Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-15
THRO' GOLDEN GRAIN
Cy Warman in the Wheat
Fields Of Northwest Territory.
LAND MUST BE SEEN
SPECULATORS ARE UNWIsE TO
BUY "BY THE MAP
Predicts a Harvest Of Fifty Million
Bushels-Efect of Recent Bull Re-
ports in the Chicago Market.
LAND MUST BE SEEN
Copyright. 1904, BY CIV warman.,

MOOSE JAW. N. w. T., October 10, 1904
For two days we had been riding through
wheat fields, through patches Of bush, and
long stretches Of fine forest that fringe the
wheat belt. Here and there we saw bits
of bad land, boys and marshes, but most
OF the land lay fair to the sun, and as we
rolled on northwesterly the days and the
wild grass seemed to lengthen, the land be-
came more rolling and the country fairer
to look upon.
AS often as I take my pen In hand to
write of the Canadian west and its posi-
bilities, 1 want to say something to the
poor. but honest Notwithstanding that
he ought to know and never forget; but up
to the present writing l have forgotten to
say what l wanted to say, viz: Don't buy
land by the map, nor entirely upon the teSti
mony of the land agents you do not know
to be all right; see the land If possible
North of Yorkton, when l was driving
across from one railway to another, my
driver pulled upon the summit of a large
slope resting like a ship on the crest of
great wave. Below us lay an 'odd section"
square mile of unbroken prairie All
about the fields were fences, and fine farm
houses could be seen in every direction. And
ton lay. bathed in the July sun. and
said: What fools these Yankees be. who,
having money, overlook this opportunity"
A Rocky Soil.
Then the driver shook the lines and the
1.-the cayuses scampered away down the
slope. Fine cattle were feeding on the va
cant land where the grass, wild peas and
saskatoon grew knee high. I was about to
sound the driver about this particular sec
ton, when our wheels began to jar and
rattle over rocks that lay all but buried
in the black earth. We cut 1t bias and all
the way across this square mile of unsold
school land the wagon wheels ratified over
great rocks, from the size of a bushel to
box car Now there was land that would
tempt you even If you saw it. You had to
feel 1t to know Not SO with the hay bog.
Although you see at a glance, when
you are on the ground that this land is
bad land 1t looks good on the map.
A few years go some $4,000 acres of land
were sold by the map at So and 81 an acre
Most of this land proved to be light sandy
land; some of it was bush> and some bog
Probably 10000 of the $4,000 acres was
eyes open and promptly repudiated their
contracts. That land is now being offered
the best of it, for So, and that is about all
it is worth.
Farm lands in the Canadian west are safe
and profitable investments. but you want to
know what you are buying
The New Railway Line.
see in the papers that certain individ-
uals are offering to place prospective set
tiers right on the line of the new rail-
way Don't you believe them. The presi-
dent of the Grand Trunk Pacific could not
tell you, even if he would, the exact 1oca-
ton of a single mile of that new line, say
ten miles from Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmon-
ton or other well-known points or termi-
nails.
The locating engineers have not yet fin
ished their work, which must be passed
upon by the chief engineer and approved
by the president and board of directors.
And when, finally, the locating engineers
do know, the suave journalist and the av-
erage land man will still be in ignorance.
The average civil engineer, especially the
trained pathfinder, is the meanest white
man on earth when it comes to giving up
good reliable information concerning the
exact location of the line.
Returning to the train from which I
stepped to offer these helpful hints to
home hunters, I shall attempt now to say
what L set out to say concerning Provi-
dence and the bulls.
Guessing at the Wheat Yield.
For two whole days we had been watch
ing from our windows the drifting, waving
emerald seas that were changing from
green to gold. Here and there the farmers
had begun to reap the fields. The guessing
as to the average yield over the whole
northwest ranged from eighteen to twenty
eight bushels per acre. Being no expert
and naturally easily satisfied l said nine
teen bushels would be the average.
The shining ribbons of steel were racing
out from under our car like twin tapes
from a ticker. The setting sun was just
topping stretch of forest and gliding the
ripple of a clear stream that we were
crossing, when the engineer stopped at a
water tank to water his steed. I went out
on the rear end. The shadow Of the forest
was creeping eastward over the seemingly
endless reaches of wheat fields through
which we had just passed. Down the line
a jumping deer was crossing the right of
way bouncing like light, thin shelled rub
Der ball. little sawmill and Doukhbor
bride were singing beside the crystal
stream, and back in the bush, above the
soft purr of the air pump, could hear the
musical tinkle of a bell 1t was quiet,
empire-in land of peace and a promise
of plenty. Standing there in the gathering
cleaning I could not help contrasting this
God-blessed America Of ours with Man
churia where now in the hush of night,
there is the sound of tramping feet and
still, cold faces staring up at the stars.
Reported Rust in the Wheat.
Here my friend. who was deeply interest
ed in all this new empire Gin fact, he was
one of the builders), tapped on the window
and l went inside. He handed me a bulle-
tin that had just come to him over the wire.
1t was dated Chicago. and told with brutal
brevity that the wheat in the Canadian
northwest was blighted with rust, and that
the bulls Of Chicago were wild in the pit.
And that was the first hint of rust we had
heard, and we had summered in Winnipeg
when we were not in the fields.
A few days later I went into the forests
of the Pacific coast in search of adventure
and the tales thereof, and a few days ago
came back to the wheat fields
1 find that since my departure there has
been some rust and that Jack Frost has
nipped a few fields slightly, bringing the
average yield down from twenty-five, which
was the mean estimate of our party, to my
own conservative figure, nineteen bushels
per acre.
Don't believe the DULL"
God and the farmer made the crop, and
the market ultimately must adjust itself
accordingly.
Tighter Money Market.
One effect of this scare-the first and al
most immediate effect--was the tightening
of the money market.
All the big banks have important branches
in the northwest, notably in Winnipeg. The
bankers began to put the screws to the
wholesale men and brokers, the wholesalers
began to poke the retailers, and they in
turn began to prod the farmer. who said.
frankly, he had no ready money. True, he
has had two or three bumper crops lately,
only one light crop CIT bushels per acre. and
no failure.
L.