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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrums illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds i des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pou' dtre raproduit en i' i seul cliche, il est film6 A partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche h droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 "T^?^-'???^^'^tt" '" STOCK FAR v^BiT?- ' i^—vi'a IN CANADA. Corretpondence Beprinted from the " Canadian News." _n^ OFFICE— 11, CLEMENT'S LANE, LOMBAED STREET, E.C. 1864. STOCK FARMING IN CANADA. {To the Editor of the Canadian News.) Sib, — I am a heavily-rented, heavily-taxe J tenant farmer in Somorspt- shire. My business is chiefly with breeding and dairy stock, but I ara by no means satisfied with ray position. Some of my friends say I may improve it by emigrating — others say this is doubtful. A near neighbour of mine has a brother in Canada, but he writes home that farming there does not pay so well as in England ; but as he gives no reason for this, I incline to doubt it. Since I have been in town, I have procured some books about Canada, as well as soma copies of your journal, which I have attentively perused. In the work called, " Letters from Canada'* I read — " Mr. Ranuie carries on dairy o^jerations on an extensive scale, keeping as m^ny as 100 coios." This would be about my figure, so I am anxious to know something mora about such pursuits in British North America. In the same page of the same book I see a very interesting comparison made by two very eminent and trustworthy authorities on rural affairs at home and in Canada, viz., Mr. Caird and Mr. Hutton. The former, as representing the " Illinois Rivilway Company," wrote strongly against Canada, but in favour of the prairies of the Western States; while Mr. Hutton, the able Secretary of the Bureau of Agriculture in Canada, answers Mr. Caird most conclusively in figures, demonstrating— if his facts may be relied on — that by clearing 100 acres of wood land in Canada a profit of 269(1. may be realised in two years on an outlay of 680Z. 5.5. ; whereas Mr. Caird allows only a gain of Cd. in two years on an expen- diture of 7(i0l. on a prairie farm of similar extent. The following passage in this statement seems to require explanation :— " In Canada West capitalists can bring 100 acres into cultivation as well as in the States, although such is seldom or never done that I am aware of." Now, sir, I wish to know why it is this is not done by capitalists? This certainly seems to imply a doubt, and, so far as I have read, all books say that small working farmers are the men for Canada. Whether rightly or wrongly I cannot say, but I find a vague sort of impression seems to exist that agriculture on a large scale is unsuitod * STOCK FAHMING IN CANADA. to Canada— and I wish for your high authority on this very important poi It. Unless I could purchase and profitably clear from 600 to ,000 acres of wild land so as to convert it into a fine farm, I could Dot turn my capital to good account in Canada. It is absurd to think of agriculture on a large scale iu any of England's colonies, if Canada bs not really salted to it. My own opinion is that the climate, land, onrl position of the country all combine to make it pre-Pmineiitly an ttirricultural country, but when you hear of failures or its suitability chiefly for small farmers, the roal cause is to be ascribed to want of umple capital, want of knowledge, want of industry and energy, or of personal supervision on the part of the capitalist farmer.' I certainly can conceive no reason why a good cleared farm of 1,000 ftcras, rent, tithe, tax, and rate free, should net pay better than a simi- lar farm heavily burdened in England. It is true labour is very much higher in Canada, bat then I think the imposts on land here should balance the item of expenditure on the farm. Mr Huttcn allows til. lOi. per acre as the amount necessary to "clear, fence, and seed" the land by contract. Now if I purchased 1,000 acres of wild land at 38. 3d. per acre, would it be a safe and profitable proceeding to con- tract to have it thus reduced to a state of cultivation, or may I do so? Mr. Hutton named 31. per acre as the fair average clear gain to b« expected the second yeur of cultivation under barley, rye, oats, peas, and potatoes. Now I should like to know where U the land in Eng' land that will average such profit as this to the tenant farmer ? For 1,750Z., according to Mr. Hutton, a capitalist may fence and crop 500 acres of land, and this land for and after the second year may be ex- pected to return a clear profit of 1,500/. per annum. This is stated by a man than whom " no higher authority can be quoted," so I assume it is an incontrovertible fact; of course it is understood in average seasons. In your journal of 2nd July last, I find Mr. Buchan, Bursar of the Toronto University, states :—" The class of farmers better adapted to this country are those generally known as small farmers, men who do their own work or part of it, whose wives are also accus-' tomed to the work of the house and dairy." Now I beg to ask if this is to be understood as meaning that a superior class of educated, energetic men of capital and skill, but who are unused to manual labour, are not suited to the soil of Canada ? If such men can farm and live by farming alone in England, paying something like bl. per acre in the shape of rents, rates, tithes, taxes, &c., cannot succeed on their own freeholds as well as a class who are nothing superior to ordinary farm labourers-if this really is so, then STOCK FAEMINO IN CANADA. I want the reason for what seems to mean anomaly. Why shonld not skill, capital, and energy succeed on a large Canadian farm as well as in England ? The only real difference I can see in the modut operandi in the two countries is this — in Canada seed time is very short, so the former must there be muoh more active and energetic to get in his crops, but thd crops and seasons are identical. Most books recommend the emigrant to purchase cleared land, rating at from bl. to 101. per acre ; bat if he has capital to clear it by contract, having it fenced and cropped for SI. 10#., why ahould it not be better to purchase wild land at 'Sa. 3d. ? Thus, with capital yon may have it made leady for operations at 31. 13s. 3d. per acre. " Letters horn Canada" state the farmers in Canada West neglect to breed stock and tliink much more of wheat growing than of dairy prodtioa —this implied there is a good opening there for cattle breeding and the dairy. Now, small plough-holding farmers can hardly be good stock breeders, so perhaps it may be owing to the absence of men with capital that the costly work of breeding is neglected. The same book states — '* One of our most pressing wants in Upper Canada is a race of country gentlemen." I presume this means capitalist farmers, who are here known as " gentlemen farmers," and those are the very men who make more by agriculture hero than any others. I have read that there is now no Government land to sell in the best loca^ tions, as privato capitalists .^ave secured it all. Assuming this to ba correct, I should much like to know the terms on which — say 1,000 acres might be purchased in one block in the peninsular portion of Canada West, or if any such land is now in the market there ? I should much like to see some remarks on these matters from your able and experienced pen, for I only wish to know the truth about the capabilities of this fine country for a Stock Farmed. STOCK FAHMINO in CANADA. Tun foregoing Letter having appeared in the Canadian News, tie following valuaWe communications on the subject of " Stock Farming in Canada" were addressed to the Editor of that Journal, and have since been published in its columns:— I. Sm.—The mails which brought the number of your journal con- tiiiuing the letter from a •' Stock Farmer" have just been delivered. No man was better able to answer Mr. Caird than Mr. Hutton, who WHS articled or apprenticed to ono of the late Mr. Coke's principal tenants in Norfolk ; ho afterwards rented a farm in the north of Ire. land, and then he farmed many years in Belleville, C.W., I think, there- fore, " Stock Farmer" may be satisfied that his " facts can be relied upon." A more upright, good man never camo to this colony. Hence hid selection to the Secretaryship of the Bureau of Agriculture, where lie conferred immense advantages on Canad i by his truthful reports of its resources. The " Stock Farmer" could Lardly get a block oi land of 1,000 acres from any but individuals or land companies, and in either case would have to pay from 500 to 1,000 per cent, more for it than from the Government. Again, as we have no prairie land in Canada, it would ha the work of a generation to clear it. If he had 20,000?. and brought a small army of labourers, he might clear it sooner and make it ready for the summer feed and winter subsistence of his stock. Mr. Hutton's statement that the claaring ot 100 acres at once is never done may be accounted for by the fact that the early settlers who have lived upon the same 100 or 200 acres for 40 years never had any capital to start with. They were day labourers, private soldiers, cottiers from some nobleman's estate in Scotland or Ireland. The Canadian landowner was then too wise to clear his farm and* denude it of the wood which warmed his house and made his fences. The prairie farmer of Illinois never had and has not now wood enough growing on his farm to make a bundle of matches; he has to buy ull the materials for making his fire or fencing his farm. I ^o not believe there " is a good cleared farm of 1 ,000 acres " to be had in Upper Canada, and there is scarcely a district of which I do not know some- thing. But there ere 100 good farms of from 200 to 400 acres to be had with suitable outbuildings and family re^denoe, and taking into consideration the length of our winters under the happiest climatic STOCK FAnwiNO IN CANADA. 7 circumstances, the cost of labour, and the inapossihility of getting it in many localities at all, my " Zummerzetshire " " Stock Farmer " will find he has quite enough to do with the acreage I mention. For his comfort, 1 would say that from my experience in Canada stock farming would pay him handsomely. If the prices ot farm pro. duce should disappoint him or discourage him, let him remember that the persons who supply this produce aro landowners who have neither rent, nor tithe, nor church rates, nor laud tax to pay ; a few cents per annum in the pound, not in the dollar, pay all their outgoings— the repair of the roads and the maintenance of a school almost at their doors. Even these outgoings they grumble at, and if you want some reason and proof why they do not get rich, call at the nearest tavern. These places of entertainment and ruin are more plentiful than the school, and we convert about ten million bushels of grain ^yer annum in Upper Canada alone into alcoholic drink, com. monly called whisky, the beverage which we Christians consume and upon which town cows and pigs live and thrive and grow fat. I have no doubt that in this city there are two thousand cows kept upon whisky swill who never saw a blade of grass, an ounce of oil- cake, or a turnip. This day's Globe contains an advertisement from a family wishing a daily supply of eight quarts of milk from cows not fed upon slop. They cannot get it. The letter of Mr. Buchan, the Bursar of University College, and who has a farm near Brautford which he does full justice to and farms with profit, is quite rightabout " small farmers." They came and come here without enough capital, tLey cannot get labourers, and are, therefore, compelled " to do their own work on the farm, and their wives to attend to the housework and the dairy." These are the kind of people whose capital ia in themselves in a stout heart, a good hard pair of hands, abstinence from too much liquor, and, lastly, what I should have placed first, a firm reliance upon God's helping hand, who will hear and answer His people's prayers in the backwoods of Canada as readily as from the most finished temple ever raised to His honour and devoted to His service. ••Stock Farmer" could not spend his 80?. to lOOi. better than by arriving in Quebec in September with a return ticket, visiting some of the state fairs the other side of our beautiful Lake Ontario, and our Provincial Exhibition, which takes place about the end of September or early in October, H. Toronto, May 20, 186i. ir. Sir,— In your issue of the 5th of this month I notice a letter from " Stock Farmer," requesting information from practical sources of the possibility of farming on a large scale being made profitable in Ciinada. I have been in Canada many years. I came here determined to fol- low the pursuit of agriculture on an extensive scale, but until within about three years my attention has been turned partially to manufac- s STOCK FAIlMINa IN CANADA. taring, and I have no reason to complain of the returnji made, but the one great difficulty in raanufaoturing here has always been the im- possibility of realising on the business and plant, good-will, &c., all of which are so easily disposed of in England. This and the con- tinued change of tariff deciding me to relinquish manufacturing, I }jave for some years past determined to turn my attention entirely to agriculture, more especially stock raising. Some years since I there, fore purchased from the Canada Compan; 600 acres of land, and com. menced clearing it in the end o^ 1860 and beginning of 1861. I have now cleared 350 acres, having 200 yet in wood and in progress of clearing, and having begun at the very beginning, even to making roado to the farm, I am probably capable of giving a sound practical opinion on the subject. Moreover, my attention as a boy in England had been directed to farming before leaving home, and I have always felt a great interest in everything conueoted with agriculture. Any and every part of the work I thoroughly and practically understand and can do with my own hands, but I have never considered it profit- able to work myself, except as much as is required for health. Many of the observations of " Stock Farmer" seem to assert that farming in Canada can only be made profitable by persons who do their work (or the most of it) themselves. If such is the case, then the profits must be slender indeed; no man that has not been bied up in the capacity of a labourer can do as much work as one who has, and I can and have hired all the labour I want at from $120 to $140 a year, and board, which costs by my foreman's account nearly $1.20 a week for each man when everything is charged to the house at the under- mentioned retail prices :--Pork, $6 per 100 lbs.; sugar, 10 o. to 11 o. per lb.; tea, $1 per lb.; flour, $4.60 per 198 lbs.; butter, 12 J o. per lb.; rice, $6 per 100 lbs. ; currants, 10 o. to 12 o. per lb.; coffee, 20 o. Other articles of groceries are not so much required— of course there are others used, but these are the heavy staples of housekeeping here in the woods. The wages and board of a good man will thus cost about $210 a year, all articles being bought or raised and paid for, or about 43?. 168. sterling. Now, as no man not bred to labour can do as much as one who is by at least 25 per cent., take the whole year through, it follows if the aysertions referred to by " Stock Farmer" are correct that the success or otherwise of farming one 100 acres of land, with say about 60 to 80 cleared (this being the ordinary size of farms in Canada), depends on the sum of about 301. sterling, after deducting the difference of value of the man who has been bred to labour and the man who has not, leaving out of the question the fact that if the owner of the farm farms a large tract of land and works hard himself he cannot superintend the general minutiaj to any advantage. The idea of necessarily doing all the work himself ig, therefore, ah. surd. STOCK rABUINQ IN CANADA. 9 »i.^tJ^*'TJ*^ *** '^® relative profit of Canadian farming and that of the United States, there is at present no need of corapHrison as the conviction mast be of all who think about it that •' the present Mate of infliition in the States is utterly unreal, and a great crash must com* sooner or later;" and, moreover, th.-re are (thank God) many nritish ■ubjeots who would hesitate before leaving the just and mild rule of lintish laws and institutions to go to the " United" or rather dit. United States of Amorio«. We pay taxes here in Canada on a hundred-acre farm on the aro- rage of about $15 ; in some localities they reach higher, but the pro- bable amount paid by anyone clearing up a new farm would not be wore than fl6 for each 100 acres, and in many localities not more than one-half. Our Customs and excise taxes, according to the tariff ar-^ reckoned in the cost of boarding the labourer, so far as the farmer IS concerned with those articles ; and as the prices therein named are retail prices, 20 per cent, may with safety be deducted for wholesale purchases-and the capitalist would of course buy wholesale. The taxes both of Customs tariff and excise in the United States are monstrous, and are continually on the increase, with no prospect of any diminution. So long as gold is at auch a premium in the States Will the bushel of wheat be worth there just as much more as goM 18 worth more than the money that buys the wheat ; ai.d hence all articles are influenced by the same rule-a coat that costs here in gold 95 is worth there about $8 in green-backs. It therefore follows that at present prices no real comparative statement of profit between farming in Canada and the United States can be arrived at to be relied on for a year together. We will, therefore, drop the relative comparison, and try and prove that farming in Canada by men of unSaking!'^'' '*° ^^ "''^^ ''°'^ ^ profitable and a respectable u InXV'''^ ""'''^^ ^' *^^ P°'"* ""^ ^"y'^S ^^f"f« y^^^ correspondent -Stock Farmer "my experience in farming in Canada on a large scale with but very moderate capital, much less than was wanted; but fir ? I may mention that my conviction of the profitable return for capital was based on moderately good crops and fair price-say $1 for wheat TL,T '^ *° ^' bushels per acre. At these quantfties and prices 1 had seen so many men do well and realise a good return for their outlay and the land on which it was done raised from dollars an acre tu pounds in value that no one of any industry and energy, when combined with capital, could for one moment fear failure. It is true we have the midge and Hessian fly, and lately the wheat aphis but these pests almost always bring their own remedy. Some other iLsect wi soon be numerous enough to keep them down, or a kind of wheat c«!i» !-^'°Tk ^° ^ ^v'!^ ""^ *°^ ^"*« *° •'^ ^"J"^ed by them ; in fact, four years since the belief was general that wheat growing ^ould have " be abandoned, but remedies have arisen as above stated, and no one fears so serious a result will t( How. In November, 1800 I let a job of clearing one hundred acres of land to a contractor for .$19 an acre, I to find all the teams and utensils necessary, and seed also, and he to do the work, and at harvest after thre&hing he was to have one-half of the crop and I the other. The 10 bTQCK if^RMINO IN CANADA. r^otasb alao was to be divided in the same uanDer. This part of the proceeds of cleariagup a new farm is quite an iivportantone, the gross retarn being about #5 an acre if the ashes are carefully sawed, and as one hfif will more than pay for the manufacturing of the other into pot- ash, it follows that the potash is worth from f2.50 to $3 per acre. I made more than this all through, and tht3i.e was not as much potash timber on my land as on some othero One yoke of oxen was con- eidered sufiBcient to do the woik of logging on the farm, exclusive of bringing to the farm food for the oxen and supplies for the men. On the 30th of November, 1860, the men went on the land and commenced building a shanfy to live in ; this was finished in about a week, the men living meaotirne at a neighbouring farm-hous^. When the shanty was completed the men (eia in number) moved in, and with a blazing log fire in the centre and a bole ia the roof for tba smoke to pass out were ai* warm and comfortable as could be desired, tne interstices between *he logs being s.tuffed with moss. The snowy weather set in very early that winter, and no undar- brushing having been done we were obliged to cut down all tho larg& trees, leaving the sciftUer ones untouched, to be out dose t'> the ground when uhe snow went oil the following spring. In April all the chop, ping, or nearly so, of the 100 acres was completed ; as the days length- ened more men were put on. Precautions were, however, taken to leave a grove around the coutemplated homestead to afford shelter when all the rest of the timber was cut; those trees were also left which formed a most picturesque looking place, pretty as well as use- ful— indeed mosi necessary. When the snow was entirely gone tho pmfti,5r trees and brush were cut close to the earth; this was a very bad plari and cost at least H (one dollar) an aore mora than if the underbrushing had been done earlier and before the snow fell oir the large timber was cut down. The latter part of May and during the prevaleuoe of a high wind (after some very dry weather) the brush heaps and tree tops, all carefully thrown together (one great art in chopping), were all set on fire, and a most appalling and fearful sight it was, 100 aoree of brush blazing up forty feet high with a loud roar- ing noise, the fire flying from heap to heap, each burning more iuri- ously than the last, as the great heat produced almost a gaie cf wind. After the conflagration had exhausted itself— the lighter end smaller wood being nearly all oon;umed, whilst the green bodies of the trees were only bleckened, the leaves and small twigs boing entirely copsuroed— the ground presented a black, charred appearance, quite cl68>jLi a>nd free f''ora small stufi" or rubbish of any kind. In this in. stance we had an excellent burn, as it ia called, a thing most to be desired ia clearing new land, as it often saves $2 an acre or sometimes mor*^ In June the logging was commenced, and with one thoroughly good ^oke of oxev. well fed, one man to drive, and four good " rollers" (as the rost are called), an acre a day can be readily done where the ground is dry and well burnt. The 100 acres, therefore, oouH all have been logged that summer ; but from oiroumstanoea not necessary here to enter into and e deficiency of capital, only about sixty acres were completed at t^nt time, and during th« full the seeond 100 acrbs wore BTOCK FARMING IN CANADA. 11 -^1 eommenced by the same contractor. In this latter case the under- brushing waB all done before the snow fell — afbout the beginning of Novomb'^ir and into December,— and the difficulties complained of pre. viously were not felt. In May following~ftbout the Ist — we com- menced sowing spring wheat and dragging it in. This is the ordinary course, and everythirg bid fair for a good oropo—of at least 30 bushela to the acre. The quantity of seed sown was small, only or>e and a half bushel (six pecks) being required per acre. From the time we commenced Bowing until the middle of Jnne not one shower of rain fell that I remember ; this was the dricHt time that was known for many years in Ciinada. Much of the wheat never vegetated at all until about July. An entirely new insect in Canada—" the ^vheat aphis" — attacked tLj wireat and covered the heads until they were quite blackened with it. Thi:i was in my opinion produced Hy the very dry weather or very much aggravated by it, as I noticed that each heavy shower that fell thousands and thousands were washed off, and about the middle of August all were gone. Meantime we had been busy building barns, hou&es, and stables. Our largest barn was 100 feet long by 40 wide and 24 high — two threshing floors and four bays or divisions. The raising of the heavy ftramework ^yas at first thought best to be accom- plished with ropes and pulleys, but after a time it was found better to make a " bee," as it is called, and about 40 men were speedily got together by sending a man round the settlement and appointing a day — three days from the day of notice. All were on the ground by nine a.m., and by twelve o'clock the whole building was up. At those " bees"- where the proprietor is popu- lar there is an extraordinary amount of energy and activity dis- played, and as no stimulating drink was allowed there were no acci- dents, although the men were running ^bout on the building more like squirrels than men. As a general thing, I do not approve of " bees ;" they are too often only used as a license to get intoxicated ; and every day's work thafc is given must be returned when asked for, and, no matter at what inconvenience, your o\7n work must be left to send a man to return the day to each of the men who helped you. This, therefore, was my first and last " bee." Our harvest was much delayed by the different time at which the wheat ripened. Of course, as at least one-third did not vegetate until rain came, there would of neoes- eity be a great difforence in the time at which the wheat could be cut ; some was ready the last of August, while much couW not be cut until the middle of September, at which time the autumn rains often com- mence. The weather is generally most beautiful all through October and November, but there is always rain in September, although the weather is still very warm. It was so in this case. After the wheat was all out with the cradle (each man cutting nearly two acres a day anu another binding it), the thocks got many a sound ducking be "ore they were fit to haul into the barn. In cradling wheat it is a most wonderful sight to eee the men swinging the cumbrous cradle (with fingers, as they are called, nearly 4i feet long) about amongst the stumps and rarely breaking it, although every few feet they must seodssarily strike the cradle nugcfs through ths stauuisg corn cloHd 19 STOCK FARMING IN CANADA. to the Bturapg. We derived great benefit from the precaution of capping the thocks, which prevented much, if any, injury from the heavy rains. Meantime all hands were again on logging and making ready for the following yerr's crop. Eighty acres more were ready and sown with wheat and peas by the 27th May the following year. The great need to siir the land more than the d'rags aocompli&h and the very short time that the season allowed (we having to log and burn before we could sow) for such a large portion of new stumpy land to be logged, and some with limited means, caused us to set our brains to work to meet the difficulty. The best and richest lands in Canada are often what is called "cradle knolly"— that is, the trees have in former ages been uprooted and decayed away, and others have grown again on the turned up portion of the roots, causing a rough hummucky appearance to the surface almost like the waves of the sea in broken waters. The depths of the depressions are some- times three feet, and they often occur, although of smaller size and depth, almost every square rod. It will thus be seen that a drag could not eflfectuftUy reach the bottom of the holes, and often pulled oti' the top of the high parts and buried the seed too deep. To amend and get over these difficulties we constructed a three-legged plough or cultivator, so made that one leg or thone would perhaps be descending A hollow and on© working on the hill sMe of a similar hump, and the whole sufficiently light for one team to pull with ease and so con- structed that, like the bows of a vessel or runners of a sleigh, it would riso over all obstructions and roots, cutting off the small ones and passing over those too large to cut off, and again digging into the earth after passing the obstructions. We called this newiy-invented implement "the forest cultivator." With this one team would go over lengthwise and across about 2i acres a day, on an average often three, always two, and twice in a place. When the soil was thoroughly stirred up the seed was sown and the harrow passed over twice, once each way, and the job was most complete. The necessity for this new implement was more apparent from the fact that the contractor failed in getting his job done at the time agreed on, and one-half, therefore, laid over uncropped until the following spring, and of course grew up weedy and grassy. I mention these circumstances, as it may be hereafter necessary to allude to and to account for the deficiency in the quantity sown, according to the quantity cleared during the first and second summer in my statement of profit and loss, hereafter to be furnished if required, and without going fully into the matter it could not ha readily understood and the reason made apparent. Harvest, mean- time, was approaching, and the second 100 acres being all chopped and part logged, and about 50 acres of the first 100 cropped the first year and about 90 acres of the second 100 cropped the second year about 40 acres still being unlogged on account of the second failure of the contractor, as before alluded to. This latter portion, however now comes in for wheat the third year, and is all sown this spring! The part sown to wheat the first year was well summer-fallowed last year and again cultivated this spring, and an abundant crop may be expected if wheat grows anywhere. This niece of about 30 acres T \ n STOCK FABMINa IN CANADA, 18 let to a person on shares—he to do the cultivating, sowing, threshing (fee, &c., and to have one-half the crop at harvest. As the farm was selected ultimately for a stock and dairy farm, parts were rather low and wet owing to some high lands in the neighbourhood discharging their surface water across the farm in two or three places. This I saw would be of great value for stock, as running water could be obtained in every field. We, therefore, before the trees were all chopped down (subsequently to the first winter), cut surface drains across the lot in length about two miles, three feet deep, four feet wide at top, and one foot at bottom— a sharp spade and a hard-working Irishman readily digging four to six rods a day— at a cost of 25 to 30 cents a rod and board— through the rootv, wet, uncleared land the water draining away as fast as he dug. Of course, horses and stock had meantime to ba purchased, waggons, harness, and all the plant necessary to cultivate 200 acres of land. I have not here yet alluded to some other portions of the land that were being cleared as those were completed by contract and occu- pancy— for the clearing, but which now come into my hands, nor would an account of this in any way be necessary or useful for " Stock Farmer" to know, our present object being not to show the thousand and one snifts an energetic man may use to surmount difficulties, but to show the process by which a man with capital may invest his money here and derive a remunerative return from it in making for himself a large and handsome homestead, to be inherited by his children after him, which homestead will always be increasing in value and excel- lence of quality without manuring until at least six years have passed by. About that time the stumps that encumber the land will begin to come freely out, and the soil will not be at all reduced in its fertility even without the aid of othe? manure than the farm naturally aflTords. Another rule of increasing value has been found in increasing popu.* lation and occupying of the neighbouring lands, no matter what section you choose for an example. Thus a lot of land will be worth say $5 per acre when there are so many inhabitants to the square mile ; as soon as those are doubled, the land will, as a general rule, have doubled in value also. Statistical information proves this beyond cnntroversy and that it extends to $15 per acre on wild land. I have t. , year, or rather winter, chopped about 60 acres more land, at an expense of about $6 per acre, without board tc the men. The lodging this sum- mer will cost $7 more and fencing about $2, making in all about $15 per acre. A further tabular and statistical account of profit and loss will be furnished if desired hereafter. Of course, others in the neigh, bourhocd are doing the same (may be in much smaller quantities) but still steadily increasing, and hence the statute labour in construct- ing and repairing the roads is making places accessible in summer which could only hitherto be reached during the sleighing. I have no doubt that any farm of good land, purchased in a good section in a wild state, will pay 5 per cent, per annum of increasing value above once in every eight years, entirely irrespective of any capital laid out on it. From long practical experience I have proved this, and in manv instances to the extent of 10 per cent, per annum. 14 STOOK FABtflNa IN CANADA. The oast of the whole work, as compiled from most carefallj kept reoords— Dr. and Cr.,— oan be had if > paired by any one on applica. tion, but, to eoonomise our spaoe, we will be content to enumerate the debit and credit of one acre of new land cultivation and crop of each kind usually grown. Muliiplication of the number of acres will, of course, give the correct data, but recollect one or even ten acres cannot be done for this small amount ; it i» only where large quantities are tilled and where all facilities possible are provided that in this, as in everything else, the expense can be reduced :— onb acre of wheat. Dr. To seed U bushel, at $1 $1 SO Labour of all kinds, as compiled from proportion of debit account of the whole, including horse-feed 2 00 Harvesting i 76 Threshing •• .. 1 00 $6 25 Apparent profit 17 25 $23 00 Ca. By yield of 25 bushels per acre, at 00 c. . . $23 50 Value of straw . . . • 1 GO $m 50 ova ACRB 01* OATS. Db. To two bushels of seed, at 50 c 91 00 Labour of all kinds •• •• .. .. 1 75 Harvesting . . . . . . », . . • • 1 25 Threshing 1 00 Apparent profit .. .. *» •• .. 12 00 $17 GO Cr. By 40 bushels, at 4i0 0. .. .« .. ..$16 00 By value of straw . . .. ». .. .« 1 00 $17 00 ONE AGRB OiP BAHLZT. Dr. To two bushels of seed, at 60 c $1 00 Labour same as wheat . . . • . . . . 2 00 Harvesting •• « .» .. 175 Threshing 1 00 $5 75 Apparent profit 10 86 $16 00 ISi 8i;0CS FARUINU IM CANABA. 15 C». By 30 bushels, at 40 o. By valttti of »iv»m ^. .. ei5 00 ..., 1 00. •16 00 ONS ACBB or FKAS. Db. To seed, two bushels at 50 c f 1 00 Labour of all kinds , . . 1 76 Harvesting i 25 Threshing »• ,. ,, ,. ,, .. 1 00 Apparent profit 7 00 ei2 oa Cr, By 25 bushels of peas, at 40 c. , .. . . , , f 10 00 Value of straw ^, ,, 2 00 $12 00 Tha dollar here is equal to 4i. 2(2. sterling. The above yield is ia Qxcess of the average of the last two years, but these are entirely exceptional. Even this and last year I can point out 100 persons who have raised 33 per 100 more on their land than the above. We all boow that the small Canada farmer, from want of capital, cannot be wpected to work to such good, advantage as the man with money, and henoe more ohance of failure. Having now followed from the beginning the modm operandi of clearing up a new farm, with the exception of the details of potash making (which, although, a most important part, our space will not admit of), y«t my experience goes to prove that on heavy hardwood land one barrel can be made off four acres ; if the ashes are properly saved, this ia worth at least Cexclusive of barrel) $25, if of first quality, and no more expense is needed to make " first" quality than " third." I have given oae-half to have the other half boiled and melted ; this would leave at least $3 per acre that can be made out of the ashes; ours averaged more where proper care to save the ashes was used and the timber burnt whilst green. In the foregoing account we have not charged interest on plant of any kind. In the synopsis of the whole a fair plan would be to charge the outlay and oapitalise it at say 8-lOOths to be charged first. If then a reasonable profit can be shown, no one, I think, who wishes to emigrate would objeet to 8 per cent, as an interest on the outlay of capital. These observations will, of course, apply to stock, but not to the same extent, as stock are producing and no credit is taken for the feed. As 1 hire for all that is done and the work has necessarily been very driving, I do not keep more than one crv end no pigs or sheep. I ana aware I have lost much by this, buv . ave considered that until this year I could not with advantage keup them. Now the case will be different. I am also aware that the amount it cost to keep m> 16 STOCK FAKMINQ IN CANADA. foreman's family would probably go far to keep mine, and as his wife makes enough out of the boarding of the men to support herself and children, it is clear that the $1.20 per week is ample for cost. I cannot approve of " Stock Farmer's" idea of purchasing land at three shillings an acre ; all such land will be found on inspection to be, as a whole, inferior; and so remote from public improvements, rail* roads, market towns, or indeed any of the ordinary wants of civilised life, as to dishearten the most sanguine and persevering. On the easy terms on which he can get land from the Canada Company, which land is always close to all the conveniences of civilisation, he had much better give " three pounds" an acre than "three shillings" in the wild bush. One day's journey over swamp holes and unmade natural roads, a considerable part of which winds about amongst the trees or in the newly-surveyed Government townships, climbing up hills and descending valleys, bumping over boulder stones and rocks, will most satisfactorily show this. Canada is not the unsettled place all the available sections. is," in people at home suppose it, *' that Wh'^re the cheap land is situated, it is cheap because even the hardi- est man in the world, the Irishman, will not go if he has capital to buy elsewhere. I have seen and conversed with many who have been through all these places. My foreman has lived on one of the Government roads and thoroughly inspected it and a great quantity of the adjacent land, which he describes (and his description coincides entirely with that of others) as having many intervals of good land, but for the most part rocky, stony, and hilly in the extreme, with swamps in the low flat bottoms. The evil would not be so much felt at first, but in future years, after battling with many difficulties, the neighbouring poor rocky or swampy lands would be unoccupied, or if settled 03> the set- tiers would be ill-doing ones from necessity, hence roads and general improvements that naturally rapidly follow occupation of good land would not follow in anything like a satisfactory degree. My address lies with the Editor of this paper, and is heartily at the service of any one wanting further information that it is in my power to furnish on this most valuable and necessary branch of industry and enterprise, "Farming in Canada with capital, and on large farms." — I am, (fee, Canadian Fabmer, , III. Sir,— I have noticed in the Leader of this city the article copied from a late number of your paper on the subject of " Stock-breeding in Canada," signed by a " Stock Farmer," who says that he is " a heavily rented, heavily taxed tenant farmer in Somersetshire ;" and, knowing Canada and its capabilities, especially in regard to its agri- culture, well, I gladly avail myself of your columns to reply to some of his inquiries. 1. He asks for a reason why the late Mr. Hutton, when remarking that " in Canada West capitalists can bring 100 acres into cultivation STOCK FAHmNO IN CANADA. 17 as well as in the States," said that "such is seldom or nev^r done;" I answer, it is, Ist, heoause capitalists find it more advantageous to purchase improved farms than to clear them themselves; 2ndly, because they can bring to bear upon such farms the improved systems of husbandry, so universal in the best agricultural parts of England and Scotland, which they could not do if they purchased bush lands till the stumps had rotted in the ground ; 3rdly, because such per- sons prefer to live in a neighbourhood where they have the advantages of churches, schools, markets, society, and good roads. These can all be had on very reasonable terms in the older settled parts of the ooun- try, which, besides, are more healthy than the new settlements, because there are less decayed vegetables tobe found there than in those settle- meots. The man whose only capital is a good constitution, plenty of industry, and a resolute will goes into the bush and, by clearing off 8 or !) acres each year (which he chops down in the winter and burns off when dry next fall), supports himself and his family in a rough way till, in about 10 years, he has a comfortable home and a farm of PO or 90 acres cleared. 2. I quite agree with " Stock Farmer," that •• it is absurd to think of agriculture on a large scale in any of England's colonies if Canada be not really suited to that ;" and again, I think he is quite right in taking for granted that " the cause why we hear of failures, or that Canada is suited only to small farmi rs, is because of want of capital, want of knowledge, want of industry, energy, or of personal super- vision on the part of the capitalist farmers." One great misfortune of our country is that it has been largely resorted to by military and naval retired officers, some of whom have purchased large farms and, as might be expected, found them profitless. They expended most of their capital in the purchase of these propprties ; they had no other knowledge of farming than what they picked up from books ; they wanted «* industry and energy ;" but, above all, generally preferred epending their time in the neighbouring towns and villages to giving their farms their •* personal supervision." But there are, of late years especially, others who tell a very difi'erent tale of the country. I know a gentleman who was formerly a large tenant farmer in the Lcthians, and who, having made a good deal of muney on one of our railways as contractor, has invested it in a farm of several hundred acres near Queenston, in Canada West ; and who, after several years' toil, tells me that he is being well repaid for his expenditure. He has spent large sums of money in underdraming and liming his land. His large herds of short-horns, his flocks of Leicesters and Cotswolds, and his droves of Berkshire pigs would not disgrace any farm in England or Scotland. 3. I think that your correspondent has a very good idea of this country when he says that "in Canada seed time is very short ; so that the farmer must be much more active and energetic to get in his nTnna 1 n *-» «■» y\«i1rl fl*>/1 ^-V**!^ Tl** y***' XAtXJt ITTUl then out the season. I will explain what I mean. Our springs are often 18 STOCK FAB3IIN0 IN CANADA. wet; and it is lato before most of our farmers can get their crops in on their heavy undordroined clay lands (which, however, are the best when well managed) ; but when a farmer such as the gentleman I alluded to above has his lands properly drained and limed, he gets his crop in a fortnight earlier than his neighbour on the adjoining andrained lard. Then again such lands, aflfording a deeper soil for the roots of plants, suffer far less from drought (to which we are more exposed than in England) than lands which are undrained. It is notorious that thou- sands of labourers have come to Canada from England, Scotland, and Ireland, and have left large farms to their children ; and I contend that in a country where this can be done, the same industry, judg- ment, and attention to the large farms by persons possessed of capital will produce the same result. And when I speak of these labourers, I do not allude to parties who have gone into the bush and cleared lands for themselves, but to parties who hi'-ed out as farm servants to the military and naval gentlemen alluded to above ; saved money enough to take a farm on shares for a few years, then to i*ent one, and ultimately to own a handsome property of their own. I know a man named James Williams who did this. When the farm, a large one, that he rented changed hands and he was obliged to leave it, he pur- chased 500 acres of land, and sold, from the stock that he could easily spare, $GOO,OUO or 12,000L stei Ung. 4. Those farmers who have entered into stock breeding with a knowledge of their business and good judgment have invariably done well. James Williams was v^i-y successful in this way. I don't think that 1,000 acres of wild land, in one block, could be purchased in the province, except in some very remote places, where no capitalist would like to bury himself and family. But there are many places where improved property to the extent of 500 or 600 acres in a block could be purchased at present on very favourable terms ; and where the purchaser could have all the advantages of churches, schools, markets, society, and good roads. I take the liberty of enclosing to you my address ; and if " Stock Farmer" should like to address me personally, it would afford me pleasure to further his viewj.— lam, Sir, your obedi- ent servant, A Canadian. h Toronto, Canada West, May 26, 18G / «• IV. Sir, — In the Quebec Gazette of the 20th May I saw a long letter, copied from your paper and addressed to you by a " Stock Farmer" in Somersetshire, asking explanations and wishing information on several matters connected with Canadian farming, as practised in the penin- aula of Upper Canada. As yet I have seen no farming carried on in this peninsula— and I have travelled it over from east to west and north to south — so exten- sively, and on the same system as that practised in the Lothians of STOCK FARMING IN CANADA. 10 Scotland. To purchase a cleared farm in C.W. and to stcjk and crop it would require the same sum that it takes to stock and crop only a farm of similar size in Britain; to make a comparison between the t*o would be out of the question, as, with very few exceptions, farming here ia very far behind. 1 consider that as capital invested in mort- gage on real estate, and yielding a few years ago from 10 to 15 per cent, per annum, held out greater inducements to capitalists than to invest in agricultural pursuits or in clearing up wild land ; and capi- talists, therefore, preferred to speculate in buying and selling wild lands or real estate. Now, however, that the rate of interest is reduced to 8 and 10 per cent., it may make a change. I have been engaged for the last 30 years in agricultural pursuits, and I am of opinion that farming on an extensive scale in this country will pay much better than on a small scale, provided that the land be well cleared and that all the modern improved implements can ha used ; but I have ray doubts of going too extensively into farming operations on an exten- sive scale upon a farm but partially improved. I have been o'-er soma of the western prairie farms, and mu>it say that the rich deep allu\ia soil is magnificent, but there is something about the monotonous, flat, murky surface, especially in wet weather, that I do not like. I much prefer Canada West to any of the weSlern prairies I have yet seen. Mr. Caird as a shareholder, as I believe he was, had a pecuniary into. rest m the Illmois Central Railroad lands, which may have induced him to overlook Canada. Mr. Hutton, on the other hand, had no such interest. 1 would not advise any one to invest their whole capital in farming operations here, more especially on a farm that requires extensive improvements. We often have partial failure in the crops, owing to weevil, midge, &c., &c., so that a farmer extensively engaged in improvements has sometimes by these causes to curtail his opera- tions for want of funds, causing thereby serious loss and delay ; if he has other sources of income beside his farm, he is so far more inde- pendent. Were " Stock Farmer* to purchase 500 or 1,000 acres of wild land, he would find many difficulties to contend with that he may not be aware of. Although he can get his land cleared and fenced for $15 per acre, he would find his farming operations to proceed but slowly, as he cannot hire men in any greiit numbers to cultivate his farm and contract for the clearing of wild land to such an extent as he might wish i m consequence of the low price of wild land, the labourer re- solves he shall have a farm of his own, so he purchases a lot on credit, then hires himself out during the summer to work on cleared farms wherever he can get an engagement, where he saves as much money as will pay the annual instalment on his lot, and the residue serves to purchase his clothing and keep himself in food during winter, when he engHges in clearing up his own lot. Thus thousands of poor in. dustrious men have struggled on for a few years at the commencement till t.neV hftVA hv norcpvavinrr */->>' "\\A •>■«/'■•!"» ^ • ' r - 'r 1 ~' ^ — K... .i.gi lUii alia iniiaaiiy uuuuiuu pruprioiors oi beautiful farms with comfortable homesteads, where they enjoy a 90 STOCK FARUIKG IN CANADA. competency and many of the luxuries of life they would never have attained to in Britain. If wild lands are situated within a short distance of towns, public works, or railroad stations, parties will con- tract to clear the lot for the timber, and in some oases will give a pre- mium to be allowed to do so. These lands, howefer, sell at a high price. " Stock Farmer" has thus another reason why small farmers are most prevalent. " Stock Farmer" must bear in miud that a cleared farm here is quito another affau' to a cleared farm in Britain. What we mean by a cleared farm is the trees all cut down, all timber and rubbish burnt up or carried oflf, and the land fenced with zigeag fences. All tree roots are left in the ground, with the stumps standing about three feet above the surface, not a stone dug up or removed, and all inequalities of the surface in a state of nature. He would find it no profitable mat- ter to cultivate such a farm by hired labour, in comparison with a thoroughly cleared farm. The proper working, if the lot consist of hardwood timber, is to take two crop« after clearing, then seed it down for pasture, let it remain so five or six years, when the stumps and roots will be so decayed that the plough will easily throw them out. Pine stumps will remain entire for 20 or 30 years, so that many so to the expense of digging them out at an extra cost of $10 to #20 per acre. Settlers should avoid purchasing a lot with much pine on it, as it costs more to clear and the soil is generally of inferior quality. Although we have a very short |ped time in spring, yet we have along period after harvest in which to plough the land for the succeeding crop, and if properly taken advantage of then, ono can get on very rapidly in the spring with the use of gang ploughs, cultivators, seed drills, &e., so by these one span of horses can with ease put in from four to six acres of seed per day if the land has been ploughed m the fall. Many prefer this mode to spring ploughing, as the drought does not penetrate the ground so much, thereby giving more nourishment to the crop. The breeding of stock has been very much neglected, but of late several enterprising parties have taken it up, if not with ad- vantage to themselves at least very much to that of the province. These breeders exhibit as good stock at our local and provincial exhi- bitions as can be seen at similar institutions in Britain. Thorough- bred stock sells at a high figure in comparison to the native breeds. These high prices prevent many of our small occupiers from purchas- ing, but they have crossed with the native breed very advantageously. More attention is paid to stock raising since the failure in the wheat crop, which is now rather precarious, caused, I should say, by over- cropping, as plenty of instances can be pointed out where wheat has been raised on the same piece of land for ^0 and 12 consecutive years. To a person of capital who wishes a large farm for little money, he must take time to clear and improve it, when by waiting on for 15 or 20 years he could by a judicious expenditure make a fine estate ; but to an old-country farmer I should say, buy at first a partially improved farm, when he could at once commence farming and follow out the system he had been accustomed to upon the well cleared portion of it, and on the other he could progress in his improvements and cultiva- c2 •TOOK FABMINQ IN CANADA. ftl Hk ii?;i> fJ^^'J °' ■"^'^ '^'■'°» "'^ 'or «al« in well settled localities hav ing all the advantages of markets, ohurohaa schools ^ood sociatv fee fmprreVentJ'^'sirf ''' '' ''? ''' '''' according"?' K ^ fni' improveraents. Such farms can be purchased that would yield o ren Woodstock, county of Oxford, C.W., May 31, 1804. °°^ ^*^''°^' V. (To a " Stock farmer " in Somersetshire, England ) SiB.--In the Canadian News of 6th inst. I read your communica. tion asking for information respecting farming in Canada. From your Tery sensible remarks and queries, I should infer that you know more about Canada, though living in Somersetshire, than many who. from a hasty visit to our fine country, pretend to enlighten the world on its capabilities. Your neighbour's " brother," a farmer in Canada, may not find farming pay there so well as in England ; but there may be reasons for this in his particular case which, if kn Jwn. could be easily explained, and I think you are right to doubt it. • Now. I am not exactly a " farmer " in Canada, but I was born in the country and have lived in it to a good old age, and a greater part of my hfe in the country when farming was well and profitably carried on. And as an amateur farmer I was among the first, many years ago to assist in bringing a better breed of cattle and hogs into the ooun.' try. I have had the satisfaction of seeing hundreds of labouring men from all parts of Great Britain and Ireland rise rapidly from the humble rank of a day labourer to be an independent proprietor of from 100 to 500 acres of good land, although they brought no capital to the country butindustry, frugality, and perseverance. I know scores of emigrants who begun on 100 or 200 acres of wild land, and who by good management and attention to their business have settled their children on comfortable farms of their own— ^' all made by farming " On the other hand, I admit that I have known very many *' gentle men farmers " who have not found •• farming in Canada - pay ; and I have often said to them m reply to such statements—" Can vou tell me in what country in the world such farming as yours would pay r Instead of spending their own time and the labour of their farm horses on he farm, more than half the time would be spent driving about ViRltinsr their nAifrhhrtiiro ^n . anA ;« -u™ i i __ . ° wuuuk .... 3 J _.,,, «jv!, xu aiao ; iiuw many insiuuoeB at 92 8T0CK FAKMINO IN CANADA. the village inn, drinking whisky nnd smoking sliort pipes while dole- fully lamenting the sad fuct that farming in Canada would not pay. I knew Mr. Hutton well ami was surprised to find him stating thai farmers in Canada "seldom or never" bring a hundrod acres into cultivation, as is done in the United States. This certainly is not tho case. You cannot go to any well-settled township without finding many farms where much more thnn 100 acres are well cnltivated. And I have never heard it questioned that furtning on a Inrgo scale ia Canadn, if properly conducted, would pay. It is true prices generally rule lower here than in ICnglnml, but as you very sensibly remark, this is balanced by tho absence of such high charges on the land as you pay. You are quite right in not being able to conceive a reason why a jrood cleared farm of 1,000 acres would not pay in Canada— proofs that it does pay can be shown :'()U should you ever visit iis. But I would correct the impression which you appear lo have thut you should buy the 1,000 acres of wild land at 3s. HcL an acre. There is no wild land of good quality near our markets that could be bought for anj thin;? like that price, though in tho remote newly surveyed township.i good land may no doubt be bought for 3«. '.)d., or even less. Good land, however, may be purchased in our older counties in blocks of from 400 to 1,000 acres at from $i to $12 per acre ; and this in localities intersected with good roads and convenient to mills and market. And in many parts of Canada farmers would sell out at fair prices to relieve themselves from difficulties (not brought on them by farming) or to remove with their sons to the new townships to obtain more land foe aiem at low rates. To a farmer, therefore, from England with moans to purchase land at Ss. Sd. and to expend on it in clearing it 21. to 4Z. per annum, it certainly would be better to save time and money too by profiting by some other person's outlay. And such opportunities always offer. Mr. Buchan thinks small farmers do better in this country. No doubt very many of this class succeed in making comfortable homes for themselves, and provide for their families too. But this is no rea. son why large farms, if well managed, would not do equally well. And this leads me to notice a remark of yours that " gentlemen farmers" are those who in England make more by agriculture than any others. Here all our experience proves just the reverse — not that you are not perfectly correct in what you state— but your " gentlemen farmers" arc farmers no doubt, and understand what they are about, while the term " gentleman farmer" in Canada means one who knows nothing about the cultivation of the soil— generally one wao has spent his life in the army or navy and cornea to Canada with a few hundred pounds his all, — and when this is gone, h has nothing but a small farm to show, if he is fortunate to have saved even that ; and instead of at- tributing his failure to its true cause, he abuses Canada as a country where farming will not pay. This fact is nororicus here and the class of such grumblers rather a large one. To your question •' Why should not skil> on a large Canadian farm as well as in E hesitation, thcro is no aUiueisntrsaaon. A . %)'■' fil. and energy succeed krj,:i?" I au'^wer, withcuc 1 ia nine cases out of tea STOCK FAHMINO in CANADA. % 8 the reason why some teouUlbe fnrmera do not sncoeed is that thoy bring neither skill, capital, nor nergy to th« attempt, tlioir capital often being spent in building a fine house, instead of on the farm '•Stock farming" is by no means rare in Canada East or Wost, and nothing wou.d, r am sure, surprise yon or your neighbours mora than a visit to our Provincial Exhibition in September, where stock of all Kinds may be seen that would do credit to any similar show in Enc- land or any other country. And why should it not bo so, when we have some gentlemen among us who are farmers, and who have at groat cost imported stock into Canada from Britain that has taken the highest prizes there, the off- spring of which also show that the air and climate of Canada is by no means prejudicial to their growth and perfection ? My advice i . all is. it you are well-oft and contented, remain whore you are. If you ^vish to become a landlord instead of a tenant oomo 10 Canada, whioh offers as fair a field for le