216 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



Exactly when Red Fife was first sown in western Can- 

 ada is unknown; but a certain small amount was doubt- 

 less being grown in Manitoba as early as about 1870. 

 This seems to follow from the fact that in 1876 nearly 

 one thousand bushels of Red Fife were exported from 

 Manitoba to Ontario to re-seed the very province in which 

 this variety of wheat had originated. The account of this 

 remarkable transaction is related by C. C. James *' as 

 follows : " In 1876 spring wheat failed in Ontario, the 

 old reliable Red Fife apparently had run out, it had lost 

 its vigor — perhaps the fault lay in the soil rather than 

 in the grain. The Red River Fife wheat had made a repu- 

 tation, and so in the fall of the year the late R. C. Steele 

 of Steele Brothers, Toronto, started for Manitoba. He 

 traveled by rail to St. Paul and thence to Fisher's Land- 

 ing, where, doubtful of the river navigation so late in the 

 year, he took a lumber wagon and made the 150 miles 

 to Winnipeg in 30 hours of continuous going. He wished 

 to bring back 5,000 bushels, but all that he was able to 

 secure at Winnipeg was 857 bushels, which he bought at 

 85 cents a bushel. This wheat came down to Toronto by 

 steamer from Winnipeg to Fisher's Landing where he 

 secured some additional United States wheat, thence by 

 rail to Duluth, by vessel from Duluth to Sarnia, and by 

 rail from Sarnia to Toronto. This was the first wheat 

 exported from Manitoba to the East. It was in the latter 

 part of 1876. Mr. Steele paid 85 cents per bushel for this 

 wheat on October 12, 1876." 



In Manitoba, up to about the year 1882, the amount of 

 wheat grown in the province had been scarcely more than 

 sufficient to supply the local market. However, with the 



63 C. C. James, Canadian Wheat History, Gram. Growers' Guide, 

 Winnipeg, June 7, 1916, p. 36. 



