22 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  3,  1902. 
capabilities  of  Manitoba  as  a  producer  of  food  are  so 
enormous  that  the  remainder  of  the  Dominion  seems  insigni¬ 
ficant  by  comparison.  Manitoba  itself,  if  properly  culti¬ 
vated,  might  in  reality  become  “  England’s  granary,”  and 
now  that  statesmen  are  whispering  of  possibilities  of  Britain 
being  starved  into  submission  to  the  foreigner,  it  is  surely 
not  premature  to  suggest  the  co-operation  of  her  Colonies  in 
preventing  any  such  humiliation. 
'ihe  Boer  War  has  done  much  to  foster  an  Imperial  spirit, 
but  the  shadow  only  will  have  been  grasped,  and  the  ripe 
fruit  missed,  if  Imperial  commerce  does  not  follow  the  flag. 
The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  has  ventured  to  place  duties 
on  imported  grain  and  feeding  stuffs  in  order  to  produce  a 
million  or  two  of  revenue,  whilst  at  the  same  time  pessimists 
are  looking  forward  to  a  period  of  famine  for  want  of  food 
supplies.  If  there  is  any  fear  of  such  a  famine  it  would 
surely  pay  this  country  to  give  preference  to  Colonial 
supplies,  so  as  to  encourage  production  under  the  flag.  It 
is  not  absolutely  impossible  for  us  to  produce  our  own  bread, 
but  it  is  economically  so,  for  we  cannot  do  so  except  at  the 
sacrifice  of  other  products  which  are  now  more  largely  in 
favour,  and  therefore  it  is  fair  to  suppose  more  lucrative 
to  the  producer. 
We  have  noticed  that  all  proposals  in  favour  of  an 
Imperial  Zollverein  or  Customs  Union  are  severely  snubbed 
by  the  powers  that  be.  It  seems  hardly  credible  that  Mr, 
Chamberlain  can  acquiesce  in  import  duties  on  grain  and 
at  the  same  time  object  to  reciprocal  tariffs  between  the 
Colonies  and  the  Mother  Country.  It  seems  to  us  such  a 
desirable  thing  from  a  business  point  of  view  that  the 
Empire  should  be  self-supporting  if  Great  Britain  cannot 
be.  To  show  what  might  be  done  by  preferential  tariffs  in 
promoting  gram  production  in  Canada,  we  will  quote  a  few 
statistics  from  the  “  Winnepeg  Telegram.”  The  area  avail¬ 
able  for  farming  in  Manitoba  is  twenty-five  millions  of  acres, 
of  which  not  quite  three  millions  are  now  under  cultivation. 
The  soil  is  of  very  uniform  character,  and  will  grow  both 
Barley  and  Oats  as  well  as  Wheat.  The  average  production 
of  Wheat  during  the  last  ten  years  has  been  19,928  bushels, 
or  nearly  twenty  bushels  per  acre  ;  whilst  in  1901  the  average 
was  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre,  or  very  little  below  our 
British  average.  This  amply  shows  that  under  good  and 
regular  cultivation  the  land  would  be  most  productive,  for 
the  United  States’  average  for  ten  years  was  less  than 
fourteen  bushels  per  acre — not  much  more  than  half  the 
Manitoba  crop  of  1901. 
The  “  Telegram  ”  gives  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  growing 
Manitoban  Wheat  as  follows  :  — 
Dollars. 
Ploughing  once  . 1.25 
Farrowing  twice  .  0.20 
Cultivating  twice  .  0.40 
Seed  ...  0.75 
Drilling .  0.22 
Binding .  0.33 
Twine .  0.20 
Stooking  .  0.16 
Stacking  .  .  , .  0.60 
Threshing  .  1.46 
Teaming  for  market  .  0.29 
Two  years’  rent  or  interest  on  land .  1.80 
AVear  and  tear  of  implements  ...  '  0.20 
7.87  dollars. 
A  dollar  is  equal  to  4s.  2d. 
This  was  the  cost  of  growing  an  acre  of  Wheat  at  the? 
Government  experimental  farm  at  Brandon.  The  result  was 
a  crop  of  twenty-nine  bushels  per  acre,  wrhich,  at  fifty  cents 
per  bushel,  realised  $14.50,  and  left  a  profit  of  $6.63,  or, 
m  English  money,  27s.  8d.  per  acre.  If,  however,  we  take 
the  average  of  the  1901  crop,  viz.,  twenty-five  bushels  at 
fifty  cents  equals  $12.50,  the  profit  would  have  been  only 
$4.63,  or  19s.  6d.  per  acre.  If  we  go  still  further  back,  and 
take  the  average  of  the  last  ten  years,  twenty  bushels,  at 
fifty  cents,  we  get  $10  gross,  and  but  $2.13  profit,  which  is 
somewhere  about  8s.  10id.  per  acre.  In  any  case,  there 
would  appear  to  be  a  fair  profit  for  cultivation  as  things 
are  now,  and  a  very  little  preferential  encouragement  would 
lead  to  very  extended  cultivation  of  the  twenty-two  millions 
of  acres  which  are  still  growing  prairie  grass. 
Oats,  on  an  average  of  years,  have  yielded  thirty-four 
bushels  per  acre,  and  in  1891  they  reached  forty-eight 
bushels.  Barley  has  averaged  26.54  bushels  per  acre,  and 
has  reached  as  much  as  36.69,  whilst  in  most  seasons  it  is 
of  fine  colour  and  good  malting  quality.  The  farmers  of 
Manitoba  find  that  mixed  farming  pays  better  than  Wheat 
growing  pure  and  simple,  and  they  are  largely  increasing 
their  herds  for  dairy  purposes,  the  production  of  butter 
and  cheese  being  highly  profitable  ;  whilst  the  encourage¬ 
ment  thus  given  to  cattle  breeding  must  largely  result  in 
increased  production  of  store  cattle  as  well  as  beef.  In 
view  of  graziers’  difficulties  in  obtaining  store  cattle  in  this 
country,  surely  under  suitable  restrictions  we  might  allow 
our  Canadian  cousins  an  entry  into  our  store  stock  markets. 
Let  them  show  us  a  clean  bill  of  health,  and  we  in  return 
for  similar  freedom  of  their  markets,  should  give  them 
entrance  into  ours. 
Other  crops  may  -be  grown,  but  the  above  are  those 
which  concern  us  most.  As  we  must  have  supplies  of 
Wheat,  Barley,  Oats,  &c.,  which  we  cannot  grow,  and  also 
butter  and  cheese,  which  we  might  grow  but  do  not,  why 
not  let  our  Colonies  have  the  first  refusal  of  our  market? 
If  we  are  to  have  import  taxes  on  food  let  us  give  our 
Colonial  brothers  a  rebate,  and  so  encourage  that  most 
stable  of  influences,  commercial  interest. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  sad  illness  of  His  Majesty  the  King  threw  a  great  damper 
on  the  spirit  of  rejoicing  in  our  rural  districts.  The  teas,  &c., 
were  proceeded  with,  but  in  a  half-hearted  way. 
A  week  of  fine  hot  weather  has  been  grand  for  the  crops.  It 
has  stiffened  the  growth  wonderfully,  and  there  are  now  few 
symptoms  of  over-sappiness.  The  sudden  change  has  made  us 
very  busy,  for  work  amongst  roots  would  not  bide  delay.  The 
land  left  to  itself  would  soon  have  been  like  a  brick,  so  the  Mangold 
and  Turnips  are  being  all  scuffled  over,  and  a  few  of  the  Potatoes 
treated  in  the  same  manner.  Some  of  these  which  had  been  hilled 
up  when  hardly  dry  enough  would  have  set  very  tight.  We  have 
scuffled  them  down,  and  shall  earth  them  up  again  at  once  with 
the  light  earthing  plough  and  one  horse.  It  would  not  do  to 
take  two  horses  amongst  such  big  haulm.  Turnips  generally 
look  well,  and  there  is  little  or  no  fly.  The  earlier  Swedes  are 
ready  to  thin  out,  and  that  will  be  the  next  work. 
The  hot.  weather  has  matured  the  Clover  crops,  and  we  shall 
at  once  commence  cutting  and  make  hay  -while  the  sun  shines. 
We  have  seen  a  field  cut,  but  the  crop  did  not  look  heavy. 
Potato  spraying  must  be  done  at  once  now  if  it  is  to  be  done 
at  all,  but  it  has  been  almost  discontinued  in  these  parts.  Two 
years  ago,  when  there  was  disease,  the  spraying  was  inoperative 
through  the  action  of  heavy  thunder  showers  quickly  following 
the  spraying  process.  Last  year  there  was  little  disease  and 
practically  little  benefit  to  gain.  So  farmers  who  are  hard  of 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  new  systems  have  soon  lost  the  little  faith 
they  had.  A  really  bad  disease  year  would  do  much  to  reconvert 
them.  If  a  field  or  a  portion  of  one  only  were  sprayed  this  year 
it  would  be  useful  as  an  experiment,  and  it  is  not  yet  too  late. 
There  is  plenty  of  grass  for  all  stock,  but  not  much  to  spare 
in  many  of  the  sheep  pastures.  Some  of  these  thinly  planted 
seed  fields  might  easily  be  spared,  for  they  are  not  carrying  much 
stock,  and  if  ploughed  up  at-  once  they  might  bring  a  nice  crop 
of  white  Turnips  for  spring  use.  If  left  as  they  are  a  while 
longer  and  ploughed  for  Wheat  a  good  seed  bed  might  be  had, 
but  a  good  manuring  would  need  to  be  ploughed  in.  for  there  is 
lihtle  in  the  way  of  Clover  root  to  stimulate  a  Wheat  crop,  whilst 
when  seeds  have  been  poor  there  is  generally  a  good  supply  of 
twitch. 
Utilising  Waste  Products. 
The  discovery  (says  the  “  Morning  Post  ”)  of  valuable  uses  for 
what  were  at  one  time  regarded  as  waste  products  has  been  one 
of  the  most  interesting  features  in  the  scientific  and  experimental 
progress  of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  According  to  a  state¬ 
ment  in  the  May  circular  issued  by  the  West  India  Committee 
another  discovery  of  this  description  has  been  made  which  pro¬ 
mises  to  solve  a  problem  that  has  long  been  vexing  the  sugar 
planters.  The  advantageous  disposal  of  the  centrifugal  molasses 
has  puzzled  the  sugar  planters  for  many  years,  but  it  is  believed 
that  a  process  has  been  found  whereby  this  and  megass  mixed  can 
be  profitably  utilised  as  a  food  for  cattle.  The  new  food  has  been 
named  “  molascuit,”  and  is  believed  to  be  worth  £6  to  £7  per 
ton,  its  local  realising  value  being  already  £5  to  £6.  The  mixture 
consists  of  20  per  cent,  of  fine  and  absolutely  dry  cellular  fibre 
of  the  Sugar  C'ane,  and  80  per  cent,  of  molasses — in  fact,  the 
original  juice  in  the  cane  is  replaced  by  the  molasses.  It  is 
claimed  that  a  great  advantage  of  the  process  lies  in  the  fact  that 
this  cattle  food  can  be  shipped  in  bags  and  in  a  condition  that 
commends  its  use  to  the  British  agriculturist.  The  discovery 
may  be  of  considerable  importance  to  stockowners  in  this  country', 
who  have  to  obtain  so  large  a  proportion  of  their  supplies  from 
abroad,  and  a  properly  planned  experiment  wifh  it  would  be 
followed  with  widespread  interest. 
