Keith Dryden

New direction Downsizing is the popular solution today to all financial ills, whether in government or in business. Gradually, a few enlightened people are beginning to discover that in order to maintain growth you have to use a little fertilizer. The 1950s, 1960s and 1970s saw a stretch of rapid growth. Then our tires developed […] Read more

We hear rumors These are nervous times for Canada’s grain farmers. The crop is adequate, the summer prices were excellent but now the games start. The spot prices on the commodity exchanges are yo-yoing with each new speculative story. We hear of a big crop and the street price drops. Then the Canadian Wheat Board […] Read more

The proof reader When one reads today’s average newspaper, one has reason to regret the recent passing of Johnny Glacken. John was a proof reader of the old school. He had been trained at The Western Producer by Tom Boyd, a Scot who believed there was nothing more sinful than a split infinitive or a […] Read more

Fallow disappears We just came back from a car trip across two-thirds of Saskatchewan and completely across Manitoba and we didn’t see much summerfallow at all. Occasionally we’d see a brown field of dead weeds (chemical summerfallow), but black summerfallow was rare. Strong grain prices combined with the gradual switch to ground-cover farming has resulted […] Read more

Pea season Garden vegetables are maturing and it is possible to eat your way through the patches of carrots and peas. Nothing tastes better than a handful of peas opened in the garden and eaten right there. When you’re young, your stomach is like a bottomless pit and a good country garden makes for excellent […] Read more

The states of New York, Michigan and Minnesota are braving the wrath of environmentalists and launching programs to kill urban geese. Canada geese adapt well to urban living where there is a waterway. They raise their young and the young raise their young ad infinitum. Soon you can’t put your foot down in a park […] Read more

Bay Street follies About 15 years ago I acquired 100 shares in Southam Inc., owner of a chain of Canadian daily newspapers, but I didn’t realize a soap opera would be an added bonus. In order to buy the shares I first had to submit proof of Canadian citizenship, because this firm had a bylaw […] Read more

Silly season “This,” declared Cal McGregor, “is the silly season.” In the dog days of July and August, the politicians all go to roost, meetings of earth-shaking importance are shelved in favor of lounging on the beach and reporters not on holidays are scrambling to fill what is called the news hole in newspapers. This […] Read more

Bugs and boards It was a beautiful warm day, so I spent the morning painting boards out on the back lawn. The original idea was that the boards should be painted antique white but nature conspired against me. There were these smallish black bugs and green insects with lacy wings, both of which thought these […] Read more

If you are travelling in northern Saskatchewan this summer I recommend a few hours’ stop at the Seager Wheeler farm, northeast of Rosthern. Seager wasn’t tall enough to be accepted into the British navy, but he qualified as a real giant in Prairie wheat breeding. While he got a good deal of international attention by […] Read more