CANADIAN PROSPECTS 33 



balance has to be struck between probable 

 exports of cereals on the one hand and imports of 

 dairy products and meat. Undoubtedly the 

 shortage of the latter has reached a point which 

 seriously interferes with steady development . The 

 West and the industrial population are making 

 too great demands on the older established pro- 

 vinces. High prices for meat affect farmers by 

 largely increasing the cost of breeding stock. 

 A like rise in horses is another handicap. 1 

 Gasoline tractors 2 have been introduced as an 

 alternative to horses. Will not the adoption of 

 this means of cultivation tend to increase 

 the practice of " wheat mining " ? Will the 

 Quebec and Ontario export trade in cheese be 

 diverted to filling the urgent home demand for 

 butter ? 



Cereal acreage will be continually extended. 

 The stream of emigrants, " a thousand a day," 

 and the extension of railways put this out of the 

 region of doubt. To what extent will the higher 

 cost of living check the working of the machine ? 

 Will emigration fall off ? If it were not that 

 Canada's capacity to export food-stuffs other 



1 Prices of horses in Canada : — 



Heavy draft — rgoo, /30 ; 1911, /65. 

 General purposes — 1900, £25 ; 191 1, £50. 

 Drivers — 1900, £32 ; 191 1, /70 to £80. 



2 According to a recent estimate 6,500 motor tractors 

 are in use in the Western Provinces. 



c 



