Farmer's Glory by A. G. Street
Author:A. G. Street [Street, A. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571281206
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2011-06-15T04:00:00+00:00
We went over on the Friday, and took him two live turkeys and a bottle of White Horse whisky.
All this sort of thing may seem childish, but at the time it was jolly good fun.
CHAPTER XIV
Although I do not want to make this book in any way a technical one, I think that some description of the system of farming in North-west Manitoba should be given. Unlike most types of farming, it is possible in this instance to begin at the actual beginning, that is, at the virgin prairie.
The first year this was ploughed, and disked in the summer, and left in that state all the winter. The follow-spring it was harrowed to a fine tilth, and then drilled to corn, usually oats. Towards the end of my stay wheat was becoming more popular for new breaking in our district, as the new variety, âMarquisâ, was coming into fashion. This matured a week to ten days earlier than âRed Fifeâ, which was the general Canadian variety.
This earlier maturing made all the difference, as we were far enough north to make the growing of Red Fife a chancy business. If frost occurs before wheat is cut, it yields only a poor sample of chicken feed, which is valueless for milling. I should imagine that the Marquis variety widened the wheat belt twenty miles farther north for a considerable distance across Canada.
Generally speaking, the rotation was Prairie, Breaking, Wheat, Oats, Oats, Oats, Barley, then Summer Fallow, and repeat the six corn crops again. There was some land in our district which had been cropped under this rotation for thirty years, and still grew good crops. The summer fallow was necessary every seventh year, not only as a rest for the land during which time it could regain fertility, but in order to destroy weeds.
The wild oat was the chief bane of the farmer. As in this country, it was shed out of the head on to the ground before the tame oats were ripe enough to cut, and in the fall it would not germinate, but lay hidden quite safely under the snow all the winter and came up with the corn crop the following spring. The only way to reduce them was to summer fallow. In July, the last yearâs stubble set aside for fallowing was waist high with wheat, tame oats, wild oats, and pigweed. This made a good green manuring when ploughed in.
Although grain formed the bulk of the farming, poultry, pigs, and dairying were increasing amongst the married farmers. The lack of these was the one great advantage in working for a bachelor, as all the work in connection with these other branches of farming was extra to the grain farmerâs day. On a married manâs farm you worked the usual hours in the field from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., doing this other work in the very early morning and after supper. Besides, these things had to be done on Sundays as well. I have seen Hendersonâs hired men, after a dayâs ploughing until 7 p.
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