c^l^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <" 1.0 1.1 |50 "^" lll^S 1^ 1^ III 2.2 " 1^ lllllio 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 « 6" ► ^B / '/ /A Photographic Sdences Corporation •ss \ 4^ \\ "% V ^ 4^U ^ # 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)873-4503 '^ Va CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notas/Notaa tachniquas at bibliographiquaa Tha Institute has attamptad to obtain the bast original copy available for filming. 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This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de r*duction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 12X 16X J 20X 26X 30X : 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmsd h«r« haa b««ti r«produe«d thanks to tha ganarosity of: Library of Parliament and the National Library of Canada L'axamplaira film* fut raproduit grAea k la ginAroait* da: La Bibliothiqua du Parlement et la Bibllothlque nationala du Canada Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha boat quality posaibia conaidaring tha condition and lagibiiity of tha originai copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spacificationa. Originai eopiaa in printad papar covars ara fllmad baginning with tha front eovar and anding on tha laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa> lion, or tha back eovar whan appropriata. Ail otiiar originai eopiaa ara fiimad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- sion, and ending on tiM laat paga with a printad or illuatratad impraaaion. Tha laat racordad frama on oach microfieha sliail contain tha symbol — ^ (moaning "CON- TINUEO"). or tha symbol V (maaning "END"), whichavar appiiaa. Mapa, piataa, charts, ate., may ba fiimad at diffarant raduction ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antiraiy ineiudad in ona axpoaura ara fiimad baginning in tha uppar laft liand comar, laft to right and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa raquirad. Tha following diagrama illuatrata tha method: Laa Imagaa suivantaa ont #ti raproduitaa avac la piua grand soin. compta tanu da la condition at da la nattat* da I'aKamplaira film*, at wt conformitA avac laa eonditiona du eontrat da filmaga. Laa aKampiairaa originaux dont la couvartura an papiar eat ImprimAa sont fllmito sn commandant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la demiAra paga qui comporta una empreinte d'impreeeion ou dllluetradon, soit par la second plat, salon la eaa. 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H A Y <> >V '/fULLi RTO Kutkorn I' E L LICE • *«"! ^"^Tf E P H E N\ .^^'o" >r^A/.,^ ^ iV "^,.^» / '• ■ Mr ,^. •fttfHifitlr ^ -' ,^..t< -^^ 1 yBtANSH ^ ,. ^,._^..«^c C I L L I V R^^AY v^^ivai A PLD^ 1\ <^-^ IT W I Li I A M S WEST EAS —^^rauff ■^^^ I Hi, B R 0' K E - ilfinttoiii' Y / L 0,#~0 y rtatf/f] Hirri \ ' SmihXorrri P> V-, ]H 1 art ^ I narfcnr ~^ ■ »"»•»-'" -- ---^ y^ \^'^' ■ hntkuuin ^o •i fdniV/t %ufri3vittf *ffi>i/ifriiiiy i ^r-'HT^^; -^ '^ ^Q>r(^ iimcbp ^fnl^ii . iJbvmntt* 'TfMerrJ^ ^rMfi'i-f,j-f'^ I , /fumSerr/,f/- \ - a- *»v PROSPECTUS 'A OF THE IMngton, §regi: ^ruce RA-IL^WA-Y; Til WHICH IS AVI'KNDKD TlIK REPORT OF GEORGE LOWE REID, ESQ., 0\ TlIK > PROSPECTUS or TUB la^lliiiigtfltt, dlt[C8 ^ §mt^ llailttiag. -^»4#»*«*- The project of connecting Lake Huron with Lake Ontario, by a railway through the Counties of Welling- ton, Grey and Bruce, has been before the public for a number of years. On the 16th May, 185G, the royal assent was given to an act, incorporating the " Canada North West Eailway Company," on the petition of the Municipalities of the City of Toronto, the Townships of Saugeen, Elderslie, Brant, Carrick and Bruce in the County of Bruce, and Arthur, Peel and Minto in the County of Wellington. This Company was authorized " to lay out, construct and complete a Railway connection " between Lake Huron, at or near the Town of South- " hampton in the County of Bruce, and Lake Ontario at " Toronto, with full power to pass over any portion of " the Counties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce, to inter- " sect and unite with the Grand Trunk Railway at " Guelph, as provided by the ninth section of the Rail- " way Clauses Consolidation Act, and to construct a " fork or branch to Owen Sound, from any point north "of Durham." Under the authority of this Act, a Board of Directors was appointed, and Sandford Fleming, Esq., C. E., was authorized to make a preliminary survey of the line and to report upon it. His report, directed especially to a deBcription of tho extent, physical features, soil and gettlomont of the country through which tho proposed railway was to pass, was printed and cxtenHively circu- lated, and tended in no small dej^ree to direct public •\ttention to the magnificent country tlien only being opened up for settlement. Tho commercial crisis which occurred in the Province shortly after this preliminary survey was made, prevented the work from being energetically pressed forward ; and the subsequent failure of the crops, and consequent indisposition of tho farmers to contribute towards the con- struction of the railway, caused it for a time to be abandoned altogether, so that the Act of Incorporation lapsed from non-usage. riJOVISIONS OF THE CHARTER. During the session of Parliament of 1864, another Act was obtained, principally through the instrumentality of F. Slianly, Esq., 0. E., under which a Company was incorporated under the name of " The Wellington, Grey "and Bruce Railway Company." This Company was authorized " to lay out, construct, make and finish a " double or single iron railway, at their own cost and " charges, from the town of Guelph in the county of, " Wellington, to the village of Southampton, or other " point on Lake Huron, in the county of Bruce, with a " branch, should they so desire it, to the town of Owen "Sound, in the county of Grey, and with power to "connect with the Great Western or Grand Trunk " Railways, or both, at or near the said town of Guelph, " and crossing the Grand River about midway between " the villages of Fergus and Elora." The capital stock of the Company was fixed at one million five hundred thousand dollars ; and in order to ensure the completion of the work at as early a day as possible, it was enacted by the seventh clause that I t • % " wlmn and so Boon m ono-fifth part of tho eaid capital " stock aluill luivc been subscribed as aforesaid, and ten ** per centum ])aid tliereon, it shall and may bo lawful " for tlio said directors, or a majority of tlium, to call a " meeting of tho shareholders at such time and jjlace as " they may think [»ropcr, giving at least two weeks' " notice in newspapers published in tho counties of *' Wellington, Grey and Bruce, at which general meeting, " and at the annual general meetings in the following " sections mentioned, tho shareholders present, either in " person or by proxy, shall elect eleven Directors, in the '•manner and vill be prosecuted without delay. It is proposed that the MunicijMilities interested in the building of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway 6 shall contribute towards its construction, byway of bonus, the sura of eight thousand dollars, or thereabouts, per mile. Meetings have been held in many of the town- ships, and the warmest interest has been manifested in the undertaking. Some of the townships have already passed By-laws, taking stock in the company, with a proviso that Legislative authority shall be obtained to convert the stock into a bonus ; and others promise to grant similar assistance. With such aid from the Muni- cipalities themselves, it is felt that the undertaking offers so favorable an investment for capital, that there will be no difficulty in selling the requisite araonnt of bonds, bearing interest at seven per cent., to complete the work. CHAEACTER OF THE COUNTRY. There is no portion of Canada which at this moment offers so good a field for Railway enterprise as these North- western Townships. Taking some point in the Township of Normanby as a centre, a circle with radii of forty-five miles may be described without crossing either of the existing Railways which skirt the eastern, south and south-western portions of this district, viz : — the Northern, the Grand Trunk, and the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railways. An area of upwards of six thousand square miles is included within this circle, comprising the finest agricultural lands in the Province of Ontario. Assuming that the existing railways serve the country for a distance of from twenty to twenty-five miles from them, there still remain, as absolutely tributary to the proposed Railway, nearly two millions ot acres of fine arable land. Mr. Sandford Fleming, in the report to which allusion has already been made, gives the following admirable descri]3tion of this fine district : " The Saugeen Rivc»' takes its rise in the elevated plateau constituting the SQwen Townships of Holland ' •» m 44 I • I r Glenelg, Arteraesia, Osprey, Proton, Egremont and Melancthon. The same plateau gives rise to the Beaver and Big-head Rivers flowing northward into Nottawasaga Bay, and to the Irvin and other tributaries of the Grand River, which pursue a contrary course and finally dis- charge into Lake Erie. A few miles west of Durham, in the Township of Bentinck, the Saugeen proper is joined by a tributary from Glenelg called the Rocky Saugeen, and near the dividing lines of the counties of Grey anu Bruce, and the townships of Carrick and Brant, it re- ceives considerable accessions to its volume from a tributary named the South Branch of the Saugeen, drain- ing the Townships of Normanby and Egremont, and portions of Minto, Arthur, Proton, and Luther. Tlie course of the Saugeen lies for a few miles nearly due west in Brant, it then bends south to the northerly town- line of Carrick, and again north to the village of Walker- ton ; here it crosses the Durham Road and pursues a winding northerly direction until it receives an additional tributary, the Tees- water, in Elderslie, not far from the easterly corner of the Township of Bruce. The Tees- water drains part of the Townships of Kinloss and Carrick and the whole of Culross and Greenock. From Bentinck, Brant, Sullivan, Elderslie, and Arran, the Saugeen re- ceives a very considerable number of small streams, and continuinir in a ijreneral direction northwards to the village of its own name, at the foot of the Indian Penin- sula, it finally flows into Lake Huron. The total length of this river, including the Teeswatcr, the Rocky Saugeen, and the South Branch, is not less than 180 miles ; the townships wholly drained by the main river or its afilu- ents, are Elderslie, Brant, Bentinck, Glenelg, Egremont, Ncrmanby, Carrick, Culross, and Greenock, nine town- ships in all, and containing an area of 595,000 acres. The. townships partially drained by the Saugeen, or its aftluents, arc Arran, Sullivan, Holland, Euphrasia, Arte- mcsia, Osprey, Proton, Luther, Arthur, Minto, Howick, 8 Turnbury, Kinloss, Bruce and Saugeen, comprising an area of about 350,000 acres, and giving a total area of about 945,000 acres, or nearly 1,500 square miles within the water-shed of this river. Of the townships above named as being partially drained by the Saugeen, we find the remaining portions of Bruce, Kinloss, Turnbury, Howick and Minto, give rise to short and unimportant streams falling directly into Lake Huron at numerous points along the coast, or by the Maitland at Goderich ; on the other hand, Sullivan and Arran arc partially drained by the Sable (North), which enters Lake Huron in the new township of Amabel ;* portions of Holland, Euphrasia, Artemesia and Osprey, contribute to the Georgian Bay, through the Big-head," Beaver, Pretty, and Mad Rivers, while parts of Proton, Luther, and Arthur are drained by the summit waters of the Grand River, which flows southerly into Lake Erie. " The physical features of the valley of the Saugeen, are well marked and somewhat peculiar ; west of the dividing line between Grey and Bruce, the main river flows in a deep, broad bed, with hilly banks rising to a gently undulating plateau on either side, this plateau being cut here and there with various branch streams, and sloping gently west and south-west, to the townships on the shore of Lake Huron, and in the contrary direction ascending to the broken country along the eastern water- shed. In the townships partially drained by the Saugeen, particularly those to the south of the valley, the surface of the country consists of a succession of low narrow ridges with wide plateau flats between each ; the ridges increase in relative elevation as they recede from the valley until the summit is attained, they then descend by similar, but somewhat less easy steps from plateau to plateau, until the valleys of the Maitland on the one ♦ There are valuable falls near the mouth of the Sable (North), where It Is eontem- platcd erecting Mills and making its entrance available for Harbor purposes. •• '» V *^ d hand, and of the Grand River on the other are attained. The nature of the water-shed east of the Saugeen valley, diiFers in some important particulars ; the character of the country is rocky, the surface in many parts is abrupt, stony and broken. The townships which send part of their drainage to the Georgian Bay, exhibit even at the surface numerous rock exposures. The term Rocky Saugeen, applies well to the general features of the country near the road leading from Owen Sound to Durham, when compared with the rich plateau valley of the main river. " In describing more in detail the physical features of the Saugeen valley I shall start at the outlet of the river and proceed against the general direction of the stream, making here and there a traverse of a few miles into the surrounding country, and up the valleys of a few of its more important tributary creeks. " At the immediate mouth of the river the soil is sandy and poor, as is generally found skirting the coast of Lake Huron, but within a mile or so it changes to drift clay, with here and there low sand ridges, which diminish in frequency until they disappear altogether at the distance of three or four miles from the Lake. The banks of the river at the bridge, about iivc miles inland from its mouth, have been deeply excavated for the purpose of forming approaches to that substantial \vork, and they expose a great depth of the rich drift clay. Following the Elora Road from the bridge to Paisley, we pass through heavily thiibered clay land, supporting beach, maple, elm and birch, in the greatest abundance and luxuriance ; nearly half way between these two points, the very broad valley of a Creek rising in Sullivan is traversed, the depth to which this creek had cut a ravine through the drift clay, showed the great thickness of that deposit, which did not appear to be less than from 90 to 10 120 feet. Boulders were almost entirely absent, a few of small dimension in the bed of the creek, showed that they were not generally distributed in the clay. Here, as well as at very many other parts of the valley, the fertility of the virgin soil was well shewn, by abundant crops of turnips of very large size, notwithstanding the unusually dry season. Near Paisley a road strikes off to the village of Lockerby, a new settlement situated on the North Branch of the Saugeen, which takes its rise in Holland and flows along the southerly end of Sullivan and Elders- lie to its intersection with the main river. Lockerby ofiers advantageous positions for mills, with the certain prospect of abundance of material to sustain them, as the improvement of the fertile country around them pro- gresses. Paisley is the site of a town at the confluence of the Tees-water with the main Saugeen ; here, as well at Lockerby, mills are erected, there are also several stores and other buildings. The Saugeen at this point is an imposing river, with high abrupt banks on one side, and broad rich flats rising to similar banks on the other, indeed high banks and wide-spreading flats alternately on either side of the river, is a common feature. Tlie timber covering the flats is of enormous growth ; Elm trees may frequently be seen from 60 to 70 feet high without a branch, and three feet in diameter ten feet from the ground. Black birch of unusual size, and black cherry are frequently to be met with three feet in diameter, and they generally preserve their thickness without branches to a great height. " The Tees-water bears the very inappropriate name of Mud River, and is also called the West Branch of the Saugeen ; it runs through Greenock and Culross, but draws various tributaries from Kinloss and Carrick, which take their rise in small lakes, swamps and beaver meadows. Between Paisley and the village of Walker- ton, on the Durham Road, indeed, between the Saugeen •> 11 bridge, near the mouth of the river, and the latter village, a distance of about 30 miles, it would be difficult to find ten acres of unavailable land on the travelled road ; here and there at wide intervals, a few patches of wet or of lightish soil may be discovered,- but there arc no swamps, properly speaking, unless one or two swales, bearing a mixture of cedar and hardwood timber, can be called Buch, and it is quite probable that most farmers would prefer having a portion of this kind of timbered land for future fencing purposes. The country is very heavily timbered with beach and maple of the largest growth, button >vood, black birch, and magnificent elms; very little hemlock, pine, or any resinous trees were observed, indeed, the forest truly deserves the name of heavy hard- wood land. The river and streams generally flow over gravelly beds, with here and there outcrops of limestone excellent for building purposes ; a considerable quantity lay exposed on the roadside about the middle of Brant, in the rough form converted into lime. It was procured on the river bank near by, for the erection of a stone tavern, and, according to the information obtained, it is not only found without difficulty on the main river, but also at many points along its branches ; we were told of a remarkable exposure along the banks of the Tees- water, about twelve miles south of Paisley, at a place called Pinkerton's Mills. The stone is of a light, warm, grey colour, and is detached with great ease from its bed, in layers varying from six to sixteen inches in thickness, with a good square fracture, admirably adapted for build- ing good common work, as is well exhibited in several comfortable dwellings through various parts of the country. •■' The Saugeen at Walkerton is a river of no common beauty ; on the one side a uniform hill-bank — (it cannot be called a cliff bank) — rises with a rapid slope to the height of about two hundred feet, and beneath is a wide rich flat through which the clear waters of the river flow 9 12 over its light gravelly bed. The opposite bank is more varied in outline, but rises to a similar height, from which the great plateau of heavy and rich drift clay stretches away for many miles in long easy undulations, sharpened at intervals by the valleys of the numerous streams which water the townships. The great line of road leading easterly from Durham to Greenock, Huron and Kincardine, crosses the Saugccn at this village ; near the intersection the river has been dammed, and affords a superabundance of water power ; mills are here erected, taverns, churches and dwellings arc springing up around, and tln-ough the enterprise and energy of its founder, the village is fast assuming importance. Taking AValk- erton as a centre, and making radiating traverses north- erly through Brant to Elderslie, westerly to Greenock and Kincardine, southerly and easterly through Carrick, Normanby and Bentinck, it would become a problem of some difficulty to find a tract of land equal in every respect to that comprehended within the limits of these townships. The road leading directly south from Walk- crton, traverses a country of astonishing luxuriance of vegetation ; it is quite impossible to form a correct idea of the character of the bush and of the nature of the soil in this neighbourhood, without a personal ins]jection ; here you sec elm trees four feet in diameter near the ground, rising to an altitude of TO feet without a branch, and bearing their thickness well to that height. Black birch and cherry, with their singular barks, growing'herc in great abundance, and with trunks of unusual dimen- eions to an altitude of sixty or seventy feet, are by no means uncouiaion. Beech ^)0, of far more than ordinary size, arrests attention, and the traveller is struck v/ith some degree of surprise, even in our Ca.iadian woods, at the aspect presented by the forest in this part of the Saugeen vallev. Nothing' in the same latitude can exceed the magnificence of the timber or the apparent strength and richness of the soil. The valley of the Ot 601 > IS 18 more »t, from it't clay ilations, imerous line of Huron i ; near affords orectecl, around, onnder, : Walk- • iiortli- eonoek ^arrick, jlem of 1 every )f these Walk- ance of ct Idea :lie soil action ; 'ar the •ranch, Black g'here iimcn- by no dinary : with kIs, at Df the e can iarent )f the Otter Creek, which enters the Sangeen abont three miles soutli of Walkerton, displays the largest growth of elm, birch and beech that I have seen in Canada, and where the land is nnderbrushed, as a preliminary process for clearing, the noble trunks of the trees appear in their true ■^ proportions ; indeed it is urged by many of the settlers in this part of the country, that the land is too heavily tim- bered, forgetting the fact that the abundance and dimen- sions of vegetable growth they deplore is the surest indica- tion of the enduring fertility of the soil and the adaptation of climate to the purposes of their own toil and industry. In some parts of the townships of J3rant and Carrick a little pine and hemlock may be found either in swales or clothing narrow low sand and s-ravel ridji-es which occa- sionally exist in the neighborhood of the water courses_ In Eldcrslie, the township lying to the nortli of Brant, and only partially watered by the Sangeen, there are some considerable swamps, forming the sources of th^ several small streams which join the main river, or pass over the northern water-shed and flow into the Sable. Greenock, immediately west of Brant, resembles it in the richness of its soil, but it^ not so well drained, and possesses an extensive swamp about the centre of the township ; this swamp grows abundance of pine, and in a countr}' where hardwood land predominates, will soon be of incalculable value for building and fencing purposes, as already the absence of pine is felt in many places. In Cariick, the township south of Brant, and Culross and Kinloss, soutli of Greenock, several dry swamps occur, but of no great extent, and in most cases available for farming purposes. The timber in these elevated swamps consists of cedar, tamarack, birch, beech, a little hemlock and pine, with here and there halsam and s])rucc. In Ilowick and Minto, townships which are more elevated and constitute the southern water-shed of the valley^ swamps are more numerous ; they arc found in long flats, between low ridges, which seem to divide the waters of L4 I I ii i > the Saugeen from those flowing in a southerly direction. It is a tact well worthy of notice, that the elevated town- ships in which these dividing ridges are found, do not, with the exception perhaps of Proton and Luther con- tain any considerable extent of unavailable swamps. They may in general be classed as dry swamps, in which hardwood is associated with black ash, tamarack, and cedar. The passage from the Saugeen valley to that of the Grand Eiver is remarkably gradual, and would scarcely be perceived by a traveller in the bush without the assistance of the long vistas afforded by the new made Elora Eoad, which being cut out in a direct line, enables the low ridges with their broad but shallow inter- vening valleys to be recognised by the unassisted eye ; their broad valleys are easily distinguished, rising gradually step by step as you recede from the main river, and as falling similarly in the opposite direction after the water-shed is passed." That description, written in 1856, has been more than realized in the progress of the country since. Enthusi- astic as Mr. Fleming became at times in his report, based u])on an accurate personal survey of the country, the experience of all who have recently visited the County of Bruce, coniirms the moderation of his esti- mate of the value of the country. Peopled by a class of settlers who had received their training in other parts of the Province, and had become inured to the hardships and privations of the settler's life, the farms and farm- houses, compare favourably with those of the older districts. Places like Walkerton, just emerging from mere hamlets into villages when Mr. Fleming ex- amined the country, are now rising into the position of thriving towns. And an appearance of thrift and prosperity pervades the entire country which, in view of its com^jaratively recent settlement, is perfectly mar vellous. tri ai , • "t » <\ , >■ 1 15 1 AREA TEIBUTARY TO PROPOSED RAILWAY. The townships which may be said to be directly tributary to the proposed Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, or which are benefitted by it in the first degree, are the following : — COUNTIES. TOWNSHIPS. ACRSS. Wellington Minto 74,000 « Luther 90,000 H Maryborough 56,771 «« . . Pilkington 28,000 (( Nichol 28,000 (( Garafraxa 94,000 u Peel 74,890 If Arthur 65,943 47,000 Perth Wallace Grey Proton 76,800 i( Egremont 76,292 K Normanby 70,000 (( Bentiuck 76,662 li Sullivan > ... . 74,000 l( Derby 40,000 Huron Howick 69,979 Bruce Carrick 59,525 (( Kincardine 60,556 ti Brant 70,900 ti Arran 54,833 i( Culross 58.095 (I Greenock 58,686 « Bruce 67,176 (1 Elderslie 55,775 (( Saugeen 46,434 (( Amabel 70,000 (( Keppel 88,000 « Albemarl 68,000 (( Eastnor 57,000 (1 Lindsay 66,000 « St. Edmunds 54,000 Total 1 977,317 This Large area of country is comprised within a dis- tance of from twenty to twenty-five miles from the pro- posed railway, with the exception of the last four named townships situated in the Indian Peninsula of the County of Bruce ; and, as to by far the largest portion of it, is 10 '.'f (li \y I M a grcutcr distance from any of tlic existing railways. It comprises l)L'si(lcs no less tlian six incorporated villages, Southampton, Kincardine, Walkerton^ Mount Forest, Fergus and Flora, all of them important and rapidly in- creasing centres of trade. It may he relied upon as ahsolutely trihutary to the railway, and is uncpiestionahly far superior, in every respect, to any other district of similar extent traversed by any of the Camidian railways. A comparison of the census returns of 1852 and 1861, affords a striking proof of the rapid progress which th) country has made, as will be seer by the foUoM'ing : TOWNSIIirS. Minto LutluT. .. , . . Arthur Alary borough Pilkinsi'toii , . Nifhol Garaf'raxii. , . . Peel Wallace ... Proton E^'rumoiit . Normaiiby. Bcntinck. . Sullivan . . Uerl)y Howick ... Ciirric'k . . . , KiiRardino i5nint, , , , . , Arraii Culross. . . . Greenock . Bruce Eldcrslie, . , Saugeen . . Amahcl . .. Albemarle . POPTTLATION. 1852. 1861. LANDS INDEn CULTIVATION. 1852. Total. 1,803 994 1,990 2,450 2,083 2,435 G65 539 .272 '538 471 1,149 G21 149 244 100 14 277 17,594 2,341 689 3,597 3 134 4,557 2,395 4,8GG 5,008 2.400 1,240 2,934 3,9G3 3,331 1,73G 1,243 2 252 3|lG3 3,887 3,125 2,551 2,2GG 1,847 2,250 1,774 2,129 182 54 G9,044 4,G11 1,C93 7,154 10,GGG 5,749 6,993 2,121 1,424 2,688 1,735 1,582 451 1861. 124 22 "76 48,315 7,440 2,046 13.034 14,056 16,127 15,233 24.520 25,032 11,173 4,142 1C,311 12,322 10,803 7,013 6,469 5,669 10,782 12,456 9,673 8,982 5,877 5,744 8,065 5,35T 5,766 522 57 317,689 It will be seen by this statement that as recently as 1852, only fifteen years since, some of the townships, ■»• 1 1 I » '• ■W\» t -'^ 17 now havinpf their smiling farms and thoir ])ro8perous and contented lioniesteads, wcro not oven hundirod by a distinct and Hcpanito place in tlie census roll, Tiio prooi-Hi-H . .00 • 'Ooo • • • in t— -^inini-H . .i-ntncoooi— • -Oi-h • • Oi -^ a • • • ■^ co^©^i-_c-i_i-i . . pi^in__oi^o_cy5^ « • 00 00 • • ... 1^ o'-^''i-H'~i.-ro' ' * t-^TiT 10" TtTe^r * ' r-T * * ... ^ r-H (M fO (M a I-H W I-H CO 00 F-H ooi~C50ooo»n,-oi©>ni-H^cot-t-oco>nOOTt'Oiint-c^Tt<';0(Me^i^-inf5i-t-co'«i^ fo" irTi^^ c^Tt^ irT Tj*" c»r 'j'" «r hHlMe-00 »nO-^OC0^1--t-(Mi-H-^05MCJ^C0 1;- • i-Tr-T rn'cMlOCiCr MfTr-T i-n'^to'FH"'"^ N^l-T i-Tr-T ' m •n in 00 i-H 'tl M'-HfOOOO..OMMIr-in...O»'«) ro CI •^Minco • .i-infCMi-H . . .c^ • •© • • • • • cji>-»no_in'»infOMTH i-h cvft-Tr-Ti-T ' • . CO 00 I-H n I-H O loo 1 I-H 1 ONi-a)ci<»i-HOMinooof3oini-(inooMto.-HiM-<*»nc5min OMt-OOt-OCOOOMOOOcMOlMMinfOf-Cq-^t-M'^t-CO «_aO__aO_^CO__0_-^_CO^rH_^'^_^00_^t--_^C^rH_CD^OT_0_(^Tl<_N_T(<^r-J_l^l-H_0_05^ Tt< ©~ ci^-i^-^ftfO■>*CO■TJ^ f-H l-H in 00 <»_ I-H 1^ '- •r) CO 1— f-H Ph' M a 'XI 'A O Minto Luther Arthur Maryboro' . . Pilkington. . Nichol Garafraxa . . Peel Wallace.... Proton Egremont . . Normanby . . Bentinck . . . Sullivan. . . . Derby .... Carrick Kincardine . Brant A rran . Culross Greenock . . Bruce Elderslie . . . Snugeen . . . Annabel Albermarle . 1 O fl : : • ^ :::: I : t :;::;:: ; -gj .,...:......■■'...'. 1=^- = =^-^---^;. M ;3 1 «:: :: :: :j ;: S g5 5 ^ = — --== = ■* 21 Thus the aggregate production of these four cereals in 1860 was 2,923,345 bushels against 421,255 in 1851, an increase of about seven hundred per cent, during the nine years. When the recent settlement of the district, many of the townships not having been even in- cluded in the Agricultural Census of 1852, and the com- paratively small breadth of land that was under culti- vation in 1861, are taken into account, these figures afford the most gratifying evidence of the immense producing power of this part of the Province. Tliey prove that from the first the proposed railway can count upon a large local traffic, and that while, as in all other cases, the country will be greatly improved by the rail- way, and its producing power enhanced, it warrants, from its present advanced state, the construction of the road as a commercial enterprise. A comparison has already been made between the actual populations, and the relative populations at the two periods of 1852 and 1861, between the western town- ships traversed by the Great Western Kailway, and those which will be traversed by the proposed Wellington, Grey and Bruce Kailway, and it has been shown that in respect to population the north-western district ex- ceeds the western by the very considerable number of 8445 souls. But this is not ytlie only respect in which the former district exceeds the latter in importance. A comparison of the productions of the two districts at the last named period, affords a still more striking proof of the great value of this country as a feeder for a railway. Tlie productions of the north-western townships, in the four leading cereals have just been given. The follow- ing are the quantities of the same productions, with the area under cultivation, of the townships tributary to the western section of the Great Western, according to the census of 1861 : — t i. : 22 TOWNSHIPS. ACRES UNDBR ccltiva'n. WHEAT. BARLEY. I'EAS. OATS. Sandwich 15,937 5,425 3,288 3,604 1,701 16,887 21,701 13,802 11,450 15,654 17,947 6,931 18,116 8,044 14,033 12,827 3,219 14,311 9,814 3,890 10,850 15,165 21,109 2,955 2,622 8,319 3,307 41,075 55,095 43,418 24,383 29,431 41,010 17,680 55,723 42,683 44,795 23,253 7,150 43,142 46,606 11,681 17,495 42,050 4,555 858 442 1,301 227 11,067 8,513 52,54 3,009 2,155 5,519 1,354 5,103 1,354 2,878 726 1,062 13,576 26,476 1,050 3,270 8,228 10,660 3,011 3,597 6,936 3,469 26,127 48,073 39,784 18,834 21,059 33,782 17,505 45,470 22,169 32,228 22,542 4,426 35,390 22,650 5,901 27,155 51,520 82,640 Maidstone 16,896 Rochester Tilbury, (East) Do. (West) Raleigh 17,008 69,631 7,772 15,782 Harwick 79,774 Howard 71,466 Orford 31,189 Aldborough 37,684 57,180 Dunwicli Delaware 24,467 Caradock 62,500 Metcalfe 28,848 Mosa 54,580 Euphemia 55,935 Zone 11,755 Chatham 45,319 Dover 36,429 Dawu 10,532 Camden 32,991 Ekfrid 58,751 Totals 233,462 624,982 107,977 502,288 911,129 It will be seen from this statement that the actual grain production of the north-western townships, very largely exceeded in 18G1 that of the townships along the line of the Great Western Railway. Thus: — ACRES UNDER CULTIVATION. OBAtN PRODUCTION. r } Townships tributary to the Western section of the Great Western Railway : — Townships tributary to the proposed Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway : — 233,462 317,689 2,146,376 2,923,345 It is a curious fact that the excess in production and the excess in acreage under cultivation, were almost pre- cisely the same, thirt^^-six and a half per cent, in the one case, and thirty-six per cent in the other. 23 These fi^^res are cited with a view of establishing the fact that the country through which the proposed rail- way will pass, is in every way capable of affording im- mediate traffic, equal to that obtained from the Town- ships situated in the older settled parts of the Province, whicli have ah'eady enjoyed railway facilities for a num- ber of years. A glance at the map will be sufficient to show tliat it affords a larger area of unoccupied territory, if such a term may be used, tlian is to be found in any other part of the Province, and that it should have pro- gressed so rapidly within the comparatively short time since the greater portion of it first resounded with the ring of the Woodman's axe, is in itself a sure guarantee of its future iinjjortancc as a feeder for a profitable rail- way. It would be improper, however, to overlook, what all experience has so fully established, that great as lias been the progress of this district of country in the past, important as it ranks among the great agricultural dis- tricts of tlic Province, its full development can never be attained until it has been furnished with railway com- munication. It should be remembered that the farmers of these Townships labour under very great disadvanta- ges comi)ared with their brother farmers of more favour- ed districts, and especially with that district with which a comparison has been ventured. The large production of cereals whicli the census of 1861 showed, and which it is no overestimate to assume has been doubled in quantity since that time, has all found its way to market by means of horse teams, involving a loss of time and money to the farmer which would enable him, if saved, greatly to improve his farm and increase its producing power. The distance from Guelph, the leading grain market for the district, to the extreme end of the Elora and Saugeen road, is about one hundred miles, and it is not too much to assume as an average for the whole country forty miles as the distance which the produce i i \i I iS i; 94 has to be teamed to market ; taking as the lowest figure the sum of five cents, as the average saving per bushel in the cost of transport which would be effected were the railway completed, and reducing the distance of teaming to an average of ten miles, and the result would be a saving to the farmers of the District of $146,167 per annum, on the production of 1861, or on the present production probably a quarter of a million of dollars. That sum on these cereals alone, only four of the pro- ductions of the farm, is the loss which the farmers to day pay for being without a railway. It is this large indirect tax, which want of railway facilities imposes upon a country, that keeps it from pro- gressing so rapidly as under more favourable circum- stances it would do. Its removal is the secret of the great impetus to every branch of industry and the great increase of individual and national wealth, that invaria- bly follow the construction of railways. Tliere is no fact in the experience of railways which stands out more prominently than this of the great increase they produce in the value of the country through which they pass, and in the quantity of its productions. On this subject Mr. Kennedy, the Superintendent of the last United States Census, in reference to the immense development of the Western States, occupies half-a-dozen pages in tracing the influence of railways in producing that de- velopment. He points out that "so great are their benefits that if the entire cost of railways between the Atlantic and Western States had been levied on the farms of the Central West, their proprietors could have paid it, and been immensely the gainers. This propo- sition will become evident if we look at the modes in which railways have been beneficial. These modes are first in doing what could not have been effected without them ; second in securing to the producer very nearly the prices of the Atlantic markets, which are greatly in advance of what could have been had on his farm ; and 25 third, by thus enabling the producer to dispose of his products at the best prices at all times, and to increase rapidly both the settlement and production of the interior states." Mr. Kennedy points out that not alone by the greater facilities afforded to the farmer of carrying his produce to market, is he benefitted, but that by the re- duced cost of transporting the merchandize which he consumes into his immediate neighbourhood, he effects a largo saving. He says " There is another respect in which the influence of railroads is almost as favourable to agriculture as that of cheapening the transportation of produce. It is that of cheapening the transportation, and therefore reducing the prices of foreign articles and eastern manufactures, consumed by the farmers of the interior. We need not adduce tables to illustrate this; for it is quite obvious and well known that this has been the effect, though perhaps not to so great an extent as the reverse in the case of produce. The increase in the value of five North-western States, from 1850 to 1860, was $1,066,716,113. It is not too much to say that one half of this increase has been caused bv railroads, for we experience already the impossibility of carrying off the surplus products of the interior with our railroads. Putting the increased value due to railroads at a little more than oue-third, we have four hundred millions of dollars added to the cash value of farms in those five states by the construction of railroads. Tiuo fact will be manifest if it is conceeded that the best lands in Illinois were worth but $1 25. per acre prior to the con- struction of railroads, and ore now worth twenty dollars." Tliese statements are justified by the results produced by all the railways in the neighbouring republic ; and are so well understood there that the first desideratum sought by the settler in new territories is a railway. They have been corroborated in our Canadian experience as well ; for although, mainly owing to the extravagance in building railways heretofore in Canada, all the pro- se !|i ! prietors have not realized their expectations concerning them, no doubt can exist that the country has derived advantages equal to the cash capital employed in their construction. The Northern railway of Canada, running through a district somewhat similar, though in every respect inferior in point of fertility, to that through which the proposed "Wellington Grey and Bruce railway will pass, produced a change in the value of property and an increase in productions, which far exceeded the entire cost of the railway. The testimony of a number of leading residents of the counties of York, Peel and Simcoe was obtained shortly after the completion of the railroad as to its eifects upon the country through which it passed, and that testimony, although there could have been no correspondence between the parties, bears a remarkable similarity as to its facts. Mr. Hartman, the Warden of the counties of York and Peel, speaking from his knowledge of actual transfers of property which had taken place, stated the increased value per acre, within iive miles of the railway, due to its influence^ at $20 per acre, from five to ten miles distance at $18 per acre, and from ten to fifteen miles at $13 per acre, the actual increase being more than double those sums. He pointed out, that " everything, capable of being converted into money in Toronto, commands ready sale at almost every point along the line of railway for cash, at Toronto prices, deducting freight; this was not the case five years ago. Butter, eggs, fruit, vegetables of all kinds, (except perhaps pota- toes) poultry, game &c., were formerly looked upon us of sni 41 importance as articles of trade; they now com- mand prices which render their production exceedingly valuable." He also pointed out another source of profit, which will become one of great importance to the farmers in "Wellington Grey and Bruce, namely cordwood ; and that even where it is not carried by rail to market. He says " although cordwood is not now carried over this 27 roarl, tliere is ti lionio market licrc tor all the cordwood to be spared from this part of the Country, aii a Railway Company ; and I have no hesitation in saying that if the Northern road were not built, Simcoc would tax herself to almost any amount to obtain a Road. Short- sighted and narrow indeed must be the policy of those in authority, in any section of the Province having work for a road, (and where in Canada could a road be built that would not find ample employment) that will not render aid to its construction, as they would be re- paid ten-fold by the increased facilities of intercourse, the rapid rise in the value of property, landed and other- wise, and the bringing into market of their wild and un- 29 protluctivo lands." The Hon. W. B, Robinson, certified that " the farmer residing at Nottawasaga, for instance, now obtains nearly as mnch for bis produce as he who lives near the city, when before the Railroad was made he cc aid seldom obtain cash for his products at any price. Many of the productions of the farmer, such as vegeta- bles, poultry, (fcc, would not bear the expense of trans- ])ort over long and bad roads, and were consequently not saleable. Now everything the same farmer raises ■» commands cash and is readily sold." Tliese extracts are selected at random from a number addressed, in 1856, by influentual residents of the district traversed by the Northern Railway, to Sandford Fleming, Esq. They all confirm the general experience in the United States and in England as to the influence of railways in pro- moting the value of property, and the genoral prosperity of the Country through which they pass. The promise of those early years of the experience of the eflects of the Northern Railway have been more than realised since in the continued increase in the value of property, in the quantity of farm productions, in the population, and in the general prosperity and happiness of the people. By the annnal report of the Directors of the road for the year ending July 1855, the first during which it was opened to Collingwood, it appears that in the products of the farm, the quantity carried over the road was as follows : Wheat 177,409 bushels. Flour 98,140 barrels. Other Agricultural ) q-^^,^ ^^.^^^ produce \ " "'" while for the year 18G0, the quantities of the same articles of produce carried over the road were : — Wheat 659,147 bushels. Flour SS,066 barrels. Other Agricultural ) o ocos *.^^r, 1 *= > o,9o3f tons, produce ' * 80 !■ Largo as this increase is it represents very inadequate- ly the actual improvement in the Country produced by the construction of the Northern Eailway. In the re- port of the Directors suhniitted to the annual meeting of the proprietors held at the Company's offices on July IGth., 1855, giving the results of the 0})erations of the Railway during the iirst year that it was o]^oned through- out its entire length for traffic, the total number of tons of freiirht carried was stated as follows — North South j Local 8004^ I Through.... 29+ Total 9288 J (Local 47,S20| [Through.... 5,23;]| „ 53,054^ In a letter by Mr. Cumberland, the managing Director i f the Northern Eailway, on the 2(»th April, 1807, ad- dressed to the Warden, Eeeves and Depiity Keeves of the Southern Division of the County of Grey, on the subject of the rival projects for furnishing railway accomodation to that County, it is stated that " the Northern traffic, one way only, namely, going South, is already equal to 1,200 tons tlaily on a line 9-1 miles in length." This statement, it is to be presumed, has reference to those periods when the produce of the Country is being principally moved. But in the annual report of the Board of Directors for the year 18CG, the total tonnage going South is put down at 171r,81T tons ; thus showing an actual increase in the freight traffic over the road " outwards," during eleven years, of Two hundred and twenty nine and a half per cent, an increase due to the great development of the Country in consequence of the construction of this Railway. These official figures are valuable in considering the probable advantage which must result from a similar cause, the construction of a Railway, in another and certainly in many respects superior district. They prove not simply that the Railway immensely increases the producing power of the country through which it ])asses, but that it also 31 dovelopcB a trade wliidli onormonsly increases its own tratKc returns. Tlie Nortlu^rn Itaihvay which for some time paid notliing t(; its pro}»rietor8, now pays them punctually six per cent per annum, on an aggre- gate amount of $2,51)8,000, being equivalent to $27,G38 per mile of its entire lengtli. And when it is re- membered, as will hereafter bo shown, that the district of the proposed Wellington, Grey and Rrucc Railway is to day about equal in productions to that of thcNorthren Road, and that wu may fairly look forward to an ecpially great devolopement in the future, the importance of the enterprise cannot fail to be appreciated. A comparison has already been instituted between the Country through which the proposed Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway will pass, and that similarly situated towards the western section of the Great Western Rail- way. It has been shown that valuable as is the south western portion of the peninsula, largely as it has con- tributed to the pros])erity of the Great Western Railway, it is at this momeut very inferior in all respects to those portions of the counties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce, which are tributary to the i)roposed line. A similar com- parison between the North-western District, and that tributary to the Northern Railway is in some respects almost as favourable to the former. Comparing the two districts, as the latter a] »peared in the census returns of 1852, about the period when the Northern was being under- taken, the Wellington, Grey and Bruce district presents a striking superiority both in area under cultivation and in productions. As an opening for Railway investment, it is in all respects immeasurably superior to what the County of Simcoe and adjacent Townships were when the Northern was built. And this fact is one of very great importance in considering the value of the enterprise which is now ] resented for the consideration of capital- ists. Nearly all the railways thus fur built in Canada have been built with the view mainly to open up the 32 country, and in i\w. lio|i(' of ]UMS]»i!olivo prollts wliicli its (lovelopjuont would ensure. In tliis caso, tlio country to-day afl'ordrt ii field for iuimediiitely successful railway enterprise. Even compared with the Northern district in 18(51, alter it liad luul all tlio advantaires of railway communication for upwards of six years, it ])re8ent8 a very fiivourable result us the foUowitii^ table will sliow : — more. less. . more. E2 w) «i 00 "> to to Qi> to <1> U) 0) Q b to ta w to to S3 V D4)— Ci CO m cj CI ■-• •^ MI Q a . "*-• "^ C «j fee cfi i t/. 3i rt Ci C5 o c» o Ift i-H -t< J— O •♦< M lO o o o in CI i-c M in 00 Ci '♦' r^ <55 M «j« c-i f CO © »n ^ a . C5 o in ci c< o t- "t ci m CO r- m -ll o 00 •-' -(•"crcrirT.^'''-" ci t- ei © o 00 Ci o ■f «.i -t aj t». rr, rH O rHCiOlOMO— r-l CO o © in 5 « CO 00 -f 1< « CO » 00 Of tio- ■^ 1-1 00 © M« ^li^ -^fI -if* .fj^Mn _'| • ^1^" ^"^ osuojoui JO t>3n;nooaoj M (--.00 e-4 -rr W O r-l CI rt ^ CI -f f 1 fj 00 A? CO ai CO m O r-l O -f .-< CI rt .-c ^ r-^ C in in •-* •-> o in CO 1- r-t 'o CO M O «l C5 t- CO CI eg jj on • C-J V r-l m m M o o »n o ci i-i 1-1 CO CI Ci m •M aj c-i t~ inoci'^ooci o Cl 00 O CI 1-1 •^ rO'ti P ;e o iM a in o o © fo o 1- c^ -f Ci © •«»< i- 1— to O «5 >• "t p: 1- in cv © o in i-H -^1 Ol •II 1- •^ to Ci Town he N censii specti (XI M M C5 00 fH .-1 o Cl Cl -fl CO --1 CO C^l rH 1^ oo"*'* cr rt" -h" e^ 1-1 (7> (» CI o ri • • CO o 00 Ci m CI © Cl © • © Ci 00 O i- i . CI CI X e>i -H J-. Ci Ci . in r-l ■*-> "^ 9» lO 00 c: • • d in -I* 1^ t-- t^ •rf oo -r • CO CO roduc utary nd 18 lacrci" ' ; oo'crcfcf ^Tof c^cc -^ It-" ©'" C3 ■- . . o e 3 .§:::• tc : : : . a , . . a : : : : : -J • ■ . "" . . . (« 43 9 2 O M if l^i 5-; 2- „ £"0 2 o as e to'l §^. r/3 tc J >- rt -M -B H O C3 !> rt O ,=' iS iS L» « i 33 There are some features of tliin table wliich are wor- thy of attention in estiniiitinj^ tlio value of tliu north western district as a iicld for railway invi'stnient. It will he seen that, in IS(!1, tlio oeeuj)iers of land ex- ceeded in luiinher thosi; of the northern district hy no less than forty-four per cent ; and it is n(»t too much to assume that the excess now is very much <»rcatcr. The area of lands under cultivation was only seven and a half [ler cent less, while the urea of wood and wild lands, that is the uncleared land in the occupation of scttlerB, exceeded hy one hundred and thirty-seven ])er cent that of the Northern district ! That land is every year hcin^ rapidly cleared, and the cultivated area enormously in- creased. So thut it is not too much to say that at this tunc the To\\'n8hii)S tributary to the j)ropose(l Wellinj^ton Grey and Jjrncc Railway will aflordlariier traffic returns than those similarly situated towards the Northern Rail- way, which now i)ay8 the pro})rietors six per cent upon a mileage cost of $27,0oS, one liundrcd and iifty per cent greater than under the highest estimate will be rcf|uircd of private capital to complete this proposed railway. It has already been stated that it is i)roposed that this railway shall be constructed by municipal assistance and private capital. The municipalities have already shown the deepest interest in the project, and are willingly dis- posed to do their share towards its accomplishment. Tlie estiniated cost of the work is under sixteen thousand dollars a mile, and the absence of any enginci;ring difficul- ties, and the facility for obtaining on the spot all the ma- terial, excc])t the iron rails, l\)r railway construction, justifies the belief that the estimate will not be exceeded. The engineers report attached to this prospectus contains full particulars in relation to route and cost of construction. Of this cost it is ])roposed that the municipalities shall contribute a large proportion, say six thousand dollars per mile, or an aggregate sum from all the municipalities 34 interested of about six luiiulred tliousand dollars. The munieijtalitiert whieli have already passed by-laws, give au- thority iu them for an application to Parliament to con- vert the stock into free grants to the company ; so that, on these sums being granted, the com])any will commence operations with an assured, non-interest bearing capital equal to more than one-third tlie entire cost of the work. This offer on the partof the municipalities Interested is a striking evidence of how severely the want of railway ac- comodation is felt by them. Largeas their contribution is they feel that they lose more every year in the enhanced cost of marketing their produce by teams, in their inability to take advantage of the market at all seasons, in the loss of time in going to the market towns, and the con- sequent absence in loo many instances of that thorough system of tillage necessary to bring the land np to its greatest producing capacity, iu the enhanced (iost of every- thing which they consume in consequence of difficulties and cost of transport, and in the absence of those social comforts which a more frequent and rapid communica- tion with the outer world always Ijrings with it, and which arc denied to them by their comparative isolation. It is not too much to assume that the aggregate grain production of this north-western district is to day up- wards of four millions of bushels ; and it may fairly be esti- mated that one half of that finds its way to market an- nually. Now from the most general enT4«u^Sr-£i 89 only sixty, that is assuming an air line measurement in both cases. Thus by this proposed Toronto line, thirty miles more of railway construction is required, a very serious consideration in an enterprise of this description. In the existing position of Canadian railway enterprises, it must undoubtedly be of primary importance to limit the capital required for any new enterprise to the lowest possible figure, and the most certain way of effecting this is by acting upon the general principle that a dis- trict without a railway can be soonest and most profita- bly served by the shortest possible mileage length of new railway necessary to reach it. But the folly of attempting to supply this district of country with railway facilities by a new line of road running directly from the city of Toronto, will be still more apparent, when the competition which such a rail- way will have to encounter is considered. Not only is there involved by it, thirty additional miles of railway construction, but those thirty miles arc mainly through a country already supplied with railway facilities by the Grand Trunk and Korthern Eailways. Starting from Toronto,the line would bisect the angle formed by those two railways, and at twenty miles from the city, it would still be within ten miles of each of them on either side. At thirty miles it would be within twenty miles of the Northern Eailway ; and, if Mount Forest is proposed to be touched on the lino to Lake Huron, as is now said to be the intention of the promoters of the enterprise, at forty miles from Toronto it would still be within twenty miles of the Grand Trunk ; having to the north the townships of Luther and Amaranth, the least valuable of the entire district, while the magnificent townships of Peel, Maryborough and "Wallace, would be left with- out any accomodation from the road. So that to supply this north-western district with railway facilities, capita- lists arc asked, by the promoters of this Toronto enter- prise, to construct thirty miles of additional railway, in- \ i 40 volving at tlio lowest estimate, even ignoring tlio engi- neering difficulties wliieli have to be overcome in those thirty miles, and to which reference will be hereafter made, a capital of half-a-million of dollars, and that through a district already sufficiently supplied with railway accommodation by existing lines, besides being through the least valuable portions of the country, to the utter neglect of those portions which, from the excellence of their soil, would be certain to yield larger traffic returns to the company. The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway is not only the shortest route proposed, or indeed possible, but it will come into competition with no other railway from the time it leaves Guelph until it reaches Lake Huron. It will run nearly parallel with the Northern Railway on the one side and the Bnifalo and Lake Huron Railway on the other, and at a distance of from thirty-five to fifty miles from each of them along its entire length. It will command therefore the undivided traffic of a coun- try at least twenty miles wide on each side of the line ; and it possesses the peculiar merit of running either through or immediately adjacent to the finest townships in the district. Not a mile of unnecessary railway requires by it to be constructed to reach the trade of this fine district, and the capital necessary, therefore, to secure this object is reduced to the lowest possible amount. That is the result of a fair compaTJcon of the two lines, as they appear upon the map. But there is another difficulty to be encountered b};- the Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway which is not so apparent on the ma]). The thirty miles of comparatively useless railway which it involves, would also involve an addi- tional charge upon capital account, spread over the en- tire road, of from forty to fifty per cent. The level of Lake Huron is several hundred feet above that of Lake Ontario, and the ascent, which has already been made by the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways, in- ■ ■ ( [' ' ' "m"'"-^ ■i|ii n i'i'ii'iiiiTriii na~ i Trr 41 volves the pa'ssagc through wliat Sir William Logan, in his Geology of Canada, describes as the Niagara Falls escarpment or middle silurian ridge. The difficulty of this ascent will be apparent from the fact that the Grand Trunk Railway had to rise nine hundred and six- ty feet froir ciio level of Lake Ontario at Toronto to Rockwood Station, an air line distance of about thirty- five miles. This ridgo cannot be overcome except by ascending it, and the rock cuttings which the railways which have already accomplished this work have en- countered, have been a source of enormous expense. It is a moderate estimate to assume the cost per mile of a railway between Toronto and the summit of this ridge, at double the cost of construction between that point and Lake Huron ; so that this thirty miles of additional railway, not only passes through a district where it would be subject to the direct competition of tlic Grand Trunk on the one side and the Northern on the other, not only, until it strikes Mount Forest, if it should touch that point, taps the least prod active townships of this district, but involves an expenditure of capital equal to what is necessary to construct double the distance of railway on the Lake Huron level. The Wellington, Grey and Bruce Jiailway, taking its start at Guelph, above this ridge, avoids the engineer- ing difficulties tluxt it presents, and encounters probably fewer difficulties of any kind than any similar length of railway constructed in Canadn, And at Guelph, con- necting with both the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railways, it 0})ens to the produce of the district, direct access by either of those roads to all the markets of the continent. The advantages of this proposed Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway nuiy bo briefly summed up as follows : 1— It passes through a district unsurpassed forfcrtility, and the character of its settlements, by any district of similar extent in Canada. 2. — Although of comparatively recent settlement, it 42 already exceeds in area under cultivation and in produc- tions, by upwards of fifty per cent, the district traversed by the western hundred miles of the Great Western Kailway ; and exceeds in population, in area under cul- tivation and in productions, tlio district traversed by the Northern Railway which is now paying to its pro- ])rietors a dividend of six per cent annually on a mileage capital of $27,G38. 3. — It avoids competition with any existing railway, securing the absolute command of a breadth of country equal to twenty miles on each side of the line, including the most fertile and best settled portions of the district. 4. — It avoids the engineering difficulties which all the other railways which have been constructed to the west- ern lakes have encountered, by starting above the mid- dle Silurian ridge, and can therefore be completed for a fiir smaller capital than any other line that has been proposed to afford railway accommodation to the counties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce. 5. — By its connection with the Grand Trunk and Groat W cstern Railways at Guelph, with both of which running arrangements arc authorized to be made, it affords a ready and direct access for the productions of this country to all the markets of the continent. With these advantages the enterprise is confidently recommended to the attention of capatalists seeking a profitable investment for their capital. The liberal mu- nicipal grants already voted and which arc certain to bo voted towards its construction by the townships interested in it, leave a smaller amount of private capital to bo furnished than has yet been required by any railwav in this Province, and the comparisons which have been instituted between the district it trav- erses and those traversed by existing railways, based upon official data, leave no reason to doubt tliat it will yield from the first, a liberal and certain return to its pro- prietors. REPORT OF GEORGE LOWE REID, Esq. Hamilton, 4th January, 1868. To the President and Directors of the Wellington^ Orey and Bruce Railway. Gentlemen,^ Having now completed the surveys of the different routes proposed for the line of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, I beg to hand you my report upon the same. Ist. — General description of the routes surveyed. Having only commenced operations in the field in the middle of October last, I was unable to do more, before winter set in, than run two trial lines into the district north-west of Guelph ; but as a great deal of care was bestowed upon an exploration of the country, in advance of the instrumental surveys, I feel confident that the lines which I have located will require few alterations when the period arrives for finally determining the route to be adopted. I have much pleasure in stating that the field work was conducted with great energy and ability by two experienced engineers, viz., by Mr. Thos. Ridout at the head of the surveying party, and by Mr. Moles- worth in charge of the levelling party. Starting from the Guelph Station of the Great Western Railway, the proposed line of railway runs in a very straight course to the village of Elora, keeping on the west side of, and nearly parallel to, the Gravel Road between Guelph and.Elora. It enters the village of Elora at the S. W. corner, at a distance of 12^ miles from Guelph; then proceeding in an easterly direction, it crosses the Grand Eiver at a ])oint about one mile west of Fergus, and touclies the westerly limit of that village at a distance of 1 5^ miles from Guelpli. So far, there can hardly he any difference of opinion as to the route from Giielph northwards; but at the village of Fergus a choice of (tourscs to the north and west is presented, Ix'th of which ofler great advantages for the construction of a line of railway. One of these tends to the north-west, passing in its course the thriving villages of Alma, Drayton, and Rothsay, reaching the village of llari'istou, on the Muithuul River, at a distance of 31^ miles from Fci-gus, or 47 ndles from Guelph. At this point, I terminated the survey for the present. The other route lies more nearly due north, and runs very nearly parallel with and west t>f the Gai'afraxa Gravel Road, passing the important village of Arthur, and terminating, for the present, at Mount Forest, on the south branch of the Sauccen Kiver. The extreme distance by this line from Guelph to Mount Forest is 42 miles. Had the season of the year permitted, I should have continued the surveys to Walkerton, the county town of Bruce, being distant Ul miles from Harriston via Cliflford, and 24 miles from Mt. Forest via Newstadt. Were the railway to be constructed, in the first instance, the whole way to "Walkerton, (from which point there is a choice of routes to Luke Huron) the distance from Guelph via Drayton and Harriston would be G8 miles, and via Mount Forest and Kewstadt, 07 miles. But as occasional lateral deviations might be found ad- vantageous in determining the final location by either route, the distance between Guelph and "Walkerton may be assumed to be practically the same by both lines. 46 2nd. Character of the Countrf/ as adapted for a Line of Jia'ilway. The district of country traversed by both of tho lines above described presents no obstacles whatever to the construction of a cheap and easily worked line of railway. In fact I know of no part of Western Canada, north of the Lino of the Grand Trunk Railway and west of Tor- onto, which presents bo many favorable features for tho building of a line of railway at onco durable and inex- pensive. Starting from Gucl])h at an elevation of 83;> feet above Lake Ontario, tho summit level on the Ilarriston line is found at a point nine miles north west of Fergus where the elevation is 1,280 feet above the same level. On the Mount Forest route the summit level is 1,:>34 feet above the water of Lake Ontario, being at a ]>oint eight miles north of Fergus, In both cases the steepest grad- ients do not exceed a rise of (5(> foot per mile (and that in short lengths nt a time) which Is somewhat more favorable than the ruling grade of the Gait and Guelph Railway ; and there arc no curves of less radius than COO yards. Aftor computing accurately the quantities of materials on both linos. I find that they are so nearly similar in amount that, for all practical [)urposes, the two routes may be regarded, in a mere engineering point of view, as offering equal facilities for railway construction. ord. Estimated Cost. In calculating the cost of the lines above described I have based my estimates upon a railway of the existing gauge of the Canadian Lines, (viz : T) feet, inches,) and I have kept in view the various requirements of a line capable of Ciirrying with safety and certainty such an amount of traffic as at present daily passes over the 46 Great Western "Railway, from Guelph and Gait to Harrisburgh, and at the same rate of speed as tliose trains. Instead of rails weighing 66 Ibw per yard, as used on the Great "Western and Grand Trunk Railways, 1 propose to adopt a rail of 50 lbs per yard, secured at the joints by means of an improved steel scabbard. The track will be ballasted in a very thorough manner, and although the majority of the bridges and open culverts and cattle guards will be of timber, they will be con- structed in a very strong and substantial manner. The line will be fenced throughout and well drained. The stations will be provided with good and commodious passenger and freight buildings, and an adG(iuate number of water tanks, wood sheds, and engine houses will be erected. As the country consists, in a large measure, of a series of gravel ridges, the cuttings and eniljankments will be easily and cheaply formed, and the ballasting of the track will be of a superior description. These important features in the first construction of the line not only indicate a comparatively small expenditure in the building of the road, but they as surely point to an in- expensive maintenance of the track in future years. The existence of these gravel ridges has fortunately enabled the various municipalities on both of the routes, herein described, to build a large extent of good gravel roads, which, in addition to the excellent quality of the soil, have in a very large measure contributed to the rapid settlement, and to the almost unexampled prosper- ity, enjoyed by the counties of Wellington, Grey and Bruce. For facilities of transport, abundance of provisions and fodder for workmen and horses, for streams of pure running water, and for salubrity of climate, 1 certainly know of no tract of country in Canada which ofiers i' ) 1' it greater fafilitics to ft railway contractor in the proeecu- tion ot'liis woriv tliiiii in presented by the district herein described. As it is not intended tlmt I sliould in this Report furnisli you witli idl tlio details of my estimates of cost of the lines surveyed, I shall content myself with appending hereto a mere abstract of them. I made out W' estimates of cost in three distinct divisions, namely; Ist. From Guelph to Fergus: 2nd. Fergus to llarriston: aau 3r«!. Fergus to Mount Forest. But I have now taken u » avera ^w of all these and reduced the same to the cost per v. ^ : of raiUvay, which, after making an ample allowance for "ight of way, General Management, En ,in .oring and oU contingencies, gives u result of $15,500 per mile exclusive of Jiolling Stock and Cars. • I am. Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, (Signed) GEO. LOWE REID. Printed at the Spectator Steam Press, Prince's Square, Hamilton, I \