The Monticellonian., 1904-09-01
Big Grain Acreage of the Canada, Territories Being Constantly
 Increased.

The statistics issued by the depart.
 ment of agriculture for the northwest
 territories show that the area under
 crop in 1904 is estimated as follows:
 Wheat, 1,054,212 acres; oats 654 GA.
 acres; barley. ii1.979 acres; flax, 20 93$
 acres. These estimates are generally
 found however, at the end of the sea
 son to have been considerably below the truth. As they are, they show that the area under cultivation in the Canadian territories has increased by a half mil i lion acres over the last season, and that i it has fully doubled in the last five l years
 l That is a fairly satisfactory showing l of progress. but it gives no adequate i idea of the extent of the settlement l that has been taking place in this eoun- i try within very recent years. While we have an increase in cultivation Of l half million acres. the fact must alsc be considered that last year not less than 9.000.000 acres were taken up foI settlement. says the St Paul Globe.
 Enough has been done in all sections to demonstrate the capabilities of the country Hence the anxiety of thoss who know to take up additional land l before all the homesteads have been preempted or the corporation lands have reached their full value. Al every point it will be found that set tiers who have been in the country q few years are thus devoting their spare resources to the acquisition of more land rather than in Inc 6aNol- opment of what they already hold. Even as far back as the census year of 1901. over one-third of the farmers ex- ceeded 20 acres. while many ran into the thousands. Those who have lived in the country long enough display their appreciation in this unmistakabie manner
 Again it is interesting to notice that while great areas of breaking are being sown to wheat each year in eastern Assiniboia. Saskatchewan and north western and southern Alberta, the cul- tivation of other grains increases in even greater proportion.
 The more one studies these figures the more he is impressed with the greatness of these fertile plains and he wide range of their products, as we'll as the remarkable climatic condi- tions. Wheat seeding. for instance. was commenced and finished in the Edmonton and Saskatchewan districts, 400 or 800 miles north of the frontier, almost as early as in the districts ad- joining the United States.
 The acreage of oats and barley has increased much faster than that of wheat, the proportion of the coarser grains having increased from one to two-thirds. roughly speaking of the to- tai area This is due to the develop ment of mixed farming. which has been remarkable. especially in central AL berta, in the country tributary to Cal gary. The market for meat and dairy products here has been found so adYan- tageous. owing to the development of the mines in British Columbia. and the growth of the towns that the cultiva- tion of wheat, has been discarded on lands which formerly yielded an average of % and even p bushels to the acre.
 The value of the statistics of the de- partment of agriculture for the Cana dian territories resides in tha fact that they show the successful and diversified development of agriculture in every sec tion of the immense country. with the gaps rapidly closing up between the old CT settlements