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,,i-^

FECIAL REPORT

V\OT

' ■ » : '

The Agricultural Resources

of Canada. -

By KOBEET WALLACE, E.L.S., F.K.S.E.,

Professor of Agriculture and Rural Economy in the University of Edinhunjh ;

Author of " T/ie Farm Live Stock of Great Britain," '■'■ Indian

Agriculture,^'' and " The Rural Economy and Agriculture

of Australia and New Zealand,^' ^c. ^c.

Published hj Authority of the Govmtiment of Canada {Deparlimnt

of the Interior). ' ' '

MARCH, 1894,

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Hope Farm, the Propertt op Mr. Wm. Martin, in Socxhurn
Manitoba

Winnipeg

Farm Scene, Manitoba

Wheat Stacks, Manitoba

Grain Elevatoh, Brandon

Cameron's Farm, Qu'Appellb

Clipper Plough belono'^ng to a Killarny Crofter

A Double-Furrow and a Single-Furrow Wheel Tlougu

The Disc Harrow

Cattle in the Qu'Appellk Valley

Banch Scene, Alberta

Galloway Cattle at Hope Farm, the Property of Mr. Wm. Martin

V/ATjCxABK t«* ••• ••• ••• ••> «•• ••• «ca «B« ffc

Experimental Farm, Ottawa

Canadian Apple Orchard

A Killarny Crofter's Stable and Farm- Yard ...

Crofters Threshing Wheat

A Crofter's Bullock Team at Saltcoats

An Ontario Farm

The Qu'Appellb Valley

Zio-Zao Harrows

The New Steel Frame Cultivator

A Steel Frame Seeder ...

The Shoe Drilling Machine ...

Wide-Open Binder

The Toronto Mower

PAGE

6
U
8
9

VA
U
17
18
18
L>1
23
24
26
32
«5
•M
35)
41
44
45
4G
4(;
47
47
48
48

. %

PREFACE.

H-'-l, ,ii

'■•i\ hcu. ;i

aXKN

FAOB

8
9
VA
14
17
18
18
21
23
24
26
33
35
38
3U
41
44
45
46
4(J
47
47
48
48

The High Commissioner for Canada believes that the Eeport o'^
Professor Wallace will be read with much interest by farmers in
the United Kingdom. Its value is much enhanced by the fact that
Professor "Wallace visited Canada in 1879 as a member of the Tenant
Farmers' Delegation in that year, and he is able, therefore, to bear
witness to the great progress which has been made in the country in
the intervening period.

It is generally known that a number of Tenant Farmers from the
different parts of the United Kingdom were invited to visit Canada last
autumn, with a view to report upon the agricultural resources of the
country, and the advantages it otters for the settlement of farmers and
farm labourers, and the other classes for which there is a demand.
The following are the names of the gentlemen in question : —

Mr. A. J, Davies, Upper Hollinga, Penflax,Tenbury, Worcestershire; Mr. W.
H. Dempster, Millbrook Lod^re, Clorbeston Koad, South Wales; Mr. Alexander
Fraser, Balloch, CuUoden, InveriicHs, Scotland; Mr B. U. Faalks, Langham, Oak-
ham, Rutland ; Mr. J. T. Franklin, Handley, near Towcester, Northamptonshire ;
Mr. J. J. Guiry.Peppardstown, Fethard, Clonmel, Ireland ; Mr. Tom Pitt, Obam-
ford, CuUompton, Devon ; Mr. John Roberts, Plas Heaton Farm, Trefnant, North
Wales ; Mr. Reuben Shelton, Grange Farm, Ruddington. Nottinghamshire; Mr.
Joseph Smith, 2, Mowbray Terrace, Sowerby,Thir8k, Yorkshire ; Mr. John Steven,
Purroch Farm, Hurlford, Ayrshire, Scotland; Mr. Booth Waddingtoa, Bolehill
Farm, Wicgerworth, Chesterfield; and Mr. William Weeks, Cleverton Farm,
Chippenham, Wiltshire.

In addition, two other farmers — Mr. John Cook, of Birch Hill,
Neen Sollars, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire ; and Mr. C. B. Wright,
of Brinkhill, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire— visited the Dominion, under
their own auspices, during 1893 ; and they have also been good enough
to prepare Keports of their impressions.

The Reports, if published together, would make a bulky volume.
They have therefore been divided into the following parts : —

Part 1 — The Reports of Messrs. Shelton, Waddington, Cook, and Smith.

Part 2 — The Reports of Messrs. Franklin, Faulks, and Wright.

Part 8 — The Reports of Messrs. Weeks, Pitt, and Davies.

Part 4 — The Reports of Messrs. Roberts and Dempster.

Part 5 — ^The Reports of Messrs. Steven and Fraser.

Part 6— The Report of Mr. Guiry.

Part 1 will be circulated in the following counties : — Northumber-
land, Cumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, York, Lancashire, Shrop-
shire, Cheshire, Staft'ordshire, Derby, and Nottingham.

Fart 2, in Lincoln, Eutland, Leicester, Northampton Huntingdon,
Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertford, Bedford, Bucks, Oxford,
Berks, Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and Sussex.

Part 3, in Warwick, Worcester, Hereford, Gloucester, Wiltshire,
Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.

Part 4, in Wales ; Part 5, in Scotland ; and Part 6, in Ireland.

•• f^.-^:^'\' r" <o

.1 -co

O (^'xM<

4 ' Prejace.

Professor James Long, the well-known agricultural expert, o£
Stanbridge Hall, Eomsey, Hants, also visited Canada during the
summer and autumn, and at the request of the High Commissioner
prepared a Report, which is of a very interesting and instructive nature,
valuable alike to English and to Canadian farmers.

Any or all of these pamphlets, as well as other illustrated
From wJiom pamphlets issued by the Government, may be obtained,
PamjMets post free, by persons desiring to peruse them, on applica-
ohtainable. tion to the Hon. Sir Charles Tiippor, Bart., Q-.C.M.G.,

C.B., High Commissioner for Canada, 17, Victoria Street,
London, S.W. ; to Mr. J. G. Colmer, C.M.G., Secretary, at the same
address ; or to any of the agents of the Canadian Government in the
United Kingdom, mIiosc names and addresses are as follows: — Mr.
John Dyke, 15, "Water Street, Liverpool ; Mr. Thomas Grahame,
40, St. Enoch Square, Glasgow; Mr. E. J. Wood, 79, Hagley Road,
Birmingham ; Mr. P. Fleming, 44, High Street, Dundee ; Mr. W.
G. Stuart, Nethy Bridge, Inverness; and Mr. G. Leary, William
Street, Kilkenny. Copies may also be obtained from the steamship
agents, who are to be found in every village.

It may be desirable to refer briefly to the land regulations in force in
the different provinces. In Manitoba and the North- West, free grants of
160 acres are offered to eligible settlers — i.e., males over 18 years of age,
and femalps who are the heads of families ; further quantities may be
purchased either from the Government, or the various land and railway
companies, at prices ranging from lOs. an acre. In Prince Edward
Island, Government land may be purchased at from 4s. 2d. an acre.
In Nova Scotia, the price of Crown land is ^8 per 100 acres ; New
Brunswick gives free grants of 100 acres, on condition of certain
improvements, and on payment of .£4 in cash, or work on public works
to the extent of £2 per annum for three years. Residence and certain
improvements are also required. In Ontario, free grants of from 100
to 200 acres are made, with the option of purchasing more, if required,
at a low rate. The grants in Ontario are subject to certain conditions.
In the Rainy River district, to the west of Lake Superior, free grants
are also given from 120 to 160 acres, with the privilege of purchasing
an additional quantity. In British Columbia, land can be obtained both
from the Provincial and Dominion Governments, at from 4s. 2d. per
acre, on certain conditions of settlement and improvements. For land
free of conditions 20s. per acre is charged by the Dominion Govern-
ment ; but no sale, except in special cases, is to exceed 640 acres to one
person. Improved farms may be purchased in ail the provinces at reason-
able rates. They are suitable for persons with some means who desire
more of the social surroundings than can be found in those pairts of
the country in which Government lands are still available for occupa-
tion and settlement. Most of the pamphlets issued by the Government
explain the land regulations at length, and also contain much general
information about the resources and trade of the country.

Sir Cii

expert, of
during the
ommiflsioner
jtive nature,

r illustrated
je obtained,
on applica-
, G.C.M.G.,
toria Street,
it tlie same
leut in the
lows : — Mr.
Grahame,
gley Road,
Mr. W.
■y, William
3 steamship

s in force in
ee grants of
ears of age,
lies may be
ind railway
ice Edward
d. an acre,
.cres; New
of certain
iblic works
ind certain
' from 100
f required,
conditions,
ree grants
purchasing
ainod both
Is. 2d. per
For land
a Govem-
ires to one
at reason-
vho desire
e parts of
3r occupa-
•vernment
jh general

The Univehsity, EDiNntmoir,

December, 1893.
Sir CiiAS. TuprEB, IJart.,

High Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada,

London.

Sin, — It is my privilege to report the results of a two months
tour of investigation in the Dominion of Canada, taken by me on
behalf of the Canadian Government, under arrangements made with
the Hon. T. Mayne Daly, Minister of the Interior, and yourself,
acting in the capacity of High Commissioner for the Dominion in
London.

I left Liverpool by the Allan steamship " Laurentian " on
Resume Thursday, 24th August, and returned by the same vessel,
of Route, landing at Liverpool on Tuesday evening, 24th October.

On reaching Montreal, 1 proceeded by train to Ottawa,
where, in the absence of 3fr. Daly, I was received by Mr. A. M.
Burgess, the Deputy-Minister of the Interior. As time was short,
only one day was spent in Ottawa, but I had the good fortune —
it being Labour Day — to see the vari(ms trades on holiday, marching
in procession, and finally completing the entertainment by holding
national sjwrts on the race-ground. I also visited the Central
Experimental Farm of the Dominion, under the escort of Mr. J. W.
Robertson, the Dairy Commissioner. The same evening I took train
for Winnipeg, and, with the exception of about 12 days spent
in Ontario and the Eastern Townships — including a flying visit ot

HOPE FARM, THE PROPERTY OF MR. WM. MARTIN, IN SOUTHERN MANITORA.

three days to the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago — the time at
my disposal was devoted to Manitoba and those portions of the
Dominion to the west. Taking Winnipeg as my headquarters,

Agrimltural Jieumtrcea of Canada,

my first visit was paid to Hope Farm, near St. Jean, in Southern
Manitoba, the property of Mr. William Martin, of Martin, Mitchell,
& Co.; the second, to the Killarnoy crofter district, returning by
Brandon. The third tour of investigation was made with your-
self to the Saltcoats crofters, on the Manitoba and North- Western
Kailway. On leaving your party at Minnedosa, I drove across to
Brandon, and proceeded westward to Calgary, whore the journey was
broken to enable mo to visit the ranching district in the neighbourhood
of McLeod. I then crossed the Kocky Mountains to Vancouver and
Victoria, and on my way back to Winnipeg broke my journey at Indian
Head, to examine the wheat cultivation so extensively carried on in
that district. I returned by the Canadian Pacific Railway to Toronto,
and while there I took the opportunity of visiting the Guelph Agri-
cultural College before returning to Ottawa.

It was my good fortune, as one of the first Scottish
Former and farmers' delegates who went out to Canada in the
Beeent autumn of 1879, to spend three months on a mission

Experiences. somewhat similar to the one which 1 have just com-
pleted. On the return journey at that time I
encountered off the North of Ireland the storm in which the Tay
Bridge was destroyed. On the occasion of my first visit I spent
some weeks in the Eastern Townships, in the province of Quebec,
and some of the most interesting farming districts of Ontario. In
going to Manitoba, the Lake route was cLosen, by way of Duluth,
and I arrived in Winnipeg when the terminus of the railway from
the South was yet two miles distant.

at road-
well ren

lessly sti

The cor

has an

value (

inhabita

includir

which

and a

Hchools

denomii

WIMNIPEG.

At that time, now 14 years ago, the city of Winnipeg was estimated
to contain about 5,000 inhabitants. Few houses had any claim to archi-
tectural beauty, or even any degree of stability. There was no attempt

Ptofettor Wallace'^ lUport,

in Southern
tin, Mitchell,
returning by
) with your-
orth-Western
3ve across to
journey was
eighbourhood
mcouver and
ley at Indian
»rried on in
' to Toronto,
uelph Agri-

Rrst Scottish
uada in the
Jn a mission
ve just com-
;hat time I
ich the Thy
isit I spent

of Quebec,
Ontario. In

of Duluth,
ailway from

I estimated
n to archi-
10 attempt

at road-making, and no pavements in ev( . the principal strootf*, and I
well remember seeing the remains of a Red River cart which had hope-
lessly stuck in Main Street, not far from the site of the Manitoba Hotel.
The contrast of the old with the new city is striking. Now, the city
has an unmistakeable claim to be regarded as such, having an assesNed
value of £21,000,000 sterling, and, according to last census, 32,210
inhabitants. The rate of taxation is a little less than 2 per cent.,
including school rates and other taxes. The main buildings —
which include an hospital, medical college, free schools, high schools,
and a university — can be fairly described as magnificent. The
schools are supported by the city, and the colleges by the various
denominations, to which the Government gives small grants. There
is a daily attendance of 13,500 children at the free schools. The
facilities for transit include a most perfect system of electric cars,
which frequently travel at a rate of not less than 12 miles an hour.
On the occasion of my first v'sit, in company with three other
delegates, I drove a distance of 250 miles through Southern Manitoba,
in a south-westerly direction, to Rock Lake, returning east to join the
only railway then m the country, at Emerson, on the American frontier.
As I covered a considerable amount of ground in my recent tour
which I traversed in 1879, the interest in contrasting tlie past with the
present has been greater than even ^ first tour of inspection in a new
country could afford. In 1879 I was introduced i. the wonderful
character of the black soil of Manitoba, an alluvium of exceptional
fertility, which is supposed to have derived its dark appearance, to a
considerable extent, at least, from the ashes I'esulting from the prairie
fires of generaticms.

In the Report which I published early in 1 SSO, it is interesting to
notice that the estimate of the cost of Manitoba wheat, laid down in
Liverpool, was 288. per quarter, and it was believed that we could not
profitably grow wheat in England at less than 50s. per quarter. While
the mass of information which I then collected remains applicable to
the condition at the present time, it is important to point out that
the estimates formed, from the best information at my disposal, of the
area of land capable of growing wheat, were immensely exaggerated,
as compared with what is now known of the country. It was believed
that no less than 300 million acres of wheat-growing land would
ultimately be cultivated in Manitoba and the North-West Territory.
Although satisfied generally, I did not at that time express any very
sanguine hope of a rapid development of the country, and, taken as a
whole, this early opinion must be regarded as fairly correct ; while it
may be admitted that in certain of the more favoured parts of Southern
Manitoba the outcome resulting from settlement has been beyond my
original anticipations.

By way of illustration, I may mention a few facts
A Succesaful relating to a settler — an excellent illustration of a
Manitoban successful Manitoban farmer — whom I interviewed, from
Farmer. the neighbourhood of Roland, on the Northern Pacific and

Manitoba Railway — Morris and Brandon branch. He
wa9 thoroughly satisfied with his good fortune, and had no complaints

The Agncnltinml Re»ource» of Canada.

Il<

<() niako ngainst tlio country. lie had hevn 62 years out from Irc^land,
having Hrst wotth-d in Ontario. Ht* had been only 14 years in Manitoba,
and was much pleased with thci part of the country in question. He
began, as ho descM-ilwd it, w ith " nothing." Now he owns half a seci/ion
— .M20 acres -while his son and son-in-law own another half-section
tjach ; and all are iloing well. He has never suffered from frosted
wheat during the 14 years; and only once was it blighted by what he
describt'd an a " hot, salt wind," when only 700 busnels were reaped
in ])lace of the natural yield, which ought to have been 3,000. He
now rents out most of liis land, and does not work so hard as he did
a few y(*ars ago. Jiut this year his ttsnant failed to secure help, and

-,^^^^:^#*''*^- ..!3;5^*fc

FABM SCENE, MAMITOUA

he had ngain to turn in and aid in cutting the crop, doing very
frequently double work — the two men, aided by a binder and six
liorses, cutting and setting up 20 acres of wheat per day. But at this
work they wrought frequently as late as 10 and even 12 o'clock
at night. His crops suffered little from the attack of "smut" or
"bunt," as he changed the seed frequently. Ho bought "bluestone"
last year, with the object of steeping the seed, but was afraid to do so,
because some of his neighbours had used too strong a solution of the
steep, and the results were unsatisfactory. He reports the winters
to be cold in Manitoba, yet people do not feel the cold so much as in
Ontario, and are not so liable to get frost-bitten.

Wheai-rji\
AreaH.

not acd
region,
area i« »!
can read
were set
though
broken
point tt
soil anc
in wheaj

1
Assin
rangi
is mi

a gr'
that
exan
and
is CO
is n(

from Ireland,
P in Manitoba,
■uestion. He
[half a Neciion
ir fialf-section

from frosted
[d by what he

were reaped

a,ooo. fte

»rd as he did
Lire help, and

Profeaaor Wallace^a litpnrt.

oing very
and six
it at this
2 o'clock
mut" or
Liestone "
to do so,
•n of the
winters
h as in

Wheaf'f/rowinff
Areas.

Of all the provinceH in the great Canadian A'orth-
West, Manitol the one whi(!h produces the largest
<iuniitity oF the u* hk niiality of wheat, and is likely
to continue to d») so in future To thost^ who are
not acc|uainted with the ciiaracter of the hind of this northern
region, it is not unconunon to find tlu^ hi^lief prevalent that the whoh?
area is a vast plain of level Innd, without an obstacle as far as the eye
can ivach, and all cijually suited to the growth of wheat, if there
were settlers in sudlcient numbers to occupy it. On the contrary,
though the country unquestionably looks flat, and the view is not
broken by any great ohstiieh', ^(^t tlu) difference in level from point to
point throughout its extent is considerable- as is also the variety of
soil and climate - and, conseiimuitly, the difference in results attained
in wheat-growing are very great.

WIIKAT STACKS, MANnOBA.

The best wheat-growing land is to be found ii. the valleys of the
Assiniboine and Souris Rivers. These naturally form the lowest ref^ions,
ranging from 738 ft. at Winnipeg upwards, as the ascent of the rivers
is made, but lower by about 200 to 300 ft. than the land lying at
a greater distance from the rivers. It is on these elevated parts
that frost is found to do more injury than in the lower ground. For
example, the range of the Pembina Mountains, Swan Lake, Somerset,
and Alta districts are all most liable to suffer. The soil of the valleys
is considerably heavier than that of the rising ground, and in this way
is not only more suitable for wheat-growing, being denser, closer, and

The Agricultural Resources of Canada.

retentive of water, but altogether better suited for
crops of the finest quality — the hard, flinty wheat

more
large
Manitoba is so famous.

Goinff more into detail with

producing
for which

regard to the localities

Methods of
Cultivation.

to be made
been going

in which
the best wheat is grown, a very tine tract of country is that in
which r -iami. Carman, Eoland, and Morden are situated, ranging in
elevation from 827 ft. above sea level at Eoland to 1,010 ft. at
Carman. Another good wheat district is found round Neepawa, and
again near Portage-la-Prairie. West of the 100th parallel of longitude,
the climate is so much drier than that to the east that wheat is
uncertain, except in specially favourable seasons, and farmers there
would be well advised in keeping more live stock, and in undertaking
nixed farming. So with the elevated land ; farmers on the Pembina
Mountain, running up from about 900 to 1,500 ft., especially about
Manitou and Pilot Mound, where wheat cannot be depended upon,
have adopted cattle-rearing with considerable success. The best cattle
from Manitoba sent to England are exported from this region.

West of Minnedosa, on the Manitoba and North- Western line,
the country is better suited for mixed farming, including cattle-
rearing and dairying, than for continual wheat-growing.

The fertility of the soil has retarded rapid progress
in the adoption of good systems of rotations of crops,
or of any of the best-known European methods for
restoring fertility to land; but a change is beginning
in this respect in those parts where cropping has
on regularly. AVTieat still follows wheat for two, or
perhaps for three, successive years; then by following with a crop of
oats, succeeded by a summer fallow, a little variety is introduced. jPhe
summer fallow is made to take the place of the green crop, for which,
under the present system of management, there is no demand. At the
Hope Farm the experiment was being tried of growing a crop of wheat
and of bare fallowing in alternate years. The object of bare fallowing
is to secure freedom from weeds, and to work the land early, so that
time may be left for it to consolidate thoroughly before the period of
sowing in spring ; and it is found that the most satisfactory crops in
the so-called rotation are to be got after a summer tallow. The chief
defect of the light soils of Manitoba for wheat-growing 's that they
are too loose and open to form a suitably solid bed for the i uots of the
wheat plant. Hitherto the cultivators have avoided rolling, because it
was found that rolling at seed tim" left the surface soil in such a
finely divided condition that the high winds, which prevail often at
that season, blew away the top layer and piled it in neaps like snow
wreaths. This diiHculty appears as if it could be overcome by the use,
not of the ordinary cylindrical roller at seed time, but by employing
the heavy Cambridge, or so-called Eing or Fluted Disc, roller,
immediately after ploughing. Then the land which had been newly
turned up would not be in a condition to assume the powdery form,
and yet the mass of the soil which had been moved would be consoli-
dated, and would immediately acquire that solidity which land acquires
when left out in summer fallow. The difference between the growth

acr^

froi

ripe

ind

rap

dis

bee

Professor Wallaces Report.

ed for producinff
wheat for which

'caJities in which
•untiy is that in
uated, raneinff in

to 1,010 V a?

n J^^epawa, and
alleJofJongitude,
•st that wheat is
a farmers there
I m undertakinff
on the Pembina
especialiy about
depended upon,

The best cattle
region.

ih-Westem line,
Qciuding cattle-

•

rapid progress
ations of crops,
in methods for
ge is beginning

cropping has
at for two, or
with a crop of
trodaced. ^he
•op, for which,
°»»nd. At the
crop of wheat
hare fallowing
eariy, m that
the period of
Jtorj crops in
'^' The chief

's that they
> roots of the
'g. because it
»1 in such a
vail often at
ps like snow
3 by the use,
>y employing
Disc, roller,
been newly
kvdery form,
I be consoli-
md acquires
the growth

)£ wheat on soil so loose as the black soil of Manitoba, compared with
well-packed soil such as might be secured by the treatment suggested,
light make the difference of two or three bushels an acre in the
iverage of the wheat crop of the country. It is claimed for summer
[fallowing that the first favourable opportunity can be taken to get the
seed into the groimd, and thus prevent the injury resulting from
' early frosts in autumn ; but this is not admitted by the best cultivators
to be its chief advantage, because it is considered by them to be a
mistake to sow too early, say in April, as under ordinary circumstances
sowing in May gives the best results. On the Hope Farm I saw a
splendid crop of wheat, which was sown on 20th May, took only
90 days to ripen, and gave an average yield of 35 bushels to the
acre. But this record was beaten by another across the Eed Eiver
from St. Jean, in which a crop of wheat, classed as No. 1 hard,
ripened in 82 days. As a rule, judging from the experience of the

10 years previous to 1893, it takes about 120 to 135 days for wheat
to ripen in Manitoba; so that the exceptional cases quoted merely
indicate the extraordinary nature of the season of 1893, and must not
be regarded as a guide in ordinary circumstances. Wheat ripens most
rapidly when not too thinly sown. In the better wheat-growing
districts of Manitoba 1| bushels of seed per acre, drilled in, yields the
best crop.

At Indian Head I saw the farm of the Canadian Co-
A Large operative Colonisation Company, managed by Mr. W.
Wheat B. Sheppard. The total area of this holding is 43,000
Farm. acres. It ^va8 a portion of the old Bell Farm, and

it has been thrown open for sale since May last, to
intending settlers, at a price of from $30 to $40 an acre ; but mean-
while the land is being cultivated on a large scale for wheat-growing.
An excellent crop of wheat was rtiiped during last season ; six binders
cut 1,400 acres of wheat and 200 acres of oats and barley between
15th August and 11th September. Wheat-growing operations were
started on the 7th of May, 1890. The "breaking" of the prairie
begins about the middle of June, and the "back-setting" a month later.
In sowing the wheat, the " breaking " and " back-setting " part
of the land are put in first, next that which has been " summer-
fallowed," then the winter-ploughed land, and last that ploughed
in spring. This keeps the wheat from all coming to maturity at
the same time, and yet ensures that the crop becomes ripe during a
period of one month, which gives time to carry on the harvesting
operations satisfactorily. Perhaps one of the most interesting
incidents in connection with this farm is the fact that it was to
this place that Lord Brassey sent out 87 settlers from all parts
of the United Kingdom by way of an experiment in assisted emigration.
The men went under an agreement to work for 15 months, and at the end
of that time they v/ei'e to get Government homesteads; but they became
dissatisfied, and the agreement was broken at the end of about

11 months ! This result was due to the influence of a carpenter, who
stirred up a spirit of discontent — a work in which he had considerable
facility, owing to the people being placed in close proximity to one

The Agricultural Resources of Canada.

another, within easy reach of an itinerant agitator. This was an
illustration of the difficulty of carrying assisted emigration to a
successful issue. Needless to say, the complaints which were mado
were, as is frequently the case, more of a sentimental than of a sub-
stantial kind.

It is a fact well known to millers that the wheat of
Manitoba Manitoba is of superior quality, although to the eye of
Wheat. the British farmer, accustomed to large, plump grain, it

looks small and insignificant. The grains are extremely
hard and horn-like, and the dough when produced in bread-making

CiUAl.N ELUVAlUli, UiiANUON.

has in an exceptionally high degree that peculiar quality which
bakers call " strength." In other words, the dough has such tenacity
that when pulled by the baker in working it is difficult to break,
and when undergoing the process of cooking it resists the expan-
sion of the gases forming in the bread with such success that
the product is left light and open. A barrsi of Manitoba wheat
196 lbs. in weight will produce 88 loaA^es of 4 lbs. each. Soft
wheat, on the other hand, such as that grown in Oregon, will
give from 35 lbs. to 40 lbs. less bread per barrel. It will now be
easily recognised why millers appreciate Manitoba wheat, and find it
economical to mix with the flour produced by wheat grown in
other localities.

As soon as threshing begins, which is immediately after harvest,

Boan
and
Orah
Vrod

worl

Trac

and

men

The

rao(

stal

bo(]

Profemor Wallace's Report.

This was an
Qigration to a
ch were rnado
than o^ a sub-

the wheat of

to the eye of

lump grain, it

are extremely

bread-making

I'ty whicii
ch tenacity
to break,
*^he expan-
ccess that
iba wheat
ch. Soft
'Kon, will
1 now be
id find it
rrown in

' harvest,

^heat exportation commences, and railway and steamboat accommoda-
tion are taxed to their fullest extent. Tha wheat which is not at once
ihipped is stored in elevators, on what may originally be called the
American plan. To save labour, and as a matter of general con-
venience, the wheat requires to be graded into samples of equal value,
}o that it is not necessary for the owner of the elevator to deliver to a
customer the identical wheat which he deposits. Gradation of wheat
Jinto different samples is undertaken by Government, who appoint an
^inspector and a number of assistants for the piu-pose of carrying out a
[uniform classification. Representatives fr(mi Boards of Trade through-
out the Dominion come together to determine the standard for each
year, acting under laws and regulations framed for their guidance. The
common standards by which the greater quantity of wheat is fixed are
iis follows : — No. 1 , No. 2, and No. 3 Manitoba hard, and No. 1 , No. 2,
— and No. 3 Manitoba Northern. If a vei-y superior sample is found, it
may be necessary to make an extra Manitoba hard, and further sub-
divisions are sometimes required — such as a hard, white Fyfe wheat ; No.
1, No. 2, and No. 3 spring wheat, &c. In connection with the first six
divisions, it is necessary that wheat should be sound, and " well " or
" reasonably " cleaned, and in the case of No. 1 hard weigh 60 lbs. to the
bushel, in the cases of No. 2 hard 58 lbs., of No. 1 Northern 60 lbs., and
of No. 2 Northern 58 lbs. to the bushel. The great difference between
the '• hard '" wheat and the " Northern " is, that the hard wheat has a
smaller percentage of soft grains, or grains which are soft in part — prob-
ably in the centre — and hard at each end. A hard grain has a uniformly
solid and horn-like appearance when cut; whereas a soft grain is some-
what mealy and irregular when fractured, and is white to appearance
within, thus resembling the wheat of this country. Samples of the
standards fixed are given to the inspector, who grades the wheats and
issues certificates, stating details, receiving for his labour 60 cents per
car, or 60 cents per thousand bushels in cargo lots. He is, however,
made responsible to the full amount of the loss sustained if a mistake
be made. Anyone dissatisfied with the classification can demand a
" survey ; " but it is right to say that difliculties of this kind are rarely
met with, so perfect is the system of management, and so expert have
the inspectors become at their work.

Winnipeg, being the capital of the great wheat-grow-
Boards of Trade ing province, stands in a unique position as compared
and Winnipeg with the market centres of the other parts of the
Grain and Dominion. In these places — for example, in Toronto

Produce Exchange, and Montreal — the Board of Trade possesses a depart-
ment which is termed the Corn Exchange, but it is
worked under one charter as one public body. In Winnipeg, the Board of
Trade is a separate corporation from the Grain and Produce Exchange,
and acts under a different charter and different bye-laws, although the
members composing the one and the other are in a great measure the same.
The importance of the grain trade in proportion to trade in other coui-
modities in this part of the win'ld is sufficient reason for tliis exceptional
state of things. Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange is a corporate
body governed by a council of management, eont^isting of the })resident.

The Agrieuttural Resources of Canada.

vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and such other members as may be|
provided by bye-laws. It has for its main objects, among many objects ,
of minor importance which it is unnecessary to notice — (a) The duty of
compiling and publishing statistics and distributing information
respecting the produce and provision trades, and permitting the
establishment and maintenance of uniformity in the business customs
and regulations among the persons engaged in the said trades through-
out the province, whether they be members of the corporation or not ;
(b) to provide and uphold a suitable building for a grain and produce
exchange, and thus in the city of Winnipeg to encourage the centralisa-
tion of the produce and provision trade ; (c) to settle controversies and
misunderstandings between persons engaged in the trades in question

Carriage
ind Store
Wheat

■4|-.n iM|:; i -i ' ■■ .;;.: ~ ^. :v.:i'M\- ■ !P%-

ii.i ' !'S !' ; ' i-Li !' I^!' ^ ! M

CAMEUON's farm, QU'APrELLE

by means of arbitration, the corporation nominating arbiters —usually
members of the council — but not preventing the parties in dispute
selecting members of the corporation other than those in the official
management. Although it would appear that it is left entirely to the
individuals concerned to consent to arbitration, yet it is difficult to see
from the bye-laws how anyone could remain a member of the Exchange
and refuse to settle disputes in this manner, which, it must be admitted,
is infinitely more satisfactory in a trade of this kind than appealing to
the ordinary Courts of Justice, which would naturally have to consult
experts before disputes could possibly be settled on an equitable basis.
Not only does this means of adjusting difficulties do a good work in an
expeditious manner when these arise, but it forms an admirable check
to those who would create controversy without proper cause.

Ganadio
Wheat
at Home

further
wheat i
been t1
relative
home, :
employ
and at
comm(
which
A
about
is fou
horse-
possil
of po
resou
adde(
refus
cattl
of gi

Kee

Profatw WnUac^a Report,

bers as may feg'
ig many objects .
(a) The duty of
g information
)ermitting the
usiness customs
rades through-
>ration or not;
n and produce
' the centralisa-
titroversies and
es in question

srs— usually
in dispute
the official
rely to the
icult to see
5 Exchange
e admitted,
•pealing to
to consult
ible basis.
»'ork in an
ble check

The Canadian Pacific Bailway has this year reduced its

arnage freight charges for wheat from all the chief points of ship-

nd Storage ment by 3 cents per 100 lbs., or from 21 cents to 18 cents

Wheat. to Fort William, the Lake port for Manitoba. The same

rates apply on the Northern Pacific lines, which carry

he wheat to Duluth. When it goes the latter way it passes in

ond across the boundary. Wheat is thus carried by the Canadian

^acific Eailway at the same freight charges about 100 miles further

han wheat going by other lines from points north of Dakota,

[contiguous to the boundary line with the States. The reduction in

ithe cost of carriage will make a difference to the farmers of Manitoba

of about SK300,000, calculated upon the basis of 15,000,000 bushels

being the crop of the country for the past year. The terminal charges

at Duluth and Fort William for storing grain in the elevators and

putting it afloat within 14 days, is 1| cents per bushel, and half a

cent per bushel for every additional 14 days it is kept. This is

between 1st June and 1st November. For winter storage 4 cents is

the maximum charge, which is reckoned to begin with as above stated.

In the case of wheat stored in the country the rate is 2 cents per

bushel for receiving, cleaning, and shipping within 14 days. After

that the authorised rate is half a cent per bushel up to the maximum

of 4 cents ; but this latter right to charge is not often put in force.

The work of milling wheat in Canada is gradually passing
into the hands of large companies, which adopt the most
recent and best machinery, and the individual millers and
old companies aia going to the wall. The opinion is held
by those who have knowledge of the comparative value of
Manitoba wheat as compared with the wheats grown
further south, that the practice of beginning to ship Manitoba
wheat into the States, and also to England, immediately the crop has
been threshed, leads to the disposal of it at a rate below its true
relative value ; and that if the wheat crop were ground into flour at
home, not only would there be a large increase in the amount of labour
employed, but refuse products would be got to feed thousands of cattle,
and at the same time the flour in barrels would command a price
commensurate with its true value for mixing with the weaker wheats,
which are so abundant in England and in America.

At the Lake of the Woods, on the Canadian Pacific Railway,
about 138 miles east of Winnipeg, the amount of available water power
is four times that in use at Minneapolis, where from 10,000 to 12,000
horse-power may be seen at work driving 32 flour mills. The
possibility of creating an industry employing four times this amount
of power is one which should not be forgotten in dealing with the
resources of the country. Not only might 10 cents per bushel be
added to the price of all grain shipped abroad, but the bran and other
refuse would make it possible for Canadian farmers to feed their store
cattle at home, and once for all settle the difficulty of the importation
of grazing and store animals into this country.

Since tlie above was written, intimation has been made that the
Keewatin Power Co., Limited, has already been established with the

Canadian
Wheat
at Home.

The Agricultxiral Resources of Canada.

object oE carrying out the work referred to, with a capital of $1,000,000,
a large amount of which has been subscribed. The minimum volume
of water issuing from the lake is estimated at 35,000 to 40,000 horse-
power, the magnitude and importance of which may be estimated when
it is known tliat 1,000 horse-power is ample to work a flour mill,
grinding 1,000 barrels per day, or, say, 5,000 bushels of wheat. Work
has been begun, and will be continued during the present winter. The
company intend to make available the entire volume of water, and
will sell or rent power, and sites for building, so that works of all
descriptions may be established, and Keew atin become one of the most
important manufacturing centres in the Dominion. Not only does it
possess the immense advantage of cheap water power, but also that of
the proximity of the Canadian Pacific Eiailway — certainly the most
enterprising and efficient railroad service Avhich is to be found on the
American continent. It is also proposed ultimately to make a canal
to AVinnipeg, and this, with the cheap water communication which can
be had from I'ort William, must confer on Keewatin privileges that
are possessed but by few industrial centres.

At the opening of the wheat market in Winnipeg in
Pnces of September of this year, the extremely low price of 45 cents
Wheat in per bushel of 60 lbs. for Manitoba No. 2 hard was all that
1893. was offered; No. 1 hard bringing 48 cents per bushel, and

No. 3 hard 40 cents ; No. 1 Northern being about the same
price as No. 2 hard. Last year No. 2 hard was 52 cents; No. 1,
55 cents ; and No. .:<, 47 cen^s. The low prices of this year were
accounted for by the depressing influences of the surplus of old wheat
in hand, by the monetary difficulties in America, and, of course, by the
low quotations ruling in the English market. The samples of wheat
coming to hand were extremely good, there being very little " touched "
with frost or injured by " bunt," and the season had been favourable
for the development of wheat of the best quality for milling purposes.
Prices tended upwards in a few days, but at current rates it cannot be
said that wheat-growing in Manitoba is the most remunerative bittnch
of the farming industry. The yield for the colony was originally
estimated at 20,000,000 bushe's, but it was not long before reports of
very small yields came in from arious quarters, and the total return is
now ofticially stated to be 15,615,923 bushels.

The American system of selling " options " on the wheat market
is one which has created a good deal of discussion and led to no little
irritation among American wheat-growers. A farmer — or, more fre-
quently, a grain dealer — agrees to deliver on a given date an amount
of wheat of a certain quality at a price named, reserving, however, in
the fvent of wheat falling in value, the option of paying to the
purchaser the difference between that price and the market price at
the time fixed for delivery. There is much to be said in favour of the
system when confined to bona-fde transactions. It affords the growers
a ready means of marketing their grain at current rates, and it tends
to prevent extreme fluctuation in prices, in a great measure through
the freedom with wliich information relating to transactions is given
for the benefit of those interested. But abuse comes in, and a blessing

il£

Pi'ofmor Wallace^a Beportt

BLOOO,000,
um volume
000 horse-
lated when

flour mill,
at. Work
nter. The
Avater, and
orka of all
)t' the most
nly does it
ilso that of

the most

ind on the

ke a canal

1 which can

vileges that

innipeg in
of 45 cents
was all that
bushel, and
ut the same
its; No. 1,
year were
t old wheat
lurse, by the
Bs of wheat
"touched"
a favourable
ig purposes,
t cannot be
itive branch
s originally
i reports of
al return is

leat market
to no little
', more fre-
an amount
however, in
ing to the
Let price at
vour of the
the growers
id it tends
ire through
>ns is given
i a blessing

transformed into a curse when "bear" speculators sell wheat
options " without being in possession of the grain, trusting to secure
it at a favourable price when the time for delivery arrives. In this
way what is equivalent to an artificial supply of wheat is created,
which depresses market prices.

OLIPPEB PLOUGH BELONGING TO A KILLAUNEV CBOFTEU.

The scarcity and dearness of labour in Canada form a
Agricultural great inducement to the farmer to provide himself
Macldnery. with the most effective farm implements and machinery,

which will enable him to do the work quickly and
efficiently. We consequently find that men are liable to contract
liabilities beyond their means in providing machinery for their farms.
The conditions of things are such that it would be almost impossible
to get through the work unless by the aid of modern machinery;
but the difficulty with small holders arises in the fact that each
man has not sufficient work to fully employ the machinery in
which he invests. The burden, therefore, is greater upon those small
holders than upon men who arc in a larger way of business. Till
lately there were numerous small companies of implement dealers,
but a large number of these have been absorbed in the Massey-Harris
Company, which is now the largest company employed in the manu-
facture and sjile of implements in the Dominion. By the courtesy
of the manager of this company, I have been provided with blocks
illustrating the forms of a number of machines commonly employed in
agriculture, and plates printed from these are added as an appendix
■to my Report. Eor breaking in prairie land, the Sulky Plougli, on
which the workman rides, and which turns over more than one furrow
at a time, is probably the best and most useful ; but where weeds have
established themselves, the common Chilled Plough, turning over a
15-inch furrow, is more serviccftbl*?. On clean land, the Sulky or

Thi AgrictiUnral Besovrees of Canada.

the Gang Plough does a greater amount of work. The operation of
ploughing is succeeded by that of harrowing, with the Disc Harrow

hi^

A DOUBLB-PUKKOW AND A StNOtB-FUBROW WIIEBL PLOUOH.

and common Zig-Zag. The Disc Harrow is much more used in Canada
than it is in this country, being extremely useful for raising a mould
or forming a tilth, without tearing up the furrow slices and displacing
them, on land which has been ploughed only a few inches deep.
"While doing this work, it also presses down the furrow slices and
aids in preparing a solid bed for wheat. The so-called Shoe Drill,

THE DISC HARROW.

;;>J

which has dragging behind each coulter a series of three rings to cover
the seed, is intended to prevent the disturbance of the surface of the
soil in sowing, which, it has been explained, is liable to give rise to its
removal by wind. The Steel Frame Cultivator is one which is service-
able on land, such as is to be found in the Canadian North- West, of a
loose working description, and free from hard obstacles, such as stones.
The mowing machines and reaping machines are familiar to farmers
in this country, as numbers are shipped to us by the Massey-Harris
Company. ' '^

The position of the agricultural community in Canada
is unique in some important features. The great
majority of farmers are their own proprietors, but
many, having mortgaged their holdings to the full
extent to money-lenders, are only nominally so. Still, it must be
stated that the land is not mortgaged for the usual reason. The fact
is that many Canadian farmers have little or no working capital, and
the holding is mortgaged in order to provide it. It is a good invest-

The Canadian
Farmer.

emigr
adan^
the ne
to Cai
should
by StJ
of disi
large
of Aj
throuj
only
are
[natui
Istopi
■plea
work!
no ell

Professor Wallace*» liejiort.

>eration of
)c Harrow

QU.

d in Canada
ing a mould
d displacing
inches deep,
slices and
Shoe Drill,

rings to cover
surface of the
give rise to its
hich is service-
rth-West, of a
such as stones,
liar to fanners
Massey-Harris

inity in Canada
8. The great
)roprietors, but
igs to the full
ill, it must be
ason. The fact
ing capital, and
9 a good invest-

ment to the people who lend the money, and advantageous to the
farmer. Although, as a rule, the owner works his own land, yet
land is sometimes let out on. abares. Virgin land broken in for
the first year is free to tho man who agrees to cultivate it. The
land which has been already under cultivation is rented at half
the crop if the proprietor supplies the seed, or a third of the crop
if the tenant assumes all responsibility. Perhaps there is no agri-
cultural country in the world where so many men who were not
reared in the business are engaged at farming. They have been
induced by grants of free land, and by the prospects of being their
own masters, to emigrate to this vast country, and they have often
laboured under great difficulties, but they have struggled on and
established themselves as farmers. While all have made a living, only
some have done well in the effort to accumulate wealth. Much depends
on the character of the individual, and we find tL re are those who are
unable to succeed in Canada, just as there are men who are failures in
every country. It would not be surprising if a greater number failed in
a new country like this than in an old, because naturally those who go
abroad are not, as a rule, those who are most successful at home, but
those who hope to find in a change of surroundings a possibility of
bettering their condition.

What Canada wants for tho development of her great
Classes Wanted resources is a class of hard-working, industrious
in Canada. cultivators with large families, such as are to be found

leaving our country districts and accumulating in
towns, mainly with the object of securing employment for the
members of their families as they reach the age at which they are
permitted by law to take employment in shops and factories. Men of
this description become comparatively well off when the family income
is increased by the earnings of three or four of the elder children, and
the temptation is consequently great to draw this class of people into
the more populous centres, where alone employment is abundant.
Such individuals do not possess means sufficient to defray the expenses of
emigration and to establish themselves in a new country ; and it would be
a dangerous experiment on the part of a colonial Government to provide
the necessary funds, although it would no doubt be highly satisfactory
to Canada to see aid given by local authorities or the British Government,
should it ever become necessary to relieve the pressure of population
by State-aided emigration on a large scale. The question of the means
of disposal of the surplus population is becoming a grave one. Already
large numbers of workmen are out of employment in the United States
of America, and with the natural tendency to the shrinkage of trade,
through the disappearance in many cases of the margin of profit, not
only in America but in this country, the numbers of the unemployed
are more likely to increase than to decrease within a few years. The
natural result of this condition of things in America will be the
[stoppage of immigration by the United States Government, on the
Jfplea that if there are more inhabitants in the country than there is
^|work for, it could only aggravate the position to admit aliens who have
*|no claims on the resources of the Eepublic. This will turn the tide of

The Agrieidtnral Resources of Canada.

emigration to Canada and other British colonies, where it is to bo
hoped no restrictions to the freedom of the individual will ever bo
introduced to retard those who can afford to go out. Unfortunately
for Canada, the men who possess the necessary money — say £150 to
£200 each — to enable them to leave this country and take up home-
steads in the free lands of the North-West, are not numerous as
compared with those who are willing to go but who have not the
necessary means at their disposal. Single men who are willing to
enter into service for a time, and are free from many of the difficulties
which have to be contended with by the heads of families, need not
find the obstacles to bo overcome any serious objection to tlieir change
of country. But emigration, again, involves on the part of these an
amount of self-sacrifice which is not willingly undertaken imtil years
of experience have induced a more serious view of life. Tiio Icelanders,
who come in considerable numbers to Canada without any capital, are
said to be able to cope with the early difficulties of the settler, and
to make a start in the new country without falling under the control
of the money-lender; but, having succeeded so far, there is a want
of development in their future career, until they get associated with
people of greater enterprise than themselves. Icelanders, to the
number of 650, are reported to have found their way to Canada in
1893. Of these, 200 settled in the Killarney and surrounding districts;
and so great is Icelandic reputation for industry and honesty, that all
were engaged by farmers in the neighbourhood on the night of their
arrival. The difficulties and trials of the emigrant in landing were
at one time so severe that, had it been known by those who intended
to leave their homes what they had to encounter, emigration would
not have developed in the early days to the extent it did. Circum-
stances, however, are now completely changed. In place of struggling
through an almost unknown country, which involved weeks of in-
cessant toil, the emigrant is now conveyed in a few days under
conditions of comparative comfort. Emigration trains for the West
start from Quebec on the arrival of the steamers, and are provided
with sleeping cars, stoves for cooking food, and even the luxury of a

smoking room.

A man employed in agricultural labour receives $25
Wages and per month, and food, in most parts of the country ; but
Lady-Helps, at harvest and threshing time an immense addition

to the ordinary field staff is required, and from $35
to S45 per month, vA'ith food, is given, to induce those who are
able to undertake the work to come from other employments for
the few weeks during harvest, to help to secure the crop. The labour
question in a new country is of course (me of the main difficulties with
the settler, and it is a fact that employer and employed must work
harder and longer than under ordinary circumstances in an old country.
The difficulty of securing household labour has been somewhat overcome
by the development of what may be described as a new department of
labour, supplied by the lady-help, ^i^adies who attempt to earn their
own living at home frequently lose caste, but in a new country the state
of matters is entirely different. Labour is at a premium, and employ-

t is to bo

ill evor bo

brtunatoly

J £150 to

up home-

imerous as

^n not the

willing to

difficulties

need not

leir change

)f these an

nntil years

Icelanders,

capital, are

ottler, and

the control

I is a want

ciated with

jrs, to the

Canada in

ig districts ;

ity, that all

;ht of their

nding were

ho intended

ition would

d. Cireum-

E struggling

eeks of in-

days under

r the West

re provided

luxury of a

eceives $25
mntry; but
se addition
I from «35
se who are
>yments for
The labour
culties with
must work
)ld country,
at overcome
)artment of
) earn their
ry the state
nd employ-

Profcmto)' Wallace's Jlfport.

mont is lionourablo. Even the host in the land have to do menial work,
which would only bo undertaken by a .servant in this country. Ijadies
have gono out in consideniblo numbers, and have boon taken into
families of s(>ttlors, where thoy are received on equal terms with
the members of the household ; and, although they undertake all sorts
of work, they an^ (expected to take part during times of leisure in
the companionship and social enjoyments of the family. It is generaMy
admitted that the work done by people in this position is quite as
much in amount and of superior quality to that of the ordinary menial ;
one main reason for tliis, no doubt, being that life is to tluMU made more
tolerable and enjoyable* under circumstances which are somewhat trying.

■i|iL— — m-j -i-AJi.iint-j i

.t/" '

a^,:Jtiilii!

OATTLB IN THE Qu'aPPELLE VALLIY.

In the eastern provinces of Canada, and also in Mani-
Management toba, it is necessary to give the cattle shelter at night,
of Cattle. and to provide them with fodder, variously estimated

at from 1 to 1| tons per head, for the winter season.
The nmgh-and-ready method of allowing cattle to simply browse on a
straw stack may be adopted when straw is abundant and of little value ;
but where the fodder is hay, which is got probably at some distance
from the homestead, and in the securing of which labour, if not money,
has been expended, greater care is taken in the management of it.
The ordinary roots — turnips, mangel-wurzel, and sugar beet — grow well
in most districts of Manitoba, and some farmers cultivate a few acres
of them .: but, as a rule, green cropping has not been so widely adopted

The Af/rionllural lieaoiwces of Canada.

as it may !)o in future. Whilo bran remainH at a moderate price, there
is not Huch an incluceinoiit for fiirniurs to grow roots, which must
always be rcjjnnhifl as an isxpensivo crop in a country wiien* labour is
conipiirativt'ly dear. I found that one man, who farmed in the
neighbourhood of the Saltcoats crofter settleine* ', last year fed 75
stoers, and sold thi-ni at SCO to .SOU each, and this season he is preparing
to tie up 150 to be treated in a similar manner.

The water supply in some districts is a great difllculty. There are
considerable tracts of country which have no nat\n*al drainage system,
by which excess of water — and, still more important, excess of salts of
various kinds — can bo freely removed from the soil. Water finds its
May into numerous lakes which have no outlet, and there the saline sub-
stances collect, foriuing brackish or sweet waters; and in these parts of
the country tliere is a strong tendency to the development of salt on
the surfactf of the lower-lying land, making it unsuitable for cultivation,
and of little valuta as pasture. The universal statement with regard to
these lakes was, that they have been for a number of years shrinking in
volume or altogether drying up. As this goes on, the water becomes
Salter, and in those which contain a considerable amount of decaying
vegetable matter, resulting from the accumulation of water weeds, it
becomes putrid, and injurious to animals which drink it, producing
diarrhdui and ultimately blood-poisoning — the weaker specimens and
cows in calf succumbing more readily than others to the influence
described. The cause is variously stated to be the reduction of rainfall,
through the recurrence of a cycle of dry seasons ; to the increased number
of cattle in the district walkir<; on the bottoms of the lakes and
breaking the alkali crust, so tuat water is allowed to escape into the
soil beneath ; and, again, that prairie fires were thought to bring about
the loss of moisture. But the most reasonable explanation seems to be
the first — the diminished rainfall, which in a few years will again come
up to a normal amount. The so-called " breeds " or " half-breeds "
have a tradition in the ranch country of the Canadian North- West,
that the lakes and creeks dry up or become low in recurring periods of
27 years.

The cattle in the ranch country are treated quite differently from
those where mixed farming is practised. In many parts it is impossible
to get hay, unless in exceptional seasons, the prairie being too dry, and
the growth of natural herbage too short ; but, with the exception of
calves, the other portions of the stock are able to live through the winter
without any artificial sup])ly of food. It is true that considerable num-
bers were lost last winter, which was an t^xceptionally cold and stormy-
one ; but it was probably not so nmch from want of food, as from
the animals while in a poor condition being left in hollow places, from
which they were unable to extricate themselves. Had they been
rounded up and kept out of dangerous places, probably the death-rate
might have been much less.

The North American bison, which is familiarly known as
The the buffalo, is all but extinct. A remnant of a herd of

Buffalo, about 40 exists in the northern portion of the North- West

Territory of Canada. A few are still preserved in Yellow

h'oftaao)' WaVncta Report.

2.J

price, there
which must
hibour is
lied in the
't'ur fed 75
is jireparing

There uro

ia;^e system,

of Hults of

tcr iindH its

saline sub-

itvse part« of

nt of salt on

cultivation,

;h rep;ard to

shrinkhig in

ftter becomes

of decaying

ter weecls, it

t, producing

lecimens and

he influence

n of rainfall,

jased number

le lakes and

cape into the

) bring about

n seems to be

11 again come

half-breeds "

North-West,

ig periods of

'erently from
is impossible
too dry, and
exception of
;h the winter
ierable num-
i and stormy
ood, as from
places, from
i they been
:ie death-rate

y known as
f a herd of
North-West
d in Yellow

Stone Park, in America, and nn enclosed herd is to bo seen in
the neighbourhood of Winnipeg. A few are kept in a pw.rk in
Northumberland, England and single specimens are alno to be seen
in the Zo(dogical (lardens, and among other colle(;tions of wild
and rare animals. All that remains of the buffalo in the vast region
over which it ranged on the plains to the east of tiu; Kocky Mountains,
are piles of bones and horns, now being collected at railway stations
with a view to being shipped as manure.

Ranching in the
North-Wettt.

BANCII 8CEMK, AMIKUTA.

That part of the North- West which is best suited
for cattle-rearing, and which may be described as
the " ranch country," lies to the east of the llocky
Mountains, and is bounded on the north by Sheep
Creek, on the south by the boundary line of the United States, while
to the east it merges into the drier and less valuable prairie.

The cattle, as a rule, are Shorthorn grades of superior quality, with
a considerable dash of Hereford blood, which was introduced some
years ago. The Herefords are regarded as being peculiarly hardy and
active, and well suited for ranching purposes. The Galloway breed —
specimens of which, reared in Manitoba, may bo seen on next page — is
remarkably well suited for ranching purposes in a country subjected at
times to extremely low ranges of temperature. The hornless condition
is an advantage on the ranch, and in shipment by rail, and even by sea
if, in place of a rope round the neck, a properly constructed halter be
used on the head in tying the animals. With polled cattle no loss
can be sustained by horns becoming frost-bitten. The tendency to slow

The Agricultural Resources of Canada.

maturity in the Galloway is no disadvantage when bullocks are kept
till they are three years old, and the hardiness of the breed (a quality

GALLCVrA-T CATTLE AT HOPE FARM, THE PROrERTY OF MR. WILLIAM MARTIN

which usually accompanies slow maturity) cannot be surpassed by that
of any other British cattle. The Aberdeen-Angus has also established
itself with much acceptance in the western ranch country. Mr. E. Q-.
Hardisty owns a pure-bred herd, containing some of the finest blood of
this breed, on his ranch near Edmonton. The best time for shipping
fat cattle from the ranges to this country is during the two months of
September and October. When the grass is soft, as it is earlier in the
season, the animals shrink considerably in weight and suffer more in
transit, and, moreover, the temperature is higher — a circumstance less
favourable to the maintenance of their original condition.

The development of the cattle industry of the region where large
ranches exist is interesting to us, as already large numbers of steers
of first-rate quality are regularly shipped to our markets, and greater
numbers than ever may be expected in the immediate future. The
steers and breeding cows ru*, iut all the year round, and are inde-
pendent of any artificial supply of food, except in instances of exceptional
extremity. The calves are weaned in most cases, and kept within range
of the homesteads, so that they may be fed when necessary. The home-
steads are placed at a distance of about 10 miles apart. The storms of winter
tend to drive the cattle towards the south, which necessitates a general
round-up in spring, so that each district and every individual owner may
secure at the opening of the grass season the animals belonging to them.
A meeting of the different stock associations is held to fix the time at
which this round-up shall take place, any variation depending upon

whethe
for the
about ]
who an
gons, a
by a " 1
man.
to the
elected
and th(
to end
of Juei
8ecure(
round
Mean\
occupi<
from e
out th(
moved
from t
which
on; tl
time,
and ai
its cal
on th(
;' which
j^ are w(
> Christ

I ranchi
I a tor.
I a mar
man I
.skin,
it is t
necesi
durin
whicl
badly
more
trera(
unles
McLi
less a
ingd
cattli
to tl

Professor Wallace's Report.

cs are kept
I (a quality

M HAKTIN

ised by that
• established

Mr. E. G.
est blood of
>r shipping

months of
'lier in the
er more in
istance less

Inhere large
s of steers
md greater
ture. The
are inde-
exceptional
ithin range
The home-
as of winter
s a general
owner may
ig to them.
)he time at
ding upon

whether the season is early or late. A place of meeting is appointed
for the general round-up. E.vch local stock association, consisting of
about 10 or 12 members living in one district, sends out about 20 riders,
who are divided into two " messes," or divisions. Each mess has two wag-
gons, a cook, a horse day-herder, and a horse night-herder, accompanied
by a " bunch " of horses sufficient to supply about seven mounts for each
man. The meeting takes place about the beginning of June, usually
to the south of the country to be operated upon, and a captain is
elected who is given absolute control. Breakfast is had about 4.30 a.m.,
and the night-herders drive the horses against two waggons, placed end
to end in such a position as to form, along with two ropes and a line
of men, a square, in wliich the horses are held until each rider has
secured his mounts. The men are told off by the captain in gangs to
round up different sections of country and meet at a certain point.
Meanwhile, the waggons are moved on to the new camp next to be
occupied. The cattle are got together about 9 o'clock, and two men
from each division — say six men in all — are sent in on horseback to cut
out their cattle, while the others hold them together. The animals re-
moved from the main herd belonging to one district are kept apart
from the others, and each lot is mado to form the nucleus of a herd
which will be added to from day to day as the work of separation goes
on ; the men from each district holding the cattle thus secured all the
time. The general round-u;, occupies about three weeks to a month,
and after this is over each district rounds up its own cattle and brands
its calves. About the middle of September a full round-up is held
on the various ranches to brand late calves, and to select the steers
which are ready for the butcher. A week or two later the calves
are weaned. It is the practice to keep a line rider on each ranch till
Christmas, to hold the cattle together. After that they let the
main portion of the herd drift towards the south. A number of
ranchmen now keep their breeding cattle at home, and provide about
a tor. of hay for each animal. During the operation of branding,
a man on horseback lassoes each calf and throws it ; when down, one
man brands it by applying a hejvted iron to a conspicuous part of the
skin, whiles another castrates and ear-marks it. As each lot is finished
it is turned out, and allowed to go to its own feeding ground. It is
necessary for two men to continue riding round each mob of cattle
during night to ket'p them close together and to prevent a stampede,
which very quickly becomes a nightly practice with steers if tliey are
badly handled. Breeding cattle do not so readily stampede, but are
more liable to stray. The ])ercontage of deaths amongst steers is ex-
tremely small in the Edmonton district, and rarely exceeds 1 per cent.,
unless in exceptionally had seasons. In the district further south, towards
iNIcLeod, the death-rate is higher, but there the ranches are larger, and
less attention, as a rule, is paid to management. One firm of enterpris-
ing dealers, Gordon & lronsid(\ from Ontario, bought as many as 9,000
cattle in the North-AVest during the past season, and shipped them
to this country. The price paid is 8840 a head for steers of four
years old, weighing from about 1,350 to 1,400 lbs. live weight ; and
the cost of shipment by rail and sea from the ranch country to

V ,

^ 9a

The Agricultural Resources of Canada.

Liverpool is, in round numbers, $34 — a sum which, however, ought
to be considerably reduced within a few years. Until quite
recently the main outlet for these cattle was Vancouver, a market
which was opened when the Canadian Pacific Eailway was com-
pleted across the Eocky Mountains. An interesting experiment has
this year been tried, by the introduction into the ranch country of
one-year-old steers bred in Manitoba, and sold by the dealers named
to the ranch owners for {S20 a head, under an agreement that they
will re-purchase the same when three years old. As these are all
selected animals, the probability is that in quality they will at the end
of two years be considerably above the average quality of the ranch
cattle of the country. As cattle are supposed not to thrive well when
]}astured along with sheep, the latter are by law prohibited from grazing
ou the ranch country now under consideration.

CALQAKY

The queries put by intending emigrants will include the follow-
ing : " Are openings still available for young men in the ranching
business ? " and " Have those who have been settled in it for years
made money ? " The first question may be answered in the affirmative.
It is the case that money has been lost by the pioneer ranchers ; but
that need not have been unexpected where everything was new, and
where the proper methods of management were not at first under-
stood. It seems to be a fact that much money has been lost in estal>-
lishing the large ranches in the North-West Territory, but now
experience has been gained, and, with the loss admitted and discounted,
there is every chance of a successful industry, capable of immense ex-
pansion, being carried on in future.

The amount of capital which an enterprising emigrant possesses

Professor Wallace's lieport.

)wever, ought
Until quite
er, a market
ly was com-
periment has
h country of
ealers named
mt that they
these are all
ill at the end
of the ranch
ve well when
from grazing

■'-■&,,

ought to govern him in the selection of the district in which he intends
to settle. A man of limited means — say of .£500 up to .£1,000 of
capital — would naturally go to the north of Alberta, to the Edmonton
district, where he could secure, say, 50 cows at $30 each, and rapidly
breed a herd of 200 animals. He would take up a homestead at an
original outlay of $10. He cannot now secure a pre-emption, but hay
can be got from Government land at 10 cents per ton, and can be
put up at a cost of $1 1 a ton. A small number of cattle can be kept
at home without straying into the general herd, and can be maintained
in excellent condition during winter with 2 tons of hay for each, or
one feed of hay with another of straw. Where mixed farming is under-
taken, it is believed that a more intensive method of management,
which involved the growth of oats and barley, and roots of all kinds
for the support of sheep, cattle, and hogs, would have every prospect
of success in the immediate future. All these crops grow w ell in the
North- West regions, which, however, are not suitable for the produc-
tion of wheat to a greater extent than is required for home
consumption. A settler with a limited amount of capital might do
very well in the large ranch district to the south of the province, in
the neighbourhood of McLeod, by investing in steers, which would run
with the large mob of cattle of the district, while he engaged himself
to work with someone wlio has been established for some time. The
district association may be safely left to attend to the cattle at the
round-ups for a moderate fixed sum per head. A man with a capital of
.£2,000 or £3,000 is in a different position. If he is confident that he
can undertake the management of a ranch on his own account and
learn by the way, he might start at once, although it is always advisable
to gain some experience of a new country before investing capital
in any enterprise of this kind. He. would take up a homestead, and
prevent his stock from straying any considerable distance from home.
No doubt this constant control of stock will become more prevalent
as the country becomes more fully settled.*

The water supply of the ranching country is sometimes had in
" muskegs," or soft, bogsy ground of rather a peculiar character. A
tough, soddy covering spreads over water resting lu an elongated hollow,
and the weight of a few cattle together depresses the surface at a point,
so that the water comes up and a drinking hole is formed. These
muskegs often range in extent from small areas up to 100 acres or
more, and are to be recognised by a springy sensation under foot when
trodden upon.

The months of September and October form the time in which
shipments are made from tiiese western ranches. The weather is then
cool enough to permit of the transit of live animals across the Atlantic
without serious injury on board ship, and there is no falling off in the

■m

fleshy condition such as takes place at a later period

owing

to the

it possesses

• In time it will be possible to irrigiite considerable tracts of hind near the
foot hills of the Rocky Mountains from streams rniining from the higher ground ; but
such an undertaking involves expenditure whKh is not to be warranted at the
present time.

The Agricultural Resources of Canada,

TAve Cattle
Trade with
Great Britain

stoppage of the growth of grass. The prairie grass is excellent for
feeding purposes, producing beef of prime quality when the animals
are well bred, as the great majority of ranch cattle are. The restrictions
against the importation of live cattle into this country do not affect
this part of the Canadian live stock trade, because it would be impossible
to improve the condition of the animals suitable for exportation by any
method of feeding on this side of the Atlantic, and the shipments take
place at a period when there is no risk of cattle being left unsold, or
bought by the butchers at luinously small prices, on the plea that the
beef will not keep in hot weather.

An Order of the Board of Agriculture in London,
issued at the end of the cattle export season of 1892,
prohibited the landing of cattle from Canada in Great
Britain, unless for immediate slaughter. This put a
stop to the " store " cattle trade, which had been in
existence for a number of years. Considerable disappointment was felt
by those feeders in certain parts of the North of Scotland, with
whom Canadian cattle had become favourites for feeding purposes.
The owners of pedigree stock and the breeders of store cattle, including
the Irish farmers, who had until receiiijly largely supplied the British
market with store cattle, all differed in opinion from the feeders to whom
I have referred, and an agitation has been maintained by those
interested in the exclusion of Canadian cattle, against the relaxation
of the Order of the Board of Agriculture. I made careful inquiry into
the health of Canadian cattle, and I have no doubt in my own mind
that the country is free from contagious pleuro-pneumonia ; and,
moreover, pleuro-pneumonia is unknown in those parts from whence
it is supposed to have beeji imported into Great Britain.

Looking into the future, it appears, to those who study
Chilled Beef. the question in all its aspects, as if a dead meat trade
would be more economical than that now carried on of
shipping fat cattle alive. It is quite true that in good weather the
cattle come across the Atlantic in excellent condition, and even gain
100 lbs. live weight in the passage of about 10 days — at least, if they
have come a long journey by rail before being shipped. Still, in
stormy weather the sufferings of the animals are severe, and large
numbers are annually injured so that they have to be thrown over-
board. Before the chilled beef trade can be fully successful, the pre-
judice against chilled beef in this country must be overcome. It is a
fact that the method of preservation which is known by the name
of "chilling" does not injure the beef as it is injured vhen fro'ien
through— a process which till recently was considered necessary in
the case of Australian and New Zealand beef in order to enable it
to cross the Equator. The chilling process only involves a reduction
of temperature, in the chamber in which the beef is preserved, of a
few degrees below the freezing point of water. This moderately low
temperature does not affect the interior of the carcass, as the juices of
meat freeze at a lower temperature than water, and the mass does not
become hard and ice-like.

Professor Wcdlace's Rej^ort.

|n London,
n of 1892,
in Great
'his put a
d been in
nt was felt
land, with
purposes.
, including
the British
rs to whom
by those
relaxation
iquiry into
own mind
)nia ; and,
)m whence

even gain
st, if they
Still, in
and large
own over-
[, the pre-
e. It is a
the name
en frown
pessary in
enable it
reduction
'ved, of a
•ately low
! juices of
does not

The Canadian Cold Storage Agricultural Company, which

Vieep in the took over a portion of the land owned by Sir Lister

\North-West. Kaye's company, grazes about 25,000 sheep and some

6,000 or 7,000 head of cattle, on land lying near to

[the railway as Calgary is approached from the east. A regular trade

[has been maintained by the company with Vancouver and Victoria for

'the supply of both beef and mutton by the aid of refrigerated cars,

[ which carry it over the Canadian Pacific Eailway through the Eocky

Mountains ; but now that a market has been opened in England, the

impetus given to the increase of live stock in this part of Canada must

be considerable.

Sheep do remarkably well on the dry lands in this section of the
country. In winter they are sheltered at night in sheds made of
rough poles with hay built on the top ; but in good weather they are
allowed to go out and pick iip their food during the day fi'om the
prairie, the surface being cleared for thoiu by means of a snow plough
which goes in front, and takes in a fresh piece of ground each day.
During stormy weather they are fed on hay and artiliclal food, such as
light wheat and oats. The breed kept was originally the Merino,
which was first crossed with Shropshire Down rams, and more recently
by Cheviots. It has been proved that Cheviots are hardier and better
suited to the surroundings than tlie larger and less active Black-faced
Down breed. On one occasion last spring loO sheep— some being
ewes in lamb— were lost in a blizzard and wandered from Swift
Current to Wood Mountain, a distance of 200 miles. The flock
disappeared in February, and were found by the Mounted Police in
April in excellent condition. The marvel, of course, was that they had
escaped the wolves, which form (mo of the drawbacks to successful
sheep farming in this part of the country.

Both in Manitoba and this North-West country, ponies may be
turned out in autumn and left till spring, when they will come up
fatter than they were at the beginning of winter. Owing to the
want of rainfall, the grass in autumn simply dries like hay, and
retains the valuable feeding qualities of grass until the rains of spring
arrive. Ponies instinctively scrape with the fore feet to remove
snow from their pasture, and are thus more independent than cattle,
which are not possessed of that instinct ; and I think it may be
admitted that the hoise, when allowed to assume its own protective
covering of hair, is even hardier than the ox, in withstanding the
influences of a severe winter. The time when ponies are liable to fall
off in condition is in spring, when the March sun becomes strong.
They get lazy, and do not paw and work for their food as well as in
cold weather. The influence of tlie sun in spring is rather weakening
also to cattle, and greater care has to be exercised with animals of all
kinds at this period than ev(Mi in winter.

This is one of the be.<t-equipped educational institu-
The Ontario tions of the kind which I have seen in any part of
Agricultural the world. The number of students in attendance is
Collcye. about 160 — mostly Ontario farmers' sons — and appli-

cations for admission exceed the numbei's which can

TJie Agricuttural Resources of Canada,

.. I

be accommodated. About 40 students are nominated by County
Councils, and pay no fees for tuition. The regular curriculum of
the college extends over two years, and at the end of this period
those who are able to pass a sufficiently high standard in the
examinations are admitted as associates of tiie college. In 1892,
26 were successful in securing this distinction. A limited number
of the best students are permitted to remain over a third year,
and at the end of this time examinations are conducted by the
University of Toronto, and the degree of B.S.A. is conferred upon
the successful candidates. Seven are reported to have graduated in

1892. The staff of the college consists of the president, the professors
of agriculture, chemistry, natural history and geology, veterinary
science, and dairy husbandry : an assistant resident and mathematical
master, instructor in drill and gymnastics, an experimentalist, an as-
sistant chemist, and a bursar. The class-room accommodation, labora-
tories, and museums are all of the most recent and most perfect
description, and great importance is laid upon specimens, diagrams,
and limelight views for illustrating the ordinary work of the lecturer.
The experimental dairy is the last department which has been com-
pleted, and it now forms an important and interesting feature of the
college. Thirty milch cows are kept, belonging to five distinct breeds
— Jersey, Guernsey, Eed Polled, Ayrshire, and Holstein ; and, in addi-
tion to the general work of the college, which includes instruction in
both cheese and butter making, and that connected with classes held
specially for dairying, three travelling dairies are sent out in the early
part of the season to different parts of the country, to instruct
the farmers at local centres. Experiments are regularly carried
on with the various descriptions of live stock and farm crops.
The interest attached to the college by the general public may
be estimated by the number of people — no less than 18,000 during
the past year — who come annually to visit it. Another important
work of the college is the encouragement which it gives to the
meetings of farmers' institutes throughout the province. In January,

1893, no less than 119 meetings were organised at different centres,
and the "deputation" of experts told off for each meeting is
usually composed of a representative from the college and two other
men qualified to discuss some of the numerous questions of interest
and importance to the farming community. Annual reports are now
made by each of the different officials of the college, and these form a
bulky as well as interesting volume. Bulletins are al"o prepared and
circulated, giving results from time to time of the operations in pro-
gress. Ontario may well be congratulated on her possession of one of
the most perfect centres for instruction in agriculture to be found in
any part of the British dominions. It is interesting to note that con-
siderable change has taken place in the nature of the work of this
institution since I visited the country 14 years ago. At that time
extreme importance was attached to practical work, as is usually the case
in institutions which are just starting, or with people who are
beginning to take an interest in agricultural education for the first
time ; but a little experience has shown the college authorities that

Professor Wallac^^s Report,

«l

by County
irriculum of

this period
ard in the
. In 1892,
ited number

third year,
cted by the
ferred upon
graduated in
ie professors
, veterinary
nathematical
lalist, an as-
tion, laboru-
Qost perfect
is, diagrams,
:he lecturer.
8 been com-
ature of the
tinct breeds
md, in addi-
istruction in
classes held
in the early

to instruct
arly carried
farm crops,
public may
!,000 during
T important
Ives to the
In January,
ent centres,
meeting is
i two other
I of interest
rts are now
hese form a
repared and
ons in pro-
n of one of
be found in
be that con-
ork of this
t that time
illy the case
3 who are
Dr the first
arities that

lor a farmer's son, who has been accustomed to practical work from his
^outh upwards, to spend much time in doing operations with which he
)ught to be thoroughly familiar, was merely wasting valuable time
irhich might have been better devotea ^a scientific study, or, in other
irords, to those branches of his education which it was Impossible for
lira to carry out iit home. The result is, that in place of the student

[being able to earn by manual labour enough money to pay for his

[residence in the college, as was the jase in the early years of its
sxistence, manual labour is now reduced to a minimum ; only a few

[hours per week being devoted to hand labour exclusive of laboratory

[work — just sufficient to provide healthy exercise, and to create variety

[and interest in the daily routine of the place.

Dr, Barnardo's Industrial Farm, established in April, 1883,

I Dr. Barnardo's is the visible evidence of a successful enterprise, and is
Farm. well worthy of a visit of inspection. The area extends to

about 9,000 acres, located between the Assiniboine Eiver
on the west, and the Manitoba and North-Western Eailway — the Eussell
branch —on the east. Fifty youths are now kept in residence, but it is
proposed to increase the number to 100, the object being to train certain
boys who have completed their school education at the Homes in
London to the agricultural life of Canada, and to prepare them first
to enter into the employment of Canadian farmers, who are, as a rule,
anxious to secure their services, and who pay them S5 to $10 per
month, with food : and ultimately, after a few years of experience and
after accumulating a little capital, to take up homesteads of their
own. The staff consists of the agent and manager (Mr. E. A. Struthers),
a farm superintendent, a house master, a butter-maker and superin-
tendent of the creamery, a gardener, a carpenter, and four under fore-
men. The average length of time spent by the boys at the institution is
about eight months. There are about 600 acres in cultivation, one-fifth
being fallow, and the crops grown are the ordinary grain crops. The
garden forms a prominent feature, and extends to 25 acres, in which
all sorts of vegetables are produced. The dairy department is perhaps
one of the most complete ; about 60 cows are kept, and cream is
also bought from farmers in the neighbourhood, who are allowed
15 cents per pound for the butter produced. The butter is sold in
British Columbia and in Winnipeg direct to the wholesale merchants,
and the price received in 1892 was 24 1 cents per lb.

The three experimental farms visited — namely, the
Central Farm at Ottawa, and the farms at Brandon
and Indian Head — are excellent representatives of the
experimental farms -vhich the Canadian Government
have established as centres of instruction in various
parts of the country. When these farms were started
a few years ago — many of the legislators grudged the expense
entailed, and at first the farming community ignored them. Professor
Saunders, the head of the department, was fortunate enough to
secure excellent men as managers — Mr. James W. Robertson, the Dairy
Commissioner, at the Central Farm, Mr. S. Bedford at Brandon, and
Mr. Mackay at Indian Head. Farming difficulties soon compelled

Dominion
Government
Experimental
Farm3.

The Agricultural llesourcea of Canada,

attention to the work being carried on, and now it is no exaggera-
tion to say that these experimental farms are regarded by the most

' -.l*:i,"T"!'' ! -! ' i ' j': »'! ". ' . Jf fM J j ^-ig^j ' " ,4,-r.! ifV.:-.;- i.-,^

'rm

. 4,IJI.LB f^W^?^

a::".

EXl'EBIMENTAL FABH, OTTAWA.

enlightened farmers of Canada as a boon to the country. Considerable
sums of money are now spent upon their support ; still, it would appear
that in time the staff employed at each place will require to be larger,
and the work broken up into specialist departments. For example, the
cross-fertilisation of wheat, which might lead to vast probabilities in
the future of Canadian wheat-growing, should during its progress
occupy the individual attention of an expert, and probably of an assist-
ant as well. The unparalleled success in dairying indicates what might
be done in other directions. This section of the work, as in the case of
our own technical education movement at home, has taken the lead at
these farms. Not only are there numerous experiments on the growtli
of grain crops carried on — the results of which are carefully recorded
and published — but last year 21,000 sample bags, containing 3 lbs. each,
of seeds of all kinds of farm crops were sent out free to farmers who
applied for them ; and samples of the crops grown from this seed were
returned by the farmers for inspection and report. In this way in a little
while an intimate knowledge of the possibility, or otherwise, of growing
the various kinds of seeds in different districts of the country will be
in xhe possession of the experts at these centres of distribution. It
may be remarked, in passing, that the influences of locality and climate
in different districts show immense differences, even within one season,
on the products derived from samples of the same seed. Among the

era-
nost

.'■*

1^5

^li

Table
ppear
irger,
e, the
68 in
►gress
issist-
night
ise of
iad at
•ovvth
orded
each,
who
were
little
)wing
iU be
I. It
imate
Jason,
g the

Professor Wallace's Report.

otlnr useful work of the college, including laboratory research, we find
seeds tested free to farmers who forward samples for examination.

"Timothy" is one of the most successful grasses cultivated in
Canada— a fact of which we are this year made aware by so much
Canadian "timothy" hay being imported for use in this country.
Though hard and uninviting in appearance, this hay is of excellent
quality. It did create an amount of irritation in the mouths of the
London horses, accustomed to the soft hay of this country, when first
fed to them ; and this threatened to be a serious drawback to its intro-
duction. But this difliculty has now been got over, and Canadian
timothy hay is regarded as of excellent quality for either carriage or
hunting horses. One of the lines of experimental research at these
Government Experimental Farms is in the direction of discovering new
artificial grasses or forage plants, which will stand the drought of the
climate and at the same time produce a good yield of high-class produce.
At Indian Head the Bromus inermus has proved to be one of the best
of the imported grasses. Here the country is too dry for timothy,
Hungarian grass, or Italian ryegrass, though in some of the more
humid years perennial ryegrass does pretty well. I found the so-
called Hungarian r^rass, which is a small millet, growing remarkably
well as a forage crop in Southern Manitoba. It is highly appreciated
for cattle, aLhough there seems to be some danger in giving it in
quantity to horses, as it is liable to bring about urinary derangements.
To show the difference in the growth of certain grasses in different
parts of the country, I may mention that in the Edmonton district
timothy grows so thickly upon the ground that in the course of four
yeai's it seems to dwarf the plants, which become short, though dense
and close. A disc harrow is then used to thin out the roots, and thus
increase the bulk of produce.

In dairy work, in addition to the lectures given by
Dairifing in the Dairy Commissioner, the Government has established
Canada. numerous dairy instruction centres in the various

provinces, with the object of improving the systems
of the manufacture of both butter and cheese. The Government
assistance is all in the educational line, no bounties being given,
as in our Australian colonies. In this country we have for some years
been feeling the influence of the improvement in dairy management in
Canada, in the improved quality of the Canadian cheese imported by
us ; and some years ago Scotland did Canada the honour of adopting
her system of Cheddar cheese making, and employing for several
seasons Canadian experts to teach the details of the method to our best
farmers. The most recent evidence of the superiority of Canada in
dairy management is to be found in the results of the awards at the
Columbian Exhibition, Chicago, 1893. In the June competition, of
667 exhibits of cheese, Canada sent 162, mostly of the factory class.
There were 138 awards, of which Canada carried off 129 ; and it may
be further stated that 31 of these successful exhibits secured more
points than the highest number obtained by any American cheeses.
In the October competition for the same class of cheese, made previous
to 1893, there were 82 eiitries from the United States, and 524 from

•^

The Agnculturdl Resourcea of Canada,

Canada. There were 110 prizes offered, and Canada secured them all.
A further 414 awards were given for cheese made in 1893, of which
Canada obtained 369, and the United States 45. Much of the credit
for the remarkable successes of the Canadian produce is no doubt due
to Professor Eobertson, the Dairy Commissioner, a native of Ayrshire,
Scotland, who has had the chief responsibility of organising the
instruction which has led to the improvement in the systems of
manufacture. At the Exhibition, the enterprise of Canada was still
furiuer illustrated in the exhibit of a mammoth cheese weighing
22,000 lbs. This cheese was pronounced to be of excellent quality,
and showed, on being pierced to the depth of 2 ft., a desirable
solidity and uniformity. Ir the butter exhibits Canada was not quite
so successful as might have been expected. She secured, however, 12
medals, 11 of which went to the province of Quebec, and one to
Ontario. The riiost of the prizes for cheese and butter taken at
Chicago by Quebec went to the county of Brome, a rugged and, from
the railway, not a very inviting district, although its intrinsic qualities
have been proved by the dairy produce which it yields. We may look
for a considerable development in Canadian dairying in the immediate
future. The resources of the country for the production of cheese and
butter have been amply proved, and farmers are rapidly falling into the
methods of winter dairying, which will enable tliem to command the
markets at all seasons of the year.

Silage is in a great measure the mainstay of dairy farming in the
winter season. One of the works of the Central Experimental Farm
at Ottawa has been to show what suitable mixture of green food
for storage in silo — gives the best results when fed to dairy cows. Half
a bushel of beans and a third of a bushel of Indian corn are sown to an
acre. When the resulting crop has reached a satisfactory stage of
its growth — namely, when the corn is at the glazed stage — it is cut and
chaffed, mixed with sunflower heads, and then put in silo. The mixed
crop will yield some 16 to 18 tons of green fodder per acre, and the
sunflower heads weigh about 7^ tons per aero ; 2 acres of corn and
beans and half an acre of sunflower heads being chaffed together.
Round maize or flint corn is used in preference to the dent corn,
which generally ripens at a later period of the year. In one of the
Government silos I saw 135 tons of silage made without any weight
being put on the top, and the loss was hardly perceptible. It is no
exaggeration to say that by the use of silage the stock of a farm can bo
doubled in nnmbors, because the silage given in the amount of 40 lbs.
to each cow or bullock makes it possible to use straw as fodder, which
in ordinary circumstances is regarded as worthless for that purpose.

The farm of Mr. Kiifus Pope, M.P., <jf Cookshire —
TJie Eastern perhaps the best illustration of a show farm in the
TownsMps Dominion — has proved without doubt the extraordinary
of Quebec. advantages of silage in connection with dairying. The
total area of the farm is about 1,400 acres, 300 of
which are wood. Before silage was made 250 cattle of all ages
were kept; now the number has been increased to 500. In some
experiments which wore tried in feeding straw against hay along

/ V

re,

till

n«

ble

lite

r-^

:)6

The Agricultural Jletourcet of Canada.

with the silngfl, little or no difference wbh diMoernible in the results.
Fii'ty-thrue acres are set uuart for the growth of silage crops, and these
yield about 800 tons. No weieht is required on the silo except in
the case of uncut clover, which has a tendency to rise on beating, and
to become flre>fanged. The men employed on this farm receive S250 a
year of wages, together with a cottage and fuel, and the keep of a cow if
desired. The creamery, which has a capacity sufficient for the milk of
300 to 400 cows, cost $1,000 to erect and furnish. It is fitted up with
cream separators and all the modern appliances for butter-making.
The milk of 80 cows from the farm, and also that from four or five
farms in the neighbourhood, is manufactured ; the farmers having
returned to them 80 lbs. of skim-milk for every 100 lbs. of cweet milk
delivered. Calves and pigs are fed upon the skim-milk. The return in
money paid to the farmers who contributed milk to the creamery was
about 10 guineas per cow, and the skim-milk was estimated at about 268.
per cow extra, on the basis of 8 lbs. of milk being equivalent in value
to 1 lb. of meal worth 1 cent a lb. Butter sells, on an average, at about
24 cents per lb. all the year round. The whole place, even the cow-
house and pig-sty, is lit by electricity, and the motive power on the
farm is also electricity, supplied from a large engine in the centre of
the main building, which drives a powerful dynamo, connected when
necessary by wire with small dynamos pl|U!ed at distant parts of the
farm when work has to be done. No doubt the secret of the success
of this exceptional method of supplying light and power is the extra-
ordinary cheapness of the wood for fuel, which costs in this case only
60 cents a cord — i.e., 8 ft. x 4 ft. x 4 ft. = 128 cubic feet, or merely
the expense of hauling. Owing to Mr. Pope combining with his farm
operations the possession of a lumber mill, from whicn he can secure
without cost an unlimited supply of firewood, he is thus saved the
expense of buying fuel. Fine wood slabs make excellent firewood. In
the same district the price per cord of hard wood, such as mapl and
birch, would be $1.75. Figs naturally form tm important portiu.i of
the stock of this farm, the feeding pigs being a cross between
the Yorkshire and a strong-boned Berkshire. The food supplied is
half milk and half meal, made from light or damaged wheat, and at
the end of the fattening season a proportion of barley or oats is
added. The pigs are placed entirely under cover, and during winter
the temperature is maintained, by means of steam pipes, at about
60 degrees Fahrenheit, which enables the fattening process to go on as
quickly during winter as in summer.

The cow of the country is the French-Canadian cow — for which a
register has been established by Government — and is no doubt descended
from the Brittany and other cows imported by the French residents on
their first arrival. The cows are not large, but they are suitable for
the broken and rugged nature of the land on which they graze.
Though it is beyond the ordinary farmer to imitate Mr. Fope in his
electric fittings and electric machinery, yet many have followed his
example in making silago, and in increasing the number of dairy
cattle. This is one of the best illustrations to be found of the benefit
of a good example in a district where a change of method has been

ProftMor Wallofiet lieitort.

in
nd
a
if
of
th

rendered necessary owing to chance of circumstances. Men who were
rapidly losing money under the old methods of management, when thu
price of com and mef went down, are now able to do well and live
comfortably in small holdings of, say, 60 acres. Good land—including
house and barntt, fences, and other surface imnrovements — can bu
bought in this district for $20 per acre— a considerable reduction on
the value, as compared with the time of my previous visit. Hincu
the development of dairying, however, there is no doubt land hu»
reached its lowest point for the time, and prices are inclined to
harden.

Two of the most prominent points of interest during
The Scottish a tour in the Canadiuti North- West are to be found
Crofter in the district of Kilhirney, in Southern Manitoba, 160

Settlement*, miles south-west of Winnipeg, and Saltcoats, in Assini-
boia, on the Manitoba and North-Western Railway,
about 260 miles from Winnipeg. In May and June, 1888, about 30
families of crofters — in all, 193 persons— from the islands of Lewis and
Harris were selected and sent out to Killnrney, under the Crofter
and Cottar Colonisation Sciipnie. In Doccmiber of the same year
four commissioners were nominated by Her Majesty the (^ueen to
constitute a Colonisation Board in London for the management of this
colonisation work ; and in April, 1 889, 49 crofter families from the
same congested district were despatched from Glasgow and settled at
Saltcoats. The results achieved in this double experime'it, which in-
volved the transfer of a fishing population from our barren Western
shores to a grain-growing and stock-rearing prairie country, has not
been uniformly successful as regards individuals, but on the whole
the scheme cannot be pronounced a failure. It must be admitted tliat
unsatisfactory elements come in, but not such as should deter further
effort in a praiseworthy cause.

At Killamey the conditions of soil and climate point to wheat-
growing as the means by which the most immediate returns can
be got, and the wide area which has been annually under crop in
this settlement has clearly shown that the Highland crofter in his
new home cannot be termed lazy when a sufficient prospect of a
remunerative return for his labour is open to him. The first season,
1888, was practically lost, as it was too far advanced before the
people arrived; and an unusual run of bad luck has, unfortunately,
attended crop-growing and harvesting in this district, and has
seriously retarded the progress of the crofter population, along with
that of their Canadian farmer neighbours. Early frosts, hail
showers, and strong winds that shake out the grain from a ripe uncut
crop, have affected sections of the area under consideration, and fre-
quently reduced in one night, or even in a few minutes, the prospective
yield of a crop of 20 to 30 bushels of wheat to a measured return of 10
or 12 bushels.

In 1891 the wheat crop in the Killarney settlement was magnifi-
cent, and it appeared as the grain stood in stacks on the ground that
a sum sufficient to relieve all immediate financial pressure and secure
comparative independence in future would be realised. Only a limited

The Agricultural Resources of Canada.

number of those in the Hilton district — or the north-eastern portion of
the Killarney settlement — realised these anticipations, owing to their
being situated nearest the railway, so that threshing machines were
])rocur(Hl early in the season. 8now fell before the more inconveniently
placed settlers could thresh their crops, which were put up in ill-formed
stacks, unlit to rcjsist the storms of winter. Snow and ice became at-
tached to the sheaves, and during the; operation of threshing were
mixed with the grain : although in the frosty weather of early spring
the wheat a])peared in ])erfect condition as it left the mill, it heated in
the cars as the ice melted, and was rejected by buyers, and finally be-
came unsaleable. No means of consumption could be foujid for it in
this condition, and thousands of bushels of wheat were burnt in heaps
to get rid of it. Had the crofters been possessed of the experience
necessary to lead them to set out the sheaves to thaw before threshing,
many of ttie more energetic members of the community who lost not
only the crop, but also the labour of threshing, would have had, like
their Hilton neighbours, 1,000 to 1,500 bushels of wheat for sale at the
remunerative price of 70 cents per bushel. It would be unreasonable
to think that such an unexpected calamity would not seriously cripple
the resources of a struggling community for years to come, especially as
it occurred during a cycle of comparatively unproductive seasons.

^?:''--^i

m:.

'■^^-'' %'s:5^ '"-■"• •

A KILLABNEV CROFTEB S STABLE AND FARM-YARD.

No doubL there are considerable dill'erences in the character of
individuals, but individuals are inlluenced to a large extent by their
surroundings. The general impression was that the crofters who came
originally from Harris were a better class than those who came fron\
Lewis ; but it is possible that the greater good fortune of the Harris
men in the neighbourhood of Killarney in being able to benefit from
the good crop of 1891 might make all the difference. They were
reported to be more frugal, but prosperity is one of the best possible
incentives to a high standard in this respect. A few individuals among
them had earufnl a reputation for being dishonest, oven repudiating

Profcsfior Walhice's Beport.

.'J9

\^ ) '

small debts which had been incurred to provide the bare necessaries oi'
life ; but this was distinctly the exception, and not the rule. As an
old crofter put it, " it is difUcult to be what is called honest when you
have not got the incjuoy to meet your liabilities." The good intention
is not so readily put in evidence as the actual payment of the debt.
As a body the crofters bear an excellent reputation now that the few
black sheep have been singled out from the others. The figures on pages
17, 38, 39, and 41 are reproductions of photographs taken by me in the
crofter settlements. The figures on pages 17 and 38 represent two scenes
on the holding of one of the most successful crofters in the Killarney
district, and certainly do not indicate poverty or want of enterprise ;
although it must be admitted that the securing of machinery and stock
led to the owner becoming indebted to a considerable extent. The
team of three horses in the "clipper" plough (page 17), and in the
reaping machine (page 38), cost, with the harness, S700, and the
bullocks in the latter are worth .€26 per pair. The initial outlay is
not the only expense incurred by such a ])urchase, as the horses
consume from HOO to fiOO bushels of oats during the season. In
return for this, not only does tlio owner secure the speedy harvesting
of his own crop, but he is eiiabled to find work in the neighbourhood
amongst his neighbours at the rate of S12 a day for himself and his team.
During this last season tlie teaui in question cut 120 acres of wheat in
buildings in the district. These sheltei-s for stock can be put up in a
6;! days. When on hirci it is supposed to do about 20 acres a day.
The turf stable shown on page 38 is tiioroughly characteristic of similar
short space of tiu)e, and at little cost. This stable, which is 42 ft.
long by 19 ft. wide, was erected by two men in four days.

■ .-^^K^-c,

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.^ ^::^^p^^>,t*-^0f^rf^^

'ji*s't;i*-v -'.^ i,';.iifi%f»V-"'

m,...

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te*(

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,5l: 'i'"!^

-Cv

CKOVTKBS THBESUINO WHEAT.

' A calamity similar to that which overtook a section of the
conuiunity, and which ended in the loss of the greater portion of the

4()

The Af/rictiltural Resources of Canada.

1891 crop, is not so likely to recur now that the crofters have amongst
themselves a threshing mill, which is manned by 13 or 14 men, and
travels amongst their homesteads, threshing the grain at a cost of
4 cents per bushel. The fuel used for the driving engine is straw, the
lire being started by dried sunflower heads.

A prominent feature of the position of tlie Killarney crofter com-
munity is the extent of its indebtedness, which amounts, in round
numbers, to a sum of about ($43,000. About $24,000 are due for
advances made by the British Government through the Colonisation
Board, and to the municipalities for seed grain and taxes ; and
SI 9,000 to money-lenders, tradesmen, and storekeepers. It has been
asserted, and with some reason, that many crofters have in an extrava-
gant spirit rushed into unnecessary debts for general store supplies, for
ma jhinery, and for teams of horses to i-eplace in too great haste the
bullocks which were provided as beasts of burden when the colony
was formed ; and, moreover, that the crofters, not being aware at first
that the store bills would not be paid for them by public funds, bought
extravagantly. This spirit of thoughtless spending has, however,
exhausted itself without exhausting the credit of the hard-working and
industrious ; and it can be asserted with the greatest of confidence, m
spite of all disadvantages arising from climatic and other misfortunes,
together with the loss entailed through lack of experience of methods of
cultivation, that the community is solvent; and, further, that the mem-
bers of it have at no time suffered from scarcity of food, or from want
of the other necessaries of life. The improvements made upon the
holdings, and the increase of live stock and chattels, are amply sufficient
to cover the indebtedness to the ordinary creditors ; and the advances
of public money and taxes are fully secured by the original stock and
the quarter-sections of land (160 acres each) on which families were
located. It is estimated that the land when first settled possessed an
original value of S5 an acre ; and even if it be granted, as some assert,
that such land has fallen in value $1.50 since that time, a substantial
margin remains in favour of the crofter. The prosperity of the
Killarney settlement has been increased by the fact that those men
who weve in a position to leave home for a time have been able to secure
work at good wages in the neighbourhood, and thus to increase their
incomes as well as gain experience in Canadian methods of cultivation.
The Killarney people secure what wood they 'squire on the banks of
the Pelican Lake, and they also draw a valuaole supply of food by
fishing for pike, which in most seasons are abundant in the lake.
The fish are dried, and mostly used during winter.

The Saltcoats colony was planted in a di^ftrent section
The Saltcoats of the country under very different circumstances, and
Colony. a somewhat erroneous impression has gone abroad that

this part of the colonisation experiment has been unsuc-
cessful. This district is not one in which the settler can depend upon
grain crops for his chief support. Climatic drawbacks are more pro-
nounced in this region than in that of Killarney. It is essentially
a stock-rearing, dairying, and mixed farming district. The animals of
the farm are healthy, prolific, and develop good bone on which to

* *

;^l

Professor Walla^.e's llejtort.

build the • butchers' carcass, and until settlement advances consider-
ably abundance ol' hay of excellent quality and rough outlying pasture
will, as at present, be available. Too much has been expected as the
result of cultivation, and too little attention has been paid to stock :
nevertheless, several successful Canadian farmers who have been settled
in the district for five or six years have shown that, with skill, a
crop return of some kind can be securcid even in the most unsuitable
seasons. Land, for example, which has been summer-fallowed will
produce a crop, althouj^'i it may not be altogether satisfactory, however
unpropitious climatic influences may be.

The winter of 1892-93 was one of unprecedented length and
severity, and many of the crofters who had not been successful in
growing crops during ])revi()us years, owuig, to some extent at least,
to their lack of skill as cultivators, became disheartened, and did not
plant the cro])s wliicli they ought to have ])lanted, and for which
seed had been supplied to them by (Government. The lateness of the
season, and the feeble condition of the work oxen, were also pleaded
as excuses for L'ck of results in crop-growing ; though, when the crop
year just passed proved to be the best in the memory of the oldest
resident, ' very general regret was freely expressed that greater efforts
had not been made.

A CUOf'XKR'S UULLOOK TKAH AT S-iLTOOATS

A successful English settler in the t^altcoats neighbourhood stated
as folknvs his experience of the seasons .since he took up his homestead
five yeurs ago next May :—

1888. First year. Owing to late arrival, no crop was sown this

- ' ' 1889. No crop, owing to insufficient knowledge of farming and
a drought.

The Afjricnltvrcd Resources of Canada.

1890. A good season ; liarvested a good crop.

1891. Great promise of an abundant crop, but, owing to early
frost — August 22nd — the grain was frozen ; but the result
was a fair profit, as the damaged grain was fed to pigs, pork
always finding a ready market at good prices.

1892. Owing to drought, only reaped half a crop of grain of
excellent quality.

1893. Fifty-five acres under crop, consisting of 20 acres of wheat,
which averaged 2-i bushels; 28 acres of oats, 30 bushels;
7 acres of barley, average 30 bushels; 1 acre of potatoes,
fair crop.

Another serious drawback to a young colony of poor, hard-working
men was the want in the neighbourhood of a demand for well-paid
labour at which the able-bodied could hi*ve employed the time not
required on their own holdings. It is true t! t the Manitoba and
North- Western Railway offered wages of $1.25 a day, but this cannot
be regarded as a sufficient inducement for men who could not return
to their own homes during night and thereby reduce the cost of living.

In spite of all these disadvantages and misfortunes, it is a signi-
ficant fact that, while the Killarney crofters got deeply into debt to
storekeepers and others, the Saltcoats crofters do not owe altogether
more than $400 of corresponding liabilities. Owing to the nature of
things, they must move at a slower, but at the same time a surer, rate
than the Killarney people. They have not the prospect of such
immediate returns from stock as may be looked for from grain-pro-
duction. Their wants that cannot be supplied by the products of the
farm are few, and their prosperity will be marked by the increase In
the numbers of stock and the improvement of their holdings, rather
than by cash received from the sale of the products of cultivation.
Crop-growing should be confined to the supply of household wants and
of food for farm animals, among which the pig should occupy a fore-
most place.

The success of this colony is already secured, and only a littlo
time is required to d velop the mixed farming suitable to the district,
which will involve a considerable increase in the numbers of live stock.
Where work is done for purposes of experiment in a new country, of
which little is known regardirg the nature of the climate or of the
soil, it cannot be expected hat every detail should at once show most
satisfactory results. And when homes are found for people who have
not previously been cultivators, it is unreasonable to expect that every
individual should be successful. Even among those who have been
reared as agriculturists— the farmers who come up from Ontario, for
example — some do not succeed.

The large measure of success which has attended the crofter
settlements — located as they are at a considerable distance from each
other, and presenting widely different conditions of soil and climate —
speaks volumes for the resources of the country, and is ample encourage-
ment for the continuance of further efforts of a similar kind for the
relief of the congested districts of the Western Highlands and islands

Professor Wallaces Report.

4:J

'v 1

of Scotland. The difficulties to be contended with are too great for the
shiftless and thriftless to overcome, and these, whether they belong to
the crofters or to any other class, must go to the wall ; but over-
whelming and satisfactory evidence has been obtained as to the
possibility of success in the case of hard-working and industrious
people.

Strenuous efforts have been made by malicious agitators
Agitation to stir up discontent among the settlers in the '" Lothian "
amoYKj the colony, and to encourage them to think they have
Crofters. been unfairly and harshly treated ; but, although a limited
number grumbled in a half-hearted way, none were found
anxious to return to their West Highland homes, while the great
majority, comprising the most industrious and most successful,
were ready to admit that they had by emigrating decidedly bettered
their position and prospects. It was interesting to find that one of
the crofters who was most demonstrative in his objections to the treat-
ment which he had received from the Colonisation Board, was one who
had repeatedly attempted to persuade relatives at home to come out and
try their fortunes in Canada. He was by no means one of the most
unsuccessful, and his son expressed himself as quite contented with his
lot, and altogether took a more reasonable and hopeful view of the
situation. Considerable astonishment has been created by the refusal
of the Killarney crofters to pay their liabilities, even allowing their
holdings to be sold for the taxes, which amounted to only a few pounds.
The exceptional liberality of the Government regulation with regard to
the payment of taxes, together with the high rate of interest charged
by money-lenders for small sums for accommodation, is entirely
accountable for this position. By the payment of the taxes before
the expiry of two years, with a charge of 10 per cent, for each year, the
holding can be redeemed, and the crofter consequently secures
the money at a much lower rate of interest than he would have to
pay to the local money-lender. His only regret is that he cannot get
possession of a greater amount of money on such favourable terms.

The two crofter settlements now under the Imperial
More Crofter Colonisation Board are not the only agricultural settle-
Settlements. ments which have been established, or are proposed to

be established, in Canada. Lady Cathcart was the
means of some 60 or 70 families being taken out to Pipestone
Creek, to the south of Moosomin ; and a scheme of considerable magni-
tude was at one time proposed for British Columbia, and but for the
untimely death of the Hon. John Kobson — the British Columbian
representative who was sent over to carry on negotiations in this
country — and also the difficulties in the financial world, it is possible
that an experiment might before this have been tried to est .jlifh
crofters as fishermen on the Pacific Coast.

There is another district in which crofter settlement might be
carried out with advantage without the preliminary precaution of an
experiment such as that which has been suggested ; and that is, on tlie
north shore of Lake Superior. Lake Superior whitefish. Lake Superior
trout, and also sturgeon — from the roe of which caviare is made — are at

7»

The Afiricultnral Resources of Canada.

present caught in this region and sent in considerable quantities to the
United States, The lish is bought by companies who own steaiiiers,
and wlu) send round periodically to collect the fish. Boxes on wheels,
n ft. X 4 ft. X li ft., are left with the fishenncn, and in these tho
fish are stored in ice against the return of the boats. Should the
weather be stormy, s^) that the collecting steamers are for a time
unablo to call, the white fish and trout are salted, so th it no serious
loss is sustained. The present value of fish to the consumer is from
10 cents to lo cents per lb. With a great increase in the suppl}', the
price would no doubt fall considerably; but this would be a boon to
the country, and, moreover, the demand from the great centres of
])opulation of the United States, as w(>ll as in Canada, would, with an
increased and cheaper supply, also develop. As nets ai'e used and no
bait is necessary, the expense and dilliculty of establishing fisheries may
be regai'ded as of small importance;. For a time it would be; necessary
tor Government to emphiy local fishermen of experience to instruct
th(> new-comeis in the methods of fishing, and to find tht^ whereabouts
of the fish, as they move about in ditferent seasons or according to the
nature of the weathtn* — sometimes into shallow, and, when it is cold,
ag.'iin into dei-]) watei-.

1 have the honour to be.

Sir, your obedient Servant,

K03EKT AV^ALLACE.

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The AijrmiUtmd Itcsources of Canada,

APPENDIX.

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Professor Wallaces llcport.

The Suoe Drilling Maciiinb,

The Af/ricultiirnl licsotirccs of Canada.

WiDE-Ol'EN BiNUBR

The Tobonto Moweb.