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 -^ PROVINCES OF ONTARIO AND QUEBEC. %^ 
 
 THBOUaH TICKETIira by the ALLAN B07AL HAIL LIKE. 
 
 
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 PO THE Sportsman, tub Angler, and the Artist, Canada ofTerg a 
 splendid field. Game and fish are abundant. Of wild animnla 
 there are in the old Provinces, foxes, moose, cariboo, red deer, 
 otter, mink, pine marten, sable, hares, raccoons, squirrels, etc., while in 
 the Far West there are immense herds of buffaloes on the plains. Of 
 feathered game there are woodcock, snipe, pigeons, plover, partridges, 
 quail, geese, ducks, brant, curlew and prairie fowl. All game is 
 common property; the sportsman is at liberty to shoot where he likes, 
 what he likes, and when ho likes, with this exception, that during a 
 certain time of the year it is illegal to take game. This is necessary 
 in order to preserve it from total destruction. 
 
 ON THB SOURIS QIVER, MANITOBA. 
 
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 NOTES OF A TOUR 
 
 THROUGH THE PROVINCES OF 
 
 Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba 
 
 AND THE 
 
 NORTH-W^EST TERRITORY 
 
 OF THB 
 
 DOMINION OF CANADA 
 
 BY THOS. STEPHENSON, OP CECPTON, PICKEBINQ, YOEKSHIEB. 
 
 SOUTHERN MANITOBA. 
 
 J 
 
 BT WM. M. POBBITT, OF BBIDLINQTON QUAY. 
 
 » 
 
 AGRICULTURE IN ONTARIO. 
 
 LECTURE BYDR.MACGREGOR. 
 
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 •-'tHJ^'^t^y-Sj-oi 
 
 CROPS IN MANITOBA. 
 
 AND 
 
 LETTERS FROM SETTLERS." 
 
 L.J 
 
 NOTE.— The Canadian Dollar id eqndl to 48. 2d. English 
 
 Sloney. 
 
HAVING taltcn my passaf^e in the Allan steamship Sardinian, 
 J. E. Button, Commander, I went on board at Liverpool, on the 
 20th July last, in company with Mr. J. R. Birks, of York City, in whom, 
 through all our journeyings, I found a pleasant and agreeable com- 
 panion. Not having been on board an ocean-going steamer before, I 
 was a little curious as to the accommodation, &c. ; and I would say here, 
 that I was agreeably surprised at the provision made for the comfort of 
 the passengers, whether in the saloon, intermediate, or steerage. As far 
 as I could observe, ever-^'^hing possible is done to make the voyage across 
 the ocean comfortable and af^reeable. The kindness and courtesy of 
 Captain Button and the officers of the ship; the attention of tho 
 stewards, both in the saloon and bedrooms, more especially if through 
 sickness you are unable to go to the saloon table for your meals, when 
 the steward will procure you anything you may fancy and bring it to 
 your cabin ; tho cleanliness and order everywhere prevailing on board, 
 and the care and skill shown in navigating these floating palaces, 
 make a voyage in them very enjoyable. Few, however, escaped without 
 suffering from sea-sickness to some extent, but it soon passed off, 
 leaving us with better appetites than before, to do justice to the 
 splendid meals which were placed before us, consisting of nearly every 
 delicacy of the season. I had the opportunity during the voyage of 
 looking through the intermediate and steerage departments, nnd of 
 tasting the soup, bread, and beef served out to the steerage passengers, 
 and was very much pleased with the manner in which the emigrants 
 were treated. The food was good and wholesome, the apartments clean ; 
 and well aired, and the wonder to me was that, with about one thousand 
 steerage passengers aboard, the stewards managed to get them their 
 meals with such order and precision ; everything was arranged and 
 superintended by the officers of the ship, and carried out by the stewards 
 with military precision. In conversing with the emigrants I found very i 
 little fault-finding indeed ; and where there was fault found it was l 
 
 table at home than he had found on board ship. With an ordinarilj^ i 
 favourable passage there is no need for anyone to fear crossing the i 
 Atlantic ; to me it was really enjoyable. The friendships I formed in ; 
 going out and returning will never bo forgotten. I had equal comfort j 
 in returning to England, in the steamer Sarmatian, belonging to tho I 
 same company, and I have no hesitation in recommending those who I 
 contemplate crossing the Atlantic to avail themselves of the Allan 1ine| 
 of steamers ; they will be taken at a reasonable charge across the sea, t 
 and get excellent accommodation, and as the Company is under | 
 contract with the Canadian Government for conveyance of the mails, | 
 the steamers start punctually on their appoirtsd dates, a matter of nci 
 small consideration to passengers. 
 
 As the sea route has been so often described, I will only say that wd 
 arrived safely at Quebec about seven o'clock on Saturday night, and; 
 after getting out our luggage, stayed there over the Sabbath. Mondaj 
 morning, Juiy 31st, started for Ottawa, by the Occidental Railway, 
 Montreal, 190 miles. Passed through a poorly cultivated district 
 inhabited principally by French Canadians. The land appeared to be< 
 of poor quality ; bat in running through it by railway one does not ge 
 a correct idea of the oonntry, for generally speaking the rails rui 
 7ery often through the worst parts of the country. I found afberwardi 
 
 viM 
 
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 and V 
 
 intere 
 
 letten 
 
 repoH 
 
 §oldy 
 
 I had 
 
 tny fi 
 
 and t) 
 
 this : 
 
 testin 
 
 they 
 
 go ba 
 
 And 
 
 reoei\ 
 
 Govei 
 
 acion 
 
 Mr ; 
 
eamship Sardinian^ 
 
 at Liverpool, on the 
 York City, in whom, 
 and agreeable com- 
 ag steamer before, I 
 ind I would say here, 
 le for the comfort of 
 
 or steerage. As far 
 ike the voyage across 
 ess and courtesy of 
 he attention of the 
 specially if through 
 or your meals, when ; 
 fancy and bring it to 
 prevailing on board, 
 jse floating palaces, 
 !ver, escaped without . 
 
 it soon passed off, ; 
 ) do justice to the i 
 iting of nearly every • 
 uring the voyage of 
 lepartments, nnd of 
 
 steerage passengers, i 
 which the emigrants \ 
 the apartments clean < 
 ti about one thousand 
 ?d to get them their | 
 5 was arranged and I 
 \ out by the stewards j 
 nigrants I found very | 
 fault fDund it was I 
 e, had left a worse | 
 With an ordinarily! 
 
 to fear crossing thef 
 jndships I formed in 
 
 I had equal comfort 
 an, belonging to the 
 amending those who 
 Ives of the Allan line 
 iharge across the sea, 
 
 Company is under 
 veyance of the mails, 
 dates, a matter of nc 
 
 will only say that w(3 
 Saturday night, and| 
 le Sabbath. Mondaj] 
 ;cidental Bailway, iw 
 y cultivated district, 
 land appeared to be^ 
 Iway one does not ge 
 peaking the rails ruij 
 . I found afterwards 
 
 ihafc a few m'^es from the railway the land was of a much better quality, 
 and better farmed ; I found this to be the case also in the North- West 
 Territory, the land fifteen or twenty miles from the railway track waa 
 better v'vooded and more desirable for farming. After reaching 
 Hurdieberg the land begins to improve — better modes of cultivation are 
 seen. The growing crops are principally oats, barley, and peas; the 
 latter seemed to be the most abundant crop of any. Changed trains 
 at Montreal, and started on our way to Ottawa, a distance of 160 
 miles. The land just outside Montreal is mostly settled, but, as the 
 French Canadian element largely prevails there, the land is poorly 
 cultivated. These French people, on the whole, make but poor 
 farmers — too idle or indifferent to gather the stones off the laud. 
 These people can live so cheaply on their own land it makes them 
 indifferent as to the future. When neariug Ottawa we passed through 
 a large tract of forest, the trees being regular giants of the forest, 
 principally maple, ash, and pine. Here and there we saw a shanty 
 which a hardy settler had erected, and was attacking the woods with 
 axe and fire. The great bulk of the lumber which comes down the river 
 St. Lawrence to Quebec comes down the Ottawa River. Ottawa is 
 splendidly situated, the streets are well laid out, the buildings good, 
 especially the new block of Parliament Houses, which is a beautiful 
 sight; such a block of buildings it has never been my lot to see before. 
 There is a fine Public Library in connection with the buildings, and in 
 the midst I was pleased to see a statue of our own beloved Qaeen. 
 There are large saw mills, driven by water power, cutting up immense 
 quantities of lumber, which go to bui ' the towns and cities of the Far 
 West. In our rambles in the garde^ s ^^ the Parliament Houses we 
 came across a section of a fir tree ci jm a tree grown in British 
 Columbia: it waa oyer eight feet i imeter, its height 300 feet; 
 
 its age, computed by counting the nng.> ^hown in cutting, 566 years, 
 so that it would be 188 years old when Columbus discovered America. 
 Having letters of introduction to Mr. Lowe and Mr. Small, of the 
 Department of Agriculture, we sought an interview with the latter, 
 when we found that Mr. Lowe had just started for the North- West 
 Territory ; however, as the Hon. J. H. Pope, Minister of Agriculture, 
 was in attendance at the office, Mr. Small kindly introduced us to him, 
 and we had a lengthened interview. I was muoh pleased with the 
 interest he took in the object we had in view when he found, by our 
 letters of introduction, that our object was solely to see the country and 
 report on its adaptability as a field for emigration. Ab I had come out 
 aoUly on my own responsibility, and having to pay my own passage, 
 I had provided myself with a memorial signed by a large number of 
 my fellow farmers in the neighbourhood where I live, stating my position 
 and the object I had in view in going out to Candda. When I placed 
 this in his hands, and he had looked it over, together with the 
 testimonials of my colleague, he at once said that we were just the men 
 they wanted to look over the country, form our own opinions, and 
 go back to England, and give our people the result of our observations. 
 And here I would bear testimony to the courtesy and kindness we 
 received, not only from the Minister himself, but also from the 
 Government Emigration Agents at the various places where we stayed, 
 among whom I would mention especially Mr. Stafford, of Quebec, 
 Mr Donaldson, of Toronto, Mr. Grahame, of Winnipeg, and Mr. 
 
6 
 
 McGovern and Mr. Hurdon, of Duluth. These gentlemen exerted 
 thomgelves to the utmost to make our visit not only enjoyable but 
 proli table, by taking us out in their conveyances to see the counti7 
 around tho cities where they are stationed : their kindness we shall long 
 remombor. In the conversation we had with the Hon. Mr. Pope, after 
 pointing out the route he thought we should follov and the places he 
 should wish ua to visit, about the last thincf he said was, " That the 
 Government of Canada did not wish to influence our decision in the 
 least ; they did not wish anyone to come to Canada under falw 
 impiessioiis, nnd then say they had been deceived. What wo want you 
 to do is to go through the country, form your own conclusions as to 
 its a.lvautnges or disadvantage a, and when yon get back to England 
 state tho:n to the people, give them the dark side as well as the bright 
 side, Ami then let them decide for thomaelves." This, we thought, 
 was jufit as it ought to be, and bidding him farewell, we returned 
 to our hotel, and started immediately for Toronto. On each side of 
 tho rails we saw good crops of barley and oats. Just before we 
 reached Toronto we saw some splendid crops of barley in the Scarbro' 
 township. An old friend, Mr. Owston, who left England eighteen 
 months ago, was at the station to welcome me, and he and Mrs. 
 Owstou, by their kindly attention, made me feol a^t home. I was glad 
 to take a rest under their hospitable roof. 
 
 Toronto is a fine city, possessing a large population, splendid public 
 buildings, magnificent churches belonging to various denominations, 
 and Inrge manufactories of various kinds. The streets are wide and 
 well laid out. The prices of flesh meat and flour have increased verj 
 much during the last months, and the cost of living in the large 
 towns is ranterially increased ; but in the country districts, as m 
 Enf?iand, every kind of produce is very reasonable, and any poor man 
 with a larr^o family will act wisely if he endeavours to get away into 
 the agricuitural part of the country, where woi^c is plentiful and 
 house-rent low. My first visit was to the farm of English John Smith 
 (so called to distinguish him from two other Smiths in the neighbour- 
 hood), who lives on a farm of 100 acres. And as the principal object 
 of ray visit to Canada was to ascertain whether it was a suitable field 
 for eraigmtion for English farmers who were not able to command a 
 large amount of capital, I have tried to realize that object by visiting 
 a class of farmers who, not having much capital when they arrived 
 in Canada, nevertheless, by industry and hard plodding, have raised 
 themselves and their families into comfortable circumstances. It is the 
 history of such men as these that I shall give in these p. ges, to show to 
 intending emigrants what steady industry and perseverance will do in 
 enabling them to get comfortable homes, and eventually to gain inde- 
 pendent positions in life. I find from the reports of fos-mer delegates 
 that their visits were to the larger holdings, where men with capital 
 were rapidly adding to their already abundui-t means, and as these 
 have been so fully reported on already, I have, with only a few 
 exceptions, visited the class already referred to. Mr. Smith canr? from 
 Yorkshire many years ago. He had only £5 left when he landed. 
 He found his way to Unionville, twenty miles from Toronto ; he hired 
 out for a year or two, then rented the farm where he now resides. 
 The landlord put him up a new house, and after a year or two offered 
 to sell him the farm for £^ an acre, or £400 for the whole. The 
 
 bar 
 in 
 
barffHia was made, he paid down £10 of the purchase money, all he had 
 in the world, the landlord giving him six years to pay the rest. He 
 went to work in good earnest, met his engagement, cleared off the 
 whole X400, has now a good and well furnished house to live in, and 
 has bought two other plots of fieventy-five and fifty acres adjoining. 
 The land is good, and this year his crops of barley and wheat are good, 
 fche spring wheat especially. Mr. Donaldson, the local government 
 agent, accompanied me to see some farms about twenty miles west 
 of Toronto, where we got into a splendid fruit country. The first 
 farm we went to was one of 400 acres. They milk thirty cows, send 
 the milk to Toronto, and make a large profit, each cow being estimated 
 on the average to produce milk worth from fifty to sixty dollars per year. 
 They have a large apple orchard. The owner of this farm, by steady 
 industry, had been able to buy the farm some years since, and is now, 
 in old age, reaping the fruits of his labour. ITrom thence we drove 
 by the lake shore road to Oakville, calling on our way at another 
 fiirm, which was then for sale. The owner was asking forty-five 
 dollars per acre. It is a light sandy loam, extent 120 acres, 100 acres 
 cleared. There is an orchard ten acres in extent, well stocked vvith 
 beautiful fruit-trees, every tree loaded, estimated to produce 800 barrels 
 of apples. Such a sight I have not witnessed since I came to Canada. 
 The house needs some repairs, as well as the buildings. It stands in a 
 good situation on the shore of Lake Ontario, two miles from a railway 
 station, and fourteen miles from Toronto. Any one wishing to go into 
 the fruit business would find it a desirable location. Proceeded through 
 Oakville to Bronte, on our way to Mr. White's farm, which is 427 acres 
 in extent, twenty-seven acres being under fruit. Here I saw, to me a 
 most remarkable sight, viz., six miles of fencing made with the roots 
 of the pine trees which had been drawn out of the ground by a stump 
 extractor, and then placed on their edges around the fields, making a 
 Tery formidable fence. The buildings were the best and most complete 
 of any I had yet seen. They can tie up eighty- four beasts, have boxes 
 for fourteen more ; a large sheep-pen, with foldyards complete ; stabling 
 for seven horses ; bams sufficient to contain all the grain grown on the 
 farm, and a good frame house suitable for any family. They keep 
 eighty sheep, and over eighty cattle, principally shorthorns, the owner 
 of the farm being celebrated in the neighbourhood for his breed of 
 cattle. The farm can be bought for £5,000. It is a mile from the 
 Bronte station. I am told that the owner — Mr. White — when he arrived 
 there, fifty years ago, was not worth a dollar. I also met, when at 
 the emigration oflfice, a Mr. Hollen, who, when he came there, forty 
 years ago, worked for fifteen dollars a month. Now he has a farm, five 
 miles from Toronto, of four hundred acres (besides a large sum of 
 money lent on mortgage), and he sells 4,000 dollars* worth of g^rain 
 yearly, his wheat this year averaging from thirty-five to forty buahela 
 per acre, oats sixty bushels, barley forty bushels. Such are a few of the 
 mstances of successful toil extracted from my diary, to show what has 
 been done in the County of York; and these instances might be 
 multiplied by the score, of people around Toronto, and in the different 
 townships in the neighbourhood, especially to the north of Toronto, 
 where good farms can be bought or rented at a reasonable rate. 
 
 On August 14th we started by the Grand Trunk Railway on our 
 jonraeY for the North- West Territory; saw seme good land in the 
 
8 
 
 neighbonrhood of Guelph, especially on the north side, which is a good 
 fiirming country. After leaving that neighbourhood the conntry is 
 somewhat brokt n, more suitable for pasturage than tillage. Around 
 Paris there are some nice-looking farms, but in some places the laud 
 looks light and sandy. At Sarnia our luggage was examined by th« 
 Americans. The train crossed the river on pontoons, and having 
 again arrived on terra firnia^ we started across the State of Michigan, 
 through a wild, uncultivated district, to Chicago. On nearing that 
 city, saw large herds of cattle feeding on the prairie grass, and a good 
 many farms cleared and in good condition. Passing through Chicago^ 
 we proceeded for St. Paul, a distance of 420 miles. We arrived there 
 in due course, and after having a look round the city, again took tha 
 cars for Winnipeg, passing through immense patches of wheat, 
 thousands of acres in extent, which was being cut by self-binders. Aa 
 many as eight of these were following each other in the same field. 
 The land did not impress me very favourably ; the wheat, somewhat 
 short in the straw, could not yield more than from sixteen to tweni^ 
 bushels per acre. 
 
 Arriving at St. Vincent w«^ crossed the border again into Canadian 
 territory and soon arrived at Emeiaon, the gateway city of Manitoba, 
 where we spent some time in enquiring about the quality of the land in 
 the neighbourhood. The City of Emerson is situated on the Bed River ; 
 this river runs through one of the most fertile belts of land in the 
 North- West. Emerson is only a small place to bo termed a city, but 
 this appears to be the fashion in the North- West; every place the 
 size of an English village is dubbed a city, not, I suppose, from what they 
 moy but what they expect them to be. Yet Emeison has its bank, its 
 drug store, doctor, dry goods stores, Ac. Not having time to go 
 through the bouthern part of Manitoba, I will remark here that from 
 enquirica we made of the people staying at the hotel, and of others we 
 met with, we came to the conclusion that the land in the south part of 
 iiie province is of excellent quality, and is being rapidly settled up, so 
 that anyone wishing for land in that neighbourhood will have to be looking 
 out very soon. Having written so far, I bethought me to communicate 
 with my friend Mr. Porritt, of Bridlington, who has four sons settled in 
 this part, and ask him to give me his ovjinion of South Manitoba. I 
 append his letter. 
 
 Bbidlimoton Quay, 
 I>»^ Bib, December 6th, 188». 
 
 I have pleasnre in complying -with your request that I would give you 
 my opinion as to Southern Manitoba. A oonoise account of what I myself hatt 
 done will show it fully. 
 
 In 1880, owing to tho indispositioa of my eldest son preventing him from 
 following hia profeHsion, the sea, I went out with him to Manitoba, aa from th« 
 Eeports of Dele^^ates, and information which I obtained at the office of thi 
 Canadian Qovernmont, I thouglit it probable that it might suit him to settlt 
 khere and oommencu farming. 
 
 I left Liverpool on the Slat March- in the Allan Liner Sardinia-i, and after Q 
 rough paasage, iu whiah the bhip proved her excellent qualities, reached Halifax, N.S. 
 
 Ou the possage out, I heard terrible accounts of Manitoba aud the North West 
 with reforonco espooially to climate, aud the ilat character of the country, which 
 it was asserted, rendered it liable to be under snow or water for some eight' month! 
 in each year. 
 
 The Eastern Townships in the Province of Quebec, aud the district rooad 
 Toronto in the Trovinoe of Ontario, were strongly roooramended to me in piefereuM 
 

 
 to Maoitoba, and for about twelve honn I was in a state of indecision. Indeed, 
 if the statements made to me shonld prove to be tme, it seem'sd probable that 
 I might never get baok from Manitoba. I finally adhered to my resolation to go on. 
 
 I mention this, beoanse even now emigrants are subjeoted to similar inflaenoos, 
 particularly in the United States. 
 
 During the passage to Halifax. I made the acquaintance of three gentlemen — 
 two being practical farmers — who jre going out with views identical with mine, tha 
 result being that we determined, a possible, to settle together in the same neigh- 
 bonrhoodt for mutual help, both agricultural and sodal. 
 
 One of our party had two sons in Manitoba, and Ihey were to meet him in 
 Emerson. They did so, and after a conference and full dieousRion, I and the younger 
 of these sons were deputed to start and make ^n inspection of certain Itmds, on 
 which to settle if our report should be favourable. 
 
 The published reports of the Government Surveyors I found very valuable, 
 «nd perfectly reliable. 
 
 I purchased horses, and struck for the district comprised in the watershed 
 of the Oyprus Biver. After much labour, and under serious difficriiiies— for it waa 
 the brea^-up of the frost, and the worst season known for several years — I found 
 land well adapted for mixed farming. I instantly returned to Nelsonville, whert 
 my people were anxiously awaiting my return and report, for they had with them 
 oxen, waggons, and household good^ of every description. The result of my report 
 was that we entered at the Dominion Land's Office for 8,200 acres, almost in a 
 square block. There we settled, and there my sons are now. On reaching the 
 locality every member of the party was satisfied with the land. 
 
 It was near timber; the water was abundant, and excellent in quality; it waa 
 well adapted for stock of all kinds, having fine natural hay meadows, and soil 
 capable of producing roots and cereals of every description in abundance and 
 perfection. The scenery, too, was fine, quite equal to many parts of Torkshire, 
 of which it strorgly reminded me. I may Jiere say that the land we took up ia 
 ecmprised in TJownships B and 7, Bangs 10 West, in what is called the Tiger Hill 
 district. To the north is a rough and wild country, quite unfit, in my opinion, for 
 cultivation ; being hills, light in soil, in great measure covered with small scrub, 
 and desolate in character. It is a country for moose deer, and other game, 
 though cattle can range and thrive well there. The range of hills is about four 
 miles in breadth, outside that limit the eonatry is almost fully settled up now. 
 It is watered by the Foyne Biver and Little Boyne, and has numerous pools of 
 spring water, which never fail, even in the driest seascs. Wild fruits are found 
 in great profusion. 
 
 The trail, from Emerson through West Lynne, intersects the Meanonite 
 Beserve, and in 1880 the sloughs were very bad, and consequently diJPT^cult to 
 oross. That is now entirely changed. From Emerson to Tiger Hill a there are 
 two main trails — one through Nelsonville and Lome, the other through Mountain 
 Oity, Alexandria, and Darlingford. Every slough is now bridged, and every soft or 
 boggy place bushed, or otherwise made passable. These two routes cross the Pembina 
 Mountain at its respective extremities, and pass through a rich and fertile country. 
 
 The progress made in two-and-a-half years is astounding. I have passed 
 through the district eight times, and have therefore had ample opportunity of seeing; 
 the gradual, yet rapid growth of area under cultivation. X cannot think that 
 it has been surpassed in any country in the world. 
 
 After seeing my son and friends settled on the ground, all living together in 
 a tent which I had purchased in Winnipeg, I returned to England, by way of 
 Quebec, in the Allan Liner Peruvian. 1 reached home on the 22nd June, having 
 been fifteen days only from Emerson to Bridlington Quay^ 
 
 On the 12ih August I again found myself on board the Peruvian. I had with 
 me a younger son, who wished to join his brother in Manitoba, ard who had for 
 iome months been learning practical farming on the Yorkshire Wolds. We had 
 a fine passage to Quebec. On reaching Emerson I purchased a yoke of oxen, 
 waggon, a small tent, a simple and inexpensive camp cooking equipage, and hired a 
 man to drive and attend to the oxen. I had dogs and guns with me, and journeyed 
 in a leisurely way to Tiger Hills. I shot prairie chicken and duck as I went along. 
 A little before sundown each day we pitched our tent, cooked our game, and then 
 turned in, to rise saoh morning at daybreak. The weather was magnificent, and tht 
 Journey thoroughly enjoyable. , t> 
 
 On reoohing my son's place I found his shanty (log house) was built, and one, 
 for another of our party, in coarse of erection. Several acres of land were und«r 
 orop— oats, barley, and potatoM. It will b« wtU onderstood that, nmming ihm 
 
10 
 
 gioaod in June only, to effect these xesolts even, great effort had been neeeegaiy*. 
 lleft again for England, and reached home at the end of October, having oompassed 
 fbe entire distance ttoiee from the Slat March preTioos. ■* 
 
 I was so well satisfied with the restdt of my two visits, and so mnoh impTessad 
 hf the natural advantages of Manitoba for energetic yoong men wishful to f arm— ^ 
 fond of a free open-air life, and willing to work hard and rotigh it for a few ^ears— 
 that when a thinl of my sons (and I have five) expressed a strong desire to join hif 
 two brothers, I raised no objection to his doing so. 
 
 In 1881, the 22nd April, I again left Liverpool, this time in the ;UIan Liner 
 Polynerian, for Quebec, taking with me my yonnger son, and also a friend of his, 
 who was to remain with my boys nntil he found land on which to settle. He has 
 since purchased Hudson's Bay land, about two miles distant. We travelled from 
 Quebec straight through to Winnipeg. There we took one of the steamers which 
 x]ap on the Aasiniboine, quitting her at Smart's landing, where I had arranged for a 
 OHtveyanoe to meet me and to carry our impedimenta. Smart's Landing is twelve 
 mies from my place as the crow flies. Next day I reached the end of my journey. 
 Ipassed the entire summer there, and returned to England in the fall, more satisfied 
 even than before. 
 
 The weather had been magnificent. My sons, too, had passed a winter. They 
 were in excellent health, and in spite of herd work and rough settlers' life, were sura 
 that both country and climate would do. The cattle were thriving, a fair quantity of 
 land was under the plough, a large pasture of natural grass was fenced in, a second 
 shanty was up, and, in fine, the place had assumed the look of a farm homestead. 
 From a hill close to my son's house I could count some thirteen shanties, and in varioua 
 directions the eye could rest on ripening crops or bared stubbles. I left with regret. 
 The climate is 8in!*^ly fascinating — to me at all events. No other word can express 
 my opinion of it. . The summer is hot, but the nights are cool, and induce sound 
 find refreshing sleep. The rapid growth of vegetation must be seen to be believed. 
 The Prairies — whether rolling or flat — teem with an almost endless succession of 
 wild flowers. The lovely blooms on the rose scrub, with their delicate scent, are 
 ehanuing. The wild hop is most luxuriant, and the fruits, which are all indigenous, 
 are in great profusion. The strawberry, currant, raspberry, gooseberry, high and 
 low bush cranberry, cherry, and wild plum, can be gathered wherever suitable 
 conditions offer themselves; and, during the summer and autumn of 1881 wa 
 litorally lived on wild pigeon pie, wild fruit pie, prairie chicken, and wild duck. 
 
 I left in the fall of 1881 with regret, again availing myself of the Allan Liner 
 from Quebec. 
 
 The summer of this year (1882) I left Liven)Ool on the 27th July in the 
 Cireasaian^ taking with me a fourth son. I had also the wife and five children 
 of a^highly respectable fanner from Lincolnshire, who for the present is at my 
 shanty, and who went out in March last in the Sarmatian along with auothei 
 friend of mine from Hull, and who is also at my son's place. A fine young fellow— 
 A nephew of my wife— from the neighbourhood of Leeds, is also there. 
 
 Early in October last I drove across to Portage la Prairie, about fifty miles, thar* 
 I took train for Quebec, whence I had the pleasure of your company to England. 
 
 I am a thorough believer in the future greatness of Manitoba and the North 
 West. It has every natural advantage. To the farmer possessed of a few hundred 
 pounds— perhaps the residue left him by the late adverse seasons in EngUnd— it 
 offers a comfortable home and certain mdependence. Ev<)iy nail he drives is into 
 bis own plank. 
 
 In conclusion I can but say that I have kept strictly within the limits of my 
 own experience, and 1 am folly satisfied that the progress made in Southern 
 Manitoba is equalled, if not surpassed, by the country further west, but of that I have 
 no actual personal knowledge, simply information from others. Should any doubt, 
 Z say to them, go and see. A Guide for Tourists is published by Messrs. Allan 
 Brothers and Co., of Liverpool, and I believe they send it gratis to applicants : 
 it contains full information. 
 
 I can speak in the highest terms of the Allan Line. ^The comfort oi' the ihlps, 
 and the kind and assidno . attention of the officers to all on board, canaot be 
 smrpassed. On the outward voyage to Quebec last July, in the Cireaasian, au 
 Address was pre-inted to Captain Smith, signed, almost without exception, by 
 the saloon, intermediate, and steerage passengers. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 •r a ™ Truly yours, 
 
 Thomas STSj-flBssoN. Esq., \7M. M. PORRITT, 
 
 Whwb Thobm Houbb, Cbopiov, Pioxsuisa. 
 
12 
 
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15 
 
 With regard to Winnipeg I will only say that it is amazing to HI 
 Old* World people how the place has grown. From being an incon- 
 siderable village four or five years ago, it now boasts of a population of 
 20,000, and is still rapidly increasing ; so much so, that yon could stand 
 in the more open parts of the city and count about one hundred houaeB 
 iJl going up at once. Many of the labouring class have tents of their 
 own, which they pitch on the prairie, and so save the cost of lodgings, 
 ^hich are very expensive. 
 
 After cailling on the emigration agent, we started for Brandon. 
 Daring our journey we passed through prairie land all the way, and saw 
 some splendid crops of grain, nearly ready for harvesting, especially on 
 each side of Poctage la Prairie, where the land is very good, though 
 subject at times to be flooded by the Bicd River. And here I would 
 remark in reference to the floods last spring, that though they were 
 unusually high, and did a \wege amount of mischief, yet the reports 
 which reached the lower provinces of Canada and England were 
 very much exaggerated, and I fear that it was done intentionally by 
 parties who wished to turn the stream of emigration towards the States 
 rather than Canada. However, we found the emigrants very hopeful in 
 reference to the future, and in no way discouraged by recent events. 
 We ran through several miles of country before we came to Brandon, 
 which does not look as if it was worth cultivation ; but here the same 
 remarks apply that I have made previously, that the railwny in many 
 places runs through the worst land in the district, and that at a few 
 miles distance on each side of the track the land is much better. 
 However, I understand that the greatest part of the land in this 
 particular quarter is taken up, either by actual settlers or land jobbers, 
 tmd now you must pay from five to twelve dollars per acre for it. 
 
 We proceeded from Brandon to Kapid City,a distance of twentj-two miles, 
 by stage waggon. Arriving at Rapid City, we drove in the direction of Oak 
 Bi^er, and over the open prairie for many miles. There are no fences, and 
 one of the laws of Manitoba compels all the people in each township, who 
 have cattle, to send them all in a flock, attended by a boy or man on 
 horseback. They are pastured by the sides of the rivers and creeks 
 during the day, are taken home at night and shut up in large pens till the 
 morning, when they are again taken in charge, so that there is no 
 -danger to tho farmers' crops. We saw some splendid crops of wheat 
 and oats gjrown on land that had been wild prairie two years before. 
 During our journey we came across an Ontario man who had located 
 there three years ago : he had built himself a comfortable house and 
 some outbuildings ; he had ploughed with one pair of oxen so much 
 land, and back-set it in the autumn o^ the year he came, sowed i* 
 the next spring, that the produce of his single-handed labour, when 
 ihrash <d, amounted to 1,200 bushels of grain. He kindly entertained 
 us at dinner, and I had this statement from his own lips. 
 
 As we penetrated still farther into the district, we called at anothe? 
 farm-house, whose owner, with his family, had come from Ontario three 
 years ago, and had taken up, with his sons, a section and a half of land 
 -(920 aci-es), all adjoining. The produce of his first year's efibrts was 3,000 
 bushels of grain, and this year he has ninety acres of splendid crops, 
 which he estimates will yield — of wheat thirty to forty bushels per acre, 
 and oats eighty bushels. The demand for grain is such that he sells it 
 >all at his own door. Last year he sold his wheat at 4/2 per bushel, and 
 
1« 
 
 6ki» 8/5 per bnsliel. The ooontry round here is the best that I have 
 yet seen on the pmirie. A good part of the land is taken up by settlers^ 
 «nd the rest by land speculators, but can be bought of them at from five 
 to twelve dollars an acre. Here is a Baptist College, which has got a 
 grant of 1,000 acres, where young men are taught to work on the farm 
 m the Dummer, and study for the ministry in the winter. Such is 
 the scarcity of labour he.e, I;hat the Wesleyan minister, assisted by his 
 wife, built the parsonage with their own hands ; his name is Mr. Dyer. 
 Timothy grass g^ows well on the broken-up prairie, a lot having been 
 out this year at Bapid City which was estimatec* at two tons per acre, 
 Ileturning to Brandon I saw a primitive post-office : it consisted of & 
 three-legged stool, and underneath a tin pail to put the letters in. 
 Brandon la indeed a marvel. Last year, at this time, there were only 
 four or five houses on the spot ; now houses &re springing up everywh'sre, 
 as if by magic; the population of the town is low nigh 3,000. It is th^ 
 centre of a large prairie district, thousands and tens of thousands of 
 acres of land lying around. Sites for shops and public buildings 
 are very dear, as much as 175 dollars per foot being paid for good 
 sites in the front streets. While at Brandon I paid a visit to the farm 
 of Mr. Whitehead, to get some samples of grain to bring to England. 
 Mr. Whitehead has 640 acres of land, about three miles to the south of 
 Brandon. He gavo two dollars fifty cents per acre. He entered on is 
 farm in June, 1881, got his land broken up, and in the following spii- g 
 put in his seed. When I saw the farm he was reaping his oats, u good 
 crop of 350 acres, which I since heard yielded him 68 bushels pyr acre. 
 Fe had also twenty acres of fine wheat, which would yield tmrtv-two 
 bushels per acre. He had only a few acres of barley ; had a nice stock 
 of cows, some useful horses, had built himself a good frame house, and 
 in a few years will be an independent man. 
 
 From Brandon we pr;, needed to Broadview by the railway cars, 
 and from thence to Qu' Appelle by a freight train, laden with 
 sleepers and rails for the new railway making ahead «.f us. Wo 
 found this place composed of a few canvas tents, pitched here 
 and there, not even a wood house to be seen. The railway had only 
 reached there a few veeks before, and all was consequently in a very 
 primitive condition. We proceeded by car to Fort Qu' Appelle, a 
 distance of twenty miles, m company with two gentlemen, and in 
 crossing the prairie we drove through the great Bell Farm, comprising 
 64,000 acres, recently bought by a company, and which they were now 
 breaking up preparatory to sowing the next spring. We saw, as we 
 jpassed, eight teams of ten oxen each ploughing with the Sulky double- 
 rurrowed plough, and a reserve of forty oxen to keep changing with. 
 I think these very large farms are a mistake, as they shut out the 
 individual settler, and I was ,^lad to see, on taking up the papers after 
 I got back to Winnipeg, that the Canadian Government had decided 
 that the numerous squatters which had settled on thJs farm in various 
 parts should have due respect paid to their claims, so that the large 
 monopoly will be broken up.. We arrived in due course at our destina- 
 tion, our journey having been through a level tract of uncultivated 
 prairie ; indeed, we seemed to have got beyond the region of cultivation, 
 the land having only been taken up within the last few months. Here we 
 found a good number of young Canadians, who had come to look for 
 land in the neighbourhood — fine, stalwar. young fellows, just fitted for 
 frontier life — and I wish to bear my testimony to the kind manner in 
 
17 
 
 m 
 
 
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 9) 
 
19 
 
 which we were treated by them. They are not rough, as one might be 
 led to expect, away from civilized society ; their treatment of us was 
 courteous, and whatever inforaiation we needed was given in the 
 readiest manner ; they are a credit to the Province of Ontario, from 
 which most of theui had come. This is one of the finest valleys 
 I have seen in Canada, the river Qu' Appelle running through the four 
 lakes in the beautiful valley in which they are situated, the mountains 
 rising in grandeur on each side, and producing the famous echo from 
 which the valley is said to take its name. The tradition is this : — A 
 Frenchman coming alone into the valley had occasion to speak aloud, 
 when the opposite hills threw back the sound. He, in some alarm, 
 cried out, "Qu' appelle?" or, "Who calls?" The echo brought back 
 the same words to his ears, and after trying the word again and receiv- 
 ing a similar answer, he fled in terror, thinking there was someone 
 concealed in the opposite hills. Here is still to be seen the old stockaded 
 fort which the Hudson Bay Company erected to protect their furs and 
 servants from the attacks of the Indians, But all this is now changed. 
 By keeping the whiskey from the Indians they remain quiet and 
 peaceable. There are four encampments of Indians around us, yet no 
 one dreams of danger; they wander around the place where we are 
 staying, good-naturedly looking at us, and, I suppose, get their living 
 by hunting and fishing ; they do not seem to care for work. On the 
 Sunday there was service, morning and evening, in the hotel, conducted 
 by a Presbyterian minister, who came over with us on the Saturday 
 from South Qu' Appelle, so that thus early the religious interests of 
 the settlers in this far-ofE district are being cared for by the religious 
 bodies in the older districts of the Colony. From enquiries made of 
 the people staying at the hotel, we learned that there are some fine tracts 
 of country forty or fifty miles to the north of us, well wooded, and being 
 rjipidly settled up by enterprising families, principally from Ontario and 
 the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Our time being limited, we could 
 not go further in that direction. 
 
 Leaving the valley, we came across the prairie by stage in a south- 
 west direction, to find the camp of some young men that my colleague 
 had sent out from Howden Dyke, near Goole, in the spring. They have 
 got a section of land about six miles from the railway, and altogether 
 in a good location. We found them with a tent pitched, and a log 
 shanty, living in quite primitive style, doing all the household work 
 amongst themselves ; still they were quite cheerful, and said they had 
 not had such good health foi' a long time as they have had here. 
 This summer, with a pair of o-'.en, they had broken up twenty acres, 
 had got together twenty tons of prairie grass, and were getting up their 
 firewood for \» inter. They had to cart the wood a distance of six or 
 seven miles, which is a great drawback to settlers in this part of the 
 
 {)rairie country ; but in other parts, especially on the borders of the 
 arge rivers, there is abundance of wood, both for firuig and building 
 purposes. ^Vhile staying with our Howden Dyke friends we had a 
 call from four of their neighbours, who, like themselves, had taken up 
 land on the open prairie. They expressed themselves with confidence 
 as to the future of the country. These young men had been over 
 the prairie for some miles, at what they call a building " bee " When 
 a farmer wants his house building, a number of his neighbours assemble, 
 and in a short time he has a decent shauty erected. Having enjoy e<i 
 
so 
 
 ourselves very mucli, we said good byo to theso fine young fellows, 
 who richly deserve success, and who, I believe, will succeed. One of 
 them camo with us as far as Troy City, where we again turned our faces 
 eastward to retrace our steps. With some difficulty we made out the 
 place, a "City!" save the mark! It consisted of a canvas store, a 
 telegrapli office, and half a dozen mounted police tents. I must in 
 justice add, that since we were there, I have heard it has increased 
 considerably. As we were now well up to 400 miles north-west of 
 Winnipeg, and as we had visited many difEerent places on the prairie, 
 both north and south of the railway track, and having got a good idea 
 of tho quality and condition of this great prairie land, and as we could 
 not well lind time to go further west, towards the Rocky Mountains ; and 
 being assured, by parties who had been over that part of the country, 
 that what we had seen was a very fair sample of the great wheat- 
 growing plain of this vast North-West Territory, we deemed it prudent 
 to return to the more cultivated districts of tho older provinces. I will 
 now oiTer a few general remarks on the country. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 First, as to its extent. I must confess, that though I have travelled 
 very extensively in this great country, I have never yet been enabled 
 to realize its vastness. Millions and millions of acres of the finest 
 gi'ain-growing land in the world ; in fact, an ocean of land, if such 
 an expression is allowable. As I stood on the platform of the railroad 
 car, as we were running along, and looked first on one side and then on 
 the other of the track, the immense tracts of land extending on each 
 side as far as the eye coulc* reach ; and then, when we left the track, 
 and drove by stage for long distances, still the level prairie stretched 
 out to an almost boundless extent. As I remarked to a friend with 
 whom I was conversing on the subject, " here is a home for the surplus 
 population of Europe for the next fifty years." 
 
 Secondly, as to the class of people who should go to this part of the 
 country. I think it is essentially a country for young men — men who 
 are capable of enduring some amount of hardship — men who are able 
 and willing to work, who are able to build their own houses, to cook 
 their own victuals, wash their own clothes, and, in fact, able to turn 
 their hands to anything, will succeed the best. Hired labour will be 
 very dear and difficult to obtain for some time to come. I would not 
 say anything to discourage the man with small means from going out, 
 for I tl\ink he will succeed well, though he will have a great deal more 
 privation to endure for a while ; but the man who can command a 
 thousand dollars (.£200) or so, is, in my opinion, the best fitted for 
 meeting tho difficulties which must necessarily ensue in this new land, 
 lie not only needs money to pay for his land, but, as nothing of any 
 consequence can be liaised the first year, he needs what will provide 
 him wiih the necessaries of life till he is able to reap his harvest in 
 the socoiid year, as well as to buy at least a couple of mules, or a pair 
 of bnlloclrs, and tho necessary implements — comprising grass mower, 
 ploTigl), harrow, waggon, &c. — and to build himself a dwelling-house, 
 and provide shelter for his cattle. The class of people who have 
 already settled there, are, on the whole, well fitted for the kind of life 
 thoy have to lead — steady, sober, and industrious — they are sure to 
 make their wiy under the ordinary conditions of life. I am con- 
 vinced that by and bye it will become one of the finest countries in the 
 world, in con sequence of the class of people who are flocking to it by 
 
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21 
 
 tbousands. I would add a word of advice to any of my countiymon 
 who purpose goiii!^ tLitlier, and it is this : When you arrive, do not 
 be in a hurry to take up land ; if single, put your money into some 
 of the banks, where you will get a good rate of interest ; don't tell 
 everybody you have got money, but engage yourself to some of the 
 many farmers already settled ; you will get good wages, and you will 
 also get an insight into the way their farms are worked. This you will 
 find to be of great service to you afterwards ; it will give you time to look 
 round and find a judicious friend to advise you as to where and when 
 you should buy your land, and so save you from the clutches of the 
 many land sharks who are always on the look out for strangers, to 
 dupe them out of their money by selling them land which may turn out 
 little else than swamp. To a man with a family I would advise a nearly 
 similar course, at least for a time. 
 
 Then as to where to advise anyone to settle. The great bulk of the 
 land in Southern Manitoba is already settled, also the best districts 
 around Portage la Prairie ; still farms may be bought there partially 
 improved, but at enhanced rates. Around Brandon there is some 
 good land, both to the north and south of the town, and though mostly 
 in the hands of speculators, it can be bought for from five to ten 
 dollars per acre. I was very much pleased with the land I saw in that 
 district, but to get the Government lands you will have to leave 
 Manitoba, and go over the line into the North- West proper, where, as 
 you approach nearer the Rocky Mountains, the climate is milder, and 
 the land more suitable for grazing purposes. We heard very favourable 
 reports of Strathallan and neighbourhood from a gentleman whom we 
 met, who had taken up 960 acres for himself and family. He describes 
 it as rich prairie land, growing grass waist high, and well timbered. 
 There is also the Prince Albert settlement, togetV^v with numerous 
 other places on both sides of the railway, where any person with ordinary 
 judgment, combined with perseverance and industry, will do well. 
 There is one thing I would refer to, which I think will be highly con- 
 ducive to the prosperity of the North- West, and that is the prohibition 
 by the Government of allowing intoxicating liquors into the provinces. 
 I was much pleased to find that before we crossed the border from 
 Manitoba the mounted police came along through the train and examined 
 our luggage, to see if we had any liquors with us. I trust this strictuess 
 will continue, for the best effects are already visible from it. 
 
 Another matter I would mention is the facility with which the prairie 
 land can be brought under cultivation. As soon as the settler gets 
 possession of his allotment he can at once proceed to plough. There is 
 no timber and very few stones to prevent him proceeding with his 
 work from day to day, which I consider a very great advantage. It is 
 very different to what the settlers in the Lower Provinces had to contend 
 with, where every acre of ground which they now possess had to be 
 won from the forest by stem hard work. 
 
 I am fully satisfied that there is a great future before this part of 
 the Dominion of Canada ; yet there are serious difficulties to contend 
 with, which, in accordance with the wish of the Minister of Agriculture 
 previously referred to, I now proceed to state. One great difficulty 
 which obtains in some parts of this great prairie land is the scarcity 
 of timber for firewood and building purposes, the material having to be 
 carted in some districts a number of miles. This I coni^ider a seriouii 
 
 1 1 
 
 IIJ 
 
 ■li. 
 
2S 
 
 druwoaclr. Doubtless, in a sliort time, sawmillg will be erected on the 
 banks of tlie well- wooded river disfricts, and lumber will after a while 
 become more plentiful ; and the largo seams of coal which exist near 
 the Rocky Mountains will, by the construction of branch railways, be 
 very soon brought within reach ; but at present these difficulties will 
 have to be met in some other way. The next four years will be the 
 most trying time for the settlers of the North- West. Then there is 
 the question of fencing. Wire fencing seems to be the only available 
 thing for that purpose at present ; the fencing on Mr. Whitehead's farm, 
 at Brandon, cost 31' cents per rod of throe wires. There is also the 
 heat of the summer to endure, which, though generally tempered by a 
 cool breeze from the north, is, after all, sometimes too hot to be com- 
 fortable ; and the cold of the winter season at times is severe, especially 
 when the blizzards overtake a traveller any distance from home. The 
 mosquitoes, though they bite pretty keen, I do not think much of, as 
 after the first week or two they do not produce much inflammation, and 
 they will disappear as the land is brought under cultivation. 
 
 But in spite of these drawbacks it is a splendid country; and, as I 
 have already said, it is a land where a man who is not afraid of 
 roughing it for three or four years will soon acquire an independency, 
 and soon get around him all the comforts possessed by the more thickly 
 cultivated districts of the Lower Provinces. 
 
 ONTAEIO. 
 
 Having finished our inspection of the North- West, we returned by 
 the lake route to Toronto, and as mv colleague found letters awaiting 
 him there from his family, stating that in consequence of business 
 matters it was necessary for him to return home at once, we decided to 
 separate; I to look through Ontario and the Quebec Townships, and 
 he, after calling at the Kingston Cattle Show, and paying a short visit 
 to tbfc Eastern Townships, to return home. After an interview with 
 Mr. Dcnaldson, at Toronto, I started for IngersoU, via Hamilton. 
 Arriving at Hamilton, I got into a new part of the province, with which 
 I was very much pleased, the country resembling some parts of Yorkshire 
 (barring the hedges) — a succession of hill and dale, with here and there 
 a nice clean-looking village, with some very comfortable-looking brick 
 houses. It seemed so home-like that I thought I could settle down very 
 comfortably — it is so much like Old England. 
 
 At IngersoU I found thoy were holding the annual show, or fair as 
 they call it. These fairs appear to be held annually in all the towns of 
 any importance in the province. I met, by appointment, a gentleman 
 of the town (Mr. Russell), whose acquaintance I had made on the 
 lake passage from Duluth. This gentleman kindly offered to drive me 
 out into the surrounding country, and in a tour of some miles I saw 
 some nice farms, on which were built in many instances substantial 
 brick houses ; and the appearance of the neighbourhood is one of 
 comfort, respectability, and, in many cases, comparative wealth. 
 IngersoU is a town of 5,000 inhabitants, and being situated in the 
 midst of a good farming and dairy district, is rapidly r'siug in impor- 
 tance.^" The chief manufacturing industry is ironfounding, carried on in 
 two large establishments. There is also a large pork-butchering 
 establishment, where large numbers of hogs are prepared for exporta- 
 tion. At the agricultural show I met with friends who had come 
 •oue ten miles to meet me. I was introduced to many of the leading 
 
and 
 
 on m 
 
 come 
 ading 
 
 23 
 
 men of the district, among them the Hon. Adam Croots, Minister of 
 Education for the Province of Ontario. This gentleman said he would 
 be glad if a number of intelligent English farmers would come into 
 the district. He was sure, with their push and enterprise, they would 
 not only succeed, but would make very much more out of the iand than 
 was made by the present race of Canadian farmers, an opinion which 
 I cordially endorse ; for though many of those with whom I had 
 intercourse have not only done remarkably well, but have obtained 
 independent positions, yet I consider the time has come when a 
 more intellrpcent mode of treating the land is absolutely necessary, if 
 the country i ' to hold its own against the rivalry of the richer and 
 more productive prairie lands of the North-West Territory. 
 
 Some of the animals in the show did credit to the exhibitors, 
 who were mostly the farmers of the district. The exhibition of roots, 
 vegetables, and grain was very good — a proof that the land is productive. 
 After finishing the inspection I started for Dereham, a distance of 
 ten miles, in company with my friend Mr. Wra. Fewstcr, passing 
 through a good farming and well wooded countiy. It appeared to be 
 the custcm hare, when clearing the land, to leave from ten to twenty 
 acres of forest on each holding for firewood and home purposes; a very 
 wise precaution, as each farmer has all the firing he needs on his own 
 land, so that it costs him nothing, and it affords employment for 
 himself or his men in the winter season. Many of the farm-houses 
 are built of brick, and are comfortable, substantial buildings. The 
 farms are mostly about 100 acres each, some being 150 and 200 acres. 
 From the history of the owners of these farms, given by Mr. Fewstcr, 
 I learned that they were mostly poor men who settled there some 
 thirty years ago, bought forest land at six dollars per acre ; after 
 years of hard labour they got it clcnred, and are now able to retire 
 on the fruits of their labour, their land being now worth from sixtv 
 to seventy dollars per acre. There are a number of farms to be let m 
 this neighbourhood, at from three to four dollars per acre, or could be 
 bought at from forty-five to sixty dollara per acre. 
 
 Mr. Fewster was born in the village of Cropton, near Pickering, 
 Yorkshire. Thirty years ago, when a young man, ho emigrated to 
 Canada, hired out for four or five years, and when he had saved a little 
 money he bought land for himself and cleared it with his own hands. 
 Now he is the owner of 400 acres of good land, milks thirty-one cows, 
 and has been elected as Eeeve of the Township, is one of tho 
 Councillors for the County, and is looked up to and respected by rich 
 and poor. Mr. Fewster drove me to the rosidence of his friend Mr. 
 John Morley, who also emigrated from the neighbourhood of Pickcvhig 
 some ten or eleven years ago. We found him on a rr,.tod farm of 
 200 acres, near Verschole, Co. Oxford, 120 acres cleared, for which ho 
 was paying three dollars per acre, and forty dollars a year for the 
 remainder. He milks twenty-two cows, which cleared him, last year, 
 in new milk sent to the cheese factory, 885 dollars ; he has four 
 draught horses, and all requisite machinery. He arrived in Canada a 
 comparatively poor man. His neighbours helped by loans and letting 
 him have stock on credit.'*^ He h:is so far prospered that he has paid 
 back the loans, and just lately has bought a farm of 100 acres for 
 6,500 dollars, all good land ; has paid down 3,000 dollars, and by tho 
 time the lease on'his present farm runs out, viz., in four years, he will 
 
24 
 
 be aHe, witli the sale of his surplus stock, to pay the whole of thd 
 purchase money, stock his new farm well, and enter a free man. 
 Such is the result of earnest and persevering toil. 
 
 I also visited Mr. Eobert Fewster, of Culloden, a brother to Mr.William 
 Fewster. He left Croj^ton more than thirty years ago, and, like his 
 brother William, began to work for wages till he had saved as much as 
 would buy him a few acres of land in the bush ; he cleared it, built 
 a shanty, sent money to bring out his wife and child, and has continued 
 to prosper. When I met with him his position was the following : he 
 has a large family, has already settled his three oldest sons on farms 
 of their own, containing 100, 70, and 64 acres respectively ; he has 1 70 
 acres on the home farm, has spent this year .£r20 on his dwelling- 
 house, milks twenty-seven cows, and is able to save something like 
 1,500 dollars per year; his daughters are married to respectable 
 farmers in the neighbourhood, and he will be able to retire in his old 
 age on a comfortable independence. I stayed with him a few days, 
 and he kindly drove me all round the neighbourhood. It is a good 
 farming country, and the opinion of the people in the different 
 neighbourhoods where I have been is that this county of Oxford 
 is one of the finest counties in Ontario. Tilsonburg is the nearest 
 market town, distant four miles. It is an improving town, with the 
 Great Western Railway running through it ; it has the usual grist and 
 lumber mills, driven by water power. I visited a number of other farmers 
 who came from the neighbourhood of Pickering and Cropton, who have 
 all done well, and are living on farms of their own. I also visited 
 another farm owned by Mr. McClelland. This gentleman was left 
 alone when he was very young, Ins father dying when he was five 
 years old ; he has had to work his way up by his own endeavours, 
 having nothing to begin with. He now possesses 250 acres of land, 
 has seven sons and two daughters, is building himself a new house 
 at a cost of 1,400 dollars, and is worth to-day 2G,000 dollars. He 
 lives in the township of Dorchester, and he told me the laud was good 
 all the way down to the lakes, a distance of fifty or sixty miles. 
 Having arrived back to Mr. Wm. Fcwster's, wo stai'ted early next 
 morning to see the Agricultural Show at London, about twenty miles 
 from IngersoU. It is a rapidly rising town of 30,000 inhabitants : 
 some good buildings in the principal streets, and is the centre of a 
 large agricultural district. The stock shown were remarkably good, quite 
 equalling any that are shown in England in the Great Yorkshire, or other 
 local shows, and the fruit, vegetables, and roots were very good. The 
 show was well patronized by the public, and was in every way a great 
 success. Returning with Mr. Fe\vstor to Dereham, he drove me the 
 next day all round the country, and, with a few exceptions, the land 
 is good and productive. Many of the older farmers have retired, 
 having acquired an indo])endonoe. It seems to me a good part of 
 tho country for an English family to settle in. 
 
 From Norwich I took tho cars for Brantford, a city of 12,000 
 inhabitants, pleasantly situated on tho banks of tho Grand lliver, 
 and rapidly rising into importance. It has good, wide, open streets, 
 some splendid private residences, ten Public Schools, a Collegiate 
 Institution, a Blind Asylum for 150 children, an Institute for the 
 Children of tho Indians located in tho noigliboTirhood, where 160 are 
 educated and tauglit to work on the farm attached; fifteen Churches. 
 
25 
 
 oura, 
 and, 
 
 liouse 
 He 
 
 ^ood 
 
 niles. 
 next 
 
 miles 
 nts : 
 of a 
 uito 
 thei" 
 The 
 
 err eat 
 
 the 
 
 land 
 
 ired, 
 
 rt of 
 
 2,000 
 iver, 
 •eets, 
 giate 
 • the 
 ) are 
 chcs, 
 
 belonging to different denominations ; besides mannf aotories of variout 
 kinds. I made my home with Mr. Slingsby, whose wife was bom on 
 the farm where I now reside. He is a woollen manufacturer, in con- 
 ;junction with his two sons, and to show the rapidity with which money 
 IS made, I give a statement I had from this gentleman. Five year» 
 ago he had the misfortune to have his mill completely burnt down, 
 thereby losing all he had, something like 14,000 dollars; to make 
 matters worse, the office where he was insured failed at th^ same time, 
 80 all was lost. Nothing discom*aged, he borrowed money and rebuilt 
 the mill and imported the best spinning and weaving machinery from 
 England. Being highly respected in the city made it easy for him 
 to get money on his own bond. He went to work earnestly, paid off 
 all the money he borrowed, and is making money very fast, so that 
 he is again independent. 
 
 Mr. Slingsby, besides driving me to several places in the Coimty 
 Brant, drove me one afternoon to the Bow Park Farm (now worked by a 
 Company) ; the Manager kindly showed us around. They have 960 
 acres of land, 233 head of cattle, and 19 horses. The cattle are 
 celebrated for their good breeding, being of the shorthorn pedigree ; 
 one bull I was shown was I think the most splendid animal I have 
 ever seen, his live weight being 2,800 pounds. The farm is in a good 
 state of cultivation, growing the best Indian com I have seen in 
 Canada, the stalks nearly twelve feet ' high. They had just thrashed 
 out 150 acres of wheat, yielding 38 bushels per acre, oats 75 bushels 
 per acre. 
 
 East of Toronto, in the townships of Scarbro', Pickering, Whitby, 
 and Darlington, there is a good farming country. At Newcastle 
 Station I met Mr. Geo. Dobson, who emigrated from Bransdale along 
 with some of his neighbours a good many years ago, when the country 
 was principally forest. He drove me to Orono, where he now resides. 
 His history is the same as those already recorded. Starting life as a 
 common labourer, he has made his way to a comfortable position in 
 life. He has 150 acres of his own, and he rents sixty acres ; he has 
 two sons at home unmarried, another lives on a small farm a mile 
 away, another lives near Bowmanville on a farm bought recently for 
 6,000 dollars, another is a school teacher with a yearly salary of 1 ,000 
 dollars, and one more at Lindsay, on a farm there ; not bad work, when 
 we consider that he started life a poor man. The country is somewhat 
 hilly, yet the land is generally good ; not so strong a soil as the land to 
 the west of Toronto, but a light loam, which grows ^ood crops of 
 spring wheat, oats, and barley. They have given up sowing fall wheat 
 in this district, as it is often killed by the frost, but spring wheat does 
 not yield so well as fall wheat. I visited nearly all the families and 
 farms in the neighbourhood ; many of them are descendants of parents 
 who came from the dales of North Yorkshire many years ago, and, 
 having laboured hard, have left their children in comfortable circum- 
 stances on the farms they have won from the forest. Many are the 
 stories the old people tell of their early struggles. In all my travels 
 amongst the Canadian farmers, I found them most hospitable. ^ 
 ,|. On arrival at Montreal, I found the Sarmatian lying at the wharf. I 
 got some freight and luggage I had with me on board, and had a 
 Vg^ round the town for a short time. Montreal has a population o{ 
 liPiOOO, with many fine buildings. Time will not admit of a full 
 
26 
 
 description, as I must hurry on by train to the Eastern Townships. 
 Passing over the great Tubular Bridge, I soon found myself at 
 Bichmond, where I left the main line for Lennoxville, a town a short 
 distance from Sherbrooke, the capital of the townships. I was 
 remarkably fortunate as to the time of my arrival, as I found that there 
 was a ployghing match in the neighbourhood that day, and that a large 
 number of the farmers for many miles around were at the hotel, and 
 that the prizes won by the ploughmen were to be distributed there. As 
 soon as these fanners found out the object that had brought me there, 
 they gathered around me, and I had a favourable opportunity of 
 collecting information. I found by conversing with them, individually, 
 that these townships are just the spot for a farmer writh limited means, 
 as farms are cheap, either to buy or rent. I talked with several old 
 men who arrived there thirty years ago, with hardly a dollar, who are 
 now living on their own farms, and have got^ their families comfortably 
 settled. One old Scotchman, especially, witt head whitened by seventy 
 summers, declared there was not such another country in the world as 
 was embraced by these townships, and I may mention one, to me very 
 pleasing, fact, that wherever I have been, whether in the east or the 
 west, in the north of Ontario or in the province of Quebec, the 
 farmers are so well satisfied with the neighbourhood where they reside, 
 that they all think theirs is the best, and that there is no place like it. 
 The first prize, a silver trophy, was won by a young man just out 
 from England. There were twenty-eight competing in various classes, 
 and a number of money prizes were distributed amongst them. They 
 are a plain, industrious, and contented people. I found amongst 
 them a number of shrewd Scotchmen, who are evidently doing well. I 
 visited J. C. Hale, Esq., Advocate, to whom I had a letter of intro- 
 duction from Mr. Jaques, of Thirsk. He at once offered to drive me 
 round the surrounding country, and I was indebted to his kindness 
 for being able to see so much of the country in the limited time i had 
 at command. We spent the whole day in inspecting the farms, and 
 seeing the country generally; and though it is not in my line to 
 advertise any one's abilities as land agent, yet I feel bound, in justice 
 to this gentleman, to say that if any one needs information as to 
 the most desirable location where to settle, or to buy or rent a farm 
 in this neighbourhood, I would recommend them to give this gentlemaii 
 a call ; and I am sure they will be treated with courtesy and consider- 
 ation. Mr. Hale's chief object iz to attract a better class of settlers 
 than they have hitherto been able to secure. I must say that I was 
 better pleased with this part of Canada than I expected to be from 
 the reports which I had heard previously. To the eye of an Englishman 
 the land looks wild and broken bv hills in many parts, yet it is a good 
 grazing country, and I think will pay best for breeding and feeding 
 cattle ; it has likewise the advantage of being bought much cheaper 
 than land in Ontario. Further away, in the township of Stanstead, 
 and where Mr. Cochrane has his farm, down to the part where the 
 Hon. Mr. H. Pope is farming so extensively, there is a large belt 
 of useful grazing land, the grass being very nutritious. ir> I would 
 certainly recommend emigrants contemplating going into grazing to look 
 through these townships on their way from Quebec, for where a farm 
 can be bought, partly cleared, with pretty good buildings upon it, at je4 
 .|>er acre, a man might go further and fare worse. I do not think that 
 
27 
 
 me 
 
 was 
 Irom 
 man 
 ood 
 ding 
 aper 
 ead, 
 the 
 belt 
 }uld 
 look 
 arm 
 
 ltje4 
 
 that 
 
 this part of Canada has had the consideration which it deserves. Tha 
 people complain, and I think with some justice, that the Government 
 has not aided them sufficiently in getting emigrants. They say, that in 
 their anxiety to get the North West settled, the Government has over- 
 looked their claims, settlers having been advised to go further up the 
 coilntry. Labourers are much wanted here, and would get 6/- per day, 
 with board, for eight months in the year. In winter there is plenty 
 of employment in the woods to cut down lumber, with this advantage, 
 that the woods aro within a couple of miles or so of their dwellings. 
 I had a look at Sherbrooke, a nice-sized town, where I am told there 
 is a market for almost anything ; there is a large woollen manufactory 
 driven by water power, two water wheels, and a force of water the 
 most powerful in Canada. There is also in the neighbourhood several 
 lumber mills, and on my return to Eichmond, on my way to Quebec, I 
 saw the largest quajutity of sawn lumber I had ever seen. On arrival 
 at Quebec I embarked on board the splendid steamer Sarmatian, on 
 Saturday morning, and started for England. 
 
 I append some remarks on various matters which occurred to me 
 while passing to and fro in the Provinces. First, as to who sh'^^'li 
 go to Canada, and where they should settle. 
 
 On this point I would say : — Let no one suppose that in emigrating 
 to Canada he will be free from difficulty and trouble. Possibly many 
 who have been disappointed in their expectations may have to ascribe 
 it to their not forming a proper estimate of the great difference there 
 must necessarily be in the habits and ci^^^toms of the land of their 
 adoption, which causes them, at first, to feel unsettled and discouraged, 
 I have found that this feeling prevailed with the greater portion of 
 those whom I conversed with ; on their first coming from England all 
 was strange, they felt home-sick for a while, but this feeling soon wore 
 ofE, especially when they began to improve their position in the world, 
 and now nothing would induce them to return to the Old Country. 
 Therefore, I say, be resolved to give the New Country a fair trial, and 
 soon all apparent difficulties will vanish. In my opinion, Ontario, or 
 the Quebec Townships, are the most suitable for men with families, as 
 they will be able to buy or rent farms on which are decent houses, 
 where they can make their families comfortable at once. And, as before 
 stated, it would be beneficial to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood 
 where they settle to have these English farmers ; with their tidy habits, 
 an^ their push and energy, they would soon, by their improved methods 
 of cultivation, produce a spirit of emulation in their neighbours which 
 would be productive of the best results. 
 
 ' AS TO WHERE TO SETTLE. 
 
 As far as I have seen, desirable locations for settlement are to be 
 found in the counties of Oxford, Brant, Waterloo, York, and Durham, 
 and for many miles around Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, but 
 any one who prefers a grazing country, with cheap land, I would advise 
 to look through the Eastern Townships of Quebec, as there are many 
 parts of that Province well worth the farmer's attention. Any one who 
 IB a good judge of cattle would soon improve his position there. 
 
 While the farmer with only a little capital is sure to do well in any 
 of the parts mentioned, the man with capital at command is also needed, 
 30 that the resonrces of the country may be more fully developed. 
 Capital, if judiciously ezpended| will bring a good retam. I would 
 
28 
 
 advise all who have money to invest not to be in too great a hnny, btift^ 
 take time to look round, and to consult, if possible, a jndioioas Mend^ 
 acquainted with the neighbonrhood, before coming to a final decision. 
 
 The prosperity of the Canadian farmers is due to the fact that thejr 
 are the owners of the land they cultivate, and, in consequence, they can 
 make any improvements they think proper, without fear of losing the 
 yshuB of them by being turned out by a landlord. Manufacturers and 
 storekeepers are not a&aid of letting a man have goods on credit, if by 
 buying bis farm he has run short of money, when they know that the 
 farm, being his own, no landlord's law of distress can prevent them &om 
 receiving their just demands. I cannot conceive how a young country 
 like Canada could have attained to its present degree of prosperity, had 
 it not been for the system of credit which prevails. Even the auction 
 sales are coi: ducted very often on the credit system, such announcements 
 as this meet the eye on large placards : " Auction Credit Sale" and after 
 announcing th& kind of stock to be sold, it is stated at the bottom of the 
 bill, that for any kind of stock sold costing above 5 dollars, credit would 
 be given the buyer for nine months on approved security ; and such is 
 the coDfidence the farmers have in one another, that if a poor but honest 
 neighbour cannot pay for the stock he has bought, they will become 
 security for him. Th:s is a great privilege for a man just commencing, 
 and such a disposition io help each other is a pleasing feature, and I am 
 convinced it has done much to bring about the prosperity the Canadian 
 farmers now enjoy. 
 
 IMPLEIOSNTS AND MACHINBBT. 
 
 The Canadians are ahead of us in this respect. Their implements 
 are better made, and, being ligixter in construction, take much less horse- 
 power to work. It is no unusaal thing to see one man with two light 
 horses in a wheat drill, driving from behind the drill so as to be able 
 (.0 attend to it, thus doing, with his two horses and himself, the work 
 which it would take three horses and three men to perform in this 
 country. Labour being so scarce and dear, all implements are planned 
 with the object of saving hand labour ; and from the simple hay fork, 
 which will throw ofE a ton of hay at three times, to the latest invention 
 of the self-binding reaper — which at least will save the work of five men 
 in the harvest field — all tend to this fine object. The farmers are not 
 afraid of the first expense of buying costly machinery, as they save it 
 in the long run. It was pleasing to see, not only in the older settle- 
 ments, but also at almost every station on our way through Manitoba, 
 such large stocks of machinery ready for the settlers* use. At Rapid 
 City, with a population of only 800, such is the demand for implements, 
 that the firm of Westfield & Fairchild had sold in one month 40,000 
 dollars' worth of implements, and the firm of Harris & Son had sold, 
 during the year, 376,000 dollars' worth, including the value of 110 self- 
 binders, which had gone into use in the nei^bourhood. The cost of 
 implements is about the same as in England. They are light and 
 portable, and stand their work well. 
 
 ^ ' LIVE STOOK. 
 
 At the shows I attended at Toronto and Iioizdon, there was a good 
 exhibition of live stock, especially of cattle, which were quite capable of 
 t^ng their place against some of the best shorthorns I have ever seeii^ 
 at our English shows. There were some good horses, but as a class they 
 were not equal to the horses shown in England. Pigs are a great 
 
29 
 
 feature in Canada ; the black Berkshire is to be seen everywhere. The 
 iarmers make a good deal of money out of their hogs. As a rule, the 
 farmers prefer the common grade Canadian cow for milking purposes. 
 These cows can be bought for forty dollars each, and by sending their 
 milk to the cheese factory they wiU, in one year, make as much profit 
 in cheese as will pay their original cost. Mr. Fewster's twenty-seven 
 "COWS cleared last year 900 dollars, besides what went in milk and butter 
 for the family. There are not many sheep kept in the neighbourhoods 
 where I have been, but where well-bred Leicesters have been kept 
 there is now a disposition to cross them with the Down ram, as they 
 get a better quality of wool. The price of beef and mutton in the country 
 was about ten cents per pound ; pork, seven dollars per 100 pounds, 
 dead weight ; eggs, 18 cents per dozen ; butter, 24 cents per pound ; 
 cheese, 11 cents. In the Toronto market fat^ beasts were sellmg for 
 6 J cents per pound, live weight; sheep, 6 cents per pound, live weight; 
 lambs, 4 dollars each; pigs, 7 dollars to 7-60 dollars per 100 pounds; 
 l>utter, 25 cents ; eggs, 26 cents per dozen ; cheese, 13 cents per pound; 
 flour, 2-75 to 4 dollars per 100 pounds ; wheat, 1 dollar per bushel ; 
 barley, 75 cents per bushel, and oats, 42 cents. 
 
 Horses for agricultural purposes are, as a rule, smaller, and show more 
 l)reeding than the same class in England, and tiiey are capable of a fax 
 greater amount of road work. The farmer will take one of his draught 
 horses, yoke it in his buggy, and take it a journey of fifty or even sixty 
 miles a day, without any appearance of serious fatigue. There are some 
 good specimens of the Clydesdale breed to be seen at Winnipeg. I saw 
 two mares of this breed which had cost their owners 750 dollars, though 
 as a rule 200 to 250 dollars is the price of a good horse in Manitoba. 
 
 I was told by parties who had been up to the Eocky Mountains that 
 it is calculated there are at least 80,000 head of cattle on the Canadian 
 «ide of these mountains, and that this number will be largely increased 
 next spring, as several new companies are being formed for that object. 
 
 LABOUB AND WAGES. 
 
 Wherever I went I was asked. Can yon send us labourers? They 
 «eem to be wanted everywhere. For farm work, a smart hand, after he 
 gets used to the way of the country, will command 170 to 190 dollars 
 per year, and all found. Sharp beys, for the same purpose, aged 17 years, 
 180 dollars. Last harvest, good men got 35 to 40 dollars per month. 
 Carpenters in the country get 1| dollars per day, with board. Masons 
 2 dollars per day, with botu^. In the large towns daring the suriimer 
 months mechanics command almost fabulous wages, beginning in the 
 spring with 3 dollars. At Winnipeg, before the season closes, as much 
 as 7 dollars per day is paid ; carpenters a little less, but in the same 
 proportion, i Boarding is high, being from 5 to 6 dollars for single 
 men, and there is the prospect of being out of work for some weeks 
 in winter, though I was told by a mason in Winnipeg that he had only 
 lost four weeks all last winter. Labourers are not so much wanted as 
 jret in the farming districts of the North West, but as the country gets 
 opened up there will be a ffreat demand for labour. I am satisfied that 
 if men would only leave me large towns and make their way into the 
 &rraing districts, they would get work readily; but in Canada, as in 
 England, there is always a class of loafers in the large towns who do not 
 like work, and who are the first to cry out about the want of work. ^;I 
 luure only seen one beggar in my travels in the country, and he was a 
 
80 
 
 poor half-witted fellow, on whom the farmers* wives took pity, and gave 
 him a meal when he called on th«m. I heard of another who drove 
 about the country with a waggon and two horses, carrying three 
 barrels to put what he could get therein, and it was said he drove a 
 roaring trade. 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AfVu EDUCATION. 
 
 I have told many of the Canadians that they are the freest people in 
 the world, for if an enemy invades them they have the old country to 
 fight their battles ; they have no standing army to maintain ; their taxes 
 are very light, education and the maintenance of the roads being the 
 principal items of expense. They have local government in its integrity, 
 five delegates managing the affairs of each township, elected yearly by 
 the ratepayers, consisting of Reeve, vice-Eeeve, and three Councillors, 
 in whom are invested the management of the roads, the levying of rates, 
 and all other incidental matters belonging to the township. They have 
 power — " as there is no Poor Law in Canada" — to relieve any destitute 
 individual or family that may need help, who may be passing through or 
 residing in the township, — a very sensible and humane arrangement, 
 and calculated to quiet the fears of any one who may hesitate to emigrate 
 for fear they may be left destitute in a foreign land. I consider the 
 Canadian system of education the most simple and effectual of any I 
 have ever met with, giving, as it does, an opportunity for the child of the 
 poor man to obtain as good an education as the child of his rich neigh- 
 bour. Besides the elementary schools, there are also provided higher 
 grade schools and Collegiate Institutions, so that a clever boy, no 
 matter how poor his parents, can by degrees attain to honour and 
 distinction, as a boy is eligible for school until he is 18 years of age. 
 And these privileges of the older provinces will soon be realized by the 
 inhabitants of Manitoba and the North- West, for already educational 
 institutions are rising in many places, and a few years will see the Prairie 
 studded over with schools and churches. I found, on reaching Brandon, 
 which had only been in existence some fourteen months, two churches 
 already open, and one or two more belonging to different denominations 
 were being built. ^ 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 One more remark I wisn to make in reference to the climate of the 
 
 North- West. No matter how hot the day may have been, about five 
 
 o'clock in the evening a north wind invariably springs up, which in a 
 
 couple of hours cools the atmosphere so that with your window open 
 
 you could sleep with every degree of comfort under an ordinary amount 
 
 of bedclothes. In Ontario the climate is on the whole a very healthy 
 
 one. At times in summer it is very hot, yet with the dry clear atmosphere 
 
 of the country the heat is not ofton oppressive, though the thermometer 
 
 marks at times over 100 degrees in the shade. I have not passed a winter 
 
 in Canada, so cannot speak from experience, but I was told by frtends, 
 
 both in Upper and Lower Canada, that though the cold at times was 
 
 intense, yet they do not feel it more than we in England feel the chilly 
 
 hoar frosts which make us feel so uncomfortable. The winter in Ontario 
 
 sets in about the latter part of November, and continues till the end of 
 
 March. In the Eastern Townships winter begins a few days earlier, and 
 
 sometimes continues a few days longer. In the North- West the winter 
 
 is severer, and generally continues a few days longer. 
 
 Having put before my friends a clear and unbiassed statement of my 
 views and convictions in reference to this great country, I would asK 
 
31 
 
 a 
 
 and 
 
 tbem to calmly ponder over what I have said. My objeot is to bring 
 facts before my coantrymen, and especially Yorkshiremen, so as to gaide 
 to a right conclusion any who may wish to better their position in life. 
 
 AGRICULTURE IN ONTARIO. 
 
 The Bureau of Industries of the Province of Ontario has just published 
 its monthly report for November, 1882, and the following extracts from it 
 will be read vrith interest by intending Emigrants, especially of the 
 agricultural class : — 
 
 " The total number of farms in the Province is 201,766, embracing an 
 area of 19,602,387 acres, of which 10,211,960 acres are cleared. The 
 value of farm land is set down at $831,882,030, and the total of land, 
 buildings, implements, and live stock at $882,024,500. 
 
 " The area under grain crops this year was 5,002,067 acres, or 48 per 
 cent, of all the cleared land, and under other field crops, orchard, etc., 
 2,335,149 acres. This makes a total under tillage of 7,337,216 acres, 
 leaving 2,874,474 acres for pasture and fallow land. The acreage and 
 production' of each crop are given as follows : Fall wheat, 1,188,520 acres, 
 81,255,202 bushels; spring wheat, 586,817 acres, 9,665,999 bushels; 
 barley, 848,617 acres, 24,284,407 bushels; oats, 1,375,415 acres, 
 60,097,997 bushels; rye, 189,031 acres, 3,549,898 bushels ; peas, 557,157 
 acres, 10,943,355 bushels ; corn, 206,925 acres, 13,420,984 bushels (in 
 the ear) ; buckwheat, 49.586 acres, 1,247,943 bushels. The total of spring 
 and fall wheat is 1,775,337 acres, yielding 40,921,201 bushels, or an 
 average of 23.05 bushels per acre. 
 
 " The produce of each kind of grain is based on the returns oi threshers 
 and the reports of correspondents — the method adopted by the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture at Washington and by several State Bureaus. The 
 following table gives the average of bushels per acre this year for the 
 Province of Ontario and for nine of the principal wheat-growing States, 
 the figures for the latter being taken from the October Report of the 
 United States Departmont of Agriculture : — 
 
 
 Fall 
 Wheat. 
 
 Spring 
 Wheat. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 1 
 O 
 
 86.4 
 28.0 
 333 
 
 27.0 
 37.4 
 34.5 
 38.1 
 31.8 
 40.0 
 45.0 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Ontario 
 
 26.3 
 16.7 
 17.8 
 15.7 
 16.0 
 14.6 
 19.5 
 
 16.5 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 Vi'.o 
 
 1H.3 
 16.7 
 
 28.6 
 
 19.9 
 25.2 
 2i.0 
 22.5 
 23.0 
 25.7 
 21.7 
 23.3 
 29.2 
 
 18,8 
 
 Ohio 
 
 15 8 
 
 Micbican 
 
 17 
 
 Indiana 
 
 15.1 
 
 Illiucia 
 
 16.6 
 
 Missouri 
 
 15.5 
 
 Kansas 
 
 22.3 
 
 Iowa 
 
 14.3 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 Dakota 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • ■ 
 
 18.0 
 20.0 
 
 m: 
 
 as' 
 
 I 
 
 f It is only necessary to add that in the United States the grain crops 
 are regarded as exceptionally good this year. The comparison of 
 averages therefore makes a remarkably i;ood showing for Ontario. 
 
 " The total produce of beans is computed to be 409,910 bushels; of 
 potatoes, 18,432,145 bushels ; of mangold wurtzels, 7,711.420 bushels; 
 
: 
 
 9$ 
 
 af carrots, 4,009,975 bushels ; and of turnips. 85,859,381 busbels. The 
 area under meadow and clover was 1,835,890 acres, and the produce 
 2,090,6*^6 tons, being an average of only 1.14 tons per acre. The damage 
 done to clover by winter exposure and spring frosts accounts for this poor 
 result. Orchard and garden embrace an area of 213,846 acres, and 
 vineyard 2,098 acres. The returns for the latter are doubtless imperfect. 
 " The tables of live stock show that the number of farm horses in the 
 Province on the Slst of May was 603,604 ; of cattle, 1,586,812 ; of 
 sheep, 1,915,303; of hogs, 860,226; and of poultry, 5,352,120. The 
 number of milch cows was 669,629, and of thoroughbred cattle, 23,629; 
 the returns of the latter, however, were incomplete. Of sheep one year 
 and over 933,143 were returned as coarse- wooUed, and 178,299 as fine- 
 wpolled ; the average weight per fleece of coarse wool was 6.19 lbs., and of 
 fine wool 6.07 lbs. The number of hogs one year and over was 252,415, 
 and under one year 697,811. The number of turkeys was 810,068: of 
 geese, 633,367 ; and of other fowls, 4,608,706." 
 
 (From the Stockport *' Advertiser" of Nov. 17tht 1882.) 
 LECTURE BY DR. MAOGRBGOR. 
 
 On Monday night Dr. Macgregor addressed a crowded audience in the 
 large room of the school on "Through Canada and the Great North* 
 West, with the Marquis of Lome." The chair was occupied by the Mayor 
 (Mr. James Leigh). 
 
 Dr. Macgregor, who w&vs received with hearty applause, said that 
 a year last June, when sitting at Lambeth with the Venerable Arch- 
 bishop of CaLJerbury, he r/ot a cablegram from His Excellency the 
 Governor-General of Canada, " Are yon coming ? " It did not take him 
 long to consider the answer which he should give to ..he message, 
 and that answer was the word "Yes/' He must admit that he had an 
 idea of what the "Are you coming ? " meant. The journey he performed 
 with the Marquis of Lome and others by railroad and water was no less 
 than a journey of 8,054 miles, and truly it was an interesting journey. 
 While sitting recently at the residence of the Mayor, with Mr. Shaw, 
 the American Consul at Manchester, they were talking about Canada, 
 and Mr. Shaw took the opportunity to remark that one day or othev 
 Canada would be annexed to the United States. He at once said that 
 he did not belieye it; and supposing that it ever came to pass, the 
 position would be reversed — the United States would have to be annexed ' 
 to Canada — which was much bigger than the United States. But this 
 was all by the way. He would now come to the lecture, and how should 
 he begin? He might commence with the voyage from Liverpool to 
 Quebec, in that magnificent line of steamers — the Allan ; — or he might 
 start with Quebec, French in look, French in language, and French 
 in smell ;-^or he might begin at Nova Scotia. For his purpose that 
 night he would start at Nova Scotia, and, as he intended the address 
 to be of a practical and useful character, he should not aim at anything 
 of a specially descriptive character. Dr. Macgpregor then dwelt ol the 
 beauty of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, remarking incidentally that 
 one of the great objects of His Excellency the Governor-General was 
 to see with his own eyes what the Great North-West really was. ^ .In 
 this journey they sailed over the great inland seas, and sometimes had 
 an Indian Pow Wow, composed of 3,000 persons. He should speak of 
 
83 
 
 the land as a place for emigration, and as offering advantagea to the 
 hard-working man. Throughout the journey tea was the chief drink. 
 Tea morning, afternoon, and evening ; in fact, they drank oceans of tea. 
 Dr. Macgregor referred in graphic language to the incidents of a three 
 days' sail in Indian canoes over the Central Lakes, and the arrival of 
 the party at Winnipeg, the young capital of Manitoba. The portion 
 of the journey then traversed was 2,500 miles, and yet, in a sense, they 
 were only at the commencomcnt. He had been asked by a lady what 
 struck him most in his Canadian tour, and the answer he made was 
 that so splendid and so fertile a country should have remained so long 
 unknown to the world. That stuck in ^is gizzard all the while he was 
 travelling in the country. They wore, however, not going to abuse the 
 old maxim, De mortuis nil nisi honum. If another lady had asked him 
 what was the next thing he was struck with in that journey, he should 
 have answered the magnificent distances. For 2,600 miles from one 
 point to near Winnipeg it was everlasting forest, and then 1,000 miles 
 of everlasting grass, and then for 400 miles, on to the Pacific Ocean, it 
 was everlasting hills. Dwelling on the water system, he said that when 
 certain water-ways were constructed, steamers would be able to leave 
 Liverpool and sail right on without breaking bulk, to Lake Superior 
 and the very heart of the American Continent. Here was Winnipeg, a 
 place that was a desert a few years ago, which in this blessed year of 
 1882 had unbroken steam communication of 1,500 miles. They could 
 sail from Winnipeg to the heart of the Continent for 1,500 miles. Such 
 was a little of the water communication of Canada. In alluding to the 
 soil, climate, and general character of the North-West Territory, he said 
 that it seemed certain that at no distant day a greater portion of ther 
 district would be the granary of the world, and the future home of many 
 of the human race. Manitoba had 2,500,000 square miles, and 
 200,000,000 acres of fertile land. If there were any farmers present, 
 that statement would have special interest for them. As an idea of the 
 magnificent distances he might mention that on one occasion he saw a 
 driver of a team starting on a journey, and on being asked how long it 
 would take, he replied, ** Oh, three or four months." Of the amazing 
 fertility of ]Manitoba, and the country to the west, there was no more 
 doubt than it could be doubted that he was addressing a Stockport 
 audicDce; and as an instance of how the population was fast settling in 
 that rej,non, ho might mention that recently he had received a letter 
 from His Excellency the Governor-General of Canada, stating that since 
 the visit of which he now spoke had been made, over 80,000 people 
 had settled there. It was worth notice that the first so'.ilers were 
 Cunadiiuis, of whom there had been a rush to Manitoba, and there was 
 not one of them who had expressed, so far as he could tell, his regret at 
 having left Ontario for the measureless meadows of Manitoba. On the 
 contrary, considerable satisfaction was expressed at the change they 
 had made, and loud were their praises of the land and its fertility. Here 
 the lecturer read some extracts from letters contributed to the Scotsman 
 of the general character of the district, and then went on to remark that 
 the thought which struck him on visiting the spot was, why should not 
 this land bo known, vowing that if God spared him, he would let it be 
 known wherever his voice could be heard. Why should the poor farmer 
 be ground down in this country with his wretched soil, when he coald 
 better his position by sailing for the great North- West? There wai 
 

 !l 
 
 84 
 
 nothing between them but a little strip of water, and he pooh-poohed 
 the idea that there was any great danger in crossing the Atlantic. 
 As for himself, when he arrived at Liverpool from Canada, he really 
 wished that he could go back again. After quoting from Uarper 8 
 Magazine and the Scotsman, statistics showing tho enormous yield of 
 wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, &c., per acre, as compared with tho yield 
 of other soils, he said that there was no doubt that the amazing fertility 
 of tho North- West was duo to the fact of the frost penetrating to such 
 »reat depth. As to the soil itself, it was a black stuff, and when wot 
 was heavy, and something like tar. Another item for farmers. In 
 Winnipeg ho had seen a field on which wheat had been grown without 
 manure for 50 years. There was no manure put near it ; it was lying in 
 tho roads. Perhaps it was only fair to add that it was allowed to lio 
 fallow every seven years, but still the fact remained that for 50 years no 
 manure had been used. As to the climate, perhaps tho impressions and 
 the experiences of a traveller like himself were of little value. Ho was 
 in the country at the best season of the year, and in the most 
 favourable circumstances, of course. But allow him to say that never 
 since he came into this planet, and he had ti'avelled a great deal, had be 
 enjoyed so long an unbroken period of glorious weather as ho did in 
 the North-Wcst. Ho had never experienced such delightful weather. 
 Of tho winter he knew nothing, and there was no doubt that it was 
 very severe. There must be no blinking that fact ; on the other band, 
 the evidence of some of the settlers was that they preferred tho winter 
 climate of Manitoba to the v/inter climate of Ontario. It was the health 
 of the people that they had to look at, and the evidence on this point 
 was that the climate was particularly suited to tho Anglo-Saxon race. 
 There was no doubt of the fact that tho climate generally of Canada 
 was more suited to Anglo-Saxon constitution than any other. They did 
 not get that dry herring look of the Yankee. The men and women 
 were red, fat, and rosy, just as they were in Stockport, and that was 
 saying a great deal. When he saw a thorough American he always 
 thought that there was a tendency to resume the Red Indian typo. 
 (Laughter and applause.) But to come to the practical point of tho 
 address, the real question was, how was the poor man to get to this 
 favoured land ? The question was a very serious one, and in speaking to 
 them that night, ho was not doing so as tho agent for the Dominion, or 
 on behalf of any emigration society, from whom ho would perhaps get 
 more kicks than halfpence; his sole desire was to point others to that 
 which he had seen with his own eyes. Any man or woman could go 
 from Liverpool to Winnipeg, at tho present time, at from £9 63. to 
 £10 6s., and he would here distinctly say that those who have not 
 pluck, and who were not prepared to stand tho hardships — and there 
 were hardships at the outset — had better stay at homo. He uid not 
 undertake to advise anyone to go out — he was not prepared to take tho 
 responsibilities of any advice tendered on the matter, w In all the 
 applications made to him he generally said, "Please yourself; what I 
 say is this — I have seen the land, and it is there for nothing ; rich soil 
 is there, and the man who is to sow it will make a rich harvest." That 
 really was all he said ; he wished every man to do the best for himself. 
 The best classes to go out were the young, and those in the prime of life, 
 who had been used to agriculture. Female domestic servants were 
 much in demand, and he saw that there "was a company started in 
 
 RO 
 
-poohed 
 Atlantic, 
 e really 
 Harper's 
 yield of 
 :ho yield 
 fertility 
 ; to such 
 rhcn wot 
 jrs. In 
 , without 
 lying in 
 ed to lie 
 years no 
 jions and 
 Ho was 
 ;ho most 
 iiat never 
 1, had he 
 ho did in 
 weather, 
 it it was 
 ler hand, 
 he winter 
 ,be health 
 this point 
 ixon race. 
 )f Canada 
 They did 
 id women 
 that was 
 le always 
 ian typo, 
 nt of tlio 
 }t to this 
 »eaking to 
 -linion, or 
 jrhaps get 
 rs to that 
 could go 
 £9 63. to 
 hnve not 
 and there 
 e liid not 
 tako the 
 In all the 
 f ; what I 
 rich soil 
 it." That 
 ir himself, 
 me of life, 
 ants were 
 itarted in 
 
 35 
 
 Vianitoba to protect females going out. In a short time a complete 
 Burvoy wonld he made, and that wonld be of immense advantage to 
 settlors. Instances of the laying out of townships were illustrated by 
 the lecturer by maps. Manitoba, he said, boasted a school system aa 
 good aa Ontario, which boasted that it beat the world — (laughter) — 
 BO that the future settlers need have no fear for the education of their 
 children. Tho largest owner of land was the Government. Every 
 head of a family, male or female, could obtain a free grant of a quarter 
 Bection, and thus become the owner of 160 acres, and all that at the 
 cost of the registration fee — about £2. Anyone getting these 160 acres 
 had the first chance of the next section, for which he paid 8s. or IDs. 
 »n acre, according to the position of it, and the sum in question was to 
 be paid at the end of three years from tho day of entry. He thought 
 he had kept the audience quite long enough, with the facts he had given 
 them. There was only one other thing, and it was this — there wore 
 many people in the country who wore ]>recluded from taking advantage 
 of the opportunities afforded, bocai^.se they were unable to pay the 
 money for emigration. What the land needed was sober and indus- 
 trious hoada of households; and he well knew that the home and the 
 •ssociation of people often prevented many from taking the journey they 
 otherwise would do. What ho would do, would be to get people to go 
 Crom certain districts here to certain districts there, and in this way 
 they could keep up the old home conditions and associations. That 
 eould only be done by colonizing companies, and they would ) enefit old 
 England and Canada as well. (Applause.) 
 
 The Chairman said that he wns sure that they had aii enjoyed the 
 lecture, and their thanks were due to Mr. Bay ley and Mr. Peter Walker 
 for getting the lecturer down to Stockport. He must say that the 
 lecture had been very tantalising to him. (Laughter.) Dr. Macgregor 
 had pair^cd a glorious picture, and had given them visions of beauty which 
 they would dream about. Still it would be only a dream, and on the 
 morrow they would have again to turn to the stern realities of the life 
 they were tied to in Stockport. They were ti7ing to make the town 
 more prosperous in tho future than it had been in the past, and looking 
 at the matter in that sense, he did not know whether Dr. Macgregor 
 had come there as a friend or foe. (Laughter.) He did not know 
 whether or not Dr. T^lacgregor had some grand scheme by which he 
 wonld take them all over to this beautiful place, but if he had, perhaps 
 he would pay them a visit again and develope the scheme. (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Bayley said that after the lecture they had heard that night, and 
 the very able service rendered to the town, he was sure that the audience 
 would pass a hearty vote of thanks to Dr. Macgregor. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Mr. W. Leigh, in seconding the resolution, said that they were not all 
 formers and domestic servants, but he hoped that the beautiful picture 
 which had been drawn would not have the effect of emptying the town 
 so much dreaded by the Mayor. (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Heginbotham could not approve of all said by the lecturer. It 
 might suit°the young to go to Canada, which he believed was one of the 
 finest climates in the world ; but he thought that it would hardly suit 
 them on that platform to go across the ocean and enjoy the beautiful 
 ttungs which the doctor had foreshadowed. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The resolution was passed with hearty acclamation. 
 
 Dr. Macgregor, in replying to the vote, said that he was exceedingly 
 
 i:'l 
 
I' r 
 
 I 
 
 36 
 
 indebted to the Mayor and the other gentlemen there for taking part in 
 the vote of thanks, and to the ladies and gentlemen of the audience for 
 BO heartily according them. If they thought that he had been blowing 
 the trumpet of Canada loudly, he could only say that when he got 
 back to Edinburgh he should blow the trumpet of Stockport just aa 
 loudly. (Hear, hoar.) He had only one grievance — gentlemen on thft 
 platform seemed to indicate that he was trying to coax those on thtt 
 platform to go out to Canada. Now, if they had been listening aa 
 attentively as the audience, they would have found that they were jufll 
 the class he advised to stay at home. (Roars of laughter.) 
 
 The Chairman : Dr. Macgregor has got out of the scrape with the 
 usual adroitness of a Scotchman. (Laughter.) 
 
 The lecture, which was delivered in a telling, pleasing style, proved 
 most entertaining, as well as interesting, and was listened to with 
 close attention. 
 
 CEOPS IN MANITOBA. 
 
 The Crop Report for 1882 ht-s just come to hand of a portion of 
 Manitoba and the adjoining territories of the Canadian North- West, 
 from information collected principally by the postmasters of the various 
 localities. 84 districts are represented, eomprising about one-fourth the 
 whole area of settlement at the present time, and the information it con- 
 tains is therefore important as demonstrating the wonderful progress of 
 this country, which, until lately, has remained almost unknown to 
 British agriculturists. The average yield is shown to be — wheat, 30 
 bushels to the acre ; oats, 61^ ; barley, 38| ; potatoes, 277^ ; turnips, 
 1,000 ; flax, 15 ; rye, 20 ; peas, 37. The acreage under cultivation in 
 the 84 districts represented is 472,770 acres, divided as follows : — 
 
 232,550 acres, producing 6,976,500 bushels. 
 
 Wheat 
 
 ■ • « 
 
 232,550 
 
 Oats, 
 
 • • • 
 
 144,620 
 
 Barley 
 
 • •f 
 
 63,890 
 
 Flax 
 
 • •• 
 
 11,800 
 
 Rye 
 
 • •t 
 
 8,020 
 
 Peas 
 
 • • • 
 
 400 
 
 Roots 
 
 • t • 
 
 22,665 
 
 
 )> 
 
 »» 
 ft 
 >» 
 
 l> 
 It 
 11 
 
 >» 
 
 7,447,930 
 
 2,074,765 
 
 177,000 
 
 160,400 
 
 14,800 
 
 n 
 11 
 II 
 
 II 
 
 11 
 
 Total yield of grain from 450,206 acres, 16,861,395 bushels. 
 Within the same area of country the report shows 146,335 acres as 
 freshly broken ready for seeding next spring, which proves that the 
 new settlers have not been idle in their Canadian home. The average 
 number of cattle to each settler in several districts is estimated at over 
 thirty head. Altogether the report is a most satisfactory one, and 
 bespeaks a general state of contentment and prosperity amongst the 
 settlers. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company have now completed 
 their main line, some 606 miles beyond Winnipeg, and 114 miles on 
 their south-western branch ; and next season they will have upwards 
 of 1,000 miles of road through this fine country, thus giving the settlert 
 ready communication with the eastern markets. Altogether the Cana* 
 dian Pacific Railway will have about 2,000 miles of railway in operation 
 along their whole line by next autumn. 
 
 From the DUBLIN DAILY EXPRESS of Nov. the Ist, 1882. 
 
 BiiANDON, Manitoba, October 11th, 1882. 
 Dear Sir, — I desire to inform you that I have located on a farm of 640 
 acres, 2^ miles soulh of Brandon, 400 acres of which I have had under 
 
g part in 
 Hence for 
 i blowing 
 in he got 
 't just a& 
 u ou thft 
 ise on the 
 bening Ml 
 were juBl 
 
 I with th6 
 
 e, proved 
 . to with 
 
 lortion of 
 L-th-West, 
 le various 
 fourth the 
 n it con- 
 rogress of 
 known to 
 wheat, 30 
 ; turnips, 
 ivatiou in 
 ^s: — 
 Is. 
 
 els. 
 
 acres as 
 9 that the 
 16 average 
 id at over 
 
 one, and 
 Longst the 
 completed 
 t miles on 
 upwards 
 16 settlers 
 the Cana> 
 
 operation 
 
 1882. 
 
 , 1882. 
 ,rm of 640 
 had under 
 
 37 
 
 cultivation this season. I arrived at the town site of Brandon on the 
 28th of May, 1881, and commenced to break my land on the 6th of 
 June, doing the most part of the work by contract, paying 4 dels, per 
 acre for breaking, and 3 dols. 60c. for back-setting. This, as you 
 know, left it ready for the harrow. I sowed 350 acres of oats, 20 acres 
 of wheat — the balance in roo*s and other crops. I commenced to sow 
 on the 6th of May, and commenced to cut my wheat on the 26th of 
 August, going on until the whole of my wheat and oats were cut — this 
 season being late, as you see from the time I commenced to sow and cut. 
 Seeding time usually begins about the 10th of April, and harvest from 
 the 1st to the 19th of August. I have to now thrashed about 14,000 
 bushels of oats, and find the yield 68 bushels per acre. The wheat will 
 yield 30 bushels per acre. These are actual figures and not got up. 
 Oats sell very readily at 50 cents per bushel. You can see from this that 
 I will have my entire expenditure returned, with 100 per cent., by the 
 first crop, so that I am not farming for fun, but to make money, and I 
 think I am succeeding. There is no difficulty in a man farming here if 
 he has ordinary energy and intelligence. A good stock of the former 
 is even better, in my opinion, than an overstock of capital. Many young 
 men from towns and cities that have come out this season with a little 
 money appear anxious to learn farming, as they call it, and give some 
 of our cunning ones from 400 dols. to 600 dols. and their labour for one 
 year to teach them nothing, as you know already. Any of the above 
 classes that have come to me I have advised to go on to their land and 
 work, and if they had no confidence in themselves, to go and hire for 
 moderate wages for a year with some good farmer, and keep their money. 
 N^ow as to the price of labour : it was pretty high when you were here, 
 but it is higher now. When I commenced seeding I hired my men at 
 26 dols. and board per month for the season, excepting the harvest 
 month, for which I paid them thirty dollars each. Extra men for the 
 harvest I paid two dollars per day with board. The men that I have 
 now at work thrashing I am paying 2 dols. 50c. and board. This of 
 itself will explain to you the demand for labour. My root crop is still in 
 the ground for want of labour, notwithstanding the above high rates. 
 The labourers on the Canadian Pacific Railroad work get 2 dols. 25c. 
 find even liigher. There is a good deal of work done on the streets of 
 Brandon, at which labourers are getting 2 dols. 50c. to 2 dols. 75c., and 
 their board only costs them from 4 dols. 50c. to 5 dols. 50c. a week. 
 Oarpenters are getting from 3 dols. U) 4 dols. a day, and you have to 
 take off your hat to get them at that. You cannot imagine the hurry 
 «nd bustle there is in this country compared to what there had been 
 when you were here. We have the country beyond a doubt ; all we 
 want is a good class of emigrants ; we cannot have an over stock of 
 fitfmers, farm labourers, and mechanics. 
 
 Yours truly, Charles Whitehead. 
 
 From the DUBLIN DAILY EXPRESS, of November 6th, 1882. 
 
 Trot, North- West Territory, Canada, 
 
 October 16th, 1882. 
 
 Dear Sir, — When leaving Dublin I promised to write to you, so I 
 
 now propose giving you an account of myself since I left the "Old Sod," 
 
 which I think is the best way to describe my progress. I arrived in 
 
 Winnipeg, July, 1881, with only one sovereign in my possession, and 
 
I 
 
 II 
 
 88 
 
 immediately went to Mr. Hespler, the Canadian Government Agent, 
 whom I found a very nice man indeed. He eent me out 50 miles from 
 Winnipeg, to a farm, where I buckled to work. After being there a short 
 time I started for the North -West Territory with a party of four, 
 when, after travelling twenty-six days, we settled down here. At that 
 time, September, 1881, there was not a soul nearer than Qu'Appelle — just 
 twenty miles; at the present time the land is taken up for miles and miles 
 around us. It is really marvellous the rapidity with which the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway is being built — nearly four miles a day. It passes beside 
 where I live, and the journey that took us twenty-six days last fall can 
 now be accomplished in twelve hours. I have a quarter of a section 
 of land (160 acres) within half-a-mile of the railroad, and I have a 
 house built upon it and some ploughing done. Of course the first year 
 one cannot expect to have much, but next year I hope to have a good 
 «rop. If I had some capital I should have had a fine crop this year, but 
 I have been obliged to work out for some time. However, I have not 
 been idle, as you will see from the enclosed advertisement. I own an 
 hotel in the town, and I am now ray own master. I will be able to hire a 
 man next year, when I hope to have good crops and a new house built 
 on my land. The soil is all that can be desired for farming, and some 
 of the crops that I have seen up here far excel any that I have ever 
 seen before ; one crop of oats I saw in the Qu' Appello Valley was really 
 a picture to look at ; in fact, all grain crops ripen well, and vegetables 
 grow in the greatest abundance. I am really very happy out here ; I 
 assure yoa I would not take £500 a year and go back to work in an office 
 in Dublin. The climate is really splendid ; of course it is a little severe 
 in winter, but the atraosphore is clear and bracing, and on the whole, 
 I am really delighted with the change X have made. I want one thing 
 more now, that is a wife, and I am determined to have one soon; I ihink 
 I have liveti alone long enough, and that it is time I settled down now. 
 In a few years I hope to be able to take a trip for pleasure to the " old 
 country." At present there is not much inducement to visit poor 
 Ireland. I wonder more do not emigrate when such chances are before 
 them out here. No person can be much worse off than I was when I 
 landed in Winnipeg, so it clearly shows that something can be done 
 without capital. If you know any people coming this way you might 
 give them a letter to me, and I will give them all the information in my 
 power. 
 
 This will be a large town, and the lumber has just arrived for an emigrant 
 dep6t, which is to be built at once. No doubt you will have plenty of 
 people coming up here next spring. Let them ask for me, I am pretty 
 well known, as I am tho oldest settler in the place. 
 
 Yours very truly, A. W. Studdert. 
 
 (Copy.) 
 Kenniluk, Arden p. O., Frontenac, Co. Ontario, 
 Mr. H. Bate, Stoke-on-Trent. September 21st, 1882. 
 
 Dear Sir, — As I promised to write to yon I must fulfil my promise. 
 I arrived at Point Levi, Quebec, and had not been landed ten minutes 
 before I got work at 2 dollars per day and a pass up to my work. We 
 could do with 200 men now at one firm, and about two miles from here 
 there are about 400 men wanted, and 150 at another place near to. 
 Men have not got to a«k for work here, they are jolly soon asked if thoy 
 
 
39 
 
 want work. Where I am it is a beaatifol country, we can go out on the 
 lakes and fish, or go out hunting where we like without trespassiugb 
 There's any quantity of deer, and you can shoot as many as you like. 
 I should like to say more, but my time is precious, having so many to 
 write to. 
 
 If you have anyone coming out send them here. By applying to the 
 Government Emigration Officer, at Quebec, he will send them up to 
 Kingston, which is about fifty miles from here. The " Polynesian ■• 
 (Allan Line) is a good boat ; we had it rough for a few days, the 
 remainder of the voyage was very pleasant. 
 
 I must say good-bye. With kind regards, Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) J. Taylor Passwood* 
 
 From the OXFORD TIMES, Saturday, November 18th, 1882. 
 An Oxford Man in Western Canada. 
 
 We have received the following letter from Mr. Hoare, who sailed from 
 
 Oxford for America in the Allan Line Boyal Mail Steamer "Polyneeianf** 
 
 in July last. 
 
 Trenton, Ontario, Canada West. 
 
 Dear Mr. Editor, — Being a native of Oxford, will you kindly allow 
 me a small space in your columns, thinking it may be of some good to 
 other intending emigrants, knowing that work is very scarce in Oxford, 
 and there are many that would come to Canada only for the want of 
 knowinpT if reports are correct. I will give you a little account of what 
 I have lound and experienced about it during the short time I have been 
 here. Firstly, there is plenty of work and good wages ; I can earn, as ^ 
 labourer in a saw mill, from nine to ten dollars per week, £2 in English 
 money. We can live cheaper — meat, the best, from nine to ten cents 
 per pound (4!^d. to 5d.). Clothing about the same as at home ; any 
 careful man can save from five dollars a week, and live well. The people 
 are very sociable ; wherever we have been we have met with kindness. 
 
 The climate has been very warm, but we are beginning to feel a little 
 of the winter coming on now. Labourers are about the principal men 
 wanted out here. When we came we sailed by the Allan Line Royal 
 Mail Steamer " x'olynesian," and we found everything as comfortable B£f 
 one could possibly expect on board ship. Any emigrants who think of 
 coming, I should advise to travel by that line. One word more ; all 
 emigrants who intend coming must make up their minds to work if 
 they wish to get on, as money is not to be picked up, as some people 
 suppose. There are good wages, but people must make up their minds 
 to work for them. Yours truly, 
 
 Wm. H. Hoare, 
 October 25th. Late of 81, Great Clarendon Street 
 
 From the YORKSHIRE POST of December Ist, 1882. 
 
 Mr. Jaques, of Thirsh, send^ for publication the following letter^ 
 tchich he has received from an emigrant in Canada : — 
 
 Tear Sir, — ^You will almost think I have forgotten yon, but it ii 
 not the case. I wanted to be well settled down before 1 wrote to yon. 
 Well, we were kindly treated by the railway companies* servants, and 
 va arriving at Liverpool we were met by the agent of the Allan Ijiae, 
 
40 
 
 il V 
 
 who kindly entertained us with all we needed, and saw us safely down 
 to the dock for a moderate charge. I am glad to say that I and my 
 family got well over the «ea voyage. We had very little sea sickness. 
 I was only sick half a day. My wife bore the voyage first-class ; 
 many people said she would never get over it ; she was only delicate, 
 but it has done her good. We were kindly treated on board the Sarma- 
 tian. We had plenty of good beef and plum pudding. It is a splendid 
 ehip. I felt as safe in her as though I had been at home. Nobody 
 need be afraid of going a voyage with the Allan steamers, at least I 
 think so. On arriving at Quebec I gave Mr. Stafford the note you gave 
 me, and he kindly sent us on to IngersoU. On arriving the''0 I bad a 
 chance of several places. I got engaged to a farmer for a year at 
 18 dollars a month, an eight-roomed brick house to live in, with a 
 grand orchard attached. A cow was also found me, and all my fuel 
 was found free. I think I have done well. I should never have got it 
 in England. And then living is so cheap in Ontario — beef from 3d. to 
 6d. per lb,, eggs 24 for 1/-, and they say they are dear now ; butter lOd. 
 per lb., a beast heart for 6d., a fat goose for 4/-, and furniture half the 
 price it is in England. I like the country very well. Go far we are 
 all in very good health. I believe this is a good country for a working 
 man. A farmer has double chance here to what he has in England. 
 We have some first-class land, and light taxes and free schools. This is 
 a good thing for a labourer with a large family. There is plenty of 
 room in Canada for all good labourers who have a mind to corao 
 out. Those who are afraid of work had better stay where they are, but 
 a man can be paid for his la^^-jur here. I shall, all being well, write to 
 you again early in the spv.^. I am much obliged to you for all your 
 kindness to me. — Wishing you and your family well, I remain, yours 
 truly, Henry Tomlinson. 
 
 IngersoU P. 0., Ontario, Canada, late of Seaton, 
 Sigglesthorne, rear Hull, Yorkshire. 
 
 P.S. — Many of our fellow-passengers got engaged at 26/- a week 
 And their meat, for publio works. 
 
 To passengers bound to MANITOBA and the GREAT NORTH- 
 WEST, and to all points in CANADA and the STATES, the advan- 
 tages aff'orded by the Allan Steamship Company are worthy of 
 ipecial considerntion. Passengers, after leaving the Company's steamer, 
 are put directly on board the cars in waiting alongside the wharf at which 
 the steamer makes fast. They proceed on their journey West without being 
 ■ubjected to the trying ordeal of a transfer through the city. Those 
 destined for the West or for MANITOBA have the advantage of a 
 Special Conductor, who sees to their wants during the Rail journey. 
 
 Special Through Bates are granted to Olanitoba, and Eziigrants are carried 
 at aa low rates as by any Line croisin^ the Atlantic, 
 
 The Company is uncle.' Ccntract with the Canadian Oovemment for the 
 conveyance of the Mails, and also for the conveyance of Assisted 
 Passengers. 
 
 J (^ For Rates, see Advertisement on the Cover. 
 
 Qo^iet of this pamphlet can ho obtained free of charge from the 
 Allan Steamship Company, or any of its Agents. 
 
>ly down 
 and my 
 sickness, 
 st-class ; 
 delicate, 
 I Sarma- 
 splendid 
 Nobody 
 
 least I 
 'ou gave 
 I bad a 
 year at 
 
 with a 
 my fuel 
 •e got it 
 I 3d. to 
 ter lOd. 
 aalf the 
 
 we are 
 vorking 
 ngland. 
 
 This is 
 lenty of 
 3 corao 
 ire, but 
 vrite to 
 ill your 
 I, youra 
 
 [LINSON. 
 
 I week 
 
 •RTH- 
 
 advan- 
 •thy of 
 :eamer, 
 i which 
 t being 
 Those 
 geofa 
 )urney. 
 
 carried 
 
 for the 
 iaaisted 
 
 om th§ 
 
ALLAN LINE ROYAL MAIL STEAMERS 
 
 TO THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 
 
 THE SHOUT E0T7TE 
 
 FROM 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 TO 
 
 CANADA, MANITOBA, 
 
 AND THE GREAT NORTH-WEST. 
 
 Hi 
 
 I 
 
 ■ 1 ! 
 
 ; t 
 
 M 
 
 l:« 
 
 Passengers bound to any part of CANADA or the GREAT CANADIAN NORTH-WEST 
 ■hould, in the first place, take eare to secure th'^ir Passage in a Steamer bound direct for. 
 
 QUEBEC Ok HALIFAX. 
 
 THE ALLAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY 
 
 la under Contract with the Government of Canada for conveyance of the Mails between 
 
 the two Countries. The Splendid Steamers of this Line LEAVE LIVERPOOL TWICE 
 
 A-WEEK, and afford the most eligible conveyance for all classes of Passengers at as 
 
 Low Rates as by any first-class Line crossing the Atlantic. 
 
 The voyage to Quebec has distinguished recommondntions as compared with other routes to the 
 American Continent. From land to land the average passage is not more than six days. Once 
 within the Straits of Belle Isle, ocean travelling is over, and for hundre '' : of miles the steamer 
 proceeds, first tlirough the Gulf, and then through the magnificent River St. Lawrence. This is an 
 immense advantage. 
 
 The steamers are commanded by navigator* of acknowledged ability, who have by long and 
 faithful service proved themselves worthy of the confidence and esteem of their employers, and 
 they are assisted in the navigation of their ships by thoroughly trained and experienced ofliccrs. 
 
 SALOON PARB3-12, 16, and 18 Guineas; by *' Parisian," 15 to 
 21 Guineas. INTERMEDIATE, £8. STEERAGE, at low rates. 
 
 iS'Assisted Ocean Passag-es are Granted to Canada by the 
 Mail Steamers on the following' terms:— 
 
 MECHANICS, NAVVIES, GENERAL LABOURERS, and their Families,. 
 
 at £4 per Adult. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS, and their Families, and FEMALE 
 DOMESTIC SERVANTS, at £3 per Adult. 
 
 Children between I and 12 Years, £2; Infants under One Year, IDs. 
 
 fS" Application for Assisted Passages must he made vjirn the Special Form* Tt'Aio* 
 
 are provided for tJie pi(7'pose. 
 
 Further FarticnlAra can be ohlnined from 
 
 ALLAN BROTHERS & CO., James Street, Liverpool. 
 ALL.4N BROTHERS & CO., Foyle Street, Londonderry. 
 J. & A. ALLAN, 70, Great Clyde Street, Glasgow. 
 JAMES SCOTT & CO., Queenstown. 
 
 OR ANY AUTHORISED AGENT OF THE LINE. 
 
IRS 
 
 v[ 
 
 r\| 
 
 I-WEST 
 
 Irectfor. 
 
 Y 
 
 between 
 TWICE 
 ;rs at as 
 
 bestotha 
 '8. Once 
 I steamer 
 'his is an 
 
 long and 
 yers, and 
 (tficcrs. 
 
 15 to 
 rates. 
 
 / the 
 
 milies,. 
 
 MALE 
 
 I OS. 
 t n'hiek 
 
 ^vy.