Historians view Seager Wheeler as one of the most accomplished individual farmers in scientific agricultural experimentation at a time when governments and universities dominated the field.
Born in England in 1868, Wheeler immigrated to the Canadian prairies in 1885.
In 1890 he filed on his homestead near the present town of Rosthern, Saskatchewan.
His numerous articles published in the Grain Growers Guide formed the basis of his book, Seager Wheeler's Book on Profitable Grain Growing published in 1919. A best-selling study of dry-land farming, this publication was the most comprehensive statement of scientific agricultural techniques of its day.
As his awards mounted, Wheeler became famous. Journals like MacLean's, Time, The Western Producer and numerous other Canadian, American and British publications printed articles about him.
Yet he also gained renown as a part-time inventor of farm implements and developer of new grain and horticultural varieties. Collectively, his contribution to the science of farming helped publicize the agricultural potential of the Canadian Prairies in the region's critical formative period.
King George VI made him a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1943.
And he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1972
Today, the Seager Wheeler Maple Grove Farm near Rosthern, Sask. is a National Historic Site
