c Regarding the hay growing capabilities of the district. Wild prairie which only produced buffalo grass under irrigation spontaneously produces splendid blue joint in its place giving 1% tons per acre. I have 100 tons now cut and stacked and sell it in the stack at $10. The only difference I And between this country and the States is that the price of implements is about 10 per cent higher, other articles a farmer buys being about the same. As to social and political conditions, all the Americans I know of are so well satisfied that we have taken or are about to take out our naturalization papers and become citizens of Canada. This is a splendid district for small fruits under irrigation. Strawberries grow to perfection and an enormous size. Currants, •aspberries, and gooseberries are also splendid. The sugar beet out 78 ACTUAL RESULTS. of our garden is so sweet they can't be used for pickles. If a sugar factory were started here we could at-$5 per ton net $50 per acre easily, and an immense business could be done in preserving small fruit. I have tried Transcendent crab apples, and now, after two years, they promise well. All kinds of garden vegetables grow splendidly, and " navy" beans, such as are sold in stores, come on fine, and would be a most profitable crop. Sweet and other early varieties of Indian corn do well; Dent corn would take too long to ripen here. I tried an early variety of Minnesota dent corn which succeeded on about % acre of land. I planted Manitoba maple seedlings two years ago and they are doing well. We will have to use trees as wind breaks to garden successfully here. I had experience of " dry " farming in Kansas before practicing irrigation in Montana. Under irrigation larger crops are produced but the wheat grows softer and becomes less valuable for milling purposes than the red winter wheat sown on high dry land. Winter wheat put in in properly cultivated high land does not require irrigation; but for fodder and vegetables or grain sown on breaking in spring irrigation is required. W. E. NEWTON. HAPPY AND CONTENTED. CLARESHOLM, 9th September, 1908. I came here from North Dakota six years ago, took up a homestead and bought railway land for $3.00, and the land on which this town stands from the Hudson's Bay Company at $7.00 per acre. Wild land such as I bought six years ago at $3.00 is now selling at $40 per acre. The first year I broke 200 acres, and got good crop of oats (45 bushels) and wheat 17 bushels to the acre the same year. Next year I broke 400 acres and sowed fall wheat in August, and reaped 37 bushels per acre in latter part of the following August. Off the 200 acres broken my first year I had fair crops of spring wheat (26 bushels), oats between 60 and 70 bushels, barley (40 bushels) and flax 14 bushels, The third year I broke 400 acres and seeded fall wheat, which gave 33 per acre next fall. ACTUAL RESULTS. 79 Third year I. had 320 acres in spring wheat, and the rest—280 acres—in oats, barley and green feed. That year I sowed a few acres of alfalfa and timothy, and planted Manitoba maple, ash and native cotton wood, also some Russian poplar. All these did well, the wheat yielding 24 bushels. Now I have 2,000 acres in crop and have begun to summer fallow, which I intend to practise hereafter every four years. My crop of fall wheat this year, off new breaking mostly, has threshed from 30 to 40 bushels »er acre. As soon as I found how good a district this was for farming I made up my mind to get settlers on it and returned to Ramsay County, Minnesota, where I told my friends and acquaintances all about the soil and climate of Claresholm district. After hearing what I had to say my hearers authorized me to select and buy for them thirty-three sections of land. I am happy to say that I was very successful in getting actual settlers located on homesteads in many townships east of this and north within 12 miles of Lethbridge. The averages from this district since 1902 have been:— Fall wheat average 30 highest 60 Spring wheat .. .. .. .. .. , " 20 " 55 Oats lowest 30 .. . "75 ..-" 125 Barley lowest 25 "50 " 80 Flax .. .. " 18 to 20 The price of wheat has ranged from 50 to 94, with 60c as an average. We have a very fine class of exceptionally industrious farmers around here. O. J. AMUNDSON. ^ I THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY '.S^IfBiBKim. WESTERN CANADA THE MINING, LUMBERING, FISHING, DDITICU f f\\ IIUDIX FARMING AND FRUIT GROWING REGIONS OF DKlIIOrl OULUMolA Is also the BEST LINE to the States of WASHINGTON and OREGON and all Points on Pugei Sound and the Pacific Coast, and the Shortest Route lo YUKON and ALASKA BE SORE and ASK \OUR STEAMSHIP AGENT for PASSAGE by this LINE OF RAILWAY tiraM n 4 llflH: TOURIST SLEEPING CARS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION APPLY TO STEAMSHIP AGENT, OR TO GEO. AIcL. BROWN, Gen. Traf. 4»ent \ §§"62 Charing Cro.™, S.W., H.SCARM.CHAELGe^^^ sr'ERCCRA^Tg^tGeneral PaSSSnger ASeDt- S0° Li™ '.MEg Wra. McCALLA, Agent....". ii •'viVwV '<:'<" 'mifim i ,Rj Tkol SSggE fe ■••••••—'■•■'■'•■■.•.'.•.'.'.■• IS' St'.•'A&S-rpIJade^^lT'oL^ M. ADSON, General Passenger Agent D S s" & A Line" " nffimTHR*ME£g' cTfOSAERER&?^r%ZB%^ ' V V • " •'•'•'•'-45S Broadwav; NEW YORK^y! a r.' iwisR,/?sslst'™t. G™eral Passenger Agent. VANCOUVER B C. w.imMaS^:'::::::''^wfi^^Sft A ^EDMONDS rSSSiS- SSSS^a^J DepartmeriVSinton Hotel Sick CINCINNATI, Oh?o wiW EI|ht'T?asffSntI ?vi-.v-;:: 7 tort s- w^igg^fc.^ F. T. GRIFFIN, Land Commissioner ... "...."'.'."'.'.".'.".'.'.'.'.'. WINNIPEG,'Man.' c. e. Mcpherson, william stitt, Gen. Pass. Agt., West'r» Lines Gen. Pass. Agt., Easfn Lines WINNIPEG, Man. MONTREAL, Que. ° Ea«; UpSSHtR'„ « ROBERT KERR, Asst. Pass. Traffic Manager _ _. .,.„ „. ' Western Lines, Pass> Traffic Manager WINNIPEG Man. MONTREAL, Que. I A HOMEMAKING j OPPORTUNITY Irrigated and non = irrigated lands for colonization purposes may be obtained from the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. within the Three Million Acre Block which is being developed by irrigation in the Famous Bow River Valley Southern alberta. This Block is attracting homeseekers from every part of the world. Land is offered at low prices and on the most liberal terms. Atlual settlers may purchase homes on the CROP PAYMENT PLAN, por further information APPLY TO Canadian Pacific Railway Irrigation Colonization Department CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA. f I THE WORLDS HIGHWA ACROSS CANADA EXCELLENT SERVICE LOW- COLONIST RATES ANY AGENT WILL GLADLY FURNISH PARTICULARS
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