The Virginia enterprise., 1909-06-25
DOLLAR WHEAT HAS
COME TO STAY
IN LESS THAN FIVE YEARS CEN.
TRIAL CANADA WILL BE CAGAEo
UPON TO SUPPLY THk
UNITED STATES.

UNITED STATES.
A couple Of years ago, when the an.
nouncement was made in these COL
umns that dollar wheat had come to
stay, and that the time was not far
distant when the central provinces of
Canada-Manitoba. Saskatchewan and
be called upon to sup
ply large part of the wheat con-
sumption in the United States, there
were many who laughed at the predic-
ions and ridiculed the idea of wheat
reaching the dollar point and staying
tnere. Both OF these predictions have
come to pass. Dollar wheat is here
and 1t Is not only here, but is here to
stay; and at the same time, whatever
unpleasant sensations it may arouse
IN the super-sensitive American, Gen.
trail Canada is already being called
upon to help keep up the bread sup.
ply, and within the next five years
will. as James J. Hill says, literally
become the bread-basket OF our In
creasing millions"
There are few men in the United
States better acquainted with the
wheat situation than Mr.. Hill, and
there are few men, If any, who are in
clined to be more conservative in
their expressed views. Yet it was this
greatest of the worlds railroad men
who said a few days ago that "the
price OF wheat will never be substan.
TALLY lower than it is today"-and
when 1t is taken into consideration
that at that time wheat had scared 20
$1.2O, well above the dollar mark, the
statement is peculiarly significant,
and doubly significant is the fact that
In this country the population is in.
creased at the ratio of IS per cent.
while the yield of wheat and other
products is increasing at the rate of
only Is per cent. For several years
past the cost of living has been stead.
lily increasing in the United States,
and this wide difference in production
and consumption is the reason.
This difference must be supplied by
the vast and fertile grain regions OF
Manitoba. Saskatchewan and Alberta.
There Is now absolutely no doubt of
this. Even the press of the country
comedies the fact. Results have shown
that no other country in the world can
ever hope to equal those provinces as
wheat producers, and that no other
country can produce as hard or as
good wheat. Said a great grain man
recently, If United States wheat main.
tains the dollar mark, Canada wheat
will be well above a dollar a bushel.
for In every way it is superior to our
homegrown grain"
With these facts steadily impinging
their truth upon our rapidly growing
population, it is interesting to note
just what possibilities as a wheat
grower our Northern neighbor pos
sesses. While the United States will
never surrender her prestige in any
manufacturing or commercial line, she
must very soon acknowledge, and with
as much grace as she can, that she is
4
ducer. It must be conceded that a
great deal Of the actual truth about
the richness of Canada's grain produc-
Ing area has been kept out of sight, -
as Mr.. Hill says, by the strenuous ef-
torts of our newspapers and maga-
zines to stem the exodus of our best
American farmers into those regions.
It is fact that up to the present
time, although Canada has already
achieved the front rank in the world q
grain producers. the fertile prairies
Of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Al
berta have as yet scarcely been
scratched. Millions of acres, free for
the taking, still await our American
farmers; and when these millions are
gone there are other millions in re.
gions not yet opened up to immigra'
ton. A few years ago the writer, who
has been through those wheat prov
lnces several times, laughed with 9th
ers of our people at the broad
statement that Canada was bound to
become John Bulls Bread Basket
Now, after last trip (and though he
Is stanch American) he frankly be
lieves that not only will Canada be-
come John Bulls bread-basket, but II
will within the next decade at least
BECOME THE BREAD-BASKET OF
THE UNITED STATES. Perhaps this
may be hard truth for Americans to
swallow, but it is truth, neverthe
less. And it is at least partial com
pensation to know that hundreds o1
thousands Of our farmers are profit
ing by the fact by becoming producers
in this new country.
The papers of this country have nat
urally made the most of the brief pc
riod of depression which swept ovel
Canada, but now there is not a sign o1
it left from Winnipeg to the coast
Never have the three great wheat rails
ing provinces been more prosperous
Capital is coming into the country
from all quarters, taking the form o1
cash for investment, industrial con
Germs seeking locations, and, best o1
all, substantial and sturdy immigrants
come to help populate the prairies
Towns are booming; scores Of new
elevators are springing up; railroads
are sending out their branch lines IN
all directions; thousands of prosper
GUS farmers are leaving their prairie
shelters for new and modern homes