The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-04
The Canadian Northwest
By GEORGE MoLLER wITTIcHEN

The great western prairie, the nome ol the buffalo and tho Indian for thousands Of years, and known to many of us in the south as the Wild and Woody West has become known as one of the greatest grain and cattle countries in the world This vast open country covers an area of about o0oo0o,oO0 acres of level. fertile plains, without any natural growth eN- cept tho virgin prairie grass. One can travel for two days and nights without seeing a tree, exeeTt feW planted around farm buildings for wind brakes. It is possible to see for miles with only the sky as a background. and in this respect ii resembles the deep blue sea. By the work of the steam blow the buffalo trails' and .'wallopsa where the grass never grows are becoming a thing of the past.
 Very noticeable on the prairie arc the gophers also known as prairie dogs. They live in villages and their holes are thickest on top of small knolls. They are about the size of squirrel light brown in color and almost white underneath They resemble squirrel, but have no bushv tail; they stand straight upon their hind legs and scream when they hear a footstep. and look cute and attractive On account of being destructive 10 gram the farmers are anxious 10 destroy them' and whom they appear in April, after their long winter nap. the farmer treats them to poisoned grain.
 ID to few years ago this country was thought 10 be only for cattle raising; io- day fl is known as the coming granary of the world We find in the prairie pro~- inceg of Alberta Saskatchewan and Man itoba the most modern methods or farfn- ing known. Farming is done on a large scale We find single farms with as many as 5000 acres under cultivation. The aY- craze small farmer is working from one quarter 10 a section Of land Steam blows pre largely in use, although many of the smaller farmers use horses. and few of the homesteaders who are taking up gov- elnment land use oxen, to break thelr first soil.
 The large steam blow outfits have as many as 12 and IA blows all working par allel to each other al the same time; the blows are often kept working day and night. blowing outfit will blow from 20 to 40 acres in 2l hours. Old land Is often disced at the same time Ca disc is made of circular knives which cut inc lumpsl. The disc is attached behind the plov.
 When the land is in proper condition the seed is put in the soil with drill which plants the seed in rows about foui to six inches apart.
 The Canadian Pacific railroad owns the largest irrigation ditch in the world. 1T the Bow river district, in southern Al berta. running from the famous Bow river This irrigated district lies east oi inc city of Calvary. The water is taker from the famous Bow river and runs into lake or reservoir where it is warmed by the sun. It is then let out of the res ervoir into the main canals, then into secondary canals and so on to smal dtches on the land.
 The irrigated district Is the only higs land in Alberta where irrigation is needed and in ordinary years is only needed Tor growing alfalfa and roots such as sugar beets. Irrigation was needed for grain two years ago when there was drouth all over the west. By using irrigation of the grain fields larger crops are obtained The ir- rigation ditches are under the control oi the government and water is required to be kept in the ditches about five months of the year. It must be running by the first day of May. Some years when the spring Is late the river does not thaw ir time; then they are forced to saw th' ice out in order to have the water run ming by the required time. Dry farmins has proved a big success and this method 3s being adopted by many of the farmers
 The land is put in first class condition il the fall and packed with packer. In thf spring the land does not have to tt worked and it still retains it's moisture.
 Alberta red winter wheat is becoming known all over the world as the finest hard wheat grown. The winter whea' is planted the latter part of July and gets good start by the time the snow comes and is then protected by the snow til spring. It dies off and shoots up the first thing in the spring and is harvested abou, the middle of August. The grain is not hurt by letting the cattle graze it in tn. tumn when the growth has ceased. There is as much spring wheat grown as winter wheat and the crops average about tho same The spring wheat is sown in early spring and harvested the same year abou month later than the winter wheat.
 Oats, barley, flax, rye, alfalfa and tim othy hay are grown with equal success TCday flax is considered one of the mos profitable crops. only recently alfalfa has been grown to any extent. The av craze yield of crops are as follows: Wheat 8 bushels to the acre cit often runs a' high as 65 bushes); oats average 40 bush. els, and often runs over 100 bushels to lhi acre: barley. 35 bushels, and often goes S bushels to the acre; flax, IS bushels, and goes as high as B bushels to the acre These averages are taken from govern ment statistics of the western provinces.
 Timothy hay grows very tall and thick A farmer at Olds Alberta last year cut four and half tons to the acre. The laut on which this crop was grown has beer under cultivation for IS years. The seet was sown on summer falow in the montf of July, 1910. It brought SIP per ton at hi' town. Prairie hay cut from the Virsir prairie runs about a ton to the acre anC is considered more fattening than th' blue grass of Kentucky. The price 10 prairie hay was s15 per ton last fall. 1911.
 In the west the potato crop is as i'm portan. as in Ireland On well fertilizet land have seen potatoes yield 4oo bushels to the acre. although 150 to 200 bushels i considered a good crop. A scarcity in th' crop is certainly felt as they are serve, three times day. There was a potato famine last summer that made the pric' Of potaties out of reach of the averag. family. This only lasted a few days, unti the new potatoes were on the market. Tn average retail price was only S1 per bushel
 The two busiest times of the year to grain farmer is seeding time and harvest Seeding does not require as large amour of extra labor as harvest. There is no a more beautiful sight than a field o