le Canadian Horticultun^ 



rol. XXX 



AUGUST, 1907 



No. 8 



OutlooK for Horticulture in tKe West 



r. "W. Brodrich, B.S. A., Horticulturist, Manitoba Agricultural College 



MANITOBA is essentially an agri- 

 cultural province. Agriculture 

 has been her most important in- 

 dustry in the past. Agriculture is to be 

 her mainstay in the future. Her broad, 

 fertile acres, which have awaited for 

 vears the touch of man to make them 

 vield forth their untold riches and feed 

 a hungry world, will furnish homes and 

 a livelihood for thousands in years to 

 come. That her soil is phenomenally 

 rich no one can dispute who has ever 

 seen the mighty fields of waving grain. 

 Besides, it takes such fertile fields as 

 these to produce the "No. 1 hard," by 

 which she is known the world over. 



Naturally, in a country which is so 

 large, so rich, and so sparsely settled as 

 this country is, extensive agriculture 

 would be the system most largely fol- 

 lowed. Farms ranging in size from three 

 hundred and twenty to six hundred and 

 forty acres are the rule rather than the 

 exception. The man who farms but a 

 single quarter-section is but a small 

 farmer indeed. On these large farms 

 the largest machinery obtainable is pro- 

 cured and everything is done on an ex- 

 tensive scale. It is imperative in farm- 

 ing these big farms that the work be 

 done in the quickest manner possible, as 

 the growing season is short and the 

 grain must have time to mature. 



Wheat has been and still is the prin- 

 cipal crop grown by the Manitoba 

 farmer. Fields have been sown to 

 wheat for four and five years in succes- 



" sion, summer-fallowed and sown to 



1 wheat again. The only attempt at 

 rotation has been the summer-fallowing 

 and the (jccasional introduction of one 

 of the coarser grains. This continual 



, growing of wheat is bound in time to 

 deplete the soil of its fertility, and the 



'. system of farming eventually will have 

 to be changed. 



Evidence is already to be obtained in 

 some of the older parts of the province 



; that the soil is losing its old-time fertil- 

 ity, and that the system of continuous 

 wheat growing is no longer profitable. 

 The final outcome will be that the farms 

 will become smaller, farming will become 

 more intensive, a better rotation will be 



followed, and a greater variety of crops 

 grown. With the advent of the day of 

 mixed farming, people will begin to take 

 more interest in the production of the 

 luxuries of life rather than the mere 

 necessities. Fruit and vegetables will 

 be grown more extensively and more 

 attention will be paid to home improve- 

 ments than at the present time. 



Fruit growing has never been carried 

 on in this western province on a very 

 large scale. This in a great measure is 

 due to the fact that money could be 

 made more easily out of the growing of 

 wheat, and that as vet comparatively 



For All Canada 



I am pleased to note the improve- 

 ment that is being made in The Can- 

 .'\DiAN Horticulturist. It keeps in 

 touch with the horticultural interests 

 of all Canada. May it meet with 

 continued success. — F. W. Brodrick, 

 B. S. A.. Horticulturist. Manitoba 

 Agricultural College, Winnipeg. 



little is known about the fruit growing 

 possibilities of the country. That fruit 

 can be grown with fair success is every 

 year being demonstrated at the experi- 

 mental farms and by a few pioneer 

 growers scattered throughout the west. 

 Careful attention has to be given to the 

 care and cultivation of the fruit and a 

 rigorous selection made of varieties to 

 ensure success in this department of 

 agricultural work. Nevertheless, a vast 

 field is thrown open along horticultural 

 lines throughout the west. Much will 

 be done in the future in testing varieties 

 and improving varieties already grown. 

 A splendid field is also open in the 

 west in the line of vegetable growing. 

 The possibilities for growing truck and 

 vegetable crops on a commercial scale 

 throughout the country are especially 

 good. Numerous classes of garden veg- 

 etables may be grown with good success. 

 Besides, a splendid market is afforded 

 in the western towns and cities for 

 larger quantities of garden vegetables 

 than are grown at the present time. 



Many farmers throughout the west aim 

 to have each year a well-kept garden, 

 from which they can supply their house- 

 hold with fresh, appetizing vegetables. 

 Nevertheless, in many western homes 

 vegetables are rarely seen on the daily 

 bill of fare. This absence of one of the 

 most wholesome classes of human food 

 is due largely to the amount of time re- 

 quired for the preparation and care of 

 the garden, but the effort expended in 

 the care of a garden will be well repaid 

 in the increased health and happiness of 

 the household. 



The matter of home adornment, for 

 many good reasons, has not received the 

 attention throughout the west that the 

 subject merits. The pioneers who first 

 broke the prairie had more urgent things 

 to attend to than the making of fine 

 lawns and the planting of flowers. They 

 had first to provide a home and the 

 necessities of life. Happily, in the older 

 parts of the country, these days of press- 

 ing need are over and people have more 

 time to devote to the improvement of 

 their homes. In passing through the 

 country, one is struck with the number 

 of fine, comfortable farm buildings that 

 are to be seen on every side. Effort is 

 also being expended to decorate these 

 places and make them more homelike 

 and attractive by the planting of shade 

 and ornamental trees and shrubs, and 

 by the planting of flowers. In no place 

 in Canada will better returns be obtained 

 from the labor expended in the planting 

 of trees and flowers than on the western 

 prairie. They ser\'e to give a touch of 

 natural beauty to the home picture 

 which greatly relieves the bareness of 

 the surroundings. 



The foregoing will serve in a slight 

 way to show the importance of horti- 

 cultural work in the west and the need 

 of more instruction on horticultural 

 subjects. Therefore, one can easily 

 luiderstand the important place that the 

 Manitoba Agricultural College will take 

 in this spread of agricultural informa- 

 tion. It will be in the forefront to give 

 the people of Manitoba and the west all 

 that is newest and best in the line of 

 agricultural instruction; while its aim 



