VOL. XIX.
OCT"    ^INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, OCT. 11,1884.
NO. 41.
1V1ANIT0B_1.C/C
Its Agriculture,   Climate
Rainfall.
and
As Seen by the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, an
Intelligent Englishman.
"The crops generally were very good,
both in Manitoba and in the territorial
districts which I was able to visit. There
wm scarcely an inferior field to be seen.
I found an impression prevailing in Ontario, and also to some extent in Manitoba,
that the districts next to the mountains
were not suited foragricnltural operations
on account ot the alleged liability to
early frost. From a personal examination
of the country for a considerable distance
around Calgary—especially the farms
which have been occupied for some years
by enterprising squatters, and also the
government farm sold Jast year so improperly by private sale to the present
Lieut. Governor of Quebec—I found that
in this whole district the crops were uniformly excellent and generally far above
the average. I do not care to commit myself as to an estimate of the crops, but I
should say that some of the
WHEAT FIELDS
would yield somewhere between thirty
anil forty bushels to the acre; some of the
oat fields would yield from seventy to
eighty bushels, while the barley and peas
were also excellent both in quality and
quantity. The potatoes and roots of all
kinds were very fine. A large portion of
this district, indeed almost the whole of
it, has been leased to ranch holders, and
they very naturally try to continue the
impression that the ground occupied by
them is only suitable for grazing. This is
manifestly a great mistake. * ' * *
One of the farms I visited, that of Mr.
Livingstone, about eight miles from
Calgary in a southwest direction, has been
occupied by that gentleman for over fifteen years, and another farm, occupied by
Mr. Bouchier, has also been occupied for a
number of years. Mr. John Glenn has
been on his farm for seven years. One of
the latter gentlemen's fields of oats, on the
summit of the ridge, was the sixth crop
sown on the same ground, and it was a
very heavy one. I met with several other
farmers further down Pish Creek and
other directions, all of whom had the same
story to tell about the alleged damage by
frosts, and the suitability of the soil and
climate for farming operations."
THE ALKALI LANDS.
"I arranged to' visit seven out of ten experimental farms commenced by the Railway Company, to ascertain first the effect
of the alkali deposits, which prevailed to
some extent in some districts, upon
weals and roots, and secondly to ascertain what the result was ^ a general
fay on these farms, considering soil and
climate. I observed throughout the whole
length of the road that there was scarcely
»ny poor soil to be seen. In quarters,
notably between Medicine Hat at Moose
Jaw, there was an appearance of dryness
in the general aspect of the prairie visible,
*hich was not apparent where the land
had been  ploughed.   There  is a sort of
crispness in the grass in some places that
would seem to indicate a prevailing dryness. This, however, is uniformly the
case. What is known as buffalo grass,
where it has a dry appearance, still continues to preserve its nutritious qualities,
and cures as well standing as if cut. Such
is the general statement made to me by
old settlers. I visited seven out of the ten
experimental farms, namely, those of
Gleichen, 784 miles from Winnipeg; Tilley,
713 miles; Stair, 668 miles; Dunmore, 650
miles; Forres, 615 miles; Maple Creek, 596
miles, and Gull Lake, 5-16 miles from
Winnipeg. The three not visited, although
they are within sight, are those at Swift
Current, Rush Lake and Secretan, the
latter being 442 miles west of Winnipeg.
The whole of these farms cover a district
of about 350 miles from east to west. The
farms should evidently be taken as a test
of the capabilities of the country for
farming operations and the suitability of
the climate. I was careful to observe the
quality of the crops, as well as the respective kinds. The wheat was uniformly a fair crep, not so heavy as some seen
in the district around Calgary or in Manitoba, but would probably be from 17 to 20
bushels to the acre.
ONE REMARKABLE FEATURE
of the whole country is the number of
stalks of grain from one kernel. In one
instance we counted no fewer than forty-
six heads from one root. The oats and
peas yielded a fair crop, while roots, such
as potatoes and turnips, showed quite as
good a result as any of the farms in better
known districts of Manitoba. On several
of the farms I observed tomatoes (in one
case nearly ripe), melons, cucumbers, and
citrons. The district embraced by these
experimental farms covers the larger part
of the district generally believed to be
more or less arid in ita character, and
subject to alkali deposits; alkali, however
is found in the Province of Manitoba as
well as in the northwest and western districts. In the vicinity of Brandon, for
instance, I observed considerable portions
of the fields showing traces of alkali deposits. The uniform testimony of those
who have cultivated the lands where alkali
prevails is to the effect that it is worked
out of the land after a few croppings.
Some authorities, notably Prof. Macoun,
maintain that it does not at all injure the
land."
WATER, CLIMATE AND SOIL.
"As to the climate, I am convinced that
sowing early and properly taking care of
the land will almost invariably insure a
good early crop, but if the ploughing of
the land is insufficiently performed, and
the grain sown late in season, there will
be more or less danger of damage in the
autumn. The grain on some of the experimental farms, was sown on the 4th and
6th of June, days manifestly too late to be
reasonably certain of the crops ripening
early. Generally speaking, there is no
reason whatever why early sowing should
not be the rule.   The question of
RAINFALL IS A DISPUTED ONE.
I found many people "who said that the
rainfall this year was bnt very slightly in
excess of the average, while some said
there had been more rain than usual, although, during my visit, I saw no signs of
recent rains.   My  impression, is  that in
some few districts thero will be some difficulty at first, in securing the best quality
of water for household use, but the same
difficulty exists in some counties in Ontario, where clay prevails. In some cases
this will have to be overcome by sinking
wells, or by forming tanks for the reception ot water, or both. Very few wells
have been sunk so far, but in most of
them water has been obtained. The railway company has, however, failed in
several cases to get a sufficient supply of
pure water for the engines, at their stations. The district supplied by the Bow
and Belly rivers and their tributaries, including the South Saskatchewan, as far at
least as Medicine Hat, has an abundance
of the best water, and the districts where
groups of wood prevail, as around Qn'Ap-
pelle station and Moosomin, are, as a rule,
abundantly supplied with good water.
On the "Bell" farm, an abundant supply
has been obtained by simply erecting
dams across a small creek, and similar advantage can bo taken of many creeks in
the country at comparatively little expense.
AS TO FUEL,
discoveries of coal deposits at various
places, would seom to secure an abundant
supply at moderate prices. Tho Saskatchewan mine, about eight miles westof
Medicine Hat, can supply coal at Winnipeg for §7 50 por ton, and at corresponding
rates at nearer points. The quality is not
the best for locomotives, but it can be
used mixed. The Gait minos, 100 miles
up the river, produce coal equal to Ohio.
At present  it is  accossible  only  by   the
FARMERS IN FBArTCE.
An American in France who has become
familiar with the farmers and tho farm
interests of that country writes us as follows to one of our cotemporaries of farms
and farmers. There are some points that
will be new to our readers:
There are millions of farms in France
containing from a quarter to four acres.
I find that an acre and a half is about
all the ambitious man wants. The rent
for land is always half tho crop. The
land is worth about ?100 an acre; or, if in
grapo vines, ?000.
This is why France is like a garden. In
Kngland there aro 227,000 landowners; in
France there are 7,000,000 landowners.
The Frenchmen on his two acres, with
his barefooted wife cutting grain with a
sickle by his side, is happy and contented,
because he knows no better. Such a degrading life would drive an American
farmer mad. The Frenchman thrives because he spends nothing. He has no
wants beyond the coarsest food and the
washings of the grape skins after the wine
is made. Yes, he is thrifty. He saves
money, too. The aggregated wealth of
30,000,000 poor degraded, barefooted peasants, makes France rich. The ignorance
of the French farmer is appalling. I never
saw a newspaper in a French farm village.
Their wants are no more than the wants of
a horse. He will eat coarse bread and
wine for breakfast; soup, bread and wine
for dinner, and perhaps bread and milk
for aupper; he does not know what coffee
or tea is. The negroes of the South live
like  kings compared  with  the  French
farmer. Still the Frenchman is satisfied
because he knows no better.
When 1 asked a French farmer who was
cultivating his farm (150 by 1,500) if he
saved any money he said: "Oh, not
much. I go to all the fetes. I lay by 500
francs (?100) last year. I put it in the
Caisse d' Kpargne."
"What is that?" I asked of the landlord.
"That is the Government savings bank.
The Government takes the money of the
poor, up to 1,000 francs, and gives them 3J_
per cent for its use. The peasant farmers
of France have nearly 800,000,000 dollars
on deposit in these savings banks. These
poor degraded, half-fed farmers keep the
French treasury full of money.
Two or three weeks ago a correspondent
of the Farmer from Romney, Ind., stated
that four years ago he had to pay ?2 50 per
barrel for salt, but "after that it was admitted duty free," and he now purchased
it for only ?1 25 per barrel. Ho is in error.
Salt has not been on the free list, but pays
a duty as it has in the past twenty years.
It was large production and strong ■competition that reduced the price.
The crop of Irish and sweet potatoes
now average in the counties of Accomac,
and Northampton, Virginia,anntially about
1,000,000 barrels. This is the great crop of
the Eastern Shore as it is called.
THB CROPS IN OHIO.
October  Report  of Crops  by  the
Ohio State Board of Agriculture.
Columbus, O., Oct. 6.—The October crop
report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture gives the following results of the actual threshing for eight weeks, by some
2,500 machines, for wheat, oats and barley,
together with the estimates on othor crops
by township correspondents in all the
counties:
Wheat. Oats. Barley.
Acres threshed.    692,581 ITtUSTi 8,*il
Bushels produced 11,002,1510      5,081,711 292,170
Yield per acre  15.9 29.4 27
Average quality  102 9.1 98
Area sown for crop of
188.5  83
Total estimated bushels at the same rate
of threshing 11,328,38.1— _,506,G39        1,082,233
Estimates of other crops as compared
with a full averago: Rye, 86 per cent;
corn, 75; buckwheat, 65; potatoes, 63; sweet
potatoes, 68; tobacco, 74; sorghum, 72;
clover seed, 54; apples, 67; grapes, 54; pastures, 48; live stock, 84.
A severe drouth has occurred three
times this season, but was partially broken
by general rains on the 24th to the 29th
each of July, August and September.
This has greatly retarded the sowing of
wheat, which is not nearly finished in the
southern part of the State, 83 per cent,
representing the area already sown. Wheat
is already up and looking finely in the
northern half of the State, where the
drouth in September was less severe. The
pastures are now reviving, and the outlook for fall feed is good.
 » «. .	
Dry weather continues on' tho Atlantic
coast, the gulf States have had partial
showers, and in the southwest thore have
been almost general rains.