Williams news., 1918-03-14
AGRICULTURE THE MA|NSTAY OF THE
 NATION
The United States and Canada Have a Great Responsibility.


 "mossback," and in a tone that could never have been called derisive, but still there was in 1t the infection that he was occupying an inferior position. The stiff upper lip that the farmer car ried, warded off any approach that his occupation was a degrading one. His hour arrived, though, and for some years past he has been looked up to as occupying a high position.
 Agriculture, by a natural trend of economic conditions, stands out today in strong relief, as the leader in the worlds pursuits. Never in the nations history have the eyes of the world been so universally focused on the farm. The farmer Is the man of i'm portance; the manufacturer of its most necessary product, and he now enjoys the dual satisfaction of reaping a max fmum of profit, as a result of his opera lions, while he also becomes a strong factor in molding the worlds destinies.
 Manufacturers, business men, pro fessional men and bankers realize the importance of agriculture, and gladly acknowledge 1t as the twin sister to commerce. In commercial, financial and political crisis, the tiller of the soil takes the most important place. Maximum prices, the highest in many decades, show the worlds recognition of the necessary requirement for more farm stuffs. The time was coming when this would have been brought about automatically, but war time conditions urged 1t forward, while the farmer was able to secure land at req sonab1e prices. Throughout several of the Western states this condition ex- ists, as also in Western Canada.
 Never has such a condition been known in commercial 1ife It is truly an opportunity of a lifetime. Large and small manufacturing concerns and practically every other line of busi- ness have been limited in their profits to the point of almost heroic sacrifice, while 1t is possible today to reap divi- dends in farming unequaled in any other line.
 Thirty, and as high as fifty bushels of wheat per acre at $2.2O per bushel and all other farm produce on simi- lar basis, grown and produced on land available at from $15 to $40 per acre represents a return of profit despite higher cost of labor and machinery,
 
 than 10O% of an annual return on the amount invested. Such Is the present day condition in Western Canada. How long 1t will last, no one can foretell. Prices for farm produce will likely re main high for many years. Certainly, the low prices of past years will not come again in this generation. The lands referred to, are low in price at present, but they will certainly in crease to their naturally productive value as soon as the demand for them necessitates this increase, and this day Is not far distant This demand is growing daily; the farmer now on the ground is adding to his holdings while prices are low; the agriculturist on high priced lands Is realizing that he is not getting all the profit that his neighbor in Western Canada is secur- ing; the tenant farmer Is seeking a home of his own, which he can buy on what he was paying out for rent, and many are forsaking the crowded cities to grasp these unprecedented op-s portunities.
 The tenant farmer, and the owner of high priced land, is now awakening to the realization that he is not get LuS Lu0 T0LQfn TOT HIS laDOf ana ln- vestment that it is possible to secure in Western Canada. Thousands are mak- ing trips of inspection to personally in- vestgate conditions and to acQuaint themselves with the broadening bene- fits derived by visiting Western Can ada Such trips awaken in a progress sive man that natural desire to do bigger things, to accomplish as much as his neighbor, and frequently result in convincing and satisfying him that Gods most fertile outdoors, with a big supply of natures best climatic and health-giving conditions lies in West ern Canada.
 The days of pioneering are over; the seeker after a new home travels through all parts of the country on the same good railway trains as he has been accustomed to at home, but on which he has been accorded a special railway rate of about one cent a mile He finds good roads for automobiling and other traffic; rural telephone lines owned by the provincial governments: rural schools and churches situated conveniently to all well appointed and homenke buildings, and everywhere an indication of general prosperity; cities and towns with all modern improve ments, and what is the most convinc- Ing factor in his decision, a satisfied and prosperous people, with a whole