THE WHEAT LANDS OF CANADA. 771 



" The most trustworthy estimates," says Sir W. Crookes, " give 

 Canada a wheat area of not more than six millions of acres in the 

 next twelve years, increasing to a maximum of twelve millions of 

 acres in twenty-five years." Who prepared these estimates, and 

 upon what are they based? Were they prepared by the same au- 

 thority that supplied Sir W. Crookes with the figures of the area of 

 Manitoba? If so, we may well dismiss them at once; but suppos- 

 ing that these estimates are, as far as the rate of increase is con- 

 cerned, perfectly correct, and that the wheat area of Canada will 

 be only twelve million acres in twenty-five years, there would still 

 remain at least twelve million acres in Manitoba alone available 

 for wheat. It is no exaggerated estimate to say that from sixty 

 to seventy per cent of the land available for cultivation in Mani- 

 toba is well adapted for the production of wheat. Sir W. Crookes 

 says that his area of Manitoba of 13,051,375 acres includes water 

 courses, lakes, forests, towns, etc. Now, the water area alone of 

 Manitoba is 6,329,600 acres, so that after deducting this area and 

 the 1,630,000 acres already under wheat and making due allowance 

 for the other conditions mentioned, he would have us believe that 

 wheat-growing in Manitoba has already nearly reached its limit, 

 which all who know anything about the province will unite in say- 

 ing is absurd. 



IsTow let us turn to the l^orthwest Territories, where, accord- 

 ing to Sir W. Crookes, there is practically no amount of land of 

 any consequence available for w^heat, and let us remember that 

 the same authority limits the wheat area of Canada to a maximum 

 of twelve million acres. The area of the three provisional dis- 

 tricts, with which alone we will deal, is as follows, viz.: Assiniboia, 

 57,177,600 acres; Saskatchewan, 69,120,000 acres; and Alberta, 

 63,523,200 acres (these figures being exclusive of water surface), 

 making a total of 189,820,000 acres. Some of this large area is 

 possibly not particularly well adapted for agricultural purposes, 

 but a careful examination of all available data on the subject justi- 

 fies one in saying that fully one half is suitable for successful wheat 

 cultivation, while in eastern and southern Assiniboia there are 

 some 20,000,000 acres, in the valley of the Saskatchewan 14,000,000 

 acres, and in northern Alberta 15,000,000 acres that are especially 

 adapted for the production of wheat as a staple crop. The area 

 is so large and settlement at present so sparse, that it is impossible 

 to do more than give its capabilities in general terms, founded on 

 the opinions of experienced men who have traveled over it. Pro- 

 fessor Saunders, Director of the Experimental Farm at Ottawa, 

 than whom there is no better authority on the subject in the Do- 

 minion, told me that, from what he saw of the country in driving 



