ON AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 31 



to substantial residences, sheltered from the prairie winds by belts 

 of trees, and where the land sells at from £9 to £12 per acre. The 

 soil is a black, sandy loam, much lighter than the soil at Portage. 

 The farmers grow wheat and oats and hay, and keep cattle and pigs. 

 The usual custom is to get two crops of wheat, then oats, then barley 

 seeded with timothy, and back again to wheat. On our return to 

 Carberry we were entertained to dinner by our friends. It was 

 9 P.M. when we left en route for Brandon. What a succession of 

 banquets ! There were some days when most of our meals were 

 banquets — last night, dinner with the good people of Carberry ; 

 this morning, breakfast with the citizens of Brandon. Brandon 

 is not like Winnipeg, lying flat on the level prairie. It is built on 

 the rising ground on the south side of the valley through which 

 the Assiniboine flows. The town and the suburbs are well-wooded. 

 The valley is narrower and the hills are not so high, but otherwise 

 it is not unlike the valley of Strathmore, as seen from the foothills 

 of the Grampians. We motored to the experimental farm,- where 

 Mr Murray, the superintendent, explained the work that was being 

 done. Experiments had been carried out to decide which varieties 

 of wheat did best. Experiments had also been made with stock. 

 Cattle had been successfully kept all winter in the open, even when 

 the thermometer fell to 40 or 50 degrees below zero, and had done 

 as well as those fed inside and at much less cost. It was difficult for 

 us to believe this, but we were assured that it was a fact, made 

 possible by the growth on the cattle of an exceedingly thick coat 

 of hair which gave the necessary protection. Probably as interesting 

 an experiment as any was the experiment carried out with the view 

 of proving that trees could be grown on the prairie. The avenues 

 of trees throughout the grounds all grown within the last twenty- 

 seven years are standing testimony to the success of the experi- 

 ment. The crops on the farm, so far as we were able to see them, 

 were exceedingly good. But then the farm, situated in the valley 

 of the Assiniboine, is composed of fertile land. The Commission 

 was divided at the experimental farm. Some of them went north 

 and some south of Brandon, thus having an opportunity of examin- 

 ing the rich and the poor soil of the country. The poor soil is very 

 poor and scarcely worth cultivating. On the other hand, the richer 

 soil, north of the experimental farm, is exceedingly good, and is 

 bearing, after years of wheat-growing, from 18 to 20 bushels of wheat 

 to the acre. 



Saskatchewan 



After leaving Brandon, we made direct for Saskatchewan. They 

 say in that country that those who drink of the water of the 

 Saskatchewan River may leave the country but will never rest 

 satisfied till they come back again. Be that as it may, Saskatche- 

 wan is rapidly filling up. Our first stop was at Indianhead. It 

 was 7 P.M., when we got there, but motor cars were waiting for us, 

 and we drove by the light of the cars, the fading light of a swiftly 

 setting sun, and a full moon, through the experimental farm, which 



