JEWISH AND MORMON AGRICULTURAL SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN CANADA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Mormons and Jews established agricultural settlements in western Canada around the turn of the century. Mormon colonization was generally successful, characterized by its great stability. Abandonment of the land by Mormon communities was rare. In contrast, almost all the Jewish settlements failed. Settlers abandoned their land and retreated to the urban centres of the West. A comparative analysis of the two groups suggests that this difference in agricultural stability may not have been a reflection of prior experience, nor was it necessarily attributable to vagaries of the physical environment. Social structures, religious demands, and institutional backing, along with the geographical concentration and inter connectivity of settlements were critical elements in determining success or failure in agriculture colonization. C'est au debut du siecle que les Mormons et les juifs etablirent dans l'Ouest canadien leurs colonies agricoles. La colonisation des Mormons, caracterisee par sa grande stabilite, reussit dans l'ensemble; rares furent les colonies qu'ils abandonnerent. Par contre, presque toutes les colonies juives echouerent; abandonnant leurs terres, les colons se retirerent dans les centres urbains de l'Ouest. Une analyse comparative des deux groupes permet de conchre que leur stabilite agricole relative ne fut pas necessairement fonction de leur experience prealable en agriculture; elle ne fut pas non plus attribuable aux seules contraintes geographiques et clirnatiques. Les structures sociales, les exigences religieuses, l'appui de leurs etablissements en plus de la proximite d'autres colonies et leurs interrelations, tous ces facteurs s'avererent cruciaux pour determiner la reussite ou l'echec de la colonisation agricole.