CANADA

485

The following figures indicate the nature of the progress made
in wheat cultivation by this region within recent years.

CANADA.

THE WINNIPEG BASIN.

[ Area ; Production '. Acres j Bushels
ij Area : Production
jj Acres Bushels

1901
3,961,000
84,814,000
11
l! 2,516,000
62,820,000

1911
10,373,000 215,851,000
j; 9,301,000
194,083,000

1921
23,261,224 300,858,000
|j 22,181,329
280,098,000

1926 1928
22,852,531 24,119,000
399,008,000 566,726,000
'! 21,764,788 375,697,000
!! 23,158,000 ; 544,598,000

1935
24,116,000 - 277,339,000
;: 23,293,000
259,500,000

1938 25,931,000 360,010,000 \ l
j; 24,946,000 { 336,000,000

[For Canada the average yield per acre in 1928 was 23-5 bushels,,
and in 1935 11-5 bushels.]
The rapid development of Canadian agriculture, which, as indi-
cated above, has taken place within recent years in the Winnipeg
Basin, has naturally led to much speculation as to the future possi-
bilities of the region. It is generally admitted that the present
production of the land could be greatly increased, but with regard
to its potential resources there is much difference of opinion. Over
twenty years ago several estimates of the future production of
wheat in the Winnipeg Basin were made by competent authorities,
and they varied in amount from 250,000,000 bushels annually to
800,000,000 bushels. All such estimates,, however, must, from the
very nature of the case, be extremely hypothetical in character, and
for their fulfilment must depend not only upon the potential re-
sources of the country, but upon the extent to which its demands
are met. With regard to the first of these, it would appear .unlikely
that the average yield for the five years 1927-31 (about 392,000,000
bushels) could be doubled. A recent authority1 has calculated
that half of the potentially arable area in the Prairie Provinces is
already cultivated, and that practically all the best land and most
of the good land is now utilized. Of what is left, much lies in
regions climatically more suitable for mixed farming than for wheat
growing.
1 O. E. Baker in Economic Geography, Vol. iv, p. 416.