ON AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 41 



and that there was every prospect of the home-steaders, or at least 

 those of them who had grit, succeeding. Success, however, would 

 be more certain if the small farmer had 1000 dollars or more to buy 

 equipment and stock, in addition to which he would need to have 

 500 dollars to keep himself for fully two years until a return is got, 

 unless he finds work elsewhere in winter. 



Those of us who had stayed at Calgary visited in the afternoon 

 of our arrival Mr Turner's farm, about five miles out, with the object 

 of seeing his Clydesdale horses, Shorthorn cattle, and Shropshire 

 sheep. Along with the section of the Commission that went to 

 Gleichen, we stayed in Calgary till midnight on Sunday. By 

 breakfast-time on Monday we had reached Red Deer, and were 

 ready further to prosecute our investigations. Near the town we 

 visited a farm consisting of a half section of good black loam, 

 which the farmer bought six years ago for six dollars per acre, and 

 from which he harvested 45 to 50 bushels of wheat per acre. His 

 rotation is, — fall wheat, then oats or barley, seeded down with 

 timothy and white clover, which he leaves in the ground for two 

 years. Farther on, we turned into a 300 acre farm, owned by a 

 man who settled in Canada in 1885, without any knowledge of 

 agriculture. He bought a quarter section for four dollars an acre. 

 He grows, first year — oats or barley ; second and third year — oats 

 or barley ; fourth year — summer fallow ; fifth year — fall wheat. 

 His average crop of wheat is 35 to 38 bushels per acre ; oats, 50 

 to 60 bushels ; barley, 40 to 45 bushels. But he has not all his 

 eggs in one basket. He had fifty head of cattle at the time of our 

 visit. Perhaps the most interesting visit of the day was to a farm 

 owned by a young Englishman, who had had a University education, 

 and no training in agriculture. When he went to Canada seven 

 years ago, he did not know, according to his own statement, the one 

 end of a cow from the other. He bought 160 acres of land for twelve 

 dollars an acre. After breaking up the ground he sowed fall wheat. 

 This was followed by oats and barley, which in turn gave place to 

 oats, seeded partly with rye grass and partly with timothy, which 

 ended the rotation. But he is pre-eminently a dairy farmer, depend- 

 ing for the most part on a herd of pure Jersey cows. He sends his 

 produce to the Government Creamery at Red Deer, and is paid 

 according to the percentage of butter fat. He separates the milk 

 himself, and he keeps a milk record. He seemed to be doing well. 

 One part of the Commission now inspected a herd of good 

 shorthorn cattle on a neighbouring farm, while the others 

 proceeded to Red Deer to examine the Government Creamery 

 started in 1896. It deals with the milk of 130 farmers, manu- 

 factures 5000 lbs. of butter per week in summer, and 1000 lbs. 

 per week in winter. The expense of working is - about five cents 

 per lb. The farmers get an advance every month, and they 

 are paid the balance twice every year. The butter is sent to 

 the Government Cold Storage at Calgary, and then shipped, along 

 with other butter, to British Columbia, China, and Japan. 



