and intelligence to bear upon a following out of the 

 systems of experienced and successful agriculturalists, 

 and utilize the results of the expert investigation and 

 research the Dominion places at his disposal. The 

 whole country is working for him and the novice has 

 almost an equal opportunity with the farmer of a life- 

 time. 



A census of Canadian farmers would probably show 

 that fully one half are noc farmers' sons and were not 

 brought up to the life of the farm. Yet none would 

 criticize Canada's farmers on the score of poor farming 

 methods in general, the excellency of their crops with 

 international honors and the universal demand for their 

 livestock products refuting this effectually. Significant 

 is it too that practically all the farmers who have achieved 

 the most signal honors at international farming compe- 

 titions have not been lifelong farmers but city men 

 who, taking to the land after reaching maturity without 

 the remotest previous knowledge of agricultural activities, 

 have through intelligent study and close application of 

 the best farming methods surpassed the efforts of those 

 agriculturalists who have continued doing things on 

 the farm in the way their fathers used to do them. 



City Boys Greatest Prize Winners 



One might mention the Saskatchewan "Wheat 

 Wizzard", Seager Wheeler, who has carried off the world's 

 wheat championship no fewer than six times, The son 

 of fisher folk in the South of England he spent his early 

 years as a book-stall clerk and his farming knowledge 

 was nil when he took a western homestead. The Hill 

 family of Lloydminster, Alberta, which has carried off 

 the world's oats' championship so often were also inex- 

 perienced city folk from England when they settled in 

 the West. Samuel Larcombe, of Manitoba, who won 

 the wheat championship two years ago, was also an 

 English city boy. J. C. Lucas, of Cayley, Alberta, who 

 attained the international oat championship at Chicago 

 last year, started life in Stratford, Ontario, and when he 

 took a Western homestead had neither money nor ex- 

 perience. Old farmer Maynard, who ran Seager Wheeler 

 a close second for champion in 1912, was a successful 

 tailor in England before the call of the land brought 

 him out to Manitoba to raise prize wheat. Frank 

 Collicur, the Alberta rancher, whose Hereford herd is 

 restocking many farms all over the American continent, 

 was also a city boy, and when he made his commencement 

 as an agriculturalist had only the wherewithal to pur- 

 chase one cow, which became the founder of the huge 

 herd of pure-bred Herefords which wander over Willow 

 Springs. Nick Tatinger, the Alberta barley champion, 

 whose crop each year leaves the country at fancy prices, 

 noi. only had the supposed handicap of a youth spent 

 in a Belgian city, but was minus one arm and capital 

 which would have been useful. Nevertheless he manages 

 to run the farm himself and has made his name inter- 

 nationally famous. 



Inexperienced city men need not fear setting out 

 upon a farming career in Canada or anticipate any 

 disaster, as long as they do so in the recognition of the 

 high standing of the occupation, and with the intent 

 of following out its study as such, in which he will find 

 all assistance available. The fundamental reason of 

 the immigration to Canada is settlement upon Canada's 

 fertile tracts, to acquire a piece of mother earth to hold 

 for all time. The inability to secure holdings, or the 

 prohibitive prices of such, have brought peoples to he 

 Dominion not only from the British Isles and the United 

 States but from practically every country in the globe. 

 Nothing is more foolhardy than to commence operations 

 without a rudimentary knowledge of farming, and for 

 this reason men lacking experience should work for a 

 season upon a farm before starting out for themselves. 

 But granted then that a commencement is made in the 

 right direction, with the right idea and the right intent, 

 there need be no apprehension of the success of the 

 ultimate issue. 



Canadian Seed Industry 



Though unaccompanied by extensive or 

 loud-voiced publicity, Canada has been making 

 a pleasing progress in the production of see 

 both for a rapidly developing domestic con- 

 sumption and an expanding export market. 

 Whilst this industry may not feature yet ir 

 the public mind as distinctly Canadian and sc 

 be nationally important, it is a fact, perhaj 

 not generally known, but supported by the 

 most expert authorities and borne out by 

 exhaustive research and experimentation, that 

 Canadian seed is second to none and that 

 grown on the fruitful soil of the Dominion 

 assures greater propagation and larger and 

 more sturdy crops than that brought to maturity 

 on other parts of the American continent. 



With Canadian farmers consistently car- 

 rying off the highest honors for the production 

 of cereals on the continent it is but natural 

 that the successful growers should receive a 

 demand from a wide area for their prize- winning 

 product, and so far their sales have been limited 

 only by the amount of seed available for ex- 

 port. Seager Wheeler, the Saskatchewan 

 "Wheat Wizzard", for instance, has no trouble 

 in disposing of his record-breaking wheat at 

 $30 and higher per bushel, whilst .the grain of 

 other Canadian winners of international honors 

 has had the same demand and has gone all 

 over the continent to raise the standard of 

 those areas. 



With Canadian agricultural progress and 

 the greater publicity achieved and markets 

 secured through the efforts of the government 

 departments of Agriculture and Trade and 

 Commerce, the export trade in pure seed has 

 witnessed a steady and sturdy growth, and the 

 figures of 1920, recently published, indicate 

 that a considerable step in advance of the 

 previous year have been taken. In the wide 

 export field shipments have increased very 

 largely to the United States, Great Britain, 

 France and Newfoundland. Clover alone ac- 

 counted for shipments aggregating about half 

 a million bushels with a value of five and a 

 half million dollars and to Ireland alone approx- 

 imately 100,000 bushels of flax fibre seed worth 

 $1,000,000 were exported. In British Colum- 

 bia field root and garden vegetable seeds 

 amounting to 150,000 pounds were marketed 

 through the United Seed Growers Ltd. 



Encouraging the Home Agriculturalist 



The work performed for the home agricul- 

 turalist was even more important. For instance, 

 75,000 pounds of mangel, swede turnip and field 

 carrot seeds grown by Experimental Farms 

 were sold at current wholesale prices to farmers 

 organizations and individual farmers, it being 

 deemed advisable to confine the riarketing of 

 this seed to Canada so that Canadian farmers 

 might have the exclusive advantage of using 



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