The United Grain Growers Limited of Winnipeg and 

 the United Farmers Co-operative Company Limited of 

 Toronto, two farmers' companies, are commencing to 

 export to Great Britain direct on October first. 



Dairy Products. The prices obtained for dairy 

 products during the month have been somewhat erratic; 

 the tendency is for lower prices but export demand is 

 good. 



Western Canada's Soil Survey 



Reports have appeared in numerous papers 

 recently regarding the surveying of soil in 

 Western Canada which is to be undertaken by 

 the various governments concerned. With the 

 gradual diminishing of available lands in close 

 proximity to transportation facilities, attention 

 has been drawn to the need of more intensive 

 cultivation of the land already occupied. This 

 work would be of immense benefit to the 

 country as a whole, and while it will take 

 several years to complete, yet it is felt that 

 time and labor expended will be more than 

 offset by the results. 



Saskatchewan has taken the lead over her 

 sister provinces in connection with this work. 

 A representative of the University of Saskat- 

 chewan and the provincial department of 

 agriculture has already started work on the 

 preliminary arrangements. Surveys will be made 

 of all agricultural lands in the province, attention 

 being paid to muskegs or swamps with a view 

 to utilizing them for agricultural purposes. An 

 investigation will also be made of the relative 

 fertility of the different classes of soil, and land 

 will be classified according to the type of farming 

 it is best suited for. 



Much the same kind of work will be carried 

 out in the neighboring province of Manitoba. 

 The department of agriculture and the Univer- 

 sity of Manitoba have drawn up tentative plans 

 which will include a survey of the province as 

 regards effect of weather on production ; location 

 of dry areas ; successful methods of dry farming; 

 location of frost arms; investigation of kinds 

 of crops best suited to them; types of soil in 

 various territories; insect and plant diseases; 

 difficulties met by stock breeders; various types 

 of power used in cultivating small and large 

 tracts of land; and a thorough investigation 

 into rural life. 



Alberta to Fall into Line 



Alberta has been somewhat backward in 

 this line of work, and to date no efforts have 

 been made to follow the example set by the 

 other provinces. It is confidently expected 

 that Alberta will not be long in adopting a 

 plan of soil survey which will in every way be 

 as complete as those already approved of in 

 Manitoba and Saskatchewan. This summer, 

 however, the federal department of agriculture 

 despatched a party to investigate the possibility 

 of draining the vast muskegs in the north and 

 utilize them for the growing of farm produce. 



Experiments on a large scale will be carried 

 out, and, if successful, several rich areas will 

 be thrown open to settlers. 



The results of these surveys will be three- 

 fold: (1) they will enable the farmer already on 

 the land to know exactly what crops are best 

 suited for his farm and the methods by which 

 he can obtain the maximum yield; (2) the 

 incoming settler will be able, by consulting 

 the records, to know the merits and demerits 

 of any parcel of land which he may wish to 

 purchase and also the experience and difficulties 

 met by his predecessors in that particular 

 locality and how they were overcome; (3) 

 banks, credit companies, and insurance com- 

 panies will find the data compiled of invaluable 

 assistance to them when making loans for the 

 development of old or new farms. 



Western Canada Irrigation Convention 



By James Colley, Secretary, Calgary 



One of the most successful conventions held 

 in Western Canada in recent years took place 

 at Vernon, British Columbia, during the last 

 month, when, after a lapse of fourteen years, 

 irrigationists of Western Canada, for the second 

 time, held their annual meeting there, the 

 occasion being the fifteenth annual convention 

 of the Western Canada Irrigation Association. 



The main reason for the success of this 

 convention was the excellent program of ad- 

 dresses that had been arranged. The subjects 

 covered engineering, agricultural, economic, legal 

 and administrative aspects of irrigation, and 

 were delivered by able speakers. 



In two inspiring and instructive addresses, 

 Dr. John A. Widtsoe, President of the University 

 of Utah, gave some very good advice on the 

 fundamental principles of irrigation farming 

 practice. He told his audience that irrigation 

 should always be, and in a good system of 

 agriculture always was, supplementary to the 

 natural rainfall. Most of the surface of the 

 earth was arid or semi-arid. About one- 

 quarter of the earth's surface received less 

 than ten inches of rainfall annually, and with 

 our present knowledge could be reclaimed 

 only by irrigation. Over another vast area, 

 comprising an additional thirty per cent, of 

 the earth's surface, the rainfall was between 

 ten and twenty inches. On this area the chief 

 extensive crops could be grown without ir- 

 rigation, but the intensive crops demanded the 

 help of irrigation. Nearly six-tenths of the 

 earth's surface could be re-claimed, if at all, 

 only by irrigation or dry farming. The remain- 

 ing four-tenths would be helped materially by 

 a system of irrigation. 



Water Alone not Sufficient 



Dr. Widtsoe advised his hearers not to 

 expect water alone to produce crops. It was 



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