INTRODUCTION. 



It is only a comparatively few years since the vast 

 plains which now comprise the prairie provinces of 

 Canada were inhabited by Indians and buffalo. "Within 

 the past generation this country has been settled by over 

 200,000 farmers. With the exception of those who came 

 from adjoining districts immediately south of the inter- 

 national boundary these farmers have had to face con- 

 ditions that were entirely new to them. The farm prac- 

 tices to which they were accustomed were altogether 

 different from those required by the soil and climate of 

 the western plains. There has been, therefore, a strong 

 demand for information as to the best kinds of grain 

 and other crops to grow and the best system of cultiva- 

 tion under which to grow them. 



Among the experimenters and teachers who have done 

 such splendid work in discovering and making known the 

 best farm practices for the Canadian west Professor 

 Bracken has taken a place in the front rank. For ten 

 years before his appointment to the position of President 

 of the Manitoba Agricultural College he was Professor 

 of Field Husbandry at the College of Agriculture, Uni- 

 versity of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. The plan of the 

 experimental fartoi at that institution, one of the most 

 comprehensive and scientific on the continent, was 

 devised by him. The results obtained from his own 

 experiments, and the experiments at other stations both 

 in Canada and the United States, together with the 



V. 



