Medicine Hat, in the valley of the South Saskatchewan and the centre of a magnificent ranching and mixed-farming district, is a division point of the Canadian Pacific Railway, with extensive railway shops operated with natural gas for fuel. The light, heat, and power, derived from this gas are sold to manufacturers at 5 cents per thousand cubic feet, and for domestic purposes at 1 cent. The factories and industries now using natural gas pay out about 2½ million dollars annually, which will be considerably augmented by factories in course of construction, and to be erected. When the new flouring mills are completed, Medicine Hat will be the largest milling centre on the continent. Population over 6,000.
Macleod is one of the oldest towns in the Province. With the rapid settlement of the surrounding agricultural land, this town is showing wonderful progress; during 1913 a large amount was spent in new buildings.
Wetaskiwin is a railway division point from which farms stretch in all directions. The city is beautifully located, and owns its electric light plant, waterworks, and sewerage system.
Red Deer is situated on the Canadian Pacific, half way between Calgary and Edmonton. It has a large sawmill, two brick-yards, concrete works, creameries, wheat elevators, and a sash-and-door factory. Coal and wood are plentiful and cheap. The district has never had a crop failure. It showed considerable business activity in 1913. Lines of railway extend westward.
Lacombe, on the direct line between Calgary and Edmonton, has a flour mill, foundry, planing mill, brick-yard, grain elevators, electric lights, and telephones. The surrounding country is noted for its pure-bred cattle and horses, and a Government Experimental Farm adjoins the town.
Raymond enjoys a rapid growth, and has one of the largest sugar factories in the west. Sugar beets are a great success here. Mr. Henry Holmes, who won the big wheat prize at the Dry Farming Congress held at Lethbridge in 1912 resides here.
Other prosperous towns are Claresholm, Didsbury, Fort Saskatchewan, High River, Innisfail, Olds, Okotoks, Pincher Creek, Ponoka, St. Albert, Vermilion, Vegreville, Carmangay, Stettler, Taber, Tofield, Camrose, Castor, Cardston, Bassano, Edson, Coronation, Empress, Magrath, Nanton, Strathmore, Gleichen, Leduc, Hardisty, Walsh, Daysland, Sedgewick, Grassy Lake and Wainwright. Much interest is being taken in Athabaska Landing, owing to its increasing agricultural settlement and the completion of the Canadian Northern.
CONDITIONS IN ALBERTA, 1913
Agricultural Conditions.—From the agricultural standpoint the season of 1913 was perfectly normal. Spring opened favourably for seeding operations and at no time from seeding to threshing did unfavourable conditions threaten a successful harvest. Copious rains in the growing period, and bright dry weather in the cutting and threshing period kept the farmer confident from the beginning. It was a season made, as it were, to the farmers' order. The quality of grain was extra good. Wheat weighed from 61½ to 68 pounds to the bushel, oats 40 to 46, and barley 52 to 58.
Conditions were equally favourable to pasture and hay crops and live stock. The first and second cuttings of alfalfa were especially heavy and timothy made a good average yield. Abundant pasture continued throughout the season making both beef and dairy cattle profitable investments. Live stock, dairy products, poultry and eggs are worth four times the value of grain crops. The value of the former is nearly 120 millions, while the total value of the grain crop is about 30 millions. The income from the former reached 40 million dollars last year, that from the latter about 25 million dollars.