y worked--nearly all the farmers work too much
land for their strength. Very few of them made any use of the manure
from their farmyards, and although at nearly all Police posts, farms are
quite close, I am not aware that any manure is drawn from our stables by
any farmers." This statement was amply justified and very much needed,
as those of us who knew the country then can affirm. Many had rushed
west with the idea of getting rich "quick." They spread themselves over
too much land, they neglected fall ploughing and ran the risk of getting
caught with frost next season, and they thought they could save
themselves time and money by doing without a fertilizer and taking all
they could get out of the land. No doubt Herchmer and his thousand men
preached the gospel of good farming with effect, for not many years
passed before the flagrant mistakes he pointed out were remedied, to the
great benefit of the country which has become in large measure the
granary of the Empire.

In patrol work the following from Superintendent Neale throws a little
side-light on some of the frequent experiences of the Force in that
period. The reference is to the "Old Man's River" in the foothill
country in December. Neale says: "I had gone ahead to try the ice and
found it unsafe. The saddle horses were then crossed, followed by the
wagons, one of which, the hospital spring wagon, came to grief by the
horses refusing to face the wind, trying to get on the ice and breaking
the pole. Both men and horses were covered with ice, as the wind was
very strong and bitterly cold. The stopping place at Kipp being only in
course of erection, there was no place to go into, and the raising of a
tent was an impossibility. However, the horses were placed in the
shelter afforded by some haystacks, and after being dried and fed the
men managed to get a cup of tea and then turned in with their horses."
There is not much detail here, but one who knows that country at that
season reads between the lines and shivers. And that the conditions
might crop up at other dates is evident by a line in the same report
which says that "Inspector Sanders travelled the whole distance from
Lethbridge to Bull's Head _coulee_ in a driving snowstorm." That would
be a dangerous outing.

That others of the Police were taking note of new conditions for the
benefit of the country, as Lawrence Herchmer did in his remarks on
farming above quoted, is evidenced by a recommendation by Super