THE FROST
Grain Growing At East Beaver Lake
by J.B. Steele
_____
1907
The winter of 1906-1907 was the longest and coldest up to the present since settlement was made at the lake. The snowfall was far above normal and the spring extremely late. The writer did not finish seeding wheat till May 25th, and others were even later. Barley was sown as late as June 19th. June and July were cooler
than usual and the rainfall was above average. On account of the late sowing and the cool summer the crops were still uncut on September 19th when a heavy snowstorm struck the district flattening out all the crops. This was followed by a severe frost that put the finishing touch to the farmers’ woe. It may be said that though some of the settlers along the lake had grain that was fit for seed, none of the wheat graded higher than No. 4. It was the worst year that ever came to the district except 1900 and 1889. But all Northern Alberta was in the same fix, for between the lake and Edmonton there were many fields that were left uncut; the frost having rendered them of no account.
[back: A Good Year]
Transcript reprinted courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta
|
