30 ESSAYS ON "WHEAT 



Indians, and half-breeds, was 12,800,^^ but the amount 

 of land under cultivation was still very small. There was 

 no market to supply except that at home and that provided 

 by the requirements of the Hudson's Bay Company, so 

 that there was no inducement to the settlers to extend their 

 farming operations. The farms were all situated on the 

 Ked Eiver between Upper Fort Garry and Lower Fort 

 Garry, and along the northern baiLk of the Assiniboine 

 River. Even as late as 1870, the possibility of growing 

 cereals on the prairie more than two miles back from the 

 rivers had not been tested.^* The first settlers on the open 

 prairie appear to have been the Mennonites, who came to 

 the southern part of the province of Manitoba from Russia 

 in 1875. Among other things which the Mennonites 

 brought with them was a variety of wheat known as White 

 Russian, which was ultimately supplanted by Red Fife. 



The first exportation of wheat to the East took place in 

 1876 and consisted of 857 bushels of Red Fife — all that 

 could be obtained — which was required in Ontario for 

 seeding purposes. The consignment left Winnipeg by 

 steamer and was conveyed up the Red River to Fisher's 

 Landing where it was transferred to a railway truck for 

 carriage to Duluth.*" 



XX. Effect of the Revolution in the Milling Industry 



The extension of the cultivation of Red Fife and other 

 hard red spring wheats in western Canada and the Great 

 Plains region of the United States was profoundly influ- 

 enced by the revolution which took place in the milling 



Bsibid., p. 174. 

 59 /6m?., pp. 176-177. 



80 For a more extended account of this incident, vide Chapter III, 

 Section XXIII. 



