OX AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 101 



alluvial loam found in many parts, accompanied with a full share 

 of summer sun, is speciallv adapted. Manitoba, however, now 



exports cattle to tin- ranches in the West, ami across the line to the 

 I'liited States, and sends large < | uant ities of beei to the Eastern 

 markets. An enumeration of the total cattle owned in 1908 showed 

 an increase of about 52 per cent, in the preceding seven years, 

 probably due to the Large influx of new settlers, whose first wants 

 would include milk, butter, and cheese, and to a desire on the part 

 of many older settlers to enlarge the scope of their operations so as to 

 include a certain amount of stock-keeping. The dry, Bunny summer, 

 which is so good for the grain-grower, is not altogether in favour of 

 the stock raiser on the barer regions ; but where a certain amount of 

 shelter from the sun is obtained naturally or otherwise, and where 

 water can be procured, cattle raising should be, and we were in formed 

 was. (piite a profitable adjunct to the prevailing grain-growing. 

 It would appear, however, that it would, for a long time, probably 

 always, be in a secondary position. There are many parts of the 

 world, with a greater or at least a more evenly divided rainfall. 

 and milder winters, where cattle can be raised under more favour- 

 able conditions than on the plains of Manitoba. All the same, 

 till the unsettled lands are all under cultivation, there is room and 

 keep at a low price for a still further large increase in the number 

 of cattle. There are reported to be many good herds of pure-bred 

 cattle scattered over the Province. Some members of the Commission 

 were privileged to see two of the more famous herds of high-class 

 Shorthorns, one near East Selkirk, and one near Carberry — both 

 well known to Shorthorn fanciers all over the world. 



The two other prairie provinces, Saskatchewan and Alberta, may 

 be taken together as regards general configuration of surface and 

 quality of soil. In these respects there is no abrupt dividing line 

 between the conditions prevailing here and in Western Manitoba. 

 There is evidence in these provinces of a " newness " which already 

 in some parts of Manitoba has worn off. In comparison with the vast 

 area of land which has been taken up by settlers and capitalists, 

 and is as vet unbroken, the numbers of cattle to be seen are not large. 

 Settlers near a town or village devote a portion of their energy and 

 resources to supplying dairy produce for the local market, and 

 judging from the current prices in such places this would seem to 

 be quite a remunerative line of business. On the homesteads of 

 the much larger area, where no such local demand exists, only one 

 or two cows are kept. These and their followers are all the 

 live stock, other than horses, on the average farm. Besides the 

 difficulties to stock-raising on a large scale, such as want of 

 shelter, want of running water, and the summer drought, there 

 are other practical difficulties present to the new settler in this 

 grain-growing country : for example, the high wages of the 

 labourer who assists, the want of experience of cattle and their 

 needs on the part of the farmer, the want of fences, and probably 

 also the want of capital with which to purchase the stock or erect 

 the necessary buildings. The provision of a succulent diet through 

 the long severe winter for any but a limited quantity of cattle must 



