Our history, Aug. 1928

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Published: August 10, 2012

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As “The Official Organ of Manitoba Co-operative Wheat Producers Ltd.,” our predecessor publication The Scoop Shovel was an enthusiastic promoter of signing up for the wheat pool, which involved a commitment to deliver all wheat production for five years. The issue reported that to date 18,628 farmers had signed up in Manitoba, more than 10 million acres had been committed in Saskatchewan and more than 100 contracts a day were being received in Alberta.

This editorial cartoon in the August 1928 issue took a shot at those delivering non-pool wheat, allegedly driving down the price for the bumper crop expected that year. It was one of a series by artist Ed Russenholt, who later became CBC Winnipeg’s first TV weatherman, originating the “Heart of the Continent” name for Manitoba by drawing a heart in chalk around the province at the end of each forecast.

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By the end of that year the three Pools’ Central Selling Agency, measured by sales value, was the largest business in Canada. A year later it collapsed when world prices plunged below the initial payment.

Elsewhere in the issue, a letter took issue with an earlier editorial in defence of mixed immigration to the Prairies, referring to the two railways having “flooded the West with ‘non-preferred’ continental people until the railway cars smell of nothing but garlic.”

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