The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1919-02-20
LAND OF WEALTH
Western Canada Has Unbounded
Possibilities.
glorious Opportunities FOR the Stock
Raiser, the Wheat Grower, and the
Mixed Farmer--lts Fields to
Feed the World.

Alberta, or II was known that it was
possible to feed them outside all the
gear round, the Indian hunters could
always find the buffalo during the
winter months p~asturing I'm the foot
hills. In the summer the herds wan
dered on the plains and fed IN the
prairie grasses. The plains have since
become grain fields, but the fe0thill
district extending north from the In
ternational boundary for a thousand
miles win always be a natural feeding
ground for live stock. In the southern
part Of Alberta the altitude is greater
than In the more northerly districts,
but while the herds In the south have
wider tracts of treeless pasturage, In
the north from Red Deer on into the
Peace river country there are more
trees, a richer vegetation and more
natural shelter.
Those who have been advocating
stock raising and mixed farming for
the past few years point TO the number
of hogs marketed as an evidence of the
increased production Of the Western
Provinces. They may also take credit
Tor the increase In cattle and sheep,
which Is very great, but perhaps not
so marked as what has been accom-
plished In hog raising. For the first
elk months alone last year about half
Q million hogs were shipped from
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
A very conservative estimate value OF
these animals to the farmer would be
$500 a head.
The Canadian West is fast forging to
the front Of the wheat<producing coun-
tries OF the world. and mo. 4 hard'
Is without doubt the best wheat In the
market today. When II, Is considered
that the three hundred and forty-threc
million four hundred and s~eventy-three
thousand bushel crop Of 1915 was from
only eleven million acres Of he: hum
dreds Of millions of acres. it gives IN
idea of wbgt her future will be.
II is felt, however, that on account
OF the great money there will I'm
doubtedly be In growing wheat during
the next few years there is q possible
tty that farmers may be tempted to
drop the growing of coarser grains.
which might result In less stock being
raised. Every effort Is being made by
the Agricultural Departments of the
various Provinces to impress on the
farmers that forage crops and coarse
feed In abundance neon production OF
flesh and milk, and that In the long
run the great future of the Western
Provinces lies In mixed farming which
will found her prosperity o a more
enduring basis. TN.
Mixed farming has always been the
rule In the Eastern Provinces where the,
formation OF the land invites variety
Of crop, but 1t has not been as common
In the Western Provinces, though the
practice has grown In recent years.
Hitherto the man mining wheat from
he rich soil has purchased most Of his
household food and necessities, his
energies being devoted 10 getting every
possible bushel OF grain out of every
loot OF his land. and he has paid prices
TOR his supplies that have made a big
lent in his profits. 1t has now dawned
on him thar he can raise vegetables
and poultry, and supply his own table /;
that with very little effort he can raise
= LOT OF garden produce and in n very
simple n solve his own problem
Of the cost Of living. Further, that
there is an increasing market for dor
nestle necessities such as poultry.
eggs. butter. milk and cheese, which
command very high prices, and that
there are other roads TO prosperity
besides that through the wheat field,
m, 1915 Canada imported 7,9S9,269
pounds Of butter, most OF II from as
far away as New Zealand, and for the
first time in 60 years failed TO ship
butter to England, O condition due to
the home consumption, which is esti-
mated to be increasing at the rate of
B3,000.000 worth n year, being great
~ In excess OF the increased supply.
This condition has brought about a
:hange In farming methods that is far
reGching, and will result in greatly in
:reased production all round of the
necessities demanded by the home
market.
Natural Resources.
One Of the most important consider
Gtions TO the farmer Is fuel. In north
trn Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Al
berta, where portions OF the country
are well wooded. the settler has little
difficulty in getting all the wood he
requires, and thousands Of men find
employment In the winter cutting
wood, which is shipped all over the
prairie portions of the provinces.
There is an abundance of coal
throughout the country. 1t Is estimat-
ed that the coal deposits In Alberta
cover over $1,000 square miles and
represent an available tonnage Of over
ten hundred thousand million tons,
while those IN Saskatchewan cover an
area Of 1900 miles containing over
R.000,000 tons. In Manitoba the coal
reserve is not MS large, but even there
160.000,0O0 tons Is considered a onser
vatiye estimata. AT the present time
these deposits are only worked to a
Gmall aytanf hut fhoro 10 M dnt.ht that