Irrigation is an insurance on crop production 

 and against drought, and annual water rental is 

 simply the payment of the insurance premium, 

 the paying of which results in certainty of a 

 crop or returns from the land insured as compared 

 with dry farming. 



If bond buyers carefully investigate the 

 advantages of Western Canadian irrigation bonds 

 in the light of the success which has attended 

 irrigation schemes in operation in Alberta now 

 for some years, they will probably realize their 

 high investment values. 



The Hemp Industry in Canada 



By G. G. Ommanney, M.I.C.E., Investigation Engineer, 



Dept. of Colonization and Development, C.P.R., 



Montreal, Que. 



In an article published in Volume 2, Number 

 1, issue of the Bulletin, January, 1920, we 

 referred to the past history of the hemp cultiva- 

 tion in Canada, the experiments which had been 

 carried out, and which, in their results, had 

 satisfactorily established the suitability of west- 

 ern soil and climate both in Manitoba and 

 Alberta for the cultivation of this important 

 industrial crop. We also described the reasons 

 which led to a temporary abandonment of effort 

 to secure the production of raw material for 

 Hessians in Canada. 



One of the signs of this country's recon- 

 structive recovery from war conditions and con- 

 sequences is the revival of practical interest in 

 this subject, as a consequence of which a big 

 forward step has recently been taken in hemp 

 cultivation in Manitoba. 



This Year's Plans 



Last year, the Canada Fibre Products 

 Limited, under Col. Wm. Grassie, planted some 

 550 acres of hemp at Niverville near Winnipeg. 

 This crop was fairly successful, but cultural 

 methods were not all that could have been 

 desired, and the yield was accordingly reported 

 to be not as great or as uniform as might have 

 otherwise been obtained. It is felt, however, 

 that the lessons learnt have added greatly to 

 knowledge on the subject and go far to ensure 

 full success in future efforts. With a view to 

 providing for an extensive hemp crop in Mani- 

 toba in 1921, arrangements were made for 

 securing the seed from some 5,000 acres in 

 Kentucky under an agreement for purchase on 

 favorable terms for the benefit of the Manitoba 

 farmer. Owing to existing conditions, money 

 stringency, and adverse exchange rates it has 

 been found advisable to curtail this programme, 

 but nevertheless we are informed that arrange- 

 ments have been completed to purchase some 

 750 bushels of this Kentucky seed sufficient to 

 plant 1,000 acres in Manitoba, probably in the 

 Swan river or Dauphin district. 



Create an Industry 



The Canada Fibre Products Limited have 

 recently secured Mr. E. F. Hutchings, of the 

 Great West Saddlery Co., as president, and intend 

 to establish a mill to handle the product from 

 this acreage. The manager of this company is 

 quoted to have said, "Our ultimate object is to 

 build up a hemp industry, with Winnipeg as its 

 headquarters, which will produce bags, twine, 

 and coarse fabrics. Actual planting will begin 

 about the first of May." 



It is thought probable that, with Mr. 

 Hutchings as president, the company will adopt 

 an aggressive campaign in regard to hemp 

 development in the West. Of course, the ulti- 

 mate purpose is to establish the industry as a 

 combined agricultural and industrial Canadian 

 development with plants throughout Western 

 Canada, planting, cultivating and treating the 

 hemp and converting it into all its various 

 products, but it is understood that, for the 

 present, attention will be restricted to perfecting 

 methods of cultivation, and the product will be 

 marketed as raw material in Eastern Canada 

 and Europe. 



As with all Western Canadian developments 

 of this nature, the success of the enterprise 

 depends largely on the possibility of substituting 

 machinery for hand labor. The perfection of a 

 practical hemp breaking machine has received a 

 lot of attention from experts. It is understood 

 that this machine is now satisfactory, and that a 

 demonstration of its practical operation is to be 

 given in Winnipeg in the near future. Although 

 we have not, at time of writing, any definite 

 information of this particular machine, there 

 can be no doubt that such a machine is an 

 imperative necessity for successfully handling the 

 Canadian hemp crop. 



Alfalfa in Southern Alberta 



By James Colley, Secretary Western Canada Irrigation, 

 Association, Calgary, Alberta. 



A native of the southwest of Asia, alfalfa, probably 

 the best fodder crop grown, is now seen on farms in 

 many parts of the world. From Asia, seed was taken to the 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and the plant 

 was grown in Spain many centuries ago. The Spaniards 

 are said to have introduced it into Mexico and South 

 America in the sixteenth century, and its appearance in 

 North America dates from about the middle of last cen- 

 tury, when some seed was brought from Chile to San 

 Francisco. Since its introduction into this half of the 

 continent, now nearly seventy years ago, alfalfa has become 

 the leading fodder crop of the western states, and by far 

 the largest area of the irrigated lands of these states is 

 used for the growing of this crop. 



A very palatable and highly nutritive leguminous 

 plant, all farm animals, especially cattle, sheep and hogs, 

 thrive on alfalfa. It also adds greatly to the fertility of 

 the soil on which it is grown, and increases the yield and 

 quality of the crops that may be sown after it on the same 

 land. This is due to its ability to draw large quantities of 

 nitrogen from the air and to its long tap root, which has 

 been known to grow to a length of fifteen feet and even 



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