The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-01-14

the street.
Now we are again off In the country
Notice the straw stacks which run In
long rows through that hundred-acre field.
Each has about ten burrows plowed
around 1t within one hundred feet Of its
edges and another ring Of burrows outside.
the strip between being burned over.
That black circle is to ward off the fire
god. There are frequent prairie fires,
which run through the stubble, and were
1t not for this fire. proof carpet tho wheat
stacks would burn. Those stacks are yet
unthreshed. Each Of them is little gold
mine, which has only to be passed through
the threshing machine smelter to be
| turned into bullion. Each contains hun
dreds Of bushels Of wheat, and the small
| est OF the stacks is worth two hundred
| dollars.
| Speaking of fire. as nightfall approaches
| the red flames are to be seen on each
side OF the railroad. They come from the
stacks Of newly threshed straw which
are burnt on almost all these Canadian
farms. In New York or Chicago such
straw would bring five or more dollars
per ton. Our farmers would save It for
| stock feed or fertilizer. Here 1t goes to
, waste. and the marks Of It's destruction
are left In those great patches of black
which we soc everywhere as we ride
through the country.
Big Wheat Crops.
How rich tho soil isl 1t is as fat as
| the valley Of the Nile. In Manitoba.
where the land las been used over and
over for wheat. the crops are almost
twice those of the United States. Our
average falls lower and lower 1t Is now
only about thirteen bushels to the acre,
While the average in Canada Is twenty
bushels or more. Much of this new land
produces thirty and forty bushels; ana
here about Edmonton the farmers discuss
/ fifty bushels as a possible winter wheat
| yield. A good average on the new lands
well farmed would probably be twenty
| FIVE bushels per acre. or almost twice
| what we are getting In the United States.
| While ut Winnipeg ] had chat with
Mr.. Charles n. Bell who is considered
| one OF tho best authorities on whedt rails
| ing. in the Canadian Northwest. He is
the secretary OF the Winnepeg Board of
Trade. and has held this position for
years. He came to Manitoba when it
was wilderness. and has travelled all
over this region again and again. Said
he:
| According to the threshers' returns
our wheat crop of last year averaged
about twenty-four bushels per acre. this
average coming from more than four mil
lion acres. Some Of the crops were far
more and some much less. We have all
kinds Of farmers, and many OF our Euro
pean immigrants do not get tho best out
Of the soi''
rs there much difference in tho wheat
land?" asked.
Yes, although they are generally good
throughout. The settlers have taken up
patches hero and there over a large ex-
tent of territory, and nearly every farm
Is yielding from twenty-five to thirty
bushels Of wheat per aero. The wheat
territory has thus been pretty we'll pros
pected, and we know that most of the
country Is good"
Canada VS.. the United States.
What is your possible wheat acreage,
Mr.. Bell" I asked
1T is greater than that OF the United
States. We have here something like
100000 square miles OF wheat lands in
sight. Divide this by half. setting the
balance aside for bad land and mixed
farming propositions. and there Is left
l6o, 600 square miles. In round numbers
1t Is one hundred million acres. and the
probability is that We can raise twenty,
five bushels OF wheat to the aero. This
gives US a crop OF twenty-five hundred
million bushels which Is considerably
more than three times as. much as the
United States has ever produced. do
not say that Canada will reach that crop
soon, but her wheat yield will steadily
increase, and It will not be long before
1T will equal that OF the United States"
Canada's First Wheat.
4. when WAS wheat Nrst raised In the
i Northwest, MFR, Bell?" i asked
i I'VE were producing grain near Wlnni-
peg long before your Western statea had
any existence" WAS the reply "As far
back us 1879 Lord Eelkirk brought II
colony to Manitoha, and that colony
raised wheat, rho, settlers came in by
Hudson bay, md worked their way down
here.
They were then 30 fur from the mar
ketS that there way 10 demand outside
sasr Swa s statsa has l iI ss
that we began to farm In earnest, ESon
then we had 70 walt sog the railroads.