Deep Furrows

of season, under every discouragement, by the power of faith . . . that requires a heroism which is transcendent. And no man, I think, e

possible to wash oneself, dress oneself and get breakfast without getting out of bed. On the wall was a shelf which did duty as a table. There were also

hey were fresh from civilization-from Simcoe County, Ontario, where holly-hocks topped the fences of old-fashioned flower gardens in summer and the houses had shingles on top to keep out the weather, and where there were no coyotes to howl lonesom

a, North-West Territories, and homesteading there in the days before the Rebellion was no feather bed for those who tackled

he country; these found birth in the camp-fire coals left by ignorant or careless settlers on their way in. Under the rays of the summer sun the blackened ground became so hot that from it ascended a column of scorching air which interfered with

ch the Partridge brothers put in. The total yield was se

silent and grim. Swearing at his horses, wheels squealing for axle-grease, tin pans rattling and flashing in the hot morning sun,

his brown face twisted quizzically. "God A'mighty ain't nowheres near here! He didn't come this fur West-stopped down to Rat Portage![1] Well, anyways, good luck to ye both; but ef ye don't git it, young fellers, don't ye go blamin'

he building of a more permanent and comfortable shack-a sod house this time. It took more than seven thousand sods, one foot by

aught school for awhile. Learning was a truant for the younger generation on the prairies at that time, there being only a few private schools scattered here and there. Though it was not much of an op

e starting a private school of his own, and in 1885 he thought the Broadview locality

re equal to one another-when it came to finding enough parts to make a respectable whole! For among the four bachelors was not one whole suit of clothes sufficiently presentable for social events. Everything was rough and ready in those days and in spite of the hardships the friendly pioneer settlers had some good times together; but the sod house quartette had never been seen at any of these gatherings-not all four at one time

school looked bright, so the hopeful pedagogue

wrote jokingly. "Make the trunk heavy, too. I don'

f his own room E. A. Partridge ventured to look inside he found his few books, a pair of "jumper" socks-and a

ring prospect; many a poor homesteader would have joined the ranks on active service for the grub alone, especially when the time of his absence was being allowed by the Government to apply on

tridge. The railway came and the country commenced to settle quickly. The days of prairie fires that ran amuck gave w

people and temperamentally a democrat, he had a great yearning for the reorganization of society in the general interest. His championship in this direction earned him the reputation in some quarters of being full of "fads," a visionary. But his neighbors, who had toiled and suffered beside him through the years, knew "Ed." Partridge, man to man, and h

ose of organizing the first Grain Growers' Association in Manitoba. As soon as the date was set J. W. Scallion wrote to W. R. Motherwell, urgently asking him to assist in the organization. Although roads and weather were rough, the President of the Territorial Grain Growers' Association at considerable inconvenience

At every opportunity it was advocated through the press that from the eastern boundary of Manitoba to the Rocky Mountains the farmers should organize themselves for self-defence against oppression, present or possible, by "the interests." In about six weeks over fifteen local associations had been formed in Manitoba and V

iderable progress and the promise of greater things to come. On the invitation of the delegates from the Regina district it was decided to hold the third annual con

f the Government at Ottawa, to find their very wording incorporated in the Act. The farmers scarcely had dared to think of such a thing before. To them the ear of a government was a delicate organism beyond reach, attuned to the acoustics of High Places only; that it was an ear to hear, an ear to the ground

on of the onlooking public began to sober down to a less disrespectful mien. Those who talked glibly at first

d the re-inspection machinery. Some of them claimed that the grading system did not classify wheat according to its milling value. Some wanted a change in the Government

grades of wheat. E. A. Partridge, of Sintaluta, and A. A. Perley, of Wolseley, undertook to secure eight-bushel samples of the various grades from their districts. These were carefully sacked and

e grain was not frozen or injured in any way and that they were defrauded to some extent in the grading of their wheat. The samples represented all grades from "No.

the "Feed" sample proved by no means useless for bread-making purposes, either in yield or quality; the only thing that rende

illing quality. From No. 1 Hard the amount of flour obtained was 70.8 per cent. as against 68 per cent. from the No. 4 grade. The large percentage of stook-frozen grain

the elevator or by the Chief Grain Inspector; it was not a composite sample of the commercial grades. The second tests practically confirmed the work done the previous year. The milling, chemical and baking tests failed to show very wid

Department of Agriculture for the Territories was asked by the Sintaluta grain growers to appoint a man and W. H. Gaddes was commissioned to act for two weeks. Then the farmer

d no different from any one of a dozen other farmers who daily reached the city, tanned of cheek and bright of eye. But his busines

ts of the city. On the contrary, he was made to feel like a spy in the camp of an enemy; for he found himself entirely without status, the grain dealers recognizing him merely as a farmers'

tter was a grain man by the name of Tom Coulter. For the most part, however, the presence of the "farmers' representative" at Winnipeg was looked upon as a joke; so that information as to the g

ain man who had just got back to the cit

ately. Some hayseeds out the line sent him down here to learn the grain business. They believe that all wheat's No. 1 H

y, eh?-that's tha

of Rat Portage is

Appendix

Appendix