Canada West

Cost of Farm Implements:

Agricultural Cooperation.—The Provincial Government has established co-operation in creameries, elevators, telephone, hail insurance, agricultural societies and live stock.Five million dollars have been set aside for road improvements.The new agricultural college, with its 1,300 acre farm, costing one million dollars, is an evidence of public activity.The college has 100 students.

Temperatures and hours' sunshine in Saskatchewan ranged lower, and rainfall during the growing season higher, than the average for several years.

The average temperatures and precipitation for each of the first nine months of 1913:

Interior Storage Elevators.—A great advantage and an immense relief for the hundreds of elevators of from thirty to forty thousand bushels' capacity, will be the two interior storage elevators now under construction at Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, each with a capacity of 3 million bushels.

Farm Help in 1913.—Labourers work by the month, for $32 to $41.Servant girls were paid from $14 to $22 this year as compared with from $10 to $15 in 1907.

Population and Live Stock.—(Dominion Census Bureau):

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Alberta, the most westerly of the three Prairie Provinces, is twice the size of Great Britain and Ireland, much larger than either France or Germany, and has a greater area than the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania combined.The area of arable land alone in Alberta is estimated at 100 million acres, of which less than 3 million acres is under cultivation.This provincial empire, with its great wealth in agricultural lands, mines, forests, and fisheries, has less than 500,000 people.

Alberta is a vast plateau from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea-level, hung by its western edge on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.It slopes gently toward the east and north.Absolutely level plains form no great proportion of the surface.While open, treeless country characterizes the southern part of the Province, the greater part is undulating, diversified by forest, stream, hill and open country, not unlike Ontario or New York State.Beautiful lakes, fringed with forest and abounding in whitefish are scattered over its central and northern area.Luxuriant grasses cover the open country, which once formed the chief feeding grounds of herds of bison.

The Province naturally falls into three divisions, exhibiting marked distinctions in climate and topography—Southern, Central and Northern Alberta.

Available Homesteads are to be found west and north of Edmonton—territory made accessible by the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern Railways—in an immense stretch of splendid country. Wheat and oats are reliable crops. Rainfall is certain. Mixed farming is highly successful. The wild grasses and pea vine supply ample feed for stock; water is plentiful and easily secured. On into the foothills and the mountains are stretches of prairie land, through which the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways are now constructed.

The northern and western portions of Central Alberta have some "brush" land with soil equal to that of the open prairie.The cost of clearing is slight, and there is the advantage of shelter for cattle, and an absolute assurance of splendid water.There is a good market for the fuel and timber obtained in clearing.Practically all of the land between Edmonton and Athabaska Landing—and between Edmonton and Lac la Biche to the northeast has been subdivided for homesteading.

NORTHERN ALBERTA

North of the end of steel extends 75 per cent of this rich Province, yet unexploited.When the railways push into the Athabaska and the Peace, it will be realized that Alberta owns an empire north of the Saskatchewan, a country set apart by nature to provide homes for millions of agrarian people.

SOUTHERN ALBERTA

Southern Alberta is open and rolling, and devoid of timber except along the streams and the Rocky Mountains' foothills. The soil is a fertile loam. The climate is ideal, with pleasing summers and mild winters. Stock pasture in the open air during winter, grazing on the nutritive sun-dried grasses. The absence of timber in Southern Alberta is compensated for by the supply of coal.

Ranching which once was predominant is fast being abandoned and settlers are dividing the limitless acres into small, productive holdings.As a grazing country, Southern Alberta has had few equals, for the hills and valleys, well watered, afford excellent pasturage.Winter wheat sown on new breaking, or summer-fallowed land, from the middle of July to the end of September is ready for harvest from the 1st to the 15th of August in the following year.Climate and soil make this an ideal wheat-growing district.Considerable spring wheat is grown, as well as oats, barley and flax.The production of sugar-beets compares favourably with that of Germany and the world.

The average of winter wheat for the Province in 1913, was 21 bushels an acre.The greater portion was grown around Lethbridge, Taber, Grassy Lake, Cardston, Spring Coulee, Pincher Creek, Macleod, Stavely, Leavitt, Claresholm, Nanton, High River, Okotoks, Carmangay and Calgary.

Water Supply and Irrigation.—Water for domestic and farm purposes is easily obtained at reasonable depth.In certain sections of the Canadian West, as in the American West, the soil is unexcelled for growing cereals, but the geographical location and relative position to the rain avenues is not advantageous, not only the requisite amount of rain but its conservation is essential to the growing of crops, and that is the meaning of "dry farming."This is being successfully followed in the southern portion of Southern Alberta.Some of the district can also be easily and successfully farmed by means of irrigation.Irrigation ditches have been constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Southern Alberta Land Company.

A most valuable asset to Southern Alberta is the Lethbridge Experimental Station, operated by the Dominion Department of Agriculture.Reports from the farm show that on land broken and backset in 1912, spring wheat sown April 3, 1913, ripened between July 31 and August 17, and yielded from 22 to 41 bushels per acre; oats sown April 13, 1913, ripened from July 31 to August 4, and yielded from 54 to 84 bushels per acre; barley sown April 15, 1913, ripened from July 28 to Aug.5, and yielded from 28 to 40 bushels per acre. On irrigated land the yield of spring wheat was from 30 to 54 bushels, and the period of ripening about the same; oats yielded from 102 to 132 bushels per acre, same period for ripening; barley yield on irrigated land was from 65 to 100 bushels per acre, harvested from July 28 to August 11.

CENTRAL ALBERTA

Central Alberta extends from the Red Deer River northward to the height of land between the Saskatchewan and the Athabaska. Its great wealth is its deep black humus varying in depth from ten inches to three feet, overlying a warm subsoil.

Mixed Farming.—None of the three central provinces afford greater advantages for mixed farming than Alberta.In the south the great ranges of vacant area affords excellent pasturage.The central portion furnishes pasturage of equal quality, and the groves and park lands provide shelter, making it possible to raise cereals, as well as feed for cattle and hogs.Dairying and poultry raising meet with undoubted success.

Dairy Products have an unlimited market; cattle can be pastured most of the year; every variety of grass including clover and alfalfa thrive; the climate is healthful and water abundant. More than a million head of cattle could have been fed on the wild hay that went to waste last year. Hundreds of thousands of acres are literally overrun with rich wild grasses and pea vine. The dairy yield approximated $1,250,000 in 1913, and 50,000 cows could be added without affecting the price of dairy products. The government operates a travelling dairy to instruct new settlers, and manages permanent creameries which produced over three million pounds of butter last year. Fattening hogs on milk adds to the revenue.

Poultry Raising.—The winter price of fresh eggs ranges from 50 to 60 cents a dozen, the summer prices rarely falling below 25 cents.Extensive developments along this profitable line cannot be long delayed.

Crops of 1913.—With an average rainfall of 10.92 inches during the growing season in that part of the Province including Edmonton and southward, an average daily sunshine record of 10 hours, and a mean temperature of 53 degrees Fahrenheit for the months April to September inclusive, good crops were certain.Spring seeding began early in April.The season was highly favourable and a big crop was harvested in excellent condition.Marquis wheat at one point went as high as 62.5 bushels per acre as a field crop, and oats and barley relatively as high.Yields of all kinds of grain and forage crops have been most excellent.

The census bureau of the Dominion Government give the following returns:

The Provincial Department of Agriculture for Alberta placed the total yield of all grains at 81,500,000 bushels, but as the acreage is less, the average yields are about the same.

The average yield per acre of potatoes from 25,000 acres was about 170 bushels; turnips and other roots about 250 bushels.Alfalfa yielded about 2.77 tons per acre and sugar beets about 9 tons per acre; hay and clover 1.56 tons, with a total value of all these products of $3,700,000.

Government and Other Telephones.—The Government operates the telephone system, including about 7,000 miles of long distance wires, pursues an active policy of stimulating the organization of rural companies by giving as a bonus all poles required.These rural companies are connected with local exchanges and toll offices wherever possible.

Railways.—During 1913 considerable was added to the railway mileage.Besides its main line the Canadian Pacific has two branches from Calgary—one north to Strathcona, the other south to Macleod.Two running eastward diverge at Lacombe and Wetaskiwin, the latter a through line via Saskatoon to Winnipeg.Another leaves the Canadian Pacific near Medicine Hat, passes through Lethbridge and Macleod and crosses the mountains by the Crow's Nest Pass, a branch connecting with the Great Northern at Coutts and extending to Cardston and west.Another branch will connect Lethbridge with Weyburn, on the "Soo" line.Provincial mileage 1,523.Other branches connecting the system are being built; as shown on the maps.

The Canadian Northern enters Alberta from the east at Lloydminster on its way to Edmonton.From Edmonton lines are projected and partially constructed north and west.One starting at Vegreville connects the main line with Calgary, and then extends southeasterly toward Lethbridge and Macleod.From this line a branch is being built into the coal fields west of Lacombe and will form part of the transcontinental line of that system.Its extension from Saskatoon to Calgary is about completed.Mileage 593.

The Grand Trunk Pacific serves the territory lying between the Canadian Northern and the Canadian Pacific, operating trains through productive territory and for some distance into British Columbia.This Company has completed its line south from Tofield to Calgary, a part of the transcontinental line of that system.Through trains now run from Edmonton to Toronto, Provincial mileage, 545.

Another road is now under construction northward from the international boundary through Pincher Creek, with Calgary as a northern terminus.

The Provincial government has outlined a policy of railway development throughout the Province, particularly in the north, opening vast agricultural lands which will attract settlers desirous of taking up free homestead.

Lakes and Rivers.—The Saskatchewan and the Mackenzie rivers rise in the Province.The former is divided into two great arteries, one of which with its tributaries, the Bow, Belly, St.Mary's, Old Man and Red Deer, waters the south, while the north branch, with the Brazeau, Clearwater, Sturgeon, Battle, Blindman and Vermilion as tributaries, waters the great central plains.The Peace and the Athabaska drain the north.Lake Athabaska, 120 miles long, Lesser Slave, 60 miles long, and many smaller bodies of water are chiefly in the northern part.

Mineral Resources.—Alberta has enormous coal and lignite areas.The production of coal in 1913 was over 3½ million tons, valued at over 7½ million dollars.The coal supply is practically inexhaustible, and underlies much of the whole Province in seams from four to twelve feet thick.It is found in all grades, lignite, bituminous and anthracite, on the banks of every stream, and in the shafts from 20 to 150 feet deep.The total formation contains 12,800 square miles; contents 71 billion tons.

Natural gas has been found at Medicine Hat, Tofield, Dunmore Junction, and Bow Island on the South Saskatchewan, and at Pelican Rapids on the Athabaska.Recently considerable interest has been taken in the oil fields south of Calgary and north of Edmonton.Important commercial oil fields will soon be located.There is also petroleum, gypsum, salt and tar sands.Excellent brick and fireclay.

Fish and Furs.—The Great Lakes of the North furnish yearly half a million pounds of incomparable whitefish, while the fur wealth of the north is important.

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Education.—The organization of free district schools is optional with settlers, the Government liberally supporting them.An expenditure of about $700,000 a year brings educational advantages within the reach of the most scattered community.One new school a day has been opened in Alberta during the last three or four years, an indication of the settlement that is going on.School population at end of 1912, over 70,000; number of schools 2,029.Two hundred and forty-five school buildings were erected in 1912.

The dissemination of exact scientific knowledge is carried on by farmers' institutes, stock-judging schools, seed fairs and travelling dairies.The raising of pure-bred stock is assisted by Government grants.Experimental and demonstration farms have been established throughout the Province.Agricultural high schools will soon be started, and agriculture form part of the public school curriculum.

A Healthy Product.—The air of Alberta insures the best of health.The whole of Alberta lies above mountain altitude, and the air is extraordinarily clear and bracing.Consequently there is comparatively little cloudy weather on normal days, either in summer or winter.Bright sunshine prevails.Striking testimony as to freedom from consumption is provided by Dr. T.H.Whitelaw of Edmonton, according to whose official report not one case of this disease has originated in Edmonton since the beginning of 1911.

Stock.—Alberta's dry and invigorating atmosphere, short, mild winters, nutritious grasses, and abundant water supply, make it pre-eminently adapted to horse breeding.The Alberta animal is noted for its endurance, lung power, and freedom from hereditary and other diseases.It winters out at a nominal expense and without even hay or grain feeding.

Four-year old steers, which have never been under a roof nor fed a pound of grain and have been given less than a ton of hay, weigh about 1,500 pounds by August 1 and will then gain until October from 2 to 3 pounds a day.Experiments made at the Demonstration Farm at Olds show that 100 steers weighed in November 1, at 127,540 pounds, weighed out May 20, less than 7 months later at 143,412 pounds, showing a net gain of $10.12 per head.

At the Lacombe Experimental Station the gain per day in feeding cattle ranged from 1.8 to 1.72 lbs., showing a net profit when sold of $14.35 to $28.90.

Good Roads in the Province.—One of the most important considerations in a new country is that of roads.The Alberta government has taken up this problem in an intelligent manner, that will eventually greatly enlarge the resources of the Province.

The money expended on ferry service, maintenance of bridges, road construction, construction of bridges, and the construction of trunk roads, was essential to the opening up of vast tracts of fertile land.

As a result, $100,000,000, or more than $200 per capita of the total population of the Province, is the estimated farm value of the 1913 crop in Alberta.

Sugar Beets and Alfalfa.—Operations are now extending north as well as south of Lethbridge, where a large factory has been conducted for some years.An expert from Colorado has taken up irrigated land in the Bassano district to carry on the industry on a large scale.He says: "This is going to be a great beet-raising country.My crop averaged between 16 and 18 per cent sugar, which is a very high grade."He says his new farm produces as much alfalfa per acre as his former more expensive land in Colorado.

Fruit.—It has not yet been demonstrated that the larger fruits, such as apples, can be made commercially attractive in Alberta.All the smaller fruits can be grown with little trouble, at a cost that makes their culture profitable.

WHAT SOME ALBERTA FARMERS ARE DOING

Macleod.—Weather conditions were excellent throughout the season.Ninety per cent of the wheat up to October 1 graded No.1, the only No.2 being fall wheat.The yield ranged from 20 to 40 bushels per acre, with an average of 28.Oats yielded well, and barley about 60 bushels.

Inverary is a new district. Wheat graded No. 2 and some of it went 50 bushels to the acre, oats going about 75 bushels.

Monarch.—The yield of wheat on summer-fallow averaged 35 bushels, a large percentage No.1 Northern.

Milk River.—All spring grains yielded better than expected.A 300-acre field of Marquis wheat gave 41½ bushels.

Experimental farm results on grain sown on irrigated land place "Red Fife" wheat in the banner position, with a yield of 59.40 bushels per acre.Oats yielded 13 bushels to the acre.

Calgary.—The yield of grain was everywhere abnormal, with an increased acreage of about 23 per cent.

Bassano.—September 25.Individual record crops grown in Alberta include a 1,300-acre field of spring wheat, near here, which went 35 bushels to the acre and weighed 66 pounds to the bushel.

Noble.—Mr. C.S.Noble had 350,000 bushels of grain.The cost of production per acre was $9.10 on summer-fallow and the returns were $24.93 per acre.Oats averaged 90 bushels on 2,880 acres, wheat 38 on 300 acres, and barley 61 on 450 acres, all grading top.

Mr. Harris Oium, came from South Dakota twelve years ago and homesteaded the first 160 acres in his township, dividing his land between grain and pasture.He earned sufficient money to buy a quarter section of railway land at $11 an acre.The half section netted proportionate profits and he gradually increased his holdings to 1,920 acres, which are devoted to mixed farming this year.He values his land at $50 an acre.He has 200 hogs, mostly pure bred Poland China, 25 head draft horses and 35 head of pure bred Hereford cattle.Feeding barley to hogs nets him 80 cents a bushel, twice the average market price when delivered to the warehouse.His barley averages 40 bushels to the acre; oats average 80 bushels.

Red Deer.—John Lamont says that a man on a quarter-section, with a few cows, brood sows, and 100 hens, can be as sure of a good living for his family as if he were pensioned by the government.His 20 acres of Alberta red winter wheat yielded 985 bushels.Last year his wheat went a little over 40 bushels per acre, machine measure.He grows alfalfa.

S.D.McConnell has carried on mixed farming for twelve years keeping a few cattle and some hogs; makes a dollar a bushel out of his barley by feeding it.His fall wheat has gone from 30 to 65 bushels to the acre; oats from 40 to 100 bushels, never weighing less than 42 lbs.to the bushel.

H.S.Corrigan has averaged at least 30 bushels of spring wheat per acre, 40 bushels of barley, and 60 bushels of oats.Twenty-one acres of oats ran 90 bushels per acre, and weighed 48 pounds per bushel.Last winter he bought nine head of cattle for $420, fed them six weeks on hay, green feed, and chop and sold them for $579.60.Two steers, 26 months old weighed 2,440 lbs.One sow raised 58 pigs in 2½ years, and when sold, weighed 550 pounds.Two of her pigs, now a year old, are raising 23 pigs.Timothy has yielded a ton and a half on an average, at $15 a ton.

Red Deer.—J.Northrup has not missed a crop in nine years, and says: "This is the best country in the world for small grain, better than Iowa and that is good—I love old Iowa.Winter wheat yields as high as 45 bushels per acre.Potatoes yield 400 bushels per acre at times.Alfalfa is a good crop when the soil is inoculated."

C.A.Sharman has the world's champion Jersey cow.He says: "A quarter section of land and 100 head of stock mean the maximum of growth from every square yard.Any man, woman, or child that uses Alberta rightly will be used rightly by Alberta.Farming in Alberta is no gold brick proposition, but an industry, which is the basis of all wealth."

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A.P.Olsen formerly of Minnesota has raised cattle, horses, hogs and also milked a few cows. His oats yield 45 bushels to the acre, spring wheat, 36 bushels, winter wheat and barley 40 bushels. He won first prize at the Calgary Exhibition for a collection of 32 varieties of grasses found on his own land.

Macleod.—R.McNab has returns which show a yield of 45 bushels of No.1 Northern wheat to the acre.

Gleichen.—Forty-five bushels of No.1 Northern wheat per acre was the yield on the Blackfoot Indian reserve in 1913.

Pincher Creek.—Alfred Pelletier had 130 bushels oats per acre.

Cities and Towns.—On the banks of the Saskatchewan and forming the portal alike to the Last West and the New North, the capital city of Edmonton has attractions for the capitalist, the tourist, the manufacturer, and the health seeker. At the centre of two great transcontinental highways, Edmonton will soon be rated among the world's great cities. Traffic from the Pacific to Hudson Bay will go through her portals, the south, north and west will contribute. Possessed of municipally-owned waterworks, electric-lighting and power systems, street railways and telephones, the city is modern, attractive and alive. The number of banks is evidence of prosperity. The coal output of the district is about 3,000 tons daily. Population, about 60,000. In 1901, it was 2,626. In 1911, the assessment was a trifle under 47 million dollars; in 1912, 123½ million dollars. School attendance, 5,114.

Calgary tells its own story in public buildings and in over one hundred wholesale establishments, 300 retail stores, 15 chartered banks, half a hundred manufacturing establishments, and a $150,000 normal school building. The principal streets are paved. There is municipal ownership of sewer system, waterworks and electric light and street railway. Directly bearing upon the future of Calgary is the irrigation project of the Bow River Valley, where 3 million acres are being colonized. One thousand two hundred miles of canals and laterals are completed. Population in 1911 was 43,736; now claimed 75,000. There are 36 schools, 146 teachers, and 7,000 pupils. The Canadian Pacific car shops here employ 3,000 men. It has the Canadian Pacific, Canadian Northern, and Grand Trunk Pacific.

Lethbridge, with a population of about 13,000, the centre of a splendid agricultural district, is also a prosperous coal-mining and commercial city.The output of the mines, which in 1912 was about 4,300 tons daily and necessitated a monthly pay roll of $145,000, finds a ready market in British Columbia, in Montana, and as far east as Winnipeg.A Government Experimental Farm is nearby.The several branches of railway diverging here make it an important railway centre.It will shortly have the Grand Trunk Pacific, and direct Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern lines eastward.The municipally-owned street car system affords excellent service.

Medicine Hat, in the valley of the South Saskatchewan and the centre of a magnificent ranching and mixed-farming district, is a division point of the Canadian Pacific Railway, with extensive railway shops operated with natural gas for fuel.The light, heat, and power, derived from this gas are sold to manufacturers at 5 cents per thousand cubic feet, and for domestic purposes at 1 cent.The factories and industries now using natural gas pay out about 2½ million dollars annually, which will be considerably augmented by factories in course of construction, and to be erected.When the new flouring mills are completed, Medicine Hat will be the largest milling centre on the continent.Population over 6,000.

Macleod is one of the oldest towns in the Province. With the rapid settlement of the surrounding agricultural land, this town is showing wonderful progress; during 1913 a large amount was spent in new buildings.

Wetaskiwin is a railway division point from which farms stretch in all directions. The city is beautifully located, and owns its electric light plant, waterworks, and sewerage system.

Red Deer is situated on the Canadian Pacific, half way between Calgary and Edmonton. It has a large sawmill, two brick-yards, concrete works, creameries, wheat elevators, and a sash-and-door factory. Coal and wood are plentiful and cheap. The district has never had a crop failure. It showed considerable business activity in 1913. Lines of railway extend westward.

Lacombe, on the direct line between Calgary and Edmonton, has a flour mill, foundry, planing mill, brick-yard, grain elevators, electric lights, and telephones.The surrounding country is noted for its pure-bred cattle and horses, and a Government Experimental Farm adjoins the town.

Raymond enjoys a rapid growth, and has one of the largest sugar factories in the west. Sugar beets are a great success here. Mr. Henry Holmes, who won the big wheat prize at the Dry Farming Congress held at Lethbridge in 1912 resides here.

Other prosperous towns are Claresholm, Didsbury, Fort Saskatchewan, High River, Innisfail, Olds, Okotoks, Pincher Creek, Ponoka, St.Albert, Vermilion, Vegreville, Carmangay, Stettler, Taber, Tofield, Camrose, Castor, Cardston, Bassano, Edson, Coronation, Empress, Magrath, Nanton, Strathmore, Gleichen, Leduc, Hardisty, Walsh, Daysland, Sedgewick, Grassy Lake and Wainwright.Much interest is being taken in Athabaska Landing, owing to its increasing agricultural settlement and the completion of the Canadian Northern.

CONDITIONS IN ALBERTA, 1913

Agricultural Conditions.—From the agricultural standpoint the season of 1913 was perfectly normal.Spring opened favourably for seeding operations and at no time from seeding to threshing did unfavourable conditions threaten a successful harvest.Copious rains in the growing period, and bright dry weather in the cutting and threshing period kept the farmer confident from the beginning.It was a season made, as it were, to the farmers' order.The quality of grain was extra good.Wheat weighed from 61½ to 68 pounds to the bushel, oats 40 to 46, and barley 52 to 58.

Conditions were equally favourable to pasture and hay crops and live stock.The first and second cuttings of alfalfa were especially heavy and timothy made a good average yield.Abundant pasture continued throughout the season making both beef and dairy cattle profitable investments.Live stock, dairy products, poultry and eggs are worth four times the value of grain crops.The value of the former is nearly 120 millions, while the total value of the grain crop is about 30 millions.The income from the former reached 40 million dollars last year, that from the latter about 25 million dollars.

Public Works and Railways.—About 600 miles of steel were laid last year, bringing the railway mileage of the province up to nearly 3,600 miles.Equal activity is assured for 1914.This year the Government made a step to provide transportation facilities for districts sidetracked by the railway companies.The means adopted is guaranteeing the interest on the securities of light railways up to one-half the estimated cost.

Financial.—The income of the farming community exceeds that of all former years.It is estimated that the product of this year that will be converted into cash for the liquidation of debts, is nearly 65 million dollars.The farmer is therefore in a position to pay his machinery debts, store debts, and other obligations.Consequently the farmers are optimistic and are planning extended operations for the coming season.

Measured by every economical standard, Alberta shows sound prosperity and justifies a continuance of the confidence of outside capitalists in her established business, and increased investments in the development of her vast resources of farms, mines and forests.

Population and Live Stock.—(Dominion Census Bureau):

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Stretching from the Rockies to the sea and from the United States to the 60th parallel, British Columbia is the largest Province in the Dominion.It is big enough to enable one to place in it, side by side at the same time, two Englands, three Irelands, and four Scotlands.Looking across the water to the millions of British subjects in India, in Hong-Kong, in Australia, and the isles of the sea, one catches brief pathetic glimpses of the commercial greatness which the Pacific has begun to waft to these shores.Nature intended British Columbia to develop a great seaward commerce, and substantial trade relations are now established northward to the Yukon and southward to Mexico.Population, June, 1911, 392,480.

British Columbia has natural wealth in her forests and her fish, in her whales and seals and fruit farms. But it is from her mines, more than from aught else, that she will derive her future wealth.

The parallel chains of the Rockies, the Selkirks, and the Coast Ranges are a rich dower.They furnish scenery unrivalled in its majesty; they are nurseries of great rivers which pour tribute into three oceans; and in their rocky embrace they hold a mineral wealth second to none.

British Columbia contains an aggregate of from 16 million to 20 million unoccupied arable acres.Sir William Dawson has estimated that in the British Columbia section of the Peace River Valley alone, the wheat-growing area will amount to 10 million acres.It is a country of big things.

How to get the Land.—Crown lands in British Columbia are laid off and surveyed into townships, containing thirty-six sections of one square mile in each.The head of a family, a widow, or single man over the age of eighteen years, and a British subject (or any alien upon making a declaration of his intention to become a British subject) may for agricultural purposes record any tract of unoccupied and unreserved crown land (not being an Indian settlement), not exceeding 160 acres in extent.

Free homesteads are not granted.The pre-emptor of land must pay $1 an acre for it, live upon it for two years, and improve it to the extent of $2.50 per acre.Particulars regarding crown lands of this Province, their location, and method of pre-emption can be obtained by communicating with the sub-joined government agencies for the respective districts, or from the Secretary, Bureau of Agriculture, Victoria, B.C.:

Alberni, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Golden, Cranbrook, Kaslo, Nelson, Revelstoke, Bakersville, Telegraph Creek, Atlin, Prince Rupert, Hazleton, Kamloops, Nicola, Vernon, Fairview, Clinton, Ashcroft.

Agriculture.—It is not so long ago that agriculture was regarded as a quite secondary consideration in British Columbia.The construction of railroads, and the settlement of the valleys in the wake of the miner and the lumberman, have entirely dissipated that idea.The agricultural possibilities of British Columbia are now fully appreciated locally, and the outside world is also beginning to realize that the Pacific Province has rich assets in its arable and pastoral lands.

Professor Macoun says: "As far north as the fifty-fourth degree it has been practically demonstrated that apples will flourish, while in the southern belt the more delicate fruits, peaches, grapes, and apricots, are an assured crop."

On a trip through the valley one sees apple orchards with the trees fairly groaning under their loads of fruit, and pear, plum, and prune trees in like manner.In many places between the trees there are rows of potatoes, cabbages, and other vegetables, showing that the land is really producing a double crop.Grapes, water melons, and musk melons also thrive in the valley, and large quantities of each are grown.Tomatoes, cherries, and berries of all kinds are grown extensively.Wheat, oats, and corn give excellent yields.As an instance, one man's wheat crop this season averages 48½ bushels to the acre.Of prunes, one orchardist grew a crop of 7,000 boxes.The apples shipped find a ready market in Calgary, Regina, and in the other cities in the prairie provinces.Prices this year are considerably better than they were a year ago.Last year this valley produced 350 carloads of fruit and vegetables, and some of the farmers have made net profits of as high as $250 an acre.

Those who have turned their attention to mixed farming are exceptionally well pleased with the result.A local company is being organized to build a cannery and this will be in operation next year.And besides this one, another cannery is being talked of.

In the valleys, of which there are many, there are tracts of wonderfully rich and, largely of alluvial deposits, that give paying returns.

The Columbia and Kootenay Valleys, comprising the districts of Cranbrook, Nelson, Windermere, Slocan, Golden and Revelstoke are very rich.The eastern portion requires irrigation; they are well suited to fruit farming and all kinds of roots and vegetables.Timber lands are said to be the best, when cleared.In the western portion of these valleys there are considerable areas of fertile land, suitable for fruit growing.The available land is largely held by private individuals.

The valleys of the Okanagan, Nicola, Similkameen, Kettle, North and South Thompson, and the Boundary are immensely rich in possibilities.The advent of the small farmer and fruit grower has driven the cattle industry northward into the Central district of the Province. The ranges are now divided into small parcels, occupied by fruit growers and small farmers. Irrigation is necessary in most places, but water is easy to acquire.

The Land Recording District of New Westminster is one of the richest agricultural districts of the Province and includes all the fertile valley of the Lower Fraser.The climate is mild, with much rain in winter.The timber is very heavy and the underbrush thick.Heavy crops of hay, grain, and roots are raised, and fruit growing is here brought to perfection.The natural precipitation is sufficient for all purposes.

For about seventy miles along the Fraser River there are farms which yield their owners revenues from $4,000 to $7,000 a year; this land is now worth from $100 to $1,000 an acre.As much as 5 tons of hay, 120 bushels of oats, 20 tons of potatoes, and 50 tons of roots have been raised per acre.

Vancouver Island, with its great wealth of natural resources and its commanding position, is fast becoming one of the richest and most prosperous portions of the Province.Its large area of agricultural land is heavily timbered and costly to clear by individual effort, but the railroad companies are clearing, to encourage agricultural development.Most farmers raise live stock, do some dairying and grow fruit.Grains, grasses, roots, and vegetables grow to perfection and yield heavily.Apples, pears, plums, prunes, and cherries grow luxuriantly, while the more tender fruits—peaches, apricots, nectarines, and grapes attain perfection in the southern districts when carefully cultivated.

F.A.Starkey, Pres.of the Boards of Trade says that a clear profit of 66-2/3 per cent can be made in fruit growing.

Lillooet is well adapted to dairying, cattle raising, and fruit growing.

Central British Columbia, through which the Grand Trunk Pacific is now being constructed, comprises the valleys of the Bulkley, Endako, Nechaco, Fraser, and Stuart, where there is considerable land inviting to the settler.The soil and climate of the valleys extending westward to the Bulkley are adapted to grain growing and cattle raising, while further westward and to within fifty miles of the west coast belt apple culture as well is successful.

Down the Fraser from Fort George there is active development in settlement, and wheat, oats, barley and hay are highly productive; the climate is good.The soil is a brown silt covered by a layer of vegetable mould, and the timber is light and easy to clear.

Along the Nechaco, between Fort George and Fraser Lake, is same character of soil and a similar country, there being large tracts well fitted for general farming.Native grasses yield abundant food; there is ample rainfall, and the winter climate moderates as the coast is approached.

North of Fort Fraser there is good grazing and farming land, somewhat timbered and covered with rich grasses.The prevailing price is $25 an acre; owners are not particularly anxious to sell.

The Bulkley and Endako valleys have a lightly-timbered rich soil, and a well-watered country with mixed farming possibilities.There is no necessity for irrigation.It would be rash for the inexperienced to penetrate this district in search of land before the railway.The difficulties and cost are too great.To the hardy pioneer, who has knowledge of how to select good land in a timbered country, the future is at his feet.Most of the available land within a reasonable distance of the railroad is taken up, and the days of the pre-emptor, except in remoter parts, are past.Land can be secured at a reasonable figure from those who have purchased in large blocks from the Government.

Central British Columbia is lightly timbered from end to end; natural open patches are not frequent, and occur mostly on river banks and at the ends of lakes.While railroad construction is under way and settlement in progress good prices will be obtained for all agricultural products.This portion of the Province can now be reached by way of Prince Rupert, by rail from Edmonton, or by trail from Ashcroft, B.C.

Highways.—One-half million dollars was spent last year in opening up first-class wagon and motor roads throughout the Province.

Education.—The school system is free and non-sectarian; equally as efficient as in any other Province of the Dominion.The Government builds a school-house, makes a grant for incidental expenses, and pays a teacher in every district where twenty children between the ages of six and sixteen can be gathered.High schools are also established in cities, where classics and higher mathematics are taught.

Chief Cities.—Victoria, the capital, about 60,000; Vancouver, the commercial capital, 123,902; New Westminster, 13,199; Nelson, 4,476; Nanaimo, 8,168; Rossland, 2,826; Kamloops, 3,772; Grand Forks, 1,577, Revelstoke, 3,017; Fernie, 3,146; Cranbrook, 3,090; Ladysmith, 3,295; Prince Rupert, 4,184; Fort George and Fort Fraser on the Fraser and Nechaco rivers and Grand Trunk Pacific will be important towns in the near future.

Hon.W.R.Ross, Provincial Minister of Lands, says that there is a total of 93,000,000 acres of land reserved for pre-emption within the confines of the Province at the present time.Of the 250,000,000 acres of ground estimated to be within the Province only 5,000,000 acres, or about 2 per cent, had been sold to date he said, even excluding reserve land, available for settlement.As a matter of fact, during the past few years between 9,000 and 11,000 pre-emptions had been issued by the Government to settlers, and during the last year 3,600 had been issued outside of the railway belt and about 1,200 within the area.

The cities afford a splendid reflex of the trade of the country, and show the development in mining, fishing, lumbering, shipping, manufacturing and agriculture.

Climate.—Near the coast the average number of days in the year below freezing is fifteen; rainfall varies from 40 to 100 inches.Farther inland the average number of days in the year below freezing is sixty-five.The northern districts of Hazleton, Pearl River, Cassiar, and Atlin are somewhat colder.

Ocean currents and moisture laden winds from the Pacific exercise a moderating influence upon the climate of the coast.The westerly winds, arrested in their passage east by the Coast Range, create what is known as the "dry belt" east of the mountains; the higher air currents carry the moisture to the lofty peaks of the Selkirks, and the precipitation in the eastern portion of the Province is greater than in the central district, thus a series of alternate moist and dry belts is formed.The Province offers a choice of a dry or moist climate, an almost total absence of extremes of heat and cold, freedom from malaria, and conditions most favourable.

Mineral Resources.—The precious and useful metals abound in British Columbia, and it was the discovery of placer gold in the Cariboo District that first attracted attention to the Province.Occurrences of copper, gold, silver, and lead ores are widespread, and mining is being carried on in those districts convenient to transportation facilities.Coal is extensively mined in Vancouver Island, in the Crow's Nest Pass district and more recently, in the Nicola Valley region.Miners' wages are high, and there is usually a constant demand for workmen.The value of the mineral production last year was 32 million dollars, of which coal contributed 9 million and copper 8 million dollars.

Much successful prospecting is in progress in the region traversed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, the completion of which will undoubtedly be followed by important mining development.Already many valuable finds of coal and metal ores have been made.The mineral resources are not confined to any one section, although the principal metalliferous operations have so far been confined to the southern portion of the Province.The various mining camps, employing large numbers of men, who are paid high wages, afford a fine home market for the products of the farms and orchards.

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Timber.—Next in importance, at the present time, are the timber resources.It is admitted that the largest remaining areas of first-class building timbers in the world are in British Columbia.The lumber industry has increased enormously of recent years owing to the demand from the rapidly growing Prairie Provinces.For many years to come it will have to undergo constant expansion to keep pace with the ever-growing needs of the untimbered prairie regions.The principal woods are Douglas fir, cedar, spruce, tamarac, pine and hemlock.

Fisheries.—This Province has risen to the rank of the greatest fish-producing Province in the Dominion.Besides its extensive salmon fisheries, it has, lying within easy distance of the northern part of its coast line, extremely rich halibut grounds, while herring are in great abundance all along its shores.These various branches of the fishing industry are being rapidly developed, but there is yet room for great expansion.The value of the fisheries of the Provinces for 1913 amounted to about 11 million dollars.

What Premier McBride says:

"Millions of British money is finding investment in British Columbia, and there is scope for millions more.One of the advantages of British Columbia is that all of its industrial and other enterprises are of a permanent character.There is room for millions of people.We have the resources, the geographical situation, and the climate that will appeal.

"Our elementary school system is free and compulsory, and one of the most efficient in the world, making ample provision, as it does, for ambitious students to pass on to the universities of Canada, the United States, and England.But we are also to have our own University."

Much attention has been attracted to the result of the opening of the Panama Canal on the shipping future of the ports at the coast.

Lakes and Rivers.—The most important are the Columbia, which has a course of 600 miles in British Columbia; the Fraser, 750 miles long; the Skeena, 300 miles long; the Thompson, the Kootenay, the Stikine, the Liard, and the Peace.These with their tributaries drain an area of one-tenth of the whole of the North American continent.The lake area aggregates 1½ million acres.

On the lakes and rivers first-class steamers give accommodation to the settlements along the banks and in the valleys, and afford excellent transportation for tourists.There are lines of steamers in service between Vancouver, Japan, and China; between Vancouver and Australia; between Vancouver and Mexico, and between Vancouver and England via the Suez Canal.These ocean communications of British Columbia are highly important.Vancouver is the terminus of the shortest route from Liverpool to Yokohama and all important points of the Far East.The Province has a considerable coasting fleet, having direct connection with Yukon and Alaska.There is not as yet a large Pacific marine of Canadian registry.Although in the service of Canadian interests the tonnage is largely British.

A Rich Province.—British Columbia coal measures are sufficient to supply the world for centuries.It possesses the greatest compact area of merchantable timber in the world.The mines are in the early stages of their development, and have already produced about 400 million dollars, of which coal contributed 122 million.The value of the mineral production in 1911 was 30 million dollars.The fisheries return an average annual yield of nearly 10 million dollars.British Columbia's trade, per head of population, is the largest in the world.The chief exports are salmon, coal, gold, silver, copper, lead, timber, masts and spars, furs and skins, whale-oil, sealskins, hops, and fruit.

Railways.—The Canadian Pacific Railway has two main lines and several branches making connection with United States railway systems, as well as operating on Vancouver Island.With the exception of one or two small gaps the Grand Trunk Pacific will have its line completed through Central British Columbia this year.This will open up a very large area for settlement.At the Pacific terminus in Prince Rupert, splendid steamers connect with other portions of the Mainland and with Vancouver Island.

The Canadian Northern has secured low grades across the Rockies and, making its way down the Fraser and North Thompson, finds an easy outlet at Port Mann near Vancouver.The Great Northern enters the Province at points in the boundary.The provincial railway mileage is 1,854 miles with 1,000 miles under construction.

Stock.—Dairying pays handsomely in British Columbia.The local demand for butter is constantly increasing and the prices secured are higher than in Eastern Canada.The Province possesses many elements necessary to constitute it a great dairying country.There are extensive areas of pastoral land in the interior, while increased cultivation in the lower country will form the necessary feeding ground.With a plentiful supply of good water, and luxuriant and nutritious grasses, there is every required facility added.Cattle raising on a large scale was formerly one of the chief industries of the Province, and many of the large ranches are still making money, but the tendency of late has been for smaller herds and the improvement of the stock.Sheep raising is another branch of agriculture capable of great expansion.Hogs, in small farming, are probably the most profitable of live stock, owing to the general demand for pork, bacon, ham, and lard, and much attention is now being given to raising them.Over 1 million dollars of hog products are imported annually, and prices are always high.The demand for good horses, especially heavy draft and working animals, is always increasing, and prices are consequently high.

Dairy Products.—In 1912 this industry reached a valuation of nearly 4 million dollars.Poultry raising is a branch of general farming which is beginning to receive special attention in British Columbia.The home market is nowhere nearly supplied either with eggs or poultry, large quantities being imported from Manitoba, Ontario, California, Washington, and elsewhere.Good prices prevail at all seasons of the year.Every portion of British Columbia is suitable for poultry raising.In the Coast districts, hens, ducks, and geese can be raised to great advantage, and the dry belts and uplands are particularly well adapted to turkeys.

Grain.—Wheat is grown principally in the Fraser, Okanagan, and Spallumcheen Valleys and in the country around Kamloops.Barley of excellent quality is grown in many parts of the Province.Oats are the principal grain crop, the quality and yield being good, and the demand beyond the quantity grown.Potatoes, turnips, carrots, mangolds, and all other roots grow in profusion wherever their cultivation has been attempted.Hop culture is carried on in the Okanagan, Agassiz, and Chilliwak districts.British Columbia hops command a good price in England and recently Eastern Canada and Australia have bid for them.Some attention has been given to the cultivation of sugar-beets, tobacco, and celery, and in each case with the most gratifying results, ensuring an early expansion of operations in all of these lines.

In 1912 there was a total agricultural production in the Province of about 14½ million dollars, but there was imported another 15 million dollars' worth.

British Columbia agriculturists and fruit growers are particularly fortunate in having a splendid home market for their products, and for their surplus there is the enormous present and illimitable future demand of the Prairie Provinces, assuring always good prices and ready sale for everything they produce.

Game.—For big-game hunters there are moose, wapiti, sheep, caribou, goat, deer, grizzly, black, and brown bear, wolves, panthers, lynx, and wild cats; in the way of small game there is the best snipe shooting procurable anywhere, and duck and geese, prairie chicken, grouse, and quail abound.In addition to sport with rifle and shot gun, salmon fishing, unknown elsewhere, trout and grayling fishing, unsurpassed in any other country, may be enjoyed at a minimum of cost and inconvenience.

WHAT WINS IN CENTRAL CANADA

The adaptable and friendly man going into Canada will find a welcome awaiting him.There is room for everybody.The man already established, the railways, and the Government are equally anxious to secure further immigration of the right kind.The new man is not looked upon as an intruder but as a producer of new wealth, an enricher of the commonwealth.The new man should buy his tools as he needs them.Until he has more than thirty acres under crop he can work with a neighbour, in exchange for the services of a binder.He may not need to build a granary for two or three years.A cow is a good investment, and a vegetable garden easily pays its own way.

A few broad general suggestions might be made to the settlers who come in with varying capital at their command.

The Man Who Has Less Than $300.—This man had better work for wages for the first year.He can either hire out to established farmers or find employment on railway construction work.During the year, opportunity may open up for him to take up his free grant or make the first payment on a quarter-section that he would like to purchase.

The Man Who Has $600.—Get hold of your 160-acre free homestead at once, build your shack, and proceed with your homestead duties.During the six months that you are free to absent yourself from your homestead, hire out to some successful farmer and get enough to tide you over the other half of the year which you must spend in residence upon the land.When you have put in six months' residence during each of these years and have complied with the improvement conditions required by the Land Act, you become the absolute owner.

The Man Who Has $1,000.—Either homestead a farm or purchase one on the installment plan, and get to work at once.A small house and out buildings will be required, with horses or oxen, a plough, a wagon, etc. Working out in the harvest season will be needed to bring in money to tide over the winter and get the crop sown in good condition.As the crop grows, opportunity is given to make the house comfortable, to look around and plan ahead.

What $1,500 Will Buy.—No farmer should come expecting to make a homestead pay its own way the first year.He needs buildings, an equipment, and money for the maintenance of himself and family, until his first harvest can be garnered.After securing his land and putting up his buildings, $1,500 will give him a fairly good equipment to begin with.This will probably be expended as under:

If the settler locates early in the season he may get in a crop of potatoes or oats in May or early June.

Will a Quarter-Section Pay?—"Will the tilling of a quarter of a section (160 acres) pay?"when asked of those who have tried it provokes the invariable answer that "It will and does pay.""We, or those following us, will make less than that pay," said one who had proved up on a homestead.Another pointed to the fact that many of those who commenced on homesteads are now owners of other quarters—and even larger areas, showing that they have progressed in obtaining more land, while others still have stuck to the homestead quarter and this year are marketing as much as $2,000 worth of grain and often nearer $3,000.

Shall You Buy, Rent or Homestead?—The question is one that Canadian Government officials are frequently asked, especially in the homes of a family of boys who have become interested in Central Canada.If the young man has grit and inexperience let him homestead.Treating this subject in a newspaper article, a correspondent very tersely says, "He will survive the ordeal and gain his experience at less cost."

Another has ample knowledge of farming practice, experience in farm management, but lacks pluck and staying power and the capacity to endure.The food for thought and opportunity for action provided by the management of an improved farm would be just the stimulus required to make him settle into harness and "work out his own salvation in fear and trembling."

Many men make excellent, progressive, broad-gauge farmers, by renting, or buying an improved farm in a settled district and keeping in touch with more advanced thought and methods.Their immediate financial success may not be so great; their ultimate success will be much greater, for they have been saved from narrow-gauge ways and withering at the top.

Let the boy take the route that appeals to him.Don't force him to homestead if he pines to rent.Don't try to keep him at home if homesteading looks good to him.The thing to remember is that success may be achieved by any one of the three routes.If the foundation is all right, hard work the method, and thoroughness the motto, it makes little difference what road is taken—whether homesteading, buying, or renting—Central Canada is big enough, and good farming profitable enough.

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YOUR OPPORTUNITY

Contentment is not necessarily achieved by accomplishments that benefit the world—the world outside the small sphere in which we move; but when accompanied by such accomplishments how the satisfaction broadens!The genius whose inventions have been of service to mankind is in a plane far above that of the simple-minded individual who finds contentment in the little things of life affecting himself alone.

Feeding the world is no mean accomplishment.Nor is it a vain or trifling boast to say that this is what the farmer of Western Canada has started out to do.He is sure to find contentment.Part of his contentment will be the consciousness of doing world-wide good; part of it will be the personal enjoyment of an inspiring liberty and independence.Afield and abroad his friends will learn what he is doing.Soon they too will become partners in a work that not only betters their own condition, but ministers to the needs of the whole world in the raising of products that go to "feed the world."

It is to those who desire this broad contentment that the Canadian Government extends the heartiest welcome, and to such men it offers the vast opportunities of a country richer in possibilities than any other in the present century.To the man on the farm in other regions, whom success has followed with slow tread; to the farmer's son, who has watched with unsatisfied eye the unrequited efforts of his forbears, seeing the life that has made his mother a "drudge," noting the struggle which has stooped his father's shoulders, dimmed his vision, dwarfed his spirit, and returned nothing but existence and a meagre bank account—it is to these men, father and son, that the opportunities of Western Canada are presented.To them an invitation is extended to secure the contentment found in personal progress and world-wide benefaction.

The possibilities of Western Canada are no longer new and untried.Twelve or fifteen years of cultivation have made it a vital, living land, and placed it on the level with the greatest of the food-producing countries.That same redundant energy will shortly make it the richly laden "bread basket" not of England only, but of the entire world.

Here every condition is a health bringer as well as a wealth bringer.A few months in this "New World" to which you are invited and where rejuvenating physical and mental changes are wrought; where before hard work was drudgery, it is now a delight; where nothing but fresh trouble darkened the horizon, the outlook is now a rainbow of promise.Industry is seasoned with the compelling spirit of adventure, and the thought of the coming harvest constantly lightens the burden of labor.

The crowded city dweller, curbing those natural desires for home-building that are as natural as breathing, will find in Western Canada a country where nothing is so plentiful as space.And in building his home here he is surely laying the foundation for a competence, and very often for a fortune.Along with prosperity there is abounding happiness and good fellowship in the farming communities.The homesteader, beginning in a modest way, rears his first habitation with practical and serviceable ends in view.His next-door neighbours are ready and willing to help him put a roof over his head.There is a splendid lend-a-hand sentiment mixed with the vigorous climate.The first harvest, like all succeeding harvests, comes quickly, because the soil is a lightning producer.All summer long the settler has dreamed of nothing but acres of waving grain; with the autumn the sight of hopes fulfilled compensates him for his months of toil.In due time the crop is harvested and marketed, the debts are wiped out, and the settler proudly opens his bank account.

When he has turned the golden grain into the golden coin of the realm he realizes for the first time what it means to be liberally paid for the work of his hand and brain.The reward of the farmer in Western Canada is sure; and as the soil responds faithfully to his husbandry, year after year, he looks back upon the old conditions he has left with devout thankfulness that they are past.

After the bumper harvest the happy young farmer can send for the wife or the bride-to-be whom he has left "back home."A few years ago "down on the farm" was an expression synonymous with isolation, loneliness and primitive living.Not so to-day.Whatever his previous outlook, the settler in Western Canada cannot go on raising large crops and selling his products for high prices without enlarging his view of life in general and bettering his material conditions.He needs to practice no rigid economy.He can afford to supply his wife and children with all the best the markets provide.An up-to-date farm house in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Alberta has very much the same conveniences as the average home of the well-to-do in any other part of the world.Nine times out of ten it is because he feels confident he can increase the comfort and happiness of his wife and children that the settler emigrates to Western Canada.

Western Canada is no longer a land calling only to the hardy young adventurer; it calls to the settler and to his wife and children.And with its invitation goes the promise not only of larger financial returns, but of domestic happiness in a pure, wholesome environment.

Railroads bring to the doors of the settler the fruits of all countries and here is to hand the use of every modern idea and invention.The climate is the most health-giving, all-year kind.There is latent riches in the soil, produced by centuries of accumulation of decayed vegetation, and the fat producing qualities of the native grasses are unexcelled in any part of the world.

The soil produces the best qualities of wheat, oats, barley, flax, and all kinds of vegetables and roots in less time than many districts farther south in the states.There are inexhaustible coal deposits and natural gas and oil fields, as yet unknown in extent or production.The Canadian Rockies, forming a western boundary to the great agricultural area, supply the needed mineral and building materials.In the north and west there are immense forests.Lakes and rivers are capable of an enormous development for power purposes, besides supplying an abundance of food and game fishes, and forests and prairies are full of big and small game of all kinds.

But all this is yet undeveloped and unused.All kinds of live stock can be raised here for less money than in the more thickly populated communities.

One Western Canada farmer in 1912 secured a crop of Marquis wheat, yielding 76 bushels per acre.This is spoken of as a record yield, and this is doubtless true, but several cases have been brought to notice where yields almost as large have been produced, and in different parts of the country.During the past year there have been reported many yields of from 35 to 45 bushels of wheat to the acre.Oats, too, were a successful crop and so was the barley and oat crop.Wheat that would yield 40 bushels per acre, would bring on the market 70 cents (a fair figure) per bushel, a gross return of $28 per acre.Allow $12 per acre (an outside figure) there would be a balance of $16 per acre net profit.This figure should satisfy anyone having land that cost less than $100 per acre.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Owing to the number of questions asked daily, it has been deemed advisable to put in condensed form, such questions as most naturally occur, giving the answers which experience dictates as appropriate, conveying the information commonly asked for.If the reader does not find here the answer to his particular difficulty, a letter to the Superintendent, or to any Government Agent, will secure full particulars.

1.Where are the lands referred to?

In Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and in British Columbia.

2.What kind of land is it?

The land is mostly prairie (except in British Columbia) and can be secured free from timber and stones, if desired, the soil being the very best alluvial black loam from one to two feet deep, with a clay subsoil.It is just rolling enough to give good drainage, and in places there is plenty of timber, while some is underlaid with good coal.

3.If the land is what you say, why is the Government giving it away?

The Government, knowing that agriculture is the foundation of a progressive country, and that large yields of farm produce insure prosperity in all other branches of business, is doing everything in its power to encourage settlement.It is much better for each man to own his own farm, therefore a free grant of 160 acres is given to every man who will reside upon and cultivate it.

4.Is it timber or prairie land?

The province of Manitoba has considerable open prairie, especially in the southwest; towards the centre it is parklike with some timber belts in parts.

The southern parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta are chiefly open prairie with growths of timber along the streams. As you go north or northwest about 20 per cent of the country may be said to be timbered.

5.Then as to climate?

The summer days are warm and the nights cool.The fall and spring are most delightful, although it may be said that winter breaks almost into summer, and the latter lasts until October.Winters are pleasant and healthful.There are no pulmonary or other endemic complaints.Snow begins to fall about the middle of November and in March there is generally very little.Near the Rockies the snowfall is not as heavy as farther east, and the chinook winds have a tempering influence.The absence of the snowfall would be regretted by the farmer.Nature has generously provided for every mile of the country, and there is really very little choice with the exception that farther west the climate is somewhat milder.

6.Is there sufficient rainfall?

A sufficient supply can be relied upon.The most rain falls in May and June, when most needed.

7.What are the roads like?

Bridges and culverts are built where needed, and roadways are usually graded up; but not gravelled or macadamized.The natural prairie road is superior to most manufactured roads, and afford good travelling in ordinary seasons and every fall and winter.

8.What sort of people are settled there, and is English generally spoken?

Canadians, English, Scotch, Irish, French, and English-speaking Americans (who are going in, in large numbers), with Germans and Scandinavians.English is the language of the country, and is spoken everywhere.

9.Will I have to change my citizenship if I go to Canada?

An alien, before making entry for free homestead land, must declare his intention of becoming a British subject and become naturalized before obtaining patent for his land.In the meanwhile he can hold possession, and exercise right of ownership.If not a British subject he must reside three years to become naturalized.To become a British subject a settler of foreign birth should make application to anyone authorized to administer oaths in a Canadian Court.An alien may purchase land from any of the railway or land companies and hold title deed without changing his citizenship.

10.How about American money?

American money is taken everywhere in Central Canada at its face value.

11.Can a man who has used his homestead right in the United States take a homestead in Canada?

Yes.

12.If a British subject has taken out "citizen papers" in the United States how does he stand in Canada?

He must be "repatriated," i.e., take out a certificate of naturalization, which can be done after three months' residence in Canada.

13.What grains are raised in Central Canada?

Wheat (winter and spring), oats, barley, flax, speltz, rye and other small grains, and corn is grown chiefly for silo purposes.

14.How long does it take wheat to mature?

The average time is from 100 to 118 days.This short time in accounted for by the long hours of sunlight which during the growing and ripening season, will average 16 hours a day.

15.Can a man raise a crop on the first breaking of his land?

Yes, but it is not well to use the land for any other purpose the first year than for raising garden vegetables, or perhaps a crop of flax, as it is necessarily rough on account of the heavy sod not having had time to rot and become workable.Good yields of oats have been reported on breaking.

16.Is there plenty of hay available?

In many parts there is sufficient wild hay meadow on government or vacant land, which may be rented at a very low rental, if you have not enough on your own farm.Experience has proven that timothy, brome, clover and other cultivated grasses do well.Yields of brome have been reported from two to four tons per acre.Alfalfa under proper cultivation in many places gives successful yields.

17.Do vegetables thrive and what kinds are grown?

Potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, cabbages, peas, beans, celery, pumpkins, tomatoes, squash, melons, etc., are unequalled anywhere.

18.Can fruit be raised and what varieties?

Small fruits grow wild.The cultivated are plums, cranberries, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, currants.In British Columbia fruit growing of all kinds is carried on very extensively and successfully.

19.About what time does seeding begin?

As a rule farmers begin their seeding from the first to the fifteenth of April, sometimes continuing well into May.The average yield of all grains in Central Canada would be largely increased, did not some farmers unwisely do seeding until the middle of June.

20.How is it for stock raising?

The country has no equal.In many parts cattle and horses are not housed throughout the winter, and so nutritious are the wild grasses that stock is marketed without having been fed any grain.

21.In what way can I secure land in Central Canada?

By homesteading, or purchasing from railway or land companies.The Dominion Government has no land for sale.The British Columbia Government sells land to actual settlers at low figures.

22.Can I get a map or list of lands vacant and open to homestead entry?

It has been found impracticable to keep a publication of that kind up to date, owing to the daily changes.An intending settler on reaching the district he selects should enquire of the Dominion Lands Agent what lands are vacant in that particular locality, finally narrowing down the enquiry to a township or two, diagrams of which, with the vacant lands marked, will be supplied free.A competent land guide can be had.

23.How far are homestead lands from lines of railway?

They vary, but at present the nearest will be from 15 to 20 miles.Railways are being built into the new districts.

24.In which districts are located the most and best available homesteads?

The character of homestead wanted by the settler will decide this.Very few homesteads are vacant in the southern districts; towards the centre and north portions of the provinces, homesteads are plentiful.They comprise a territory in which wood for building purposes and fuel are plentiful.

25.Is there any good land close to the Rocky Mountains?

The nearer you approach the mountains the more hilly it becomes, and the elevation is too great for grain raising.Cattle and horses do well.

26.If a man take his family there before he selects a homestead can he get temporary accommodation?

At the following places the Government maintains Immigration halls with free temporary accommodation for those desiring such and supplying their own provisions.It is always better for the head of the family, or such member of it as may be entitled to homestead, to select and make entry for lands before moving family:

Biggar, Brandon, Calgary, Caster, Cereal, Edmonton, Edson, Emerson, Entwistle, Gravelburg, Herbert, Kerrobert, Lloydminster, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, North Portal, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Strathcona, South Battleford, Swift Current, Tisdale, Unity, Vegreville, Vermilion, Viking, Virden, Wainwright, Wilkie, Yonkers.

27.Where must I make my homestead entry?

At the Dominion Lands Office for the district.

28.Can homestead lands he reserved for a minor?

An agent of Dominion Lands may reserve a quarter-section for a minor over 17 years of age until he is 18, if his father, or other near relative live upon homestead or upon farming land owned, not less than 80 acres, within nine miles of reserved homestead.The minor must make entry in person within one month after becoming 18 years of age.

29.Can a person borrow money on a homestead before receiving patent?

No; contrary to Dominion Lands Act.

30.Would the time I was away working for a neighbour, or on the railway, or other work count as time on my homestead?

Only actual residence on your homestead will count, and you must reside on homestead six months in each of three years.

31.Is it permissible to reside with brother, who has filed on adjoining land?

A homesteader may reside with father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister on farming land owned solely by him or her, not less than 80 acres, or upon homestead entered for by him or her not more than nine miles from entrant's homestead.Fifty acres of homestead must be brought under cultivation, instead of 30 acres, as is the case when there is direct residence.

32.How shall I know what to do or where to go when I reach there?

Make a careful study of this pamphlet and decide in a general way on the district in which you wish to settle.Then put yourself in communication with your nearest Canadian Government Agent, whose name appears on the second page of cover.At Winnipeg, and in the offices of any of the Dominion Lands Agents in Central Canada, are maps showing vacant lands.Having decided on the district where you will make your home, the services of a competent land guide may be secured to assist in locating.

33.What is the best way to get there?

Write your nearest Canadian Government Agent for routes, and settlers' low railway rate certificate good from the Canadian boundary to destination for passengers and freight.

34.How much baggage will I be allowed on the Canadian railways?

150 pounds for each full ticket.

35.Are settlers' effects bonded through to destination, or are they examined at the boundary?

If settler accompanies effects they will be examined at the boundary, without any trouble; if effects are unaccompanied they will go through to the nearest bonding (or customs) point to destination.

36.In case settler's family follow him what about railway rates?

On application to Canadian Government Agent, settlers' low railway rate certificate will be forwarded, and they will be given the settlers' privilege.

37.What is the duty on horses and cattle if a settler should want to take in more than the number allowed free into Canada?

When for the improvement of stock free; otherwise, over one year old, they will be valued at a minimum of $50 per head, and duty will be 25 per cent.

38.How much money must one have to start grain farming and how little can he do with if he goes ranching?

See Chapter "What wins in Central Canada," page 37.

39.How can I procure lands for ranching?

They may be leased from the Government at a low rental.Write for full particulars to Secretary of the Interior, Ottawa, Canada.

40.In those parts which are better for cattle and sheep than for grain, what does a man do if he has only 160 acres?

If a settler should desire to go into stock raising and his quarter-section of 160 acres should not prove sufficient to furnish pasture for his stock, he can make application to the Land Commissioner for a lease for grazing lands for a term of twenty-one years, at a very low cost.

41.Where is information to be had about British Columbia?

Apply to Secretary Provincial Bureau of Information, Victoria, B.C.

42.Is living expensive?

Sugar, granulated, 14 to 18 lbs.for $1, according to fluctuation of market.Tea, 30 to 50 cents a lb.; coffee, 30 to 45 cents a lb.; flour, $2.25 to $3.00 per 98 lbs.Dry goods about Eastern Canada prices.Cotton somewhat dearer than in United States, and woollen goods noticeably cheaper.Stoves and furniture somewhat higher than eastern prices, owing to freight charges.

43.Are the taxes high?

No.Having no expensive system of municipal or county organization, taxes are necessarily low.Each quarter-section of land, consisting of 160 acres, owned or occupied, is taxed very low.The only other taxes are for schools.In the locations where the settlers have formed school districts the total tax for all purposes on a quarter-section amounts to from $10 to $14.50 per annum.

44.Does the Government tax the settler if he lets his cattle run on Government lands?If they fence their land, is he obliged to fence his also?

The settler is not required to pay a tax for allowing his cattle to run on Government land, but it is advisable to lease land from the Government for haying or grazing purposes, when needed.If one fences his land, his adjoining neighbour has to stand a proportionate share of the cost of the fence adjoining his property, or build one-half of it himself.

45.Where can a settler sell what he raises?Is there any competition amongst buyers, or has he got to sell for anything he can get?

A system of elevators is established by railway companies and others throughout the entire West.Grain is bought at these and forwarded to the great markets in other parts of Canada, the United States, and Europe.Canadian flour mills, oatmeal mills, and breweries use millions of bushels of grain annually. To the west and northwest of Central Canada lie mining regions, which are dependent upon the prairies for supplies and will to a great extent continue to be. Beef is bought on the hoof at the home of the farmer or rancher. Buyers scour the country in quest of this product.

46.Where can material for a house and sheds be procured, and about what would it cost?What about fuel?Do people suffer from the cold?

Though there are large tracts of forest in the Canadian West there are localities where building timber and material is limited, but this has not proven any drawback as the Government has made provision that should a man settle on a quarter-section deprived of timber, he can, by making application to the Dominion Lands Agent, obtain a permit to cut on Government lands free of charge the following, viz.:

1.3,000 lineal feet of building timber, measuring no more than 12 inches at the butt, or 9,250 feet board measure.2.400 roofing poles.3.2,000 fencing rails and 500 fence posts, 7 feet long, and not exceeding five (5) inches in diameter at the small end.4.30 cords of dry fuel wood for firewood.

The settler has only the expense of the cutting and hauling to his homestead.The principal districts are within easy reach of firewood; the settlers of Alberta and Saskatchewan are particularly favoured, especially along the various streams, from some of which they get all the coal they require, at a trifling cost.No one in the country need suffer from the cold on account of scarcity of fuel.

47.Is it advisable to go into a new country during the winter months with uncertain weather conditions?

A few years ago, when settlement was sparse, settlers were advised to wait until March or April.Now that so many have friends in Western Canada there need be no hesitation when to start.Lines of railway penetrate most of the settled districts, and no one need go far from neighbours already settled.There is no longer the dread of pioneering, and it is robbed of the romance that once surrounded it.With farm already selected, it is perfectly safe, and to the prospective homesteader he can get some sort of occupation until early spring, when he will be on the ground ready for it.

48.What does lumber cost?

Spruce boards and dimensions, about $20 per thousand feet; shiplap, $23 to $28; flooring and siding, $25 up, according to quality; cedar shingles, from $3.50 to $4.25 per thousand.These prices fluctuate.

49.What chance is there for employment when a man first goes there and isn't working on his land?

There are different industries through the country, outside of farming and ranching, such as sawmills, flour mills, brick-yards, railroad building in the summer, and lumbering in the winter.The chances for employment are good as a large percentage of those going in and those already there farm so much that they must have help, and pay good wages.During the past two seasons from twenty to thirty thousand farm labourers have been brought in each year from the eastern Provinces and the United States to assist in caring for the large crops.The capable and willing worker is sure to succeed in Canada.

50.Can I get employment with a farmer so as to become acquainted with local conditions?

This can be done through the Commissioner of Immigration at Winnipeg, who is in a position to offer engagements with well established farmers.Men experienced in agriculture may expect to receive from $25 up per month with board and lodging, engagements, if desired, to extend for twelve months.Summer wages are from $30 to $35 per month; winter wages $10 to $15.During harvest wages are higher than this.

51.If I have had no experience and simply desire to learn farming in Central Canada before starting on my own account?

Young men and others unacquainted with farm life, willing to accept from $8 up per month, including board and lodging, will find positions through the Government officers at Winnipeg.Wages are dependent upon experience and qualification.After working for a year in this way, the knowledge acquired will be sufficient to justify you in securing and farming on your own account.

52.Are there any schools outside the towns?

School districts cannot exceed five miles in length or breadth, and must contain at least four actual residents, and twelve children between the ages of five and sixteen.In almost every locality, where these conditions exist, schools have been established.

53.Are churches numerous?

The various denominations are well represented and churches are being built rapidly even in the most remote districts.

54.Can water be secured at reasonable depth?

In most places it can be had at from fifteen to forty feet, while in other places wells have been sunk to fifty or sixty feet.

55.Where are free homesteads to-day, and how far from railway?

In some well settled districts it may be possible to secure one by cancelling, but such chances are few.Between the lakes in Manitoba as well as north and southeast of Winnipeg.In the central portions of Saskatchewan, Alberta and west of Moose Jaw and Swift Current.A splendid homestead area is that lying north of Battleford, and between Prince Albert and Edmonton north of the Canadian Northern railway.One will have to go at least twelve or fifteen miles from a line of railway at present, but extensions will soon make many homesteads available.

VALUABLE HINTS FOR THE MAN ABOUT TO START

The newcomer may start for Western Canada during any month in the year.Railroads carry him to a short distance of his new home, the country roads are good, and there is settlement in all parts, so that shelter is easily reached.Temporary provision is required for the family's arrival, when better may be made.If going in the winter months, it is well to have a pair of good strong sleds.As teams cost $5 a day take along your horses and do your own hauling.As they require care, write ahead to some livery barn for room.In shipping your horses have them loaded by the best shipper in your home town.For feeding on the way, put in two-by-four cleats breast high on the horses, and fix to fit the end of a stout trough which is dropped in, afterwards nailing on a top cleat.If they have been used to corn take along twenty bushels for each horse, if possible, not to feed alone along the way, but to use while breaking them in to an oat diet.You need both hay and oat straw on the cars.The new arrival may have to pay $7 a ton for hay and 40 cents per bushel for oats.Railroad construction consumes lots of both, and not half the farmers take time in the fall to put up plenty of hay.Bring all the horses you can.Five big horses can pull a twelve-inch gang through the sod, but six can do it easier, and you can use five on the harrow.You can hitch a team to a goat or scrubber, as they call them here, and lead them behind the drill, making your ground smooth and packing it lightly, as you put in the seed.If you have been intending to bring eight horses, bring twelve; if you were going to bring twelve, bring sixteen.The first two years on the new land is hard on horses, and you will need plenty.If you have any spare time or can get help, they bring in money.I know two men who cleared over $600 apiece doing outside work this last summer.They worked on the roads, in harvest and threshing, and received $5 per day for man and team.One can get all the outside breaking one's team can do at $4 per acre, so horse power is the main thing.

Take a supply of meat along, also lard, canned goods, and other things for your cellar.One settler took a sugar barrel packed with canned fruit, and had not a single can broken or frozen, wrapping each in a whole newspaper and then packing in between with old rags, worn out underwear, old vests, and such goods as might otherwise be thrown away.Remember there is no old attic or store-room to go to on the new farm.The same settler says: "Cooked goods are also good.In the cold weather we kept and used beef that had been roasted two weeks before, and a bushel of cookies lasted well into the summer, keeping fresh in a tin box.Bring your cows and also your separator.The latter will not sell for much at the sale and is useful here, as you have no place to store quantities of milk.Bring at least your two best cows with you on the journey.We had milk all along the road and furnished the dining car cooks (we had a diner on our freight train) for favors they extended.Then when we landed we found that milk and cream were scarce, and butter of the farm variety out of range.

"We packed two one-gallon jars before we moved and also some to use on the way.This lasted fresh and sweet until it was all used and saved us the trouble of churning or saving cream, hence we lived high on cream for the first few weeks.It came in handy making corn starch, as well as on our fruit and in a dozen other ways.We also had a nice big box of groceries handy and all selected for emergency.Corn starch, tapioca and similar packages are easy to handle while moving, and a big box of such things made cooking easy for the first few weeks.

"Do not sell anything that can be used in your new farming.Old belts, singletrees, doubletrees, and such goods are worth far more away out on the prairies than on the old improved farm, and they will cost more here.We even brought our best big rugs and every carpet, even having more carpets than we had rooms. Your new home may not be as warm as the old one.We laid down a carpet and put a big rug right on top of that on the floor, and then we were comfortable in our rough house.Bring all sorts of tools and wagon gears with you; you will save money by doing so, anvil, drills, old bolts, and screws, etc., come in handy.We brought pieces of hardwood for doubletrees and unexpected uses.

"Bring your stock remedies.You will be far from a veterinarian.Boracic acid comes in handy, so does a medicine cabinet for the household, with carbolic salve, liniments, etc.

"One of the first things you will need is a hayrack, and you will not have time to build one before it is needed, so take the old one or build a new one and take it with you.It can be used for crating and for partitions and other purposes in loading the car.Make the sides of the rack quite close and have a solid bottom.

"Bring along your base-burner.I am writing by a hard coal fire in a round oak stove, and it makes a splendid heat.Better soft coal than you ever burned can be had at $9.50 per ton, and hard coal is $13.Wood is plentiful in the parks, chiefly dry poplar and a species of willow.

"So far from town one needs big supplies of kerosene, so bring a steel barrel that will not become leaky.You can buy oil cheaper by the barrel and it saves trouble.Also bring a good oil stove.It will do the baking and save hauling fuel in the long working season.

"One thing we highly appreciated was a small tank we had made to carry water in the cars for the horses.It was made to hold two barrels, was about three feet in diameter and four high, and had the top soldered on, with a lid just large enough to get in a pail.This was the best arrangement on the train for hauling water.After we landed we had to haul water for our house use and the tank was very useful to draw up a couple of barrels and have a big supply on hand and no slopping when hauling."

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