IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) ''/ /j Q.r m< v.. ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.8 IJ M |||Z2 1.8 LI ■ 1.6 y] ' \\ .V rv k. ^< h. ■% '^ '^9>^ i^. is CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CmM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques at bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for fMming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. yi Coloured covers/ i/Ll Couverture de couleur r~J] Covers damaged/ D D D a n n Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e at/ou pelliculde n Cover title missing/ f. •• tit itre de couverture manque □ Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiquas en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre q'^ ^ ^ ;^!vrr~\. ;5^.Yo*t ^^j ,, ,tlo. nl». v*; ■^^' jfoat \. Li»l«* -,„■>•<•"•' > ,»r Ites— 40 EAs^ ao ^ -^ BrecJy;ofl'*8^ Aberdccl .r' kBar-nesTtc 1 rV^ .-.nfird . Kciineltt' .,i MADISC U'codma Ct =QUESTIONS^ EANSWERED IN REGARD TO THE CANADIAN WEST AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES And rewards FOR FARM ISSUFCD BY THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY MONTREAL, 1S88 EVERY-DAY QUESTIONS ANSWERED Why Not Go West? It is no longer a matter for argument that the Canadian West is » good place for the farmer-coloi.ist to go ta That is settled. Manitoba and Assiniboia raised in 1887 ten millions of bushels of wheat and a pro- portionate quantity of other grains ; potatoes are being exported thence to Ontario ; and Manitoba took the prizes in competition with all Canada for certain dairy products. In Alberta there are 70,000 head of horned cattle, 30,000 horses, and 25,000 sheep pastured upon leased ranches. Experience has shown that the objections which its detractors have urged against the Canadian West, were not founded on fact, but were either the outcome of ignorance, or prompted by a desire to divert the emigrant to other parts. There is no more advantageous locality for capital tOTvin. good returns in agriculture, or for the man without capital to acquire a fortune by industry, than on the Canadian prairies ; and this is being •ealized so well, by thoughtful and eneigetic men in all parts of the world, ihat the golden opportunities now open to settlers will be lost to those who delay long in seizing upon them. The question then before the intending emigrant from Europe, ^rora eastern Canada, or from the United States, is not whether it is a good thing to go to the North-We^t, but simply in what part of that great wheat-empire it will be best to make his home ; what particular line of agricultural industry shall engage him : and how best to prepare for it. To give information and advice upon these points is the object of the present pamphlet. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CANADIAN WEST T ake Superior may be said to stand as a barrier between eastern and western Canada. Four hundred miles west of Lake Superior the traveller emerges upon the undulating surface of an almost treeless plain, which stretches ^hence for 900 miles westward to the foot of the Rocky Moun- tains. rince The .mountains and the Pacific slope west of them form the pt6- e of British Columbia. The great plains-couairy is apportioticti 337^^' i>^. s.. into five political division: The easternmost of these is the province ot Manitoba, including the valley of Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg, and the prairies south of them drained by the Red and Assiniboine rivers, as far as the boundary of the United States. West of Manitoba lie the two pro- visional districts ot Assiniboia and Sask.xtchewan, the former directly south of the lacter ; and west of both these, along the foot of the mountains, the district of Albei la. . . . 'I'he higher portions of this plain, which as a whole is triangular m shape, its apex extending up to Peace River, are in the west and north, where the general level along the mountains exceeds 3,000 feet above the sea. Easterly it sinks gradually down to the depression of Lake Winnipeg and the Red River prairies, which are only about 800 feet in altitude. The valleys of all the rivers and their tributaries, within Manitoba, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta, are in the highest degree adapted 10 civilization, and are rapidly being peopled. They comprise a territory twice as great in extent as all of the useful part of eastern Canada, and nearly half as big as the whole 01 Europe, yet easily acces- sible in all its parts. Manitoba is permeated by railroads in all directions ; her lakes and rivers are so connected that there is steamship navigation c '«r a large extent of her territory ; and her remotest limits to the north- ward are easily to be reached by boats and canoes. The whole length of Assiniboia, Alberta and British Columbia is spanned by the Canadian Pacific railway, which forms a transcontinental route across these provinces from eastern Canada to the Pacific coast ; and southern Alberta is reached by a branch-railway penetrating to its coal mines and grazing lands. Other branch-railways penetrate the northern part of Assiniboia and the southern part of the Saskatchewan valley Everywhere waggon-roads are opened across the country ; bridges or ferries span streams that are not easily fordable ; and there is nowhere an\ danger from high -ynien or savages, nor Ukelihood of losing one s way West of Manitoba the whole country is under the surveillance and protection of a strong body of Government police, and to every part where settlement has established itself, regular mails are sent at frequent inter- vals • while to the many larger settlements, even those like Prince Albert, at a' ^=stance of two or three hundred miles from the railway, telegraph lines are built, and the news of the world is published by a local press. These great plains, throughout their whole extent, are ready for immediate cultivation. The prairie is covered with natural grasses, furnishing excellent pasturage; it is ready to receive the plough- share without exacting any work of clearing; so that on arriving on the land he has chosen, the colonist can at once put his cattle to pasture, plough fnd harvest his crop, just as, m another part of Canada, he would do had he bought a farm a long time cultivated. Often a section contains natural meadows, producing very good hay for wintering t^o stock, which can besides find their own living during ,. _x-*u^ ...;«t^H Ky Krriwcintr nn tht; nrairie. Indeed, after a twelve months, the colonist who takes a prairie farm is as well, or yen better, established than cne would be who takes up land covered with forest s..er fifteen or twenty years of hard and costly labor at clearing, The rich harvests that the farmer reaps when he has got his prairie land under cultivation, compensate him a hundred fold for the small trouble that he can have in procuring the wood necessary for the construction of his fences or his farm buildings. And lastly, the colonist need not fear seeing himself isolated or stopped by wr t of roads, for years, as often happens to the courageous settler who goes to pitch his tent in the middle of the forest. Upon the plain, one travels in every direction on wheels as freely as the navigator on the sea with his vessel, and everywhere the draught and working animals find upon the prairie itself the nourishment that elsewhere tiieir owners are compelled to buy or transport. Is it possible to imagine a country more attractive in all its aspects than these beautiful and rich prairies of the west? In respect to climate, the data, both of science and ordinary i.bser- vation, show that western Canada has a climate, which, the ugh cold in win- ter, is better than that of Minnesota and Dakota; and that its worst develop- ment is in the valley of Red River, where, nevertheless, exists the oldest and densest population, and the most varied farnr^ing. The hue and cry which is raised by rivals and detractors of the Canadian West in regard to what they call its " awful climate " is therefore without any just foundation ; &nd it is particularly impertinent when directed against Canadians, who will find the worst of western winters no harder to endure than those they are accustomed to in Ontario and Quebec. Observations, continued accurately through many years, have shown that on the western plains the temperature of the spring is as high, even relatively higher in some localities, than in the more populous and more advanced sections of the old provinces of Canada, with this difference, that the snow goes off earlier, and that consequently the work of cultivation begins much sooner than along the St. Lawrence. At Fort McLeod, Battleford, Edmonton, or Dunvegan, .Tork and seeding commence about the i.sth of April, which is nearly a month in advance of a good part of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, where rain and bad weather are at this season far more frequent and of longer dura- tion than on the western plains. In all the prairie region, but especially in the farther west, the spring, in an agricultural point of view, is one of the finest seasons possible to imagine. The ,/eather is clear, still and dry, and rain is almost unknown. TI.e gradual thawirg out of the soil furnishes vegetation all the moisture of which it has need, and gives it a vigor of which it is hardly possible to form an idea, unless one has seen it with his own eyes. Furthermore, by reason of the greater length of the days, the ther- mometric degrees being the same, the sum of the heat is much greater in the new West than in our older prov ces, and thus practically, in its effect upon vegetation, the temperature oi the agricultur.nl season is warmer and higher on the plains of the west than in the finest portions of the eastern provinces, where the days are shorter. Thus, in the Saskatchewan re2ion» and in the 'greater part of the Athabasca and Peace-river countyies, ■he temperature of the agricultural season is warm enough and high enough, and to spare, to make wheat and all other cereals ripen perfectly. The 6 temperature of our prairies is even high enough to allow the cultivation of maize— which the climate in England renders impossible there— smce the census of 1880 states that as long ago as that year 190 bushels of maize hid been harvested at Qu'Appelle, 1,567 bushels at Prince Albert, and 200 at Edmonton. In the valleys of the Red, Assiniboine and Souris rivers it is a regular garden-crop, concerning which the farmers have no anxiety ; and lately, Indian corn raised near Winnipeg took the first prize ofTered by a New York agricultural magazine in competition with the whole continent The dryness of the air is the secret of the degree of comfort experi- enced even when the mercury is very low, for that sensation of penetrating chill, which makes the ::old weather of coast regions so unpleasant and unhealthy, is rarely felt. Snow never falls to a great depth, and the trains on the plains have never been seriously impeded by it As this snow is perfectly dry, a person never has wet feet or soaked clothing by it There is no thawing after winter sets well in— say the last of November ; only steady, bright frost until April. Men travel with te?.ms everywhere, taking their grain to market, hauling fuel, building material and fencing, and doing all their work without hindrance. Stock thrive well out of doors SQ far as the cold is concerned ; and along the base of the Rockies, where the warm, dry Chinook winds from the west absorb the snow rapidly, herds of horses and neat cattle have hitherto been left out all winter to shift for themselves. Calves and lambs are born on the open prairie in January and February, and not only live but grow fat All unite in testifying to the healthfulness of the West Let a man take the ordinary care of himself, which circumstances suggest, and he will grow stronger and live longer in these prairies than he would have done at home, no matter where that was. As for persons with a tendency to consumption, the climate is their salvation ; but a person in the last stages of consumption would do well to keep away, in winter at least Fevers are unheardof on the prairies. HOW TO OBTAIN LAND The whole plains-region has now been accurately surveyed by the Dominion government, and parcelled out into square and uniform lots, distinctly marked, on the following plan : All the land is divided into " townships " six miles square, the eastern and western bounds of which are true meridian lines (called ranges), while the northern and southern sides follow parallels of latitude. Each township contains thirty-six " sections " of 640 acres, or one square mile, each, which are again sub divided into quarter sections of 160 acres. A road-allowance, one cham wide, is provided for on each section running north and south, and on every alternate section east and west, thus making a network of public roads crossingat right angles, those north and south six miles apart, and those east and west twelve miles apart The diagram on the next page will illustrate this, and will show how the ownership of the land is divided within "ine fertile belt," which extends along the transcontinental railway with a breadth of twenty-tour miles on each side of the line. 640. ACRBS TOWNSHIP dia\2ram; N as 3> 5. 3i ^ 31 <[?.P.K. 3U Gor, 19 C.P.K. 18 Oov. C'.P.B. 39 Got. 39 School* ao OOT. ir C.P.K. 8 H.B. OOT. 33 C.W.W. or C.F R. 38 Oor. I 31 C.N.W. or C.JP.K. 16 «OT. 9 C.N.W. or C.P.R. 5 r.P.R. Oor. 34 OoT. »r C.P.R. 33 Gov. 13 C.P.R. lO «OT. 39 C.P.R. 36 O.B. 33 C.P.R. 14 UOT. IJ MchaolH. C.P,R. QOT. 36 «30T. 33 c.w.w. or C.P.K. 34 Got. 13 C.W.W. or C.P.R. 13 Got. C.N.W. 9 I c.pTr. i C. p. R.— Canadian Paclflc Railway Company's L.anda. OOV.— Oorem- oicnt Homestead and Pre-emption £.ands. SiCHOOIiH.— Kections reserved for •npport of Schools. 0. B.— Hudson's Bay Company's Liands. C. N. W— Canada PTorth-West liand Compauy'a I^andn as lar west troni Winnipeg as Moosejaw only. Sections 1, 9, 13. 31,39 and 33, from Moos^aw westward, ■till belenc to the Canadicn Pacific Railway Company. The surveyed lands are marked on the ground itself by iron and other kinds of monuments, at the corners of the subdivisions, and so soon as the newcomer makes himself acquainted with these he will instantly under- stand the position and extent of his own farm on the prairie, or of any other part of the country. The whole plains-region is furthermore divided by five " meridians," which serve as base-lines for accurate surveying. The First of these is near the true meridian of 97° 30', in the eastern edge of Manitoba; the Second, on the western boundary of Manitoba, long. 102°; the Third crosses Assini- boia near Moosejaw, on long. 106°; the Fourth passes through the Cypress Hills (long, 110°); and the Fifth is the longitude of Calgary, 114° west consecutively from east to west; while the tiers of townships are num- 8 bered continuously from the United Stales boundary northward as far as ?hey go To designate one's exact locality, therefore, it is only necessary to say for example, that he is in range 19, township lo, section 23. .jest of the'second meridian, which is the site of Brandon ; or, as the meridian meant is generally well enough known, one need write only the abbrevi- ations R. 19, T. 10, S. 23. For the disposal of the public lands under this system the goverriment has established agencies in all the principal towns ; ^"d ^^e ^aw regulatrng the frte bestowal or sale of these lands is easily understood. It is as ° °Under the Dominion Lands Regulations all surveyed even-numbered sccaons excemrng 8 and ^e^Tn Manitoba and the North-West Territories, ^^.ch have not been homSed! reserved to provide wood lots for settlers, or otherwise disposed 01 01 ?eTrved, are to be held exclusively for homesteads and pre-empt ons HoMF.sTEADS.-Homesteadsmay be obtained upon payment of an Office Feed Ten Dnllars subject to the following conditions as to residence and cultivation . In the -Mile Belt Reserve," that is the even-numbered sections ly^ngj^thin one mile of the Main Line or branches of the Canadian Pacific f-^^^y^^^^^^lf,^^: set aoart for town sites or reserves made in connection with town sites, »a»way s ations, minuted police posts, mining and other special p"-oses. ^^e homesteader shall l^^^^^^^ actual residence upon his homestead within six months from the date of ef "^y' ^"° ""*" Se^pon and m^ake the land hishome for at l^a^t six rnonths out of evenr twe ve m^^^^^^^ forThree years from the date of entry ; and shall, within the first ye",^^*" J^\* ^f * ° his homesLad entry, br.ak and prepare for crop ten acres ofh»s homestead quarter sec Son; and shall wiihin the second year crop the said ten acres, and break and prepare for croD fifteen acres additional-making twenty-five acres; and withm the third yew af er the dafe of hs homestead entry, he shall crop the said twenty-five acres and break and prepare for crop fifteen acres additional-so that within three years of the date of h» homestead entry, he shall have not less than twenty-five acres cropped, and fifteen acres ^'"^ Srthrn SKdud^dT-Mile Belt Town Site Reserve^, ancl Coal and ^^rT?:tSsreSe^r?^^^^^^^^^^^ mence until the first day of June following, and contmue to live upon ''^ Y?! !v7k««!1. SnS7or at least she months out of every twelve months for three years from date of home- stead enn-y J j^^„ begin actual residence, as above, within « radius of twa Additional so that within three years of t^,^ ^ate of h'%hom^^^^^^^^^^ '"■^ *'rThetoSe;der shall commence the cultivation of his homestead wi^in six I 9 I commencement of the third year shall have begun to reside in the said house, and shall have continued to reside therein and cultivate hib homestead for not less than three years next prior the date of his application for patent. In the event of a homesteader desiring to secure his patent within a shorter period than the three «.r five years, as the case may be, he will l>e permitted to purchase his homestead, or homestead and pre-emption, as the case may be, on furnishing proof that he has resided on the homestead for at least twelve months sabsequent ti- date of entry, and in rase entry was made after the 25th day of May, 1883, has cultivated thirty acres thereof. Pre-Emptions. — Any homesteader may, at the same time as he makes his home- stead entry, but not at a later date, should there be available land adjoining the home- stead, enter an additional quarter section as a pre-emption, on payment of an office fee of ten dollars. The pre-emption right entitles a homesteader, who obtains entry for a pre-emption, to purchase the land so pre-empted on becoming entitled to his homestead patent ; but should the homesteader fail to fulfil the homestead conditions, he forfeits all claim to his pre-emption. The price of pre-emptions, not included in Town Site Reserves, is two dollars and fifty cents an acre. Where land is north of the northerly limit of the land grant, along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and is not within twenty-four miles of any branch of that Railway, or twelve miles of any other railway, pre-emptions may ba obtained for two dollars per acre. Payments for land may be in cash, scrip, or Police or MiliUry Bounty warrants. Timber.— Homestead settlers, whose land is destitute of timber, may, upon pay- ment of an office fee of fifty cents, procure from the Crown Timber Agent a permit to cu the following quantities of timber free of dues : 30 cords of wood, 1,800 lineal feet of house logs, 2,000 fence rails, and 400 roof rails. In cases where there is timbered land m the vicinity, available for the purpose, the homestead settler, whose land is without timber, may purchase a wood lot, not exceeding^ in area 20 acres, at the price of five dollars per acre cash. Licenses to cut timber en lands within surveyed townships may be obtained. The lands covered by such licenses are thereby withdrawn from homestead and pre-emption entry, and from sale. For the disposal of its own lands the Canadian Pacific Railway Company has an agency at Winnipeg, and sub-agencies at each of the principal stations. At these agencies maps will be shown, and honest and accurate information will be given in regard to any desired locality. It almost always happens that the land selected, by a study of the maps and description books at the agency, is taken by the settler after seeing it. All of the business connected with becoming the owner of any of these lands must be cranricted at the nearest agency of the district to which the tract in question belongs. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company offer for sale some of the finest agricultural lands in Manitoba and the North-West. The lands belonging to the Company in each township within the Pvailway belt, which extends twenty-four miles from each side of the main line, will be disposed of at prices ranging from $2.50 per acr', upwards, and detailed prices can be obtained from L. A. Hamilton, the Land Commissioner at Winnipeg, whose office is at the station. TERmS OF PAYMENT If paid for in full at time of purchase, a deed of conveyance of the land will be given ; but the purchaser may pay one-tenth in car.h, and the balance in payments spread over nine years, with interest at six per cent, per annum, payable at the end of the year with each instalment. Pay- 10 ments may be made in land grant bonds, which will be accepted at ten per cent, premium on their par value, with accrued interest. These bonds can be obtained on application at the Bank of Montreal, or at any of its agencies in Canada or the United Statea. All sales are subject to the following general conditions : 1. All improvements placed upon land purchased to be maintained thereon until nnal payment has been made. 2. All taxes and assessments lawfully imposed upon the land or im- provements to be paid by the purchaser. 3. The Company reserve from sale, under these regulations, all mineral and coal lands ; and lands containing timber in quantities, stone, slate and marble quarries, lands with water-power thereon, and tracts for town sites and railway purposes. 4. Mineral, coal and timber lands and quarries, and lands con- trolling water-power, will be disposed of on very moderate terms to persons giving satisfactory evidence oi their intention and ability to utilize the same. Liberal rates for settlers and their effects will be granted by the Com- pany over its railway. The corppletion of the Manitoba South-Western Colonization Kail- way to Deloraine, in the neighborhood of Whitewater Lake, has made available for hom*^ leading a large area of excellent land, which haa hitherto been undesirable in only one particular — the absence of railway communication. This area comprises the land from the Souris River westward to the Missouri Coteau, and from the International Boundary northward to Moose Mountain. It consists of over 1,000,000 acres of the choicest land in America, well adapted for grain-growing and mixed farming, in a belt 2 1 miles wide, immediately north of the International Boundary, and from range 13 westward. That portion of this grant lying between range 13 and the western limit of Manitoba is well settled, the homesteads having been long taken up. Purchasers will at once have all the advantages of this early settlement, such a^ schools, churches and municipal organization. The fertility of the sol has been amply demon- strated by the splendid crops that have been raised from year to year in that district The country is well watered by lakes and streams, the principal of which are Rock Lake, Pelican Lake, Whitewater Lake, and the Souris river and its tributaries, while never-failing spring creeks take their rise in the Turtle Mountain. Wood is plentiful, and lumber suitable for building purposes is manufactured at Desfoid, Deloraine, Wakopa and other points, and may be purchased at reasonable prices. At many points, grist mills also are in operation. The cost of land in proportion to its productive power and the amount of labor required to raise a crop is 2 question of prime importance to every purchaser. Take an acre of land in Manitoba, worth say $7, and contrast the cost of raising on that land a crop worth $10 to $16 per acre, even in this year of low priced wheat, with the cost of raising an acre of Indian corn, worth from 15 cents a bushel in Kansas to 25 cents in 11 eastern Iowa. From $8 to $io is all that can be reckoned for the market value of an acre of corn which costs more money to grow on land that costs double the price of good wheat land at Moruen or Brandon, the wheat centres of Manitoba. Wheat itself they could hardly raise with profit at one-half more than our price, and theirs is inferior m quality and price. Our cattle raised on land that costs the grazier next to nothing, brings as muci. as theirs raised on land that costs $5 to $15 per acre. Northern Dakota is perhaps the only country in competition with Manitoba whose claims are at all formidable. The climate, soil and general conditions are very similar ; but it is a fact that for years past wheat has brought from 5 to 15 cents a bushel more at Gretna and Emerson, on the Canadian side of the line, than it brought on the south side in the elevators of Minnesota and Dakota. The Northwestern Mtller oi Minneapolis says (February 4th, 1887), that " prices on the C nadian side have been all winter better than on the American, and but .^ the duty much Dakota wheat would have been marketed in Manitoba." In addition to this admitted disadvantage of the lower price of wheat, their main product, there is another perhaps still more serious, which Canadians especially ought to make a note o£ The amount of local taxation in Pembina County, Dakota, which lies close alongside our south- ern border, is more than five times as heavy as that of the County of Man- chester, on our side of the boundary. DAILY QUESTIONS ANSWERED Land Agents ahd persons interested m promoting the colonization of the Canadian West, find themselves called upon to answer certain questions in the case of almost every enquirer, and the report of a conver- sation with a man in anyone of thfe eastern provinces, "who has some notion of going west," would almost always read thus : Question. — Is there any Government land along, or near, the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway ? Answer.— Yes, plenty of it , , , , Qyes. — How much land can I secure under the land laws ? /^ns.— Three hundred and twenty acres. As a homestead, 160 acres ; by pre-emption, 160 acres. Ques. — How shall I obtain a homestead ? /\ns.— Read page 8 of this pamphlet Ques.— What part of the West would you recommend ? /^ns.— It depends more or less on a man's inclination and tast? m farming. ' Some men prefer to raise wheat exclusively, while others like stock-farming. The majority, however, prefer mixed farming, as being more pleasant and profitable. Ques.— Is not wheat the main crop in Manitoba? Ans. — Yes, but it is not by any means the only one. Ques.— What other crops are raised there ? An s.— Oats, rye, barley, peas, flax, hops, and all kinds of root-cropt *nd vesetables. , • , -a Q^ues.- What is the average yield of wheat in that region f 12 Ans.— Here is a table compiled by the Agricultural Department of Manitoba, which gives statistics of the estimated area and yield of the leading crops for the present yeai, the reported averagt area and yield for the four years 1883-6, and the average yield per acre for each of the two- periods. The average yields pe*- acre given for the periods 1S83-6, ii> wheat, oats and barley, are from the returns made by threshers : in the other crops during the two periods, the yields are made up from the returns of the government's regular crop correspondents. 1887. Crops. Wheat . . , Oats Barley . . Pea-s Flax .... Potatoes. Hay. Total Area. Acres. Total Yield Bushels. 432,134 12,351,724 155.176 56,110 872 8.539 10,791 7.265.237 1,925.231 16,680 163.572 2,640,066 Tons. 265,396 Yield per Acre. Bush. 27.7 46.2 36.3 20.5 15-3 238 Tons. 1.67 1883-0. Area. ^cres. 316,903 '55.85« 52.707 2.959 ".534 11,603 Average Yield Busheli. 6,141,580 S.083,859 1,278,144 51,101 157-554 2,250,982 Tons. 282,204 Aver. Yield per Acre. Bush. «9-3 32.6 24-2 17.2 13.6 '94 Tons. 1.77 Ques. — Is there any timber in the country ? Ans. — Yes, in sjome parts, plenty of . . Qypj;. — What IS used for fuel where wood cannot be obtained ? Ans. — Coal, as a rule. This can be bought for from $5 to $7 a ton at almost any of the railway stations, and in many regions can be procured at local mines. A few years ago the scarcity of wood for fuel was a great drawback to colonizing the western plains, but recent and multi- plied surveys pursued in every direction along the Rocky Mountains and far beyond Peace River, establish the fact that coal is found in inexhaust- ible quantities in the lands lying east of the mountains, and that m this same region, and in nearly all parts of the plains, over areas more or less restricted, there is an abundahce of good wood along the rivers for building purposes, without counting the poplar, which is ner.rly everywhere found in sufficient quantity for fuel and the construction of fences. As to- coal Dr. G. M. Dawson has established the fact that in the regions of Belly and Bow rivers alone, taking only the indications of the most easy and least costly survey, there are nearly et'^/if hundted million tons of good coal t The population of the plains will have to become very numerous ta succeed in burning all that. And yet, there are indications apparently as rich in both the Saskatchewan and Athabasca regions. Qyes. — But is not the scarcity of timber very inconvenient to one accustomed to a wooded country ? /^ns. — It might be so at first ; but any inconvenience is far over- balanced by the fact that you have no laborious clearing of your farm before you can use it, or grubbing up of acres upon acres before you can plow. On the treeless prairies you can plow a furrow the whole length of V 13 It your half section, the next morning after you get there, ''Ij^ll'^^^- lould be childish to complain of scarcity of timber in the face of a grett compensation like that Ques.— Can good root crops and vegetables be grown? Ans— Yes There never grew better or larger potatoes, beets, turnips, carrots, cabbages, and especially pumpkins and squashes, than are ra Led n Manitoba so' Potatoes weigh from three to four POunds beet from ten to twenty pounds, squashes have reached 190 pounds, and all other roots and vegetables are in proportion. Ques.— Can timothy hay, red-top and clover be grown successfully ? Ans —Yes, all kinds of tame grasse. are raised in the older districts. Ques.— Then you think it is a good stock country as well as a grain "^^^^Ans — Yes,'even in its natural state, since the wonderful growth of native grasses affords the richest pasturage. Ques.— How is the climate ? Ans -Read what has been said on p. 5- With ordinarily comfort- able house arrangements a man is as well off, winter and summer, in the West as any where else in Canada. It is a healthy and bracing climate. Ques.— What prices must be paid for what we have to buy ? Ans.— The following table gives the ruling prices a^ present : Farm waggon $60.00 to $70.00 Gang plow 4"-°° Walking plow 14.00 to 20,00 Grain drill 50-00 ^o 60.00 Seeder and cultivator 30- "O ^'^ 4O0O Mower 60.00 to 70.00 Harvester 100.00 to 125.00 Fanning mill '^.oo Feed mill (chopper) 5.00 to 10.00 Spring waggon 100.00 to I'^S-oo Good farming horses. . . . 100.00 to 125.00 Working oxen, per yoke 7S-oo 4 to 5c Able-bodied farm hand, per day 1.25 to " 50 First plowing or breaking, per acre. . 2.50 / 14 Many young men, who entered Manitoba three or four years ago, in*.h hardly enough money to pay for one night's lodging, now are comparatively rich and independent — counting their acre^i by the hundreds. To those who are renting farms in New England and Canada, where they barely make a living, this is a glorious opportunity. Such a man always possesses several hundred dollars' worth of stock and implement^. If these were ■old, one-half would be enough to settle the farmer on a farm ci'his own in the West, leaving him the rest to work up' n. Thus, on his own farm he would start with halli of all that he owned on another man's farm in the East On the small rented farm, the children are obliged to hire out to others and work hard for their living, while on the new farm in Manitoba there is plenty of room for them to work at home. Young men that go by the hundred tr oar crowded eastern cities should right aho'.t and im- prove the opportunity now within their reach of becoming freeholders in a Land of Plenty. North-West farmers have good and ready markets for everything they can raise. Ques. — How about schools and churches? Ans. — The church and school-house are among tne first institutions of every new settlement, and the religious and educational facilities of the country are surprisinf'y advanced and adequate. One section (or 640 acres) of land in every sixteen is set apart by the Government for the exclusive benefit of ti;e free schools. Thus, the cause of public instruction is endowed with a re\>" ^ue, and no intending settler need fear that his children cannot attend school. TESTIMONY William Fawkes, an experienced and intelligent farm laborer, from the Midlands of England, writes in Northwest Farmer, for February, 1887, as follows : " I think it about time the sober truth were told about the country; it is good enough to Itand on its merits, being neither the El Dorado, looked for by some, nor the Arctic region imagined by others, but a good enough counfy for any willing worker, and healthy too, as I have proved by five years' residence. In September, i88l, I left England no* foi ker good, but my v>wn. I came to this country to make a home on my own land ; -nd u ro^ny like myself are on the lookout for information, it may be of service to them if I gta'.e my experience. I have a wife and four children, and having no trade I worked at '.nything I could get, at whatever wages wer sioino, ta^ing care to buy for cash in the best market and also to spend a little less than \ eanitd, In September. '85, I located a half section near Oak Lake, as a • military '.,.,.•. i;r>.,.l ind in Ma^ .ast I took a small outfit, built a shanty, and started to plow oa liiy ^wn Uim. In se- in weeks I had 42 acres broken, besides helping a neighbor at a pkwing bee, and doing the statute laboi, losing about one day on account of the heat (over loo° in the shade). In seven weeks more I had it backset, using an iron spring plow, the drought rendering the breaker useless for that purpose. I may here remark that very few people backset, as they waited for rain ; but competent judges prr junced my work well done. I then harrowed it three times. I also plowed abouc 26 acres for a neighbor, with his four o.'»n and gang plow, in return for his putting, up hay for me as per agreement, thm making a total plowing .f about no acres, and a harrowing of about 126 acres between the Queen's birthday and the first week in October. I intend fencing about 40 acres for pasture and breaking 50 more, making 90 in all. This will be worked on the three course system, that is, two crops and a fallow, viz. : first, wheat ; second, barley, and the coarser grains; third, faiiow, roots aud -•cgeiables. When I sees better I will adopt it at once." 15 H.^r is an another sketch {Northwest Fanner, A-iril, 1886) from hfe of a live xManitoba Irishman, as seen op his farm near Lake Manitoba : "Mr. Shannon came here about fiftren years a^-o with alK,ut t»"ee scrub by cows h« M«ne nothinp since but raiie catJe, n.)t even growing his own flour. As one of tho oWestcatUc^ers in he province his expe.icncc i.. therefore special y noteworthy, ^how nc whatt with a moderate amount of attention, may be made w.ih the commone I End o^cows By using as good bulls as his at first very lim.ttd means would allov . ne U now posrised of a herd of 150. of which the younger females are as rice a ot as cou a Se .ner. who S Jo be L best judge, has no wish to sell any of his heifers. Ol beef steers, he lut Sear sow $1,700 w.rtl; fkt off the grass. He has only one hired man, who helps ^?m in make hav in the season, hauls wood and does chores in the winter, leavmg about S^rwhoTework^ohaulingTn hay from the swamp a m'". off, and attending on the cattle to tlTe b ,ss hiinsef. The buildings are of the most r .ugh .nd ready pa; tern, and sotne In malsaTeneTer inside any buildtngs at all, lying out all W. >er in the l>"f » P"nc.P»"j oak and rnaole which suru T.ds the olace. The cows suckle their calves and have "ecular shThS'nsTdt when necessary. Wt the amount of labor bes...wcd on the whole h?rd is necessarUy very small. There are some very fine colts enci.,,ed in a yard whose oiothersTof native origin, 'rustle ' in the bush all winter,, only those required for work S?ng kept at home. Altogether. Mr. Shannon i. a shining example of the success of rough ina ready stock-farming if folio ived out with steadiness of purpos . In the Edinburgh Scotsman, April, j.886, we find a picture of a colony ot nine Berwickshire men m the Pipestone Valley— just the sort of men calculate to succee. ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ .^ Manitoba, when I got off the t ain a. V^rden on the chance of finding some one from the Pipestone V.lley who would eivTn'e a ide over. There was a keen nor'h wind. Yet. in the face of h'^ wind, ivo fins o Georae Forks, from Ilounuslow. in the Lammermoors, had come into the dcvalor wUh Iherffisof wheat; and next irorning, with thirty-fwe degrees be ow when we Parted it was calm and bright, and moderately pleasant. There is not a tre>; fror. vSen t^^Hhe I'ipestone Creek, twenty miles scmlh, is reached, anu the ^I'ng snow- covered prairie is orly relieved from dull monotony by the homesteads of the settlers Sottei all oier it. I spent three days on the Creek, where it winds through a oroad fla ^ luvial soil of considerable fertility. As high a 38 '-'"'^hels of red fy'e spring w eat Sfv'e been taken froui it, and its fertility will last .nuch longer than that of the rolling '°""-Vo°rks,\rthr"ee sons and a son-in-law, hold somewhere about 1,000 acres in all. nar* free grant part to be paid for. At home they were small farmers, ^.eemg little ?hLnce of S eri^ng themselves at home, the two eldest sons, strong hardy "^H-w^-cam oSfour years ago ; the rest came the following year, and haying a little money to sta t wih and stickL well together, they have had a pretty fair chance They w.lHh s lirbe able to ..11 4,000 bushels of wheat, for which most of their land •« especmlly adapted%eing as flat as a table, with not a stone on it, and perfec-Jy ury. They have one team of mares, one of ponies and two of oxen, a good bull nnd some cattle, pigs and poult y Th two' eldest Lns, having acquir^^I a d^le to their fi:.t homestead:, have eone n^ne miles lower down the valley, and taken up as second homesteads some good hay a"d timber land, on which by-and-bye to start cattl-raising, wh.cn is now looked ^'^^^^f^^i^'^^^ of George Forks, had located a short way- further eat. Both" hese young men have .^nce brought W1..S from Scotland, and «r. Sgedtn mixed farming: William sold 500 bushels o very nice wheat this wmtc. and last year his seven cows dropped him seven heifer ca ves. ., , ,, ,t„ - Peter M liken, a bright liule man from A:'ton, is a few miles farther up the stream than the others. He had only his oxen, waggon, and provisions for a few stream man mc uiiitia. ■'^ ^ _ , , < , _. ,,.-1. *, ^l,^n,l/^T. anri wnrU n to gardening, and bring seeds with them ; all the small fruits grow in great perfection here. Make a point of setting out raspberries, currants, and strawberries, as soon as possible ; these all grow wild here, and of vcrv fine flavor, and they also add so much to the comfort of the home. Native hops and grapes are here, and lam told that the cultivated cherry and fine plum '■> well here planted in bluffs, only enough cleared for their growth, the native trees protecting them till they get their growth, then clear away from them." Mrs. M. G. Anderson, of Grenfell, Assa., N.W.T. — •* My health has improved, and I consider the climaie very bracing and exceptionally healthy. 2, The climate is decidedly healthy for children. My experience recommends that intending immigrants, both young and old, should be well supplied with flannel underclothing fci winter and summer use." 1 '^"^''J ■■ ' 'S'e^aeJ! ^i|||tlillMl|l|illlilJJ:lJJiliir|i|i|i|l(1lll|||||l|ltl|!|imi|[|||||||I|||)|||||||||||||||||||||||it[|||)|^ THE f^- CANA'^IAN PACIFIC RAILWAY Makes special provision for the comfort of all classes of people going into the Canadian North-West for settlement. = Are run on the regular express trains from Montreal = E to all parts of Manitoba, and the Company's Land \ I Department at Winnipeg will give full and reliable = E information as to the lands open for free occupancy, or E i for purchase, without cost to the applicant. | E For rates of fare apply to any agent of the Canadian E I Pacific Ry., and for information concerning lands E write to L. A. HAMILTON, - Land Commissioner l WINNIPEG, MAN. i E D. McNICOLL, LUOmS TUTTLE Passenger Traffic ManaEer-, MONTREAL. rillllllllllllirjlllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllililil!lilllli|ili|i|i|i|i|i|i|,|||i|t|i|i|||i|i|i|i;i|i|iti|i|i|i|i|i|i|i|i|iiii|i|{|i|i|i|i|||i|;|i|i|{|i|i|^