The present demand for food stuffs and the expense of their production
on high-priced lands make it seem that Western Canada, with its
opportunity for meeting this demand, came into notice at the crucial
period. Its millions of acres of land, easily cultivable, highly
productive, accessible to railways, and with unexcelled climatic
conditions, offer something too great to be overlooked.
The provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta have the largest
area of desirable lands in North America, with but 8 per cent under the
plough. Their cultivation has practically just begun. A few years ago
the wheat crop amounted to only 71 million bushels. To-day, with only 4
per cent of the available area in wheat, the crop is over 209 million
bushels. What, then, will 44 per cent produce?
Then look at immigration. In 1901 it was 49,149, of which 17,000 were
from the United States; in 1906 it was 189,064, of which 57,000 were
Americans; in 1913 it was about 400,000, about 125,000 being Americans.
Why did these Americans go to Canada? Because the American farmer, like
his Canadian cousin, is a shrewd business man. When an American can sell
his farm at from $100 to $200 per acre and homestead in Canada for
himself and for each of his sons who are of age, 160 acres of fertile
land, capable of producing several bushels more to the acre than he has
ever known, he will be certain to make the change.
And then, following the capital of brawn, muscle, and sinew, comes
American capital, keeping in touch with the industrious farmer with whom
it has had dealings for many years. These two, with farming experience,
are no small factors in a country's upbuilding. Nothing is said of the
great mineral and forest wealth, little of which has been touched.
In so short a time, no country in the world's history has attracted to
its borders so large a number of settlers prepared to go on the land, or
so much wealth, as have the Canadian prairies. Never before has
pioneering been accomplished under conditions so favourable as those in
Western Canada to-day.
It is not only into the prairie provinces that these people go, but many
continue westward to the great trees and mountains, and fertile valleys,
the glory of British Columbia, where can be grown agricultural products
of almost every kind, and where fruit is of great importance. The vast
expanse of the plains attracts hundreds of thousands who at once set to
work to cultivate their large holdings. But man's work, even in the
cities with their record-breaking building rush, is the smallest part of
the great panorama that unfolds on a journey through the country. Nature
is still supreme, and man is still the divine pigmy audaciously seeking
to impose his will and stamp his mark upon an unconquered half
continent.
=THE HOMEMAKING SPIRIT.=--The most commendable feature in Western
development to-day is the "homemaking spirit." The people are finding
happiness in planting trees, making gardens, building schools, colleges,
and universities, and producing an environment so homelike that the
country cannot be regarded as a temporary abode in which to make a
"pile" preparatory to returning East.
[Illustration: Confiding to his better half what they will do with the
proceeds of their crop of wheat, which yielded 41-1/2 bushels per acre.]
=THOUSANDS OF AVAILABLE HOMESTEADS.=--The desire of the American people to
procure land is strong. Agricultural lands of proved value have so
advanced in price that for the man with moderate means, who wishes to
farm, finding a suitable location has become a serious question.
Fortunately, in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, there are yet
thousands of free homesteads of 160 acres each, which may be had by
the simple means of filing, paying a ten-dollar entrance fee, and living
on the land for six months each year for three years. No long,
preliminary journey, tedious, expensive, and hazardous, is necessary.
This homesteading has been going on in Canada for several years, and
hundreds of thousands of claims have been taken up, but much good land
still is unoccupied. Many consider the remaining claims among the best.
They comprise lands in the park districts of each of the three
provinces, where natural groves give a beauty to the landscape. Here
wheat, oats, barley, and flax can be grown successfully, and the
districts are admirably adapted to mixed farming. Cattle fatten on the
nutritious grasses; dairying can be carried on successfully; timber for
building is within reach, and water easy to procure.
In addition to the free grant lands, there are lands which may be
purchased from railways and private companies and individuals. These
lands have not increased in price as their productivity and location
might warrant, and may still be had for reasonably low sums and on easy
terms.
Nowhere else in the world are there such splendid opportunities for
indulgence in the land-passion as in Western Canada. Millions of rich
acres beckon for occupation and cultivation. Varying soil and climate
are suited to contrary requirements--grazing lands for the stock
breeder; deep-tilling soils for the market gardener; rolling, partly
wooded districts for the mixed-farming advocate; level prairie for the
grain farmer; bench lands and hillsides for the cultivator of fruits.