from four to ten feet high, so that they are easily accessible
and no land is wasted by their course. The importance of
these streams cannot well be over estimated. They rarely if
ever dry in the hottest of summer, and there are several
springs which flow throughout the winter. It has been
shown many times that cattle cannot be successfully raised
in mixed farming except in a well watered district, and it
is this mixed farming which includes the raising of in the
aggregate a vast number of cattle which is the kind that
pays and which insures to the farmer dividends no matter
what the weather is and no matter how poorly his cereal
crop may turn out.

Transportation Facilities

In addition to these natural advantages Austin is
singularly well favored by the railways. it is situated on the
main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 85 miles distant
from Winnipeg and 50 miles from Brandon, and is
connected with these centres by railway, telegraph and
telephone whilst the surrounding country is linked up with
the rural phone system of the provincial government.

The Canadian Pacific Railway gives a service of four
passenger trains a day each way and two local freight
trains. The Grand Trunk Pacific, two miles to the north,
gives a service of two passenger trains daily, and it is
indeed hard to put a cash value on these advantages alone,
which the resident in this district has’over the homesteader
in the West.

In addition to this, however, in the village itself there
is a resident doctor, eight stores, blacksmith shop and
livery barn.

Owing to the comparatively short haul to the lakes the
railways are able to quote cheaper rates both for carrying
of grain destined for export and also for the importation of
machinery and the necessities of life, so that while the cost
of production of everything for export is less and the
profits consequently greater, the cost of living is also lower
and the saving on this is added to the credit side of the
profit and loss account of the Manitoba farmer.

While the Canadian Pacific Railway practically divides
the district of Austin into two nearly equal portions, it also
forms the line of demarcation between two districts which
differ much in their topographical aspects, these varying as
already described from a plain of rich black loam to a
series of hills and valleys. Both are entirely suitable for
mixed farming and while in the hillier country the soil is
generally the heavier and will produce a larger crop of
wheat to the acre the nature of the land makes it less
suitable for the use of heavy machinery such as may be
used on the more level land, so that while it is usual for the
farmer in this locality to raise crops averaging from 40 to
45 bushels to the acre, the farmer on the plains in the same
amount of time can get a larger area under cultivation at a
lower rate of expense. Both districts contain ample
pasturage and splendid hay meadows and are well watered
by numerous creeks.

Do Not Depend on Cereal Crop Alone

While in Saskatchewan enormous tracts of land are
cropped by individual owners the loss by unseasonable
weather, heavy wind or hail storms or from some other
cause, is correspondingly heavy; in Manitoba, if the cereal

712

crop were to be an entire failure the outlook for the
farmers would even then be very fair as the cattle which
they raise would save them from serious reverses. It is this
which is bringing cattle into favor, and it is in Manitoba
that the greatest advancement is being made along this line.

Herds of Pure Bred Cattle

There are several herds of Hereford, Polled Angus and
Shorthorn cattle in the district, and the breeding of these
herds has done much to improve the general stamp of grade
cattle in their vicinity. Large shipments of superior grass
fed cattle go out every year and some attempt at winter
feeding both in stables and in the open have been made
with good results.

Owing to the richness and varied nature of the native
grasses, it is only in the last few years that any attention
has been paid to cultivated pasture, but Timothy, Red
Clover, Alsac and Alfalfa have proved to be well adapted
to the soil and profitable crops to handle.

Though the distances between dwellings has prevented
the establishment of dairies and creameries on a large scale
this will be an important industry of the future and one
which will play a large part in the success of the district.
With the re-organizing of the large farms into smaller
holdings, the creameries will have a splendid opportunity
to pay dividends to both stockholders and farmers.

While the Western prairies have been denuded of
timber by centuries of prairie fires which could range for
hundreds of miles unchecked, the numerous water courses
in this district acted as natural fire guards, with the result
that the countryside is interspersed with bluffs containing
trees of varying size up to two feet in diameter forming
admirable shelters and building sites, and on the banks of
the larger streams in addition to the rapid growing poplar
and willow there is a fair supply of elm, ash and maple,
reminding one of scenes in Europe or the New England
States.

In fact there are few districts in this vast country of
ours where such a variety of soil, scenery and vegetation
can be met with in such close proximity to one another,
offering attractions to settlers of the most varied
inclinations and tastes.

Do you wish for the level prairie where you can have
your grain field of 160 acres without stick, stone or
hindrance to the plow? We have it.

Do you wish for the large open hay meadow where you
can turn the water on at will and keep the mower at work
for days without a stop? We have it.

Do you crave for a rich pasture where cattle can
browse amid vetch and wild pea with woods where they
can find shade and shelter from the flies in summer and
from the chilly wind and snow storm in winter without the
necessity of buildings or artificial shelters? We have it.

Do you hesitate to part from the hills and valleys of
your native land to exchange them for the vast prairie
farm, from whose monotony the eye can find no rest, nor
limit save the horizon? We can give you a home amongst
hills where you can forget that you live in a prairie
provmce.

Are you looking for a rich clay soil that seems to desire
nothing but to be assisted to grow a wheat crop for you
year after year that will compete with any other locality for