Homesteading 



To see his stock increase and his young animals 

 grow is, of course, a joy to the farmer all the world 

 over, but especially so to the pioneer settler, 

 and this often apart from the prospect of material 

 gain. Many such have left their native land 

 and the life of cities from an inborn love of 

 natural surroundings, and the miracle of life and 

 the sight of the young animals revelling in it are 

 of never-failing delight. 



The crops were now approaching a critical 

 stage. Their success or failure means so much, 

 not only to the growers themselves but to the 

 whole prairie country, including the towns, and 

 indeed to all Canada, that the prospects are a 

 constant subject of discussion. 



The simple fact is, that what to the British 

 town-dweller, secure of his daily bread (if he has 

 the money to pay for it), may seem a very 

 prosaic and uninteresting round of daily toil, is 

 to many a hardworking grain grower a great 

 gamble. 



We are, indeed, promised in the Scriptures that 

 seed-time and harvest shall not fail, and it is 

 true, for in a succession of years Nature evens 

 things up wonderfully ; but to the early settler 

 the difference between a good and a bad harvest 

 means so much that it may be doubted if the 

 devotee of the racecourse or the gaming-table 



io6 



