AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 



257 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS 



Compiled specially for the Canadian Farm 

 Year Book by Ernest H. Godfrey, F.S.S. 

 Field Crops of Canada 1914 and 1915.— 



The agricultural seasons of 1914 and 1915 

 were in strongest contrast to each other. 

 That of 1914 was particularly unfavour- 

 able to the growth of grain. According to 

 the reports of the Dominion Government 

 the persistent drought throughout the 

 greater part of the Northwest proN-inces 

 in 1914 resulted in yields per acre of the 

 chief cereals lower than in any season 

 since 1910 and lower by between four and 

 five bushels than the averages of the six 

 years ended 1913. In Ontario and Quebec 

 though the grain crops suffered from a dry 

 season, the conditions were not so un- 

 favourable, whilst in the Maritime Pro- 

 vinces a favourable season resulted in 

 good returns. 



Field Crops of 1915. — With reference to 

 the field crops of 1915, the Census and 

 Statistics Office of the Dominion Depart- 

 ment of Trade and Commerce reported 

 that the year will be a memorable one for 

 the most abundant grain harvest ever 

 reaped in Canada up to that time. This 

 result was due to a remarkable combina- 

 tion of circumstances. The small grain 

 harvest of 1914, ripened early and ex- 

 peditiously threshed and marketed under 

 favourable weather conditions, enabled 

 the Western farmers to complete an im- 

 usually large proportior* of fall ploughing 

 in readiness for the next year's crop. In 

 Ontario the acreage sown to fall wheat 

 was increased by over 16 per cent as 

 compared with the previous year, and the 

 increase of fall wheat for all Canada was 

 over 9 per cent. A mild winter and 

 spring brought the fall wheat crop 

 through with considerably less loss from 

 killing than usual. The spring opened 

 early, and as a general rule the conditions 

 for seeding were favourable. With the 

 prospect of high prices for wheat and 

 other cereals, and responding to appeals 

 for increased production on patriotic 

 grounds, the farmers of Canada took the 

 fullest advantage of their opportunities, 

 with the result that the area sown to 

 wheat for the harvest of 1915 was not only 

 the largest on record in Canada, but ex'- 

 ceeded the area sown in the previous year 

 by 1,964,400 acres, or nearly 18 per cent. 

 Finally, the growing season was uniformly 

 favourable, and the average yields per 

 acre of all the principal cereal crops in 

 Canada were higher than in any previous 

 year on record. For wheqt, the average 

 yield per acre was close upon 29 bushels, 



or eight bushels more than the previous 

 record of 21 bushels in 1913. 



For the whole of Canada the principal 

 field crops occupied in 1915 an estimated 

 total area of 37,063,455 acres, as compared 

 with 35,102,175 acres the area sown, and 

 with 33,436,675 acres, the are harvested 

 in 1914. 



Total Grain Yields of 1915.— For the 

 season of 1915, as compared with 1914, 

 the total estimated yields of the grain 

 crops were as follows: wheat 376,303,600 

 bushels as against 161,280,000 bushels in 

 1914; oats 520,103,000 bushels as against 

 313,078,000 bushels; barley 53,331,300 

 bushels as against 36,201,000 bushels; 

 rye 2,394,100 bushels as against 2,016,800 

 bushels; peas 3,478,850 bushels as against 

 3,362,500 bushels; beans 723,400 bushels 

 as against 797,500 bushels; buckwheat 

 7,865,900 bushels as againft 8,626,000 

 bushels; flaxseed 10,628,000 bushels as 

 against 7, 175,200 bushels; mixed grains 

 17,523,100 bushels as against 16,382,500 

 bushels, and com for husking 14,368,000 

 bushels as against 13,924,000 bushels. 

 The total yield of wheat in 1915 was 85 . 

 per cent above that of 1914 and over 50 

 per cent above that of the annual average 

 for the five years 1910 to 1914. The total 

 peld of oats also was 47 per cent above 

 that of 1914 and 29 per cent above the 

 average. 



Average Grain Yields per Acre, 191 5. — 



From the preceding paragraphs it is clear 

 that the splendid total yields of wheat 

 have been very largely due to the success- 

 ful efforts of Canadian farmers in sowing 

 a larger acreage; but, for the grain crops, 

 magnificent average yields per acre were 

 after all the principal factor in sweUing 

 out the totals. The following are the 

 average yields in bushels per acre of the 

 principal grain crops as compared with 

 those of 1914, which are placed within 

 parentheses: Fall wheat, 29.41 (21.41); 

 spring wheat 28.93 (15.07); all wheat, 

 28.98 (15.67); oats, 45.76 (31.12); barley, 

 35.33 (24.21); rye, 21.32 (18.12); peas, 

 17.73 (17.64); beans, 16.70 (18.20); 

 buckwheat, 22.88 (24.34); flaxseed. 13.18 

 (6.62); mixed grains, 37.54 (35.36); and 

 com for husking, 56.72 (54.39). 



Quality of the Grain Crops. — The qual- 

 ity of the grain crops in 1915, as deter- 

 mined by the weight per measured bushel 

 in lb., is, with the exception of one or two 

 crops, superior to that of last year, and is 

 also superior to the average of the last five 

 years. The weights per bushel for 1915 

 are as follows: Fall wheat, 59.71 lb., 



