CANADIAN FARMING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1069, 27 February 1913, Page 4

CANADIAN FARMING.

A GOOD RETURN FOR CAPITAL AND BRAINS. There was in London recently a man of many parts, who had returned from Canada with some interesting impressions of farming in the Far West- During the Boer war he commanded a squadron of Australian bush men with considerable personal credit; and in the succeeding years of peace he has divided his attention between farming and music hall performances. To the pleasure-seeking public he is known as Mr Fred Lindsay, a very smart whipmanipulator ; among bis private acquaintances he is recognised as a city company director and farmer.

Mr Lindsay informed a Westminister Gazette representative that three years ago he was induced to buy a thousand acres of land in Saskatchewan, near Quill Plains, and he now owns 5000 acres in the same district.

FERTILE SOIL OF SASKATCHEWAN

“The soil in that part of Canada,” he said, “is about the best I have ever seen in any part of the world. The crops never fail, because drought is unknown. But I have come to the conclusion that it is a mistake for farmers to confine their attention to grain crops; and I am, consequently, devoting a portion of my activities to stock-raising.

A good deal of disappointment awaits the larmers from this country who have been led away by glowing accounts of big yields of wheat; for while it is undoubtedly the tact that one gets the best results in the world from the Canadian wheatfields, I do not think that wheat-growing alone is worth the brain fag and anxiety involved in the process. Much more satisfactory results, I am quite convinced, will accrue from mixed farming. “ During the coming year I propose to turn my attention to hogs, which give something like a 400 per cent, return for the capital outlay ; and I hope soon to have a matter of 1000 of these profitable animals upon my farm. I am returning to Canada to superintend the whole of the operations.” Mr Lindsay is much impressed with the advantages of Canada for farming purposes. “It is second to none,” he said ; “the market is close at hand, and there is a sure and substantial return for the man who puts capital and brains into the venture. Moreover, in view of the world’s shortage of animal food, it is a surprising fact that stock-raising should be comparatively neglected. “At a small place called Didcot, between Edmonton and Calgary, no fewer than 800 cows and calves were recently shipped away to the slaughterhouse within three weeks. No country can stand a drain like that ; and the Canadian Pacific Company, which is doing good public service by seeking to induce people to take up mixed farming, has entered into an arrangement with the large slaughterhouse proprietors, with a view to buying back the female stock before it is turned into meat.” THE WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL. LABOURERS. In the light of the efforts, that are being made in England to secure for the farm labourers a bare existence wage, Mr Lindsay’s reference to the wages paid in Canada for this class of work makes interesting reading. “During the last harvest operations,” he said, “I was paying 12s 6d per day for farm labourers, which is as much as they get for a week’s work in England ! —and then I could not get enough of them. Some of the farmers have been known to pay as much as 19s a day to their labourers. That is one of the faults of grain»raising, when unconnected with other farming work ; the labour is never at hand when it is most wanted, and the workers take advantage of the situation to spring upon the farmers all sorts of demands at the most awkward moments, “In the early part of next year I am putting into operation a scheme that will do away with this dependence upon labour of a jetsam-and-flotsam character. I am taking over several Scotch and Irish families, with a view to placing under their control spme 640 acres each, together with a certain number of hogs and horses. In this way I shall be assured of permanent labour for the farms.

So scarce is agricultural labour in Canada, apparently, that even the University students, in large numbers, work upon the farms for three months in the year, or take the places of other workers who have trekked into the grain country for the season. “On the general question as it affects labour,” said Mr Lindsay in conclusion, “I can unhesitatingly affirm, from my own personal observation, that no man need hesitate to give Canada a trial. She is able to absorb all the labour she can lay her hands on ; and even in the winter time unskilled workmen can secure 12s 6d a day on the railways, which is surely preferable to poking about in England on a bare existence wage without any prospect of improvement.”