3So WHEAT AND WOMAN 



The list of my working expenses for 1907 reads : 



Feed and seed .... $64.90 

 Breaking twenty-five acres . . 100.00 



Wages 260.70 



Taxes ... .15.00 



Fencing . . . . . 9-5 

 Fanning mill . . . 26.00 



Binder- twine . . . .27.00 

 Hail insurance . . . . 19. 50 



Horse 150.00 



Grocery, flour, and meat, repairs, 



veterinary attendance . . 245.00 

 Threshing and teams . . 1 3 3 . oo 



Total . .$1050.60 



In an average year this should be less by almost 

 half. Wages have of course almost doubled since 

 1907 ; but my grocery and repairs bill is far too 

 high. The finest form of insurance against hail or 

 any other catastrophe affecting the wheat crop is 

 to put the stakes into stock ; but threshing expenses, 

 binder-twine, wages, and taxes are standing expenses 

 which must be provided for year by year through 

 one means or another ; and a good poultry-house, 

 netted in with poultry-wire, should never be 

 omitted in the beginning of a farming experiment. 

 Turkeys are easy to rear, and average from three to 

 five dollars in price. There is an excellent market 

 for all kinds of food in the present phase of develop- 

 ment in Canada, which is marked by a great increase 

 in population and an admirable improvement in 

 building accommodation not only in the cities but 

 on the prairies. The shack-phase was very attrac- 



