ITAMES] AN HISTORICAL WAR CROP 103 
wheat growers must wait patiently for the disposal of their crop and 
final settlement. 
Further the work of inspection and grading performed by the 
Board of Grain Commissioners for Canada must be considered. All 
the wheat that passes through Winnipeg carries the endorsement of 
Canada, which is recognized by European importers. This gives 
Canada a decided advantage in competitive selling. 
Now we come to the question as to the reasons or causes of the 
great wheat crop of 1915. Again and again it has been called a 
“freak crop.” This is not a fair designation of the crop, as it suggests 
no special credit to the producers and implies that there is no clear 
explanation of its origin. The reply to that, as far as the farmers are 
concerned, is that they increased their acreage by about twenty per 
cent and worked early and late in cultivation, seeding, harvesting, 
threshing, and marketing. It is only fair that due credit be given to 
the farmers for their energetic response to the Empire’s call for food. 
Owing to unfavourable weather the crops of 1914 were light 
and, therfore, there was less soil depletion than usual; in other words, 
there was what might be called a ‘surplus’ amount of available 
plant food inthe soil for 1915. The light crop of 1914 left the 
farmers free to summer fallow and to do a larger amount of fall 
ploughing than had ever been done before. The spring of 1915 also 
was favourable for cultivation. As to the weather, there is more 
mystery. All through the growing season the crops were watched 
with some anxiety. Frost at one time was threatened and during 
the final ripening season in Manitoba snow did some damage. 
There were, however, two most favourable periods. When the 
bloom was on and fertilization was taking place the weather 
conditions were most favourable over the entire country and 
pollination was complete. Never before had there been such a 
complete fertilization of the entire head with the result that 
the spikes were complete from top to bottom with perfect grains. 
As may be readily realized the yield is dependent mainly upon the 
number and size of grains formed in the head. The heads in 1915 were 
long and perfect and the straw was stout enough to hold up the heavy 
load that it carried. The other favourable period was that following 
the bloom when rain and sunshine were well balanced. Then it was 
that the farmer watched with joyous heart the miraculous growth of 
his fields, and at the same time turned an anxious eye to the sky, 
noting clouds and wind, and studying weather forecasts. 
The third factor, that of improved varieties, must not be over- 
looked. Red Fife, which had originated in Ontario some seventy years 
before and established the grade of Manitoba Hard was still much 
