The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1903-07-24
KIAIBAII. SOUTH DAKOTA FRIDAY, JULY "a 1908
THE "iNvASION OF CANADA"

THE s1iNVASlON OF CANADA
Well-TO-DO Farmers Should Not Leave
Comfortable Homes For Uncertain
Happiness in a Land of Hardsilips
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, March
10. To the Kansas City Star: A re-
centarticle in The Star styled s'The
Invasion Of Canada" together with
the efforts the Canadian officials are
putting forth, will stir upl0,0 900 people
to make inquiries concerning Canada,
and ultimately to bring at least one
third of that number hereto the pro-
missed land
Lured by the "siren's songn in the
literature so lavishly spread over the
Western states, | folded my tent"
something over a year ago and came
to Alberta to sec for myself if the
stories were true.
The results of my years residence
here financially have pot been fail
ure, but Alberta has no charms for
/ l.
the Kansas farmer, Or to the farmer
OF any state woo is financially well-to-
do, don't leave your pleasant homes
and the land of your birth for the
land of King Edward.
There is 40 doubt that Alberta is
the finest tract of Western Canada,
and ut ii | am going to speak. March
and April Of 1902 were the pleasantest
months of the whole year, and still
there was not any farming done until
about the Goth OF April, and good
deal yi frost in the ground then. BY
the middle of May the cold rains COM
menced and lasted until July 6. They
came from once tC twice a week, and
generally lasted from two to three
days each time. Itwas the worst I
ever sa&. The roads were impossible.
Hundreds OF people who lived few
miles from town and had not taken
the precMltion to lay in a supply of
necessaries, actuall suffered. Rats
were rigged up and loaded with pro-
visions to tloat down the Red Deer
river to supply the people living near
it, and some of these rafts were lostin
the aigt. ifaters. On the Saskatche-s
: wan, at Edmonton, government
. dredging boat was pressed into seWice
co supply the needy settlers. Sick
people had 10 suffer, as it was almost
impossible to get medical assistance
or. even remedies. Grains and vege-
tables did very poorly on account of
the wet and cold. After the rains
ceased the roads got fairly good and
grain grew very fast. All early grain
|riDcned before the frost, which came
the first part of September. The
principal crops are oats, barley, hay
J and potatoes. The average yield OF
oats will run about thirty-tive bushels
per acre, but some fields will go double
that or more. Potatoes do well and
mature fully, as do turnips, but onions
and cabbages seldom keep longer than
Christmas. Cucumbers, tomatoes,
sweet corn and many other garden
J vegetab bles do no good whatever unless
under glass. There are no fruits al
all except a few wild berries. and il
keeps a person searching most of The
fail to get enough of these to pay tx
n put up
Winter commenced the first day O
November, with a fall of snow, and i
has been on the ground ever since
There is scarcely any wind in Alberta
but the mercury has hovered about th
zero mark or below at least seyent,
mornings, and a good many Moons
The sun is seldom warm enough Il
melt the snow, so that the eighing
good nearly all winter.
In the latter partof August, IN 100,
there was a tall OF two feet Of snow
Whichquite successfully laid the graf
down, forcing it all to be cut one way
Ia fact, it is not an uncommon thin
for 1T to snow every month Of the yeal
On account of so much grain bein
produced it often heats ia the stack Q
bin, SO that the elevators never cpe
| until in January for fear Of gettin
spoiled grains. The goyesnmen
while not bad, is strictly 'swithou
= consent Of the goyerned,n and d hig
protective tariff makes some thing
clear out Of reason in price. Th
avelage citizen has little or nothing t
say politically. 1t is much wors
j than in the territories OF the Unite
States. All officers are appointed b
the government at Ottawa, even {
justices of the peace. and all offices, q
nearly alIof much account, are file
by FrenchG Canadians from the Pre-
vince of Quebec. The only officers Sc
lccted are members Of the territcria
legislative assembly, held at Regina
and they S'cut very little ice."
Living expenses are very higf
nearly every thing is much higher tina