George Spence
Liberal
Mr. SPENCE (Maple Creek):
I am very
glad to have the hon. gentleman's denial. Wheat growing is a stage of development in our great western country, it is the first stage of development. The pioneer goes and locates on the prairie. He builds his little sod shack. He is a man without capital; all he has is his muscle and a desire to win. He goes in there and he does what is quite natural; he follows the course of least resistance. He sows flax, or he sows wheat, and from the proceeds of that crop he establishes himself. But gradually, slowly-perhaps more slowly than some of us would like to see-the process of mixed farming is being adopted. Agriculture is being built up year by year on a more sound and permanent basis as the result of the keeping and feeding of live stock. In Saskatchewan we had 100,000 acres seeded to corn last year,
a fact which may be rather a surprise to hon. gentlemen in this chamber. As I have said, field crops, particularly wheat, are a very important contribution to the prosperity of Canada. Now, we have in Saskatchewan an organization vrhidh, as a single unit, is perhaps one of the greatest organizations to be found anywhere in the world.
Subtopic: CONTINUATION OF DEBATE ON THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF THE MINISTER OF FINANCE.