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V r / Manual of reliable information concerning the resources of Manitoba and the North-West Territories, and the inducements which they offer to persons seeking new homes and profitable investments. Land for the Landless, Homes for the Homeless, Offered in the future Wheat Field of the "World. HINTS AS TO HOW, WHEN AND WHERE TO GO. BY ACTON BURROWS, -OF WINNIPEQ.- l f-^ <::'''' '^- "' \J^'^;~, ■f">,-;*'J=^y "M'Xffi^'i ^ 6 St. PAUL RAILWAY IS THE BEST LUiE IN EVEBY PARTIOIIIAB BETWEEN I — jLisri> MILWAUKEE, LA CROSSE, WINONA NORTH WEST TERRITORIES, AND Yallsy of Red Rivsr of ths Horth, Passengers approach mg Chicago, by any Railway, will find Parmelee's Omnibtis Gheckmen on the trains, who will exchange their checks, and give all requisite in< formation. Parmelee's Omnibuses are on hand at all depots, on arrival of trains, to convey Passengers to the Depot of this Company. Passenger Agents of this Company are at the several Depots, on arrival of con< necting trains, for the purpose of directing and assisting Passengers. '''ickets between Chicago and St. Paul, Minneapolis or points beyond, in either dir<9Ction, are good either via Watertown, Sparta, LaCrosse, Winona, and the famed Biver Division, (over 130 milep along the shores of the Mississippi,, ioi full view of its grand scenery), or via Madison, Prairie du Chien, McGregor, Austin and Owatonna. Ample time for Meals at the best Railway Eating Houses in the country, under tiie supervision of those Princes of the Art Cuisine, Fox, Johnson and Williams. OEIOAOO.— FMMngw Depot, cor. Ouud «&d West Uadlson Streets. Freight Depot, oor. VnloBi «nd OarroU Streets- Oitj Offices, 61 and 63 Clark Street Qen'l Ticket and Pattenger Agt. General Manager. i i it •I I ;R"r a mm \ !. Ill i ^ ( t<. NORTH WESTERN CANADA. "I hear the tread of pioneers, Of nations yet to be, The first low wash of waves, where soon Shall roll a human sea." (HERE are unmistakeable indications that dui-ing the present and many succeeding years, a much largei* number of emigrants will annually leave the shoves of the United Kingdom, to seek new homes, than heretofore. It is not necessary to become a Malthusiatt to agree with the correctness of Malthus' statement, ventured nearly a century ago, that before a hundred yeai*s had elapsed, the agrioultuml and manufacturing resources of Great Britain would be unable to support her increased popiilation. Though, during a period of but little more than ten years, two millions of people emigrated from Great Britain alone, the Eegistrar- General's statistics show that in England the natural increase of the population is nearly 250,000 a year greater than the depopulation by means of emigration. The temporary cessation of extensive emigration during the past few years has produced its natural result, a plethora of labor and consequent distress. In this respect the agricultural classes have been severe suiferers. The perfection of lab(>r-saving machinery, especially that used in harvesting and the cultivation of the soil, has lessened the demand for agricultural laborers, while the competition to which British farmers are exposed by the grain of new countries, where land is cheap and production consequently possible at a much less rate than in Britain, has turned attention to the necessity of old country farms having for the future a much less area of arable land, and a greater breadth of pasturage ; in other words, that to be at all able to make both ends meet, expenses must be reduced and the branch yf farming adopted which requires a minimum of labor. In view of these facts, it is a certainty that not only agricultural laborei-s in large numbei-s, but also tenant farmers, will exchange their present unfortunate positions in Britain, for locations in new lands, where by moderate perseverance they may soon obtain a competency, and secu'-e for their families a successful start in life. To such, the all important question is, " Where is the best place to go ? " The writer of these pages endeavors to answer; not by a gushing, exaggera- ted, Americanized puff of a fancied El Dorado, or by holding out the ihducement of a land flowing with milk and honey, but by producing from official and authentic sources evidence of the great fertility of the regi(Jn of which this ])amphlet treats ; of its suitability for settlement, and of the lK)sitive assurance of prosperity which can bo given to those who locate within its borders. During last summer, three distinguished members of the Canadian Government visited England ; one of the important results « i ill \\ I }■ 8 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. of their mission being the inspection of the principal agriciiltural provinces of the Dominion, especially Manitoba, and the North "West, by delegates lepresenting large bodies of English and Scotch farmers. These delegates, whose reports have appeai-ed in a nu;.iber of newspapers, and several of which are reproduced in another portion of this pamphlet, were so thoroughly satisfied with their visit, that they unanimously recommended Canada as a desirable field for settlement. Messrs. Clare Sewell Reed, M.P., and Albert Pell, M.P., members of the Royal Commission on the state of the agricultural interests, subsequently visited the Dominion, and were afforded excellent opportunities of judging of its agiicultural capa- bilities. Since these visits, British newspapei-s, many of which pi'eviously showed a lamentable ignorance of matters affecting Canada, have discussed the results of the missions, and heartily agreed in the general tribute to the advantages offered by the Canadian North "West as greater than those to be found in any other colonial dependency, or in any toreign country. VASTNESS OF THE TERRITORY. Over two hundred years ago, Charles II. granted to Prince Rupert and his associates, under the title of the Company of Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay, the enormous area of territoi^ comprised in North Western Canada. The richness of the region in the production of fur bear- ing animals, and the certainty that with the advent of settlement would come the death knell of their trade, induced the Company to cling to their pos.session with determined tenacity, to misrepresent the soil and the climate, and to put every possible obstacle in the way of those who sought to open to immigrants the fertile areas of which but little was then gene- rally known. As a consequence, the "Western States of the American Union were brought into greater prominence than they otherwise would have been, and a stream of European emigration directed to them that ■should have found its way into Canada. Such a state of things could not last. Occasionally a traveller, ftiU of enthusiasm at the brilliant prospect he believed to be in store for the North West, would publish his impres- sions, but no general public attention can be said to have been directed to it until after 1857, when an elaborate exploration was made by Professor Hind, under the auspices of the Canadian Government. The press took the matter up, it was frequently refen-ed to in Parliament, the Government of the day made the annexation of Rupert's Land a part of their jiolicy, and in 1869, an arrangement was effected between the Imperial and Canadian Governments and the Company, by which the whole territory was trans- ferred to Canada in retu n for a large cash payment and a land grant. The right of the Company having been secured, the next step requisite wff3 the extir'^iishment of the Indian title to the soil. A number of treaties have been made with the aboriginies, for whom, in return for their ciainjs, there are reserved sufficient tracts of land for cultivation, which are ftuppleuieated by annual payments in money. To those accustomed to the comparative diminutiveness of th* area of European countries, the vast extent of territory embraced within the \ 1 /. NORTH WEBTKRK CANADA. 9 ( » «il Dominion of Canada may seem almost incredible. The Confederacy ex- tends from the Atlantic Ocean on tho east, to the Pacific Ocean on the west, a distance of over 3,000 miles. The sonthem boundary reaches in one place to a little below the 42 nd parallel of north latitiide, the northern boundary extending to the Arctic Ocean. All the continent of North America north of the United States, except Alaska, belongs to Canada, which has within its borders the whole of British North America except Newfoundland. The total area of Canada is 3,528,705 square miles, about the same as the entire European continent and half a million square miles lai'ger than the whole of the United States, without the territory of Alaska. Canada's territorial area is only exceeded by the British, Russian «nd Chinese empires, and possibly by Brazil. Its wheat zone extends over 600,000,000 acres. For the purpose of government the Dominion is divided into seven provinces and the North-West Territories. The provinces are, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. The North Western portion of the Dominion is composed of Manitoba and the North West Territories. The province of Manitoba is situated about equidistant between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the east and west, and occupies a similar position between the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico on the north and south. It is in about the same latitude as Belgium and parts of Austria and Prussia, and extends from the 96th to the 99th meridians of west longitude, being bounded on the south by the international line between Canada and the United States, and on the north by a line drawn about midway between the 50th and 51st parallels of north latitude. It contains about nine million acres of land, but a small portion when compared with the vast extent of the North-West Territories. These Territories, bounded on the south by the international line, parallel 49, north latitude, extend northerly to the 55th parallel. On the oast they are bounded by the Province of Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, and on the west by the Rocky Mountains. They ai'e some 900 miles from east to west, and about 460 from south to north. Their area is estimated at 2,750,000 square miles, or 1,700,000,000 acres, being nearly two-thirds the size of Europe. Of this immense tract of land fully two hundred million acres have soil of the richest description. , THB CLIMATE. Of the greatest importance to the emigrant, in deciding whither to proceed to his new home, is the question of climate, so that he may select a country where health is assured and where the conditioBS are the moat favorable for successful husbandry. In North Western Canada these dflk Hired conditions are found. The variations of temperature are great, but by no means sudden, and the seasons follow each other in such a manner /. ; 10 NOBTH WE8TBBK CANADA. that the system is imperceptibly prepared for the change. As the sun ap- proaches its noi-thern altitude, snow'^lad laads give {flaoe to prairies covered with luxuriant vegetation, presenting a sutface of natural beauty, tinted with the rich colors of blosaoming flowera ; ice-bound streams throw off their winter coverings and assist in the great work of nature. By the middle of April, the sun has melted away all traces of the winter's snow^ the frost has left the ground and spring fairly set in. But vegetation ha» taken an earlier start, progressing even before the Irost is out of the ground, and sowing is generally commenced when the soil is thawed to a depth of about six inches, farmers preferring not to wait, believing that growth is assisted by the heat of the sun, causing constant evaporation from the underlying strata ot fi nst. Wheat has been sown in Manitoba as early as the 3rd of April, and plowing commenced on the 5bh, fully 10 days earlier than in the Ottawa Valley and many other portions of the Province of Ontario. Frosts seldom occur late in A.pril or in May. In 1879 a slight visitation of this nature occurred, but wheat was not injui'ed, though in the north of France vines suffered severely from a similar cause. The North West spring is genemlly a drier season than in Ontario. June, July, August and a part of September, comprise the summer months. A dry summer is almost imknown. Frequent showers occur during May, June and July, with heavy dews at night. The following table shows a statement of the mean temperatures for three of the summer months in Manitoba, and in Battleford, the Capital of the North- West Temtories ; as compared with those of the Province of Ontario, and of the States of Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, New York and Florida, ui the American Union. i ti June. July. August. Manitoba 63.20 60.35 61.85 67.09 62.07 66.04 61.07 '64.02 80.00 68.19 63.95 67 49 73.05 70.08 70.05 68 06 68.05 82.00 67.34 Battleford 67 79 66 38 Ontario Miuneiiota 72 00 lUinoiB 66 05 Iowa 63 OH ' Wisconsin 65 07 66.07 82.00 Nfw York Florida These figures, prepared from official sources, show that the heat of summer is not oppresive iii the North West. The nights are deliciously cool and bracing, a blanket can always be borne on the bed, and the wretched discomfort of hot and consequently often sleepless nights is un- known. Frosts during the season of growth are very rare and scarcely ever injurious. Fruits and vegetables that cannot be* grown successfully in the ojjen air in England, here come to perfect maturity in August and September, their ripeiiing being assisted by the large amount of Bunlight^ V i^# NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 11 which, dui-ing July for example, is fully two hours per day more than in New York. Hay cutting is generally commenced about the middle of July^ and harvest begins about the first week in August. It is very seldom that wet weather interferes with harvesting operations. In every i-espect the summers of the North West are more favorable than those of the United Kingdom, or of the older provinces of Canada. They are more uniform ; better supplied with rain during their earlier stages ; warmer for the rapid ripening of grain, and have longer days. Autumn commences early ; about th« 20th of September, the first frost sometimes occurs by the 15th, but is by no means iii tense. Generally this season is a dry one. A slight snow-fall often comes early in October^ followed by a delicious season of Indian summer, generally lasting for a fortnight or more, during which the atmosphere is hazy, calm and pleasant^ nature appearing to be resting after her summer's labora. Owing to its northern latitude, the North West was for a considerable time looked on as a region of Arctic severity. This erroneous idea has been fully dissipaled, and settlei-s in the new land recognize and appreciate the advantages of its bracing wintei's. About the middle of November the ground is generally frozen ; the first lasting snow falls early in Decem- ber ; the total fall for the winter averaging 14 to 16 inches. In exposed situations the soil is penetrated by frost to a depth of from three to four feet. Where the earth is covered by snow, it is seldom frozen deeper than eighteen inches. The thermometer, during winter, sometimes ranges to from 30 to 40 degrees below zei'o, but the atmosphere is bright, drd and exhiliarating, and this extreme of cold is found easier to bear, any to be more healthy than the piercing humidity of eastern and many southern climes. Old countrymen do not find the cold at all severe, and are agreeably surprised at the absence of hardships which would be caused by the same degree of cold in a more humid climate. The^ are few severe stoi-ms in winter. Buffalos graze out the whole winter, going even to the far north ; horses run out through the coldest weather, scraping the snow away and securing luxuriant herbage beneath. Many of them, which have been completely run down in condition during the summer by over-woi-k at teaming heavy loads, are brought in in the spring, thorough- ly recuperated and ready for another season's work. Several cases are knovm where the bands have been found largely ir creased by the foals dropped during the winter and successfully reared in the open by their dams. Cattle winter out in many places. Half-breed hunters, and many freighters, live all the year round in tents of dressed bufialo hide. The winter nights are clear and beautiful. jin April, 1879, Mr. W. A. Loucks, a practical farmer of great ex- perience, was examined before a Committee of the House of Commons. In answer to the question, " Is the climate of Manitoba rigorous ?" he replied : — " This is the third winter I hare been there. In the winter of 1876 there was a very slight ^all of snow and little sleighing. It was cold, a firm, dry oold, 1 have V M asesrsJKK 12 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. iMTer been obliged t6 wear any more clothes than I did in Ontario. I have worn the .same old coat for farm work which I did in Ontario, and I have felt the effects of the KM>Id no more than I did here. During last winter, 1877, there was no sleighing at all ; our travelling was done on the rivers, going on the ioe lon^ distances to get to the markets. This winter, abont the general depth of snow is eight inches. I have received a Utter from my son, saying that the gnus is getting green, and that the «cattle are grazing on the prairies. The winter is about the same length as he^ra. Further than that ; vou can plough until the first frost, but the moment the frost ■eones it will freeze down seven or eight inches. The frost in places goes very deep into the soil ; and when it goes out, in about two weeks, I do not donbt but that we shall hear of farmers ploughing. When the frost goes out of the ground, except to a •depth of about three inches, we ca* sow our grain." From what has been said in reference to the climate, the reader cam- not fail to have been convinced that in North Western Canada is to be found THE PERFECTION OF HEALTHFULNBSS. Humidity is absent; the air is bracing and dry ; stagnant waters and .their poisonous exhalations are unknown; fogs and mists do not occur. No epidemic has ever visited any portion of the region, with a single ex- ards. The good food upon which the^ have been brought up, with the invifforating climate, appears to develop them to the fullest proportions of the ' genus nomo. Marshall, in his recent work on Canada, says : " I am persuaded that, despite its severitv, the climate of Canada is one of the healthiest in the world. It is expressly fitted to develop a hardy race. For the /K 1 ' ;>s NOBTH WESTERN CANADA. 1» bringiog up of a jonna family, it is to be preferred very decidedly to the climate of almost all the states m the Union south of the chain of Canadian lakes. The fact of the generally healthy condition of the people, the splendid development of uie men, the preservation of the English type of beauty of the won>en, ma^ be taken in proof of the excellence of the climate. The Canadian, whether English, Irish, or Scotch, is well proportioned and vigorous, often tall, with broad shoulders, sinewy frame, and capable of great endurance. He is quick of resource, enterprising, sober- minded, persistent and trustworthy. The races of the British Isles and of xi'orway bavg certainly not degenerated here." THE miCflEST SOIL IN THE WORLD. Tn sucli a vast e:^tent of territoiy as that under consideration^ uniformity in the qualit}- of the soil cannot be expected, but the results of explomtions leaves no doubt that a large proportion of the land is of the richest possible character, ready for cultivation and the immediate growth of crops. rThe enormous area occupied by this description, and the sufficiency of estatn it offers for millions, [ilaces in tihe far future the time when it will be necessary tn locate on lands whose soil is of a secondary quality. That there is bad land is readily admitted, but even nearly all this is cultivable, and the fact has been firmly established that no deserts, similar to the arid wastes in many pf the United States, exist in Canadian territory. The extraordinary richness, fertility and apparently inexhaustible productiveness of the soil of the Red River Valley, which comprises a large portion of the Province of Manitoba, are exceeded by none and only equalled by the alluvial delta of the Nile. The average depth of this black argillaceous mould or alluvium, rich in organic deposit, is fully five feet. It rests on a subsoil of from 18 inches to four feet of tenacious clay, exceedingly valuable for brick making. In many places in the Red River Valley, where borings, Ac, have been made, the alluvial deposit has bean found to extend to the extroardinary depth of from 12 to 15 teet. Its usual depth on the prairies, away from this famous valley, is about 2^ feet. The great richness of this soil is explained by the fact that it i« doubtless composed of the droppings ui birds and animals and the ashes of the prairie fires, which have accumulated for ages, together with decayed vegetable matter. Several analysis have been made of these soils, the results of two of which are here given. The first, made by Professor V. Emmerling, Director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Agricultural Association of the University of Kiel, Holstein, Germany, in 1872, gave the following resnlt: — Potash 228.7 Sodium 33.8 Phosphoric Acid 69.4 Lime 682.6 Magnesia 16.11 Nitrogen ^ 4.861 14 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. The Hon. Senator Epiil Elotz, at whose reque^it this analysis was made, in transmitting it to Mr* Jacob E. Klotz, agent for the Canadian Government, wrote as follows, under date of Kiel, May 4th, 1872 : — - " After considerable delay, I succeeded in obtaining the analysis of the Mani- toba soil from Professor Emmerling, Director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Agricultural Association of this place, and hope it may be of service to you. An- nexed I ffive you our analysis ol the most productive soil in Holstein, whereby you will see how exceedingly rich the productive qualities of the Manitoba soil are, and which fully explains the fact that the land in Manitoba is so very fertile, even with- out manurA. The chief nutrients are, first, nitrogen, then potash and phosphoric acid, which predomin itea there ; but what is of particular importance is the lime contained in the soil, whereby the nitrogen is set free, and ready to be absorbed in vegetable organisms. The latter property is defective in many soils and when it is found defective recourse must be had to artificial means by putting lime or marl (a clay which contains much lime) upon the same. According to the analysis of the Manitoba soil, there is no doubt that to the farmer who desires to select for his future home a country which has the most productive soil and promises the richest harvests, no-coontry in the world oflfers greater attractions than the Province of Manitoba, in the Dominion of Canadan" MANITOBA AND HOLSTEIN SOILS COMPARED. 4' liolstein. Potash I 30 Sodium ...I 20 Phosphoric Acid I 40 Lime... I 130 Magnesia \ 10 Nitrogen I 40 Excess in favor of Manitoba. 198.7 13.8 29.4 552.6 6.1 446.1 In 1876 a number of practical Scottish farmers who visited Manitoba were so thoroughly persuaded of it.s advantages that they purchased a con-siderable quantity of land. They selected a fair average sample of the aoil and submitted it to T>r. Macadam, Lecturer on Chemistry in the Univer- aity of Edinburgh, who gave this report : — Analytical Laboratory, Surokon's Hall, Edinburgh, 14th December, 1876. ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE OF MANITOBA SOIL. Moiattire 21.364 Organic matter containing nitrogen equal to ammonia, 23°. 11.223 S(uine matter : Phosphates 0.472 Carbonate of lime 1.763 Carbonate of magnesia , . , , O.937 Alkalina salts L273 Oxide of iron 3.115 Silkiom matter : 7.560 Sand and silica 61.721 Alumina 8.' 132 . 69.853 100.000 /' -1. ^ I NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 15 The above soil is very rich in oreanic matter, and contains the full amount of -the saline fertilisdng matters found in aU soils of a good bearing quality. Stsphenson Macadam, M. D., m Lecturer on Chemititry, dx. These analysis show the soil to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of wheat and other cereals, owing to the large proportion of silica which it contains, and to which is attributable great superiority of the wheat pro- duced on it, over that gi-own further east or south. Manure is not required for the land, which in many places has produc- ed wheat crops for yeai-s in succession without any artificial assistance to the soil. Mr. Loucka, whose opinions on the climate have already been quoted, stated to a Comtnittee of the House of Commons, last year, that when he first went to Manitoba he leased a farm in the old Red Biver settlement, which had been *he residence of a Mr. Monkman for 70 years and on which 62 crops of wheat had been raised without the aid of any artificial means to keep up the quality of the soil, even the byre manure having been turned into the river. The first year of Mr. Loucks' occupancy he had magnificent crops, his wheat averaging 26 bushels to the acre, peas and potatoes yielded immense crops. The next year he produced 352 bushels of potatoes from 10 bushels of seed. Of the other crops he siid : — " I put in manffolds, carrots, turnips, blood beets, celery, potatoes and corn, all in the 8am<) field, ^ich I had fall ploughed the previous year. The mangolds I had ■were immensely large. The blood beets which I put in-'as I had been accustomed to do in Ontario, were also very large and yielded wonderfully. The carrots were very large, indeed, and very prolitic. I did not measure the turnips as they were so plen< tiful, but I threw them m a heap and thev occupied one-half of a large bam. I never saw anything to excel the celery. I planted it in the field, simply in the natural soil. The corn that I took from Ontario and planted there ripened ; it was fine green corn, a large variety of sweet corn, as well as a smaller variety &i our common Canadian corn. I was led to believe that these kinds of corn would not ripen, be- cause they have a small Indian com, 4, 5 or 6 inches ui length, in the country. But what I took there ripened and yielded well. I placed in the hands of Mr. Ogilvie : seme wheat plucked in my field from a new piece of soil. He took it to Montreal, and I afterwards saw a statement in the Witnesa about what were termed immense heads of wheat. I broke up the soil from which they were plucked in the fall pre- vious, in 1S76 ; this was in 1877. In 1877 I had still greater crops." The prairie lands are covered with a luxuriant vegetable growth, •which is easily got rid. of and the soil prepai-ed for cultivation by plough- ing not) deeper tnan two inches, with a furrow from 12 to 16 inches wide. This should be done in June and July, as the sod is then more efiectually killed than during any other months. It is advisable to let the land re- main fallow in this condition until the following spring, when it receives a deeper plowing, the furrows running in the same direction as the first season. Crops may be secured, especially potatoes, turnips and oats, on land imme- diately after the first ploughing, but weeds are sure to give trouble, and one season's delay more than compensates for the waiting. m 16 MORTB WESTERN CANADA. WATER SUPPLY. In referring to the climate of the North West, reference was made to the favoi-able nature of the rainfall during the growing season of vegetation. Senator Sutherland, who has resided many years in Manitoba, stated lie- fore a Committee of the House of Commons that he only remembered two seasons which were very dry, and that even these were not sufficient droughts to prevent the growing of fair average crops. He added that in the absence of showers there is si^cient moisture in the earth to render the soil pro- ductive. There are many rivers of majestic size and great length, in- numerable streams affording excellent water power, and countless small creeks, furnishing pui-e water. Lakes, many of considerable size, and ponds of smaller dimensions, abound. Even in the north portions of the territory, where alkaline lakes are met with, ponds of good water are frequently found in close proximity. There is no scarcity of water for animals. "Where streams or pure ponds are not available, water for house- hold purposes can generally be obtained by sinking wells to a depth of from 12 to 15 feet. In some cases a greater distance has to be penetrated, but failure is unheard of. TIMBER. f When the North West was but imperfectly explored, it was feared that the supply of timber would be inadequate. The fuller explorations which have since been made, and the actual experience of settlers show that there is an abundance of wood for all purposes. The prevailing growth is poplar, its preponderance being due to the fires which have so frequently swept over t^e unoccupied prairies. Vast forests are believed to have once covered these lands, but owing to the carelessness of Indians with their camp fires, large tracts were denuded of timber. Laud over which fire has passed is just ready to receive the downy seeds of poplar, hence its prevalence in groves and belts. For fencing, the construction of log houses and fuel purposes, this wood answers excellently and is found in ample quantities. The settlement of the territory and its cultivation puts an end to these prairie fires and a fair proportion of wood growth spontaneously follows. These conditions are decidedly favorable for successful forestry, which can be earned on with but slight expense. In the neigliboring American State of Minnesota, an extensive farmer covered seventy-two acres in spring ; with cuttings of cotton wood, poplar and white willow, which flourished finely, and after two years, were from ten to fourteen feet high. At the same time he planted several bushels of seed, including two elder, oak, white and red elm, hard and soft maple, and bass wood, and the sprouts from this seed in two years were three to five feet high. The soft maple is peculiarly adapted, reaching a height of from four to five feet in the third year's growth. Such perfection has now been attained in the manufacture of barbed wire, proof against animals, that it will doubtless be largely used for fencing. By planting trees round fields, shade will be obtained, the necessary rainfall retained and live posts provided to which to attach the wire. All timber grows fast in the North West. East of Manitoba a valuable timber region exists. Nearly all the streams in the •.♦ 4i ,15 t ) . whfyi,ff.T- NORTH WESTERN CAKADA. 17 North West are bounded by large belts of poplar, oak and ash, and in many places tamarac and spruce are found in large quantities. A number of saw mills are already in operation. Many more will be erected this season, and a plentiful supply of sawn timber for building and other purposes is assured. In the Peace River district, to the far north west of the territory, Professor Macoun, the Government Botanist, sa^s five sixths of the timber is poplar and is invariably a sign of dry soil and good land. Balsam poplar is very abundant on the islands in all the north western livers, often attaining a diameter of from 6 to 10 feet, even in the extreme north. White spruce grows to a veiy large size on all the wateraheds and the slopes of the south bank of the Peace River, on islands in all the rivers, and very abundantly on the low lands west of Lake Athabasca. Professor Macoun often saw it over three feet in diameter ; but the usuel size is from one to two feeW Banksian pine occurs at Lake Athabasca, and is abundant as the nortJr branch of the Saskatchewan River is approached from the north. White birch is abundant on the Athabasca and Peace Rivers. The Indians make large quantities of syrup from its sap in the spring. COAL AND OTHER RESOURCES. ^ ■* »1 Except in some sections of the country, remote from railways or navigable rivers, wood will not long be requisite for fuel. Coal has long been known to exist in great quantities, and the work of the Geoilogical Survey has demonstrated that Norih Western Canada possesses the most extensive known coal field, containing sufficient to supply the whole world for many years. It is estimated on reliable data that the coal area of '* the North West is not less than 500,000 square miles, with an average breadth of 280 miles. On the north branch of the- Saskatchewan River thick beds extend for hundreds of miles, cropping out at the river's banks. This coal has been used at Prince Albert for hkcksmithing, and is being- consumed this winter at Edmonton and other places for household pur- poses. On the Pembina River, further west, there is a seam 10 feet thick, of first-class quality. On the Battle River, coal is found in large quanti- ties, and on the Red Deer River there are extensive deposits, some of the seams being 12 feet 'thick. A number of samples from these districts were submitted to Professor Haanel, of Victoria College, Cobourg, who analyzef- them and gave the following report : — " '!rhe specimens were the ont-crop in each case, and taken from points at least 300 miles apart. The accompanying table of assays of coal from some of the principal mines of the United States lind Nova Scotia are highly valuable for comparison, and when it is remembered that their samples were taken from the bed of the mine, and mv specimens from tte out-crop, the superior quality of the Saskatchewan coal is fully established. i » 18 Koara WEiTsaN Canada. " ANALYSIS. K^ LOCALITY. Spec. gr. Moisture VoL Matter. Fixed Carbon. Ash. I 1.375 1.375 1.340 1.337 1L88 11.41 C.69 6.89 1.25 0.82 1.64 2.50 1.80 1.750 1.600 .30 28.66 29.07 33.70 33.57 15.80 17.01 36.63 36 30 28.49 25.876 24.800 .25 67.26 66.94 63.26 60.90 73.01 68.82 60.90 66.00 59.60 61.950 61.428 66.40 2.21 2.58 6.3(5 8.64 9.74 13.35 10.74 6.20 13.20 10.425 22.271 13.35 100 00 II Ill 100.00 1X).00 IV 100.00 Marvland 99.801 Pennsvlvania 100.00 Virginia 100.00 Joggins 100.00 Stmffhill 100 00 _ District of Pictou. 100.00 ■i Rame localitv to ton bench. 100.00 TJlfltrict of KichnK /I 100.00 / " The numbera I. to IV. are as fallows : I — The Pembina coal, 100 miles N. W. from Edmonton. II — That from near Belly River, South Saskatchewan. Ill — That from Belly River. IV — That from Saskatchewan River, near Fort Edmonton, 900 milet N. rf. W. of the City of Winnipeg, in Manitoba. I and II. are bituminous coala, of a bright lustre, irregular fracture, showing, to judge from the small speci- mens sent, no distinct laminat on, of a high spec, gr., 1.375, comparatively free from sulphur, and giving out little tarry matter upon coking. If the specimens are com* pared among themselves, I. and II. pr«ve the best, IV . the poorest, yet by no means a poor coal. None of the specimens contain inspissated pyrites, and are compara- . tlvely frea from sulphur. I. and II. contain all t ie qualities to reader them superior coal for heating purposes, and III. and IV. are much better than a great deal of coal from Pennsylvania, such as we are often obliged to bum. For comparison, I add time assays of Pennsylvania, MaryLind ana Virginia coal, quoted from Dana, and i^oggins and Springhill coal, from the Cumberland coal field ; from the carboniferous district of Pictou, and from the district of Richra3nd. These last quoted from Dawson's Acal, Geol." During the past year, Mr. Hugh Sutherland, of Winnipeg, has had explorations on a large scale carried on in the vicinity of the Souris River, under the superintendance of a well-known English mining engineer, the result being the discovery of excellent C(»al at a jwint not very far from the international boundary of the United States. A large number of miners are now employed, and it is the owner's intention tb take the coal down the Souris and Assiniboine Rivers to Winnipeg and other places in the spring, so soon as the necessary arrangements for navigation can be made. The geological features of the territory leave no room for doubt that coal will be discovered at many places other than those mentioned. The rail- way now in course of construction, and the lines of steamers which are about to be placed on the principal tfivers, will afford ample means of transport and enable coal to be secured at cheap rates. Immense deposits of i)eat are found in some portions of the territory, which could easily be utilized for fuel. Iron ore exists in large quantities, of excellent quality, throughout the coal region, where it can be cheaply worked. There is every reason to believe that within a few years the manufacture of iron will be an important in- dustry in the North West. ;i * ^ i n >■ f f ! I'i 1 '\K'' I n .»' .NOItrH WESTERN CANADA. 19 I Gold is found in paying quantities on the North Saskatchewan River tind in many of the other streams flowing from the Bocky Mountains. With 49ut limited appliances, miners make from $5 to $10, {£1 to £2 sterling) per day. Limestone, from which excellent lime can be manufactured, is found in many places. Clay and Marl suitable for brickwork and pottery is abundant Brick is largely used for building in Winnipeg, many handsome structures of it iiaving been erected. Salt springs have been discovered at several points. On Lake Winni- j>egoo3is, the natives have long made salt in small quantities. The brine is of strong quality, and can be secured without boring. Petroleum was found by Sir John Richardson and others in the Athabasca district. An impoi-tant industry will doubtless spring up in connestion with its development. CAME AND FISH. Especially valuable to the traveller and settler in a new country is a plentiful supply of game. No where can it be found in gi-eater abundance than in North Western Canada. Last summer, during a two months' trip to the Saskatchewan distinct, the writer lived almost entirely on grouse, wild ducks, geese and plover. No delay was made to secure a bag, the shooting T)eing done fron the road while driving along. A settler going through the portions of the territory which are but sparsely inhabited can easily shoot sufficient for his family's use, and after locating on his farm can look to the -same cheap source of supply for fresh and nutritious food. A species of grouse known as prairie chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants, jmrtridges, pigeons, cranes, snipe, plover and rabbits abound. Of the lander game many species of moose, deer and antelope are found to the north. Bears and wolves are fast retreating before the onward westwai'd march of (Civilization, but are yet killed in fair numbers, their skins forming a con- siderable source of profit. Buffalo formerly roamed over the prairies, but ■have been well nigh exterminated by Indians and hunters. Foxes, mink, mar- tin, otter, muskrat, beaver and skunk are killed in large quantities for their fur. Tne lakes, ponds and rivers are plentifully stocked with fiiedi. Sturgeon of large size, white fish, pickerel, pike, bass, perch, suckers^ sun • iish, gold eyes, carp, trout and maskinonge furnish a never failing supply of food. In the woods large numbers of wild bees producing a fine quality of honey, are found. The clear diy atmosphei-e and rich flowers are especially favoi-able for their culture, and bee-keeping is not unlikely to be- -come exceedingly profitable. agricultural PRODUCTS. Great attention has been attached to the North West, amoi^g the farmers of the older provinces, by the extraordinary display of agricultural products exhibited at the Dominion seat of Government at Ottawa last uM LI > 20 NORTH WESTERN 0ANADA.. autumn, and at many of the provincial fairs in the Province of Ontariok. The splendid specimens of gi-ains, fruits, roots and vegetables surprised even those who had frequently read of the fertility of the soil, and the in- dications are that a large number will sell out their farms in the older provinces and seek new homes in the North West, whei-e, unlike the- wooded lands of Ontario and Quebec, requiring weary years of clearing, the soil has but to be ploughed and sown to secure an almost immediate return. Climatologists have satisfactorily demonstrated that the cultivat- ed plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limit at which they will grOw. This is shown, beyond the chance of dispute, in the North West, where, instead of being developed too rapidly, as is the case further south, the undue luxuriance of the stem or leaf is restrained by the cool, late spring and the chief development of the plant thrown into the ripening period. THE GREAT WHEAT CENTRE. First in importance among the cereals is wheat, The country which - possesses the greatest area of wheat producing land, has what is necessary to make it the chief agricultural power. The wheat lands of the United States, now nearly all taken up, brought under cultivation and producing: their maximum yield, are but small when compared with the vast extent of territory in North Western Canada, which has been proved to consist of the soik best adapted for the growth of this cereal. The climate is peculiarly favorable, the dryness of the ripening and liarvesting seasons producing a sound, plump grain ; the crops being certain j and the fertility of the soil ensuring a larger continuou* average yielii than has ever been secured elsewhere in the world. Blodgett, a distinguished American authoiv ity, admits " that the basin of the Winnipeg is the seat of the greatest ♦* average wheat product on this continent,, and probably in the world." The Eed River valley, which forms a poi-tion of this basin, is of consider- able extent, and the result ot many years' cultivation in the old Selkirk settlement, near what is now the site of the City of Winnipeg, shows that the soil is practically inexhaustible. Reference has already been made in an earlier portion of this work to one farm on which 52 crops of wheat had been raised from the same fields, during the 70 years they have been under cultivation. The wheat zone, following the isothermal lines, extends in a north westerly direction across the whole of the North West Terri- tories of Canada, to the boundaries of British Columbia and Alaska. At a banquet in Winnipeg, in October, 1870, to Mr. A. H. Pell, M.P., and Mr. Clare Sewell Read, M.P., members of the Royal Commission to< enquire into the state of agriculture, Mr. J. W. Taylor, Consul for the United States at Winnipeg, candidly admitted that far the greater propor- tion of wheat producing land on this continent is comprised in North Western Canada. After describing the courses of the several columns of emigration vhich arrive from the old world, he said :: — •« I believe that even the Bouthem counties of Minnesota itself could grow Indiut com to more advantage to-day than wheat. There remains the northern zone, •peo ally adapted to wheat growing and cattle raiaii^. That includes Canada (tha \ ri KORTH WESTUtV CANADA. Zl ;^ and when brought in in spring are in better condition than when turned out at the beginning of winter. They are frequently herded in bands of fro m one to two hundred, in charge of one roan to prevent them roaming too far. Horses which have strayed from engineering and surveying par- ties in the autumn, in a poor condition owing to a hai*d summer's work, when found in the spring are greatly improved. The experiments in sheep growing have been limited, but enough has been proved to leave no doubt thai it is impossible to find on the continent a moi'e healthy climate for sheep than in North Western Canada. The dry winters suit them excellently, and with a good supply of hay, and the pro- tection afforded by natural bluff's, they are kept through the season at a very low cost. An instance is mentioned where a flock of about twenty strayed away in the beginning of winter and were found in the spring, fat, and none missing, but with an addition of several lambs to the flock. The wool is of fine texture, of great length and produces heavy fleeces. Sheep- imported from Illinois, Ohio and other American States have their wool much improved by the change of location. The mutton is sweet and juicy. In the Red River district a number of flocks of the old class of sheep are* still kept. They are generally large and produce rather coarse mutton. Southdowns and Cotswolds have been brought in and are giving perfect V 28 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. satisfaction. Forty years have elapsed since sheep were first introduced into the Red River settlement. No disease has occuiTed among them. Footrot is unknown. Dairy farming is well adapted to the country, the vast stretches of natural meadows affording unrivalled pasturage. In the Province of On- is I tario over 200 cheese factories are in existence. This number will be small in comparison with those in North Western Canada, as the territory be- comes settled up. Professor Macoun says ; — " The country, in my opinion, is well suited for stock-raising throughout itrj whole extent. The winters are certainly cold, but the climate is dry, and the win- ier snows are light, both m to depth and weight. AH kinds of animals have thicker coats in cold cnmates than in warm ones, so that the thicker coat counter-balances the greater cold. Dry snow never injures cattle in Ontario. No other kind ever fall^ in Manitoba nr the North West, so -that there can be no trouble from this cause. Cattle winter juat aa well on the Athabasca and Peace Rivers as they do in Manitoba ; and Mr. Grant, who has been living on Bat Creek, Manitoba, for a number of years, says that cattle give less trouble there than they do in Nova Scotia. Horses winter out without feed other than -^rhat they pick up, from Peace River to Manitoba. Sheep, cattle, and horses will require less attention and not require to be fed as long as we now feed them in Ontario. Owing to the light rain-fall the uncut grass is al- most as good as hay when the winter sets in, which it does without the heavy rains of the east. This grass remains go 3d all winter as the dry snow does not rot it. In the spring the snow leaves it almost as good as ever, so that the cattle can eat it until the young grass appears. From five to six months is about the time cattle will re- quire to be fed, and shelter will altogether depend on the farmer." / MONETARY SYSTEM. l\ The decimal system of cuiTency is in operation in Canada, the dollar — expressed thus $, — being the standard. The copper coins are of the value of one cent and two cents, a cent being the 100th part of a dollar. The >Bilver coins are 5c, 10c, 25c, and 50c. Gold is the legal tender, and the American gold coinage, being of equal value, is used. There is no Cana- •dian gold coinage, paper notes, redeemable in gold, being used. The usual notfcs are $4, $5, $10, $100, $500 and $1000 and are issued by chartered banks, under certain restrictions. The Government issue $1 and $2 notes. A pound sterling is worth four dollars and eighty-six cents Canadian cur- rency — $4.86. For rough calculations a dollar may be said to equal four shillings sterling. RAILWAYS. H Recognizing the great importance of providing; railway communica- tion for the North West, the Government in 1871 decided on the con- struct ion of a trans-continental line to connect the Atlantic and Pacific «eaboai*ds, passing entirely through Canadian territory. The Intercolonial Railway, completed some yeai-s since, runs from Halifax, in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic coast, to Quebec, a distance of 686 miles. The next link in the trans-continental chain is the Quebec, Montreal & Occidental Rail- h KORTH WESTERN CANADA. 29 ■way, from Quebec to Ottawa, 262 miles. The Canada Central Railway, already completed from Ottawa to Pembroke, 105 miles, is being extended to near Lake Nipissing, 140 miles, at which point it will connect with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which, after running about 500 miles, will reach the north western shore of Lake Superior at Thunder Bay. From Thunder Bay to Winnipeg t}ie distance is 431 miles. All this portion of the line is under construction. West from Lake Superior the road is completed for some distance, and trains run regularly. Eastward from Winnipeg, some 70 miles are in operation. The centre sections are being pushed on rapidly, and it is confidently expected that they will be completed in 1881, placing Winnipeg in direct communication with Lake Superior, from which grain, Ac, will be taken through the lake, canal and river route to Montreal for ocean shipment. From Winnipeg, the Pembina Branch runs +,0 the United States boundary, G3^ miles, where it connects with the vast rail- way system of the United States. By using the American lines to Detroit, connection is made with the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway of Canada and direct communication secured with Halifax. The North West is therefore now reached by an all rail route from the Atlantic coast, and is consequently placed within from 12 to 14 days travel from Britain. From Wiiinipeg westward, 100 miles cf the Canadian Pacific line are under construction, the contractor being bound to complete his work this year. Tenders for the construction of another 100 miles, to run westerly from the terminus of the first 100 miles merttioned, will shortly be asked for. Contracts have been awarded for the construction of 1 25 miles from the British Columl)ia coast north easterly. It is the intention of the Gov- ernment to push on the work from both ends, so that but a few years will elapse before the whole line is completed. The portions through the prairie country are easily and cheaply built. The Canadian Pacific line passes through valuable territory. The eastern section will open up rich timber and mining lands, the middle portion will pass thraugh the fertile belt of the North West, and the western section will develop the rich mineral resources of British Columbia. The engineering advantages of the route are very great, the altitudes to be surmounted being much less than on the American lines, which for hundreds of miles pass through the great westeiii deserts. Private enterprise has already commenced to develop itself in railway matters. The South Western Railway Company has obtained a charter of incorporation for a line from Winnipeg south westerly, and notices are given that several applications will be made to Parliament this session for other roads. WATER COMMUNICATION. The settlement of the North West will be largely assistetl by the vast water system formed by its numerous inland sea J and rivers, over which will be carried a large proportion of its productions. For several years the Red River of the Noi-th has been navigated by large steamers from Moore- head, in the State of Minnesota, to Winnipeg, 440 miles. The Assini- I' > 50 KORTH WESTERN CANADA. I) boine, a river of over 600 miles in lengfch, wliich joins the Red River at Winnipeg, is traversed by steamers for a great portion of its route from the North West. Its affluent, the Souris, on which are extensive coal beds, is believed to be navigable, and ihe question will be practically tried this ■season. . • The great Sas'^atchewan, and its north and south branches, will be the chief waterways. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, these streams flow ra;my hundred miles before connecting at the Forks, whence the iinited •waters run first in a north easterly, and then in a south easterly direction, ^plnptying into Lake Winnipeg, which has an area of 8,500 square miles ^y "^ *^nd a length of over 300 miles. A portion of this route has been us«d for the past three or four years by the Hudson's Bay Company, whose propellor, starting from the Lower Fort Garry, north of Winnipeg, proceeds up the Lake to the mouth of the Saskatchewan, were goods are transhipped to boats on the i-iver by means of a short tramway, the Grand Rapids near the mouth of the river being unnavigable. The company's river boats ply Uj. the main stream and then up the north branch as far as Edmonton, about 1100 mile?. Hitherto they have not can-ied passengei-s and have re- fused to take goods except for their own trading posts, but it is understood that they intend to make alterations in their system this year. A company incorporated by the Canadian Government, and composed of well known capitalists, has been formed for the purpose of placing additional steamers on the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan. They propose to connect, by a branch line, with the Canadian Pacific Railway, at the south of Lake Man- itoba, and run up that Lake and through Lake Winnipegoosis to the north end of the latter, where goods will be transhipped across a tramway of About four miles and placed on the Sasketchewan river where it widens into Cedar Lake at a point considerably further up stream than where its navig ition is commenced by the Hudson's Bay Company. The bad portions o^ the river will thus be avoided and uninterrupted communication secured along the whole length of the main stream and up both branches nearly to the Rocky Mountains. The total distance traversed by the company's boats on the various routes will be nearly 4000 miles. It is announced that their steamers will be fitted up for passenger trafiic, and that special attention will be paid to the wants of emigrants. The boats will also have capacity for can-ying large quantities of freight and the rates of transporta- tion will doubtless be materially reduced. A writer on the North West has well compared the Saskatchewan tp the Danube, and Lakes Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Winnii^egoosis, to the Baltic and Black Seas. The Peace River is navigable from the Rocky Mountains for at least 500 miles, at no point in this distance being less than six feet deep. At the end of the 500 miles, there are obstructions which could be overcome by a canal two miles in length, which would afford 250 miles of further navigation, in which there is no obstruction but a mpid caused by boulders in the channel. Their removal would probably overcome the •difficulty. } ti »1 ^1 KORTH WBSTBRN CANADA. 31 », >A-S The Athabasca is navigable for 180 miles above Lake Athabasca, between ivhich and the Arctic Ocean only one break «xists, some 14 miles across by land ; after that is overcome 1300 miles of first-class river navigation is met with, no obstruction occuring in the whole route to the ocean. The Upper Missouri River, which flows through the American terri- tories of Montana and Dacotah, is largely used for the transport of goods for the Bow River district, near the Roiky Mountains, at the south east corner o't the Canadian North West Territories. Messrs. I. G. Baker & Co., whose headquarters are at Fort Benton, Montana, and who have out- posts at Forts McLeod, Walsh and Calgarry, on the Canadian side, are owners of the Baker line of steamers, which is composed of three first- class boats, the Col. McLeod, the Eed Cloud and the Benton. Goods aniving by the Northern Pacific Railway at Bismark are there transferred to the boats and taken up the river to Benton, whence they are taken into Canadian territory in carts. For the land transport Messrs Baker & Co. employ i*egularly some 72 men, 576 oxen, 60 mules, and 108 wagons. They also own 3000 head of stock cattle. They are contractors for the transport of the Canadian Mounted Police supplies. At their posts they do a large general trading business. ■ ' • MARKETS. In new settlements the home markets are sufiicient for the grain crops of the first year or two. . The extensive railway works in operation ]>rovide an excellent market at remunerative rates. With the rapid settlement now going on, and the lai-ge area brought under cul- tivation each year it cannot be long until the North West does a large export trade in wheat, which it is certain can be produced in the North West for 40c. per bushel. With the ]n'eseni: communications, sup- ])ose it costs .55c. delivered in Winnipag. On the opening of the railway to Lake Superior, it can be conveyed from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay by rail, thence by the water route to Montreal for 15c. From Montreal to Liverpool the ocean freight is lOo. That is a total cost of 80c. per bushel delivered in Liverpool, equal to 26s. 6d. sterling per quarter of eight bushels. The average price of wh^at in England for the 30 years from 1848 to 1878 was 53s. a quarter — the highest piice being 73s. lid. in 1850, and the lowest 39s. 7d. in 1851. In view of those figures it is not difficult to realize how great will be the success of the wheat grower in North Western Canada, and what an important effect the cultivation of the vast fertile belt will have on the wheat markets of the world. Cattle transported hundreds of miles to Chicago have been forwarded thence to the British markets. When stock-raising has reached the posi- tion of an important industry in the North West, as it very shortly will, cattle will doubtless be sent from thei-o to England. Dairy products are also likely to be a lai'ge article of export. Settlers need entertain no fear of a want of markets. j; ». » 32 MORTH WESTERN CANADA. THE Hudson's bay route. The cost of wheat from the North West, delivered in Liverpool, has been calculated on the basis of the route via the Canadian Pacific Railway- to Lake Superior and thence to Montreal for ocean shipment. But the indications are that a much shorter way to Britain can be made available. From the head of Lake Winnipeg to York Factory, on Hudson's Bay, is but 301 miles, the greater portion of the distance being through ». country well adapted for railway construction. From York Factory to Liverpool is 2,966 miles, only 366 miles further than from Quebec. The distance from New York to Liverpool, by the shortest route, via Cape Race and Tory Island, is 2987 miles, so that York Factory is nearer Liverpool than is the great port of the United States. The 366 miles of ocean travel, by which the route from York Factory exceeds that from Quebec, amounts to- but little additional in freight i-ates, while by adopting the foimer route, the 1,200 miles of lake, canal and river transportation from the head of Lake Superior to Monti'eal is saved. In comparing the routes, the distance from Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay may be put against that from Winnipeg to Lake Superior, though the former is somewhat greater. From Lake Superior to Liverpool, via Montreal and. Quebec, is 3800 miles, a tranship- ment from propellors to ocean vessels be>Tig necessary at Montreal ; while York Factory is 834 neai-er, no transhipu^eat being necessary. The navi- gation of Hudson's Bay is assured for four months in the year, and it is thought almost certain that it is open for five months. A movement is now on foot to construct a railway from Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay and it is probable that in a few years the line will be in operation to Port Nelson,, there to connect with a line of steamers. It is not hazarding too much to say that the successful operation of this route would reduce the cost oi' North Western Canadian wheat in Liverpool fully 15c. per bushel, mak- ing the total cost 65c. per bushel, equal to £1 Is. 5d. sterling. / telegraph lines. Thf North Western line; which has its terminus in Winnipeg, con- nects with the telegraph system of the United States and through these with the lines of the Montreal and Dominion Companies of Canada, which are in direct communication with the Atlantic cable. The Canadian Pacific Telegraph Line is in operation from Lake Superior to Winnipeg, 431 miles, and westward from Winnipeg to Edmonton, 811 miles. This line is to be extended across the Rocky Mountains to connect with the British-Col- umbia Line to the Pacific coast. The Manitoba Telegraph Company has recently erected a line from Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie, north wester- ly, about 70 miles. This line will probably be extended further west this year. POSTAL, EXPRESS AND STAGE FACILITIES. The Canadian po9■■ ' I ] NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 35 The Government has five members, Treasurer, Secretary, Minister of Agri- culture, Minister of Public Works, and Attorney-General. The North West Territories have a Lieut.-Governor, who Id assisted in the framing of ordinances by a Council of four. The Dominion Parliament passes mea- sures afiecting the whole country ; mattera of local import falling within the jurisdiction of the Provincial Legislatures. LAWS, TAXES, «&C. The criminal law of Canada is copied very closely from the English statutes. The civil law is much simplified, in order to provide for its speedy and cheap administration, and to place justice within the reach of all classes. The judges are appointed by the Crown for life, not elected by the people and consequently open to political influences as in the United States. The Supreme Court is the chief judicial authority. Each Pro- vince has its Superior Courts of Law and Equity and County Courts for the trial of small cases nf account. In Manitoba there is a Court of Queen's Bench, the system being a fusion of law and equity. County Courts are held in each of the counties of the Province. A Stipendiary Magistrate adjuciates minor criminal cases in Winnipeg. Local mrtgistrates are appointed by the Government in the rural districts. In the North Wgst Territories there are three Stipendiary Magistrates, and a number of Justices of the Peace. A homestead law is in force in Manitoba, by which the settler is well protected. It exempts from seizure the debtor's ordinary furniture, tools and farm implements in use, also one cow, two oxen, one horse, four sheep, two pigs and the food for the same for thirty days, and the land cultivated by the debtor, provided the extent of the same be not more than 160 acres, in which cauj the surplus may be sold, with privileges erfection of a system which has attracted the general attention of the educational world. General education is free to all, while the highest branches ai*e to be obtained at an exceedingly moderate coat. Few indeed are the people ^•eared in Canada who do not read and write. In acquirim>{ North Western Canada, the government s^t aside an eighteenth of all the land as a reserve from which to procure a fund for educational purposes, some millions of acres having been thus secured. The reservation consists of two sections, 1280 acres, in each township. As the other portions of a township settle up, and school accommodation becomes necessary, the school lands will have increased in value by their proximity to cultivated lands and will produce sufficient for the erection of school buildings and for the nucleus of a permanent fund, the interest oi which, supplemented by a small annual rate, will be sufficient to pay the cost of maintenance, teachers, salaries, &c. The system is as perfect as it is simple, ii very township is divided into school sections of a suitable extent for one school, and in each section trustees are elected to manage its school affairs. lu towns and cities a board of trustees is chosen by the people. The trustees regulate the expenditure of money, order the erection of new school houses when necessary, engage teachers, and have general charge of » verything con- nected with the public schools. Teachers are prepared and trained at normal schools, supported and maintained at ihe public expense. In- struction is not by any means confined to the mere rudiments ot English. In many cabas the higher branches are taught, and the children are turned out with a good, sound, practical education that fits them for any ordinary position in life. As a rule no fees a. ,? charged, the schools are absolutely free, and thus the children of the poor have the same oppor- tunities as the children of the rich. /•] ■r*' " .*, > KORTH WESTERN CANADA. 37 The press displays great vitality in Manitoba. In Winnipeg there are t\.o dail}' papers, conducted with considerable enterprise and ability, with large cii-culations. The extension of the railway system will give them large fields of usefulness. In Emeraon, Portage de la Prairie, Selkirk, Gladstone, and Rapid City, weekly papers are issued. A bi-weekly is published at Battleford. Several others will probably be established this season. A French weekly is issued at Kt. Boniface, and an Icelandic one at tjrimli. UNIMPEACHABLE TESTIMONY. Did space permit, endless examples might be given of the universal tribute paid to North "Western Canada by those who have lived there or visited it. But a few extracts must suffice. ^ Rev. G. M. Grant, Principal of Queen's University, Kingston, who accompanied the engineer-in-chief of the Pacific Railwaj' across the conti- nent, says in Ocean to Ocean : — " The climatological conditions are favorable for both stock raising and grain p'oducing The spring is as earlv as in Ontario, the summer is more humid, and, therefore, the grains, grasses and root crops grow better ; the autumn is bright and cloudless ; thp very weather for harvesting ; and the winter has less snow and fewer snowstorms, and, though in many parts colder, it is healthy and pleasant, because of the still, dry air, the cloudless sky and bright sun. The soil is almost everywhere a peatv or sandy loam resting in clay. Its only fault is that it is too rich. Crop after crop is raised without fallow or manure." A celebrated missu^nary who crossed the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia, to the head waters of the south branch of the Saskat- •chewan River, and passed along the eastern base of the mountains to Edmonton, describes the country as an ocean of " prairies," and adds : — " Are these vast and innumerable rich fields of hay forever destined to be con- «umed by fire or perish in th<3 autumnal snows ? Can it be that they are doomed to -remain for ever inactive ? Not so. The day will come when some laboring hand will give them value A strong, active, and enterprising people are destined to fill this spacious void. The wild beasts will, ere long, give place to our domesixc animals ; flocks and herds will graze in the beautiful meadows that border the numberless mountains, hills, valleys, and plains of this extensive region." Senator Sutherland, of Manitoba, who has lived thery nil his life, testified before a House of Commons Committee : — *' Prom mv long experience there, and from what I have seen in other Provinces, I have come to the conclusion that the soil, climate and other natural advantages of Manitoba are conducfve to successful farming, and that a poor man can more easily make a living there than in other parts of the Dominion." Mr. Trow, M.P., in his pamphlet on an extended tour which he made through the North West in 1877, say»: — *' What IV prospect do these prairies open up to the teeming millions of Europ« ; the hardy Migli land cotter, dragging out a miserable existence, allowed by sufferance the privilege of cultivating a b.'irren corner of bis landlord's estate ; the English or .», Iff 1 li i:i ti i i. i I i ■■\ I \ \ ■ . . i' t. ' 38 NORTH WESTERN CANADA*. Iriih tenant fanner, piying enough annually in pcor ratea and taxes to purchase him a farm in Manitoba ; the farm laborer and female servant, slaving away their Uvea for a scanty pittance, scarcely enough to keep soul and body together ; all m»y.. " located upon these fertile and productive lands, in a few years, by steady and m- dustrious habits, succeed in procuring a competency for themselves and famihes. We do not expect that every settler will become wealthy in a new country ; some Tcoold languish if placed in the Garden of Eden ; but we do say that all may, by in- dustry, thrift and econoi.s prosper. All the Canadian settlers, to my knowledge, in this neighbourhood andthroughout the Province, have done well and have goodl prospects of success." Mr. Frank Middleton, who went from XJsborne, Huron County^ Ontario, to the Little Saskatchewan, wrote on June 21, 1879, •' I would advise any man who wishes to secure a home for himself not to befin- fluencedby the lingo of those chicken-hearted fellows who turn back at the first mud-hole they come to, or can be chased by a musquito. The 'man who is afraid of a mud-hole or can't stand a musquito bite, need not go to any new country. Any man with ordinary intelligence and a little pluck cannot fail to make himself a com- fortable home in a few years by coming to the Great North West." Mr. S. J. Grant, formerly of Nova Scotia, writing from Winnipeg recently to the Montreal Witness, said : — " There has been a great deal said about the prairies, but it has been no exagger- ated account, as I have been an eye witness. It is the garden of the Dominion, and all that is wanted is people of energy and pluck to come here and make a home for themselves. Any one having from $500 to $1,000 capital cannot do better than come here a' once. Sometimes the black clay sticks pretty tight to a person's feet, but when the sun comes out it is soon dried up in the city ; but in the ploughed * laud in the country it is no worse than in our homes. I have seen them ploughing the unbroken prairie, and planting potatoes in the furrow, and covering them with tke plough, and when this is done, harrowing it over at the finish ; and farmers here say that the yield is 500 bushels to the acre, and turnips 1,000, and other grains and cereals the same accordingly. I have travelled most of the United States and all the Lower Provinces, and have seen nothing to compare to this Province. " A recent issue of the Pall Mall Gazette contained the following'fromi an Englishman settled in Manitoba : — " I have got my own house now, and am keeping bachelors' hall along with my younger brother If I get a chance next year to get it photographed I will nave it taken and then I will seud you one. It is pronounced by the people round to be by far the prettiest and best house in this part of the country, which gives me much pleasure, considering that I was my own architect and worked at it my- self from tne time we took the timber out of the bush till we moved into it. And now here I am without any rent to pay, my land growmg in value every day, lots to eat, do not owe a red cent, and, best of all, enjoying splendid health. Ought not a. man to be happy under such circumstances.' " A correspondent of the Boston Advertiser says : — '•The new city of Emerson is peopled with immigrants from tho other Canadian provinces, and chiefly from Ontario. I talked with several, and ioi^nd that they were delighted with their prospects. The land is superlatively fertile, the soil being a black mold which is never less than two feet in depth, and in many places as muchi M twelve feet deep. Grain growis luxuriantl: , as much as fifty bushels of wheat ta > 'f u 1 II NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 39 if ent conaiderable time in a trip through the ter- ritory to the Rocky Mountains, says in his work : — " As an agricultural country its advantages can hardly be overrated. The climate is milder than that of the same portion of Canada which lies within the same latitudes, while the soil is at least equal, if not of greater fertility. Coal of good sound quality is abundant in the Saskatchewan, Battle, Pembina and other Rivers. In some places the beds are of enormous thickness, and may be worked without sinking, as it often crops out alone the river banks. Cereals of almost every description flourish even under the rude cultivation of the half-breeds. The eame may be said of all the root crops which are ordinarily grown in England, Canada or the Northern States of America." Mr. W. B. Cheadle, Lord Milton's fellow traveller, wrote : — "At Edmonton, eight hundred miles distant from Fort Garry, nsar the Western extremity, wheat grows with equal luxuriance, and yields thirty to fifty bushels t) the acre, in some instances even mora. The root crops I hava n3ver seen equalled in England ; potatoes get to an immense s'ze, and yield enormously. Flax, hemp, tobacco, all grow well ; sQl the cereals appear to flourish equally well ; plums, stravirberries. raspberries ani gooseberries grow wild. Thi herbage of the prairie is so feeding that corn is rarely given to horses or catble. They do their hard work, subsist entirely on grass, are mo^t astonishingly fat : the draught oxen reaamble prize animals at a cattle s'low. Tiie horses W3 t:)ok with us were turned adrift at the beginning of winter, when snow had already faUen ; t aey had been ovar-worked and were jadeA and thin. In the spring we hunted thom up, ani found them in the finest condition, or rather too fat. Tae soil ii La Belle Prairie, where wo built our hut for the winter, wis foil' feet deep, and free from rocks or gravel —the finest loam. Tae climate is that of Upper Canada, or perhaps rather milder. The summer is long and warm, the W3ather uniformly bright and fine ; with the excepliion of occasional showers, a w it day is almost unknown. The winter is severe and un- broken by thaw, but pleas .n'; enough to those able to house and clothe themselves warmly." Ca;it. P.illi3er, who made a thorough examination of the countiy, unler instructions from the British Government, wrote the Under-Secre- . tary of State as follows in 1858. "It is a physical reality of the highest importance to the interoat< of British North America that this continuous belt c tn be settled and cultivated from a few miles West of L ike of the Woods to the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and any line of communication, whether by waggon or railr -(ad, passing through it, will eventually enjojr the great advantage of boing fed by an agricultural population from one ex- tremity to the other. No other pirt of tha Amorican Continent possesses an ap- proach even to this singularly favorable lisp uition of soil and climate. The natural resources lying within the limits of the Fertile Bait, or on its eastern borders) are themselves of great value as lojal elommts of future wealth and prosperity ; but, in view of a communication across the continent, they acquire paramont imp rtance. Timber available for fuel and building purposes, coal, iron ore,are widely distributed of great purity, and in considerable abundince ; salt in quantity sum jient for a dense po;iulation. All these crude elemj.its of wealth lie within the limits or on the borders of a region of great fertility." His Grace A-rclibishop Tache, of St. Boniface, who has resided many years in Minitoba, an 1 travelled thi-ough the greater portion of the North West, says :— i ■VI t ii f NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 41 '1 .1: "The coal fields which cross the different branches of the Saskatchewan are a great sonrce of Wealth, and favor the settlement of the valley in which nature has multiplied picturesque scenery that challenges comparison with the most remarkable of its Kind in the world. 1 t«». '""'•"'stand the exclusive attachment of the children of the Saskatchewan for their native place. Having crossed the desert, and having come to so great a distance from civilized countries, which arc occasionally supposed to have A monopoly of good thiols, one is surprised to find in the extreme West ao extensive and so beautiful a region. The Author of the universe has been pleased to spread out, by the sile of the grand and wild beauties of the Rocky Mountains, th« captivating pleasure S[r mnds of the plains of the Saskatchewan. Thfi following are extracts from speeches delivered in Winnipeg by Earl Dufferin, Governor-General, in 1877. On arriving, in reply to an ad- dress from the City Corporation, he said : — " I beg to thank you most warmly for the kind and hearty welcome you have extended to me, on my arrival in your fiuurishing city which you rghtly designate the metropolis of the North West, the living centre which is destined to animate with its vital energies, the rich alluvial region whoe only limit appears to be an ever receding horizon I have no doubt that this city and province generally, nay, the whole territory of the North West, is now illuminated by the dawn of a great advancement. Altliough it will not he my good fortune personally to preside much longer over your destinies, I noel not assure you that your future will a'ways command my warmest sympathies and continue to attract my closest at- tention, and I trust that, though at a distance, I may live to sec t'.ie fulfilment of many of your aspirations." After spending about six weeks in the Piovince, and contimially tra- velling over it, Earl Dufferin was entertained at a farewell banquet by the citizens. In respon".?i to the toast of his health he said : — ( y " Above all I have to thank you for the evidences produced on either hand along our march, of your prosperous condition, of your perfect contentment, of your c n- fidence in your future fortunes, for I need not tell you that to any one in my situa- tion, smiling corn-fields, cosy homesteads, the joyful faces of prosperous men and Avomen, ana the laughter of healthy children, are the best of all triumphal decora- tions, (Oreat applause.) * * . * I fear the only further return in my power is to assure you of my great sympathy with you in your endeavours to do justice to the material advantages wi'h which your Province has been so richly en- dowed by the hands of Providence. From its geographical pof^ition, and its peculiar chiracterisf jcs, Manitoba may > e regarded as the keystone of that mighty arch of sister Provinces which spans the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Great applause) It was hei'o that Canada, emerging from her woods and forests, first gazed upon her rolling prairies and unex[)lorid North West, and learnt as by an un- expected revelation that her hist >rical territories of the Canadaa, her eastern sea- bords of New Brunswick, Labrador and Nova Scotia, her Laurentian lakes and valleys, corn lands and pastures, though themselves more txtensive than half a dozen European kingdoms (applause,) were but the vestibules and antechambers to that rill then un- dreamt of Dominion, whose illimitable dimensions alike confound the arithmetic of the surveyor and the verificat ion of the explorer. (Tremendous applause.) It was hence that, counting her pist achievements as but the preface ana prelude to her future exertions and expanding destinies, she took a fresh departure, I'eeeived the afflatus of a more imperial inspiration, and felt herself no longer a mere settler along the banks of a single river I ut the owner of half a continent, and in the magnitude of her possession, m the wealth of her resources, in the sinews of her material might, the peer of any power on thu earth. (Loud applause.) * * * In a world a|]art,9ecludea from allextran ous influences, nestling at the feet'of her majestic mother, Canada dreams her dream, a id forebodes her destiny — a dream of ever-broadening harvests, multiplying towns and villages, and expanding pastures ; of constitutional ' ! 42 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. I. 1 ■ II l/'^V r\.' I f I'll to self'gOTemment »nd a confederated Empire ; of page after page of honourable history, added as her contribution to the annak of the Mother Country and to the glories of the British race ; of a perpetuation for all time upon this continent of that temperate and well-balanced system of Government which combines in on^ mighty whole, as the eternal possession of all Englishmen, the brilliant history and traditions of the past with the freest and most untrammelled liberty of action in the future. (Tremendous cheering. ) Most heartly do I congratulate you upon all that you are doing, and upon the glorious prospect of prosperity which is opening out on every side of you. (Applause.) Though elsewhere in the Dominion stagL^tion of trade and commerce has checked for a year or two the general advance of Canada, here at least you have es- caped the effects of such sinister incidents, for your welfare being based upon the most solid of all foundations, the cultivation of the soil, you are in a position to pursue th« even tenor of your ways untroubled by those alternations of fortune which disturb the world of trade and manufacture." The Marquis of Lome, in his farewell address to the electors of Argyleshire, before leaving to take the position of Governor-General of Canada, said : " Some years 'ago, at a public meeting in Glasgow, I took the opportuuity to describe the temptation offered by the Canadian Government to men employed in agriculture here, to settle in Manitoba, and since that day, as before it, hundreds of happy homesteads have arisen, and the energies of the Dominion have been directed towards the construction of railways, which will make Manitoba and the North West considerably more accessible than is Inverary now. Let me invite your attention to this great Province and the vast prairie beyond. I am informed, unless one has heard or seen for himself, he can form no idea how fast the country is settling up with people from England, Scotland, Ireland, Eussia, Iceland, and the older Pro- vinces of the Dominion." Professor Gold win Smith, M.A., says : — ••I found Canada a very happy and pleasant country to live in. I don't think I can be deceived in saying the farmers of Canada are a prosperous race." Captain French, R. A., recently wrote from Devonport to the Christian, an English religious weekly : — " Having lived for some years in Manitoba: and the North West Terii. Tories, when Commissioner of the North West Mounted Police, I feel that I can give your readers some reliable information. * * * As regards soil, I fully be- lieve that Manitoba contains more excellent lands within its bounds than any other country of equal size in Her Majesty's dominions. The adjoining portion of the North West Territories is littlo inferior to Manitoba. The climate is no doubt very cold in winter, but it is a dry cold, and is healthy at all seasons of the year — none of the fever and ague so prevalent in the Western States of the American Union." THE BRITISH PRESS. " Those who have tried Canadian winters, tell us no more than the truth when they say that the variations of the English climate are more to be dreaded than the equable lowness of temperature in the Dominion." — The Times. "It is astonishing to see the ignorance of Englishmen generally respecting the true charactsr and resources of this splendid colony. In each of the farms is a mine of wealth.and it only needs strong arms and clear heads to develop it."— Daily News. " It certainly is pleasing te reflect that thousands of families have found in- dependence, if not comparative wealth, in our Canadian possessions, who, had they- i f NORTH WE8TBRN CANADA. 4$ remained at Lome, might still find difficulty in procuring the means of living. At large and still augmenting clasa of farmers have here attained to competence and' ease." — Morning Advertiser, " We believe that, as a rule, the probabilities of emigrants getting on are in favor of British Colonies. . . . The immense reach of fertile and unoccupied land awaiting the plough, between Red River and the Rocky Mountains, ought to be J sufficiently inviting to all Welsh as well as English subjects seeking a home abroad."— i)oj7y Telegraph. AMERICAN WITNESSES IN THE BOX. f / The United States people and press are proverbially huge advertisers, of the advantages possessed by their own territory. But they fully recog- nise the great future of North Western Canada. In a recent issue the Boston Journal said : — "In the Red River Valley the sun shines through a mellow haze, while all around, as far as the eye can see, there is such richness' of verdure, such wealth of greenness and display of flowers, that the language descriptive of the Elysian fields,, and the choicest and best of poesy, is too forceless and feeble to convey an idea of the richness and beauty of this fair region of the world." The St. Paul, (Minnesota) Pioneer Press recently said : — " Within the isothermal lines that enclose the wheat zone west and north-west of Minnesota, which is being, or is soon to be, opened to civilization, lies a vast area of fertile lands from which might easily be cut a dozen new states the size of New York. And within the next ten or fifteen years this whole region will be traversed with railroads and millions of acres of virgin sod along their lines will be turned up by the plough, and the elements of fertility which have been stored for ages under the grasses of those wide plains, will come lorth at the bidding of farmers from every clime in golden treasures of wheat and corn; and a new and populous empire of thrifty agricultural States will pour its trade along the iron tracks which are rapidly- following in the trail of the fi'ieing buffalo over the very paths trodden by his mul- titudinous hoofs." The Philadelphia Press had the following in a leading article of a lat&- issue : — " The greatest wheat-growing region in the world is now being opened to settle- ment. The largest and most productive portion lies within the British Province of Manitoba in North America. It is sufficiently prolific when fairly cultivated to make England independent of the United States for breadstufis and to create a powerful rivalry with us elsewhere. On both banks of the Red River of the North, from its source to its entrance into Lake Winnipeg, and on both sides of the international boundary between Canada and the United States exists this territory. Thence the fertile belt, of which it is the western extremity, sweeps in a north- western direction some 300 miles along the course of the two Saskatchewan rivers and forward to the Rocky Mountains of the west, embracing an area, says a writer in the Nineteenth Century, of at least 20,000,000 acres, nearly the whole of which is to-day untouched prairie of the richest description. » » ♦ All this magnificent region of prairie, river and lake is Britisn territory. Within fiv» years it is calculated that 4,000,000 acres of this fertile prairie land will be under wheat cultivation. This means an addition to the wheat products of the world of over 100,000,000 bushels. Th« exports of all America to the United KincEdom froisa the 11th of September, 1877, to May llth, 1878 — the eight shippins; months— wa» about 100,000,000 bushels. This amount, large as it is, is not more than may b*' m (via . \ t'j 44 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. expected within the next few years to be the annual production of this new wheat field of the Winnipeg water shed. The influences of the opening up of this new dis- trict cannot but have a most important effect on the supply of the English market. * It will make the mother country entirely independent of foreign supply.' It is evi- dent ^at our superiority as a grain-growing country is likely to be threatened by the rich prairie wheat lands in North Western British America.' " The Philadelphia Enquirer says : — " The Red River valley, which is the heart of the large operation in wheat cnl- ture, is 75 miles wide and 400 miles long. Experience in the Selkirk settlement, lu Manitoba, above and below Fort Garry, justifies the declaration that the soil of the valley is inexhaustible. There is no diminution in the yield of fields which have been cultivated continuously for a half -century." The opinions of the United States Consul at Winnipeg on the wheat producing capabilities of North Western Canada have already been quoted. In the same speech he said of its aduptability for stock raising : — '• In his opinion the beef raised in this northern district, to which he had re- ferred, would be found to be superior in qua'ity and superior in quantity to any that could be raised even on the plains of Texas and the adjoining States. (Cheers.) Al- ready, he had been told the cattle owner* in these Stat ?s were obliged to drive their heards to Montana for winter pasture. (Hear, hear.) Even now they were under the necessity of coming as far north as the Yellowstone — a region about the equiva- lent of this in its adaptability to the wants of these great cattle kings." The late Hon. W. Seward, some fifteen years ago, when a member of the United States Government, wrote : — " Hitherto, in common with most of my countrymen, as I suppose, I have thought Canada, or, to speak more accurately, British America, a mere strip lying north of the United States, easily detached from the Parent Stat:e, but incapable or sustaining itself, and therefore ultim 'A NOBTH WESTERN CANADA. 4» the soil in those Western States is not equal to that in the Red River Valley, and that such rich land cannot be found in any other place on the American continent as in Manitoba, unless it be on the Wabash', a short distance from Miami, nearly opposite St. Louis, called the Illinois bottom. Mr. Hill considers the Red River Valley the richest farm- ing land he has ever seen and predicts for the settlers, in Manitoba a bright futui*e. Seeing that Mr. Hill is part owner of 3,000,000 acres of land in Minnesota, his evidence as to Manitoba is certainly not likely to be at all extravagant. THE BRITISH DELEOa'tES. Reference has already been made to the visit paid to the North West last autumn by a number of delegates selected by British farmers.. In order to show their opinions of the country, a number of extracts are subjoined from British papers. The Dumfries and Galloway Courier of Dec. 23, 1879, says : — "A meeting of the fanuera of the Ste warty of Kirkcudbright was held in the Town Hall, Castle- Douglass, yesterday (Monday), to hear the report of Mr. James Biggar, Grange Farm, the delegate sent to Canada by the Stewarty to report on that country as a field of emigration for agriculturists. The hall was crowded in every part, a large number being unable to find even standing room. " The,Chairman mentioned the circumstances under, which Mr..Jas. Biggar had been sent out to Canada as the delegate from the farmers of the Stewartry, and saidi he did not think they could have selected a more qualified man. (Applause ) Ho was a man with his eyes all about him, and he had returned safe and sound to tell them what he saw in Canada, and whether it would be worth their while to go. out and settle there. "Mr. Biggar, who was warmly received, then proceeded to deliver his exhaus- tive, interesting, and instructive report, which was as follows : — " I think it may be well to explain the footing uponwhich the delegates from other- districts and myself recently visited Canada. You are no doubt aware that of late the United States have been making efforts to induce settlers togo there and take' up the large extent of unoccupied lands which they possess. Canada has- lately dis- covered that she possesses in the North West an immense extent of fertile country fit for settlement, and consequently invites a share o^emigration, more especially from this country — partly to settle these new lands, and partly to t-ake the places of those farmers in Ontario and other older settled Provinces who are moving to the North West. So many people have beun deceived by overdrawn and highly colored pictures of Western States, published by land companies, railway companies, speculators, and others, that such suspicion and distrust of eniigration agents generally has arisen. The Canadian Government therefore decided on asking the farmers of this country to send delegates from amongst themselves whose repoi't would be received at home with more confidence than the statements, however true, of these agents who were strangers. The idea I believe originated with the Hon. J. H. Pope, Minister of Agriculture, a gentleman of whom I cannot speak too highly, and has been generally approved of both here and in America. The result was, as you know, n^y appoint- ment here some three months aeto, and I have now to give you my report." * • * At the Dominion Exhibition at Ottawa a very interesting collection of Manitoba products was shewn in a separate building, and was much admired. Sections of the soil, 3 to 4 feet deep, were shewu, and excellent specimens of its products, including- 46 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. rA I grain, hay, vegetables and turnips, which were very good • • • •« Winaipeg (formerly Fort Garry)is situated at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers both of which are navigable by steamers for many hundred miles, and is increasing very rapidly in importance. For some years, prior to 1871, the population was stationary at about 400. It is now stated to contain 12,000 inhabitants, though it did not look to us like a city of more than 10,000. In order to see as much of Manitoba as possible, our party divided, part going west as far as Rapid City on the Little Saskatchewan. I only went as far west as Portage-la- Prairie, 65 miles, and afterwards went to the district on Tobacco Creek, at the foot of the Pembina Moun- tains, about 90 miles S. W. of Winnipeg. The first journey took nearly four days, the latter five. We travelled in spring waggons holding* four persons and some baggage, drawn by a pair of horses — costing us about 24s. a day. The road from Winnipeg to Portage-la-Prairie is about equal to 'a fair peat-road, and innocent of Macadam. The larger creeks are bridged over, and some of the smaller filled with bundles of willows, which make them fairly passable. The road is the great highway of the North Weht, and is traversed daily by trains of Red River carts ca'rjring g^ods to the N. W. and bringing back furs and other produce. These carts are constructed entirely of wood and drawn by oxen or ponies. They carry a load of 800 to 1,000 lbs., and some go 1,000 miles to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The trail frequently shifts 50 to 100 yards to avoid places which become bad ; and in ine rainy season, June, tb«- ^oads are very heavy, and no travelling is done which can be avoided. In some places a corduroy road has been made and covered with earth from the ditches on each side, but as a rule there has been littU attempt at road-making — the trail winding over the open prairie or through clumps of Mrillow and scrub oak. Near Winnipeg we passed some good farms of dry land belonging to Mr. D. A. Smith, the Hon. James M'Kay, and others. Mr. M'Kay has a small herd of tame bufifaloes and some bufifalo crosses. Some ten miles out we passed ihe copse wood mentioned, but there is no heavy timber except along the oanka of the Assiniboine on the left. There are a good many half-breed settlers on the bulks of this river, their claims being very narrow, but extending back from 2 to 4 miles. We stayed all nieht at an inn on Pigeon Creek. Part of the district bayond this is low and marshy, but at Poplar Point we find good day land, thickly settled ; and at High Bluff, some 6 or 8 miles from the Portage, is some of the most desirable land we saw in the North West. It was rich dry soil, settled and fenced. The crop was stacked in the field«, and on some farms thrashing was going on. We called on some farmers from Ontario who settled here some years ago and are doing well. The stubble was clean and strong, and we took samples of the wheat, which was very good. We heard very different statements of the yield.of wheat, varying from 25 to 40 bushels. M'Lean, a farmer near the Portage, had 1,230 bush. Fife wheat off 40 acres. Another man, a native of Rsss shire, who was ploughing his own land, told us he had cropped it for 17 years in succession, his last crop yielding 35 bush, per acre. Mr. Ryan, M.P., a good authorty, said the average of wheat ;night safely be taken at 25 to 30 bush., 60 lbs., and of oaif at 60 bush, , 34 to 38 lbs. We also saw an Ontavio farmer, who came here some years ago and bought 500 acres land at $10 per acre. He had 300 acres of arable and 200 under timber, the latter being probably the most valuable portion. There is a saw mill at the Portage, the timwr being floated down the Assiniboine a dis- t-nce of 300 miles. The price of wheat at the time of our visit was 56c. at the Portage and 65 at Winnipeg, but it soon after advanced 10c. to 15o. The rate of freight to Montreal is about 34c per bush., but as soon as the railway is opened ta Thunder Bay, which is expectitd in less than tw« years, the rate will not exceed 25o 5 and is put by some as low ts 17c. per bush. As a field for wheat-raising I would mnoh prefer Manitoba to Dakota. The first cost of land is lesa ; the soil is deeper and will stand more cropping ; the sample of wheat is better, and the produce 5 to 10 bushels per acre more, all of which is profit ; and as soon as the new railway in opened the cost of delivering it at the seaboard will be the same or less. I have not before referred to the grasshoppers, a scourge which has visited the country several times and destroyed the crops. The settlers do not seem to fear them much, as they only appear at consideraole Lntervals and disappear altogether when the country is cultivated. With regard to the competition of this western wrheat in our markets, wheat sold at 70o. in Manitoba leaves a good profit to the ^)l v^ # NORTH WE8TEBN CANADA. 4r A ')i i grower, ,nd Would cost, delivered in England, about 48. 9d. per bushel, a price which 'si "» ' I ,' u' l i T ! ' i pi^wOPlNiC^—MI mtsm,\ji,m:» •».. ^'TJilJiV*" ^y^.f ^y??r'»'i*"Vi'^,^f;^^^^- "Ttw; ■i. ; 1 48 NORTH WESTERN CA^VADA. "Next day we started for the Pembina district. Crossing the Assiniboine our road lay for 40 miles south, idong the bank of the Red River. For ten miles or so to the La Salle river the road passes through a rather low and wooded country, most of the timber being small copse. We then emerge on open prairie, most of the river lots being settled and under cultivation. This continued, with intervals of unbroken prairie, all the way to Morris, which we reached at dusk. The prairie west of the road was mostly unbroken, and had been swept by fire. We saw a good many stacks of prairie hay and some cattle. Prairie grouse were pretty numerous and we shot 25 brace on this journey. The land at Morris is hardly so heavy as nearer Winnipeg. Crops were reported to average 18 to 22 bush, per acre. « Next ing on a scale similar to the Dalrymple farms. They lave erec' >d a fine house and buildings, and have 500 acres broken for next crop. They have : a.d °ome loss among their horses, the work of breaking being severe, and the hay and water tot suiting horses from Ontario at first. Oxen or mules do better for breaking. They have also had some difficulty in getting good water, and have put down a bore of 90 feet to the rock, v^here they have hope to find a good supply. Meantime thev have to draw supplies some distance. Water is one of the first considerations with the settler. It is rare that water is so difil'^ult to get as in the case we have mentioned. The water of the creeks is good ; and we made a point of tasting the well water at a good many places we visited. Sometimes it was sweet, and sometimes it had an alkaline or sulphurous taste, but stock take it readily enough. The Lowe f^rm is all level prairie, with a little marsh, on which you might drive a plough for miles in any direction. It is intersected here and there by small channels or cooleye, which carry off the water in spring but do not impede a plough or reaper. The soil is a rich, black mould, 18 inches deep oo a clay subsoiL Our trail for several miles lay through the south corner of the big marsh, consisting of many thousand acres, which is fiooded by the Boyne river in the rainy season, but could be drained withlittle difficulty. It was covered with most luxuriant grass, in some places three to four feet high. It was some places it was still soft, and ths horses went upto the knees and pulled us through with some difficulty. We travelled over 40 miles, and reached Messrs. Riddel's farm on Tobacco Creek jtTst in time, as we were hardly well inside wheL\ a thunderstorm, with heavy rain, camn on and a very dark nignt. Xext day we drove over Messrs. Riddel's farm and Home of the surrounding country. Messrs. Riddel have several thousand acres of nice dry land, well situated on the Creek, along which there is some fair timber. They have not yet cultivated much wheat, as they are some distance from a market, but they expect 'ere long to have com- munication with Winnipeg by the Pembina Railway branch, which will add rreatly to the value of their land. Their wheat has averaged fully thirty busheia per n^cre. This and the Pembina Mountain district is considered one of the finest parts of Manitoba. The Pembira Mountains are terraces of some 300 to 400 feet nigh, well elad with timber, their summits being an immense plateau of level' prairie, which is thickly se tied nearly as far west as Rock Lake. This district is fairly well-wooded, and grows t'le wild dog rose, a sign of good dry land. We re-crossed the Atlantic with a young man who had bought 320 acres, with a log house and some improvements, for $500. We had fine weather for our return to Winnipeg, and witnessed a Red River dance at Morris. We also drove out to Mr. Gerrie's form on Sturgeon Creek, eight miles north-west of Winnipeg. Mr. Gerrie owns 40,000 acres in ditferent parts of the Province, and has here a block of 600 acres, nearly all dry and well situated. The soil is a black loam of 12 to 18 ii' hes deep on a friable clay loam. A crop of oats, sown on breaking, had been v«;ry bulky ; but the quality of the oats ^rown on new land is generally poor. Mr. Gerrie had sold apart of this block at £1 an acre. Returning to Winnipeg we passed thiough a considerable bieadth of lower land on whioh hay had been out. We saw loads going into town, where it sells from $6 to |8 a tor in quantity.. Six dollars is about the lowest price, and as the cost of cutting, stacking and delivering in town does not exceed |3 to $3^ per ton it seems to be a profitable business on land M-hicli yields two tons per acre, and which can be bought at less than $5. We also drove out with Mayor Logan and some other gentlemen to Bird Hill, east of the Red River, '^-^ \J I 1^ NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 49 /;'! r from which we had a tine view. The country east of the river is more rolling and broken than the wesl; side, and more wooded. We saw prairie tires to the south and wedt. The railway from Winnipeg to Selkirk is now finished, and we saw here some large deposits of gravel, which by-and-by will be of great use in road making. We passed through the settlement of Kildonan, which skirts both banks of the Ked River north of Winnipeg. It was settled by Highlanders from Sutherlandshire in 1812. The claims are from 5 to 12 chains wide, and go four miles back, Only a small proportion along the river is cultivated, the rest being used for hay and pa8« ture. We saw land which had been in wheat from 36 to 50 years, and took samples of the wheat soil and snbsoiL We also saw some first-rate turnips. We did not see any signs of manure being applied, though we saw manure heaps, the accumula- tion of 20 years. As there is no decrease of crops, the natives do not think it necessary to use manure yet ; indeed it has been customary to draw the manure on to the ice of the river in the winter and allow it go oflf in the spring freshets. Others who had not this facility had found it necessary to remove their barns rather than remove the manure heap. The cultivated land was clean and seemed in good condition. On the banks of the river we could' see a depth of 12 to 1'^ feet of soil, all an alluvial deposit. The settlement of Selkirk, further down the river, was settled in the same way, and similar to Kildonan. Returning to Winnipeg we saw a start being made on the first section of the Canadian Pacific Railway west of this {loiut. The construction of this section is contracted for at $6 000 per mile, being ittle more than the cost of rails, sleepers and ballasting. The cost of working will also be light, as the steepest gradient from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains, does not exceed \ in 100. When in Winnipeg a banquet was given to the Ministers Aikins and Bo'-rell, to which the delegates were invited, and at which a great future for the North West was confidently predicted. Mr. Cowan from Wigtonshire, who visited the district west of the Portage,as far as Rapid City, kindly favored us with his notes on that section. He says the land for 12 miles west of tlie Portage is good, similar in the land of High Bluff. Twenty miles west of it is low aud rather marshy, tiien changes to a sandy loam, and then very low for 10 miles past Gladstone, and no use till drained. Tne trail here strikes White Mud River, a clear and in places rapid stream. From White Mud River to Stoney Creek and over Riding Moun- tains the land is light and sandy in parts, but generally good rolling pra rie, fit for mixed husbandry, till the Prairie Cit} on the Little Saskatchewan is reached. From Prairie City to Rapid City the trail is along this river, the banks of which are light and gravelly, but a uiile back tha land is good rolling prairie, not quite so heavy as the land near the Portage. The south trail from Rapid City to the Portage passes through land similar to what we have described. On the big plain, 25 miles east, Mr. McKenzie has a farm of 4,000 acres. This gentleman who came from On- tario, 11 years ago, gave Mr. Cowan some useful information. Ho owns about. 18,000 acres of land, selected very judiciously in various parts of tho Provinces. One of liis sons ia on a farm {of 1,700 acres on the beautiful plain, and has SCO acres under arop. Ho has also a grazing farm, (oO miles north west of the Portage, on which he says 800 acres would yield enough hay to winter 2,000 cattle. He lives on a farm of 2,400 acres, 9 miles west of Portage la Prairie, some of which he has culti- vated for nine consecutive years. His wheat yielded 41 bushels per acre in 1877, 36 bushels last year, and he expects 40 bushels from this year's crop, all of the Fife variety, and 60 to 62 lbs. per bushel. He sows wheat from IPth April to 12th May, and reaps in August. Oats may be sown till 20th May, and barley as late as lOtli June. Oata yiekl 75 to 80 bushels per acre, 34 to 36 lb£>. ; barley 40 to 45 bushels, 50 to 52 lbs. Ho drills in about 2 bushels of each. His land is a good black loam, 18 inches deep, on a subsoil of 3 or 4 feet of loamy clay, and grows ex- cellent crops of roots of all kinds. Potatoes, with very rude cultivation, grows 7 to 10 tons per acre, and turnips as high as SO tons, without manure. Swedes frequently weigh 16 to 'JO lbs. One exhibited last year weighed 36 lbs. Good water is found at 16 feet, and stock do well. Mackenzie has a stock of very useful well bred cattle, the bast in the Province . He finds a ready market for all his produce in settlers coming in, and expects to need no other for somo years. He pays JL'40 a year and board for whito labor ; and 2s. per day and board for Indian labor He had an Indian ploughing one of his fields. Mackenzie must bo con- 4 50 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. ^^ sidered a good authority on the matter of crops, but his reaulta are evidently considerably better than the average, and it would not be safe to calcu- late on his figures. Though we spent nearly four weeks on Sar journey to and from Manitoba, including the time we were there, we saw only a very small portion of the 3,000,00J acres it coutains; and, as Manitoba is only the beginning of the immense extent of fertile country whi^h extends to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, we can hardly do more than say that we have had our foot in the North- West. The British possessions in North America are larger than the whole of Europe, and larger than the United States, without Alaska, ' and as the wheat region through which the Canada Pacific Railway will pass is estimated to contain 160 million acres, the Canadians may well be enthusiastic over their pjssessions. None of the delegacea went west of Rapid City, but the country south to the Assiniboine is reported good dry land, water good, and timber scarce. At Shoal Lake, 40 miles N. W., the land is similar, and on to Fort EUice and the Touchwood Hills. At Edmonton, 850 miles, the laud is said to be undulating and of 'the fiaeit description, and those who have visited the Peace River describe it as the finest count"* ! the whole, and say that, notwithstanrling its high latitude, it grows wheat ' ^il, while, owing to its situation on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains, the climate is much milder than in much lower latitudes. A reference to a map. on which isothermal lines of winter and summer are marked; will illustrate this. But I may say that, while it is in the same latitude as Scotland, the summer is similar to that of Belgium. Most of the land in Manitoba is now taken' up, and emigration is flowing westward to the free grant lands. Thu laud is surveyed in sections of a mile squaie, or 640 acres. Half of these sections, corresponding to the white squares of a draught board, are reserved as railway lands, and sold at fixed prices, according to distance from the line of rail- way. The sections corresponding to the black squares are reserved as free grant lands, each settler receiving 100 acres on payment of a nominal sum, and with power to buy 160 more on easy terms, the price varying from 1 to 2^ dollars per acre. The policy of the Government is, if possible, to build the railway ahead of settlement. They also wish to prevent speculators gettiug possesaion of large breadths of land to hold on speculatioa, but in this thsy have hitherto failed, as many men own fron 10 to 40 thousand acres within 100 miles of Winnipeg. These lands at present bring in no revenue to the owners; iudeed, it is probable that some are paying interest on the purchase money at high rates. These lands are all for sale at prices from 1 to 5 dollars per acre for unbroken land, and in some caies improved lots might be bought for the higher sum. There are many men who have taken up homesteads and pre-emptions who will sell their rignts for a small profit. So there is no likehood of land being scarce for many years to come, and settlers who can pay the prices I have named do not require to go far west unless they choose. On the whole I was favorably impressed with Manitoba, and the other delegates whom I met expressed the same opinion. No one who sees the immense extent of fertile soil and the excellence of its products cm doubt for a moment that there is a i;reat future before that country. Nearly everyone we met who had seen anything of the North- West sp«ke of it in glowing terms; and, though it is necessary to allow considerable discounti on the statements of those who have not much experience in agriculture, we were satisfied that settlers, with industry, experience and aom^ capital, could not fail to do well. A man with £100 can make a start on a homestead; a man with £200 to £3 JO can start well; but as a rule men with more capital have the best chance. Stock do well, but require shelter and hay in winter. There is a good home trade in orttle, large numbers bsing imported at present from Minnesota. The cattle we saw in Manitoba were Bood and stronc, rather short of breeding, but infinitely superior to tke Texas and native Colorado cattle we afterwards saw in Caioago market. We think Galloway cattle would suit the country well. Yearling cattle were selling at 12 to 16 dollars ; two-year-olds at 20 to 25 dollars ; and three- year-olds at 40 to 45 dollars. Draught oxen bring 95 to 180 dollars per pair, according to size, condition, and training. Most of the settlers at present are avoiding the low lands and taking tip the dry lands for wheat-growiug, which gives a quicker retura . than ofrttle ; but as soon as atock raising is more general, we think these lands will be found very valuable. We saw soms few flocks of 50 to 100 aheep. In aome districts a spear grass grows, which gets into the weol, pierces the akin, and kills the animal j but this only occurs at one part of the year, and when the Ifmd ia cultivated , ♦ » NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 51 this grass disappears. Like cattle, sheep require shelter and hay in winter. The disadvantages of Maaitpba are at present bad roads, especially in the rainy season — the long winter of fuUy five months, the scarcity of woeid and of water in some parts, the mosquitoes and bia'tk flies, which for a couple of months in summer, and espec- ially in marshy places, ai must of necessity toUow emigration to America, Manitoba seemed to hin^ to l-e an opening for them. He (the speaker) was rather struck with one part of tho report, if «•. Hutchinson ■,jte'«^|Wig»iiniiiiinfpiwiT iia.^ : ; I- HI If |i m NORTH WESTERN CANADA. ■poke of the Mennonites having a large extent of territory in Manitoba, and he expressed a fear that the settlement of the Mennonites would interfere with its being covered with au industrious pepulation. He (Mr. Thompson) thought that Mr. Hutchinson might take it for granted that that would not be the case, because the Mennonites were most industrious. They were people who had found a home m the Far West— a people among whom it would be agreable to live, and they might be sure that they would make that part of the country a little Paradise.":* AT GALA WATER FARMER'S CLUB. The Forth British Agriculttirist, of Dec. 24th, 1879, says : — " An adjourned special meeting of the Gala Water Farmers' Club waa held in the Town Hall, Stow, on Friday afternoon, to hear the report of Messrs. Walter Elliot, (HoUybush,) John Logan, (Legerwood,) and John Snow, (Pirntaton,) three of the farmers' delegates from Scotland appointed to go to Canada and report on the inducements which that fertile region offers to British farmers hampered at home by antiquated leases and unfair laws." Mr. Elliot, in the reply to the toast of his health, said : — " From all accounts, and I have the best information from practical men, Mani- toba or the North West Territories would be the best places for farming on a large scale, and I would say these are also the places for a poor man. There he can get 160 acres of land free, and if he has a family, each member eighteen years of age gets the same, so that he has a large farm at once, his own property, for ever, and no rent to pay." Mr. Logan said, " On arrival at Winnipeg the mayor and civic authorities met ai at th« staticn, and accompanied us to an hotel and made arrangements for our travelling throngk Manitoba early in the morning. This, however, was departed from, as we did not leave Winnipeg till three o'clock for Portage-la-Prairie, and only travelled 34 miles that afternoon, and arrived at a small inn called House's on Pigeon Lake. Afterfleaving Winnipeg the land is of a black sticky loam and very swampy for 7 or 8 miles along the banks of the Assiniboiue River, where it begin? to improve. There is not mueh cultivation till we get to a plade called High Bluff, where the land is very go»d, rowing very fine crops of wheat, judging from the appearance of the stubble and the lulk of grain in stacks, none of which are thatched, nor does it seem to be thought necessary that they should be thatched. This gives them a very sl«venly appear* ance. All the land round this district is very good, being 4 feet deep of black loam, as we saw from a sand pit. The water is also good, as we drunk some from the creek. The land here has grown wheat for 40 years in succession, yielding from 25 up to 40 bushels per acre, weight 60 lbs. per bushel, and selling for 60 cents per bushel. The farmers had sold it too soon, as the price had gone up very much. There are not many oats sown here, but the general produce is about 70 bushels per acre. We arrived at Portage-la-Prairie on ^Saturday afternoon. The land is good all the way from High Bluff. From Winnipeg to Partage it is 60 miles. On taking a walk in the evening we had a conversation with a man who was ploughing. Sis farm consists of 320 acres. He told us that he had grown wheat in succession for 17 years, and that it had been in wheat 13 years before be bought the farm, and had frown very good crops at an average of 32 bushels per acre of 60 lbs. weight per utjhel. He also said that he could plough 2 acres daily with two very small liorfes. This man had also sold his wheat too soon. There is about 40 cents per bushel diffe- rence between value of wheat in Manitoba and Montreal. This will be reduced to 20 cents or thereby when the Canadian Pacific Railway is made through to Win- nipeg and on to Portage-la-Prairie. Wheat can be grown in Manitoba for 55 cents I I 'i (' K IS '*• ni ,V r*^ V ' "'^^p^ ■■ NOBTH WBSTEBN CANADA. 57 ( ^ % '.per bushel, learing a profit ; the expense per acre for plou;(hing, harrowiog, seed, sowing, cutting, binding, carrying, and thrashing, being 8 dollars. This is when the Sulkey plough id used. With this plough one man can turn over 5 acrea daily. It is a double furrow plough, and is drawn by four horses or males, the man being seated and managing the plough with a lever. " The delegates here again divided, three going west in the direction of Bapitl City, and the others and self returning to Winnipeg by a more northerly ronte, where the land is equally good. We arrived at night at a roadside inn about halfway to Winnipeg. Proceeding next day, on our way we met a man going from '^itario to Rapid City about 100 miles west from Portage, who told us that he had jought 1920 acrei of land for himself and five sons, 320 acres each, viz., 160 acres called ' homestead,' which he got free, and ItiO acres called ' pre-emption,' for which he had to pay 960 dols. This man was in great spirits at having acquired so much pro- perty, and he seemed to have a preference for the land about Rapid City and the Pembina Mountains to any ether that he had seen. We also met a number of En- glish immigrants going west to the neighbourhood of Rapid City. One of them had got into a * slough ' (as it is called in that district), and we had to assist him out, the reason of his having stuck fast being attributable to the state of the roada in wet weather, and their want of metal. Those men had two oxen in eaeh waggon, for which they paid on an average 135 do Is. , and 85 dole, for each waggon, and this was considered to be rery dear. Another man informed ua that he would not have left England if his landlord had been more liberal with him. He had lost a lot of money in his farm, and the landlord rather than giye him a reduction took the farm into his own hands, and he was certain the landlord would lose money by it, and be obliged in a year or two to let it to some-one else at half the rent. At this season % great many prairie fires take place, e\e.ytbit)g being so dry. Some of the settlers have lost all their property from not liaving taken the proper precaution, but by ploughing a good breadth of land round their homesteflda fires may be prevented. There are a good many cattle in this disti ict, but not of a good sort, the prices ran - ging from 16 to 20 and 40 dols. each, and for horses the prices being about 100 dola. We also visited a herd of buffalo bulls and cows grazing among the native cows, be- longing to the Hon. James MacKay, who has a property near to Winnipeg. The cross-bred calves of these animals have rather a comical appearance. "jOn Oct. 14. we set out for a southern inspection up the Red River. After leaving Winnipeg the land is swampy for some miles out. It then begins to improve, and where the people have settled down, it is cultivated to a small extent. On i*eaching Morris, on the Scratching River, aud for many miles round, the land ig good, the country looks well, and tlie crops very fine. We remained at Morris all night. Passing along next morning some of our party were very successful in shooting a great many prairie chickens in the course of an hour. They are veiy abundant in some parts of the country. They are something like the grouse in Scot- land, but lighter in colour. The bport afibrded great amusement to us all, and we lost no time by it, as the horses were resting and feeding. We then resumed our journey. The prairie grass to the west of Morris had been all burned, which gare the ■country a very dismal appearance. However, the soil is excellent, being black loam, but little or no cultivation till we get to Lowe's farm. This farm is the joint pro- perty of Mr. James Lowe of Manch^-ster, and Mr. John Lowe of ttawa (secretary to the Department of Agriculture), who bought it for their two sons. It is managed by Colonel Westover, who has begun to cultivate on a most extensive sca]^. The farm comprises 12,000 acres. He l)egan to plough last summer, and will sow 500 acres of wheat next spring, and will go on increasing every year until the most of the land is under wheat. He has 25 horses at present, but instead of buying more horses he in- tends purcha^iing a great many oxen or mules. This will be a magnificent farm in % few years. The soil is very good and deep. We could judge of ttiis from what" we saw, where Mr. Lowe was digging a well. It was fully two feet deep of black loam. He had, however, been unfortunate in his horses, having lost eleven. We advised him n .t to give them too much dry food, but to give them some linseed or linseed cake. H 58 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. " After leaving Lowe's farm we drove through many miles of prairie ground,, but saw no cattle. Our opinion was that there might be millions more cattle reared annually than there are at present, if people would only go out from the old country and try it ; they would make fortunes, as there are thousands, nay, millions, of acres for sale. Our party again shui- ^'>me prairie chickens. They are in great numbers, and there are thousands of wild duck. By the way, I may add there is neither gun nor game license requisite in Canada, and no gamekeepers to annoy one as there are in Scotl.-\nd. In fact, these men have often been the means of creating bad feeling between kndlord and tenant here. Every one 's astonished that the landlords of 3cotla>Hl should so generally give credence to their reports, as game< keepers too frequently misrepresent matters for their own interest. In my own ea^e I may state I have not been thus annoyed, my landlord having been kind enough to give me the shooting on my farm. "To return to our former subject — we arranged to visit anci-her farm, of 4000 acres, on Tobacco Creek, belonging to Messrs. Riddell, .sons of Mr. Riddell of Hun- dalee, Roxburghshire, at one time president of the Scottish Chamber of Agriculture. We drove up to their house and found them at home, and got a hearty welcome. We were scarcely seated when a severe thunderstorm came on, followed by rain. Next morning it was dry though cloudy, but cleared away in the afternoon, when we were driven through the farm, which is a very fine one, full of the wild rose, this being the sign of good laiid in Manitoba. They have shown great wisdom in selecting such a good spot. They have a lot of land under the plough, and grow first-rate crops of wheat, which they sell for seed to people in their district. The Messrs. Riddell's crop of wheat is generally about 32 bushels per acre, and weighs 62 lbs. per bushel. They intend going largely into the breeding of cattle, and we thought they were right. They have a good lot at present, and intend buying more this autumn. I have no doubt these gentlemen will in a few years make large fortunes. I hope they may, as they are most industrious young men. " Manitoba is a veiy healthy country, and has a very fertile soil. It is generally very dry in summer, and in winter the cold is no greater, and the snow seldom so deep as in Ontario. Plenty wood can be got at Wrinipeg, and also at I^pid City, for building purposes. There are two saw mills being erected at present. The wood is sent down the Saskatchewan River from the White Mud River and White Lake, where plenty timber is to be had. Coal has also been found onTthe Saskatchewan River in beds 2^ feet thick, and on the Pembina River 7 feet thick. In fact it abounds everywhere, so that there will be no lack (it' fuel. There is also a grist mill erecting ai Rapid City. There was a great talk some time ago about the grasshoppers doing great damage to the wheat crop ; but none have been seen for three or four years, and they don't expect to be annoyed again for years to come. In this I report only what was told me. "Manitoba is very different from Ontario; there are no trees to hinder the plough, only prairie grass, and this must be ploughed down in June and July with a urrow2 inches deep and 12 or 14 inches wide. It is found that the soil is rotted better in these months from the heat being so great. It is again ploughed over in the autumn or spring, and once yearly after, no manure, being required. In fact, all the straw, which in Britain would be converted into manure, is burned. The taxes are light, and the Canadian Government reserve two sections in each town- ship for educational purposes. Each section contains 640 acres, and 1 here are thirty- six sections in each township. My opinion is that this is the country for the British farmers to go to, as if we remain much longer at home our means will be all gone. Every year it is being drained away, and landlords make no concession. We are all aware that a bargain is a bargain ; but if landlords would ahow a little considera- tion in such bad times as we have tf late years experienced, tney would ba no losers in the long run. We had no idea when we entered on our present leases that we were to have had such a success'ota of bad seasons, and, combined with this, the great increase ot wages and tradesmen's bills. Few farmers will be able to renew their leases. In their determination to get all iheir rents, landlords are only killing, (^ J 4 *«i ^hi KOETH WE8TKBN CANADA. 5» the goose that lays the golden eggg. My advice is, that as long as we have a little capital left, to secure some of it m that country beyond the Atlantic where plenty land can be bought from the Canadian Government for one dol. per acre, equal to 4s. 2d. British money. " Since leaving Manitoba, the Hudson's Bay Company have advertised for sale 500,000 acres out of 7,000,000 acres of land which they hold in the North West, from 3 dols. to 6 dels, per acre. They have two sections ':i each township, containing 840 acres each. The land requires no clearing of timber, and no liming, and little or no draining, the most of it being dry and easily wrought ; it only needs to b« ploughed, and at once it produces good crops." * * * "But notwithstanding all the beauty of Ontario, he must give a preference to Manitoba as the place to which the farmers must all emigrate. Any one going to Manitoba having £160, could take up one half 8ection( 320 acres of land) — namely, 160 acres of homestead, which he would get free from the Government by agreeing to reside on the property and cultivate it for three years. He could also take up another 160 acres ' pre-emption,' for which he had to pay one dollar per acre, payable by instalments, the first instalment, with interest, payable at the end of three years. Of course the settler c6uld take up land near to a railway, for which he had to pay on pre-emption 2^ dols. per acre." Mr. Snow, of Pirntaton, who visited Manitoba in Company with Mr Logan, said; — "Along the Ked Eiver and about Winnipeg the soil is very strong black vegetable mould, and I have no doubt most of it would carry paying crops of wheat for thirty years ; but it is very flat, and I must say that I like the country better west of Winnipeg, and the furthest point we reached, 150 miles west of Winnipeg, best of all. You have here the Little Saskatchewan River, with fine sloping ground on each side ; the soil and what it produced was good, as you will see from the samples of each I now show you. I also show you samples from other parts ; and the difference I saw betwixt the prairies in the States and Manitoba was, that in the first they seemed to be about a dead level, in the other you had a variety. You could get streng, level land, or gently rolling lighter land — land adapted for wheat-growing, land adapted for cattle-raising ; and, as- 1 will show you further on, the Americans themselves admit that we have ground better adapted for growing wheat and raising cattle than they have." " We saw that a black vegetable mould covered the surface from eighteen inches to two, three, or four feet deep ; and its fertility, no doubt, arose from vegetable decay and from the fires which every year sweep over those lands, depositing fine ashes. What was produced we had to take from the evidence we could collect from the people, and from the stacks and stubble in the fields ; and I consider I keep safely within the mark when I say, that taking a good piece of land, it will produce, after being broken properly, 40 bushels the first year, and an average of 30 bushels for thirty years without manure. The land is also very easily broken. It is generally selected without trees, and is turned flat over in June and July with a breaking- plough . to the depth of two inches. In the fall it is again ploughed the same way, but taking another couple of inches. It is then sown with wheat in April, and in August they reap a heavy crop of wheat. Afterwards the land is very easily ploughed ; a man with four mules or horses in a Sulkey plough, taking two furrows, being expected to plough 4 to 5 acres per day. " Fair barley is crown as per sample, but oats are light ; the climate seems to ripen l^em too suddenly. They had heard from Mr. Elliot about Ontario, where a good deal of the land was exhausted. In that region more scientific farming was needed, and they required to keep more cattle. There wheat had been grown by many till they said it would grow no more, and dissatisfied with 7 or 8 bushela of a return they had betaken themselves to Manitoba, where 30 and 40 - fi. 60 VORTH WE8TESN CANADA. bnihels might be reaped. la Ontario he was informed that land had been reduced in value at least one-third within the last fevr year*, owing to uumbers leaving for this iBore recently developed country. " Mr. Eluot— I did not get that information. "Mr. Skdw— Indeed ; well, it waa remarked to me. "Mr. Elliot— It has been lowering for the last three years, but not so much aa <»e-tbird. "Mr. Snow— I heard it was decreasins; very much in value, and I think it will decrease more, because there are temptations round about Manitoba which do not exist in Ontario. It seems to me to have a great future before it for cattle-raising, ' especially well-bred young stock ; which could be fattened in Ontario and then ship- ped to this country. All the cattle seen although going on dry withered grass, as the prairie was when we were there, looked healthy and in good condition. There was any amount of hay to bo got for the cutting ; and the country is so adapted for cutting with a machine that no provision need be made, but a man at once goes in and outs away. This hay is better adapted - for cattle than horses; so that a man Koing in to settle generally commences using cattle for ploughing and hauling. As to the extent of this land, I show you this little parallelogram on the map, that is Mani< toba, with ten millions of acres. There stretching to the West and North Wc3t is a country estimated to contain 176 million acres of fertile land, which must in the very near future produce largely the food required in otb^r parts of the globe. " Aa to the right sort of people to go out, that largely depends upon oircumstau' oea, ; for workingmen there will be employment on railways for some yearn ; the p»y when we were there was Gs. per day, and the contractor fed them for 12^. pur week; but in winter they would require to go to other employment, such as wood-cutting. For young men, say if two were joining together having £500 to £1,000, they would do well either in wheat or cattle raising .; but they would require to be cautious as to their start. It would not be lost time boarding themselves out for a season with a farmer before making their final selecMon, and they must make up their minds to rough it. But countries such as this grow up with marvellous rapidity ; population pours in ; cities, churches, schools arise where a few years before nothing was heard but the howl of a wolf. The country seems also well adapted for such large specula- tions as Dalrymple's farm in Dakota, where 8,000 acres of wheat was grown last year. This concern is carried on by a private company, and is understood to be very suc- cessful. You ask— ilas this country no drawback ? Certainly it has ; it is a long distance from market ; it has a long winter ; there are mosquitoes, although we neither saw nor felt them. It may have grasshoppers, bat I heard nor saw of any. 1 simply take the people, the cattle and the crops. I saw all three healthy and thriving like, and I came tc the conclusion that it is a good country to go to for tiiose who feel they are cramped at home, and can make their minds up to rough it for a few years." "Mr. RiDDiaL, Hundalee, on being invited to speak, said that since his sons went out to Manitoba in the spring of 1877) he had been applied to for information regard- ing the colony by numbers of people from Eng^.and »ad Ireland as well as Scotland. It might therefore, he thought, be interesting to st« te what the experience of these young men had been. In the first place, they sia>3d that they had never regretted going out. Land could be purchased from one to ten dollars per acre, and its trans- fer was so simple that in a few minutes., and at almost no cost, any quantity could be transferred. Every description of crop succeeded well — wheat yielding from 30 to 40 bushels per acre ; barley, 45 bushels ; au'l oats, 55 bushels ; and turnips, carrots and cabbages gruvring as heavy crops as tho best in Scotland. Land was rising in value rapidly ; and labour could be had as from 15 to 20 dollars. A large herd of cattle could be kept, and if sheltered by w< ods and windbreaks they might stand out Aoarly the whale season. .Grass would -scurcely give the finishing touch to feeding \\ .'S KORTH WESTERN CANADA. 61 ( ,1' ; cattlf, bnt a little cmshsd erain in addition would do it nkrely. Railway cotnmunt* cation with the outer world was increasing daily. The clanea most required were farnieis with capital, farm and railway labourers, and domestic serrants. At first, his sons stated, they did not know how they were likely to succeed, but sow they were in a position, from experience and observation, to advise any plucky, indns- trixua young man, with from £500 to £1,000, to go to Manitoba. Aa in all new countries, everything was quite priiditive compared with Scotland. They had many discomforts and inconveniences, and hard work in seed, hay and harvest time ; bat for all this they had a very largs amount ol compensation. The land was their own, and they could farm aa they liked, sell what suited best, whether the land or iti produce, and hunt and sport without hindrance. All this sweetened labour very much. Every ono who thought of going out ought to be prepared to rough it for « time, bnt with capital, patience, pluck and perseverance, no man need be afraid of making a good thing of it. With no rents, and almost no taxes, there was every prospect of a farmer doing much better than in the old country. (Applauae.) Thip, Air. Riddell said, was the information he had received, given in his sons own words. (Applause.) From what they had heard, it should, he added, be apparent to lund< lordb that farmers, in order to compete with the colonists, must be allowed to make the most of their farms, which could only be done by placing them as nearly aa poa* sible in a position as if they were the owners of the land. There ought to be few or no restrictions as to cropping : liberty to dispose of all the produce ; no game reser- vations ; compensation for unexhausted improvements on the one hand a;.d payment for delapidations on the other ; no lease, and twelve months' notice to quit f^n ^fther side. Farmtrs, for their part, ought to remember that there are millionn of ^crea ol i^nd in Canada of the finest quality, and within a few days' journey from this coun* try, which could L? purchased for less per acre than the yearly rent of land at home. Those of them who might be disposed or compelled to stay in this country ought to set about earnestly aniT unitedly to get themselves unfettered ; and this, he ventured to say, could Anly be done by sending men to Parliament such as the three gentle- men who had spoken, whose interests were identical with their own, (Applause.) "Mr. Walker, schoolmaster, asked two questions relative to the exhausting of the land in Canada, and the watering of fiocks in the vast tracta of prairie land ia Manitoba ? /■ "Mr. Elliot, in answer to the first question, told of a farmer who had informed him that by sowing mustard he realized a crop equal to ten times the value of the land. "Mr. Snow said that there were certain parts of the prairie land adapted tor growing wheat, and other parts, in the vicinity of lakes and streams, were most suitable for breeding cattle. ' 'The Chairman said, as the night'was advanced, it now fell upon him to perform the most pleasant task of the evening — to ask them to drink the health of the gentle* men who had so well performed their mission of enq[uiry to Canada and Manitoba. (Applause.) The information regarding this new fieH of emigration was of vaat importance during a period of agricultural depression such aa they were now experi- encing. From what they had hoard, it appeared that enterprising men would find little difficulty in getting on. Of course, they need not expect to find gold on the surface any more than in the old country — (hus'bter)— but there they had many advantages eompared to what they had at home. (Hear, hear.) On the whole, he considered the delegate's report a very favorable one, although they had not brought home a cluster of grapes, neither did they tell them of giants inhabiting the land. (Laughter and applause.) He would say to them— 'Go up and possess this land o£ promise.' (Hear, hear.) "The toast was enthusiastically drunk, and having been auitably replied to, the. public part of the prcceodinga came to a close." ' NORTH WESTERN CANADA. LECTURE AT STOW. The Galashiels Border Advertiser o£ Doc. 17, 1879, sayg that, on the previous Tuesday, Mr. Snow, of Pirntaton, lectured in the Town Hall, Stow, to a large audience, on " Jotting* by the way in Canada, Manitoba and the Far West." The report sayg : " He described the route to Manitoba and the Far West, via steamboat through Lake Huron and Lake Superior. In the Bed River region the soil was very good, but flat. He preferred the land Jtrest of Winnipeg, and samples of it from Rapid City, Yeoman Villa and Big Plain were shown, as also several samples of wheat from these places; one excellent sample was noticeable as being the first year's crowth from the prairie. Mr. Snow likewir>- exhibited specimens of c^uartz rock from the silver mines on Silver Islands; copper from Lake Superior ; onions grown by the Sioux Indians, and specimens of their bead-work; also the wings o! the prairie chicken — a bird something like o«r own grouse, very fleshy and good for food — the wing of the bittevn, the skin of a fox of a whitish-brown color, the ikin of a buffalo and a greatcoat of bear skin.^ He had a good sample of wheat, which sold at Portage La Prairie at 163, a quarter, a piece of sugar made from the maple tree, and a large number of stereoscopic views of the varied scenery of the districts through which he passed both on his journey west and on returning. * * * He concluded an mteresting lecture, which cocupied about an hour and a-half, with some practical remarks on tbe vast resources of these wheat and cattle raising regions and the advantageous field they offer to young men of ' pluck' and some means, who might do well by going West. He thought those who stayed at home might take a leaf from the energy and industry of our American cousins, in doing what they possibly could to improve oar manufacturing and agricultural interests, or, he was afraid, this country might 'ere lone; have to w content to ' play second fiddle' to them. Mr. Snow was frequently applauded during the lecture, and at the close, on the motion of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, a hearty vote of thanks was awarded him. It is understood that some of the members of Mr. Snow's family will, early next year, proceed to Manitoba to test the richness of the soil on a 600 acre lot which his son has purchased there." ] KR. COWAN AT STRANRAER. Th* North British AgricuUuriat of Dec. 24, 1879, says that Mr. Cowan, the delegate for Wigtownshire, addressed a largely attended meet- ing at Stranraer on the previous Friday. In referring to Manitoba and the North West, in which he spent the first few weeks of his visit, he said : — " The immense tract of country, the extent of which seems boundless, has only become known to the outer world during, I may say, the last decade of years ; and it is a matter of wonder that the fertility of its soil and its capabilities as a wheat growmg country should have remained so long unknown, seeing that it has been in possegsion of the Hudson Bay Company for upwards of 200 years. At present this great country, which is supposed capabablo of sustaining a population of upwards of §0,000,000 of people, is, comparatively speaking, almost unoccupied. Although emiitration from the older provinces of the Dominion, as well as from the American States and our own country, is yearly increasing, and now that the country is being opened up by the formation of the Canadian Pacific Railway to the Rocky Moan> tains and thence through British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, as well asoy other railwa^^s, there can be no doubt that the tide of emigration westwards will contine to go on in an increasing ratio year by year, and that in a very few years it will have a k -^nsiderable population. During my short visit (and I was only able whilst there .• >l NORTH WESTERN CANADA, 63 to trarel over about 500 miles of its prairie lands, and my remarks, it must be borne in mind, are only applicable to what I saw) I was very highly impressed with the fertility of the soil, some of it being, without exception, the richest I have ever seen, and I have 1 ttle doubt it will continue for many years to produce exc client crops of grain without any manure, and with very little expense in cultivation ; and I would say to any one blessed with health and strength, who is possessed of moderate means, and who is of sober and industrious habits, that in Manitoba or the North West, he would have no difficulty in realizing a competency in a very short time, and in many cases, in a few years, a fortune ; for IGO acres of land is now being offered by the Canadian G overnment free on the condition of settlement, and 160 acres more at a price that would not amount to one year's rental of very moderate land iu this country. Of taxation, meantime, there is almost none ; and although churches and schools have in a great measure yet to be built, it is only a question of time, for all the settlers with whom I came in contact are as much alive to the advantage of education as we are at home, and no dif- ference in religious belief as yet troubles the inhabitants, for I found Episcopa- lian, Methodist and Presbyterian all working harmoniously together. The Xortk West Territory, I may mention, will in a special manner commend itself to our temperance friends, for no licj^uor is permitted to be sold in its vast bounds, and heavy lines are liable to be imposed on any one in whose possession it is found without having a permit from the Governor. No doubt in this new country, as in every other, there are many disadvantages to be encountered and diificmties to be overcome ; and people going there must be prepared, if I may so express it, to rough it for a few years. Its climate goes to extremes, the summers being hot, and the winters severe; the thermometer, I was informed, occasionally marking 70 degs. of frost, The snowfall, however, is not so excessive as in some other parts of we Dominion, seldom exceeding a depth of from 18 inches to 2 feet; but people who have been resident in the North West for many years assured me that owing to the dryness of the air, with a little care, they never suffered irow the severe cold. In summer, I was given to understand, in common with all hot climates, life for a time was made rather miserable to the new settlers by the mosquitoes, sand-flies, and other pests ; but these troubles are not considered of much account by the pioneers of sivilization. The scarcity of timber on these vast prairies is also to be noticed. This is a want that will undoubtedly be felt by many settlers for some time, but in the course of a very few years will be overcame, when the country becomes more settled and the land brought under cultiratioa, which will prevent the ravages of prairie flres, which are at present unchecked, and keep down th( growth of timber except on the borders of the streams and rivers. The roads, too, as I have already noticecT, are still in a state of nature, and become worse in the rainy season ; and this is at present a difficulty with the new settler, but even now they are in a fair state for travelling, and for hauling purposes during about three-fourths of the year. As soon as railways are made through the country, they will tend to divert the heaviest of the traffic from the roads. Tramways are also likely to be found very suitable for the prairie country, and are sure to be brought into requisition at no distant day ; and even the present roads can bo greatly improved by the judicious use of brushwood and proper water tabling. With regard to water, I fear that this may prove to be one of the greatest disadvantages with which many of the settlers may be called to contend. In all the districts I visited my enquiries were specially directed to this subject, but from infor- mation I received, I am led to believe tnat although in the summer months there was in some places more or less difficulty in getting a pure and sufficient supply, yet good water had always hitherto been obtained from wells sunk to a lesser or greater depth from the surface. I also made enquiries as to the ravages of grasshoppers ; but although it was conceded that the province had ocoasionally suffered severely from these pests, settlers did not anticipate much loss through them in the future, when the country was brought more under civiliEation. I have now brought before you the good and the evil, and will only further remark that in my opinion a very great future awaits Manitoba and the North West. Its boundless prairies will soon be brought under cultivation, and when opened up by railways, and also by water communication through the Hudsoa Bay direct to this country, it will become the granary of the world, and be able to supply the wants of many peoples with the staff' of life, and at a price that will be a blessing to our stragglins millions, but it will ■bsar hard on the oocupieis of grain-growing UncU in thii ooantry." ;, I 64 ; f II- NORTH WESTERN CANADA. A HIGH AUTHORITY. In commenting on these reports editorially, the North British Agricul- turalist said : — " On the iiwitation of the Canadian Government, several representatives of Scotch farmers, selected by the tenants themselves, were appointed last autumn to visit our - Western Dominion' in order that the 'canny Scot' might judge for himself, and re- port to his brethern at home, respecting the attractions of that great and growing country. Accordingly, seven or eight experienced and intelligent' Scotch farmers spent no inconsiderable portion of the autumn on the other side of the Atlantic, Most of them have returned to the 'old ceuntry,' and five of them 'reported' to their constituents within the last few days. " The peculiar value of these reports lies in the fact that they are not the produc< tion of emigration agents, or of biassed parties. They emanate from practical farm* ers who should have no interest in 'colouring' matters. These are the circumstanoea which, viewed in connection with the depressing times at home, attach ten-fold im- portance to the reports of the gentlemen — thoroughly practical farmers as the^ are — who are now relating their experiences and opinions to brother farmers on this side of the water. Publishing, as we do in other parts of to-day's issue, lengthy state- ir.ents from the delegates, we need not here reprint all the pithy sentences and point- ed allusions which we, in common, no doubt, with other readers of the reports, feel incline be paid tioa. In irden in bed time. Mstimated, hand, no tkempt to , provided ad aevere to yield, Mb. The outlet for elvea and railway bo bottor. i«. A-j Wheat was worth 23 6i to 3a p«r bushel, and oata Is 8d to 28. Potatoes and tumipa grow well, aa I have stated previously; and cattle do well on prairio grass in sun* shine and on hay in wmter, which can be got as yet in any quantity off unsettled land in the neighbourhood. There is nothing to pay for it except the labour. The first breaking of the land out of prairie can be let by contract for 128 an acre, the next and following years it can be ploughed for 8s. Harrowing is a mere bagatelle after the first year, and harveatinp; owing to the dry climate and the level naturo of the surface, is inexpensive." * » « <( ^gue IB still present in some parts of Ontario, while Quebec and Manitoba are free. Manitoba has a disadvantage 'as compared with both these pro- vinces in her distance from a market, in her sparse population, greater scarcity of schools and churches, roads and good water, and a longer and more aevere winter. On the other hand, she has a vi|gin soil of vastly superior quality, which is to be had at a comparatively low price, less labour is needed, although wases are higher {railroad men earn from 68 to 8s a-day) and there are no taxes. Quebec and Mani* toba, as settlement advances, will have better roads, and more churches and schools. A very good idea of the rate at which settlement in the latter province is advancing is gathered from the fact that the post offices have been increased in little more than a year from 58 to 120; one land office last year had located 900 settlers and sold 400,000 acres of land. The communication between here and the old world will soon be vastly improved, through the competition of the Thunder Bay route and the con- struction of new lines of railway now in contemplation. A new .route is also pro- posed, via the Nelson River and Hudson Bay, which will bring Winnipeg aa near Liverpool aa New York ia at present. The grasshopper and mosquito plagues will moderate or disappear altogether, aa they have already done in tbe older pro* vinoea, and the prairie fire, which ia the dread of the new aettler, need do him no damage, unless through his own extreme carelessness. Persona going out here, how- ever, should be robust and active as, of course, at present it is a pioneer's life, while, if they go to the older^rovinces, when once there, they can make themselves as comfor- table aa at home." Mr. Hunt W. Chatnbre, of Stewartstown, Co. Tyi?one, who visited the Korth West last autumn, has written Mr. W. H. Disbrowe, of Winnipeg, that many farmers are applying to him for information as to their pros- pects, should they emigrate. He says that many of the party coming out . this year, under his advice, will bring a good deal of capital with them. KORTH WESTERN CANADA'S ADVANTAOBS. The unmistakable eyidenee which has been produced in preceding pages on the climate, productions and resources of the North West, can leave no doubt as to the advantages of this region over any other portion of the American continent. Some further facts may, however, be mentioned. Canada is nearer to England than any other colony — the distance from England to Brisbane, Queensland^ being 16,000 miles; to New South Wales, 14,000; to South Australia, 12,000; to New Zealand, 13,000 mUes. Quebec is 2,502 miles from Liverpool by the Straits of Belle Isle ; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2,480 miles ; while Boston is 2,896, and New York, 3,095 geographical miles. The great advantages of the St. Lawrence, or river route, and also the route by steamer from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Intercolonial Railway, over the rival routes of- the United States, are shorter distances, greater security, and large saving of time. The oenparatively short distanee from Canada to Britaiu allows wheat, ^m 68 VORTH WESTERN CANADA. flour, butter, eheeae, and .eren perishable apples te be transported acroes the Atlantia Australian meats have to find their way to England in tins, while Canadian live stock is carried over alive. Dead meat can be taken from Canada to England, not only without deterioration, but with actual improvement. The climate is healthy, pleasant, favorable for agricultare, and ad- mirably suited to European emigrants, who find in it a dry, bracing atmos- phere, with sufficient rainfall, instead of intense heat and immense droughts, as in many of the American States. The vigorous constitutions of Cana- dians stand in marked contrast to the emaciated and prematurely old appearance of the people of Missouri. low*, Illinois and Indiana. The soil is of the richest description; the lands aie well watered and timbered; the mineral resources are of great variety and extent and undoubted value. Game is found in profusion. In every respect, North Western Canada is ahead of any of the Ameri- can States as an agricultural region. Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie, who has had great experience, said before a Committee of the House cI Commons : " I have not seen grain or other crops in either Minnesota or Dakota to equal onrs in Manitoba. I have been in those States in all seasons of the year, and have friends farming in Minnesota, who are desirous, if they can sell out, of coming here. 1 have seen people, newly arrived from the old country, grumble for a time, and afterwards you could not induce them to go back. Some that did go back soon returned. I hare heard of some faint-hearted Canadians who, frightened with tales of grasshoppers and other drawbacks, returned without even examining the country, but I think we are well rid of such a class. The grasshoppers that came here are driven by the wind from the deserts south of us, in the United States. Oar storms are not ao bad as those in Minnesota, as the reports of the last few wint«rs show." The grain crops' in the North West give a larger yield, and c^ better weight and quality, than in the United States. Mr. Grant Dalton, who has had consideiuble experience in the grain trade in Winnipeg, was recently in Winnipeg prospecting. A loeal paper said : — "He says the wheat samples of this country which he has inspected are of the best quality. He speaks very favorably of Manitoba's climate, and says it is a much finer one than that of Nebraska, in which place he has been during this present summer. From his rej>ort of Nebraska it seems that the agriculturists there have to contend with hot, dry scorching suns and continuously hut, dry burning winds, which in some cases aotually singe the leaves of the trees. The people there alao complain of grasshoppers and chintz bugs." Mr. W. B. Close, who recently wrote to the Yorkshire Post from ShiptouTin-Craven, on the advantages of the United States, said he had gone over to England to induce emigration to the State of Iowa ; yet ' i) admitted that owing to wheat siifferiag from blight, thei'o, it is not aa certain a crop as in Manitoba. North of the international boundary, and within the Canadian do- mains, lies not only by far the largest amount ot'fertile land on the whole U, NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 69 rted acroKs Etnd in tins, \ be takon (dth actual e, and ad- sing atmos- a droughts, 8 of Cana- iturely old . The soil ibsrod; the bted value. the Ameri- ), who has Commons : }ta to equal ir, aad have coming here, a time, and 9 back soon i with tales the country, me here are Our storms tors show." c^ better ilton, who lipeg, was are of the Bays it ii a this present there have ling winds, e there alyo Post from id he liiul ; yet ■ .i is not ci6 ladian do- the whole 1 d continent, but also almost the only good land open for setblemant. There is but little agricultural land left unoccupied in th« United States. Theils is none there equal to the alluvial soils of North Weetem Canada. Theae facts ave candidly admitted by Americans whose utterances are authorita- tive. The Hon. David A. Wells, the well-known free trade aavocato and member of Congress, in an article in the North American Revieio, for July, 1877, said :— " The quantity of fertile public lands, suitable for farm parposes, which can now be obtained by prescription or a nominal price is comparatively limited, if not nearly exhausted. According to Major Powell, in a communication made to the National Academy, ' All the good public lands, suitable for settlement are sold. There is ' not left unsold in the whole United States, of land which a poor man could form ' into a farm, enough to make one average county in Wisconsin. The exception ' to this statement, if it is open to any, may perhaps be found^n Texas or In- ' dian Territory ; elsewhere it is true.' And in respect to the arm regions of the plains, which, it is alleged, is eminiently fitted for grazing, Major Powell further says . — ' In this whole region, land, as mere land, is of no value ; what is really * saleable is the water privileges ; which men and stock comftanies have appropriated ' all the streams, and they charge for the use of the water. Government ' sections of 160 acres that do not contain water are practically, or at all eventr, ' comparatively worthless. " ' General W. B. Hazen, of the United States army, an officer of high standing, in an official report on the North Western States of the Ameri- can Union, shows clearly how false are the representations made by \ ankee immigration agents and land touters. He says : — " For two years I have been an observer of the efforts upon the part of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to make the world believe this section to be a valuable agricultural one, and, with many others, I have kept silent, although know- ing the falsity of their representations, while they have pretty fully carried their point in establishing a popular b«lief favorable to their wishes. Whea reading such statements of its fertility as appear in the article entitled ' Poetry and Philosophy of Indian Summer,' in that most estimable periodical, Harper's Monthly ef December, 1878— in which are repeated most of the shameless falsehoods so lavishly published in the last two years, as advertisements in the interests of that company, and perhaps written by the same pen — a feeling of shame and indignation arises that any of our countrymen, especially when so highly favored with the popular good- will and benefits, should deliberately indulge in such wicked deceptions. The theoretical isothermals of Captains MaUry and Blodgett, which have given rise to so much speculation, and are used so extravagantly by those who have a nse for them, although true along the Pacific coast, are not found to have been true by actual experience and observations, Iq this middle region. " The past season, as seen by the meteorological report, has been exception ally rainy and favorable for agriculture here, and the post has, with great care, and by utilizing all the available season, mude an extensive garden with the following results: The garden is situated immediately on the river bank, about two feet above high water. Potatoes, native corn, cabbage, early-sown turnips, early peas, early beans, beets, carrots, parsnips, salsify, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes and asparagus have grown abundantly and have matured; melons, pumpkins and squashes have nott matured; tomatoes did not turn red; American corn (early) reached roasticg earn; onions, with wheat and oats, matured at Fort Bethold, D.T., one hundred and tifty miles l)elow, in the Missouri River. I have been told by those who have betn here a long time that this may be taken as a standard for what may be expected the most favorable seasons in the immediate bottoms of the streams. The native corn matures in about ten weeks from plaating. It puts out its ears from six to eight inches from the ground, and has a soft white grain without any fiinty portion, and weighs about two-thirds as much as other corn. ; I I . i 70 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. •' My OWD qaarters Bouri, at abonl !*y ie: re B. 10VC nated on the aecond bench of the banks of the Mis^ that stream, and six hundred yards away from it. And to raise a f », )»r .<4v len ' bl feet by forty, the past two years, has required a daily sprinkling of th v l».tn. ' ■ ,»f water, for which we were repaid by about three weeks of flowers. The nito ci th ; qarden is supposed to be exceptionally fruitful, but I have before me a letter < u Mr. 'oseph Anderson, of St. Paul, Minn., who was hay contractor at this post in 18. ,: ^s letter states that in order to find places to cut the hay required by his contract ihat season, some nine hundred tons, he was com- pelled to search over a space ot country on the north side of the river, twenty-five miles in cntent in each direction from the post, or some four hundred square miles, and that there was none thick enough to be cut for as great a distance beyond. Respecting the agricultural value of this country, after leaving the excellent wheat- growing valley of the Red River of the North, following Westward one thousand miles to the Sierras, excepting the very limited bottoms of the stpall streams, as well as those of the Missouri and Yellowstone, from a few yards in breadth to an oc- casional water-washed valley of one or two miles, and the narrow valleys of the streams of Montana, already settled, and a small area of timbered country in North- West Idaho (probably one-fifteenth of the whole), this country will not produce the fruits and cereals of the last, for want of moisture, and can in no way be artificially irrigated, and will not, in our day and generation, sell for one penny an acre, except through fraud and ignorance; and most of the here excepted will have to be irrigated artificially. I write this, knowing full well it will meet with contradiction, but the contradiction will be a falsehood. The country between the one hundredth meridian and the Sierras — the Rio Grande to the British possessions — will never develop into populous States because of its want of moisture. Its counterpart is those expected agricultural settlements along the Kansas and Union Pacific Railroads, between these two lines, and 20 years hence the search will be quite as fruitless. We have in Nevada and New Mexico, fair samples of what these populations will be. My state- ment is made from the practical experience and observation of eighteen years of mil- itary service as an officer of the army, much of which has been upon the frontier, and having jiassed the remainder of my life a farmer. For confirmation for what I have here said, I respectfully refer the reader to General G. K. Warran, of Engineer Corps of the Army, who made a scientific exploration of this country, extending through several years, and has given us our only accurate map of it; or to Prof. Hay- den, for the past several years eni^aged upon a similar work. The tcFtimony of Gov- ernor Stephens, General Fremont, and Lieut. MuUans, is that of enthusiastic travel- lers and discoverers, whose descriptions are not fujly borne out by the more prolong- ed and intimate knowledge of the conntry. "Herr Hass, the agent of the Berlin and Vienna banks; sent out to examine the country, could easily say the country is good so long as he advised his people to in- vest no nieney in it; and it is doubtful if that remark was based upon a sufficently authorative investigation of the country to merit the credence given it. Certainly it B incorrect; and especially valueless is. the testimony of men of distinction of our own country who are not practical agriculturalists, but have taken journey in "the fruitful months of the year to the Rdd River of the North, to the rich vallej^ of Montana, or to the enchanting scenery of Puget Sound, except upon these particular points. "I am prepared to substantiate all I have here said, so far as such matters are susceptible of proof, but, from their nature, many thinfi;8 herein referred to must, to many people, wait the action of the great solvent— Time." ^ • In a later report referring to a much larger extent of territory, Gen- eral Hazen quotes the testimony of persons wlio have examined the country as "confirming l^is repeated statement that the country lying betweei!^ 100 West longitude and tho Sierra Nevada Mountains, all the way from Mexi- co to the British possessions in the North, is, in an agiicultural sense, prac- tically valueless, except in a few exceptional cases, where water can be i i I H •A •( NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 71 A f used for iiTigation; and that, even with this process, not much more than one acre in many thousands upon the average, can be made available on . account of the scarcity of water. He adds: — " The past season has bean one of unusual and somewhat remarkable rains in Dakota, as well as in many other parts of the world. This has given fair cropa of roots, vegetables and other grains, without irrigation, and h givei. '•he few struggling farmers about Bismarck great hopes for the future ; b«t : o. ^r^ of the land office told me in November that they are selling very little land , nc^ it, even if the crops of the last very exceptionably favorable year could be ken •>, criterion, general agriculture coiddnot be made profitable in that regior , i itrn'/ering the suffering of those who have sought homes to the Westward of ' ' U.. ;* of sufficient rainfalls. The great need of correct information upon the subjeoi t'^ < -able Congress to dispose intelligently of questions involving the c.ipabilitcs of thi country, the building up of new and populous States, such aa Wiyeousin, lo i and Missouri, will no longer be seen on our present domain, and all calculatic r' d upon such a thing are false, while all extraneous influences brought to bea. upon cmmigi-ation, to carry it West of the one hundredth meridian, excepting in a very few restricted localities, are wicked beyond expression and fraught with miserj' and failure." Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, in referring to the exploration made by authority of the American Government between the Mississippi River, and the Rocky Mountains, says they reveals the startling facts : — "That tlia western progress of its population, has nearly reached the extreme western limit of the areas available for settlement ; and that the whole space west of the ninety-tighth parallel, embracing one-half of the entire surface of the United States, is an arid and desolate ivaste, with the exception of a narrow belt of rich land along the Pacific coast." Professor Macoun, Government Botanist, who is thoroughly conversant with both the Western States of America and the North West Territories of Canada, says : — "In Crofutt's Trans-Gontinental Tourists' Guide occurs the passage, sneaking of the Prairie West of Antelope, on the line of the Union Pacitic Railway : ' We now enter on the best grass countrj'^ in the world,' and further on he says : 'The country is destined at no distant day to become the great pasture land of the con- tinent.' " Now," says Prof. Macoun, " I have passed over these plains from Laramie to Autelope, which are represented as being the best grazing lands in the world, and which are now supporting thousanut. v f cattle, and they bear no more com- parison to our plains (the Saskatche-wcin ) than.* stubble field does to a meadow. AVTiile they have 1,000 miles of sage plaiz's (valueless), for bunch grass soon dies ont when pastured, and sage brush takes its plu-^e, we have over 1,000 miles, from East to West, of land covered at all times of the year with a thick sward of the richest grass, and which is so nutritious as to keep horses in good condition, though travelling, as ours did, at the rate of forty miles per day." The following telegram, recently published, shows that the Americans are awake to the fact that their laud west of the 100th meridian is useless for agriculture : — "Lincoln,Neb., Jan. 25th. — The Nebraska Board of Horticulture, now in session here, under the presideucy of Governor Furniss, considered the preliminary report of th« tngressioual Committee in favor of withdrawing all public lands west of ilijuiti 72 NORTH WESTEBK CANADA. the iOOth meridian, amounting in the aggregate to 1,000,000,000 acrea, from entry by homestead and pre-emption, and giving as the assigned reason for this proposed cnange, that the land west of the 100th meridian will never be fit far farming, not eyen with irrigation." EXPERIENCES IN KANSAS. The grazing districts of Kansas have long been extensively advertised as possessing extraordinary attractions. Bat the experience of those who have settled there shows that the state is a most undesirable one to live in. In the Atlantic Monthly, one of the most influential American magazines, foi; Deoomber 1879, is given a heart-rending account of the distress in Kansas. The writer observes that, " When he was at Topeka, the capital of the State, last June, he was pro- foundly struck with the enquiry that appeared to be on the tongues of all, and was being discussed by the press and State officials from the Goreraor down, as to the way and means of providing for the support during the coming winter of the great numbers ot destitute farmers and others in that State. At the same time he remarks, ' the State, through every available avenue, was inviting and receiving a large immigration of settlers upon its lands, and assuring the world that her soil offered competence and comfort to every worker.' The writer travelled from Topeka as far west as Pueblo in Colorado, and gives a graphic account of the plains and the surroundings of the miserable settlers sprinkled over them. The houses, for the most part, consisted of wooded boxes, without frames, and neither tree or fence to relieve the eye. In a great many cases the settlers lived in dugouts, made by digging a hole in a bluff or rising ground and covering the roof with boards or shingles. Distressing instances of misery are recorded of families that had moved into the States, and having spent their all in doing so, were left help- less in the midst of a parched desert. The writer goes on to say : — ' On my arrival at Stirling, 186 miles west of Topeka, ' I found the weather hot and dry, with a strong desiccating south wind, parchiug what vegetation there was and whipping the^ life out of the growing com, which was then about two feet high. The wheat and' oats were being harvested where they would pay for cutting and threshing ; but in irany places the wheat fields were utterly destroyed, and in most cases a half crop was the most expected. I was told there had been no general rain for eight months and all through May and June there had been the same dry hot winds, with an occasional local tempest of hail or rain and wind and lightning that destroyed every- thing in its path. " A letter, signed by J. S. Calmer, ISl. G. Averill, and J. T. Douglass, dated Wilsua County, Kansas, April 27, 1876, appeared in IVw Plantert, a prominent Kansas paper. It tells its own story ; — "A few facts from actual experience of farming in' Kansas — the other side and the truth. We have been much amustd by the gushing letters ef contributors to yonr valuable paper, about this State, and think tiie actual experierca of farmers like ourselves might be as valuable as the moonshine idea of men who never put a plough in the ground, or raised a o.>lf, or wintered a Texas steer, or tried to watch a corn- field, or sell corn at 10 cents a bushel. We came here four years ago, determined to like the country. Now, we bolieve it to be a delusion akd a snare. We wanted cheap lands ; we paid $1.25 p^ r acre, but it has cost us in dead outlay, in money and in time, $5 to $20 per acre, ami is all for sale less than cost. W^ came to find a f|reat stock country, where the time of feeding might be short, and the cattle might ire on the range all winter ; wo find \\ the wdrst hampered stock country we ever saw, and the grass nutritious and flesh-producing only three or four mantbs in the year. We came to find a great wheat and corn country ; we find that the wheat- N ♦ / ..3 /" NORT^ WESTERIT CANADA. 78 S ♦ '" i\ raisers h»ve not averaged their seed. Com ranges all the way from nothing to fifty bushels per acre. Weexpected to find a tame grass oouutry, but, so far, timothy, clover and blue grass failed, and the climate that kills wbSat will kill them. We came' hero to find a salubrious and healthy climate; we find it sickly, and the rates of mortality last winter along the streams terrible, so mach so that we came to believe what an old doctor told us : " That the moat hardy eouUl not expect to survive this climate fifteen years." We came to the "Sunny South," where the warm zephyrs ever blow: we find cattle freeze to death in every locality. We came to find a great fruit country: we find our peach trees dead to the ground. We fcame to find a brasing air : we found it so that wn have to brace ourselves at an angle of fotty-five degrees to make headway against the wind. We came here to eseape the oppression of the rich, and the high taxes : our taxes range from 2.05 te 10 per cent, on real estate!^ and does not pay anything;. We came to find homes for the homeless, and land for the landless ; we have got homes, very poor ones, and the land we would be glad to get shut of at half price. In short, we have got the land, and it has got us in the very worst way, and everyone is dissatisfied, unhappy, discouraged, and wants to get out of the country. We came to the country that was said to flow with milk and^oney : we . find it flowing with poverty and complaint;. We find we must f(o where money is plenty, where labour is needed, and a market for our produce. We live where every quarter section of land has been settled by good, energetic people, who have made every efiort and uuiversally failed ; those who have done the most, and spent the most, are the most completely floored. Such is our experience, after a fair, faithful trial trial of Southern Kansas. If you, Mr. Editor, can help us out in any way by advice or otherwise, you will oblige three farmers. We have many friends East, and there are many coming West, we earnestly hope they will see these few lines. We do not wish to see our friends made paupers by doing as we have done, neither ought xmy more capital to be wasted in this desert of a country. We cim substantiate all we have subscribed our names to by more positive procc if neede 76 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 1 : I ! ! I unemployed, till at last the GoTernment had to commence relief works, which are ■till carried on, and at present there are hundreds of artizans on the works, smch as . catting down timber in the country districts, breaking stones for road purposes, &c. •ad many •»f them being allowed to wo.-k half time only, at the rate of 48 per day , Subscription lists have been opened and contributions of clothing, &c., collected and distributed to the needy in Melbourne and elsewhere. From these facta the Stone- nasoDs' Society feel called upon to sound a word of caution, especially to men of their own traJe, and would advise those whose intention it is to come to this country to be careful of what they 4o lest they find that they have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire." WHO SHOULD OO. The immigration to the North West in 1879 was largely in excess of my previous year^ and the indications are that this year the influx of settlers will be even still more largely increased. There are to day greater in- ducements for settlers than at any previous period. Pauper immigrants are not wanted, farmers with small capital, farm laborers, laborers to work on railway •onstructions, and domestic servants, are the classes required. In th6 earlier history of Manitoba, the idea seems to have prevailed that men of all kinds were wanted, and that they had only to land in the Province, with a dollar or two in their pockets, regaiidless of their occupation, to at once find employment at high wages and rapidly accumulate we*lth. Never was a greater mistake made, and the sooner it is exposed, the better will ^ be it for intending emigrants and for the future of the great North West. X For the capitalist, there is an imlimited field in business enter- prises^ land transactions, and loaning, in which good security and a high rate of interest can be obtained. For the farmer of means there is a chance to settle his sons on farms, or to obtain for himself a much larger area of land than he can secure in the older Provinces, and the consequent improved opportunity of making money afforded by conducting his business on a more extensive scale. The tenant farmer, or the farmer's son, with from $500 to $1,000 capital, can obtain a good sized farm, and the necessary stock and implements to secure a revenue from it within a year ; a moderate number of farm laborers , can find employ ment in the earlier settled portions of this Province at good wages ; railway laborers are in demand, and good female domestic servants will have no difficulty in finding employm-^nt. To other classes the writer's advice is, do not come, unless you secure employment before leaving. Tlie labor market, outside of the classes to which reference has already beer made, is well supplied, and, at present, there is no demand for other kinds of labor. Mechanics, clerks, book-keepers, &c., are here iu abundance, and others coming out " on spec" ave more than likely to have a hard time. As in all new territories, the numerical preponderance of the male portion of the population, is marked in I he North West. As a consequence marriageble girls are much sought after and have the chance of securing comfortable horaes more quickly than in oldf»r settled territories. CAPITAL RE<^UIRBD,* OUTFIT, &C. Persons intending to farm should have at least $500 in cash, over and above the expenses of their journey to Manitoba. This is a minimum -Vl'' *m NORTH VBSTBRN CANADA. 77 .M A amount. Those with large families should have more, as a year's proyisions will hare to be purchased before crops can be secured to yield a return in , . cash. These amounts are named on the supposition that free grants of land from the government will be taken up. If it is intended to purchase, more ready money will be required. A farmer with a capital of $2,000 can. secure a good farm of L60 acres, even supposing he has to pay $5 per acre . for it, and provide himself with a reasonably comfoi'table house, the ^ necessary outbuildings, a 'yoke of oxen, a cow, some pigs, a plough, pair of harrows, and everything necessary to give him a good start, and ensure to ' him the securing of a comfortable home, for a less amount that he would be called on to pay in Britain for a single yeai's rent. A settler's outfit should be as follows, the cost quoted being based on .the actual experience of many who have been consulted on this point : — Yoke of oxen $125 Red River cart 15 Harneeg 10 Cow 35 Plough 25 ;;; Harrows , 20 Stoves, beds and other furniture 100 * ^* ', ' Chains, axes, shovels, &c , ... 30 Building sundries 30 .j, ■ Seeds, &c 10 $400 This is put at the lowest amount possible. British tenant farmers with some capital, or farmers selling out their farm* in other portions of Canada before reinoving, could, of course, afford to go to a greater outlay and secure greater comforts in their household arrangements. After the first year, steady annual receipts from sales of produce may be depended OQ, and should any little hardship be experienced, the settler will have the satisfaction of knowing that he has acquired a freehold from which he cannot be evicted and which will enable him to procure a comfortable living for the first few years, and subsequently a substantial competency. In reference to the amount given as necessary for outfit^ the Government' pamphlet fciys ; — •' The German Mennonite settlers who came to Canada from South Russia a few ycava ago, that is the poorer families of them, started with very much le^s ; and\ they are to-day very prosperous, and raise large crops of grain, besides growing flax,, I of which they export the see i, and are well supplied with live stock from the pro- ducts of M'hich they do a thriving trade in the Winniijeg Markets. The only questiou is whether families from the United Kin{,'dom would stint themselves in the same way these thrifty seitlers did, and endure what they went through to arrive at their present success. The Menuouite outfit of the poorer families averaging 5 per- sons, consisted of one yoke of oxen, one cow, one plough, oae waggon, and one : cookiufr stove ; the whole obtame^ at a cost of $270 or £54. This comprised tie outfit of one family and in tlie case of the poorest, two families clubbed together te use one outfit. The cost of provisions for subsisteTioe of one family for a year wais $J)3 or £18.15, the proviaions consisting almost wholly of flour, pork and beans. No money was expended on the buildiugs in whieh they lii-at lived. These ouusistod ,;,«ifr*»!«*iHiiWI»*««»»— ■i 78 KORTH WESTERN CANADA. for the first year of brush, laid sloping on poles, covered with earth. This fact is stated to show from how amall a beginning a settler may successfully start and at- tain plenty ; but seeing that the log house of the country can be built at so moderate a rate, probably few settlers from the United Kingdom would be willing to do as the Meunonitea did. Many a man wi^l, however, make a hard struggle for inde- pendence, and find both his labour and hia hardships sweetened oy the cons- ciousness of the daily steps he is taking towards thatjpnd. It may further be men- tioned, that for some years to come, there will be railways and public works in progress, on which the poorer settler may work for a part of the time at good wages ; and so obtain means to tide over the first difficulties of a settler's life, with more comforts." Log houses, which are exceedingly warm and comfortable, can ho built with comparatively little labor, the timb«r being easily obtained. The current rates of wages may be given at follows : Laborers, $20 to $25 per month and board. Masons, carpenters, and other mechanics and tradesmen, $2.50 per day. Shop hands and salesmen, $50 to $100 per month. Female domestic servants, $10 to $15 per month and boird. The large contracts now existing on the Canadian Pacific Eailway give employme^it to a large number of men at from $1.25 to $1.50 per day. They can obtain board in the camps on the line at from $3 to $4 per week. Good board can be obtained from $4 per week in boarding houses in Winnipeg ; the rates in hotels and private houses are, of course, higher. Did space permit numerous instances might be given of the bucc ■ met with by settlei-s. A letter written from Emerson, Manitoba, and pub- lished in a recenltedition of the Chatham Planet, gives a good idea of what is being continually done by settlers. The letter referred to says : — "You will no doubt like to know how I am getting along with my fanming. In the first place then : When I came here a year ago last spring I bought a half section of land, and shortly after I sold one quarter section for a llOO more than I had paid for it. Off the remainder I topk a 1,000 bushels of grain of different kinds, which brought me $600, and I afterwards sold th^ land for $500 more than I had paid for it, so, financially, I have done pretty w^lL I have now broken aud ready for seed in the spring very nearly 100 acres. I intend t« turn up a ereat deal mora in tLe spring ; will break it with 14-inch breaking ploughs with single teams ; with one 16-inch sulky plough we will turn an average of seven acres a day." Speaking of the line of railway on which they passed through Minnesota into Canadian territory, he says: — "They are putting up immense elevators and preparing to handle an immense yield next year. The land bears from 26 to 40 bushels per acre. This North West is the place. I have not the least desire to farm in Ontario again." Improved live stock may be taken with advantage.' Serviceable horses, especially brood mares, will pay to take. For the first few year's work on a farm, oxen are mote suitable than horses and can be purchased in Mani- toba. Poultry, sheep and pigs are scarce and would pay to import to the Noi-th "West from the older provinces. Settlers will do well not to bring old horses, implementB, etc., with them. If a number combine together so i\m to fiiU a car they can get a cheap rate of freight, otherwise the coat sf trans portation will be found a serious item. A. farmer, selling out in O&tario, • ri "'» d i 1 ' > NORTH WESTERN CAlfADA. 79 might bring harness, waggon, harrows, hand tools and some household eflfects, rather than sell them at auction at a sacrifice, but those who have to buy new goods will do as well in Manitoba as in Ontario, when every- / thing is taken into considtiration. Implements can be purchased in Win- nipeg at a less rate than they could be brought in for by individual settlera. "' Nearly all the Ontario manufacturers of prominence have agencies in Manitoba. Stoves, iron and tin-ware, groceries, dry goods, woolf , furniture" &c., can be purchased at reasonable prices. Bedding, household linen, carpets, curtains, cutlery and articles of ornament, when already ])osse8sed by the emigrant, should be brought, as the freight on these will be much less than similar articles would cost in Manitoba if bought there ; and many other little household necessaries whicli if sold would not bring much but would add greatly to the comfort of the emigrant iia his new home. .,t' The two best periods of th« year to go to the North West are the early spring and the beginning of autumn, the latter being altogether the more suitable. In the spring, as a rule, tlio roads are in a bad condition and considerable difficulty is experienced in getting over them with loads. This will be obviated when the railway, now in completion west of Winni- peg, is opened for traffic, but until then settlers will do well to arrive in the North West early in August. They can then look around leisurely, select their location, procure their live stock, put up a house and barn and be prepared to couimence actual farming operations early the next season. Those starting in the advanced spring reach the North West too late to get crops the same season and are but little further ahead than others follow- ing them in the autumn. When the railroad to which reference has just been made, is in operation next year, settlers will be carried within a few miles of their destination, and will then do best to come up in the spring, sow a few potatoes and oats, and get a good breadth of land ploughed to lay fallow until the following spring, when it can be sowed with wheat. June and July are undoubtedly the best months for breaking or turning tl;j sod, so as to rot it ar*-! lifc the ground for the growth of oereaJs. ROUTES TO TRAVEL. The , completion of the all rail route to Winnipeg ha?, placed Manitoba within from three to five days travel from points in pjastern Canada and within fourteen days travel from Liverpool. Of the various Atlantic steamship lines,the two most Buited for emigrants tl ' • • "r*" 80 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. runs betwejBn Liverpool and Quebec in summer, and Liverpool and Port- land, where it connects with the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, in winter. This line is composed of first-class, full-powered, Clyde built, and doablod-engined steamships, and, like the Allan Line, grants through tickets from Great Britain to Manitoba. Both lines have agents at the most important cities and towns La the United Kingdom, from whom in- formation cen be obtained, or application may be made to the resident agent of the Canadian Government at 31 Queen Victoria street, London, E. C. Both these lines travel the shortest route from Britain to Canada and emigrants coming by thetn have the advantage of landing, direct on Canadian territory, Quebec being but 2,600 miles from Liverpool. On arrival at Quebec or Halifax, emigrants will find the agents of the Canadian Government in attendance to give them information as to how to proceed to their destination, and other necessary advice and assistance. From Poij^land, Halifax and Quebec, the North "West can be reached either by an all rail route, or by part rail and part water. From Halifax the Intercolonial Railway runs to Quebec, where connection is made with the Grand Trunk Railway. At Portland and Quebec passengers are lauded from the steamers at stations of the Grand Trunk. As the same routes from the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec have to be travelled both by the British emigrant and the Canadian moving west- ward, one description of them will suffice. From Quebec those taking the all rail route travel by the. Grand Ti-unk Railway to Detroit, 736 miles. At Port Huron, where American territory is entered, baggage is examined by customs officei-s. Passengers should have their tninks, &c., so con- structed that they can easily be unlocked for examintion. Ontario passen- gers can take either the Grand Trunk or Great Western Railway to De- troit. Both lines are splendidly equipped with modem, improved rolling stock, and tri^vellers by either line will experience thorough comfort. The trains travel at a good rate of speed, and both lines enjoy a remarkable immunity from accidents. From Detroit to Chicago, 286 miles,the route is via, the Michigan Central Railway, one of the best built and most even TTUiivn^ roads in the United States. Palace dining cars and Pullman li >\';i;.>ner i.^eepers are attached to trains for the use of first-class passen- gei ; Emigrants travelling at the lowest rates of fare are accomodated in coTvff*>»:i -JJe cai-s. In Chichf: ', transfers of passengers and >)aggage between !>«•) ,i.atij 'S of r''^ vai'idis lae is effected by a lino of omnibusses, agents .. NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 81 ^m yi of two tnink lines aggregating 650 miles of well constnfcted and throughly equipped road. This line runs its own sleeping coaches. From St. Paul to St. Vincent, at the boundary between the United States and Manitoba, > is 414 miles. At SW Vincent the Pembina bi-anch of the Canadian Pacific Railway can be taken for Winnipeg, 68 miles. In summer the steamboats of the "Winnipeg .and Western Transportation Company ply between St. Vincent and Winnipeg. From Winixipeg, into the North West Territories, at present, the communication is principally by road. As previously mentioned a hundred miles of railway is now under construction by the government. This will run nearly into the territories, and will be open for traffic next year. Steamboats ply on the Aesiniboine river as for as Fort Ellice. Further information on this point may be obtained by referring to page 29 of this pamphlet, where the communications- of the territoiy are described. Those preferring the lake route can go by the Grand Trunk or Great Western Railway to Windsor, Sarnia, Goderich, Kincardine or Southamptoa, from which ports the steamers of the North West Trans- portation Company run regularly to Duluth, on the North Western shore of Lake Superior. The Collingwood line sails from CoUingwood, on Lake Huron, to Duluth, where connection is made with the Northern Pacific Railway, by which passengers travel to Glyndon junction on the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway, and thence for the balance of the journey by the same route as the all rail passengers While travelling through the United Stites, t grants will do well tc avoid the innumerable land speculators and touters o will try to persuade them that the best lands &ve to be obtained in \ merican territory. At Emerson, near the international boundary, and a' V/innii)eg, the Canadian Government has immigration agents. Meals can be obtained along all the routes of travel, but emigrants to whom nioney is a decided object should provide themselves with provisions be t.' starting on the journey by rail. The railways allow 150 lbs. of baggage Iree to each adult : extra baggage will cost $3.50 per 100 lbs. The mtes of passage by steamers from Liverpool, Glasgow and othfr British ports to Halifax and Quebec are from $50 t© .$90, according to accommodation. Steerage passeugera are taken at from !|1 7 to $30 per head. Children at reduced rates. The i*ailway lares for the season of 1880 are not yet dtfinitely fixed. The following, which are at present in force from the principe^l stations on the Grand Trunk Railway to St. Boniface, (Winnipeg) Manitoba, will give a general idea of the cost of the journey. ij^ H,-.!,5 82 NCaTH WESTERN CANADA. IV, W- i ' From ^ l»t' Clma. ind. Clasi. Quebec... ?64 25 $36 50 Montreal 59 25 34 00. Preicott t 57 25 34 00 iirockviUe 66 85 33 70 Gananoque 56 25 32 95 Kingstou 5(j 00 32 50 Napanee 55 15 32 OU BeUeville 54 45 32 » Trentoa 54 05 32 40 Brighton 58 75 32 15 Colborne 53 50 31 95 Cobourg 53 00 3160 Port Hope 52 80 3150 BowmanviUe 52 3/^ 31 10 GsLawa 52 25 31 00 Whitby. 52 25 30 l)J As a genera^, rule it may be said that xrom points in. Ontario to St, Boniface, first-class fares average from $50 to $60 and second-class fares from |29 to $34. Reduced rates ma;' be quoted in the spring and sum- mer, and the fares by the part rail and part water route will probably bo & little lower for emigrants thiiii by the all rail route. Car loads of emi- grants effects, live stock, ikc. were taken through from Toronto to St. Boniface at $230 pei oar by the all rail route, and $210 by the lake route. Oar loads from all Canadian stations, west of Toronto, are charged at the same rates, and from eastern points rates are proportionately greater. Mr. A. H. Taylor, of Ottawa ; Mr. E. W. Prittie, of Toronto, and other agents run special excuraious to Manitoba from stations on the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railways frequently. Emigrants will find it to their advantage to go by these trains, as, while only charged a second-class fare, they will bo conveyed in tirst-class carriages, and as the trains are under the control of the agents referred to, delays are avoided, and the journey made with much more comfort than where parties go by ordinary ti-ains. GOVERXilENT LANDS. For the puri)oso of settlement, a system of survey of lauds has been adopted by the Dominion Govornmont which gives the utmost accuracy of measurement in combination with a plan that is simple and ea«Uy un- derstood,^ The land is divided into townships, each of which is exactly six miles square. A township is divided into 30 sections, each of which is a mile square and contains 040 acres. These sections are divided into half sections of 320 a^res, (piartor sections of 160 acres, and half quarto; sec- tion of 80 acxes.** Tiie townships start frosn a base lino which is ti.'o inter- national boundary line, which runs duo eiist ».ad west ; and from a point a little to the west of that at which the Red River enters tlio province, a line called the principal meridian is run due north. The ranges of the townships which aro marked on the iua[ja in Roman characters, run east And west from the uur.dian lino, and the numbcra of the townsliips marked '\ I f ' [!. ■ / NOBTH WKSTERN CANADA. 83 and the will ed a been uac^ ■ un- y six is a half aec- uter- point \ce, a f the eivi^t Ivrkod 1^ 4 on the maps in the common figures, run north from the boundary or fir«f base line. The boundaries of the sections are marked out on the landd by posts set up by the Government survtjyors. A large number of town- ships have already been surveyed and sectled ; several surveyed last season will be thrown open for settlement this spring, and^the work of surveying will be prosecuted with increased vigor in oi-der to keep pace with the rapid demands of settlers. Land offices, with resident agente appointed by the Government, ai'e establiMhed at various places in Manitoba and the North West Territories, where all information respecting lands in the dis- trict can be obtained and the necessary entries made to secure locations. Under the provisions of the resolutiojis respecting the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, regulatirv. "aspecting the disposal of the Government lands have recently been i^isK's. These regulations will be found in full among the advertisements at' the < nd of this pamphlet. The regulations provide that until the fui fcher and final survey for the con- struction ol the railway westward from Red River towards the Rocky Mountains, the line of the railway is assumed to be along the fourth base line, westerly to the intersection of the base line, by tho line between ranges 21 and 22 west of tho first principle meridian and thence in a direct line to the confluence of the Shell River with the Assiniboine. The coimtry lying on each side of the line of railway is divided into five belts, as follows : — I, a belt of five miles on either side of the railway, and imme< diately adjoining the same, called belt A ; 2, a belt of 15 miles on either side of the railway, adjoining belt A , called belt B. 3, a belt of 20 miles on either side of the railway, adjoining belt B, to be called belt C ; 4, a belt of 20 miles on either side of the railway, adjoining belt C, to be called belt D ; and 5, a belt of 60 miles on either side of the railway, adjoining belt D, to be called belt E. Any person, male or female, who is the sole head of a family, or any male who has attained the age of 18 years, shall be entitled to i-eoeive free, ou payment of the office fee of $10, a quarter section, 160 acres, of land, in any of the even numbered sections in the townships throughout the several belts described above. A peraon obtaining an entry for a home- stead in this manner shall be liable to the forfeiture thereof should ho not become an actual occupant of the land so entercd within two months of the date of entry and thenceforth continue to c-ccupy and cultivate the same. The entry of a person for a homestead right shall entitle him, on payment of a fee equal in amount to that hereinafter pruiscribed for such homestead entry, to receive at the same time thei-ewith an entry for au adjoining 160 acres, or less (Quantity of Government lands then unclaimed, and suoh entry shall entitle auijh person to have possession of and cultivate such land so entered in addition to his Jiomestead, but not to cut wood theroon for the purpose of sale or barter, and, at th<^ expiration of the period of three years, or lipou his sooner obtaining a patent for his homestead, shall entitle him to a pre emptiou of the land so entered, at the Government price, which is $2.W per acre in belts A. B. and C, $2 in belt D, and 4?1 in bolt E. At tho expiiation of three years the settler or his heirs, i'.. vi' ;f Hi U It. I I 84 KOBTII Vi'ESTEP.K CANADA. upon proof to the salisfaction of the local agent, that he or they have re- sided upon and cultivated the homestead for the three years next after making the entry, shall be entitled to a patent for the land, provided such claimant is then a subject of Her Majesty by birth or naturalization. The odd numbered sections in each of the townships in the various belts are not open for homesteads or pre-emptions, but are specially re- served as railway lands and may be purchased from the government at these prices :— Belt A, $5 per aci-e ; belt B, $4 ; belt C, $8 ; belt D, ; belt E, $1. The terms of payment are one tenth in cash at the time of purchase, tha balance in nine annual instalments with interest at the i-ate of six per cent per annum on the balance remaining unpaid, to be paid with each instalment. Settlers wishing to procure land can find out at any of the government land offices what sections are not taken up and after inspecting; for them- selves can return to the office, pay the fees and make the necessary entries. It is advisable for settlers to locate only on surveyed land's, as sliooild they go beyond the surveys they may take up land which is included in the schoo' ^r Hudson's Bay Corapaay's reserves, neither of which are open for homesteads or pre-emptions. rUlVATE LANDS. Farms which have been partly cultivated and on which some impro- vements have been made, such as the erection of a house, barn, stable, &c., can be purchased from private owners, within a reasonable distance of Winnipeg, or some of the towns in Manitoba, at from $5 to $20 per acre. Uncultivated lands, in private ownera Imnds, can be bought for from $2 to $10 per acre. In \Vinni{)eg there are a number of highly respectable and reliable real estate dealeis. The Hudson's Bay Company now offer for sale their lands in the surveyed distiicts. They are the ownera, under the Dominion Lauds Act, of two sections in every surveyed township. Each section consists of 640 acres, and will be sold either in block or quarter sections of 160 acres each. In addition to these two sections in each townships they own a number of other lots which are also offered for sale. They comprise some of the very best farms fronting on the Red and Assiniboin^ lUvere. They include lands in the best prairie districts, capable of producing the largest and best crops of wheat ; also land adn-irably adapted for cattle mising ; and a large number of wood lots. T prices range from $3 to $6 per acre and nd other circumstances. The terms of « in cash at the time of sale, and the Iments, with intere-st at seven per cent. A purcliaser of a farm of 160 acres, at say an acre, will onl require to pay $80 in cash, and an equal sum every year for se\ en years, v oh interest at sevew per cent, per annum. A for- upwardb, according to locati ]tayment are one-eighth of th< balance in seven ajv 1 annua per annum on the ■> ount due. < KOBTH WESTERN CANADA. 85 very iclude best id a and is of the cent, it say [every for- ■1 ' mal agreement is given him on the payment of the first instalment, which will be exchanged for a deed on the last payment being made. The title to the company is direct from the Crown. The company is having all its lots in the several townships, as fast as they are surveyed, reported upon by competent surveyors, so that purchasers can have correct information in regard to the lands they desire to pnrchase. The sections in each township belonging to the company, are numbered 8 and 26. The principal land office df the company is in Winnipeg, where full information can be obtained by settlers and parties desiring to purchase lands. An office is. also open at 5 Peter Street, Montreal, where full information can also be obtained. The company have also a large number of lots for sale in the City of Winnipeg. These lots are being rapidly disposed of at moderate prices. The terras of payment are one-fifth in cash at the date of purchase and the balance in four equal annual instalments with interest at seven per cent, per annum. The company has also laid out town plotsi at various other places, where lots are being sold on terms of payment similar to those at AfVinnipeg. A town has thus been laid out at West Lynne, on the west side of Red River, next the boundary of the Un'ted States, and where a considerable' number of lots have already been sold. Another has been laid out at Hat Portage, where a station has been established on the line of railway from "Winnipeg to Thunder Bay. Largo lumber mills are now being built in the vicinity of this place, and there is a valuable extent of water mill privilege, belonging to t,he company, admirably adapted for ^rist mills. At Portage,La Pmirie, 70 miles west of Winnipeg, a town has been in existence for some time, and a considerable number of lots sold. This is near the line of the railway running westward of Winnipeg, and is the centre of a splendid farming country." The ♦^^own of Goschen is now also been sui*veyed and laid out in the Prince A Ibert district on the main Saskatchewan River. This town will be the emporium for a large and rapidly incretising wheat growing and cattle raising district. Other towns will be laid out as settlement progresses, and the necessity for them to be- come apparent. Grist mills are in process of construction at various places for the accommodation of settlers, and where grain Is pui'chased. The Com- pany's Land Commissioner is Mr. C. J. Brydges. CONCLUSION. The work of the writer in this connection is completed. In the pre- ceding pages he has endeavored to lay before his readei-s accurate infor- mation respecting Nerth Western Canada. Instead of merely placing be- fore them his own impressions of the teiTitory, he has compiled from various sources the opinions of many who Jiavo vis/tcil ifc, and has devoted con- siderable space to the reports presented by the British agricultural dole- gates who came out last autumn. The territory under consideration has only been reiferred to in a general way, space not permitting a detailed description of the various settlements, and districts. In or ler to place in the hands of intending settlers, full particulars as *o til-* nature of the soil, settlements, &c., in each locality, th*^ writer intends at an early date to issue a handbook giving this information la minute detail, for the ub« of t*hose who are seeking homes in THE GREAT FERTILE BELT. M J*. 86 KORTH WESTERN CANADA. - (j I /r. I ;!«•;■■ J: l(! to to Bb&ULATIOSS Respecting tiie disnosal of certain PQi)lic Lands for tlie purposes of the Canadian Pacific Sailwar* Department of the Interior, Ottawa, Oct. 14, 1879. Public notice ia hereby given that the following* proviaicna, which shall be held to apply to the lands in the Province of Manitoba, ai'd in the Territories to the west and north-west thereof, are substituted for the Regulations, dated the 9th July last» governing the mode of disposing of the Pacific liaiids situate within 110 (one hundred and ten) miles on each side of the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which said Regulations are hereby superseded : — 1. " Until further and final survey of the said railway has been made west of i^e Red River, and for the purpose of these provisions, Ihe line of the said railway shall be assumed to be on the fourth 1 ase westerly to the intersection of the said base by the line l)etwecn ranges 21 and 22 west of the firJt principal meridian, nnd thence in a direct line to the confluence of the Shell River with the River Assiniboine. 2. " The country lying on each side of the line of railway slhall be respectively divided into belts, as follows : — "(1) A belt of five miles on either side of the railway, and immediately adjoin- ing the same, to be called Belt A ; "(2) A belt of fifteen miles on either side of the railway, adjoining Bolt A^ lo be called Belt B ; "(3) A belt of twenty miles on either side of the railway, adjoining Belt B, be called Belt C ; "(4) A belt of twenty miles on ether side of the railway, adjoining Belt C,. be* called belt D ; and "(5) A belt of fifty miles on either side of the railway, adjoining Belt D, to be- called Belt p:. 3. "The even-numbered Fcctions in each township throughout the several beltB above described shall be open for entry as homesteads and pre-emptions of 160 acrea each respectively. 4. " The odd-numbered sections in each of such townships shall no*, be open to homestead or pre-emption, but shall be specially reserved and designated as Railway Lands. _ ' 5. "The Railway Lands within the several belts shall be sold at' the following rales, viz. : — In Belt A, §5 (five dollars) per acre ; in Belt B, ^4 (four dollars) per acre ; in Belt C, $3 (three dollars) per acre ; in Belt D, $2 (two dollars) per acre ; in Belt E, $1 (one dollar) per acre; and the terms < f sale of such land shall be as follows, viz : — One-tenth in cash at the time of purchase ; the balance in nine equal annual instalments, with interest at the rate of six jier cent, per annum on the balance of purchase money from time to time remaining unpaid, to be paid with each instalment. 6. "The Pre-emption Lands within the several belts shall be sold tor the prices and on the terms respectively as follows : — In the Belts A. B and C, at $2.50 (two dollars and fifty cents) per acre; in Belt D, at ^2 (two dollars) per acre ; and in Belt B, at $1 (one dollar) per acre. The terms of payment to be four-tenths of the pA*- chase money, together with interest on the latter at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum, to be paid at the end of three years from the date of entry ; the re^mainder to be paid in six equal instalments annually from and after the said date, with interest atr the rat above mentioned on such portions of the purchase money as may remain unp.iid, to be paid with each instalment. 7. •' All payments for Railway Lands, and also for Pre-emption iMade, within the several Belts, shall be in cash, and rot io sjrip or military or police bounty warrants. 8. "All moneys received in payment of Pre-emption Lands shall ipure to and form part of the fund for railway purposes, in a similar manner to the moneys received' in payment of Railway Lands. 9. " These provisions shall be retroactive so far as relates to>any and all entries; pt' Homestead and Pre-emption Lands, or sales of Railway Lmds obtainedi or made; f « f^ lia B8; ir i (*'■ NORTH WESTERN CANADA. 87 nnder the Bcgulations of the 9th of July, hereby superseded ; any payments made in excess of the rate hereby affixed shall be credited on account of sales of such lands. 10. "The Ordt-r-in-Council of the 9th November, 1877, relating to the settlement of the lands in Manitoba which had been previously withdrawn for Railway purposes, having been tancelled, all claims of persous who settled in good faith on lands nnder the said Order-in-Council shall be dealt with under these provisions, as to price of Pre-emptions, accur.ling to the belt in which such lands may be situate. Where a person may have taken up two quarter-sections under the said Order-in-Council, he may retain the qnarter-section upon which he has settled, as a Homestead, and the other quarter-section as a Pre-emption, under these provisions, irrespective of whether such Homestead and Pre-emption may be found to be upon an even-numl)ered sec- tion or ot^ier^ise. Any moneys paid by Ach person on account of the lauds entered by him under t'le caid Orderin- retain, the Government reserves the right to take possession of such laud,, paying the squatter the value of any im- provements he may have made thereon. 12. " Claims to Public Lands arising from settlement Jifter the date hereof, in territory unsurveyed at the time of such settlement, and which may be embraced within the limits affected by the above policy, or by the extension thereof in the future over additional territory, will be ultimately dealt with n accordance with the terms prescribed above for the lands in tlie particular belt in which such settlement may be found to be situate, subject to the operation of sub-section/; of section 11 of these provisions. 13. " All entries after the date hereof of unoccupied lands in the Saskatchewan Agency, will be considered as provisional until the railway line through that part of the territories has baen located, after Avhich the same will be finally disposed of ia accordance with these provisions, as the same may apply to the particular belt in which such lauds may be found to be situated, subject;, as above, to the operation of 8ub-se ition c of section 11 of these provisions. 14. *' With a view to encouraging settlement by cheapening the co3b of building material, tl^a Government reserves the right to grant licences, renewable yearly, under Section 52 of the ' Dominion Lands Act, 1S7'J,' to cut merchantable timber on any lands situated within the several belt^ above described, and any settlement ' upon, or sale of lands within, the territory covered by such licenses, shall for the time being be subject to the operation of such licenses. 15. '" The above provis'ons, it will, of course, be understood will not aflfect sec- t'omi 11 and 29, which are public school lands, or sections 8 aud 26, Hudson's Bay Company's lands. "Any further informat on necessary may ' ) obtained on application at the Dominion Lands OfBje, Ottawa, or from the agen* 3f Dominion Lands, Winnipeg, or from any of the local agents in Manitoba or the Territories." By order of the Ministjr of the Interior, mTDSAY RUSSELL. J. S. DBNNIS, Surveyor Otntral. "*• Deputy qf the Minitter of the Interior. %. ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I 1.25 m §15 112 2.0 14 III 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation i\ ^v LV L1>' \\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 O^ 88 NORTH WESTERN CANADA. i r The reliable Route, and the one having the least transfers, finest equipments, best accommeJation, courteous empleyees, ets., is the OMcago and ITortli "Western Ey^s, " OHIOAGO, ST. PAUL &* MINNEAPOLIS LINE." The " Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis Line" is composed of the Chicago A; North Western, and Chicago, St. Paul &; Minneapolis Railways, and passengers to secure the advantages of the line, should be sure their tickets read as above, and Not by any other Line Having a Similar name. This is the Great Govemmcipt Express and Mail Route to Manitoba, Dakota and the North- West Forming the connecting link between CHICAGO and tihe NEW COUNTRY o^ FERTILE SOIL, ABUNDANT CROPS, HEALTHY CLIMATE, &c., &c., which is being rapidly settled by an industrious, intelligent and energetic class of people. This the only through line from Chicago that makes a cannection at St. Paul with the 8t. FauI. ICinneaselii anA lCMxlt1}o1}a and Northern Faoillo Bail-^ays. for Vinnlpeff. Bitaaarok. Srai&erA. SrookoxxridKOi Fiihe'n Land- inff. In the Vnion Sopot. x This is now the established All Rail Route to Manitoba I And Passengers for that countiy, and St. BONIFACE and WINNIPEG, should ask for and be sure their Tickets read Grand Trunk, Great Western, or Canada Southern Railways to Detroit ; Michigan Central Railway to Chicago ; Chicago, St. Paul h, Minneapolis Line, Chicago to St. Paul. (Or Chicago, and -North Western and Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis Ry's.) St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba and Canada Paoifio Ry., St. Paul to Winnipeg. The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, and its Northern Extension— Canada Paoitio,are tlie only Ry's running down the Valley of the Red River of the North. Anv Ticket Agent of the GRAND TRUNK, GREAT WESTERN, CANADA SOUTHERN, or other Eastern Trunk Line, will sell vou tickets via this route, and will be glad to furnish you Maps, Time Tables, and otiier information about it. Do not be pursuaded to buy via any other lino.until you have examined into the merits of this tine. Write to or call upon SAMUEL BEATT Y, General Canadian Freight Agent for this Line, Rossi u House, Toronta, for ratei for ^our Freight, Emigrants' Moveables, Household Goods, Horses, etc. He will give you the very lowest obtaina*ile rate*, and will aid you in moving. r ^ JN %\ HW* NORTH WESTERN CANADA. INSPECTION 93 WEIGHTS and MEASURES. r The Act respecting Weights and Measui'es, XXXVI Vic, Chap. 47, came into operation on the 1st of July, 1875, under the proclamation published in the Canada Gazette of 26th December, 1874. The duties of Excise upon Spirits theretofore computed by the old Wine gallon have been since that date computed — as provided in the Acts above cited — ^by the Imperial gallon, the rate of such duty being as follows: — On Spirits theretofore subject to 75 cents per Wine gallon, 90 cents per Imperial or Standard gallon of the strength of proof. It may be observed that, the Wine gallon containing 231 cubic inches, and the Impeiial or Standard gallon 277-274, quantities stated in Wine gallons Aay be reduced to Imperial gallons by deducting o..e-sixth — or, quantities stated in Imperial gallons may be converted into Wine gallons by adding one-fifbh, thus : — 20 Imperial or Standard gallons = 24 Wine gallons. 24 Wine gallons - 20 Imperial gallons. A. BRUNEL, Commiasioner oj Inland Revenue, Department of Inland Revenue, 31st January, 1879. k f* i?^ 94 s; ^ NORTH WESTERN CANADA. EEAL ESTATE Office of JOHN SCHULTZ, BOB l^^^iJU^T ©TKBBT. A large number of improved and unimproved Farms for sale on easy terms. LANDS IN THE SETTLEMENT BELT, FINE MILL SITES AT THE! FEMBUJTA MOUHTAHTS; Vntm li®ts 111 Wlmiil:p®||?^ Si BUSINESS AND OTHER BTIILDINGS FOK RENT IN WINNIPEG AND AT SELKIRK. PROPERTIES IN OTHER PARTS OF CANADA TAKEN IN PART PAYMENT OF LANDS. tf. Cl m i^ VORTH WpSTERX CANADA. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. THE HOH. HECTOR LOUIS LAHGEVIN.CB. MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. PERMANENT OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT: G. F. Baillairge, Deputy of the Minister. S. Chapleau, Secretary. J . W. Harpbr, Paymaster. , j T. S. Scott, Chief Arcliitect. H. F. Perley, Chief Engineer. O. DiONNE, Chief Accountant. ' > Assistant Accountants. J. Verreault, J T. H. Allen, Correspondence Clerk. O. McCarthy, Curator of Plans, «&c. L. Lefebarre, Clerk of Recorde. F. J. McKay, P. Cartier, H. Talbot, J. 0. C6t^., W. H. Lewis, H. Potvin, H. O'Neil « it « « « u It ' > Messjr gorj. v;' SS ■i>f ^"i| ■'*' ti#»<1l*ti»llll'"'' t'' fftJtJ-JM* ■-■ li— 96 NOBTH WESTEBN CANADA. I: < i fc-^ GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY OF CAIVADA. c OYER lUO MILES UNDER ONE NimGEMERT — TO — -jLisrXi THE- II NORTH WESTERN TERRITORIES. Emigrants from Europe to the rich wheat-producing lands of Manitoba, and the Agricultural and Mining districts of British Columbia, will find the cheapest and best route via Quebec or Portland and the Grand Trunk Sailway of Canada. This is the legitimate route to the Noith West, afibrding a continous trip and making direct connections with the steamer lines from Sarnia and Collingwood, and by rail throu|;h to Fort Garry, Winnipeg, and all points in the North West Territories. Passengers arriving at Quebec or Portland are transferred with their baggage free to the railway trains, which run alongside the vessel at the wharf. Depots or Stations for the reception of emigrants are provided at Quebec, Sherbi'ooke, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, London, (Ont.) and Winnipeg, where full information will be affoi*ded and prompt assistance rendei'ed to intending settlers by the Emigration Agents. Information as to passage tickets and rates of passage by the various lines, can be obtained upon application at the Office of the Grand Trunk Railway, 21 Old Broad Street, London, E. C. and the offices of the Canadian Steamship Lines in Liverpool, and throughout Europe. TO SPOEfSMEN AND EXOITRSIONISTS. Tickets will be issued by all rail, or by rail and the Lakes, to tiie various points in the North West during the sporting season. Apply for full information to steamship agents at Liverpool and in Enrope, and. at the ofiaoe of the Grand Trunk Railway, 21 Old Broad Street, London, £. 0. General Manager, Grand Trunk £(Attw(tt;« ■■[ < ••^ ■I . -^ 97 L O. 3AKER., St. Louis, Ut. C. E. CONRAD, Fort Macleod. W. O. CONRAD, Fort Baitta. JNO. H. CONRAD. Fort M«Kiiin«7. I G. BAKEE & CO., FORTS MACLEOD AND WALSH, N.WJ, EASTERN OFFICE, 219 OLIVE ST., SL LOUIS, MO., MONTANA OFFICE, FORTS BENTON AND HELENA. BANKERS, FREIGHTERS nrSIAIT TSASBBS, WHOLESALE AND BBTAIL DBALBBS IN GENERAL MERCHANDISE AMD PROPBIHTOBS OF From lMt«ra Oaatda to the KTorth-^Mt T*nitov7' W&'are in receipt of a larger stock of Assorted Mer«handise than any other house in the North- West. Special indueements to Cash Buyers. VTill Pay the Highest Rates for Robes and Fun. Will contract Freight firom all Eastern Cities to all Points in the Korth- Wesi Wm INSURE Goods tia the Uissouri Birer. IT I ■.^' ■'»'/jlW!'?i'5;?'!W%s»-i^TJ7.J'5'W ■ .T*?5Tfc^»ra;)^iv K. \i NORTHERK PACIFIC RAILROAD. The only Bonded Line making connection with Canadian Steamers at • Duluth for GRAND FORKS, HSHER'S LANDING, ST. VINOENT, WINNIPEG,- AND ALL POINTS IN MAMttOMA — ALSO FOB- GLTNDON, FARGO, BISMARCK, AND ALL POINTS IN Dakota, Montana, — AND THB — BIiAGK HIXmXiS, DaUy Express Trains with ELEGANT SLEEPING OARS at- taehed, Duluth to Glyndon, connecting directly with St. Paul, Min- neapolis and Manitoba Bailwa^f for WIUKIPEG and all points WEST OR NORTH OF GLYNDON. \l 100 ACTON BUEKOWS, OFFBSa FOR SALf Valuable Farm Lands Town Lots & WaUr Privileges. IN VARIOUS SECTIONS OF AND THE NORTH-W^EST TERRITORIES. Having travelled extensifely through the North- West, he has a thorough knowledge of the qui^itj of the lands in the several districts. He intends spending the sumater of 1880 in SBLiECTIIffG LiAlffDS For purchase, and is now prepared to arrange to make looattons for persons wishing to secure valuable investments. Money invested on first-dass mortgage secuiity at 12 per oent. per annum, interest payable half-f early. Communications may be addressed to nSr. Burrows. WiNKiPEO, Morch, 1880. At either OTTAWA OR WINNIPEG. A I y 101 TECE 3S/d:^lSriTOBi^ r ^ Is the Best Advertising Medium possible through which to reach the people of Manitoba, and the best NEWSFAFEE TO EEAD TO GAIN lUFOEUATIOIT ABOUT THE SirsS0ZlIPTI0XTEATES:-'7reekl7> $2.S0 (Ten Shillinffs Stdrlinflr):per Tear; Sail7> 25 cents per week A&vance Fayment. ▲DVaBTISIxra bates :— rarnlBhel npon Application. KENNY &. LUXTON, PUBLISHERS, •• :1 K s'l % ■ I 1-: 1^ !!■ . tl I I 102 i ;^^35T' i;>-^v, 9 DEALBBS IN ALL KINDS 07 LUMBER, SHINGLES, LATHS, BLINPS, M0T7LDZNaS, ETC. PLA/\I/I\IG MILL & FACTORY. WATER 8T., in rear of Methodist Church, WINNIPEG. BRANCH LUMBER YARDS -AT- Povf age la Prairie and WesI Iijrxm- i >» s, I 9u I&l 108 GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. THE SSOBT BOTTTB BETWEEN THE EAST & THE WEST, CONNECTING AT Suspension Bridge and Buffalo with New York Central, and Hudson Eiver, and Erie Railways for Bochester, New York, Boston and all points East. At Toronto with Grand Trunk, for Montreal, Quebec and all points in Lower Provinces ; and at Detroit with Michigan Central, Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railways , and Local Michigan Lines for Saginaw, Grand Bapids, Milwaukee, ^ Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and all points in the Great West Through Wagner Palace Sleeping Cars between New l^rk, Boston, Bochester, Detroit and Chicago. Splendid Day Coaches and Smoking Cars on all Express Trains. IS* Tnis is the only line running Uie popular Dining Cars on Atlantic and Pacific Express Trains between Suspension Bridge and Chicago, in connection with Michigan Central Bailway, furnishing Meals at uniform prices of seventy-five cents. IS" The accommodation afforded by this Line to Families moving to Manitoba is first-class in every respeett and it is now admitted to be the cheapest and most popular route to the Passengers travelling; by the Great Western Railway pass in fullfview of Niagara Falls (without change of cars or transfer of baggage) an advantage offered by no other Road. WM. EDGAR. Ctenaral FMienger Agtnt.^ F. BROUGHTON» Qmaial ll«iu||«r. 104 \f. JARVIS & BERRIDGE, (Successors to Macaulay & JarvisO HAKl>rACT(JRKRS,Oy AND DSALBR8 IK Itim% <^Mngte, %n% ETO„ ETO- ii FVZL *^m WB&& asmarsB Mraes a&ws§rs Flooring, Siding and Ceiling of all grades. Sash and Doors of every description. CASH PRICES LOWEST iii the MARKET. Liberal Discounts to Builders and Contractors. OFFICE ANDp.UMBER YARD, Notre Dame St. East Winnipeg, Man. I m 106 The (harden of the ITorth-West. K *rs all JT. The settlement of the beautiful and fertile valley of the Little Saskatchewan, commenced in 1871, has proceeded so rapidly that thousands of prosperous farmers are now cultivating the magnifloeni lands of the district. The country is undulating, Is well watered, and has a surface soil of rich black loam, from five to eight feet deep, with clay sub-soil. It produces the finest crops of wheat, oats, barley, beans, peas, potatoes, roots, hops, and vege- tables. There ^re already several thriving villages on the river, and the Odanah Land Syndicate is about to lay out a town at. the point at which the Little Saskatchewan will be crossed by the main line of the €sM^;i®a ^a€tFi€ Mai&wstr, "SeM where the Post Office and Government Land Office have been situate for some time. Through Telegraph communication will be established this spring. The Canadian Government has decided ofllhe immediate construction of the Second Section of the Canada Pacific Railway West ot Winnipeg, which will pus through Odanah and be in operation in 1881. Several Railways, to act as feeders to the main line and converge at this point, are under pro- motion. The farms open for sale and settlement are in grass, hlufFs of trees being picturesquely scattered over them, providing the settlers with timber for fuel, fencing, and building pur|X)8eg. Years of labor are not required to cut away timber and render the land flt fur cultivation. The sod can be ploughed in the spring, seed sown and roots planted, and crops Hecured in the autumn. The land produces an inexhaustible supply of hay, and thousands of cattle and sheep can be grazed. The distance from Winniiieg, the present terminus of railway communication, is but 140 miles. Excellent waggon roads lead to the district, which will be supplied with railway communication next year. Actual Farm Settlers can secure 160— Acres Free— 160 From the Government, with the right of purchasing 160 acres at a reduced rate. The Government offeiR the alternate sections for sale, without enforcing settlement. Th^ Syndicate owns a large and valuable tract of land at the Railway Crossing, and now offer* several water privileges, and a large number of town lots for sale, Saw and Flouring Millen and other business men rciiuiring locations, cnn obtain maps and further pa< Uculars by applying to ROSS, ROSS & KILLAM Solicitors to the Syndicate, //. Winnipeg, March, 1880. WINNIPEG^ MANITOBA. 106 »^^ IIsdHPOK/T-A-nSTT '^ir INTENDING SETTLERS IN MANITOBA I iS".. '■i -i. f. SIXTY THOUSAND ACRES -OF- SELECT FARMING LANDS In the vicinity of Winnipeg, and the various Settlements of the ^*rovince of Manitoba and ^orth- TTest. at the longest m Cash Prices, f, r 1 .: Off'OI?/ S-A.LE BY Messrs. ROSS, ROSS & KILLAM, BAamtSWBWtB^ Etc.* ■WTiTi^riiPEa-. -vcjLisriTOBj^. Lands purchased on Commission; Good Titles. March lit, 1880. f 4 107 PACIFIC HOTEL THOMAS HAVERTY, Proprietor. Main Street, "Wiimipeg, ManitolM.. This house has been finished and fitted up in first-class style and is now open to the public. Its situation is the finest in the city, being close to the steamboat landing and within easy distance of the principal business houses. Particular attention paid to commercial men and tourists, and satis- faction guaranteed, both as to price and accommodation. 108 f -1880.- -1880- Michigan Central .&XZSi.OAB. — THE ONLY DIRECT ALLi-HAILi ROUTE -TO AND FROM ALL- Oanadian Cities and St. Paul, St. Vincent, St. Boniface, Winnipeg, Fargo, Bismarck, and all points in Manitoba and the Northwest States & Territories. Through Tickets via this Popular Route Can be obtainerl at all i)rincipal Railway and Steamboat Offices in the United States and Canadas, and at General Office, No. 153 Jefferson Ave., Detroit, where Sleeping and Parlour Car accommodations can bo secured by telegram or letter. FOR ANY INFORMATION RF,GARDINO THIS ROUTE APPLY TO A. J. HARLOW, General Eastern Passenger Agent, 201 Washington St., Boston. O. A. WARREN, Pass, and T'kt Agt. Detroit, Miuh. W. J. WILEY, Travelling Agent, Toronto, Ont. E. O. BROWN. AsBiBtAiit General Superintendent, JaclcBon. H.B. LEDYARD, Oenoral Manager, Detroit. HENRY O. WENTWORTH, General Passenger and Tioket Agent, Chicago). 109 W. H. LYONS President. H. SWINFORD, Seo.-Treas. • T THE WINNIPEG & WESTERN \ (LIIMIITEinD.) Run Regular Daily Line Steamers between '9 Making cloae connection with Trains on St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba R.R., — AND- STEAMERS ON THE ASSINIBOINE RIVER, TO A-LXj I'OIliTTS, As long as Iffavlgatlon nrlll pewialt. E. V. HOLCOMB, G-^neral Manager. 110 Government of Canada. POST office; savings bumk. >• ti 1 1. Three hundred Post Offlee Savitiga Banks In Ontario and Quebec are open daily for the receipt and repayment of deposits, during thu ordinary hours of Post Office busiuesa. 2. The direct security of the Dominion is given by the Statute for all deposits made. . 3. Any person may have a deposit account, and may deposit yearly any number of dollars from |1 up to 1300, or more with the pemiission of the Postmaster-General. 4. Deposits may be made by married women, and deposits so made, or made by women who shall afterwards marry, will be repaid to any such woman. 6. As respects children under ten years of age, money may be deposited— Firstly— By a parent or friend as Trustee for the child, in which case the deposits can be with- drawn by the TniHtee until the child shall attain the age of ten years, after which time repayment will be made only on the joint receipts of both Trustee and child. Sbcondlt— In the child's own name— and, if so deposited, repayment will not be made until the child shall attain the age of ten years. 6. A depositor in any of the Savings Bank Post Offices may continue his deposits at any other of such offices, without notice or change of Pass Book, and can withdraw money at that Savings Bank Office which is most convenient to him. For instance, if he makes his first de]>osit at the Savings Bank at Cobourg, he make further deposits at, or withdraw his money through, the Post Office I^ank at Colling- wood or Quebec, Sarnia, Broclcville, or any place which may be convenient to him, whether he continues to reside at Cobourg or remove to some other place. 7. Each depositor is supplied with a Pass Book, which is to be produced to the Postmaster every time the depositor pays in or withdraws money, ana the sums paid in or withdrawn are entered therein l>y the Postmaster receix ing or paying the same. 8. Each depositor's account is kept in the Postmaster-General's Office, in Ottawa, and in addition to the Postmaster's receipt in the Pass Book, a direct acknowledgment from the Postmaster-General for each sum paid in is sent to the depositor. If this acknowledgment does not reach the depositor within ten days from the date of his deposit, he must apply immediately tu the Postmaster-General, by letter, being careful to give his address, au'i, if necessary, write again, because the Postmaster's receipt or entry in the Pass Book is not sufficient without the further receipt for the money from Ottawa, 9. Every depositor must send his Book, once a year, viz., on the anniversary of his first deposit, for comparison with the Books of the Department, and for insertion of interest. The Book will be returned to him by first mail. At no other time should a depositor suffer his Book to be out of his own poses- •ion. 10. When a depositor wishes to withdraw money, he can do so by applying to the Postmaster-r General, who will send him by return mall a cheque for the amount, payable at whatever Savings Bank Post Office the ii-positor may nave named in his applicatiom 11. Interest at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum is allowed on deposits, and the interest is ftdded to the principal on the 80th June in each year. 18, Postmasteirs are forbidden by law to disclose the name of any depositor, or the Amount ot any sum deposited or withdrawn. 18. No charge is made to depositors on paying in or drawing out money, nor for Pass Books, nor for postage on communications with the Postmaster-General m relation to their deposits. 14. The Postmaster-General Is always ready to receive and attend to all applications, complaints, or other communications addressed to hira by depositors or others, relative to Post Office Savings Bank business. 16. A full statement of the Regulations of the Post Office Savings Bank may b« seen at any Pott OfBce in the Dominion, also in the Official Poital Ouidt, Post Omoa Dbpaktmsht, Ottawa, January, 1880. • * A CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT. EEGULATIONS GOVEENING TEAVELLERS' CAEEIAGES. Etc., CEOSSING THE FEONTIEE. ' To ensure uniformity at the frontier ports in dealing with "carriages of travellers and carriages laden with merchandise," and to afiford the utmost facility to parties visiting the Dominion for transient purposes, consistent with the protection of the Eevenue, the Minister of Customs has approved of the following "Eegulations and Eestrictions." 1st. Eegular stages and hacks, when the owners or the drivers are known to the officers, may he allowed to cross the frontier and return, within two days, without being required to make an entry at the Custom House, subject only to the ordinary examination, search and inspection. 2nd. Travellers intending to remain within the Dominion for a longer period than two days are required in all cases to report and enter their horses, carriages and travelling equipage; and in cases where they do not intend to leave at the same point at which they enter, or are uncer- tain on that point, they will deposit with the Collector the full amount of duty on such horses, carriages, and other dutiable articles, to be returned only on their furnishing satisfactory evidence that the same articles have been returned unchanged to the United States. Travellers intending to leave at the port of entry may be allowed to enter as above, and, in lieu of cash, to give a bond, with an approved resident surety, covering the amount of duty, and with the additional condition that such bond shall be enforced if the time specified therein be exceeded. 8rd. The time to be allowed travellers in either case shall not ex- ceed one calendar month ; and if that time be exceeded, the entn<3S shall be considered bona fide entries for duty, and be included in the accounts of the port. 4th. All moneys received by Collectors on deposit, under the above regulations, shall be, if possible, deposited ad interim in a bank, in the Collector's name ; and if there is no bank available, then in some other place of security under the Collector's credit, and a separate account of the receipt and disposal of such deposit shoiUd be sent quarterly to the Department. 6th. The entries in such case should contain such a desoriptioi^ of the horses, carriages, etc., as would enable the Collector or other offioer to identify them on their leaving the Dominion; and a copy shall be fur- nished the owner or other person making such entry, which shall be his permit for travelling in the country. J. JOHNSON, Commiasioner of Cuatowu* Customs Dbparthknt, Ottawa, January 1st, 1879. 119 DOMIHiOII O F MlliDt fiflHEIillMt llT RAILWAY. INTERCOLONIAL SYSTEM. Connecting at Halifax (in winter) and Eimouaki (in summer) with the Powerful First Class Steamships of the ALLAN ROYAL MAIL LINE, • TO AND FROM LIVERPOOL WBSKLT, At St. JohSy N. B., with the St. John and Maine Railway, — and Inter- national Steamship Line to and from Portland, Boston, New York, and all points in lamw sxTOxaknrD sta.vs8. At Pictou and Point du Chene with the Prince Edward Steam Nav. Coy. Steamers to and from Charlottetown, Georgetown and Summerside, during navigable season, and from these points to all stations, on the PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND RAILWAY SYSTEM. At Point Levis, (Quebec,) connections are made with the ORAHD TRUIVK RAIIalirAY To all points between Portland and Chicago. And there with the C. & N. W., 0. M. & St. P. Railway, to St. Paul, and from St. Paul with th« St. P. & P., to St. Vincent, where connections are made with the CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILNATAY — roB — MANITOBA and the QRB AT HORTH WHST TERRITORY. Through rates for Passengers and Freight can be obtained on application. > W,.. u •> lit ':^i- The Shortest and Cheapest Way to go is by the Collingmrood Liine^ Splendid Powerf «1 Steamers built specially for LAke Superior. (900 Tons.) m (900 Tons.) (850 Tons.) THB BOITTB.— The best way to trarel is by the Quick Lake Route. The time tbrougrb is abOlit the same aa " all rail," while you arrive at the end of your journey benefitted by the trip. ta- LOOK AT THE MAP.— The Collinerwood Line Houte. Ih tub Nearest to the Liakc by 70 miles from any place in Ontar' >, East of Ouelph. Is TUE Inb)db Route, t'iving pleasant calm sailing aloAK the sWtered route of the Georgian Bay and Great Nortji Uanitoulin Channel. Is THE Shortest, being 100 miles shorter by Lake than any other to Duluth, Duluth is nearer Win- nipeg than St. Paul, so take the Colliugwood Lake Route, and save One Thousand Milbb of Railway travel ! THB CONNECTIONS. At Toronto, the Grand Trunk trains connect with the Northern Railway, where porters are in at- tendance to look after baggage, without expense or trouble. Check your baggage to Toronto. Oar' loads of Housthold Goods or Live stock are sent through to Collingwood without any change, At Hamilton, the Great Western connects with the Hamilton and North- Western Railway, whose trains run through direct from Port Dover to Collingwood. • At CoLbiNawooD, the Trains run do-vn the Dock alongside the Steamers, this makes a saving for each family going via Collingwood, of ut least three or four dollars. At Duluth, the Dock and Railway Station are alongside, and your baggage is put on board the; Northern Pacific cars free— now that the Railway to Winnipeg is finished, you go right through bjy train to Winnipeg. THE ACCOMMODATION.— You have first-class cars on the Northern Railway. Steerage bU are provided on the Steamers, with separate accommodations for women and children. Hot WS for tea supplied free. Hot meals at 25c. each. Bring your own bedding and eating utensils, and' make yourself comfortable. BAGGAGE.— 150 lbs. of Emigrant effects will be taken free with each full ticket. Our Agent at. Duluth, Mr. J. T. Rose, will meet the Steamer, and without charge assist you in attending to your baggage. RATES.— This Route will always be the Cheapest. Families will save from $25 to 930 each aa against going by All-Rail. Children under 5 years taken free, from 5 to 12 half fare, over 12 full fare. SPECIAL EXCURSIONS by Si>ecial Trains on the Northern and Hamilton and North- Western Railways will he made up for parties at rates far lower than in any other way, and the carloads ci freight and goods for these parties will be sent forward together. It is agreed by everybody that the Chbapbbt way to get to Manitoba is by water ; now this CollinffWOOd Route being sheltered for half the way, it is the pleasantest, and it takes now on]^ one day longer than "All-Bail." tS" IVlten the Canada Pacine is opened via Thunder Bay, this will be the "^ *'Bee JJue," and quickest Itoute M'hethcr Luke or Kail. ■VBOPEAN I.MMIGHANT8. tf hen exchanging or pHrcha.«lnK TtcKetA on board sblp or at Qnebec, -will ask fiar and obtain Tlckels via Collingwood. For all information apply to all Grand Trunk and Royal Mail Line Agents, and 9 General TraiEo Agent, Collingwood Lino, • 35 TONQB STREET, TOROXTTO. IH HARDWARE. I MULHOLLAND BROTHERS 323 Mm Street Winnipeg, Man. . Keep oonitaatly on hand a large and well-aaaorted stock of Chelf Teii, BpadM, Jowitt'i Bmownad Filet, Azm, Okra« Oat 8ft«% Baltiiijr, Lm« Lerther, 8o^> Ston* and other FMking. IfanUl* Boptk Deep See line, Twine, Oelnun, Trape, Ounp Outftte. OVMCC flaeit BngUch Ibkee. CertridKe Ceeee, Ammanitton. Peinte, Ciotoata, Qloe, Oils, Unseed (nw and boUedX Urd, SeiU. Tuinen, Lnbrioatinf, Turpentines, Aspens, Vamlahoe, Ol«M, Putty. ObI Halls, OUnoh Halle, Blaokamith and Carriam Makeri' Snppliee, Heise Halle, Hone Shees, Cte* liage Springs, Axles, Cast Steel, SpHng Steel, Bar, Band. Hoop Iron, Chains. Anvils, Vloes, Iron Tnhinff, Lead Pipe, Orindstonee. Immifntnts will mv« considerably by buying from us, as w« mako thair Outfits a specialty. Tinware Manufiictured on the Premises. JMs Ageats la Kanltotw and the Horth-Weet for the best Steel Qalvaoised Barbed Itaos>irln nunutaotured. MULHOLLAND BROTHERS, WINNIPEQ, MANITOBA. k> ^ •^-s*,., "\s <."■/ ' I