inspection of the districts and conversation with the men 

 or the land. Comfortable homes, surrounded by trees, 

 shrubs, alfalfa and timothy fields, are a real evidence of 

 what ran be done in a remarkably short time. The most 

 authentic demonstration work on record are the field 

 tests carried on by Mr. VV. H. Fairfield, Superintendent 

 of the Dominion Government Experimental Farm, at 

 Lethbridge, covering the period from 1908 to 1918, 

 inclusive. 



With Marquis Wheat, the increased yield due to 

 irrigation was 23 bushels or 77%. 



With Banner oats 38 bush, or 54% 



" Barley 35 " or 81% 



" Field peas 14 " or 51% 



" Potatoes 250 " or 105% 



In comparing results of the yields in grain on the dry 

 and irrigated lands, it is only fair to point out that on the 

 dry land the crops have invariably been planted on summer 

 fallowed land, so that, to be really fair in the comparisons, 

 the yield on the dry lands should be divided by two. For 

 on the irrigated land a rotation system was followed, and 

 no summer fallow was done; that is to say a crop of some 

 kind was produced every year on the land. 



On the irrigated portion of the station, their average 

 yield for cured alfalfa for the past ten years has been con- 

 siderably over four tons per acre; some seasons it has 

 exceeded five tons per acre. Timothy hay has averaged from 

 one and a half to two tons per acre during the same period. 



Irrigation spells diversification, and more intensive 

 farming than is the case with straight grain growing on 

 dry land. To be able, in our short seasons, to irrigate the 

 crops in the most advantageous manner and at the proper 

 time, they must be diversified and so arranged that it will 

 not be necessary to irrigate the whole area at one time, as 

 would be the case were one raising grain exclusively. 

 This diversification means that there will be certain parts 

 of the farm devoted to hay and pasture. It means that 

 the livestock holdings will be vastly increased; and with 

 the carrying of live stock on the land, the question of an 

 adequate supply of humus in the soil will be solved. This 

 in itself will modify to a great extent the troubles we are 

 experiencing in soil drifting. 



The weed problem will be taken care of and disappear 

 to a large extent, because weeds that thrive in grain 

 disappear when the land is seeded down to alfalfa. If 

 the land has been seeded down to alfalfa for a few years, 

 it is richer than ever for grain growing; and so the cycle is 

 completed and more staple and permanent conditions 

 are established. 



Smaller Holdings, Larger Population 



The natural outcome of this change of conditions will, 

 without doubt, mean smaller holdings and larger popula- 

 tion. It will mean better roads and better schools; and 

 social conditions generally will be improved, as a result of 

 greater production per annum per acre. 



A conservative estimate of the additional cost per 

 acre for farming under irrigation methods is about $4.00 

 per acre, including the cost of land preparation, ditching, 

 and irrigating, the ordinary maintenance charge of about 

 $1.00 per acre, and interest on the additional purchase 

 price of irrigable land over dry land. 



The Canada Land and Irrigation Company has 

 published reports on an irrigated farm, containing 84 

 acres, being operated by that Company, on which, in 1918, 

 the net profit was $4,254; the crops being alfalfa, field peas, 

 potatoes, corn and garden truck, and during the years 

 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918, carried on a series of experi- 

 ments, in conjunction with the Irrigation Department of 

 the Dominion Government, on crops, including alfalfa, 

 wheat, oats, barley, peas, potatoes, and sugar beets, on 

 both dry and irrigated plots. Applying their results to 

 a 160-acre tract, containing 100 acres of alfalfa, 30 acres 

 of oats, 10 acres of barley, 10 acres of peas, 5 acres of pota- 

 toes, and 2 acres of garden produce, the average increase 

 per acre was as follows: 



1915-16 (two wet years). $30.36 per acr*. 

 1917-18 (two dry years). $79.06 per acre. 

 1915 to 1918 average (or four years, $51.00 per acre. 



Probably the largest returns ever produced from 12 

 acres in the prairie provinces were those obtained in 1919 

 by a farmer near Brooks, Alberta, who obtained 14 bushels, 

 or 784 pounds of alfalfa seed to the acre. This was sold 

 at 85 cents per pound, representing a return of $666 per 

 acre, or $7,992 from the 12 acres. The price subsequently 

 advanced to $1 per pound. 



It may be of interest to know that an analysis of the 

 statistics of the irrigation projects of the United States 

 shows that 60% of the gross revenue received from all the 

 products of irrigated land comes from alfalfa. 



The results which have been obtained in the past, 

 with sunflowers for silage, producing 30 tons per acre; 

 with sugar beets of exceedingly high sugar content, pro- 

 ducing as high as 25 tons to the acre; and with alfalfa, 

 field peas, and clover seed, are only possible under irriga- 

 tion methods. 



Outlook for the Future 



After referring, somewhat generally, to results on 

 irrigated land so far obtained in Southern Alberta, let us 

 turn to the future. 



The policy of the Dominion Government has been to 

 make the surveys to determine the feasibility of developing 

 certain areas under irrigation, but has never undertaken 

 any actual construction. This phase of development was 

 handled by companies, who held large blocks of vacant 

 land, constructed the works to serve them with water, and 

 then sold to new settlers, with a perpetual contract for a 

 supply of water to the lands, at a fixed annual charge. 



This form of enterprise has developed all the large 

 projects constructed up to date. These conditions are 

 now changed, because the large areas that still await 

 development are practically all settled, and people are on 

 the land. The proposal is to develop these areas by co- 

 operative effort of the land owners themselves; and the 

 necessary machinery has been created by the Provincial 

 Government in passing the Irrigation District Act. 



The Act provides for the formation of Irrigation 

 Districts, with power to raise the necessary funds to con- 

 struct the irrigation works by selling bonds, the security 

 for which is the land within the district. 



A diagram showing the actual monthly rainfall in 

 Southern Alberta is all ups and downs; the production on 

 the so-called dry lands shows these ups and downs; follow- 

 ing that our business conditions are all ups and downs. 

 The financial condition of the individual farmers is 

 reflected in the financial conditions of the country. Agri- 

 culture is the basic industry of this section. Irriga- 

 tion stabilizes agricultural production, and therefore 

 stabilizes business conditions. It is not so much hail 

 insurance or frost insurance we require as drought insurance; 

 and this can only be provided by the construction and 

 operation of well designed and well built irrigation systems. 

 I have been well informed that a mortgage has never been 

 foreclosed on an irrigated farm in Southern Alberta; and 

 in some of the irrigated districts, it is now generally con- 

 ceded that a full water right about trebles the selling value 

 of a farm. To summarize: 



The Benefits of Irrigation 



The chief benefits of irrigation in Southern Alberta 

 may be stated to lie in the following directions. 



First, as providing a valuable insurance against losses from 

 drought which are known to occur at certain periods of ea*.h year, and 

 long droughts which do occur in certain seasons. 



Second, the production of larger yields of grain with the appli- 

 cation of water at critical periods in its growth. 



Third, the production of larger yields of alfalfa, timothy, and 

 other fodder crops, necessary for the up-building of the livestock 

 industry, and the general adoption of mixed farming methods. 



Fourth, additional population on smaller holdings, and the 

 possibility of creating real homes on the treeless plains. 



Moisture is the basis of agricultural success in Southern Alberta, 

 as it has been in all other semi-arid countries; and this is what leads up 

 to the tremendous importance of the matter of the financing of these 

 Irrigation projects. 



With the irrigated areas constantly growing, and 

 ordinary agricultural development proceeding, there is no 

 reason why this part of Alberta should not be one of the 



