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THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  DATE 
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ESSAYS  ON  WHEAT 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


DK.  CHAKLES  SAUNDERS, 
Tlie  discoverer  and  introducer  of  ^Marquis  Wheat, 


ESSAYS  ON  WHEAT 

INCLUDINO 

THE   DISCOVERY  AND    INTRODUCTION    OF    MARQUIS 

WHEAT,  THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  WHEAT-GROWING 

IN  MANITOBA,  WHEAT  IN  WESTERN  CANADA,  THE 

ORIGIN  OF  RED  BOBS  AND  KITCHENER,  AND 

THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE 


BY 

A.    H.    REGINALDJBULLER 

B.Sc.  (London);  D.Sc.  (Birmingham);  Ph.D.  (Leipzig);  F.R.S.C. 

Professor  of  Botany  at  the  University  of  Manitoba 


WITH  FIFTY  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  THE  TEXT 


|]3eto  gorfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1919 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright.  1919 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  December,  1919. 


History  .  .  .  celebrates    the    battlefields    whereon    we 

meet  our  death,  hut  scorns  to  speak  of  the  plowed  fieUs 

whereby   ive   thrive;   it   hnows  the  names   of   the   kings 

bastards,  but  cannot  tell  us  the  origin  of  wheat.     That  is 

the  way  of  human  folly, 

J.  Henki  Fabke. 


PREFACE 

Marquis  Wheat  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  food  plants 
in  the  world.  In  the  year  1917  upwards  of  250,000,000 
bushels  of  it  were  raised  in  I^orth  America,  and  in  1918 
upwards  of  300,000,000  bushels;  and,  owing  to  its  high 
yield  per  acre,  it  was  an  important  factor  in  assisting  the 
Allies  to  overcome  the  food  crisis  in  the  darkest  period 
of  the  war.  The  whole  of  the  Marquis  Wheat  at  present  in 
existence  originated  from  a  single  grain  of  wheat  planted 
in  an  experimental  plot  at  Ottawa  by  Dr.  Charles  E. 
Saunders  so  recently  as  the  spring  of  1903. 

I  have  written  this  book,  in  the  first  place,  to  do  justice 
to  Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders  as  the  discoverer  and  intro- 
ducer of  Marquis,  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  put  on  record 
facts  which  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the  agricul- 
tural progress  of  both  Canada  and  the  United  States.  I 
undertook  the  task  of  penning  the  history  of  Marquis  with 
all  the  more  pleasure  on  account  of  the  fact  that  I  have 
lived  for  nearly  fifteen  years  at  Winnipeg,  in  the  center 
of  the  great  spring-wheat  region  of  North  America,  and 
for  the  reason  that,  as  a  Canadian  citizen,  I  have  shared 
in  the  general  prosperity  that  has  come  to  the  Dominion 
through  the  development  of  her  wheat-lands. 

The  heart  of  what  I  wish  to  say  is  contained  in  the 
Third  Chapter  on  The  Discovery  and  Introduction  of 
Marquis  Wheat;  but,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  book 
more  comprehensive  and  of  supplying  information  for 
which  I  feel  there  is  a  considerable  demand,  I  have  written 
two  preliminary  chapters,  called  respectively :     The  Early 


viii  PREFACE 

History  of  Wheat-growi7ig  in  Manitoba,  and  Wheat  in 
Westerii  Canada,  and  two  concluding  chapters  upon  The 
Origin  of  Red  Bobs  a^id  Kitchener  and  The  Wild  Wheat 
of  Palestine. 

In  order  to  collect  the  data  embodied  in  the  following 
pages  I  have  engaged  in  an  extensive  correspondence,  have 
made  many  inquiries  at  Winnipeg,  and  have  visited  Ot- 
tawa, Brandon,  Indian  Head,  Saskatoon,  and  Rosthern  in 
Canada,  and  Fargo,  Minneapolis,  and  St.  Paul  in  the 
United  States.  I  have  also  investigated  personally  the 
sampling  and  grading  of  wheat  at  Winnipeg,  of  which  an 
account  is  given  in  the  second  Chapter.  To  the  numerous 
cerealists,  grain  growers,  grain  merchants,  millers,  statis- 
ticians and  others  who  have  assisted  me  with  information 
and  criticism,  I  here  wish  to  express  my  hearty  thanks. 

A.  H.  Eegii^ald  Buller, 
Winnipeg,  April  10,  1919. 


CONTENTS 


Preface 


vii 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Early  History  of  Wheat-Growing  in  Manitoba 

SECTION  PAGE 

I  The  First  Wheat  Crops  in  Western  Canada  .      .  1 

II  Troubles  with  the  North- West  Company       .      .  4 

III  Visit  of  Lord  Selkirk       .      .    ' 8 

IV  The  First  Farms 9 

V     The  Plague  of  Grasshoppers 10 

VI  New  Seed-Wheat  from  the  United  States   .      .  12 

VII     The  Hour-Glass 14 

VIII     The  Census  of  1822 16 

IX     Milling  Operations 16 

X     The  Mice 18 

XI     The  Great  Flood 18 

XII     Prosperity  in  1829 20 

XIII  The  Red  River  Flour 21 

XIV  Windmills 24 

XV     The  Experimental  Farms 24 

XVI     The  Bloody  Flux 26 

XVII     The  Census  of  1849 27 

XVIII     Another  Plague  of  Grasshoppers 28 

XIX     State  of  the  Settlement  in  1870 29 

XX  Effect  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Milling  Industry  30 

XXI     The  St.  Paul  Railway 32 

XXII    The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 33 


CHAPTER  II 
Wheat  in  Western  Canada 

I     Some  Crop  Statistics 35 

II     Wheat   Growing 41 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGE 

III  The  Great  Wheat  Funnel 49 

IV  The  Hudson  Bay  Railway 61 

V  The    Shipment    of    Bulk    Wheat    through    the 

Panama  Canal 52 

VI    Elevators 53 

VII     The  Loading  Platform 54 

VIII    The  Old  Flat  Warehouse 55 

IX    The  Country  Elevator 56 

X    Box-Cars 57 

XI    Terminal  Elevators 60 

XII     Lake   Steamers 65 

XIII  The  Lake  Shippers'  Clearance  Association     .      .  66 

XIV  The  Canada  Grain  Act 68 

XV    The  Sample  Market 69 

XVI     The  Grades  of  Grain 70 

XVII     The  Grading  of  Grain 75 

XVm     Inspection  at  Terminal  Elevators 93 

XIX     Eeinspection 96 

XX     Weighing   Wheat 98 

XXI  Warehouse   Receipts,    Registration,    and    Stock- 
taking         100 

XXII  The  Dominion  Grain  Research  Laboratory    .      .  102 

XXIII  The  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange 105 

XXIV  The   Geographical   Position    of   the   Grain   Ex- 

change        108 

XXV  The  Grain  Exchange  Clearing  House       .      .      .109 

XXVI     The  Wheat  Pit 116 

XXVII  The  Effect  of  the  War  on  the  Grain  Trade  .      .  118 

XXVIII     Financing  the  Crop  Movement 130 

XXIX  The  Flour  Mills  of  Western  Canada  ....  134 

XXX  Recent  Improvements  in  the  Conditions  of  Farm 

Life 138 

XXXI     The  Agrarian  Movement 141 


CHAPTER  III 
The  Discovery  and  Introduction  of  Marquis  Wheat 

I     Introduction 144 

II     Dr.  William  Saunders  and  His  Assistants   .      .  144 
III     The   Selection   of   Marquis   by   Dr.    Charles   E. 

Saunders 151 


CONTENTS  XI 

SECTION  PAGE 

IV     The  New  Wheat  is  Named 154 

V  The  Qualities  of  Marquis  are  Investigated  .      .  154 

VI  The    Introduction    of    Mjarquis    into    Western 

Canada 157 

VII  The   Introduction   of   Marquis   into  the  United 

States  of  America 158 

VIII     General  Description  of  Marquis ITO 

IX     Prizes  Awarded  to  Marquis 172 

X  Long-Period  Tests  for  Earliness  and  Yield  .      .  174 

XI  Earliness  and  the  Gain  of  Working-time      .      .  175 

XII     Earliness  and  Storms 176 

XIII  Earliness   and  Bust 176 

XIV  Earliness  and  Frost 180 

XV     Marquis,   Euby,   and   Prelude 183 

XVI  The  Advance  Toward  the  North  of  the  Belts  of 

Wheat  and  Corn 187 

XVII  The  Yield  of  Marquis  in  Western  Canada     .      .   190 

XVIII  The  Yield  of  Mlarquis  in  the  United  States  .      .   192 

XIX  The  Favorable  Grading  of  Marquis   .      .      .      .196 

XX     Kesistance  to  Shelling 197 

XXI     Milling  and  Baking  Qualities 198 

XXII  The  Origin  of  Hard  Red  Caloiutta       ....  204 

XXIII  The  Origin  of  Bed  Fife 206 

XXIV  Marquis  as  the  Off-spring  of  Bed  Fife  and  Hard 

Bed  Calcutta 218 

XXV     The  Future  of  Marquis 223 

XXVI     Saunders  and  Burbank 228 

XXVII    Burbank's   Quality  Wheat  as  a  Possible  Com- 
petitor of  Marquis 233 

XXVin    Biographical     Sketch     of    the     Discoverer     of 

Marquis 237 

XXIX     Governing  Bodies  and  Scientific  Besearch    .     .  238 

XXX     Other  Work  of  Dr.  Saunders 239 

XXXI     The  Crop  Value  of  Marquis  in  Canada  and  the 

United    States 243 

XXXII     The  Increased  Wealth  Brought  by  Marquis  to 

the  United  States 246 

XXXIII     The  Increased  Wealth  Brought  by  Marquis  to 

Canada 252 

XXIV     Summary 257 


Xil  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  Origin  of  Red  Bobs  and  Kitchener 

SECTION  PAGE 

I    Introduction 259 

II    Origin  of  Bobs 259 

in  Importance  of  the  Color  of  Wheat  Kernels  .     .  260 

IV  The    Discovery    of    Red    Bobs    by    Mr.    Seager 

Wheeler 262 

V  Red  Bobs  the  Product  of  a  Natural  Cross  .      .  264 
VI  The  Selection,  Multiplication,  and  Distribution 

of  Red  Bobs 268 

Vll  Red  Bobs  at  the  University  of  Saskatchewan.  270 

VIII     Description  of  Red  Bobs 272 

IX     A  Visit  to  Mr.  Wheeler's  Farm 272 

X     A  Biographical  Note 274 

XI    Kitchener 275 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Wild  Wheat  of  Palestine 

I  The  Importance  and  Antiquity  of  Agriculture  .   278 

II  The  Antiquity  and  Origin  of  Wheat  .      .      .      .279 

III  The  Prototypes  of  Cereals 285 

IV  Kornicke's  Discovery  in  a  Herbarium      .      .      .  286 

V  Rediscovery  of  the  Wild  Wheat  by  Aaronsohn  .  286 
VI  The  Botanical  Classification  of  Wheats  .      .      .292 

VII     The  Brittle  Rachis  of  the  Primitive  Cereals     .  293 
VIII     Cultivated  Wheats  with  a  Brittle  Rachis     .      .  295 
IX     Einkorn  and  Its  Prototype  Distinct  from  Other 

Wheats 296 

X     Emmer   the    Only   Possible   Prototype   of   True 

Wheat 298 

XI     Cross-fertilization 299 

XII     Conclusion 306 

Index 307 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAQB 

Frontispiece.     Dr.  Charles  Saunders. 

1.  Map  showing  Lord  Selkirk's  grant  of  land,  the  route  of 

the  Selkirk  Settlers,  and  the  boundaries  of  Manitoba       3 

2.  Hebrides  women  grinding  with  the  quern  or  hand-mill     17 

3.  Combined    acreage    of    spring-sown    and    autumn-sown 

wheat  in  western  Canada 37 

4.  Breaking    the    virgin    prairie    of    Manitoba    with     a 

four-horse  plow   (facing  page) 44 

5.  Cutting  the  wheat  crop  with  a  four-horse  binder  (facing 

page)         45 

6.  Wheat  in  the  stook  in  western  Canada   (facing  page)  46 

7.  Threshing  wheat  on  the  prairie  (facing  page)     ...  47 

8.  Eastbound   movement   of  western   Canadian  wheat   in 

the  calendar  year  1913 50 

9.  Country  elevators  at  a  railway  station,  rear  view  (fac- 

ing page) 56 

10.  View  of  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  yards  in  the  busy 

season  at  Winnipeg  (facing  page) 57 

11.  The  Dominion  Government  Terminal  Elevator  at  Port 

Arthur  (facing  page) 62 

12.  Unloading  a  car  of  grain  (facing  page) 63 

13.  Design    for    the    Dominion    Government    elevators    at 

Saskatoon,  Moosejaw,  and  Calgary  (facing  page)     .     64 

14.  A  gang  ready  to  start  the  work  of  sampling   (facing 

page)         80 

15.  Probing  the  grain,  showing  the  sampler  with  his  probe 

or  stabber  (facing  page) 81 

16.  Emptying  the  grain  upon  the  cloth  through  the  handle 

of   the   stabber   as   practiced   until   recently    (facing 

page)         86 

xiii 


XIV  LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

17.  The  inspectors  at  work  in  Winnipeg  (facing  page)  .      .     87 

18.  Weighing  the  grain  to  determine  its  weight  per  bushel 

and  setting  the  dockage  (facing  page) 88 

19.  Taking  a  sample  from  a  belt  in  a  tunnel  of  the  Domin- 

ion  Government    Terminal   Elevator    (facing   page)     94 

20.  Taking  a  sample  on  a  steamer  loading  at  the  Dominion 

Government  Terminal  Elevator  (facing  page)       .      .     95 

21.  The  late  Dr.  William  Saunders  (facing  page)    .      .      .   146 

22.  A  head  of  Marquis  (facing  page) 152 

23.  Small  plots  of  cereals  with  peas  in  the  foreground  at  the 

Central  Experimental  Farm  (facing  page)       .      .      .   153 

24.  Test  plots  of  cereals  at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm 

(facing   page) 156 

25.  Marquis  Wheat  in  the  Banner  Season  of  1915  (facing 

page)         157 

26.  Cutting   Marquis   Wheat   at   the   Experimental   Farm, 

Brandon,  Manitoba   (facing  page) 160 

27.  Marquis  wheat  in  stook  at  Brandon  (facing  page)  .      .   161 

28.  Reference  map  for  the  United  States 163 

29.  Spike  of  Marquis  Wheat  compared  with  spikes  of  Min- 

nesota standard  varieties  (facing  page)      ....   166 

30.  Kernels  of  Marquis  Wheat  compared  with  kernels  of 

Minnesota  standard  varieties   (facing  page)    .      .      .   166 

31.  Cross-sections   of  Wheat  Kernels.     Marquis   compared 

with  Minnesota  standard  varieties  (facing  page)  .      .   171 

32.  Prelude  on  the  left  and  Marquis  on  the  right,  sown  at 

the  same  time,  showing  relative  earliness  of  Prelude 

in  heading  out  (facing  page) 184 

33.  Normal  loaves  from  three  varieties  of  wheat  and  one  of 

rye,  showing  characteristic  differences  in  loaf  vol- 
ume   (facing   page) 200 

34.  Cereal  and  forage  crops  building  at  the  Central  Experi- 

mental Farm,  Ottawa  (facing  page) 201 

35.  Kneading  table  and  cupboard  where  the  dough  is  put  to 

rise  in  the  testing  of  new  wheats  for  bread-making 
at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa  (facing 
page) 202 

36.  Dr.  Charles  Saunders  in  a  field  of  Marquis  wheat  (fac- 

ing page) 236 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS  xv 

PAGE 

37.  Small   plots   of   cereals,   new   cross-bred   varieties,    and 

new  selections  at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm, 
Ottawa  (facing  page) 238 

38.  Selected  Manchurian  barley  at  the  Experimental  Farm, 

Indian  Head,  Saskatchewan  (facing  page)      .      .      .   239 

39.  Dr.   Charles   Saunders  crossing  wheats  at  the   Central 

Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa  (facing  page)      .      .      .   240 

40.  Liberty  oats  (hulless),  August,  1918  (facing  page)   .      .   241 

41.  Typical  heads  of  Red  Bobs  wheat  (facing  page)      .      .   262 

42.  Mr.   Seager  Wheeler  in  a  plot  of  wheat  at  Rosthern, 

Saskatchewan   (facing  page)         272 

43.  Demeter  enthroned 281 

44.  View  of  Me j  del  esh  Schems,  on  the  slopes  of  M]ount 

Hermon,  where  Wild  Wheat  was  found  (facing  page)  288 

45.  Heads  of  an  ordinary  form  of  the  Wild  Wheat  of  Pales- 

tine as  grown  at  Bard,  California   (facing  page)      .   289 

46.  Wheat  Kernels.     A,  Wild  Wheat  showing  usual  size; 

B,  large-seeded  variation  of  Wild  Wheat;  C,  Sonora 
wheat  commonly  grown  in  the  same  locality  at  Bard, 
California    (facing  page) 290 

47.  Classes  of  Wheat;  Wheat,  Durum,  Club  (facing  nage)  291 

48.  Classes    of    Wheat;    Poulard,    Polish,    Spelt,    Einkorn, 

Wild  Wheat  of  Palestine  (facing  page)      ....   294 

49.  Classes  of  Wheat;  Bobs,  White  Fife,  Taylor's  Wonder, 

and  Emmer  (facing  page) 295 

50.  Head  of  a  large-seeded  variation  of  the  Wild  Wheat 

(Triticum  hermonis)  with  the  spikelets  falling  apart 
(facing  page) 298 


ESSAYS  ON  WHEAT 

CHAPTEE  I 

The  Eaely  Histoey  of  Wheat-Growing  in  Manitoba 

I.  The  First  Wheat  Crops  in  Western  Canada 

The  earliest  attempts  at  tlie  cultivation  of  wheat  in 
western  Canada  are  associated  with  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
Selkirk  settlers  and  date  from  the  year  1812.  This  little 
band  of  pioneers  was  sent  out  from  Scotland  by  Lord  Sel- 
kirk, via  York  Factory,  to  colonize  116,000  square  miles 
of  territory  granted  him  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
An  advanced  party  of  twenty-two  men  under  the  direction 
of  Miles  Macdonell  arrived  at  the  junction  of  the  Red  and 
Assiniboine  rivers  on  August  30,  1812 ;  and  there  they 
founded  the  Eed  Eiver  Settlement.^  To  make  provision 
for  the  future,  they  at  once  began  to  turn  up  the  sod ;  and 
part  of  the  breaking  was  sown  with  winter  wheat  brought 
from  their  native  land.  Some  spring  wheat  having  the 
same  origin  was  also  sown  early  in  1813.  In  the  fall  of 
that  year,  the  settlers,  whose  numbers  by  this  time  had 
increased  to  nearly  one  hundred,  were  dismayed  to  find 
that  the  wheat  harv^est  was  a  total  failure.^     There  was 

1  Gf.  Chester  Martin,  Lord  Selkirk's  Work  in  Canada,  Oxford,  1916, 
p.  43. 

2  Governor  Miles  Macdonell  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Selkirk  dated 
July  17,  1813,  states  that:  "Winter  wheat  being  late-sown  has 
totally  failed  as  also  the  summer  wheat,  pease,  and  English  barley." 
Selkirk  Papers,  p.  788. 

For  this  and  the  other  references  to  the  Selkirk  Papers  which 
are  unpublished  and  contained  within  the  Archives  Building  at  Ot- 

1 


2  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

nothing  to  be  done  but  to  try  again;  but  again  Fortune 
refused  to  smile  upon  the  newcomers,  and  the  crop  of  1814 
was  as  bad  as  its  predecessor.^  But  Scotch  persistency 
was  to  win  in  the  end,  for  the  third  attempt  at  wheat-grow- 
ing, made  in  1815,  was  eventually  brought  to  a  successful 
conclusion. 

The  failure  of  the  first  two  crops  of  wheat  was  due 
partly  to  the  fact  that  the  earliest  settlers  to  arrive  at  the 
Red  River  were  crofters  who  knew  more  of  fishing  than  of 
farming,  and  partly  to  the  absence  of  adequate  farm  im- 
plements. There  was  not  a  plow  in  the  whole  colony,  the 
one  harrow  was  incomplete  and  could  not  be  used,  and  all 
the  labor  of  breaking  up  and  working  over  the  tough 
prairie  sod  had  to  be  done  with  the  hoe.^  The  Indians 
looked  on  with  surprise  and  amazement  at  the  man  with 
the  hoe  seeking  to  gain  a  sustenance  from  the  soil,  and  to 
show  his  contempt  for  such  work  nicknamed  the  colonists 
"  Jardiniers."  ^ 

The  fertility  of  the  soil  along  the  banks  of  the  Red  River 
was  doubtless  just  as  great  when  the  colony  was  founded 
as  it  is  to-day.  Although  the  cereals  of  1813  and  1814 
failed,  other  crops,  such  as  potatoes  and  turnips,  did  well 
from  the  first.  Miles  Macdonell,  writing  in  the  winter  of 
1813-1814  and  telling  of  the  harvest  in  the  previous  year, 
says ^ :     "I  had  five  or  six  hundred  kegs  of  potatoes  and 

tawa,  I  am  indebted  to  my  colleague,  Professor  Chester  Martin,  who 
kindly  gave  me  access  to  the  notes  which  he  made  when  studying 
the  original  documents. 

s  Ibid.  July  25,  1814.  Macdonell  says:  "Wheat,  pease,  beans, 
Indian  corn,  rye,  and  hemp  entirely  failed."  Selkirk  Papers,  p. 
1183. 

*G.  Bryce,  The  Romantic  Settlement  of  Lord  Selkirk's  Colonists, 
Winnipeg,  1909,  pp.  87-88. 

5lhid.,  pp.  20-21. 

«  Miles  Macdonell  in  a  letter  to  Auld,  February  4,  1814,  Selkirk 
Papers. 


EAKLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING 


[  of  Manitoba 
Lord  Selfcrk^  Grant  •• 
Route  of  the  Selkirk  Settlers  i8U-t5  - 


Fig.  1.  Map  showing  Lord  Selkirk's  grant  of  land,  the  route  of 
the  Selkirk  settlers,  1811-15,  and  the  present  boundaries  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Manitoba. 


4  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

some  of  the  people  who  cultivated  for  themselves  had  re- 
turns of  at  least  fifty  for  potatoes."  The  turnips  were  ^'  of 
extraordinary  size " ;  but  of  the  wheat,  barley,  and  rye 
there  was  nothing  good  to  report,  for  '^  the  grain  was 
choked  up  with  weeds."  "^  The  choking  of  the  grain  with 
weeds  was  probably  due  either  to  impure  seed  or  to  inex- 
perienced labor.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  weed 
nuisance  which  the  weed  inspectors  and  farmers  of  Mani- 
toba are  to-day  so  vigorously  combating,  should  have  made 
its  appearance  over  a  century  ago  as  soon  as  the  virgin 
soil  was  turned  into  farm  land. 

One  of  the  settlers  appears  to  have  used  his  hoe  to  greator 
advantage  than  his  fellows,  for  the  story  goes  that  in  1813 
from  four  quarts  of  seed-wheat  obtained  from  Fort  Alex- 
ander, a  trading  post  on  the  Winnipeg  Kiver,  he  reaped 
twelve  and  a  half  bushels  or  an  increase  of  one  hundred- 
fold.^ It  is  safe  to  say  that  an  increase  of  one  hundredfold 
in  wheat  is  unknown  in  the  experience  of  the  Manitoban 
farmer  at  the  present  day,  and  it  may  be  that  the  tradition 
of  the  high  yield  of  twelve  and  a  half  bushels  from  one- 
eighth  of  a  bushel  contains  an  imaginary  element. 

The  first  harvests  stood  in  danger  from  the  air,  for  each 
autumn  flocks  of  birds,  including  the  now  extinct  Pas- 
senger Pigeon,  settled  in  the  fields  and  considerably  dimin- 
ished even  such  small  crops  as  had  been  produced.^ 

II.  Troubles  ivith  the  North-West  Company 
The  Red  River  settlers,  in  the  first  few  years  of  their 

7  lUd. 

8  A.  Ross,  The  Red  River  Settlement,  London,  1856,  pp.  23-24. 
This  incident  is  said  by  Ross,  who  came  to  the  colony  in  1825,  to 
have  happened  in  1813  but  this  may  be  an  error  in  chronology,  for 
Miles  Macdonell  {vide  a  previous  footnote)  deiinitely  reported  in 
1813  that  both  the  winter  and  the  spring  wheat  totally  failed. 

9  Ibid.,  p.  24.     Dr.  C.  N.  Bell,  who  came  to  Winnipeg  nearly  fifty 


EARLY    HISTOEY    OF    WHEAT-GROWINd        5 

history,  had  not  merely  to  struggle  with  l^ature  to  provide 
themselves  with  their  daily  bread  but  also  with  their  fellow 
men.  The  Xorth-West  Company  which,  as  fur  traders, 
was  the  great  rival  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  resented 
the  establishment  of  a  civilized  community  in  the  heart  of 
the  Indian  country :  firstly,  because  it  was  planted  directly 
across  their  main  line  of  communication  between  the 
ISTorth-West  and  Montreal  and,  secondly,  because  it  was 
situated  on  the  very  plains  from  which  they  drew  their 
supplies  of  pemmican  for  their  voyages  from  Fort  William 
to  the  posts  of  the  fur  trappers.  The  Company  feared 
that  the  Settlement  might  eventually  destroy  the  fur  trade, 
and  they  therefore  determined  to  destroy  the  Settlement. ■^'^ 

In  the  spring  of  1815,  the  Selkirk  settlers  sowed  their 
wheat  and  barley ;  but  many  were  the  hardships  to  be  borne 
before  the  crops  could  be  reaped.  In  June,  the  N^orth- 
Westers  with  their  half-breed  adherents  overawed  the 
colonists  by  a  show  of  force.  They  trampled  upon  the 
crops,  stole  the  horses,  and  burnt  Fort  Douglas,  the  colony 
mill,  the  stables  and  barns  to  the  ground ;  and  Miles  Mac- 
donell,  the  Governor  of  the  colony,  surrendered  himself  as 
a  prisoner.  Most  of  the  settlers  left  in  [N'orth-West  canoes 
for  Upper  Canada,  and  thirteen  families  made  their  way 
up  Lake  Winnipeg  to  Jack  River  and  settled  at  a  place 
now  known  as  Norway  House.  John  McLeod  and  three 
others,  however,  succeeded  in  weathering  the  storm  and  re- 
mained at  the  Forks.  They  stored  what  property  they 
could  in  a  single  log-house  and  stoutly  defended  themselves 
with  a  three-pounder  cannon  fed  with  lengths  of  chain  ob- 
tained from  the  adjoining  blacksmith's  shop.  Their  half- 
years  ago,  has  informed  me  that  he  used  to  shoot  Passenger  Pigeons 
on  the  banks  of  the  Red  River  where  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange 
is  now  situated. 

10  Cf.  Donald  Gunn,  Report  from  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Hud- 
Bon's  Bay  Company,  1857,  p.  382. 


6  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

breed  assailants,  who  were  on  horseback,  could  not  face  this 
piece  of  artillery  and  soon  desisted  from  their  attacks.  In 
the  end,  McLeod  and  his  little  garrison  were  left  in  peace 
to  care  for  the  crops  and  prepare  for  the  return  of  their 
friends.  ^^ 

Colin  Robertson,  in  charge  of  an  expedition  sent  out  by 
Lord  Selkirk  from  Montreal,  arrived  at  the  Red  River  a 
few  weeks  after  the  expulsion  of  the  colonists.  On  learn- 
ing what  had  happened,  he  immediately  pushed  up  Lake 
Winnipeg  to  the  Jack  River,  persuaded  the  settlers  to 
return,  and  brought  them  back  in  triumph.  They  were 
delighted  to  find  that,  during  their  absence,  the  crops  had 
made  good  progress ;  and  within  a  few  weeks  the  first  suc- 
cessful harvest  was  duly  gathered  in. 

The  new  Governor,  Robert  Semple,  who  had  been  sent 
out  from  Scotland  by  the  Hudson  Bay  route,  arrived  at 
the  Red  River  Settlement  on  November  3,  1815.  On 
finding  that  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons 
committed  to  his  care,  he  at  once  began  to  feel  anxious 
about  the  food-supply  for  the  winter.  Straightway  he 
went  to  the  granary  where  a  rapid  inspection  revealed  that 
the  stores  of  grain  consisted  of  from  12  to  14  stacks  of 
wheat  and  barley.  Would  this  satisfy  the  needs  of  the 
settlers  and  keep  famine  from  their  doors  until  the  next 
harvest  ?  A  resort  to  mathematics  could  alone  settle  the 
question.  Taking  each  stack  as  representing  50  bushels 
each,  he  calculated  that  he  had  400  bushels  of  wheat  plus 
200  bushels  of  barley.  From  these  600  bushels  he  de- 
ducted 40  for  spring  seed  and  so  had  560  left.  Counting 
50  pounds  to  the  bushel,  he  calculated  that  the  grain  which 
could  be  used  as  food  amounted  to  28,000  pounds.  He 
then  reckoned  that  120  persons  at  2  pounds  per  day  would 

11  Chester  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  85-89;  also  G.  Bryce,  loc.  cit.,  p. 
105. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING        T 

consume  240  pounds  per  day,  and  that  this  was  equal  to 
7,200  pounds  per  month  or  28,800  pounds  for  4  months  — 
an  amount  of  grain  hut  little  more  than  the  28,000  pounds 
he  actually  had  at  his  disposal.  And  so  the  Settlement 
would  be  free  from  the  trials  of  hunger  throughout  the 
winter  of  1815-16.  ''  How  was  my  heart  relieved,''  writes 
Semple  to  Lord  Selkirk,  ''  when  I  arrived  at  the  end  of  this 
simple  calculation  which  I  tried  again  and  again  for  fear 
of  a  mistake."  ^^ 

In  the  spring  of  1816  the  settlers  sowed  the  forty  bushels 
of  seed  wheat  and  seed  barley  which  had  been  saved  from 
the  crop  of  the  previous  year,  but  alas  for  their  hopes  of 
harvest !  Within  a  few  short  weeks,  when  every  field  was 
putting  on  its  summer  garb  of  green,  the  colony  was  to  be 
broken  up  once  more,  and  a  goodly  number  of  the  settlers 
were  to  find  their  graves.  The  quarrel  between  the  rival 
Companies  came  to  such  a  pass  that,  on  June  19,  a  bloody 
combat  took  place  between  their  rival  forces.  A  boy  on  the 
watch-tower  of  Fort  Douglas  sighted  a  large  gathering  of 
hostile  half-breeds ;  and  Governor  Semple  and  about  thirty 
of  his  men  went  out  to  meet  them.  At  a  spot  known  as 
Seven  Oaks,  a  few  miles  north  of  Winnipeg  near  the  Red 
Eiver,  the  two  parties  came  together.  The  half-breeds 
were  painted  and  disguised.  Hot  words  were  exchanged, 
a  shot  was  fired,  and  in  the  fight  which  followed  Governor 
Semple  and  twenty  of  his  men  were  left  dead  upon  the 
field.^^  The  rest  of  the  settlers  in  bereavement  and  despair 
made  their  way  up  Lake  Winnipeg,  and,  after  a  long  and 
wearisome  journey,  again  took  up  their  abode  at  Jack 
Eiver. ^^     The  North- Westers  occupied  Fort  Douglas  until 

12  Letter  of  Governor  Semple  to  Lord  Selkirk,  Dec.  20,  1815,  Sel- 
kirk Papers,  p.  2721. 

13  C/.  Chester  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  pp.   110-112. 

1*  John  Macoim,  Manitoba  and  the  Great  North-West,  Guelph,  1882, 
p.  437. 


8  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  end  of  the  year;  and,  after  this  second  expulsion,  no 
colonist  was  permitted  to  remain  to  gather  in  the  crops. 

Early  in  1817,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  a  force  sent  from 
Fort  William  by  Lord  Selkirk  wrested  Fort  Douglas  from 
the  ]Xorth-West  Company.  A  surprise  attack  was  made 
in  the  dead  of  night :  the  walls  were  scaled,  and  the  sixteen 
men  within  were  all  made  prisoners.  When  daylight 
came,  the  flag  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  again 
hoisted  on  the  staff. ^'^  With  the  arrival  of  spring,  an  ex- 
press canoe  was  dispatched  to  Jack  Eiver  with  the  news 
that  Fort  Douglas  had  been  taken.  The  settlers  were  per- 
suaded to  return,  and,  in  the  hope  that  peace  might  finally 
be  established,  resumed  their  agricultural  pursuits.  How- 
ever, the  facilities  for  tilling  the  soil  were  extremely  lim- 
ited and  it  was  still  necessary  to  use  the  hoe  in  place  of 
the  plow.^^  Wheat  was  sown  although  late  in  the  year 
and,  owing  to  its  scarcity,  in  small  quantity.  It  grew  well 
but,  in  the  autumn,  the  crop  was  almost  ruined  by  a  violent 
hurricane.  So  short  of  cereals  were  the  colonists  during 
the  winter  of  1817-18  that  they  had  to  rely  upon  the 
buffalo  as  a  chief  source  of  food.^"^ 

III.   Visit  of  Lord  Selkirk 

Lord  Selkirk,  who  was  an  experienced  agriculturist,  ar- 
rived at  the  Settlement  in  the  summer  of  1817,  and  for 
four  months  exercised  a  wise  and  generous  supervision  over 
its  affairs. ^^  His  heart  was  in  this  work,  for  he  had  great 
visions  of  the  future.  His  belief  in  the  possibilities  of  the 
western  prairie-land  he  once  expressed  in  a  remarkable 
prophecy :     ^^  It  is  a  very  moderate  calculation  to  say  that 

15  Chester  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  p.  127. 

16  John  Macoun,  loc.  cit.,  p.  437. 

17  Chester  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  p.  140. 
IS  Ibid.,  p.  133. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING        9 

if  these  regions  were  occupied  by  an  industrious  popula- 
tion, they  might  afford  ample  means  of  subsistence  for 
thirty  millions  of  British  subjects."  ^^  So  anxious  was 
Lord  Selkirk  to  encourage  agriculture  that  before  his  ar- 
rival, in  1815,  he  had  authorized  Semple  and  Robertson 
to  offer  on  his  behalf  a  prize  of  £50  to  the  farmer  who 
should  raise  the  largest  quantity  of  grain  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  hands  employed.^'' 

Lord  Selkirk  left  the  Settlement  on  September  9,  1817, 
for  Montreal  in  order  to  answer  charges  brought  against 
him  at  the  instigation  of  the  I^orth-West  Company.  The 
litigation  in  which  he  became  involved  affected  his  health, 
which  he  attempted  to  recover  by  a  visit  to  Pau  in  France. 
There  his  end  came  on  April  8,  1820 ;  and  the  man  whose 
indomitable  spirit  caused  the  sowing  of  the  first  fields  of 
wheat  in  western  Canada  and  who,  with  the  insight  of  a 
seer,  foresaw  the  present  and  the  future  agricultural  pros- 
perity of  the  far-spreading  prairie-land,  now  lies  buried 
in  a  French  graveyard.  The  ^orth-West  Company  and 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  settled  their  differences  by 
am'algamation  in  1821,  a  year  after  Lord  Selkirk's  death.^^ 

IV.  The  First  Farms 

The  Eed  River  Settlement,  in  the  first  few  years  of  its 
existence,  concentrated  its  farming  operations  in  what  is 
to-day  known  as  the  municipality  of  Kildonan.  It  was 
arranged  that  each  settler  should  purchase  one  hundred 
acres  of  land  at  five  shillings  an  acre,  but  Lord  Selkirk 
relinquished  his  claim  to  payment,  when  he  visited  the 

i9JUd.,  p.  185. 

20  Selkirk  to  Semple  and   Robertson,  letter  written  December   18, 
1815,  Selkirk  Papers. 

21  Chester  Martin,  Lord  Selkirk's  Work  in  Canada,  Oxford,  1916, 
p.  165. 


10  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

colony  in  1817,  in  order  to  help  the  settlers  who  had  suf- 
fered so  much  in  the  two  previous  years.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  each  farmer  access  to  the  main  highway  — 
the  Red  River  —  and  to  secure  the  advantage  of  compact- 
ness for  the  colony  as  a  whole,  the  farms  were  all  made 
long  and  narrow  with  one  end  fronting  on  the  water,  and 
were  placed  side  by  side  in  a  parallel  series.  Lord  Selkirk 
thus  describes  twenty-four  ten-chain  lots  which  he  granted 
to  the  settlers  in  free  soccage :  "  Each  lot  has  a  front  of 
ten  chains,  or  220  yards,  a  little  more  or  less,  along  the 
said  main  line,  except  Lot  'No.  12  which  has  only  five 
chains.  The  division  lines  between  the  lots  are  at  right 
angles  to  the  main  line,  and  are  marked  off  towards  the 
river  by  lines  of  stakes.  Each  lot  is  to  extend  to  the  dis- 
tance of  90  chains  or  1,980  yards  back  from  the  river,  so 
as  to  contain  90  English  statute  acres,  besides  which  each 
lot  is  to  have  a  separate  piece  of  wood-land,  containing  10 
statute  acres,  to  be  laid  off  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  at 
any  place  which  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  or  his  agent  shall  con- 
sider as  most  suitable  for  the  purpose."  ^^ 

V.  The  Plague  of  Grasshoppers 

During  the  next  few  years  succeeding  Lord  Selkirk's 
departure,  the  Settlement  was  plagued  with  grasshoppers. 
Alexander  Macdonell,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Selkirk,  stated 
that  millions  of  these  pests  had  appeared  on  August  2, 
1818,  and  that  in  places  they  were  two  or  three  inches 
deep.^^  Ross  thus  vividly  describes  the  destruction 
wrought  by  these  insects.  '^  Every  step  was  now  a  pro- 
gressive one :  agricultural  labor  advanced,  the  crop  looked 
healthy  and  vigorous,  and  promised  a  rich  harvest.  In 
short,  hope  once  more  revived,  and  everything  began  to 

22  A.  Ross,  The  Red  River  Settlement,  London,  1856,  p.  43. 

2»  Governor  Alexander  Macdonell  to  Lord  Selkirk,  Selkirk  Papers. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      H 

put  on  a  thriving  and  prosperous  appearance :  wlien  lo !  in 
the  midst  of  all  these  pleasing  anticipations,  just  as  the 
com  was  in  the  ear,  and  the  barley  almost  ripe,  a  cloud  of 
grasshoppers  ^'^  from  the  west  darkened  the  air,  and  fell 
like  a  heavy  shower  of  snow  upon  the  devoted  colony. 
This  stern  visitation  happened  in  the  last  week  of  July, 
and  late  one  afternoon.  IN'ext  morning  when  the  people 
arose  it  was  not  to  gladness  but  to  sorrow ;  all  their  hopes 
were  in  a  moment  blighted!  Crops,  gardens,  and  every 
green  herb  in  the  settlement  had  perished,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  ears  of  barley,  half  ripe,  gleaned  in  the 
women's  aprons.  This  sudden  and  unexpected  disaster 
was  more  than  they  could  bear.  The  unfortunate  emi- 
grants, looking  up  towards  heaven,  wept."  ^^  Once  more 
the  settlers  found  it  necessary  to  leave  their  homes  and  go 
to  Pembina  where  starvation  might  be  staved  off  with 
buffalo  meat. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1819,  the  Scotch  settlers  returned 
from  Pembina  to  Kildonan  and  sowed  the  grain  of  such 

24  The  insect  which  was  responsible  for  the  plague  of  1818,  and  for 
subsequent  plagues  in  1864,  1857,  etc.,  was  known  to  the  Red  River 
settlers  as  a  grasshopper;  but,  as  I  am  informed  by  my  colleague 
Dr.  Charles  H.  O'Donoghue  of  the  Department  of  Zoology,  it  would 
be  more  correctly  designated  a  locust.  A  certain  amount  of  con- 
fusion exists  as  to  the  correct  application  of  the  terms  grass- 
hopper and  locust.  It  is  preferable  to  apply  the  term  locust  to 
those  forms  which  migrate  in  long-distance  flights  and  which  usually 
are  of  large  size.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Field  Grasshoppers,  so 
common  on  our  sidewalks,  are  usually  smaller  animals  and  progress 
only  by  characteristic,  short  flights.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that 
the  insect  seen  by  the  settlers,  although  of  medium  size,  was  a 
migratory  locust.  The  species  is  known  scientifically,  according  to 
information  sent  me  by  Dr.  Gordon  Hewitt,  the  Dominion  Entomolog- 
ist, as  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  Melanoplus  spretus.  During 
recent  decades,  this  pest  has  not  again  appeared.  Dr.  Hewitt  thinks 
that  this  may  be  due  to  the  northward  extension  of  agriculture  and 
the  possible  decrease  in  the  insect's  breeding  places. 

25  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  48. 


12  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

cereals  as  had  been  rescued  from  the  grasshoppers  the 
previous  year.  But  the  attempt  to  raise  wheat  and  barley 
was  again  defeated  '^  not  by  a  new  flight  of  the  pestilence 
of  last  year,  but,  still  worse,  by  the  countless  swarms  pro- 
duced in  the  ground  itself  where  their  larvse  had  been 
deposited.  As  early  as  the  latter  end  of  June,  the  fields 
were  overrun  by  this  sickening  and  destructive  plague ; 
nay,  they  were  produced  in  masses,  two,  three,  and  in  some 
places,  near  water,  four  inches  deep.  The  water  was  poi- 
soned with  them.  Along  the  river  they  were  to  be  found 
in  heaps,  like  seaweed,  and  might  be  shoveled  with  a  spade. 
It  is  impossible  to  describe,  adequately,  the  desolation  thus 
caused.  Every  vegetable  substance  was  either  eaten  up 
or  stripped  to  the  bare  stalk ;  the  leaves  of  the  bushes,  and 
the  bark  of  the  trees,  shared  the  same  fate ;  and  the  grain 
vanished  as  fast  as  it  appeared  above  ground,  leaving  no 
hope  either  of  ^  seed  to  the  sower  or  bread  to  the  eater.' 
Even  fires,  if  kindled  out  of  doors,  were  immediately  ex- 
tinguished by  them,  and  the  decomposition  of  their  bodies 
when  dead,  was  still  more  offensive  than  their  presence 
when  alive."  ^^ 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  by  the  year  1820  there  was  no 
more  seed-wheat  left  in  the  colony.  The  history  of  the 
first  variety  or  varieties  of  wheat  grown  in  western  Can- 
ada, which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  of  British  origin,  thus 
came  to  an  untimely  close. 

VI.  Neiv  Seed-Wheat  from  the  United  States 

In  order  to  secure  a  supply  of  seed-wheat  to  sow  the 
land  in  the  spring  of  1820,  the  Selkirk  settlers  found  it 
necessary  to  dispatch  a  party  of  men  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
a  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  in  the  State  of 

26  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  49,  50. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      13 

Wisconsin.  After  journeying  for  several  hundreds  of 
miles  on  snow-shoes,  the  men  arrived  at  their  destination 
at  the  end  of  three  months,  and  purchased  250  bushels  at 
IO5.  per  bushel.  The  grain  was  stowed  in  flat-bottomed 
boats  which  were  laboriously  propelled  up  the  Mississippi 
Elver,  up  its  tributary  the  Minnesota  River,  through 
Big  Stone  Lake,  and  then  down  the  Eed  River. ^"^  The  Set- 
tlement was  reached  in  June.  The  seed  was  immediately 
sown  and  the  wheat-plants  made  a  vigorous  growth;  but 
the  grasshoppers  again  appeared,  and  it  was  feared  that 
the  crop  would  be  destroyed  for  the  third  time.  However, 
for  some  unexplained  reason,  the  whole  swarm  suddenly 
disappeared  early  in  the  season,  and  did  not  return. 
Owing  to  the  late  sowing,  the  harvest  did  not  ripen  well. 
Nevertheless,  it  came  to  sufficient  perfection  for  seed.^^ 
After  this  the  Red  River  never  lacked  seed-wheat  again 
until  the  year  1868  when,  for  the  second  time,  a  mighty 
swarm  of  grasshoppers  completely  destroyed  all  the  crops. 
The  cost  of  the  expedition  to  Prairie  du  Chien  was 
tremendous,  for  it  amounted  to  no  less  than  £1,040.^^ 
However,  it  was  not  allowed  to  weigh  on  the  settlers  for  it 
was  charged  to  the  estate  of  Lord  Selkirk  and  paid  by  his 
executors.^^  Whether  or  not  the  new  wheat  brought  from 
a  distant  part  of  the  United  States  with  so  much  toil  and 
at  so  great  an  expense  was  a  named  variety  or  was  simply 
called  wheat,  unfortunately,  does  not  now  appear  to  be 
known.^^ 

27  G.  Bryce,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  157-158. 

28  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  51, 

29  Ihid. 

30  C.  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  p.  173. 

31  Dr.  C.  N.  Bell  has  informed  me  that  when  he  came  to  Winnipeg 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  there  was  a  tradition  in  the  colony  that  a 
number  of  new  weeds  were  introduced  into  the  colony  with  the  seed- 
wheat  from  Prairie  du  Chien.  Among  these  weeds  the  French-weed 
or  Stink-weed    {Thlaspi  arvense)   was  esnecially  mentioned. 


14  .  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

The  crop  of  1821  was  not  a  large  one  and,  after  a  por- 
tion of  it  had  been  stored  as  seed  for  the  next  spring,  the 
remainder  was  found  to  be  insufficient  to  supply  the  food 
requirements  of  the  colony  for  the  winter.  The  shortage 
was  rendered  all  the  more  acute  by  the  arrival  of  a  band 
of  emigrants  from  the  Cantons  of  Switzerland.  It  was 
therefore  found  necessary  to  send  some  of  the  settlers  to 
the  haunts  of  the  buffalo  at  Pembina.  In  the  spring  of 
1822,  these  settlers  returned  and,  during  seed-time,  the 
whole  colony  suffered  all  but  absolute  starvation.  To 
such  an  extremity  were  some  of  the  Swiss  reduced  that 
one  of  them  gave  a  silver  watch  valued  at  five  guineas  for 
eight  gallons  of  wheat,  not  to  sow  but  to  eat,  another  gave 
five  shillings  for  six  small  fishes  known  as  gold-eyes,  and 
it  is  further  reported  that  '^  one  poor  man,  having  nothing 
else,  gave  the  very  snuff  out  of  his  box  for  the  head  of  a 
cat-fish."  Thus  ten  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Red  River  Settlement  the  colonists  were  still  bearing  great 
hardships.  The  first  five  years  had  been  embittered  by 
the  enmity  of  the  Xorth-West  Company,  and  the  succeed- 
ing five  years  by  unfavorable  crop  conditions.^  ^ 

VII.  The  Hour-Glass 

During  the  early  years  of  struggle  against  adversity,  the 
colonists  were  prevented  from  suffering  the  direst  want 
and  actual  starvation  by  the  care  of  Lord  Selkirk  and  his 
agents,  who  sent  out  to  the  Red  River  not  only  a  supply  of 
general  goods,  clothing,  implements  of  husbandry,  arms, 
and  ammunition,  but  also  a  supply  of  oatmeal  to  fall  back 
upon  in  the  last  extremity.  These  articles  were  kept  in 
the  colony  store  and  supplied  to  the  settlers  by  the  Governor 
of  the  Colony.     The  store  was  grossly  mismanaged,  and 

32  A.  Ross,  loc  cit.,  pp.  55-60. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      15 

one  of  tlie  Governors,  Alexander  McDonell,  was  nicknamed 
the  "  grasshopper  governor,"  as  he  proved  as  great  a  de- 
stroyer within  doors  as  the  grasshoppers  had  done  in  the 
fields  outside.  The  Governor  affected  the  style  of  an  In- 
dian viceroy  but,  when  the  puncheons  of  rum  arrived  from 
England  in  the  fall,  did  not  hesitate  to  carouse  with  his 
secretaries,  assistant-secretaries,  accountants,  orderlies, 
grooms,  cooks,  and  butlers.  The  liquor  account  was  kept 
in  a  distinctly  novel  manner,  grains  of  wheat  being  used 
for  the  purpose.  The  heel  of  a  bottle  was  filled  with  wheat 
and  set  on  a  cask,  the  contrivance  being  called  the  hour- 
glass. For  every  flagon  drawn  off,  a  grain  of  wheat  was 
taken  out  of  the  hour-glass  and  put  aside  until  the  carousal 
was  over.  The  grains  were  then  counted,  and  the  amount 
of  expenditure  ascertained.  "  From  time  to  time,'^  says 
Ross,  "  the  great  man  at  the  head  of  the  table  would  dis- 
play his  moderation  by  calling  out  to  the  butler,  ^  Bob,  how 
stands  the  hour-glass  ? '  ^  High,  your  honor  !  high  ! '  was 
the  general  reply ;  as  much  as  to  say  they  had  drunk  but 
little  yet.  Like  the  Chinese  at  Lamtschu,  or  a  party  of 
Indian  chiefs  smoking  the  pipe  of  peace,  the  challenges  to 
empty  glasses  went  round  and  round  so  long  as  a  man  could 
keep  his  seat ;  and  often  the  revel  ended  in  a  general  melee 
which  led  to  the  suspension  of  half-a-dozen  officials  and  the 
postponement  of  business,  till  another  bouse  had  made 
them  all  friends  again.  Unhappily,  sober  or  drunk,  the 
business  was  as  fraudulent  as  it  was  complicated."  On 
the  arrival  from  England  of  Mr.  Halkett,  one  of  Lord  Sel- 
kirk's executors  and  a  staunch  friend  of  the  colony,  Gover- 
nor McDonell's  stewardship  was  brought  to  a  close  and  the 
celebrated  hour-glass  was  used  no  more.^^ 

33  A.  Ross,  loo.  cit.,  pp.  63-68. 


16  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

YIII.  The  Census  of  1822 

A  census  ^^  of  the  Eecl  River  Settlement  taken  in  the 
spring  of  1822  throws  an  interesting  liaht  upon  the  state 
of  the  colony  ten  years  after  its  foundation.  The  human 
population  consisted  of  681  persons,  of  which  234  were 
men,  161  women,  and  286  children,  boys  and  girls  being 
exactly  equal  in  number.  There  were  126  houses  and  160 
gardens.  The  livestock  consisted  of:  3  bulls,  45  cows,  39 
calves  and  6  oxen;  10  sheep  and  1  ram;  12  pigs;  and  78 
horses.  The  seed  so^ti  in  the  spring  of  1822,  reckoned  in 
bushels,  was  as  follows:  wheat,  235^%6;  barley,  142^%2; 
Indian  corn,  12^%2 ;  potatoes,  570 ;  and  peas,  17%.  The 
books  numbered  81.  The  total  value  of  the  Settlement 
w^as  estimated  at  £4,620.  Os.  ^d.,  surely  from  our  present 
point  of  view  a  very  modest  computation. 

IX.  Milling  Operations 

In  1824,  after  a  protracted  struggle  of  twelve  years,  the 
Scotch  settlers  reaped  their  first  truly  satisfactory  crop  of 
grain.  By  this  time  the  plow  was  being  tried  with  consid- 
erable success  and  greatly  lightened  the  work  of  preparing 
the  seed-bed.  The  yields  obtained  were  high,  the  returns 
for  wheat  being  forty-four  from  the  plow  and  sixty-eight 
after  the  hoe.^^  At  harvest  time,  the  wheat  was  gathered 
with  a  sickle.  It  was  then  threshed  with  a  flail  and 
ground  into  flour  with  a  handstone  known  as  a  quern. 
Several  of  these  querns  are  still  in  existence,  one  being  in 
the  possession  of  the  Ogilvie  Milling  Company  of  Winni- 
peg. Two  others  are  at  Lockport,  one  belonging  to  Mr. 
John  MacDougal  and  the  other  to  Mrs.  J.  E.  McAlister. 
About  1823,  the  two-horse  treadmill  was  introduced;  and 

34  An  unsigned  abstract  in  the  Selkirk  Papers,  spring,  1822. 

35  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  78. 


EAKLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      1'? 

this  was  followed  later  by  a  Hudson's  Bay  wind-mill  at 
Fort  Douglas.  The  first  millwright  in  the  colony  was 
Samuel  Lamont,  who  arrived  in  1813.  Lord  Selkirk,  who 
sent  him  out,  described  him  as  one  who  "  understands  his 


Fig.  2.     Hebrides    women    grinding   with    the    quern    or    hand-mill. 
From  E.  13.  Tylor's  Anthropology.     Courtesy  of  Macmillan  &  Co. 

business  although  he  certainly  looks  like  a  dull  fellow."  ^^ 
It  was  Lord  Selkirk's  desire  from  the  first  that  the  Red 
River  Settlement  should  produce  enough  flour  not  only 
to  supply  its  own  needs  but  also  those  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
posts.^^  In  1814,  he  therefore  instructed  the  Governor 
to  pay  the  farmers  at  least  two  shillings  a  bushel  for  what 
they  could  spare  and  sent  him  a  description  of  the  most 
suitable  method  for  grinding  the  wheat  into  flour.^^     At 

36  Lord  Selkirk  in  a  letter  to  Miles  Macdonell,  April   12,   1814, 
Selkirk  Papers, 

37  lUd. 

38  Ibid. 


18  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  same  time,  in  connection  with  the  raising  of  barley, 
Lord  Selkirk  referred  to  the  possibility  of  erecting  a  dis- 
tillery.^^ In  1814  John  Barleycorn  was  a  king  who  little 
knew  the  contraction  that  was  to  take  place  in  his  domin- 
ions a  century  later. 

X.  The  Mice 

One  of  the  most  curious  biological  phenomena  connected 
with  the^orth-West  is  the  periodic  rise  and  decline  in  the 
number  of  rabbits  and  mice,  with  which  is  associated  a 
corresponding  rise  and  decline  in  the  numbers  of  the  fur- 
bearing  animals,  such  as  the  mink,  the  lynx,  the  fox,  and 
the  wolf,  which  feed  upon  them.  The  mice  in  1825  evi- 
dently attained  a  maximum  in  numbers,  for  Ross  tells  us 
that,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  the  fields,  the  woods,  and 
the  plains  seemed  literally  alive  with  them.  They  at- 
tacked the  grain  after  it  had  been  stacked  and  almost 
totally  destroyed  it.  The  straw  and  even  the  very  stubble 
itself  was  cut  to  pieces  by  them,  and,  for  a  time,  it  was 
feared  that  the  new  plague  would  be  as  calamitous  as  the 
grasshoppers.^^  However,  the  next  year  the  swarm  of 
mice  was  found  to  have  disappeared,  and  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  were  no  more  threatened  by  them. 

XI.  The  Great  Flood 

In  the  fall  of  1825,  a  large  party  of  half-breeds  went 
south  to  pass  the  winter  on  the  plains.  About  the  twen- 
tieth of  December  there  was  an  unusually  heavy  snowstorm 
which  lasted  for  several  days,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
buffalo  passed  beyond  the  hunter's  reach.  Most  of  the 
horses  died,  and,  before  assistance  could  arrive,  famine  set 

39  lUd. 

40  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  97. 


EARLY    HISTORY   OF   WHEAT-GROWING      19 

in.     Thirty-three  lives  were  lost,  and  only  with  infinite 
difficulty  were  the  survivors  conveyed  to  the  settlement. 

The  winter  of  1825-26  followed  a  rainy  season  and  was 
exceptionally  severe.  It  began  earlier  and  ended  later  than 
usual.  The  snows  averaged  three  feet  deep  on  the  prairie 
and  in  the  woods  from  three  to  four  feet  deep.  The  cold 
was  intense,  the  temperature  descending  to  45  degrees 
below  zero.  The  ice  in  the  Eed  River  became  five  feet 
seven  inches  in  thickness.  The  spring  of  1826  was  late 
in  coming.  The  wind  blew  from  the  south  for  several 
days  together,  and  the  sudden  burst  of  warm  weather  which 
ensued  rapidly  melted  the  accumulated  snows.  Red  Lake, 
Otter-tail  Lake,  and  Lake  Travers  overflowed  their  banks. 
On  the  2nd  of  May,  the  day  before  the  ice  started  to  move 
in  the  Red  River,  the  water  rose  nine  feet  in  twenty-four 
hours.  On  May  4,  the  water  overflowed  its  banks  and 
spread  so  fast  that,  before  the  settlers  could  fully  realize 
what  was  happening,  it  had  reached  their  dwellings.  On 
May  5,  the  settlers  abandoned  their  houses  and  sought 
refuge  with  their  horses  and  cattle  upon  higher  ground. 
A  mighty  lake  was  formed  in  which  houses,  barns,  furni- 
ture, and  moving  blocks  of  ice  were  carried  along  to  Lake 
Winnipeg.  The  height  to  which  the  water  rose  above  the 
level  of  previous  years  was  fifteen  feet,  and  the  water  con- 
tinued rising  until  May  21.  Wheat  which  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  flood  had  fallen  to  2s.  per  bushel  soon 
rose  to  155.;,  or  nearly  double  its  normal  price,  and  beef 
rose  from  %6?.  per  pound  to  3c?.  On  May  22,  the  waters 
came  to  a  stand  and  after  a  day  or  two  began  to  fall.  On 
the  15th  of  June,  the  settlers  again  drew  near  to  their 
former  habitations.  They  then  broke  up  into  two  parties. 
One  of  them,  comprising  the  Swiss  emigrants,  the  de  Meu- 
ron  soldiers,  and  other  reckless  spirits,  determined  to  try 
their  fortunes  elsewhere,  and  on  June  24  took  their  de- 


20  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

parture  for  the  United  States.  The  other  party,  consist- 
ing of  Scotch  settlers,  were  not  so  easily  chilled  by  disap- 
pointments and,  without  any  hesitation,  resumed  work  on 
their  cheerless  farms.  The  seeding  season  was  already 
very  advanced,  yet  barley,  potatoes,  and  even  a  little  wheat 
sowed  as  late  as  elune  22  came  to  maturity.**^ 

XII.  Prosperity  in  1829 

After  the  disastrous  year  1826  which,  however,  served 
to  purge  the  settlement  of  its  human  dross,  conditions 
greatly  improved,  and  by  1830  the  colony  was  thriving  as 
it  had  never  done  before.  The  saturation  of  the  soil  with 
the  flood  water  was  favorable  to  succeeding  harvests,  and 
several  good  crops  were  now  reaped.  Ross  states  that 
from  a  field  sowed  with  10  bushels  he  obtained  255  bushels ; 
and  that  from  another  field,  sowing  8  bushels,  which  had 
been  left  fallow  for  two  years  running,  during  which  it 
had  been  plowed  three  different  times  and  then  sown  in 
drills,  he  obtained  for  a  first  crop  280  bushels."*^ 

The  population  now  became  increased  by  the  arrival  of 
a  number  of  settlers  who  were  of  a  much  more  desirable 
type  than  those  who  had  left  after  the  flood ;  and  many  new 
houses  were  erected  to  accommodate  them.  This  rapid 
progress  and  the  excellent  crops  soon  fully  restored  confi- 
dence in  the  future  of  the  colony.  Governor  Donald 
Mackensie,  writing  to  Colvile  in  August,  1829,  grew  en- 
thusiastic concerning  the  improvement  which  had  taken 
place  and  in  colorful  language  referred  to :  the  corn  "  rich 
and  flourishing,"  "  the  boundless  prairie ''  with  cattle  like 
"  herds  of  buffalo  brousing,"   the  groups  of  haymakers 

41  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  08-107.  Of  the  disastrous  events  in  the 
year  1820,  Ross,  Avho  was  an  eyewitness,  gives  a  very  vivid  de- 
scription. 

*^Ibid.,  p.  112. 


EARLY    HISTOEY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      21 

"  healthy  and  blooming,"  the  ^'  community  of  sentiments," 
the  "  stacks  and  laden  carts  straining  the  eye  in  countless 
succession,"  and  to  the  "  ensemble  of  landscape  perhaps 
nowhere  to  be  equaled."  ^^  I  beg  to  congratulate  you  and 
all  my  employers,"  he  ended,  "  on  the  prosperous  state  of 
the  Colony."  '^^ 


XIII.  The  Bed  River  Flour 

Up  to  about  the  year  1831,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
could  never  rely  upon  the  settlers  for  a  sufficient  supply 
of  flour  for  the  needs  of  its  servants  scattered  through 
the  West,  and  actually  was  obliged  to  import  annually 
from  England,  via  the  Hudson  Bay,  such  articles  of  con- 
sumption as  it  needed.  To  encourage  agriculture,  Gov- 
ernor Simpson,  the  chief  manager  of  the  Company's  affairs 
throughout  Rupert's  Land,  promised  to  take  all  the  Com- 
pany's supplies  from  the  colony.  This  roused  the  settlers 
to  fresh  activity  and,  for  a  time,  all  the  wants  of  the 
Company  were  adequately  met.  'No  sooner  was  this  done, 
however,  than  prices  fell,  flour  coming  down  from  IQs.  to 
11 5.  6d.  per  hundred  weight,  butter  from  Is.  to  7d.  per 
pound,  and  cheese  from  Cyd.  to  4d,  per  pound.  The  market 
was  becoming  overstocked,  and  the  settlers  found  that  the 
extension  of  their  farming  operations  had  made  them  but 
little  better  off.  Just  at  this  time,  a  great  outcry  was 
raised  throughout  the  country  against  the  quality  of  the 
produce :  the  flour  was  said  to  be  "  heated,  sour,  and  alto- 
gether of  so  very  bad  quality  as  to  be  only  fit  to  poison 
pigs,"  and  the  refinements  of  the  English  language  were 
inadequate  to  condemn  sufficiently  the  butter  and  the 
cheese.^* 

43  Chester  Martin,  loc.  cit.,  p.  175. 

44  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  116, 


22  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

That  the  flour  was  not  good,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
Its  evil  quality  was  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  the  neces- 
sary conveniences  for  pursuing  agricultural  operations. 
"  In  the  whole  colony,"  says  Ross,  "  there  was  not  to  be 
found  either  a  smut-mill  or  fanning  machine  to  clean 
the  grain,  and  but  few  bams  to  thresh  it  in,  and  still 
fewer  to  dry  it ;  much,  therefore,  of  the  grain  had,  of 
necessity,  to  be  threshed  on  an  ice-floor,  in  the  open  air, 
during  all  weathers,  and  then  ground  in  a  frozen  state, 
and  immediately  packed  in  casks  made  of  green  wood, 
furnished  by  the  Company  itself."  With  such  a  mode 
of  preparation,  it  was  little  wonder  that  the  flour  became 
heated  and  sour,  and  made  unpalatable  bread. 

To  improve  the  quality  of  the  flour  produced  in  the 
colony,  Governor  Simpson  resolved  to  discontinue  buying 
flour  from  the  settlers  and  to  buy  wheat  instead.  The 
wheat  was  then  to  be  dried  and  milled  under  the  direction 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  price  of  the  grain 
was  fixed  at  3s.  6d.  per  bushel,  equivalent  to  lis.  Qd,  per 
hundred  weight,  which  had  been  considered  by  both  par- 
ties a  fair  price  for  the  flour.  At  the  next  harvest,  which 
was  below  the  average,  the  Company  bought  in  from  8,000 
to  10,000  bushels  of  wheat  and  kept  it  in  their  granaries 
for  the  winter.  Unfortunately  these  buildings  were  too 
small,  there  was  no  space  in  which  to  shift  the  grain  from 
place  to  place,  and  it  had  to  be  heaped  up  often  four 
or  five  feet  deep.  The  wheat  had  been  bought  by  the 
measured  bushel,  and  all  that  had  been  offered,  good,  bad, 
and  indifferent,  had  been  taken.  Some  of  it  had  been 
threshed  in  barns  and  some  of  it  on  ice-floors  in  the  open; 
and  it  was  by  no  means  free  either  from  moisture  or  smut. 
On  being  left  piled  up  in  the  granaries,  the  wheat  naturally 
heated  and  became  almost  baked  together.  The  rest  of 
the  story  is  best  told  in  Ross's  own  words :     "  Large  quan- 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      23 

tities  of  dried  buffalo  meat  had  been  stored  up  in  the  same 
buildings,  the  daintiest  fragments  of  which  were  carried  off 
by  the  mice  and  mixed  up  with  the  wheat,  making  a 
compound  of  wheat,  smut,  icicles,  dried  meat,  mice,  and 
mice  nests,  all  more  or  less  heated  together;  the  smell  of 
which,  without  the  hazardous  experiment  of  tasting,  was 
absolutely  disgusting.  In  this  state,  despite  all  advice 
to  the  contrary,  and  the  certainty  of  bringing  disgrace 
upon  the  colony,  the  wheat  was  ground  and  the  flour 
shipped  off  to  the  different  trading  posts.  The  writer, 
having  a  mill,  was  among  those  patronized  on  this  occasion 
and  can  bear  witness  that  the  smell  was  intolerable. 
When  the  complaints  of  the  victimized  consumers  had 
to  be  answered,  the  whole  blame  was  laid  upon  the 
millers."  ^^ 

To  grind  its  wheat  into  flour,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany had  employed  twelve  mills  belonging  to  the  colonists. 
The  flour  thus  produced  contained  a  large  amount  of 
bran,  as  is  proved  by  the  following  analyses  *^  made  by 
Governor  Finlayson: 

Pounds  Pounds 

of  of 

Flour.  Bran. 

No.  1.  In  112  from  John  Vincent's  mill  was  found 12 

No.  2.  In  112  from  William  Bird's  mill  was  found 12 

No.  3.  In  112  from  George  Flitt's  miU  was  found 12 

No.  4.  In  112  from  Narcisse  Marion's  mill  was  found 14 

No.  5.  In  112  from  Michel  Klyne's  mill  was  found 14 

No.  6.  In  112  from  James  Inkster's  mill  was  found 14 

45  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  p.  120. 

^GlUd.,  p.  121.     Ross  adds:     No.  1  and  2.  Half-breeds  of  English 

extraction.     3.  An    Orkney    man.     4.  A    Canadian.     5.  A    German. 

6.  An    Orkney-man.     7.  A    half-breed  of    Scotch    extraction.     8.  An 

Irishman.     9.  A  half-breed  of  English  extraction.     10.  A  Scotchman. 

11.  A  half-breed  of  Orkney  extraction.  12.  A  half-breed  of  Canadian 
extraction. 


24  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Pounds  Pounds 

of  of 

Flour.  Bran. 

No.    7.  In  112  from  Thomas  Logan's  mill  was  found 14 

No.    8.  In  112  from  Andrew  McDermot's  mill  was  found...   18 

No.    9.  In  112  from  Thomas  Bird's  mill  was  found 20 

No.  10.  In  112  from  Hugh  Poison's  mill  was  found 20 

No.  11.  In  112  from  Robert  Sandeson's  mill  was  found 26 

No.  12.  In  112  from  Cuthbert  Grant's  mill  was  found 28 

XIV.   Windmills 

In  the  early  years  of  the  Settlement,  Lord  Selkirk  sent 
out  a  windmill  to  replace  the  querns.  This  had  cast  rollers 
and  machinery  capable  of  working  two  pairs  of  stones; 
but,  when  it  arrived,  no  one  was  able  to  set  it  in  opera- 
tion. It  was  therefore  sent  back  to  England  and  re- 
shipped.  At  length,  ten  years  after  its  first  arrival  in 
the  Colony,  Lord  Selkirk's  executors  sent  out  a  Scotch 
mill-wright  named  Mitchell  to  put  it  in  order.  His  ef- 
forts having  been  successful,  the  windmill  began  to  work 
in  1825.  It  had  cost  no  less  than  £1,500.  It  was  then 
sold  to  Mr.  Logan  for  a  fifth  part  of  this  sum,  and  he, 
having  some  knowledge  of  machinery,  turned  the  mill  to 
good  account  for  many  years.  In  the  spring  flood  of 
1852,  its  strong  and  lofty  pillar  resisted  the  high  water 
and  afforded  protection  to  many  of  the  settlers  who 
sought  refuge  within  its  walls.^'^  After  Logan's  mill  had 
proved  a  success,  similar  ones  were  erected ;  and  windmills 
dotted  here  and  there  came  to  form  an  interesting  feature 
of  the  landscape. 

XV.  The  Experimental  Farms 

On  three  occasions  before  1850,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
help  the  settlers  by  the  institution  of  experimental  farms ; 

*- Ibid.,  pp.  144-145. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      25 

but  all  these  farms  failed,  and  they  became  known  in  the 
colony  as  the  "  three  unfortunate  sisters."  *^ 

The  first  experimental  farm  was  planned  by  Lord  Sel- 
kirk and  was  called  the  ^'  Hay  Eield  Farm."  A  Scotch 
farmer  named  Laidlaw  was  sent  out  to  take  charge,  but 
mismanagement  ruined  everything.  ^'  Barns,  yards, 
parks,  and  houses  of  every  description,"  says  Ross,  "  were 
provided;  and  yet  all  the  time  there  was  not  an  ox  to 
plow,  nor  a  cow  to  milk  in  the  settlement.  To  crown 
the  folly  and  extravagance  of  the  undertaking,  a  mansion 
befitting  a  peer  was  built  at  an  expense  of  £600,  which 
at  the  moment  of  completion  was  accidentally  burnt  to 
ashes  in  a  drunken  frolic.  After  several  years'  labor, 
waste,  and  extravagance,  every  vestige  of  property  on  the 
farm  had  disappeared,  the  experiment  having  cost  Lord 
Selkirk  £2,000."  ^^     The  project  was  abandoned  in  1822. 

The  second  experimental  farm  was  a  favorite  scheme 
of  Governor  Simpson,  and  greatly  was  he  dejected  by  its 
failure.  Its  one  contribution  to  the  welfare  of  the  settlers 
appears  to  have  been  the  introduction  of  a  fine  stallion 
from  England  at  a  cost  of  £300,  with  a  consequent  improve- 
ment in  the  breed  of  horses.  The  management  of  the 
farm  unfortunately  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  fur 
trader  who  tried  various  experiments  without  success. 
Finally,  after  six  years'  trial,  the  farm  was  sold  with 
a  dead  loss  to  the  Company  of  £3,500."  ^^ 

The  third  experimental  farm  was  organized  by  a  com- 
mittee in  London,  and  Captain  Cary,  a  half-pay  ofiicer, 
whose  agricultural  knowledge  appears  to  have  been  more 
theoretical  than  practical,  was  sent  out  to  take  charge. 
Everything  that  money  could  procure  was  provided,  but 

^»Ibid.,  p.  212. 
49/&wf.,  pp.  77-78. 
50/6id.,  pp.  133-135. 


26  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  settlers  always  had  the  better  crops  both  in  quantity  and 
quality.  The  model  farmers  mowed  down  their  fields  of 
grain  with  the  scythe  in  place  of  cutting  it  with  a  sickle, 
and  gathered  it  with  rakes  instead  of  tying  it  into  sheaves. 
This  practice,  however,  the  settlers  refused  to  follow.  The 
dairy  served  to  keep  the  Governor's  tea-table  in  milk ;  but 
his  butter  and  cheese  were  furnished  by  the  settlers. 
After  dragging  out  its  existence  for  about  ten  years,  the 
farm  ceased  to  operate,  and,  when  its  stock  and  implements 
had  been  sold,  the  experimenters  were  losers  by  £5,500.^^ 
The  Dominion  Experimental  "Farms  system  was  founded 
in  1888,  and  among  the  first  branch  farms  to  be  established 
was  one  at  Brandon  in  Manitoba.  This  experimental 
farm  has  been  the  scene  of  the  carrying  out  of  many  im- 
portant investigations  both  in  respect  to  field  crops  and 
live-stock,  and  has  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
progress  of  agriculture  in  the  West.  Lord  Selkirk's  be- 
lief in  the  value  of  an  experimental  farm  has  therefore  been 
justified. 

XVI.  The  Bloody  Flux 

In  1846,  the  Eed  River  Settlement  was  terribly  afflicted 
by  a  disease  known  to  the  settlers  as  the  bloody  flux. 
In  January  of  that  year  the  influenza  raged,  and  in  May 
measles  broke  out;  but  neither  of  these  maladies  proved 
very  fatal.  In  June,  however,  the  bloody  flux  began  its 
ravages  among  the  Indians  of  the  White  Horse  Plains 
and  soon  spread  with  alarming  rapidity  and  awful  con- 
sequences to  the  whites.  At  the  Settlement  "  there  was 
not  a  smiling  face  in  a  summer's  day,"  "  hardly  anything 
to  be  seen  but  the  dead  on  their  way  to  their  last  home, 
nothing  to  be  heard  but  the  tolling  of  bells,  and  nothing 

51  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  211-219. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      2Y 

talked  of  but  the  sick,  the  dying,  and  the  dead."  On 
one  occasion  thirteen  burials  were  proceeding  at  the  same 
time.  From  June  18  to  August  2,  the  deaths  averaged 
seven  a  day,  or  321  in  all,  so  that  the  population  was 
reduced  by  one  person  out  of  every  sixteen.  ^^  The  Span- 
ish influenza  which  became  epidemic  in  the  city  of  Winni- 
peg in  the  present  year,  1918,  serious  though  its  effects 
have  been,  has  not  exhibited  one-tenth  the  virulence  of 
the  bloody  flux  of  1846,  for  out  of  a  population  of  some 
200,000  there  have  been  fewer  than  1,000  deaths,  or 
about  one  death  for  every  two  hundred  persons.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  bloody  flux  was  due  to 
insanitary  living  conditions.  The  disease  itself,  which  is 
now  sometimes  called  bleeding  diarrlicca,  was  doubtless  a 
form  of  dysentery  and  may  have  been  caused  by  the  water- 
inhabiting  parasite  Amoeha  histolytica,  which  was  respon- 
sible for  so  many  deaths  to  the  soldiers  of  the  British  Em- 
pire during  their  gallant  attack  on  the  Gallipoli  Peninsula. 

XVII.  The  Census  of  1849 

A  census  taken  in  1849  shows  that  by  this  time  great 
progress  had  been  made  in  the  development  of  the  colony. 
The  population  had  grown  to  5,391  persons.  There  were 
745  houses,  12  schools,  7  churches,  2  water-mills  and  18 
windmills.  The  plows  numbered  492,  the  harrows  576, 
the  carts  1,918,  the  boats  40,  and  the  canoes  428.  The 
land  under  cultivation  was  upwards  of  6,000  acres.  The 
live-stock  consisted  of  1,095  horses,  990  mares,  2,097  oxen, 
155  bulls,  2,147  cows,  1,615  calves,  1,565  pigs,  and  3,096 
sheep.  ^^ 

52  A.  Ross,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  362-363. 

53  Ihid.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  409. 


28  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

XVIII.  Another  Plague  of  Grasshoppers 

In  the  spring  of  1852  and  1861,  the  colony  was  again 
flooded  by  an  overflow  from  the  Red  River,  and  scenes  were 
witnessed  recalling  those  of  1826.  Grasshoppers  laid 
waste  the  crops  inl857,  1858,  1864,  1867,  and  1868.^^ 

The  devastation  caused  by  the  grasshoppers  in  1868 
was  as  complete  as  in  1819.  The  insects  arrived  in  1867 
at  the  beginning  of  the  harvest  and,  after  greatly  injuring 
the  wheat  and  entirely  destroying  the  oats  and  barley,  de- 
posited their  eggs  just  as  they  had  done  in  1818.^^  In 
1868  the  eggs  hatched  and  the  larva:^  which  emerged  cleared 
the  fields  of  every  vestige  of  vegetation.  ^'  The  multitude 
of  insects,"  says  Hargrave,  ^^  was  so  great  as  to  render 
it  difficult  to  convey  an  appreciable  idea  of  their  numbers 
to  the  minds  of  those  absent  from  the  scenes  of  their  devas- 
tations. Piled  in  heaps  about  the  walls  of  Fort  Garry, 
they  were  carted  away  and  burned  up  to  prevent  the 
efiluvia  from  their  decaying  bodies  contaminating  the  at- 
mosphere during  the  stifling  heats  of  an  unusually  warm 
summer."  Threatened  with  absolute  starvation,  the  colo- 
nists were  obliged  to  appeal  for  help ;  and  the  appeal  was 
not  in  vain.  Letters  were  written  to  the  Times  with  the 
result  that  the  British  public  sent  to  the  succor  of  the 
colony  the  sum  of  £3,000.  In  addition,  $12,000  were  col- 
lected in  Canada  and  £000  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. In  the  meanwhile,  the  Council  of  Assiniboia  voted  a 
sum  of  £1,600  for  immediate  expenditure  as  follows: 
£600  to  purchase  seed  wheat,  £500  to  procure  flour  from 
the  United  States,  and  £500  for  fishing  tackle  and  ammu- 
nition. The  flour  to  be  conveyed  to  the  colony  was  re- 
ceived by  an  agent  at  St.  Paul  and  then  transported  over 

54  J.  J.  Hargrave,  Red  River,  Montreal,  1871,  pp.  175-176,  446. 

55  lUd.,  p.  419. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      29 

the  plains  during  the  winter  by  the  laborious  and  expensive 
means  of  horse  and  ox  sledges.  There  were  260  miles  of 
journeying  from  St.  Paul  to  Fort  Abercrombie,  and  then 
another  250  miles  from  Fort  Abercrombie  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Settlement  on  the  Red  River.  The  trans- 
portation of  the  flour,  however,  was  successfully  accom- 
plished, and  the  settlers,  as  they  ate  their  bread  in  the 
winter  of  1868-69,  were  cheered  with  the  thought  of  the 
warm  sympathy  which  their  needs  had  awakened  in  the 
great  world  without. ^^ 

XIX.  State  of  the  Settlement  in  1870 

After  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  altered  its  route  for 
the  importation  of  the  goods  intended  for  its  trade  from 
the  old  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay  to  that  of  St.  Paul,  a  very 
considerable  traffic  by  means  of  Red  River  carts  grew  up 
between  St.  Paul  and  the  Red  River  Settlement.  Accord- 
ing to  Hargrave,  who  wrote  in  1871,  some  1,500  carts  made 
the  journey  yearly  and  500  carts  twice  a  year.  They 
carried  furs  to  the  south  and  brought  back  manufactured 
articles  on  the  return  journey.  Three  hundred  carts  also 
plied  between  the  Settlement  and  the  district  of  Saskatche- 
wan.^^ This  contact  with  other  civilized  communities 
gradually  became  more  intimate  and  the  Settlement  corre- 
spondingly less  isolated. 

In  1870  the  total  population,  including  white  settlers, 

56  Ihid.,  pp.  446-449.  In  one  item  Hargrave  is  in  error,  for  he 
states  that  the  Canadian  contribution  to  the  relief  of  the  Settlement 
was  $3,600.  This  figure  is  too  small.  Chester  Martin,  who  has  had 
access  to  the  accounts,  says  that  "  Canadian  cities  and  private  indi- 
viduals contributed  more  than  $12,000."  Vide  C.  Martin,  The  Red 
River  Settlement,  in  Canada  and  Its  Provinces,  Toronto,  1914,  Vol. 
XIX,  p.  68.  Minnesota's  contribution,  according  to  Martin,  was 
$5,000. 

57  Ihid.,  pp.  167-168. 


30  ESSAYS    01^   WHEAT 

Indians,  and  half-breeds,  was  12,800,^^  but  the  amount 
of  land  under  cultivation  was  still  very  small.  There  was 
no  market  to  supply  except  that  at  home  and  that  provided 
by  the  requirements  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  so 
that  there  was  no  inducement  to  the  settlers  to  extend  their 
farming  operations.  The  farms  were  all  situated  on  the 
Ked  River  between  Upper  Fort  Garry  and  Lower  Fort 
Garry,  and  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Assiniboine 
River.  Even  as  late  as  1870,  the  possibility  of  growing 
cereals  on  the  prairie  more  than  two  miles  back  from  the 
rivers  had  not  been  tested. ^^  The  first  settlers  on  the  open 
prairie  appear  to  have  been  the  Mennonites,  who  came  to 
the  southern  part  of  the  province  of  Manitoba  from  Russia 
in  1875.  Among  other  things  which  the  Mennonites 
brought  with  them  was  a  variety  of  wheat  known  as  White 
BiLSsian,  which  was  ultimately  supplanted  by  Red  Fife. 

The  first  exportation  of  wheat  to  the  East  took  place  in 
1876  and  consisted  of  857  bushels  of  Red  Fife  —  all  that 
could  be  obtained  —  which  was  required  in  Ontario  for 
seeding  purposes.  The  consignment  left  Winnipeg  by 
steamer  and  was  conveyed  up  the  Red  River  to  Fisher's 
Landing  where  it  was  transferred  to  a  railway  truck  for 
carriage  to  Duluth.®^ 

XX.  Effect  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Milling  Industry 

The  extension  of  the  cultivation  of  Red  Fife  and  other 
hard  red  spring  wheats  in  western  Canada  and  the  Great 
Plains  region  of  the  United  States  was  profoundly  influ- 
enced by  the  revolution  which  took  place  in  the  milling 

58iud.,  p.  174. 
69iud.,  pp.  176-177. 

60  For  a  more  extended  account  of  this  incident,  vide  Chapter  III, 
Section  XXIII. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      31 

industry  between  the  years  1870  and  1880.  In  1870 
there  was  introduced  into  Minnesota  the  first  purifier^  a 
device  for  separating  branny  particles  from  midlings  and 
flour,  which  had  been  invented  in  France  by  Perrigault. 
Before  the  advent  of  the  purifier,  the  method  of  milling 
was  such  that  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  flour  of  hard  spring 
wheat  was  unknown  and  unsuspected:  spring-wheat  flour 
was  regarded  as  far  inferior  to  flour  from  winter-wheat 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  although  it  was  strong  and  pro- 
duced well-risen  loaves,  it  was  of  poor  color.  With  the 
coming  of  the  purifier  which  was  first  used  in  connection 
with  mill-stones  and  afterwards  with  chilled-iron  rollers, 
all  this  was  changed,  for  the  new  machine  enabled  the 
miller  to  grind  from  the  hitherto  despised  hard  spring 
wheat  a  product  with  the  desired  whiteness,  which,  on  ac- 
count of  its  strength,  immediately  commanded  a  price 
equal  to  the  best  flour  from  winter  wheat.^^  "  This,"  says 
Edgar,  '^  gave  a  great  impetus  to  milling  in  the  North- 
West,  increased  the  demand  for  spring  wheat,  rendered 
valuable  the  crops  of  Minnesota,  the  Dakotas,  and  western 
Canada,  and  led  to  the  agricultural  development  of  that 
section  of  the  western  continent.  Spring-wheat  flour 
sprang  into  favor  in  America,  and  when  introduced  abroad, 
especially  in  the  United  Kingdom,  won  its  way  against  all 
competition.  In  the  end,  the  demand  for  it  caused  British 
millers  to  remodel  their  mills  and  grind  a  mixture  of 
home-grown  and  American  wheats."  ^^  jj^^j  [^  j^q^  ]^qqj^ 
for  the  invention  of  the  purifier,  it  is  certain  that  the  grow- 
ing of  spring  wheat  in  the  West  would  have  been  greatly 
retarded,  cereal  breeding  at  Ottawa  might  not  have  been 
begun  so  early  as  it  was,  and  Marquis  wheat,  to  which  the 

61  William  Edgar,  The  Story  of  a  Grain  of  Wheat,  London,  pp. 
155-156. 

62  Ihid. 


32  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

third   Chapter   is   devoted,   might  never  have  come  into 
existence. 

The  Kiel  insurrection  which  took  place  in  1869,  was 
occasioned  by  want  of  tact  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
at  Ottawa  in  its  dealings  with  the  Red  River  settlers ;  and 
it  was  only  brought  to  an  end  in  1870  by  a  military  expe- 
dition sent  out  under  the  leadership  of  Col.  Garnet 
Wolseley.<53 

In  1870  the  Province  of  Manitoba  was  formed  and  be- 
came the  fifth  of  the  sisterhood  of  the  Provinces  of  the 
Dominion.  In  the  same  year  a  census  was  taken  of  the 
village  of  Winnipeg,  with  the  result  that  215  persons  were 
found  to  be  residing  within  its  boundaries. 


XXI.  The  St.  Paul  Railway 

Soon  after  Manitoba  had  been  organized  as  a  province, 
settlers  began  to  pour  into  it  from  the  south.  Immigrants 
from  Ontario  and  the  Old  Country  were  compelled  to  come 
through  the  United  States  to  Chicago,  then  northwest  to 
St.  Paul,  and  then  northwards  across  450  miles  of  level 
prairie.  For  eight  years  a  stream  of  immigrants  made  the 
long  journey  into  Manitoba  by  wagon,  by  stage,  by  coach, 
and  by  Red  River  steamer ;  and  great  was  the  relief  to  the 
trafiic  when  at  last,  in  1878,  the  first  railway  entered  the 
province  from  the  south.  This  new  means  of  communica- 
tion gave  a  direct  connection  between  St.  Paul  in  Minne- 
sota and  the  little  town  of  St.  Boniface  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Red  River.     On  arriving  at  railhead,  the  settler,  in 

C3  Cf.  George  Brj'ce,  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  City  of  Winni- 
peg and  of  the  Four  Provinces  of  Western  Canada,  in  A  Handbook 
to  Winnipeg  and  the  Province  of  Manitoba,  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  Winnipeg  Meeting,  1909,  Winnipeg,  pp. 
13-15. 


EARLY    HISTORY    OF    WHEAT-GROWING      33 

order  to  get  to  Winnipeg,  had  merely  to  cross  the  river  in  a. 
ferry  boat.^'* 

XXII.  The  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 

The  St.  Paul  Railway  was  a  great  boon  and  formed  a 
splendid  link  with  the  United  States;  but  something  still 
was  lacking.  The  rising  spirit  of  Canada,  supported  by 
the  voice  of  Manitoba,  demanded  that  an  all-Oanadian  rail- 
way should  be  built  across  the  continent,  so  as  to  give  the 
West  a  direct  connection  with  the  East.  This  great  project 
was  eventually  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion,  with  the 
result  that  in  1886  there  took  place  an  event  of  outstand- 
ing significance  for  the  subsequent  development  of  wheat- 
growing  in  western  Canada :  there  passed  through  Winni- 
peg on  Dominion  Day,  July  1,  the  first  through  train  from 
Montreal  to  Vancouver.  Its  engine,  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  No.  1,  ran  upon  a  line  of  steel  destined  to  bear 
to  the  country's  ports  hundreds  of  millions  of  bushels  of 
wheat  required  to  satisfy  the  world's  craving  for  bread. 

A  grain  of  wheat  is  a  very  tiny  thing  in  itself,  but  the 
prosperity  of  western  Canada  is  bound  up  with  its  exist- 
ence ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  without  the  grain 
of  wheat  in  its  collective  form,  the  great  and  thriving  city 
of  Winnipeg,  with  its  population  of  200,000  souls,  its  im- 
posing buildings,  its  fine  streets,  and  its  busy  cosmopolitan 
life,  would  scarcely  have  advanced  at  the  present  time  be- 
yond the  status  of  a  small  trading  station.  The  growth 
of  Winnipeg  from  a  village  of  215  people  in  1870  to  its 
present  proportions  has  been  due  in  large  measure  to  the 
construction  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  the  connect- 
ing of  the  east  and  west  parts  of  Canada  by  a  band  of  steel. 
Through  mile  after  weary  mile  for  hundreds  of  miles  was 
6*  Cf.  G.  Bryce,  loc.  cit. 


34  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  track  pushed  from  the  east,  past  lake  and  swamp  and 
stream,  onwards  amid  the  lonely  forests  of  Pine  and  Pop- 
lar, of  Spruce  and  Birch,  on,  on,  through  all  that  long 
stretch  of  rocky  howlder-strewn  country  north  of  the  Great 
Lakes  which  was  swept  bare  of  soil  in  the  dawn  of  human 
history,  onwards  and  ever  onwards,  until  at  last  it  reached 
the  West.  All  the  vast  difficulties  in  the  path  of  the  engi- 
neers were  overcome  because  the  men  behind  the  C.  P.  R. 
were  men  of  vision,  men  who  could  see  in  the  mind's  eye 
under  the  blue  dome  of  heaven  the  golden  grain  which 
would  come  to  clothe  the  fertile  acres  of  the  broad  prairie- 
land.  Surely  the  brightest  dreams  of  the  founders  of  the 
C.  P.  R.  have  been  amply  justified  by  events. 

The  completion  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  Canadian  Pa- 
cific Railway  immediately  provided  that  direct  connection 
with  the  Old  Country  market  for  which  Manitoba  had  been 
longing;  and  soon  the  agricultural  progress  and  prosperity 
of  the  West  were  assured.  The  tide  of  immigration  grew 
ever  stronger  and  Winnipeg  became  the  great  gateway  to 
the  new  Land  of  Promise.  The  buffalo  disappeared,  the 
Indian  gave  place  to  the  white  man,  and  vast  tracts  of  the 
virgin  prairie  were  turned  with  the  plow.  The  wheat  of 
the  prairie  provinces,  on  account  of  its  high  quality,  ac- 
quired universal  fame,  and  Canada  came  to  be  called  the 
Granary  of  the  British  Empire.  How  well  that  Granary 
served  the  cause  of  the  Allies  in  its  time  of  trial  needs 
no  telling;  for  it  is  known  to  the  whole  world. 


CHAPTER  II 

Wheat  in  Westeei^  Canada 

I.  8ome  Crop  Statistics 

The  rapid  progress  made  by  western  Canada  in  recent 
years  is  reflected  by  the  crop  returns.  In  1904  the  wheat 
crop  in  Manitoba  and  Saskatchewan  was  only  56,000,000 
bushels,  and  the  raising  of  cereals  in  Alberta  was  then  in 
its  initial  stages.  In  1906,  the  wheat  crop  of  Manitoba, 
Saskatchewan,  and  Alberta  had  risen  to  102,000,000 
bushels.  In  1913,  this  was  about  doubled  and  amounted 
to  209,000,000  bushels.  In  1915  the  wheat  crop  in  the 
Prairie  Provinces  was  produced  under  exceptionally  fav- 
orable weather  conditions  and  w^as  a  most  extraordinary 
one.  The  Dominion  Census  Bureau  estimated  it  to  be 
360,000,000  bushels.  When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  in 
1915  much  less  than  one-half  of  the  good  wheat  land  of 
the  West  had  as  yet  been  broken  by  the  plow,  the  optimism 
of  western  Canadians  in  the  future  of  their  half  of  the 
Dominion  seems  to  be  well  justified. 

Owing  to  the  development  of  the  West,  Canada  has  now 
attained  a  very  important  place  among  the  commonwealth 
of  nations  as  a  grain-producing  country.  Referring  to 
the  great  crop  year  of  1915,  Mr.  W.  E.  Milner,  as  retiring 
President  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  in  September, 
1916,  made  the  following  remarks:  '^  This  has  been  one 
of  the  most  phenomenal  years  in  the  history  of  the  grain 
business  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada.     Our  farmers,  hav- 

35 


36 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


ing  been  blessed  bv  the  hand  of  Providence,  produced  the 
largest  crop  ever  grown  in  this  country  and,  now  that  the 
final  figures  are  available,  we  find  that  our  wheat  crop 
reached  the  enormous  total  of  376,448,400  bushels;  our 
oat  crop,  389,000,000  busliels ;  barley,  39,202,000  bushels ; 
and  our  flax  (1,000,000  bushels,  making  a  grand  total  of 
810,650,400  bushels  of  grain."  ^ 

The  crops  for  101 H,  1917,  and  1918  have  not  been  nearly 
as  good  as  those  of  the  banner  year  1915.  i^evertheless, 
during  this  period,  in  the  Prairie  Provinces,  the  wheat 
crop  on  the  average  has  been  well  in  excess  of  200,000,000 
bushels. 

The  chief  wheat-growing  province  is  now  Saskatchewan, 
after  which  comes  Manitoba  and  then  Alberta,  as  is  shown 
by  the  following  figures  for  spring  wheat  for  the  year 
1915:2 


Acreage  and  Yield  of  Wheat  for  1915 


Acreage 

Uushels 

Yield 
per  acre 

Saskatchewan    .... 

Manitoba    

Alberta    

6,884,874 
3,664,281 
1,637,122 

173,723,775 
96,662,912 

58,830,704 

25.23 
26.40 
35.93 

The  average  annual  yield  of  wheat  in  bushels  per  acre 
in  the  principal  wheat-growing  countries  of  the  world,  for 
the  five  consecutive  years  1909-13,  was  as  follows:  ^ 

1  W.  E.  Milner,  President's  Address,  Eighth  Annual  Report  (new 
series)  of  the  Winnipeg  Orain  Exchange,  Winnipeg,  September,  1016, 
p.  24. 

2  Supplement  to  the  Cereal  Maps  of  Manitoba.  Saskatchewan  and 
Alberta,  issued  from  the  Natural  Resources  Intelligence  Branch  of 
the  Department  of  the  Interior,  Ottawa,  1017,  pp.  4,  6,  8. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  13. 


WHEAT    IX    WESTERN    CANADA 


37 


38  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Average  Yield  of  Wheat  in  Bushels  per  Acre 

Yield  Yield 

per  acre  per  acre 

United  Kingdom  .  . .  31.9  United  States 14.6 

Germany 31.8  Australia 13.2 

Austria    20.2  British  India 11.9 

Canada    20.0  Eussia    10.8 

France 19.1  Argentina   9.9 

Hungary    18.8 

from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  fertility  of  the  soil  in 
Canada  has  exceeded  that  of  the  United  States  by  5.4 
bnshels  per  acre  but  has  been  considerably  less  than  that 
of  the  United  Kingdom  and  Germany. 

The  average  yield  of  spring  wheat  per  acre  for  the 
Prairie  Provinces  for  the  ten-year  period,  1908-lT  inclu- 
sive, was  as  follows :  * 

Average  Yield  of  Spring  Wheat  in  Bushels  per  Acre 

Manitoba 17.75  bushels 

Saskatchewan    18.50  bushels 

Alberta    22.50  bushels 

Upwards  of  nine-tenths  of  Canada's  wheat  is  produced 
in  the  Prairie  Provinces.  These  provinces,  in  the  five 
years,  1913-17  inclusive,  produced  1,283,000,000  bushels 
of  wheat,  whereas  the  rest  of  Canada  in  the  same  period 
produced  only  118,000,000  bushels.^ 

In  per  capita  production  of  wheat  Canada  leads  all  coun- 
tries. This  is  due  to  the  smallness  of  her  population  rela- 
tively to  the  vastness  of  her  acreage  sown  to  wheat.     The 

*  Monthly  Bulletin  of  Agricultural  Statistics,  Ottawa,  August, 
1918,  pp.  222-223. 

5  The  annual  figures  upon  which  this  calculation  is  based  are  given 
in  a  foot-note  in  the  last  Section  of  Chapter  III. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  39 

following  have  been  the  figures  for  the  production  of  wheat 
for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  a  few  leading  coun- 
tries: Canada  32  bushels,  Argentina  25  bushels,  Aus- 
tralia 17.5  bushels,  Rumania  14.5  bushels,  Bulgaria  12.5 
bushels,  France  8  bushels,  the  United  States  7.5  bushels, 
and  the  United  Kingdom  1.5  bushels.^ 

Canada  is  a  most  extravagant  user  of  wheat.  For  seed 
and  other  purposes  she  has  used  about  16.5  bushels  per 
capita  or  about  half  what  she  has  produced.  The  next 
countries  making  the  freest  use  of  wheat  are :  Argentina 
11  bushels  per  capita,  France  9.5  bushels,  Italy  and  Aus- 
tralia 7.5  bushels,  and  the  United  Kingdom  7  bushels,*'^ 

Canada  leads  all  other  countries  in  the  dijfference  be- 
tween her  per  capita  production  and  consumption  of  wheat, 
and  this,  combined  with  her  vast  wheat  crops,  puts  her  in 
a  very  favorable  position  as  a  wheat-exporting  country. 
In  1913,  the  year  before  the  war,  when  reliable  statistics 
could  still  be  obtained  for  all  countries,  the  exports  of 
wheat  (including  flour  reduced  to  grain)  from  the  twelve 
most  important  countries  were  as  follows :  ^ 

Exports  of  Wheat  in  Bushels,  1913 

Bushels  Bushels 

United  States  .  . .   154,760,000  Roumania    54,203,000 

Canada 151,975,000  Australia    53,207,000 

Russia    130,596,000  Germany    29,638,000 

Argentina 109,637,000  Belgium   15,898,000 

Netherlands 64,501,000  Bulgaria     11,456,000 

British  India 54,711,000  Austria-Hungary  1,730,000 

from  which  it  is  obvious  that  Canada  stood  second  in  the 

6V.  C.  Finch  and  0.  E.  Baker,  Geography  of  the  World's  Agri- 
culture, Washington,  1917,  figures  read  from  the  diagram  in  Fig. 
11,  p.  14. 

7  lUd. 

«  Supplement  to  the  Cereal  Maps  of  Manitoba,  etc.,  loc.  cit.,  p.  14. 


40  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

list,  exporting  only  slightly  less  wheat  than  the  United 
States. 

In  the  year  1915-16,  the  world's  exports  of  wheat  were 
seriously  disturbed  by  the  war.  In  that  year,  Canada  had 
an  immense  surplus  of  wheat  and  took  the  premier  position 
as  a  wheat-exporting  country,  surpassing  even  the  United 
States.  The  exports  of  the  four  leading  nations  for 
1915-16  were  as  follows:  ^ 

Export  of  \Yheat  in  Bushels,  1915-16 

Bushels  Bushels 

Canada     267,766,000    Argentina    91,390,000 

United  States   . .  .   239,526,000    Australia  and 

New  Zealand  .  .  63,249,000 

So  far  as  the  total  production  of  wheat  is  concerned, 
Canada  is  still  far  behind  several  other  countries,  notably 
the  United  States,  the  Russian  Empire,  British  India,  and 
France,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  statistics  of 
wheat  production  which  are  given  as  the  average  for  the 
three-year  period  1911-13  inclusive:  ^^ 

Amount  of  Wheat  Raised  in  Bushels 

Bushels  Bushels 

Kussian   Empire     727,133,300  Brought  forward  2,601,951,600 

United    States.  .      704,995,000    Italy    190,840,000 

British  India.  ..      369,612,300  German    Empire  160,236,700 

France 324,136,700    Argentina   155,828,300 

Austria-Hungary     247,141,000    Australia 88,961,000 

Canada    228,933,300  United  Kingdom  61,297,300 

Japan     26,305,300 

Carried  forward  2,601,951,600  Other   Countries  527,589,700 

Total    3,813,009,900 

From  these  figures  one  may  draw  the  conclusion  that,  be- 

9  Ibid.,  p.  15. 

10  Geography  of  the  World's  Agriculture,  loc.  cit.,  p.  8. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  41 

fore  the  war,  Canada's  fraction  of  the  total  wheat  produc- 
tion of  the  world  was  less  than  one-sixteenth  of  the  whole. 
In  the  year  1918,  the  farmers  of  both  Canada  and  the 
United  States,  with  a  view  to  winning  the  war,  made  a  spe- 
cial effort  to  increase  the  wheat  crop,  with  the  result  that 
the  combined  wheat  harvest  of  the  two  countries  amounted 
to  more  than  1,100,000,000  bushels.  The  following  were 
the  crops  resulting  from  the  '^  food  offensive "  as  esti- 
mated in  October:  ^^ 

United  States   918,920,000  bushels 

Canada    210,000,000  bushels 

In  this  competition  to  succor  the  Allies,  Canada  was  un- 
fortunately handicapped  by  a  prolonged  drought,  whereas 
in  the  United  States  the  weather  conditions  were  about 
normal.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  in  1918  the  United 
States  produced  upwards  of  four  times  as  much  wheat  as 
Canada.  However,  there  is  still  very  much  good  wheat 
land  in  western  Canada  untouched  by  the  plow,  and  some 
day  Canada  may  produce  more  wheat  than  the  United 
States.  It  is  even  possible  that  at  no  very  distant  date 
the  United  States  may  look  to  her  northern  neighbor  for 
a  large  part  of  her  daily  bread. 


11.  Wheat  Growing 


12 


Winter  wheat  has  a  higher  yield  than  spring  wheat, 
wherever  it  can  be  successfully  grown.     However,  on  ac- 

11  The  United  States  figures  are  taken  from  the  Monthly  Crop 
Report  for  October,  1918,  issued  at  Washington,  and  giving  indica- 
tions as  for  October  1 ;  and  the  Canadian  figures  are  taken  from  a 
press  bulletin  issued  Oct.  31  by  the  Dominion  Census  Bureau. 

12  For  valuable  assistance  in  writing  this  Section,  I  am  indebted 
to  Professor  John  Bracken  of  the  Field  Husbandry  Department  of 
the  University  of  Saskatchewan. 


42 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


count  of  climatic  conditions,  very  little  winter  wheat  is 
grown  in  western  Canada.  The  following  Table  shows  the 
acreage  devoted  to  spring  wheat  and  winter  wheat  respec- 
tively in  the  three  Prairie  Provinces  in  the  year  1918:  ^' 

Number  of  Acres  Devoted  to  Spring  and  Winter  Wheat  in  1918 


Spring 
Wheat 

Winter 
Wheat 

Albprta    

3,187,000 
9,101,000 
2,616,000 

58,000 

Saskatchewan    

Manitoba     

2,000 

Total    

14,904,000 

60,000 

From  this  Table  it  is  clear  that  snch  winter  wheat  as  is 
grown  at  all  in  the  West  is  chiefly  produced  in  Alberta, 
and  that  the  acreage  devoted  to  winter  wheat  in  the  three 
Prairie  Provinces  taken  tosrether  amounted  in  1918  to  only 
two-fifths  of  1  per  cent,  of  the  total  wheat  acreage.  West- 
em  Canada,  therefore,  as  a  whole,  is  a  spring-wheat  region. 
The  climatic  factors  which  tend  to  kill  winter  wheat  are: 
(1)  very  low  temperatures  during  the  winter,  (2)  the  rela- 
tive absence  of  snow  locally,  (3)  alternate  freezing  and 
thawing  in  spring,  and  (4)  drying  winds  in  spring. 

The  wheats  sown  in  the  spring  are  hard  red  varieties,  the 
chief  sorts  being  Marquis  and  Red  Fife.  The  winter 
wheats,  sown  in  the  autumn,  are  chiefly  Turkey  Red  and 
Kharkov.  In  dry  parts  of  southern  Alberta  and  southern 
Saskatchewan  durum  wheats  are  grown  to  a  very  small 
extent,  but  their  culture  may  be  considerably  increased  in 
the  future. 

The  virgin  prairie  is  usually  broken  in  the  month  of 
June.     Its  surface  is  then  cultivated  and  left  uncropped 

13  Monthly  Bulletin  of  Agricultural  Statistics,  Ottawa,  August, 
1918,  pp.  222-223. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  43 

until  the  following  spring.  Thus  the  prairie  grasses,  etc., 
are  prevented  from  growing  and  using  up  moisture,  and 
the  moisture  is  stored  and  conserved  in  the  newly-broken 
land. 

After  one  or  more  crops  have  been  taken  from  the  land 
subsequently  to  new  breaking  or  summer  fallowing,  the 
land  is  prepared  for  the  next  crop  by  fall  or  spring  plow- 
ing, by  disking,  cultivating,  or,  in  some  cases,  by  seeding 
on  the  untilled  fields  without  any  previous  cultivation. 
Fall  plowing  is  the  most  common  practice  but,  in  the  dryer 
areas,  spring  plowing  is  sometimes  carried  out  instead. 
The  disadvantage  of  spring  plowing  arises  from  the  delay 
which  is  involved  in  putting  in  the  seed:  spring  plowing 
necessitates  late  sowing,  late  sowing  is  followed  by  late 
ripening,  and  late  ripening  of  the  grain  increases  the  dan- 
ger to  which  the  crop  is  exposed  from  early  fall  frosts.  In 
some  areas  where  plowing  is  not  considered  necessary  but 
where  some  form  of  surface  tillage  is  deemed  advisable, 
the  stubble  fields  are  disked  or  cultivated  either  in  the  fall 
or  the  spring.  Sowing  on  untilled  stubble  fields,  while 
not  a  general  practice,  is  frequently  carried  out  on  land 
which  is  free  from  grass  and  weeds  and  the  surface  of 
which  in  the  spring  is  found  to  possess  a  natural  mulch 
or  loose  top  layer  of  soil  forming  a  natural  seed-bed.  In 
some  districts,  where  untilled  fields  are  sown,  the  stubble 
which  holds  the  snow  during  the  winter  is  burned  oif  in 
the  spring  before  seeding. 

Until  recently,  but  little  or  no  attempt  was  made  to 
apply  manure  or  fertilizers  to  the  land,  and  the  grain  fields 
were  cropped  year  after  year  without  anything  being  added 
to  them.  Of  late,  however,  with  the  introduction  of  mixed 
farming,  farm-yard  manure  has  come  to  be  more  commonly 
used,  particularly  on  the  lighter  soils.  The  manure  is 
spread  upon  the  summer  fallow,  root-grounds,  etc.,  some- 


44  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

what  thinlv  bv  means  of  a  machine  known  as  a  manure 
spreader.  This  practice  has  been  found  to  increase  the 
yield  of  the  crops  on  soils  which  have  long  been  cultivated 
and  thus  to  add  to  the  profits  of  farming.  It  is,  there- 
fore, doubtless  destined  to  be  much  more  generally  adopted 
in  the  future. 

On  account  of  the  low  rain-fall,  moisture  limits  the 
yield  of  grain  per  acre.  The  bare  fallow,  or  some  modi- 
fication of  it,  is  therefore  resorted  to  once  in  from  two  to 
five  years,  more  often  in  the  dryer  districts  and  less  often 
in  the  more  humid  ones.  The  summer  fallow  is  the  basic 
practice  of  dry  farming.  Its  purpose  is  to  store  moisture 
in  the  soil  by  preventing  its  utilization  by  growing  plants, 
and  by  conserving  it  in  the  soil  by  means  of  a  soil  mulch 
created  by  surface  tillage.  The  surface  tillage  breaks  the 
capillary  tubes  in  the  soil  and  so  lessens  evaporation. 

In  older  districts,  the  summer  fallow  has  a  double  func- 
tion, for  it  is  not  only  used  to  conserve  moisture  but  also 
to  control  weeds.  Among  the  annual  weeds  which  have 
proved  to  be  pests  are  Wild  Oats  (Avena  fatua)  and  vari- 
ous members  of  the  Mustard  family ;  and,  among  the  per- 
ennials. Sow  Thistle  {SoncJms  ai'vensis),  Canada  Thistle 
(Cnicus  arvensis),  and  Quackgrass  (Agropyron  repens). 
The  very  dry  parts  of  southern  Alberta  and  Saskatchewan 
are  troubled  with  the  Russian  Thistle  (Salsola  Kali). 
Practically  all  of  the  noxious  weeds  of  the  West  have  been 
introduced  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  Europe. 

Seed-wheat,  before  being  sown,  is  usually  cleaned  by 
passing  it  through  a  fanning  mill  which,  by  means  of  sieves 
and  screens  and  a  blast  of  wind,  removes  the  weed  seeds, 
smut-balls,  and  other  impurities,  and  also  small  and 
shrunken  kernels  of  wheat.  The  seed  wheat  is  then  sub- 
jected to  treatment  with  formalin,  which  is  a  40  per  cent, 
solution  of  fomialdehyde.     This  is  mixed  with  water  in 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  45 

the  proportions  of  one  pound  of  formalin  to  forty  gallons 
of  water,  and  the  mixture  is  then  sprayed  carefully  over 
the  seed  or  the  seed  is  passed  through  the  liquid  by  means 
of  a  smut  machine.  The  purpose  of  this  treatment  is  to 
kill  any  spores  of  the  Stinking  Smut  Fungus  (Tilletia 
foetens)  which  may  be  clinging  to  the  kernels  and  which, 
if  not  destroyed,  might  germinate  on  the  kernels  in  the 
soil,  infect  the  seedlings,  and  cause  smut-balls  instead  of 
sound  kernels  to  be  produced  in  the  heads  of  the  diseased 
plants.  When  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  the  germinating 
ability  of  seed-wheat,  the  wheat  is  tested  for  germination 
either  at  home  on  the  farm  or  in  seed-testing  laboratories 
provided  by  the  Dominion  or  Provincial  Departments  of 
Agriculture. 

The  seed-wheat  is  sown  by  using  large  drills  which  are 
from  eight  to  ten  feet  wide  and  which  are  drawn  either 
singly  by  a  team  of  four  or  more  horses,  or  several  together 
by  an  engine  driven  by  gasolene  or  kerosene.  These  drills 
are  so  constructed  that  they  force  the  seed  evenly  into  the 
ground  in  rows  which  are  from  six  to  seven  inches  apart. 
The  depth  of  sowing  can  be  regulated  and  is  usually  from 
one  to  three  inches  below  the  surface.  Seeding  is  usually 
completed  between  the  middle  of  April  and  the  tenth  day  of 
May,  April  seeding  being  preferred  when  soil  and  climatic 
conditions  permit  of  its  being  undertaken.  The  seed  is 
sown  at  the  rate  of  from  three-quarters  to  two  bushels  per 
acre,  the  smallest  quantity  being  used  on  the  lighter  soils 
in  the  dryest  districts  and  the  largest  quantity  upon  the 
heaviest  and  richest  soils  in  the  more  northerly  humid  dis- 
tricts. Under  most  conditions,  the  amount  of  seed  usually 
sown  is  between  one  and  one  and  a  half  bushels. 

The  wheat  grower  endeavors  to  prepare  the  land  to  be 
sown  so  that  it  shall  be  well  stored  with  moisture,  free  from 
weeds,  firm,  and  mellow.     After  seeding  in  such  soil  at  a 


46  ESSAYS    ON    "WHEAT 

depth  of  from  one  to  three  inches,  the  deptH  varying  with 
the  soil's  moisture  contents,  the  land  is  generally  firmed 
down  by  using  a  packer  and  then  harrowed  to  create  a 
mulch  to  lessen  the  evaporation  of  moisture. 

The  seedlings  appear  above  the  ground  in  from  four  to 
ten  days  after  seeding,  the  period  before  emergence  vary- 
ing with  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature.  In 
some  places,  the  land  is  again  harrowed  after  the  plants 
have  appeared  above  the  ground,  the  purpose  of  this  sec- 
ond harrowing  being  either  to  kill  the  small  weeds  that 
may  appear  at  this  time  or  to  replace  the  mulch  which  may 
have  been  destroyed  by  rains. 

The  crop  usually  heads  out  during  the  first  half  of  July 
and  ripens  between  the  tenth  of  August  and  the  twentieth 
of  September. 

The  crop  is  harvested  slightly  before  it  has  attained  per- 
fect maturity  by  means  of  self-binders.  These  machines 
are  hauled  either  by  teams  of  four  or  six  horses,  or  a  num- 
ber of  them  may  be  drawn  by  a  tractor.  Each  binder  cuts 
a  width  of  from  six  to  eight  feet  and,  at  the  same  time,  ties 
the  grain  into  bundles  or  sheaves.  The  sheaves  measure 
from  ten  to  twelve  inches  in  diameter  and,  as  soon  as  they 
have  been  tied,  are  thrown  to  the  ground.  They  are  then 
placed  in  stooks  or  shocks  by  men  who  follow  the  binders 
as  closely  as  possible.  The  purpose  of  stocking  is  three- 
fold: (1)  to  assist  the  drying  or  curing  \)f  the  sheaves, 
(2)  to  lessen  the  danger  to  the  grain  of  serious  injury  from 
weathering,  and  (3)  to  facilitate  the  further  filling  of  the 
grains  in  the  heads. 

The  grain  is  separated  from  the  straw  by  means  of  large 
threshing  machines  driven  by  tractors  and  having  a  capac- 
ity of  from  500  to  2,000  bushels  per  day.  In  the  past,  the 
straw  on  the  large  wheat  farms  has  been  considered  to  be  a 
useless  by-product,  and  the  great  straw  piles  which  dot  the 


WHEAT    IN    WESTEKlSr    CANADA  47 

prairie  after  the  threshing  season  (except  for  small  por- 
tions saved  for  bedding  horses,  feeding,  etc.)  have  usually 
been  burned.  The  straw-pile  fires  reflected  against  the 
clouds  at  night  in  the  autumn  are  well  known  everywhere 
in  the  West  and  form  a  strange  and  unexpected  sight  to 
newcomers  from  Europe  where  straw  is  of  so  much  value. 
The  recent  development  of  mixed  farming,  however,  offers 
in  western  Canada  an  opportunity  for  the  utilization  of 
straw  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  hitherto  as  roughage 
for  stock  feed. 

On  large  farms,  the  threshing  is  done  directly  from  the 
stooks  which  are  hauled  in  wagons  from  the  places  in  the 
fields  where  they  were  set  up  straight  to  the  threshing 
machines.  The  stooks  may  be  loaded  on  to  a  wagon  me- 
chanically by  means  of  stook-loaders,  or  they  may  be 
pitched  by  men  into  bundle  racks.  The  threshing  is  car- 
ried out  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  bundles  have  become 
sufiiciently  dry  to  pass  through  the  machine  without  diffi- 
culty and  after  the  grain  has  become  sufiiciently  dry  to  be 
safely  stored  in  bulk.  If  threshed  when  too  moist,  the 
grain  may  heat  in  storage  and  thereby  be  injured  for  com- 
mercial purposes.  On  the  smaller  farms,  when  for  any 
reason  threshing  may  be  delayed,  stacking  is  sometimes  re- 
sorted to.  This  permits  of  fall  tillage  being  undertaken 
at  once  and  provides  safe  storage  for  the  sheaves  until  a 
threshing  machine  becomes  available. 

The  harvesting  and  threshing  season  is  the  busiest  part 
of  the  year  in  western  Canada.  To  assist  in  relieving  the 
labor  shortage  which  is  always  felt  at  this  time,  some 
20,000  to  30,000  extra  harvesters  are  annually  brought  to 
the  Prairie  Provinces  from  the  east  of  the  Dominion  and 
from  the  United  States. 

The  grain,  after  it  has  been  threshed,  may  be  stored  in 
temporary  granaries  on  the  farm  or  it  may  be  hauled  at 


48  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

once  from  the  threshing  machine  to  the  country  elevator  or 
to  a  loading  platform  on  a  railway  siding. 

In  the  West,  the  standing  crops  are  sometimes  destroyed 
locally  in  summertime  by  violent  hailstorms  which  in  ex- 
treme instances  have  been  known  to  rain  down  hailstones 
the  size  of  hens'  eggs.-^*  Usually  the  area  ruined  by  a 
hailstorm  is  several  miles  in  length  but  seldom  more  than 
a  mile  in  width.  To  compensate  for  the  destruction 
wrought  by  the  ice-balls,  a  system  of  cooperative  hail  insur- 
ance has  been  introduced  in  Saskatchewan  and  Alberta,  and 
many  private  hail  insurance  companies  also  carry  on  busi- 
ness in  all  parts  of  the  West. 

The  western  plains,  in  general,  are  very  level  and  free 
from  large  trees,  and  hence  are  easy  to  break  with  the 
plow.  The  soil  is  thick  and  rich  in  humus  and  gives  a 
good  crop  from  the  first.  The  chief  difficulties  of  wheat 
raising  arise  from  temporary  droughts  in  summer,  drying 
winds,  early  fall  frosts,  occasional  severe  attacks  of  the 
Black  Stem  Rust  disease,  and  the  already  mentioned  local 
hailstorms.  Rain,  however,  seldom  falls  in  too  large  a 
quantity  and  the  weather  during  the  harvesting  and  thresh- 
ing season  is  usually  dry  and  bright.  There  is  no  more 
exhilarating  sight  in  the  West  than  the  prospect  of  the 
binders  at  work  on  the  sea-wide,  sky-skirted  prairie,  with 
the  golden  grain  gleaming  under  the  August  sun  and  above 
and  about  all  the  cloudless  blue  dome  of  heaven.  And 
when  the  last  sheaf  has  been  cut  and  the  binders  are  silent, 

14  This  is  no  exaggeration.  Photographs  showing  hailstones  and 
fowls'  eggs  of  equal  size  were  exhibited  by  Professor  J.  W.  Shipley  to 
the  Physics  section  at  the  Winnipeg  meeting  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion held  in  1909.  Vide  J.  W.  Shipley,  On  the  Size  of  Hailstones 
observed  during  a  storm  in  Western  Canada,  Reports  of  the  British 
Association,  1909,  p.  400.  Some  of  the  hailstones  "  were  larger  than 
hens'  eggs.  At  the  center  of  one  hailstone  a  small  black  fly  was 
found." 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  49 

how  splendid  is  the  view  across  the  gently  rolling  stubble 
fields:  stook  beyond  stook,  stook  beyond  stook,  for  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  for  half  a  mile,  and  still  more  stooks  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  see,  stooks  cresting  the  distant  horizon,  ten 
thousand  stooks  all  waiting  to  be  threshed  and  each  with  its 
promise  of  bread,  the  gift  of  the  'New  World  to  the  Old. 
The  unbroken  expanses  of  the  prairie  create  within  one  a 
sense  of  freedom  which  is  best  known  only  to  those  who 
dwell  far  from  crowded  cities,  who  plow  and  sow  and  reap, 
and  whose  daily  toil  causes  them  to  commune  uncon- 
sciously with  Mature  and  thus  to  absorb  something  of  her 
simplicity  and  her  charm. 

III.  The  Great  Wheat  Funnel 

In  order  to  meet  the  ever-growing  requirements  of  west- 
ern Canada  for  travel  and  transportation,  a  complex  sys- 
tem of  railways  has  grown  up  with  ramifications  extending 
for  many  thousands  of  miles.  The  principal  railroads 
tapping  the  wheat-lands  are  the  Canadian  Pacific,  the  Ca- 
nadian Northern,  and  the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific.  Their 
main  lines  all  focus  upon  Winnipeg  so  that  this  city  has 
become,  as  it  were,  the  converging  point  of  a  great  wheat 
funnel,  the  spout  of  which  leads  to  the  water-front  of  Lake 
Superior.  Through  Winnipeg,  each  working  day  of  the 
crop  year  1915-16,  on  the  average,  there  passed  more  than 
one  thousand  cars  of  wheat. ^^  The  accompanying  dia- 
gram (Fig.  8)  shows  the  eastbound  movement  of  western 
Canada  wheat  in  the  calendar  year  1913.  An  inspection 
of  it  reveals  the  fact  that  most  of  the  1913  wheat,  after 
passing  by  rail  from  Winnipeg  to  Port  Arthur  and  Fort 
William,  was  conveyed  by  water  to  Montreal  and  Buffalo, 

15  W.  E.  Milner,  President's  Address  in  Eighth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  September,  1916,  p.  26. 


50 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


WHEAT   IN    WESTERN    CANADA  51 

and  that  from  these  two  latter  cities  it  was  then  dispatched 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  via  the  St.  Lawrence  Eiver  or  by 
routes  leading  to  the  ports  of  St.  John,  Halifax,  Portland, 
Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore. 

IV.  The  Hudson  Bay  Railway 

In  1811,  the  Selkirk  settlers  entered  Canada  via  the 
Hudson  Bay,  and  the  Bay  remained  for  many  decades  the 
almost  exclusive  means  of  communication  between  the  Red 
Eiver  Settlement  and  the  British  Islands.  Through  the 
Bay,  as  we  have  seen,  came  with  the  settlers  the  first  seed- 
wheat  sown  in  western  Canada ;  and  through  the  Bay  sailed 
each  year,  for  nearly  two  centuries,  the  rich  argosies  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  outward  bound  with  great  car- 
goes of  fur  and  inward  bound  with  food-stuffs  and  manu- 
factured goods.  Shortly  before  1870,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  taking  advantage  of  the  improved  means  of 
transportation  in  the  Great  Plains  region  of  the  United 
States,  changed  its  trading  route  from  the  old  one  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  to  a  new  one  passing  south  through  Winnipeg. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  for  many  years  the  icy  waters 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  were  almost  deserted  by  commerce. 
However,  at  the  present  moment,  there  is  being  built  the 
Hudson  Bay  Railway  which,  in  all-Manitoban  territory, 
will  give  direct  communication  with  the  sea.  This  new 
line  is  to  pass  from  The  Pas  to  Port  Nelson,  a  distance  of 
410  miles,  of  which  320  have  already  been  completed.  In 
the  near  future  it  is  doubtless  destined  to  carry  to  the  sea- 
board a  large  amount  of  grain  raised  in  northern  Sas- 
katchewan and  Alberta.  For  the  Province  of  Manitoba, 
the  prospect,  for  at  least  four  months  in  the  year,  of  a 
shorter  sea  route  to  the  British  market  than  that  from 


52  ESSAYS    OX    WHEAT 

Xew  York,  marks  a  curious  return  to  the  historic  condi- 
tions which  were  so  familiar  to  the  Selkirk  settlers. 

V.  The  Shipment  of  Bulk  Wheat  Through  the 
Panama  Canal 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  has  presented  the 
possibility  of  shipping  Canadian  wheat  to  Europe  from 
ports  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  However,  until  a  year  ago,  no 
attempt  to  ship  wheat  in  bulk  via  the  Panama  Canal  had 
been  made,  and  it  was  not  known  whether  or  not  bulk  wheat 
could  be  safely  transported  through  the  tropics  by  this 
route  without  arriving  at  its  destination  in  a  heating  con- 
dition.^^ Dr.  F.  J.  Birchard  and  Mr.  A.  W.  Alcock,  of 
the  Dominion  Grain  Eesearch  Laboratory,  therefore  car- 
ried out  a  test  experiment  on  bulk  shipment  in  the  fall 
of  1917. 

One  hundred  thousand  bushels  of  wheat  for  shipment 
were  collected  at  various  points  in  Alberta,  graded  by  gov- 
ernment inspectors,  carefully  tested  for  moisture,  and  then 
stowed  in  bulk  in  the  hold  of  a  steamer  at  Vancouver. 
The  forward  hold,  into  which  the  main  bulk  of  the  wheat 
was  loaded,  was  one  hundred  feet  long,  fifty  feet  wide,  and 
eighteen  feet  six  inches  deep.  Each  parcel  of  wheat  of  a 
particular  grade,  after  being  delivered  to  the  vessel,  was 
trimmed  so  that  its  surface  was  practically  horizontal,  and 
then  separating  cloths  were  spread  over  the  top  so  as  to 
divide  it  from  the  succeeding  layer.  Rows  of  electrical 
resistance  thermometers  were  embedded  in  each  layer  of 
the  wheat  so  that  all  changes  of  temperature  in  every  part 

16  For  a  number  of  years  wheat  has  been  shipped  south  from  Seattle 
and  Portland  (Oregon)  round  the  Cape  to  Europe  in  bags.  Doubt- 
less, however,  the  ventilation  of  wheat  in  bags  is  better  than  that  of 
wheat  in  bulk.  Wheat  is  shipped  in  bags  from  Australia  and  India 
to  England. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTEKN    CANADA  53 

of  the  cargo  could  be  observed  by  instruments  on  deck. 
One  of  the  experimenters  accompanied  the  boat  from  Van- 
couver down  the  Pacific  Coast,  through  the  Panama  Canal, 
and  across  the  Atlantic  to  London,  the  voya2;e  occupying 
three  and  a  half  months.  The  shipment  of  the  wheat  was 
successfully  made,  for  the  Superintendent  who  supervised 
the  discharge  of  the  wheat  at  London  reported  that  only 
160  bushels,  or  less  than  0.2  per  cent,  of  the  total  cargo, 
had  been  damaged.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  bulk 
wheat,  although  subjected  to  a  much  higher  temperature 
and  to  a  much  longer  voyage  when  transported  to  England 
by  the  Panama  route  than  when  transported  by  the  usual 
routes  from  the  Atlantic  coast,  can  yet  be  safely  brought 
to  its  destination.  Whether  or  not  the  new  route  for  ship- 
ping wheat  will  be  much  used  in  the  future  is  uncertain ; 
but  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  a  portion  of  the  wheat  pro- 
duced in  northern  Alberta  may  be  more  cheaply  trans- 
ported by  this  route  than  by  any  other. 

VL  Elevators 

To  store  the  grain  produced  on  the  farm  before  it  can 
be  exported  or  otherwise  used,  special  warehouses,  known 
as  elevators,  are  provided.  The  wheat  is  elevated  into 
these  buildings  by  machinery  and  deposited  in  bins.  The 
bottom  of  the  shipping  bin  is  always  situated  at  some  dis- 
tance above  the  level  of  the  ground  and  opens  into  a  mov- 
able spout  on  the  exterior  of  the  elevator.  When  it  is  de- 
sired to  ship  wheat  away  from  an  elevator,  advantage  is 
taken  of  the  flowing  property  of  the  grain  in  bulk:  the 
spout  is  opened  and  the  grain  falls  through  it  by  gravity 
and  passes  into  a  box-car  or  the  hold  of  a  steamer. 

Elevators  are  of  several  kinds.  There  are  country  ele- 
vators along  the  railways  for  receiving  grain  from  the 


54  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

fanners  for  storage  before  it  has  been  inspected,  terminal 
elevators  which  receive  or  ship  grain  and  which  are  located 
at  points  declared  to  be  terminal  so  far  as  inspection  is  con- 
cerned, hospital  elevators  which  are  used  for  cleaning  or 
specially  treating  rejected  or  damaged  grain  and  which 
are  equipped  with  special  machinery  for  this  purpose,  and 
mill  elevators  which  are  used  or  operated  as  part  of  a  plant 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  grain  products.  •'^'^  In  the 
Western  Inspection  Division  of  Canada,  for  the  license 
year  1916-17,  there  were  1,384  railway  stations  having 
elevators,  the  number  of  elevators  was  3,338,  and  the  total 
capacity  of  all  the  elevators  together  was  163,144,000 
bushels.  ^^ 

VII.  The  Loading  Platform 

A  country  railway  station,  in  addition  to  its  elevators, 
is  provided  with  a  loading  platform^  a  wooden  structure 
on  a  siding  on  to  which  a  farmer  can  drive  his  team,  and 
from  which  he  can  shovel  the  grain  into  a  car.  When  the 
grain  has  been  loaded,  the  farmer  can  either  sell  it  on  the 
spot  as  track  grain,  or  consign  it  to  a  commission  firm  at 
Winnipeg  or  Fort  William  to  be  sold  for  his  account,  or  he 
may  ship  it  to  a  terminal  elevator  to  be  stored  for  his  ac- 
count. By  using  the  platform,  he  can  save  the  elevator 
charges  which  amount  to  about  $17  per  car  and  avoid 
negotiations  with  the  elevator  companies.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  has  the  trouble  of  securing  the  car,  of  making 
arrangements  to  sell  the  grain,  and  of  loading  the  grain 
into  the  car  with  his  own  labor.     Some  farmers  therefore 

17  For  definitions  of  elevators  vide  The  Canada  Grain  Act,  1912, 
Section  2. 

18  Capacity  of  elevators  by  Provinces,  license  year  1916-17,  in 
Supplement  to  the  Cereal  Maps  of  Manitoba,  Saskatchewan,  and  Al- 
berta, Ottawa,  1917,  p.  16. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  55 

use  the  loading  platform  and  others  do  not.  I^aturally, 
the  elevator  owners  look  upon  loading  platforms  with  dis- 
favor, and  railway  operators  regard  them  as  tending  to 
delay  the  cars  unduly.  Their  popularity  with  the  farm- 
ers, however,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  their  number  has 
now  been  increased  to  upwards  of  1,600  and  that  about  30 
per  cent,  of  the  grain  shipped  from  the  country  points  is 
loaded  from  them.^^ 

VIII.  The  Old  Flat  Warehouse 

Elevators  first  came  into  existence  about  the  year  1880. 
Before  this  time  the  only  receptacles  for  wheat  along  the 
railway  line  were  small  flat  warehouses  built  by  grain 
dealers.  Farmers  brought  their  wheat  to  these  ware- 
houses in  sacks  and  sold  it  to  the  dealers,  who  shipped  it 
in  car  lots  to  Winnipeg  for  sale.  The  flat  warehouse  was 
divided  into  two  by  a  passageway  running  across  the 
middle  from  the  front  to  the  rear,  and  each  end  was  sub- 
divided into  bins.  The  bottom  of  the  bins  was  on  a  level 
with  the  ground.  The  machinery  consisted  of  a  scale  in 
the  passageway,  a  trolley  for  pulling  the  sacks,  and  a 
small  four-wheeled  grain  cart  for  handling  the  wheat  in 
bulk.  The  cart  was  propelled  by  hand  along  a  light  rail 
which  ran  through  the  passageway  to  the  railway  track. 
When  a  dealer  wished  to  ship  his  grain  away,  he  pulled  or 
pushed  it  to  a  railway  car  in  his  grain  cart.  The  handling 
of  grain  is  much  more  efiiciently  done  by  an  elevator  than 
by  the  old  flat  warehouse,  and  on  this  account  the  latter  has 
fallen  into  disuse.  ^^ 

19  Cf.  R.  Magill,  Grain  Inspection  in  Canada,  Department  of  Trade 
and  Commerce,  Ottawa,  1914,  pp.  11-14. 

20  Ibid.,  p.  11. 


56  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

IX.  The  Country  Elevator 

The  country  elevators  in  1916-17,  in  the  three  Prairie 
Provinces,  numbered  3,287,  and  the  average  capacity  of 
each  was  about  30,000  bushels.  Either  as  single  build- 
ings or  veiy  often  as  a  row  of  buildings  along  the  railway 
track,  they  form  a  characteristic  feature  of  western  rail- 
way stations.  They  are  usually  constructed  of  wood  with 
galvanized  iron  plates  on  the  outside.  This  covering 
serves  to  keep  out  water  and  diminishes  the  risk  of  fire. 

The  farmer  hauls  his  load  of  wheat  from  the  farm  to  a 
country  elevator  in  bulk  in  an  open  wagon  or,  if  it  is  win- 
ter time,  in  an  open  sleigh. ^^  On  arriving  at  the  elevator, 
he  drives  his  wagon  on  to  the  scales  which  are  raised  upon 
a  platform  about  six  feet  from  the  level  of  the  ground; 
and  here  he  obtains  the  gross  weight  of  his  wagon  and  its 
load.  The  elevator  operator,  with  the  aid  of  a  crank,  then 
moves  the  wagon  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  front  end  is 
raised  and  the  back  end  is  lowered.  He  then  pulls  up  the 
door  of  the  grain  pit  and  removes  the  end-board  of  the 
wagon,  so  that  the  grain  runs  out  from  the  back  of  the 
wagon  into  the  pit.  The  empty  wagon  is  then  weighed, 
and  its  weight  when  subtracted  from  the  gross  weight  of 
the  load  and  wagon  previously  obtained,  gives  the  weight 
of  the  grain  deposited  in  the  elevator.  If  the  elevator  has 
a  cleaner,  the  wheat,  after  passing  into  the  pit,  may  have 
its  screenings  removed,  and  these  may  be  taken  home  by 
the  farmer  to  be  used  as  feed.  Finally,  the  wheat  is  trans- 
ferred from  the  pit  to  the  bins  by  means  of  an  elevator 
composed  of  buckets  attached  to  an  endless  rubber  belt 

21  The  wheat  when  being  loaded  on  to  a  wagon  or  sleigh  is  scooped 
into  a  grain-tight  box  holding  from  00  to  100  bushels.  The  inven- 
tion of  the  grain-tight  box  has  relieved  the  farmer  of  the  necessity  of 
hauling  his  wheat  to  the  elevator  in  sacks. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  57 

driven  by  a  gasolene  engine.  Each  country  elevator  con- 
tains a  number  of  bins  so  that  the  different  varieties  and 
grades  of  grains  may  retain  their  identity,  and  so  that  a 
farmer  may  have  his  wheat  specially  binned  if  he  so  wishes. 
One  of  the  bins  in  the  elevator  is  known  as  the  shipping 
bin.  Its  base  is  about  sixteen  feet  above  the  railway  track 
and  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  top  of  a  box-car.  The 
storage  bins  which  vary  in  number  from  eight  to  twenty- 
two,  and  each  of  which  may  hold  from  300  to  about  4,000 
bushels,  have  their  bases  about  five  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  ground.  When  the  time  comes  to  ship  away  the  wheat 
contained  in  one  of  the  storage  bins,  the  wheat  is  let  out 
through  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  bin  so  that  it  falls  into 
the  wheat  pit.  From  this  place  it  is  elevated  by  the 
buckets  on  the  revolving  rubber  belt  to  the  top  of  the  ele- 
vator where  it  is  caused  to  fall  into  the  shipping  bin.  The 
bottom  of  this  bin  is  connected  with  a  spout  which  can  be 
opened  at  will  to  allow  the  wheat  to  pass  into  a  box-car. 

X.  Box-Cars 

When  it  is  desired  to  ship  out  the  grain  from  a  country 
elevator,  a  box-car  is  placed  alongside  of  the  elevator  just 
by  the  spout,  the  two  outer  side  doors  are  slid  open,  and 
a  grain  door,  from  about  five  to  six  and  a  half  feet  high 
according  to  the  size  of  the  car,  is  fixed  against  each  open- 
ing from  within  so  as  to  leave  a  space  of  about  two  feet 
above.  The  grain,  carried  by  the  force  of  gravity  and  di- 
rected by  the  spout  leading  from  the  shipping  bin,  is  then 
made  to  flow  laterally  into  the  car  over  the  top  of  the  grain 
door  facing  the  elevator.  The  roof  of  a  box-car  is  always 
a  fixture  and  grain  cannot  therefore  be  put  into  such  a  car 
directly  from  above.  Whilst  the  grain  is  flowing  into  the 
car  —  a,  process  which  occupies  about  twenty  minutes  — 


58  ESSAYS    ON   WHEAT 

the  spout  is  directed  by  the  operator  to  each  end  of  the  car 
in  turn,  so  that  the  filling  is  more  or  less  evenly  accom- 
plished. If  necessary,  however,  when  the  car  has  been 
filled,  the  operator  climbs  into  the  car  over  the  top  of  one 
of  the  grain  doors  on  his  hands  and  knees  and  levels  the 
load  with  a  scoop  shovel.  After  the  load  has  been  levelled, 
the  outer  doors  on  the  sides  of  the  car  are  slid  back  into 
position  so  as  to  cover  the  grain  doors  and  entirely  block 
the  two  openings.  The  railway  agent  then  seals  the  side 
doors,  whereupon  the  car  is  ready  for  transportation  to 
Winnipeg  for  inspection. 

The  depth  of  the  wheat  in  a  loaded  car  is  a  few  inches 
less  than  the  height  of  the  grain  doors  and  varies  from 
four  feet  ten  inches  to  six  feet  four  inches,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  car.  Between  the  wheat  and  the  roof  of  the 
car  there  is  always  a  space  left,  two  feet  or  more  high,  in 
which  a  man  may  move  when  he  is  obtaining  samples  of 
the  grain  for  the  government  inspector  at  Winnipeg. 

Most  of  the  box-cars  now  in  use  for  transporting  grain 
are  of  two  sizes  only,  the  smaller  cars  having  a  capacity 
of  60,000  pounds  and  the  larger  ones  of  80,000  pounds, 
so  that  for  the  former  the  full  load  is  1,000  bushels  and 
for  the  latter  about  1,350  bushels.  During  the  last  two 
years,  however,  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company 
has  been  building  still  larger  cars  with  a  capacity  of 
94,000  pounds,  or  about  1,650  bushels.  The  loads  in  all 
cases  may  be  exceeded  by  shippers  to  the  extent  of  10  per 
cent,  of  the  car's  capacity  without  special  rates  being 
charged. 

Box-cars  require  to  be  strongly  built,  for  wheat  in  bulk, 
like  water,  exerts  an  enormous  pressure  upon  the  sides  and 
base  of  its  container.  In  constructing  the  grain  doors,  the 
original  intention  was  that  they  should  not  be  nailed  or 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  59 

fastened  in  any  way  when  being  set  in  position,  so  that  they 
might  be  lifted  on  the  arrival  of  the  car  at  a  terminal  ele- 
vator and  thus  allow  the  grain  to  flow  out  beneath  them. 
However,  it  very  frequently  happens  in  practice,  and  ap- 
pears to  be  now  the  rule,  that  farmers  or  elevator  operators 
nail  up  the  grain  doors  from  the  inside  of  the  car  before 
the  car  is  filled.  The  object  in  view  in  putting  in  the  nails 
is  to  prevent  absolutely  the  grain  doors  slipping  during 
the  switching  or  shunting  of  the  cars,  and  thereby  to  make 
quite  sure  that  no  leakage  of  grain  shall  occur  whilst  the 
car  is  in  transit.  When  a  car  with  nailed  doors  arrives  at 
a  terminal  elevator  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur,  it  is 
necessary,  in  order  to  liberate  the  grain,  to  smash  in  the 
doors  with  an  ax,  for  the  doors  cannot  be  pressed  back 
owing  to  the  weight  of  the  grain  or  lifted  owing  to  the 
presence  of  unseen  nails.  The  destruction  of  grain  doors 
at  the  terminal  elevators  takes  place  on  a  great  scale  and 
thousands  of  new  doors  to  replace  the  old  need  to  be  con- 
structed every  year. 

In  the  busy  season,  when  grain  is  flowing  freely  from  the 
prairie-land  to  Winnipeg  on  its  way  to  the  lake  front,  grain 
trains  are  made  up  at  the  divisional  railway  points ;  and 
night  and  day  such  trains,  often  composed  of  from  forty 
to  forty-five  heavily-laden  box-cars,  form  an  east-bound 
procession,  one  train  following  another  unceasingly.  Thus 
the  transportation  of  the  wheat  crop  makes  very  heavy  de- 
mands upon  the  railways  every  year.  To  give  some  idea 
of  what  these  demands  may  be,  it  is  only  necessary  to  men- 
tion that  following  the  great  crop  of  1915,  one  thousand 
cars  of  wheat  arrived  in  Winnipeg  each  working  day 
throughout  a  whole  year,  and  that  the  wheat  inspected  by 
the  Western  Grain  Inspection  Division  amounted  to 
338,425,200  bushels. 


60  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

XI.  Tenninal  Elevators 

Relatively  to  the  country  elevators,  the  terminal  ele- 
vators where  inspected  wheat  is  stored  ready  for  shipment, 
are  few ;  but  they  make  up  for  their  small  number  by  their 
immense  size.  Upon  the  immigrant,  passing  west  for  the 
first  time  and  on  the  look-out  for  wheat-fields,  the  imposing 
bulk  and  curious  form  of  the  terminal  elevators  at  Port 
Arthur  and  Fort  William  make  a  never-to-be-forgotten 
impression.  Thirteen  such  elevators  have  a  combined  ca- 
pacity of  41,750,000  bushels  or,  on  the  average,  of  3,000,- 
000  bushels  each.  Terminal  elevators  are  usually  con- 
structed of  concrete,  a  building  material  which,  although 
not  beautiful  to  look  at,  is  yet  well  suited  to  its  purpose ; 
for  it  gives  to  the  elevators  great  strength,  so  that  they  may 
resist  the  pressure  of  the  grain  in  the  bins,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  renders  them  non-inflammable  with  a  conse- 
quent saving  in  insurance  against  fire. 

In  the  mind  of  the  immigrant,  when  first  he  beholds  one 
of  the  huge  terminal  elevators,  some  very  curious  questions 
are  apt  to  arise,  for  while  he  has  heard  of  the  vast  crops 
of  wheat  which  are  produced  annually  in  western  Canada, 
he,  of  necessity,  is  ignorant  of  the  means  whereby  the 
grain  is  handled  for  export :  "  I  wonder  what  all  those 
great  big  pillars  are  for?  They  seem  to  be  quite  solid; 
but  I  never  before  saw  a  building  with  such  thick  pillars 
as  those.  They  don't  seem  to  be  supporting  much  above 
them.  Ah !  perhaps  they  are  hollow ;  but  why  have  they 
not  got  windows?  How  do  people  see  when  working  in 
them?  I  suppose  they  are  lit  up  with  electric  light.  I 
wonder  whether  they  have  spiral  staircases  ?  I  suppose 
the  bins  are  on  different  floors  in  each  column;  but  how 
on  earth  is  the  wheat  put  into  them  and  taken  out  again  ?  " 
And  so  forth ;  but  the  immigrant  does  not  stand  alone,  for 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  61 

many  a  man  who  has  been  long  resident  in  western  Canada 
knows  as  little  about  the  workings  of  a  terminal  elevator 
as  he  does  about  the  mechanism  of  his  own  digestive  sys- 
tem. On  passing  a  mighty  building,  beautifully  special- 
ized to  handle  grain  in  the  most  efl&cient  and  economical 
manner,  some  there  are  who  regard  the  pile  with  no  more 
than  the  mild  curiosity  with  which,  to  use  an  expression  of 
Martin  Luther,  a  cow  looks  at  a  new  gate :  the  mystery  in 
concrete  is  tacitly  accepted  as  insoluble;  but  others  with 
more  enquiring  minds  actively  desire  to  learn  how  it  car- 
ries on  its  functions,  and  it  is  for  these  that  the  following 
pages  have  been  written. 

A  terminal  elevator  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur  is 
situated  upon  the  lake  front,  so  that  the  grain  which  it  con- 
tains may  be  passed  directly  into  the  hold  of  a  lake 
steamer.  It  is  usually  divided  into  two  parts :  the  working 
house  and  the  storage  bins.  The  working  house  is  rectan- 
gular in  shape,  much  higher  than  it  is  long  or  broad,  and 
has  numerous  windows  in  its  upper  half.  Here  the  wheat 
is  received  from  the  box-cars,  elevated,  weighed,  tempo- 
rarily stored  in  smaller  bins,  and  cleaned.  Here,  too,  are 
situated  the  shipping  bins  from  which  the  wheat  passes  into 
the  freight  vessels.  The  storage  bins,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  great  concrete  cylinders  which  stand  vertically  upright 
and  are  connected  by  concrete  where  they  are  in  contact. 
There  may  be  several  parallel  rows  of  them.  The  space 
between  any  four  adjacent  cylinders  is  not  wasted  but  is 
used  as  a  smaller  bin.  Kunning  over  the  top  of  each  row 
of  bins  is  a  passageway  which  leads  from  the  upper  part 
of  the  working  house.  The  grain  is  conveyed  along  these 
passages  and  is  deposited  in  the  bins  from  above.  Each 
bin  can  be  filled  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  and  a  single 
cylinder  may  hold  as  much  as  30,000  bushels  of  grain. 
Under  each  row  of  bins  there  is  a  tunnel  leading  to  the 


62  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

base  of  the  working  house.  The  wheat  is  let  out  of  a  bin 
through  a  hole  in  its  base.  The  capacity  of  an  elevator 
depends  on  the  size  and  number  of  its  cylindrical  storage 
bins.  The  bins  are  cylindrical  because  engineers  have 
found  that  cylindrical  bins  resist  the  pressure  of  the  grain 
within  them  better,  and  require  less  concrete  in  their 
frame,  than  bins  of  any  other  form.  In  order  to  compre- 
hend more  fully  the  working  of  a  terminal  elevator,  let  us 
follow  a  car-load  of  wheat  into  the  building,  observe  what 
is  done  with  it,  and  watch  it  being  shipped  away. 

A  car  of  wheat  which  has  been  inspected  at  Winnipeg 
is  brought  to  the  elevator.  The  seals  on  its  two  outer 
side  doors  are  broken,  the  grain  doors,  if  nailed  up,  are 
smashed  with  an  ax,  and  a  large  part  of  the  grain  then 
pours  out  of  the  car.  A  man  then  enters  the  car  and,  by 
means  of  a  wooden  scoop  pulled  by  chains  from  the  work- 
ing house,  quickly  evacuates  all  the  wheat  which  has  re- 
mained. The  emptying  of  a  car  occupies  about  ten  min- 
utes. The  wheat  falls  down  on  each  side  of  the  car 
through  a  grating  into  an  opening  in  the  ground  known 
as  a  receiving  pit.  From  the  pit  the  wheat  is  conveyed 
on  a  revolving  belt  or  conveyor  which  is  lower  along  the 
center  than  at  the  sides,  to  the  base  of  the  working  house 
where  it  is  elevated  to  the  top  of  the  house  by  means  of 
buckets  attached  to  an  endless  rubber  belt.  On  arriving 
at  the  top  of  the  house,  the  wheat  is  weighed  in  a  scale, 
the  whole  car-load  at  one  time.  It  is  then  stored  tem- 
porarily in  one  of  the  many  small  bins  available  in  the 
working  house,  cleaned  if  necessary,  and  treated  in  any 
way  desired.  It  is  then  transferred  from  floor  to  floor 
by  spouts  until  it  reaches  the  top  of  the  storage  bins. 
Here  it  is  carried  along  on  the  top  of  another  revolving 
belt  which  runs  in  the  passageway  over  the  top  of  the 
storage  bins ;  and  it  is  diverted  into  whichever  of  the  bins 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  63 

the  operator  wishes  to  fill.  The  different  grades  of  wheat 
are  kept  in  separate  bins.  If,  therefore,  our  car-load  of 
wheat  has  been  graded  at  Winnipeg  as  No.  1  l^orthem,  it 
would  be  deposited  in  a  'No.  1  N^orthern  bin,  if  as  No.  2 
]N"orthern,  then  in  a  No.  2  ISTorthern  bin;  and  so  forth. 
When  a  car-load  of  wheat  has  been  put  in  a  bin  with  other 
wheat  of  the  same  grade,  it  loses  its  identity  and  cannot 
again  be  recovered.  Wheat  in  a  terminal  elevator  is  there- 
fore stored  in  bulk  according  to  grade.  This  storage  in 
bulk  greatly  simplifies  the  work  of  the  elevator  and  cheap- 
ens the  cost  of  handling  the  grain.  The  wheat  is  not  only 
stored  in  bulk  according  to  grade  but  is  also  bought  and 
sold  for  export  in  the  same  manner.  We  have  seen  our 
car-load  of  wheat  pass  into  the  elevator,  be  weighed, 
cleaned,  and  deposited  in  a  storage  bin,  but  here  we  lose 
it  as  such:  if  it  was  No.  1  Northern,  we  simply  know 
that  it  has  been  mixed  with  other  wheat  in  a  No.  1  North- 
ern bin.  Wheat  which  has  arrived  at  the  elevator  after 
the  formation  of  ice  has  brought  navigation  to  a  close, 
i.  e.,  after  the  middle  of  the  second  week  in  December, 
must  be  kept  in  storage  until  the  next  May  when  naviga- 
tion is  again  resumed  or  be  shipped  away  on  an  all-rail 
route. 

When  it  is  desired  to  ship  away,  say,  100,000  bushels 
of  No.  1  Northern,  the  wheat  in  certain  of  the  No.  1 
Northern  storage  bins  is  let  out  through  their  bases  into 
the  tunnels,  conveyed  by  belts  running  horizontally  along 
the  tunnels  to  the  bottom  of  the  working  house,  elevated 
by  buckets  to  the  top  of  the  working  house,  and  there 
weighed  in  the  scales.  After  being  weighed,  it  is  sent 
down  the  elevator  through  a  system  of  spouts  into  one  or 
more  of  the  shipping  bins,  and  from  there  it  is  conveyed 
by  spouts  on  the  outside  of  the  elevator  into  the  hold  of  a 
vessel  or  into  a  railway  car. 


64  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

The  passage  of  wheat  through  a  terminal  elevator  is  by 
far  the  cheapest  and  most  eflScient  means  of  taking  it  from 
the  box  cars  and  getting  it  on  board  a  lake  freight-boat,  for 
loading  simply  consists  of  letting  the  wheat  out  from  a 
shipping  bin  through  a  spout  so  that  it  flows  by  its  own 
weight  into  the  hold.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  cargo 
boats  can  be  loaded  from  a  terminal  elevator  is  truly  as- 
tonishing. The  average  loading  run  to  any  boat  is  about 
30,000  bushels  an  hour ;  but  the  record  speed  for  loading  at 
the  head  of  the  lakes  is  200,000  bushels  in  one  hour  and 
fifty-five  minutes. 

There  are  thirteen  terminal  elevators  at  Port  Arthur 
and  Fort  William,  one  at  Vancouver  and  one  at  the 
Hudson  Bay.  In  addition  there  are  four  so-called  interior 
terminal  elevators.  These  are  situated  on  the  prairie  far 
from  any  lake  or  ocean  port,  at  Transcona  (near  Winni- 
peg), Calgary,  Saskatoon,  and  Moosejaw.  The  Trans- 
cona elevator  was  built  by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
to  give  reserve  storage  and  so  relieve  the  pressure  in  the 
elevators  at  the  lake  front  when  such  relief  is  needed. 
It  also  serves  to  supply  part  of  the  grain  milled  between 
Transcona  and  the  lake  front.  The  terminal  elevators  at 
Calgary,  Saskatoon,  and  Moosejaw  have  been  erected 
by  the  Government,  not  to  take  the  place  of  the  lake  term- 
inal elevators  for  grain  being  shipped  east  but  with  a 
view  to  supplying  the  needs  of  the  Hudson  Bay  and 
Panama  routes  when  these  come  to  be  used.  At  the  same 
time,  they  bring  the  work  of  inspection  somewhat  nearer 
the  grain-growing  area,  give  additional  storage  capacity 
in  times  of  emergency,  and  provide  useful  hospital  ap- 
paratus for  drying  wheat  damaged  by  rain  or  snow  be- 
fore it  is  sent  on  a  long  railway  journey  to  the  lake 
front.22 

22  Cf.  Robert  Magill,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  54-56. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  65 

XII.  Lake  Steamers 

Upon  the  Great  Lakes,  there  is  a  large  fleet  of  boats 
especially  constructed  to  carry  commodities  in  bulk,  such 
as  coal,  iron  ore,  and  grain.  The  distance  between  ports 
is  short  and  the  lake  boats,  as  compared  with  ocean-going 
boats,  therefore,  require  but  little  coal  for  each  journey. 
In  consequence,  the  amount  of  space  devoted  to  coal  in 
any  ship  is  small  whilst  the  cargo  space  is  relatively 
large. 

Each  vessel  is  an  elongated  shell  with  its  machinery  at 
the  rear  end  and  the  living  quarters  for  the  crew  placed 
on  deck.  The  hull  is  divided  by  two  or  three  transverse 
walls  from  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  to  the  deck,  so  that 
the  number  of  holds  is  usually  three  or  four.  The  deck 
completely  covers  these  holds,  and  is  provided  along  the  cen- 
ter with  a  series  of  hatches  which  may  be  opened  for  the 
introduction  or  removal  of  the  cargo.  When  a  vessel  is 
being  loaded  with  wheat,  the  grain  is  spouted  into  the 
holds  from  the  shipping  bins  of  an  elevator  until  all  the 
holds  are  full.  Three  or  four  spouts  may  be  discharging 
wheat  at  one  and  the  same  time.  When  a  boat  has  been 
loaded,  the  hatches  are  put  on  so  as  to  close  the  holds 
tightly  and  thus  prevent  rain  or  snow  or  lake  water  from 
entering  and  damaging  the  cargo.  From  time  to  time, 
great  storms  rage  upon  the  lakes,  and  many  of  these  vessels 
have  been  wrecked. 

''  The  capacities  of  these  ships,"  says  Piper,  "  are 
enormous.  An  average  car-load  of  wheat  is  a  little  more 
than  1,200  bushels.  The  average  train  load  consists  of 
about  forty  cars  or  48,000  bushels.  The  larger  boats  will 
carry  over  300,000  bushels  of  wheat  equivalent  to  seven 
train  loads,  or  about  three  hundred  cars.  The  largest 
boat  now  on  the  lakes  will  carry  nine  train  loads.     The 


66  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

best  record  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  lias  yet  reached 
is  to  haul  into  Fort  William  a  little  more  than  1,000  cars 
of  grain  a  day.  Therefore  only  three  or  four  of  these  big 
ships  a  day  are  required  to  take  care  of  all  the  grain  this 
railway  can  deliver.  These  ships  are  loaded  at  the  rate 
of  from  75,000  to  100,000  bushels  per  hour  and  unloaded 
at  the  rate  of  from  20,000  to  40,000  bushels  per  hour,  de- 
pending on  the  machinery  equipment  of  the  elevators  per- 
forming the  service."  ^^ 

Transportation  of  freight  by  water  is  always  cheaper 
than  by  rail.  It  is  the  recognition  of  this  principle  that 
has  led  to  the  development  of  Fort  William  and  Port 
Arthur,  and  which  has  brought  into  existence  the  busy 
fleet  of  freighters  on  the  Great  Lakes.  A  single  large 
vessel  costs  only  as  much  as  a  few  miles  of  railway  track 
and  it  moves  upon  a  medium  which  is  forever  renewed 
by  Nature  herself,  so  that  it  never  wears  out  or  needs 
repairing  by  man.  On  a  water  route,  there  is  no  invest- 
ment in  a  roadbed  or  in  rails,  bridges,  telegraph  lines,  or 
costly  terminal  yards.  The  relative  cheapness  of  lake 
as  compared  with  rail  transportation  is  shown  by  a  cal- 
culation of  Piper  who  states  that  one  of  the  big  lake  boats 
"  carrying  six  or  seven  train  loads,  will  run  eleven  or 
twelve  miles  an  hour  or  about  as  fast  as  the  average  speed 
of  freight  trains,  with  a  coal  and  labor  cost  of  about  one^ 
quarter  as  much  as  on  the  railroad.''  ^* 

XIII.  The  Lake    Shippers'  Clearance  Association 

At  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur  there  are  now  four- 
teen public  terminal  elevators  all  of  which  deliver  grain 

23  C.   B.  Piper,  Principles  of  the  Grain  Trade,  The  Empire  Ele- 
vator Company  Limited,  Winnipeg,  2nd  edition,  1917,  pp.  19-20. 
24.1hid.,  p.  20. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  67 

to  boats.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  shipper  of  a  large  cargo 
of  wheat  has  received  warehouse  receipts  showing  that  the 
grain  to  be  loaded  is  distributed  in  all  these  elevators. 
If  now  it  were  necessary  for  him  to  send  his  boat  first  to 
one  elevator  to  receive  a  few  thousand  bushels,  and  then 
to  another  elevator  for  a  few  more  thousand  bushels,  and 
so  forth,  much  valuable  time  would  be  consumed  and  the 
cost  of  loading  would  be  considerably  increased.  More- 
over, each  small  amount  loaded  would  require  to  be  treated 
as  a  separate  cargo,  and  the  documents  and  records  would 
be  greatly  multiplied. 

To  make  it  unnecessary  for  ships  to  be  moved  continu- 
ally from  one  elevator  to  another,  to  save  clerical  work, 
and  thus  to  facilitate  the  dispatch  of  the  grain  from  the 
lake  front,  there  has  been  formed  a  voluntary  organiza- 
tion known  as  the  Lake  Shippers'  Clearance  Association. 
The  shippers  who  are  members  of  the  Association  exchange 
warehouse  receipts  with  one  another,  and  thus  each  ship- 
per concentrates  his  cargo  which  he  desires  to  load,  in 
one  or  two  elevators.  If,  for  instance,  a  shipper  had 
warehouse  receipts  for  200,000  bushels  of  No.  1  Northern 
of  which  50,000  bushels  were  contained  in  each  of  four 
elevators,  he  would  notify  the  office  of  the  Association,  and 
the  manager  would  make  an  arrangement  that  the  shipper 
should  load  his  boat  with  200,000  bushels  of  No.  1  North- 
em  from  one  only  of  the  four  elevators.  The  shipper's 
warehouse  receipts  for  No.  1  Northern  in  three  of  the 
elevators  would  be  exchanged  for  warehouse  receipts  for 
No.  1  Northern  belonging  to  other  shippers  whose  grain 
was  in  the  particular  elevator  from  which  it  was  ar- 
ranged that  the  shipper  should  draw  his  whole  cargo. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Lake  Shippers'  Clearance  Associa- 
tion carries  out  its  function  in  such  a  way  as  to  save 


68  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

both  time  and  labor  in  the  transportation  of  grain. 
Its  work  in  the  end  is  therefore  beneficial  to  the  whole 
community. 

XIV.  The  Canada  Grain  Act 

As  the  grain  business  in  western  Canada  grew  in  volume 
and  importance,  the  farmers  often  complained  of  the 
treatment  they  received  from  the  elevator  companies. 
They  accused  the  elevators  of  unjust  weighing  and  grad- 
ing, of  paying  prices  that  were  too  low  and  exacting 
charges  for  handling  the  grain  in  the  elevators  that  were 
too  high,  of  not  cleaning  the  grain,  of  refusing  to  give 
special  bins,  of  pooling  profits,  of  killing  competition,  and 
of  forming  monopolies.  They  also  complained  that  rail- 
way companies  discriminated  among  the  applicants  in  the 
distribution  of  cars,  and  that  buyers  of  grain  in  various 
ways  took  advantage  of  the  grain  growers.  This  dissatis- 
faction caused  Parliament  to  regulate  the  business  of 
handling  grain  by  passing  a  succession  of  measures. 
Finally  this  legislation  was  codified  in  the  Canada  Grain 
Act  of  1912.25 

The  Canada  Grain  Act  creates  a  Board  of  Grain  Com- 
missioners to  administer  the  Act,  defines  the  statutory 
grades  of  wheat,  etc.,  arranges  for  the  establishment  of 
commercial  grades,  and  regulates  the  grading  and  weigh- 
ing of  grain.  It  also  contains  provisions  concerning  the 
construction  of  loading  platforms,  the  operation  of  ele- 
vators, the  distribution  of  railway  cars,  and  the  trading 
between  the  farmer  on  the  one  hand  and  the  track  buyer 
and  conmaission  merchant  on  the  other.  The  Act  requires 
each  person  buying  grain,  and  each  person  or  company  op- 

25  Cf.  Eobert  Magill,  Grain  Inspection  in  Canada,  Department  of 
Trade  and  Commerce,  Ottawa,  1014,  p.  14. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  69 

erating  a  country  elevator,  to  take  out  an  annual  licence 
and  to  furnish  bonds  for  such  an  amount  as  the  Board  of 
Grain  Commissioners  may  demand;  and  it  further  pro- 
vides the  machinery  for  the  investigation  of  all  complaints 
made  in  writing  under  oath.  The  whole  tendency  of  the 
Act  is  to  give  the  farmer  as  nearly  as  can  be  accom- 
plished an  absolute  guarantee  of  fair  dealing. 

XV.  The  Sample  Market 

Many  years  ago,  both  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
wheat  was  sold  by  sample  only;  but,  as  the  grain  trade 
grew  in  volume  and  complexity,  this  proved  unsatisfac- 
tory. It  was  then  that  the  grading  system  was  intro- 
duced, first  at  Minneapolis  and  Duluth  and,  subsequently, 
about  1884,  at  Winnipeg.  The  grading  system  permits 
of  wheat  being  sold  and  stored  according  to  grades,  the 
grades  being  determined  by  government  inspectors. 

For  the  last  thirty  years,  the  wheat  of  western  Canada 
has  been  sold  almost  entirely  by  grade,  and  sales  by 
sample  have  been  relatively  few  and  unimportant.  How- 
ever, a  few  years'  ago,  a  desire  was  expressed  on  the  part 
of  a  number  of  farmers  that,  while  the  sale  of  wheat  by 
grade  should  be  continued,  facilities  should  also  be  given 
for  selling  by  sample.  As  a  result,  by  Order-in-Council 
signed  at  Ottawa  in  August,  1917,  sample  trading  was 
approved.  Sample  rooms  are  now  provided  by  the  govern- 
ment in  the  Grain  Exchange  at  Winnipeg,  and  at  Fort 
William  and  Port  Arthur. 

A  farmer  wishing  to  sell  his  grain  by  sample,  marks 
his  shipping  bill  when  shipping  his  grain,  in  care  of  the 
sample  market.  On  arrival  of  the  consignment  at  Winni- 
peg a  sample  is  drawn  from  the  car  by  the  government 
samplers  and  is  inspected  in  the  usual  way.     A  part  of 


YO  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

it  is  then  taken  to  the  sample  market  at  Winnipeg  and 
another  part  is  expressed  to  the  sample  room  at  Fort 
William  and  Port  Arthur.  The  car  from  which  the  sam- 
ple has  been  taken,  is  sent  from  Winnipeg  to  the  head 
of  the  lakes,  the  journey  of  420  miles  usually  occupying 
several  days.  If,  on  arrival  at  Fort  William  or  Port 
Arthur,  the  grain  in  the  meantime  has  not  been  sold  by 
sample,  it  is  binned  in  a  terminal  elevator  in  the  usual 
way,  in  accordance  with  the  grade  given  to  it  at  Winni- 
peg. It  can  then  only  be  sold  by  grade.  To  the  sample 
market  grain  merchants  come,  examine  the  samples  on 
exhibit  at  their  leisure,  form  their  own  judgment  as  to 
values,  and,  if  they  are  so  inclined,  make  competitive  bids 
for  the  wheat  on  sale.  On  the  other  hand,  samples  may 
be  exposed  without  any  bids  being  made. 

The  sample  market  in  western  Canada  has  only  been 
organized  on  a  government  basis  during  the  last  two 
years,  and,  up  to  the  present,  has  been  but  little  used. 
However,  the  two  years  have  been  war  years  during  which 
the  price  of  wheat  has  been  fixed.  Whether  or  not,  when 
normal  conditions  in  the  grain  trade  are  resumed,  selling 
by  sample  will  prove  popular  and  thereby  affect  selling 
by  grade  in  any  considerable  degree,  remains  to  be  re- 
vealed by  the  passing  years. 

XVI.  The  Grades  of  Grain 

The  grades  or  classes  of  wheat  are  numerous  and  varied, 
for  this  cereal,  when  marketed  by  the  farmer,  is  by  no 
means  uniform  in  its  admixtures,  its  condition,  or,  if  clean 
and  in  sound  condition,  in  its  milling  qualities. 

The  admixtures  of  wheat  may  consist  of  other  cereals 
such  as  barley  and  oats,  or  of  flaxseed,  or  of  various 
weed  seeds,  such  as  those  of  Wild  Mustard,  Wild  Oats, 


WHEAT    IN    WESTEKN    CANADA  '71 

Pigweed,  and  Stinkweed.  These  admixtures  must  be  re- 
moved before  tbe  wheat  can  be  milled  into  flour,  and  their 
presence  therefore  decreases  the  value  of  the  wheat  to 
the  buyer.  Whenever  a  sample  of  wheat  is  graded,  the 
admixtures  are  separated  by  sieving  and  weighed.  The 
percentage  of  admixtures  is  then  determined,  and  this  is 
called  setting  the  dockage.  The  amount  of  the  dockage 
influences  the  price  at  which  the  wheat  may  be  sold,  and 
its  accurate  determination  is  therefore  a  very  important 
part  of  grain  inspection. 

The  condition  of  wheat  is  affected  by  various  causes. 
Among  these  are  such  diseases  as  smut,  wheat  scab,  and 
rust.  Smut  balls  are  diseased  kernels  filled  with  several 
millions  of  black  spores,  the  reproductive  bodies  of  the 
smut  fungus.  When  smutted  grain  is  threshed,  many  of 
the  smut  balls  break  and  scatter  their  spores  over  the 
sound  kernels  so  that  the  latter  become  blackened  and  dirty 
in  appearance.  Moreover,  smutted  grain  has  a  very  evil 
odor,  smelling  like  decaying  fish.  Smutted  wheat,  there- 
fore, must  be  thoroughly  scoured  before  it  can  be  milled. 
Wheat  scab  causes  wheat  kernels  to  take  on  a  pink  ap- 
pearance. Rusted  kernels  are  usually  quite  sound  al- 
though shriveled,  but  it  sometimes  happens  that  they  be- 
come black-pointed  owing  to  the  presence,  at  the  stalk  end 
of  the  kernel,  of  a  little  pustule  of  black  spores  of  the  rust 
fungus.  Wheat  may  contain  too  large  a  percentage  of 
moisture  and  thus  be  tough,  damp,  or  wet.  It  may  also 
be  frosted,  dirty,  musty,  heating,  or  bin-burnt.  Frosted 
grains  are  known  by  their  wrinkled  skin.  Heating  and 
burning  in  the  bin  so  that  the  grains  may  even  become 
charred,  only  take  place  when  the  wheat  contains  too 
much  moisture. 

The  different  varieties  of  wheat,  when  free  from  ad- 
mixtures and  sound,  differ  from  one  another  in  their  yield 


72  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

of  flour  both  as  to  quality  and  quantity.  Different  lots 
of  a  single  variety  of  hard  spring  wheat,  such  as  Red 
Fife  or  Marquis,  may  vary,  with  the  conditions  under 
which  they  have  been  produced,  in  weight  per  bushel,  in 
plumpness,  in  color,  and  in  milling  and  baking  qualities. 
Hard  spring  wheat  may  also  contain  a  smaller  or  greater 
number  of  soft  kernels  of  some  other  variety,  with  a  pro- 
portionate reduction  in  the  grade.  The  supreme  test  of 
wheat  is  its  milling  and  baking  qualities.  Judged  by  this 
test,  however,  the  crop  of  even  a  single  variety  is  never 
quite  uniform,  and  the  difference  between  two  distinct 
varieties  is  often  very  great. 

When  wheat  is  classified  according  to  its  freedom  from 
admixtures,  its  soundness,  and  its  milling  and  baking 
qualities  as  indicated  by  hardness  and  softness,  the  result- 
ing classes  are  known  as  grades.  Let  us  now  consider 
the  nature  of  these  grades  for  western  wheat. 

The  statutory  grades  are  the  highest  grades,  are  defined 
in  the  Grain  Act,  and  do  not  vary  with  the  crop.  There 
are  four  of  these  grades  for  spring  wheat. 

No.  1  Manitoba  Hard.  This  wheat  must  be  sound  and 
well  cleaned,  weighing  not  less  than  60  pounds  to  the 
bushel,  and  must  be  composed  of  at  least  75  per  cent,  of 
Hard  Red  Fife  or  Marquis.^^ 

No.  1  Manitoba  Northern.  This  wheat  must  be  sound 
and  well  cleaned,  weighing  not  less  than  60  pounds  to 
the  bushel,  and  must  be  composed  of  at  least  60  per  cent, 
of  Hard  Red  Fife  or  Marquis. 

26  The  definitions  here  given  are  taken  from  the  Canada  Grain  Act 
of  1912,  with  the  exception  of  the  words  or  Marquis.  The  definitions 
were  made  when  Red  Fife  was  the  dominant  wheat  in  the  West ;  but, 
soon  after  Marquis  began  to  be  largely  grown,  it  became  necessary  to 
make  provision  for  the  new  wheat  in  the  statutory  grades.  The 
words  or  Marquis  were  therefore  added  after  Red  Fife  by  an  order 
of  the  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  T3 

No.  2  Manitoba  Northern.  This  wheat  must  be  sound 
and  reasonably  clean,  of  good  milling  qualities  and  fit 
for  warehousing,  weighing  not  less  than  58  pounds  to 
the  bushel,  and  must  be  composed  of  at  least  45  per  cent, 
of  Hard  Red  Fife  or  Marquis. 

No.  3  Manitoha  Northern.  Any  wheat  not  good  enough 
to  be  graded  No.  2  Manitoba  Northern  is  graded  No.  3 
Manitoba  Northern  at  the  discretion  of  the  Inspector.^'' 

The  commercial  grades  are  grades  which  on  account 
of  climatic  or  other  conditions  cannot  be  included  in  the 
grades  established  by  the  Grain  Act.  The  grain  of  one 
year  often  differs  so  much  from  that  of  another  that  the 
lower  or  commercial  grades  require  to  be  defined  annually. 
The  commercial  grades  are  set  by  the  Western  Grain 
Standards  Board  and  at  present  are  three  in  number: 
No.  4  Wheat,  No.  5  Wheat,  and  N"o.  6  Wheat. 

The  term  no  grade  is  applied  to  all  good  grain  that  has 
an  excessive  amount  of  moisture  in  that  it  is  tough,  damp, 
or  wet,  or  grain  which  is  otherwise  out  of  condition  and 
unfit  for  warehousing. 

The  term  condemned  grain  is  applied  to  all  grain  that 
is  in  a  heating  condition  or  that  is  badly  bin-burnt  of 
whatever  grade  it  might  otherwise  be. 

The  term  rejected  grain  is  applied  to  all  grain  that  is 
unsound,  musty,  dirty,  smutty  or  sprouted,  or  that  con- 
tains a  large  admixture  of  other  kinds  of  grain,  weeds, 
or  wild  oats,  or  that  from  any  other  cause  is  unfit  to  be 
classed  under  any  of  the  recognized  grades. 

We  thus  see  that  there  are  seven  chief  grades  of  west- 
ern hard  red  spring  wheat,  which,  with  the  word  Mani- 
toha left  out  as  is  the  custom  among  farmers  and  grain 
dealers,  are  as  follows: 

27  There  is  also  the  grade  ~^o.  1  Hard  White  Fife,  but  very  little 
of  this  wheat  is  grown  in  the  West. 


74  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


:n'o. 

1  Hard, 

ISTo. 

1  Northern, 

:n-o. 

2  Northern, 

ISTo. 

3  Northern, 

No. 

4  Wheat, 

No. 

5  Wheat, 

No. 

6  Wheat. 

statutory  grades  defined  by  Parlia- 
ment. 


commercial  grades  defined  by  the 
Standards  Board. 

Each  of  the  three  grades  of  Northern  and  each  of  the 
three  commercial  grades  is  subdivided,  for  the  wheat  in 
any  of  these  grades  may  fall  under  the  general  categories 
of  no  grade,  condernned,  or  rejected.  Thus,  for  instance, 
there  are  at  present  six  divisions  of  the  grade  No.  1  North- 
em  as  follows : 

No.   1  Northern, 

No.  1  Northern  Tough, 

No.  1  Northern  Damp, 

No.  1  Northern  Smutty, 

No.  1  Northern  —  Kejected  on  account  of  seeds, 

No.   1  Northern  —  Rejected  on  account  of  heat. 
We  thus  obtain,  in  addition  to  the  one  grade  for  No.  1 
Hard,  thirty-six  grades.     But  the  list  of  grades  is  not  ex- 
hausted with  these,  for  we  may  have  grades  consisting  of 
combinations  such  as: 

No.   1  Northern  Damp  and  Smutty, 

No.  1  Northern  Smutty  Rejected  on  account  of  seeds ; 
and  so  forth. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  great  rust  year,  1916,  the  Stand- 
ards Board  defined  for  the  crop  year  1916-17  an  addi- 
tional grade  known  as  No.  4  Special.  This  grade  in- 
cluded grain  which  had  been  badly  shriveled  by  rust. 
Its  minimum  weight  per  measured  bushel  was  only  54 
pounds.     There  is  no  such  grade  this  year,  1918-19. 

There  is  a  grade  which  is  generally  recognized  by  buy- 
ers and  sellers  known  as  Feed,  but  it  has  not  been  defined 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  'iTS 

by  the  Standards  Board.  It  includes  any  grain  which  is 
not  good  enough  to  he  put  into  No.  6  Wheat.  Grain 
known  as  Feed,  as  the  name  suggests,  is  used  for  feeding 
animals. 

XVII.  The  Grading  of  Grain 

An  essential  element  in  the  grain  business  of  western 
Canada  is  the  classifying  or  grading  of  grain  by  govern- 
ment inspectors.  The  wheat  is  bought,  sold,  transported, 
and  stored  in  bulk  according  to  grade.  If  wheat  which 
comes  into  the  market  is  graded  too  low,  the  farmer  suffers 
an  undeserved  loss  and  the  miller  or  grain  buyer  reaps  an 
undeserved  gain.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  wheat  is 
graded  too  high,  the  positions  of  the  farmer  and  miller 
are  reversed :  the  farmer  gains  and  the  miller  loses.  The 
exact  price  of  all  grain  sold  in  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change depends  on  the  grade,  there  being  a  spread  of  sev- 
eral cents  a  bushel  between  any  lower  grade  and  the  next 
higher  one.  Since  the  question  of  grade  enters  into  prac- 
tically every  grain  transaction  in  western  Canada,  the 
importance  of  the  accurate  determination  of  grade  and 
the  great  responsibility  resting  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
government  inspectors  at  once  become  obvious. 

The  government  inspector  is  in  a  very  delicate  position. 
On  the  one  hand  he  is  liable  to  receive  complaints  from 
farmers  for  grading  wheat  too  low  and  in  thus  beina:  too 
severe  in  his  judgments,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is 
equally  liable  to  receive  complaints  from  millers  for  grad- 
ing wheat  too  high  and  in  thus  being  too  lenient  in  his 
judgments.  In  addition  to  this,  he  may  be  criticized  by 
the  grain  merchants  either  as  too  severe  or  as  too  lenient 
according  as  they  themselves  are  sellers  or  buyers.  Thus 
the  inspector  is  in  the  position  of  an  arbitrator  who  daily 


'?'6  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

must  make  decisions  of  great  importance  which,  are  binding 
upon  two  opposed  and  powerful  interests.  For  him,  there- 
fore, as  he  values  his  peace  of  mind  and  his  security  as  a 
government  official,  there  is  only  one  safe  path  to  tread, 
the  path  of  absolute  impartiality.  In  order  to  secure  this 
impartiality  in  the  determination  of  grades,  a  grading 
system  has  been  evolved  of  such  a  kind  that  neither  the 
samplei's  who  take  the  samples  of  wheat  from  the  box- 
cars nor  the  inspectors  who  grade  the  samples,  have  the 
least  idea  whence  the  grain  has  come,  to  whom  it  belongs, 
or  to  whom  it  is  consigned.  The  inspectors  must  there- 
fore grade  the  grain  simply  on  its  merits  in  accordance 
with  the  standards  set  up  for  their  guidance. 

The  task  of  determining  the  grade  of  wheat  is  by  no 
means  an  easy  one.  The  inspectors,  says  Magill,  "  have 
to  inspect  an  enormous  volume  of  grain  per  car  unit, 
and  in  certain  seasons  they  must  work  rapidly  and  con- 
tinuously during  daylight.  They  must  never  be  bewild- 
ered either  by  the  variety  or  continuity  in  which  nature 
revels,  or  by  the  multiplicity  of  grades  of  which  the  terms 
are  neither  very  distinct  nor  unambiguous.  They  have 
few  mechanical  aids.  Their  senses  must  always  be  keen, 
and  their  judgment  always  sound,  for  one  error  will  be 
remembered  against  years  of  efficient  service.  Their  work 
is  of  supreme  importance,  for  their  verdict  fixes  which 
rate  per  bushel,  out  of  several  quoted  on  the  market,  the 
seller  will  receive,  and  the  grain  is  stored,  transported,  and 
sold  both  at  home  and  abroad  on  their  certificate."  ^^ 

For  the  whole  of  Canada  there  are  two  inspection  divi- 
sions. The  Western  Inspection  Division  stretches  from 
the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  Eastern 
Division  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Atlantic   Ocean. 

28  R.  Magill,  Grain  Inspection  in  Canada,  Department  of  Trade 
and  Commerce,  Ottawa,  1914,  p.  20. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  T7 

The  law  and  practice  of  grading  are  the  same  in  both; 
but,  as  the  varieties  of  grain  grown  in  the  West  are  differ- 
ent from  those  grown  in  the  East,  the  inspectors  of  the 
Western  Division  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  grain  grown 
in  the  Eastern  Division  and  the  inspectors  in  the  Eastern 
Division  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  grain  grown  in  the 
Western  Division.  The  Chief  Inspector  alone  has  juris- 
diction in  both  divisions. 

The  Chief  Inspector  for  the  whole  Dominion  is  Mr. 
George  Serls,  a  gentleman  who  by  his  integrity  has  won 
the  confidence  of  all  who  are  interested  in  the  grain  trade. 
At  Winnipeg  the  Inspector  is  Mr.  J.  D.  Eraser, ^^  and  the 
number  of  Deputy  Inspectors  is  thirteen,  ten  of  whom 
work  together  at  the  grading  tables  at  any  one  time.  In 
addition,  the  inspection  staff  includes  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  samplers,  yard  foremen,  clerks,  and  other  assistants. 
In  order  to  become  eligible  for  the  position  of  inspector 
or  deputy  inspector,  the  candidate  must  first  pass  exam- 
inations conducted  by  a  Board  of  Examiners  with  the  aid 
of  the  Chief  Inspector.  The  examiners  "  are  experi- 
enced grain  men,  men  of  integrity,  ability,  and  standing, 
and  men  who,  though  wealthy,  are  willing  to  render  their 
service  in  the  interests  of  the  grain  industry.  The  exam- 
inations are  conducted  annually,  and  they  are  thoroughly 
practical  tests  of  the  ability  to  grade.  Usually,  though 
not  always,  the  candidates  are  men  who  have  been  working 
as  samplers,  track  foremen,  weighmen,  etc.,  and  usually 
not  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  candidates  succeed 
in  passing.  After  passing  the  examination,  the  candidate 
is  appointed  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Chief  Inspector. 
Neither  in  the  examination,  the  recommendation,  nor  the 

29  To  Mr.  Fraser  I  am  much  indebted  for  showing  me  through  the 
grading  rooms  and  for  giving  me  a  detailed  explanation  of  the 
grading  system. 


T8  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

appointment  have  political  considerations  any  place,  and 
this  applies  throughout  the  service."  ^^ 

If  the  Government  were  to  attempt  to  grade  wheat  at 
the  country  railway  stations  from  which  the  wheat  is 
shipped  in  the  first  place,  an  army  of  samplers  and  skilled 
graders  would  be  required  instead  of  a  few,  the  cost  of 
grading  would  be  greatly  increased,  and  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  give  the  work  of  grain  inspection  the  necessary 
uniformity.  It  so  happens  that  most  of  the  grain  for  ex- 
port passes  on  its  way  to  the  head  of  the  lakes  through 
Winnipeg;  and  it  has  therefore  been  found  convenient 
to  concentrate  the  work  of  grading  in  this  city.  Other 
inspections,  however,  are  made  at  Calgary,  Moose  jaw,  and 
Saskatoon,  at  Fort  William,  Port  Arthur,  and  Duluth, 
the  formula  for  inspection  being  everywhere  the  same. 

The  Government  has  rented  rooms  in  the  building  of  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  and  in  these  rooms  most  of 
the  wheat  in  western  Canada,  and  all  that  passes  through 
Winnipeg,  is  graded.  Here,  too,  the  Chief  Inspector  for 
the  Dominion  has  his  office. 

When  a  grain  train  from  the  West  arrives  at  Winnipeg, 
a  sample  of  wheat  is  taken  from  each  car,  the  other  de- 
tails necessary  for  issuing  certificates  are  collected  in  the 
railway  yards,  and  both  samples  and  details  are  taken 
to  the  inspection  office  in  the  Grain  Exchange.  The  in- 
spectors determine  the  grade  of  wheat  in  any  car  from  the 
sample  supplied  them,  and  it  is  therefore  very  necessary 
that  each  sample  shall  be  properly  secured.  The  length 
of  time  between  harvesting  and  the  close  of  navigation  at 
the  head  of  the  lakes  is  only  about  seventy  days.  It  is 
therefore  essential  that  box-cars  containing  grain  shall  be 
delayed  for  as  short  a  time  as  possible  at  Winnipeg. 
Moreover,  hundreds  of  cars  arrive  in  Winnipeg  during  the 

80  R.  Magill,  loc.  dt. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  79 

busy  season  every  twenty-four  hours.  The  work  of  sam- 
pling, therefore,  has  to  be  carried  out  at  all  hours,  by 
night  and  day,  both  on  Sundays  and  week  days.  An 
accurate  and  detailed  description  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  samplers  and  graders  carry  out  their  work  has  been 
given  by  Robert  Magill,  the  Secretary  of  the  Grain  Ex- 
change, and  this  will  now  be  quoted. 

^^  The  samplers  work  together  in  gangs  in  shifts  of 
eight  hours.  They  work  in  gangs  because  teani  work 
is  more  efficient  than  solitary  effort.  Usually  the  gang 
consists  of  fourteen  men,  four  of  whom  are  track  foremen, 
eight  are  samplers,  one  is  a  car  opener  and  one  a  car 
sealer.  .  .  .  The  track  foremen  are  responsible  for  the 
efficiency  of  the  work,  each  foreman  usually  looking  after 
two  samplers. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  train,  the  conductor  leaves  the 
car  bills  in  the  railway  company's  yard  office.  The  train 
clerk  of  the  inspection  department  makes  a  list  of  these 
bills,  showing  the  car  numbers,  the  name  of  the  shipper,  the 
shipping  station,  the  destination,  and  the  name  of  the  per- 
son or  company  to  whom  the  car  is  billed.  These  de- 
tails are  necessary  for  the  issuing  of  the  certificates.  He 
takes  this  list  to  the  yard  office  of  the  inspection  depart- 
ment, and  hands  it  to  the  clerk  there.  This  clerk  is  also  a 
Government  employee,  and  his  work  is  to  prepare  the 
sheets  needed  in  the  inspection  office.  These  sheets  are 
two  in  number,  a  larger  and  a  smaller.  The  larger  sheet 
shows  all  the  details  mentioned^  and  the  smaller,  a  carbon 
copy,  only  shows  the  car  number  and  a  column  for  the 
grade.  Both  these  sheets  are  sent  to  the  inspection  office 
with  the  corresponding  samples,  but  the  larger  sheet  with 
all  the  details  is  given  to  the  clerical  staff  who  issue  the 
certificates,  while  only  the  smaller  sheet  is  given  to  the 
inspectors  who  grade  the  grain.     In  this  way  all  knowledge 


80  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

of  ownership  of  the  grain  is  kept  from  the  man  who  grades 
it.  He  does  not  know  whose  grain  he  is  grading;  his 
information  is  limited  to  the  number  of  the  car. 

"  When  the  train  is  ready  the  work  begins  immediately. 
A  train  consists  of  about  forty-five  cars,  and  the  gang 
should  finish  with  it  in  less  than  one  hour.  The  car 
opener  leads  off,  opening  the  car  doors,  and  placing  an 
empty  sample  bag  in  each  car.  These  bags  are  well 
cleaned  beforehand,  so  that  no  foreign  matter  shall  be 
mixed  in  the  sample. 

"  The  sampler  mounts  the  ladder,  enters  the  car  on 
the  top  of  the  grain,  and  drives  his  probe  into  the  grain 
several  times  and  at  several  points.  He  empties  the  grain 
each  time  out  of  the  probe  on  to  a  cloth  laid  on  the  grain 
near  the  car  door. 

"  The  space  between  the  grain  and  the  roof  is  not 
deep.  A  line,  called  the  load  line,  marked  on  the  in- 
side of  the  car,  shows  how  deep  the  car  should  be  loaded. 
It  sometimes  happens  that  a  car  is  loaded  so  full  that  a 
fair  sample  cannot  be  taken.  In  such  cases  the  fact  of 
the  overloading  is  put  on  the  ticket  by  the  sign  '  I.H./ 
which  means  ^  hold  for  inspection.'  Such  cars  are  pro- 
visionally inspected  at  Winnipeg.  The  car  numbers  are 
sent  to  Fort  William  with  instructions  to  inspect  while 
being  unloaded. 

"  Less  frequently  cars  are  '  plugged,'  loaded,  that  is  to 
say,  with  intent  to  get  some  low  grade  grain  past  the 
inspectors  by  concealing  it  somewhere  in  the  car.  The 
sampler  may  discover  the  fraud,  and  if  he  does  not  the  in- 
spector at  the  terminal  point  usually  does.  Plugging  is  a 
losing  game  for  the  shipper,  for  the  whole  car  is  graded 
according  to  the  quality  of  the  worst  grain  found  in  it. 

"  If  the  car  is  divided  by  partitions,  a  sample  is  taken 


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WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  81 

out  of  each  partition,  otherwise  the  unit  of  quantity  for 
sampling  is  the  car. 

^'  The  track  foreman  mounts  the  ladder,  leans  over  the 
car  door,  watches  the  probing,  mixes  up  the  sample  so  as 
to  secure  an  average,  puts  it  into  the  sample  bag,  writes 
the  sample  ticket,  inserts  the  ticket  in  the  sample  bag,  and 
on  descending  hangs  the  bag  on  the  car  door. 

"  His  name  is  stamped  on  the  back  of  the  ticket,  and  on 
the  face  he  writes  the  car  number,  the  date,  the  load  line, 
the  initials  of  the  sampler,  and  any  other  notations  neces- 
sary, e.  g.  leakages,  etc.  Should  any  question  arise  later 
about  the  sample,  the  ticket  shows  who  did  the  work,  the 
notations  made  at  the  time,  and  the  name  of  the  foreman 
responsible. 

^^  When  the  sampling  is  finished,  the  bags  are  collected, 
counted,  and  taken  to  the  Government  office  in  the  yard. 
The  numbers  on  the  sample  tickets  are  checked  with  those 
on  the  track  sheet  by  the  car  office  clerk,  and  both  the 
samples  and  the  sheets  are  sent  immediately  to  the  in- 
spection office. 

"  The  car  sealer  follows  the  samplers,  closing  and  seal- 
ing the  doors.  Every  car  is  sealed  at  the  shipping  point  by 
the  railway  agent.  The  object  of  sealing  is,  of  course,  to 
protect  the  grain  on  the  way.  At  Winnipeg  only  one  door 
of  the  car  is  opened,  and  therefore  only  one  seal  is  broken. 
The  car  sealer  reseals  that  door,  and  the  seals  are  not 
touched  again  until  the  car  is  placed  at  the  elevator  to  be 
unlocked. 

^'  When  the  samples  reach  the  office  they  are  set  out  on 
the  tables  according  to  number,  those  ending  in  0  —  2  — 
4,  etc.,  being  put  together.  Each  inspector  then  takes  his 
sheet,  the  small  one  prepared  by  the  car  office  clerk,  and 
picks  out  the  samples  the  numbers  of  which  correspond 


82  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

with  the  numbers  on  his  sheet,  and  he  places  them  in  large 
boxes  in  rotation  as  they  appear  on  the  sheets. 

'"  The  inspection  proper  then  begins.  As  good  light  is 
essential  to  grading,  the  inspection  begins  at  9  a.  m.  and 
ends  at  3  p.  m.  The  north  light  being  the  best,  each  in- 
spector does  his  grading  at  a  north  window.  The  actual 
grading  can  only  be  done  by  men  legally  qualified  and  ap- 
pointed either  as  deputy  inspector  or  inspector.  Inspec- 
tion turns  mainly  on  these  points:  the  quality  of  the 
grain,  the  condition,  and  the  admixtures.  The  quality 
depends  on  soundness,  color,  weight,  and  the  percentage 
of  hard  wheat.  The  condition  depends  on  moisture  con- 
tent (which  in  doubtful  cases  is  tested  mechanically), 
heat,  etc.  The  admixtures  are  tested  by  a  process  of 
sieving  and  weighing  called  setting  the  dockage.  In  this 
process  either  the  cleaned  grain  or  the  resulting  screen- 
ings can  be  weighed.  Both  methods  are  permissible  and 
both  give  accuracy.  At  Winnipeg  the  screenings  are 
weighed,  while  at  Fort  William  the  cleaned  grain  is 
weighed. 

"  When  the  grading  is  finished,  the  samples  are  put  into 
tins,  and  placed  systematically  in  shelves.  They  are  kept 
so  long  as  it  is  considered  possible  that  they  may  be  re- 
quired, and  then  they  are  sold. 

^'  The  inspector's  sheets  are  handed  over  to  the  clerical 
staff,  and  the  records  made,  and  the  certificates  of  grade 
issued." 

To  the  above  description  of  the  work  of  inspection 
at  Winnipeg,  a  few  supplementary  details  will  now  be 
added. 

The  railway  cars  are  distinguished  from  one  another 
by  numbers  painted'with  large  figures  on  both  their  sides ; 
but  they  are  not  labeled  with  tickets  showing  their  con- 
tents, origin,  etc.     Cars  in  which  goods  have  been  shipped 


WHEAT   IN   WESTERN    CANADA  83 

have  both  doors  sealed  at  the  shipping  point,  so  that  on 
the  arrival  of  a  train  at  Winnipeg  it  is  impossible  with- 
out breaking  the  seals  to  look  into  the  cars  and  see  what 
is  inside  them.  It  is  therefore  sometimes  asked :  how,  in 
the  case  of  a  mixed  train  in  which  some  of  the  cars  con- 
tain grain  and  other  merchandise,  does  the  car  opener 
know  which  cars  to  open?  The  answer  lies  in  the  in- 
foimation  given  by  the  train  conductor.  The  conductor 
has  a  way  hill  for  every  car  on  his  train,  and  the  way  bills 
provide  him  with  particulars  of  the  origin  of  each  car, 
its  destination,  the  shipper,  the  contents,  etc.  From  these 
way  bills  he  writes  out  on  a  card  a  irain  list  which  shows 
the  number  of  each  car  and  the  nature  of  the  contents. 
On  arrival  of  the  train  in  the  railway  yard,  he  takes  his 
way  bills  and  his  train  list  to  the  railway  yard  office. 
The  way  bills  are  then  given  to  the  clerk  in  the  inspection 
yard  office  and  the  train  list  is  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
car  opener.  The  car  opener  then  goes  out  to  the  train 
ahead  of  the  samplers  and  yard  foremen,  looks  at  his  train 
list,  and  opens  every  car  containing  wheat,  rye,  oats,  barley 
and  flax,  but  leaves  untouched  all  those  containing  mer- 
chandise, such  as  coal,  wood,  machinery,  etc.  It  is  thus 
the  conductor's  train  list  which  enables  the  car  opener  to 
do  his  work  with  the  necessary  discrimination. 

The  seals  on  railway  cars  are  composed  of  a  narrow 
band  of  soft  metal  with  a  perforation  at  one  end  and  a 
bulb  at  the  other.  After  the  ribbon  is  put  through  the 
hasp  of  the  closed  door,  the  end  with  the  perforation  is 
pushed  into  an  opening  in  the  bulb.  Two  tiny  split  rings, 
like  those  used  for  holding  keys,  hidden  in  the  bulb,  then 
come  into  play  and  lock  the  two  ends  of  the  ribbon  to- 
gether. It  is  impossible  to  get  at  these  rings  without 
breaking  open  the  seals.  The  seals  are  all  numbered,  and 
the  railway  company  keeps  a  list  of  all  those  supplied  to 


84  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  inspection  office.  As  soon  as  the  samplers  have  fin- 
ished their  work,  the  car  closer  pushes  the  outer  door  of 
each  car  into  the  closed  position  and  reseals  it.  As  soon 
as  all  the  cars  have  been  resealed,  he  puts  on  each  end  of 
the  train  a  ticket  which  states  that  the  work  of  sampling 
has  been  finished.  This  gives  notice  to  the  locomotive 
engineers  that  the  train  may  be  taken  on  to  Fort  William 
or  Port  Arthur.  All  trains  containing  grain  are  sampled 
immediately  on  their  arrival  at  Winnipeg  whatever  may 
be  the  time  of  day  or  night,  and  the  longest  grain  trains 
are  finished  with  in  about  an  hour.  The  work  of  sampling 
therefore  does  not  delay  a  train  at  Winnipeg  unduly. 

The  prohe,  referred  to  as  being  used  for  obtaining  sam- 
ples from  box-cars,  is  also  knowm  as  a  sampler  but  perhaps 
more  commonly  as  a  stahher.  A  stabber  consists  of  a 
double  brass  tube  which  is  pointed  at  its  base  and  closed 
at  both  ends.  Its  length  is  about  65  inches  and  its 
diameter  2  inches.  Both  tubes  are  perforated  on  one  side 
by  eleven  equidistant  coincident  apertures  each  of  which 
is  about  three  and  a  half  inches  long  and  one  inch  wide. 
Between  each  two  adjacent  apertures  are  unperf orated 
portions  of  the  tubes  about  tw^o  inches  long.  The  inner 
tube  is  divided  into  eleven  chambers  by  plugs  at  intervals 
so  that  each  aperture  leads  into  a  single  chamber.  The  in- 
ner tube  can  be  revolved  within  the  outer  one  by  means 
of  a  handle  at  the  top  of  the  instrument.  By  turning  the 
handle,  and  thus  revolving  the  inner  tube,  the  apertures 
leading  into  the  inner  tube  can  be  closed  or  opened. 

A  sampler,  when  using  his  stabber  in  a  car  of  wheat, 
first  closes  its  apertures  by  turning  the  handle.  He  then 
pushes  his  instrument  vertically  downwards  into  the  grain. 
The  deeper  the  stabber  is  pushed  into  the  grain,  the 
gTeater  is  the  resistance  which  the  grain  offers.  When 
the  point  of  the  stabber  is  near  the  car  floor,  considerable 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  85 

pressure  is  required  to  drive  it  home,  but  only  a  small  part 
of  the  stabber  is  left  unburiod  above  the  grain.     At  this 
stage  in  the  proceeding,  therefore,  the  sampler  often  ceases 
to  use  his  hands  and  prepares  for  a  new  effort  by  putting 
his  foot  upon  the  top  of  the  stabber  and  setting  his  back 
against  the  roof  of  the  car.     He  then  exerts  the  muscles  of 
his  body  and  one  leg  and  at  the  same  time  brings  to  his 
aid  the  whole  weight  of  his  body.     If  a  car  is  very  full, 
the  working  space  between  the  grain  and  the  roof  of  the 
car  may  be  so  small  that  the  sampler  may  find  it  necessary 
first  to  drive  the  stabber  for  some  distance  into  the  grain 
more  or  less  obliquely  and  then  to  force  it  into  a  vertical 
position.     When  the  pointed  end  of  the  stabber  has  reached 
the  bottom  of  the  car,  the  upper  end  by  this  time  being 
often  almost  buried,  the  sampler  turns  the  handle  of  the 
instrument,  thereby  allowing  the  grain  from  eleven  differ- 
ent levels  to  rush  into  the  eleven  chambers  in  the  interior 
of  the  inner  tube.     The  chambers  having  been  filled,  he 
again  turns  the  handle  and  thus  closes  the  apertures.     He 
then  pulls  out  the  stabber  from  the  grain  in  which  it  has 
been  immersed,  holds  it  lengthwise  just  above  a  long  piece 
of  cloth  by  the  grain  door,   and  turns  its  handle   so  as 
to  open  its  apertures  once  more.     Immediately  the  grain 
falls  out  of  the  eleven  chambers  on  to  the  cloth  where  it 
forms   a   row   of   eleven   corresponding   heaps.     At   least 
seven  stabs  are  made  in  each  car  of  wheat  and  the  number 
is  usually  nine.     The  cloth  by  the  grain  door  thus  comes 
to  have  deposited  on  it  at  least  seventy-seven  small  heaps  of 
grain  and  usually  ninety-nine  such  heaps.     Formerly  the 
stabbers  were  not  plugged  and  there  was  but  one  chamber 
in  each.  ^  The  wheat  was  then  poured  out  of  a  stabber 
through  its  open  handle,   the  bottom  wheat  coming  out 
last.     The  plugged  stabber  is  an  improvement  on  the  un- 
plugged but  takes  more  time  to  empty. 


86  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

As  the  space  between  the  top  of  the  grain  and  the  roof  of 
a  box-car  is  often  very  limited,  tall  men  are  at  a  disad- 
vantage in  the  work  of  sampling.  Taking  samples  re- 
quires considerable  physical  strength  and  endurance,  and 
cannot  be  undertaken  by  weaklings.  The  men  chosen 
as  samplers,  therefore,  are  of  medium  height  and  sturdy 
build. 

The  amount  of  wheat  taken  out  of  each  car  to  fill  the 
sample  bag  is  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  pounds,  and, 
relatively  to  a  car-load  which  varies  from  60,000  to  100,- 
000  pounds,  is  very  small  indeed. 

^ot  a  day  passes  without  from  one  to  six  cars  being 
found  unevenly  filled  or  plugged.  When  a  car  has  been 
found  to  be  unevenly  filled,  several  separate  samples  are 
taken  from  the  load.  Thus  in  one  case  which  came  under 
the  observation  of  the  writer,  a  sample  taken  from  the  up- 
per layers  of  the  load  graded  'No.  3  ^Northern,  another 
sample  taken  from  the  bottom  layers  at  one  end  of  the  car 
graded  No.  4  Smutty,  a  third  sample  taken  from  the 
bottom  of  the  other  end  of  the  car  also  graded  No.  4 
Smutty,  while  a  fourth  sample  representing  an  average 
for  the  whole  car  graded  ]^o.  4  Smutty.  The  shipper 
would  have  done  better  with  his  grain  had  he  put  a  parti- 
tion in  the  car  and  loaded  his  No.  3  Northern  at  one  end  of 
the  car  and  his  No.  4  Smutty  at  the  other  end.  The  in- 
spectors are  aware  that  uneven  filling  may  be  due  to  acci- 
dent as  well  as  to  design,  and  they  use  their  judgment  in 
penalizing  the  shipper  accordingly. 

If  a  car  is  too  full,  it  is  impossible  to  use  the  stabber 
properly.  Thus,  if  the  space  in  which  the  grader  must 
work  is  only  10  inches  high  at  one  end  of  the  car,  30 
inches  in  the  middle,  and  12  inches  at  the  other  end,  it 
is  impossible  for  the  sampler  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  sam- 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  87 

pie.  The  car  is  then  marked  for  inspection  at  Fort  Wil- 
liam or  Port  Arthur.  The  samples  are  then  taken  during 
unloading  as  the  grain  is  pouring  out  of  the  car  into  the 
grain  pit  just  prior  to  its  passing  into  a  terminal  elevator. 

Ten  graders  usually  work  side  by  side  at  the  long 
window  table  in  the  grading  room.  Standard  samples  of 
the  six  grades,  No.  1  to  No.  6,  are  kept  in  boxes  in  front  of 
each  grader,  so  that  he  may  refer  to  them  for  compari- 
son whenever  he  so  desires.  A  handful  of  wheat  from 
the  sample  of  each  car  inspected  is  put  into  a  pail  by  each 
grader,  the  grades  being  kept  separate.  The  pails  are 
emptied  monthly.  Thus  monthly  averages  can  be  com- 
pared for  the  information  of  the  inspectors. 

The  first  operation  in  the  work  of  grading  is  to  deter- 
mine the  weight  of  the  gtain  per  measured  bushel.  A 
piece  of  brown  paper  about  eighteen  inches  square  is 
spread  out  on  the  grading  table,  and  upon  it  is  set  an 
imperial  quart  measure,  made  of  brass  and  attached  to 
a  beam  balance.  The  sample  to  be  graded  is  then  poured 
from  its  bag  into  the  quart  measure  until  the  latter  over- 
flows. The  grain  is  then  stroked  off  level  at  the  top. 
The  balance  is  then  suspended  from  the  hand  and  the 
weight  moved  along  the  beam  until  equilibrium  has  been 
established.  The  number  of  pounds  weight  the  wheat 
weighs  per  bushel  is  then  read  off  directly  from  the  scale 
on  the  beam.  As  we  have  seen,  No.  1  Hard  and  No.  1 
Northern  must  weigh  not  less  than  60  pounds  to  the 
bushel,  and  No.  2  Northern  not  less  than  58  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  Weight  per  bushel  is  also  taken  into  account  in 
connection  with  other  grades,  and  its  determination  is 
therefore  an  important  feature  of  grading.  When  the 
weight  per  bushel  has  been  taken,  the  wheat  in  the  quart 
measure  is  poured  out  on  to  the  sheet  of  brown  paper. 


88  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

IJsiiallv  the  paper  is  then  taken  np  and  the  wheat  upon  it 
poured  back  into  the  sample  bag.  The  weight  per  bushel 
is  recorded  on  the  ticket  in  the  bag. 

When  there  is  the  least  chance  that  the  amount  of  dock- 
age may  influence  the  weight  per  bushel  to  the  extent  of 
affecting  the  grade,  the  dockage  is  removed  and  the  weight 
of  grain  per  measured  bushel  again  determined. 

To  estimate  the  amount  of  the  admixtures  of  weed  seeds 
and  oats,  etc.,  i.  e.,  to  set  the  dockage,  the  sample  is  poured 
out  on  to  the  sheet  of  brown  paper  and  then  thoroughly 
mixed  by  hand.  Then  one  pound  of  the  wheat  is  put 
into  a  hopper  and  weighed  out  on  a  balance.  The  in- 
spector then  takes  a  standard  sieve  with  ten  meshes  to 
the  inch  each  way  and  pours  the  pound  of  wheat  into  it. 
The  sieve  is  then  shaken  until  the  weed  seeds  have  come 
through,  leaving  the  wheat  behind.  If  buckwheat  is  pres- 
ent, this  is  left  behind  with  the  wheat,  and  the  wheat 
and  buckwheat  are  then  sieved  again  with  another  sieve 
of  special  construction  having  triangular  holes.  Through 
these  holes  the  buckwheat  passes,  leaving  the  wheat  be- 
hind. Then,  if  oats  or  wild  oats  are  present  with  the 
wheat,  the  oats  and  wheat  are  shaken  in  another  sieve  with 
larger  rounded  holes.  Through  these  holes  the  wheat 
passes,  leaving  the  oats  and  wild  oats  behind.  The  dock- 
age is  then  collected  and  weighed  on  the  same  balance 
that  was  used  for  weighing  out  the  original  pound  of 
wheat.  As  soon  as  equilibrium  has  been  established,  the 
percentage  of  dockage  for  the  wheat  is  read  off  directly 
from  the  scale  on  the  beam  bearing  the  weight  and  at 
once  recorded  on  the  sample  ticket.  By  weighing  the 
dockage  which  is  relatively  of  small  mass,  there  is  less 
chance  of  making  a  spill  than  when  weighing  the  cleaned 
grain.  If  any  of  the  dockage  should  be  spilled  before 
weighing,  the  spill  will  operate  in  favor  of  the  farmer. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  89 

In  testing  for  the  amount  of  moisture,  the  wheat  is 
spread  out  on  the  hrovm  paper  sheet  and  felt  with  the 
fingers.     Dry  wheat  slips  through  the  fingers  more  easily 
than  wheat  containing  a  considerable  proportion  of  mois- 
ture.    Tough  or  damp  wheat  gives  a  clammy  impression. 
Most  samples  of  wheat  can  be  classified  at  once  as  dry, 
tough,  or  damp  by  the  feel.     All  doubtful  samples  are 
tested  for  amount  of  moisture  in  a  Brown-Duvel  moisture 
tester.     The  test  is  carried  out  as  follows :     One  hundred 
grams  of  wheat  are  weighed  out  very  carefully  and  put 
into  a  glass  retort  with  150  cubic  centimeters  of  engine 
oil.     Then   a   thermometer,   passing  through  the   rubber 
cork  of  the  flask,  is  inserted  into  the  mixture  of  wheat  and 
oil.     The  switch  of  an  electric  heater  is  then  turned  on, 
and  the  temperature  of  the  contents  of  the  flask  is  raised  to 
180  °C.     The  oil  and  wheat  thus  come  to  be  raised  to  a 
temperature  far  above  the  boiling  point  of  water.     As 
a  consequence,  the  moisture  in  the  kernels  is  turned  into 
steam.     The  steam  is  conducted  through  a  glass  tube  which 
passes  into  a  tank  of  running  water.     Here  the  steam  is 
all  condensed  and  the  water  arising  from  it  runs  into  a 
glass  tube  graduated  according  to  percentages  of  moisture 
in  100  grams  of  wheat.     This  crop  year,  1918-19,  wheat 
having  up  to  14  per  cent,  of  moisture  is  passed  as  dry 
grain,  wheat  having  over  11  per  cent,  moisture  and  up  to 
IT  per  cent,  is  graded  as  tough,  and  wheat  with  more  than 
17  per  cent,  moisture  is  graded  as  damp.     About  ninety 
tests  with  the  Brown-Duvel   apparatus  for   determining 
moisture  are  made  every  day. 

The  grader,  as  we  have  seen,  has  mechanical  aids  at 
his  disposal  in  the  weighing  machine,  the  sieve,  and  the 
moisture  tester ;  but  for  the  rest  of  his  work  he  must  use 
his  sense  of  sight,  his  sense  of  touch,  and  his  sense  of  smell. 
The  fanner  tends  to  see  the  good  kernels  in  the  grain 


90  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

which  he  hauls  to  the  country  elevator,  but  it  is  the  business 
of  the  government  grader  to  find  the  poor  kernels  in  each 
sample  and  to  estimate  their  number  and  nature  relatively 
to  the  good  ones.  He  has  to  take  note  of  the  proportion  of 
shriveled  grains,  immature  grains,  smutted  grains,  pink 
grains,  soft  grains,  frosted  grains,  etc.,  and  in  forming 
his  judgment  must  rely  on  his  own  keen  senses,  his  ex- 
pert knowledge,   and  his  experience. 

The  charge  for  inspecting  a  car  of  wheat  is  60  cents, 
and  this,  added  to  40  cents  for  weighing,  makes  a  total 
inspection  and  weighing  charge  to  the  farmer  of  one 
dollar  per  car. 

An  inspector,  after  grading  a  sample,  at  once  writes 
down  his  report  on  his  sheet  containing  car  numbers. 
This  sheet  eventually  goes  to  the  clerical  staff  who  prepare 
the  certificates  of  grade. 

The  wheat  composing  any  sample,  after  being  graded, 
is  put  into  a  tin  box  which  is  nine  inches  long,  three  inches 
high,  and  three  inches  wide.  The  box  is  filled,  and,  when 
full,  holds  about  two  pounds  of  grain.  Each  box  is 
labeled  outside  with  the  car  number,  date,  etc.,  and  con- 
tains within  the  original  sample  ticket  which  now  sets 
forth  the  car  number,  the  initials  of  the  sampler,  the  name 
of  the  yard  foreman  who  put  the  sample  in  the  bag,  the 
depth  of  the  wheat  in  the  car,  the  grade,  the  amount  of 
dockage,  the  grader's  name,  and  the  dates  of  taking  the 
sample  and  grading.  The  boxes  are  carefully  filed  on 
shelves  in  the  sample  room.  The  sample  room,  which 
adjoins  the  grading  room,  at  any  one  time  contains  about 
60,000  tin  boxes  which  are  kept  filled  for  as  long  as 
they  are  likely  to  be  needed  for  reference  and  are  then 
emptied.  An  official  goes  through  the  sample  room  and 
empties  a  certain  number  of  boxes  each  day  and  thu5 
makes  room  for  new  ones  coming  daily  from  the  grading 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA 


91 


room.  The  contents  of  the  wheat  boxes  are  emptied  into  a 
sack  so  that  they  are  all  mixed  together.  This  mixed 
grain,  made  up  of  all  grades,  is  then  sold  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  proceeds  go  toward  paying  the  expenses 
of  the  Grain  Inspection  Department.  The  grade  at  which 
the  mixed  grain  is  usually  sold  is  ISTo.  3  Northern.  Any 
one  may  bid  for  the  grain  who  wishes.  A  considerable 
proportion  of  it  is  disposed  of  to  a  local  milling  company 
who  fetch  so  much  away  each  day. 

The  large  amount  of  work  which  falls  to  the  Western 
Grain  Inspection  Division  is  shown  by  the  following  sta- 
tistics.^^ 

Number  of  Cars  Inspected  in  the  Crop  Year  1916-17 


Point  of 
Inspection 

Wheat 

Oats 

Bar- 
ley 

Flax 

Rye 

Screen 
ings 

Totals 

Winnipeg    .  . 
Saskatoon    .  . 

Calgary    

Moosejaw  .  . . 
Medicine  Hat 
Duluth   

147,773 

5,377 
3,939 
4,634 
2,710 

2,585 

42,840 
1,331 
3,175 

822 

25 

612 

7,204 

42 

757 

21 

4 

147 

5,822 
234 
48 
121 
104 
113 

52 

71 

5 

62 

433 

9 
10 

204,124 
6,984 
7,999 
5,613 
2,843 
3,519 

Totals  .... 

167,018 

48,805 

8,175 

6,442 

190 

452 

231,082 

From  the  above  Table  the  dominating  position  of  Win- 
nipeg as  a  center  of  grain  inspection  may  be  readily  per- 
ceived. For  the  crop  year  1916-17,  147,773  cars  of 
wheat  out  of  a  total  of  167,018  were  inspected  in  that  city. 
During  the  busy  season  as  many  as  2,000  oars  are  often 
graded  by  the  Winnipeg  inspectors  every  day. 

31  The  statistics  are  taken  from  the  Ninth  Annual  Report  (new 
series)  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  Winnipeg,  Sept.,  1917. 
pp.  85,  87.  ^  f  B>       f  >  . 


92 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


Number  of  Cars  of  Wheat  Inspected  in  the  Western  Grain  In- 
spection Division  During  the  Crop  Years  Stated 


1908 70,527  cars 

1909 89,329  cars 

1910 81,506  cars 

1911 135,756  cars 

1912 125,969  cars 


1913 137,403  cars 

1914 95,926  cars 

1915 282,021  cars 

1916 167,018  cars 

1917 127,765  cars 


To  show  how  the  grades  are  distributed,  the  statistics 
for  the  grades  for  the  crop  years  1914,  1915,  and  1916 
may  be  quoted.  In  1915,  the  wheat  crop  was  the  largest 
ever  obtained  in  the  West,  while  in  1916  the  crop  suffered 
severely  from  the  rust  disease. 

Number  of  Cars  of  Different  Grades  in  the  Crop  Years  Stated 


Wheat 

1914 

1915 

1916 

Hard    No.    1 

Northern  No.  1   

21 

16,152 

32,735 

23,057 

1 

3,833 

3,848 

15,990 

216 

60 

13 

2,126 

138,117 

49,110 

36,497 

1 

21,962 

9,336 

23,954 

742 

82 

94 

79 
18,261 

Northern  No    2    

32,262 

Northern  No.  3    

30,207 

White  Fife   

No  Grade  and  Feed 

Rejected   

40,885 
3,171 

Commercial  Grades 

Winter  Wlieat 

41,828 
166 

Condemned    

Others 

93 
66 

Total  cars   

95,926 

282,021 

167,018 

The  importance  of  accurately  determining  the  grades 
of  car-loads  of  wheat  is  shown  by  the  following  Table 
which  gives  the  price  of  wheat  in  cents  per  bushel  for  the 
chief  grades  for  the  crop  year  1918-19.  These  prices 
were  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  as  a  war 
measure;  but  corresponding  differences   in  prices  affect 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA 


93 


the  grades  in  normal  years,  when  there  is  open  competi- 
tion in  buying  and  selling.  The  blanks  in  the  table  indi- 
cate prices  that  were  not  fixed. 

Fixed  Prices  in  Cents  per  Bushel,  for  the  Crop  Year  1918-19, 
for  Wheat  in  Store  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur 


Straight 
grades 


Tough 


Rejected 

on  account 

of  seeds 


Smutty- 


No.  1  Northern 
No.  2  Northern 
No.  3  Northern 
No.  4  Wheat.  .. 
No.  5  Wheat.  .. 
No.  6  Wheat..  . 


2241/2 
2211/2 
2171/2 
2111/2 
1991/2 
1901/2 


2I8I/2 
2151/2 
2091/2 


2141/2 
2111/2 
2O6I/2 


2151/2 

2121/2 
2O8I/2 


The  difference  in  price  between  two  grades  is  known 
as  the  spread.  From  the  above  Table,  it  is  clear  that 
the  spread  between  the  different  grades  is  often  consider- 
able. Thus,  in  respect  to  the  straight  grades,  the  spread 
is  as  follows :  between  ISTo.  1  Northern  and  l^o.  2  Northern, 
3  cents  per  bushel ;  between  No.  3  Northern  and  No.  2 
Northern,  4  cents ;  between  No.  4  Wheat  and  No.  3  North- 
em,  6  cents;  between  No.  5  Wheat  and  No.  4  Wheat,  12 
cents;  and  between  No.  6  Wheat  and  No.  5,  9  cents  per 
bushel.  The  spread  between  No.  6  Wheat  and  No.  1 
Northern  in  the  straight  grades  amounts  to  34  cents  per 
bushel.  The  grades  thus  very  materially  affect  the  price 
which  the  farmer  gets  for  his  wheat,  and  it  is  not  there- 
fore surprising  that  grades  and  grading  are  subjects  in 
•\^^hich  he  is  keenly  interested. 

XYIII.  Inspection  at  Terminal  Elevators 

One  of  the  chief  objects  in  grading  grain  is  to  classify 
the  grain  for  bulk  storage  in  the  terminal  elevators.     The 


94  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

individual  car-load  is  merged,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  bin 
containing  grain  of  the  same  grade;  and  thus  the  cost 
of  storage  is  lessened.  It  is  highly  important  that  the 
car-loads  should  be  deposited  in  their  right  bins  according 
to  grade. 

The  Winnipeg  inspection  governs  the  storage  in  the 
terminal  elevators  except  in  the  following  cases:  (1)  cars 
which  were  too  full  for  proper  sampling  at  Winnipeg,  (2) 
cars  that  have  been  "  plugged,"  (3)  cars  that  have  gone  out 
of  condition,  (4)  cars  on  which  reinspection  has  been 
asked,  and  (5)  cars  upon  which  an  appeal  to  the  Survey 
Board  has  been  demanded.  All  these  cars  are  sampled  and 
inspected  whilst  being  unloaded. 

Every  evening  the  Winnipeg  inspection  office  dispatches 
to  Fort  William  by  express  train  a  sheet  showing  the  car 
numbers  of  inspected  cars,  the  grade,  the  dockage,  the  in- 
spector's notations,  the  shipping  point,  the  destination,  the 
party  to  whom  the  car  is  billed,  and  the  number  of  the  in- 
spector's certificate.  As  trains  are  broken  up  at  Winni- 
peg, or  between  Winnipeg  and  Fort  William,  a  new 
train  sheet  is  made  out  at  Fort  William.  This  sheet  is 
made  from  the  car  bills  and  from  the  Winnipeg  sheet, 
and  it  shows  the  Winnipeg  sheet  number,  the  grade  and 
notations,  the  elevator  to  which  the  car  is  sent,  and  the 
shipping  point.^^ 

At  Fort  William  a  grade  ticket  is  then  made  out  for 
each  car  and  nailed  to  the  car.  As  the  grain  is  pouring 
out  from  the  car  during  unloading,  an  inspector  takes 
samples  at  intervals  with  a  ladle,  mixes  up  the  grain  thus 
taken,  and  then  decides  whether  or  not  the  grade  is  the 
same  as  that  on  the  grade  ticket.  Usually  the  grades, 
when  thus  checked  over,  are  confirmed.  Very  exception- 
ally they  are  found  to  be  different.     In  case  of  any  altera- 

32  Vide  R.  Magill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  35. 


r^^^^^^^^^B 

.^-  ■    T     \  ^ 

y    '    '     "^     \              ^ 

di?nm1^ 

{"                     -^^^^^w^- "       v^ 

WHEAT   IN   WESTERN    CANADA  95 

tion  in  grade,  the  Winnipeg  Inspection  office  is  notified 
by  wire,  and  the  Winnipeg  grade  after  investigation  may 
be  altered. 

A  report  of  all  cars  unloaded  at  each  terminal  elevator 
is  made  daily.  The  report  shows  the  carrying  company, 
the  car  number,  the  date,  the  Winnipeg  sheet  number,  the 
Fort  William  sheet  number,  the  grade,  the  dockage,  the 
seal  record,  the  condition  of  the  car  (damages,  leaks,  bulk- 
heads, etc.),  the  load  line,  the  inspection  notations  as  to 
grading,  cleaning,  etc.,  and  the  weighman's  notation. 
One  copy  of  the  report  is  supplied  to  the  elevator,  one  is 
sent  to  the  Chief  Inspector  at  Winnipeg,  and  one  is  re- 
tained in  the  inspection  office  at  Fort  William.  The  grain 
is  taken  into  storage  in  the  elevator  just  after  unload- 
ing and  is  binned  with  other  grain  of  the  same  grade. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  the  government  keeps  a  most  careful 
record  of  all  grain  entering  each  terminal  elevator.^* 

Wheat  is  not  only  graded  into  a  terminal  elevator  but 
it  is  also  graded  out  again.  '^  Grading  the  grain  as  it  is 
being  loaded  out  of  the  elevators  into  the  lake  steamers," 
says  Magill,  "  presents  some  difficulties  not  experienced  in 
Winnipeg.  It  is  easier  to  secure  a  fair  average  sample 
of  the  grain  in  a  standing  car,  than  to  secure  one  out  of  a 
mass  of  grain  rushing  in  several  streams  from  a  huge 
elevator  into  a  steamer.  Further,  the  car  sample  in  Win- 
nipeg is  graded  in  the  central  office  and  not  in  the  rail- 
way yard,  but  grain  being  loaded  into  a  steamer  must  be 
graded  there  and  then.  To  sample  the  grain,  send  the 
sample  to  a  central  office  and  grade  it  there,  might  mean 
that  the  wrong  grain  would  be  loaded  into  the  vessel,  and 
the  steamer  started  off  with  grain  different  from  that  called 
for  by  the  shipper.  To  unload  grain  out  of  a  vessel  at  Fort 
William  would  be  difficult,  as  there  are  no  marine  legs, 

33  Vide  R.  Magill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  39. 


96  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

and  to  delay  the  steamer  would  add  to  the  cost.  The  grain 
must  be  graded  as  it  runs  from  bin  to  boat. 

^'  An  inspector  with  assistants  is  placed  in  charge  of 
each  elevator,  and  he  is  held  responsible  for  the  grading 
out.  The  grain  is  sampled  at  three  places:  in  the  tun- 
nels as  the  grain  runs  from  the  storage  bins  to  the  work- 
ing house,  on  the  floor  of  the  working  house,  and  on  the 
steamer  as  it  pours  from  the  shipping  bin  into  the  hold. 

"  If  any  grain  is  seen  at  any  of  these  places  which  is 
not  up  to  the  required  grade,  the  stream  is  stopped  in- 
stantly. While  the  grade  is  given  by  the  inspector  in 
charge  of  the  elevator,  all  the  three  samples  are  sent  to 
the  inspection  office  at  Fort  William  and  examined  there. 
In  this  way  the  grading  by  the  inspector  in  the  elevator 
is  checked  by  the  grading  of  the  inspector  who  has  charge 
of  all  the  inspection  at  the  terminal  points,  Mr.  Symes. 
A  sample  of  every  cargo  with  the  Fort  William  inspection 
is  also  sent  to  the  Chief  Inspector  at  Winnipeg."  ^* 

XIX.  Reinspedion 

The  certificates  of  grade  for  each  car-load  are  sent  out 
to  those  who  should  receive  them  as  soon  as  they  have 
been  written,  and  the  corresponding  samples  are  filed  in  the 
sample  room.  The  ovniers  of  the  grain,  or  their  repre- 
sentatives, then  have  the  privilege  of  examining  the  sam- 
ples in  the  sample  room  and  thus  of  judging  whether  in 
their  opinion  the  grades  are  satisfactory.  Nearly  all  the 
samples  which  have  been  graded  in  the  government  grad- 
ing rooms  thus  come  to  be  checked  over  privately. 

If  the  owner  of  the  grain  in  a  car,  or  his  representative, 
is  dissatisfied  with  the  grade  given  by  the  Winnipeg  in- 
spector, he  may  ask  for  reinspection.  Owing  to  the  fact 
34  R.  Magill,  loc  cit.,  pp.  41-42. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  97 

that,  as  soon  as  a  sample  has  been  taken  from  any  car,  the 
car  is  dispatched  to  the  head  of  the  lakes  without  delay,  it 
is  necessary  that  reinspection  of  a  car  shall  be  made  not 
at  Winnipeg  but  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur.  The 
negotiations  to  secure  reinspection  take  place,  therefore, 
whilst  the  car  to  be  reinspected  is  moving  forward  to 
its  destination.  When  a  car  is  to  be  reinspected,  the  In- 
spection office  at  Fort  William  is  notified,  and,  as  soon 
as  the  car  arrives,  a  new  sample  is  taken  from  it  and 
graded.     There  is  no  extra  charge  for  reinspection. 

If,  after  reinspection,  the  owner  of  the  grain  is  still 
dissatisfied,  he  may  appeal  to  the  Winnipeg  Survey  Board. 
The  members  of  the  Board  are  recommended  for  their 
positions  by  the  Winnipeg  Board  of  Trade  and  by  the 
Ministers  of  Agriculture  of  Manitoba,  Saskatchewan,  and 
Alberta ;  and  they  are  all  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Grain 
Commissioners.  The  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Survey 
Board  are  made  by  the  Grain  Commission.  No  appeal 
can  be  made  on  grain  which  has  lost  its  identity  by  being 
mixed  with  other  grain.  If  the  inspector's  grade  is  con- 
firmed, the  owner  of  the  grain  pays  three  dollars  for  the 
survey;  but,  if  the  grade  is  altered,  there  is  no  charge. 
A  Survey  Board,  when  once  appointed,  is  independent 
during  its  period  of  office,  and,  in  cases  of  contested  grade, 
its  verdict  is  final. 

When  the  crop  is  of  high  grade,  very  few  appeals  are 
made ;  but,  when  the  crop  is  of  low  grade,  appeals  may  be 
as  numerous  as  2  per  cent.  Most  of  the  appeals  are  made 
on  what  are  known  as  line  grades,  i.  e.,  on  samples  which 
stand  very  high  in  a  grade,  near  the  line  between  its 
grade  and  the  next  higher  one.  When  a  sample  is  near 
a  dividing  line,  the  government  inspector  must  decide  the 
delicate  question  as  to  which  grade  the  sample  really  be- 
longs.    Here,  occasionally,  there  is  some  room  for  a  dif- 


98  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

ference  of  opinion  even  among  experienced  graders.  If, 
for  instance,  wheat  which  has  graded  No.  5  Wheat  is  a 
very  good  sample  of  wheat  in  that  grade  and  is  evidently 
very  near  the  line  separating  'No.  4  Wheat  from  No.  5, 
on  reinspection  it  may  happen  that  another  inspector  may 
put  it  in  No.  4  Wheat;  but  this  second  inspector  will 
doubtless  consider  it  to  be  only  a  very  poor  sample  of 
this  higher  grade  and  only  just  worthy  to  be  included 
in  it.  Of  the  appeals  made,  only  about  one  in  ten  re- 
sult in  any  change  being  effected.  Since  owners  of  grain 
do  not  usually  ask  for  reinspection  of  samples  which  are 
very  low  in  their  grades  and  which  might  on  reinspection 
be  put  down  a  grade,  the  reinspections  that  are  called  for, 
if  they  residt  in  a  change  at  all,  usually,  but  not  always, 
result  in  a  rise  of  grade  and  not  a  fall. 

XX.  Weighing  Wheat 

It  is  just  as  important  for  a  shipper  of  wheat  to  obtain 
accurate  weights  as  it  is  to  obtain  accurate  grades,  for 
weighing,  equally  with  grading,  affects  the  total  amount 
of  money  he  will  receive  for  his  grain. 

Weighing  of  grain  may  seem  to  be  a  very  simple  me- 
chanical process;  but,  for  various  reasons,  it  is  difficult 
to  carry  out  with  uniform  success  in  western  Canada.  In 
the  first  place,  grain  is  received  into  upwards  of  3,000 
country  elevators,  and  it  is  weighed  at  every  elevator;  in 
the  second  place,  the  men  who  weigh  the  grain  at  the  ele- 
vators are  employees  of  the  elevator  companies  and  not  of 
the  State ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  at  the  terminal  elevators 
the  grain  is  weighed  after  it  goes  into  the  elevator  and  not 
before. 

In  the  terminal  elevators,  the  work  of  the  elevator 
weighman  is  supervised  by  a  Government  employee;  but, 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  99 

on  account  of  the  number  of  weighmen  who  would  be  re- 
quired, such  constant  supervision  could  scarcely  be  pro- 
vided at  the  country  elevators.  As  we  have  seen,  if  a 
shipper  is  not  satisfied  with  the  grade  of  his  wheat,  he 
can  call  for  reinspection  and  appeal.  Dissatisfaction  with 
weights,  however,  cannot  be  so  easily  remedied.  In  most 
cases,  wheat,  after  being  weighed,  is  binned  with  other 
grain  and  cannot  again  be  obtained  as  an  entity  for  re- 
weighing.  It  is  only  possible  to  re-weigh  satisfactorily 
when  there  has  been  no  leakage  between  the  scale  and  the 
receiving  pit  or  between  the  receiving  pit  and  the  scale, 
and  when  the  wheat  concerned  has  been  stored  separately. 

The  scales  in  the  country  elevators  are  inspected  and 
approved  by  inspectors  of  the  Inland  Eevenue  Depart- 
ment ;  but  there  are  so  many  elevators  that  it  has  not  been 
possible  to  visit  each  scale  and  thoroughly  inspect  it  more 
than  about  once  a  year.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that  the 
scales  are  apt  to  get  out  of  order,  other  difficulties  con- 
nected with  weighing  are  to  be  found  in  car  damage  and 
leakage,  pilfering,  and  occasional  dishonesty  of  one  of 
the  weighmen.  Since  a  government  official  cannot  be  pres- 
ent to  watch  all  the  weighing  that  goes  on  in  country  ele- 
vators, and  with  a  view  to  protecting  the  shipper,  the 
Canada  Grain  Act  provides  that  ''persons  interested  in 
the  weighing  of  grain  shall  have  free  access  to  the  scales 
while  such  grain  is  being  weighed.''  A  farmer,  there- 
fore, if  he  chooses,  can  always  supervise  the  weighing  of 
his  grain.  Falsifying  or  misstating  weights  is  heavily 
penalized ;  and,  if  a  farmer  is  dissatisfied  with  the  scale  at 
a  country  elevator,  he  can  apply  for  an  inspector  who  will 
at  once  visit  the  scale  and  investigate  its  condition. 

Some  farmers  have  set  up  on  their  farms  private  scales 
of  their  own  and  weigh  each  wagon  load  of  grain  before 
hauling  it  to  the  country  elevator.     By  this  means  they 


100  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

know  what  their  grain  should  weigh  on  the  scale  of  the 
country  elevator  and  thus  have  a  check  upon  the  work  of 
weighing  performed  b}^  the  elevator  operator. 

There  is  a  Chief  Weighmaster  who  has  charge  of  all 
the  weighing  in  Canada.  His  authority  is  exercised  under 
the  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners.  At  the  terminal 
elevators  he  is  also  the  scale  inspector  and  is  thvis  re- 
sponsible at  the  lake  front  not  merely  for  weighing  but  for 
the  condition  of  the  scales. 

A  car  of  grain  which  has  been  shipped  from  a  country 
elevator  or  a  loading  platform,  is  inspected  for  grade  at 
Winnipeg  but  is  not  weighed  officially  until  it  arrives  at 
Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur.  When  a  car  has  been 
brought  into  place  or  spotted  at  the  siding  of  a  terminal 
elevator,  it  is  at  once  examined  for  defects  or  leakages 
and,  if  such  are  found,  a  record  is  made  of  the  car  num- 
ber and  the  condition.  The  seals  on  the  doors  are  also 
observed  and  a  record  is  made  of  their  numbers  and 
whether  or  not  they  are  intact.  The  outer  doors  of  the 
car  are  then  drawn  aside,  the  depth  of  the  grain  in  the 
car  is  measured,  and  the  load  line  noted.  One  or  both 
of  the  grain  doors  are  then  removed,  and  the  grain  is  un- 
loaded into  the  grain  pit.  From  this  pit  it  is  elevated 
to  the  hopper  above  the  scale  in  the  working  house,  and 
it  is  then  weighed  by  the  elevator  company's  weighman 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Government  weighman.  A 
draft  ticket  which  shows  the  amount  which  has  been 
weighed,  is  then  punched  by  the  scale  register.  A  record 
of  the  weight  is  taken,  and  upon  this  the  certificate  of 
weight  is  issued.^^ 

XXI.   Warehouse  Receipts,  Registration,  and  Stochtahing 

When  grain  has  been  received  into  a  terminal  elevator 
35  Vide  R.  iMagill,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  46-47. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  101 

at  the  lake  front,  weighed,  and  binned,  a  warehouse  receipt 
for  it  is  issued  to  the  person  who  delivered  the  grain. 
Upon  this  receipt  is  set  down  the  place,  the  date,  the  ship- 
ping point,  the  name  of  the  owner,  the  kind  and  grade  of 
the  grain,  the  net  weight,  and  the  car  number. 

The  warehouse  receipt  is  first  sent  to  the  registration 
ofiice  of  the  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners  at  Fort  Wil- 
liam where  it  is  compared  with  the  inspector's  report  of 
the  cars  unloaded  at  the  elevator  in  question.  If  found 
correct  it  is  registered. 

On  receipt  of  the  bill  of  lading,  the  warehouse  receipt 
is  given  to  the  owner  of  the  grain.  When  a  shipper  has 
obtained  such  a  receipt:  he  may  sell  his  grain,  if  not  al- 
ready sold,  for  cash;  or  make  delivery  of  his  grain,  if 
sold,  by  handing  over  the  receipt  for  a  cheque;  or  use 
the  receipt  as  collateral  security  for  a  loan  from  his  bank. 

When  grain  is  passed  out  of  a  terminal  elevator  into 
a  lake  steamer  or  box-car,  the  warehouse  receipt  repre- 
senting it  must  be  presented  to  the  registration  office  for 
cancellation  within  seventy-two  hours  after  loading  of 
the  grain  has  been  accomplished. 

The  registration  records  of  the  registration  office  show 
the  total  quantities  of  the  various  grains  by  grades  re- 
ceived into  and  shipped  out  of  each  elevator.  The  in- 
spection and  weighing  departments  also  possess  such  rec- 
ords, so  that  the  operations  of  each  elevator  are  well 
watched. 

The  Government,  in  carrying  out  its  work  of  supervis- 
ing the  grain  business,  annually  takes  stock  of  all  grain  in 
each  terminal  elevator.  In  the  month  of  August,  officers 
of  the  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners  go  into  each  ele- 
vator and  make  out  statements  showing  the  kinds,  grades, 
and  weights  of  the  grain  in  each  house.  The  registration 
clerks   add  up  the   receipts    issued   and   canceled   during 


102  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  year ;  and  thus,  for  every  elevator,  the  annual  surplus 
or  shortage  of  grain  is  determined.  The  information  so 
obtained  is  then  published  for  the  information  of  every 
one  interested. 

The  Government  in  response  to  the  demand  of  the  grain 
growers  for  increased  governmental  control  of  the  market- 
ing of  grain,  erected  in  1912-14  at  Port  Arthur  an  ele- 
vator with  a  capacity  of  3,500,000  bushels^  and  subse- 
quently built  other  large  terminal  elevators  at  Vancouver, 
Moose  jaw,  Saskatoon  and  Calgary.  Thus  the  Govern- 
ment procured,  at  first-hand,  knowledge  of  the  cost  of 
elevator  construction  and  operation.  Farmers  now  have 
a  wide  choice  of  terminal  elevators  at  the  lake  front. 
They  may  ship  to  an  elevator  operated  by  the  Government 
as  a  public  utility,  to  one  of  three  elevators  operated  by 
their  own  trading  companies,  to  an  elevator  owned  by 
either  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  the  Canadian  ISTorth- 
ern  Railway  or  the  Grand  Trunk  Pacific  Railway,  or, 
finally,  to  one  of  the  elevators  operated  by  a  commercial 
company.^® 

XXII.  The  Dominion  Grain  Research  Laboratory 

The  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners  was  established  to 
administer  the  Canada  Grain  Act  of  1912.  In  the  course 
of  its  work,  it  was  continually  encountering  problems  re- 
lating to  grain  which  demanded  solution  by  patient  study 
and  research,  and  its  first  chairman.  Dr.  Robert  Magill, 
therefore  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  Grain  Research 
Laboratory.  As  a  result,  the  Laboratory  came  into  exist- 
ence at  Winnipeg  in  the  year  1914. 

The  Grain  Research  Laboratory  is  under  the  direction 
of  Dr.  F.  J.  Birchard,  who  is  ably  assisted  by  Mr.  A.  W. 
86  Cf.  R.  Magill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  54. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  103 

Alcock  and  other  investigators.  It  is  equipped  with  an 
experimental  mill,  a  fermenting  cupboard,  an  electric  bak- 
ing oven,  moisture  testers  of  various  designs,  and  much 
other  apparatus.  The  chief  aims  of  the  laboratory  are, 
firstly,  to  study  problems  which  relate  to  the  keeping 
qualities  of  grain  when  it  is  under  transportation  or  in 
storage,  and,  secondly,  to  gather  information  which  may 
be  used  as  a  basis  for  placing  the  grading  of  grain  on  a 
more  scientific  basis  than  has  hitherto  been  possible. 

It  is  often  asked:  What  is  the  normal  amount  of 
moisture  in  grain?  Does  frosted  wheat  and  immature 
wheat  heat  more  readily  than  normal  wheat  of  the  same 
moisture  content  ?  How  much  moisture  can  the  different 
grades  of  grain  safely  carry  without  heating  in  cars  or 
boats  or  when  stored  in  elevators  ?  To  these  questions 
which  are  vitally  important  to  the  grain  trade,  some  an- 
swer must  be  given  every  day.  However,  the  problems 
suggested  by  them  can  only  be  solved  by  long-continued 
observations  and  careful  scientific  work  such  as  is  being 
carried  out  in  the  Grain  Research  Laboratory. 

One  of  the  experiments  already  made  by  Dr.  Birchard 
and  Mr.  Alcock  was  the  trial  shipment  of  wheat  in  bulk 
from  Vancouver  to  London  via  the  Panama  Canal ;  and,  as 
we  have  seen,  it  was  crowned  with  success. 

Difficulties  concerning  the  proper  grading  of  grain  are 
constantly  coming  to  the  fore.  Thus,  in  the  autumn  of 
the  great  rust  year,  1916,  the  comparative  milling  value 
of  rusted  grain  and  the  baking  qualities  of  the  flour  pro- 
duced were  matters  of  the  greatest  moment.  This  prob- 
lem was  immediately  studied  in  the  Grain  Research 
Laboratory  and  the  milling  yields  of  the  different  grades 
at  once  published.  An  exhibition  of  loaves  baked  from 
the  flour  of  rusted  and  non-rusted  grain  respectively  was 


104  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

made  on  the  floor  of  the  Grain  Exchange,  so  that  all  who 
were  interested  could  form  their  own  opinion  as  to  the 
value  of  the  different  grades  for  milling  purposes. 

Other  questions  in  which  the  laboratory  has  become  in- 
terested and  which  affect  grading  are  these :  What  is  the 
milling  value  of  tough  wheat  and  damp  wheat  as  com- 
pared with  straight-grade  wheat  ?  ^^  What  are  the  most 
suitable  temperatures  for  the  drying  of  tough  wheat  and 
damp  wheat  ?  What  value  should  be  given  in  grading  to 
spring-threshed  wheat  and  to  admixtures  of  grains  show- 
ing special  characteristics  such  as  immature  green  grains, 
pink  grains,  black-pointed  grains,  and  frosted  grains  ? 
According  to  the  Grain  Act,  wheat  grading  as  ISTo.  1 
N^orthern,  after  being  dried,  cannot  receive  a  higher  grade 
than  No.  3  Northern :  is  this  justifiable  ?  How  does  the 
grading  of  flax  seed  correspond  with  the  amount  and  qual- 
ity of  the  oil  extracted  from  each  grade  ? 

The  Western  Grain  Standards  Board,  which  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  of  Grain  Commissioners,  sets  the 
commercial  grades  ^^  of  wheat  each  autumn  from  the  first 
samples  of  the  new  crop  brought  to  Winnipeg.  Average 
samples  are  sent  as  soon  as  possible  to  Dr.  Birchard  who 
puts  them  through  the  usual  milling  and  baking  tests. 
He  then  submits  a  report  to  the  Grain  Standards  Board 
for  its  guidance  in  setting  the  commercial  grades.  The 
results  of  the  tests  are  published  yearly  at  Ottawa  in  the 
Monthly  Bulletin  of  Agricultural  Statistics  and  also  in 
trade  journals. 

37  Tough  wheat  is  wheat  which  carries  a  large  percentage  of 
moisture.  If  the  moisture  is  excessive,  the  wheat  is  known  as  damp 
wheat.     In  straight-grade  wheat,  the  amount  of  moisture  is  normal. 

38  The  statutory  grades  of  western  spring  wheat  are :  No.  1  Hard, 
No.  1  Northern,  No.  2  Northern,  and  No.  3  Northern.  The  Stand- 
ards Board  defines  such  additional  grades  as  No.  4  Wheat,  No.  5 
Wheat,  and  No.  G  Wheat,  each  having  subdivisions.  Vide  supra. 
Section  XVI. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTEKN    CANADA  105 

XXIII.  The  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange 
One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  facilitating  the 
marketing  of  the  wheat  of  the  Canadian  West  is  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange.  This  great  institution  was 
incorporated  in  1891,  and  subsequently,  in  1908,  was 
re-organized  as  a  voluntary  association  of  grain  dealers. 
At  first  there  were  only  ten  members,  and  the  entrance 
fee  was  $15  ;  but  now  the  members  number  more  than 
three  hundred,  and  the  value  of  the  seats  has  increased 
to  $5,000.  So  commanding  a  position  has  the  Exchange 
now  attained  that  the  leading  grain  dealers  on  the  con- 
tinent feel  it  imperative  to  become  membei^.  The  pres- 
ent Grain  Exchange  building  is  a  fine  and  massive  struc- 
ture which  cost  $2,000,000;  and  employed  within  its 
walls  are  more  than  fifteen  hundred  persons.^^  The  Ex- 
change compiles,  records,  and  publishes  statistics;  obtains 
and  distributes  information  respecting  the  produce  and 
provision  trades;  promotes  and  maintains  uniformity  in 
the  business,  customs,  and  regulations  in  these  trades 
among  those  engaged  in  them;  and  adjusts  controversies 
and  misunderstandings  arising  between  the  traders.*^ 
The  Exchange  spends  thousands  of  dollars  every  year  in 
its  telegraphic  comnmnications  with  the  consuming 
markets  of  the  world,  and  every  day  posts  on  blackboards 
the  prices  prevailing  at  London,  Liverpool,  Paris,  Buenos 
Ayres,  Chicago,  Minneapolis,  Kansas  City,  and  Duluth. 
Other  statistical  information  is  also  being  constantly  re- 
ceived and  given  to  the  press.  The  prices  prevailing  on 
the  Winnipeg  market  are  telegraphed  daily  to  at  least  four 
thousand  points  in  the  western  provinces.  All  this  in- 
formation is  given  to  the  farmers  without  charge,  so  that 

39  W.  E.  Milner,  The  President's  x\ddress,  Eighth  Annual  Keport 
of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  Sept.  13,  1916,  p.  29. 

40  These  functions  are  mentioned  in  the  articles  of  incorporation. 


106  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

nearly  all  of  the  agricultural  population  are  supplied  with 
figures  which  enable  sellers  to  dispose  of  their  grain  under 
conditions  which  they  consider  to  be  most  advantageous 
to  themselves. ^^  In  1915-16  the  Exchange  was  the  larg- 
est of  all  the  cash  wheat  markets  on  the  American  con- 
tinent.^2  j^^  ^j^^t  year  nearly  $500,000,000  were  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  Prairie  Provinces,  and  nearly  all 
of  this  business  was  by  verbal  or  telegraphic  communica- 
tion. So  high,  however,  were  the  business  ethics  of  the 
Exchange,  that  there  was  not  an  agriculturist  who  did 
not  receive  full  money  for  his  grain.^^  Through  the 
efforts  of  the  Exchange,  permanent  standards  have  been 
secured  for  the  various  grades  of  grain,  and  these  have 
proved  of  great  benefit  to  producers  and  grain  dealers 
alike  throughout  the  West. 

The  Grain  Exchange  provides  a  most  convenient  meet- 
ing place  for  buyers  and  sellers.  The  sellers  who  act 
either  directly  or  indirectly  for  the  producers,  are  the 
elevator  companies,  farmers'  trading  companies,  and  com- 
mission men ;  while  the  buyers  who  represent  the  con- 
sumers, are  the  Canadian  millers  and  exporters.  The  ex- 
porters sell  to  English  or  European  mills  either  directly  or 
through  other  grain  exchanges. 

The  price  of  wheat  is  like  the  mercury  in  a  barometer 
in  that  it  is  constantly  fluctuating  from  hour  to  hour,  from 
day  to  day,  and  from  week  to  week.  In  neither  case  can 
even  the  wisest  of  men  predict  the  changes  in  detail.  The 
mercury  in  the  barometer  rises  or  falls  in  delicate  response 
to  the  slightest  alterations  in  the  pressure  of  the  atmo- 
sphere. The  price  of  wheat  on  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change is  equally  sensitive  to  pressure  of  another  kind: 
it  goes  up  and  down  in  sympathy  with  the  ever-changing 

41  \Y.  E.  Milner,  loc.  cit.,  p.  27. 

42  Ihid.,  p.  26. 

43  Ihid. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  107 

relation  between  the  world's  demand  for  and  supply  of 
the  leading  cereal,  and  it  is  also  affected  by  variations 
in  the  facilities  for  transportation  and  in  the  conditions 
of  the  money  market.  All  the  fluctuations  in  price  which 
result,  operate  to  make  fair  values  for  every  one  con- 
cerned. The  Exchange  perfonns  its  part  in  influencing 
these  fluctuations  by  giving  to  its  buyers  and  sellers  as 
much  up-to-date  information  concerning  world  conditions 
affecting  the  grain  trade  as  possible,  and  by  posting  up  as 
the  fair  value  at  the  moment  the  prices  at  which  sales 
have  just  been  made.^^ 

The  charge  for  selling  wheat  on  the  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange  is  fixed  by  what  is  known  as  the  Commission 
Rule.  According  to  this  rule,  the  rate  for  selling  con- 
signed wheat  is  one  cent  a  bushel.  The  rate  is  uniform 
for  every  customer,  and  members  of  the  Exchange  are  not 
permitted  either  to  lower  it  or  raise  it.  The  commission 
rule  has  various  advantages :  it  allows  a  seller  to  estimate 
beforehand  what  his  selling  charge  will  be,  it  prevents  dis- 
crimination between  customers,  it  compels  keen  competi- 
tion in  service,  and  it  provides  a  fair  reward  for  services 
rendered,  thus  reducing  the  temptation  to  dishonesty.^^ 

Applications  for  membership  on  the  Exchange  are  care- 
fully scrutinized  in  order  to  prevent  the  entry  of  un- 
scrupulous traders,  for  it  is  most  important  that  the  repu- 
tation of  the  Exchange  for  integrity  in  the  dealings  of  its 
members  should  be  kept  as  high  as  possible.  If  a  mem- 
ber violates  any  of  the  rules  or  regulations,  his  conduct  is 
inquired  into  and  he  may  be  disciplined  even  to  the  extent 
of  expulsion. 

44  Cf.  C.  F.  Piper,  Principles  of  the  Grain  Trade  in  Western  Can- 
ada, Winnipeg,  1917,  pp.  177-178. 

45  Hid.,  p.  180. 


108  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

XXIV.  The  Geographical  Position  of  the  Grain  Exchange 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  geographical  features  of  western 
Canada,  the  main  lines  of  the  railways  in  this  vast  ter- 
ritory have  been  built  so  that  they  converge  toward  Win- 
nipeg and  lead  to  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur  on  the 
lake  front.  These  ports  are  the  natural  points  for  the 
delivery  of  grain  to  be  sold  in  bulk  for  export  or  for 
transportation  to  the  eastern  part  of  the  Dominion.  How- 
ever, the  Grain  Exchange,  where  this  wheat  is  bought 
and  sold,  is  not  located  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur, 
where  the  wheat  is  stored,  but  at  Winnipeg,  a  city  situated 
420  miles  west  of  the  lake  front  and  therefore  far  from 
what  would  seem  to  be  the  natural  market.  Nowhere  else 
in  the  world  does  a  parallel  case  exist :  in  other  coun- 
tries the  grain  exchanges  are  all  to  be  found  where  the 
wheat  in  which  they  deal  is  delivered.  The  separation 
of  the  Grain  Exchange  of  western  Canada  from  its  ap- 
parently natural  market  is  unique,  and  it  is  therefore  of 
interest  to  inquire  as  to  its  cause. 

Port  William  and  Port  Arthur  are  far  away  from  the 
prairie  land  which  produces  the  grain.  For  400  miles 
immediately  west  of  these  twin  cities  the  country  is  rocky 
and  unproductive.  On  the  other  hand,  Winnipeg  is  a 
large  metropolis  and  a  great  railway  and  banking  center, 
and  it  is  situated  between  the  grain  fields  and  the  lake 
front.  It  is  therefore  much  more  convenient  to  operate 
the  grain  trade  from  Winnipeg  than  from  Fort  William 
or  Port  Arthur.  Exchanges  of  letters  can  be  made  much 
more  quickly,  and  telegrams  sent  more  cheaply,  between 
country  points  and  Winnipeg  than  between  those  same 
points  and  the  lake  front.  Moreover,  Winnipeg  is  the 
center  of  a  set  of  long-distance  telephones  which  radiate 
in  all  directions  and  thus  enable  many  farmers  and  their 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  109 

agents  to  communicate  with  members  of  the  Grain  Ex- 
change directly ;  but  were  the  Exchange  at  the  lake  front, 
such  communication,  owing  to  distance,  would  be  very 
much  more  restricted.  The  buyers  are  relatively  few, 
while  the  farmers  or  producers  are  relatively  numerous. 
It  is,  as  Piper  *^  says,  '^  easier  to  bring  the  concentrated 
portion  of  the  business  from  Fort  William  and  Port 
Arthur  to  Winnipeg  than  it  is  to  take  the  divergent  and 
extended  portion  of  the  business  from  the  grain  fields 
in  the  west  to  Fort  William."  The  buyers  can  operate 
with  relatively  slight  inconvenience  to  themselves  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  terminal  elevators,  whereas,  if  the  farmers 
and  those  who  represent  them  were  obliged  to  travel  an  ex- 
tra 420  miles  to  the  lake  front  when  they  wished  to  visit 
the  Exchange,  they  would  be  put  to  a  very  considerable 
extra  expense  and  loss  of  time.  It  is  therefore  not  sur- 
prising, all  this  being  considered,  that  the  most  impor- 
tant and  largest  Grain  Exchange  of  the  West  is  situated  at 
Winnipeg  and  not  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur. 

XXV.  The  Grain  Exchange  Clearing  House 

For  various  reasons  it  is  often  necessary  for  grain 
dealers  to  deal  in  what  are  known  as  futures,  i.  e.,  to  buy 
or  sell  grain  which  is  to  be  delivered  to  the  purchaser 
during  some  future  month.  Thus,  in  August,  a  miller 
might  buy  September  wheat,  i.  e.,  wheat  that  must  be 
delivered  to  him  in  September,  or  October,  November 
or  December  wheat,  i.  e.,  wheat  that  must  be  delivered  to 
him  in  the  months  of  October,  ISTovember,  or  December  re- 
spectively; and  in  the  winter  he  might  buy  May  wheat, 
i.  e.,  wheat  that  must  be  delivered  to  him  in  May,  and  so 

4G  C.  B.  Piper,  Principles  of  the  Grain  Trade  of  Western  Canada, 
p.   171. 


110  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

forth.  Of  course,  pure  speculators  may  and  often  do 
speculate  in  wheat  as  in  other  things  in  the  hope  of  an- 
ticipating the  movements  of  the  market  and  thereby  mak- 
ing money;  but,  apart  altogether  from  such  speculations, 
dealing  in  futures  is,  tmder  normal  conditions,  an  ab- 
solute necessity  for  the  grain  trade.  Millers,  for  in- 
stance, in  order  to  regulate  the  output  of  their  mills,  must 
anticipate  their  needs  for  wheat  to  grind  into  flour  often 
months  before  they  are  ready  to  have  the  grain  delivered 
to  them,  and  accordingly  must  deal  in  futures.  Some- 
times it  is  necessary  first  to  buy  wheat  and  then  sell  it 
again.  Thus  if  in  August  a  miller  has  bought,  let  us 
say,  more  October  wheat  than  he  finds  he  can  actually 
store  when  October  is  approaching,  he  may  be  obliged  to 
hedge,  i.  e.,  sell  his  October  wheat  and  buy  wheat  to  be 
delivered  during  a  later  month  such  as  November  or  De- 
cember.^"^  Dealing  in  futures  is  not  merely  advantageous 
to  the  domestic  miller  but  plays  an  essential  role  in  the 
business  of  exporting  wheat  to  foreign  countries  from  the 
terminal  elevators. 

Within  the  Grain  Exchange  is  an  independent  corpora- 
tion known  as  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  Clearing 

47  The  term  hedge  really  means  to  protect  and  is  applied  to  all 
kinds  of  transactions  made  to  prevent  loss  due  to  fluctuations  of  the 
market.  For  the  sake  of  illustration,  let  us  suppose  that  an  ele- 
vator owner  has  sent  a  number  of  agents  into  the  country  who  have 
purchased  wheat  from  various  farmers,  and  let  us  further  suppose 
that  the  wheat  so  purchased  is  not  due  to  arrive  at  Fort  William 
until  several  months  have  elapsed.  In  the  interval  the  market  may 
fluctuate  seriously.  To  avoid  possible  loss,  the  owner  of  the  wheat 
may  hedge,  i.  e.,  sell  the  grain  which  he  has  purchased  for  delivery 
in  a  future  month.  ^Yhen  he  has  done  this,  he  knows  exactly  what 
his  obligations  are  in  respect  to  the  wheat  he  purchased  but  has  now 
sold,  and  whether  he  has  made  a  loss  or  profit  from  it.  In  any  case, 
as  the  fluctuations  of  the  market  under  normal  conditions  are  small, 
his  loss  or  profit  can  only  be  relatively  small  also;  but  the  intention 
in  hedging  is  to  avoid  undue  risks. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  111 

House.  This  corporation  performs  most  important  func- 
tions, for  it  greatly  simplifies  and  facilitates  trading  opera- 
tions between  the  members  of  the  Exchange  and,  at  the 
same  time,  provides  absolute  security  in  all  transactions 
concerned  with  the  future  delivery  of  wheat  or  other 
grains.  The  principle  of  the  Clearing  House  is  that  for 
every  contract  which  the  Clearing  House  accepts,  the 
Clearing  House  becomes  seller  to  the  buyer  and  buyer 
to  the  seller.  In  carrying  out  this  principle,  the  Clearing 
House  with  all  its  resources  comes  to  stand  solidly  behind 
every  accepted  contract.  The  result  of  this  is  that  a  per- 
son who  buys  or  sells  grain  for  future  delivery  can  rest 
assured  that,  so  long  as  he  is  willing  to  fulfill  his  part 
of  the  contract  and  provide  the  necessary  security  against 
the  fluctuations  of  the  market  from  day  to  day,  if  he  is 
a  buyer,  on  the  contract  date  the  grain  will  be  ready  for 
him  to  receive,  and,  if  he  is  a  seller,  on  the  contract  date 
a  buyer  will  be  ready  to  take  delivery  of  his  grain  and 
pay  him  for  it. 

Some  of  the  features  of  a  single  transaction  may  first 
be  considered.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  grain  broker  buys 
for  a  customer  5,000  bushels  of  May  wheat  and  that  the 
price  of  May  wheat  at  the  time  he  wishes  to  make  the 
purchase  is  about  $1.54  per  bushel.  He  assembles  with 
other  brokers  in  the  wheat  pit  on  the  floor  of  the  Ex- 
change. A  seller  may  say  ^'  I'll  sell  May  wheat  at  fifty- 
three  and  a  half!"  By  this  he  means  that  he  offers 
for  sale  5,000  bushels  of  wheat  to  be  delivered  in  May 
at  the  price  of  one  dollar,  fifty-three  and  one-half  cents 
per  bushel,  the  unit  amount  of  wheat  offered  being  always 
understood  as  5,000  bushels  unless  some  other  amount 
is  specified.*^     If  the  purchaser  says  '^  Sold!  "  the  sale  is 

48  The  standard  contract  grade  of  wheat  on  the  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange  is  No.  1  Northern,  but  No.  2  Northern  and  No.  3  Northern 


112  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

considered  made.  The  buyer  enters  up  the  transaction  on 
a  card  at  once  and  the  seller  does  likewise.  Then,  in  their 
oflSces,  they  each  make  up  a  clearing  sheet.  At  the  end 
of  the  working  day^  each  sends  his  sheet  to  the  Clearing 
House  where  it  must  be  deposited  by  a  specified  time 
early  in  the  afternoon.  As  soon  as  the  Clearing  House  has 
accepted  the  transaction  as  recorded  on  the  clearing  sheets, 
the  particular  buyer  and  seller  part  company  so  far  as  their 
transaction  is  concerned,  and  have  nothing  more  to  do 
with  one  another.  The  seller  has  contracted  to  deliver 
5,000  bushels  of  May  wheat,  i.  e.,  to  deliver  this  amount 
of  wheat  some  time  in  May,  on  any  working  day.  He 
waits  until  the  month  of  May  arrives,  and  then  when  he 
is  ready,  his  5,000  bushels  of  wheat  being  now  stored  in 
a  terminal  elevator  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur,  he 
goes  to  the  Clearing  House  and  tells  the  Manager  that  he 
has  his  wheat  ready  for  delivery.  The  Manager  then 
looks  through  his  books  and  finds  some  one  who  bought 
5,000  bushels  of  May  wheat  and  whose  turn  it  is  to  take 
delivery,  the  turns  being  arranged  in  the  order  of  buy- 
ing. He  then  informs  this  buyer  that  such  and  such  a 
seller,  our  original  seller,  wishes  to  deliver  5,000  bushels 
of  May  wheat  to  him  and  he  informs  the  seller  who  it 
is  to  whom  his  wheat  is  to  be  delivered.  Then  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  seller  to  deliver  his  wheat  to  the  buyer  with 
whom  the  Clearing  House  has  brought  him  into  contact, 
at  once.  The  Clearing  House  has  then  finished  its  deal- 
ings with  the  buying  and  selling  contracts  here  involved, 
but  the  seller  and  buyer  only  end  their  business  when  the 
seller  delivers  an  invoice  with  the  warehouse  receipts  for 
the  wheat  and  the  buyer  hands  the  seller  a  marked  check 
for  the  amount  due.  The  receipts  show  that  the  wheat 
are  deliverable  thereon  at  arbitrary  discounts  of  three  cents  and 
eight  cents  respectively.  This  is  a  fair  rule  to  protect  sellers.  Vide 
C.  F.  Piper,  loc.  cit.,  p.   150. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  113 

of  which  the  buyer  now  gets  possession,  is  in  storage  in  an 
elevator  at  Fort  William  or  Port  Arthur  on  the  water 
front  of  Lake  Superior.  We  thus  see  that  the  5,000 
bushels  of  wheat  that  were  originally  bought  in  the  trans- 
action in  the  wheat  pit  have  gone  not  to  the  original  buyer 
but  to  some  one  else.  Having  now  disposed  of  the  original 
seller  in  the  transaction  in  the  wheat  pit,  let  us  turn  our 
attention  to  the  original  buyer.  How  does  he  obtain  the 
5,000  bushels  of  wheat  which  he  purchased  ?  The  original 
buyer  waits  until  May  until  his  turn  to  receive  May  wheat 
arrives.  The  Manager  of  the  Clearing  House  then  in- 
forms him  that  a  certain  seller  has  5,000  bushels  of  May 
wheat  to  deliver  and  that  he  is  to  accept  this  wheat  from 
this  particular  seller,  and  he  also  informs  the  seller  that 
he  is  to  deliver  his  wheat  to  our  original  buyer.  It  is 
then  the  duty  of  the  original  buyer  to  accept  the  5,000 
bushels  of  wheat  from  the  seller  with  whom  the  Clearing 
House  has  brought  him  into  contact ;  and  this  second  pair 
of  buyers  and  sellers,  like  the  first  pair,  completes  the 
transaction  with  a  marked  check  and  a  warehouse  receipt 
for  the  grain.  The  wheat  delivered  is  always  of  just  the 
same  grade  and  quality  as  that  originally  purchased,  so 
that  in  the  end  nothing  it  lost  by  the  substitution  of  one 
seller  for  another  at  the  time  the  delivery  of  the  wheat  is 
made. 

The  Clearing  House  system,  as  it  affects  traders,  in 
simplifying  their  transactions  in  respect  to  future  deliv- 
eries of  wheat,  and  in  guaranteeing  security  for  the  ful- 
fillment of  such  transactions,  may  be  thus  described. 
Every  member  of  the  Clearing  House  is  bound  at  the  end 
of  each  working  day  to  send  in  a  sheet  showing  ywrchases 
made,  the  names  of  the  vendors,  and  the  prices.  He  must 
also  send  in  another  sheet  showing  the  sales  he  has  made, 
the  names  of  the  purchasers,  and  the  prices.     The  amounts 


114  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

of  each  sheet  are  totaled  and  entered  in  a  recapitulation 
sheet,  and  upon  this  sheet  is  then  set  out  a  balance  of  ex- 
cess of  purchase  over  sale  or  vice  versa.  The  difference 
between  the  price  on  the  sheet  and  the  closing  market  price 
is  then  worked  out  and  this  difference  is  paid  within  one 
hour  by  the  Clearing  House  to  the  member  or  vice  versa 
as  the  case  may  be.  And  thus,  on  the  next  day,  the  pur- 
chase or  sales  sheet  of  the  member  will  bring  a  balance 
forward.  Upon  these  new  sheets  the  day's  transactions 
will  be  set,  the  sheets  will  be  forwarded  to  the  Clearing 
House  at  the  close  of  trading,  and  the  transactions  settled 
as  before.  Thus  from  day  to  day,  after  a  contract  has  been 
entered  into,  if  the  market  drops,  a  purchaser  will  be  re- 
quired to  pay  the  difference  to  the  Clearing  House,  or,  if 
the  market  rises,  he  will  receive  the  difference  each  day 
from  the  Clearing  House.  This  daily  payment  of  differ- 
ences is  continuously  made  until  the  contract  month  ar- 
rives. If  now  the  member  wishes  to  take  delivery  of  his 
grain,  he  notifies  the  Clearing  House  which  causes  a  ware- 
house receipt  for  the  grain  he  has  bought  to  be  handed  over 
to  him  from  an  indicated  seller  and  he  pays  for  the  same 
to  the  seller  at  the  current  market  price.  If  this  current 
market  price  is  higher  than  the  price  he  contracted  to  pur- 
chase at,  he  is  not  a  loser,  because,  during  the  time  the  con- 
tract was  open,  he  has  received  from  day  to  day  the  differ- 
ence between  the  price  at  which  he  bought  and  the  market 
price  of  the  day.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  current  price 
is  lower  than  the  price  he  has  contracted  to  purchase  at, 
he  is  not  a  gainer,  because,  during  the  time  the  contract 
was  open,  he  has  paid  to  the  Clearing  House  the  difference 
between  the  price  at  which  he  bought  and  the  market  price 
of  the  day.  Similarly,  a  seller,  at  the  final  settling,  when 
he  gives  up  his  warehouse  receipt  to  the  purchaser,  may 
receive  a  lesser  or  greater  price  for  his  wheat  than  that  he 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  115 

contracted  for ;  and  yet  he  is  neither  a  loser  in  the  one  case 
nor  a  gainer  in  the  other,  for  the  differences  involved  have 
heen  already  settled  with  the  Clearing  House  during  the 
time  the  contract  was  open. 

The  Clearing  House  system  permits  of  the  same  wheat 
being  bought  and  sold  a  number  of  times  within  a  season 
and  a  single  warehouse  receipt,  say  for  5,000  bushels  of 
wheat,  may  have  an  adventurous  career  in  passing  through 
a  long  series  of  brokers'  offices.  In  a  single  year,  indeed, 
the  amount  of  wheat  bought  and  sold  on  the  Exchange  may 
be  several  times  the  amount  of  the  entire  available  crop.^^ 
Yet,  in  the  end,  the  final  purchasers  all  obtain  the  wheat 
they  have  contracted  to  buy,  at  the  proper  moment  and 
without  fail.  The  system  of  the  Clearing  House,  owing  to 
the  security  which  it  affords,  allows  of  transactions  being 
made  closer  to  the  margin  of  necessary  profit  than  would 
otherwise  be  possible,  with  the  result  that  farmers  obtain  a 
higher  price  for  their  grain  than  they  could  if  no  such 
system  were  in  operation. 

The  Clearing  House  makes  it  its  business  to  know  the 
financial  standing  of  its  members  and  any  failure  of  a 
member  to  live  up  to  his  contracts  is  visited  with  instant 
punishment.     If  a  member  should  appear  to  be  plunging 

49  From  this  no  inference  can  be  drawn  that  the  transactions  in 
futures  are  necessarily  unduly  speculative  or  gambling  in  their  na- 
ture. Thus  a  miller  who  has  bought  more  October  wheat  in  April 
than  he  finds  in  August  he  is  likely  to  be  able  to  grind  in  view  of 
orders  received  since  the  date  of  purchase,  may  sell  in  August  the 
excess  for  delivery  in  October  to  some  one  else.  In  September,  how- 
ever, he  may  find  that,  after  all,  owing  to  the  receipt  in  that  month 
of  unexpectedly  large  orders  for  flour,  he  may  require,  in  order  to 
meet  these  orders,  even  more  October  wheat  than  he  has  sold.  He 
therefore  once  more  goes  into  the  market  and  again  purchases  Oc- 
tober wheat.  Thus  a  part  of  the  original  purchase  of  October  wheat 
in  April  and  of  his  sale  of  the  same  in  August  simply  become  book 
entries  which  go  to  swell  the  entries  in  the  Clearing  House  records 
and  to  increase  the  total  volume  of  buying  and  selling  but  which  do 
not  affect  the  amount  of  the  actual  grain  involved. 


116  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

into  transactions  beyond  his  financial  depth,  he  may  be 
called  npon  to  deposit  immediately  with  the  Clearing 
House  a  check  sufficiently  large  to  protect  the  Clearing 
House  against  the  fluctuations  of  the  market;  and,  if  he 
fails  to  do  this,  the  Clearing  House  may  close  out  all  his 
transactions.  In  the  event  of  failure  to  carry  out  a  con- 
tract, his  seat  may  be  sold  and  he  may  be  excluded  from 
the  privileges  of  the  Exchange.  The  Clearing  House  finds 
it  all  the  more  necessary  to  make  stringent  rules  and  regu- 
lations regarding  the  conduct  of  its  members  since  any 
failure  of  a  member  to  carry  out  a  contract  must  be  made 
good  by  the  Clearing  House  itself. 

XXVI.  The  Wheat  Pit 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  in  Winnipeg,  under 
normal  trading  conditions,  is  the  wheat  pit  in  the  Grain 
Exchange.  The  pit  is  in  direct  telegraphic  communica- 
tion with  all  the  leading  markets  of  the  world,  and  the 
changes  of  prices  at  Chicago,  Minneapolis,  Liverpool,  etc., 
are  kept  posted  up  on  raised  blackboards.  Overhead 
sounders  which  tick  out  messages  in  the  Morse  Code,  keep 
the  men  at  the  blackboards  constantly  in  touch  with  the 
trading  in  Winnipeg  and  other  centers;  and,  during  trad- 
ing hours,  the  blackboard  men  scarcely  have  a  moment's 
rest.  When  I  visited  the  Exchange  in  November,  1916, 
trading  was  very  active  and  the  excitement  was  great,  for 
wheat  was  selling  at  a  higher  price  than  any  that  had  been 
known  since  the  American  Civil  War.  December  wheat 
was  selling  at  $1.94  and  November  wheat  at  $1.99.  Some 
eighty  or  a  hundred  traders  were  in  the  pit  which,  from  the 
gallery  where  I  was  ensconced,  seemed  like  pandemonium 
let  loose.  All  seemed  confusion.  The  hubbub  was  con- 
tinuous. A  number  of  the  traders  were  shouting  at  the 
top  of  their  voices,  flinging  up  their  hands,  gesticulating 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  HT 

with  their  fingers,  springing  up  and  down,  seizing  one  an- 
other by  the  shoulders,  making  notes  of  sales,  and  sending 
off  telegrams ;  but,  for  a  long  time,  not  one  coherent  word 
reached  my  ears  and  I  could  never  tell  whether  a  man  was 
selling  flax,  oats,  barley,  or  wheat.  The  members  of  the 
Exchange  were  evidently  communicating  with  one  another 
in  an  unknown  language.  Telegraph  boys  were  rushing 
from  the  traders  in  the  pit  to  the  adjacent  telegraph  office 
which  stretches  from  one  end  of  the  trading  room  to  the 
other.  Here  the  ticking  never  ceased  for  an  instant,  and 
more  than  twenty  clerks  behind  a  long  counter  were  busily 
employed  dispatching  messages.  The  boy  in  charge  of  the 
numerous  telephone  stations  summoned  traders  who  had 
been  called,  by  crying  their  names  through  a  speaking 
trumpet,  for  that  was  the  only  means  of  making  a  summons 
heard  above  the  din  of  the  wheat-pit.  I  particularly  no- 
ticed one  man  who  appeared  desperately  anxious  to  buy 
May  oats,  for  he  jumped  up  and  down  as  fast  as  he  could 
more  than  twenty  times  in  succession,  and  yelled  again  and 
again  at  the  top  of  his  voice :  ^'  Sell  May  oats  !  Sell  ]\Iay 
oats !  Sell  May  oats  !  "  Whether  or  not  he  obtained  what 
he  wanted,  I  am  not  sure,  for  after  the  most  prodigal  ex- 
penditure of  physical  energy  he  subsided,  possibly  from 
exhaustion,  and  I  lost  sight  of  him  in  the  crowd.  High 
above  the  long  stretch  of  blackboards  at  one  end  of  the 
trading  room  where  the  blackboard  men  were  continuously 
rubbing  out  old  figures  and  chalking  in  new  ones,  was  a 
large  dial,  something  like  the  face  of  a  clock.  Upon  it, 
in  letters  made  red  with  electric  light,  stood  out  the  syllable 
Dec.  which  stands  for  December  wheat,  i.  e.,  wheat  that 
must  be  delivered  in  December.  And  above  this  was  the 
figure  3  which,  by  reference  to  the  blackboard,  could  be 
understood  as  standing  for  the  3  in  the  price  of  $1.93. 
Then  around  the  edge  of  the  dial  was  the  price  of  Decem- 


118  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

ber  wheat  in  eighths  of  one  cent.  If  the  price  was  $1.93 
and  /8,  the  Ys  was  lighted  up  with  red,  if  $1.93  and  %, 
then  the  %  was  lighted  up,  and  so  forth,  so  that  one  could 
read  off  the  price  at  which  December  wheat  had  just  been 
sold.  The  wheat-clock  is  manipulated  by  the  recorder,  a 
grave  man  who  sits  at  a  high  desk  overlooking  the  wheat- 
pit,  and  who,  with  the  help  of  two  assistants,  keeps  an 
accurate  account  of  what  trading  is  done  by  the  often 
frantic  men  down  below.  He  it  is  who  interprets  the  un- 
known language  of  which  I  have  spoken,  who  by  electric 
switches  records  the  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  sales  on  the 
wheat-clock,  and  who  provides  the  trading  statistics  for  the 
reports  of  the  Exchange. 

XXVII.  The  Effect  of  the  War  on  the  Grain  Trade 

The  influence  of  the  war  upon  the  grain  trade  of  Canada 
and  the  United  States  has  been  profound.  Indeed,  it  has 
resulted  in  nothing  less  than  a  revolution  in  the  normal 
methods  of  marketing  grain.  This  subject  has  been  dealt 
with  at  some  length  by  the  three  last  Presidents  of  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  in  their  annual  addresses,  and 
these  addresses  have  formed  the  chief  source  of  the  writer's 
information  for  what  follows. 

The  outstanding  feature  of  the  marketing  of  grain  in 
!N'orth  America  during  the  years  of  peace  was  the  develop- 
ment of  the  grain  exchanges.  Their  organization  was  due 
to  commercial  evolution  and  they  were  not  created  by  gov- 
ernments. They  supplied  an  economic  want.  It  was  the 
grain  exchanges  that  found  the  way  to  collect  grain  at 
country  points,  assemble  it  in  vast  quantities  at  the  ter- 
minal points,  and  distribute  it  among  the  mills  of  this 
continent  and  the  mills  of  Europe;  and  it  was  the  grain 
exchanges  that  developed  the  system  of  insurance  against 
fluctuation  in  prices  known  as  future  trading,  that  made 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  119 

possible  the  financing  of  grain  by  the  banks  without  in- 
curring undue  risks,  and  that  in  time  developed  the  most 
complete  machinery  for  taking  the  grain  from  the  pro- 
ducer and  putting  it  into  the  hands  of  the  consumer  at  the 
lowest  possible  cost.^^ 

The  machinery  of  the  grain  trade,  created  as  it  was  by 
commercial  evolution  in  times  of  peace,  is  well  adapted  to 
peace  conditions  but  is  liable  to  be  thrown  out  of  gear  by 
such  a  war  as  that  now  happily  being  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion. The  effects  of  the  war  on  this  machinery  at  first 
were  not  very  marked,  but  they  gradually  increased  in  im- 
portance until,  in  the  end,  the  whole  system  of  marketing 
grain  in  North  America  was  revolutionized  to  a  degree 
which  in  ante-bellum  days  would  have  been  considered  im- 
possible and  almost  inconceivable. 

Soon  after  the  war  broke  out,  ocean  tonnage  for  carry- 
ing grain  became  scarcer  owing  to  the  demands  made  on 
shipping  for  transporting  troops  and  munitions.  At  the 
same  time,  there  was  a  stiffening  in  ocean  freight  rates 
and  marine  insurance,  and  a  considerable  disturbance  in 
the  international  rates  of  exchange.  Under  these  condi- 
tions, the  exporting  of  wheat  from  N^orth  America  became 
a  most  difficult  matter. 

About  the  28th  of  November,  1915,  just  before  the  close 
of  navigation  on  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Dominion  Govern- 
ment, through  its  Department  of  Trade  and  Commerce, 
commandeered  all  the  wheat  at  the  head  of  the  lakes.  This 
action,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  British  Empire,  came  so 
suddenly,  so  unexpectedly,  and  at  such  a  critical  time  of 
the  year  that  it  almost  caused  a  panic  among  the  grain 
traders,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  close  the  Winnipeg 
Grain  Exchange  for  twenty-four  hours.     Owing  to  the 

50  J.  C.  Gage,  The  President's  Address,  Ninth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  Sept.  12,  1917,  p.  35. 


120  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

interference  with  contracts  that  resulted  from  the  Gov- 
ernment's action,  losses  were  caused  both  to  members  of 
the  Exchange  and  to  farmers;  but  it  was  recognized  that 
the  financial  sacrifices  involved  were  being  made  as  the 
result  of  a  war  measure  which  had  been  taken  in  good  faith 
with  a  view  to  assisting  the  British  Empire  and  the  Allies 
in  their  great  struggle  for  the  cause  of  liberty. ^^ 

The  rising  prices  of  bread  in  the  United  Kingdom,  as 
in  other  European  countries,  soon  forced  the  British  Gov- 
ernment to  consider  ways  and  means  of  protecting  the  con- 
sumer, and  the  British  Government  decided  to  create  an 
agency  upon  this  continent  for  the  purchase  of  wheat.  The 
result  was  that  a  company  —  the  Wheat  Export  Company 
—  was  named  at  Winnipeg  in  1916  and  authorized  to  pur- 
chase wheat  for  the  United  Kingdom.  At  a  later  date,  this 
Company  was  entrusted  with  the  buying  of  all  the  wheat 
for  the  Allies  in  Europe,  especially  for  Great  Britain, 
Erance,  and  Italy.  When  this  stage  was  reached,  the  ex- 
porters of  wheat  in  Canada  found  themselves  deprived  for 
the  time  being  of  their  business,  and  an  important  section 
of  the  grain  trade  was  thus  made  to  feel  the  full  conse- 
quences of  the  war.^^ 

The  Company  that  purchased  for  the  European  Allies 
made  use  of  the  machinery  of  the  grain  exchanges.  It 
bought  for  future  delivery  in  the  ordinary  commercial 
way;  but,  representing  as  it  did  the  treasuries  of  Great 
Britain,  Erance,  and  Italy,  its  operations  were  upon  an 
enormous  scale.  During  the  times  of  peace  in  which  the 
grain  exchanges  had  been  developed  and  had  taken  care  of 
the  wheat  of  the  continent  of  North  America,  no  company 
had  ever  appeared  which  had  behind  it  such  immense  re- 
sources, which  had  furnished  to  it  orders  for  such  tre- 

51 W.  E.  Milner,  The  President's  Address,  Eighth  Annual  Keport 
of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  Sept.  13,  1916,  p.  25. 
62  J.  C.  Gage,  loc.  cit.,  p.  36. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  121 

meudous  quantities  of  grain,  and  which,  consequently  had 
such  a  predominating  place  in  the  exchange  markets. ^^ 

The  representatives  of  the  Wheat  Export  Company  were 
buying  through  the  winter  and  spring  months  of  1916-17 
for  May  and  July  delivery ;  and,  of  course,  they  were  not 
the  only  buyers,  as  the  Canadian  mills  were  doing  the 
same.  A  situation  then  arose  which,  as  the  month  of 
May,  1917,  approached,  brought  to  a  head  the  accumu- 
lating effects  of  the  war  upon  the  grain  business  of  Can- 
ada. The  gatherers  of  grain  at  country  points  had  hedged 
their  holdings  in  the  usual  way.  Much  of  the  grain  so 
hedged  did  not  come  up  to  the  contract  grades;  and  the 
result  was  that,  as  the  month  of  May  approached,  there  was 
heavy  bidding  for  the  contract  grades,  and  prices  went 
skyrocketing.  On  Saturday,  April  28,  1917,  May  wheat 
opened  on  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  at  $2.71. 
Within  two  minutes,  and  at  the  first  trade,  the  price  was 
$2.82  ;  and  in  23  minutes,  and  at  the  fifteenth  trade,  it  was 
$2.86.^^  The  maximum  closing  price  for  May  wheat, 
namely,  $3  per  bushel,  was  attained  on  each  of  the  two 
days,  May  11  and  May  12.^^  Had  the  holders  of  May 
and  July  wheat  stood  out  for  their  pound  of  flesh,  they 
would  have  brought  about  a  disaster  to  the  Canadian  grain 
trade  and,  as  it  appeared  later,  to  the  grain  trade  of  the 
whole  North  American  continent,  unparalleled  in  com- 
mercial history.  To  avoid  this,  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change took  hold  of  the  situation  and  the  result  was  the 
next  profound  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  grain  trade.^^ 

The  rising  prices  of  wheat,  accompanied  as  they  were  by 
parallel  increases  in  the  cost  of  flour,  produced  a  clamor 
amongst  the  consumers  of  the  country,  and,  as  usual,  this 

53  Ihid. 

54  Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  p.  66. 
85  Ihid.,  p.  120. 

56  J.  C.  Gage,  loc.  cit.,  p.  37. 


122  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

clamor  was  very  largely  directed  against  wliat  is  popularly 
called  speculating  or  gambling  in  the  bread  of  the  people. 
The  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  on  April  28,  1917,  there- 
fore appointed  a  Censoring  Committee  whose  duty  it  was 
to  ascertain  accurately  the  extent  and  character,  if  any, 
of  illegitimate  speculating  in  wheat.  Very  little  of  such 
business  was  found  by  the  Committee.  The  appointment 
of  the  Committee  created  considerable  surprise  and  re- 
sulted in  a  fall  of  prices ;  but  this  fall  was  only  temporary 
and  soon  prices  began  to  mount  skyward  again. 

Shortly  after  hearing  the  Report  of  the  Censoring  Com- 
mittee on  May  3,  1917,  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange 
decided  upon  the  fateful  step  that  took  away  the  facilities 
for  future  trading  in  wheat  in  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change, and  proceeded  to  take  all  the  other  steps  rendered 
necessary  thereby.^^  The  last  closing  price  was  taken  as 
a  basis  of  closing  trades  in  the  Clearing  House ;  and,  after 
a  great  deal  of  trouble,  the  May  and  July  accounts  were 
all  cleared  as  satisfactorily  as  it  was  possible  to  clear  them 
to  the  various  interests  involved.  Negotiations  took  place 
with  the  longs  and  the  shorts,  with  the  scalpers  and  the 
spreaders,  and  with  the  agencies  that  were  gathering  the 
grain  throughout  the  country.  The  Wheat  Export  Com- 
pany met  the  Exchange  in  a  generous  way ;  and  the  agencies 
which  were  collecting  the  grain  in  the  country,  guaranteed 
to  sell  90  per  cent,  of  all  the  wheat  they  controlled  for  the 
balance  of  the  crop  year  to  the  Export  Company.  Many 
members  of  the  Exchange  were  financially  injured,  yet  all 
the  members  were  dominated  by  one  spirit,  the  spirit  of 
give  and  take,  and  of  doing  the  best  in  the  interests  of  the 
country  during  the  period  of  the  war.^^ 

57  The  Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange, 
Sept.  12,  1917,  The  Council's  Report,  pp.  64-73. 

58  Cf.  J.  C.  Gage,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  38-39. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  123 

The  major  causes  of  the  crisis  at  the  Grain  Exchange 
which  resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  the  facilities  for  fu- 
ture trading  were  war  causes,  although  the  intensity  of 
the  crisis  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  much  of  the  hedged 
grain  did  not  come  up  to  the  contract  grades.  These  war 
causes,  as  summarized  by  Gage,^®  may  now  be  discussed. 

To  begin  with,  there  was  a  loudly  proclaimed  shortage  of 
the  supply  of  available  wheat.  This  shortage  was  empha- 
sized in  the  speeches  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
the  British  Empire  and  also  in  the  United  States.  Minis- 
ters of  the  Imperial  Government,  high  officials  in  both 
countries,  and  hundreds  of  newspaper  editors  laid  stress 
on  the  fact  that  the  surplus  wheat  in  Russia  was  locked  up 
by  the  war,  that  the  surpluses  in  such  countries  as  India 
and  Australia  were  not  available  through  conditions  of 
transportation,  and  that  Argentina  had  no  surplus  at  all. 
They  proclaimed  the  dependence  of  the  European  allies, 
so  far  as  wheat  is  concerned,  upon  the  continent  of  Xorth 
America,  and  they  devised  ways  and  means  of  eliminating 
waste,  of  husbanding  their  resources,  and  of  persuading  or 
coercing  their  peoples  to  use  substitutes  for  the  white  bread 
to  which  they  had  become  accustomed. 

INext,  there  was  the  imperious  need  of  the  allied  peo- 
ples for  Canadian  wheat  at  a  time  when  their  men  in  uni- 
form had  been  withdrawn  from  productive  work,  thus  caus- 
ing a  labor  shortage  in  agriculture  as  in  other  interests 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  increasing  the  normal 
consumption  of  bread.  The  soldiers  at  the  front  must  be 
fed  and  well  fed ;  the  workers  in  the  United  Kingdom  were 
demanding  and  receiving  higher  wages;  the  ranks  of  the 
workers  had  been  increased  by  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  women  workers,  so  that  the  masses  of  the 

59  Ibid.,  pp.  39-40. 


124  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

people  in  the  United  Kingdom  had  more  money  to  spend 
than  for  some  years  previously. 

Next  the  war  had  affected  profoundly  the  money  situ- 
ation, and,  in  so  far  as  currency  had  been  inflated  or  in- 
creased in  any  of  its  forms,  higher  prices  were  inevitable. 

Lastly,  it  must  be  noted  that  the  concentration  of  the 
buying  for  the  European  allies  had  been  only  slowly  carried 
out  and  imperfectly  at  best.  For  example,  in  the  Winni- 
peg market  there  were  some  who  bought  wheat  for  the  Bel- 
gian Kelief  Commission;  there  were  others  who  bought 
wheat  for  France ;  others  again  who  bought  wheat  for  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  these  were  buying  in  open  compe- 
tition with  one  another.  Further,  these  agencies  were 
buying  not  only  in  competition  with  one  another,  but  also 
in  competition  with  Canadian  millers  and  American  mill- 
ers, who  themselves  were  buying  wheat  to  fill  flour  sales 
to  the  same  Allied  Governments. 

It  was  inevitable  that  a  crisis  should  develop  under  such 
conditions  as  these,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  it  was  not 
worse. 

The  action  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  in  taking 
away  the  facilities  for  future  trading  in  wheat  did  not  at 
first  commend  itself  to  the  other  grain  exchanges  of  J^orth 
America;  indeed,  the  tendency  in  the  exchanges  of  the 
United  States  was  to  question  the  wisdom  of  the  steps 
taken  in  Winnipeg.  It  soon  appeared,  however,  that  the 
whole  grain  trade  of  this  continent  had  been  swept  within 
the  area  of  trouble,  and  within  a  very  few  days  the  leading 
exchanges  of  the  United  States  were  forced  to  take  steps 
almost  identical  with  those  taken  at  Winnipeg.^^ 

The  price  of  wheat  soared  upwards  on  the  grain  ex- 
changes of  the  United  States  just  as  it  did  at  Winnipeg. 
At  Chicago,  the  highest  price  for  cash  wheat,  namely  $3.43 

60  md.,  p.  40. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  125 

per  bushel,®^  was  attained  on  May  12,  1917 ;  whilst,  on  the 
same  day,  at  Minneapolis,  the  price  of  One  Hard  wheat 
ranged  from  $3.49  to  $3.54  per  bushel.^^ 

The  Winnipeg  Exchange  was  the  first  in  North  America 
seriously  to  investigate  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not 
there  was  any  illegitimate  gambling  going  on  in  wheat  in 
war  time;  it  was  the  first  to  take  steps  to  prevent  prices 
going  higher  still ;  and  it  was  also  the  first  to  work  out  and 
apply  the  remedy  to  the  situation,  the  only  remedy  at  its 
disposal.  By  virtue  of  its  actions  during  the  crisis,  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  gained  in  the  esteem  of  the 
general  public.  Eesponsible  men  in  all  lines  of  business 
gave  expression  to  their  opinion  that  the  Exchange  had 
acted  wisely  and  well  under  very  difficult  circumstances, 
and  it  dawned  upon  the  public  in  general  that  the  men  en- 
gaged in  the  grain  trade  might  be  just  as  conscientious  and 
just  as  patriotic  as  the  men  engaged  in  any  other  lines  of 
business  in  the  world.  Certainly,  the  action  taken  by  the 
Exchange  contributed  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  Govern- 
ment at  Ottawa  was  prepared  to  give  a  sympathetic  hearing 
to  the  representatives  of  the  Exchange  on  the  whole  matter 
of  the  marketing  of  grain  during  war  time.^* 

The  next  great  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  grain  trade 
of  I^orth  America  was  the  beginning  of  government  regu- 
lation of  the  grain  business.  Every  European  country 
engaged  in  the  war  had  found  it  necessary  to  undertake 
the  regulation  of  grain  supplies,  grain  distribution,  and 
grain  prices.  Thus  the  period  of  state  regulation  was  in- 
augurated in  the  warring  countries  of  Europe  one  after 
another,  and  the  mounting  prices  of  bread  upon  this  con- 

61  The  Board  of  Trade  of  Chicago,  Sixtieth  Annual  Report  for  the 
year  ending  Dec.  31,  1917,  p.  64. 

62  Minneapolis  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Thirty-fifth  Annual  Report 
for  the  year  ending  Dec,  1917,  p.  71. 

63  J.  C.  Gage,  loc.  cit.,  p.  41. 


126  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

tinent  and  the  action  of  the  grain  exchanges  compelled  the 
governments  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  consider 
what  thej  could  do  under  the  circumstances.  In  the 
United  States,  a  food  controller,  Mr.  Herbert  Hoover,  was 
appointed  and  the  Food  Control  Bill  tabled,  with  the  result 
that  there  was  created  the  United  States  Grain  Corporation 
which  was  put  in  charge  of  the  most  gigantic  wheat  mo- 
nopoly the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  United  States  Grain  Corporation  became  the  only 
buyer  of  wheat  at  the  great  terminal  markets  and  the  only 
seller  and  distributor  of  wheat  from  these  markets  to  the 
American  mills,  the  European  allies,  and  the  neutral  coun- 
tries. In  the  United  States  the  exporters  were  first  thrown 
out  of  business.  Then  it  was  decided  to  create  the  Grain 
Corporation.  Then,  by  a  Commission  appointed  by  the 
President,  prices  were  fixed  at  which  the  Corporation  was 
to  buy  all  the  wheat.  Then  future  trading  was  prohibited. 
And,  finally,  the  mixing  of  the  grades  of  grain  at  the  great 
terminal  markets  was  made  impossible.  If  there  is  added 
to  this  the  fact  —  although  this  was  not  due  to  the  war  — 
that  the  United  States  Government  had  taken  over  the 
matter  of  the  inspection  of  grain,  had  standardized  the 
grade,  and  had  taken  the  inspection  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
different  state  legislatures,  boards  of  trade  and  grain  ex- 
changes, it  is  not  difficult  to  realize  that  the  war  has  abso- 
lutely revolutionized  the  whole  grain  business  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  spring  of  1914,  no  one  could  have  imagined 
that,  as  the  result  of  a  European  war,  the  United  States 
Government  would  purchase  all  the  wheat  in  the  United 
States ;  that  a  government  body  would  fix  the  prices ;  that 
the  government  would  prohibit  future  trading;  and  that 
the  government  would  prevent  mixing  of  the  grades,  which 
was  the  very  foundation  of  the  great  sample  markets  of  the 
United  States.  Yet  this  is  what  actually  happened.^* 
6*  J.  C.  Gage,  loc.cit.,  pp.  42-43. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  127 

In  Canada  a  different  course  was  followed.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  Canada  took  into  conference  representatives 
of  the  producers  and  also  of  the  trade,  and  especially  of  the 
Grain  Exchange.  The  Government  heard  all  that  the 
most  experienced  members  of  the  Exchange  had  to  say 
about  the  marketing  of  grain,  and,  as  a  result  of  these  ne- 
gotiations, the  Government  of  Canada,  on  June  11,  1917, 
created  a  body  called  the  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  for 
Canada,  and  clothed  it  with  certain  authority  by  an  Order- 
in-Council  under  the  Defense  of  the  Kealm  Act.  The 
Board,  on  the  one  hand,  is  not  a  great  buying  corporation 
like  the  United  States  Grain  Corporation  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  does  not  usurp  the  functions  proper  of  the  Board 
of  Grain  Commissioners.  It  is  a  regulating  body  not  an 
operating  body.  Its  primary  functions  are :  ( 1 )  to  regu- 
late the  price  at  which  grain  shall  be  bought  and  sold  dur- 
ing the  period  of  its  existence,  and  (2)  to  regulate  the 
distribution  of  grain  so  that  the  grain  will  go  to  the  Ca- 
nadian people  and  the  Allied  powers.  It  has  sometimes 
been  said  that  the  Board  has  power  to  commandeer  all  the 
grain  in  Canada.  It  has  no  such  power :  it  cannot  go  to 
the  farm,  for  example,  and  commandeer  the  wheat  there, 
and  its  power  to  commandeer  at  elevators  is  a  power  to 
enforce  the  price  it  has  set.  If  the  owner  of  the  grain 
that  is  in  an  elevator  refuses  to  sell  at  the  price  set,  the 
Board  has  power  then  to  take  the  grain  at  that  price.^® 

The  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  at  first  consisted  of 
eleven  members  but  now  consists  of  twelve.  Six  of  these 
twelve  members  are  not  members  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange.  Of  these  six,  one  is  the  President  of  the  Ca- 
nadian Council  of  Agriculture,  one  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Grain  Cormnissioners,  one  is  the  representative  of  the 
unorganized  farmers,  two  represent  labor  organizations  in 

65  ihid.,  p.  43. 


128  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

eastern  Canada,  and  the  sixth  represents  the  remaining 
body  of  eastern  consumers.  Of  the  six  members  of  the 
Board  who  are  also  members  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change, one  is  the  General  Manager  of  the  Saskatchewan 
Co-operative  Elevator  Company,  one  is  the  President  of 
the  ^Vlieat  Export  Company  which  buys  for  the  Allies,  and 
one  represents  the  flour  milling  interests. 

In  accordance  with  its  authority,  the  Board  of  Grain 
Supervisors  has  fixed  the  price  of  wheat  from  time  to  time. 
On  July  20,  1917,  the  Board  by  its  first  Order  fixed  the 
maximum  price  of  wheat,  on  the  basis  of  One  l^orthern  in 
store  at  Fort  William,  at  $2.40  per  bushel,  the  order  be- 
coming effective  on  August  1,  1917.^^  The  Board  then 
issued  Orders  that  trading  in  wheat  for  future  delivery 
should  cease  in  the  Grain  Exchanges  of  Canada  on  Sep- 
tember 1,  1917,  and  that  the  price  of  wheat  on  that  date, 
on  the  basis  of  One  ISTorthern  in  store  at  Fort  William, 
should  not  exceed  and  not  be  less  than  $2.40  per  bushel.^"^ 

On  September  12,  1917,  the  Board  of  Grain  Super- 
visors fixed  the  price  of  wheat  to  accord  with  the  fixed 
prices  in  the  United  States  as  follows :  ^^ 

Fixed  Prices  of  Wheat  per  Bushel  from  September  12,  1917, 
Until  August  31,  1918,  Inclusive 
Canada  ^^.^^^  ^^^^^^ 

(basis  Fort  William  and  Port  ^^^^^^^  ^^^  Minneapolis) 

Arthur)  ^ 

1  Manitoba    Northern..  $2.21      1  Dark   Northern $2.21 

2  Manitoba   Northern..   $2.18      2  Dark   Northern $2.18 

3  Manitoba    Northern..  $2.15      3  Dark   Northern $2.15 

1  Alberta  Eed  Winter.  .  $2.21      1  Dark  Hard  Winter.  .  $2.21 

2  Alberta  Eed  Winter.  .  $2.18      2  Dark  Hard  Winter.  .  $2.18 

3  Alberta  Red  Winter..  $2.15      3  Dark  Hard  Winter..  $2.15 

66  Memoranda  of  the  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  of  Canada,  Order 
No.  1,  issued  at  Winnipeg,  July  20,  1917. 

67  lUd.     Order  No.  3  and  Order  No.  4,  both  issued  August  17,  1917. 

68  Hid.     Order  No.  5,  issued  September  12,  1917. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  129 

The  fixed  prices  of  wheat  were  slightly  increased  for 
the  1918  crop  both  in  Canada  and  the  United  States.  In 
Canada  the  fixed  prices  for  the  three  first  grades  for  the 
crop  year  1918-19  have  been  fixed  as  follows: 

1  Manitoba  Northern  $2,241/2 

2  Manitoba  Northern $2,211/2 

3  Manitoba  Northern $2,171/2 

In  addition  to  fixing  the  prices  of  wheat,  the  Board  of 
Grain  Supervisors,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Hoover's  de- 
partment, put  into  effect  the  regulation  of  the  export  of 
wheat  between  Canada  and  the  United  States. 

By  an  Order-in-Council  on  September  5,  1918,  the  Do- 
minion Government  took  over  the  control  of  the  marketing 
and  handling  of  grain  within  the  Dominion.  The  Order- 
in-Council  vests  authority  in  the  Board  of  Grain  Super- 
visors in  regard  to  grain  consumed  in  Canada  and  grain 
exported  to  the  Allies.  It  provides  that  the  agent  for  the 
Allied  Governments  must  negotiate  with  the  Board  in  re- 
gard to  exported  grain,  and  the  Board  can  specify  the  place 
at  which  the  Allied  Governments  shall  accept  delivery,  the 
prices,  and  the  terms.  It  also  increases  the  power  of  the 
Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  with  regard  to  grain  con- 
sumed in  Canadian  mills,  and,  in  a  word,  through  the 
Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  the  Government  of  Canada 
in  the  Order-in-Council  takes  control  of  the  whole  move- 
ment of  grain. ^^ 

Sooner  or  later  it  seems  certain  that  the  grain  trade 
will  return  to  the  condition  in  which  it  was  before  the  war 
when  the  prices  of  wheat  were  not  fixed  but  fluctuated  in 
accordance  with  demand  and  supply. 

69  W.  E.  Bawlf,  The  President's  Address,  Tenth  Annual  Keport 
of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  Sept.  11,  1917,  p.  43. 


130  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

XXVIII.  Financing  the  Crop  Movement 

The  grain  which  a  farmer  raises  in  western  Canada,  rep- 
resents a  very  large  part  of  his  yearly  revenue,  and  it  is 
therefore  most  important  that  he  should  be  able  to  sell  it 
for  cash  soon  after  it  has  been  threshed.  Money  is  the 
universal  medium  of  exchange ;  and  the  farmer  requires  it 
to  pay  those  who  assist  him  in  his  work,  to  buy  horses, 
cattle,  implements,  machinery,  etc.,  to  erect  farm  build- 
ings, and  to  purchase  all  the  necessities  requisite  for  the 
existence  and  comfort  of  himself  and  his  family. ''^^ 

The  farmer  naturally  desires  to  be  supplied  with  money 
as  he  requires  it,  and  the  problem  of  giving  him  cash  for 
his  wheat,  whenever  he  wants  it,  is  a  considerable  one. 
The  ultimate  consumer,  as  represented  by  the  miller,  does 
not  buy  at  once  all  the  wheat  he  can  make  use  of  for  a 
whole  year,  because,  if  he  did,  he  could  not  store  it  all 
and  could  not  pay  for  it  all  in  cash.  If  the  ultimate  con- 
sumer were  to  pay  the  farmer  for  his  grain,  the  farmer 
would  be  badly  inconvenienced  in  his  farming  operations 
by  the  necessity  of  waiting  for  deferred  payments. 
Months  would  elapse  between  the  delivery  of  the  grain  to 
a  country  elevator  or  into  a  box-car  and  the  receipt  of  the 
money  which  would  be  owing  to  him.  It  is  therefore  clear 
that  some  agency  must  step  in  between  the  farmer  and  the 
consumer,  which  will  give  the  farmer  cash  for  his  wheat 
as  he  requires  it  and  carry  the  grain  until  the  consumer 
uses  it  and  pays  for  it.  This  agency,  acting  indirectly,  is 
the  bank. 

The  amount  of  credit  used  to  move  the  grain  crop  of 

70  C.  B.  Piper  has  discussed  the  principles  involved  in  financing 
the  crop  movement  in  his  Principles  of  the  Grain  Trade  of  West- 
ern Canada  (pp.  183-191)  and  his  discussion  has  been  of  consider- 
able assistance  to  the  author  in  writing  this  Section. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  131 

western  Canada  each  year  is  -usually  about  $100,000,000. 
This  vast  sum  is  required  for  seasonal  use  only  and  could 
not  therefore  be  provided  profitably  by  the  grain  trade. 
It  costs  from  $7,000  to  $12,000  to  build  a  country  ele- 
vator which  will  hold  30,000  bushels  of  wheat.  If  the 
price  of  wheat  in  the  country  were  T5  cents  per  bushel,  it 
would  require  $22,500  to  pay  for  enough  to  fill  a  single 
elevator.  Moreover,  an  elevator  usually  is  filled  for  a 
part  of  the  year  only.  If  an  elevator  company  were  obliged 
to  maintain  a  fund  of  $22,500  per  elevator  all  the  year 
round,  so  as  to  fill  each  elevator  for  part  of  a  year  only, 
this  capital  would  be  badly  employed  and  would  yield  a 
very  poor  rate  of  interest :  it  could  be  more  profitably  spent 
in  some  other  business.  Similarly,  commission  merchants 
and  track  buyers  cannot  afford  to  keep  capital  in  large 
sums  available  for  mere  seasonal  use.  It  is  therefore  ob- 
vious that  the  grain  trade  is  unable  to  finance  the  crop 
movement  without  external  aid. 

Credit  is  the  commodity  of  banks,  and  the  business  of 
providing  credit  for  financing  the  crops  therefore  naturally 
falls  to  these  institutions.  The  banks  collect  small  de- 
posits from  a  large  number  of  people  and  then  lend  out  the 
money  so  accumulated  to  those  who  require  it  for  carrying 
on  trade  and  commerce.  The  depositors  receive  from  the 
banks  a  certain  rate  of  interest  and  the  borrowers  are 
charged  by  the  banks  a  higher  rate  of  interest.  The  sum 
gained  by  the  difference  in  rates  of  interest  serves  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  banks  and  to  ensure  a  profit  upon  their 
operations.  At  the  same  time,  the  money  which  the  banks 
handle,  is  made  to  work  both  for  the  depositors  and  the 
borrowers.  When  the  money  is  needed  to  buy  the  grain 
as  it  leaves  the  farms,  the  banks  make  temporary  loans  to 
the  elevator  companies,  the  commission  merchants,  and  the 


132  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

track  buyers,  who  pay  interest  for  it.  When  the  money 
is  repaid  to  the  banks,  the  banks  use  it  again  elsewhere  in 
other  seasonal  businesses. 

The  financial  business  of  forwarding  the  grain  of  west- 
ern Canada  to  the  miller  is  split  into  four  sections:  (1) 
from  the  farm  to  Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur,  (2)  from 
Fort  William  and  Port  Arthur  to  the  seaboard  or  domes- 
tic miller,  (3)  from  the  seaboard  to  the  foreign  grain  ex- 
change, and  (4)  from  the  foreign  grain  exchange  to  the 
foreign  miller.  The  banks  of  Canada,  through  their  west- 
ern branches,  so  far  as  the  crop  movement  is  concerned, 
practically  confine  themselves  to  financing  the  crop  from 
the  farm  to  the  head  of  the  lakes. 

When  the  movement  of  the  grain  from  the  farms  has 
once  begun  and  the  use  of  credit  has  become  extensive,  it 
is  very  important  that  the  grain  shouhl  be  kept  moving 
to  the  lake  front  as  fast  as  possible.  The  quicker  the 
grain  can  be  moved  to  the  lake  front  and  sold  for  cash,  the 
shorter  is  the  time  during  which  the  money  required  to 
move  the  grain  is  employed,  and  the  sooner  is  this  money 
available  for  other  purposes.  It  is  thercf  ire  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  every  one  connected  with  the  grain  trade,  both 
grain  dealers  and  transportation  companies,  to  keep  the 
grain  moving  as  fast  as  possible  and  thus  keep  credit  turn- 
ing over.  The  principle  of  finance  here  involved  is  called 
velocity  of  credit.'^'^  The  faster  dollars  are  turned  over, 
the  more  work  do  they  perform  in  a  given  time  and  the 
greater  are  their  earning  powers.  Instead  of  attempting 
to  finance  the  western  Canadian  crop  to  the  seaboard  or  to 
foreign  grain  exchanges,  the  Western  Canadian  bankers 
keep  their  dollars  busily  engaged  in  providing  for  the 
financial  requirements  of  trade  and  commerce  within  their 
own  territory. 

71  Vide  C.  B.  Piper,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  185-180. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  133 

Occasionally  it  happens  that  the  banks  have  not  at  their 
disposal  the  whole  of  the  huge  sum  necessary  to  finance  the 
crop  movement  from  the  farms  to  the  head  of  the  lakes.  It 
is  then  necessary  for  the  banks  to  seek  outside  help  by  bor- 
rowing credit  from  the  Government  or  from  some  other 
source.  If,  for  any  reason,  the  banks  did  not  make  credit 
available  in  sufficient  quantity  to  those  who  buy  wheat 
from  the  farmers,  the  purchasing  power  of  the  buyers 
would  be  naturally  restricted,  the  farmers  would  tend  to 
sacrifice  their  grain  for  unduly  low  prices,  and  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  grain  trade  would  be  seriously  affected. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  the  normal  functioning  of  the  banks 
is  of  the  very  highest  importance  both  to  the  grain  growers 
and  the  grain  buyers. 

When  an  elevator  company  buys  grain  in  the  country, 
it  pays  cash  to  the  farmer,  using  money  borrowed  from 
the  bank;  and  it  then  immediately  re-sells  the  wheat  at  a 
slightly  higher  price  on  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange  as 
a  future,  i.  e.,  for  delivery  in  some  future  month  at  Fort 
William  or  Port  Arthur.  This  operation  is  known  as 
hedging.  The  immediate  re-selling  of  the  grain  as  a  future 
protects  the  elevator  company  against  loss  by  a  possible 
fall  in  the  market  during  the  weeks  or  months  that  the 
grain  is  en  route  to  the  head  of  the  lakes,  enables  the 
company  to  make  a  definite  small  profit  on  each  transac- 
tion, and,  at  the  same  time,  protects  the  bank  from  which 
credit  has  been  borrowed.  The  selling  of  cash  grain  as 
futures  serves  as  a  means  of  eliminating  speculation  from 
the  business  of  the  elevator  companies ;  and  one  of  the 
most  important  and  beneficial  functions  of  the  Grain 
Exchange  is  that  of  providing  the  machinery  by  which 
such  selling  is  accomplished.  Were  this  machinery  not 
always  available,  the  banks  could  not  afford  to  lend  their 
money  for  moving  the  grain  as  cheaply  as  they  do,  and 


134  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  grain  growers  in  consequence  would  obtain  less  for 
their  wheat. 

XXIX.  The  Flour  Mills  of  Western  Canada 

The  flour  mills  of  western  Canada,  as  elsewhere,  are 
situated  where  power  is  cheap  and  shipping  facilities  are 
most  favorable.  These  strategic  points  are  to  be  found 
at  Fort  William  on  Lake  Superior,  at  Keewatin  and 
Kenora  on  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  at  Winnipeg,  and  at 
various  other  localities  on  the  trunk  lines  of  railways. 
The  mills  at  Keewatin  and  Kenora  are  driven  directly  by 
water  power,  whilst  those  at  Fort  William  and  Winnipeg 
are  driven  by  electric  power  derived  from  waterfalls. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  three  mills  at  Medicine 
Hat  obtain  their  power  from  natural  gas  which  is  used 
to  drive  electric  motors. 

In  the  provinces  of  Manitoba,  Saskatchewan,  Alberta, 
and  British  Columbia,  there  are  148  flour  mills  having  a 
daily  capacity  of  36,000  barrels;  and,  in  addition,  there 
are  nine  mills  having  a  daily  capacity  of  3,200  barrels, 
which  produce  rolled  oats  and  oatmeal. "^^  By  provinces 
the  statistics  for  the  flour  mills  are  as  follows: 

Number  Capacity 

of  in  barrels 

mills  per  day 

Manitoba    35  15,000 

Saskatchewan    61  9,110 

Aberta  49  10,950 

British  Columbia 3   700 

Totals    148 35,760 

Fort  William,  Keewatin,  and  Kenora  are  situated  in 
the  Province  of  Ontario  but  to  the  west  of  the  Great  Lakes 

72  As  fixed  by  law,  one  barrel  of  flour  contains  196  pounds  standard 
weight  of  flour.  Two  bags  make  one  barrel,  and  a  bag  of  flour  there- 
fore contains  98  pounds. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  135 

and  in  the  Western  Grain  Inspection  Division.  The  mills 
which  they  contain,  although  belonging  to  an  eastern 
province,  are  therefore  western  for  all  practical  purposes. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  mills  of  western  Canada 
are  known  as  Midget  mills.  The  Midget  mill  is  con- 
structed bj  the  manufacturer  of  a  standard  size.  When  a 
mill  is  ordered,  the  parts  are  shipped  to  the  buyer  and, 
upon  arriving  at  their  destination,  are  rapidly  put  to- 
gether, so  that  the  mill  may  be  operated  at  once.  On  the 
other  hand,  western  Canada  also  possesses  some  of  the 
largest,  the  most  modern,  and  the  most  highly  efficient 
mills  in  the  world.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
plants  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  Milling  Company  at 
Keewatin,  which  consist  of  two  units  capable  of  grinding 
9,000  barrels  of  flour  every  day.  The  Ogilvie  Flour  Mills 
Company  Limited  —  the  pioneer  company  —  has  plants 
at  Fort  William,  Winnipeg,  and  Medicine  Hat,  which  to- 
gether have  a  capacity  of  8,500  barrels  daily.  This  com- 
pany also  grinds  western  wheat  at  Montreal  where  its 
mills  have  a  combined  capacity  of  8,000  barrels  per  day. 
The  Western  Canada  Flour  Mills  Company  Limited  has  a 
very  large  mill  at  Winnipeg  with  a  daily  capacity  of  5,500 
barrels ;  and,  in  addition,  it  has  smaller  mills  at  Brandon 
and  Calgary.  The  Maple  Leaf  Milling  Company  Limited 
has  mills  at  Kenora,  Brandon,  and  Medicine  Hat  with  a 
combined  daily  capacity  of  5,000  barrels.  The  Maple 
Leaf  Company  also  grinds  western  wheat  at  its  great  mill 
at  Port  Colborne  on  Lake  Erie  in  Ontario,  this  mill  having 
a  daily  capacity  of  9,000  barrels.  The  milling  system  of 
all  the  great  roller  mills  which  have  here  been  mentioned, 
is  known  as  American  as  distinguished  from  the  English 
system. 

Eif  ty  per  cent,  of  the  output  of  western  Canadian  flour 
mills  is  exported  to  other  countries,  Great  Britain  being 


136  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

by  far  the  largest  customer.  The  rest  of  the  flour  is  dis- 
tributed throughout  Canada  for  domestic  consumption. 

The  total  number  of  flour  mills  in  all  Canada  is  710 
with  a  daily  capacity  of  125,000  barrels  of  flour,  of  which 
in  the  four  provinces  of  western  Canada,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  are  148  mills  with  a  daily  capacity  of  36,000  bar- 
rels. During  the  food  crisis  in  the  crop  year  1917-18, 
Canada  supplied  to  the  Allies  in  the  great  war  10,000,000 
barrels  of  much  needed  flour  in  addition  to  her  exports 
of  wheat.*^^ 

At  the  entry  to  the  office  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods 
Milling  Company,  at  Winnipeg,  stands  a  quern  which  was 
brought  to  western  Canada  from  Eussia  by  the  Doukabors 
about  twenty  years  ago.  As  one  looks  upon  it  for  the 
first  time,  one  straightway  compares  it  in  the  mind's  eye 
with  the  great  modern  roller  mill  which  the  Company 
owns  at  Keewatin.  How  curious  and  striking  is  the  con- 
trast! The  quern  consists  of  two  stones  set  one  on  the 
top  of  the  other  in  a  solid  wooden  stand.  The  stand  rests 
on  four  stout  legs  and  its  top  is  thereby  raised  about  two 
and  a  half  feet  from  the  ground.  The  upper  stone  which 
is  pivoted  upon  the  lower  one,  is  flat  above  and  below, 
and  is  cylindrical  in  form.  It  measures  fifteen  inches  in 
diameter,  is  about  five  inches  thick,  and  weighs  upwards 
of  sixty  pounds.  In  its  center  is  a  hole  into  which  hand- 
fuls  of  wheat  used  to  be  put  so  that  the  grain  might  pass 
downwards  between  the  stones.  The  upper  stone  was  re- 
volved by  hand  with  the  aid  of  a  short  handle ;  and,  as  a 
trial  proved,  a  considerable  amount  of  physical  energy 
must  have  been  expended  by  the  man  or  woman  who 
turned  it.  The  flour  produced  by  the  grinding  came  out 
laterally  between  the  stones  and  passed  down  a  groove  in 

73  For  the  statistical  information  given  above,  I  am  indebted  to  the 
Northwestern  Miller. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  137 

the  wooden  stand  into  some  receptacle  provided  to  collect 
it.     The  quern  is  now  naught  but  a  relic  of  the  past  and 
reminds  one  of  the  fossils  of  extinct  animals  which  add 
so  much  fascination  to  the  pages  of  the  great  book  of 
the  geological  record.     Since  the  hey-day  of  the  quern 
several  centuries  ago,  the  milling  industry  has  been  sub- 
jected to  progressive  evolution  and,  did  not  history  tell 
us  of  its  details,  we  should  find  it  almost  as  difficult  to 
realize  that  the  modern  roller  mill  has  developed  from  the 
old  hand-stone  as  it  is  to  realize  that  the  swallow  and  the 
seagull   have   sprung   from    a   cold    and    slowly   creeping 
reptile.     In  contrast  with  the  quern,  how  complex  and 
wonderful  seems  the  great  Lake  of  the  Woods  mill  at 
Keewatin,  with  its  mighty  elevator  for  storing  wheat,  its 
great  warehouse  filled  with  bags  and  barrels  for  holding 
the  mill's  end-products,  its  loading  and  unloading  facili- 
ties, its  turbine  for  tapping  the  giant  strength  of  the  river, 
its  power  house,  its  driving  belts,  its  appliances  for  clean- 
ing and  preparing  the  grain,  and  above  all,  in  the  mill 
proper,  its  automatic  machinery  which,  ever  humming  at 
its  work,  seems  to  enjoy  its  task  of  reducing  the  grain  into 
the  finest  flour.     So  continuously,  so  delicately,  so  gradu- 
ally,^ and  yet  withal  so  irresistibly  is  the  reduction  process 
carried  out,  and  so  many  are  its  stages,  that  one  is  in- 
voluntarily reminded  of  the  reduction  and  assimilation  of 
food  that  goes  on  in  the  digestive  tract  of  one  of  the 
higher  animals.     As  one  observes  the  succession  of  cor- 
rugated chilled-iron  rollers  for  breaking  open  the  wheat 
berry,  the  gyrating  boxes  or  plansifters  for  sifting  the 
break  flour,  the  dunst,  the  middlings,  and  the  semolina  from 
the  broken  wheat  and  bran,  the  purifiers  in  which  the 
breath  of  the  mill  removes  the  fine  branny  particles  from 
the  middlings,  the  silk  bolting  cloth  of  finer  and  ever  finer 
mesh  for  grading  the  middlings,  the  smooth  rollers,  pair 


138  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

after  pair,  for  crushing  the  middlings  into  flour,  the  worm 
conveyers,  the  bran  collector,  the  offal  grader,  the  stock- 
ings for  removing  the  mill  dust,  and  much  else ;  and,  when 
one  reflects  that  the  mill  works  continuously  night  and 
day,  week  in  and  week  out,  with  so  little  manual  labor 
spent  upon  its  guidance,  and  yet  with  thousands  of  barrels 
of  flour  turned  out  every  day,  one  cannot  help  admiring 
the  ingenuity  of  man  and  rejoicing  at  such  evidence  of 
his  mastery  over  the  forces  of  nature.  I^ot  small  indeed 
is  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  Canada  owes  to  the  great 
inventors  of  the  past  who  have  made  her  present  develop- 
ment possible. 

XXX.  Recent  Improvements  in  the  Conditions  of 
Farm  Life 

The  conditions  of  farm  life  on  the  prairie  have  been 
steadily  improved  in  the  last  few  years  owing  to  the  in- 
troduction of  various  conveniences.  Farming  implements, 
such  as  plows,  binders,  and  threshing  machines,  have  un- 
dergone progressive  evolution,  so  that  the  actual  work 
of  tilling  the  fields,  gathering  the  crops,  and  threshing 
the  grain,  has  become  much  more  scientific  and  efficient 
than  it  was.  Light  metal-frame  wind-mills  have  been 
erected  on  many  farms  as  a  source  of  power  for  pumping 
water  but  are  now  being  largely  replaced  by  engines  burn- 
ing liquid  fuel. 

The  gasolene  or  kerosene  engine  has  been  a  particularly 
welcome  addition  to  the  farm  and  is  now  much  used  to 
save  both  time  and  manual  labor. "^^  Smaller  engines  are 
employed  for  pumping  water,  and  for  operating  the  milk- 
ing machine  (with  which  several  cows  may  be  milked  at 
one  and  the  same  time),  the  cream-separator,  the  churn, 

74  Kerosene,  on  account  of  its  cheapness  and  efficiency  in  producing 
power,  is  now  becoming  a  popular  substitute  for  gasolene. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  139 

the  washing  machine,  the  grindstone,  and  the  fanning 
mill  for  cleaning  grain  intended  for  seed.  Larger  engines 
are  employed  for  chopping  roots  and  grinding  grain  for 
feed,  for  cutting  wood,  and  for  running  the  threshing  ma- 
chine. 

The  tractor,  which  is  essentially  a  gasolene  or  kerosene 
locomotive,  is  now  beginning  to  replace  the  horse  in  the 
work  of  plowing  and  of  transporting  heavy  loads  of  grain 
to  the  elevators,  etc.  It  is  also  used,  where  it  is  available, 
instead  of  the  stationary  gasolene  or  kerosene  engine,  to 
drive  the  larger  threshing  machines. 

One  of  the  most  recently  perfected  conveniences  is  the 
isolated  farm  lighting  plant  which  has  already  been  in- 
stalled on  many  large  farms.  The  gasolene  or  kerosene 
engine  and  the  electric  generator  may  be  combined  in  one 
fixture  or  be  separate  so  that  the  engine  is  movable.  The 
electricity  produced  in  the  generator  is  usually  conducted 
to  storage  batteries,  and  these  can  be  sufficiently  charged 
in  a  few  hours  to  serve  the  lighting  system  for  a  week. 
The  current  may  also  be  taken  directly  from  the  generator 
and  be  employed  either  for  giving  light  or,  through  the 
medium  of  a  motor,  for  driving  the  various  machines  in 
the  home.  The  electric  lighting  system  is  used  for  illum- 
inating not  merely  the  farm  house  but  also  the  barns,  the 
stables,  the  yards,  and  even  the  chicken  houses,  with  a 
consequent  falling  into  disuse  of  the  time-honored  but 
troublesome  coal-oil  lamp  and  lantern,  and  a  correspond- 
ing diminution  in  the  risk  of  fire. 

Sanitation  has  been  improved  by  the  proper  installa- 
tion of  mangers,  stalls,  and  floors  in  horse  and  cattle 
stables.  Owing  to  this  change,  the  work  of  tending  live- 
stock has  become  much  more  pleasant  and  healthful  than 
it  was.  Many  farms  are  now  equipped  with  an  aseptic 
tank  and  a  running-water  system  which  give  conveniences 


140  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

in  the  lavatory  and  kitchen  of  the  same  nature  as  those 
common] J  enjoyed  in  a  city  home. 

Millions  of  trees  supplied  from  the  Dominion  Arbore- 
tum at  Indian  Head  and  from  other  centers,  have  been 
planted  on  the  farms  where  they  act  as  v^ind-breaks,  pro- 
vide wood-lots  for  the  supply  of  firewood  and  small  tim- 
ber, give  relief  to  the  unbroken  sky  line,  and  add  a  note  of 
distinction  and  attractiveness  to  the  home.  Here,  too, 
may  be  mentioned  the  phonograph.  Before  its  introduc- 
tion, in  many  an  isolated  farm  house,  the  sound  of  musical 
instruments  and  the  voice  of  song  were  rarely  or  never 
heard;  but  now,  with  the  assistance  of  the  phonograph, 
the  spare  hours  may  be  pleasantly  beguiled  with  reproduc- 
tions of  the  best  that  the  musical  world  can  provide. 

The  telephone  of  which  there  is  a  web  of  wires  in  most 
rural  communities,  and  the  motor  car  which  is  now  ex- 
ceedingly popular  with  the  farmer  and  his  wife,  have 
drawn  the  farms  together  and  have  done  much  to  annihilate 
the  great  spaces  of  the  prairie.  In  cases  of  childbirth  or 
of  sudden  illness,  it  is  now  much  more  easy  than  it  was 
to  summon  and  obtain  medical  assistance.  The  motor 
car  permits  of  increased  social  intercourse  between  the 
families  of  neighboring  farms,  and  the  telephone  keeps 
the  farmer  in  touch  with  the  world's  markets.  One  of 
the  amenities  of  life  made  possible  by  the  introduction 
of  the  telephone  is  the  playing  of  interf arm  chess  matches 
during  the  long  winter  evenings. 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  near  future  wireless  telegra- 
phy will  be  used  to  connect  the  pioneers  of  outlying  set- 
tlements, survey  parties,  and  explorers  with  older  com- 
munities, and  that  the  aeroplane  will  find  employment  in 
hastening  the  transportation  of  rural  mails,  of  postal 
packets,  and  possibly  even  of  agriculturalists.  The  car- 
riage of  freight  by  dirigibles  or  other  flying  machines 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  141 

has  not  yet  been  placed  on  a  commercial  basis ;  but,  should 
that  happen  in  the  near  or  distant  future,  it  might  well 
have  a  very  important  effect  not  only  upon  farm  life  but 
upon  the  whole  course  of  the  grain  business. 

XXXI.  The  Agrarian  Movement 

For  the  purpose  of  advancing  their  social  and  economic 
interests,  the  farmers  of  the  West  have  organized  them- 
selves into  associations  in  each  of  the  three  Prairie  Pro- 
vinces. The  movement  began  in  1901  at  Indian  Head  and 
spread  rapidly,  with  the  result  that  there  are  now  in  exist- 
ence: in  Manitoba,  The  Manitoba  Grain  Growers  Associa- 
tion; in  Saskatchewan,  The  Saskatchewan  Grain  Growers 
Association ;  and,  in  Alberta,  The  United  Farmers  of  Al- 
berta. Each  of  these  associations  has  its  local  units  scat- 
tered throughout  its  own  province.  For  the  last  few  years, 
therefore,  the  farmers  of  the  West  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  realizing  the  power  and  the  benefits  that  accrue  from 
organization.  The  latest  phase  of  this  activity  is  the 
adoption  of  a  political  platform  which  may  lead  to  legis- 
lation of  great  importance  not  only  to  all  grain  growers  but 
to  the  whole  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

To  advance  their  business  interests,  the  farmers  of  the 
West  have  organized  two  great  trading  companies  in  which 
there  are  already  65,000  shareholders.  These  companies 
are:  United  Grain  Growers  Limited,  and  The  Sashatche- 
luan  Co-operative  Elevator  Company.  The  former  car- 
ries on  a  general  grain  business  through  its  country  ele- 
vators scattered  throughout  the  three  provinces  and,  by 
means  of  oars  consigned  by  farmers,  handles  live-stock  on 
commission,  and  supplies  farmers  with  machinery  and 
general  commodities.  The  latter  handles  grain  through 
its  elevators  or  on  consignment,  but,  as  yet,  has  not  en- 


142  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

tered  the  live-stock  business  and  does  not  deal  in  macliinery 
or  supplies.  The  Saskatchewan  Grain  Growers  Associa- 
tion, through  its  central  office  at  Regina,  has  undertaken 
trading  activities  in  farm  implements  and  other  farm 
needs. 

Shortly  after  the  Grain  Growers  Grain  Company  "^^  be- 
gan its  grain  business  in  1906,  it  was  found  that  the  or- 
ganized farmers  of  the  Prairie  Provinces  needed  a  pub- 
lication that  would  be  free  to  speak  out  frankly  on  ques- 
tions in  which  the  farmers  were  interested.  The  Grain 
Growers  Guide  was  therefore  established  for  this  pur- 
pose; and  it  began  its  issues  at  Winnipeg  in  1908.  It  is 
the  official  organ  of  the  associations  in  each  of  the  three 
provinces,  and  now  has  a  circulation  of  51,000  copies 
per  week  —  the  largest  circulation  of  any  farm  paper  in 
the  West. 

The  farmers'  trading  companies  control  over  600  coun- 
try elevators  and  also  have  at  their  disposal  immense  stor- 
age space  in  terminal  elevators  at  Port  William  and  Port 
Arthur.  United  Grain  Growers  Limited  own  a  house 
at  Port  Arthur  with  a  capacity  of  600,000  bushels,  and 
have  also  leased  from  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany at  Port  William  a  terminal  elevator  that  holds 
2,500,000  bushels.  The  Saskatchewan  Co-operative  Ele- 
vator Company  has  a  2,500,000-bushel  elevator  at  Port 
Arthur,  so  that  the  total  storage  capacity  of  the  farmers' 

75  The  Grain  Growers  Grain  Company  was  the  first  of  the  farmers' 
trading  companies  and  was  organized  in  1906  without  Government 
aid.  It  was  interprovincial  in  character.  In  1913,  The  Alberta 
Farmers  Co-operative  Elevator  Company  was  organized  for  the  prov- 
ince of  Alberta  with  Government  aid.  In  1917,  the  Grain  Growers 
Grain  Company  and  the  Alberta  Farmers'  Co-operative  Elevator  Com- 
pany amalgamated  their  interests,  so  as  to  form  United  Grain  Grow- 
ers Limited.  The  Saskatchewan  Co-operative  Elevator  Company  was 
organized  in  1911  on  a  strictly  provincial  basis  and  received  GpV' 
ernment  assistance. 


WHEAT    IN    WESTERN    CANADA  143 

terminal  elevators  at  the  water  front  of  Lake  Superior  is 
5,600,000  bushels.  Before  the  war,  The  Grain  Growers 
Export  Company,  a  subsidiary  company  of  United  Grain 
Growers  Limited,  was  also  doing  an  immense  export  busi- 
ness from  New  York.  Two  years  ago,  however,  its  full 
office  equipment  was  turned  over  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment for  the  benefit  of  the  Allies  in  the  war. 

As  bearing  upon  the  progress  and  power  of  the  farmers' 
companies,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  following  the  big 
crop  of  1915,  these  companies  actually  handled  for  the 
farmers  close  upon  100,000,000  bushels  of  grain  ;  and  also 
that,  in  the  year  ending  August  31,  1018,  the  value  of 
the  machinery  and  supplies  sold  to  farmers  by  the  farm- 
ers' companies  amounted  to  about  $8,000,000. 


CHAPTEE  III 

The  Discoveky  and  Inteoduction  of  Marquis 
Wheat 

I.  Introduction 

Mabquis  Wheat  is  a  household  word  in  western 
Canada,  for  it  is  the  chief  variety  of  wheat  grown  in  Al- 
berta and  Manitoba,  while  in  Saskatchewan  it  forms  about 
90  per  cent,  of  the  crop.  Moreover,  its  cultivation  has 
increased  the  wealth  of  western  Canada  by  many  millions 
of  dollars  a  year.  It  is  therefore  well  worth  while  to  in- 
quire how  Marquis  wheat  came  into  existence  and  to 
whom  the  credit  is  due  for  supplying  it  to  the  farmers 
in  the  first  place. 

The  history  of  Marquis  wheat  is  by  no  means  so  well 
known  as  it  deserves  to  be,  and  various  more  or  less 
erroneous  ideas  are  current  concerning  it.  In  the  in- 
terests of  truth,  therefore,  as  well  as  with  a  view  to  sup- 
plying information  which  should  be  a  source  of  satisfac- 
tion to  every  patriotic  Canadian,  the  writer  here  records 
the  results  of  his  own  inquiry  into  the  matter.  The  facts 
with  regard  to  the  origin  of  Marquis,  about  to  be  com- 
municated, were  obtained  in  part  by  the  consultation  of 
documents  but,  in  the  main,  by  interviewing  Dr.  Charles 
E.  Saunders,  who  isolated  Marquis  more  than  a  decade 
ago  and  whose  modesty  is  only  equaled  by  his  skill  and 
devotion  as  Dominion  Cerealist. 

II.  Dr.  William  Saunders  and  His  Assistants 

Dr.  William  Saunders,  the  organizer  and  first  Director 
of  the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms,  conceived  the  idea 

144 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  145 

of  improving  plants  by  breeding;  and  in  this  work  he 
employed  the  services  of  several  men,  including  his  two 
sons,  C.  E.  Saunders  (now  Dominion  Cerealist)  and 
A.  P.  Saunders.  Before  becoming  Director  of  the  Ex- 
perimental Earms,  Dr.  William  Saunders  devoted  him- 
self to  producing  new  and  better  fruits  by  cross-breeding. 
Special  attention  was  paid  to  raspberries,  currants,  goose- 
berries, and  grapes,  and  with  these  he  achieved  consider- 
able success.  One  of  his  grapes,  Emerald,  obtained  an 
award  at  the  Indian  and  Colonial  Exhibition  in  1886; 
and  even  to-day  two  of  his  gooseberries.  Pearl  and  Josselyn 
(his  Red  Jacket),  are  well  known,  and  two  of  his  black 
currants.  Climax  and  Saunders,  are  considered  excellent. 
After  becoming  Director  in  1886,  Dr.  Saunders  continued 
his  work  on  fruits  with  especial  reference  to  hardy  apples 
for  the  Canadian  Korth-West.^  However,  he  also  struck 
out  in  new  directions.  In  particular,  he  focussed  his  at- 
tention upon  wheat  and  began  a  long  series  of  observa- 
tions and  experiments  directed  toward  the  improvement 
of  the  varieties  then  being  grown  in  Canada.^ 

Eed  Eife  became  the  standard  variety  of  wheat  in 
western  Canada  in  the  early  eighties  of  the  last  century. 
It  was  not  only  very  productive  but  possessed  excellent 
milling  and  baking  qualities,   so  that  it  was  prized  by 

1  Mr.  W.  T.  Macoim,  the  Dominion  Horticulturalist,  is  continuing 
the  work  of  Dr.  Saunders  on  hardy  apples.  Vide  W.  T.  Macoun, 
The  Apple  in  Canada,  Its  Cultivation  and  Improvement,  Bulletin 
No.  86,  Dominion  of  Canada  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Horti- 
culture, Ottawa,  1917. 

For  a  historical  sketch  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Saunders  in  improving 
the  currant,  gooseberry,  and  raspberry,  vide  Bulletin  No.  56  on 
"Bush  Fruits"  bv  W.  T.  Macoun,  1907,  pp.  62-64.  Dr.  Saunders' 
first  crosses  were  made  with  gooseberries  in  1868. 

2  Vide  Experimental  Farms  Reports  and  Bulletins  from  1888  on- 
wards; also  Dr.  W.  Saunders'  Review  of  the  Work  with  Wheat  at 
the  Experimental  Farms  in  the  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for 
1903,  pp.  13-15. 


146  ESSAYS    ON"   WHEAT 

millers  and  bakers  alike;  and  its  first  grade,  Manitoba 
No,  1  Hard,  fetched  the  highest  price  in  the  British  market 
and  became  famous  throughout  the  world.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  in  years  with  early  frosts,  Red  Fife  was 
often  frozen  in  the  fields;  and,  when  this  happened,  the 
farmers  cried  out  for  a  variety  of  wheat  which  would 
mature  a  few  days  earlier  in  the  season.  In  the  hope  of 
meeting  this  demand.  Dr.  William  Saunders  imported  a 
considerable  number  of  varieties  of  wheat  from  many 
different  countries,  grew  them  alongside  of  Red  Fife  at 
the  various  Experimental  Farms,  and  thus  made  a  large 
number  of  comparative  observations  on  their  time  of  ripen- 
ing and  their  yield.  Some  of  these  wheats  were  brought 
from  the  colder  districts  of  northern  Russia,  verging  on 
the  Arctic  circle,  some  from  other  countries  in  northern 
parts  of  Europe,  others  from  different  altitudes  in  the 
Himalaya  Mountains  of  India  —  from  500  feet  to  as  high 
as  11,000  feet  which  is  about  the  limit  for  wheat  grow- 
ing in  that  range  —  and  yet  others  from  the  United  States 
of  America,  from  Australia,  and  from  Japan.  Most  of 
these  wheats,  such  as  those  from  the  north-western  parts  of 
the  United  States  and  from  Australia,  proved  to  be  as 
late  in  ripening  as,  or  even  later  than.  Red  Fife,  but  the 
Russian  and  Indian  wheats  usually  ripened  earlier.  How- 
ever, some  of  the  earlier  sorts  were  inferior  in  their  milling 
and  baking  qualities,  and  others  gave  such  small  crops 
that  the  growing  of  most  of  them  had  to  be  abandoned. 
For  a  time  Dr.  Saunders  thought  that  Ladoga,  a  hard 
red  Russian  wheat  which  grows  in  latitude  60  near 
Lake  Ladoga,  north  of  Petrograd,  and  by  latitude  600 
miles  north  of  Winnipeg,  would  solve  the  problem  with 
which  he  was  confronted,  for  it  was  found  to  ripen  its 
grains  over  the  whole  Dominion  about  ten  days  earlier  than 
Red  Fife  and  also  to  give  a  good  yield.     After  being  tested 


Fig.  21.  The  late  Dr.  William  Saunders,  the  father  of  Dr.  Charles 
Saunders,  the  first  Director  of  the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms,  and 
the  originator  of  Preston  and  Huron  wheats. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  147 

at  the  Experimental  Farms,  therefore,  it  was  sent  out  to 
several  hundreds  of  farmers  in  the  North-West,  a  large 
number  of  whom  reported  favorably  upon  it.^  Thirty 
years  ago,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  make  satisfactory 
milling  and  baking  tests,  as  is  done  now,  with  a  few  pounds 
of  wheat  only,  and  some  hundreds  of  bushels  were  needed 
for  this  purpose.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  wait 
several  years  before  enough  Ladoga  could  be  procured 
to  find  out  what  qualities  its  flour  really  had.  At  length 
Messrs.  McLauchlin  and  Moore  of  the  Eoyal  Flour  Mills, 
Toronto,  agreed  to  make  a  thorough  test  if  a  car-load 
of  Ladoga  wheat  could  be  supplied  them.  In  1892,  there- 
fore, the  required  car-load  was  obtained  by  Mr.  Angus 
McKay  of  Indian  Head  from  the  Prince  Albert  district 
in  Saskatchewan  and  conveyed  to  Toronto.  Here  the 
milling  test  was  carried  out  by  the  Royal  Flour  Mills  and 
the  baking  tests  by  several  of  the  leading  bakers  of  the 
city.  The  results  of  these  tests  were  sadly  disappoint- 
ing, for  Ladoga  flour  proved  to  be  deficient  in  strength 
and  produced  bread  which  was  very  yellow  in  color  and 
of  a  coarse  texture.  Thus  the  hope  of  replacing  Red 
Fife  by  the  earlier-ripening  Ladoga,  for  export  purposes, 
was  completely  shattered.^ 

Whilst  making  his  vain  search  for  a  foreign  early- 
ripening  variety  of  wheat  which  should  possess,  in  addi- 
tion to  marked  earliness,  the  high  productiveness  and 
the  excellent  milling  and  baking  qualities  of  Red  Fife, 
Dr.  William  Saunders  was  also  endeavoring  to  obtain  the 
ideal  wheat  by  combining  the  good  qualities  of  two  or 

3  Ladoga  Wheat ;  Part  I  by  Wm.  Saunders ;  Part  II,  Report  on  the 
Chemical  Composition  and  Physical  Characters  of  Ladoga,  Red  Fife 
and  other  varieties  of  wheat  by  F.  T.  Shutt,  Bulletin  No.  4,  Cen- 
tral Experimental  F'arm,  Ottawa,   1889. 

4  William  Saunders,  Ladoga  Wheat,  Bulletin  No.  18,  Central  Ex- 
perimental Farm,  Ottawa,  1893. 


148  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

more  varieties.  The  method  employed  was  that  of  cross- 
breeding, and  the  first  crosses  were  made  at  the  Central 
Experimental  Farm  at  Ottawa  on  July  19,  1888.  The 
pollen  was  taken  from  the  flower  of  one  kind  of  wheat 
and  placed  on  the  stigma  of  another  kind  from  which  the 
stamens  had  been  removed;  and  the  cross-bred  kernel  re- 
sulting was  saved  as  seed  for  the  next  year.^  Many  hun- 
dreds of  crosses  were  made  in  this  way,  particularly  be- 
tween Ked  Fife  or  White  Fife  as  one  parent  and  an  early- 
ripening  wheat,  such  as  Ladoga  or  one  of  the  Indian 
wheats,  as  the  other.  Dr.  William  Saunders  himself  made 
many  of  these  crosses  at  Ottawa  but  a  large  number  of 
others  were  made  by  Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders,  Dr.  C.  E.  Saund- 
ers, and  Mr.  W.  T.  Macoun,  and  a  few  by  Mr.  J.  L. 
McMurray,  all  of  whom  acted  as  his  assistants.®  In  1892, 
Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders  was  sent  to  the  Experimental  Farms 
at  Brandon  in  Manitoba,  at  Indian  Head  in  Saskatche- 
wan, and  at  Agassiz  in  British  Columbia  for  the  purpose 
of  making  further  crosses ;  "^  and  the  cross-bred  kernels 
which  had  been  produced  in  the  West,  or  their  progeny, 
were  subsequently  transferred  to  Ottawa  where  the  chief 
work  of  selection  was  carried  out.  As  a  result  of  these 
selections,  a  considerable  number  of  wholly  or  partially 
purified  new  varieties  of  wheat  were  gradually  isolated. 
By  the  year  1901,  fifty-eight  of  these  varieties  which  had 
undergone  plot  tests,  had  received  names,  and  a  statement 

5  W.  Saunders,  How  Varieties  of  Cross-Bred  and  Hybrid  Grains 
Are  Produced,  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for  1896,  pp.  21-22. 
The  illustrations  were  drawn  by  C.  E.  Saunders.  For  a  minute  de- 
scription of  the  method  of  cross-pollination  employed  by  C.  E. 
Saunders  twelve  years  later,  vide  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for 
1908,  p.  212. 

6  C/.  Experimental  Farms  Reports:  for  1896,  p.  20;  for  1897, 
pp.  16-17;  for  1898,  p.  27;  for  1900,  pp.  14-15;  and  for  1901,  pp. 
15-17. 

7  Experimental  Farms  Report:  for  1892,  p.  234;   for  1893,  p.  336. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  149 

had  been  issued  for  each  as  to  its  parentage,  the  year 
the  cross  was  made,  the  place  where  the  cross  was  made, 
and  the  name  of  the  cross-breeder  who  made  the  cross. ^ 
Some  of  these  named  varieties  were  distributed  to  the 
farmers  of  the  West ;  and  among  the  most  noteworthy  of 
them  were :  Preston  and  Stanley,  each  derived  from  a  cross 
between  Red  Fife  and  Ladoga,  and  Huron  and  Perry,  each 
derived  from  a  cross  between  White  "Fife  and  Ladoga. 
The  four  crosses  from  which  these  four  cross-bred  wheats 
originated,  were  all  made  at  the  Central  Experimental 
Farm  at  Ottawa,  the  first  two  by  Dr.  William  Saunders 
himself  and  the  last  two  by  his  son,  Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders. 
These  four  wheats  all  ripen  a  few  days  earlier  than  Red 
Fife  but  have  various  defects,  especially  in  regard  to  their 
milling  and  baking  qualities.  This  makes  them  unde- 
sirable for  export  from  western  Canada,  and  in  conse- 
quence they  have  only  been  grovm  there  on  a  relatively 
small  scale;  but  a  considerable  amount  of  Preston,  some- 
times under  other  names,  is  still  grown  in  the  great  central 
spring-wheat  region  of  the  United  States.^ 

8  Experimental  Farms  Report:  for  1896,  p.  20;  for  1897,  pp.  16-17; 
for  1898,  p.  27;  for  1900,  pp.  14-15;  and  for  1901,  pp.  15-17. 

9  The  Preston  originated  by  William  Saunders  was  grown  at  the 
Minnesota  Agricultural  Station  in  1895  as  Minnesota  No.  188  and 
was  distributed  under  this  number.  The  seed  soon  appeared  for 
sale  imder  various  new  names ;  and  in  a  few  years  it  could  scarcely 
be  found  under  its  real  name  in  the  U.  S.  A.  By  the  boards  of 
trade  of  Minneapolis  and  Chicago,  it  was  wrongly  called  Velvet 
Chaff,  for  it  has  a  hairless  chaff;  and  on  the  farms  it  was  called 
Early  Java,  South  Dakota  Climax,  Bearded  Fife,  Red  Fife,  Min- 
nesota No.  188,  and  Velvet  Chaff.  Under  one  or  other  of  these 
names  Preston  has  given  good  yields  in  central  and  eastern  South 
Dakota  and  is  rather  widely  grovm  there.  It  is  found  commonly 
also  in  eastern  North  Dakota  and  in  parts  of  Minnesota.  Selec- 
tions of  Preston  have  been  given  a  series  of  Cereal  Investigation 
numbers.  These  facts  are  stated  by  C.  R.  Ball  in  Varieties  of  Hard 
Spring  Wheat,  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  680,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  1915,  pp.  15-16. 


150  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Crossing  two  kinds  of  wheat  is  a  relatively  simple  op- 
eration, the  technique  of  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  ac- 
quire. However,  new  varieties  are  not  obtained  in  one 
generation  only;  for  a  cross-bred  kernel,  in  succeeding 
generations,  always  gives  rise  to  a  large  number  of  plant 
types  which  differ  from  one  another  in  one  or  more  char- 
acters —  such  as  length  and  strength  of  straw,  length, 
compactness,  and  uprightness  of  the  heads,  the  color  and 
hairiness  of  the  chaff,  presence  or  absence  of  awns,  color, 
shape,  size,  and  milling  qualities  of  the  grains,  liability  of 
the  grains  to  shell,  earliness  in  maturing,  resistance  to  dis- 
eases, baking  qualities  of  the  flour,  and  so  forth  —  and 
most  careful  selection  through  a  series  of  years  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  isolate  the  best  of  its  progeny.  For  this 
laborious  work.  Dr.  William  Saunders  soon  came  to  lack 
the  necessary  leisure.  Owing  to  the  great  demands  which 
the  ever-growing  general  work  of  the  Experimental  Farms 
made  upon  his  time  and  energies,  the  task  of  producing 
new  wheats  suited  for  the  Canadian  West  had  not  pro- 
ceeded very  far  before  its  prosecution  came  to  a  stand- 
still. Dr.  Saunders  became  so  busy  that,  in  the  end,  he 
was  unable  to  exercise  even  a  reasonable  supervision  of 
the  wheat-breeding  experiments.  The  result  was  that  for 
several  years  no  fresh  experiments  were  undertaken,  and 
almost  all  that  happened  was  that  the  different  kinds  of 
grain  were  planted  out  upon  the  experimental  plots  and 
the  little  harvests  duly  gathered  in.  In  this  way  various 
strains  of  wheat  were  kept  in  existence.  At  length,  in 
1903,  Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders  was  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  take  up  the  work  of  wheat-breeding;  and  he 
thus  inherited  the  whole  mass  of  material  which  had  been 
brought  together  at  the  Central  Experimental  Farm.  Dr. 
William  Saunders,  after  a  long  and  faithful  service  to 
the  Dominion,  retired  in  1911  and  passed  away  in  his 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  151 

home  at  London,  Ontario,  on  September  13,  1914,  at  the 
ripe  old  age  of  78.  The  most  important  of  all  the  lines  of 
endeavor  which  he  initiated  at  Ottawa,  undoubtedly,  was 
the  raising  of  new  cereals ;  and  it  is  its  highly  successful 
continuation  by  his  third  son  Charles  that  we  shall  now  at- 
tempt to  follow. 

III.  The  Selection  of  Marquis  hy  Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders,  on  becoming  the  Cerealist  for 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  took  up  his  quarters  at  the  Cen- 
tral Experimental  Farm  at  Ottawa  and  there  carefully 
re-selected  all  the  more  or  less  mixed  wheats  which  came 
into  his  hands.  The  result  of  this  work  was  that  in  1904 
he  discovered  Marquis  Wheat.  By  reference  to  the  ex- 
perimental records,  proof  was  obtained  that  this  particular 
strain  had  been  produced  from  one  of  the  crossings  made 
in  1892  by  his  brother.  Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders,  during  the 
period  when  Dr.  William  Saunders  and  his  two  sons  were 
working  together. ^^  The  male  parent  of  the  cross  was 
Red  Fife  and  the  female  an  early  ripening  Indian  wheat 
known  as  Hard  Red  Calcutta.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  Hard  Red  Calcutta  is  a  trade  expression,  not  for  one 
particular  variety  of  wheat  but  for  a  mixture  of  several 
varieties.  There  must,  therefore,  always  be  a  certain 
amount  of  doubt  as  to  the  exact  type  which  served  as 

10  Dr.  Arthur  Percy  Saunders  took  his  degree  of  Ph.  D.  at  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  and  is  now  Professor  of  Chemistry  at  Hamilton 
College,  Clinton,  New  York  State,  U.  S.  A.  His  father  needed 
some  one  with  trained  fingers  to  make  some  cereal  crosses,  and 
Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders  therefore  undertook  this  work  during  one  or 
two  of  his  summer  vacations.  Thus  his  connection  with  agricul- 
ture in  the  larger  sense  of  the  term  was  of  a  very  temporary  nature. 
However,  the  influence  of  his  early  years  spent  at  the  Experimental 
Farm  remains  with  him  yet;  for,  although  by  profession  a  chemist, 
he  is  also  an  enthusiastic  amateur  florist  and  a  breeder  of  peonies, 
etc. 


152  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  female  parent  when  the  cross  was  made.  The  result 
of  the  cross,  in  a  few  generations,  was  a  mixture  of  types 
including  Marquis.  Marquis,  therefore,  remained  mixed 
with  other  sorts  of  wheat  until  it  was  discovered  in  1904 
by  Dr.  Saunders,  in  the  course  of  his  systematic  work  of 
re-selection  of  all  the  mixed  wheats  which  previously  had 
been  produced  by  cross-breeding  at  Ottawa. ^^ 

The  work  of  re-selecting  the  cross-bred  varieties  of 
wheat  which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  Marquis  was  no 
mean  task ;  for,  altogether,  there  were  nearly  one  hundred 
of  these  varieties,  and  each  variety  (whether  recorded  un- 
der a  name  or  under  a  numberj  contained  several  strains. 
The  strains  within  a  single  variety  often  presented  radical 

11  Cf.  C.  E.  Saunders,  Report  of  the  Dominion  Cerealist  for  the 
year  1911-1912  in  the  Annual  Report  on  Experimental  Farms, 
Ottawa,  1913,  pp.  118-119;  also,  by  the  same  author:  Marquis 
Wheat,  Census  and  Statistics  Monthly,  Ottawa,  1911,  p.  332.  Dr. 
Saunders  once  wrote  a  brief  article  on  Marquis  for  the  Saskatche- 
wan Phoenix;  but  this  I  have  not  seen. 

Dr.  Saimders,  in  reference  to  the  cross  from  which  Marquis 
originated,  says :  "  The  cross  was  made  on  one  of  the  branch 
experimental  farms  and  the  cross-bred  seeds,  or  their  progeny,  were 
subsequently  transferred  to  Ottawa.  Here  some  selection  was  done, 
but  the  work  was  not  carried  far  enough  to  separate  out  simple 
fixed  tyj)es.  It  was  therefore  a  mixture,  lacking  in  uniformity,  which 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  writer  when  he  took  charge  of  the 
Cereal  Division.  By  a  careful  study  of  individual  plants  selected 
from  the  plot,  and  especially  by  applying  the  chewing  test  to 
ascertain  the  gluten  strength  and  probable  bread-making  value, 
radical  differences  in  quality  were  found,  and  a  few  of  the  most 
promising  plants  were  used  as  a  foundation  of  the  new  strains. 
These  strains  were  propagated  (each  separately)  for  some  years 
until  they  had  been  sufficiently  studied  to  ascertain  which  was  the 
best.  The  best  strain  was  named  Marquis."  Cereal  Breeding  in 
the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms  during  the  Past  Decade,  Transac- 
tions of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada,  Third  Series,  Vol.  VII,  Section 
IV,  1913,  p.  152.  The  branch  farms  which  Dr.  A.  P.  Saunders 
visited  in  1892  were  Brandon,  Indian  Head,  and  Agassiz.  It  is 
not  certain  at  which  of  these  farms  the  cross  was  made,  but  Dr. 
Charles  Saunders  thinks  it  was  probably  Agassiz, 


Fig.    22.     A     head     of 
Marquis  Wheat.    Natural 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  153 

differences.  Dr.  Saunders  worked  steadily  through  all 
that  material,  studying  head  after  head  and  selecting 
out  as  many  different  and  promising  ones  as  he  could  find. 
Each  selected  strain  was  then  propagated  in  pure  condi- 
tion either  from  a  single  head  or  from  two  or  more  heads 
of  a  single  plant.  In  subsequent  years,  those  strains 
which  proved  unsatisfactory  were  rejected  and  destroyed, 
with  the  result  that  to-day  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
strains  originally  selected  remain  in  existence;  but  this  is 
as  it  should  be,  for  good  experimental  work  in  plant  breed- 
ing, by  its  very  nature,  always  involves  an  extremely  high 
percentage  of  failures.  In  addition  to  selecting  the  best 
strains  from  the  cross-bred  varieties,  Dr.  Saunders  also  re- 
selected  a  considerable  number  of  commercial  wheats.  All 
this  work  which  was  carried  out  systematically  year  after 
year  in  the  faith  that  something  of  importance  would 
result  from  it,  demanded  much  patience,  care,  and  good 
judgment.  But  the  reward  was  great;  for,  from  among 
the  hundreds  of  strains  investigated  for  their  various  quali- 
ties. Marquis  finally  emerged;  and  as  in  successive  years 
it  proved  its  excellence,  first  in  plot  tests,  then  in  fields 
upon  isolated  farms,  and  finally  upon  vast  stretches  of 
the  sea-wide  prairie-land  in  both  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  Dr.  Saunders  was  given  the  satisfaction  of  real- 
izing that  his  bright  dream  of  one  day  helping  the  farm- 
ers of  the  Golden  West  had  at  last  come  true. 

At  first  there  were  only  a  few  grains  of  the  precious 
Marquis,  all  obtained  from  a  single  head  picked  by  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Saunders  in  the  summer  of  1903 ;  but  how 
great  were  their  potentialities !  These  grains  were 
planted  out  in  the  spring  of  1904  in  a  tiny  plot  in  the 
experimental  garden.  Soon  they  began  to  sprout,  and  at 
length  there  was  a  small  patch  of  green  containing  only 
twelve  plants  in  all.     In  August  the  little  harvest  was 


154  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

reaped.  The  yield  was  much  less  than  a  single  pound  of 
grain;  and  the  first  crop  of  the  wheat  that  was  destined 
within  a  dozen  years  to  overtax  the  mightiest  elevators  in 
the  land,  was  stored  away  in  the  winter  of  1904-05  in 
a  paper  packet  no  larger  than  an  envelope.  But  just  as 
a  few  sparks  are  endowed  with  tremendous  destructive 
possibilities,  so  that,  by  starting  a  conflagration,  they  may 
bring  red  ruin  to  an  ancient  city,  reducing  its  treasures 
to  blackened  heaps;  so,  in  happy  contrast  therewith,  the 
little  collection  of  grains  in  the  Marquis  packet  embodied 
vast  constructive  possibilities  which,  having  been  for- 
tunately realized  with  the  passage  of  time,  have  been  a 
potent  factor  in  the  uprearing  of  many  a  snug  farmhouse 
and  many  a  stately  civic  building.  In  very  deed,  that 
first  handful  of  Marquis  grains  has  brought  naught  but 
increased  prosperity  in  its  wake  and  by  its  influence  has 
made  farming  on  the  broad  prairie-land  a  more  attractive 
industry. 

IV.  The  New  Wheat  is  Named 

Dr.  Saunders  christened  his  new  wheat  Marquis  for 
the  simple  purpose  of  distinguishing  it  from  other  wheats 
of  which  he  already  had  many  kinds  in  his  laboratory; 
and  up  to  the  present  even  the  most  extreme  socialist  has 
never  objected  to  this  title. 

V.  The  Qualities  of  Marquis  are  Investigated 

Dr.  Saunders  then  set  to  work  to  investigate  the  quali- 
ties of  Marquis.  In  the  first  place  he  observed  that  it  be- 
longed to  the  early  group  of  wheats,  i.  e.,  that  it  ripened 
its  grains  in  summer  earlier  than  most  of  the  common 
wheats  of  Canada.  Earliness,  of  course,  is  a  very  im- 
portant quality,  for  the  sooner  the  grain  ripens,  the  less 


DISCOVEEY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  155 

danger  is  there  of  its  being  injured  or  destroyed  by  Kust  or 
early  frosts.  But  another  good  quality  made  its  appear- 
ance as  the  study  of  the  annual  harvests  continued,  namely, 
yield.  Marquis  was  found  to  give  an  excellent  yield,  this 
being  in  part  due  to  the  marked  plumpness  of  the  grains. 
Evidently,  therefore,  the  new  wheat  behaved  well  in  the 
field.  But  besides  good  field  qualities,  it  is  necessary  for 
a  successful  wheat  to  have  good  baking  and  milling  quali- 
ties. It  was  essential,  therefore,  to  investigate  these  lat- 
ter also.  In  the  winter  of  1903-04,  Dr.  Saunders  did 
not  possess  a  well-equipped  laboratoiy  and  had  at  his 
disposal  neither  a  mill  to  grind  wheat  into  flour  nor 
an  oven  to  bake  bread.  But,  at  that  time,  even  if  mills 
and  ovens  had  been  available,  it  would  have  been  im- 
possible to  use  them  for  testing  the  milling  and  baking 
qualities  of  Marquis,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  number 
of  grains  with  which  the  tests  might  be  made  was  limited 
to  the  few  that  could  be  spared  from  the  single  head  of 
wheat  selected  in  1903  for  seed  purposes.  The  clew  to  the 
milling  and  baking  qualities  of  Marquis  was  therefore  ob- 
tained by  chewing  the  grains.  It  was  found  that  on 
taking  a  few  grains  of  the  Marquis  wheat  and  chewing 
them  as  if  one  were  chewing  chewing-gum,  an  elastic  mass 
was  obtained  which  was  of  good  color,  i.  e.,  not  too  yellow 
but  pale  cream  or  whitish.  The  color  is  of  importance, 
for  the  lighter  it  is,  the  lighter,  and  therefore  more  at- 
tractive-looking, will  be  the  flour  produced  from  the  wheat 
in  a  mill.  The  light  color  of  the  elastic  mass,  when  taken 
from  the  mouth,  was  therefore  all  in  favor  of  the  Marquis 
wheat  so  far  as  the  miller  is  concerned.  The  elasticity 
of  the  mass  gave  an  indication  of  the  way  the  wheat  would 
behave  as  to  baking  qualities.  The  elasticity  of  the  mass 
produced  by  chewing  a  few  grains  of  wheat  of  different 
varieties  varies  greatly;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  more  elastic 


156  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

or  rubber-like  the  mass,  the  bigger  the  loaf  that  can  be 
made  from  the  flour,  or,  in  other  words,  the  better  the 
baking  qualities.  The  elasticity  is  due  to  the  quality  of 
the  gluten,  a  mixture  of  complex  proteins  which  are  present 
in  the  grains  along  with  the  starch.  Dr.  Saunders  found 
that  a  few  grains  of  the  Marquis  wheat,  when  chewed  in 
the  mouth,  produced  an  elastic  mass  which  was  rubber- 
like in  a  high  degree,  and  therefore  concluded  that  Mar- 
quis wheat  had  an  excellent  quality  of  gluten  and  would 
make  large  and  palatable  loaves.  Thus,  then,  by  a  care- 
ful series  of  observations  extending  over  three  years. 
Dr.  Saunders  discovered  that  Marquis  wheat  behaved  well 
in  plot  tests  in  respect  to  the  early  ripening  of  its  grains 
and  in  having  a  good  yield,  and  that  it  possessed  milling 
and  baking  qualities  of  tb.e  most  desirable  kind. 

Dr.  Saunders  propagated  his  new  wheat  from  1904  to 
1906,  so  that  it  gradually  increased  in  quantity.  The  few 
ounces  of  grain  collected  in  August,  1904,  in  successive 
harvests  increased  in  amount  in  geometrical  progression, 
and,  by  the  autumn  of  1906,  about  two-thirds  of  a  bushel 
were  available.  The  chewing  tests  for  milling  and  baking 
qualities  were  carried  out  systematically  for  three  years, 
in  1904,  1905,  and  1906.  Toward  the  close  of  this  period, 
a  small  flour  mill,  a  fermenting-cupboard  designed  by  Dr. 
Saunders  himself,  and  an  oven,  were  set  up  in  the  cereal 
laboratory;  and  with  this  apparatus  many  experiments 
were  made  with  different  wheats  with  a  view  to  obtaining 
an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  carrying  out 
milling  and  baking  tests.  By  the  year  1906,  the  crop  of 
Marquis  wheat  had  at  last  increased  sufficiently  to  permit 
of  some  of  it  being  made  into  flour  by  grinding  the  grains 
in  the  mill,  and  of  loaves  being  made  by  baking  in  the 
oven.  Rigorous  tests  for  the  milling  and  baking  qualities 
of  Marquis,  made  with  the  new  apparatus  in  the  winter 


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i^^^H 

DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  157 

of  1906-07  and  the  following  years,  fully  confirmed  the 
original  estimates  which  had  been  arrived  at  by  using 
the  teeth  as  grindstones  and  the  mouth  as  a  substitute  for 
an  oven. 

VI.  The  Introduction  of  Marquis  into  Western  Canada 

In  the  spring  of  1907,  all  the  seed  that  could  be  spared, 
about  23  lbs.,  was  sent  from  Ottawa  to  the  Indian  Head 
Experimental  Farm  in  Saskatchewan,  and  there  the  grain 
was  sown  on  two  plots,  one  of  one-fortieth  of  an  acre  and 
the  other  of  one-fifth  of  an  acre.     In  1908,  further  tests 
were  made  not  only  at  Indian  Head  but  also  at  the  Brandon 
Experimental  Farm  in  Manitoba.     The  seasons  of  1907 
and  1908  were  somewhat  unfavorable  for  wheat  in  gen- 
eral, and,  under  these  conditions.  Marquis  did  astonish- 
ingly well,  far  better  than  Eed  Fife  which  had  always 
been  regarded  as  the  best  wheat  and  with  which  it  was 
compared  in  the  experimental  plots.     In  the  spring  of 
1909  the   distribution  of  Marquis  to  the  public  began. 
Four  hundred  samples  were  sent  out  and  the  farmers  who 
received  them  sowed  the  new  wheat  in  many  scattered 
places   in   western   Canada.     Marquis   thus   spread   from 
Saskatchewan  to  Manitoba  on  the  east  and  Alberta  on 
the  west     But  this  is  not  all,  for  it  disregarded  the  in- 
ternational boundary  line  and  peacefully  penetrated  into 
the  United  States,  where  it  now  covers  vast  areas,  more 
especially  in  INTorth  Dakota,  South  Dakota  and  Minnesota. 
Furthermore,  it  is  now  much  grown  in  eastern  Canada, 
especially  in  Ontario  and  Quebec;  and  it  has  found  its 
way  into  the  Kamloops  district  of  British  Columbia.     In 
the  Maritime  Provinces,  however,  it  does  not  usually  do 
so  well.     Its  fame  has  attracted  universal  attention,  and 
it   is   now   being   tested    in    almost   every   wheat-growing 
country  in  the  world.     Recently  it  was  greatly  in  demand 


158  ESSAYS    ON   WHEAT 

for  seed  purposes  in  France  but  could  not  be  shipped 
in  the  quantity  required. 

Since  the  spring  of  1909  when  farmers  began  to  sow 
Marquis  for  the  first  time,  the  growing  of  this  wheat  in 
Canada  has  spread  enormously,  and  Marquis  is  now  by  far 
the  chief  wheat  grown  in  the  West.  Practical  experience 
with  Marquis  by  tens  of  thousands  of  farmers  on  millions 
of  acres  has  completely  justified  the  original  estimate  of 
the  wheat  made  by  Dr.  Saunders  in  the  quiet  of  his 
laboratory.  The  introduction  of  Marquis  wheat  is  one  of 
the  greatest  practical  triumphs  that  Canada  has  ever  had, 
one  that  is  perennially  fruitful,  not  impoverishing  but 
ever  increasing  the  wealth  of  our  country  and  making  it 
a  better  land  to  live  in.  But  this  is  not  all,  for  Marquis 
extends  its  blessings  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  this  coun- 
try, not  merely  to  the  United  States  of  America  where 
it  is  also  grown  on  a  large  scale,  but  to  the  Old  World. 
Especially  in  Europe,  to  which  it  is  borne  by  a  great  fleet 
of  ships  across  the  broad  Atlantic,  it  adds  to  the  quantity 
and  improves  the  quality  of  the  daily  bread  of  millions  of 
toilers  who  have  never  heard  its  name. 

YII.  The  Introduction  of  Marquis  into  the  United  States 
of  America 

The  invasion  of  the  United  States  of  America  by  Mar- 
quis was  rapidly  accomplished,  and  took  place  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner.  After  Marquis  had  been  grown  in  the 
Prairie  Provinces  for  a  year  or  two,  from  1909  onwards, 
farmers  in  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Minnesota,  and 
neighboring  States,  soon  learned  the  news  of  its  won- 
derful success  from  their  Canadian  friends.  The  result 
was  that  individual  farmers  in  these  States  imported  a 
certain  amount  of  the  new  wheat  for  seed  purposes.  The 
favorable  harvests  which  they  obtained,  attracted  the  at- 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         159 

tention  of  other  farmers  who  also  hecame  anxious  to 
give  the  new  wheat  a  trial.  To  meet  this  demand,  several 
car-loads  of  additional  seed  were  imported  by  various 
seed  firms  in  N^orth  Dakota  in  1912.  ^¥lien  Marquis  be- 
gan to  arrive  at  the  big  flour  mills  of  Minneapolis,  the 
millers  immediately  recognized  its  fine  milling  and  baking 
qualities;  and  they  became  enthusiastic  advocates  of  its 
introduction  into  the  N"orthwestern  States.  Tor  example, 
the  Eussell,  Miller  Milling  Company  of  Minneapolis,  in 
the  fall  of  1913,  made  arrangements  with  the  Angus 
McKay  Farm  Seed  Company  of  Indian  Head  for  the 
importation  of  nearly  100,000  bushels  of  Marquis  from 
the  Indian  Head  and  Eegina  regions;  and  they  supplied 
this  seed  to  the  farmers  of  I^orth  Dakota,  Minnesota,  etc., 
at  cost.  In  order  to  make  certain  that  this  large  amount 
of  seed  should  be  of  first-class  quality,  the  Russell,  Miller 
Milling  Company  communicated  with  Professor  H.  L. 
Bolley,  the  Seed  Commissioner  for  E'orth  Dakota,  and  re- 
quested him  to  inspect  the  fields  from  which  the  seed  was 
to  come.  Professor  Bolley,  who  had  long  been  convinced 
of  the  importance  of  bringing  into  the  United  States  seed- 
wheat  of  high  quality  and  who  had  perceived  the  good 
qualities  of  Marquis  when  grown  on  his  experimental  plots 
at  Fargo,  gladly  undertook  the  mission;  and  the  100,000 
bushels  of  Marquis  duly  arrived  at  its  destination  in  ex- 
cellent condition.  ^^     A  further  37,000  bushels  were  im- 

12  The  above  facts  were  obtained  by  personal  inquiry  from  Pro- 
fessor H.  L.  Bolley  at  Fargo,  and  from  Mr.  H.  S.  Helm  of  the 
Russell,  Miller  Milling  Co.,  at  Minneapolis.  Mr.  D.  G.  Mackay,  of 
the  Angus  Mackay  Farm  Seed  Co.,  gave  the  following  additional 
information.  The  first  two  bushels  exported  by  the  Angus  Mackay 
Farm  Seed  Co.  were  sent  to  the  Northrup,  King  Co.,  of  Minneapolis 
in  1910.  This  Company  sent  the  two  bushels  to  a  farmer  who 
lived  near  Grand  Forks,  N.  D.,  in  the  Red  River  Valley;  and  the 
farmer  contracted  to  increase  it  in  amount  for  the  Company.  By 
the  autumn  of  1912,  the  crop  had  already  become  large  and  it  was 
shipped  as  a  car  lot  to  the  Russell,  Miller  Milling  Co.,  at  Minneapolis, 


160  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

ported  for  seed  purposes  and  supplied  to  the  farmers  at  cost 
by  the  Andrews  Grain  Company,  also  of  Minneapolis.^^ 
Other  firms  made  similar  importations  on  a  smaller  scale, 
so  that,  altogether,  about  200,000  bushels  of  Marquis 
were  brought  across  the  Line  and  made  available  for  seed 
in  the  spring  of  1913.  In  1914  still  more  Canadian 
Marquis  was  brought  in.  Most  of  the  imported  seed  was 
sold  in  Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  and  Montana,  and  small 
quantities  in  Iowa,  Nebraska,  South  Dakota,  and  Wash- 
ington. The  importations  for  1913  and  1914,  together 
with  the  seed  grown  at  home  in  1913,  sufficed  to  sow  about 
haH  a  million  acres  in  1914.  The  total  crop  of  Marquis 
in  the  United  States,  in  the  fall  of  1914,  was  probably 
about  7,000,000  bushels  and  of  this  6,360,000  bushels  were 
produced  in  Minnesota  and  the  two  Dakotas.^*  This  crop 
gave  a  large  supply  of  home-grown  seed  and  in  conse- 
quence importations  of  further  seed  from  Canada  prac- 
tically ceased.^® 

This  firm's  analyst  immediately  recognized  the  high  gluten  con- 
tents of  the  new  wheat  with  the  result  that  the  Russell,  Miller  Milling 
Co.  made  further  enquiries  about  Marquis  and  initiated  their  cam- 
paign for  its  introduction  into  the  Northwestern  States. 

13  From  the  records  of  the  Andrews  Grain  Company.  The  in- 
formation was  kindly  supplied  to  me  by  Mr.  Godfrey  at  an  in- 
terview in  the  office  of  the  firm. 

14  C.  R.  Ball  and  J.  A.  Clark,  Experiments  with  Marquis  Wheat, 
Bulletin  No.  400,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Oct.,  1916,  p.  4. 

15  The  following  are  the  firms  which  purchased  Marquis  seed 
from  the  Angus  McKay  Farm  Seed  Co.,  or  through  it,  during  the 
first  distribution  of  the  seed  in  the  United  States,  and  the  number 
of  bushels  of  seed  which  each  bought: 

Firms  Locality  Bushels 

Russell,  Miller  Milling  Co Minneapolis    111,552 

Andrews  Grain  Co Minneapolis    40,620 

Northrup  Grain  Co Minneapolis    11,000 

D.  B.  Shaw Tower  City,  N.  D 6,400 

Harvey  Milling  Co Harvey,  N.  D 2,500 

Crookston  Milling  Co Crookston,  Minn 2,500 


DISCOVEKY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  161 

The  result  of  importing  and  growing  the  seed  of  Mar- 
quis on  a  large  scale  was  that  this  wheat  made  very  rapid 
strides  in  the  Northwestern  States.  Thus  in  North 
Dakota,  by  1915  —  a  year  when  this  State  is  reported 
to  have  produced  152,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  ^^ — a 
very  large  percentage  of  the  crop,  at  least  25  per  cent.,  con- 
sisted of  Marquis;  ^'^  and  now  (1918)  Marquis  is  the  chief 
bread-wheat  grown  there,  forming  perhaps  75  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  crop.^^ 

In  North  Dakota,  owing  to  general  farming  operations, 
particularly  the  uninterrupted  wheat  culture  on  the  same 
land  year  after  year,  the  wheat  in  that  State,  previously 
to  the  introduction  of  Marquis,  had  become  very  gener- 
ally mixed  through  additions  made  by  volunteer  wheats, 
etc.  One  of  the  evil  consequences  of  this  was  that  the 
ripening  of  the  grain  in  the  fields  was  irregular :  the  heads 
did  not  all  mature  at  the  same  time  and  farmers  found 
themselves  in  difficulty  in  deciding  the  time  of  cutting. 

Firms  Locality  Bushels 

W.  J.  Jennison  Co Minneapolis    2,500 

Baldwin    Flour   Mills Moorhead,   Minn 2,000 

McGill   and   Co Fargo,  N".  D 1,100 

L.  L.  May  and  Co St.  Paul,  Minn 1,000 

Hanson  and  Barson Thief  River  Falls 1,000 


Total    182,172 

The  direct  importers  of  a  large  portion  of  these  lots  of  wheat  was 
the  0.  J.  Barnes  Co.,  of  Grand  Forks,  N.  D. ;  and  this  firm  there- 
fore played  an  important  part  in  introducing  Marquis  into  the 
United  States.  Information  supplied  by  the  Angus  Mackay  Farm 
Seed  Co. 

16  Year  Book  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1915, 
p.  422. 

17  This  estimate  is  lower  than  that  made  for  me  by  Professor 
Bolley  of  the  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College  and  by  Mr. 
H.  S.  Helm  of  the  Russell,  Miller  Milling  Co.,  but  is  in  accord 
with  the  Table  given  further  within  this  Section. 

18  Estimate  made  by  Professor  H.  L.  Bolley  of  the  North  Dakota 
Agricultural  College. 


162  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

And  when  the  crop  was  harvested  and  sent  to  the  mills, 
analysis  showed  that  samples  of  what  was  nominally  a 
single  kind  of  wheat,  such  as  Bluestem,  contained  all  sorts 
of  kernels,  and  were  very  unequal  with  respect  to  gluten 
contents.  The  want  of  uniformity  in  the  crops  of  Pres- 
ton and  Bluestem  which  were  once  the  principal  wheats 
grown  in  North  Dakota,  was  one  of  the  chief  business 
difficulties  with  which  millers  had  to  contend,  l^ow  Mar- 
quis, in  1913,  was  a  fresh  stock  of  wheat  of  uniform 
variety.  It  came  to  North  Dakota  just  when  the  need  of 
more  uniform  seed  was  most  felt ;  and  by  replacing  mixed 
wheats,  apart  from  its  good  qualities  of  high  yield,  earli- 
ness,  etc.,  it  proved  a  great  boon  to  farmers  and  millers 
alike  and  gave  a  new  impetus  to  wheat  culture. 

In  Minnesota,  Marquis  constitutes  more  than  one-half 
and  approaching  three-quarters  of  the  crop  of  spring 
wheat.  ^^  Of  the  acreage  in  this  rich  State  devoted  to 
wheat  this  year,  1918,  only  80,000  acres  (chiefly  in  the 
extreme  south)  were  sown  with  winter  wheat,  whereas 
about  4,000,000  acres  were  sown  with  spring  wheat.^*^ 
Now  if  we  take  one-half  of  this  4,000,000,  namely  2,000,- 
000  acres,  as  having  been  sown  with  Marquis;  and,  fur- 
ther, if  we  assume  that  the  average  number  of  bushels 
of  wheat  per  acre  will  be  the  same  as  it  was  for  spring 
wheat  in  1917,  namely  17.5 ;  ^i  then  the  yield  of  Mar- 
quis in  Minnesota  this  year  will  be  approximately  35,000,- 
000  bushels.  If,  however,  we  assume,  as  seems  almost 
certain,  that  at  least  65  per  cent,  of  the  total  crop  will  be 
Marquis,  and  that  the  total  crop  of  spring  wheat  in  Min- 
nesota this  year  will  be   as  estimated  on   September  1, 

19  Facts  supplied  by  Professor  Andrew  Boss  of  the  Agronomy  De- 
partment of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

20  Ibid. 

21  Year  Book  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  for 
1917,  p.  617. 


DISCOVEKY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


163 


1918,  namely  72,417,000  bushels,^^  then  to  this  crop 
Marquis  will  contribute  approximately  47,000,000  bushels. 
These  estimates  are  sufficient  to  indicate  to  how  great  an 
extent  Marquis  must  have  replaced  other  grains  such  as 
Preston  and  Bluestem  in  Minnesota  in  the  short  period 
of  five  years  which  began  in  1913  when  it  was  first  in- 
troduced from  Canada  on  a  large  scale.  But  the  end  is 
not  yet ;  for  Marquis  is  becoming  more  and  more  favored 


Fig.  28.     Reference  map  for  the  United  States. 

by  the  farmers  owing  to  its  excellent  yield,  its  plump, 
heavy,  rich  red-colored,  highly  uniform  grains,  its  earli- 
ness,  and  its  value  to  millers,  and  it  appears  destined  in 
the  very  near  future  still  further  to  strengthen  its  posi- 
tion as  the  dominant  spring  wheat  of  Minnesota. 

One  of  the  maps  in  the  excellent  Geography  of  the 
World's  Agriculture,  recently  published  at  Washington, 
shows  the  distribution   of  spring  wheat   in  the   United 

22  Monthly  Crop  Report,  October,  1918,  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates, 
Washington. 


164  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

States.^^  A  single  black  dot,  in  any  locality,  indicates 
a  crop  from  5,000  acres.  A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that 
the  dots  are  most  densely  aggregated  in  Xorth  Dakota, 
South  Dakota,  and  Minnesota ;  and  thus,  by  a  pictorial  set- 
ting forth  of  statistical  data,  one  at  once  becomes  con- 
vinced that  these  three  States  are  the  chief  of  those  that 
grow  spring  wheat.  A  further  study  of  the  map  reveals 
the  fact  that  spring  wheat  is  also  largely  grown  in  Mon- 
tana as  well  as  in  a  belt  of  States  surrounding  those  al- 
ready named,  and  in  scattered  districts  elsewhere.  N^ow 
Marquis  is  a  spring  wheat,  and  on  this  account  its  dis- 
tribution is  of  necessity  confined  to  the  spring-wheat  States 
where  of  course  it  has  to  compete  with  other  spring  wheats 
of  which  the  chief  are  Velvet  Chaff  (Preston),  Fife  (also 
called  Red  Fife,  Scotch  Fife,  etc.),  and  Bluestem.  The 
first  four  States  in  order  of  importance,  so  far  as  Marquis 
is  concerned,  are:  Xorth  Dakota,  Minnesota,  South  Da- 
kota, and  Montana ;  but  Marquis  is  also  grown,  although 
in  much  smaller  quantities:  to  the  south,  in  western  'Ne- 
braska; to  the  west,  at  certain  altitudes  in  Colorado,  in 
Wyoming,  at  altitudes  between  800  and  4,500  feet  in 
Idaho,  and  in  the  State  of  Washington ;  and  to  the  east, 
in  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  K'ew 
York.^*  In  the  spring  of  this  year,  1918,  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  supply  of  bread  for  the  Allies  in  the  Great  War, 
the  farmers  of  the  six  last-mentioned  easterly  States  con- 
siderably extended  their  spring-wheat  area,  so  that  it  be- 
came much  greater  than  it  had  been  in  1917.  To  provide 
seed  for  the  additional  land.  Marquis  was  made  available 

23  Finch  and  Baker,  Geography  of  the  World's  Agriculture,  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Government  Printing  Office,  Washing- 
ton, 1917. 

24  For  this  geographical  information  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  C.  R. 
Ball  of  Washington,  Dr.  E.  K.  Stakman  of  St.  Paul,  and  to  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Saunders. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  165 

in  large  quantities  at  Minneapolis,  Buffalo,  and  at  other 
places,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  this  year  one-half  the 
spring  wheat  in  the  six  States  under  discussion  has  con- 
sisted of  this  variety.^^ 

Marquis  was  first  grown  in  the  Pacific  ISTorthwest  in 
considerable  quantities  during  the  season  1914.  The  in- 
crease was  sold  for  seed,  and  by  1916  Marquis  began  to 
be  shipped  away.  Some  of  it  found  its  way  to  the  mark- 
ets of  the  Central  States;  and  this  led  Professor  C.  IT. 
Bailey  to  make  a  careful  investigation  of  its  qualities. 
He  visited  the  so-called  Inland  Empire  and  found  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  Marquis  wheat  was  being  raised :  in  the 
Palouse  district  near  Pullman  (Washington)  and  Mos- 
cow (Idaho),  in  the  Xez  Perce  district,  particularly 
around  Genesee  and  Lewiston  (Idaho),  and  on  the  Camas 
Prairie  between  Eeubens  and  Grangeville  (Idaho).  Pro- 
fessor Bailey  collected  samples  of  the  wheat  in  all  these 
districts,  tested  them  in  his  laboratory  at  the  University 
of  Minnesota,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  soft  red 
and  white  wheats  of  the  Inland  Empire  districts,  such  as 
Jones  Winter  Fife,  Little  Cliib,  Red  Russian,  and  Forty- 
fold,  are  generally  inferior  in  baking  qualities  to  Marquis 
and  Turkey  wheat  grown  in  the  same  localities.^^ 

To  what  extent,  in  the  end.  Marquis  will  establish  itself 
in  the  Pacific  Northwest,  is  as  yet  uncertain.  It  appears 
to  be  particularly  well  adapted  to  the  higher  altitudes  of 
the  Camas  Prairie,  since  it  matures  there  sufficiently  early 
to  escape  the  frost  of  late  summer.^'''  Moreover,  as  we 
have  seen,  Pacific  Northwest  Marquis  has  come  off  with 

25  From  information  sent  in  a  letter  by  Mr.  C.  K.  Ball,  of  the 
Office  of  Cereal  Investigations,  Washington. 

26  C.  H.  Bailey,  The  Quality  of  Western-grown  Spring  Wheat, 
Journal  of  the  American  Society  of  Agronomy,  Vol.  9,  1917,  pp. 
155-161. 

27  C.  H.  Bailey,  loc.  cit.,  p.  156. 


166  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

flving  colors  in  the  baking  tests ;  but  there  is  another  fact 
of  importance  to  consider,  namely,  yield.  Messrs.  Ball 
and  Clark  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  while  in  the 
great  central  spring-wheat  States  Marquis  out-yields  the 
other  Common  spring-wheats,  yet  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, at  various  stations,  Marquis  is  out-yielded  by  the 
standard  varieties  of  soft  white  spring  wheats  and  by  sev- 
eral other  varieties  newly  introduced.^^  Marquis  must 
therefore  be  considered  as  still  on  trial  in  the  Pacific 
Northwest,  and  a  few  more  years  must  pass  before  its 
exact  position  in  respect  to  other  wheats  has  there  become 
a  settled  one. 

In  Montana,  Marquis  formed  45  per  cent,  of  the  wheat 
crop  in  1917,  as  against  40  per  cent,  for  winter  wheat 
and  8  per  cent,  for  Durum.  Marquis  out-yielded  Durum, 
but  was  itself  out-yielded  by  winter  wheat  to  the  extent 
of  3.2  bushels  per  acre.^^  However,  winter  wheat  in 
Montana  is  not  a  uniform  success;  for,  in  the  principal 
spring-wheat  sections  of  this  State,  early  in  the  spring 
of  1916,  a  thaw  followed  by  a  frost  killed  most  of  the  fall- 
sown  Turkey  wheat.  In  consequence  of  this,  a  large  part 
of  the  Turkey-wheat  acreage  was  reseeded  to  Marquis, 
which  thus  made  a  proportionate  gain  over  its  competi- 
tors.3o 

In  order  to  realize  the  bcftter  with  what  speed  Marquis 
has  increased  its  cultivation  in  the  four  chief  spring-wheat 
States,  and  to  perceive  the  effect  which  Marquis  has  had 
upon  other  kinds  of  wheat  in  the  vast  struggle  for  varietal 
predominance  upon  the  western  plains,  we  shall  now  turn 
our  attention  to  certain  data  recently  published  by  the 

28  C.  R.  Ball  and  J.  Allen  Clark,  Experiments  with.  Marquis  wheat, 
Bulletin  No.  400,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  October,  1916,  pp.  27,  35,  40,  etc. 

29  For  these  data,  see  the  table  which  follows. 

30  C.  H.  Bailey,  loc.  cit.,  p.  158. 


Fig.  29.  Spike  of  Marquis  wheat  compared  with  spikes  of  Minnesota  standard 
varieties.  A,  Minnesota  No.  163  or  Glyndon  Fife;  B,  Marquis;  C,  Minnesota 
No.  160  or  Haynes'  Bluestem;  D,  Velvet  Chaff  (Preston).  Natural  size.  From 
Bulletin  No.  137  on  Marquis  Wheat  by  A.  C.  Arnv  and  C.  H.  Bailev.  Courtesy  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


•••••MM* 
••••M*^«* 


Fig.  3U.  Kernels  of  Marquis  wheat  compared  with  kernels  of  Minne- 
sota standard  varieties.  A,  Minnesota  Xo.  169  or  Haynes'  Bluestem; 
B,  Marquis;  C,  Minnesota  No.  163  or  Glyndon  Fife;  D,  Velvet  Chaff 
(Preston).  Twice  natural  size.  From  Bulletin  No.  137  on  Marquis 
Wheat  by  A.  C.  Arny  and  C.  H.  Bailey.  Courtesy  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  167 

Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  at  Washington.^^  These  data, 
reproduced  below  in  their  original  tabular  form,  provide 
us  with  the  estimated  percentage  which  each  important 
variety  of  wheat  contributed  to  the  crop  of  wheat  in  Min- 
nesota and  the  two  Dakotas  in  each  of  the  years  1914,  1916 
and  1917,  and  similar  figures  for  Montana  in  1917.  For 
1915,  however,  the  estimates  are  lacking  except  for  Durum. 
Velvet  Chaff  is  another  name  for  Preston. 

Percentages  of  the  Total  Crop  for  the  Chief  Wheat  Varieties 


MINNE- 
SOTA 
1917  ... 
1916  ... 
1915   .... 
1914  ... 


NORTH 
DAKOTA 

1917  

1916 

1915  

1914 


SOUTH 
DAKOTA 

1917  

1916 

1915   

1914 

MON- 
TANA 
1917  


Mar- 
quis 


Per 

cent. 
46.0 
30.7 

3.0 


43.0 
38.3 

5.0 


43.0 

22.5 

3.0 


45.0 


Velvet 
Chaff 


Per 

cent. 
26.0 

28.9 

30.0 


10.0 
12.2 

11.0 


20.0 

28.4 

31.0 


1.0 


Blue- 
stem 


Per 

cent. 
18.0 
30.8 

52.0 


12.0 
14.1 

45.0 


11.0 

22.8 

30.0 


3.0 


Du- 
rum 


Per 

cent. 
3.0 

2.2 
1.9 
2.0 


25.0 
18.5 
14.5 
13.0 


20.0 
12.0 
22.7 
21.0 


8.0 


Fife 


Per 

cent. 
3.0 

3.8 

7.0 


8.0 
15.9 

21.0 


3.0 
2.6 

11.0 


2.0 


Win- 
ter 


Per 

cent. 

3.0 

3.3 

2.0 


1.0 
0.5 


3.0 
11.5 

3.0 


40.0 


Other 


Per 
cent. 

1.0 

0.3 
98.1 

4.0 


1.0 

0.5 

85.5 

4.0 


.0 

0.2 

77.3 

i.O 


1.0 


31  Monthly  Crop  Report  for  August,  1918,  Bureau  of  Crop  Esti- 
mates, U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  August,  1918, 
p.  95. 


168  ESSAYS    ON"    WHEAT 

An  inspection  of  the  Table  shows  us  that  the  percentage 
of  the  total  wheat  crop  contributed  by  Marquis  increased 
from  1914  to  1917:  in  Minnesota  from  3  to  46  per  cent. ;  in 
N"orth  Dakota  from  5  to  43  per  cent. ;  in  South  Dakota 
from  3  to  43  per  cent. ;  and  in  Montana  from  some  small 
unrecorded  amount  to  45  per  cent.  Stated  more  generally, 
the  figures  indicate  that  Marquis  increased  in  popularity 
in  the  great  central  spring-wheat  region  to  such  an  extent 
that,  although  it  formed  less  than  5  per  cent,  of  the  total 
crop  in  1914,  by  1917  it  had  come  to  form  nearly  one- 
half  the  total  crop.  But  even  this  does  not  mark  the  final 
triumph  of  Marquis  over  its  competitors,  for  it  was  again 
sown  last  spring  in  Minnesota,  North  and  South  Dakota, 
and  Montana,  in  greatly  increased  measure.  The  actual 
figures  for  1918  will  not  be  available  for  some  months, 
but  Mr.  C.  R.  Ball,  of  the  Ofiice  of  Cereal  Investigations 
at  Washington,  has  informed  the  writer  that  he  believes 
that  Marquis  this  year  will  contribute  at  least  65  per  cent, 
to  the  total  wheat  crop  of  these  four  States,  and  possibly 
a  little  more. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  other  varieties  of  wheat 
have  withstood  the  onslaught  of  the  invader  from  the  north 
in  the  struggle  for  supremacy.  Velvet  Chaff  (Preston) 
has  about  maintained  its  position  in  North  Dakota  but  has 
decreased  in  Minnesota  by  13  per  cent,  of  its  original 
amount  in  1914,  and  in  South  Dakota  by  35  per  cent. 
Bluestem  and  Fife  (Bed  Fife,  Scotch  Fife,  etc.),  have 
suffered  disastrously.  Bluestem,  which  in  1914  was  facile 
princeps  among  the  wheat  sorts  of  Minnesota  and  North 
Dakota,  and  which  shared  an  equal  rule  with  Velvet  Chaff 
in  South  Dakota,  has  decreased  its  crop  since  1914:  in 
Minnesota  by  65  per  cent.,  in  North  Dakota  by  73  per 
cent.,  and  in  South  Dakota  by  63  per  cent.  It  is  evident 
that  Marquis  is  rapidly  replacing  Bluestem  in  these  States 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  1^'^ 

and  that  already  in  the  space  of  four  seasons  it  has  cut 
down  the  cultivation  of  the  older  variety  to  one-third  of 
what  it  was  originally.  Fife  had  much  less  ground  to 
give  up  than  Bluestem  but,  nevertheless,  since  1914,  its 
crop  has  decreased :  in  Minnesota  by  57  per  cent. ;  in  North 
Dakota  by  62  per  cent,  and  in  South  Dakota  by  73  per 
cent. 

Durum  wheat,  from  which  macaroni  is  made,  as  its 
name  indicates,  has  very  hard  kernels,  and  it  differs  in 
various  respects  from  the  so-called  Common  Wheats  such 
as  Velvet  Chaff,  Bluestem  and  Fife.^^  Like  Marquis,  as 
the  figures  in  the  Table  show,  it  is  increasing  in  popularity 
in  Minnesota  and  North  Dakota,  although  not  nearly  so 
fast ;  but  in  South  Dakota  it  is  merely  holding  its  place. 

On  account  of  climatic  conditions.  Winter  wheat  can- 
not be  grown  with  much  success  in  Minnesota  and  the  two 
Dakotas,  and  is  therefore  never  likely  to  be  a  serious  com- 
petitor of  Marquis  in  these  States.  In  1917  Winter  wheat 
contributed  only  three  per  cent,  to  the  total  crop  in  Min- 
nesota and  South  Dakota,  and  only  1  per  cent,  in  North 
Dakota. 

It  is  a  remarkable  tribute  to  the  worth  of  Marquis  that, 
notwithstanding  its  quite  recent  crossing  of  the  Inter- 
national Boundary  Line,  it  should  have  already  thoroughly 
established  itself  as  the  leading  kind  of  wheat  in  the  chief 
spring-wheat  States,  and  that  it  should  now  be  cultivated, 
to  some  extent  at  least,  in  a  continuous  zone  of  States 
stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
spring-wheat  lands  of  Minnesota,  the  two  Dakotas,  and 
Montana  pass  by  insensible  gradations  into  the  Canadian 
spring-wheat  Provinces  of  Manitoba,  Saskatchewan,  and 

32  Much  Durum  wheat  is  ground  into  flour  at  Minneapolis,  and  the 
flour,  after  being  mixed  with  other  sorts  of  flour,  is  used  for 
making  bread. 


ITO  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Alberta.  In  this  vast  territory,  in  the  spring  of  1918, 
Canadian  and  American  farmers  sowed  Marquis  upon 
about  20,000,000  acres ;  and,  if  one  were  to  travel  in  sum- 
mertime from  the  most  southerly  point  in  N^ebraska  where 
Marquis  is  grown,  due  northwards,  through  South  Dakota 
and  !North  Dakota,  to  the  most  northerly  point  in  Sas- 
katchewan where  Marquis  is  grown,  one  would  pass  fields 
of  Marquis  for  a  distance  of  800  miles.  When  one  reflects 
that  the  thousands  of  millions  of  Marquis  wheat-plants 
which  turned  from  green  to  gold  under  the  summer  sun 
of  this  year,  1918,  all  had  their  origin  in  a  single  grain 
of  wheat  planted  at  Ottawa  so  recently  as  the  spring  of 
1903,  one  cannot  help  feeling  that  one  is  here  presented 
with  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  examples  of  vegetable 
increase  that  our  planet  has  ever  seen.  This  increase, 
which  is  probably  a  record  for  Flowering  Plants,  has  been 
made  possible:  firstly,  by  the  wonderful  means  of  com- 
munication and  transportation  which  are  now  everywhere 
available  and,  secondly,  by  the  highly  advantageous  co- 
operation of  the  cerealists,  seedsmen,  grain  merchants, 
millers,  and  farmers  of  two  friendly  nations.  There  are 
no  more  pleasant  and  mutually  profitable  invasions  than 
those  which  are  accomplished  by  battalions  of  wheat-plants 
from  the  Xorth,  and  battalions  of  corn-plants  from  the 
South.     May  this  delightful  warfare  long  continue ! 

VIII.  General  Description  of  Marquis 

Marquis  is  one  of  the  hard  red  spring  wheats  and  is 
classed  among  the  beardless  varieties,  although,  in  common 
with  Red  Fife,  White  Fife,  Glyndon,  Haynes'  Bluestem, 
etc.,  it  carries  a  few  short  avms  at  the  tip  of  the  head. 
The  head  is  of  medium  length  and  somewhat  pointed  at  the 
tip.  The  chaff  is  smooth  and  of  a  straw-yellow  color. 
The  straw  is  somewhat  shorter  and  less  liable  to  lodge  than 


V  «  #  « 

®A 

m^m  ^ 

•  « 

V  •  #  # 

#^ 

m  m  m  f^; 

•^ 

Fig.  31.  Cross-sections  of  Wheat  Kernels.  Marquis  compared  with  Min- 
nesota standard  varieties.  A,  Minnesota  No.  169  or  Haynes'  Bluestem; 
B,  Marquis;  C,  Minnesota  No.  163  or  Glyndon  Fife;  D,  Velvet  ChatT  (Pres- 
ton). Three  times  natural  size.  From  Bulletin  No.  137  on  Marquis  Wheat 
by  A.  C.  Arny  and  C.  H.  Bailey.  Courtesy  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  171 

that  of  most  other  varieties.  The  kernels  are  rather 
short,  very  plump,  and  of  a  particularly  rich  red  color, 
qualities  which  make  the  wheat  pleasing  to  the  eye  and 
admirable  for  exhibition  purposes.  The  flour  produced 
in  the  mill  is  of  a  pale  cream-yellow  color,  similar  to  that 
of  the  old  standard  varieties.  Red  Fife  and  Bluestem ;  and, 
for  the  production  of  loaves  of  large  volume,  it  is  fully 
equal  to,  if  not  better  than,  that  of  the  older  sorts. 

Messrs.  Ball  and  Clark,  of  the  Office  of  Cereal  Investiga- 
tions at  Washington,  have  described  Marquis,  as  grown 
in  the  United  States,  as  follows : 

'^  In  all  important  characters  Marquis  closely  resembles 
the  wheats  of  the  Fife  group,  so  commonly  gro^vn  in  the 
northern  Great  Plains  States.  It  is  therefore  included 
in  the  Fife  group.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Red 
Fife  was  the  male  parent  of  Marquis  and  that  it  doubt- 
less was  selected  for  Fife  characters. 

"  The  Marquis  is  a  beardless  spring  wheat,  with  white 
glabrous  glumes  and  broad  and  short  hard  red  kernels. 
In  general  it  differs  from  the  true  Fife  varieties  in  its 
shorter  straw,  shorter  spike,  shorter  glumes,  and  shorter, 
broader  kernel. 

"  The  plants  are  of  only  medium  height,  ranging  from 
28  to  48  inches,  according  to  season.  They  generally  are 
2  to  4  inches  shorter  than  those  of  the  Glyndon  and 
Power  wheats.  The  straw  is  stiff  and  stands  up  well 
under  unfavorable  weather  conditions.  The  spikes  are 
short,  varying  from  2.5  to  4  inches  in  length.  They  aver- 
age one-half  to  1  inch  shorter  than  those  of  other  varieties 
of  the  Fife  group.  Two  or  three  awns  usually  are  found 
at  the  tip  of  the  head,  as  in  other  beardless  wheats. 

"  The  glumes  of  the  Marquis  variety  are  short  and 
broad.  The  variety  usually  can  be  recognized,  even  before 
the  seed  is  ripe,  by  this  character  and  by  its  lower  stature. 


1T2  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

In  spite  of  the  short  glumes  the  seed  is  held  firmly  and 
does  not  shatter. 

"  The  kernels  of  other  Fife  wheats  are  short  and  broad, 
hut  those  of  the  Marquis  are  even  more  so.  They  vary 
from  4.5  to  6  millimeters  in  length,  averaging  5.2  milli- 
meters, or  nearly  1  millimeter  shorter  than  the  kernels 
of  Fife  and  Bluestem  wheats.  The  crease  also  is  broader 
and  deeper. 

"  The  Marquis  is  an  early  variety,  ripening  from  98 
to  135  days  after  sowing,  varying  with  the  season  and 
locality.  The  average  length  of  its  growing  period  in 
the  northern  Great  Plains  is  about  115  days.  This  makes 
it  three  or  four  days  earlier  than  most  of  the  other  Fife 
varieties.  Because  of  its  earliness  it  escapes  to  some 
extent  the  drought  of  dry  years,  the  rust  and  fall  rains  of 
wet  seasons,  and  also  the  early  fall  frosts.  These  are 
the  characters  which  have  made  it  especially  valuable  in 
the  Prairie  Provinces  of  Canada. 

"  The  growing  season  lengthens  as  one  passes  south- 
ward into  the  United  States,  and  earliness  is  no  longer 
so  great  an  advantage."  ^^ 

IX.  Prizes  Awarded  to  Marquis 

The  late  James  J.  Hill,  of  the  Great  Northern  Eailway 
Company,  offered  a  gold  cup  to  the  value  of  $1,000  for  the 
best  bushel  of  hard  spring  wheat  grown  in  the  United 
States.  Sir  Thomas  Shaughnessy  challenged  him  to  open 
the  competition  for  the  prize  to  Canada,  but  Mr.  Hill  was 
unwilling  to  do  this.  Sir  Thomas,  therefore,  on  behalf 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  offered  a  new 
prize  of  $1,000  in  gold  for  the  best  bushel  of  hard  spring 

33  C.  R.  Ball  and  J.  A.  Clark,  Experiments  with  Marquis  Wheat, 
Bulletin  Xo.  400,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Wash- 
ington, 19 IG,  pp.  4-6. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  1T3 

wheat  grown  on  the  continent  of  iN'orth  America.  In 
1911  the  international  competition  was  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  E'ew  York  Land  Show  and  the  prize  was 
won  by  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  of  Kosthern,  Saskatchewan.^"^ 

Mr.  Seager  Wheeler,  to  whose  Red  Bobs  further  refer- 
ence will  be  made  in  a  later  section,  won  the  international 
prize  in  1911  with  a  sample  of  Marquis  wheat.  From  5 
lbs.  of  seed  sent  to  him  by  Dr.  Saunders  from  Ottawa  in 
1910,  he  obtained  250  lbs.  of  wheat  and  two  sheaves  which 
were  not  threshed  but  which  were  estimated  to  contain 
at  least  5  lbs.  of  grain  each.  This  extraordinary  yield 
was  obtained  on  a  strip  of  land  measuring  15  by  155  feet, 
equal  to  about  one-nineteenth  of  an  acre  and  probably  con- 
stitutes a  world's  record  for  spring  wheat. ^^  The  crop 
from  the  plot  furnished  part  of  the  seed  with  which  Mr. 
Wheeler  won  his  first  prize. 

In  1912,  Mr.  Holmes  of  Raymond,  Alberta,  won  the 
international  prize,  the  competition  being  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  International  Dry-farming  Congress;  and 
a  similar  honor  came  to  Mr.  Paul  Garlach  of  Allan, 
Saskatchewan,  in  1913.  In  both  these  competitions  it 
was  Marquis  which  brought  success. 

In  1914  and  1915  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  again  won  the 
international  prize  with  Marquis  wheat;  and  in  1916  he 
repeated  his  success ;  but  this  time  he  showed  his  new 
variety  which  he  selected  from  Marquis  and  which  he 
has  called  Kitchener. 

In  the  competition  held  in  1917  at  the  Twelfth  Inter- 

34  I  am  indebted  to  the  Grain  Growers  Guide  for  the  above  par- 
ticulars and  for  the  names  of  the  winners  of  the  international 
prize. 

35  For  the  facts  concerning  Mr.  Wheeler's  achievement,  see  the 
Report  of  the  Dominion  Cerealist  in  the  Annual  Report  on  Ex- 
perimental Farms  for  1911-12,  Ottawa,  1913,  p.  119.  A  calcula^ 
tion  shows  that  the  yield  per  acre  was  81  bushels. 


174  ESSAYS    ON   WHEAT 

national  Soil  Products  Exposition,  the  international  prize 
was  again  won  with  Marquis;  and  the  winner  was  Mr. 
Samuel  Larcombe  of  Birtle,  Manitoba. 

In  the  most  recent  competition,  held  in  October  of  the 
present  year,  1918,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Thirteenth 
International  Soil  Products  Exposition  at  Kansas  City, 
Mr.  Wheeler  was  again  the  successful  competitor.  He 
showed  samples  both  of  Marquis  and  Red  Bobs.  Unfor- 
tunately, owing  to  some  misunderstanding,  no  exact  record 
was  made  as  to  which  of  these  two  varieties  won  the  prize. 
Attempts  made  by  the  author  to  clear  up  this  uncertainty 
have  proved  abortive.  Owing  to  his  having  won  the  In- 
ternational prize  five  times,  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler's  name 
has  been  brought  prominently  before  the  public  as  that  of 
one  of  the  most  successful  grain  growers  on  this  con- 
tinent. 

Erom  the  above,  we  can  draw  the  interesting  conclusion 
that  Marquis,  or  a  derivative  of  Marquis,  has  won  the  in- 
ternational prize  for  a  sample  of  the  best  hard  spring  wheat 
against  all  competitors  from  1911  to  1917  inclusive,  dur- 
ing a  period  of  seven  successive  years. 

X.  Long-Period  Tests  for  Earliness  and  Yield 

To  show  the  practical  advantage  of  growing  Marquis 
wheat  in  respect  to  earliness  and  yield,  some  exact  data 
will  be  cited.  In  plot  tests  on  summer  fallow  land  at 
Indian  Head,  Saskatchewan,  in  a  series  of  eleven  years, 
1907-17  inclusive.  Marquis  showed  an  average  increase 
of  almost  40  per  cent,  over  Red  Eife  and  ripened  its 
grains  six  days  earlier  than  the  older  variety.^^     In  simi- 

36  This  percentage  is  either  in  pounds  weight  or  bushels.  Sixty 
pounds  weight  make  one  standard  bushel  of  wheat  according  to 
law.  The  wheat  is  often  weighed  on  the  farm  as  it  is  being  threshed 
and  always  weighed  at  the  elevator  when  it  is  about  to  be  stored; 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  17 


lar  tests  at  Brandon,  Manitoba,  for  the  series  of  ten 
years  1908-17  inclusive,  Marquis  had  an  advantage  over 
Eed  Fife  of  upwards  of  20  per  cent,  and,  just  as  at  In- 
dian Head,  was  six  days  earlier  in  ripening.'^  These 
facts  may  be  set  out  in  tabular  form  as  follows: 

Indian  Head:  1907-17  inclusive 
Days  from  Seeding  to  Ripening       Yield  in  Ihs.  per  acre 

Marquis 122 3,084 

Eed  Eife   128 2,210 

Brandon:  1908-17  inclusive 

Marquis 107 2,594 

Red  Eife    113 2,148 

The  earliness  of  Marquis,  as  compared  with  Red  Fife, 
Bluestem,  etc.,  brings  with  it  a  number  of  solid  advan- 
tages ;  and  these  we  shall  now  proceed  to  discuss. 

XI.  Earliness  and  the  Gain  of  Worhing-Time 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  Marquis  ripens  its  grains  a  full 
six  days  sooner  than  Eed  Fife,  the  farmer  who  grows 
the  former  variety  of  wheat  is  given  almost  an  extra 
week  between  harvest  and  freeze-up  for  the  preparation 
of  his  land  for  the  next  year.     In  the  Prairie  Provinces, 

and  the  number  of  bushels  is  calculated  from  the  weight  in  lbs.  by 
dividing  by  60.  At  an  elevator,  after  the  number  of  bushels  of 
wheat  in  a  delivery  has  been  estimated  in  this  way,  the  weight  of 
the  wheat  contained  in  a  bushel  measure  is  found  by  testing  a 
sample.  If  the  weight  should  be  less  than  60  lbs.,  the  grading  is 
affected  adversely.  No.  1  Manitoba  Hard  and  No.  1  Northern  must 
weigh  at  least  60  lbs.,  and  No.  2  Northern  at  least  58  lbs.  Poor 
wheat  may  weigh  as  low  as  55  lbs.  to  the  measured  bushel  while 
good  wheat  often  weighs  64  lbs. 

37  Vide  Reports  of  Superintendents  of  Experimental  Farms  at 
Indian  Head  and  Brandon,  1908  and  following  years.  The  data  in  the 
Tables  were  kindly  compiled  for  the  writer  by  the  Dominion  Cereal- 
ist. 


1T6  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

where  at  best  only  a  few  weeks  intervene  between  the  gath- 
ering of  the  crops  and  the  hard  frost  of  winter,  the  prac- 
tical advantage  of  the  six-day  gain  is  often  very  consider- 
able. 

XII.  Earliness  and  Storms 

The  early  ripening  habit  of  Marquis  is  prized  in  Min- 
nesota, as  well  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the  spring-wheat 
belt,  because  it  lessens  the  time  during  which  the  standing 
crops  must  be  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  inclement  weather. 
In  that  State,  when  it  has  become  evident  that  there  is 
going  to  be  a  fine  yield  and  the  wheat  kernels  are  in  the 
dough  stage  or  ripening,  and  when  it  is  yet  a  little  too  early 
to  begin  cutting,  the  sight  of  storm-clouds  looming  up  upon 
the  horizon  makes  the  farmers  very  apprehensive ;  for  the 
heavier  the  stand  and  the  greater  the  prospective  yield,  the 
greater  is  the  danger  of  severe  lodging  by  rain  and  wind, 
and  of  destruction  by  hail.  Every  day  that  the  uncut 
grain  is  exposed  in  the  fields,  the  risk  of  damage  is 
lengthened ;  and  the  harvesting  of  the  crop  a  week  sooner 
owing  to  the  early  ripening  habit  of  Marquis,  often  pre- 
vents serious  disaster. 

XIII.  Earliness  and  Rust 

Another  great  advantage  connected  with  earliness  in 
Marquis  is  the  diminished  risk  of  loss  from  Black  Stem 
Rust.  The  disease  is  caused  by  a  parasitic  fungus  known 
as  Puccinia  graminis  which  settles  in  the  form  of  micro- 
scopic spores  upon  the  leaves  and  haulms  of  the  wheat- 
plant,  penetrates  through  the  epidermis  when  the  weather 
is  moist  and  warm,  appropriates  for  its  own  uses  much  of 
the  sugar  manufactured  by  the  leaves,  and  thus  inter- 
feres with  the  passage  of  this  important  substance  to  the 
grains  where  normally  it  is  destined  to  be  converted  into 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  177 

starcli.  When  the  fimgiis  has  been  growing  within  the 
tissues  of  the  wheat-plant  for  about  a  week,  red  powdery 
pustules  break  out,  particularly  upon  the  leaf-sheaths  and 
stems.  These  may  become  gradually  larger  and  more  con- 
spicuous, and  their  number  may  increase  as  the  infec- 
tion spreads ;  but,  sooner  or  later,  they  pass  away  and  are 
replaced  by  black  pustules  which  persist  on  the  straw 
through  the  winter.  Both  the  red  and  the  black  pustules 
consist  of  spores  which  resemble  in  function  the  seeds  of 
Flowering  Plants,  for  they  serve  to  reproduce  the  parasite 
and  permit  of  its  continuing  its  life-cycle.  The  action  of 
the  Rust-fungus  upon  the  wheat-plant  causes  a  greater 
or  lesser  shriveling  of  the  grains.  The  consequence  of 
an  attack  of  Eust  to  the  farmer,  therefore,  is  a  greater  or 
lesser  diminution  of  the  yield  of  wheat  at  harvest  time. 
Kow,  during  the  great  Rust  epidemic  ^^  of  1916,  it  was 
observed  in  many  localities  that  the  fields  of  wheat  which 
ripened  earliest,  suffered  least  from  the  disease.  This  is 
easily  explicable  if  one  realizes:  that  the  Rust-fungus 
is  a  plant,  that  it  therefore  requires  food  for  its  growth, 
and  that  it  naturally  flourishes  best  in  wheat-plants  which 
are  richest  in  sugars  and  proteins.  When  the  fungus  at- 
tacks a  younger  wheat-plant,  with  its  grains  only  in  the 
milk  or  in  the  dough  stage,  the  straw  is  still  rich  in  all  those 
substances  which  enable  the  parasite  to  vegetate  luxuri- 
antly, for  these  have  not  yet  been  transferred  to  the  heads. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  the  fungus  attacks  an  older 
wheat-plant,  with  its  grains  ripening,  the  straw  is  well  ad- 
vanced toward  exhaustion,  for  a  considerable  volume  of 
its  sugars  and  proteins  has  already  passed  up  into  the 
grains  which  in  consequence  have  become  partially  filled. 

38  Plant  pathologists  in  North  America  are  now  discarding  the 
term  epidemic  as  applied  to  plant  diseases  and  are  using  the  term 
epiphytotic  instead.  To  avoid  misunderstanding,  I  have  not  adopted 
this  innovation  here. 


ITS  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Whereas,  therefore,  the  younger  wheat-plant  forms  a 
highly  suitable  medium  for  the  parasite,  enabling  it  to 
flourish  for  a  long  time,  the  older  one  forms  a  relatively 
poor  medium  within  which  the  growth  of  the  parasite  soon 
comes  to  an  end.  It  follows  from  this,  and  from  the  fact 
that  a  Rust  epidemic,  when  it  comes  at  all,  usually  comes 
late  in  the  growing  season,  that  the  earlier  wheat  is  planted, 
the  less  likely  is  it  to  suffer  severely  from  Black  Stem 
Rust.  But  the  hastening  of  the  maturing  process  may  be 
obtained  by  growing  early-maturing  varieties  such  as  Mar- 
quis. In  1916,  where  Marquis  and  Red  Fife  were  sown 
at  the  same  time,  Marquis  withstood  the  attack  of  the 
Rust  disease  far  better  than  Red  Fife  owing  to  its  six- 
day  earlier  ripening  habit.  This  was  noted,  for  example, 
in  the  plot  tests  at  the  University  of  Saskatchewan  at 
Saskatoon  by  Professor  John  Bracken  who,  in  his  Lessons 
from  the  Rust  Epidemic  of  1916,  recommends  the  planting 
of  early-maturing  varieties  of  wheat  as  one  means  of  com- 
bating the  Rust  disease.^^ 

Marquis,  while  to  a  certain  extent  rust-escaping  owing 
to  its  earliness,  is  not  rust-resistant.  If  it  could  be  made 
rust-resistant  by  replacing  its  rust-susceptible  character  by 
a  rust-resistant  one  (much  in  the  same  way  as  one  may 
remove  a  single  bad  brick  from  a  building  and  replace  it  by 
a  sound  one),  it  would  be  considerably  improved.  Possi- 
bly, some  day,  our  farmers  may  be  provided  with  a  wheat 
as  good  as  Marquis  which  resists  most  of  the  fungus  dis- 
eases which  now  diminish  the  yield,  such  as  Rust,  Smut, 
Wheat  Scab,  and  Root-rots.  In  any  case,  a  serious  at- 
tempt must  be  made  to  breed  such  an  ideal  plant,  however 
long  and  difficult  may  be  the  task.     Already  in  England, 

39  J.  Bracken,  Lessons  from  the  Rust  Epidemic  of  1916,  Bull. 
No.  50,  Dept.  of  Agriculture  for  Saskatchewan,  Regina,  1917,  pp. 
11,  15. 


DISCOVEKY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  1T9 

the  yearly  toll  taken  by  Yelloiu  Stripe  Bust  (a  disease  not 
occurring  in  Canada)  has  been  reduced  by  the  breeding  of 
a  rust-resistant  wheat  by  Professor  K.  H,  Biffen  of  Cam- 
bridge University.  The  new  wheat  is  called  Little  Joss 
and  originated  from  a  cross  between  the  rust-susceptible 
Square  Head's  Master,  one  of  the  most  widely  cultivated 
English  wheats,  and  a  rust-resisting  Ghurka  wheat  from 
Eussia.^^  Professor  Biffen's  success  in  obtaining  Little 
Joss  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  his  efforts  were  guided 
by  the  light  of  Mendel's  principles  of  inheritance.  These 
celebrated  principles  Avere  working  out  from  a  study  of  the 
effects  of  crossing  varieties  of  the  Eating  Pea,  in  a  cloister 
garden,  by  Gregor  Mendel,  a  monk,  in  1873  ;  and  their  ap- 
plication by  Professor  Biffen  in  the  task  of  producing  a 
rust-resistant  wheat  suited  to  English  soil,  affords  an- 
other remarkable  instance  of  the  way  in  which  Pure  Sci- 
ence provides  Applied  Science  with  her  tools.  The  latest 
report  shows  that  Biffen's  rust-resistant  Little  Joss  is  now 
the  chief  wheat  grown  in  the  Eastern  Counties  of  Eng- 
land, that  it  is  spreading  rapidly  over  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  that  owing  to  its  resistance  to  Yellow  Stripe 
Bust  which  attacks  other  wheats  year  after  year,  it  has  a 
yield  of  40  bushels  to  the  acre  instead  of  36  as  given  by 
Square  Head's  Master,  as  the  average  for  a  seven-year 
period  in  test  plots.'*  ^  These  significant  facts  have  been 
noted  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  At  the 
present  time.  Professor  Stakman,  Dr.  Hayes  and  others 
at  the  University  of  Minnesota  are  engaged  in  a  campaign 
to  breed  first-class  bread-wheats  which  are  resistant  to 
Black  Stem  Rust ;  and,  at  the  University  of  Saskatchewan, 

40  R,  H.  Biffen,  Systematized  Plant-Breeding,  an  essay  in  Science 
and  the  Nation,  edited  by  A.  C.  Seward,  Cambridge,  1917,  p.  157. 

^■Llhid.,  pp.  157,  158.  Each  bushel  was  63  lbs.  On  farms,  away 
from  the  Experimental  Station,  Little  Joss  yielded  5  to  10  per  cent, 
per  season  more  than  Square  Head's  Master. 


180  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Professor  W.  P.  Thompson  is  studying  the  problem  of 
rust-resistance  with  a  view  to  a  solution  of  it  for  this 
country  in  the  near  or  distant  future.  Up  to  the  present, 
however,  the  greatest  contribution  to  the  task  of  combating 
Pust  in  Canada  has  been  made  by  Dr.  Saunders  through 
the  introduction  of  early-maturing  Marquis  wheat.  The 
losses  to  the  wheat  crop  through  Black  Stem  Pust  in  the 
year  1916  were  about  100,000,000  bushels  in  Canada  ^^ 
and  140,000,000  in  the  United  States ;  ^^  and,  doubtless, 
they  would  have  been  considerably  greater,  had  not  Mar- 
quis with  its  early  ripening  habit  already  by  that  time  so 
largely  supplanted  later-maturing  varieties  such  as  Ped 
Fife  and  Bluestem.^* 

XIV.  Earliness  and  Frost 

Owing  to  its  earliness,  Marquis  is  less  liable  than  Ped 
Pife,  etc.,  to  be  injured  by  early  frosts  in  the  colder  sec- 
tions of  the  wheat-growing  area.  In  the  greater  part 
of  the  southern  and  central  prairie  region  of  Alberta, 
Saskatchewan,  and  Manitoba,  the  iirst  destructive  frost 
usually  occurs  between  September  6  and  September  12. 
In  this  rei>ion,  Marquis,  and  usually  also  Ped  Fife,  ripen 
their  grains  sufficiently  early  to  escape  this  frost.  Fur- 
ther north,  the  first  destructive  frost  frequently  occurs 
from  August  27  to  September  2.  In  this  region.  Marquis 
usually  ripens  early  enough  to  escape  the  frost,  but  Ped 
Fife  often  suffers  from  it  very  severely.  Still  further 
to  the  north,  and  in  less  favored  districts,  the  first  de- 
structive frost  comes  from  August  20  to  August  26.     This 

42  Estimate  made  by  the  writer  from  a  study  of  data  collected 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange. 

43  Estimate  kindly  sent  to  the  writer  in  a  letter  by  M.  A.  Carle- 
ton,  cerealist  for  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 

44  Bluestem  ripens  later  than  Red  Fife,  and  is  therefore  very 
little  grown  in  Canada,  though  well  known  in  the  U.  S.  A. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  181 

very  early  coming  on  of  cold  weather  usually  prevents  Ked 
Fife  from  ripening  at  all,  and  even  seriously  affects 
Marquis. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  early-ripening  habit 
of  Marquis  is  a  most  valuable  character  so  far  as  escap- 
ing early  frosts  is  concerned,  and  that  it  has  already 
brought  about  in  Canada  a  saving  of  great  quantities  of 
wheat  which  in  its  absence  would  have  been  spoiled. 

The  farther  north  man  makes  his  abode  and  seeks  his 
sustenance,  the  more  necessary  is  it  for  him  to  grow 
early-maturing  wheats.  Dr.  William  Saunders,  many 
years  ago,  introduced  Ladoga,  which  ripens  about  ten  days 
earlier  than  Red  Fife,  into  the  Peace  River  valley.  At 
Dunvegan  and  at  Fort  Vermilion,  414  miles  and  591 
miles  by  latitude  due  north  of  Winnipeg  respectively,  this 
wheat  has  been  raised  in  good  condition,  so  that  it  weighed 
per  bushel  64  lbs.  at  the  former  place  and  60  lbs.  at  the 
latter.  Mr.  J.  M.  Macoun,  after  making  investigations 
on  the  spot,  reported  that  in  1903  about  7,500  bushels  of 
wheat  had  been  raised  in  the  neighborhood  of  Vermilion 
and  that  one  of  the  settlers  there  had  obtained  40  bushels 
per  acre  from  50  acres.  Even  at  Fort  Simpson,  which  is 
situated  on  the  Mackenzie  River,  818  miles  by  latitude 
north  of  Winnipeg  and  only  324  miles  south  of  the  Arctic 
Circle,  the  early-maturing  Ladoga  has  been  successfully 
raised,  so  that  it  weighed  62"!^  lbs.  to  the  bushel.  In  this 
instance,  however,  a  small  percentage  of  the  grain  was  in- 
jured by  frost.^^ 

45  Experimental  Farms  Report  for  1903,  p.  11.  The  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  long  had  a  roller  mill  at  Vermilion.  In  1903  it  had  a 
capacity  of  20  barrels  a  day.  At  that  time  the  Company  was  giv- 
ing $1.50  per  bushel  for  all  wheat  grown  in  the  vicinity  with  the 
object  of  supplying  all  their  northern  posts  with  Vermilion  flour. 
Recently  Vermilion  became  connected  with  Edmonton  by  means  of 
the  Edmonton,  Dunvegan,  and  British  Columbia  Railway  and  by 
steamship   service.     Flour    is   now   taken   northwards   to   Vermilion 


182  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

The  nearer  one  approaches  to  the  Arctic  Circle  in  sum- 
mer, the  longer  are  the  days  and,  other  things  being- 
equal,  the  greater  is  the  amount  of  light  to  which  wheat- 
plants  are  subjected  during  the  growing  season.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Saunders  found  that  the  same  kind  of  wheat  grown 
at  Ottawa  took  on  an  average  of  three  years  106  days 
to  ripen  but  grown  at  Vermilion  only  101  days,  and  he 
ascribed  this  difference  to  the  difference  in  the  amount 
of  sunlight  in  the  two  places.  It  is  possible,  however, 
that  differences  in  the  amount  of  available  moisture  and 
heat  were  also  important  factors  in  bringing  about  the 
result.  In  support  of  his  view  Dr.  William  Saunders 
recalled  the  work  of  a  Russian  investigator  named  Ko- 
walewski.  Kowalewski  grew  spring  wheat  and  oats  in 
different  parts  of  Russia,  from  the  north  at  Arkangelsk  to 
the  southern  province  of  Kherson,  and  made  careful  ob- 
servations on  the  time  of  ripening.  He  found  that  in 
higher  latitudes  the  grain  ripens  in  a  shorter  period  than 
in  the  more  southern  districts,  the  difference  varying  at 
different  points  from  12  to  35  days.  Kowalewski  at- 
tributed the  earlier  ripening  in  the  north  largely  to  the 
influence  of  light  during  the  long  summer  days,  but  he 
also  believed  that  the  short  seasons  of  quick  growth  had 
brought  about  in  these  cereals  an  early-ripening  habit. 
Dr.  William  Saunders,  however,  regarded  this  habit  as  a 
fixed  one  which  cereals  continue  to  manifest  when  grown 
in  localities  where  the  summer  season  is  longer.^^  What- 
ever may  be  the  exact  reason  for  the  hastening  of  the 
maturation  of  one  and  the  same  spring  wheat  when  grown 
in  higher  latitudes,  the  fact  remains  that  this  hasten- 
ing must  be  of  distinct  advantage  in  lessening  the  danger 
from  early  frosts. 

by  this  route  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  consequence,  has 
ceased  to  operate  its  Vermilion  mill. 
46  ihid. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  183 

At  Fort  Vermilion,  in  1909,  35,000  bushels  of  wheat 
were  grown  with  an  average  yield  of  24  bushels  per  acre. 
The  wheat  varieties  with  which  this  success  was  obtained 
were  all  more  or  less  early  ones  and  included  Ladoga, 
Preston,  Early  Riga,  and  Riga.^*^ 

In  the  spring  of  191Y,  9,000  bushels  of  wheat  were 
shipped  from  Fort  Vermilion  to  Fort  William  by  Mr. 
Sheridan  Lawrence  from  his  own  farm.  The  wheat  was 
transported  upon  the  steamship  D.  A.  Thomas  280 
miles  up  the  Peace  River,  then  311  by  the  Edmonton, 
Dunvegan  and  British  Columbia  Railway  to  Edmonton, 
and  finally  1,446  miles  by  rail  from  Edmonton  to  Fort 
William,  the  total  distance  being  2,037  miles.  The  long 
haul  and  high  freight  rates  were  overcome  by  the  high 
price  for  wheat  prevailing  at  that  time.  This,  however, 
is  not  a  normal  condition  and,  until  railway  facilities  are 
provided  for  shipping  the  grain,  the  Fort  Vermilion  dis- 
trict must  find  its  markets  nearer  home.  Upon  his  farm 
Mr.  Sheridan  Lawrence  has  operated  a  stone  flour  mill 
for  over  twenty  years  and  recently  has  had  a  roller  mill 
installed.^*  These  facts  indicate  some  of  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  Northland. 

XV.  Marquis,  Ruhy,  and  Prelude 

To  meet  the  exigencies  due  to  short  seasons  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  Prairie  Provinces,  Dr.  Saunders  has 
striven  to  produce  new  kinds  of  wheat  which,  in  addition 
to  having  a  high  yield  and  the  excellent  baking  and  milling 
qualities  of  Marquis,  ripen  even  earlier  than  this  variety. 
One  of  these  wheats,  an  approximation  to  his  ideal,  which 

4T  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for  1909,  p.  7. 

48  F.  H.  Kitto,  The  Peace  River  District,  its  Resources  and  Oppor- 
tunities, Department  of  the  Interior,  Natural  Resources  Intelligence 
Branch,  Ottawa,  1918,  p.  41. 


184  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

was  introduced  a  few  years  ago  and  is  being  successfully 
grown  in  various  districts  where  the  season  is  short,  he  has 
called  Prelude  *^  because  it  ripens  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  wheat  harvest,  some  two  weeks  sooner  than  Marquis. 
With  the  coming  into  existence  of  such  wheats  as  Marquis 
and  Prelude,  it  has  been  made  possible  to  extend  the  profit- 
able wheat-growing  area  of  Canada  much  farther  toward 
the  Xorth  where  the  seasons  are  shorter.  It  may  be  added 
that  the  name  Prelude  naturally  suggested  itself  to  Dr. 
Saunders  as  appropriate  owing  to  his  love  of  music.  Pre- 
lude is  a  musical  term  for  a  preliminary  air.^^ 

The  breeding  of  Prelude  has  by  no  means  ended  the 
attempts  of  Dr.  Saunders  to  develop  varieties  of  wheat 
suited  to  the  short  seasons  of  the  ITorth.  His  most  recent 
introduction  he  has  called  Ruby  Wheat  on  account  of  the 
reddish  hue  of  its  ripe  kernels.     As  compared  with  Pre- 

49  C.  E.  Saunders,  Prelude  Wheat,  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for 
1911-12,  Ottawa,  1013,  pp.  117-118. 

50  The  particular  districts  for  which  Prelude  is  recommended  are 
Northern  Saskatchewan  and  Northern  and  Central  Alberta;  and  it 
is  in  these  that  this  variety  of  wheat  ripens  two  weeks  earlier  than 
Marquis.  There  is  less  difference  in  the  time  of  ripening  in  districts 
where  the  summer  is  warmer.  Prelude  is  now  grown,  sometimes  on 
a  considerable  scale,  at  rather  high  altitudes  in  Alberta  and  at 
northern  latitudes  in  Saskatchewan.  It  has  been  ripened  in  Dawson 
City  in  the  Yukon.  At  present  it  is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty 
how  much  farther  North  one  variety  can  be  grown  than  another, 
owing  to  the  incompleteness  of  the  tests  which  have  been  made 
hitherto.  In  attempting  to  make  comparisons,  the  variation  in  the 
seasons  becomes  a  complicating  factor.  Even  late-maturing  wheats 
can  be  grown  in  favorable  spots  and  in  favorable  seasons  in  high 
latitudes,  although  such  successes  do  not  by  any  means  represent 
the  average  for  a  number  of  consecutive  seasons.  Thus  Red  Fife 
sometimes  ripens  on  the  farm  where  tests  are  made  for  the  Domin- 
ion Government  at  Fort  Vermilion  on  the  Peace  River,  650  miles  north 
of  the  International  Boundary-line;  but  this  is  quite  exceptional, 
and  Red  Fife  is  not  at  all  suitable  for  the  Peace  River  country  as  a 
whole,  year  in  and  year  out.  Marquis  and  other  early -maturing 
wheats  do  much  better  in  this  far  distant  region  of  the  North. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  185 

lude,  Kuby  does  not  shatter  so  readily,  has  longer  straw, 
has  a  larger  yield,  is  beardless  instead  of  being  bearded, 
but  is  a  few  days  later  in  ripening  its  grains.  It  is  now 
being  rapidly  tested  in  the  West.  It  may  supplant  Pre- 
lude to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  but  is  not  expected  to 
replace  Marquis  in  those  more  southerly  districts  where 
the  latter  does  so  well. 

Marquis  ripens  about  one  week  earlier  than  Red  Fife, 
Ruby  about  two  weeks  and  a  half  earlier,  and  Prelude 
more  than  three  weeks  earlier.  ^^  The  length  of  straw  and 
the  yield  vary  inversely  as  the  earliness.  Thus  Prelude, 
the  earliest  of  the  three  wheats,  has  the  shortest  straw  and 
the  least  yield ;  Ruby,  which  is  intermediate  in  earliness, 
has  straw  of  intermediate  length  and  has  an  intermediate 
yield ;  while  Marquis,  the  least  early  of  the  three  wheats, 
has  the  longest  straw  and  the  best  yield. 

It  is  evidently  not  an  easy  matter  to  combine  extreme 
earliness  with  a  very  high  yield ;  and  this  is  not  surpris- 
ing, for  the  earlier  a  wheat  is,  the  shorter  is  its  growing 
period,  and  the  less  is  the  time  at  its  disposal  for  manu- 
facturing the  starch  and  proteins  which  are  required  to 
fill  the  grains.  Other  things  being  equal,  extreme  earli- 
ness and  high  yield  are  mutually  antagonistic  qualities. 
It  is  unthinkable  that  wheat  should  ever  be  introduced 
which  would  ripen  in  seventy  days  and  yield  from  thirty 
to  fifty  bushels  per  acre,  nor  does  it  seem  at  all  likely 
that  cereal  breeders  will  ever  succeed  in  producing  a  wheat 
which  combines  the  extreme  earliness  of  Prelude  w^ith  the 
very  high  productivity  of  Marquis.  Beyond  a  certain 
point  increased  earliness  can  only  be  selected  at  the  ex- 
pense of  high  yield,  and  vice  versa. 

51  At  the  Indian  Head  Experimental  Farm,  in  1918,  Ruby  was  sev- 
eral days  earlier  in  ripening  than  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler's  Red  Bobs. 
Observations  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Farm  and  of  the  author. 


186  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Marquis,  Ruby  and  Prelude  were  all  produced  by  cross- 
breeding. Marquis  resulted  from  a  single  cross,  Ruby 
from  two  successive  crosses,  and  Prelude  from  three  suc- 
cessive crosses.  Their  respective  genealogical  trees  may 
be  represented  as  follows : 

Parentage  of  Marquis 
Hard  Red  Calcutta  (f.)   X  Red  Fife  (m.) A.  P.  Saunders,  1892 

\     / 

Marquis 

Parentage  of  Ruby 
Gehun  (f.)  X  Onega  (m.) W.  T.  Macoun,  1891 

\     / 

Downy  Riga  (f.)  X  I^ed  Fife  (m.) C.  E.  Saunders,  1905 

\    / 

Ruby 

Parentage  of  Prelude  ^2 
Ladoga  (f.)   X  White  Fife  (m.) A.  P.  Saunders,  1888 

\    / 

Alpha  (f.)  X  Hard  Red  Calcutta  (m.)  •  -A.  P.  Saunders,  1892 

\    / 

Fraser  (m.)  X  (downy)  Gehun  (f.)  . C.  E.  Saunders,  1903 

\  / 

Prelude 

Hard  Red  Calcutta  and  Gehun  were  brought  to  Canada 
from  India,  and  Ladoga  and  Onega  from  northern  Russia. 
Red  Fife  came  from  central  Europe  (probably  Galicia) 
via,  the  ports  of  Danzig  and  Glasgow;  and  White  Pife  is 
believed  to  be  one  of  its  derivatives.^^     Marquis,  Ruby, 

52  C.  E.  Saunders,  Experimental  Farm  Reports  for  1911-12,  Ot- 
tawa, 1913,  p.  118. 

53  W.  Saunders,  Ladoga  Wheat,  Central  Experimental  Farm,  Bul- 
letin No.  4,  1889,  p.  4;  also  C.  E.  Saunders,  Evidence  before  the 
Select  Standing  Committee  on  Agriculture  and  Colonization,  Ot- 
tawa, 1905. 

Red  Fife  is  named  after  David  Fife  upon  whose  farm  Red  Fife  orig- 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  187 

and  Prelude  have  therefore  had  a  somewhat  complex 
origin.  However,  each  of  them,  in  a  greater  or  lesser  de- 
gree, embodies  the  earliness  of  its  Indian  or  Russian  an- 
cestors with  the  good  milling  and  baking  qualities  of 
Canadian  Eed  Fife  or  White  Fife.  The  production  of 
such  cross-bred  wheats  to  meet  the  requirements  of  agri- 
culture is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  developments  of 
modern  botany. 

XVI.  The  Advance  Toward  the  North  of  the  Belts  of 
Wheat  and  Com 

The  pushing  up  of  the  wheat-belt  in  Canada  toward 
the  ^North,  owing  to  the  discovery  and  introduction  of 
new  early-maturing  varieties,  finds  an  interesting  parallel 
in  the  northerly  advance  of  the  belt  of  Indian  corn  in  the 
United  States.  The  original  corn-belt  was  situated  in 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  ]N"ebraska;  but  now 
corn  culture  is  undertaken  on  a  considerable  scale  in  Min- 
nesota, South  Dakota,  and  ISTorth  Dakota.  The  northerly 
extension  of  the  corn-belt  by  several  hundreds  of  miles 
was  accomplished  by  the  introduction  of  new  varieties  of 
corn  with  early-ripening  characteristics,  two  of  the  chief 
ones  being  known  as  Minnesota  No.  13  and  Minnesota 
No.  23.  The  former  is  a  uniform  Yellow  Dent,  and  the 
latter  a  white-capped  Yellow  Dent.  Minnesota  No.  13 
was  discovered  by  Professor  Andrew  Boss  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota.  Professor  Boss  in  1890  obtained 
two  bushels  of  Yellow  Dent  from  De  Cow  and  Company, 
seedsmen  of  St.  Paul,  planted  the  grains  at  the  University 

inated  in  1841  from  a  sample  of  wheat  which  was  obtained  by  a  friend 
from  a  cargo  of  wheat  which  had  arrived  at  the  pert  of  Glasgow 
from  Danzig  on  the  Baltic  coast.  Dr.  C.  E.  Saunders  has  shown 
that  it  is  identical  with  a  wheat  still  grown  in  Galicia.  Vide 
Section  XXIII  on  The  Origin  of  Red  Fife. 


188  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Farm,  and  made  selections  for  earliness.  He  thus  origin- 
ated a  strain  which  became  known  as  Minnesota  No.  IS 
and  which,  instead  of  taking  120  to  125  days  to  ripen  like 
the  Yellow  Dent  variety  then  most  grown,  matured  in 
from  100  to  110  days.  The  development  of  Minnesota 
No.  13  made  it  possible  to  grow  corn  much  farther  north- 
ward from  the  southern  boundary  of  Minnesota  than  had 
previously  been  the  case.  But  another  great  step  in  the 
pushing  northward  of  the  corn-belt  was  soon  to  follow 
through  the  introduction  of  Minnesota  No.  23,  which  was 
even  more  remarkable  than  Minnesota  No.  13  in  its  early- 
maturing  properties.  Minnesota  No.  23  was  discovered 
by  Professor  Boss  on  a  farm  at  Mentor,  near  Hendrum, 
in  Norman  County,  Minnesota,  only  120  miles  south  of 
the  International  Boundary-line.  It  was  being  grown  by 
a  farmer  named  Jacob  Berg,  but  how  it  came  into  his 
possession  is  not  known.  Professor  Boss  noticed  its  un- 
usual earliness,  obtained  a  sample  of  it  in  1893,  and 
propagated  it  at  the  Minnesota  Experimental  Station.  A 
selection  of  it,  made  by  Professor  C.  P.  Bull  in  1905,  was 
increased  in  quantity  and  finally  distributed  as  seed.  The 
new  Minnesota  No.  23  was  found  to  ripen  in  the  very  brief 
period  of  about  90  days,  and  this  led  to  its  being  grown 
as  far  north  as  the  upper  boundary  of  Minnesota  and 
in  North  Dakota.^*  Just  as  the  profitable  corn-belt  in 
North  America  was  thus  pushed  northwards  in  two  steps 
by  the  successive  introduction  of  Yellow  Dent  Minnesota 
No.  13  and  Yellow  Dent  Minnesota  No.  23,  so,  too,  in  more 
recent  years,  has  the  profitable  wheat-belt  been  pushed 
northwards  by  the  successive  introduction  of  Marquis  and 
Prelude. 

The  northward  advance  of  the  corn-belt  has  made  a 

54  The  facts  in  this  paragraph  concerning  corn  were  kindly  sup- 
plied by  Professor  Boss. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


189 


profound  difference  to  Minnesota,  for  in  that  State  about 
25  years  ago  a  farmer  was  considered  a  gambler  who  at- 
tempted to  grow  Dent  Corn  north  of  the  southern  third  of 
the  State  (above  the  so-called  St.  Cloud  Line)  ;  but  now  all 
this  is  changed,  for  there  is  actually  more  corn  raised  to- 
day in  Kittson,  the  north-west  corner  county  of  Minnesota, 
than  used  to  be  raised  a  generation  ago  at  Houston,  the 
south-east  corner  county  of  the  State.^^  At  the  present 
time,  when  one  travels  through  Minnesota  by  rail  in  the 
summer,  one  observes  scattered  everywhere,  from  north  to 
south  and  from  east  to  west,  rich  fields  of  dark-greem 
corn;  and  silos  for  the  fermentation  and  storing  of  corn 
ensilage  for  feeding  stock  have  become  a  characteristic 
feature  of  the  landscape.^^  Further  evidence  of  the  ag- 
ricultural importance  of  the  early-ripening  Yellow  Dent 
varieties  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  Minnesota  in  1917 
produced  90,000,000  bushels  of  corn  and  ^N'orth  Dakota 
in  1916,  13,500,000  bushels.^^  Manitoba  is  not  within 
the  corn-belt,  for  corn,  as  a  rule,  does  not  ripen  in 
that  Province  owing  to  the  shortness  of  the  growing  sea- 
son. Nevertheless,  when  corn  is  sown  in  the  warmer 
districts  about  the  middle  of  May,  it  grows  rapidly  during 
the  long  bright  days,  attains  a  height  of  from  6  to  8 
feet,  and  yields  often  as  much  as  10  to  15  tons  of  green 
fodder  to  the  acre.  This  is  made  into  ensilage  or  stocked 
in  the  fields  until  required  for  feeding. '"^^     It  proves  to 

55  Communicated  by  Professor  Boss. 

56  Ensilage  is  the  most  economical  method  of  treating  corn  for 
feeding  animals.  Both  stalks  and  green  leaves  are  run  through 
the  cutter.  After  fermentation  the  ensilage  can  be  kept  with  safety 
all  through  the  winter. 

57  Year  Book  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1917,  p. 
608. 

58  Cf.  A  Handbook  to  Winnipeg  and  the  Province  of  Manitoba, 
prepared  for  the  Winnipeg  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  article  on  Agriculture  by  R.  P.  Roblin 
and  W.  J.  Black,  1909,  Winnipeg,  pp.  72,  73. 


190  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

be  excellent  for  fattening  cattle  and  is  one  of  the  best 
foods  for  milch  cows.  The  pushing  northward  of  the 
corn-belt  has  therefore  directly  affected  agriculture  in  the 
Prairie  Provinces.  The  story  of  the  northward  advance 
of  the  corn-belt  seems  to  warrant  the  belief  that  eventually 
vast  tracts  of  land  in  northern  Canada  which  have  not  yet 
been  plowed,  will  one  day  be  made  to  raise  early-ripening 
varieties  of  wheat  such  as  those  which  Dr.  Saunders  is 
now  perfecting. ^^ 

XVII.  The  Yield  of  Marquis  in  Western  Canada 

In  the  greater  part  of  Saskatchewan,  on  summer  fallow, 
one  is  safe  in  saying  that  the  yield  of  Marquis  over  Red 
Fife  is  at  least  20  per  cent.  The  situation  in  Central  and 
^N'orthem  Manitoba  is  about  the  same  as  in  Saskatchewan. 
In  Alberta  the  climatic  conditions  are  more  complex  than 
in  Saskatchewan  and  Manitoba,  so  that  for  that  province  it 
is  difficult  to  make  exact  statements  of  the  yield  of  Marquis 
compared  with  that  of  other  varieties. 

On  stuhhle  land  Marquis  often  appears  to  be  no  better 
than,  or  about  the  same  as,  Red  Fife,  provided  that  the 

59  In  Manitoba,  the  chief  variety  of  corn  now  grown  is  North- 
western Dent,  the  next  variety  in  importance  being  Minnesota  No. 
13.  The  cobs  ripen  in  this  Province  only  in  exceptional  seasons.  In 
1914,  when  the  mean  shade  temperature  for  July  was  70°  F.,  the  cobs 
of  certain  Flint  varieties  (Quebec  No.  28  and  Free  Press)  ripened 
well,  while  the  cobs  of  the  Dent  varieties  ripened  only  partially. 
There  are  about  100  silos  in  Manitoba.  Information  supplied  by 
Mr.  Allan  Campbell  at  the  Brandon  Experimental  Farm, 

Northwestern  Dent  is  a  variety  of  Red  Dent  corn  that  is  not  re- 
lated in  any  way  to  either  Minnesota  No.  13  or  Minnesota  No.  23. 
It  has  been  grown  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  two  Dakotas, 
Montana,  and  Minnesota,  and  to  some  extent  in  northern  Michigan 
and  Wisconsin.  There  is  no  authentic  history  of  this  variety,  and 
no  one  appears  to  know  where  or  how  it  originated.  Information 
supplied  by  Professor  Andrew  Boss  of  the  University  of  Minnesota. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  191 

season  is  long  enough  to  ripen  both  sorts.  Where  the  sea- 
son is  very  short,  Marquis,  even  on  stubble,  etc.,  has  the 
advantage  because  it  ripens  its  grains  earlier  than  Red 
Fife. 

The  yield  of  Marquis  in  the  field  in  v^estem  Canada  is 
often  very  high  and  a  few  of  the  more  noteworthy  crops 
may  be  mentioned.  In  1909  a  field  of  4%  acres  at  Bran- 
don gave  52/4  bushels  per  acre.  In  1910  a  field  of  5% 
acres  at  Indian  Head  gave  a  little  over  53  bushels  per 
acre.  But  these  records  were  surpassed  in  1911  at  the 
Experimental  Station  at  Rosthern,  Saskatchewan,  when  a 
/4o-acre  plot  yielded  at  the  rate  of  TO  bushels  per  acre. 
It  was  in  this  same  year  that  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  ^^  on 
a  %9-acre  plot  at  Rosthern,  obtained  a  yield  at  the  rate 
of  81  bushels  per  acre.^^ 

Mr.  C.  S.  Noble,  who  is  operating  a  15,000-^acre  farm 
in  Alberta,  purchased  a  limited  supply  of  Mr.  Seager 
Wheeler's  registered  Marquis  seed  wheat  in  1913,  From 
this,  by  propagation,  he  obtained  a  sufiicicnt  supply  of 
grain  to  seed  1,000  acres  in  1916.     From  this  1,000-acre 

60  For  all  of  the  above  data  vide  Report  of  the  Dominion  Cereal- 
ist  in  Report  on  Experimental  Farms  for  1911-12,  Ottawa,  1912, 
p,  119.  The  nature  of  ]Mr.  Wheeler's  plot  and  yield  is  given  in 
Section  IX  on  Prizes  aicarded  to  Marquis.  The  field  crops  cited 
for  Brandon  and  Indian  Head  excelled  the  plot  records  at  both 
the  Brandon  and  Indian  Head  Experimental  Farms. 

61  Record  Yield  of  Wheat  —  According  to  the  United  States 
Monthly  Crop  Report  of  July,  1918,  the  largest  yield  per  acre  of 
wheat  ever  recorded  is,  so  far  as  ascertained  by  the  Bureau  of  Crop 
Estimates,  117.2  bushels.  It  was  produced  in  1895  in  Island  County, 
Washington,  on  a  field  of  18  acres.  The  farm  on  which  this  crop 
was  grown  consisted  of  a  clearing  of  85  acres  of  black  sandy  loam 
with  a  clay  subsoil.  It  has  been  farmed  for  over  30  years,  is  not 
irrigated,  but  is  well  diversified.  No  fertilizer  has  ever  been  used 
on  this  farm.  The  variety  of  wheat  sown  was  Australian  Club. 
The  field  that  produced  the  record  yield  was  in  pasture  for  cattle 
and  sheep  for  several  years,  and  for  three  years  prior  to  producing 
the  yield  of  wheat  was  seeded  to  potatoes. 


192  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

field  he  threshed  54,395  bushels  of  wheat  which  gives  a 
rate  of  54%  bushels  per  acre.^^ 

XVIII.  The  Yield  of  Marquis  in  the  United  States 

The  yield  of  Marquis  in  the  United  States  has  been  care- 
fully studied  by  a  number  of  observers.  The  first  Bulletin 
dealing  with  this  subject  was  published  by  Professor  A. 
C.  Arny  of  the  Minnesota  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tion early  in  1914,^^  and  another  by  Messrs.  C.  E.  Ball 
and  J.  A.  Clark  in  1916.^^  In  the  more  recent  Bulletin, 
which  is  very  comprehensive,  reports  on  yield  have  been 
brought  together  from  23  stations  scattered  in  13  differ- 
ent States.  The  area  of  observation  stretched  from  Iowa 
and  Minnesota  on  the  east  to  California  and  Oregon  on 
the  west,  and  included  all  the  intervening  States  except 
Washington.  In  this  great  expanse  of  territory,  the  con- 
ditions of  climate  and  soil  vary  greatly;  and  it  was  only 
to  be  expected  that  the  relative  yield  of  Marquis  would 
vary  considerably  with  local  conditions.  Messrs.  Ball 
and  Clark  concluded  from  their  data  which  provided  yields 
for  three  years,  that,  in  the  Northern  Prairie  States  and 
in  the  Great  Plains  area,  Marquis  gives  a  higher  yield  than 
other  Common  spring  wheats  but  that,  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  it  is  outyielded  by  the  standard  varieties  of 
soft  w^hite  spring  wheat  and  by  several  newly  introduced 
varieties.  They  also  found  that,  under  in-igation.  Mar- 
quis had  done  fairly  well  in  limited  experiments  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  but  not  at  two  stations  to  the  west 

62  Better  Seed  Book,  The  Grain  Growers'  Guide,  Winnipeg,  1917- 
18,  p.  4. 

63  A.  C.  Amy,  Marquis  Wheat ;  I,  History  and  Culture,  Minne- 
sota Wheat  Investigations,  Bulletin  No.  137,  Series  II,  Feb.,  1914, 

64  c.  R.  Ball  and  J.  A.  Clark,  Experiments  with  Marquis  Wheat, 
Bulletin  No.  400,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Oct.,  1916,  pp.  1-40. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


193 


of  this  range.  In  what  follows  we  shall  concern  ourselves 
solely  with  the  States  of  Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  South 
Dakota,  and  Montana,  where  most  of  the  spring  wheat  is 
grown. 

In  the  great  spring-wheat  region  of  the  United  States, 
Marquis  gives  an  excellent  yield,  as  is  evident  from  the 
following  Table  reproduced  from  a  Monthly  Crop  Report 
recently  published  at  Washington.^^  The  Table  gives  the 
estimated  number  of  bushels  per  acre  for  each  important 
variety  of  wheat  in  Minnesota  and  the  two  Dakotas  in  the 
years  1914,  1916,  and  1917,  and  similar  figures  for  Mon- 
tana in  1917.  The  data  for  the  abnormally  large  crop 
year  of  1915,  unfortunately,  are  not  included.  Here 
again.  Velvet  Chaff  is  another  name  for  Preston. 


Yield  of  Wheat  Varieties 

in  Bushels  per 

Acre 

Mar- 
quis 

Velvet 
Chaff 

Blue- 
stem 

Durum 

Fife 

Winter 

Other 

MINNE- 
SOTA 
1917   

1916   

1914 

NORTH 
DAKOTA 

1917   

1916   

1914 

SOUTH 
DAKOTA 

1917   

1916  

1914 

MON- 
TANA 

1917   

Bush. 

17.2 
11.0 

12.8 

8.0 

6.0 

14.9 

15.3 

7.9 

11.2 

9.3 

Bush. 

16,0 

7.4 

11.6 

7.5 

5.2 

12.1 

13.1 
6.2 
9.3 

7.5 

Bush. 

14.0 
5.5 

9.8 

7.2 

3.8 

10.3 

11.1 
5.0 

7.5 

6.5 

Bush. 

15.5 

8.5 
12.3 

9.0 

7.3 

13.9 

15.6 

8.2 

11.2 

9.0 

Bush. 

15.0 

6.9 

10.3 

7.0 

4.5 

10.9 

•  10.0 
5.0 
9.3 

7.5 

Bush. 

20.0 
14.0 
19.5 

8.5 
11.9 
13.7 

14.0 
18.5 
14.0 

12.5 

Bush. 
14.0 

11.0 

6.8 

5.0 

10.8 

8.7 
7.5 

«5  Monthly  Crop  Report,  August,  1918,  Washington,  p.  95. 


194  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

While  looking  through  the  Table,  the  reader  should  bear 
in  mind  the  relative  contribution  which  each  variety  of 
wheat  makes  to  the  total  crop.  This  has  already  been 
pointed  out  in  a  previous  Section.^^  The  reader  will  re- 
member that  most  of  the  wheat  produced  in  the  four  chief 
spring-wheat  States  consists  of  spring  varieties  of  Common 
Wheat,  i.  e.,  Marquis,  Velvet  Chaff,  Bluestem  and  Fife ; 
that  Durum  wheat  in  1917  formed  25  per  cent,  of  the  total 
wheat  crop  in  N'orth  Dakota,  20  per  cent,  in  South  Da- 
kota, 8  per  cent,  in  Montana,  and  3  per  cent,  in  Minne- 
sota; and  that  Winter  wheat  in  1917  formed  40  per  cent, 
of  the  total  crop  in  Montana,  but  only  3  per  cent,  in  Minne- 
sota and  South  Dakota,  and  only  1  per  cent,  in  !N'orth 
Dakota. 

The  most  important  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the 
Table  is  that  in  each  of  the  four  great  spring-wheat  States, 
Minnesota,  ^N'orth  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  and  Montana, 
Marquis  has  ouiyielded  every  other  spring  variety  of  Corn- 
man  Wheat,  i.  e.,  Velvet  Chaff,  Bluestem,  and  "Fife.  Vel- 
vet Chaff  was  outyi elded  by  from  0.5  to  3.6,  Bluestem  by 
0.8  to  5.5,  and  Fife  by  1.0  to  5.3  bushels  per  acre. 

Marquis,  on  the  average  for  all  the  years  given  in  the 
Table  and  throughout  the  whole  spring-wheat  region  of 
Minnesota,  the  two  Dakotas,  and  Montana,  has  outyielded 
Velvet  Chaff  by  1.8,  Fife  by  2.7,  and  Bluestem  by  3.3 
bushels  per  acre. 

It  is  not  without  interest  to  observe  how  Marquis  has 
fared,  on  an  average  of  three  years,  in  each  of  the  three 
chief  spring-wheat  States  taken  individually. 

In  Minnesota,  Marquis  has  outyielded  Velvet  Chaff  by 
2,  Fife  by  2.9,  and  Bluestem  by  3.9  bushels  per  acre. 

In  ISTorth  Dakota,  Marquis  has  outyielded  Velvet  Chaff 

86  Section  VTI  on  The  Introduction  of  Marquis  into  the  United 
States. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  196 

by  1.4,  Fife  by  2.2,  and  Bluestem  by  2.5  bushels  per  acre. 

In  South  Dakota,  Marquis  has  outyielded  Velvet  Chaff 
by  1.9,  Fife  by  3.7,  and  Bluestem  by  3.6  bushels  per  acre. 

In  Montana,  where  we  have  data  for  one  year  only.  Mar- 
quis has  outyielded  Velvet  Chaff  by  1.8,  Fife  also  by  1.8, 
and  Bluestem  by  2.8  bushels  per  acre. 

So  far  as  Durum  is  concerned.  Marquis  has  outyielded 
this  variety  in  Minnesota  by  1.6,  and  in  Montana  by  0.3 
bushels  per  acre;  but  Durum  has  outyielded  Marquis  in 
^orth  Dakota  by  0.4,  and  in  South  Dakota  by  0.2  bushels 
per  acre. 

Winter  wheat,  on  the  relatively  few  acres  where  it  has 
been  grown  successfully,  has  outyielded  Marquis  in  each 
of  the  four  States :  in  Minnesota  by  4.2,  in  North  Dakota 
by  1.7,  in  South  Dakota  by  4,  and  in  Montana  by  3.2 
bushels  per  acre. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  three  older  spring  varie- 
ties of  Common  Wheat,  we  can  make  the  following  state- 
ments : 

Bluestem  was  outyielded  by  Marquis :  in  Minnesota  by 
3.9,  in  Korth  Dakota  by  2.5,  in  South  Dakota  by  3.6,  and 
in  Montana  by  2.8  bushels  per  acre.  In  other  words.  Mar- 
quis outyielded  Bluestem,  on  the  average  throughout  the 
spring-wheat  region,  by  from  2.5  to  3.9,  or  more  exactly 
by  3.3  bushels  per  acre. 

Fife  was  outyielded  by  Marquis:  in  Minnesota  by  2.9, 
in  North  Dakota  by  2.2,  in  South  Dakota  by  3.7,  and  in 
Montana  by  1.8  bushels  per  acre.  In  other  words  Marquis 
outyielded  Fife,  on  the  average  throughout  the  spring- 
wheat  region,  by  from  1.8  to  3.7,  or  more  exactly  by  2.7 
bushels  per  acre. 

Velvet  Chaff  was  outyielded  by  Marquis :  in  Minnesota 
by  2,  in  North  Dakota  by  1.4,  in  South  Dakota  by  1.9,  and 
in  Montana  by  1.8  bushels  per  acre.     In  other  words,  Mar- 


196  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

qiiis  outjielded  Velvet  Chaff,  on  tKe  average  throughout 
the  spring- wheat  region,  by  from  1.4  to  2,  or  more  exactly 
by  1.8  bushels  per  acre. 

The  superior  productiveness  of  Marquis  entails  in- 
creased farm  values  of  the  wheat  crop.  A  recognition  of 
this  fact,  no  doubt,  has  been  largely  responsible  for  the 
rapid  rise  of  the  new  variety  into  favor  with  farmers  dur- 
ing the  past  four  years,  and  for  the  corresponding  diminu- 
tion in  the  cultivation  of  Velvet  Chaff,  Bluestem,  and  Fife. 

In  concluding  this  Section,  we  may  compare  the  rela- 
tive yields  of  Marquis  and  Fife  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  found  in  long- 
period  tests  that  Marquis  outyielded  Red  Fife:  at  Indian 
Head  in  Saskatchewan  by  almost  40  per  cent.,  and  at 
Brandon  in  Manitoba  by  over  20  per  cent.®"^  A  calcula- 
tion made  from  the  Table  shows  that,  as  an  average  for 
three  years.  Marquis  outyielded  Fife :  in  South  Dakota  by 
41  per  cent.,  in  ITorth  Dakota  by  29  per  cent.,  in  Montana 
by  24  per  cent.,  and  in  Minnesota  by  13  per  cent.  It  thus 
becomes  obvious  that  the  advantage  of  replacing  Red  Fife 
by  Marquis  is  nearly  equal  in  the  two  countries. 

XIX.  The  Favorable  Grading  of  Marquis 

As  a  rule,  but  especially  in  unfavorable  seasons,  the 
increased  yield  of  Marquis  over  Red  Fife  on  summer 
fallow  is  associated  with  a  higher  weight  per  measured 
bushel  and  a  greater  plumpness  of  kernel.  Consequently 
Marquis  tends  to  obtain  a  higher  grade  than  Red  Fife. 
This  often  results  in  a  considerable  difference  in  price 
apart  from  the  difference  in  yield.  If,  for  instance,  Red 
Fife  were  to  produce  20  bushels  to  the  acre  grading  TsTo.  4 
and  Marquis  25  bushels  grading  No.  2,  the  difference  in 
value  would  be  greater  than  25  per  cent,  in  favor  of  Mar- 

fi7  Vide  Section  X  on  Long-period  Tests  for  Ecvrliness  and  Yield. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  197 

quis  by  reason  of  the  higher  price  paid  for  the  higher 
grade.  Of  course  the  higher  grading  of  ^Marquis  rela- 
tively to  the  higher  yield  is  but  a  small  matter ;  but  sup- 
posing 80,000,000  bushels  of  Marquis,  on  account  of 
higher  grading,  were  to  fetch  on  the  average  3  cents  per 
bushel  more  than  a  similar  quantity  of  Red  Fife,  the  gain 
due  to  the  more  favorable  gTading  would  be  $2,400,000, 
a  sum  with  a  purchasing  power  by  no  means  to  be  despised. 

XX.  Resistance  to  Shelling 

Marquis  does  not  shell,  i.  e.,  drop  a  certain  proportion 
of  its  grains  just  before  it  is  cut  like  Bluestem,  Red  Fife, 
Preston,  and  certain  other  kinds  of  wheat.  But  this  ad- 
vantage which  has  been  especially  noted  in  North  Dakota 
upon  the  windy  prairie  and  in  some  parts  of  Saskatchewan, 
Alberta  and  Manitoba,  brings  with  it  a  disadvantage,  for 
Marquis  requires  extra  power  in  threshing.  A  thresher 
must  take  care  that  his  machine  is  accurately  set,  otherwise 
much  of  the  wheat  may  be  lost  as  the  straw  is  run  through 
into  the  straw  stack.  The  loss  due  to  shelling  in  Bluestem 
in  North  Dakota  often  amounts  to  a  bushel  per  acre  and 
possibly  more  in  years  of  rapid  ripening.  In  some  years, 
when  Bluestem  is  harvested,  the  ground  is  littered  with  the 
grains  shattered  out  of  their  glumes  by  the  wind  and  the 
harvesting  machinery.  The  amount  of  grain  left  upon 
the  ground,  and  therefore  irrecoverable,  not  infrequently 
appears  to  be  equal  to  the  amount  originally  used  as  seed.^^ 
Red  Fife  does  not  shell  so  badly  as  Bluestem  but,  never- 
theless, is  far  from  equaling  Marquis  in  the  retention  of 
its  grains.  Resistance  to  shelling  by  Marquis  is  undoubt- 
edly one  of  the  several  factors  which  favor  a  high  yield 
from  this  variety  of  wheat. 

68  The  facts  concerning  the  shelling  of  Bluestem  in  North  Dakota 
were  kindly  supplied  to  me  by  Professor  H,  L.  Bolley. 


198  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

XXI.  Milling  and  Baking  Qualities 

It  is  very  important  that  western  Canada  should  con- 
tinue to  raise  wheat  which,  like  Red  Fife,  possesses  very 
high  milling  and  baking  qualities;  for  it  is  upon  these 
qualities  that  the  intrinsic  value  of  wheat  chiefly  depends. 
The  grading  of  wheat  for  sale  is  based  as  closely  as  pos- 
sible upon  the  value  that  the  cereal  will  have  for  the  miller 
and  the  baker;  and  those  wheats  which  most  nearly  ap- 
proach their  ideal,  are  placed  in  the  highest  grades  and 
command  the  best  prices  in  the  open  market. 

Quality  in  wheat  is  a  very  complex  thing ;  and,  when  it 
is  necessary  to  measure  it,  a  number  of  more  or  less  inde- 
pendent factors  must  be  considered.  These  factors  were 
discussed  by  Dr.  Charles  Saunders  in  a  very  exhaustive 
and  masterly  manner  in  a  Central  Experimental  Farm 
bulletin  ^^  published  in  the  year  1907,  and  they  have  re- 
cently been  summarized  by  Professor  C.  H.  Bailey,  who 
is  a  cereal  technologist,  as  follows :  '^^ 

(1)  Relative  'plumpness  of  the  hemels,  which  influences 
the  yield  or  percentage  of  flour  which  can  be  produced  from 
the  grain. 

(2)  Density  of  the  Jcemels,  which  also  affects  the  yield 
of  flour,  since,  other  things  being  equal,  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  endosperm  or  "  floury  "  portion  of  the  kernel 
can  be  separated  as  flour  when  it  is  hard  or  vitreous  in  tex- 
ture rather  than  soft  or  "  starchy.'' 

(3)  Moisture  content  of  the  grain,,  which  affects  its 
keeping  qualities,  ease  of  milling,  and  losses  which  occur 
through  evaporation  during  the  process  of  milling. 

69  Charles  E.  Saunders,  Quality  in  Wheat,  Bulletin  No.  57,  Cen- 
tral Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa,  pp.  6-28. 

70  C.  H.  Bailey,  Marquis  Wheat;  IT,  Milliner  Quality,  Bulletin 
No.  137,  Minnesota  Wheat  Investigations,  Series  II,  University  Farm, 
St.  Paul,  1914,  p.  10. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  199 

(4)  Soundness  of  the  grain,  as  indicating  its  freedom 
from  fermentative  changes. 

(5)  Baking  strength  of  the  flour,  or  its  ability  to  pro- 
duce a  large,  well-raised  loaf  of  bread.  The  relative 
strength  of  flour  is  influenced  by  at  least  two  groups  of 
factors:  (a)  The  percentage  and  physical  properties  of 
the  two  principal  proteins  of  wheat  flour,  known  collec- 
tively as  gluten,  and  (b)  the  quantity  and  nature  of  the 
yeast  food  originally  present  in  the  flour  and  formed  dur- 
ing the  process  of  fermentation. 

(6)  Absorption,  or  percentage  of  water  necessary  to 
make  a  dough  of  proper  consistency  from  the  flour  in  bread- 
making,  since  the  more  water  that  can  be  employed  per 
unit  of  flour,  the  greater  the  weight  of  bread  which  can  be 
produced  from  it. 

(7)  The  color  of  the  flour,  the  demand  being  for  a  very 
white  product.  "^^ 

Factors  (3)  and  (4),  the  moisture  content  and  the 
soundness  of  the  grain,  are  controlled  almost  entirely  by 
the  method  of  curing  and  handling  the  grain  after  it  is 
harvested  and  are  not  affected  by  varietal  characteristics. 
When  Dr.  Saunders  was  re-selecting  all  the  mixed  wheats 
which  came  into  his  hands  at  Ottawa  and  the  progeny  of 
numerous  crosses  which  he  made  in  1903  and  in  subse- 
quent years,  he  had  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the 
plumpness  and  hardness  of  the  kernels  as  influencing  the 
flour  yield,  and  to  the  gluten  content  and  general  baking 
qualities  of  the  flour,  including  baking  strength,  absorp- 

71  Professor  Bailey  also  points  out  that  the  quality  of  any  wheat 
is  influenced  not  only  by  its  varietal  characteristics  but  also  by  the 
soil  and  climatic  conditions  under  which  it  is  grown.  Thus  the 
protein  content  and  baking  strength  will  almost  invariably  be 
lower  when  the  wheat  is  grown  in  a  moist  soil  than  when  it  is 
produced  under  arid  conditions.  On  the  other  hand,  unfavorable 
conditions,  such  as  drought,  rust,  and  hot  winds,  will  result  in 
more  or  less  shriveled  grain  giving  lower  flour  yields  when  milled. 


200  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

tion  and  color.  In  doing  this,  his  University  training  in 
chemistry  stood  him  in  good  stead.  One  of  the  most  re- 
markable features  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Saunders  is  that  he 
not  only  crosses  wheats,  selects  their  progeny,  propagates 
the  selections  on  plots  and  in  fields,  and  records  all  their 
field  characteristics  such  as  yield  and  earliness,  but  that 
he  also  carries  out  all  the  needful  baking  and  milling  tests 
himself  in  his  own  laboratory. 

British  millers  demand  from  Canada  hard  red  spring 
wheat  which  shall  produce  flour  which  shall  not  only  be 
white  and  have  good  absorption  but  which  shall  have  the 
highest  possible  baking  strength.  The  strong  Canadian 
flour  is  perhaps  not  the  best  for  making  loaves  with  di- 
rectly, so  far  as  the  consumer  is  concerned,  but  it  is  in- 
valuable for  mixing  purposes.  The  British  miller  has 
plenty  of  soft  wheat  at  his  disposal  and  thus  can  readily 
obtain  an  abundance  of  flour  which  is  relatively  weak. 
He  therefore  mixes  the  strong  Canadian  flour  with  the 
weaker  flour  from  soft  wheats  and  thus  produces  a  stand- 
ard flour  of  his  own  design.  On  account  of  there  being 
much  more  soft  wheat  for  sale  than  hard  wheat,  the  latter, 
in  accordance  with  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  natu- 
rally fetches  the  higher  price.  There  is,  therefore,  a  very 
good  reason  why  the  Red  Fife  and  Marquis  wheat  of  west- 
ern Canada,  which  produce  flour  of  the  very  highest  bak- 
ing strength,  should  be  so  much  sought  for  in  the  British 
market. 

From  the  first,  when  selecting  new  wheats,  Dr.  Saun- 
ders bore  the  requirements  of  the  British  market  in  mind ; 
and  he  determined  never  to  send  out  from  Ottawa  to  the 
farmers  of  the  West,  for  general  cultivation,  any  new  va- 
riety of  wheat  which  would  be  inferior  to  Red  Fife  in  its 
milling  and  baking  qualities.  This,  of  course,  led  to 
scores  of  rejections  of  otherwise  promising  varieties,  and 


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DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT         201 

no  one  of  his  selections  to  which  he  attaches  any  value  has 
failed  to  pass  the  most  rigorous  milling  and  baking  tests. 
That  Marquis  gives  so  much  satisfaction  to  millers  and 
bakers  is  therefore  not  due  to  any  accident  but  to  the 
careful  work  of  Dr.  Saunders  who,  as  the  first  miller  and 
the  first  baker  of  the  new  wheat,  appreciated  the  good 
qualities  of  its  flour  several  years  before  it  became  an  ar- 
ticle of  commerce. 

When  beginning  the  task  of  re-selecting  all  the  more  or 
less  mixed  wheats  assembled  at  Ottawa  in  1903,  which  led 
to  the  discovery  of  Marquis,  Dr.  Saunders  had  not  a  mill, 
or  a  fermenting  cupboard,  or  an  oven  in  his  laboratory; 
and,  in  the  absence  of  this  apparatus,  he  judged  the  quality 
of  the  wheat  flour  from  his  different  wheat  plants  by 
means  of  the  chewing  test.  In  the  art  of  applying  this 
test  he  soon  became  a  veritable  master,  and  thereby  con- 
siderably hastened  the  work  of  selection.  It  had  long 
been  known  to  practical  wheat  buyers  that  some  rough 
idea  of  the  baking  strength  of  flour  can  be  obtained  by 
chewing  for  about  four  or  five  minutes  a  few  kernels  of 
the  wheat  from  which  the  flour  is  to  be  made,  and  by  then 
examining  in  the  fingers  the  elasticity  of  the  little  pellet  of 
gluten  taken  from  the  mouth.  Dr.  Saunders,  after  carry- 
ing out  this  simple  test  for  a  large  number  of  times,  found 
that  it  was  thereby  possible  to  acquire  considerable  facil- 
ity for  judging  flour  quality,  and  since  then  he  has  used 
the  test  extensively.  To  obtain  sufficient  gluten  for  a  test, 
he  usually  chewed  about  ten  or  a  dozen  kernels  from  the 
crop  of  each  individual  plant  which  was  being  considered 
as  a  possible  progenitor  of  a  new  variety  of  wheat.  He 
found  it  to  be  a  general  rule  that  the  strongest  flour  is  ob- 
tained from  those  wheats  which  produce  gluten  having  the 
greatest  ability  to  recover  its  shape.  "^^ 
72  Charles  E.  Saunders,  loc.  oit.,  p.  9. 


202  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

In  discussing  the  chewing  test,  Dr.  Saunders  says: 
"  The  variations  in  the  quality  of  the  gluten  observed  in 
different  plants  of  the  same  pedigree  are  often  very  great, 
and  it  is  not  claiming  too  much  to  say  that  this  simple  and 
apparently  inefficient  method  of  testing  enables  one  to  se- 
lect with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty  a  few  of  the  best  plants 
each  season,  and  this  enormously  reduces  the  labor  which 
would  otherwise  be  involved  in  multiplying  a  large  num- 
ber of  strains,  most  of  which  would  ultimately  be  rejected. 
That  this  crude  method  of  testing  is  infallible,  one  cannot 
maintain.  The  writer  has  shown,  however,  by  actual  bak- 
ing trials  that  it  possesses  sufficient  accuracy  to  be  worthy 
of  the  very  serious  attention  of  all  wheat-breeders,  although 
an  investigator  may  have  to  perform  the  test  several  hun- 
dreds of  times  before  acquiring  any  proficiency  in  it.  It  is 
not  really  a  very  difficult  matter  to  judge  in  this  way,  as 
a  rule  with  fair  accuracy,  both  the  gluten  strength  and 
the  color  of  the  flour  which  would  be  produced  from  the 
wheat  in  question ;  and,  if  time  were  taken  to  weigh  the 
wheat  used  and  the  globule  of  gluten  produced,  it  would 
certainly  be  possible  to  form  a  rough  estimate  of  the  pro- 
portion of  gluten  which  the  wheat  would  yield.  The 
writer  does  not  know  whether  this  method  of  judging  the 
quality  of  individual  plants  has  been  used  by  other  investi- 
gators or  not,  but  he  would  strongly  recommend  it  as  im- 
peratively necessary  for  any  one  attempting  to  breed  wheat 
for  high  quality.  It  requires  some  patience  and  a  fairly 
good  set  of  teeth,  but  these  two  attributes  can  be  consid- 
ered essential  to  all  breeders  of  wheat.  A  study  of  the 
later  sections  of  this  bulletin  will  make  it  clear  to  any  one 
that  the  usual  observations  on  the  color  and  hardness  of 
the  kernels  are  almost  useless  for  estimating  flour  strength 
in  breeding  new  wheats.  The  chewing  test  is  certainly  of 
great  value  although  it  should  always  be  confirmed  by 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  203 

actual  baking  trials  as  soon  as  sufficient  wheat  is  obtainable 
for  that  purpose." 

Dr.  Saunders'  application  of  the  chewing  test  has  a 
definite  historical  importance,  for  he  thereby  obtained  the 
clew  to  the  excellent  milling  and  baking  qualities  of  Mar- 
quis wheat.  He  selected  the  first  head  of  Marquis  in 
1903  because,  in  addition  to  having  other  good  qualities, 
it  passed  this  test.  The  progeny  of  the  first  head  of  Mar- 
quis successfully  withstood  the  chewing  test  in  1904  and 
1905 ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  close  of  this  period  that, 
having  set  up  a  small  experimental  mill,  a  fermenting 
cupboard,  and  an  oven  in  his  laboratory,  Dr.  Saunders 
was  able  to  grind  the  wheat  into  flour  and  bake  the  dough 
into  bread  in  the  usual  manner.  Rigorous  milling  and 
baking  tests  made  with  the  new  apparatus  completely  con- 
firmed the  judgment  of  Marquis  which  he  had  made  three 
seasons  previously  from  the  examination  of  the  little  glu- 
ten pellets  taken  from  his  mouth. 

Marquis  wheat,  since  being  generally  introduced  into 
Canada  and  the  United  States,  has  been  subjected  to  a 
great  number  of  tests  for  its  milling  and  baking  qualities 
in  the  laboratories  of  cerealists  and  millers;  and  every- 
where it  has  been  pronounced  to  be,  as  regards  these  quali- 
ties, a  first-class  wheat. 

Comparative  milling  and  baking  experiments  made  with 
Marquis  and  other  standard  varieties  of  hard  spring  wheat 
were  carried  out  by  Professor  Ladd  "^^  of  the  North  Da- 
kota Agricultural  Experiment  Station  in  the  years  1913 
and  1914,  and  by  Professor  Bailey  ^^  of  the  Minnesota 

73  E.  F.  Ladd,  Chemical  and  Physical  Constants  for  Wheat  and 
Mill  Products,  N.  Dakota  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bulletin  No.  114,  1916, 
pp.  273-297. 

74  C.  H.  Bailey,  Marquis  Wheat,  II,  The  Milling  Quality  of 
Marquis  Wheat,  Minn.  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.,  Bulletin  No.  137,  1914, 
pp.  9-14. 


204  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Agricultural  Experimental  Station  in  1913,  and  the  re- 
sults have  been  summarized  by  Messrs.  Ball  and  Clark  "^^ 
as  follows : 

"  The  published  data  show  that  the  Marquis  wheat  sam- 
ples tested  were  equal  or  slightly  superior  in  most  re- 
spects to  the  samples  of  Fife,  Bluestem,  and  Preston  (Vel- 
vet Chaff)  wheats  raised  under  similar  conditions.  A 
higher  total  yield  of  flour  was  obtained  from  the  Marquis. 
The  percentage  of  bran  was  less,  while  that  of  shorts  was 
greater  from  the  Marquis  than  from  the  three  standard 
groups  of  spring  common  wheats.  Compared  with  durum 
wheat,  the  Marquis  is  slightly  lower  in  yield  of  flour  and 
shorts  but  higher  in  yield  of  bran. 

"  The  baking  quality  of  Marquis  flour  is  high.  It  con- 
tains more  crude  protein  than  the  flours  of  the  three  prin- 
cipal groups  of  spring  common  wheat.  The  amount  of 
water  absorbed  by  the  Marquis  flour  in  dough  making  also 
is  high.  These  are  important  features  in  determining 
the  expansive  quality  of  the  flour  or  its  gluten.  The  loaf 
volume  of  the  Marquis  exceeds  that  of  the  other  hard 
spring  common  wheats.  There  is  comparatively  little  dif- 
ference in  the  color,  texture,  and  crumb  of  the  Marquis 
•and  of  the  other  spring  common  wheats. 

"  In  short  the  data  show  the  Marquis  to  be  a  first-class 
milling  wheat." 

XXII.  The  Origin  of  Hard  Red  Calcutta 

Hard  Eed  Calcutta,  the  female  parent  of  Marquis,  is  a 
wheat  which  was  imported  into  Canada  by  Dr.  William 
Saunders  some  thirty  years  ago  for  experimental  pur- 
poses.    It  was  grown  in  plots  at  the  Central  Experimen- 

!l  '  ' 

75  C.  R.  Ball  and  J.  A.  Clark,  Exrieriments  with  Marquis  Wheat. 

Bulletin  No.  400,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  U.   S.  Department  of 

Agriculture,  Washington,  1916,  p.  40. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  205 

tal  Farm  and  at  the  branch  farms,  and  a  certain  number 
of  samples  were  sent  out  for  trial  to  farmers  and  experi- 
mentalists in  various  places.  Twenty-seven  such  samples 
were  distributed  from  Ottawa  in  1892/^  but  for  various 
reasons,  particularly  on  account  of  its  small  yield  and  very 
short  straw,  the  Indian  wheat  has  not  proved  a  success 
under  Canadian  conditions.'^^ 

Hard  Red  Calcutta,  when  grown  in  Canada,  was  found 
to  ripen  exceedingly  early  in  the  season,  some  two  or  three 
weeks  earlier  than  Red  Fife;  but,  unfortunately,  linked 
with  this  very  desirable  character  were  others  which  were 
very  undesirable,  the  chief  being  a  poor  yield,  very  short 
straw,  the  shattering  of  the  grains  from  their  glumes  when 
ripe,  and  the  bearded  condition  of  the  heads. 

The  newly  imported  Indian  wheat  was  crossed  with 
Bed  Fife  in  1892  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  wheat  like 
Red  Fife  but  which  would  ripen  much  earlier  in  the  sea- 
son than  the  standard  variety. "^^  The  progeny  of  the  cross 
included  types  with  short  straw,  with  long  straw,  and  with 
medium  straw;  types  with  short  heads,  long  heads  and 
intermediate  heads;  types  with  the  early-ripening  habit, 
the  late-ripening  habit;  and  so  forth.  From  all  these 
types  were  selected  a  few  which  most  nearly  resembled 
Red  Fife  in  general  appearance  but  which  possessed  the 
early-ripening  habit ;  and  it  was  the  best  one  of  these  few 
which  was  subsequently  named  and  introduced  as  Marquis. 

Under  what  circumstances  Hard  Red  Calcutta  came 
into  existence  in  India  is  unknown  to  the  writer.  It  is 
very  probable  that  its  origin,  like  that  of  so  many  other 

76  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for  1902,  p.  14. 

77  S.  A.  Bedford  in  a  report  on  wheats  grown  at  Brandon  Experi- 
mental Farm  in  1891,  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for  1901,  p. 
249. 

78  See  Section  II  on :  The  Selection  of  Marquis  hy  Dr.  Charles  E. 
Saunders. 


206  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

cereals,  has  never  been  accurately  recorded.  Hard  Ked 
Calcutta,  as  already  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  Section,^^ 
is  a  commercial  expression  and  includes  several  different 
types  of  wheat.  Thus,  for  instance,  there  is  Hard  Ked 
Calcutta  with  white  chaff.  Hard  Eed  Calcutta  with  brown 
chaff,  and  Hard  Ked  Calcutta  with  black  chaff,  these  types 
breeding  true  and  being  quite  distinct  from  one  another. 
All  these  types  originated  in  India  but  how  and  where  are 
not  known.  One  of  them,  but  which  one  is  also  not  known, 
was  chosen  as  the  female  parent  in  the  cross  from  which 
Marquis  originated. 

XXIII.  The  Origin  of  Red  Fife 

The  story  of  the  introduction  of  the  celebrated  wheat 
generally  known  as  Red  Fife  or  Scotch  Fife  into  I^orth 
America,  is  fraught  with  the  elements  of  romance  and  has 
exercised  the  mythopoeic  faculty  of  those  who  have  handed 
it  down  to  us.  To  relate  it  here  harmonizes  well  with  our 
main  theme,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  Ked  Fife  is  the  male 
parent  of  Marquis. 

Ked  Fife  is  called  Red  because  its  grains,  when  typi- 
cally developed,  are  of  a  good  red  color,  and  Fife  after 
David  Fife,  an  Ontario  farmer,  who  was  the  first  to  raise 
Ked  Fife  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  who  introduced 
this  variety  into  Canadian  agriculture  almost  eighty  years 
ago. 

J.  W.  Clarke,  a  Wisconsin  farmer,  had  an  excellent  crop 
of  Ked  Fife  upon  his  farm  in  the  year  1860.  His  yield 
averaged  36  bushels  per  acre,  and  so  pleased  was  he  with 
his  harvest  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Country  Gentle- 
man and  Cultivator  telling  of  his  experiences  and  recom- 
mending the  new  variety  of  wheat  to  agriculturists  in  gen- 
eral.    Incidentally,  he  referred  to  the  originator  of  Ked 

79  Section  II. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  207 

Fife  as  being  David  Fife  of  Otonabee  in  what  was  then 
called  Canada  West  but  now  Ontario.^^ 

Clarke's  letter  naturally  attracted  attention  in  Canada, 
and  in  March,  1861,  it  was  reproduced  in  the  Canadian 
Agriculturalist.  Accompanying  the  first  letter,  however, 
was  a  second,  written  by  George  Essen,  in  which  the  main 
facts  relating  to  the  introduction  of  Red  Fife  in  Canada 
were  recorded  for  the  first  time  and  by  an  eye-witness. 
George  Essen  was  one  of  David  Fife's  neighbors.  More- 
over, the  Fifes  and  Essens  had  both  come  from  the  Kin- 
cardine parish  of  Tullyallen  in  Scotland,  and,  as  pioneers, 
had  settled  together  at  Otonabee,  Peterborough  County, 
Ontario.  It  is  very  evident,  therefore,  that  George  Essen 
was  in  a  particularly  good  position  to  know  the  true  facts 
concerning  the  introduction  of  the  new  wheat  which  was 
becoming  so  famous.     Essen's  letter  Avas  as  follows : 

"  About  the  year  1842  David  Fife  of  the  township  of 
Otonabee,  Canada  West  (now  Ontario),  procured  through 
a  friend  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  a  quantity  of  wheat  which 
had  been  obtained  from  a  cargo  direct  from  Danzig.  As 
it  came  to  hand  just  before  spring  seed-time,  and  not  know- 
ing whether  it  was  a  fall  or  spring  variety,  Mr.  Fife  con- 
cluded to  sow  part  of  it  that  spring  and  wait  for  the  result. 
It  proved  to  be  a  fall  wheat  as  it  never  ripened,  except 
three  ears  which  grew  apparently  from  a  single  grain. 
These  were  preserved,  and  although  sown  the  next  year 
under  very  unfavorable  circumstances,  being  quite  late 
and  in  a  shady  place,  it  proved  at  harvest  entirely  free  from 
rust,  when  all  the  wheat  in  the  neighborhood  was  badly 
rusted.  The  produce  of  this  was  carefully  preserved,  and 
from  it  sprang  the  variety  of  wheat  known  over  Canada 
and  the  Northern  States  by  the  different  names  of  Fife, 
Scotch,  and  Glasgow.     As  the  facts  occurred  in  my  imme- 

80  The  Country   Gentleman  and  Cultivator,   October,    1860. 


208  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

diate  neighborhood  and  being  intimately  acquainted,  not 
only  with  the  introducer,  but  with  the  circumstances,  I  can 
vouch  for  the  correctness  of  the  statement  and,  if  neces- 
sary, produce  incontestible  proof."  ^^ 

This  letter  seems  to  afford  conclusive  evidence  that  the 
wheat  from  which  Red  Fife  sprang  was  formerly  grown 
in  central  or  eastern  Europe,  that  it  was  conveyed  by  ship 
from  the  port  of  Danzig  to  the  port  of  Glasgow,  and  that  at 
the  latter  place  a  sample  of  it  was  procured  from  the  cargo 
and  sent  to  David  Fife  in  Ontario.  There  is  therefore 
no  reason  whatever  to  suppose  that  Red  Fife,  as  its  syno- 
nyms Scotch  Fife  and  Glasgow  seem  to  suggest,  was  ever 
grown  in  Scotland. 

There  were  some  who  were  inclined  to  believe  that  Red 
Fife  originated  as  a  sport  from  David  Fife's  imported 
seed  and  therefore  that  it  constituted  a  new  variety  which 
first  came  into  existence  in  Ontario.  This  hypothesis, 
which  was  never  very  satisfactory,  has  now  been  shown  by 
Dr.  Saunders  to  be  superfluous,  for  he  has  demonstrated 
by  exact  comparison  that  Red  Fife  is  identical  with  a  cen- 
tral European  variety  of  wheat  known  as  Galician. 

In  his  evidence,  given  as  Dominion  Cerealist  before  the 
Committee  on  Agriculture  at  Ottawa  in  1905,  Dr.  Charles 
Saunders,  after  quoting  George  Essen's  letter,  made  the 
following  statements :  "  This  account  has  given  rise  to 
the  idea  that  Red  Fife  is  a  Canadian  wheat,  that  it  origi- 
nated with  Mr.  Fife  in  some  wholly  unaccountable  man- 
ner, or  as  a  sport  from  a  European  variety.  It  always 
seemed  to  me  probable  that  the  kernel  which  Mr.  Fife 
obtained  was  merely  a  seed  of  some  common  European  va- 
riety which  had  found  its  way  into  the  wheat  from  Danzig. 

81  The  Canadian  Agriculturalist,  March,  1861,  p.  167.  The  letters 
of  Clarke  and  Essen  are  here  cited  from  an  article  Canadian  Wheat 
History  prepared  by  C.  C.  James  and  published  in  the  Orain  Grow- 
ers' Guide,  June  7,  1916,  p.  36. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  209 

Last  season,  among  our  newly-imported  European  varie- 
ties, was  one  under  the  name  of  ^  Galician/  obtained  from 
a  seedsman  in  Germany.  Now,  Galicia  lies  about  300 
miles  inland  from  Danzig.  This  imported  Galician  wheat 
struck  me  at  once  as  being  very  much  like  Red  Fife,  and  I 
therefore  sowed  it  last  spring  alongside  Red  Fife,  and 
watched  them  both  very  carefully  throughout  the  season. 
They  proved  to  be  identical  at  all  stages  of  their  growth 
as  well  as  when  the  grain  was  harvested.  A  larger  plot  of 
Galician  wheat  furnished  grain  for  milling  purposes. 
This  was  ground,  analyzed  and  baked.  Red  Fife  from 
a  plot  in  the  same  field  was  similarly  treated.  The  two 
samples  of  flour  were  found  to  be  alike  in  all  respects,  and 
thus  the  absolute  identity  of  the  two  wheats  was  estab- 
lished. The  firm  from  which  the  seed  of  the  Galician 
wheat  was  obtained,  informed  me  that  the  variety  was 
procured  by  them  many  years  ago  from  a  farmer  in  Ga- 
licia. It  seems,  therefore,  quite  clear  that  the  kernel  of 
wheat  which  came  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Fife,  was  a  kernel 
of  this  Galician  spring  wheat,  accidentally  present  in  the 
cargo  of  winter  wheat  from  Danzig,  of  which  he  obtained 
a  portion.  It  is  interesting  to  be  able  to  throw  this  light 
on  the  subject  of  the  origin  of  Red  Fife,  which  has  hitherto 
seemed  very  dark.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  variety  is 
still  grown  in  Europe,  and  so  far  as  our  tests  have  gone,  it 
seems  to  be  of  the  same  quality  there  as  it  is  here."  ^^ 

It  therefore  seems  certain :  that  Red  Fife  was  originally 
grown  in  mid-Europe ;  that  one  of  its  kernels  was  con- 
veyed in  a  cargo  of  winter  wheat,  via  the  Baltic  and  the 
N'orth  Sea,  from  Danzig  to  Glasgow;  that  a  sample  of  the 
cargo  containing  the  kernel  in  question  was  procured  by 

82  The  Origin  of  Red  Fife  Wheat,  Evidence  of  Dr.  Charles  E. 
Saunders  before  the  Select  Standing  Committee  on  Agriculture  and 
Colonization,  Ottawa,  1905,  pp.  216-217. 


210  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

some  one  at  the  Scottish  port;  that  this  sample  was  sent 
to  David  Fife  at  his  farm  in  Ontario  about  the  year  1842 ; 
that  this  single  kernel  germinated  and  produced  a  plant 
with  three  heads;  that  the  kernels  of  these  three  heads, 
when  sown  the  next  year,  gave  rise  to  the  wheat  which  be- 
came known  as  Red  Fife;  and  that  Ked  Fife  is  identical 
with  a  wheat  known  as  Galician  which  was  recently  in 
cultivation  in  Galicia. 

George  Essen's  letter  was  but  little  noticed  at  the  time 
it  was  written  and  soon  passed  into  oblivion.  As  Red 
Fife  grew  in  importance  with  the  passage  of  years,  the 
story  of  its  origin  became  a  tradition  which,  as  it  passed 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  gradually  assumed  varied  and  color- 
ful forms.  Some  of  these  traditions  which  deal  chiefly 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  original  sample  of  grain 
was  first  procured,  will  now  be  told. 

A  contributor  ^^  to  the  Manitoba  Daily  Free  Press, 
writing  in  1883  in  reference  to  Eed  Fife,  says:  "The 
first  wheat  grown  in  Canada  was  on  a  farm  owned  by  a 
person  by  the  name  of  Fyfe  in  the  township  of  Otonabee, 
County  of  Peterborough.  Mr.  Fyfe  hired  a  Scotchman  as 
a  farm  laborer.  When  his  time  expired  with  Mr.  Fyfe,  he 
decided  on  returning  to  his  native  country.  Mr.  Fyfe  re- 
quested him  to  send  a  Scotch  bonnet  from  Glasgow.  When 
there  a  vessel  from  the  Black  Sea  was  unloading  wheat  at 
one  of  the  docks.^^  He  procured  the  full  of  the  bonnet 
and  sent  it  on  the  first  opportunity  to  Mr.  Fyfe.  I  have 
many  times  been  on  the  same  farm.'' 

Another  tradition,  current  at  Peterborough  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  also  includes  the  incident  of  the  cap  but  with  dif- 
ferent details.     It  is  as  follows :     "  David  Fife  did  not 

83  M.  Colquhoun  of  Mansfield,  Ontario,  in  the  Manitoba  Daily  Free 
Press,  Feb.  24,  1883,  p.  8. 

84  In  this  story  the  Black  Sea  is  substituted  for  Danzig  on  the 
Baltic.     This  is  doubtless  an  error  due  to  imperfect  memory. 


DISCOVEKY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  211 

send  for  the  seed.  An  acquaintance,  strolling  along  the 
dock  at  Glasgow,  found  men  unloading  wheat.  He  knew 
that  Fife  had  emigrated  to  Canada,  and  he  also  knew  of 
a  mutual  friend  who  proposed  to  go  out  to  the  new  coun- 
try presently.  The  thought  struck  him  to  take  a  sample 
of  the  wheat  which  to  his  observation  looked  very  good, 
and  send  it  to  Fife.  He  had  nothing  in  which  to  hold 
the  wheat,  but  there  was  a  hole  in  the  lining  of  his  cap. 
He  opened  the  lining  at  the  hole,  filled  in  a  handful,  and 
afterwards  wrapped  it  up  in  paper.  Fife  received  the 
seed  and  planted  it.  It  all  grew  but  rusted  badly,  except 
five  heads,  all  from  one  stalk  or  root.  Two  of  these  heads 
were  eaten  by  oxen  leaving  only  three  heads.  The  great 
probability  is  that  the  single  grain  from  which  the  three 
heads  grew  was  an  accidental  hybrid."  ^^ 

The  incident  about  the  oxen  has  been  connected  with 
David  Fife's  wife  and  in  this  form  is  told  as  follows: 
"  Mrs.  Fife  is  entitled  to  share  in  her  husband's  honor, 
for,  discovering  the  family  cow  contentedly  making  a  meal 
of  the  growing  clump  of  grain,  she  was  in  time  to  rescue  a 
portion  of  it  before  it  was  too  late."  ^^  It  may  be  added 
that  a  photograph  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fife  was  taken  when 
they  were  very  advanced  in  years  and  was  reproduced  in 
several  newspapers. 

Another  tradition  ^^  introduces  a  sack :  David  Fife 
"  having  by  experiment  found  that  the  Scotch  Danzig 
wheat  was  a  spring  and  not  a  winter  variety,  the  sack  in 
which  the  wheat  had  been  contained  was  looked  up  and  a 

85  This  tradition  was  told  to  Mr.  F.  H.  Dobbin  of  Peterborough, 
who  kindly  wrote  it  down  and  sent  it  to  me  in  August,  1918.  Mr. 
Dobbin,  in  his  letter  to  the  author  stated  that  he  was  assured  by 
one  who  knew  all  the  circumstances  that  this  tradition  is  the  cor- 
rect one  as  opposed  to  another  about  to  be  related. 

86  C.  C.  James,  Canadian  Wheat  History,  Grain  Growers^  Guide, 
June  7,  1916,  p.  36. 

8T  Ibid. 


212  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

handful  of  the  grain  was  sown  in  the  succeeding  year/'  If 
this  story  were  true,  and  the  writer,  in  view  of  George 
Essen's  letter  is  not  prepared  to  accept  it  as  such,  we 
should  be  obliged  to  regard  Red  Fife  as  having  sprung  not 
from  a  single  plant  but  from  many  scores  of  plants,  thus 
having  a  multiple  origin. 

In  the  first  two  of  the  traditions  which  have  been  re- 
lated so  far,  David  Fife  is  represented  as  not  sending  for 
the  wheat  but  as  receiving  it  as  an  unexpected  present  from 
a  friend  in  Scotland.  Another  tradition  which  is  told  at 
much  greater  length  and  with  many  details  not  appearing 
elsewhere,  and  which  is  regarded  by  Mr.  F.  H.  Dobbin,  the 
present  town-clerk  of  Peterborough,  as  authentic,  has  a 
very  different  complexion,  for  it  represents  Fife  as  a  man 
who  was  anxious  to  raise  a  better  kind  of  wheat  than  was 
locally  available  and  who  therefore  sent  to  Scotland  on 
two  occasions  for  foreign  seed-wheat  for  experimental  pur- 
poses.    The  story  ^^  told  by  Mr.  Dobbin  is  as  follows : 

"  The  locality  in  which  the  celebrated  Fife  Wheat  was 
first  propagated,  is  that  which  is  now  known  as  the  Mid- 
land District  of  Ontario.  This  part  of  the  province  lies 
midway  between  Toronto  and  Kingston,  skirts  Lake  On- 
tario, extends  back  from  the  Lake  for  a  distance  of  forty 
miles,  and  comprises  in  part  the  counties  of  Durham, 
Northumberland,  Peterborough,  and  Hastings. 

"  The  township  of  Otonabee,  in  which  the  Fife  family 
lived,  forms  the  most  southern  part  of  the  county  of  Peter- 
borough, and  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  river  Otonabee, 
on  the  south  by  Rice  Lake,  on  the  north  by  the  townships 
immediately  adjoining,  and  on  the  east  by  the  county  of 
Hastings.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  all  this 
section  of  the  country  was  comprised  in  what  was  known 

88  This  story  was  kindly  sent  to  me  in  August,  1918,  by  Mr.  Dob- 
bin, to  whom  I  applied  for  information. 


DISCOVEEY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


213 


as  the  Colborne  District,  and  was  represented  as  a  munici- 
pal unit  in  tlie  Old  House  of  Assembly  of  Upper  Canada. 
The  Township  of  Otonabee  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  set- 
tled, men  going  into  its  forests  as  early  as  1816.  So,  when 
the  Fife  family  reached  Canada  and  directed  their  steps 
to  Otonabee  as  their  future  home,  settlers  were  already  in 
possession  of  faim  lands  and  many  locations  had  been 
procured  from  the  Crown.  The  Fife  farm  is  situated 
about  seven  miles  from  the  city  of  Peterborough. 

"  The  late  David  Fife,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  set- 
tled in  Otonabee  in  the  early  thirties  of  the  last  century. 
For  several  years  after  that  time,  the  wheat  in  general 
sowing  in  the  locality  was  a  fall  wheat  of  a  brand  known 
as  Siberian.  This  had  come  into  favor  largely  owing  to 
the  fact  that  those  who  sold  it  as  seed  claimed  that  it  was 
particularly  fitted  to  survive  the  rigors  of  a  Canadian  win- 
ter. However,  Siberian  was  found  to  exhibit  a  weakness 
in  that  it  often  became  rusted  badly  with  a  consequent 
diminution  in  the  crop.  Fife,  being  desirous  of  obtaining 
improved  seed,  sent  to  Glasgow  for  samples.  These  were 
forwarded,  but  arriving  in  Canada  late  in  the  season,  were 
held  in  storage  at  Smith's  Creek  on  the  lake  front  until  the 
following  spring.  Smith's  Creek  is  now  known  as  Port 
Hope.  The  samples  cost,  in  money  as  now  we  count  it, 
about  three  dollars  per  bushel  and  a  considerable  sum  for 
storage.     The  seed  was  sown  but  never  sprouted.^^ 

"  In  1841  Fife  again  became  interested  in  importing 
seed-wheat  and  wrote  to  a  personal  friend  named  Strothers 
who  was  a  clerk  in  a  grain  store  in  Glasgow,  asking  that 
samples  of  a  well-recommended  Russian  wheat  be  pro- 
cured and  forwarded.     Mr.  Strothers  selected  a  new  kind, 

89  According  to  Essen's  letter  the  fall  wheat  germinated  but  did 
not  ripen.  The  earlier  account  written  in  1861  is  probably  the 
correct  one. 


214  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

brought  from  Danzig  by  ship,  and  sent  it  on,  saying  that 
from  what  he  had  learned  from  the  importers  the  seed 
would  answer  Fife's  requirements.  Two  lots  of  wheat 
were  sent,  one  for  fall  and  one  for  spring  sowing. 

"  The  second  shipment  was  held  at  Cobourg  during  the 
fall  and  winter,  as  before.  Both  lots  of  wheat  were  sown 
in  the  following  spring  but  the  fall  wheat  never  germi- 
nated. The  spring  wheat  grew,  developed,  and  ripened. 
In  growth  and  appearance  it  proved  to  be  superior  to  any 
other  wheat  in  the  neighborhood,  but  only  three  heads  were 
saved.  It  is  known  that  the  seed  was  not  sown  until  all 
the  other  kinds  of  grain  were  above  the  ground,  as  Fife 
was  ill  and  wished  to  watch  the  sowing  and  the  cultivation 
himself.  The  new  variety,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  was 
absolutely  free  from  rust.*^^ 

"  The  crop  was  gathered  by  Mr.  Fife  and  carefully 
stored.  A  pint  of  seed  was  realized  which,  on  being  sown 
early  the  next  year,  produced  a  half-bushel  at  harvest  time. 
From  this  limited  quantity  of  seed  the  neighborhood  was 
supplied  with  samples  for  trial,  and  so  successful  was  the 
result  that  the  district  benefited  largely  from  the  Fife 
wheat. 

"  The  spring  following,  this  would  be  about  1843,  a 
man  named  Henderson  bought  from  Fife  one  bushel  and 
from  this  as  seed  reaped  nearly  three  hundred  bushels,^ ^ 

90  Red  Fife  wheat  is  not  rust-resistant  but  often  rusts  badly. 
Essen's  and  Dobbin's  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  the  first  crop 
was  free  from  rust  when  the  other  wheat  suffered  severely  from 
the  disease.  This  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  seed  was  sown 
in  a  protected  place  and  not  in  an  open  field.  Essen  says  the  seed 
was  sown  "  quite  late  and  in  a  shady  place." 

91  As  a  story  is  told,  errors  are  apt  to  be  introduced  where  figures 
are  quoted.  It  takes  more  than  a  bushel  to  sow  a  single  acre,  and 
50  bushels  to  an  acre  is  an  excellent  crop.  No  one  ever  yet  obtained 
300  bushels  to  an  acre,  so  that  Mr.  Dobbin's  figures  here  must  be 
fallacious.     Such  a  crop  might  have  come  from  ten  bushels  of  seed 


DISCOVEEY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  215 

a  part  of  which  he  disposed  of  at  $3.00  per  bushel,  errone- 
ously naming  it  Glasgotv  Wheat.  The  parent  seed  never 
grew  in  Scotland  but  was  imported  from  one  of  the  Rus- 
sian districts  by  ship.  Efforts  made  to  locate  the  terri- 
tory from  which  the  seed  was  derived  were  never  success- 
ful, and  the  origin  of  the  new  wheat  was  looked  upon 
as  an  accidental  occurrence.  From  these  small  beginnings 
came  the  wheat  that  has  so  largely  contributed  to  the  ag- 
ricultural reputation  of  this  section  of  Ontario,  and  which 
has  made  the  crops  desirable  to  millers  all  over  Canada." 

Such,  then,  are  the  traditions  of  Red  Fife  which  have 
come  down  to  us.  All  of  them  doubtless  contain  some 
truth,  but  to  what  extent  certain  of  the  more  picturesque 
details  have  been  unconsciously  invented  it  is  at  present 
difficult  or  impossible  to  say.  It  may  be  that  David  Fife's 
correspondence  with  his  friend  in  Scotland  and  with  his 
neighbors  is  still  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.  If 
it  could  be  found  it  would  doubtless  throw  a  new  and  very 
interesting  light  upon  the  history  of  the  wheat  with  which 
the  family  name  of  Fife  is  so  honorably  associated. 

In  Ontario,  about  the  year  18Y0,  spring  wheat  formed 
about  60  per  cent,  of  the  total  crop,  and  the  chief  variety 
of  spring  wheat  grown  was  Red  Fife.^^  Red  Fife,  after 
its  successful  introduction  in  Ontario,  soon  passed  into  the 
United  States;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  an  excellent  crop 
of  it  was  raised  by  a  Wisconsin  farmer  in  1860.  With 
the  development  of  the  wheat  lands  in  the  Great  Plains 
region.  Red  Fife  was  introduced  into  Minnesota  and  the 
two  Dakotas. 

but  not  from  one.  In  the  preceding  paragraph  a  pint  of  seed  is 
said  to  have  been  realized  from  the  three  heads.  This  is  another 
impossibility.  Possibly  the  original  statement  was  "  less  than  a 
pint." 

92  Spring  Wheat  in  Ontario,  Manitoba  Daily  Free  Press,  March  16, 
1883,  p.  7. 


216  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Exactly  when  Eed  Fife  was  first  sown  in  western  Can- 
ada is  unknown;  but  a  certain  small  amount  was  doubt- 
less being  grown  in  Manitoba  as  early  as  about  1870. 
This  seems  to  follow  from  the  fact  that  in  1876  nearly 
one  thousand  bushels  of  Red  Fife  were  exported  from 
Manitoba  to  Ontario  to  re-seed  the  very  province  in  which 
this  variety  of  wheat  had  originated.  The  account  of  this 
remarkable  transaction  is  related  by  C.  C.  James  ®^  as 
follows:  "In  1876  spring  wheat  failed  in  Ontario,  the 
old  reliable  Red  Fife  apparently  had  run  out,  it  had  lost 
its  vigor  —  perhaps  the  fault  lay  in  the  soil  rather  than 
in  the  grain.  The  Red  River  Fife  wheat  had  made  a  repu- 
tation, and  so  in  the  fall  of  the  year  the  late  R.  C.  Steele 
of  Steele  Brothers,  Toronto,  started  for  Manitoba.  He 
traveled  by  rail  to  St.  Paul  and  thence  to  Fisher's  Land- 
ing, where,  doubtful  of  the  river  navigation  so  late  in  the 
year,  he  took  a  lumber  wagon  and  made  the  150  miles 
to  Winnipeg  in  30  hours  of  continuous  going.  He  wished 
to  bring  back  5,000  bushels,  but  all  that  he  was  able  to 
secure  at  Winnipeg  was  857  bushels,  which  he  bought  at 
85  cents  a  bushel.  This  wheat  came  down  to  Toronto  by 
steamer  from  Winnipeg  to  Fisher's  Landing  where  he 
secured  some  additional  United  States  wheat,  thence  by 
rail  to  Duluth,  by  vessel  from  Duluth  to  Sarnia,  and  by 
rail  from  Sarnia  to  Toronto.  This  was  the  first  wheat 
exported  from  Manitoba  to  the  East.  It  was  in  the  latter 
part  of  1876.  Mr.  Steele  paid  85  cents  per  bushel  for  this 
wheat  on  October  12,  1876." 

In  Manitoba,  up  to  about  the  year  1882,  the  amount  of 
wheat  grown  in  the  province  had  been  scarcely  more  than 
sufficient  to  supply  the  local  market.     However,  with  the 

93  C.  C.  James,  Canadian  Wheat  History,  Grain  Growers'  Guide, 
Winnipeg,  June  7,  1916,  p.  36. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  217 

opening  of  the  first  railway  in  the  province  in  1878  giving 
direct  access  to  St.  Paul  from  St.  Boniface,  and  with  the 
prospect  of  the  completion  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way which  would  connect  the  prairie  with  eastern  ocean 
ports,  grain  dealers,  farmers,  and  railway  men  became  con- 
vinced that  a  great  export  trade  in  wheat  would  soon  be 
developed  in  the  Canadian  West.  In  1883,  therefore,  by 
which  time  the  introduction  of  the  purifier  into  flour  mills 
had  greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  hard  spring  wheats,  an 
effort  was  made  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  crops.  To 
this  end  a  large  amount  of  Red  Fife  was  brought  into 
Manitoba  from  Minnesota. 

In  1882,  James  Hartney  imported  into  Manitoba  from 
Minnesota  a  car-load  of  Red  Pife.  He  sowed  it  on  vir- 
gin land  and  it  produced  a  splendid  crop.  Some  of  the 
grain  was  shov^n  at  an  exhibition  held  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  at  Winnipeg,  and  it  carried  off  the  prizes  of  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railway  Company  and  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  for  the  best  ten  bushels  of  wheat.  At  that  time 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company  was  hard  at  work 
constructing  its  great  line  of  steel  across  the  continent,  and, 
with  a  view  to  future  business,  was  anxious  to  demonstrate 
the  agricultural  possibilities  of  the  West.  About  1882, 
therefore,  the  Company  began  to  make  a  series  of  experi- 
mental farms  all  along  the  line  from  Winnipeg  to  Calgary. 
Horses  and  plows,  accompanied  by  laborers,  were  conveyed 
by  train;  and,  at  intervals  along  the  line,  whenever  there 
was  found  a  piece  of  open,  level,  promising-looking  land, 
plows,  horses  and  men  were  detrained  and  the  virgin  soil 
was  turned  up ;  and  in  the  autumn  the  land  was  back-set. 
The  Company  sowed  all  these  new  farms  with  Red  Fife 
purchased  from  Hartney  in  the  winters  of  1882  and  1883, 
with  the  result  that  the  amount  of  Red  Fife  available  for 


218  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

seed  rapidly  increased.  The  Company  supplied  the  new 
seed  to  the  settlers,  with  whom  it  was  in  great  demand.^'* 

In  1883  the  firm  of  Traill,  Maulson  and  Clark  arranged 
for  the  importation  into  Manitoba  from  Minnesota  of 
10,000  bushels  of  Red  Fife.  The  government,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  in  the  improvement  of  the  wheat  crop, 
allowed  this  and  other  consignments  of  Red  Fife  intended 
for  seed  purposes  to  come  into  the  country  duty  free ;  and 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  with  the  same 
object  in  view,  held  out  a  special  inducement  to  importers 
by  offering  to  bring  in  seed  wheat  of  this  variety  free  of 
charge.  ^^ 

The  outcome  of  the  efforts  at  improvement  just  de- 
scribed was  that  after  1882  Red  Fife  soon  replaced  the 
softer  wheats,  such  as  Club,  Golden  Drop,  and  White  Rus- 
sian, so  that  in  the  early  eighties  it  became  the  standard 
variety  of  wheat  in  western  Canada. 

Red  Fife  was,  and  still  is,  a  first-class  cereal;  and  it 
will  always  be  interesting  historically,  not  only  for  the 
fact  that  it  established  the  reputation  of  the  Dominion  for 
the  production  of  high-grade  wheat  with  excellent  milling 
and  baking  qualities,  but  also  because  it  was  the  male  par- 
ent first  of  Preston  and  subsequently  of  Marquis.  It  has 
•been  justified  not  merely  by  its  own  achievements  but  by 
its  children. 

XXIV.  Marquis  as  the  Off-spring  of  Bed  Fife  and 
Hard  Bed  Calcutta 

The  rudimentary  plant  or  embryo  present  in  every  seed 
arises  in  the  first  instance  from  a  fertilized  egg;  and  it  is 

9*  The  above  facts  concerning  the  introduction  of  Red  Fife  into 
western  Canada  by  James  Hartney  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way Company,  were  kindly  related  to  me  by  Mr.  William  Sharman  of 
Winnipeg,  who  himself  sowed  Red  Fife  in  Manitoba  in  1883. 

95  Red  Fife  Wheat,  Manitoba  Daily  Free  Press,  Feb.  24,  1883,  p.  8. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT  219 

no  more  possible  for  an  unfertilized  wheat  egg  to  develop 
into  a  wheat  plant,  or  an  oak  egg  to  develop  into  an  oak- 
tree,  than  it  is  for  an  unfertilized  fowl's  egg  to  develop 
into  a  chicken,  or  an  unfertilized  human  egg  into  a  child. 
That  plants  and  animals  alike  spring  from  fertilized  eggs 
is  one  of  the  most  fundamentally  important  and  wonderful 
of  all  biological  discoveries. 

Exactly  how  the  egg  which  gave  rise  in  succeeding  gen- 
erations to  the  plants  from  which  Marquis  was  selected, 
came  to  be  fertilized  is  for  us  a  matter  of  no  little  interest, 
and  an  elucidation  of  it  will  now  be  attempted.  There- 
after we  shall  discuss  the  influence  of  the  parents  of  Mar- 
quis upon  their  off-spring. 

The  original  kernel  from  which  all  the  Marquis  plants 
in  the  world  have  been  derived,  came  into  existence,  as  we 
have  seen,  from  an  artificial  cross  between  Eed  Pife  and 
Hard  Red  Calcutta.  Pollen  dust  from  some  stamens  re- 
moved with  forceps  from  a  few  flowers  of  the  former  va- 
riety, was  placed  on  the  two  feathery  stigmas  of  a  flower 
of  the  latter  variety.  The  pollen  grains  germinated,  each 
grain  producing  a  single  pollen  tube.  The  pollen  tubes, 
which  were  exceedingly  delicate  cylindrical  structures, 
grew  down  the  stigmas  and  made  their  way,  by  elongating 
at  their  apices,  into  the  ovary  below.  This  ovary  was  a 
tiny  chamber  containing  a  single  ovule  or  potential  seed 
attached  laterally  to  its  wall.  One  of  the  pollen  tubes, 
guided  by  chemotropic  stimuli,  directed  its  course  toward 
the  ovule,  entered  it  at  its  mouth  or  micropyle,  and  pene- 
trated into  its  interior  as  far  as  the  ovum  or  egg-cell. 
The  egg-cell  having  been  reached,  the  wall  at  the  tip  of  the 
pollen  tube  liquefied  and  broke  down,  and  from  the  open- 
ing so  produced  there  were  emitted  two  exceedingly  minute 
dense  rounded  masses  of  gelatinous  protoplasm  known  as 
male  nuclei.     One  of  these  nuclei,  carried  by  forces  as  yet 


220  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

not  perfectly  understood,  advanced  through  the  general 
protoplasm  of  the  egg-cell  toward  the  female  nucleus  situ- 
ated in  its  center.  The  male  and  the  female  nuclei,  after 
coming  into  contact,  brought  their  affinity  for  one  another 
to  a  climax  by  mingling  together  and  forming  one  whole ; 
and  this  nuclear  fusion,  this  formation  of  a  single  nucleus 
from  two  others  of  opposite  sex,  marked  the  completion  of 
the  act  of  fertilization.  We  thus  see  that  the  train  of 
events  which  received  its  impetus  from  cross-pollination, 
inevitably  led  to  the  production  of  a  cross-fertilized  egg- 
cell.  Without  fertilization,  the  egg-cell  would  have  re- 
mained just  as  sterile  as  an  unfertilized  fowFs  egg,  and 
in  the  end  it  would  have  withered  and  died;  but,  its 
fertilization  having  been  accomplished,  a  most  extraordi- 
nary future  was  opened  to  it.  Further  development  be- 
came irresistible,  with  the  result  that,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  its  products  became  in  numbers  like  the  stars 
on  a  clear  night  or  the  grains  of  yellow  sand  upon  a  sea 
beach. 

The  fertilized  egg-cell  resulting  from  the  physical  union 
of  the  protoplasm  of  the  Hard  Red  Calcutta  and  Red  Fife 
parents  could  not  lie  dormant,  but,  immediately,  by  cell- 
division  accompanied  by  nuclear  division,  began  to  swell 
up  and  become  differentiated  into  distinct  parts.  Soon  it 
became  converted  into  a  definite  embryo  or  rudimentary 
plant,  with  a  distinct  root  and  a  little  shoot,  lying  hidden 
inside  the  enlarging  ovule  and  ovary  which  were  now  be- 
coming rapidly  converted  into  a  grain  of  wheat.  The 
tiny  embryo,  as  it  grew  to  its  full  size,  came  to  be  situated 
on  one  side  of  the  basal  end  of  the  grain.  Meanwhile, 
starch,  produced  from  sugar  sent  from  the  leaves,  and  pro- 
teins manufactured  from  nitrogenous  compounds,  were 
accumulating  in  the  floury  part  of  the  grain  which  finally 
came  to  compose  about  twenty-four  twenty-fifths  of  its 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT         221 

mass,  the  other  twenty-fifth  part  being  occupied  by  the 
embryo.  The  floury  part  of  a  grain  in  which  the  starch 
and  proteins  are  stored  is  known  technically  as  the  endo- 
sperm and  consists  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  cells. 
To  protect  the  embryo  and  the  food-laden  endosperm  of 
the  kernel  under  discussion,  two  coats  were  developed,  one 
from  the  skin  of  the  ovule  and  the  other  from  the  wall  of 
the  ovarial  chamber.  The  former,  known  as  the  testa  or 
seed-coat,  soon  came  to  press  tightly  against  the  latter, 
known  as  the  pericarp,  so  that  in  the  end,  a  single  com- 
pound horny  layer  came  into  existence  on  the  exterior  of 
the  grain.  Since  this  layer  was  red,  the  grain,  when 
viewed  from  without,  was  found  to  possess  the  red  color 
which  is  so  much  preferred  to  white  for  the  hard  wheats 
of  Canada. 

When  the  cross-bred  kernel  was  planted  in  the  spring, 
the  embryonic  plant  within  rapidly  increased  in  size  and 
soon  pushed  several  roots  down  into  the  soil.  It  then 
forced  its  shoot  upwards  into  the  sunlight  where  it  ex- 
panded its  first  green  leaf.  Thus  the  embryo  grew  into 
a  seedling.  All  this  early  development  was  accomplished 
at  the  expense  of  the  starch  and  proteins,  the  reserve  food 
materials  which  had  been  stored  up  in  the  endosperm  or 
floury  part  of  the  kernel  in  the  preceding  summer.  These 
substances,  when  germination  began,  became  converted 
into  soluble  compounds,  the  starch  breaking  up  into  sugar 
and  the  proteins  into  simpler  nitrogenous  bodies.  The 
sugar  and  nitrogenous  bodies,  after  becoming  dissolved  in 
water,  were  then  gradually  absorbed  by  the  enlargin<r  em- 
bryo, the  organ  of  absorption  or  cotyledon  being  a  shield- 
shaped  structure  attached  to  the  axis  of  the  embryo  at  the 
place  of  union  of  the  shoot  and  the  first  root.  In  the 
course  of  about  115  days,  the  embryo  grew  into  a  seedling 
and  the  seedling  into  a  mature  plant.     The  green  leaves 


222  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

unfolded  themselves  to  the  sunlight  one  by  one,  and  the 
slender  stem,  elongating  ever  more  rapidly,  ceased  from 
its  upward  strivings  neither  night  nor  day  until  it  had 
raised  to  the  full  height  its  precious  burden  —  the  spike  of 
flowers.  Each  flower,  left  to  itself,  underwent  self-pollina- 
tion: the  pollen  dust  of  the  three  stamens  fell  upon  the 
two  stigmas  of  the  same  flower  when  the  glumes  opened, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  the  so-called  self-fertilization  of 
the  ovules  which  normally  takes  place  in  all  wheat  flowers, 
was  accomplished.  Finally,  the  flowering  spike  developed 
into  a  head  of  ripe  kernels,  after  which  the  whole  plant, 
with  the  exception  of  the  kernels,  gradually  lost  its  vitality 
and  died.  Thus  the  life-cycle  of  the  plant  which  began 
with  the  fertilized  egg-cell,  came  to  an  end  with  the  pro- 
duction of  reproductive  bodies  which  provided  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  species  in  the  next  year. 

The  plants  which  grew  from  the  seeds  of  the  original 
cross-bred  plant  were  very  variable.  No  full  record  was 
kept  of  this  variability,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  descend- 
ants of  the  original  cross-bred  plant  became  differentiated 
into  several  scores  of  distinct  types.  It  was  a  single  head 
of  a  single  plant  of  one  of  these  types,  which  was  finally  se- 
lected by  Dr.  Saunders  in  1903  to  provide  the  seeds  from 
which  Marquis  originated. 

Since  the  nucleus  of  the  fertilized  egg-cell  from  which 
sprang  the  plant  which  gave  rise  to  Marquis,  originated 
from  the  union  of  a  male  nucleus  from  a  Red  Fife  plant 
and  a  female  nucleus  from  a  Hard  Red  Calcutta  plant,  and 
since  all  the  millions  of  nuclei  in  the  millions  of  cells  which 
make  up  every  Marquis  plant  have  all  been  derived  from 
that  original  nucleus,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  Mar- 
quis exhibits  characters  of  both  its  original  parents. 

Hard  Red  Calcutta  is  a  very  early-ripening  wheat  with 
short  straw  and  short  bearded  heads.     Its  grains  are  very 


DISCOVERY   OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         223 

hard,  red,  and  fairly  plump,  but  shatter  readily  even  when 
the  straw  is  green.  From  Hard  Red  Calcutta,  its  female 
parent,  Marquis  has  inherited  its  early-ripening  habit. 
Marquis  also  has  straw  which  is  a  few  inches  shorter  and 
heads  which  are  somewhat  smaller  than  those  of  Eed  Fife, 
and  here  again  the  maternal  influence  of  Hard  Red  Cal- 
cutta can  be  traced. 

Marquis  is  exceedingly  like  its  male  parent.  Red  Fife, 
in  general  appearance.  Thus  it  is  not  bearded  like  Hard 
Red  Calcutta  but,  like  Red  Fife,  has  a  few  short  awns  at 
the  tip  of  its  head.  Also  its  straw  is  not  nearly  as  short 
as  that  of  Hard  Red  Calcutta  but,  while  shorter  than 
that  of  Red  Fife,  is  of  good  length.  When  Marquis  and 
Red  Fife  are  growing  in  adjacent  fields  before  the  ripening 
of  the  grains,  even  experts  find  it  difficult  to  tell  off-spring 
and  parent  from  one  another.  However,  careful  com- 
parison shows  that  Marquis  is  a  few  days  earlier  in  its 
development,  is  not  quite  so  tall,  and  has  glumes  enclosing 
the  young  grains  which  are  somewhat  broader  and  shorter. 

It  thus  appears  that  Marquis  stands  in  a  more  or  less 
intermediate  position  between  its  two  parents  in  respect 
to  length  of  straw,  length  of  head,  and  earliness  in  ripen- 
ing. In  one  character,  however,  it  is  not  intermediate, 
namely,  in  resistance  to  the  shattering  of  its  ripe  grains. 
While  Hard  Red  Calcutta  shatters  readily,  and  Red  Fife 
shatters  to  some  extent,  Marquis  resists  shattering  in  a 
high  degree. 

XXV.  The  Future  of  Marquis 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  plant  breeders  have 
already  obtained  the  utmost  possible  in  their  endeavors  to 
improve  the  varieties  of  wheat  now  grown,  for  the  wheat- 
plant  is  a  plastic  thing  and  the  limits  of  its  variability  have 
not  yet  been  ascertained.     Moreover,  the  number  of  plant 


224  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

breeders  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  production  of 
new  wheats  has  been  very  limited  until  recently,  while  the 
number  of  kinds  of  wheat  in  the  world,  the  properties  of 
which  require  to  be  investigated  and  with  which  experi- 
ments could  be  made,  is  very  great.  The  wheat  population 
in  a  field  of  any  common  kind  of  wheat  is  usually  a  mixed 
one  and  consists  of  a  number  of  elementary  varieties  differ- 
ing slightly  from  one  another.^®  Some  of  these  are  better 
than  the  average  and  some  worse.  By  careful  selection  ^'^ 
of  the  best  of  them,  any  particular  kind  of  wheat  such  as 
Red  Fife,  Bluestem,  or  Marquis,  can  often  be  consider- 
ably improved;  and  it  was  by  the  employment  of  this 
method,  either  consciously  or  unconsciously,  that  the  older 
workers,  Le  Couteur,  Shirreff,  and  Hallett  in  England, 
Rimpau  in  Germany,  !N'ilsson  in  Sweden,  and  others,  ob- 
tained their  many  successes;  and  it  was  also  by  the  em- 
plo;)Tnent  of  this  method  that  Dawson  of  Ontario  isolated 
his  Golden  Chaff,^®  Haynes  of  I^orth  Dakota  his  Haynes 

9«  Every  kind  of  wheat  seems  to  have  a  tendency  to  break  up 
spontaneously  in  the  course  of  time  into  these  elementary  varieties; 
but  what  the  cause  of  this  may  be,  we  do  not  know. 

97  For  an  interesting  discussion  of  the  selection  method  as  used  by 
the  older  improvers  of  cereals,  see  Hugo  de  Vries,  Plant  Breeding, 
Chicago,  1907,  pp.  29-90. 

98  According  to  Professor  Zavitz  of  the  Ontario  Agricultural  Col- 
lege the  wheat  known  as  Dawson's  Golden  Chaflf  originated  as  fol- 
lows: Robert  Dawson,  a  farmer  living  near  Paris,  Ontario,  had 
a  field  of  the  White  Clawson  winter  wheat  in  the  year  1881,  which 
was  badly  lodged.  In  walking  over  the  field,  Mr.  Dawson  ob- 
served a  plant  standing  upright  in  the  midst  of  the  lodged  grain. 
He  carefully  saved  this  one  plant  and  sowed  the  seed  in  the  autumn. 
In  a  comparatively  short  time  he  had  sufficient  seed,  not  only  for 
his  own  requirements,  but  also  for  sale  to  his  neighbors.  The 
Dawson's  Golden  Chaff  variety  of  winter  wheat,  which  possesses 
very  stiff  straw,  has  been  grown  more  extensively  throughout  On- 
tario than  any  other  variety  (Wheat  and  Rye,  Bulletin  No.  261, 
Ontario  Department  of  Agriculture,  Toronto,  1918,  p.  10).  Plot 
tests  at  Guelph  with  fourteen  varieties  of  winter  wheat  for  22 
years  showed  that  Dawson's  Golden  Chaff  gave  an  annual  average 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         225 

Bluestem,^^  Dr.  Charles  Saunders  of  Ottawa  his  Early 
Red  Fife/  Professor  W.  P.  Thompson  of  the  University 
of  Saskatchewan  his  remarkable  Dwarf  Marquis,^   and 

yield  of  grain  of  exactly  three  bushels  per  acre  over  the  next  highest 
yielding  variety   {ibid.,  p.  7). 

99  Bluestem  was  being  grown  in  1855  in  some  Eastern  States  of  the 
U.  S.  A.  as  a  red  winter  wheat.  It  was  then  taken  west  and 
grown  in  the  spring-wheat  States  as  a  spring  wheat,  where  ap- 
parently it  became  harder.  Haynes  began  to  grow  it  in  1882  but 
found  it  mixed  with  some  soft  and  bearded  wheats.  In  1884  he 
therefore  planted  in  his  garden  the  grains  "  from  two  good  heads, 
having  three  kernels  abreast,  hoeing  it  as  it  grew."  From  the 
progeny  of  the  two  heads  he  selected  only  the  best  and  earliest  for 
the  next  sowing.  He  was  then  spurred  on  by  hearing  of  Major 
Hallett's  selection  work  in  England.  Eleven  years  of  careful  and 
continuous  head  selection  of  Bluestem  resulted  "  in  increasing  the 
number  of  kernels  abreast  of  the  spikelet  from  three  to  four,  with 
the  fifth  kernel  beginning  to  make  its  appearance."  Further,  says 
Haynes  "  The  length  of  the  heads  is  increased  about  one-third, 
and  the  berry  is  much  improved  in  uniformity  of  color  and  hard- 
ness. Another  important  feature  is  in  the  earlier  maturity  by 
five  days  more  than  formerly."  L.  H.  Haynes,  private  pamphlet, 
^Vs  by  5%  inches,  11  pages,  Fargo,  North  Dakota,  published  about 
1895.  For  a  typewritten  copy  of  this  pamphlet  I  am  indebted  to  Dr. 
H.  K.  Hayes,  in  charge  of  Plant  Breeding  at  the  Minnesota  Experi- 
ment Station,  St.  Paul. 

1  Saunders'  strain  of  Early  Red  Fife  was  obtained  from  a  single 
early-ripening  plant  occurring  in  a  plot  of  Red  Fife.  It  is  just 
like  Red  Fife  in  appearance  but  ripens  a  few  days  earlier  (C.  E. 
Saunders,  Methods  of  Selection,  Experimental  Farms  Reports  for 
19'09,  pp.  202-203). 

2  Dwarf  Marquis,  which  with  Professor  Thompson's  permission  is 
here  mentioned  in  cereal  literature  for  the  first  time,  has  heads 
of  the  same  length  as  those  of  Marquis  but  straw  which  is  only 
one-quarter  of  the  usual  length  or  even  less.  It  arose  from  a  single 
dwarf  plant  which  came  to  perfection  in  a  plot  of  pure-line  Marquis 
at  the  University  of  Saskatchewan,  and  it  has  bred  true  for  several 
years  without  any  signs  of  breaking  up.  It  never  gives  rise  to  tall 
plants;  the  progeny  of  each  year  are  all  dwarfs.  Dwarf  Marquis, 
owing  to  its  excessively  short  straw  is,  of  course,  of  no  commercial 
importance  but  it  is  of  high  interest  as  bearing  on  the  genetics  of 
wheat.  The  writer  in  1918  saw  Dwarf  Marquis  at  Saskatoon  grow- 
ing in  one  of  Professor  Thompson's  plots  and  it  presented  a  very 
striking  contrast  with  Marquis.     An  interesting  parallel  is  afforded 


226  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  of  Kosthern  his  Kitchener  and  his 
Eed  Bobs.^  But  of  late  years  another  method  of  improv- 
ing cereals,  that  of  cross-breeding,  has  been  perfected  and 
already  its  application  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  Mar- 
quis and  Prelude  into  the  great  spring-wheat  region  of 
ISTorth  America  and  of  the  rust-resistant  Little  Joss  into 
England.^  These  cross-bred  wheats  combine  the  most  de- 
sirable characteristics  of  both  their  parents.  Every  year 
now  sees  the  advent  of  new  varieties  of  wheat  obtained  by 
one  or  the  other  of  the  two  methods  just  described.  Tak- 
ing all  these  facts  into  consideration  it  seems  not  only  quite 
possible,  but  even  likely,  that  at  some  time  in  the  future 
Marquis  will  be  replaced  by  some  other  variety  of  wheat, 
or  perhaps  by  a  succession  of  varieties,  which  will  be  su- 
perior to  it  in  one  or  more  characteristics  such  as  earliness, 
yield,  resistance  to  disease,^  and  so  forth.     Indeed,  it  is  to 

by  the  dwarf  Evening  Primrose,  Oenothera  nanella,  which  arose 
in  one  of  de  Vries's  plots  at  Amsterdam  and  which  is  only  one-third, 
of  the  height  of  its  tall  parent  Oenothera  Lamarckiana. 

3  Kitchener  originated  in  1911  from  a  single  plant  of  Marquis 
which  to  Mr.  Wheeler's  eye  stood  out  from  its  fellows  as  a  distinct 
type.  Red  Bobs  was  selected  from  Bobs.  In  all  probability,  Daw- 
son's Golden  Chaff,  Early  Red  Fife,  Dwarf  Marquis,  and  Kitchener 
all  came  into  existence  in  the  first  instance  as  mutations  or  sports 
from  a  single  parent.  The  writer  is  convinced,  however,  that  Red 
Bobs  originated  from  the  progeny  of  a  natural  cross,  accidentally 
occurring  in  Mr.  Wheeler's  plots,  between  Bobs  and  either  Preston 
or  Early  Red  Fife.  The  evidence  upon  which  this  view  is  based, 
is  given  in  the  Chapter  on  Red  Bobs. 

4  The  pioneer  producer  of  wheat  hybrids  in  North  America  ap- 
pears to  have  been  C.  G.  Pringle  of  Charlotte,  Vermont.  He  began 
his  work  in  1877  and  several  varieties  have  received  his  name,  some 
of  which  have  become  standards.  (P.  T.  Dondlinger,  The  Book  of 
Wheat,  New  York,  1912,  p.  44.)  Dr.  William  Saunders  of  Ottawa 
began  to  cross  wheats  in  1888, 

5  The  wheat  crops  of  the  world  suffer  enormous  diminution  in 
yield  every  year  through  such  diseases  as  Rust,  Smut,  Wheat  Scab, 
and  Root-rots.  The  attempt  to  produce  disease-resisting  cereals  has 
only  just  begun. 


DISCOVERY   OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         227 

be  hoped  that  such  a  change  as  that  indicated  will  actually 
take  place ;  for  wheat  is  merely  a  convenient  means  of  pro- 
viding the  most  civilized  countries  of  the  earth  with  food, 
and  every  real  improvement  in  the  varieties  grown  brings 
with  it  economy  of  labor  in  a  task  which  by  its  very  nature 
man  can  never  shirk  —  the  task  of  procuring  his  daily 
bread. 

In  the  early  eighties  of  last  century  and  until  the  in- 
troduction of  Marquis  in  1909,  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years,  Red  Fife  (Scotch  Fife)  was  regarded  by  many  as 
the  incomparable  spring  wheat  destined  to  maintain  its 
sway  in  a  large  part  of  Xorth  America  forever.  In  1883, 
in  an  issue  of  the  Manitoba  Daily  Free  Press  it  was  cor- 
rectly described  as  then  being  ^'  unsurpassed."  But  just 
as  Red  Fife  replaced  Golden  Drop,  White  Russian,  Red 
Chaff,  Ladoga,  Club,  and  other  varieties  in  Manitoba,  so, 
in  its  turn,  it  has  been  replaced  over  vast  areas  by  Mar- 
quis. Already,  however,  in  certain  of  the  more  northerly 
parts  of  the  Canadian  wheat-belt,  Prelude  has  replaced 
Marquis ;  and  the  new  Ruby,  should  it  prove  successful  in 
its  present  trials  in  the  field,  ma}^  possibly  replace  Prelude. 
Red  Bobs  is  also  a  very  fine  wheat  and  has  entered  the 
competition  for  premier  honors  in  the  great  spring-wheat 
region.  What  its  future  may  be  time  alone  will  show. 
At  present  there  are  only  a  few  acres  of  this  wheat  in 
existence,  but  where  it  has  been  grown  it  has  shown  great 
promise.  The  hope  built  upon  it  may  possibly  be  justi- 
fied within  a  few  years;  but  it  is  well  not  to  forget  that 
there  is  a  considerable  difference  between  a  promising  new 
variety  grown  in  a  few  fields  and  that  same  variety  cover- 
ing enormous  stretches  of  the  prairie  and  yielding,  as  Mar- 
quis actually  does,  from  200,000,000  '  to  300,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat  a  year.  It  seems  certain,  for  mechanical 
reasons  alone,  that  Marquis  cannot  be  dislodged  from  its 


228  ESSAYS    OiS^    WHEAT 

position  as  the  dominant  spring  wheat  in  western  Canada 
within  five  years ;  and  it  is  probable  that  it  will  still  hold 
the  lead  over  large  tracts  of  country  ten  or  twenty  years 
hence. 

Marquis,  even  if  it  retains  its  great  place  for  only  ten 
or  even  five  years  more,  will  have  been  of  enormous  prac- 
tical advantage  to  the  world  during  the  most  critical  stage 
of  its  history,  for  some  hundreds  of  millions  of  bushels  of 
it  have  been  conveyed  to  Europe  during  the  past  four 
years  of  the  Great  War  to  feed  the  soldiers  of  the  Allies 
in  the  field  and  to  sustain  the  civilian  populations  of  the 
British  Isles,  France,  Italy,  Belgium  and  Greece  at  home. 
In  a  very  real  sense  Marquis  has  done  much  to  strengthen 
the  sinews  of  war  of  those  fighting  for  the  great  cause  of 
liberty,  and  therefore  has  been  no  small  factor  in  making, 
victory  possible.  It  is  certain  that  had  Marquis  not  re- 
placed Red  Fife  in  the  great  spring-wheat  area  of  North 
America,  the  world's  supply  of  wheat  during  the  late  food 
crisis  would  have  been  many  millions  of  bushels  less  than 
it  actually  was. 

XXYI.  Saunders  and  Burhanh 

Were  there  in  existence  a  book  recording  the  services  of 
all  those  who  have  deserved  the  gratitude  of  their  fellow- 
men  for  the  improvements  they  have  brought  about  in  cul- 
tivated plants,  its  pages  would  be  many  and  its  roll  of 
honor  a  very  lengthy  one.  Some  day,  perhaps,  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  plant  breeder  will  be  set  down  in  the  history 
of  a  nation  as  of  no  less  importance  than  the  valorous  deeds 
of  brave  men  performed  amid  blood  and  mud  and  the 
thunder  of  great  guns  upon  the  field  of  battle;  but  this 
can  scarcely  be  hoped  for  until  the  world  has  entered  upon 
its  future  development  in  the  spirit  of  a  united  family. 

Only  very  few  of  the  names  of  the  leaders  in  the  science 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


229 


of  plant  breeding  are  widely  known.  Of  Gregor  Mendel, 
the  Austro-Silesian  monk  who,  by  experiments  upon  the 
edible  Pea,  discovered  the  now  famous  Meiidelian  Laws  of 
Inheritance,  and  of  the  Dutchman,  Hugo  de  Vries,  who,  by 
his  Mutation  Theory  of  Evolution,  has  also  contributed 
much  to  plant  breeding  on  its  theoretical  side,  many  have 
heard;  but,  so  far  as  the  practice  of  plant  breeding  is  con- 
cerned, only  one  name  is  generally  known  to  the  public, 
that  of  Luther  Burbank.  He,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  have 
acquired  universal  fame.  By  means  of  books,  of  maga- 
zines, and  of  newspapers,  the  story  of  his  achievements 
has  been  blowni,  as  it  were,  upon  the  wind,  so  that  at  the 
present  time  there  is  scarcely  an  intelligent  man  whose 
ear  it  has  not  reached.  Who  has  not  heard  of  Burbank^s 
potato,  of  Burbank's  plums,  of  Burbank's  berries,  of  Bur- 
bank's  spineless  cacti,  and  of  Burbank's  Shasta  Daisy ;  and 
who  does  not  know  that  these  are  but  a  few  only  of  the 
many  novelties  that  have  issued  from  the  celebrated  garden 
of  Santa  Rosa  ?  Who  has  not  been  impressed  by  the  skill- 
ful way  in  which  Burbank  has  chosen  the  best  variations 
from  plots  of  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands  of  plants  in 
which  to  the  ordinary  eye  all  the  individuals  look  alike? 
And,  finally,  who  has  not  felt  astonishment  at  the  often 
surprising  products  which  have  issued  from  his  hybridiz- 
ing experiments  ?  Many  are  the  delights  which  Burbank 
has  contributed  to  the  garden  and  the  orchard.  By  his 
hard  work,  his  persistency,  his  skill,  his  excellent  judg- 
ment, and  his  many  successes  he  has  truly  deserved  the 
reputation  he  has  acquired,  and  he  will  leave  behind  him 
a  heritage  of  plants  which  will  keep  his  memory  green  for 
many  generations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  names  of  the 
other  masters  in  the  realm  of  plant  breeding,  whose  new 
kinds  of  wheat,  barley,  oats,  Indian  com,  potatoes,  flax, 
grapes,  melons,  fruit-trees,  etc.,  have  had,  and  are  having, 


230  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

an  immense  influence  upon  human  history,  remain  un- 
known to  the  general  public;  and  among  them  is  that  of 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders  whose  Marquis  wheat  is  the 
theme  of  this  essay.  Of  farmers  and  others  who  handle 
grain  in  western  Canada  the  writer  has  often  asked  the 
question :  who  discovered  and  introduced  Marquis  wheat  ? 
and  not  so  many  as  one  in  ten  have  been  able  to  give  a 
correct  answer.  The  name  of  Charles  E.  Saunders  has 
received  no  advertisement:  neither  book  nor  magazine  ar- 
ticle has  ever  been  written  about  his  labors  and  his  achieve- 
ments; but  it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  economic  im- 
portance of  Marquis  which  he  discovered  and  gave  to  the 
world,  by  far  outweighs  at  the  present  moment  that  of  all 
Burbank's  novelties  put  together.  The  writer  does  not 
wish  in  any  way  to  minimize  the  great  interest  and  value 
of  Burbank's  work  in  stating  that  Bur'bank's  efforts  at  im- 
provements have  not  been  chiefly  concerned  with  the  lead- 
ing food-plant.  One's  delight  in  beautiful  flowers  is  en- 
tirely aesthetic,  and  one  does  not  live  on  spineless  cacti, 
upon  plums,  cherries,  raspberries,  or  walnuts,  and  com- 
paratively few  eat  the  Burbank  potato ;  but  bread  is  truly 
the  staff  of  life  for  the  most  progressive  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  globe.  The  eating  of  wheaten  bread,  like  the 
using  of  soap,  is  a  mark  of  civilization;  and  a  great  im- 
provement in  the  king  of  cereals  is  therefore  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  everybody. 

This  year,  1918,  upon  the  prairies  of  western  Canada 
and  in  the  Great  Plains  region  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  there  have  been  produced  more  than  300,000,000 
bushels  of  Marquis,  a  mass  of  wheat  sufficient  to  provide 
for  a  whole  year  the  normal  bread  and  other  wheat  re- 
quirements of  a  population  of  50,000,000  people.  The 
average  selling  price  for  the  1918  wheat  crop  has  been 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  231 

fixed  at  about  two  dollars  a  bushel.^  Taking  two  dollars 
a  bushel  as  the  average  price,  it  is  obvious  that  the  crop 
value  of  Marquis  wheat  for  the  year  1918  is  upwards  of 
$600,000,000.  This  sum  by  far  exceeds  in  amount  the 
whole  fruit-growing  industry  in  California  which  for  the 
year  1917  has  been  estimated  by  Mr.  E.  E.  Kaufman  at 
$107,000,000."^  About  a  dozen  years  ago  the  California 
fruit-growing  industry  was  smaller  than  it  is  to-day  and 
it  was  then  considered  to  be  worth  $60,000,000  per  an- 
num.^ Of  this  amount  de  Vries,  in  1907,  estimated  that 
Burbank's  contribution  was  scarcely  one  per  cent.,^  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  contribution  has  grown 
considerably  since  then  as  more  of  the  fruit-trees  have 

«  From  data  supplied  by  Mr.  Irvine,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange. 

7  For  data  concerning  the  value  of  the  California  fruit-crop  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  E.  E.  Kaufman,  Field  Agent  of  the  Bureau  of  Crop 
Estimates  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  to 
Mr.  Howard  C.  Rowley,  publisher  of  the  California  Fruit  News. 
Mr.  Kaufman's  estimates  of  the  value  of  the  fruit  crop  to  the 
growers  for  1917  is  made  up  as  follows: 

Apples    $  6,431,000     Brought  forward.  .  .$  84,843,000 

Peaches    14,151,000     Figs    1,600,000 

Pears    3,523,000     Plums 3,000,000 

Oranges    23,738,000     Cherries     600,000 

Lemons    2,500,000    Grapes    (table) 7,000,000 

Paisins 16,000,000    Grapes  (wine) 6,800,000 

Prunes   12,500,000     Olives  1,000,000 

Apricots 6,000,000     Berries  of  all  kinds       1,000,000 

Other  fruits 1,000,000 


Carried    forward .  .  $84,843,000 


Total    $106,843,000 

Using  a  somewhat  different  basis  of  calculation  and  including  the 
cost  for  boxing  and  packing  of  oranges  and  lemons,  etc.,  and 
adding  $10,000,000  for  nuts,  Mr.  Rowley  has  calculated  that  the 
value  of  the  California  fruit  crop  for  1917  was  not  less  than  $150,- 
000,000  and  was  probably  between  this  sum  and  $175,000,000. 

8  Hugo  de  Vries,  Plant  Breeding,  Comments  on  the  Experiments 
of  Nilsson  and  Burbank,  Chicago,  1907,  p.  178. 

9  Ibid. 


232  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

come  into  bearing.  From  inquiries  made  by  the  author, 
it  seems  probable  that  Burbank's  contribution  to  the  total 
fruit  crop  of  California  in  1917  did  not  exceed  three  per 
cent,  or,  in  round  figures,  $3,000,000.^**  Burbank's  po- 
tato has  a  higher  crop  value  than  his  fruits.  After  its 
general  introduction  it  was  stated  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  that  it  was  ^adding  to  the  agri- 
cultural productivity  of  the  country  an  annual  sum  of 
$17,000,000.11     If  to  this   $17,000,000  for  potatoes  we 

10  Of  the  total  California  fruit  crop,  peaches,  citrus  fruits,  prunes, 
apricots,  and  European  grapes  form  a  very  important  part,  and  Bur- 
bank,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Corbett,  Horticulturalist  in 
charge  of  cultural  and  pomological  investigations  for  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  contributed  very  little  to  the 
variety  list  of  this  group  of  fruits.  Burbank's  chief  contribution  to 
the  fruits  of  California  is  to  be  found  in  his  plums  and  cherries 
which,  e.  g.,  the  Wickson  plum  and  the  Burbank  plum,  are  shipped 
away  from  the  State  in  great  quantities.  However,  the  total  value 
to  the  growers  in  1917  of  California  plums  was  only  $3,000,000  and 
of  cherries  only  $600,000,  and  there  are  many  other  plums  grown 
in  the  State  beside  those  originated  by  Burbank.  It  is  therefore 
very  doubtful  whether  Burbank's  plums  and  cherries  represent  half 
of  the  $3,600,000  here  given.  In  his  circular  called  1918  Offerings  of 
Twentieth  Century  Fruits,  etc.,  Burbank  states  that  1,092,256  crates 
of  his  plums  and  cherries  had  been  shipped  away  out  of  the  State  of 
California  in  the  season  of  1918  before  November  15,  besides  other 
shipments  made  by  one  large  shipping  firm  which  could  not  make  a 
varietal  report.  Supposing  we  take  the  total  of  crates  at  1,200,000 
and  reckon  the  fruit  that  was  put  in  them  as  being  worth  to  the 
grower  (exclusive  of  boxing  and  packing)  as  much  as  one  dollar  a 
crate,  then  the  value  to  the  grower  of  all  the  fruit  in  the  crates 
would  be  $1,200,000.  In  arriving  at  the  figure  of  $3,000,000  for  Bur- 
bank's contribution  to  the  fruits  of  California  given  in  the  text,  I 
have  added  to  this  $1,200,000  the  large  sum  of  $1,800,000,  so  as  to 
allow  for  other  fruits,  contingencies  possibly  overlooked,  and  so  as 
to  err  on  the  generous  side  of  the  account. 

11  Hugo  de  Vries,  loc  cit.,  p.  104. 

Mr.  William  Stuart,  Horticulturalist  engaged  in  cultural  and 
pomological  investigations  for  the  United  States  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture and  a  well-known  authority  on  the  potato,  has  kindly  in- 
formed me  that  the  Burbank  potato  at  present:  is  confined  very 
largely  to  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  United  States;   that  it  is 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


233 


add  $3,000,000  for  fruit,  we  obtain  $20,000,000  which 
we  may  consider  to  be  a  rough  estimate  of  Biirbank's  total 
contribution  to  the  annual  crop  values  of  the  United 
States.  This  sum  is  only  an  approximation  to  the  truth ; 
it  may  be  too  small  and  it  may  be  too  large ;  but  even  if 
we  v^ere  to  multiply  it  by  ten,  it  would  still  fall  far  short 
of  the  $600,000,000  which  is  the  estimated  crop  value  of 
Marquis  wheat  for  the  year  1918. 

XXVII.  Burban¥s  Quality  Wheat  as  a  Possible  Comr 
petit  or  of  Marquis 

Having  heard  that  Luther  Burbank  was  introducing 
some  new  varieties  of  wheat,  I  wrote  to  the  great  plant 
breeder  for  particulars  concerning  them.  Mr.  Burbank, 
in  reply,  kindly  informed  me  that  he  had  added  my  name 
to  the  sixty-five  thousand  others  v^ho  receive  his  catalogues 
and  circulars,  and  called  attention  to  what  he  described 
as  "my  best  wheat"  to  which  he  has  given  the  name 
Quality.  He  also  communicated  to  me  the  interesting  in- 
formation that  Quality  ''  is  a  derivative  of  Prize  Marquis  " 
and  that  it  was  ''  secured  by  many  years'  selections  for 
certain  qualities  in  which  our  California  wheats  are  lack- 
ing." It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Marquis  which  was  orig- 
inally selected  by  Dr.  Saunders  at  Ottawa  should  have  been 

grown  to  a  slight  extent  in  Wisconsin,  Nebraska,  and  Colorado,  the 
Russet  type  prevailing  in  Nebraska  and  Colorado;  that  it  is  chiefly 
grown  in  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento  valleys  of  California  and 
in  some  portions  of  Oregon  and  Washington;  and  that  probably  it 
does  not  exceed  5  per  cent,  of  the  total  potato  crop  of  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Burbank  himself  in  his  1918  New  Creations  and 
Special  New  Selections  states  that  more  than  500,000,000  bushels 
of  the  Burbank  potato  have  been  raised  during  the  past  forty  years. 
This  is  a  magnificent  total,  but  assuming  that  the  average  price  has 
been  as  much  as  80  cents  per  bushel,  the  crop  value  of  the  500,000,000 
bushels  of  Burbank  potatoes  to  the  growers  has  been  $400,000,000, 
or  two-thirds  of  $600,000,000,  the  estimated  crop  value  for  Marquis 
wheat  for  the  single  year  1918. 


234  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

so  long  studied  and  made  the  basis  of  further  selections  by 
Mr.  Burbank  in  so  distant  a  State  as  California. 

In  a  circular  called  Burbank' s  1918  New  Standard 
Grains,  issued  from  his  Experimental  Farms  at  Santa 
Rosa,  Burbank,  under  the  head  of:  A  New  Productive 
White  Wheat  — "  Quality/'  makes  the  following  state- 
ments :  "  This  season  I  offer  a  superior,  early,  hard 
white  wheat  suited  to  all  climates  wherever  wheat  can  be 
grown ;  as  a  Summer  wheat  in  cold  far  Northern  climates 
and  as  a  Winter  crop  in  the  United  States  and  most  wheat- 
growing  countries.  It  is  specially  adapted  also  to  short 
seasons,  arid  soils,  and  dry  climates.  A  superior  milling 
wheat  which  makes  the  best  light  sweet  nutritious  bread 
and  pastry.  .  .  .  This  early  hardy  Quality  wheat  which 
I  offer  this  season  will  not  yield  as  much  as  some  of  the 
coarse  macaroni  wheats  in  some  warm,  dry  sections,  but 
for  general  culture,  with  its  unusual  hardiness  and  extreme 
earliness,  uniformity,  superior  milling  and  baking  quali- 
ties, it  stands  alone.  It  most  resembles  in  all  these  re- 
spects the  hard  Northern  Prize  Marquis  but  has  a  vitreous 
white  berry  of  quite  different  appearance  and  quality  and 
of  about  the  same  specific  gravity  as  of  granite."  Quality 
is  offered  to  the  public  at  $5  per  pound  or  $45  for  10 
pounds,  i.  e.,  at  the  rate  of  $270  per  bushel,  so  that  it  is 
doubtless  the  most  expensive  wheat  in  the  world.  Only 
as  its  price  goes  down  can  farmers  hope  to  purchase  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  seed  to  cultivate  it  on  a  large  scale  and 
thus  make  it  an  article  of  commerce  so  far  as  the  miller 
and  baker  are  concerned.  ^^ 

12  In  his  Burhank's  1918  New  Standard  Grains,  Mr.  Burbank 
advertises  for  sale  two  other  varieties  of  wheat  in  addition  to  Qual- 
ity: Quantity  offered  in  1918  for  the  first  time  and  Super  first 
offered  in  1917.  Quantity  is  on  sale  at  the  same  prices  as  Quality, 
1.  e.,  $2.75  for  0.5  poimd,  $5  for  1  pound,  $23  for  5  pounds,  $45  for 
10  pounds,  $1  for  10  sample  heads,  and  60  cents  for  5  sample  heads. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT         235 

Mr.  Burbank,  in  support  of  the  claims  which  he  makes 
for  Quality,  publishes  the  results  of  a  chemical  analysis 
and  of  a  baking  test  of  the  flour,  and  for  the  rest  leaves 
us  to  rely  upon  his  reputation  for  producing  new  and  use- 
ful plants.  But  Mr.  Burbank  is  only  just  beginning  his 
work  as  an  introducer  of  new  wheats  and  the  writer  can- 
not help  feeling  that  in  penning  his  advertisement  of 
Quality  he  allowed  his  enthusiasm  for  his  new  cereal  to 
be  mixed  a  little  too  freely  with  his  ink.  Every  one  knows 
that  Marquis  is  a  hard  wheat,  but  when  Mr.  Burbank  tells 
us  that  Quality  which  has  been  selected  from  it,  has  ker- 
nels "  with  about  the  same  specific  gravity  as  granite," 
surely  he  is  addressing  us  in  the  language  of  hyperbole. 
Of  two  equal-sized  sacks,  one  filled  with  Quality  wheat 
and  the  other  with  crushed  granite,  which  would  the  reader 
prefer  to  carry,  were  he  obliged  to  make  a  choice  ? 

Mr.  Burbank  tells  us  that  Quality  is  '^  suited  for  all 
climates  wherever  wheat  can  be  grown,  as  a  Summer  wheat 
in  cold  far  Northern  climates  and  as  a  Winter  crop  in 
the  United  States  and  most  wheat  growing  countries  " ; 
and  all  this  we  are  supposed  to  accept  on  Mr.  Burbank's 
unsupported  ipse  dixit.     He  is  silent  in  regard  to  the 

Quantity  is  thus  described :  "  It  is  a  tremendous  yielder,  having 
long,  drooping,  well-filled  heads  laden  with  extra  large,  fat,  light- 
colored  berries.  My  small  field  of  Quantity  has  been  the  wonder  and 
surprise  of  the  season.  It  has  a  stiff  four-foot  straw  which  stands 
up  bravely  with  its  long,  heavy,  well-filled  heads  averaging  on  ordi- 
nary soils  five  to  six  and  sometimes  seven  inches  in  length.  No 
good  wheat  yields  more  than  Quantity.  It  is  remarkably  true  to 
type  and  yields  nearly  twice  as  much  as  the  ordinary  wheats. 
Quantity  is  medium  early  and  will  prove  its  tremendous  yielding 
abilities  in  any  except  the  most  Northern  latitude."  This  brief 
description  contains  no  statement  as  to  whether  Quantity  is  hard  or 
soft,  a  spring  variety  or  a  fall  one,  and  it  contains  no  reference  to 
milling  and  baking  qualities,  shelling,  disease  resistance,  and  so 
forth.  Super  wheat  was  offered  this  year  at  $3  for  1  pound,  $18  for 
10  pounds,  etc. ;  but  no  more  seed  is  just  now  available  as  the  stock 
which  was  on  hand  has  all  been  sold. 


236  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

exact  data  of  his  field  tests  and  affords  us  no  evidence  that 
Quality  has  ever  been  compared  with  Eed  Fife,  Marquis, 
Bobs,  Prelude,  Preston,  and  Bluestem,  etc.,  outside  of 
California  in  the  great  spring-wheat  region  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  or  with  the  various  winter  wheats  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  where  the  climate  is  mild  enough 
to  permit  of  their  cultivation.  Such  comparisons  may 
have  actually  been  made  under  varied  climatic  conditions 
all  over  Canada  and  the  United  States;  but,  if  so,  the 
writer  has  not  heard  of  them.  Is  it  not  possible  that  Mr. 
Burbank  has  confined  his  experiments  to  the  one  State  of 
California  and  that  in  claiming  that  Quality  is  suited  for 
all  climates,  is  in  reality  simply  expressing  a  pious  hope 
which,  while  it  may  some  day  be  fulfilled,  has  not  as  yet 
been  justified  by  a  series  of  critical  tests  ? 

Burbank's  Quality  is  a  white  wheat.  However,  the  de- 
mand in  the  British  market,  so  far  as  Canada  is  concerned, 
is  for  wheat  having  a  good  red  color;  and  there  is  there- 
fore a  sound  commercial  reason  for  encouraging  the  pro- 
duction of  such  red  wheats  as  Marquis  and  Red  Fife  in 
the  west  of  Canada  rather  than  white  wheats.  It  is  there- 
fore certain  that,  even  if  Quality  were  suited  to  the  cli- 
mate of  the  Prairie  Provinces,  there  would  be  considerable 
opposition  to  its  introduction  into  this  area  on  the  part  of 
grain  merchants,  millers,  and  farmers  alike. 

That  Mr.  Burbank,  with  his  forty  years  of  experience 
in  successful  plant  breeding  should,  sooner  or  later,  intro- 
duce some  very  desirable  new  varieties  of  wheat  is  only 
what  one  is  justified  in  expecting  of  him;  and  doubtless 
Quality  is  an  improvement  on  the  wheat  grown  in  various 
localities,  particularly  in  California.  However,  there 
does  not  at  present  appear  to  be  any  good  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  Quality  will  ever  replace  Marquis  either  in 


Fig.  30.     Dr.  Charles  Saunders  in  a  field  of  Marquis  wheal. 
August,  1918. 


Ottawi 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  237 

the  Prairie  Provinces  of  Canada  or  in  the  north-central 
spring-wheat  region  of  the  United  States. 

XXVIII.  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Discoverer  of 
Marquis 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders,  the  discoverer  of  Marquis 
wheat,  was  born  at  London,  Ontario,  in  the  year  1867 ;  and 
he  is  therefore  a  Canadian  by  birth.  He  received  his  early 
education  at  the  London  Collegiate  Institute,  and  from 
there  proceeded  to  the  University  of  Toronto,  where  he 
graduated  as  a  Bachelor  of  Arts,  with  Honors  in  Science, 
in  1888.  He  then  studied  for  three  further  years  at  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University  at  Baltimore,  where  he  earned 
his  doctorate  by  taking  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in  1891.  This 
record  shows  that  Dr.  Saunders  received  a  first-class  scien- 
tific education.  In  1892,  Dr.  Saunders  married  Miss 
Mary  Blackwell  of  Deer  Park,  Ontario.  Prom  1892  to 
1893  he  was  a  Professor  at  the  Central  University  in  Ken- 
tucky. In  addition  to  his  attraction  toward  science,  Dr. 
Saunders  had,  and  still  has,  a  great  love  of  music ;  and  he 
became  a  masterly  player  on  the  flute  and  took  a  keen 
pleasure  in  song.  There  was  danger  that  music  and  not 
science  would  claim  him  for  his  life's  work.  For  some 
years  he  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  voice  culture  and 
to  this  end  studied  both  in  New  York  and  in  London,  Eng- 
land. He  became  musical  instructor  at  Havergal  College, 
Toronto,  and  then  at  the  St.  Margaret's  Ladies  College  in 
the  same  city.  Subsequently  he  led  the  choir  at  the  Do- 
minion Methodist  Church  at  Ottawa;  and  it  was  during 
this  period  that  he  assisted  his  father  in  the  work  of  im- 
proving wheats.  This  return  to  applied  science  resulted 
in  Dr.  Saunders  being  appointed  Dominion  Cerealist  in 
1903. 


238  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

There  may  be  some  who  have  been  inclined  to  suppose 
that  the  discovery  of  Marquis  was  nothing  more  than  a 
lucky  accident;  but  such  a  supposition  is  entirely  errone- 
ous. The  details  of  the  career  of  Dr.  Saunders,  as  out- 
lined above,  show  us  that  the  discoverer  of  Marquis  was  a 
man  who  had  had  a  thorough  preparation  for  his  work  by 
studying  for  several  years  at  two  of  the  best  universities 
on  this  continent.  His  training  had  given  him  the  neces- 
sary insight  into  the  problem  of  wheat-breeding,  mastery 
of  method,  resource  for  difficulties,  and  unfailing  patience. 
In  the  winter  of  1903-04  when  he  was  making  the  chewing 
tests  which  led  to  the  discovery  of  Marquis,  Dr.  Saunders 
was  no  mere  boy,  for  he  was  36  years  old.  His  salary  at 
that  time  was  indeed  small  —  only  $100  per  month  — 
but  he  was  rich  in  the  possession  of  faculties  which  had 
been  taught  to  do  his  bidding  and  endowed  with  the  cour- 
age and  determination  of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life.  How 
well  he  employed  those  faculties  is  now  a  matter  of  history. 
In  his  own  domain  of  breeding  cereals  he  has  won  the 
place  of  a  king. 

XXIX.   Governing  Bodies  and  Scientific  Research 

When  the  Universities  of  Toronto  and  Johns  Hopkins 
were  giving  instruction  to  Dr.  Saunders,  they  little  thought 
that,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the  work  of  one  of  their 
quietest  and  least  obtrusive  students  would  lead  to  the  pro- 
duction of  increased  wealth  in  North  America  more  than 
sufficient  to  defray  the  annual  cost  of  their  growth  and 
maintenance;  but,  by  training  men  of  the  stamp  of  Dr. 
Saunders,  those  institutions  have  fully  justified  their  exist- 
ence; and,  in  return,  they  need  not  hesitate  to  claim  the 
heartiest  support  of  the  public.  In  the  story  of  the  dis- 
covery of  Marquis  wheat,  governing  bodies  everywhere 
may  find  a  striking  illustration  of  the  wisdom  of  giving 


DISCOVERY   OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         239 

adequate  financial  and  moral  support  to  investigations  di- 
rected toward  the  welfare  of  the  State.  The  starvation 
of  scientific  research  is  truly  the  worst  economy  of  which 
a  statesman  can  be  guilty. 

XXX.  Other  Work  of  Dr.  Saunders 

In  addition  to  his  work  upon  wheat,  Dr.  Saunders,  as 
Dominion  Cerealist,  has  been  engaged  in  making  selections 
of,  and  in  breeding,  new  types  of  other  cereals  and  of  peas. 

From  Mensury  barley  (of  supposed  Manchurian  origin) 
Dr.  Saunders  made  a  selection  called  Manchurian  which 
is  a  fine  six-rowed  bearded  variety  with  an  excellent  yield. 
It  has  been  grown  successfully  on  a  large  scale  in  various 
parts  of  Canada.  Another  selection  known  as  0.  A.  C. 
No.  21  was  made  by  Professor  C.  A.  Zavitz  at  the  Ontario 
Agricultural  College  from  a  barley  which  he  obtained 
under  the  name  of  Mandscheuri.  These  two  varieties 
have  added  much  to  the  productivity  of  barley  in  this 
country.  ^^ 

13  Mandscheuri  barley  was  imported  from  Russia  by  the  Ontario 
Agricultural  College  in  the  spring  of  1889.  It  was  found  to  be  more 
productive  than  any  of  the  other  six-rowed  barleys  tested:  it  gave 
an  average  yield  of  9.3  bushels  per  acre  per  annum  over  the  Common 
Six-rowed  barley  as  an  average  for  fifteen  years ;  and  it  was  therefore 
introduced  into  general  cultivation  in  Ontario.  In  1905,  Professor 
'Zavitz  pointed  out  that  barley  production  in  Ontario  had  risen  from 
24.85  bushels  for  the  ten-year  period  1885-94  inclusive  to  29.3 
bushels  per  acre  for  the  ten-year  period  1895-1904  inclusive;  and 
he  attributed  the  general  rise  in  productivity  of  41/3  bushels  per 
acre  to  the  substitution  of  Mandscheuri  barley  for  lesser  yielding 
varieties.  After  calculating  the  increased  value  which  was  accruing 
to  the  Ontario  barley  crop  through  the  raising  of  Mandscheuri,  he 
asked  of  the  public  and  the  legislators,  without  whose  intelligent  sup- 
port the  work  of  agricultural  colleges  cannot  properly  be  carried  on, 
the  following  very  pertinent  question:  "From  these  results,  does 
it  not  appear  as  though  the  introduction  of  Mandscheuri  barley  by 
the  Ontario  Agricultural  College  has  been  worth  to  the  Province  of 
Ontario  within  the  past  ten  years  an  annual  money  value  equal  to 


240  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Dr.  Saunders  is  now  studying  a  large  number  of  hul- 
less  and  hooded  (beardless)  types  of  barley,  most  of  wbicb 
have  been  cross-bred.  He  is  endeavoring  to  produce  a 
first-class  barley  with  the  hull  attached  but  free  from  awns. 
Hulless  barley  is  already  being  raised  to  a  certain  extent 
in  Alberta  for  the  feeding  of  pigs,  but  Dr.  Saunders  ex- 
pects that  some  of  his  new  sorts  will  prove  superior  to  the 
varieties  now  in  cultivation.  If  hulless  barley  were 
raised  in  sufficient  quantity,  it  would  obviously  be  of  con- 
siderable value  for  human  food,  for  it  would  not  require 
so  lengthy  a  preparation  as  the  hulled  varieties  at  present 
employed  for  this  purpose.  Another  interesting  barley 
which  Dr.  Saunders  is  now  introducing  is  called  Albert. 
It  is  of  cross-bred  origin  and  extremely  early  in  ripening. 
It  will  not  be  of  general  utility  where  a  very  high  yield 
is  a  first  consideration  but  may  become  valuable  where 
the  growing  season  is  a  short  one. 

Dr.  Saunders  has  originated  a  new  hulless  oat  which 
he  has  called  the  Liberty  Oat.  It  threshes  out  free  from 
the  hard  and  tough  glimies  which  enclose  the  grains  of 
every  common  kind  of  oat,  and  will  therefore  probably 
be  much  appreciated  for  feeding  chickens  and  young  pigs. 
It  also  makes  oatmeal  of  very  fine  quality,  and  Dr.  Saun- 
ders believes  that  it  has  a  richer  flavor  than  any  of  the 
commercial  oatmeal  products  which  he  has  tasted. 

The  Arthur  pea  and  the  Machay  pea  were  produced 
many  years  ago  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Saunders'  fa- 
ther. The  Arthur  is  now  making  good  headway  among 
growers.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  field  peas  and  is,  there- 
fore, advantageous  for  many  districts  in  Canada  where 
earliness  is  a  desideratum.  The  Mackay  was  named  by 
Dr.  Saunders'  father  after  Mr.  Angus  Mackay  who  for 

more  than  fifteen  times  the  entire  cost  of  the  College  ? "  Tide  C.  A. 
Zavitz,  The  Results  of  Field  Experiments  with  Farm  Crops,  Ontario 
Agricultural  College,  Bulletin  No.  140,  1905,  p.  7. 


Fig.  39.  Dr.  Charles  Saunders  crossing  wheats  at  the  Central  Ex- 
perimental Farm,  Ottawa.  After  pollination  the  heads  are  wound 
Avith   cheese-cloth   and  then  tied   loosely  to   sticks. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  241 

many  years  was  the  Superintendent  of  the  Dominion  Ex- 
perimental Farm  at  Indian  Head.  It  is  somewhat  later 
than  the  Arthur  pea  but  is  still  more  productive.  It  has 
been  grown  at  the  experimental  farms  for  several  years  and 
has  been  recently  re-selected  with  a  view  to  its  being  sent 
out  to  the  public.  In  addition  to  studying  the  Arthur  and 
the  Mackay  peas  originated  by  his  father,  Dr.  Saunders 
is  selecting  a  considerable  number  of  pea  types  of  his  own 
breeding.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  at  least  some  of  them 
will  eventually  prove  of  sufficient  value  for  introduction  to 
growers;  but  the  work  of  selecting  and  testing  them  for 
their  yield  and  other  qualities  has  not  yet  been  brought  to 
a  conclusion. 

From  what  has  been  already  said  in  the  foregoing  pages 
in  respect  to  cereals  and  peas  only,  it  is  evident  that  there 
is  still  very  much  to  be  done  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture and  by  provincial  institutions,  in  adapting  culti- 
vated plants  to  the  diverse  soils  and  climates  of  the  broad 
Dominion.  Judging  by  the  experience  of  the  past,  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Canada  will  be  well  repaid 
for  any  future  expenditures  of  time,  money,  energy,  and 
brain  power,  which  she  may  make  in  carrying  out  this 
work. 

Dr.  Saunders  has  influenced  agriculture  not  only  di- 
rectly through  the  new  cereals  which  he  has  introduced  but 
also  indirectly,  through  his  Eeports  and  Bulletins  pub- 
lished by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  through  his 
scientific  papers.  Other  cerealists  in  Canada,  the  United 
States,  England,  Australia,  etc.,  have  read  these  contribu- 
tions to  science,  and  have  been  stimulated  in  their  work 
accordingly.  Some  of  Dr.  Saunders'  research  methods 
have  now  been  adopted  by  other  investigators. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  publications  on  cereals  made 
by  Dr.  Charles  E.  Saunders : 


242  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Reports  on  Cereals  in  the  Annual  Keports  of  the  Dominion  Ex- 
perimental Farms,  1903  to  1917. 
Bulletins  issued  by  the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms :  ^* 
No.  45.     Emmer  and  Spelt. 
No.  50.     The  Grades  of  Wheat.     Crop  of  190^. 
No.  57.     Quality  in  Wheat. 
No.  60.     The  Grades  of  Wheat.     Crop  of  1907. 
Circular,  issued  by  the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms: 

Preston  and  Other  Early -ripening   Wheats.     (March,  1908.) 
Papers  read  before  the  American  Breeders'   Association,   and 
„    published  at  Washington,  D.  C,  in  the  Proceedings: 
A  Natural  Hybrid  in  Wheat  in  Vol.  I,  1905. 
The  Cross-fertilizing  of  Cereals  in  Vol.  II,  1908. 
Papers  read  before  the  Canadian   Seed   Growers'   Association, 
and  published  at  Ottawa  by  the  Dominion  Government: 
Quality  in  Wheat  (Third  Annual  Meeting),  1906. 
The   Production   of  Improved    Varieties   of   Cereals    (Fifth 

Annual  Meeting),  1909. 
Distribution  of  Seed  at  Experimental  Farms  (Eighth  Annual 

Meeting),  1912. 
Difficulties  Encountered  in  the  Propagation  of  Pure  Seed 
(Tenth  Annual  Meeting),  1914. 
The  Inheritance   of  Strength  in   Wheat,  Journal  of  Agricul- 
tural Science,  1909,  page  218. 
Wheat  Breeding  in  Canada,  read  before  the  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science  at  Winnipeg,  Manitoba, 
1909. 
The  Inheritance  of  Awns  in  Wheat,  published  in  the  Report  of 
the  Third  International  Conference  on  Genetics,  London, 
1906.     (Published  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.) 
Production  de  Varieties  de  Ble  de  haute  valeur  boulangere,  pub- 
lished in  the  Report  of  the  Fourth  International  Conference 
on  Genetics,  Paris,  1911. 
Cereal  Breeding  on  the  Dominion  Experimental  Farms  during 
the  past  Decade,  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Can- 
ada for  1913. 

14  The  second  sections  of  Nos.  50,  57,  and  60  were  written  by  Dr. 
Frank  T.  Shutt,  the  Dominion  chemist. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         243 


XXXI.  The  Crop  Values  of  Marquis  in  Canada  and  the 
United  States 

In  Canada  the  crop  value  of  Marquis  for  the  years  1917 
and  1918  can  be  calculated  roughly  without  much  diffi- 
culty. In  both  these  years  at  least  80  per  cent,  of  the 
wheat  produced  in  the  Prairie  Provinces  was  Marquis, ^^ 
and  the  average  price  received  by  farmers  for  the  crop  of 
both  years  was,  is,  and  will  be  almost  exactly  two  dollars 
a  bushel. ^^  The  data  for  the  required  calculations  to- 
gether with  the  results  are  embodied  in  the  following 
Table:  1^ 


Crop  Values  of  Marquis  Wheat  in  Canada 

Year 

Total  crop 
of  wheat 
in  the  three 
Prairie 
Provinces 
in  bushels 

Per- 
cen- 
tage 

of 
Mar- 
quis 

Amount 

of 
Marquis 
in  bushels 

Price 

per 

bushel 

Crop 
values 

of 
Marquis 

1917 
1918 

212,000,000       80 
162,000,000    1    80 

169,600,000 
129,600,000 

$2.00       $339,200,000 
$2.00       $259,200,000 

To  the  total  given  in  the  last  column  several  millions  of 
dollars  should  be  added  for  the  crop  value  of  Marquis 
grown  in  Ontario,  Quebec,  etc. 

From  the  data  at  our  disposal  we  may  safely  draw  the 
conclusion  that  the  crop  value  of  Marquis  for  the  whole 

15  Information  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  George  Serls,  the  chief  Grain 
Inspector  for  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

16  Information  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  Irvine,  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  \Yinnipeg  Grain  Exchange. 

17  The  total  crop  of  wheat  in  the  Prairie  Provinces  for  1917  is  that 
given  in  the  Bulletin  of  Agricultural  Statistics,  Ottawa,  Jan.,  1918, 
and  the  crop  for  1918  as  estimated  in  September,  1918,  at  Winnipeg. 


244 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


of  Canada  was  in  1917  at  least  $340,000,000,  and  in  1918 
at  least  $260,000,000. 

Let  us  now  attempt  to  estimate  the  crop  value  of  Mar- 
quis in  the  United  States  for  the  year  1917.  The  data 
for  estimating  the  crop  value  of  Marquis,  in  1917,  for 
the  four  chief  spring- wheat  States,  together  with  the  re- 
sults of  the  calculations,  are  given  in  the  following 
Table:  i« 


Crop  Y  allies  of  Marquis  Wheat  in  the  Four  Spring -Wheat 
States  in  1917 


Total  crop 

of  wheat 

in  bushels 

Per- 
cen- 
tage 
of 
Mar- 
quis 

Amount 

of 
Marquis 
in  bushels 

Price 
per 
bush- 
el 

Crop 

value 

of 

Marquis 

Minnesota 
N.  Dakota 
S.   Dakota 
Montana     . 

57,965,000 
56,000,000 
52,024,000 
17,963,000 

46 
43 
43 
45 

26,663,900 
24,080,000 
22,370,320 

8,083,350 

$2 

$2 
$2 
$2 

$53,327,800 
$48,160,000 
$44,740,640 
$16,166,700 

Totals   .  . 

183,952,000 

81,197,570 

$162,395,140 

From  the  foregoing  Table,  it  is  clear  that  the  crop  value 
of  Marquis  for  the  year  1917,  in  the  four  chief  spring- 
wheat  States  alone,  amounted  to  the  large  sum  of  $162,- 
000,000.  But  Marquis  in  1917  was  also  grown  on  many 
acres  in  several  other  States.  Making  allowance  for  this, 
the  crop  value  of  Marquis  for  the  United  States  as  a  whole, 
in  1917,  was  upwards  of  $170,000,000. 

18  The  totals  of  the  crops  of  wheat  in  the  four  States  are  as  given 
in  the  December  ]Monthly  Crop  Report,  Washington,  1917,  p.  121. 
The  percentages  of  the  whole  crop  contributed  by  Marquis  is  given 
in  the  August  Monthly  Crop  Report,  1918,  p.  95.  The  exact  prices 
per  bushel,  which  vary  about  $2,  are  given  in  the  December  Monthly 
Crop  Report,  1917. 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  245 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  present  year,  1918.  On  Sep- 
tember 1,  the  spring-wheat  crop  was  forecasted  at  342,- 
855,000  bushels  of  which  about  257,000,000  bushels  were 
forecasted  for  Minnesota,  the  two  Dakotas  and  Montana.  ^^ 
These  four  States  were  also  estimated  to  produce  15,050,- 
000  bushels  of  winter  wheat  ^^  making  with  the  spring 
wheat  a  grand  total  of  272,000,000  bushels.  It  has  been 
estimated,  however,  that  at  least  65  per  cent,  of  the  total 
wheat  crop  of  these  four  States  consists  of  Marquis.^^ 
The  amount  of  Marquis  produced  in  the  four  chief  spring- 
wheat  States,  therefore,  is  about  177,000,000  bushels. 
At  the  average  fixed  price  of  $2.00  a  bushel,  the  crop  value 
of  this  mass  of  wheat  amounts  to  $354,000,000.  But, 
this  year,  spring  wheat  has  been  grown  in  other  States  to 
the  extent  of  86,000,000  bushels;  and  of  this  wheat  a  very 
large  proportion  has  been  Marquis,  probably  one-half. 
Making  allowance  for  this,  it  appears  safe  to  say  that  the 
crop  value  of  Marquis  for  the  United  States  as  a  whole, 
in  1918,  is  upwards  of  $370,000,000. 

One  further  calculation  only  remains  to  be  made, 
namely,  the  crop  value  of  Marquis  in  the  whole  spring- 
wheat  region  of  ^orth  America  for  the  years  1917  and 
1918.  To  make  this  calculation,  all  we  need  to  do  is  to 
add  the  totals  already  obtained  for  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  The  following  Table  contains  these  totals  and 
their  summations : 


Crop  Value  of  Marquis  in  North  A 

merica 

Canada 

United  States 

Total  Value 

1917 
1918 

$339,200,000 
$259,200,000 

$170,000,000 
$370,000,000 

$509,200,000 
$629,200,000 

19  October  Monthly  Crop  Report,  Washington,  1918. 

20  August  Monthly  Crop  Report,  Washington,  1918. 

21  Estimate  sent  to  the  writer  by  Mr.   Carleton   R.   Ball,   of  the 
Office  of  Cereal  Investigation,  Washington. 


246  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

From  the  Table  it  becomes  evident  that  the  total  crop 
value  of  Marquis  wheat  in  North  America  was  upwards 
of  $500,000,000  in  191Y  and  upwards  of  $600,000,000 
in  1918.  It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  any  other  single 
variety  of  wheat  ever  had  such  a  high  crop  value  as  this. 

Marquis  wheat,  as  we  have  seen,  originated  in  Canada 
and  was  first  grown  there  on  a  large  scale.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note,  however,  that  this  year,  1918,  more  Mar- 
quis has  been  grown  in  the  United  States  than  in  Canada. 
Whereas  the  Canadian  crop  of  Marquis,  owing  to  adverse 
weather  conditions,  was  only  about  130,000,000  bushels, 
that  of  the  United  States  was  upwards  of  180,000,000 
bushels.  As  a  consequence,  the  crop  value  of  Marquis  in 
the  United  States  will  this  year,  for  the  first  time,  con- 
siderably exceed  that  in  Canada. 

The  years  1917  and  1918  are  war  years,  and  the  price 
of  wheat  is  abnormally  high.  Soon  after  peace  is  de- 
clared, there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  price  of  wheat 
will  decline  and  the  yearly  crop  value  of  Marquis  suffer 
accordingly.  However,  Marquis  is  still  increasing  in 
popularity  with  American  farmers,  and  the  acreage  de- 
voted to  spring  wheat  in  North  America  is  still  being  con- 
siderably extended.  Even  should  pre-war  prices  again 
come  to  prevail,  the  annual  crop  value  of  Marquis  will 
probably  not  fall  below  an  average  of  $300,000,000  a  year 
for  some  years  at  least. 

XXXII.  The  Increased  Wealth  Brought  hy  Marquis  to 
the  United  States 

We  shall  now  endeavor  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  in- 
creased wealth  which  has  accrued  to  the  United  States 
through  the  replacement  of  the  older  lesser-yielding  varie- 
ties of  wheat,  such  as  Bluestem,  Fife,  and  Velvet  Chaff, 
by  the  newer  variety  from  Canada. 


DISCOVEEY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT  247 

Let  us  first  consider  the  year  1917  and  limit  our  in- 
quiry to  the  single  State  of  Minnesota.  To  what  extent 
did  Minnesota  benefit  financially  in  1917  through  grow- 
ing Marquis  wheat  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  can  be 
obtained  from  the  following  data  for  which  we  are  in- 
debted to  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture; 

DATA   FOR  MINNESOTA 

Total  crop  of  wheat  in  1917 57,965,000  bushels.22 

Average  price  of  wheat  per  bushel 2  dollars.^^ 


Percentages  of  the  Total  Crop  for  the  Chief  Wheat  Varieties  ^^ 


Mar- 
quis 

Per 

cent. 

Vel- 
vet 
Chaff 

Per 

cent. 

Blue- 
stem 

Per 

cent. 

Du- 
rum 

Per 

cent. 

Fife 

Per 

cent. 

Win-\ 
ter    \ 

Per 

cent. 

Other 

Per 
cent. 

1917   

1914 

46.0 
3.0 

26.0 
30.0 

18.0 
52.0 

3.0 

2.0 

3.0 

7.0 

3.0 
2.0 

1.0 
4.0 

Yield  of  the  Chief  Wheat  Varieties  in 

Bushels 

per  Acre  -^ 

Mar- 
quis 

Bush. 

Vel- 
vet 
Chaff 

Bush. 

Blue- 
stem 

Bush. 

Du- 
rum 

Bush. 

Fife 
Bush. 

Win- 
ter 

Bush. 

Other 
Bush. 

1917 

17.2 

16.0 

14.0 

15.5 

15.0 

20.0 

14.0 

Let  us  now  proceed  with  our  calculation.  Since  46  per 
cent,  of  the  57,965,000  bushels  of  wheat  produced  in  Min- 
nesota in  1917  was  Marquis,  Marquis  contributed  to  the 
total  wheat  crop  of  the  State  26,663,900  bushels. 

'Now  let  us  suppose  that  the  percentages  which  each 

22  and  -3  December  Monthly  Crop  Report,  1917,  Washington,  p.  121. 
24  and  25  August  Monthly  Crop  Report,  1918,  Washington,  p.  95. 


248 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


variety  of  wheat  contributed  to  the  crop  of  Minnesota  in 
1917  was  the  same  as  it  was  in  1914,  i.  e.,  at  the  time  when 
Marquis  had  only  just  made  its  advent  in  the  State,  and 
let  us  distribute  the  26,663,900  bushels  which  Marquis 
produced  in  1917  among  all  these  varieties  in  accordance 
with  these  1914  percentages.  Then  of  the  26,663,900 
bushels : 

Marquis    taking   3  per  cent,  will  receive  799,917  bushels 

Velvet  Chaff.  .  .taking  30  per  cent,  will  receive  7,999,170  bushels 

Bluestem    taking  52  per  cent,  will  receive  13,865,228  bushels 

Durum    taking   2  per  cent,  will  receive  533,278  bushels 

Fife   taking   7  per  cent,  will  receive  1,866,473  bushels 

Winter  Wheat,  .taking    2  per  cent,  will  receive  533,278  bushels 

Other  Wheat.  .  .taking   4  per  cent,  will  receive  1,066,556  bushels 

Total    26,663,900  bushels 

These  masses  of  wheat,  however,  were  produced  by  Mar- 
quis wheat-plants  which  had  a  yield  in  1917  of  17.2  bushels 
per  acre.  Had  equivalent  masses  of  wheat  been  produced 
by  Bluestem,  Fife,  etc.,  these  masses  would  have  been 
smaller,  because  these  varieties  in  1917  yielded  less  than 


Wheat 

Yields 

Adjust- 

assigned 

in  1917 

ments 

Remarks 

Bushels 

Bushels 
per  acre 

Bushels 

Marquis    .... 

799,917 

17.2 

799,917 

no  change 

Velvet  Chaff. 

7,999,170 

16.0 

7,441,088 

decrease 

Bluestem    . . . 

13,865,228 

14.0 

11,285,651 

decrease 

Durum   

533,278 

15.5 

480,570 

decrease 

Fife    

1,866,473 

15.0 

1,627,738 

decrease 

Winter  wheat 

533,278 

20.0 

620,091 

increase 

Other  wheat. 

1,066,556 

14.0 

868,127 

decrease 

Totals   .... 

26,663,900 

23,123,182 

decrease 

DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


249 


Marquis.  Let  us  find  out,  therefore,  what  the  masses  of 
wheat  just  distributed  among  the  various  varieties  would 
have  been,  had  they  been  actually  yielded  in  1917  by  the 
varieties  to  which  they  have  been  assigned  (vide  Table). 

The  difference  between  the  totals  just  given  is  3,540,718 
bushels.  We  thus  see  that  if,  in  1917,  the  26,663,900 
bushels  of  Marquis  had  been  replaced  by  wheat  from  the 
various  varieties  in  the  proportions  in  which  they  were 
grown  in  1914,  the  Minnesota  wheat  crop  of  1917  would 
have  been  reduced  by  3,540,718  bushels.  Instead  of  its 
being  57,965,000  bushels,  it  would  have  been  54,424,282 
bushels. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  the  foregoing  calculation,  we 
may  say  that  the  increase  in  the  raising  of  Marquis  wheat 
in  Minnesota  in  the  last  three  seasons  has  resulted  in  a 
gain  in  the  1917  crop  of  3,541,000  bushels.  Taking  two 
dollars  per  bushel  as  the  average  price,  we  are  justified 
in  concluding  that  the  introduction  of  Ma^rquis  wheat  into 
Minnesota  hrougJit  about  a  gain  in  wealth  in  1917  of  up- 
wards of  1,000,000  dollars. 

By  making  use  of  the  appropriate  crop  statistics,^^  and 
by  employing  the  method  of  investigation  just  explained, 
gains  corresponding  to  that  just  found  for  Minnesota,  can 
be  found  for  the  two  Dakotas. 

So  far  as  Montana  is  concerned,  the  statistics  for  the 
relative  contributions  of  the  different  wheat  varieties  to 
the  total  crop  of  1914  are  not  available.  However,  we 
know  that  Montana  in  1917  produced  17,963,000  bushels 
of  wheat,  of  which  45  per  cent,  or  8,083,000  bushels  was 
Marquis;  and  we  also  know  that  the  estimated  yields  of 
the  spring-wheat  varieties  in  bushels  per  acre  in  1917  were 
as  follows:  Marquis  9.3,  Velvet  Chaff  7.5,  Bluestem  6.5, 
Durum  9,  and  Fife  7.5.2^     This  allows  us  to  conclude 


26  and  27  Loo.  oit. 


250 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 


that  had  Velvet  Chaff,  Bluestem,  and  Fife  heen  grown 
in  Montana  in  1917  instead  of  Marquis,  the  yield  of  spring 
wheat  would  have  been  lessened  by  about  1,500,000  bush- 
els. Taking  this  into  consideration,  we  may  assume  that 
the  increase  in  the  growing  of  Marquis  in  Montana  since 
1914  caused  an  increase  in  the  1917  crop  of,  let  us  say,  at 
least  1,100,000  bushels. 

Let  us  now  summarize  the  estimated  wealth  gained  in 
the  four  chief  spring-wheat  States,  in  1917,  through  the 
increased  cultivation  of  Marquis  since  1914. 

Gains  in  Wealth  hy  Growing  Marquis  in  the  Four  Chief 
Spring-wheat  States 


Financial 

Total 

Gain  by 

gain  by 

crop 

growing 

Price 

growing 

for  1917 

Marquis 

per 

Marquis, 

in  bushels 

in  bushels 

bushel 

in  dollars 

Minnesota 

57,965,000 

3,540,718 

$2 

$7,081,436 

N.Dakota.. 

56,000,000 

1,619,380 

$2 

$3,238,760 

S.  Dakota.  . 

52,024,000 

3,755,396 

$2 

$7,510,792 

Montana   .  . 

17,963,000 

1,100,000 

$2 

$2,200,000 

Totals    .  . 

183,952,000 

10,015,494 

$2 

$20,030,988 

We  thus  perceive  that,  through  increasing  the  amount 
of  Marquis  grown,  from  about  4  per  cent,  in  1914  to  about 
44  per  cent,  in  1917,  the  gain  of  wealth  in  the  four  chief 
spring-wheat  States  in  1917  was  upwards  of  10,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat  valued  at  20,000,000  dollars.  The  great 
campaign  which  was  carried  on  by  American  millers  and 
seedsmen  in  the  years  1913  and  1914  for  the  rapid  intro- 
duction of  Marquis  into  the  spring-wheat  region  of  the 
United  States,  has  therefore  soon  borne  financial  fruit; 
but  it  has  had  a  consequence  of  still  greater  importance :  it 
resulted  in  making  at  least  10,000,000  more  bushels  of 
American  wheat  available  for  the  Allies  in  the  Great  War 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  251 

at  tlie  very  moment  when  the  late  food  crisis  attained  its 
climax. 

The  increased  wealth  accruing  to  the  United  States  this 
year,  1918,  through  the  increase  in  the  sowing  of  Mar- 
quis since  1914,  cannot  be  exactly  calculated  as  the  neces- 
sary statistics  will  not  be  available  for  some  months. 
However,  Mr.  Carleton  E.  Ball,  of  the  Office  of  Cereal 
Investigation  at  Washington,  has  estimated  that  Marquis 
this  year  will  form  65  per  cent,  of  the  wheat  crop  in  the 
chief  spring-wheat  States  and  possibly  a  little  more.^^ 
We  thus  see  that  Marquis  is  making  a  gain  of  about  50  per 
cent,  over  1917  by  increased  sowing.  It  is  also  estimated 
that  this  year  the  United  States  will  produce  about  90,- 
000,000  more  bushels  of  spring-wheat  than  in  1917.^^ 
It  is  certain  that  a  great  proportion  of  these  extra  bushels 
will  consist  of  Marquis.  Taking  all  these  facts  into  con- 
sideration, one  appears  to  be  justified  in  estimating  the 
gain  in  wealth  in  the  four  chief  spring-wheat  States  in 
1918,  obtained  by  increasing  the  cultivation  of  Marquis 
since  1914,  at  upwards  of  15,000,000  bushels  valued  at 
30,000,000  dollars. 

Any  calculation  of  the  full  monetary  worth  of  Marquis 
to  the  United  States  should  include  an  allowance  for  the 
4  per  cent,  of  Marquis  already  grown  in  the  chief  spring- 
wheat  States  in  1914  and  another  allowance  for  Marquis 
grown  in  States  other  than  Minnesota,  the  two  Dakotas, 
and  Montana.  These  gains  should  be  added  on  to  those 
already  recorded.  However,  they  cannot  be  calculated  as 
the  necessary  data  concerning  them  are  not  available. 
We  shall  therefore  ignore  them  and  content  ourselves  with 
the  following  conclusion  which  surely  must  be  a  conserva- 
tive one.     Through  the  replacement  of  lesser-yielding  va- 

28  Estimate  in  a  letter  to  the  writer. 

29  Monthly  Crop  Report,  Washington,  August,  1918,  p.  87. 


252  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

rieties  of  wheat,  siicli  as  Bluestem,  Fife,  and  Preston,  by 
Marquis,  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  has  been  in- 
creased: in  1917  by  upwards  of  10,000,000  bushels  of 
wheat  valued  at  $20,000,000,  and  in  1918  by  upwards  of 
15,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  valued  at  $30,000,000. 

XXXIII.  The  Increased  Wealth  Brought  hy  Marquis  to 

Canada 

In  order  to  obtain  a  general  statement  of  the  increased 
wealth  which  has  been  added  to  western  Canada  by  the  in- 
troduction of  Marquis,  we  may  begin  by  assuming  that  the 
wheat  grown  on  summer  fallow  (or  similarly  prepared 
land)    represents  half  the   total   yield. ^^     It  seems   that 

30  The  phrase  similarly  prepared  land  includes  ( 1 )  new  breaking 
and  (2)  land  on  which  hoed  crops,  i.e.,  potatoes,  Indian  corn  and 
roots,  were  raised  the  previous  year.  The  proportion  of  summer  fal- 
low or  its  equivalent  is  greatest  in  the  districts  which  produce  the 
most  wheat,  i.  e.,  central  and  southern  Manitoba,  central  and  south- 
ern Saskatchewan,  and  southern  Alberta.  In  those  same  areas  Mar- 
quis is  grown  almost  exclusively  and  in  many  of  the  districts  it 
would  now  be  almost  impossible  to  purchase  a  single  car-load  of 
Red  Fife.  In  districts  like  central  Alberta  (often  called  northern, 
but  central  on  the  map)  where  the  rainfall  is  heavier,  summer  fal- 
lowing is  much  less  general  but  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of 
new  breaking. 

Very  generally  in  western  Canada  the  farm  is  divided  into  three 
sections  one  of  which  is  sown  on  sununer  fallow,  another  on  stubble, 
while  the  third  is  summer  fallowed.  Thus  for  all  purposes  33.3  per 
cent,  of  the  land  is  fallow  and  66.6  is  available  for  sowing.  There- 
fore half  the  acreage  sown  is  on  summer  fallow.  On  summer  fallow 
the  crop  is  usually  from  50  to  100  per  cent,  greater  than  that  on 
stubble,  or,  in  other  words,  about  three-quarters  of  the  crop  is  pro- 
duced on  summer  fallow.  From  the  above  considerations  it  is  ob- 
vious that  the  assumption  given  in  the  text  that  the  wheat  groivn 
on  summer  fallow  {or  similarly  prepared  land)  represents  half  the 
total  yield  is  a  conservative  one. 

Since  summer  fallowing  is  not  usually  practiced  in  North  Dakota, 
South  Dakota,  and  Minnesota  to  the  same  extent  that  it  is  in  west- 
ern Canada,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  remark  that  summer  fallowing 
is  found  to  be  advantageous  in  western  Canada  for  the  following 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT 


253 


about  80  per  cent,  of  the  wheat  grown  on  snmmer  fallow 
in  the  West  is  Marquis,^^  and  that  on  summer  fallow  Mar- 
quis yields  at  least  20  per  cent,  more  wheat  in  bushels 
than  Ked  Fife  which  it  has  replaced.^^  ^^^  let  ns  sup- 
pose that  we  are  dealing  with  a  crop  of  200,000,000 
bushels,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  less  than  the  aver- 
age for  the  last  five  years.^^     One  half   of   this,    i.e., 

reasons-  (1)  There  is  insufficient  rainfall  to  produce  a  maximum 
crop  with  the  rain  of  the  current  season  only.  Summer  fallowing 
by  preventing  weeds  from  growing  and  exhausting  the  moisture,  and 
by  keeping  the  surface  of  the  ground  pulverized  and  thereby  check- 
ing evaporation,  largely  conserves  the  moisture  of  the  one  season 
and  carries  it  over  to  the  next.  (2)  The  weeds  are  controlled.  On 
summer  fallow  the  weed  seeds  at  the  surface  of  the  soil  germinate 
and  then  the  weeds  are  killed  by  cultivation.  In  this  way  summer 
fallowing,  in  a  normal  season,  practically  insures  a  good  crop.  On 
the  other  hand,  sowing  on  stubble  land  is  somewhat  precarious.  It 
costs  relatively  little  to  sow  on  stubble,  for  such  land  is  easily  pre- 
pared, whereas  summer  fallow  requires  to  be  worked  the  whole  sea- 
son Therefore  in  good  seasons,  even  if  the  yield  is  reduced  as  com- 
pared with  summer  fallow,  stubble  sowing  is  very  profitable,  if  not 
the  most  profitable  method  of  farming.  However,  in  bad  seasons, 
stubble  farming  is  sometimes  a  total  failure. 

31  Mr.  George  Serls,  the  Chief  Grain  Inspector  for  the  Dominion  of 
Canada,  has  kindly  informed  me  that,  from  estimates  made  during 
inspections,  Marquis  forms  at  least  80  per  cent,  of  the  wheat  crop  of 
the  West.  It  is  therefore  only  reasonable  to  conclude  that  at  least 
80  per  cent,  of  the  wheat  crop  grown  on  summer  fallow,  where  Mar- 
quis does  so  well,  is  ISIarquis. 

S2  This  is  a  conservative  estimate.  Cf.  data  given  in  Section  X  on 
Long-period  Tests  for  Earliness  and  Yield. 

33  The  average  annual  wheat  crop  for  western  Canada  (Manitoba, 
Saskatchewan,  and  Alberta)  during  the  last  five  years  has  been 
2.33,000,000  bushels  and  for  the  whole  of  Canada  256,000,000  bushels ; 
but  the  wheat  area  for  the  whole  country  has  increased  from  11,- 
015,000  acres  in  1913  to  16,080,800  acres  in  1918  and  is  still  being 
extended,  so  that  it  is  to  be  expected  that  during  the  next  five  years 
the  average  annual  wheat  crop  will  show  a  considerable  increase  over 
that  for  the  last  five  years.  The  area  seeded  to  wheat  in  western 
Canada  in  1918  was  stated  by  the  Dominion  Bureau  of  Statistics  on 
June  12  to  be  15,196,300  acres.  The  rest  of  Canada,  therefore,  this 
year  has  only  884,500  acres  under  wheat.     The  following  are   the 


254  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

100,000,000,  will  be  on  summer  fallow.  Eighty  per  cent, 
of  this  will  consist  of  Marquis,  i.  e.,  the  Marquis  wheat 
will  be  represented  by  80,000,000  bushels.  If  we  take 
20  per  cent,  of  this  as  the  increase  in  the  crop  due  to  grow- 
ing Marquis  instead  of  Red  Pife,  the  wealth  added  to  the 
country  owing  to  the  introduction  of  Marquis  would  be 
16,000,000  bushels.  In  unfavorable  seasons,  when  Rust 
or  early  frost  do  much  damage,  the  advantage  of  the  more 
quickly  ripening  Marquis  over  the  later  ripening  Red 
Fife  would  be  even  greater.  In  the  year  1915  the  wheat 
crop  attained  a  record  for  this  country.  The  final  figures, 
according  to  Mr.  Milner,  a  former  president  of  the  Winni- 
peg Grain  Exchange,  were  376,448,400  bushels.^*  Using 
the  same  basis  of  calculation  as  before,  the  additional  har- 
vest due  to  growing  Marquis  instead  of  Red  Fife  in  1915, 
had  Marquis  been  as  widely  grown  then  as  now,  would 
have  been  upwards  of  30,000,000  bushels.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  it  was  probably  quite  20,000,000  bushels.  It  seems 
safe  to  suppose  that,  from  now  onwards,  the  additional 
harvest,  due  to  growing  Marquis  instead  of  other  wheats 
which  it  has  replaced,  will  be  on  the  average  from  16,- 
000,000  to  25,000,000  bushels  per  annum.^^ 

oflBcial  figures  for  the  wheat  crop  for  the  last  five  years  given  in 
bushels : 

Western  Canada  All  Canada 

1913 209,262,000 231,717,000 

1914 140,958,000 161,280,000 

1915 360,187,000 393,542,600 

1916 242,314,000 262,781,000 

1917 211,953,100 233,742,850 

Vide  Canada  Year  Book,  Department  of  Trade  and  Commerce,  Ot- 
tawa, 1915,  pp.  162-165;  1916-17,  pp.  192-193;  and  the  Monthly 
Bulletin  of  Agricultural  Statistics,  Department  of  Trade  and  Com- 
merce, Census  and  Statistics  Office,  Ottawa,  Jan.,  1918,  pp.  4,  10-12. 

34  W.  E.  Milner,  The  President's  Address,  Eighth  Annual  Re- 
port (new  series)  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  presented  to  the 
Annual  Meeting  held  September  13,  1916.  p.  24. 

35  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  replacement  of  Red  Fife  by 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS   WHEAT         255 

Canada,  according  to  the  Hon.  W.  J.  Hanna,  formerly 
Food  Controller  of  the  Dominion,  is  the  most  extravagant 
consumer  of  wheat  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world.  The 
consumption  per  capita  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
for  food  purposes  of  all  sorts,  including  the  feeding  of 
animals,  has  been  9  bushels  per  annima.^^  It  is  therefore 
clear  that  the  addition  to  our  wheat  crop  of  from  16,000,- 
000  to  25,000,000  bushels  per  annum,  owing  to  the  dis- 
covery and  introduction  of  Marquis,  would  provide  all  the 
bread  and  other  wheat  requirements  for  an  additional 
population  in  Canada  of  upwards  of  2,000,000  people. 

The  price  of  wheat,  as  every  one  knows,  has  varied  much 
in  the  last  ten  years  but,  taking  the  value  of  wheat  as  only 
70  cents  a  bushel,  the  wealth  being  added  to  western  Can- 
ada through  the  replacement  of  other  wheats  by  Marquis 
is  from  $11,200,000  to  $17,500,000  per  annum;  ^^  and 
just  now,  under  war  conditions,  this  sum  must  be  multi- 
plied by  three.^^  Within  a  few  decades,  at  this  rate,  Mar- 
Marquis  which,  owing  to  its  earliness  in  ripening  and  its  high  yield, 
is  more  suited  to  conditions  in  western  Canada  than  its  predecessor, 
has  done  much  to  encourage  the  breaking  of  new  land  on  farms  al- 
ready established  and  also  to  increase  the  number  of  new  farms  by 
stimulating  the  immigration  of  experienced  farmers.  This  effect  of 
Marquis  is  imponderable  and  cannot  be  expressed  in  bushels  or  dollars 
per  annum;  but  if  it  could  be,  no  doubt  it  would  add  considerably 
to  the  statistical  estimate  of  the  value  of  Marquis  to  this  country. 

36  The  Canadian  Food  Bulletin,  No.  9,  Jan.  26,  1918,  p.  2.  An 
endeavor  is  now  being  made  to  reduce  the  human  consumption  of 
wheat  to  5.4  bushels  per  capita  per  annum. 

37  The  crop  in  western  Canada  for  the  year  1918  has  been  esti- 
mated at  162,000,000  bushels,  i.e.,  71,000,000  bushels  below  the 
average  for  the  five  previous  years.  The  increment  due  to  the  re- 
placement of  Red  Fife  by  Marquis  has  been  only  13,000,000  bushels; 
but,  as  the  price  of  wheat  now  averages  about  $2.00  per  bushel,  this 
mass  of  wheat  is  worth  $26,000,000.  In  1917  the  increment  was 
upwards  of  16,000,000  bushels  valued  at  $32,000,000. 

38  The  average  price  per  bushel  received  by  Canadian  farmers  for 
the  crops  each  year  from  1910  onwards  was  as  follows: 


256  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

quis  wheat  will  put  into  our  farmers'  pockets  an  extra 
gain  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars,  an  amount  of 
money  which  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  pay  for  all 
the  education  given  in  the  Public  Schools,  the  High 
Schools,  the  Agricultural  Colleges,  and  the  Universities 
of  the  whole  of  western  Canada.  Even  if  we  take  the 
very  conservative  estimate  of  $15,000,000  per  annum  as 
the  increased  wealth  Marquis  is  bringing  into  Canada, 
and  disregard  every  other  consideration,  we  obtain  suffi- 
cient evidence  to  convince  ourselves  of  the  amazing  success 
of  the  Canadian  Government  in  its  wheat-breeding  ex- 
periments. Well  may  this  country  be  proud  of  its  achieve- 
ments in  this  direction  and  especially  proud  of  Dr.  Charles 
E.  Saunders,  whose  skill  and  patience  triumphed  over  all 
the  difficulties  that  presented  themselves  and  who,  in  a 
remarkably  short  time  after  his  appointment  as  Dominion 
Cerealist,  gave  to  the  farmer  the  great  gift  of  Marquis 
wheat.  There  are  but  few  men  in  Canada  who  can  look 
the  whole  world  in  the  face  and  honestly  say  that  by  their 
efforts  they  have  enriched  their  country  by  at  least  $15,- 


Crops  prod/uoed  in 

Price 

Crops  produced  in 

Price 

1910 

.   $0.75 

1914 

.   $1.30 

1911 

.   $0.65 

1915 

.   $0.90 

1912 

.   $0.65 

1916 

.   $1.25 

1913 

.  $0.70 

1917 

.    $2.00 

By  an  order  of  the  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  of  Canada,  the  price 

of  wheat  for  the  1917  crop  was  fixed  as  follows: 

for   No.    1    Northern $2.21 

for   No.    2    Northern $2.18 

for   No.    3    Northern $2.15 

This  information  was  kindly  supplied  to  the  writer  by  Mr.  Irvine, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange. 

By  another  order  of  the  Board  of  Grain  Supervisors  of  Canada,  the 

price  of  wheat  for  the  1918  crop   (August  26,  1918,  until  August  31, 

1919)  was  fixed  as  follows: 

for    No.    1    Northern $2,241/2 

for   No.    2   Northern $2,211/2 

for   No.    3    Northern $2.l7i/2 


DISCOVERY    OF    MARQUIS    WHEAT  257 

000,000  a  year.  But  such  a  man  is  Dr.  Saunders,  whose 
labors  exemplify  public  service  at  its  best.  Long  may 
he  live  to  continue  his  work  for  the  good  of  Canada  and 
of  humanity. 

XXXIV.  Summary 

The  following  are  some  of  the  more  important  conclu- 
sions which  may  be  drawn  from  the  foregoing  pages : 

1.  Marquis  wheat  was  discovered  and  introduced  by  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Saunders  of  the  Central  Experimental  Eann, 
Ottawa. 

2.  Marquis  is  a  hard  red  spring  wheat  with  excellent 
milling  and  baking  qualities.  As  compared  with  Red 
Eife,  it  gives  a  higher  yield  and  on  the  average  is  six  days 
earlier  in  ripening. 

3.  Marquis  was  discovered  in  1903,  first  distributed  to 
farmers  in  western  Canada  in  1909,  and  is  now,  1918,  the 
dominant  spring  wheat  in  both  Canada  and  the  United 
States. 

4.  In  North  America  the  yield  of  Marquis  was:  in 
1917,  upwards  of  250,000,000  bushels  having  a  crop  value 
of  500,000,000  dollars;  and,  in  1918,  upwards  of  300,- 
000,000  bushels  having  a  crop  value  of  600,000,000 
dollars. 

5.  In  1917,  through  the  replacement  of  Red  Eife  by 
Marquis,  Canada  made  a  gain  in  wealth  of  upwards  of 
16,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  valued  at  32,000,000  dollars. 

6.  In  1917,  through  the  replacement  of  Bluestem,  Eife 
and  Velvet  Chaff  by  Marquis,  the  United  States  made  a 
gain  in  wealth  of  upwards  of  10,000,000  bushels  of  wheat 
valued  at  20,000,000  dollars. 

7.  In  1917,  through  the  replacement  of  other  lesser- 
yielding  wheat  varieties  by  Marquis,  North  America  made 
a  gain  in  wealth  of  upwards  of  26,000,000  bushels  of 


268  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

wheat  valued  at  52,000,000  dollars.  During  the  food 
crisis  of  1917-1918,  this  mass  of  wheat  was  of  very- 
great  assistance  to  the  Allies  in  their  prosecution  of  the 
war. 

8.  The  Government  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  discovery  of  Marquis  wheat  by 
establishing  the  Experimental  Farms  system  in  1886, 
by  encouraging  cereal  research,  and  by  appointing  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Saunders,  a  well-trained  scientific  man,  as 
Dominion  Cerealist  in  1903. 

9.  Marquis  wheat  was  discovered  as  the  result  of  the 
application  of  biological  and  chemical  principles  to  the 
problem  of  breeding  a  new  variety  of  wheat  better  adapted 
than  Red  Fife  for  cultivation  in  the  Prairie  Provinces  of 
western    Canada. 

10.  The  great  success  of  Marquis  wheat  in  the  world 
affords  an  excellent  instance  of  the  benefits  which  have 
already  been  derived  from  the  encouragement  given  by  re- 
sponsible governments  to  scientific  research. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Origin  of  Red  Bobs  and  Kitchenkr 

I.  Introduction 

One  of  the  most  promising  competitors  of  Marquis  is 
Red  Bohs  which  was  selected  by  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  at 
Rosthern,  Saskatchewan,  in  1910,  from  an  Australian 
wheat  called  Bobs.  Since  Red  Bobs  is  now  being  widely 
distributed  among  the  farmers  of  western  Canada  and  is 
being  tested  at  various  experimental  farms  and  stations,  a 
history  of  its  origin  is  well  worth  recording. 

II.  Origin  of  Bohs 
William  Farrer  ^  was  a  leading  wheat-breeder  in  Aus- 

1  The  following  quotation  from  an  article  by  A.  E.  V.  Richardson, 
the  Agricultural  Superintendent  of  the  Victoria  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture, is  of  interest  in  throwing  light  upon  Farrer's  work: 

"  The  outstanding  feature  in  wheat-breeding  work  in  Australia  is 
the  remarkable  success  achieved  by  that  patient  and  retiring  genius, 
the  late  William  Farrer,  of  New  South  Wales,  in  every  branch  of 
wheat  improvement. 

"  A  man  who  could  set  out  as  clearly  and  comprehensively  as 
Farrer  (Farrer,  The  making  and  improvement  of  new  varieties  of 
wheat  for  Australian  conditions.  Agricultural  Gazette,  N.  S.  W., 
Feb.,  1898 ) ,  both  as  regards  the  goal  toward  which  he  was  striving 
in  his  work  of  wheat  improvement,  and  the  methods  whereby  he 
hoped  to  reach  that  goal,  and  in  less  than  a  decade  flood  the  market 
with  varieties  like  Federation  —  the  most  prolific  and  popular  farm- 
er's wheat  in  the  Commonwealth;  Bohs  and  Comeback  —  of  imsur- 
passed  milling  excellence;  Florence  and  Genoa  —  bunt-resisting  va- 
rieties; and  a  host  of  others  enjoying  a  widespread  popularity,  such 
as  Bunyip,  Thew,  Bayah,  Warren,  Genoa,  Firhank,  Cleveland,  Cedar, 
Jonathan,  etc.,  must  have  possessed  in  an  unusual  degree  the  insight 
of  genius.     It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  Farrer  has  added  mil- 

259 


260  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

tralia  and  did  mucli  to  improve  the  varieties  grown  in  his 
native  country.  By  cross-breeding  and  selection  he  ob- 
tained a  fine  new  wheat  with  white  kernels,  which  he 
introduced  under  the  name  of  Bobs ;  and  he  sent  about  a 
teaspoonful  of  the  seed  to  Dr.  Charles  Saunders,  the 
Cerealist  for  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  Dr.  Saunders 
tested  Bobs  at  Ottawa  and  then  sent  some  of  it  to  the  In- 
dian Head  Experimental  Farm  in  Saskatchewan  where  it 
was  grown  in  plots  for  some  years.  It  was  found  to  be 
a  little  earlier  ^  than  Marquis  but  less  productive.^  On 
account  of  this  lesser  productivity  and  the  unfavorable 
color  of  its  kernels,  it  was  at  length  discarded. 

III.  Importance  of  the  Color  of  Wheat  Kernels 

Even  had  Dr.  Saunders  found  Bobs  to  be  superior  to 
Marquis  in  productivity,  the  white  color  of  its  grains 
would  have  been  fatal  to  its  introduction  into  western 
Canada.  This  is  a  matter  that  requires  a  little  explana- 
tion. Australia  is  famed  in  the  British  markets  for  its 
white  wheats  but  Canada  for  its  red  wheats.  Now  the 
British  buyers  are  conservative  men  and  suspicious  of 
changes  in  wheat  colors.     Hence  it  has  been  found  advis- 

lions  sterling  to  the  national  exchequer  by  the  creation  of  Feder- 
ation wheat.  Dr.  Cherry  estimates  the  cash  value  of  Farrer's  work 
to  Victoria  alone  during  the  1909  season  at  £250,000.  Since  that 
estimate  was  framed,  the  area  sown  with  this  popular  variety  in 
Victoria  has  greatly  increased,  and  the  benefits  have  become  com- 
mensurately  greater.  Farrer's  work  was  continued  by  G.  L.  Sutton, 
late  Wheat  Experimentalist  of  New  South  Wales,  who  did  a  great 
deal  to  popularize  the  Farrer  varieties  amongst  farmers."  Wheat 
Breeding,  The  Journal  of  Heredity,  March,  1915,  pp.  124-125. 

2  Dominion  of  Canada  Experimental  Farms  Report  for  1915,  p. 
877;  for  1912,  p.  123;  for  1911,  pp.  144-145;  for  1910,  p.  172.  Bobs 
ripened  1  day  earlier  than  Marquis  in  1910,  3  days  earlier  in  1911, 
7  days  earlier  in  1915,  and  on  the  same  day  as  Marquis  in  1912. 

3  Dominion  of  Canada  Experimental  Farms  Reports:  for  1910,  p. 
172;  for  1911,  p.  140;  for  1915,  p.  877. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS  261 

able  in  Canada  to  produce  wheats  for  export  wliicli  are 
as  red  as  possible,  and  the  grading  regulations  have  been 
framed  in  such  a  way  as  to  discourage  the  raising  of 
white  wheats. 

The  color  of  the  red  and  white  wheats  is  due  to  the 
color  of  the  bran  layer  on  the  exterior  of  the  kernels  and 
not  to  that  of  the  flour-making  mass  which  the  bran  layer 
encloses.  There  is  absolutely  no  correlation  between  the 
color  of  the  bran  and  the  quality  of  the  grain  in  respect  to 
bread-making.  So-called  white  wheats  have  a  pale  yel- 
lowish bran  layer  while  red  wheats  have  a  darker  reddish 
bran  layer.  ISTow  the  bran  layer  upon  a  kernel  is  more 
or  less  translucent,  so  that  the  appearance  of  a  grain  as 
a  whole  is  affected  by  the  whiteness  or  translucency  of 
the  interior  mass.  If  the  kernel  inside  the  bran  layer  is 
horny  and  translucent,  as  it  is  when  it  contains  much 
gluten,  the  wheat  appears  to  be  relatively  dark;  but,  if 
the  interior  is  starchy  and  white,  i.  e.  soft,  the  wheat 
has  a  paler  appearance.  Both  white  and  red  wheats  may 
have  the  hard  homy  or  the  soft  starchy  interior  and  thus 
may  appear  darker  or  paler.  The  difference  of  shade  de- 
pending on  the  difference  of  the  interior  only,  is  signifi- 
cant and  important,  because  starchy  wheats  are  of  in- 
ferior value  for  bread-making.  In  considering  a  red 
and  a  white  kind  of  wheat  we  may  therefore  have  four 
possible  kinds  of  grains: 

(1)  hard  red  grains  which  are  the  darkest  of  all, 

(2)  soft  red  grains  which  are  pale  reddish  because 

the  interior  is  white  and  the  whiteness  is 
seen  through  the  translucent  reddish  bran 
layer, 

(3)  hard   white  grains,    in   reality   a   dark  yellow, 

which  have  a  horny  interior  like  hard  red 
grains, 


262  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

(4)  soft  white  grains  which  are  very  white  and 
which,  like  soft  red  grains,  have  a  starchy 
interior. 

'Now  hard  white  grains  (3)  may  be  confused  with  soft 
red  grains  (2),  although  they  are  radically  different. 
Hence  it  is  that  buyers  in  Great  Britain  hesitate  to  pur- 
chase white  wheat  from  Canada.  They  are  used  to  re- 
ceiving red  wheat  from  this  source  and,  when  white 
wheat  samples  come  into  their  hands,  they  are  naturally 
suspicious  that  they  are  being  offered  soft  red  wheats 
which  are  very  inferior  for  bread-making  purposes.  From 
these  considerations  it  is  clear  that  the  policy  of  Dr. 
Saunders  in  refusing  to  introduce  white  wheats  into 
western  Canada  is  thoroughly  justified. 

IV.  The  Discovery  of  Red  Bohs  hy  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler 
The  facts  about  to  be  related  concerning  the  origin 
of  Tied  Bobs  were  obtained  by  the  writer  during  an  in- 
terview with  Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  at  his  farm  at  Eosthern 
during  the  summer  of  1918. 

Mr.  Wheeler  of  Rosthern,  Saskatchewan,  who  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Canadian  Seed  Growers'  Associa- 
tion and  who  was  engaged  in  making  selections  from  Dr. 
Saunders'  strain  of  Early  Red  Fife  and  of  Preston,  heard 
of  Bobs,  and,  during  the  winter  of  1907-08,  secured  a 
ten-pound  sample  of  it  from  the  Experimental  Farm  at 
Indian  Head.  This  sample  he  seeded  in  the  spring  of 
1908  on  one  of  his  special  plots  by  the  side  of  his  other 
varieties  of  wheat;  and,  as  the  Bobs  plants  grew,  he  ob- 
served that  they  showed  great  uniformity  and  appeared  to 
be  free  from  all  admixture.  In  the  autumn  the  plot 
gave  a  yield  at  the  rate  of  60  bushels  to  the  acre. 

In  1909  Mr.  Wheeler  seeded:  (1)  a  small  head-row 
plot,  each  row  of  seeds  having  been  obtained  from  a  single 


Fig.  41.      iypical  heads  of  Red  Bobs  wheat,  front  and  side  vie 
Natural  size.     Courtesy  of  the  Grain  Growers^  Guide. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS  263 

selected  head,  (2)  a  H-acre  plot,  the  seeds  for  which  were 
obtained  by  mass  selection,  i.  e.,  from  a  number  of  picked 
heads  threshed  together,  and  (3)  an  increase  plot  of  two  or 
three  acres.  It  is  important  to  note,  on  account  of  what 
follows,  that  side  by  side  with  all  these  plots  of  Bobs 
were  similar  plots  of  Early  Red  Fife  and  of  Preston, 
and  that  these  three  wheats  were  the  only  kinds  grown  by 
Mr.  Wheeler  in  1909.  Again  the  Bobs  plants  appeared 
to  be  quite  uniform  in  character. 

In  1910,  Mr.  Wheeler  again  seeded  Bobs  in:  (1)  a 
head-row  plot,  (2)  a  %-acre  plot  seeded  as  in  the  previous 
year  from  hand-selected  heads,  and  in  (3)  an  increase 
plot  of  several  acres.  The  heads  for  seeding  the  ^-acre 
plot  were  obtained  from  the  ^/4-acre  plot  and  also  from 
the  head-row  plot  of  1909 ;  and  the  increase  plot  of  2-3 
acres  was  seeded  from  the  seed  resulting  from  the  thresh- 
ing of  the  %-acre  plot  of  1909.  Mr.  Wheeler  examined 
all  the  plants  in  the  %-acre  plot  as  carefully  as  he  could 
with  the  result  that  he  discovered  that  a  few  of  them,  less 
than  a  dozen,  had  red  grains  in  all  their  heads  instead 
of  white.  Subsequently  he  detected  a  few  red  kernels 
in  the  grain  threshed  from  the  large  increase  plot  of 
several  acres.  This  was  the  very  first  appearance  of  any 
marked  variability  which  Mr.  Wheeler  had  been  able 
to  detect  since  the  beginning  of  his  study  of  Bobs.  For 
the  sake  of  convenience,  we  shall  now  call  the  original 
Bobs  variety  White  Bohs  and  the  red  selection  from  it  Red 
Bobs.  Red  Bobs,  as  we  have  just  seen,  was  selected 
from  White  Bobs  in  1910. 

In  1911,  Mr.  Wheeler  planted  out  the  seeds  obtained 
from  the  red-seeded  heads  of  1910  in  head-rows,  each 
head-row  containing  the  seeds  of  a  single  head.  The 
plants  which  came  up  from  these  first  red  seeds  at  once 
exhibited  a  remarkable  amount  of  variability:  some  were 


264  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

awnless  like  White  Bobs,  but  some  were  beardy,  having 
short  awns  at  the  tip  of  the  head  like  Eed  Fife,  while 
others  were  fully  bearded;  some  were  tall  growers,  some 
short,  and  some  intermediate;  some  had  open  heads  and 
others  fairly  dense  heads;  while,  in  respect  to  maturity, 
some  were  early  in  ripening  and  some  late.  All  the 
grains  produced,  however,  appeared  to  be  red  and  no 
white  ones  were  observed.  Mr.  Wheeler  carefully  selected 
heads  of  each  type  of  plant  to  serve  as  seed  for  the  next 
year. 

In  1912  the  seed  selected  in  1911  was  planted  out  in 
head-rows,  and  the  plants  arising  from  them  showed 
some  further  variability  especially  in  respect  to  seed 
color.  All  the  plants  in  some  head-rows  produced  noth- 
ing but  red  grains,  while,  in  a  few  head-rows,  some  of  the 
plants  produced  red  grains  only  and  some  red  and  white 
grains  mixed.  Mr.  Wheeler  now  be,2:an  to  use  the  name 
of  Red  Bobs  for  the  red-grained  selection  which  he  wished 
to  multiply. 

V.  R'ed  Bobs  the  Product  of  a  Natural  Cross 

The  occurrence  of  a  few  plants  with  red  grains  in- 
stead of  white  in  the  ^4-acre  plot  of  1910,  and  the  extraordi- 
nary variability  of  the  plants  produced  from  them  in 
1911,  strongly  suggests  that  the  red-grained  plants  of 
1910  were  cross-bred,  -and  that  Eed  Eobs  owes  its  origin 
to  a  natural  cross  which  took  place  in  1909  between  White 
Bobs  and  one  or  other  of  the  red  wheats  Eed  Fife  and 
Preston  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  grown  side  by 
side  with  White  Bobs  in  all  the  plots  in  that  year.  It 
is  well  known  that  when  two  varieties  of  wheat  are 
crossed  artificially,  the  grains  resulting  from  the  cross  de- 
velop into  plants  which  often  differ  but  little  from,  or 
are  identical  with,  one  or  the  other  parent,  but  that  in 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED   BOBS  265 

the  next  year  the  grains  produced  from  the  hybrids  give 
rise  to  a  large  nnmber  of  distinct  types.  The  red-seeded 
Red  Bobs  plants  of  1910,  which  apparently  differed  only 
in  their  seed  color  from  White  Bobs,  correspond  to  the 
cross-bred  plants  or  first  filial  generation  in  an  artificial 
cross ;  and  the  numerous  types  which  were  obtained  from 
these  red  grains  in  1911,  correspond  exactly  to  the  numer- 
ous types  one  frequently  obtains  in  the  second  filial  gen- 
eration of  an  artificial  cross. 

That  such  natural  crosses  as  that  suggested  for  the  origin 
of  Red  Bobs  do  actually  occur  occasionally  under  plot  con- 
ditions, although  flower  self-fertilization  is  the  rule,  has 
now  been  sufficiently  established  by  the  observations  of  a 
number  of  cerealists.  Dr.  Charles  Saunders  was  the  first 
on  this  continent  to  record  such  a  cross.  In  1907,  in  a 
Bulletin  on  the  Quality  of  Wheat,  in  order  to  show  the 
value  of  the  chewing  test  for  indicating  the  gluten  value 
of  wheat  types,  he  says :  "  Some  years  ago  an  experi- 
ment was  tried  in  order  to  obtain  if  possible  a  natural 
cross  between  two  varieties  of  wheat.  Red  Fife  (beard- 
less) and  Rio  Grande  (bearded)  were  sown  mixed  in  a 
small  plot.  When  the  grain  was  ripe  a  few  heads  of 
Red  Fife,  which  were  borne  on  rather  short  straw,  were 
selected,  and  from  these  the  next  season  about  200  kernels 
were  sown.  Among  the  plants  produced  from  these  seeds, 
one  was  found  on  which  the  awns  were  somewhat  better 
developed  than  is  usual  in  true  Red  Fife.  When  some  of 
the  seeds  of  this  plant  were  chewed,  it  was  found  that 
the  gluten  quality  was  altogether  distinct  from,  and  de- 
cidedly inferior  to  that  of  Red  Fife.  In  this  way  it  was 
proved  that  the  plant  was  a  cross,  the  pollen  from  the 
Rio  Grande  having  fallen  on  the  head  of  Red  Fife  during 
the  blossoming  period  in  the  year  previous.  As  this 
proof,  however,  would  not  perhaps  be  accepted  by  other 


^^Q  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

observers  without  confirmation,  the  seeds  from  the  cross- 
bred plant  were  sown  the  following  year.  They  produced 
mixed  types,  bearded,  partly  bearded,  and  beardless.  The 
seeds  as  well  as  the  heads  showed  the  influence  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  being,  in  many  cases,  larger  than  those  of 
Red  Fife.  These  observations,  of  course,  completed  the 
proof  of  the  cross-bred  nature  of  the  parent  plant,  and 
demonstrated  the  value  of  the  chewing  test  as  a  means 
of  disting-uishing  similar  varieties  of  wheat."  ^  ^N'ilsson- 
Ehle  ^  has  shown  by  experiment  that  some  varieties  of 
wheat  are  much  more  liable  to  natural  cross-pollination 
than  others.  Smith  ^  found  eight  natural  hybrids  in  96 
rows  of  Turkey  winter  wheat.  Leighty,''^  in  1915,  de- 
scribed four  cases  of  natural  crosses  between  wheat  and 
rye.  In  1917  Hayes  ^  recorded  that  three  plants  out  of 
fifty  taken  from  nursery  plots  of  Bluestem  were  natural 
crosses,  as  proved  from  studying  their  progeny,  and  that 
two  plants  out  of  47  selections  of  Marquis  gave  progeny 
with  both  red  and  white  kernels  indicating  that  they  were 
first  generation  crosses.  The  writer  visited  Dr.  Hayes  at 
the  University  Farm  at  St.  Paul  in  July,  1918,  and  saw 

4  C.  E.  Saunders,  Quality  in  Wheat,  Bulletin  No.  57,  Central 
Experimental  Farm,  Ottawa,  1907,  pp.  9-10.  Of.,  by  the  same  author, 
A  Natural  Hybrid  in  Wheat,  Proc.  American  Breeders'  Association, 
Vol.  I,  1905,  pp.  137-138. 

5  H.  Nilsson-Ehle,  Gibt  es  erbliche  Weizenrassen  mit  mehr  oder 
weniger  Selbstbefruchtung?  Zeitschrift  f.  Pflanzenzucht,  Bd.  Ill, 
1915,  pp.  1-6. 

6  L.  H.  Smith,  Occurrence  of  Natural  Hybrids  in  Wheat,  Proo. 
Amer.  Breeders'  Association,  Vol.  V,  1912,  pp.  412-414. 

7  C.  E.  Leigh ty,  Natural  Wheat-Rye  Hybrids,  Journal  of  the  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Agronomy,  Vol.  7,  1915,  pp.  209-216. 

8  H.  K.  Hayes,  Natural  Cross-pollination  in  Wheat,  Journal  of 
American  Society  of  Agronomy,  Vol.  10,  1918,  pp.  120-122.  The 
citations  for  Nilsson-Ehle,  Smith,  and  Leighty  have  been  made  from 
this  paper. 


THE    ORIGIN"    OF    RED    BOBS  267 

for  himsielf  several  of  the  natural  hybrids  and  their 
progeny  growing  in  the  plots.  He  particularly  noticed 
a  cross-bred  plant  produced  by  a  natural  cross  between 
Marquis  and  Bluestem  which  possessed  intermediate  char- 
acters in  the  head  and  straw.  In  view  of  the  known  oc- 
currence of  natural  crosses  between  different  varieties  of 
wheat  when  grown  side  by  side  in  small  plots,  and  in  view 
of  facts  known  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wheeler's  plots, 
the  author  has  no  hesitation  in  expressing  his  belief  that 
Red  Bohs  owes  its  origin  to  a  natural  cross  between 
White  Bohs  and  Saunders  strain  of  Early  Bed  Fife  or 
between  White  Bohs  and  Preston,  one  or  other  of  the  red 
wheats  having  been  the  male  parent. 

Professor  W.  P.  Thompson  of  the  University  of 
Saskatchewan  has  crossed  White  Bobs  with  Preston  and 
White  Bobs  with  Eed  Fife,  and  he  has  informed  the  writer 
that  the  first  generation  plants  resulting  from  the  cross- 
bred grains  in  each  of  the  two  crosses  have  heads  which 
cannot  be  distinguished  in  general  appearance  from  those 
of  White  Bobs,  except  in  the  color  of  the  grains  which 
are  red  instead  of  white.  This  fits  in  very  well  with  the 
supposition  that  the  few  red-grained  plants  which  Mr. 
Wheeler  found  in  his  White  Bobs  plots  in  1910  were  ac- 
tually derived  from  cross-bred  kernels  such  as  those  Pro- 
fessor Thompson  has  produced  artificially  in  the  manner 
described. 

Preston  is  a  fully  bearded  wheat,  whereas  Early  Ked 
Fife  is  bald  except  for  a  few  awns  at  the  top  of  the  head. 
White  Bobs  and  Red  Bobs  are  quite  awnless.  Since 
bearded  forms  appeared  after  the  natural  cross  in  the 
second  generation,  it  might  be  supposed  that  the  male 
parent  of  Red  Bobs  was  the  bearded  Preston  and  not  the 
almost  bald  Early  Red  Fife;  but  such  an  opinion  may 


268  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

well  be  erroneous,  for  it  has  been  observed  by  Dr.  Charles 
Saunders  ^  that,  when  two  practically  awnless  wheats  have 
been  artificially  crossed,  bearded  types  often  occur  in 
the  second  and  later  generations.  Mr.  Wheeler  was  un- 
able to  suggest  to  the  vta*iter  which  of  the  two  wheats, 
Early  Eed  Fife  or  Preston,  had  supplied  the  foreign  pollen. 
Perhaps,  however,  the  matter  might  be  decided  by  making 
two  crosses,  one  between  White  Bobs  and  Early  Red  Fife 
and  another  between  White  Bobs  and  Preston,  and  com- 
paring the  progeny  in  the  second  and  third  generations 
with  those  observed  by  Mr.  Wheeler  as  the  result  of  the 
natural  crossing.  It  so  happens,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
Professor  Thompson  has  already  made  crosses  between 
White  Bobs  and  Red  Fife  and  White  Bobs  and  Preston. 
Perhaps,  when  his  studies  of  these  crosses  are  complete, 
he  will  be  able  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  exact  male 
parentage  of  Red  Bobs  with  which  we  are  confronted. 

VI.  The  Selection,  Multiplication,  and  Distribution  of 

Red  Bobs 

In  1913,  Mr.  Wheeler  sowed  seeds  of  about  60  differ- 
ent types  of  Red  Bobs.  A  severe  hailstorm,  on  July  28, 
partially  destroyed  his  crop  but  served  to  reveal  the 
fact  that  some  of  the  types  were  much  better  than  others 
in  strength  of  straw. 

In  1914,  Mr.  Wheeler  cut  down  his  types  to  three  or 
four  which,  except  for  seed  color,  most  closely  resembled 
the  original  White  Bobs.  These  mixed  strains  on  a  /4- 
acre  plot  yielded  at  the  rate  of  50  bushels  to  the  acre, 

» Charles  E.  Saunders,  Wheat  Breeding  in  Canada,  Reports  of 
the  Winnipeg  Meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  1909 ;  also  Dominion  of  Canada  Experimental  Farms 
Reports  for  1910,  p.  166. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS 


269 


whereas  Marquis,  on  a  similar  plot  and  under  similar 
conditions,  yielded  at  the  rate  of  43  bushels  to  the  acre. 

In  1915,  the  seed  of  Ked  Bobs,  containing  three  strains, 
was  again  sown  on  a  ^/i-acre  plot.  A  certain  number  of 
heads  of  the  three  types  were  selected  by  hand  to  seed 
head-row  plots  the  next  year  and  then  the  rest  of  the 
plants  were  threshed  together. 

In  1916,  Mr.  Wheeler  again  sowed  his  usual  sets  of 
plots  with  Red  Bobs,  but  unfortunately  a  severe  hailstorm 
completely  destroyed  his  plants.  However,  he  still 
possessed  about  10  bushels  of  seed,  a  sheaf  or  two,  and 
a  few  heads  which  had  been  held  over  from  the  harvest 
of  1915,  and  all  this  was  available  for  seed  the  next  year. 
The  chief  result  of  the  destruction  wrought  by  the  hail 
was  a  loss  of  a  whole  year  in  the  multiplication  of  the 

seed. 

In  1917,  Mr.  Wheeler  sowed  a  five-acre  field  with  Bed 
Bobs  containing  three  types  obtained  from  a  bulk  thresh- 
ing. The  harvest  consisted  of  200  bushels  of  seed  and  was 
disposed  of  to  the  Grain  Growers'  Guide,  This  company 
has  distributed  the  seed  to  those  who  subscribe  to  its  paper 
in  10,  20,  40,  and  60  pound  samples,  and  it  is  now 
(1918)  being  grown  by  about  500  farmers  on  about  75 
acres  of  land.  Its  test  under  diverse  conditions  is,  there- 
fore, only  just  beginning  to  be  made. 

This  year,  1918,  Mr.  Wheeler  is  continuing  the  study 
of  his  three  strains  of  Red  Bobs,  and  it  is  possible  that  he 
may  eventually  select  one  only  for  ultimate  distribution. 
The  author  visited  Mr.  Wheeler  at  his  farm  on  the  23rd  of 
August  and  spent  a  whole  day  with  him  looking  over  the 
plots,  collecting  the  data  of  the  history  of  his  selections, 
and  in  discussing  his  methods  of  work.  The  standing 
crops  had  a  very  fine  appearance  and,  in  the  ^4-acre  plots 


2'rO  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

of  Eed  Bobs,  Marquis,  and  Kitchener  (his  selection  froin 
Marquis),  the  first-named  certainly  appeared  by  its  yel- 
lower color  to  be  some  days  earlier  than  the  other  two. 

VII.  Red  Bohs  at  the  University  of  Saskatchewan 

After  selecting  Eed  Bobs  in  1910,  Mr.  Wheeler  sold 
some  of  his  White  Bobs  to  Mr.  George  Harvey,  a  neigh- 
boring farmer,  who  showed  a  sample  of  the  harvest  which 
it  yielded  at  the  Eosthern  Seed  Fair  in  the  winter  of 
1912-13.  The  exhibit  won  a  first  prize.  Professor 
Bracken,  of  the  Field  Husbandry  Department  of  the 
University  of  Saskatchewan,  who  was  acting  as  a  judge 
at  the  Fair,  took  home  a  sample  of  the  prize  White  Bobs 
and  sowed  it  in  one  of  the  University  plots  in  the  spring 
of  1913.  When  the  harvest  had  been  secured,  he  searched 
the  bulk  threshing  and  found  a  few  red  kernels  like  those 
obtained  by  Mr.  Wheeler  in  1910.  These  red  kernels 
were  planted  out  in  1914  in  foundation  plots,  and  they 
gave  rise  to  various  wheat-plant  types,  some  of  which  were 
bald,  some  bearded,  etc.,  resembling  those  which  had  been 
obtained  by  Mr.  Wheeler  from  his  first  red  grains  in  1911. 
Since  1914,  Professor  Bracken  has  been  engaged  in  select- 
ing the  most  desirable  of  the  types  and  in  discarding  those 
which  are  not  fixed.  In  1915  he  sowed  centgener  plots, 
each  little  square  of  ground  being  seeded  with  the  seed 
obtained  from  the  heads  of  a  single  plant  of  the  previous 
year.  The  harvest  of  each  centgener  plot  was  subjected 
to  a  bulk  threshing,  and  the  grain  resulting  was  sown 
in  1916  in  a  multiplier  plot.  Each  multiplier  plot  con- 
sisted of  two  rows,  100  links  long,  equal  to  an  area  of  %oo- 
acre.  The  harvest  of  each  multiplier  plot  was  subjected 
to  a  bulk  threshing,  and  the  grain  resulting  was  sown  in 
1917  upon  a  Hoo-acre  plot.     The  grain  obtained  from 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS  271 

each  Moo-acre  plot  was  again  sown  in  1918  upon  a 
Koo-acre  plot,  and  plots  of  this  size  are  to  be  continued 
for  five  years  so  that  for  each  strain  being  tested  reliable 
results  may  be  obtained  in  respect  to  yield,  earliness,  mill- 
ing and  baking  qualities,  etc. 

T'rom  single  plants  grown  in  1914  from  red  grains. 
Professor  Bracken  has  now  selected  twelve  strains  for 
further  study.  From  the  records  which  he  kindly  showed 
to  the  writer,  it  appears  that  some  of  these  strains  ripen 
their  grains  about  the  same  time  as  Marquis,  some  later 
than  Marquis  and  some  as  much  as  ten  days  earlier.  Four 
of  the  strains  yielded  less  than  Marquis  per  acre  and  eight 
more  than  Marquis.  Elaborate  milling  and  baking  tests 
were  carried  out  in  1917,  and  some  of  the  strains  passed 
these  tests  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner. 

In  1918,  increase  plots  of  %-acre  were  sown  in  order 
to  obtain  enough  seed  to  make  tests  upon  various  types  of 
soil  in  different  parts  of  the  Province  of  Saskatchewan. 

In  the  winter  of  1914-15,  Mr.  Wheeler  gave  to  Pro- 
fessor Bracken's  Department  of  Field  Husbandry  about 
40  strains  of  his  Red  Bobs,  and  these  were  sown  at  the 
University  Farm  in  1915.  None  of  these  strains  were 
sown  in  1916,  two  in  1917  and  seven  in  1918.  Some  of 
Mr.  Wheeler's  strains  of  Red  Bobs  are  therefore  now 
being  tested  alongside  of  Professor  Bracken's  red-seeded 
strains  of  White  Bobs.  Professor  Bracken  has  now 
about  100,000  red-seeded  plants  in  his  plots,  and  it  seems 
very  likely  that  one  or  more  new  wheats  of  considerable 
value  to  agriculture  will  ultimately  be  derived  from  them. 
There  can  be  no  question  but  that  all  the  various  tests  to 
which  they  are  being  subjected  are  being  carried  out  in 
the  most  exact  and  thorough  manner. 


272  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

VIII.  Description  of  Red  Bohs 

Red  Bobs  is  a  hard  red  spring  wheat.  Its  heads  are 
absolutely  awnless  and  of  a  compact  type,  the  spikelets 
in  a  good  year  being  well  filled  with  grains  from  the 
bottom  to  the  top  of  each  head.  The  heads  are  very  up- 
right with  little  or  no  tendency  to  lean,  and  the  straw 
is  very  strong,  upright,  and  yellow.  The  chaff  is  white 
or  light  yellow,  lighter  than  that  of  Marquis.  The  up- 
right tendency  allows  the  heads  to  lie  closely  in  the  sheaf 
with  little  or  no  waste.  On  the  average,  on  Mr.  Wheel- 
er's farm,  Eed  Bobs  has  been  a  week  earlier  in  ripening 
than  Marquis  since  1912  inclusive,  and  it  has  yielded 
a  little  more  than  Marquis  each  year.  In  1917  Marquis 
yielded  40  bushels  to  the  acre  and  Red  Bobs  53.  This, 
however,  is  an  extreme  difference  in  the  yield  of  the  two 
varieties.  The  grains  are  of  a  good  red  color,  short 
and  rounded,  and  they  give  a  good  weight  per  measured 
bushel.  Their  baking  and  milling  qualities  are  about 
equal  to  those  of  Marquis.  The  most  remarkable  point 
about  Red  Bobs,  as  grown  on  Mr.  Wheeler's  farm,  is  the 
combination  of  earliness  and  yield.  Mr.  Wheeler  feels 
that  this  new  variety,  owing  to  its  combination  of  earliness, 
high  yield,  high  baking  and  milling  qualities,  and  the 
characters  of  its  head  and  straw,  has  no  equal.  An  ab- 
solute decision  of  its  merits,  however,  can  only  be  arrived 
at  after  it  has  been  tested  under  diverse  conditions  for  a 
series  of  years. 

IX.  A   Visit  to  Mr.  Wheelers  Farm 

A  brief  note  may  here  be  added  of  a  personal  nature. 
The  author,  as  already  remarked,  visited  Mr.  Seager 
Wheeler  at  his  farm  on  August  23,  1918 ;  and  there  spent 
a  very  happy  day  in  his  company,  looking  over  his  plots, 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS  273 

collecting  the  data  of  the  history  of  his  selections,  and  in 
discussing  his  methods  of  work.  The  crops  were  in  the 
most  interesting  condition,  fast  ripening  and  some  ready 
to  cut.  The  three  chief  kinds  of  wheat  in  the  head-row 
plots  and  the  only  ones  in  the  /4-acre  plots  were  Marquis, 
Kitchener,  and  Eed  Bohs,  and  it  was  upon  these  that  Mr. 
Wheeler  was  evidently  concentrating  his  chief  attention; 
but  he  was  also  testing  three  winter  wheats,  namely  Kanred 
which  originally  came  from  Kansas,  a  selection  of  his  own 
of  Turhey  Eed,  and  ^y inter-Spring,  a  wheat  which  orig- 
inated on  his  farm  in  an  uncertain  manner.  Mr.  Wheeler 
was  not  confining  his  attention  to  wheat  only,  for  he  was 
making  selections  of  oats,  barley,  potatoes,  clovers,  al- 
falfa, brome-grass,  and  western  rye-grass ;  and  in  his 
plots  were  to  be  seen  rows  of  soy-beans  and  com  which, 
however,  do  not  as  a  rule  grow  well  so  far  north  and  were 
this  year  a  partial  failure.  His  smaller  plots,  in  the 
garden  by  the  side  of  his  house,  were  protected  by  trees 
and  hedges  of  Russian  poplar,  etc.,  which  had  been 
planted  in  rows  so  as  to  form  wind  screens. 

Mr.  Wheeler  proved  an  admirable  guide  and,  withal, 
unassuming,  courteous,  ready  to  answer  all  the  numerous 
questions  of  his  visitor,  and  also  eager  to  receive  any 
information  bearing  upon  his  own  work.  As  he  passed 
from  plot  to  plot,  pointing  out  the  qualities  of  the  plants 
in  each,  it  became  evident  that  he  was  whole-heartedly  ab- 
sorbed in  the  task  of  raising  new  and  improved  cereals; 
and,  quite  unconsciously,  in  his  conversation  and  manner, 
he  exhibited  an  otherworldliness  to  a  degree  not  often 
met  with  in  such  practical  men  as  farmers.  The  writer 
could  not  help  but  feel  that  there  was  uppermost  in  Mr. 
Wheeler's  mind  not  the  thought  of  monetary  reward  but 
the  hope  of  originating  something  of  high  value  to  west- 
em  agriculture. 


274  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

X.  A  Biographical  Note 

Mr.  Seager  Wheeler  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 
His  father  and  uncles  were  fishermen  at  Black  Gang,  a 
place  once  famous  for  the  smuggling  that  went  on  there. 
He  attended  the  I^ational  School  at  Ventnor  which  he 
left  when  eleven  years  old  after  passing  through  all  the 
grades.  He  then  worked  at  the  W.  H.  Smith  bookstall  at 
Ventnor  Station.  A  few  years  later,  in  1885,  he  crossed 
the  ocean  and  came  out  to  Saskatoon  where  he  worked  on 
his  uncle's  farm  for  three  years.  In  1888  he  took  up  a 
homestead  a  few  miles  north  of  Saskatoon,  and  in  1897, 
Queen  Victoria's  Jubilee  Year,  removed  to  his  present 
farm  at  Eosthern.  Mr.  Wheeler  has  thus  been  associated 
with  western  Canada  for  33  years. 

Mr.  Wheeler  began  to  make  selections  of  cereals  and 
potatoes  on  his  own  initiative  about  the  year  1900  but  not 
in  a  very  systematic  manner.  In  1904,  he  became  an 
active  member  of  the  Canadian  Seed  Growers'  Associa- 
tion, and  then  undertook  the  selection  of  seed  according 
to  definite  rules.  At  the  same  time,  he  commenced  to 
study  individual  plants  in  small  seed-plots  and  to  sow 
head-rows.  At  first  he  made  selections  from  Preston,  a 
wheat  still  grown  on  many  farms  at  Eosthern,  and  then 
selections  from  Dr.  Saunders'  strain  of  Early  Eed  Fife. 
He  procured  a  sample  of  White  Bobs  for  sowing  in  1908, 
and  a  sample  of  Marquis  for  sowing  in  1911. 

In  1911  he  won  his  first  international  prize  for  the 
best  bushel  of  hard  red  spring  wheat  at  the  'New  York 
Land  Show  with  Marquis;  and  he  won  similar  prizes 
with  Marquis  in  1914  and  1915.  In  1916  he  also  won  the 
international  prize  but,  on  this  occasion,  not  with  Marquis 
but  with  Kitchener,  a  selection  from  Marquis.  In  1918, 
for  the  fifth  time,  he  carried  off  the  international  prize, 


THE   ORIGIN    OF   RED    BOBS  275 

but  whether  he  won  it  with  Marquis  or  Ked  Bobs  is  uncer- 
tain. ^^  He  selected  Red  Bobs  from  White  Bobs  in  1910, 
and  Kitchener  from  Marquis  in  1911.  As  an  active 
member  of  the  Canadian  Seed  Growers'  Association,  he 
has  supplied  to  other  farmers  a  considerable  amoimt  of 
pure  seed  of  Marquis,  Kitchener,  and  Red  Bobs.  He  has 
also  been  much  in  demand  as  a  judge  at  Seed  Fairs  and 
in  standing  crop  competitions.  His  stimulating  influence 
has  done  much  to  forward  the  best  interests  of  agriculture 
in  western  Canada.  When  one  considers  the  very  small 
amount  of  schooling  which  Mr.  Wheeler  received  as  a 
boy,  one  cannot  help  feeling  surprise  at  the  successes  which 
he  has  achieved  in  the  difficult  task  of  plant-breeding. 
However,  he  is  a  born  observer,  and  has  remarkable 
natural  ability  in  distinguishing  slight  differences  in 
cereals  and  other  plants.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  his 
selection  of  Red  Bobs  from  White  Bobs  was  a  fine  piece 
of  work,  such  as  would  be  highly  creditable  to  any  plant 
breeder ;  and  the  reputation  which  he  has  thereby  achieved 
has  been  well  merited. 

XI.  Kitchener 

Kitchener  is  a  selection  from  Marquis  made  by  Mr. 
Seager  Wheeler  in  1911.  The  year  1911  was  the  first 
in  which  Mr.  Wheeler  grew  Marquis  and  he  naturally 
paid  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  to  it.  One  plant 
in  a  plot  of  Marquis  stood  out  from  all  the  others  as  a  dis- 
tinct type.  He  therefore  pulled  it  up  by  the  roots  and 
stored  it  until  winter.  Each  of  the  four  or  five  heads 
was  then  rubbed  out  in  the  hand  separately,  and  the 
gTains  from  each  head  were  sown  in  head-rows  in  a  plot 
in  1912.     The  year  1912  was  verj  wet,  so  much  so  that 

10  Vide  Chapter  III,  Section  IX,  on  Prizes  Won  hy  Marquis. 


276  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

the  grains  of  some  of  Mr.  Wlieeler's  wheats  sprouted  from 
the  heads  standing  in  the  fields ;  but  Kitchener  did  not  do 
this.  In  that  year,  Kitchener  gave  a  better  result  than 
the  other  strains  of  llarquis  in  point  of  uniformity,  in 
the  color,  shape,  and  size  of  the  grains,  and  in  apparent 
yield.  In  1913  a  hailstorm  destroyed  many  of  Mr. 
Wheeler's  plants.  All  the  sof t-strawed  and  bearded  wheats 
such  as  bearded  strains  of  Red  Bobs,  Preston,  and  some 
other  wheats,  were  dashed  to  the  ground.  Kitchener,  how- 
ever, stood  the  test  well,  even  better  than  Marquis. 

Kitchener,  Mr.  Wheeler  feels,  has  the  finest  straw  of  any 
wheat,  for  it  is  not  only  strong  but  also  very  elastic. 
It  ripens  about  the  same  time  as  Marquis,  occasionally 
perhaps  a  little  later,  and  is  later  than  Eed  Bobs,  Euby, 
and  Prelude.  In  1914  a  sheaf  of  it  won  an  international 
prize  at  Denver,  Colorado;  and  in  1915  a  quarter  of  an 
acre  hand-selected  seed  plot  yielded  at  the  rate  of  80 
bushels  to  the  acre,  at  about  the  same  rate  as  the  yield 
of  Marquis  on  Mr.  Wheeler's  farm  in  1911.  In  1916 
Kitchener  won  the  sweep-stake  for  the  best  wheat  at  the 
International  Soils  Products  Exposition  at  El  Paso,  Texas. 
In  1917,  one  field  plot  yielded  63  bushels  to  the  acre  and 
another  50  bushels.  It  is  evident  that  the  yielding  quali- 
ties of  Kitchener  under  field  conditions  at  Eosthern  are 
very  high.  Kitchener  is  now  distributed  to  a  number 
of  farmers  in  the  three  western  provinces,  and  it  has  also 
been  grown  in  Ontario  where  its  yield  has  been  excellent. 
In  the  south  and  southwest  parts  of  the  Prairie  Provinces, 
where  it  is  dry,  and  where  Eed  Fife  is  grown  in  preference 
to  Marquis  on  account  of  its  longer  straw.  Kitchener  prob- 
ably has  a  future  owing  to  superiority  in  length  and 
strength  of  straw.  It  will  doubtless  have  its  day  for  a 
little  while  at  least  in  some  places. 

Kitchener,  like  Marquis,  is  not  absolutely  awnless,  and 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    RED    BOBS  277 

it  has  a  solid  compact  head,  and  strong  straight  straw. 
Its  grains  as  compared  with  those  of  Marqni's  nre  slightly 
larger  and  smoother.  The  grains  are  the  smoothest  known 
to  Mr.  Wheeler. 


CHAPTEE  Y 

The  Wild  Wheat  of  Palesthste 

I.  The  Importance  and  Antiquity  of  Agriculture 

For  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  primitive 
man  was  a  hunter  who  knew  nothing  of  either  cultivated 
plants  or  domesticated  animals.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
long  Stone  Age,  the  way  to  civilization  was  opened  through 
the  introduction  of  agriculture  and  through  the  taming 
of  the  dog,  the  ox,  the  sheep,  the  pig,  the  horse,  and  other 
denizens  of  the  woods  and  plains. 

The  cultivation  of  plants  and  the  breeding  of  animals 
for  food  greatly  diminished  the  danger  of  starvation,  and 
enabled  primitive  man  to  give  iip  his  nomadic  habits  and 
to  live  in  villages.  The  grouping  of  families  together  in 
settled  communities  led  to  the  development  of  an  ever  more 
complex  social  existence  and  consciousness  with  the  re- 
sult that  there  have  been  differentiated  such  remarkable 
social  organisms  as  those  represented  by  France,  Italy, 
the  United  States,  and  Great  Britain,  with  their  dense 
populations,  their  innumerable  towns  and  cities,  their 
complex  civic  life,  their  public  buildings,  their  literatures, 
their  laws,  their  art,  their  science,  their  music,  their  manu- 
facturing machinery,  and  their  wonderful  means  of  com- 
munication and  transportation.  Without  the  discovery 
and  introduction  of  agriculture  by  primitive  man  it  is 
certain  that  not  one  of  the  world's  great  cities,  nor  even 
a  town  of  one  thousand  inhabitants,  could  ever  have  come 

into  existence. 

278 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       279 

Settled  communities  based  on  agriculture,  as  we  know 
from  ancient  records,  were  already  established  many 
thousands  of  years  ago.  A  glimpse  into  the  life  of  one 
such  community  is  given  us  by  an  inscription  upon  an 
obelisk  set  up  by  Mannichtousan,  King  of  Sis,  who  lived 
near  Susa  about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Euphrates.  The  obelisk  in  question  was  set  up  be- 
tween 4000  B.  c.  and  3500  b.  c,  and  the  inscription 
upon  it  records  the  price  of  a  sale  of  land.  The  price  of 
the  land  was  fixed  by  the  value  of  the  crop.  The  king 
bound  himself  to  nourish,  clothe,  and  protect  the  serfs 
and  slaves  who  were  attached  to  the  estate  and  who  were 
obliged  to  cultivate  it.  Near  the  place  where  the  obelisk 
was  discovered,  the  accumulated  refuse  was  found  to  be 
fifty  feet  deep.  The  King  of  Sis  evidently  ruled  over  a 
community  which  had  advanced  a  long  way  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil  and  in  general  civilization.^ 

II.  The  Antiquity  and  Origin  of  Wheat 

Archaeologists  have  discovered  wheat  in  the  rubbish 
heaps  of  the  lake  dwellings  of  both  Switzerland  and  Italy, 
so  that  we  have  the  clearest  evidence  that  this  cereal  was 
cultivated  by  prehistoric  man.  Unger  found  wheat  in  a 
brick  of  the  pyramid  of  Dashur  in  Egypt,  to  which  he 
assigned  the  date  3359  b.  c.  ;  and  the  Chinese  grew  wheat 
as  long  ago  as  2700  b.  c.^  The  ancient  civilizations  of 
Babylonia,  Egypt,  Crete,  Greece,  and  Rome  were  un- 
doubtedly based  on  wheat  as  one  of  the  principal  food 
plants. 

Wheat  has  been  found   in   the   sarcophagi   of  ancient 

iG.  F.  Scott  Elliott,  Prehistoric  Man  and  His  Story,  London, 
1915,  p.  216. 

2  Alphonse  de  Candolle,  Origin  of  Cultivated  Plants,  London,  1884, 
p.  355. 


280  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Egyptian  munmiies.  It  is  still  currently  reported  that 
this  mammy  wheat,  after  being  sown,  has  been  observed 
to  germinate ;  but  there  is  no  truth  whatever  in  this  story. 
Careful  experiment  has  demonstrated  that  all  real  mummy 
wheat  has  entirely  lost  its  vitality.  The  oldest  tombs 
containing  wheat  belong  to  the  First  Dynasty  and  are 
about  6,000  years  old. 

The  ancients,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  evolution  of 
man  and  of  his  slow  passage  to  civilization  through  the 
Age  of  Stone  and  the  Age  of  Bronze,  attributed  the  origin 
of  wheat  to  supernatural  agency.  The  Chinese  regarded 
wheat  as  a  direct  gift  of  heaven.  The  Egyptians  believed 
its  introduction  to  have  been  due  to  Osiris,  and  the  Greeks 
to  Demeter  and  Tryptolemus. 

According  to  Grecian  mythology,  Persephone,  the 
daughter  of  the  goddess  Demeter,  was  carried  off  by 
Hades;  whereupon  Demeter  visited  the  earth  and  sought 
her  child  far  and  wide.  On  the  tenth  day  of  her  search, 
she  learned  the  truth  from  the  all-seeing  Sun ;  and  so  angry 
did  she  become  with  Zeus  for  having  permitted  the  out- 
rage that,  in  her  wrath,  she  made  the  earth  barren,  so 
that  the  mortals  living  upon  it  were  threatened  with  de- 
struction by  famine.  At  last  a  compromise  was  effected 
and  it  was  arranged  that  Persephone  should  spend  two- 
thirds  of  the  year  with  her  mother  and  one-third  with  her 
husband.  On  returning  to  Olympus,  Demeter  left  to 
mankind  the  gifts  of  wheat  and  of  agriculture,  as  a  token 
of  her  grateful  recollection  for  the  generous  treatment 
she  had  received  upon  the  earth.  She  then  sent  Tryptole- 
mus the  Eleusinian  round  the  world  in  her  serpent- 
drawn  chariot  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  agriculture  and 
of  the  blessings  which  accompany  it,  such  as  the  settlement 
of  fixed  places  of  abode,  civil  order,  and  wedlock.  Tem- 
ples were  raised  to  Demeter  who  was  henceforth  regarded 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       281 


Fig.  43,     Demeter  enthroned.     From  a  painting  found  at  Pompeii,  Naples. 

as  the  goddess  of  agriculture;  and  the  most  ancient  seats 
of  her  worship  were  Athens  and  Elousis  where  the  Rharian 


ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

plain  was  solemnly  plowed  every  year  in  memory  of 
the  first  sowing  of  wheat.  Among  the  offerings  dedicated 
to  her  by  her  votaries  were  fruit  and  honey-comb,  the 
cow  and  the  sow,  the  latter  as  emblems  of  productivity. 
Among  her  attributes  were  ears  of  wheat. 

At  Eome  in  b.  c.  496  there  was  a  drought.  The 
Sibylline  Books  were  therefore  consulted  and,  as  a  result, 
the  cult  of  Demeter  was  introduced  into  Italy.  The 
Greek  name  Demeter  was  changed  by  the  Romans  to 
Ceres,^  and  a  temple  was  raised  to  the  goddess  on  one 
of  the  seven  hills  of  Rome  in  b.  c.  490.  The  worshipers 
of  Ceres  in  Italy  were  almost  entirely  plebeian,  and  they 
annually  celebrated  the  festival  of  the  Cerealia  or  games 
introduced  at  the  founding  of  the  temple.  One  festival 
was  held  in  April  and  another  was  held  in  August.  At 
the  latter,  after  fasting  for  nine  days,  the  women,  clothed 
in  white  and  adorned  with  crowns  of  ripe  ears  of  wheat, 
offered  to  the  goddess  the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest.  The 
worship  of  Ceres  was  maintained  in  its  purest  form  in 
the  country.  Here  the  people  of  the  soil,  before  the  be- 
ginning of  harvest,  offered  to  the  goddess  of  agriculture  a 
sow  (porca  prsecidanea)  and  dedicated  to  her  the  first  cut- 
tings of  the  wheat  fields  (prsemetium). 

At  Pompeii,  the  City  of  the  Dead,  which  was  buried  in 
ashes  during  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  in  a.  d.  79,  there 
have  been  preserved  to  us  some  of  the  world's  greatest 
treasures  in  art  and  archseology,  and  among  them  are  two 
mural  paintings  of  the  goddess  of  agriculture.  In  one  of 
them  (Figure  43),  the  artist  has  represented  her  as  full  of 

3  Ceres  may  have  been  originally  a  native  Italian  deity  whose  name 
came  from  creare,  to  create,  and  who  presided  over  or  represented  the 
generative  powers  of  nature.  If  so,  she  was  replaced  by  Demeter 
when  the  cult  of  the  Greek  goddess  was  introduced  into  Italy.  Gf. 
W.  W.  Fowler,  The  Roman  Festivals  of  the  Period  of  the  Republic, 
London,  1908,  pp.  73,  181. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF   PALESTINE       283 

dignity  seated  upon  a  throne :  lier  head  is  crowned  with  a 
wheaten  garland ;  in  her  right  hand  she  bears  a  torch ;  upon 
her  left  arm  reclines  a  sheaf  of  wheat,  while  her  relation  to 
the  cereal  she  is  supposed  to  have  introduced  is  further  em- 
phasized by  a  basket  of  wheat  which  stands  on  the  ground 
at  her  feet.  In  the  other  painting,  the  goddess  is  repre- 
sented to  us  in  a  standing  posture;  but  again  she  wears 
a  wheaten  crown,  while  she  bears  a  torch  in  her  right  hand 
and  ears  of  wheat  in  her  left.* 

The  people  of  ancient  Italy,  notwithstanding  their 
prayers  to  Ceres,  found  that  their  wheat  and  other  cereal 
crops  were  often  affected  by  Rust;  and  mention  of  the 
disease  is  made  in  the  writings  of  Aristotle,  Theophrastus, 
Strabo,  Varro,  Columella,  Ovid,  and  Pliny.  Pliny  states 
that  it  was  "  the  gTcatest  pest  of  the  crops.''  The 
Romans  believed  in  a  Rust-god  whom  they  called  Robigus, 
and  they  held  that  he  had  power  to  ward  off  the  rust 
disease.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  April,  therefore,  at  the 
time  in  each  year  when  the  rust  usually  attacked  the 
wheat,  they  celebrated  a  feast  called  the  Robigalia  with 
the  object  of  propitiating  Robigus.  The  Quirinal  flamen 
presided  over  the  ceremony,  and  the  procession  marched 
out  from  Rome  to  the  lucus  Rohigi,  situated  at  the  fiith 
milestone  along  the  Claudian  Way.  There,  in  the  sacred 
grove,  before  a  crowd  clad  in  white  togas,  the  priest  offered 
up  a  prayer  to  the  stern  Rust-god,  imploring  him  to  spare 
the  crops  of  Ceres,  a  libation  of  wine  was  poured  upon  the 
altar,  incense  was  thrown  into  the  flames,  and  the  en- 
trails of  a  sheep  and  of  a  dog  were  placed  upon  the  altar 
and  burnt.  The  dog  was  reddish,  this  color  being  sym- 
bolical of  the  pest  to  be  avoided.     Ovid,  once,  when  re- 

4  C/.  W.  H.  Roscher,  article  on  Ceres,  Lexicon,  Leipzig;  also  H.  T. 
Peck,  articles  on  Demeter  and  Ceres  in  Harper's  Dictionary  of  Classi- 
cal Literature  and  Antiquities,  New  York,  1896. 


284  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

turning  to  the  capital  from  the  neighboring  town  of 
JSTomentum,  met  the  Robigalian  procession  by  chance,  and 
it  is  to  his  pen  that  we  are  indebted  for  an  account  of  the 
rites  which  were  performed  by  the  priest.^ 

Wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  millet,  rice,  and  maize  are 
collectively  designated  as  cereals.  It  is  of  interest  to 
note  that  the  word  cereal  originally  meant  something  per- 
taining to  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  agriculture.  It  is  thus 
clear  that  when  we  speak  of  cereals,  we  employ  a  term 
which  was  brought  into  being  and  shaped  into  usefulness 
by  the  worshipers  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  Italy  some 
2,500  years  ago. 

The  besom  of  science  has  swept  away  many  of  the 
superstitions  of  the  past,  even  stretching  to  high  Olympus 
and  removing  the  gods  and  goddesses  from  their  seats. 
When  considering  the  origin  of  wheat,  we  no  longer  think 
of  Osiris  and  Ceres  but  seek  to  guide  our  steps  into  the 
way  of  truth  with  light  from  the  lamp  of  the  now  thor- 
oughly well  established  doctrine  of  evolution.  Our  pres- 
ent biological  knowledge  leads  us  to  believe  that  the 
wheat  now  in  cultivation  was  formerly  derived  from  one  or 
more  species  of  wild  grass-plants  which  grew  somewhere 
in  Asia,  and  that  the  first  wheat-grower  was  a  man  or 
woman  who  lived  toward  the  end  of  the  long  Stone  Age. 

The  Palaeolithic  Period  or  Older  Stone  Age  was  co- 
incident with  the  Great  Ice  Age,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  palaeolithic  man  knew  anything  of  agri- 
culture. The  much  shorter  Neolithic  Period  or  ]^ewer 
Stone  Age  was  passed  through  subsequently  to  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  ice.  The  remains  of  neolithic  man  seem 
to  prove  that  the  growing  of  wheat  was  associated  with 
his  development.     Mr.  Scott  Elliott  after  discussing  the 

5  Gf.  A.  H.  R.  Buller,  The  Fungus  Lore  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
Transactions  of  the  British  Mycologieal  Society,  1914,  pp.  30-31. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE 


285 


archaeological  evidence  upon  which  his  conclusion  is  based, 
states  that  "  the  best  guess  as  to  the  date  of  the  first  harvest 
is  perhaps  between  15,000  b.  c.  and  10,000  b.  c."  ^ 

III.  The  Prototypes  of  Cereals 

Certain  wild  species  of  barley,  oats,  and  rye  are  known, 
which  may  reasonably  be  considered  as  the  prototypes  or 
ancestors  of  their  cultivated  relatives.  Thus  Eordeum 
spontaneum,  a  wild  barley,  is  regarded  as  the  wild  form  of 
Eordeum  disticlion,  the  two-rowed  barley  ;  and  it  is  further 
believed  that  from  this  species  have  been  derived  Eordeum 
vulgare,  the  common  six-rowed  square-headed  barley,  and 
Eordeum  hexasticlion,  the  true  six-rowed  barley.  8ecale 
montanum,  a  wild  rye,  has  been  considered  to  be  the 
prototype  of  8ecale  cereale,  the  cultivated  rye;  while 
A  vena  fatua,  a  wild  oat,  or  some  other  species  of  wild 
Avena,  is  believed  to  be  the  progenitor  of  cultivated  oats. 
However,  until  recently,  no  one  knew  anything  about 
the  original  wild  form  of  wheat  and  most  botanists  were  in- 
clined to  believe  that  it  had  become  extinct.  In  1899,  the 
Count  of  Solms-Laubach  declared  that  the  genealogical 
record  of  wheat  had  been  lost  forever  and  that  the  history 
of  its  development  could  only  be  written  from  theoretical 
considerations.  Even  whilst  the  Count  was  publishing 
his  views,  there  was  a  small  group  of  botanists  who  not 
only  believed  that  the  wild  ancestor  of  wheat  would  one 
day  be  found  but  that  a  single  head  of  it  was  already 
known.  Chief  among  these  men  was  Komicke  who  de- 
voted some  forty  years  to  the  study  of  cereals."^ 

6  G.  F.  Scott  Elliott,  loc.  cit.,  p.  217. 

7  Cf.  A.  Aaronsohn,  Agricultural  and  Botanical  Explorations  in 
Palestine,  Bulletin  No.  180,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  1910,  pp.  37-38. 


286  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

IV.  ^Kornickes  Discovery  in  a  Herbarium 

Komicke  published  his  great  work  on  cereals  in  the 
year  1885.  In  1873,  when  he  was  preparing  the  notes 
for  his  manuscript,  he  was  looking  through  the  pressed 
specimens  of  grasses  preserved  in  the  herbarium  of  the 
National  Museum  at  Vienna.  On  examining  a  sheet  of 
wild  barley  (Hordeum  spontaneum)  which  Kotschy  had 
gathered  in  1855  at  Rasheyya,  on  the  northwestern  side 
of  Mount  Hermon  in  Palestine,  his  eye  was  attracted  to  the 
ear  of  a  graminiferous  plant  which  he  at  once  recognized 
as  a  species  of  wild  wheat  closely  resembling  the  cultivated 
wheat  known  as  emmer.  Curiously  enough,  he  forgot  to 
mention  the  wild  wheat  in  his  book  on  cereals  published 
twelve  years  later;  and  it  was  not  until  1889,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Society  of  the  Lower  Rhine  and  Westphalia,  that 
he-  reported  his  discovery  to  the  scientific  world.  He 
then  named  Kotschy's  plant  Triticum  vulgare  dicoccoides 
and  declared  that  it  was  the  prototype  of  our  cultivated 
wheat.  For  some  years  afterwards  he  repeatedly  referred 
to  the  wild  Triticum  and  urged  botanists  who  went  to  the 
region  of  Mount  Hermon  to  seek  for  it.  He  even  en- 
deavored to  induce  the  scientific  academies  of  Vienna 
and  Berlin  to  organize  an  expedition  to  Palestine  to  find 
the  plant  which  he  felt  to  be  of  so  much  interest ;  but  his 
efforts  were  all  in  vain.^ 

V.  Rediscovery  of  the  Wild  Wheat  hy  Aaronsohn 

In  1902,  Aaron  Aaronsohn,  Director  of  the  Jewish 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station  at  Haifa  in  Palestine, 
made  a  visit  to  Berlin  and  whilst  there  Professors  Ascher- 
son,  Schweinfurth,  and  Warburg  called  his  attention  to 
the  importance,  from  a  theoretical  point  of  view,  of  finding 
8  A.  Aaronsohn,  loc.  cit.,  p.  37. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE        287 

the  wild  wheat.  In  1904,  therefore,  Aaronsohn  visited 
the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon  and  began  his  search.  How- 
ever, he  had  but  little  hope  of  success,  for  two  other 
botanists,  Post  and  Bornmiiller,  had  previously  botanized 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Rasheyya,  the  locality  on  Mount 
Hermon  where  Kotschy^s  original  specimen  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  gathered,  and  yet  in  their  two  Floras 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  they  had  failed  to  report  finding 
any  species  of  Triticum.  Aaronsohn,  therefore,  did  not 
long  persist  in  his  search  and  concluded  that  there  had 
been  some  mistake  in  the  record  of  the  locality  from 
which  Kotschy's  wild  wheat  had  come. 

In  1905,  Aaronsohn  was  again  in  Berlin  and  was 
urged  by  the  botanists  there  to  renew  his  search.  Stim- 
ulated anew,  he  returned  to  Palestine,  and  in  June,  1906, 
took  a  long  trip  to  Upper  Galilee  with  the  intention  of 
going  as  far  as  Mount  Hermon  and  of  spending  as  much 
time  as  possible  in  looking  for  the  wild  wheat.  This 
time  his  effort  was  crowned  with  success  and  even  sooner 
than  he  had  anticipated.  Whilst  on  the  way  to  Mount 
Hermon,  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  rediscover  the  species 
for  which  he  had  sought  and  thus  to  bring  to  light  one  of 
the  most  interesting  plants  in  the  world.  His  own  ac- 
count of  the  event,  which  is  contained  in  a  Bulletin  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  will  now  be 
quoted : 

"  On  June  18,  I  was  walking  with  my  friend,  the 
agronomist  Mr.  M.  Bermann,  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Jew- 
ish Agricultural  Colony  at  Rosh  Pinar,  at  the  foot  of 
Jebel  Safed,  and  was  trying  to  demonstrate  to  him  the 
Eocene  origin  of  the  ground.  Suddenly  I  noticed  in  a 
crevice  of  a  rock  of  nummulitic  limestone  an  isolated 
plant  which  at  first  sight  looked  like  a  stool  of  barley,  but 
which  on  closer  inspection  proved  to  be  a  wheat,  the  ripe 


288  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

spikelets  of  which  could  be  detached  from  the  brittle 
rachis  bj  the  slightest  shake.  I  could  hardly  believe  that 
it  was  really  the  plant  for  which  I  was  looking.  The 
development  of  the  head  and  grains  was  so  perfect  —  so 
nearly  like  the  forms  produced  under  cultivation  at  the 
present  day  —  that  I  could  scarcely  believe  that  this  was 
their  wild  prototype,  though,  to  be  sure,  if  it  had  not 
been  so  well  developed,  primitive  man  would  not  have 
noticed  it,  or  at  least  would  not  have  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  its  cultivation  to  such  an  extent  as  he  did. 

"  I  could  not  at  that  time  remain  longer  at  Kosh  Pinar, 
and  so  left  the  next  day  for  the  north.  On  the  way  from 
Eosh  Pinar  to  Easheyya  (three  days  on  horseback),  I 
looked  for  wild  wheat,  but  could  not  find  any.  At 
Rasheyya,  too,  I  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  botanizing 
in  the  vineyards  in  the  hope  of  finding  the  Triticum  there, 
but  also  without  success.  But  when  I  began  to  extend 
my  search  to  uncultivated  lands,  along  the  edges  of  roads 
and  in  the  crevices  of  rocks,  I  found  a  few  stools  of 
the  wild  Triticum.  Later  I  came  across  it  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  the  most  astonishing  thing  about  it  was  the 
large  number  of  forms  it  displayed.  The  sample  speci- 
men of  Posh  Pinar,  however,  was  the  finest  one.  This 
plant  had  made  a  very  vigorous  growth  and  bore  heads  of 
which  the  stiff,  rugose  awns  (beards)  were  nearly  or  quite 
6  inches  long.  At  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon  the  stems 
were  longer  but  fewer.  Instead  of  being  2  feet  high,  as 
at  Posh  Pinar,  this  wild  wheat  at  Pasheyya  was  more  than 
40  inches  high. 

"  I  ascended  Mount  Hermon  and  went  around  to  the 
other  side.  I  intend  at  some  future  time  to  describe  this 
trip,  as  its  botanical  and  geological  results  may  interest  the 
scientific  world;  but  here  I  shall  speak  only  of  the  Tri- 
ticum.    In  descendins:  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Hermon 


^sl^^^. 


Fig.  44.  \'ie\v  ul  Mejdel  esh  ibclieius,  uu  the  alopes  ul  Aiuimt  Hermon, 
where  Wild  Wheat  was  found.  From  A.  Aaronsohn's  Agricultural  and 
Botanical  Explorations  in  Palestine.  Courtesy  of  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture. 


Fig.  45.  Heads  of  an  ordinary  form  of  the  Wild  Wheat  of  Palestine  as 
grown  at  Bard,  California.  Natural  size.  From  O.  F.  Cook's  Wild  Wheat 
of  Palestine.     Courtesy  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE 


289 


(9,498  feet  in  altitude)  towards  Arny,  a  little  village  on  its 
eastern  slope,  I  found  innumerable  forms  of  this  wild 
Triticum  growing  in  abundance  at  an  altitude  of  5,250 
feet  and  less.  In  some  cases  the  whole  ear  was  black ;  in 
others  only  the  glumes  or  part  of  the  glumes;  in  still 
others  the  awns  alone  were  black.  Sometimes  the  glumes 
were  completely  glabrous,  sometimes  very  hirsute;  in 
some  the  form  of  the  glume  resembled  that  of  Triticum 
durum  (durum  wheat),  in  others  the  development  of  the 
secondary  nerve  was  similar  to  that  of  T.  monococcum 
(einkorn).  I  had  discovered  so  many  forms  that  no  at- 
tempt at  determination  could  be  made.  Among  these  was 
even  T.  monococcum  aegilipoides,  a  form  I  had  not  at  all 
expected  to  find.  I  could  therefore  only  gather  specimens, 
noting  their  habitat,  associations,  etc. 

'^  As  soon  as  I  got  home  I  wrote  the  good  news  to  my 
friends  in  Berlin.  A  short  notice  of  the  results  of  this 
trip  and  an  article  by  Professor  Schweinfurth  on  the  im- 
portance of  this  discovery  and  on  the  possibilities  which  it 
opened  up  were  published. 

"  My  trip  in  1906  merely  established  the  native  habitat 
of  Triticum  dicoccum  dicoccoides.  It  was  still  necessary 
to  find  out  the  extent  of  the  distribution,  its  habit  of 
growth,  etc.,  and  I  made  another  trip  for  this  purpose  in 
1907.  .  .  .  On  this  trip  I  was  able  to  show  conclusively 
that  Triticum  dicoccum  dicoccoides  is  indigenous  to  the 
regions  of  Mount  Hermon  and  the  northern  part  of  the 
Trans-Jordan.  The  idea  that  it  is  a  plant  escaped  from 
cultivation  can  not  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  In  the 
first  place  Triticum  dicoccum  (emmer)  is  not  cultivated 
anywhere  in  Syria  or  Palestine.  I  have  not  been  able  to 
discover  any  hybrid  or  mongrel  between  this  wild  wheat 
and  the  cultivated  forms.  Second  —  and  this  is  the  im- 
portant point  —  our  Triticum  dicoccum  dicoccoides  rarely 


290  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

appears  on  soils  which  have  been  cultivated  for  any  pur- 
pose. It  grows  only  upon  the  slopes  of  the  most  arid 
and  rocky  hills  and  in  places  exposed  to  the  hottest  rays 
of  the  oriental  sun."      (Figure  44.) 

Aaronsohn's  observations  have  been  confirmed  by  O.  F. 
Cook  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  who 
visited  the  Holy  Land  in  1910,  found  the  wild  wheat, 
and  carried  out  an  independent  investigation  upon  its 
characteristics.  Cook  reports  in  his  well  illustrated 
Bulletin  that  the  wild  Triticum  is  widely  distributed  on 
the  slopes  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  range  of  mountains  in 
northern  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  that  it  behaves  in 
every  way  as  a  truly  indigenous  plant;  and  he  further 
points  out  that  it  is  especially  abundant  on  limestone 
formations  where  it  often  appears  to  be  the  dominant 
species.  His  illustrations  show  the  wild  wheat  in  tufts 
growing  on  the  arid  slopes  of  hills  among  stones  and 
bowlders  much  in  the  same  manner  as  its  distant  relatives 
the  Couch-grass  or  False  Wheat  (Agropyron  repeiis)  and 
the  Slender  Wheat-grass  {A.  tenerum)  now  grow  from 
the  cracks  and  crevices  of  the  glaciated  rocky  hummocks 
which  make  up  so  much  of  the  land  surface  at  Kenora 
and  other  places  on  the  Lake  of  the  Woods. 

The  scientific  name  of  the  wild  wheat  used  by  Aaron- 
sohn  is  Triticum  dicoccum  dicoccoides  and  was  chosen  be- 
cause the  name  of  the  cultivated  wheat  to  which  in  Aaron- 
sohn's  opinion  the  wild  wheat  is  most  closely  related  (Em- 
mer),  is  Triticum  dicoccum.  The  triple  name  Triticum 
dicoccum^  dicoccoides^  however,  is  cumbersome  and  tauto- 
logical, and  it  makes  the  wild  wheat  a  variety  of  a  culti- 
vated wheat.  Moreover,  Cook  has  doubts  based  on  morpho- 
logical grounds  as  to  the  propriety  of  associating  the  wild 
wheat  so  closely  with  Emmer.  Cook  has  therefore  sug- 
gested that  the  name  Triticum  dicoccum  dicoccoides  should 


Fig.  46.  Wheat  Kernels.  A,  Wild  Wheat  showing  usual  size;  B, 
large-seeded  variation  of  Wild  Wheat;  C,  Sonora  wheat  commonly 
grown  in  the  same  locality  at  Bard,  California.  x\ll  natural  size.  The 
weight  of  the  individual  kernels  in  A,  B,  C  averaged  respectively,  0.032 
gram,  0.071  gram,  and  0.038  gram.  From  O.  F.  Cook's  Wild  Wheat  of 
Palestine.     Courtesy  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 


Fig.  47.  Classes  of  Wheat.  From  left  to  right:  Wheat  (Triticum 
vulgare  —  Marquis);  Durum  wheat  {Triticum  durum  —  Kubanka)  ; 
Club  wheat  {Triticum  compact um) .  Courtesy  of  Professor  John 
Bracken. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE        291 

be  discarded  and  tliat  it  should  be  replaced  by  Triticum 
hermonis.  This  proposed  change  in  nomenclature  not 
only  gives  to  wild  wheat  the  status  of  an  independent 
species  which  is  its  just  due,  but  also  serves  to  commemo- 
rate the  spot  —  Mount  Hermon  —  where  the  first  ear  was 
collected.  In  future,  therefore,  we  shall  refer  to  the 
wild  wheat  as  Triticum  hermonis. 

Specimens  of  Triticum  hermonis  were  brought  from 
Palestine  to  the  United  States  by  Aaronsohn,  with  the 
result  that  at  various  experimental  stations  in  that  coun- 
try plots  of  ground  are  now  sown  annually  with  the  new 
cereal.  The  wild  wheat  has  also  found  its  way  to  west- 
ern Canada  and  has  been  grown  by  Professor  Harrison 
at  the  Agi'icultural  College  at  Winnipeg  and  by  Professor 
W.  P.  Thompson  on  the  campus  of  the  University  of 
Saskatchewan  at  Saskatoon.  I  visited  Professor  Thomp- 
son in  the  summer  of  1918  in  order  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  nature  of  his  cereal  investigations  and,  of  course, 
was  shown  his  little  plot  of  Triticum  hermonis.  With 
what  interest  and  delight  did  he  and  I  examine  the  new- 
comer from  Palestine,  noting  its  grass-like  habit,  its  rela- 
tively short  straw,  and  its  bending  long-bearded  heads, 
with  their  primitive  and  admirable  arrangements  for 
scattering  the  grains  ;  and  with  what  wonder  did  we  reflect 
upon  the  possibility  that  there,  at  last,  before  our  own 
eyes,  was  the  very  species  from  which  had  sprung  all  the 
Marquis  and  Ked  Fife  which,  all  over  the  West,  even 
then,  was  ripening  unto  harvest.  Evidently  we  were  in 
the  presence  of  a  virile  vegetable,  not  dependent  for  its 
propagation,  as  are  our  cultivated  wheats,  upon  the  pam- 
pering attentions  of  mankind,  but  well  fitted  by  its  struc- 
ture and  functions  to  maintain  itself  in  its  native  habitat 
from  generation  to  generation  in  open  competition  with 
the  rest  of  the  plant  world. 


292  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

VI.  The  Botanical  Classification  of  Wheats 

In  order  to  appreciate  why  it  is  that  the  wild  wheat 
of  Palestine  has  been  considered  to  be  the  prototype  of  our 
cultivated  wheats,  it  is  necessary  to  understand  how  cul- 
tivated wheats  have  been  classified.  Eight  distinct  kinds 
of  wheat  have  been  recognized  as  follows : 

1.  Einkorn.  5.  Wheat. 

2.  Polish  Wheat.  6.  Club  Wheat. 

3.  Emmer.  7.  Poulard  Wheat. 

4.  Spelt.  8.  Hard  or  Durum  Wheat. 

In  the  great  central  spring-wheat  region  of  l^orth  Ameri- 
ca, No.  5  or  wheat  is  by  far  the  most  important  kind,  for  it 
includes  Ked  Fife,  Marquis,  Preston,  and  Bluestem.  No. 
8  or  durum  wheat  is  also  grown  in  the  dryer  localities; 
but  few  farmers  in  the  West  are  acquainted  with  either 
einkorn,  Polish  wheat,  emmer,  spelt,  club  wheat,  or  Pou- 
lard wheat.  The  following  classification  is  based  upon 
the  studies  of  Kornicke  and  Hackel : 

Triticum 

Section  Eutriticum 

I.  Triticum  monococcum  . einkorn. 

II.  Triticum  polonicum Polish  wheat. 

III.  Triticum  sativum  a  collective  species. 

1.  Triticum  dicoccum   emmer. 

2.  Triticum  spelta    spelt. 

3.  Triticum  tenax common  wheats. 

a.  Triticum   vulgar e   (Triticum  cestivum) ..  .wheat. 

b.  Triticum  compactum club  wheat, 

c.  Triticum  turgiduin Poulard  wheat. 

d.  Triticum  durum durum  wheat. 

We  thus  see  that  in  the  section  Eutriticum  of  the  genus 
Triticum  there  are  three  species:  Triticum  monococcum, 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       293 

T.  polonicum,  and  T.  sativum.  Triticum  sativum  is  a 
collective  species  and  contains  three  small  species:  T. 
dicoccum,  T.  spelta,  and  T.  tenax.  Triticum  tenax  is- 
in  turn  subdivided  into  subspecies:  T.  vulgare,  T.  com- 
padum,  T.  turgidum,  and  T.  durum. 

This  classification  is  essentially  artificial  and  the  dis- 
tinctions between  the  ojoups  are  not  always  clear.  Thus 
Kornicke  found  it  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  between 
some  forms  of  Triticum  durum  (durum  wheat)  and 
Triticum  dicoccum  (emmer). 

Triticum  monococcum  holds  a  place  distinct  from  the 
other  kinds  of  wheat  because  when  crossed  with  them  it 
does  not  produce  fertile  hybrids.  All  the  other  kinds  of 
wheat  can  be  crossed  without  difficulty.  Moreover,  a  wild 
prototype  of  Triticum  monococcum  has  been  known  for  a 
long  time  and  Aaronsohn  found  a  wild  form  of  T.  mono- 
coccum in  Palestine,  which  is  only  very  slightly  different 
from  cultivated  einkorn.  All  the  species  of  cultivated 
wheats  except  einkorn  pass  so  gradually  into  one  another 
that  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  really  belong 
to  one  species  and  have  had  a  common  origin. 

Aaronsohn  definitely  regards  Triticum  hermonis  which 
he  found  in  Palestine  as  the  wild  prototype  or  ancestral 
species  of  all  our  cultivated  wheats  except  Triticum  mono- 
coccum, the  einkorn.  In  the  following  paragraphs  the 
argument  which  he  adduces  in  support  of  his  view,  will  be 
quoted  verbatim. 

VII.  The  Brittle  Rachis  of  the  Primitive  Cereals 

"  What,"  says  Aaronsohn,  "  can  we  suppose  the  proto- 
type of  wheat  to  have  been,  and  by  what  characters  can 
it  be  recognized  ?     A  fragile  rachis  was  undoubtedly  one 
of  the  characters  of  this  wild  prototype.^     All  who  have 
9  The  rachis  of  the  head  of  wheat  is  the  main  axial  rod  or  stalk 


294  ESSAYS    ON   WHEAT 

studied  the  question  agree  as  to  this.  All  agronomists 
and  all  botanists  regard  a  rigid  rachis  as  an  acquired 
characteristic,  developed  by  man  under  cultivation  and 
having  a  tendency  to  destroy  the  plant's  natural  capacity 
for  dissemination. 

"  All  of  the  genera  and  species  related  to  wheat,  as 
Aegilops,  Agropyron,  etc.,  have  the  fragile  rachis,  a  neces- 
sity in  order  that  the  grain  be  assured  a  wide  dissemina- 
tion. It  is  also  needful  that  the  grain  remain  fixed  in 
its  glumes  as  a  general  protection  against  premature 
germination,  decay  and  destruction  by  enemies.  But  this 
characteristic,  so  useful  to  the  plant  itself,  was  a  draw- 
back to  its  use  by  man.  Wheat  with  a  brittle  rachis  re- 
quires to  be  harvested  before  complete  maturity  and  is 
difficult  to  handle.  Moreover,  grains  that  are  held  too 
closely  in  the  glumes  can  not  be  thrashed  with  flails, 
but  a  special  system  of  mills  must  be  used.  In  Egyptian 
tombs  6,000  years  old  have  been  found  heaps  of  emmer 
hulls,  a  careful  inspection  of  which  clearly  indicates  that 
they  were  thrashed  by  such  mills,  so  that  their  use  must 
date  from  the  most  ancient  times. 

"  Wild  wheat,  the  same  as  wild  oats  and  wild  barley, 
must  have  been  provided  with  the  means  for  ready  dis- 
semination. Man,  however,  naturally  wished  to  develop 
forms  which  are  not  so  difficult  for  him  to  handle,  and 
along  this  line  he  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  rigid  rachis 

which  bears  the  spikelets.  Hordeum  juhatum,  the  Wild  Barley, 
Squirrel-tail  Grass  or  Skunk-tail  Grass  of  the  prairies,  has  such  a 
brittle  rachis.  As  soon  as  the  head  is  ripe,  the  rachis  breaks  up 
into  some  twenty  or  more  joints  to  each  one  of  which  are  attached 
three  little  spikelets,  the  center  one  containing  a  single  grain. 
Every  one  knows  what  a  successful  weed  Wild  Barley  is.  It  is  its 
brittle  rachis,  however,  which  makes  its  dissemination  possible. 
Were  its  rachis  to  become  rigid,  as  in  our  cultivated  wheats  and  bar- 
leys, the  scattering  of  its  grains  would  be  prevented  and  no  doubt  it 
would  quickly  cease  to  be  noxious.     A.  H.  R.  B. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       295 

in  barley  as  well  as  in  wheat.  An  important  difference 
between  the  cultivated  two-rowed  barley  (Hordeum  di- 
stichon)  and  the  wild  barley  (Hordeum  spontaneum)  is 
the  fragile  rachis  of  the  latter.  But  more  than  this  has 
been  accomplished  with  wheat.  Forms  have  been  de- 
veloped in  which  the  grains  are  very  readily  removed 
from  the  glumes.  In  barley  and  oats  this  has  not  been 
done  to  the  same  extent.  We  have,  it  is  true,  naked 
varieties  of  these  two  cereals,  but  these  varieties  have  not 
been  extensively  cultivated,  doubtless  on  account  of  their 
relatively  smaller  yield,  and  until  a  comparatively  recent 
date  their  cultivation  has  been  confined  to  the  Orient.  In 
wheat,  on  the  contrary,  naked  grains  and  a  rigid  rachis 
are  the  general  rule,  these  two  characteristics  differentiat- 
ing the  cultivated  forms  from  the  primitive  type  and 
making  the  former  incapable  of  perpetuating  itself  with- 
out the  intervention  of  man. 

VIII.  Cultivated  Wheats  with  a  Brittle  Rachis 

"Among  the  known  cultivated  wheats  there  are  three 
that  still  retain  the  brittle  rachis:  Einkorn  (Triticum 
7nonococcum) J  emmer  (Triticum  dicoccum)  and  spelt 
(  Triticum  spelta  ) . 

"  It  is  known  that  the  cultivation  as  grain  crops  of 
einkorn,  emmer,  and  spelt  is  steadily  decreasing.  An  at- 
tempt has  been  made  in  comparatively  recent  times  both 
in  this  country  and  in  Russia  to  cultivate  einkorn  and 
emmer  as  forage  plants.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that, 
except  for  these  attempts,  these  wheats  are  cultivated  to- 
day only  by  the  Basques,  ^^  the  primitive  Swabians,^^  the 

10  The  Basques  live  on  both  sides  of  the  Pyrenees  in  Spain  and 
France.     A.  H.  R.  B. 

11  The  Swabians  live  in  the  old  Kingdom  of  Wiirttemberg,  in  Hesse, 
and  in  the  western  part  of  Bavaria.     A.  H.  R.  B. 


296  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

Serbes  and  that  peculiar  people  the  Bactrians  of  Persia. 
"  The  cultivated  wheats  with  a  rigid  rachis  are  there- 
fore derived  from  the  wheats  with  a  brittle  rachis.  But 
of  the  three  species  which  have  this  common  character, 
which  one  shall  we  select  as  the  prototype  and  why  make 
this  selection  to  the  exclusion  of  others  ? 

IX.  Einkorn  and  Its  Prototype  Distinct  from  other 
Wheats 

^^  More  than  fifty  years  ago  Balansa  discovered  Triticum 
monococcum  cegilipoides  in  the  wild  state.  This  differs 
from  the  cultivated  Triticum  monococcum,  (Einkorn)  only 
in  minute  characters  and  is  without  doubt  its  prototype. 
Balansa  believed  that  he  had  found  the  progenitor  of  the 
cultivated  wheats,  an  opinion  that  Haussknecht  also  ac- 
cepted at  the  time.  But  experiments  in  crossing  under- 
taken more  than  fifty  years  ago  by  Vilmorin  led  him  to 
assert  that  whereas  all  the  other  species  of  wheats  crossed 
with  each  other  perfectly  and  gave  mongrels,  or  fertile  off- 
spring, he  had  never  succeeded  in  crossing  Triticum 
monococcum  with  any  other  wheat.  Later,  Beyerinck 
succeeded  in  producing  the  cross,  but  the  products  were 
strict  hybrids;  that  is,  they  were  all  sterile.  More  re- 
cently still,  Professor  von  Tschermak,  who  took  up  Vil- 
morin's  experiments,  met  with  the  same  failure.  He  has 
succeeded  in  crossing  Triticum  monococcum  with  Triticum 
ovatum  which,  as  we  have  seen,  may  in  turn  be  crossed 
with  Triticum  cestivum;  but  neither  he  nor  any  one  else 
has  succeeded  in  crossing  Triticum  monococcum  with  any 
other  wheat. 

'^  Let  us  note,  however,  that  in  the  case  of  Triticum 
polonicum  there  was  difficulty  in  crossing,  because  of  the 
peculiar  form  of  its  glumes,  until  a  particular  operative 
technique  had  been  worked  out.     In  view  of  this  we  may 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       297 

question  whether  the  failure  with  einkorn  was  not  also 
caused  by  a  faulty  technique.  We  may  remark  in  this 
connection  that,  as  Doctor  Trabut  observed, ^^  no  one 
has  ever  succeeded  in  crossing  the  two  varieties  of  Anagal- 
lis  arvensis,  coerulea  and  phwnicia^  although  the  only 
difference  between  the  two  is  that  the  former  has  blue 
and  the  latter  pink  flowers.  But  we  can  not  on  this 
account  class  them  as  distinct  species. 

"  In  so  far,  therefore,  as  the  lack  of  sexual  affinity 
between  two  related  forais  justifies  us  in  recognizing 
in  them  two  distinct  species,  Triticum  monococcum  must 
be  considered  as  standing  alone,  and  it  cannot  be  regarded 
as  the  progenitor  of  the  cultivated  wheats. 

"  From  the  historical  point  of  view,  also,  we  may  re- 
ject einkorn  as  the  progenitor  of  wheat.  Its  cultivation 
can  not  have  gone  back  to  very  ancient  times,  since  the 
cultivated  form  diifers  so  little  from  the  wild  one.  The 
only  evidence  that  we  possess  of  any  antiquity  is  that 
Schliemann  discovered  it  in  his  celebrated  excavations  of 
ancient  Troy,  showing  that  it  was  cultivated  there.  ^^  But 
the  other  cultivated  wheats  are  traced  back  for  thousands 
of  years  before  this. 

'^  Spelt  and  emmer,  then,  are  the  only  two  forms  re- 
maining to  be  considered,  but  we  have  no  ancient  remains 
of  the  cultivation  of  spelt,  nor  is  there  any  mention  of  it 
in  literature  until  toward  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era. 

12  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Botanique  de  France,  Vol.  68,  p.  182. 

13  This  evidence  for  the  antiquity  of  einkorn  has  turned  out  to  be 
worthless,  for  Aaronsohn  now  reports  that  the  supposed  einkorn 
found  at  Troy  was  afterwards  identified  by  Wittmach  as  barley  on 
the  basis  of  a  microscopical  examination.  Vide  O.  F.  Cook,  Wild 
Wheat  in  Palestine,  Bulletin  No.  274,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, 1913,  p.  26.     A.  H.  R.  B. 


298  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

X.  Emmer  the  Only  Possible  Prototype  of  True  Wheat 

"  The  species  of  grain  of  the  cultivation  of  which  we 
have  the  oldest  records  is  emmer.  It  is  true  that  durum 
wheat  has  been  found  in  Egypt  in  some  tombs  of  the  first 
dynasty  —  that  is  four  thousand  years  before  the  Christian 
era  —  but  emmer  is  found  both  in  far  greater  abundance 
and  in  all  of  the  tombs.  It  is  not  at  the  present  time  cul- 
tivated anywhere  in  Egypt,  durum  wheat  having  since 
historic  times  taken  its  place. 

^'  Emmer  has  been  found  in  the  lake  dwellings  of 
Wangen  and  Eobenhausen,  which  date  back  to  the  end 
of  the  neolithic  epoch,  a  little  before  the  bronze  age. 
This,  therefore,  is  the  only  species  which  has  been  cul- 
tivated from  the  very  beginning  of  civilization,  and  we  are 
justified  in  asserting  it  to  be  the  progenitor  of  our  culti- 
vated wheats.  This  explains  why  it  was  so  desirable  to 
find  the  wild  form.'' 

Every  one  will  admit  that  the  wild  wheat  of  Palestine 
possesses  all  the  characters  that  specialists  expected  to 
find  in  the  primitive  ancestor  or  prototype  of  our  cultivated 
common  wheats;  but  such  characters,  as  Cook  has  pointed 
out,  might  be  expected  to  occur  in  any  wild  relative  of  these 
wheats.  These  characters,  therefore,  do  not  afford  abso- 
lute proof  of  the  parental  position  of  Triticum  hermonis 
in  respect  to  our  cultivated  wheats.  It  is  possible  that 
other  wild  Wheats  still  remain  to  be  discovered  in  Pales- 
tine or  in  neighboring  countries  which  are  much  less  well- 
known  botanically,  and  that  one  such  species  may  be  found 
to  stand  still  nearer  to  our  cultivated  wheats  than  does 
Triticum  hermonis.  Cook  ^^  has  suggested  that  the  real 
prototype  may  be  a  wild  species  growing  somewhere  in 
Arabia  or  elsewhere  in  western  Asia  which  has  heads  with 

14  0.  F.  Cook,  loc.  cit.,  p.  26. 


F\g.  50.  Head  of  a  large- 
seeded  variation  of  the  Wild 
Wheat  [Triticnm  hermonis)  with 
the  spikelets  fallino:  apart. 
From  O.  F.  Cook's  Wild  Wheat 
of  Palestine.  Courtesy  of  the 
United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       299 

a  non-brittle  rachis  and  which  is  therefore  so  like  our  cul- 
tivated wheats  that  it  differs  from  them  in  scarcely  any- 
thing except  that  it  grows  wild  and  maintains  itself  from 
generation  to  generation  without  the  aid  of  man.  How- 
ever, it  may  be  urged  against  the  likelihood  of  finding  such 
a  wild  wheat  that  our  cultivated  wheats,  although  grown 
on  such  diverse  soils,  in  such  varied  parts  of  the  world, 
and  so  extensively,  have  nowhere  succeeded  in  escaping 
from  cultivation  and  maintaining  themselves  in  the  wild 
state.  It  is  also  possible  that  the  primitive  wild  ancestor 
of  our  cultivated  wheats  has  become  extinct  leaving  be- 
hind only  close  relatives  such  as  Triticum  hermonis. 
However,  the  writer  is  inclined,  tentatively  at  least,  to 
accept  Aaronsohn's  conclusion.  At  any  rate  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  wild  wheat  of  Palestine  has  a  better  claim 
to  be  considered  the  ancestor  of  our  cultivated  wheats 
than  any  other  known  species.  Even  if,  with  the  progress 
of  botanical  knowledge,  Triticum  hermonis  should  prove 
not  to  be  the  prototype  we  are  seeking,  this  species  will 
doubtless  be  found  to  be  extremely  similar  to  that  proto- 
type. It  must  therefore  continue  to  be  one  of  the  most 
interesting  of  all  plants. 

XI.  Cross-Fertilization 

The  wild  wheat  of  Palestine  differs  from  our  common 
cultivated  wheats  in  that  it  is  well  adapted  for  cross-pol- 
lination. Some  of  the  flowers,  says  Cook,^^  have  their 
anthers  pushed  out  beyond  the  glumes  before  the  shedding 
of  the  pollen,  and,  conversely,  in  some  flowers  the  glumes 
spread  apart  so  that  the  pollen  is  admitted  before  the 
anthers  mature.  The  pushing  outwards  of  the  anthers 
beyond  the  tips  of  the  glumes  allows  the  pollen  to  be  scat- 
is  0.  F.  Cook,  loc.  cit.,  p.  51. 


300  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

tered  by  the  wind,  and  the  spreading  of  the  glumes  permits 
wind-blown  pollen  to  fall  upon  the  stigmas.  The  two 
glumes  of  a  flower,  when  opening  occurs,  separate  at  an 
angle  of  from  30°  to  40°  so  as  to  form  a  broad  tube  or 
funnel  with  the  expanded  stigmas  at  the  bottom.  Al- 
though well  protected  on  all  sides,  the  stigmas  can  be  seen 
in  the  open  flower  by  looking  in  from  above. ^^ 

Cook,  when  studying  pollination  in  the  wild  wheat, 
found  indications  of  sexual  dimorphism, ^^  i.  e.,  that  there 
are  two  forms  of  flowers  regarded  sexually.  In  some 
plants  which  he  examined,  the  flowers  were  proterogijnous, 
the  stigmas  being  exposed  before  the  adjacent  anthers 
had  matured,  whilst  in  other  plants  the  flowers  appeared 
to  be  ptvterandrous,  the  anthers  being  exserted  at  a  time 
when  the  stigmas  were  still  only  partly  developed.  Seed 
was  also  found  to  be  produced  in  some  heads  that  had  not 
emerged  from  their  sheaths,  from  which  we  may  con- 
clude that  some  forms  of  Triticum  hermonis  are  capable  of 
self-fertilizing  their  own  flowers.  Cook^s  observations  go 
to  show  that  in  the  wild  wheat  of  Palestine  the  usual 
mode  of  pollination  is  cross-pollination. 

The  Grass  Family  or  Graminese,  as  a  group,  possesses 
flowers  with  floral  mechanisms  adapted  to  secure  cross- 
pollination  ;  and,  for  grasses  in  general,  we  must  look 
upon  this  mode  of  pollination  as  primitive  and  ancestral. 
The  wild  wheat  of  Palestine,  which  is  a  wild  grass,  there- 
fore resembles  most  other  grass  species  in  having  cross- 
pollinated  flowers.  In  our  cultivated  wheats,  on  the  other 
hand,  self-pollination  is  the  rule,  although  cross-pollina- 
tion may  and  does  take  place  occasionally.^^     We  may 

^elhid.,  p.  15. 

17  Ibid. 

18  Vide  Chapter  IV,  Section  V,  on  Red  Bohs  the  Product  of  a  Natu- 
ral Cross. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE        301 

therefore  regard  our  cultivated  wheats  as  sexually  degen- 
erate. Since  the  wild  wheat  of  Palestine  has  cross-fer- 
tilized flowers,  there  seems  good  reason  for  supposing  that 
in  our  cultivated  wheats  self-pollination  came  to  replace 
cross-pollination  under  conditions  of  domestication. 

An  attempt  will  now  be  made  to  summarize  some  of  the 
chief  observations  which  have  been  made  upon  the  open- 
ing of  the  flowers  and  mode  of  pollination  of  our  common 
wheats. 

The  results  of  careful  observation  by  botanists  and 
cerealists  upon  the  pollination  of  cultivated  wheats  seem 
to  show:  (1)  that  in  cooler  northern  regions,  such  as 
northern  Europe,  the  northern  part  of  the  United  States, 
and  Canada,  self-pollination  is  the  rule  but  that  cross- 
pollination  may  and  does  take  place  occasionally,  (2)  that 
in  warmer  regions  cross-pollination  is  more  frequent,  and 
(3)  that  in  hot  dry  localities,  such  as  the  canal  colonies 
of  the  Punjab  where  the  crop  can  only  be  grown  by  means 
of  irrigation,  cross-pollination  is  quite  common. ^^ 

Delphino  observed  that  at  flowering  time  the  glumes 
diverge  rapidly  and  suddenly.  At  the  same  time,  the  an- 
thers project  laterally,  open,  and  empty  about  one-third 
of  their  pollen  on  the  stigmas  of  the  same  flower,  while 
the  rest  of  the  pollen  is  scattered  in  the  air.  This  happens 
in  about  one  minute  and,  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the 
glumes  close  again.  Delphino  made  experiments  which 
prove  that  automatic  self-pollination  results  in  the  setting 
of  good  fruits.^*^ 

Delphino  and  Kornicke  found  that  a  single  wheat  flower 

19  A.  Howard,  Gabrielle  L.  C.  Howard,  and  Rahman  Abdur,  The 
Economic  Significance  of  Natural  Cross-fertilization  in  India,  Me- 
moirs of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  India,  botanical  series, 
Vol.  Ill,  October,  1906. 

20  Vide  P.  Knuth,  Handbook  of  Flower  Pollination,  translated  by 
J.  R.  A.  Davis,  Oxford,  Vol.  Ill,  1909,  p.  529. 


302  ESSAYS    0:Nr   WHEAT 

remains  open  for  only  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  but  tbat 
the  flowering  period  for  a  whole  head  has  a  duration  of 
four  days,  so  that  only  a  small  number  of  flowers  are  found 
open  at  any  one  time.^^  It  has  been  noticed  by  many- 
observers  that,  in  a  single  head,  the  first  flowers  to  open 
are  the  median  ones  and  that  flowering  proceeds  upwards 
and  downwards  in  the  head,  the  last  flowers  to  open  being 
those  in  the  spikelets  at  the  head's  extreme  ends. 

Kirchner's  observations  support  those  of  Delphino,  and 
are  as  follows:  The  flowers  which  are  homogamous, 
gradually  open  so  widely  that  the  tips  of  the  glumes  are 
about  4  mm  (%  inch)  apart.  As  a  flower  opens,  the  an- 
thers of  the  stamens  dehisce  apically  and  about  one-third 
of  the  pollen  falls  into  the  flower.  After  this  the  anthers 
come  to  project  outside  the  glumes  so  that  they  scatter 
their  pollen  into  the  air.  Self-pollination  therefore  takes 
place  regularly  but  cross-pollination  by  means  of  the  wind 
is  not  excluded.  Kirchner  also  observed  that  the  flowering 
period  for  a  single  head  was  four  days  in  length.^^ 

Godron  found  that  the  flowers  open  in  the  early  morn- 
ing and  that  the  extent  of  their  opening  depends  upon 
weather  conditions.  His  observations  were  as  follows: 
At  16°C.  (61°F.)  the  flowers  open  at  4.30  a.  m.  and  close 
again  at  6.30  to  7  a.  m.  If,  when  the  flower  opens,  the 
anthers  tip  over  the  ends  of  the  glumes  quickly,  the 
stigmas  of  the  flowers  as  a  rule  are  not  dusted  with  pollen. 
Under  less  favorable  circumstances,  the  flower  opens  more 
slowly  and  the  stigmas  do  not  project  until  they  have  been 
dusted  with  pollen  from  the  same  flower.  At  a  low  tem- 
perature, 12°-13°C.  (54°-56°r.),  or  after  several  days' 
rain,   the  flowers  remain  closed   and   fertilization  takes 

21  Ihid. 

22  Ihid. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE       303 

place  without  the  flowers  opening  (pseudo-cleistogamous 
fertilization).  2^ 

Eimpau  has  also  observed  the  effects  of  temperature  on 
the  opening  of  wheat  flowers.  He  states  that  at  12°-13°C. 
(54°-56°F.)  the  glumes  do  open  a  little  but  that  com- 
plete opening  does  not  take  place  under  16  °C.  (61°F.). 
He  found  that  the  opening  of  the  glumes  is  not  limited 
entirely  to  the  morning  hours  but  may  take  place  at  any 
hour  of  the  day  or  even  in  the  evening.  The  length  of 
time  during  which  the  flowers  are  open  depends  on  the 
temperature  and  the  dryness  of  the  air:  at  23°C.  (73°r.) 
the  flowers  closed  again  in  15-20  minutes,  but  at  lower 
temperatures  closing  took  a  much  longer  time.  Rimpau 
observed  that  the  anthers  dehisce  before  they  have  reached 
the  upper  margins  of  the  glumes  by  elongation,  so  that 
automatic  self-pollination  is  regularly  effected  in  every 
flower.^'* 

Rimpau  removed  the  anthers  from  85  wheat  flowers  and 
yet  50  of  them  set  fruit.  He  therefore  concluded  that  if 
self-pollination  were  not  to  take  place,  pollination  by 
crossing  would  still  ensure  the  production  of  seed.  He 
found  that  crossing,  as  judged  by  the  average  number  of 
haulms  formed,  gave  rise  to  a  more  vigorous  off-spring 
than  self-pollination,  the  result  being  seen  even  in  the 
fourth  generation.  2^ 

The  flowers  of  wheat  only  open  once  and  for  a  very  short 
time.  The  actual  opening  which  results  in  the  divergence 
of  the  glumes  and  the  exposure  of  the  sexual  organs,  is 
effected  by  two  small  scales  known  as  lodicules  which  lie  at 
the  base  of  the  flower  between  the  ovary  and  the  outer 
glume.     As  a  flower  opens,  the  lodicules  become  fleshy  and 


23  Ibid. 

24  lUd. 

25  Ibid. 


304  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

succulent  and  more  or  less  spheroidally  swollen  at  the 
base.  By  swelling  up  in  this  way,  they  overcome  the 
resistance  of  the  elastic  outer  glume  and  move  it  out- 
wards. After  a  short  time  the  lodicules  shrivel  up  again 
into  small  thin  scales  thus  allowing  the  outer  glume  to 
resume  its  former  position  and  close  the  flower  again. 
The  action  of  the  lodicules  in  opening  the  flowers  of 
grasses  was  first  investigated  in  1880  by  Haeckel,  and  his 
observations  were  confirmed  by  Rimpau  in  1883.  When 
a  flower  opens,  the  filaments  of  the  three  stamens  grow 
very  rapidly  in  length,  and  it  is  this  rapid  growth  which 
causes  the  anthers  to  be  pushed  out  of  the  flower  over 
the  ends  of  the  glumes.  This  observation  was  first  made 
by  Arkenasy  and  afterwards  confirmed  by  Rimpau.^^ 

Kerner  states  that  the  most  favorable  conditions  for 
pollination  in  most  Grasses  prevail  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, at  an  hour  when  there  is  still  some  dew  lying  in  the 
meadows,  when  the  first  rays  of  sunshine  fall  obliquely 
upon  the  flowers,  when  the  temperature  is  rising  gently, 
and  when  a  light  breeze  sets  the  spikes  and  pannicles  in 
motion.  ^'  Under  such  conditions  as  these  the  phenomena 
of  flowering  and  pollination  are  accomplished  with  as- 
tonishing rapidity.  In  some  Grasses  an  observer  may 
see  the  glumes  relax  and  spring  open,  the  stamens  grow 
out,  the  anthers  open,  and  the  pollen  scattered,  all  in  the 
space  of  a  few  minutes.''  ^"^  Wheat  is  only  a  glorified 
grass  and  although  its  flowers  open  early  in  the  morning 
there  are  other  grasses  which,  under  mid-European  con- 
ditions, open  their  flowers  just  as  early  or  even  earlier. 
The  time  at  which  the  flowers  of  wheat  open  relatively 
to  those  of  other  grass  species  is  indicated  by  Kerner  in 

26  p.  Knuth,  loc.  cit.,  p.  515. 

27  Anton  Kerner  von  Marilaun,  The  Natural  History  of  Plants, 
translated  by  F.  W.  Oliver,  London,  Vol.  II,  1895,  pp.  141-142. 


THE    WILD    WHEAT    OF    PALESTINE        305 

the  following  statement.     "  The  earliest  discharge  of  pol- 
len  (in  the  Graminetp)   begins  in  the  height  of  summer 
between  4  and  5  a.  m.  and  the  plants  which  take  part  in  it 
thus  early  are  the  Meadow-grass    (Poa),   Koeleria,   and 
Avena  elatior.     A  little  later  between   5   and   6   o'clock 
comes  the  turn  of  the  Quaking-grass  (Briza  media)  and 
Aira    ccespitosa,    and   of   Wheat    and   Barley    (Triticum, 
Hordeum).     Between  6  and  7  pollination  occurs  in  Eye 
and  in  a  great  number  of  different  Grasses  which  grow 
in  meadows,  such  as  Cock's-foot-grass  (Dactylis),  Andro- 
pogon,    the    Brome-grasses    (Bracliy podium)    and    many 
species  of  Fescue   (Festuca).     Between  7  and  8  o'clock 
the  pollen  is  liberated  from  Oats  of  the  Trisetum  group, 
from    the    Fox-tail-grass    {Alopecurus),    Timothy    Grass 
(Phleum)  and  the  Sweet  Vernal  Grass  (Anthoxanthum) . 
An  interval  now  intervenes,  at  least  among  the  indigenous 
Grasses.     Of  exotic  species  which  are  cultivated  in  gar- 
dens the  following  discharge  their  pollen  in  the  course  of 
the  forenoon,  viz.,  the  Millets   (Panicum  miUiaceum  and 
Sorghum)  between  8  and  9  o'clock;  Setaria  Italica  and 
the  Brazilian  Pampas-grass   (Gynerium  argent eum)   be- 
tween    9     and     10     o'clock.     Toward    noon     indigenous 
Grasses  come  again  into  play.     About  11  o'clock  pollina- 
tion takes  place  in  most  species  of  the  Bent-grass  genus 
(Agrostis)  and  between  12  and  1  in  Melic-grass  (Melica), 
Molinia,  Mat-grass   (Nardus),  Ehjmus,  Sclerodiloa,  and 
several  species  of  Calarnogrostis.     In  the  course  of  the 
afternoon  the  process  takes  place  in  a  few  isolated  species 
as,  for  instance,  in  some  Brome-grasses  at  2  o'clock,  in 
a  few  species  of  Oat  (Avena)  at  3,  in  Agropyrum  at  4, 
and  in  Aira  flexuosa  between  5  and  6.     It  is  worthy  of 
note   that    Soft-grass    (IIolcus),    under   favorable   atmos- 
pheric   conditions,    opens    its    glumes,    pushes    forth    its 
anthers,   and  liberates  pollen  twice   a   day,   once   in   the 


306  ESSAYS    ON    WHEAT 

morning  about  6  o'clock  and  a  second  time  in  the  even- 
ning  at  about  7  —  provided  always  that  the  temperature 
of  the  air  is  not  less  than  14°C.  (57°F.).  The  entire 
process  lasts  in  most  cases  from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes 
for  each  flower."  ^^ 

XII.  Conclusion 

Here  the  writer  must  bring  to  a  conclusion  his  re- 
marks upon  Wheat  —  the  cereal  which  is  and  has  been 
of  such  vast  importance  to  the  world,  which  was  the 
chief  basis  of  the  ancient  civilization  of  the  lands  of 
the  Mediterranean^  and  which  is  still  the  main  source 
of  food  for  the  civilization  of  modem  Europe,  of  a  large 
part  of  Asia,  of  ^N'orth  and  South  America,  and  of  Aus- 
tralia. If  there  had  been  no  wheat  upon  the  earth  dur- 
ing the  last  25,000  years  or  if  wheat  had  been  present 
but  primitive  man  had  not  succeeded  in  domesticating 
it,  it  is  certain  that  the  course  of  man's  evolution  would 
have  been  greatly  retarded  and  that  the  I^ew  World, 
where  these  pages  have  been  penned,  would  wear  to-day 
a  very  different  aspect  to  that  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
That  bread-eaters  should  desire  to  know  more  about  the 
origin  and  history  of  the  cereal  which  sustains  them  is 
most  natural.  If  this  curiosity  should  be  satisfied  to 
some  extent  by  what  has  been  gathered  together  in  this 
book,  the  author  will  feel  that  his  labor  has  been  well 
rewarded. 

28/&td,  p.    142. 


THE   END 


PRINTED   IN   THE   UNITED    STATES  OF   AMERICA 


INDEX 


Aaronsohn,  A.,  brought  wild 
wheat  to  the  United  States, 
291 ;  on  the  origin  of  wheat, 
285;  rediscovery  of  wild  wheat 
by,  286-291;  regards  Triticum 
hermonis  as  the  wild  proto- 
type of  cultivated  wheats,  293- 
299. 

Abdur,  Rahman,  on  natural 
crossing  of  wheats  in  India, 
301. 

Admixtures  of  wheat,  70-71;  in 
North  Dakota,  161. 

Advance  toward  the  north  of  the 
belts  of  wheat  and  corn,  187- 
190. 

Agassiz,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
152;  wheats  crossed  at,  148. 

Agrarian  movement,  the,  141- 
143. 

Agriculture,  goddess  of,  280^ 
283 ;  its  importance  and  an- 
tiquity, 278-279. 

Agropyron  repens  and  A.  tene- 
rum  at  Kenora,  290, 

Agropyrum,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Agrostis,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Aira  caespitosa  and  A.  flexuosa, 
time  of  pollination  of,  305. 

Albert  barley,  C.  E.  Saunders 
and,  240. 

Alberta,  durum  wheat  in,  42; 
and  hulless  barley,  240;  and 
Prelude  wheat,  184;  and  the 
shelling    of    wheat,    197;    and 


the    Survey    Board,    97;    and 
the    agrarian    movement,    141 
and  the  yield  of  Marquis  wheat 
190;  export  of  grain  from,  5 
flour   mills   of,    134;    introduc 
tion     of    Marquis     into,     157 
Marquis  wins  prize  from,  173 
spring    and    winter    wheat    in, 
35-36;     wheat     sent     through 
Panama  Canal,  52-53 ;  yield  of 
Marquis  on  C.  S.  Noble's  farm, 
191-192. 

Alcock,  A.  W.,  and  the  Dominion 
Grain  Research  Laboratory, 
102-104;  and  the  Panama 
Canal,  52-53. 

Allied  governments,  negotiate 
with  Board  of  Grain  Super- 
visors, 129. 

Allies,  and  Canadian  flour,  136; 
flour  purchases  for,  124;  pur- 
chase of  wheat  for,  120. 

Alpha  wheat  and  parentage  of 
Prelude,  186. 

Alopecurus,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Amoeba  histolytica,  as  cause  of 
the   Bloody  Flux,  27. 

Anagallis,  difiiculty  of  crossing, 
297. 

Andrews  Grain  Company,  and 
Marquis  wheat,  160. 

Andropogon,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Angus  Mackay  Farm  Seed  Com- 
pany,  159,  160. 

Anthoxanthnm,  time  of  pollina- 
tion of,  305. 


307 


308 


INDEX 


Apples,  hardy,  for  the  North- 
west, 145. 

Arabia,  a  wild  wheat  possibly 
grows  in,  298. 

Arctic  circle,  wheat-growing 
near,  181-182. 

Argentina,  wheat  crop  of,  38,  39, 
40;  lack  of  wheat  surplus,  123. 

Aristotle,  mentions  rust  disease, 
283. 

Arkangelsk,  and  wheat-growing, 
182. 

Arkenasy,  on  elongation  of  stam- 
inal  filaments  of  wheat,  304. 

Arny,  A.  C,  comparison  of  Min- 
nesota wheats  by  ( Figs.  29,  30, 
31),  166,  170,  171;  on  yield  of 
Marquis,  192. 

Arny,  wild  wheat  found  at,  289. 

Arthur  pea,  240-241. 

Ascherson,  Professor,  and  the 
wild  wheat,  286. 

Athens  and  agriculture,  281. 

Atlantic  Ocean,  and  Marquis 
wheat,  158;  and  the  Panama 
Canal,  53. 

Australia,  and  white  wheats, 
260;  export  of  wheat  from, 
hindered  during  war,  123; 
Farrer's  wheat-breeding  work 
in,  259-260;  wheat  eaten  in, 
306;  wheat  exported  in  bags 
from,  52  ;  wheat  varieties  from, 
146. 

Avena  elatior,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Awns,  of  Marquis  wheat,  223;  of 
wild  wheat,  288. 


B 


Babylonia,  wheat  of,  279. 
Bactrians,      cultivated      einkorn 
and  emmer,  296. 


Bailey,  C.  H.,  comparison  of 
Minnesota  wheat  by  (Figs.  29, 
30,  31),  166,  170,  171;  milling 
and  baking  tests,  203;  on  Mar- 
quis in  Montana,  166;  on  Mar- 
quis in  the  Pacific  North-west, 
165;  on  quality  in  wheat,  198- 
199. 

Baking  oven,  electric,  for  experi- 
ments, 103. 

Baking  strength  of  flour,  199- 
200. 

Balansa,  discovered  wild  einkorn, 
296. 

Baldwin  Flour  Mills  and  Mar- 
quis wheat,  161. 

Ball,  C.  R.,  on  percentage  of 
Marquis  in  the  wheat  crop, 
251. 

Ball,  C.  R.  and  J.  A.  Clark,  de- 
scribe Marquis  wheat,  171- 
172;  experiments  with  Mar- 
quis, 203-204 ;  on  geography  of 
Marquis,  164;  on  increase  of 
Marquis,  168;  on  Marquis 
crops,  160;  on  Marquis  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  166; 
on  Preston  wheat  149;  on 
yield  of  Marquis,  204. 

Baltimore,  export  of  wheat  from, 
50-51. 

Banks,  and  grain  exchanges, 
119;  finance  crop  movements, 
130-134;    importance  of,   133. 

Barley,  and  a  distillery,  18;  evo- 
lution of,  294-295;"  found  at 
Troy,  297 ;  improvements  of, 
239-240;  in  1813  in  Selkirk 
settlement,  4;  in  1822,  in  cen- 
sus, 16;  origin  of,  285;  time 
of  pollination  of,  305;  sown 
in  1816,  7;  wild  species  in 
Manitoba,  dissemination  of, 
294;  wild  species  in  Palestine, 
286. 


INDEX 


309 


Barnes  and  Company,  0.  J.,  and 
Marquis  wheat,  161. 

Basques,  cultivate  einkorn  and 
emmer,  295. 

Bawlf,  W.  R.,  on  Dominion  con- 
trol of  grain  trade,  129, 

Bayah  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Bearded  Fife  wheat,  149. 

Beef,  price  of,  in  1826,  19. 

Belgian  Relief  Commisson,  pur- 
chase of  wheat  for,  124, 

Belgium,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
228. 

Bell,  C.  N.,  on  Passenger  pig- 
eons in  Manitoba,  4-5;  on 
weeds  introduced  with  seed- 
wheat  in  1820,  13. 

Berg,  Jacob,  and  origin  of  Min- 
nesota No,  23  corn,  188. 

Berlin,  and  the  wild  wheat,  286, 
287,  289. 

Bermann,  M.,  and  the  wild 
wheat,  287. 

Beyerinck,  wheat  hybrids  of,  296. 

Biffin,  R.  H.,  on  rust-resisting 
wheats  in  England,  179. 

Birchard,  F.  J.,  and  the  Domin- 
ion Grain  Research  Labora- 
tory, 102-104;  and  the  Pan- 
ama Canal,  52-53. 

Birds,  injury  of  crops  by,  4. 

Birtle,  and  Marquis  wheat,  174. 

Black  Sea,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
210, 

Black,  W.  J.,  on  corn  grown  in 
Manitoba,  189. 

Bloody  Flux  disease,  26-27. 

Bluestem  wheat,  and  Marquis  in 
U.  S.  A.,  104;  and  natural 
crossing  with,  266-267;  and 
Quality  wheat,  236;  and  rust 
disease,  180;  and  shelling, 
167;  and  time  of  ripening, 
175;  classification  of,  292;  im- 
provement of,  by  Haynes,  224- 


225;  in  Canada,  180;  in  Min- 
nesota, 163;  mixed  in  North 
Dakota,  162;  percentage  in 
crop,  167-169;  replacement  by 
Marquis  in  Minnesota,  246- 
248;  yield  of,  in  the  United 
States,  193-196, 

Board  of  Grain  Commissioners, 
and  Board  of  Grain  Supervis- 
ors, 127;  and  Dominion  Grain 
Research  Laboratory,  102;  and 
rules  of  Winnipeg  Survey 
Board,  97;  and  weighing  grain, 
100;  appoints  Grain  Standards 
Board,   104;   when  created,  68. 

Board  of  Grain  Supervisors,  con- 
stitution of,  127-128;  func- 
tions of,  127;  prices  fixed  by, 
92;  regulates  export  of  wheat, 
129. 

Boats,  number  of,  in  Selkirk  set- 
tlement in  1849,  27. 

Bobs  wheat,  origin  of,  259-260; 
sold  by  Seager  Wheeler,  270; 
studied  by  John  Bracken,  270- 
271. 

Bolley,  H.  L.,  estimate  of  Mar- 
quis wheat  grown  in  North 
Dakota,  161;  inspects  Cana- 
dian fields  of  Marquis,  159;  on 
the  shelling  of  Bluestem  wheat, 
197. 

Bornmiiller,  failed  to  find  wild 
wheat,  287. 

Boss,  Andrew,  discovers  early- 
ripening  corn  varieties,  187- 
188;  on  Marquis  wheat,  162; 
on  Northwestern  Dent  corn, 
190. 

Boston,  export  of  wheat  from, 
50-51. 

Box-cars,  for  transporting  wheat, 
57-59;  emptying  of,  at  termi- 
nal elevators,  52 ;  how  contents 
are  known,  83;  numbers  upon, 


310 


INDEX 


82;  overfilling  of,  86-87;  plug- 
ging of,  86;  samples  taken 
from,  79-81, 

Brachypodium,  time  of  pollina- 
tion of,  305. 

Bracken,  John,  his  red-seeded  se- 
lections from  Bobs  wheat,  270- 
271;  illustrations  supplied  by, 
157;  200,  291,  294,  295;  on  the 
rust  disease,  178-179;  on 
wheat  growing,  41. 

Bran  layer,  color  of,  261-262. 

Brandon,  Experimental  Farm  at, 
26;  flour  mills  at,  135;  Mar- 
quis wheat  introduced  at,  157; 
Marquis  tests  at,  175;  wheat- 
crossing  at,  148;  wheat 
crosses  made  at,  152;  yield  of 
Marquis  at,  191,  196. 

Bread,  and  civilization,  230;  and 
Quality  wheat,  234;  eaters  of, 
and  the  history  of  wheat,  306; 
from  Marquis  wheat,  158; 
making  of,  and  wheat  color, 
262. 

British  Columbia,  flour  mills  of, 
134;  Marquis  wheat  in,  157; 
wheats  crossed  in,  148. 

British  Government,  and  the 
Wheat  Export  Company,  120. 

British  Isles,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
228. 

British  market,  and  wheat  color, 
260-261. 

British  miller,  200. 

British  public,  assists  Red  River 
settlement,  28. 

Briza  media,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Brown-Duvel  moisture-tester,  de- 
scription of,  89. 

Bryce,  G.,  on  history  of  Selkirk 
settlers,  2,  13,  32. 

Buenos  Ayres,  and  the  Winnipeg 
Grain  Exchange,  105. 


Buffalo,  as  a  source  of  food,  8, 
11,  14,  18,  23. 

Buffalo,  seed  Marquis  made 
available  at,  164-165;  wheat 
traffic  through,  49-50. 

Bulk  wheat,  shipment  through 
Panama  Canal,  52,  103. 

Bull,  C.  P.,  a  corn  selection 
made  by,  188. 

Bunyip  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Burbank,  Luther,  and  C.  E, 
Saunders,  228-233 ;  apprecia- 
tion of,  as  a  plant-breeder, 
228-232;  his  potato  and 
plums,  232 ;  his  Quality  wheat, 
233-237. 

Buying  and  selling  of  wheat,  at 
the  Grain  Exchange,  111-118; 
war  competition  for,  124. 


C alamo grostis,  time  of  pollina- 
tion of,  305. 

Calgary,  cars  inspected  at,  91; 
flour  mill  at,  135;  government 
elevator  at,  64,  102;  inspection 
of  grain  at,  78. 

California,  and  Burbank's  new 
wheats,  233-237 ;  fruit-grow- 
ing industry  of,  231-232;  yield 
of  Marquis  wheat  in,  192. 

Camas  Prairie,  Marquis  wheat 
at,  165. 

Campbell,  Allan,  on  ripening  of 
corn  in  Manitoba,  190. 

Canada,  debt  owed  by,  to  in- 
ventors, 138;  increased  wealth 
brought  to,  by  Marquis,  252- 
257 ;  the  granary  of  the  British 
Empire,  34. 

Canada  Grain  Act,  chief  features 
of,  68;  weighing  provisions  of, 
99. 


INDEX 


311 


Canadian  Agriculturist,  The,  and 
the  origin  of  Red  Fife  wheat, 
207. 
Canadian  Council  of  Agriculture, 

127. 
Canadian  Northern  Railway,  and 
the  wheat  funnel,  49 ;  terminal 
elevator  of,  102. 
Canadian    Pacific    Railway,    and 
the  wheat  funnel,  49;  building 
.  of     the,      33-34 ;      encouraged 
wheat-growing,  217-218;  leased 
in    elevator,     142;     prizes    of- 
fered by,   172;    record  haulage 
of   cars   on,   66;    terminal   ele- 
vator of,    102;    Transcona  ele- 
vator of,  64. 

Canadian  Seed  Growers  Associa- 
tion, 262,  274,  275. 

Canadians,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
144. 

Canoes,  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Carleton,  M.  A.,  estimate  of  loss 
due  to  rust,  180. 

Cars  of  grain,  number  inspected, 
91. 

Carts,  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Cary,  Captain,  his  experimental 
farm,  25. 

Cattle,  and  corn,  189-190;  num- 
ber of,  in  1849,  27. 

Cedar  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Census  of  Red  River  settlement, 
in  1822,  16;  in  1849,  27. 

Central  Experimental  Farm, 
Hard  Red  Calcutta  wheat  at, 
204-205;  organized  by  W. 
Saunders,  144;  wheat  crosses 
made  at,  149. 

Cereals,  prototypes  of,  285-286. 

Ceres  and  the  cerealia,  282-283, 

Certificate  of  grade,  96, 

Cherry,  Dr.,  on  value  of  Farrer's 
wheat-breeding  work,  260. 

Chess  matches  on  farms,  140. 


Chewing  test,  for  gluten  contents 

of   wheat,    155,    201-203,   265- 

266. 
Chicago,  and  Velvet  Chaff  wheat, 

149;  highest  price  of  wheat  at, 

124;  prices  posted  at  Winnipeg 

Grain  Exchange,  105,  116. 
Chinese,    and    origin    of    wheat, 

280;  wheat  grown  by,  in  early 

times,  279. 
Chopping  roots,  engine  for,  139. 
Churches,     number     of,     in     Red 

River  settlement  in  1849,  27. 
Churn,  how  driven,  138. 
Cities    and    agriculture,    33-34; 

278-279. 
Clark,     J.     A.,     vide     Ball     and 

Clark. 
Clearing  House  of  the  Winnipeg 

Grain     Exchange,     description 

of,      109-116;      advantage     to 

traders  of,  113,  115. 
Cleveland    wheat,    in    Australia, 

259. 
Climate,  and  wheat  quality,  199; 

claim    respecting,    for    Quality 

wheat,  .234,  236. 
Clock,  tell  prices  of  wheat,  117- 

118. 
Club     wheat,     classification     of, 

292;  replaced  by  Red  Fife,  218, 

227. 
Cobourg,    and    Red    Fife    wheat, 

214. 
Colborne  district  of  Ontario,  213. 
Colorado,  Marquis  wheat  in,  164. 
Color,  of  flour,  199;  of  gluten  of 

Marquis  wheat,  155;  of  wheat 

grains,  221,  236,  260-262. 
Colquhoun,  M.,  on  the  origin  of 

Red  Fife  wheat,  210. 
Columella,  mentions  rust  disease, 

283. 
Comeback    wheat,    in    Australia, 
259. 


312 


INDEX 


Commission  merchants,  at  Grain 
Exchange,  106;  borrow  for 
banks,  131. 

Commission  rule,  value  of,  107. 

Consumers,  represented  on  Board 
of  Grain  Commissioners,  128. 

Contract  grades,  of  wheat,  111- 
112. 

Cook,  0.  F.,  investigations  on 
wild  wheat,  290;  illustrations 
by,  289,  290,  298;  on  cross-fer- 
tilization of  wild  wheat,  300; 
on  the  origin  of  wheat,  298- 
299. 

Corbett,  J.  C,  on  Burbank's  new 
fruits,  232. 

Corn,  and  wheat,  battle  with, 
170;  at  Rosthern,  273;  in  1822, 
16;  northern  advance  of,  187- 
190. 

Council  of  Assiniboia,  28. 

Country  elevators,  controlled  by 
farmers,  142;  cost  of  building, 
131;  definition  of,  53;  descrip- 
tion of,  56-57;  shipping  grain 
from,  57-58;  weighing  wheat 
at,  98-100. 

Country  Gentleman  and  Culti- 
vator, and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
206. 

Cream-separator,  how  driven, 
138. 

Credit,  importance  of,  133; 
principle  of  velocity  of,  132 ; 
use  of,  in  crop  movements, 
130-131. 

Crete,  wheat  of,  279. 

Crookston  Milling  Company,  and 
Marquis  wheat,  160. 

Crops,  destruction  of  by  hail, 
48;  financing  movement  of, 
130-134;  statistics  of,  35-40; 
values  of,  in  Canada,  256;  val- 
ues of,  for  Marquis  wheat,  243- 
246. 


Cross,  products  of,  between  Red 
Fife  and  Hard  Red  Calcutta 
wheats,  205. 

Cross-bred  kernels,  how  pro- 
duced, 219-221. 

Cross-bred  wheats,  a  remarkable 
product  of  modern  botany, 
187. 

Cross-breeding  of  wheats,  results 
of,  226. 

Cross-fertilization,  in  wild  wheat 
and   other   grasses,   299-306. 

Crossing  of  wheat,  occurs  nat- 
urally, observed  by  Rimpau, 
303. 

Crossing  of  wheat  species,  296. 

Crossing  wheats,  by  W.  Saunders 
and  his  assistants,  148-150; 
failure  with  einkorn,  293; 
genealogical  trees  of  Marquis, 
Ruby,  and  Prelude,  185;  Mar- 
quis results  from,  152;  Red 
Bobs  the  product  of  a  natural 
cross,  264-268. 

Cross-pollination,  in  cultivated 
wheat,  300-301 ;  in  wild  wheat, 
300;  natural,  of  wheats,  265- 
267 ;  of  wild  grasses,  Kerner's 
observations  on,  304-306. 

Cultivation  of  plants  and  civili- 
zation, 278-279. 

Currants,  called  Climax  and 
Saunders,  145. 


DaotyUs,  time  of  pollination  of, 

305. 
Dakota  Climax  wheat,  149. 
Dakotas,  and  milling,  31. 
Damp   wheat,    milling   value   of, 

104. 
Danzig,    and    the    origin    of    Red 

Fife  wheat,  207-209,  214. 
Dawson,  Robert,  and  the  origin 


INDEX 


313 


of  Dawson's  Golden  Chaff 
wheat,  224. 

Dawson  City,  and  Prelude  wheat, 
184. 

Dawson's  Golden  Chaflf  wheat,  a 
mutation,  226. 

de  Candolle,  Alphonse,  on  the  ori- 
gin of  wheat,  279. 

de  Cow  and  Company,  and  seed 
corn,  187. 

Delphino,  on  pollination  of  wheat 
flowers,   301-302. 

Demeter,  and  the  origin  of  wheat, 
280-282. 

de  Meuron  soldiers,  19-20. 

de  Vries,  and  dwarf  Evening 
Primrose,  226;  and  the  muta- 
tion theory,  229;  on  Burbank's 
contribution  to  the  California 
fruit-growing  industry,  231; 
on  Burbank's  potato,  232;  on 
selection  of  cereals,  224. 

Dirigibles,  possible  future  use  of, 
140. 

Disease,  resistance  to,  of  wheat, 
226. 

.Dissemination,  of  wheat,  294- 
295. 

Dobbin,  F.  H,,  on  the  origin  of 
Red  Fife  wheat,  211-215. 

Dockage,  setting  of,  82,  88. 

Downy  Riga  wheat,  and  parent- 
age of  Ruby,  186. 

Drills,  for  sowing  wheat,  45. 

Drought,  and  wheat-growing,  48. 

Duluth,  and  export  of  Red  Fife 
in  1876,  30,  216;  and  Winnipeg 
Grain  Exchange,  105;  cars  in- 
spected at,  91;  grading  system 
at,  69;  inspection  of  grain  at, 
78. 

Dunvegan,  and  Ladoga  wheat, 
181. 

Durum  wheat,  and  wild  wheat, 
289;    classification  of,  292;    in 


tombs  in  Egypt,  298 ;  in  west- 
ern Canada,  42;  percentage  in 
crop  of,  107-169;  yield  of,  in 
the  United  States,  193-196. 

D\varf  Marquis  wheat,  origin  of, 
225;  a  mutation,  226. 

Dj'sentery,  in  the  Red  River  Set- 
tlement,  27. 


E. 


Earliness  in  wheat,  and  frost, 
180-183;  and  gain  of  working- 
time,  175-176;  and  rust,  176- 
180;  and  storms,  176;  difficulty 
of  combining  high  yield  with, 
185;  of  Marquis,  154-155;  of 
Marquis  and  Red  Fife,  175;  of 
Marquis  and  Prelude,  184;  of 
Red  Bobs,  Marquis,  and 
Kitchener,  270. 

Early  Java  wheat,  and  Preston, 
149. 

Early  Red  Fife  wheat,  a  muta- 
tion, 226;  and  parentage  of 
Red  Bobs,  262,  263,  267-268; 
grown  by  Seager  Wheeler,  262, 
274. 

Early  Riga  wheat  at  Fort  Ver- 
milion,   183. 

Early-ripening  corn  varieties, 
187-188. 

Edgar,  W.  C,  on  a  revolution  in 
the  milling  industry,  31. 

Edmonton,  Dunvegan,  and  Brit- 
ish Columbia  Railway,  181,  183. 

Edmonton,  wheat  shipped 
through,  183. 

Education,  cost  of,  and  Marquis 
wheat,  256. 

Eggs  of  wheat-plants,  fertiliza- 
tion of,  219-220. 

Egyptians,  and  the  origin  of 
wheat,  280. 


314 


INDEX 


Egypt,  ancient  mills  of,  294; 
durum  wheat  in  tombs  of,  294 ; 
wheat  and  civilization  of,  279. 
Einkorn,  and  its  prototype  dis- 
tinct from  other  wheats,  296- 
297;  classification  of,  292;  de- 
crease of  cultivation  of,  295 ; 
not  the  progenitor  of  common 
wheats,  297. 
Electric    power,    used    to    drive 

flour  mills,  134. 
Electricity,  in  use  on  farms,  139. 
Elevator       companies,       borrow 
money   from   banks,    131;    buy 
and  sell  wheat,  133. 
Elevators,  and  the  Canada  Grain 
Act,    68;    choice    of    terminal 
102;  compared  with  flat  ware 
houses,    55;     country,     56-57 
country,  cost  of  building,  131 
hospital,  54;   kinds  of,  54-55 
number    of,    54;    principle    of, 
53-54;  terminal,  60-64. 
Elliott,  G.  F.  Scott,  on  the  first 

harvest,    285. 
Elymus,   time   of  pollination   of, 

305. 
Emmer,  classification  of,  292;  de- 
crease in  cultivation  of,  295; 
found  in  Egyptian  tombs  and 
in  lake  dwellings,  298;  not 
grown  in  Syria  and  Palestine, 
289;  the  only  possible  proto- 
type of  true  wheat,  298-299; 
milled  in  ancient  Egypt,  294; 
wild  species  of,  286. 
England,  and  Yellow  Stripe  Rust 

disease,   178-179. 
Ensilage,  corn  used  for,  189. 
Epidemic    and    epiphytotic    dis- 
eases, 177. 
Essen,  George,  upon  the  origin  of 
Red  Fife  wheat,  207-209,  210, 
212,  213. 
Europe,     and     grain     exchanges. 


118;    receives   Marquis  wheat, 

158. 
Evans,    Sandford,    on   east-bound 

movement  of  wheat,  50. 
Evolution,  of  man  connected  with 

wheat,  306;  of  wheat,  294-296. 
Exhibitions,     agricultural,     and 

Marquis  wheat,  171,  173-174. 
Experimental     farms,     and     W. 

Saunders,    144;    three,    in    the 

Red  River   Settlement,   24-26; 

various  wheats  tested  at,  146- 

147;  wheats  crossed  at,  148. 
Experimental      Farms      Reports, 

145,    147,    148,    149,    152,    181, 

183,    184,    186,    198,    201,    205, 

225,  242. 
Exporters  of  wheat,  deprived  of 

business,  120,  126. 
Export    of    wheat,    financing    of, 

132;    from   Manitoba   in    1876, 

216;    wheat    sorts    undesirable 

for,  149. 


F. 


Fallow  land,  in  western  Canada 
and  the  United  States,  252- 
253;   summer,  principle  of,  44. 

Fanning  mill,  how  driven,  139. 

Fargo,  Marquis  wheat  tested  at, 
159. 

Farm,  of  Seager  Wheeler,  272- 
273. 

Farmers,  agrarian  movement  of, 
141-153;  and  origin  of  Mar- 
quis wheat,  230;  benefits  to, 
from  Marquis,  255-251 ;  can 
supervise  weighing,  99;  com- 
plaints of,  68-69;  need  of 
money  by,  130;  own  elevators, 
142;  private  scales  of,  99-100; 
receive  grain  prices  from  Win- 
nipeg, 105;  represented  on 
Board   of    Grain    Commission- 


INDEX 


315 


ers,  127;  terminal  elevators  of 
trading  companies  of,  102; 
tested  Hard  Red  Calcutta 
wheat,  205. 

Farming,  implements  of,  im- 
provements in,  138;  mixed,  in- 
troduction of,  43;  use  of  straw 
in,  47. 

Farm  life,  recent  improvements 
in  conditions  of,   138-141. 

Farms,  and  flying  machines,  140- 
141;  area  under  cultivation  in 
1849,  27;  chess  matches  at, 
140;  first,  in  Red  River  Settle- 
ment, 9-10;  lighting  plant  for, 
139;  music  on,  140;  position 
of,  in  1870,  30;  sanitation  of, 
139;  telephones  of,  140. 

Farrer,  William,  wheat-breeding 
work  of,  in  Australia,  259-260. 

Federation  wheat,  in  Australia, 
value  of,  259. 

Fermenting  cupboard,  for  bread- 
making,  103,  203. 

Fertilization  of  wheat  eggs,  218- 
220. 

Fertilizers  on  farms,  43. 

Festuca,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Fife,  David,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
206-207,  209,  210-212,  213, 
214,  215. 

Fife  wheat,  a  name  for  Red  Fife, 
207 ;  percentage  of  in  crops, 
167-169;  replacement  by  Mar- 
quis in  Minnesota,  246-248; 
yield  of,  in  the  United  States, 
193-196. 

Financial  business  of  forwarding 
crops  divided,  132. 

Financing  grain  sales,  and  grain 
exchanges,  119;  by  Wheat 
Export  Company,  120-121. 

Financing  the  crop  movement, 
130-134. 


Finch,  V.  C,  and  0.  E.  Baker,  on 
geography  of  wheat,  37,  39, 
164. 

Finlayson,  Governor,  23. 

Firbank  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Fire,  diminution  in  risk  of,  on 
farms,  139. 

Fisher's  Landing,  and  Red  Fife 
wheat,  30,  216. 

Fishes,  hunger  prices  for,  in 
1821,  14. 

Fishing  tackle,  required  in  Red 
River  Settlement,  28. 

Flail,  used  in  Red  River  Settle- 
ment, 16. 

Flat  warehouses,  description  of, 
55. 

Flax,  crop  in  1915,  36;  questions 
respecting  grading  of,  104. 

Flood,  in  Red  River  Settlement, 
in  1825,  18-19;  effect  on  crops, 
20;  refuge  during,  in  1852,  24. 

Florence  wheat,  in  Australia, 
259. 

Flour,    amount   of  bran   in,   23; 
Canadian,  200-201 ;   export  of, 
135-136;   fall  in  price  of,  21; 
of     Red     Fife     and     Galician 
wheats,  209;   price  of,  at  Red 
River    in    1814,    17;    price    of 
Vermilion,    181;    purchased   in 
the  United  States,  28-29;  Red 
River,  evil  nature  of,  21-24. 
Flour    mill,    at   Vermilion,    181; 
description  of  a  modern,  137- 
138. 
Flour  mills,  of  Minneapolis  and 
Marquis  wheat,   159;   of  west- 
ern Canada,   134-138. 
Flower  of  a  wheat-plant,  fertil- 
ization of  the  ovules,  219-220, 
222;    opening   and   pollination 
of,  300-304. 
Flying  machines,  and  farms,  140. 
Food  Control  Bill,  126. 


316 


INDEX 


Fort  Abercrombie,  and  transport 
of  flour,  29. 

Fort  Simpson,  Ladoga  wheat 
grown  at,  181. 

Fort  Vermilion,  amount  of  wheat 
grown  at,  183;  Ladoga  wheat 
grown  at,  181. 

Fort  William,  and  east-bound 
wheat  traffic,  49-50;  and 
futures  in  wheat,  133;  and 
loading  platforms,  54;  arrival 
at,  of  wheat  from  Fort  Ver- 
milion, 183;  clearance  of  wheat 
cargoes,  66-67;  farmers'  ele- 
vators at,  142;  financing  of 
crops  to  and  from,  132;  fixed 
prices  of  wheat  at,  128-129; 
flour  mills  at,  134,  135;  geo- 
graphical position  of,  108-109; 
grain  doors  removed  at,  59; 
inspection  of  grain  at,  78;  offi- 
cial weighing  at,  100;  over- 
fllled  cars  sent  to,  87 ;  price  of 
wheat  in  store  at,  93 ;  sample 
room  at,  69-70;  terminal  ele- 
vators at,  description  of,  60- 
65;  trains  leaving  Winnipeg 
for,  84;  weighing  and  dockage, 
82;  wheat  bought  stored  at, 
112-113. 

Fortyfold  wheat,  and  Marquis, 
165. 

France,  and  Marquis  wheat,  112- 
113,  228;  purchase  of  wheat 
for,  124. 

Fraser,  J.  D.,  inspector  of  wheat, 
77. 

Fraser  wheat,  and  parentage  of 
Prelude,  186. 

Free  Press  corn,  ripening  of,  190. 

Frost,  and  early-ripening  wheats, 
155,  175-176;  and  wheat-breed- 
ing in  Canada,  146;  danger  of, 
in  early  fall  to  wheat,  43,  48; 
dates     of,     in     autumn,     180; 


frosted  wheat  kernels,  71;  kills 
Turkey  wheat,   166. 

Fruits,  improvement  of,  145. 

Fur  trade,  and  the  Selkirk  Settle- 
ment, 5;  through  the  Hudson 
Bay,  51. 

Future,  the,  of  Marquis  wheat, 
223-228. 

Future  trading,  developed  by 
grain  exchanges,  118;  benefits 
of,   133. 

Future  trading  in  wheat,  ex- 
planation of,  109-110;  facili- 
ties for,  taken  away  at  Winni- 
peg, 122;  prohibited  in  the 
United  States,  126. 

Futures,  and  the  work  of  elevator 
companies,  133. 


G. 


Gage,  J.  C,  on  a  crisis  at  the 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange, 
122-125;  on  effect  of  war  on 
the  grain  trade,   120. 

Galicia,  and  origin  of  Red  Fife 
wheat,  209. 

Galician  wheat,  resembles  Red 
Fife,  208-210. 

Gallipoli  Peninsula,  dysentery  at, 
27. 

Gambling  on  wheat,  investiga- 
tion of,   121,  125. 

Garlach,  Paul,  wins  a  prize  for 
wheat,  173. 

Gasolene  engine,  on  the  farm, 
138-139. 

Gehun  wheat,  and  parentage  of 
Ruby  and  Prelude,  186. 

Genealogical  trees  of  Marquis, 
Ruby,  and  Prelude  wheats,  185. 

Genesee,  INIarquis  wheat  at,   165. 

Genoa  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Geographical     position     of     the 


INDEX 


317 


Winnipeg      Grain      Exchange, 
108-109. 
Geography  of  the  World's  Agri- 
culture,  163-164. 

Ghurka  wheat,  a  parent  of  Little 
Joss,  179. 

Glasgow  wheat,  207,  215;  and 
Red  Fife,  207-211,  213. 

Glumes,  opening  of,  in  flower  of 
wheat,  301;  vary  in  color  in 
wild  wheat,  289. 

Gluten,  elasticity  of,  from  Mar- 
quis wheat,  155-156;  in  wheat 
flour,  199;  quality  of,  201-203. 

Glyndon  Fife  wheat,  compared 
with  Marquis,  166,  170-171. 

Goddess  of  agriculture,  280-283. 

Godfrey,  Mr.,  of  the  Andrews 
Grain  Company,  160. 

Godron,  on  time  of  opening  of 
wheat  flowers,  302, 

Golden  Drop  wheat,  replaced  by 
Red  Fife,  218,  227. 

Gooseberries,  improved  by  W. 
Sanders,  145. 

Governing  bodies  and  scientific 
research,  238-239. 

Government  of  Canada,  aid  to 
farmers'  elevator  companies, 
142;  great  success  of  its  wheat- 
breeding  experiments,  256 ;  and 
the  crop  movement,  133;  and 
the  Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange, 
125;  appoints  Board  of  Grain 
Commissioners,  127;  com- 
mandeers wheat,  119;  interior 
elevators  of,  64;  supervision 
by,  at  terminal  elevators,  101- 
102;  takes  control  of  grain 
business,  129;  terminal  ele- 
vators of,  102. 

Grade,  certificate  of,  90. 

Graders,  and  their  work,  82,  87, 
89-90. 

Grades   of   wheat,   alteration    in. 


97-98;  general  description  of, 
70-75;  line,  and  reinspection, 
97-98;  mixing  of,  stopped  in 
United  States,  126;  statistics 
of,  for  certain  years,  92 ;  stored 
separately  at  terminal  ele- 
vators, 63. 

Grading  of  wheat,  description  of, 
75-93 ;  favorable  for  Marquis, 
196-197;  importance  of,  92- 
93;  origin  of,  69;  out  of  ter- 
minal elevators,  95-96;  regu- 
lations favor  red  wheats,  261 ; 
scientific  investigations  upon, 
103;  standard  samples  for,  87. 

Grain  doors,  58-59. 

Grain  exchanges,  development 
and  advantages  of,   118-119. 

Grain  Growers  Export  Company, 
business  of,  143. 

Grain  Growers  Grain  Companv, 
142. 

Grain  Groicers  Guide,  and  Cana- 
dian wheat  history,  208,  211; 
and  Red  Bobs  wheat,  269;  ori- 
gin of,  142;  yield  of  Marquis 
wheat,    191-192. 

Grain  Research  Laboratory,  the 
Dominion,  description  of,  102- 
104;  and  Panama  Canal,  52-53. 

Grain  Standards  Board,  the 
western,  and  commercial  wheat 
grades,    104. 

Grain  wagon,  use  of,  56. 

Gramineffi,  and  cross-pollination, 
300,   304-306. 

Grand  Forks,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
159,  161. 

Grand  Trunk  Pacific  Railway, 
and  the  wheat  funnel,  49;  ter- 
minal elevator  of,  102. 

Grangeville,  Marquis  wheat  at, 
165. 

Grapes,  selected  by  W.  Saunders, 
145. 


318 


INDEX 


Grass  family  and  cross-pollina- 
tion, 300,  304-306. 

Grasshoppers,  and  locusts,  11; 
plagues  of,  10,  28. 

Great  Northern  Railway,  and  J. 
J.  Hill's  wheat  prize,  172. 

Greece,  and  Marquis  wheat,  228; 
ancient,  and  wheat,  279. 

Greeks,  and  the  origin  of  wheat, 
280. 

Grinding  grain,  engine  for,  139. 

Grindstones,  how  driven,  139; 
teeth  used  as,  157. 

Gunn,  Donald,  on  rival  fur  com- 
panies, 5. 

Gynerium  argenteum,  time  of 
pollination  of,  305. 


H. 


Hackel,  and  wheat  classification, 
292-293;  on  lodicules  of  grass 
flowers,  304. 

Haifa,  experiment  station  at, 
286. 

Hail,  danger  of,  48,  49,  176;  de- 
stroys Seager  Wheeler's  crops, 
268-269 ;  insurance  against, 
48;  resistance  of  wheats  to, 
276. 

Hailstones,  as  large  as  hens' 
eggs,  48. 

Half-breeds,  in  the  Selkirk  Set- 
tlement, 6,  7,  18. 

Halifax,  export  of  wheat  from, 
50-51. 

Halkett,  and  the  Selkirk  Settle- 
ment, 15. 

Hallet,  and  selections  of  wheat, 
224;   stimulates  Haynes,  225. 

Hanna,  W.  J.,  on  consumption  of 
wheat  in  Canada,  255. 

Hanson  and  Barson,  and  Marquis 
wheat,   161. 


Hard  and  soft  wheats,  color  of, 
261-262;  mixed  by  British 
millers,  200. 

Hard  Red  Calcutta  wheat,  and 
parentage  of  Marquis,  151,  186, 
218-223;  origin  of,  204-206. 

Hargrave,  J.  J.,  on  grasshopper 
plague,  28-29;  on  the  Red 
River  Settlement  in  1870,  29- 
30. 

Harrison,  T.  J.,  grew  wild  wheat 
at  Winnipeg,  291. 

Harrowing  of  crops,  46. 

Harrows,  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Hartney,  James,  his  Red  Fife 
wheat,  217. 

Harvesters,  visit  western  Canada 
annually,  47. 

Harvesting  wheat,  and  shelling, 
197;  with  a  brittle  rachis, 
294;  description  of,  in  western 
Canada, 

Harvey,  George,  and  White  Bobs 
wheat,  270. 

Harvey  Milling  Company,  and 
Marquis    wheat,    160. 

Haussknecht,  on  wild  einkorn, 
296. 

Hayes,  H.  K.,  and  rust-resistance, 
179;  on  natural  crosses  in 
wheat,  266-267;  supplies  in- 
formation on  Haynes'  Blue- 
stem  wheat,  225. 

Haynes,  and  his  Bluestem  wheat, 
224. 

Haynes'  Bluestem  wheat,  com- 
pared with  Marquis,  166,  170, 
171. 

Heating  of  wheat  grains,  71. 

Hedged  grain,  not  up  to  contract 
grades,  121. 

Hedging  of  grain,  explanation 
of,  110,   133. 

Helm,  H.  S.,  on  Marquis  wheat, 
159. 


INDEX 


319 


Henderson,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
214. 

Hendrum,  and  Minnesota  No.  23 
corn,  188. 

Hewitt,  Gordon,  on  grasshoppers, 
11. 

Hill,  James  J.,  wheat  prize  of- 
fered by,  172. 

Himalaya  Mountains,  wheat 
brought  from,  146. 

Hoe,  used  for  wheat  culture,  2, 
4,  8,  16. 

Holcus,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Holmes,  wins  a  prize  for  wheat, 
173. 

Hoover,  Herbert,  appointed  food 
controller,  126;  regulates 
wheat  export,    129. 

Hordeum  jubatum,  its  brittle 
rachis,  294. 

Horses,  death  of,  18;  improve- 
ment of  breed  of,  25 ;  number 
in  1849,  27. 

Hospital  elevator,  definition  of, 
54. 

Hour-glass,  the,  in  the  Red  River 
Settlement,   14-15. 

Houses,  number  of,  in  Red  River 
Settlement  in  1849,  27. 

Houston  county,  corn  grown  in, 
189. 

Howard,  A.,  G.  L.  C.  Howard  and 
Rahman  Abdur,  on  natural 
crossing  of  wheat  in  India, 
301. 

Hudson  Bay,  and  elevators,  64; 
use  of,  51. 

Hudson  Bay  railway,  51-52. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  at  Fort 
Douglas,  8;  change  of  route 
of,  29,  51;  gives  a  prize  for 
wheat,  217;  grant  of,  to  Lord 
Selkirk,  1,  3;  its  roller  mill  at 
Vermilion,     181-182;     market 


of,  30;  purchase  of  flour,  21; 
rival  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany, 5;   windmill  of,   17. 

Hulless  barley,  crossbred  by 
C.  E.  Saunders,  240;  evolution 
of,   295. 

Hulless   oats,   evolution    of,    295. 

Huron  wheat,  origin  of,  149. 


I. 


Ice,  and  close  of  navigation,  63; 
thickness  in  Red  River,  19, 

Idaho,  Marquis  wheat  in,  164, 
165. 

Illinois,  and  the  corn-belt,  187; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  1G4. 

India,  source  of  Hard  Red  Cal- 
cutta and  Gehun  wheats,  186; 
wheat  exported  in  bags,  52; 
wheat  in  war-time  of,  123; 
wheat  varieties  from,  146. 

Indiana,  and  the  corn-belt,  187; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  164. 

Indian  corn,  in  census  of  1822, 
16.     Vide  corn. 

Indian  Head,  and  Angus  Mac- 
Kay,  147;  and  the  agrarian 
movement,  141 ;  aboretum  at, 
140;  Marquis  wheat  at,  157; 
Marquis  procured  from,  159; 
Ruby  and  Red  Bobs  wheat 
tested  at,  185;  tests  for  Bobs 
wheat  at,  260,  262;  tests  of 
Marquis  at,  174-175;  wheats 
crossed  at,  148,  152;  yield  of 
Marquis  at,  191,   196. 

Indians,    nickname    colonists,    2; 
suffer   from   the   Bloody   Flux, 
26. 
Influenza,     compared     with     the 

Bloody   Flux,   26,  27. 
Inland     Empire,     and     Marquis 
wheat,  165. 


320 


INDEX 


Inland  Revenue  Department,  and 
weighing  grain,  99. 

Inspection  Divisions,  for  grain, 
76. 

Inspection  of  grain,  by  United 
States  Government,  126;  why- 
concentrated  at  Winnipeg,   78. 

Inspection  of  wheat,  at  terminal 
elevators,  93-96;  charge  for, 
90;  chief  object  of,  93;  general 
description  of,  75-93;  space 
left  above  cars  for,  58. 

Inspector,  the  Chief,  77,  78,  95, 
96. 

Inspectors,  Deputy,  77;  difficul- 
ties of,  75-76;  of  scales, 
99. 

Interior  terminal  elevators,  64. 

International  Dry-Farming  Con- 
gress, 173. 

International  Soils  Products  Ex- 
position, 173-174. 

Iowa,  and  the  corn-belt,  187; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  164;  yield 
of  Marquis  in,  192. 

Irvine,  J.  T.,  information  on 
wheat  supplied  by,  231,  243. 

Italy,  and  Marquis  wheat,  228. 


J. 


Jack  River,  as  a  refuge  for  the 

Selkirk  settlers,  5,  7,  8. 
James,  C.  C,  on  Canadian  wheat 

history,  208,  211,  216. 
Japan,  wheat  varieties  from,  146. 
Jennison    Company,    W.    J.,    and 

Marquis   wheat,    161. 
Jewish  Agricultural  Experiment 

Station,  286. 
Jonathan    wheat,    in    Australia, 

259. 
Jones  Winter  Fife  and  Marquis 

wheats,   165. 


Kamloops  district,  Marquis 
wheat  in,   157. 

Kanred  wheat,  at  Seager  Wheel- 
er's farm,  273. 

Kansas  City,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
174;  and  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change, 105. 

Kaufman,  E.  E.,  on  California 
fruit,  231. 

Keewatin,  flour  mills  at,  134, 
135,   136-138. 

Kenora,  Couch-grass  and  Slender 
Wheat-grass  at,  290;  flour 
mills  at,  134-135. 

Kerner  von  Marilaun,  on  pollina- 
tion of  grasses,  304-306, 

Kerosene  engine,  use  of,  on 
farms,  138-139, 

Kharkov  wheat,  grown  in  Al- 
berta, 42. 

Kherson,  and  wheat-growing, 
182. 

Kincardine  parish,  home  of 
David  Fife,   207. 

Kingston,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
212. 

Kirchner,  on  pollination  of  wheat 
flowers,   302. 

Kitchener  wheat,  a  mutation, 
226;  and  hail,  276;  earliness 
of,  270;  its  origin,  226,  275- 
277;   prize  w^on  with,  173. 

Kitto,  F.  H,,  on  the  Peace  River 
district,   183. 

Kittson  county,  corn  grown  in, 
189. 

Koeleria,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Kornike,  on  opening  of  wheat 
flowers,  301-302;  on  origin  of 
wheat,  285-286;  on  wheat 
classification,  292-293. 

Kotschv,  and  wild  wheat,  286. 


INDEX 


321 


Kowalewski,       observations      on 
wheat  and  oats  by,  182. 


L. 


Labor  organizations,  represented 
on    Board    of    Grain    Commis- 
sioners,  127. 
Ladd,  E.  F.,  milling  and  baking 

experiments  of,  203. 
Ladoga  wheat,  in  the  Peace  River 
Valley,    181,    183;    introduced 
and    tested    by    W.    Saunders, 
146-147;     parent    of    Preston, 
Stanley,     Huron     and     Percy, 
149;     replaced    by    Red    Fife,' 
227. 
Laidlaw,  managed  an  experimen- 
tal farm,  25. 
Lake  dwellings,  emmer  found  in, 

298. 
Lake    of    the    Woods,    and    flour 
mills,    134;    two    wild    grasses 
at,  290. 
Lake  of  the  Woods  Milling  Com- 
pany, 135;  its  quern  and  roller 
mill  described  and  contrasted, 
136-138. 
Lake    Shippers'    Clearance   Asso- 
ciation, work  of,  66-68. 
Lake     steamers,     description    of, 

65-66. 
Lake  Winnipeg,  and  the  Selkirk 

settlers,  7. 
Lamont,      Samuel,      first      mill- 
wright at  Red  River,  17. 
Lamps  and  lanterns,  falling  into 

disuse  of,  139. 
Larcombe,  Samuel,  wins  a  prize 

for  wheat,  174. 
Lawrence,   Sheridan,   and  wheat- 
growing  in  far  north,  183. 
Le    Couteur,    and    selections    of 
wheat,  224. 


Leighty,  C.  E.,  on  crosses  be- 
tween wheat  and  rye,  266. 

Lewiston,  Marquis  wheat  at, 
165. 

Liberty  oat,  C.  E.  Saunders 
selects,   240. 

Light,  and  wheat-growing,  182. 

Lighting  plants,  on   farms,    139. 

Little  Club  wheat,  and  Marquis, 
165. 

Little  Joss  wheat,  and  cross- 
breeding, 226 ;  rust-resistant 
in  England,   179. 

Liverpool,  and  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange,  105,  116. 

Loading  platform,  and  Canada 
Grain  Act,  68;  description  of, 
54-55. 

Loading  wheat,  speed  of,  at  the 
feke  front,  64. 

Loaves  of  bread,  and  Canadian 
flour,  200;  from  rusted  wheat, 
103. 

Lodicules,  function  of,  303-304. 

Logan,  his  wind-mill,  24. 

London,  and  Panama  Canal,  53, 
103;   and  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change,  105. 
Luther,  Martin,  phrase  used  by 
61. 

M. 

Machinery,  supplied  by  farmers' 
trading  companies,  141-143. 

Macdonell,  Alexander,  on  grass- 
hoppers,   10. 

Macoun,  John,  on  Selkirk  set- 
tlers, 7. 

Macoun,  J.  M.,  report  on  wheat 
grown  in  far  north,  181. 

Macoun,  W.  T.,  and  parentage 
of  Ruby  wheat,  186;  on  work 
of  W.  Saunders,  145;  wheat 
crosses  made  by,  148;  work  on 
apples  of,  145. 


322 


INDEX 


Macdonell,  Miles,  leads  Selkirk 
settlers,  1;  on  harvest  of  1813, 
2;  surrenders  himself,  5. 

MacDougal,  John,  quern  of,  16. 

MacKay,  Angus,  and  MacKay 
pea,  240-241;  and  Marquis 
wheat,  159;  procures  Ladoga 
wheat,  147. 

MacKay  pea,  named  by  W. 
Saunders,  240-241. 

Mackensie,  Donald,  describes  Red 
River  colony  in  1820,  20-21. 

Mackensie  River,  and  wheat,  181. 

Magill,  Robert,  advocated  estab- 
lishment of  Grain  Research 
Laboratory,  102;  on  the  grad- 
ing and  inspection  of  grain, 
55,  64,  68,  76,  78,  79-82,  95- 
96,   102. 

Manchurian  barley,  originated 
by  C.  E.  Saunders,  239. 

Mandscheuri  barley,  importation 
of,  239. 

Manitoba,  and  a  prize  for  wheat, 
174;  and  the  agrarian  move- 
ment, 141 ;  and  the  Survey 
Board,  97;  boundary  of,  3; 
corn  grown  in,  189-190;  Hud- 
son Bay  railway  in,  51-52; 
first  export  of  wheat  from, 
216;  flour  mills  of,  134;  forma- 
tion of  the  Province  of,  32; 
Marquis  wheat  introduced  into, 
157;  obtains  Red  Fife  seed- 
wheat  from  Minnesota,  217- 
218;  shelling  of  wheat  in, 
197;  tests  for  Marquis  wheat 
in,  175;  wheats  crossed  in, 
148;  yield  of  Marquis  in,  190, 
196. 

Manitoba  Daily  Free  Press,  on 
Red  Fife  wheat,  210,  227;  on 
spring  wheat  in   Ontario,  215. 

Manitoba  Grain  Growers  Asso- 
ciation, organization  of,  141. 


Mannichtousan,  king  of  Sis,  obe- 
lisk to,  279. 

Manure,  use  of,  43,  44. 

Maple     Leaf     Milling     Company 
Limited,   135. 

Maritime  Provinces  and  Marquis 
wheat,  157. 

Marketing  grain,  by  sample,  69- 
70. 

Marquis  wheat,  and  Bobs,  260; 
and  Burbank's  Quality  wheat, 
233-237;  and  frost,  180-181; 
and  hail,  276;  and  Hard  Red 
Calcutta,  204-206;  and  its 
parent  Red  Fife,  218;  and 
rust,  176-180;  and  the  north- 
ward advance  of  the  wheat- 
belt,  188;  and  the  War,  228; 
as  the  offspring  of  Red  Fife 
and  Hard  Red  Calcutta,  218- 
223;  beneficial  influence  of, 
154;  classification  of,  292; 
comparative  yields  of,  in 
Canada  and  the  United  States, 
196;  compared  with  Minnesota 
standard  wheat  varieties, 
(Figs.  29,  30,  31),  166,  170, 
171;  compared  with  Ruby  and 
Prelude,  183-184;  crop  values 
in  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  243-246;  discovery  and 
introduction  of,  144-257;  dis- 
covery of,  not  accidental,  238 
does  not  shell  readily,  197 
earliness  and  storms,  176 
earliness  and  yield  of,  174- 
175;  economic  value  of,  230- 
233;  extraordinary  example  of 
vegetable  increase,  170;  favor- 
able grading  of,  196-197;  first 
distribution  of,  157;  first 
grinding  of,  156;  future  of, 
223-228;  genealogical  tree  of, 
185;  general  description  of, 
170-172;    history  of,  not  well 


INDEX 


323 


known,    144;    improvement   of, 
224;  increased  wealth  brought 
by,    to     Canada     and     United 
States,  246-252;  in  the  United 
States,    158-170;    introduction 
of  into  western   Canada,    157; 
investigation    of    qualities    of, 
154-157;    its   blessings   to   the 
world,      158;      Kitchener     the 
product   of,    275;    milling   and 
baking   qualities    of,    198-204; 
natural     crossing    with     Blue- 
stem,  2G6-267;  origin  of,  little 
known  to  farmers,  230;  origin 
of  name  of,  154;  percentage  of 
crop     of,      167-109;      possible 
origin     from     wdld     wheat    of 
Palestine,  291;  prizes  awarded 
to,   172-174;    provision  for,  in 
grades  of  wheat,  72;   selection 
of  by  C.  E.  Saunders,  151-154;  • 
sown  on  20,000,000  acres,  170; 
summary       concerning,       257- 
258;    value  to  North  America 
and    the    world    of,    257-258; 
why  sought  in  British  markets, 
200;  yield  of,  in  Canada,  190- 
192;  yield  of,  in  United  States, 
192-196. 
Martin,   Chester,  on  the   history 
of  the  Selkirk  settlers,  1-2,  6, 
7,  9,   13,   21,   29. 
May   and    Company,   L.    L.,    and 

Marquis   wheat,    161. 
May  wheat,  a  deal  in,  111-113; 

highest  price  of,   121. 
McAlister,  J.  E.,  quern  of,  16. 
McDonell,  Alexander,  the  "  grass- 
hopper governor,"  his  revels,  15. 
McGill  and   Company,  and  Mar- 
quis wheat,  161. 
McLauchlin  and  Moore,  test  La- 
doga  flour,    147. 
McLeod,  John,  defends  Red  River 
Settlement,   5-6. 


McMurray,  J.  L.,  wheat  crosses 

made  by,  148. 
Medicine  Hat,  cars  inspected  at, 
91 ;    flour    mills    and    natural 
gas,  134,  135. 
Mediterranean,     civilization     of, 

and  wheat,  300. 
Melica,    time    of    pollination    of, 

305. 
Mendel,   Gregor,   and   rust-resist- 
ance, 179;   laws  of  inheritance 
of,  229. 
^Slennonites,       settle       on      open 

prairie,  30. 
]\Iensury  barley,  C.  E.  Saunders' 

selection  from,  239. 
Mentor,    and    Minnesota    No.    23 

corn,  188. 
Mice,    in    granaries,    23;    plague 

of,  in  1825,  18. 
Michigan,       and       Northwestern 

Dent  corn,  190. 
Milking  machines  on  farms,  138. 
Mill,     experimental,     of     C.     E. 
Saunders,    150,    203;    of    Hud- 
son's   Bay    Company    at    Fort 
Vermilion,    181-182;   of  Sheri- 
dan   Lawrence    at    Fort    Ver- 
milion,   183;   one  destroyed  in 
1815,  5. 
Mill       elevator,      definition      of, 

54. 
Miller,     foreign,      132;      British, 

mixes   flour,   200. 
Millers,  at   \\innipeg  Grain   Ex- 
change,  106;    competitive  buy- 
ing of,   during  war,    124;    deal 
in  futures,  109-110. 
Milling,  and  mixed  wheat,  162. 
Milling  and   baking  qualities,  of 
Ladoga   wheat,    147;    of   Mar- 
quis,     155-157,      198-204;      of 
Preston,    Stanley,    Huron,    and 
Percy,  149;  of  Quality,  234;  of 
Red  Fife,  218;   made  by  C.  E. 


324 


INDEX 


Saunders,  156;  supreme  test  of 
wheat,  147. 

Milling  industry,  effect  of  revolu- 
tion in,  30-31. 

Milling  operations,  early  history 
of,  in  Red  River  Settlement, 
16-18. 

Mills,  and  Board  of  Grain  Super- 
visors, 129;  and  grain  ex- 
changes, 118;  Egyptian,  for 
emmer  wheat,  294;  experimen- 
tal, 103;  Midget,  135;  Min- 
neapolis, 159;  querns,  16-17, 
136-137. 

Milner,  W.  E.,  on  effect  of  war 
on  grain  trade,  119-120;  on 
number  of  cars  of  wheat  pass- 
ing through  Winnipeg,  49;  on 
wheat  crop  of  1915,  35-36, 
254;  on  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change, 105. 

Minneapolis,  and  introduction  of 
Marquis  wheat,  160;  and  Win- 
nipeg Grain  Exchange,  105, 
116;  and  Velvet  Chaff  wheat, 
149;  flour  mills  at,  and  Mar- 
quis wheat,  159;  grading  sys- 
tem at,  69;  highest  price  for 
wheat  at,  125;  seed  Marquis 
made  available  at,  164-165. 

Minnesota,  and  earliness  of 
wheats,  176;  and  Minnesota 
No.  23  corn,  188;  and  St.  Paul 
railway,  32;  and  yields  of 
several  wheat  varieties,  193- 
196;  as  source  of  Red  Fife 
wheat  for  seed  in  Manitoba, 
217-218;  chief  wheat  varieties 
of,  and  total  crop,  167;  corn 
culture  in,  187-190;  crop 
value  of  Marquis  wheat  in, 
244-245;  financial  benefit  to, 
from  Marquis,  247-249;  in- 
troduction of  Marquis  into, 
158-165;     Marquis     in,      157; 


Preston  wheat  in,  149;  purifier 
introduced  into,  30-31. 

Minnesota  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station,  and  Marquis 
wheat,  192,  203-204;  and 
Bluestem,  225;  and  Preston, 
149. 

Minnesota  No.  13  corn  and  No. 
23  corn,  origin  of,  187-188. 

Minnesota  No.  188  wheat,  name 
for  Preston,  149. 

Minnesota  River,  and  transport 
of  seed  wheat,   13. 

Minnesota  University,  and  early- 
ripening  corn  varieties,  187- 
188,  190;  and  rust-resistance, 
179;  and  spring  wheat,  162; 
Marquis  wheat  tested  at,  165; 
natural  crosses  of  wheat  at, 
266. 

Mitchel,  a  millwright  in  the  Sel- 
kirk Settlement,  24. 

Moisture,  conservation  of,  in 
soil,  43,  44,  45-46;  in  wheat 
grains,  71,  198;  in  wheat  sam- 
ples, how  estimated,  89. 

Moisture-testers,  the  Brown- 
Duvel,  89;  other,  103. 

Molinia,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Money,  amount  received  in 
Prairie  Provinces  for  grain, 
106;  inflated  currency,  124; 
provided  by  banks,  131-132; 
required  by  farmers,  130. 

Montana,  and  Northwestern  Dent 
corn,  190;  and  yield  of  several 
wheat  varieties  in,  193-196; 
chief  wheat  varieties  of,  and 
total  crop,  167;  crop  value  of 
Marquis  wheat  in,  244-245;  in- 
creased wealth  from  growing 
Marquis  in,  249-252;  intro- 
duction of  Marquis  into,  160; 
Marquis  in,   164,   166. 


INDEX 


325 


Montreal,   Ogilvie  flour  mill   at, 

135;     wheat     traffic     through, 

49-50. 
Moosejaw,  cars  inspected  at,  01; 

elevator,  64,  102;  inspection  of 

grain  at,  78. 
Moscow,  Marquis  wheat  at,  165. 
Mount  Hermon,  and  wild  wheat, 

140. 
Mummy  wheat,  its  vitality  lost, 

280. 
Music,  on  farms,  140. 


N. 


Nardus,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Nebraska,  and  the  corn-belt, 
187;  introduction  of  Marquis 
wheat  into,  160;  Marquis  in, 
164. 

Neolithic  Period,  and  wheat, 
284-285,  298. 

New  York,  and  Hudson  Bay 
route,  51-52;  export  of  wheat 
from,  50-51;  farmers'  export 
business  from,  143. 

New  York  State,  Marquis  wheat 
in,   164. 

Nilsson-Ehle,  H.,  and  wheat  se- 
lections, 224;  on  natural 
crosses  in  wheat,  266. 

Noble,  C.  S.,  and  a  great  yield 
of  Marquis  wheat,  191. 

Norman  County,  and  Minnesota 
No.  23  corn,  "^188. 

North,  the,  and  belts  of  wheat 
and  corn,  187-190;  wheat  in 
the  far,  182,  184. 

North  Dakota,  and  Haynes  Blue- 
stem,  224;  and  shelling  of 
wheat,  197;  and  yields  of  sev- 
eral wheat  varieties,  193-196; 
chief  wheat  varieties  and  total 


crop,  167;  corn  culture  in, 
187-189;  crop  value  of  Mar- 
quis in,  244-245 ;  increased 
wealth  from  growing  ]\[arquia 
in,  249-252;  introduction  of 
Marquis  into,  158-165;  Mar- 
quis wheat  in,  157. 

North  Dakota  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, and  H.  L.  Bolley,  161. 

North  Dakota  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station,  and  E.  F. 
Ladd,  203. 

Northrup  Grain  Company,  and 
Marquis  wheat,  159,  160. 

North-West  Company,  amalga- 
mation with  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  9;  charges  against 
Lord  Selkirk,  9;  Fort  Douglas 
captured  and  lost  by,  7-8; 
ruin  Red  River  Settlement  in 
1815,  5. 


Oatmeal,  in  reserve  at  Selkirk 
Settlement,  14. 

Oats,  a  sale  of,  in  the  wheat-pit, 
117;  as  an  admixture  of 
wheat,  88 ;  evolution  of,  294- 
295;  new  variety  of,  240;  ori- 
gin of,  285 ;  wild,  in  Manitoba, 
brittle  rachis  of,  294;  wild, 
time  of  pollination  of,  305. 

Ogilvie  Flour  Mill  Company 
Limited,   16,   135. 

O'Donoghue,  C.  H.,  on  locusts 
and  grasshoppers,  11. 

Ohio,  and  the  corn-belt,  187; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  104. 

Onega  wheat,  and  parentage  of 
Ruby,  186. 

Ontario,  and  Golden  Chaff  wheat, 
224;  and  origin  of  Red  Fife 
wheat,     207,     212,     214,     215; 


326 


INDEX 


cause  of  improved  barley  pro- 
duction in,  239;  export  of  Red 
Fife  to,  in  1876,  30,  216;  flour 
mill  at  Port  Colborne,  135; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  157;  west- 
ern flour  mills  of,  134-135. 

Ontario  Agricultural  College, 
improvement  in  barley  at,  and 
its  economic  importance,  239 ; 
tests  for  winter  wheat  at,  224- 
225. 

Oregon,  and  yield  of  Marquis 
wheat,  192. 

Osiris,  and  mythical  origin  of 
wheat,  280. 

Otonabee,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
206,  207,  210,  212. 

Ottawa,  crossed  wheats  trans- 
ferred to,  148;  Marquis  wheat 
selected  at,  151-152;  Monthly 
Bulletin  published  at,   104. 

Ovid,  on  the  rust  disease,  283. 


Pacific  North-West,  Marquis 
wheat  in,  165-166. 

Palaeolithic  Period,  and  agricul- 
ture, 284. 

Palestine,  and  wild  wheat,  286- 
291. 

Palouse  district,  and  Marquis 
wheat,  165. 

Panama  Canal,  and  elevators, 
64;  shipment  of  bulk  wheat 
through,  52-53,  64,  103. 

Panicum  milliaceum,  time  of 
pollination  of,  305. 

Paris,  and  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change,   105. 

Passenger  pigeons,  in  Manitoba, 
4-5. 

Peace  River  valley,  and  Ladoga 
wheat,  181;  and  Red  Fife,  184. 


Peas,  in  census  of  1822,  16;  new 
sorts  of,  240-241. 

Pembina,  settlers  go  to,  11. 

Percy  wheat,  origin  of,  149. 

Persia,  and  primitive  wheats, 
296. 

Perrigault,  inventor  of  the  puri- 
fier, 31. 

Peterborough,  and  Red  Fife 
wheat,   207,   212-213. 

Philadelphia,  export  of  wheat 
from,  50-51. 

Phleum,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

Phonograph,   on  farms,    140. 

Pigeons,  Passenger,  C.  N.  Bell 
on,  4-5;  injury  of  crops  by,  4. 

Pigs,  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Piper,  C.  B.,  on  financing  the 
crop  movement,  130;  on  geo- 
graphical position  of  the  Win- 
nipeg Grain  Exchange,  109; 
on  lake  steamers,  65-66;  on 
prices  of  contract  grades,  111- 
112;  on  relative  transporta- 
tion costs,  66;  on  velocity  of 
credit,    132. 

Plant-breeders,  and  origin  of 
new  wheats,  223-226 ;  triumphs 
of,  228. 

Plant-breeding,  much  still  to  be 
done  in  Canada,  241. 

Pliny,  and  the  rust  disease, 
283. 

Plows,  absence  of  in  Selkirk  Set- 
tlement, 2,  8;  improvement  of, 
138;  number  of,  in  1849,  27; 
yields  after  plowing  in  1824, 
16. 

Plowing,  in  western  Canada,  43; 
tractor   for,    139. 

Poa,  time  of  pollination  of,  305. 

Polish  wheat,  classification  of, 
292. 

Pollination,  and  origin   of  Mar- 


INDEX 


327 


quis  wheat,   219-220;    in   wild 
wheat,    300. 
Pompeii,  and  Ceres,  282-283. 
Population,        Lord        Selkirk's 
prophecy  concerning,  9;  of  the 
Red  River  Settlement  in  1822, 
16;     in     1849,     27;     in     1870, 
29-30;  in  village  of  Winnipeg, 
33. 
Port     Arthur,     and     east-bound 
wheat   traffic,   49-50;    and   fu- 
tures, 133;  clearance  of  wheat 
cargoes     at,     66-67;     farmers' 
elevators     at,     142;     financing 
of    crops    to    and    from,    132; 
fixed  prices  of  wheat  at,   128- 
129;   geographical  position  of, 
109-109;    government   elevator 
at,    102;    grain  doors   removed 
at,  59;   inspection  of  grain  at, 
78;    official  weighing  at,   100; 
overfilled    cars     sent    to,    87; 
price  of  wheat  in  store  at,  93; 
sample    room    at,    69-70;    ter- 
minal    elevators     at,     60,    64; 
trains    leaving    Winnipeg    for, 
84;    wheat    bought    stored    at, 
112-113. 
Port  Colborne,  mill  at,   135. 
Port    Hope,    and    origin    of    Red 

Fife  wheat,   213. 
Portland,  Maine,  export  of  wheat 

from,  50-51. 
Portland,      Oregon,      export      of 

wheat   from,   52. 
Port  Nelson,  and  export  of  wheat 

from  western  Canada,  51. 
Post,   failed   to   find   wild  wheat 

in  Palestine,  287. 
Potatoes,  in  census  of   1822,   16; 
late-sown  in  1822,  20;  yield  of, 
in  1813,  2-4. 
Poulard  wheat,  classification  of, 

292. 
Prairie,  breaking  of,  42-44 ;  free- 


dom  from   trees    of,   48;    har- 
vesting scene  upon,  48-49. 
Prehistoric     man,     and     agricul- 
ture, 278-279. 
Prelude   wheat,    and   cross-breed- 
ing,  226;    and   northward   ad- 
vance  of   the   wheat-belt,    188; 
and  Quality  wheat,  236 ;  genea- 
logical   tree    of,    185;    general 
description     of,     183-187;     re- 
placed Marquis  locally,  227. 
Preston    wheat,    admixtures    in, 
in    North    Dakota,     162;     and 
Marquis  in  the  United  States, 
164;     and    parentage    of    Red 
Bobs,    262,    263,    267-268;    at 
Fort  Vermilion,  183;  compared 
with    Marquis,    166,    170-171; 
grown    at    Rosthern,    274;    in 
Minnesota,      163;      in     United 
States,   149;    origin  of,    149. 
Price  of  wheat,   and  grading  of 
Marquis,    197;    cause    of    high 
prices  of,   124;   fixation  of,  in 
Canada,    128-129;    fixation   of, 
in    United    States,    128;    from 
which    came    Red    Fife,    213; 
highest,  at  Chicago,  124;  high- 
est, at  Minneapolis,  125;  high- 
est,   at    Winnipeg    Grain    Ex- 
change,   121;    in   wheat-pit   at 
Winnipeg,    116;    of    Burbank's 
Quality  seed,  234;  of  different 
grades,  93;  of  May  wheat.  111; 
of  Red  Fife  in  1876  at  Winni- 
peg,   216;     remarks    on,    106- 
107. 
Primitive    man,    and    domestica- 
tion  of   wheat,  306;   and  wild 
wheat,  288,  294-295. 
Prince    Albert    district,    Ladoga 

wheat  procured  from,  147. 
Pringle,    C.    G.,    and    wheat    hy- 
brids, 226. 
Prizes    for    wheat,    awarded    to 


328 


INDEX 


Marquis,  172-174;  awarded  to 
White  Bobs,  270;  in  1882  at 
Winnipeg,  217;  won  by  Seager 
Wheeler,  274-275,  276. 

Probe,  for  sampling  grain  cars, 
construction  and  use  of,  84- 
85. 

Prosperity,  of  Red  River  Settle- 
ment in  1822,  20-21. 

Puccinia  graminis,  action  of  fim- 
gus  on  wheat,  176-180. 

Pullman,  Marquis  wheat  at,  165. 

Pumping  water,  how  accom- 
plished on  farms,   138. 

Punjab,  natural  cross-pollination 
of  wheat  in,  301. 

Purifier  for  flour,  and  hard 
spring  wheat  in  Manitoba, 
217;  introduction  into  Minne- 
apolis of,  30-31. 


Q. 


Quality,  in  wheat,  198-200. 
Quality    wheat,    Burbank's,    and 

Marquis,  233-237. 
Quantity  wheat,  Burbank's,  234- 

235. 
Quebec,     Province     of,     Marquis 

wheat  in,  157. 
Quebec  No.  28  corn,  ripening  of, 

190. 
Quern,    brought    by    Doukabors, 

description     of,     136-137;     in 

Red  River  Settlement,  16-17. 


R. 


Rabbits  and  mice,  periodic  in- 
crease of,  18. 

Rachis  of  wheat  heads,  brittle  in 
certain  wheats,  293-295;  rigid 
derived  from  brittle,  296. 

Railways,      all-rail      route      for 


wheat,  63 ;  and  the  wheat  fun- 
nel, 49;  and  transportation  by 
water,  66;  conductor's  train 
list,  83 ;  grain  trains  at  Winni- 
peg, 78;  long  haul  of  wheat 
on,  183;  procession  of  grain 
trains  on,  59;  sampling  grain 
on,  79-81;  sealing  cars  of,  58; 
seals  of,  83-84;  size  of  box- 
cars, 58. 

Rain,  danger  of,  to  standing 
crops,  176;  low  rain-fall  and 
fallowing,  44. 

Rasheyya,  and  wild  wheat,  286- 
288. 

Raymond,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
173. 

Recorder  of  Winnipeg  Grain  Ex- 
change, presides  over  wheat- 
pit,  118. 

Red  Bobs  wheat,  and  hail,  276; 
at  University  of  Saskatchewan, 
270-271;  description  of,  272; 
future  of,  227;  origin  of,  259- 
275 ;  selection,  multiplication, 
and  distribution  of,  268-270; 
shown  at  a  show,  174;  tests 
of,  incomplete,  272;  the  prod- 
uct of  a  natural  cross,  264- 
268. 

Red  Chaff  wheat,  replaced  by 
Red  Fife,  227. 

Red  Fife  wheat,  and  a  natural 
cross,  265-266;  and  Hard  Red 
Calcutta,  205;  and  frost,  180; 
and  Marquis,  257;  and  Mar- 
quis in  the  United  States, 
164;  and  parentage  of  Mar- 
quis, 218-223;  and  shelling, 
197;  and  Rust  disease,  178, 
180,  214;  a  parent  of  Marquis 
and  Ruby,  186-187;  at  Fort 
Vermilion,  184;  classification 
of,  292;  compared  with  Mar- 
quis   in    plot    tests,    174-175; 


INDEX 


exported  from  Manitoba  to 
Ontario  in  1876,  216;  famous 
during  last  century,  145-1-46; 
for  seed  in  Manitoba,  brought 
from  Minnesota,  217;  grinding 
of,  196-197;  improvement  of, 
224;  in  definition  of  grades, 
72-73 ;  introduction  into 
United  States,  215;  in  western 
Canada,  42;  milling  and  bak- 
ing qualities  of,  198;  name 
wrongly  applied  to  Preston 
wheat,  149;  origin  of,  206- 
218;  origin  of  name  of,  206; 
outyielded  by  ^Marquis,  157; 
parent  of  Preston  and  Stanley, 
149;  possible  origin  from  wild 
wheat  of  Palestine,  291;  price 
of,  in  1843,  214;  replaced  by 
Marquis,  227,  253-254;  the 
male  parent  of  Marquis,  151 ; 
used  in  crossing  experiments, 
148;  yield  and  earliness  of, 
compared  with  Marquis,  190, 
174-175;  why  sought  in  Brit- 
ish market,   200. 

Red  River,  as  a  main  highway, 
10;  ice  of,  in  1825-26,  19. 

Red  River  carts,  number  and 
use  of,  29. 

Red  River  Settlement,  history  of, 
1-33;  and  Hudson  Bay,  51. 

Red  Russian  wheat,  and  Mar- 
quis,  165. 

Regina,  Marquis  seed-wheat  for 
United  States  procured  from, 
159;  and  Saskatchewan  Grain 
Growers  Association,  142; 
publication  on  rust  disease  at, 
178. 

Registration  records,  for  wheat, 
101. 

Reinspection  of  wheat,  96-98. 

Re-selection  of  wheats,  by  C.  E. 
Saunders,  153-154. 


Resistance  to  disease,  by  wheat, 
179-180,  226. 

Reubens,  Marquis  wheat  at,  165. 

Richardson,  A.  E.  V.,  on  Far- 
rer's  wheat-breeding  work, 
259-260. 

Riel,   Louis,   insurrection   of,   32. 

Riga  wheat,  at  Fort  Vermilion, 
183. 

Rimpau,  and  selections  of  wheat, 
224;  on  elongation  of  staminal 
filaments  of  wheat,  304;  on 
lodicules  of  grass  flowers,  304; 
on  opening  of  wheat  flowers, 
303. 

Rio  Grande  wheat,  and  a  natural 
cross,  265-266. 

Ripening  of  w^heat,  and  latitude, 
182,  184;  comparative,  of 
Marquis  and  Red  Fife,  175. 

Robenhausen,  emmer  found  in 
lake  dwellings  of,  298. 

Robertson,  Colin,  and  return  of 
settlers  to  Red  River,  6. 

Robigus,   the   rust  god,   283-284. 

Roblin,  R.  P.,  on  corn  grown  in 
Manitoba,   189. 

Rocky  Mountains,  the,  and  Mar- 
quis wheat,  166,  192;  and 
Quality  wheat,  236. 

Rome,  and  Ceres,  282-283 ;  wheat 
of,   279. 

Root-rot  of  wheat,  and  disease- 
resistance,  226. 

Roscher,  W.  H.,  on  Ceres,  283. 

Rosh  Pinar,  wild  wheat  found 
at,  287-288. 

Ross,  Alexander,  on  Bloody  Flux, 
26;  on  census  of  1849,  27;  on 
grasshoppers,  10-12;  on  mice, 
18;  on  Red  River  flour,  21- 
24;  on  the  hour-glass,  14-15; 
on  yields  of  wheat,  20;  pos- 
sible error  in  chronology  of,  4. 

Rosthern,     and     origin     of     Red 


330 


INDEX 


Bobs,  259,  262;  Preston  wheat 
grown  at,  274;  seed  fair  at, 
270;  yield  of  Marquis  wheat 
at,   191. 

Rowley,  H.  C,  on  value  of  Cali- 
fornian  fruit-growing  indus- 
try, 231. 

Royal  Flour  Mills,  test  Ladoga 
wheat,  147. 

Ruby  wheat,  genealogical  tree  of, 
185;  general  account  of,  183- 
187;  may  replace  Prelude,  227. 

Russel,  Miller  Milling  Company, 
and  Marquis  wheat,  159,  160. 

Russia,  and  wheat-growing  in 
far  north,  182;  einkorn  and 
emmer  in,  295;  Mennonites 
came  from,  30;  source  of  La- 
doga and  Onega  wheats,  186; 
wheat  locked  up  in,  123;  wheat 
sought  from,  for  seed,  213; 
wheat  varieties  brought  from, 
146. 

Rust  disease,  and  disease-resist- 
ance, 226;  and  earliness  in 
wheats,  155;  and  Red  Fife 
wheat,  207,  211;  and  Siberian 
wheat,  213;  and  wheat  grains, 
71;  Black  Stem,  great  losses 
due  to,  180;  danger  of,  in 
western  Canada,  48;  descrip- 
tion of,  176-180;  in  antiquity, 
283-284;  resistance  to,  178; 
Yellow  Stripe,  in  England,  179. 

Rusted  wheat  grain,  in  1916, 
103;  special  grade  for,  74. 

Rye,  crossed  with  wheat,  266;  in 
1813,  4;  origin  of,  285;  time 
of  pollination  of,  305. 


S. 


St.   Boniface,   and   the   St.   Paul 
railway,   32. 


St.  Cloud  line,  and  corn  culture, 
189. 

St.  John,  export  of  wheat  from, 
50-51. 

St.  Lawrence  River,  and  export 
of  wheat,  50-51. 

St.  Paul,  and  Red  River  carts, 
29;  building  of  railway  from, 
32 ;  flour  conveyed  through,  to 
succor  Red  River  settlers,  28; 
corn  obtained  from,  187. 

St.  Paul  railway,  the,  building 
of,  32;  export  of  wheat  by, 
217. 

Sample  bags,  weight  of  contents 
of,  86. 

Sample  market,  the,  69-70,  96. 

Sampler  or  stabber,  structure 
and  use  of,  84-86. 

Samplers,  a  gang  of,  80. 

Samples  of  wheat,  how  taken  at 
a  terminal  elevator,  94;  how 
taken  on  a  steamer,  96;  how 
stored  at  Winnipeg,  82,  90; 
sale  of,  by  Inspection  Depart- 
ment, 91. 

Sampling  grain,  account  of,  79- 
81. 

Sanitation  on  farms,  improve- 
ment of,   139-140. 

Sarnia,  and  Red  Fife  wheat  in 
1876,  216. 

Saskatchewan,  acreage  and  yield 
of  wheat  in,  35,  36;  and  La- 
doga wheat,  147;  and  Marquis 
wheat  prizes,  173;  and  Pre- 
lude wheat,  184;  and  tests  for 
Marquis  wheat,  174-175;  and 
the  agrarian  movement,  141; 
and  the  Survey  Board,  97; 
durum  wheat  in,  42;  export  of 
grain  from,  through  Hudson 
Bay,  51;  flour  mills  of,  134; 
Marquis  wheat  in,  144;  Mar- 
quis    wheat    introduced    into. 


INDEX 


331 


157;  shelling  of  wheat  in, 
197;  traffic  with  Red  River  in 
1870,  29;  University  of,  and 
rust-resistance,  179;  wheats 
crossed  in,  148 ;  yield  of  Mar- 
quis in,  190,   191^  19G. 

Saskatchewan  Cooperative  Ele- 
vator Company,  128,  141-142. 

Saskatchewan  Grain  Growers 
Association,  organization  of, 
141. 

Saskatoon,  and  Dwarf  Marquis 
wheat,  225;  and  wild  wheat, 
291 ;  number  of  cars  inspected 
at,  91;  elevator  at,  64,  102; 
inspection  of  grain  at,  78. 

Saunders,  A.  P.,  and  parentage 
of  Marquis  and  Prelude 
wheats,  186;  assisted  W.  Saun- 
ders, 145;  biographical  note 
upon,  151;  made  cross  from 
which  sprang  Marquis  wheat, 
151 ;  wheat  crosses  made  by, 
148,  149. 

Saunders,  C.  E.,  and  Burbank, 
228-233;  and  the  chewing  test 
for  wheat,  155,  201-203;  and 
the  northward  advance  of  the 
wheat-belt,  190;  and  the  rust 
disease,  180;  appointed  Domin- 
ion cerealist,  150;  assisted 
W.  Saunders,  145;  biographi- 
cal sketch  of,  237-238;  ex- 
traordinary value  of  his  work, 
250-257;  his  Early  Red  Fife 
wheat,  225;  his  original  esti- 
mate of  Marquis  wheat  con- 
firmed, 158;  his  regard  for  the 
British  market,  200;  investi- 
gates qualities  of  Marquis, 
154-157;  isolates  Marquis, 
144;  list  of  publications  by, 
242;  Marquis,  Ruby,  and  Pre- 
lude wheats,  183-187;  names 
Marquis,  154;  obtains  a  wheat 


naturally  crossed,  265-266 ;  on 
Bobs  wheat,  260;  on  quality  in 
wheat,  198 ;  on  the  cross  re- 
sulting in  Marquis,  152;  on 
the  geography  of  Marquis, 
164;  on  the  origin  of  Red 
Fife  wheat,  208-209;  selects 
Marquis,  151-154;  the  first 
miller  and  baker  of  Marquis, 
201 ;  wheat  crosses  made  by, 
148;  wide  range  of  work  as 
a  cerealist,  200;  work  upon 
barley,  oats,  and  peas,  239- 
242. 

Saunders,  W.,  and  crossing 
wheats,  226;  and  Ladoga 
wheat,  181,  186;  and  Marquis 
wheat,  151;  and  peas,  240;  in- 
troduced Hard  Red  Calcutta, 
204 ;  on  effect  of  sunlight  on 
wheat,  182;  summary  of  work 
of,  144-151. 

Scales,  in  country  elevators,  99. 

Sclerochloa,  time  of  pollination 
of,  305. 

Schliemann,  on  a  cereal  found  at 
Troy,  297. 

Schools,  and  Marquis  wheat, 
256;  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Schweinfurth,  and  the  wild 
wheat,  286,  289. 

Science,  besom  of,  sweeps  away 
superstitions,  284;  pure,  helps 
applied,  179. 

Scientific  research,  and  govern- 
ing bodies,  238-239;  and  solu- 
tion of  grain  problems,  103; 
value  of,  illustrated  by  success 
of  Marquis  wheat,  256-258. 

Scotch  Danzig  wheat,  name  for 
Red  Fife,  206,  208,  211. 

Scotch  Fife  wheat,  replacement 
of,  by  Marquis,  227. 

Scotch  wheat,  name  for  Red 
Fife,  207. 


332 


INDEX 


Scotland,  and  Red  Fife  wheat, 
207-208. 

Screenings,  at  country  elevators, 
56. 

Sealing  railway  cars,  after  in- 
spection, 81,  84;  at  country 
elevators,  58. 

Seals  of  railway  cars,  breaking 
of,  83;  construction  of,  83; 
record  of,  100. 

Seattle,  export  of  wheat  from, 
52. 

Seed  Fairs,  Seager  Wheeler  at, 
275. 

Seed-testing  laboratories,  for 
wheat,  45. 

Seed  wheat,  highest  prices  for, 
234;  of  Marquis,  first  distribu- 
tion in  western  Canada,  157; 
of  Marquis,  Kitchener,  and 
Red  Bobs,  supplied  by  Seager 
Wheeler,  275;  of  Red  Bobs, 
supplied  by  Grain  Growers 
Guide,  269;  of  Red  Fife,  217- 
218;  preparation  and  sowing 
of,  44-45. 

Selection,  of  new  wheat  varie- 
ties, 224-227. 

Self-fertilization,  of  wheat  flow- 
ers, 222. 

Self-pollination,  of  wheat  flow- 
ers, 301-303. 

Selkirk,  Lord,  and  the  Kildonan 
farms,  9-10;  bears  expense  of 
seed  wheat,  13;  belief  in  ex- 
perimental farms  justified,  26; 
care  of  colonists  by,  14;  cost  of 
experimental  farm  to,  25; 
death  of,  in  France,  9;  encour- 
aged agriculture  in  1815,  9; 
force  sent  by,  8;  map  showing 
his  grant  of  land,  3;  refers  to 
a  distillery,  18;  remarkable 
prophecy  of,  8-9;  Semple's  let- 
ter to,  7;  sends  a  wind-mill  to 


Red  River  Settlement,  24; 
sends  out  a  mill-wright  in 
1813,  17;  sends  settlers  to 
Manitoba,  1;  visits  Red  River 
Settlement  in  1817,  8-9. 

Selkirk  Settlement,  foundation 
of,  1;  state  of,  in  1870,  29-30; 
value  of,  in  1822,  16. 

Selkirk  settlers,  history  of,  1- 
33;  route  of,  in  1811-1815,  3. 

Semple,  Robert,  calculation  by, 
of  wheat  stored  at  Settlement 
in  1815,  6;  death  of,  in  fight 
at  Seven  Oaks,  7. 

Serbes,  cultivate  einkorn  and 
emmer,  296. 

Serls,  George,  as  Chief  Inspector 
of  grain,  77;  on  percentage  of 
Marquis  in  western  Canadian 
wheat  crop,  243,  253. 

Seven  Oaks,  fatal  fight  at,  7. 

Shaughnessy,  Sir  Thomas,  wheat 
prize  offered  by,   172-173. 

Sheep,  number  of,  in  1849,  27. 

Shelling,  of  Hard  Red  Calcutta, 
205 ;  resistance  to,  by  Marquis, 
197,  223. 

Shipley,  J.  W.,  on  extraordinary 
size  of  hailstones,  48. 

Shipping,  facilities  for,  and  posi- 
tion of  flour  mills,  134;  of 
Marquis  wheat  across  Atlantic, 
158;  of  wheat,  by  lake  ship- 
pers, 66-68;  of  wheat,  on 
Peace  River,  183;  shortage  of, 
during  war,  119. 

Shirreff,  and  selections  of  wheat, 
224. 

Shutt,  F.  T.,  sections  of  papers 
on  wheat  written  by,  242. 

Siberian  wheat,  in  Ontario,  213. 

Sickle,  used  by  Selkirk  settlers, 
16. 

Sieving,  of  grain,  82. 

Simpson,     Governor,     encourages 


INDEX 


333 


agriculture,  21;  his  experi- 
mental farm,  25. 

Smith,  L.  H,,  on  natural  hybrids 
of  wheat,  2G6. 

Smith's  Creek,  and  Red  Fife 
wheat,  213. 

Smut  disease,  and  disease-resist- 
ance, 226 ;  bunt-resisting 
wheat,  259 ;  in  threshed  wheat, 
71;  prevention  of,  44-45;  re- 
sistance to,  178. 

Smut-mills,  absence  of  in  Selkirk 
Settlement,  22. 

Social  development,  and  agricul- 
ture, 278-279;  the  agrarian 
movement,  141-143. 

Soil,  fertility  of,  in  1813-1814, 
2;  preparation  of,  for  crops, 
42-44. 

Solms-Laubach,  the  Count  of,  on 
the  origin  of  wheat,  285. 

Sorghum,  time  of  pollination  of, 
305. 

South  Dakota,  and  yields  of  sev- 
eral wheat  varieties,  193-196; 
chief  wheat  varieties  of,  and 
total  crop,  167;  corn  culture 
in,  187;  crop  value  of  ^Marquis 
wheat  in,  244-245 ;  increase  in 
wealth  in,  from  growing  Mar- 
quis, 249-252;  introduction  of 
Marquis  into,  158-165;  Mar- 
quis in,  157;  Preston  wheat  in, 
149. 

Soy-beans,  at  Rosthern,  273. 

Speculating  in  wheat,  investiga- 
tion of,  121. 

Spelt,  classification  of,  292;  de- 
crease in  cultivation  of,  297 ; 
no  very  ancient  remains  of, 
297. 

Spread  between  wheat  prices, 
nature  of.  93. 

Spring  wheat  and  winter  wheat, 
in  Minnesota,  162;   in  Selkirk 


Settlement,  1;  in  western  Can- 
ada, 42. 

Square  Head's  ^Master  wheat,  in 
England,  179. 

Stabber,  for  sampling  grain, 
structure  and  use  of,  84-85. 

Stakman,  E.  K.,  and  rust-resist- 
ance, 179;  on  geography  of 
Marquis  wheat,  164. 

Stamens  of  wheat  flowers,  rapid 
growth  of  filaments  of,  304. 

Standard's  Board  for  grain,  74- 
75. 

Stanley  wheat,  origin  of,  149. 

Steele,  R.  C,  takes  wheat  in 
1876  from  Manitoba  to  On- 
tario, 216. 

Stink-weed,  introduction  of,  into 
western  Canada,  13. 

Stocktaking  of  grain,  at  terminal 
elevators,  101-102. 

Stone  Age,  and  agriculture,  278. 

Storage  of  wheat,  in  bulk,  93- 
94. 

Strabo,  mentions  rust  disease, 
283. 

Straw,  length  of,  for  Marquis 
wheat,  223;  of  Kitchener 
wheat,  276;  waste  of,  in  west- 
ern Canada,  46-47. 

Strothers,  and  origin  of  Red  Fife 
wheat,  206. 

Stuart,  William,  on  Burbank's 
potato,  232-233. 

Stubble  fields,  wheat  sown  on,  43. 

♦Super  wheat,  Burbaiik's,  234- 
235. 

Supply  and  demand,  law  of,  af- 
fects price  of  hard  wheat,  200. 

Swabians,  grow  einkorn  and  em- 
mer,  295. 

Swiss  emigrants,  at  Red  River 
Settlement,  14,  19-20. 

Symes,  inspector  of  wheat  at 
lake  front,  96. 


334 


INDEX 


Syria,  flora  of,  does  not  include 
wild  wheat,  287;  wild  wheat 
found  in,  290. 


T. 


Telegrams,  at  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange,  117;  and  geographi- 
cal position  of  Winnipeg,  108. 

Telegraphy,  wireless,  possible  use 
of,  140. 

Telephone,  and  geographical  po- 
sition of  Winnipeg,  108;  sum- 
moning of  wheat  traders  to, 
117;  use  of,  on  farms,  140. 

Temperature,  and  opening  of 
wheat  flowers,  302-303,  306. 

Terminal  elevators,  clearance  of 
cargoes  from,  67 ;  some  con- 
trolled by  farmers,  142;  defini- 
tion of,  54;  description  of,  60- 
64;  impression  made  on  immi- 
grant by,  60-61;  inspection  at, 
93-96 ;  weighing  wheat  at,  98- 
100. 

Test-plots,  of  C.  E.  Saunders  at 
Ottawa  (Figs.  23  and  24),  153, 
157;  of  John  Bracken,  270. 

Theophrastus,  mentions  rust  dis- 
ease, 283. 

The  Pas,  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Railway,  51. 

Thew  wheat,  in  Australia,  259. 

Threshing  machines,  engines  for, 
139;  improvement  of,  138. 

Threshing  of  wheat,  and  Mar- 
quis, 197;  in  western  Canada, 
46-47;  on  ice-floes  in  Selkirk 
Settlement,  22. 

Thompson,  W.  P.,  and  Dwarf 
Marquis  wheat,  225 ;  and  rust- 
resistance,  180;  crossing  ex- 
periments of,  267;  his  plot  of 
wild  wheat,  291. 


Times,     the,     letters     concerning 

Red  River  Settlement  in,  28. 
Toronto,    and    Red    Fife    wheat, 

212,  216;  tests  of  Ladoga  flour 

at,  147. 
Tough   wheat,  milling  value   of, 

104. 
Trabut,  on  crossing  varieties  of 

Anagallis,  297. 
Tractors,     replacing     horses     on 

farms,  139. 
Traill,  Maulson,  and  Clark,  im- 
port Red  Fife,  218. 
Trains,  breaking  up  of,  94;  pro- 
cession   of    grain    trains,    59; 

view    of    trains    of    Canadian 

Paciflc  Railway   (Fig.  10),  57. 
Transcona,  elevator  at,  64. 
Trees,  planting  of,  on  farms,  140. 
Trisetum,  time  of  pollination  of, 

305. 
Triticum,     time     of     pollination 

of,    305;    subdivisions   of,   292, 

293. 
Triticum     dicoccum,     and     wild 

wheat,     290;     not     grown     in 

Syria  and   Palestine,  289. 
Triticum     dicoccum     dicoccoides, 

289-291. 
Triticum     hermonis,     conclusion 

concerning,   299;    Cook's   name 

for  the  wild  wheat,  290-291. 
Triticum  mcnococcum,  and  wheat 

hybrids,  293;   einkorn,  289. 
Triticum      monococcum      aegili- 

poide,    found    on    Mount    Her- 

mon,  289. 
Triticum  polonicum,  crossing  of, 

2%. 
Triticum,      vulgare      dicoccoides, 

286. 
Troy,  barley  found  in   ruins  of, 

297. 
Tryptolemus,   and   the  origin   of 

wheat,  280. 


INDEX 


335 


Tullyalltn,  in  Scotland,  and 
David  Fife,  207. 

Turkey  Red  wheat,  grown  in  Al- 
berta, 42;  in  Inland  Empire, 
165;  on  Seager  Wheeler's 
farm,  273. 

Turnips,  in  1813  in  Selkirk  Set- 
tlement, 4. 


U. 


United  Farmers  of  Alberta,  the, 
organization  of,  141. 

United  Grain  Growers  Limited, 
organization  of,  141-142. 

United  Kingdom,  purchase  of 
wheat  for,  124;  rising  wages 
in,  123. 

United  States,  the,  and  blessings 
of  Marquis  wheat,  158;  and 
cross-pollination  in  wheat, 
301;  and  sample  markets,  69; 
assists  Red  River  Settlement, 
28;  crop  value  of  Marquis  in, 
244-246;  fixed  prices  of  wheat 
in,  128;  food  controller  of, 
126;  increased  wealth  in,  due 
to  introduction  of  Marquis, 
246-252;  introduction  of  Mar- 
quis into,  158-170;  Marquis 
in,  153,  157;  Marquis  in  1914, 
160;  Preston  wheat  in,  149; 
reference  map  of  States  of, 
163;  revolution  in  milling  in- 
dustry in,  30-31;  route  to  Red 
River  Settlement  through,  51 ; 
seed  wheat  obtained  from,  in 
1820,  12-13;  wheat  export  in 
1913,  39;  wheat  raised  in,  40, 
41  ;  wheat  varieties  from,  test- 
ed, 146;  wild  wheat  brought 
to,  291. 

United  States  Grain  Corporation, 
action  of,  126. 


I'niversity  of  Minnesota,  vide 
Minnesota   University. 

University  of  Saskatchewan,  and 
Dwarf  Marquis  wheat,  225 ; 
and  rust  disease,  178,  179; 
crossing  wheats  at,  267  ;  White 
Bobs  grown  at,  270-271;  wild 
wheat  grown  at,  291. 

University  of  Toronto,  and  Mar- 
quis wheat,  237,  238. 

Universities  and  schools,  cost  of, 
and  Marquis  wheat,  256. 

Unger,  and  wheat  found  in  a 
pyramid,  279. 

V. 

Vancouver,  and  the  Panama 
Canal,  103;  government  eleva- 
tor at,  102;  wheat  exported 
from,  52. 

Varro,  mentioned  rust  disease, 
283. 

Velocity  of  credit,  principle  of, 
and  crop  movements,   132. 

Velvet  chaff  wheat  ( Preston ) , 
and  Marquis  in  the  United 
States,  164;  compared  with 
Marquis  (Figs.  29,  30,  31), 
166,  170,  171;  percentage  of 
crop  of,  167-160;  replacement 
by  Marquis  in  ^Minnesota,  246- 
248;  various  names  for,  and 
origin,  149;  yield  of,  in  United 
States,   193-196. 

Vermilion,  roller  mill  at,  181. 

Vermont,  home  of  C.  G.  Pringle, 
226. 

Vienna,  discovery  in  a  herbarium 
at,  286. 

Vilmorin,  on  the  crossing  of 
wheats,  296. 

von  Marilaun,  Kerner,  on  polli- 
nation  of  grasses,  304-306. 

von  Tschermak,  wheat  hybrids 
of,  296. 


336 


INDEX 


W. 

Wangen,  emmer  found  in  lake 
dwellings  of,  298. 

War,  the  Great,  and  part  played 
by  Marquis  wheat,  255;  and 
price  of  wheat,  255;  and  the 
Grain  Growers'  Export  Com- 
pany, 143;  effect  of  peace  on 
crop  value  of  Marquis,  246 ; 
effect  on  grain  trade  of,  118- 
129;  efforts  to  increase  crops 
during,  40;  export  of  flour 
during,  136;  increase  of  Mar- 
quis during,  164. 

Warburg,  and  the  wild  wheat, 
286. 

Warehouse  receipts,  for  grain, 
100-101. 

Warfare,  delightful,  with  wheat 
and  corn,  170. 

Warren  wheat,  in  Australia, 
259. 

Washing  machine,  how  driven, 
139. 

Washington,  Bureau  of  Crop  Es- 
timates at,  quoted,  167; 
Monthly  Crop  Reports,  191, 
244,  245,  247,  249,  251. 

Washington  States,  and  Marquis 
wheat,  160,  164,  165,  192. 

Water-mills,  number  of,  in  1849. 

Water  power,  and  milling,  134. 

Wealth  increased  by  introduction 
of  Marquis  wheat,  in  Canada, 
252-257;  in  North  America, 
257-258 ;  in  the  United  States, 
246-252. 

Weather,  and  yield  of  Marquis 
wheat,  196;  during  harvesting, 
48;  very  cold,  in,  1825-1826, 
19. 

Weeds,  chief  kinds  of,  44;  choke 
grain  in  1813,  5;  harrowing  to 
kill,  46;  some  introduced  with 


seed    wheat    in    1820,    13;    on 
stubble  fields,  43. 

Weed  seeds  in  wheat,  how  esti- 
mated,  88;    kinds   of,   70-71. 

Weighing  of  wheat,  at  country 
elevators,  56;  general  account 
of,  98-100;  by  graders  at 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange, 
how  accomplished,  82,  87-88. 

Weighmaster,  the  Chief,  100. 

Weight,  of  Ladoga  wheat  in  far 
north,  181;  of  wheat  in  cer- 
tain grades,  72-73;  of  wheat 
per  bushel,  175. 

Western  Canada,  crop  statistics 
of,  35-40;  effect  of  revolution 
in  the  milling  industry  upon, 
30-31;  value  of  Marquis  to, 
256. 

Western  Canada  Flour  Mills 
Company  Limited,  135. 

Western  Inspection  Division,  for 
cereals,  54,  59,  92. 

Wheat,  admixtures  of,  70-71; 
and  Hudson  Bay  railway,  51- 
52;  and  farmers'  trading  com- 
panies, 141-142;  and  food, 
227;  and  frost,  180-183;  and 
rust  disease,  175-180;  and 
weather,  175-176;  antiquity 
and  origin  of,  279-285,  298 ;  as 
basis  of  Winnipeg's  prosperity, 
33;  at  terminal  elevators,  60- 
64;  botanical  classification  of, 
292-293;  bought  and  sold  at 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange, 
111-118;  bought  and  sold  by 
elevator  companies,  133;  bush- 
els raised  in  various  countries, 
40;  cessation  of  future  trading 
in,  122;  cleaned  for  seed,  44 
color  of  kernels  of,  260-262 
commandeered  in  1915,  119 
conclusion  concerning,  306 
contract    grades    of,    111-112 


INDEX 


33' 


crop  of,  average  in  western 
Canada,  254;  crop  of,  in  1821, 
14;  crosses  of,  with  rye,  2GG; 
cutting  of  (Fig.  5),  45;  de- 
stroyed by  hail,  48;  east-bound 
movement  of,  50;  effect  of  ris- 
ing price  of,  121-122;  eli'eet  of 
war  on,  118-129;  estimating 
moisture  in,  89;  evolution  of, 
from  wild  ancestors,  294-295; 
export  of,  in  1913,  39;  export 
of,  in  1915-1916,  40;  famine 
price  of,  in  1826,  19;  first  ex- 
port of,  from  Manitoba,  30 ; 
flowing  property  of,  53,  57 ; 
futures,  109-110;  future  trad- 
ing in,  prevented,  126;  general 
importance  of  improvement  in, 
230;  gigantic  monoply  in,  126; 
grinding  of,  for  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  23;  harvesting  of, 
in  western  Canada,  46,  47; 
heading  out  of,  46;  heated,  71 ; 
highest  prices  at  Chicago  and 
Minneapolis,  124,  125;  highest 
prices  at  the  Winnipeg  Grain 
Exchange,  121 ;  high  yield  of 
and  earliness  of,  antagonistic 
qualities,  185;  hoeing  of,  2; 
how  shipped  at  lake  front,  63; 
in  box-cars,  57-59;  in  census 
of  1822,  16;  in  country  eleva- 
tors, 56;  in  1813,  supposed 
high  yield  of,  4;  in  flat  ware- 
houses, 55;  in  lake  steamers, 
65-66;  in  sample  markets,  69- 
70;  in  western  Canada,  35- 
141;  inspection  of,  75-93;  late- 
sown  in  1.822,  20;  milling  and 
baking  properties  of,  72;  mix- 
ing of  grades  prevented,  126; 
moisture  in,  71;  natural 
crosses  of,  265-267;  new  seed 
from  the  United  States  in 
1820,     12-13;     not     descended 


from  einkorn,  297;  per  capita 
production  and  use  of,  39 ;  pop- 
ulation of,  in  a  lield,  mixed, 
224;  price  variations  of,  106- 
107 ;  prices  of,  at  grain  ex- 
changes, 116,  121,  124-125; 
prices  fixed  by  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  22;  prices  of  dilier- 
ent  grades,  93;  quality  of, 
198-100;  rapid  loading  of  into 
steamers,  61;  regulation  of 
price  of,  125-129 ;  removal 
from  farms  of,  47-48;  research 
work  on  qualities  of  grain, 
103;  sampling  of,  79-81,  84- 
87;  setting  dockage  of,  88; 
silver  watch  exchanged  for, 
14;  smutted,  71;  sown  in 
1812  and  1813  at  Red  River 
Settlement,  1 ;  sown  with 
drills,  45;  standard  samples 
of,  87;  successful  harvest  of, 
in  1815,  6;  the  Great  Funnel, 
49-51;  the  hour-glass,  14-15; 
the  wheat  clock,  117-118;  time 
of  pollination  of,  305;  tough 
and  damp,  104;  variations  pro- 
duced by  crossing,  150;  want 
of  uniformity  in,  162;  winter, 
in  western  Canada,  41-42; 
yield  per  acre  in  various  coim- 
tries,  38. 

Wheat-breeders,  and  the  chewing 
test,  202. 

Wheat-breeding,  attitude  of  Sea- 
ger  Wheeler  towards,  273; 
success  of,  in  Canada,  250; 
work  of  W.  Saunders  upon, 
144-151. 

Wheat  Export  Company,  activity 
of,  in  1916-1917,  120-122; 
origin  of  the,  120;  president  of 
the,  128. 

Wheat-growing,  chief  difficulties 
of,  48;   in  the  far  North,   181- 


338 


INDEX 


183 ;    general    account    of,    in 
western  Canada,  41-49. 
Wheat    kernels,    development    of, 

from  ovules,  218-221. 
Wheat  Pit,  the,  at  Winnipeg 
Grain  Exchange,  description 
of,  116-118. 
Wheat  plants,  development  of, 
221-222;  spring  from  fertil- 
ized eggs,  218-221. 

Wheat  Scab,  a  disease  of  vi^heat, 
71,  178,  226. 

^Vheats,  cultivated,  with  a  brittle 
rachis,  295. 

Wheeler,  Seager,  and  a  yield  of 
Marquis  wheat,  191;  a  visit  to 
his  farm,  269,  272-273;  bio- 
graphical note  upon,  274;  hail 
destroys  crops  of,  268,  269 ;  his 
Red  Bobs  at  Indian  Head,  185; 
origin  of  Kitchener  and  Red 
Bobs  wheats,  226;  origin  of 
Red  Bobs,  259,  262-268;  selec- 
tion of  Kitchener  by,  275-277; 
sold  White  Bobs,  270;  various 
selection  work  of,  273 ;  wins 
prizes   for    wheat,    173-174. 

White  Bobs  wheat,  at  Rosthern, 
263-264. 

White  Clawson  wheat,  and  Daw- 
son's Golden  Chaff,  224. 

White  Fife  wheat,  a  parent  of 
Huron  and  Stanley  wheats, 
149;  a  parent  of  Prelude 
wheat,  186-187;  used  for 
crossing,  148. 

White  Horse  Plains,  death  of 
Indians  on,  26. 

White  Russian  wheat,  replaced 
by  Red  Fife,  218,  227. 

Wild  barley,  evolution  of,  294- 
295;  its  brittle  rachis,  294. 

Wild  oats,  evolution  of,  294. 

Wild  wheat  of  Palestine,  a  virile 
vegetable,     291;     general     ac- 


count  of,   278-299;    in   United 
States   and    Canada,   291;    not 
an     escape     from     cultivation, 
289 ;  rediscovery  of,  by  Aaron- 
sohn,  286-291. 
Winds,      and     the     shelling     of 
wheat,       197;       drying,       and 
wheat-raising,    48,     176;     hot, 
effect  on  wheat  kernels,  199, 
Wind-mills,     in     Selkirk     Settle- 
ment,    24,     27;     metal-frame, 
138. 
Winnipeg,       advantageous      geo- 
graphical position  of,  108-109; 
and  loading  platforms,  54;   as 
center  of  grain  inspection,  91; 
as     converging    point     of    the 
wheat    funnel,    49 ;    census    of 
the  village  of,  in  1870,  32;  con- 
centration of  inspection  at,  78; 
daily    car    inspection    at,    91; 
flour  mills  at,  134,  135;   Grain 
Growers'    Guide    published    at, 
142;     grain     prices     at,     105; 
Grain  Research  Laboratory  at, 
102;      grain      trains      passing 
through,    59;    introduction    of 
the   grading    system    into,    69; 
Red  Fife  wheat  secured  at,  in 
1876,  216;  short  delay  of  grain 
trains  at,  78,  84. 
Winnipeg    Board    of   Trade,    and 

the  Survey  Board,  97. 
Winnipeg  Grain  Exchange,  an 
account  of,  105-118;  and 
Board  of  Grain  Supervisors, 
128 ;  and  data  upon  damage 
from  the  rust  disease,  180; 
Censoring  Committee  of,  121; 
Clearing  House  of,  109-116; 
closure  of,  119;  exhibition  of 
loaves  at,  103-104;  geographi- 
cal position  of,  108-109; 
highest  price  of  wheat  at,  121; 
grain    inspection    at,    78;    Re- 


INDEX 


339 


ports  of,  35-36,  41,  91,  105, 
106,  118-129;  site  once  haunt 
of  Passenger  pigeons,  5 ;  stops 
future  trading  in  wheat,  122; 
wheat  pit  of,  116-118. 

Winnipeg  Survey  Board,  and  re- 
inspection,  97. 

Winnipeg  wheat  market,  compe- 
tition of  war  buyers  in,  124. 

Winter-spring  wheat,  at  Seagcr 
Wheeler's  farm,  273. 

Winter  wheat,  and  Marquis, 
247-248;  in  Minnesota,  162, 
167;  in  western  Canada,  41- 
42 ;  sown  at  Red  River  Settle- 
ment in  1812,  1;  yield  of,  in 
the  United  States,  193-196. 

Wisconsin,  and  Northwestern 
Dent  corn,  190;  and  Red  Fife 
wheat,  206;  Marquis  wheat  in, 
164;  seed  wheat  from,  con- 
veyed to  Red  River  Settlement, 
13. 

Wittmach,  on  barley  found  at 
Troy,  297. 

Wood,  cutting  of,  on  farms,   139. 

Wood-lots,  planting  of,  140. 

Women,  increase  ranks  of  work- 
ers, 123;  on  farms,  140. 


Wyoming,     Marquis     wheat     in, 
164. 


Yellow  Dent  corn,  origin  of,  187- 
18S. 

follow  stripe  Rust  disease,  in 
Kngland,  179. 

Yield  of  wheat,  high,  and  earli- 
ness,  185;  high,  of  Maniuis, 
155,  173;  of  Kitchener,  276; 
of  Marquis  and  Red  Fife,  175; 
of  Mar(juis,  and  shelling,  197; 
of  Marquis  in  the  United 
States,  192-196;  of  Marquis  in 
western  Canada,  190-192;  of 
Red  Bobs,  272;  of  Red  Fife  in 
Wisconsin,  206, 

Yukon,  and  Prelude  wheat,  184. 


Zavitz,  C.  A.,  on  economic  im- 
portance of  O.  A.  C.  No.  21 
barley,  239;  on  origin  of  Daw- 
son's Golden  Chalf  wheat,  224. 


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