Some of his earliest memories are of driving with his father to a fruit farm outside the city limits, where he would help him hybridize grapes, currants, raspberries, and gooseberries.

Between 1894 and 1903, he studied flute with E. M. Heindl of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the New England Conservatory of Music and with Eugene Weiner of the New York Philharmonic Club.

Following up his brother's research, he completed development of 'Marquis' wheat in 1904, a cultivar which showed marked superiority in milling quality for bread flour over other varieties popular in western Canada.

'Marquis' had the advantage of maturing 10 days earlier than its competitors - a factor of great importance in the Canadian wheat belt.

In seeking newer and better varieties Saunders developed three other strains of wheat - 'Ruby', 'Garnet', and 'Reward' - specifically adapted to prairie conditions.

In the search for a hardy wheat that would mature faster, he made hundreds of crosses, proceeding to test the yields.

"[3] Using a technique he devised himself, Saunders ground his own flour and baked his own bread in small loaves to measure volume.

In 1911, 'Marquis' won the Canadian Pacific Railway Prize of $1,000.00 for the best bushel of hard spring wheat grown in North America.

Saunders also applied his methods to barley, oats, peas, beans, and flax, introducing several new cultivars of each.

In 1922, after suffering a physical breakdown, Saunders resigned his position and moved to Paris with his wife.

In 1928, Essais et vers, a collection of Saunders' French essays and poems, was published by Louis Carrier and Cie, Les Editions du Mercure, in Montreal and New York.