Williams news., 1917-02-15
THE BASIS OF
 CANADA'S RICHES
A Theme Discussed by the Wall
 Street Journal.

ago the Wall Street Journal made the statement that 'The basis of Canada's riches is the fertfpy of the soil, and no freak of warfare can injure that. while her grain will increase in de mand as the population of the world grows. AS an investment field Canada Is worthy of consideration" These words are well worthy of attention, es- pecially coming from such a source as this eminent financial Journal. With land area exceeding that of the United States and with tillable areas coming under cultivation, the wealth of Canada's future can scarcely be esti- mated, while the wealth today is such as to bring her most prominently be- fore the world.
 During the past year thousands of farmers in Western Canada sold their crops for more than the total cost of their land. Lands at from S15 to $50 an acre produced crops worth $40 to $75 an acre. Stock raising and dairy ing were equally profitable.
 The year 1915 saw most wonderful crops and magnificent yields over the entire country, and many farmers wiped out indebtednesses that had hung over them long before they came to the country, and the year 1916 put them in a condition of absolute inde- pendence. A report to hand verified by high official might seem marvel ous, were the particulars not well known, and where are not other cases that would seem almost as phenom- enal. This is a southern Alberta story: A farmer wished to rent an adjoining farm on which loan company held a mortgage. The applicant said he want ed the first ten bushels of wheat, after which he would divide, giving the loan company one-third. After threshing he paid Into the bank at Calgary $16 per acre for every acre cultivated, to the credit of the loan company, as their share or their third of the crop. Sixteen dollars per acre rent. His two-thirds was $32 and in addition the first ten bushels of wheat. Land on this same security can be purchased for from $16 to $50 Per acre. Won derful yields are reported from all parts of this district. Recently 4640 acres of ranch were sold to an nli- nois farmer; 800 acres of wheat in 1916 produced a yield that averaged 421a bushels of wheat per acre. George Richard, formerly of Providence, R. l., on a southern Alberta farm got 2,O52 bushels of wheat from a 50-acre field, or over 40 bushels per acre, and from 6O-acre field of oats got a return of 76 bushels per acre and still had some sheaves left over for feeding. A report just issued by the Alberta government gives the yield of wheat in the showing of 1916 as 28 bushels per acre; 45 bushels of oats and 30 bushels of barley.
 Travellers through Alberta's wheat | belt have had revealed to them scenes | of agricultural productiveness unap- preached in any other part of the world.
 Alberta farms, selected with even moderate discretion, have raised men to independence and aff1uence with rec ords of wonderful development unsur- | passed amongst the phenomenal indus trial success of which Canada well may | boast.
 Many almost incredible yields have been reported by reliable authorities, wheat exceeding 70 bushels per acre and oats 145 bushels.
 Numerous records show that the cost of farms has been more than repaid by | this years crop. In one instance, land purchased for S9,2OO produced wheat which was sold for little over 10000. During the year 1917 there will be an immense amount of labor required to take care of the crop in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
 One of the problems which Western | Canada has to face every year Is the securing of an adequate supply of labor to handle the harvesting and threshing of its big crops. This prob lem, indeed, is always present in any country that has big agricultural pro- duction; in the case of Western Can ada it is enhanced by the comparative | sparsity of population and the long dis tance from industrial districts, which can be expected to offer a surplus of labor.
 In Western Canada the present diff culties are increased by the war. A very large number of Western Canada's small population have enlisted for serv- ice with the Canadian forces in Europe, and at the present time there Is gen. erally speaking no surplus of labor for the ordinary channels of industry, to | say nothing of the abnormal demands of harvest time. The situation, how ever, has to some extent been met by the action of the Canadian militia de partment, who have released all such men who are still in training in the western military camps and who desire to engage in harvest work for a period of generally one month.
 The actual number of men engaged in 1916 in harvest work was between forty and fifty thousand. Wages were