We Prepare for Seeding 



chase seed from any fortunate enough to have 

 it. In spite of all this, however, the quality 

 was by no means all that could be wished, 

 and we felt far from satisfied, as did our friends 

 on No. 9. 



Such was the state of affairs when, one unusually 

 mild day, we paid our friends a visit to ask their 

 opinion. 



Now, here it may be well to say that the prin- 

 cipal wheat grown in Saskatchewan is what is 

 known as " Red Fife." It is looked on as the 

 standard variety to such an extent that there 

 is a stipulation that No. 1 grade shall contain a 

 very large percentage of this variety. It is said 

 to yield well and to be of that hard, flinty nature 

 that makes it valuable for milling purposes ; on 

 the other hand, it does not mature so rapidly 

 as " Preston," for instance. The latter, how- 

 ever, is a softer wheat, and does not under equal 

 conditions grade so high, and yet in the last 

 season a man who had " Preston " did much better 

 in our neighbourhood than if he had sown " Red 

 Fife," simply because it had matured earlier and 

 thus escaped some of the fall frosts that had 

 proved so destructive. There are also some other 

 varieties which need not concern us here, and, 

 of course, winter wheat is grown in Alberta and 

 to some slight extent in Saskatchewan ; but so 



233 



