In 1886, the Experimental Farm Stations Act received Royal assent and led to the establishment of a central experimental farm in Ottawa and four regional farms, one of them in Brandon, Manitoba.

The farms' objective was to improve agriculture across the country, to provide professional and scientific help to farmers and, generally, to promote the development of agriculture across Canada. More specifically, they were also trying to develop an early variety of hard red spring wheat, better able to tolerate the short growing season in the West.

C.E.Saunders, a researcher in the central farm, succeeded in selecting the new cultivar "Marquis" from among other crosses between Red Fife and Hard Red Calcutta wheat. The earlier crosses had been developed by his father, William Saunders, who in his time was the first director of the five experimental farms. Marquis resists rust, ripens earlier than its parents, and produces a top quality flour for baking.