The Rural Voice, 1981-02, Page 11separate sections, provides about 2100 to
2200 heat units per year, far Tess than the
2600 units on their Walton farm. Alex
Glanville said due to the lower heat units,
there isn't a great quantity of flax grown
in their area, since it's touch and go if the
crop will mature in time.
Not surprisingly, farm practices around
Melfort differ from those in southwestern
Ontario. Alex Glanville said there's no
plowing at all done on area farms;
instead his neighbours practice deep
tillage. Further south, many farmers use
one-way discers and very minimum
tillage, so the soil won't blow.
Drainage systems on Saskatchewan
farms are almost unheard of. Alex
Glanville says there's no tile drainage,
although some farms do have open
ditches. However, under new provincial
legislation which came into effect last
month, open ditches will no longer be
allowed except in very special circum-
stances.
Since the climate is cold and dry over
the winter, Melfort farmers put many of
their sprays on the land in the fall -
including the chemical to control wild
oats, the major weed in the area. The
Glanville's neighbours also put on their
liquid fertilizer in the fall - Alex Glanville
said the ground is so cold the gas from
the liquid fertilizer doesn't escape. Also,
since the winter months are very dry,
neighbouring farmers often leave their
harvest, like barley, piled outside and
dry and store them at a more leisurely
pace.
Since many of the Glanville's neigh-
bours are seed growers, Alex Glanville
finds they are very particular about other
.40 c ►i o,r az... Z 'r
Since Saskatchewan winters are much dryer than winters here, it isn't unusual for
farmers to leave crops like this barley. grown by the Glanville's neighbour, outdoors to
dry. [Photo by Gibb]
farmers' machinery combining their
crops. While Alex said the help would be
there if another farmer asked for it,
harvesting isn't as much a co-operative
venture as it was on his Walton farm.
The Glanvilles have also discovered
since there's far less dew in central
Saskatchewan, they can start combining
at 9 a.m. in the morning and continue as
late as 2 a.m., and sometimes even all
night, without having to worry about
extra moisture on the crop. This. Alex
Glanville said, "gives a lot more hours of
harvesting."
Since sloughs, or boggy patches of land
which are alkaline, are common on
FOR SALE: 500 quarter sections
Corporate land owner must sell
Credit Foncier, one of the biggest The properties manager said many
corporate land owners in Saskatchewan, tenants have medium-sized farming
must sell its land ownings after the operations and rent half a section to
government limited ownership of large increase farm size without having to
parcels of farm land by non-residents and invest heavily in land.
non-agricultural corporations.
The mortgage corporation owns over
500 quarter sections which were acquired
during the Dirty Thirties through fore-
closures and abandonments of farms.
Ronalf Prafke, Credit Foncier's rural
properties manager, said the company
hasn't decided how it will sell the land.
but all the property won't be put on the
market at once. Much of the land is
rented, and some tenants have had the
farms for more than 40 years, Prafke
said. Other tenants are second or third
generations of the family who originally
rented the farm.
Most farm land in Saskatchewan is
leased on a cash -rental basis but Credit
Foncier works on a share cropping system
with the farmer getting two-thirds of the
crop, and the company the remainder.
Prafke said share -cropping is fairer
than straight rental since "we share in
the risk. There are good years and bad
years and we share in what is produced."
In May, 1980 the Saskatchewan
government limited purchases of land by
non-residents and non-agricultural
corporations to 10 acres.
Saskatchewan farmland, the Glanvilles
and their neighbours don't have drilled
wells on their farms. Instead they depend
on a dugout and pipe water to the house
and farm buildings, while others in their
area rely on cisterns.
When the Glanvilles moved west this
spring, they had a quick introduction to
another Western phenomenon - the
caterpillar plague. Fortunately, their yard
had been sprayed, so they weren't
invaded as badly as some, but the
caterpillars did strip trees and bushes of
all their leaves as they moved across the
country. Gail Glanville said they were so
bad in Prince Albert, one of the city's
schools'had to be closed for a few days.
The caterpillars, followed by the dry
summer, created another problem -
bears. The usually shy animals who
forage for wild fruit had to raid gardens
to survive, and came into settled areas.
Mrs. Glanville said a mother and cubs
were seen within 25 miles of their farm.
In the year they've been in the West,
the Glanvilles have noticed a difference in
more than farm practices. Alex said most
farmers his age seem to have attended
either college or university. The farm
families seem smaller than here in
Ontario, and sons who stay on the farm
often build their home on the farmsites as
well. Farm severances aren't an issue -
they simply don't exist in the Melfort
area.
The Glanvilles also appreciate the
province's medical insurance program,
and a dental plan that covers their
children up until Grade 6. Dentists visit
the schools so Saskatchewan youngsters
are assured of good dental care.
The family also have added a few
Western terms to their vocabulary. For
THE RURAL VOICF/FEBRUARY 1981 PG. 9
w