98 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Such was the condition when the war broke out. Over ten mil- 
lion acres were in wheat in 1914, and the weather had not been favour- 
able for the growing crop. A crop lower by five bushels per acre than 
any of the previous four years was about ready to harvest, and its 
quality also was inferior. The war at once drove prices up. Re- 
place the average price of $1.22 per bushel by those of the previous 
four years and consider what would have been the condition of the 
western wheat growers! What would have happened to business in 
western towns and cities if the market conditions of 1910-13 had con- 
tinued in 1914? An average return of only $10.50 an acre would have 
left a deficiency that the beef, pork, mutton, butter, and wool could 
not have offset. The readers of this article will, from the above, 
appreciate why the extension of mixed farming was assuming such 
great importance in the economic development of the three prairie 
provinces.! 
Just before the war broke out reports began to come forward that 
through lack of moisture a large area of land in southwest Saskatchewan 
and southern Alberta was threatened with crop failure, and the 
Dominion Government was appealed to for special help. The Minis- 
ter of Agriculture was making a personal inspection of the situation 
when the outbreak of the war recalled him to Ottawa. It was found 
that farmers who had adopted the best practice of cultivation had fair 
crop growth on land previously summer fallowed; in all other cases 
there was complete failure. The settlers in these districts were tided 
over by the Government, and they were advised to summer cultivate 
their land as thoroughly as possible.2 A number of demonstration 
farms were organized in these districts under the Dominion Experi- 
mental Farms Branch to show the value of what is. ordinarily known 
as ‘‘dry farming,’’ which is merely a name for the thorough and scienti- 
fic cultivation of soils in such manner as to conserve moisture. It may 


1 It may be worth while to note that the above statement of cost of production 
makes no reference to the national cost, that is, it does not make any allowance for 
national expenditure incurred in making the wheat lands available and placing the 
wheat grower on the land; nor does it take into consideration the matter of soil 
depletion. A bushel of wheat contains soil fertility having commercial value of 25 
cents, at prices prevailing before the war. The nitrates, phosphates, and potash 
which the wheat removes from the soil are marketable materials. The European 
wheat grower buys these substances as commercial fertilizers and applies them to his 
soil in order that he may produce a crop of wheat. 
2 In the spring of 1915, no less than 48,630 applications for seed grain were re- 
ceived by the Dominion Government, involving over 3,000,000 bushels each of wheat 
and oats. The outlay for seed grain and relief assistance amounted to about 
$13,362,958, which was advanced in the form of loans, the loans being liens on land 
and crop. 
