CO-OPERATIVE FARMS IN SASKATCHEWAN

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5315, 30 January 1947, Page 3

CO-OPERATIVE FARMS IN SASKATCHEWAN

FIRST VENTURE OF THE KIND ElXl CAN ADA. i M J Saskatchewan, Canada's co-opera-tive minded province, has begun the settlement of ex-servicemen- op cooperative farms. Last spring 19 men of World War II made the first step in a project which is planned to rehabilitate men on to Crown land. There are at least seven other cooperative farms in the province, but this is the first time in Canada tKat veterans have made the venture. Plans were made more than a year ago by a committee of agricultural experts and Government officials, the details being worked out tvith the settlers themselves. The site chosen was ranch counti-y untouched by the plough and used as pasture land by roaming 'herds of cattle. •In an official report of the under- ! taking issues by the Canadian 'Information Service progress to date is reviewed as follows: —

"Not a Picnic." The veterans' first sight of the land, when they broke a trail to it by jeep' last April, showed how much there was to be acconrplished. "The soil was rich and water accessible. But obviously the venture woulcl be no picnic. There was no road within five miles of the location selected for living quarters, and the nearest f arml^use was six miles away. "Dividing into three working crews, they attacked the immediate tasks of building houses and ploug'hing the l virgin soil. Former air force barracks obtained from the Government were sawed into sections, truc'ked 40 miles and floated across the 'Saskatchewan River, to be reassembled into four houses for the married men, a dormitory for the single men and a combined workshop-storehouse. "Meanwhile the ploug'hing was going ahead in double shifts. By the end of the summer, the families of the married men moved in, 2500 acres of lapd had been ploughed and 340 acres sown in flax. First Crop Sold. "This first crop, it is expected, wiil bring in at least 10,000 dollars, most of which is aii*eady earmarked for wheat and flax seed with which they plan to sow the whole ploughed acreage next spring. "By autumn three of the veterans had left, but the remainder are now well established. "The community owns collectively farm equipment and livestock purchased with loans on members' rehabilitation- credits. The ex-soldiers have applied to the Dominion Government for land grants, but so far these have not been paid because the Department of Veterans' Affairs insist that the title to land be held by individuals. Meanwhile the provincial Government has borne the initial expenses and paid the veterans a daily wage. It has leased them more than 10,000 acres of land for 33 years. "Rent will be fixed at 1-6 to 1-8 of of the value of the crop."