the low lying land was drained by a system of drainage ditches. What used to be swamp and stone is now in crops and hayland. The land underwent a remarkable transformation and became most productive. Currently the eastern part of the district pro- duces livestock and grain. It is excellent for forage crops such as timothy, brome grass and alfalfa; cereal crops such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, flax and corn; oil crops such as sunflowers and rapeseed; as well as alfalfa seed and sweet clover seed. Mixed farming remains a predominant agricultural activity. Raising cattle, both beef and dairy; hogs, sheep and poultry con- tributes substantially to the income of the area. It is both interesting and significant to look historically at the difficulties and problems that the first settlers experienced in opening up the eastern region. The homes were usually small but were gladly shared with others. Building homes was not an easy task as supplies and money were not as easy to come. Digging wells by hand was another task not easily accomplished. Many times digging would produce a well, but no water. Clearing land and breaking it up, so gardens could be planted, was an important duty. Crops of wheat, oats and buckwheat were sown, so a bountiful harvest would produce grain which was ground into flour at a neighbouring flour mill in Stuartburn. Bread was baked in clay bake ovens. Homesteads were made up on virgin land. Berries, hazel nuts and mushrooms were plentiful. These were picked and dried for winter use. During the spring and summer seneca roots were plentiful. Women would take their small spades, knap sacks on back, and head for the woods where they would dig the roots. When their bags were full, they would return home, dry the roots and sell or trade them for groceries. The first variety of wheat grown by the early settlers was a Russian variety, Turkey Red. It was brought over by the Mennonites in 1874 and found its way into the Municipality. The next variety grown was Red Fife. This variety was grown several years, but had very limited rust resistance. The next variety to appear on the market was Marquis which was of very good mill- ing quality but also had very limited rust resistance. After this came some of the well known varieties such as Thatcher, Ceries, Redman, Cor- onation, Selkirk, Neepawa and the present day variety of Benito, which is one that is largely grown because of its resistance to disease and rust. Hans Lillijord, a farmer in the Arnaud area in- troduced the first variety of rust resistant wheat, Thatcher 2303, to the Canadian Prairies. l6 Lillijord was a native of Minnesota and a graduate of the University of Minnesota in 1913. He took up farming near Arnaud, S7/2 1—4—3E. He spent the winters in Minnesota, frequently spending some time at the agronomy Department of the University. He became involved in the development of Thatcher wheat. In 1934 Lillijord brought 15 bushels to Manitoba. In spite of severe drought and grasshopper problems, his new wheat produced 20 bushels to the acre. The next year he seeded 220 acres and in spite of a severe rust infestation that year, Thatcher wheat yielded 40 bushels per acre. At this point Minnesota Authorities insisted that every bushel harvested by Lillijord belonged to Minnesota. The Cana- dian Government stepped in and entered the business of buying and selling certified seed. Lillijord’s persistance and interest in advance— ment of farming methods and new varieties of seed grain brought great strides to the growing of wheat on the prairies. In the Durum, they started with Mindum Durum, which was followed by Amber. Amber was grown very successfully until the mid 1950’s when a new strain of rust called 15-B attacked the entire crop and the crop for that year was a total loss. Then there was a period of years when there was very little Durum grown because there were no rust resistant Durum on the market. In the late 1950’s, a variety called Coulter came on the market which was grown successfully for several years, and now has been replaced by Wacomah. In 1937 farmers were farming considerably larger acreages of land. The average farmer work- ed a half section and possibly three quarters of a section, with the odd few working the entire sec- tion. With the coming of the horse disease, sleep- ing sickness, in the fall of 1937, most of the farmers found themselves with no power to work their acreage. As a result, tractors began appear- ing. It was the three plow model on steel wheels, not anywhere near the modern tractors of today. It did supply enough power to do the work previously done by horses. In 1949 to 1952, the entire Municipality was electrified. This made quite a change in the farm life. Old battery operated radios fell by the wayside, the coal oil lamps, and all other ap- pliances thought to be so essential were now replaced by new and electrified gadgets. This brought life on the farm for the housewife much in line with her city counterpart, giving them freezers, television, electric stoves, vacuums, and what have you. Some of the young people who took part in World War 11, whether navy, army, or air force, did not return to their farms. They stayed in the