Agricultural & JlniiiiBtrtal prngrrnH in (Hanaiia 



Published Monthly. Free on request. 



// will be appreciated by the Department if editors and 

 writers using matter from this Bulletin viill quote source. 



Norman S. Rankin, Editor. 



General Agricultural Situation 



Compiled by J. Dougall, General Agricultural Agent, 

 C.P.R., Montreal. 



Statistics compiled by the Provincial Gov- 

 ernments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and 

 Alberta indicate the acreage prepared for crop 

 for the year 1921-1922 to be quite up to expecta- 

 tions. The weather during last autumn was 

 favorable for plowing; the moisture, except in 

 some districts in Alberta, was up to considered 

 average, and the seed bed for this year may 

 therefore be said to be satisfactory. 



The following figures regarding the amount of 

 land ready for seeding up to the close of the year 

 1920 are taken from the statistics of the various 

 Governments. 



Statement of Acreage Prepared for 1921 Crop. 



Manitoba 



New Breaking. . 

 Summer Fallow. 

 Fall Plowing. . . . 



1920 1919 



188,200 196,200 



1,410,000 1,350,000 



2,730,000 1,833,500 



New Breaking. . 

 Summer Fallow. 

 Fall Plowing. . . . 



Saskatchewan 



549,837 849,759 



3,075,751 4,395,746 



748,085 498,724 



New Breaking. . 

 Summer Fallow. 

 Fall Plowing. . . . 



Alberta 



485,852 875,000 



1,833,700 1,250,815 

 1,764,325 400,000 



Total Average for Three Western Provinces :- 



1920 

 12,758,750 



1919 

 11,649,744 



This is an increase of 1,136,006 acres over 

 that of 1919. The spring season has opened 

 early this year, and several places in Alberta, 

 Saskatchewan and Manitoba have already 

 reported plowing in progress. This would 

 indicate that we may expect an increase in the 

 acreage to be seeded for the year 1921. 



Snow and rain have fallen during the latter 

 part of March and reports are general that the 

 condition of the seed bed is good. 



Live Stock Situation 



The general condition of live stock through- 

 out the Dominion is satisfactory. The winter 

 has been mild and Western cattle came through 

 the winter in good condition. There is still a 

 desire by farmers to reduce their herds on account 

 of the drop in prices, and there are few stocker 



or feeder cattle going to the country except in 

 Ontario where there has been a tendency to buy ; 

 the early spring has urged feeders to this course. 

 The rejection of the Fordney Bill by the United 

 States Government has precluded, for a time, the 

 imposition of a tariff against Canadian cattle to 

 the United States and feed lots will be valued by 

 market conditions in the two countries. 



The hog situation continues to be discoura - 

 ging, but we cannot expect much improvement 

 until next autumn as farmers cannot very well 

 get back into hogs before that time. 



Wool Markets 



The general condition of the wool market is 

 still dull. There is demand. Growers who have 

 been holding off their 1920 clip are now sending 

 same forward as any hope they may have had 

 that prices would go up have gone. The 

 Co-operative Wool Co. report considerable wool 

 coming to their Toronto warehouse for grading. 

 They further report 1,800,000 Ibs. sold since 

 January 1st at an average price of 20c. per 

 pound against 33c. for 1920. 



Farm Values Continue to Rise 



Perhaps the most attractive feature of 

 Canadian land to farmers and intending settlers 

 in other lands is the low price at which it may be 

 acquired, coupled with its high fertility and pro- 

 ductivity. When as rich and bountiful a crop 

 can be grown on land procurable at less than $50 

 per acre as on that valued at $100 or more per 

 acre, there is no question as to which a farmer, 

 being fully conversant with the situation, is 

 going to decide upon in the matter of investment. 

 Yet indications tend to show that the cheap 

 lands of Canada are speedily becoming not so 

 cheap, and that the effects of rapid settlement 

 and abundant yields are being experienced in a 

 steady elevation of the prices at which farmers 

 and other owners hold their land. 



The latest report of the Dominion Bureau of 

 Statistics, covering a survey of farm values 

 throughout the Dominion for the year 1920, 

 indicates the further progress of this upward 

 trend. The average value of occupied farm land 

 in Canada, including both improved and unim- 

 proved land, was $48 per acre, whereas in 1915, 

 but five years previous, the same acre was worth 

 only $35. The consistent rise maintained is 

 exhibited in the figures of $36 in 1916, $38 in 

 1917, $41 in 1918, and $46 in 1919. 



Western Lands Highest and Lowest 



Many factors enter in to .an estimation of the 

 value of farm land, and naturally this figure 

 cannot be applied indiscriminately to any one 

 province, the average in some being much higher 

 and in others lower. Land, it may be generally 

 accepted, is held at higher prices in the older 

 eastern provinces, or in the fruit raising districts 



62 



