=Macleod.=--Weather conditions were excellent throughout the season.
Ninety per cent of the wheat up to October 1 graded No. 1, the only No.
2 being fall wheat. The yield ranged from 20 to 40 bushels per acre,
with an average of 28. Oats yielded well, and barley about 60 bushels.
=Inverary= is a new district. Wheat graded No. 2 and some of it went 50
bushels to the acre, oats going about 75 bushels.
=Monarch.=--The yield of wheat on summer-fallow averaged 35 bushels, a
large percentage No. 1 Northern.
=Milk River.=--All spring grains yielded better than expected. A 300-acre
field of Marquis wheat gave 41-1/2 bushels.
Experimental farm results on grain sown on irrigated land place "Red
Fife" wheat in the banner position, with a yield of 59.40 bushels per
acre. Oats yielded 13 bushels to the acre.
=Calgary.=--The yield of grain was everywhere abnormal, with an increased
acreage of about 23 per cent.
=Bassano.=--September 25. Individual record crops grown in Alberta include
a 1,300-acre field of spring wheat, near here, which went 35 bushels to
the acre and weighed 66 pounds to the bushel.
=Noble.=--Mr. C. S. Noble had 350,000 bushels of grain. The cost of
production per acre was $9.10 on summer-fallow and the returns were
$24.93 per acre. Oats averaged 90 bushels on 2,880 acres, wheat 38 on
300 acres, and barley 61 on 450 acres, all grading top.
Mr. Harris Oium, came from South Dakota twelve years ago and homesteaded
the first 160 acres in his township, dividing his land between grain and
pasture. He earned sufficient money to buy a quarter section of railway
land at $11 an acre. The half section netted proportionate profits and
he gradually increased his holdings to 1,920 acres, which are devoted to
mixed farming this year. He values his land at $50 an acre. He has 200
hogs, mostly pure bred Poland China, 25 head draft horses and 35 head of
pure bred Hereford cattle. Feeding barley to hogs nets him 80 cents a
bushel, twice the average market price when delivered to the warehouse.
His barley averages 40 bushels to the acre; oats average 80 bushels.
=Red Deer.=--John Lamont says that a man on a quarter-section, with a few
cows, brood sows, and 100 hens, can be as sure of a good living for his
family as if he were pensioned by the government. His 20 acres of
Alberta red winter wheat yielded 985 bushels. Last year his wheat went a
little over 40 bushels per acre, machine measure. He grows alfalfa.
S. D. McConnell has carried on mixed farming for twelve years keeping a
few cattle and some hogs; makes a dollar a bushel out of his barley by
feeding it. His fall wheat has gone from 30 to 65 bushels to the acre;
oats from 40 to 100 bushels, never weighing less than 42 lbs. to the
bushel.
H. S. Corrigan has averaged at least 30 bushels of spring wheat per
acre, 40 bushels of barley, and 60 bushels of oats. Twenty-one acres of
oats ran 90 bushels per acre, and weighed 48 pounds per bushel. Last
winter he bought nine head of cattle for $420, fed them six weeks on
hay, green feed, and chop and sold them for $579.60. Two steers, 26
months old weighed 2,440 lbs. One sow raised 58 pigs in 2-1/2 years, and
when sold, weighed 550 pounds. Two of her pigs, now a year old, are
raising 23 pigs. Timothy has yielded a ton and a half on an average, at
$15 a ton.
=Red Deer.=--J. Northrup has not missed a crop in nine years, and says:
"This is the best country in the world for small grain, better than Iowa
and that is good--I love old Iowa. Winter wheat yields as high as 45
bushels per acre. Potatoes yield 400 bushels per acre at times. Alfalfa
is a good crop when the soil is inoculated."
C. A. Sharman has the world's champion Jersey cow. He says: "A quarter
section of land and 100 head of stock mean the maximum of growth from
every square yard. Any man, woman, or child that uses Alberta rightly
will be used rightly by Alberta. Farming in Alberta is no gold brick
proposition, but an industry, which is the basis of all wealth."
[Illustration: One of the comfortable homes in Western Canada, showing
splendid surrounding of trees.]
[Illustration: Alfalfa has become a recognized fodder crop in Western
Canada. Large areas are already planted, and it produces abundant
yields.]
A. P. Olsen formerly of Minnesota has raised cattle, horses, hogs and
also milked a few cows. His oats yield 45 bushels to the acre, spring
wheat, 36 bushels, winter wheat and barley 40 bushels. He won first
prize at the Calgary Exhibition for a collection of 32 varieties of
grasses found on his own land.
=Macleod.=--R. McNab has returns which show a yield of 45 bushels of No. 1
Northern wheat to the acre.
=Gleichen.=--Forty-five bushels of No. 1 Northern wheat per acre was the
yield on the Blackfoot Indian reserve in 1913.
=Pincher Creek.=--Alfred Pelletier had 130 bushels oats per acre.
=Cities and Towns.=--On the banks of the Saskatchewan and forming the
portal alike to the Last West and the New North, the capital city of
=Edmonton= has attractions for the capitalist, the tourist, the
manufacturer, and the health seeker. At the centre of two great
transcontinental highways, Edmonton will soon be rated among the world's
great cities. Traffic from the Pacific to Hudson Bay will go through her
portals, the south, north and west will contribute. Possessed of
municipally-owned waterworks, electric-lighting and power systems,
street railways and telephones, the city is modern, attractive and
alive. The number of banks is evidence of prosperity. The coal output of
the district is about 3,000 tons daily. Population, about 60,000. In
1901, it was 2,626. In 1911, the assessment was a trifle under 47
million dollars; in 1912, 123-1/2 million dollars. School attendance,
5,114.
=Calgary= tells its own story in public buildings and in over one hundred
wholesale establishments, 300 retail stores, 15 chartered banks, half a
hundred manufacturing establishments, and a $150,000 normal school
building. The principal streets are paved. There is municipal ownership
of sewer system, waterworks and electric light and street railway.
Directly bearing upon the future of Calgary is the irrigation project of
the Bow River Valley, where 3 million acres are being colonized. One
thousand two hundred miles of canals and laterals are completed.
Population in 1911 was 43,736; now claimed 75,000. There are 36 schools,
146 teachers, and 7,000 pupils. The Canadian Pacific car shops here
employ 3,000 men. It has the Canadian Pacific, Canadian Northern, and
Grand Trunk Pacific.
=Lethbridge=, with a population of about 13,000, the centre of a splendid
agricultural district, is also a prosperous coal-mining and commercial
city. The output of the mines, which in 1912 was about 4,300 tons daily
and necessitated a monthly pay roll of $145,000, finds a ready market in
British Columbia, in Montana, and as far east as Winnipeg. A Government
Experimental Farm is nearby. The several branches of railway diverging
here make it an important railway centre. It will shortly have the Grand
Trunk Pacific, and direct Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern lines
eastward. The municipally-owned street car system affords excellent
service.
=Medicine Hat=, in the valley of the South Saskatchewan and the centre of
a magnificent ranching and mixed-farming district, is a division point
of the Canadian Pacific Railway, with extensive railway shops operated
with natural gas for fuel. The light, heat, and power, derived from this
gas are sold to manufacturers at 5 cents per thousand cubic feet, and
for domestic purposes at 1 cent. The factories and industries now using
natural gas pay out about 2-1/2 million dollars annually, which will be
considerably augmented by factories in course of construction, and to be
erected. When the new flouring mills are completed, Medicine Hat will be
the largest milling centre on the continent. Population over 6,000.
=Macleod= is one of the oldest towns in the Province. With the rapid
settlement of the surrounding agricultural land, this town is showing
wonderful progress; during 1913 a large amount was spent in new
buildings.
=Wetaskiwin= is a railway division point from which farms stretch in all
directions. The city is beautifully located, and owns its electric light
plant, waterworks, and sewerage system.
=Red Deer= is situated on the Canadian Pacific, half way between Calgary
and Edmonton. It has a large sawmill, two brick-yards, concrete works,
creameries, wheat elevators, and a sash-and-door factory. Coal and wood
are plentiful and cheap. The district has never had a crop failure. It
showed considerable business activity in 1913. Lines of railway extend
westward.
=Lacombe=, on the direct line between Calgary and Edmonton, has a flour
mill, foundry, planing mill, brick-yard, grain elevators, electric
lights, and telephones. The surrounding country is noted for its
pure-bred cattle and horses, and a Government Experimental Farm adjoins
the town.
=Raymond= enjoys a rapid growth, and has one of the largest sugar
factories in the west. Sugar beets are a great success here. Mr. Henry
Holmes, who won the big wheat prize at the Dry Farming Congress held at
Lethbridge in 1912 resides here.
Other prosperous towns are Claresholm, Didsbury, Fort Saskatchewan, High
River, Innisfail, Olds, Okotoks, Pincher Creek, Ponoka, St. Albert,
Vermilion, Vegreville, Carmangay, Stettler, Taber, Tofield, Camrose,
Castor, Cardston, Bassano, Edson, Coronation, Empress, Magrath, Nanton,
Strathmore, Gleichen, Leduc, Hardisty, Walsh, Daysland, Sedgewick,
Grassy Lake and Wainwright. Much interest is being taken in Athabaska
Landing, owing to its increasing agricultural settlement and the
completion of the Canadian Northern.