was an ordinary Alberta farmer with, however, 

 the instincts and tastes of the naturalist undeve- 

 loped. One day some years ago, whilst culti- 

 vating his fields, he came upon the nest of a wild 

 duck and his sporting and naturalist promptings 

 rebelling at the idea of destroying the eggs, he 

 took them back to the house and placed them 

 under a hen. The result was ten wild ducklings, 

 all of which reached maturity without mishap 

 and multiplied surprisingly the following year. 

 Rather by way of expanding the interest of his 

 hobby than with any idea of profit, he followed 

 up this success by importing some of the cheaper 

 species of pheasants and since that time the 

 farm has just grown and developed of its own 

 accord into a business proposition returning very 

 satisfactory revenue. 



Other birds were added at different times, a 

 permit from the Government being secured in 

 the case of Canadian game birds protected by 

 law. The question of operation was not from 

 the first a simple matter, there being numerous 

 difficulties to surmount and much hard study to 

 be undertaken and mastered before the know- 

 ledge necessary for the care of the many feathered 

 varieties was absorbed. An inherent love of the 

 pursuit conquered all obstacles and now he has 

 no trouble in rearing to maturity in substantial 

 numbers, the birds of any breed. 



Contrary to what one might suppose the 

 market for this stock is excellent and staple. 

 Hunting clubs and large estates in both the 

 Eastern and Western United States are continu- 

 ally in the market for wild game birds especially 

 good breeding stock, and are ready to pay good 

 prices. In the past fall though Mr. Bendick 

 had a numerous stock to dispose of, he was 

 unable to meet half the demand which came to 

 him. Geese range in price from $15 to $110 and 

 native wild ducks are worth from $10 to $30 per 

 pair. Other birds bring anything up to $150 per 

 pair. 



Much Wild Game Abounds 



The province of Alberta, in fact the entire 

 area comprising the Prairie Provinces, being so 

 excellently supplied with wild game, naturally 

 offers the best possible conditions for their farm- 

 ing under semi-domestic conditions. It is the 

 experience too, that the wild birds arrive at a 

 sturdier maturity and reproduce more rapidly 

 in this life than under the hazards of their natural 

 existence. Two flowing wells on the farm supply 

 water for the artificial lakes which are in the 

 enclosure where the water fowl are kept. Long 

 grass and brush surrounding the lakes supply 

 the best of locations for nesting. The young 

 birds are fed such animal foods as boiled eggs 

 until they are old enough to eat grain. Some of 

 the birds gather the greater part of their own 

 food during the summer. 



It has been found that wild ducks and geese 

 which ordinarily lay only from five to eight 

 eggs per season, will lay a second setting if the 



first is taken away, which may be hatched out 

 by a barnyard fowl. The Canadian wild goose 

 has been found on domestication to become as 

 tame as the domesticated breeds and the 

 experience with the Egyptian goose has been 

 similar. Wild ducks on the contrary never en- 

 tirely lose their wild instincts. Young pheasants 

 can be raised as easily as chickens and this has 

 been proved with a dozen different varieties. 

 Wild turkeys, introduced from Kentucky, have 

 done exceptionally well and completely out- 

 classed in proportions the tame varieties. Some 

 of these have attained a weight of over thirty 

 pounds. The California quail, the Hungarian 

 partridge, the Canadian prairie chicken, and 

 Chinese pheasants have all been bred successfully 

 proving extraordinarily hardy. 



Across Canada The Twin Ports 



In national importance one cannot write of 

 Port Arthur without the city of Fort William 

 coming up for consideration and any broad 

 treatment of the places they occupy in Canadian 

 economic life must associate the two ports. 

 Though two separately existing cities their 

 boundaries are so contiguous as to make it only 

 a matter of time before they will overlap; their 

 interests are so common and their welfare and 

 progress so inseparably bound tbgether that 

 issues affecting one inevitably react to the benefit 

 or detriment of the other; though divided in 

 civic rivalry they are united in forming together 

 the connecting link between Eastern and Western 

 Canada, the bulk-breaking point for much in- 

 coming and outgoing freight of Western Canada. 



Fort William and Port Arthur were first 

 developed as the most expeditious landing places 

 for the early voyageurs who, by way of the 

 Kaministiquia river and the Lake of the Woods, 

 penetrated the fur-bearing areas of the Great 

 North-West. With the remarkable development 

 of the Prairie Provinces and the increasing 

 volume of grain they have for export each year, 

 they have developed into great ports as consti- 

 tuting the Great Lakes outlet for the great 

 transcontinental railways, bearing their freights 

 of grain and other produce on by more expedi- 

 tious and economic routes to Montreal and the 

 Atlantic. 



Modern Ports and Terminals 



Here, nearly a thousand miles from the near- 

 est salt water, are to be found modern ports with 

 huge terminals, excellent freight handling facili- 

 ties and docks at which come and go vessels equal 

 in size to Atlantic liners. Here are to be found 

 the greatest grain storage accommodations in the 

 Dominion with thirty-two grain elevators capa- 

 ble of holding 55,000,000 bushels, including, at 

 Port Arthur, the largest grain elevator in the 

 world with a capacity of 9,500,000 bushels. The 

 volume of wheat, oats, barley and flax handled 



90 



