"The output of the creameries last year was close to 4,000,000 pounds. They cannot, however, begin to meet the demand. It is the same with eggs, poultry, beef, pork, mutton, vegetables, and all foodstuffs. The opportunity for the man who will go in for mixed farming in this Province is consequently obvious."
Dairying yielded about 3½ million dollars in 1913 for butter, and then failed to supply local demand, a quantity of milk, cream, and butter being imported. Winnipeg alone used over three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of milk and cream in 1913. The demand is increasing with the growth of the cities throughout the west, and splendid opportunities exist in this field. Cheese sold in 1913 at 12½ cents per pound, dairy butter at 23.4 cents, and creamery butter at 27.5 cents.
Dairy schools, under control of the Agricultural College are well equipped and under the guidance of professors of high standing.
Businesslike Farming.—Nowhere on the continent more than in Manitoba has farming advanced to the dignity of a thoroughly businesslike occupation. Here the farmer works, not merely for a living, but for a handsome profit. Instances are frequent where large areas under wheat have given a clear profit of over $12 an acre. All the labour of ploughing, seeding, harvesting, and marketing is included at $7.50 per acre with hired help. Even allowing $8, it is a poor year that will not yield a handsome margin.
The greatest monopoly of the future will be land.
Wheat is the greatest food cereal. Lands suitable to the growth of No. 1 hard wheat are extremely limited. While the demand for wheat is increasing, the wheat belt of the United States is decreasing yearly in acreage and yield, with the result that within a few years the United States will have to import and scramble for a lion's share of the wheat crops of the world.
The following tables give the acreage, average and total yield of wheat oats, barley, and flax for the last seven years. Provincial government returns,
| WHEAT | OATS | |||||
| Year | Acreage | Average | Total | Acreage | Average | Total |
| Yield | Yield | Yield | Yield | |||
| 1907 | 2,789,553 | 14.220 | 39,688,266.6 | 1,213,596 | 34.8 | 42,140,744 |
| 1908 | 2,850,640 | 17.230 | 49,252,539.0 | 1,216,632 | 36.8 | 44,686,043 |
| 1909 | 2,642,111 | 17.330 | 45,774,707.7 | 1,373,683 | 37.1 | 50,983,056 |
| 1910 | 2,962,187 | 13.475 | 39,916,391.7 | 1,486,436 | 28.7 | 42,647,766 |
| 1911 | 3,350,000 | 18.290 | 61,058,786.0 | 1,625,000 | 45.3 | 73,786,683 |
| 1912 | 2,823,362 | 20.070 | 58,433,579.0 | 1,939,982 | 46.0 | 87,190,677 |
| 1913 | 3,141,218 | 19.300 | 62,755,455.0 | 1,939,723 | 42.0 | 81,410,174 |
| BARLEY | FLAX | |||||
| Year | Acreage | Average | Total | Acreage | Average | Total |
| Yield | Yield | Yield | Yield | |||
| 1907 | 649,570 | 25.70 | 16,752,724.3 | 25,915 | 12.25 | 317,347 |
| 1908 | 658,441 | 27.54 | 18,135,757.0 | 50,187 | 11.18 | 502,206 |
| 1909 | 601,008 | 27.31 | 16,416,634.0 | 20,635 | 12.26 | 253,636 |
| 1910 | 624,644 | 20.75 | 12,960,038.7 | 41,002 | 9.97 | 410,928 |
| 1911 | 760,000 | 31.50 | 21,000,000.0 | 86,000 | 14.00 | 1,205,727 |
| 1912 | 962,928 | 35.00 | 33,795,191.0 | 191,315 | 13.06 | 2,671,729 |
| 1913 | 1,153,834 | 28.00 | 33,014,693.0 | — | — | — |
Education.—Manitobans expend a greater percentage of public funds for schools than for any other purpose. Private schools, business colleges and public libraries, as numerous and as well equipped as those in similar communities anywhere, are established in all important cities and towns and these with the excellent public schools afford educational facilities equal to those of any country. There are also a number of Catholic parochial schools.
The Dominion Experimental Farm at Brandon is doing much to educate the farming population of the Province. Accurate records of all practical experiments are kept and the information is given to settlers free. Dairy schools, farmers' institutes, livestock, fruit growers, agricultural, and horticultural associations also furnish free instruction as to the most successful methods practised in their callings.