35

Concerning the crop seasons for the year studied the following quotations
are cited from the annual reports of the District Agriculturists. ‘Although
April and May were cool months, the season can be considered a normal one
until the middle of July, when followed a wet period which continued until the
end of August. The coarse grain crops yielded well in spite of some frost at
Vanderhoof in August.’

_ “The total precipitation for the past twelve months has been 18-74 inches,
which is higher than usual. The yields of forage and cereal crops, however, have
been much lower than the average. This is no doubt due to the very low soil-
moisture reserves this past spring.’”? :

Winter wheat near Vanderhoof -

THE FARM TYPES

The natural conditions and location of the area with respect to markets
were such that a fairly large number of commercial and non-commercial farm
types had developed. For purposes of analysis it was necessary to arbitrarily
define these farm types. This was done on the basis of farm returns. Crop
and livestock farms were defined as those on which three-fourths of the farm
returns came from crops and livestock, respectively. Mixed farms were those
which fitted between the crop and livestock types. The specialty farms were
crop or livestock farms on which two-thirds or more of the crop or livestock
returns were from one source. These included vegetable seed, forage seed, whole
milk and poultry farms. Also among the commercial farms was an off type, a
small group whose operators had received a major portion of their gross income
from custom work.

The non-commercial farms were operated for the most part for the direct
contribution which they made to the operator’s living. These farms were desig-
nated as part-time when non-farm income was greater than farm returns; as
subsistence when the value of perquisites was more than three-fourths of farm
returns plus non-farm income.

2 Manning, James E., Nachako and Prince George. In Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of Dept. of
Agriculture, for the year 195, p. R 109. -Proy. of B.C., Dept. Agr., Victoria 1944.

2 Preston, S. G., Bulkley and Skeena Valley. In Thirty-Ninth Annual Report of Dept. of Agriculture,
for the year 1944, p. 8 106. Proy. of B.C,, Dept. Agr., Victoria 1944.