Dry Farming in Western Canada

Hardcover, 386 pages, 5x7.5 in - 12x19cm, B&W photographs.

Covers worn along edges and very lightly soiled, corners bumped and rubbed. Spine worn, bumped at head and heel. Front hinge starting, gutters cracked in several places. Endpapers and some pages lightly soiled, many pages creased at bottom corner, all pages readable.

John Bracken was an agronomist who taught at the University of Saskatchewan and served as President of Manitoba Agricultural College. When the United Farmers of Manitoba (initially the Manitoba Grain Growers’ Association) won Manitoba’s 1922 election, they selected Bracken as Premier – a position he held until 1943. In this volume, Bracken discusses soil management and techniques for farming in western Canada’s comparatively dry conditions. Topics include climate and its effect on crop selection, breaking prairie land and preparing it for planting, coping with drought and pests, and using irrigation and crop rotation to maximize yields. The volume also includes contributions by Roy Hanson (University of Saskatchewan) and W. H. Fairfield (Experimental Farm, Lethbridge), as well as a “Lessons From Experience” chapter of insights from ten North American agronomists. A reference work that contains best practices for prairie farming in the early 1920s. Peel(3) 4665.