THE NEWER DISTRICTS
OF ONTARIO

INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE SETTLERS.

RAINY RIVER VALLFY
WABIGOON COUNTRY
TEMISCAMINGUE
ALGOMA.

REPORT OF TN??ECTION BV MR. DUNCAN ANDERSON, OF RUOPY, ONT.,
UNDER INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE MINISTER Ut AGRICULTURE.

TORONTO :
Warwick Bro's & Ruttep, Printers, etc, 68 and 70 Frcivt St. W.

1898.

TIIH XHW ER DISTRICTS 01- ONTARIO

KAINV Kl\ KKn AI.LKV, WABKiOnX roUNTRV, ALIiOMA,

AM) TKMisrAMi\(;ri:.

Riii-l.v. August lOtli, IMiti.

To THE H<)\. .loHX Drydkx,

Minister of Aaricultr.re,
ToloJltd.

Sir, — In accordance witli instructions received from you, T pi'oceeded
to Northern and North \vest(Mn Ontaris), and made an examination of the
followino- sections, namely : — Port Arthur and vicinity, tlie Wahii^oon
country, the Rainy River valley, the Temiscaminguo district, and tlie
country around Sault Ste. Marie.

In my examination, I endeavored, as directed l)y you. to secui-e such
facts as would suti'^est themselves to a practical man as ]»ein<,' useful to
prospective settlers, havinij in mind the nature of the soil, tht* different
kinds of timber, the difficulties of clearing, ease of access, climate, markets,
kinds of crop grown, water supjdy, drainage, etc., and the advances that
have heen made.

I started on my tour of investigation about the middle of May. I
left Toronto on the Canadian Pacitie Railway, travelled over 1,(100 miles
west to Port Aithur, where 1 made a close examinatif)n of the land on the
White Fish, Kaministiquia and Slate River valleys, and went over the
townships of Mclntyre, Olivei'. Neebing and Paipoonge.

THE PORT ARTHUR SECTION.

This district was first bfouglit l»efore the })iiblic a good many year?*
ago. It was then the overland loute to the western pi-airies. The soil
varies from a clay to a sandy loam. There are some gravelly ridges, and
in sections some stony land. In some parts the soil is red c'lay.|| Rocky
ridges hem in the White Fish and Slate River valleys.

The timber is principally poplar, spruce, jack pi iC, white birch, cedar,
and tamarac. In some places a second growth covers the land, while in
others the clearing is easily done, especially in the Slate River valley.
Three or four days' work of a man is sufficient to clear an acre and make
it ready for the plow, but where it is heavy timber land the clearing
is more difficult.

The cro|)s grown are hay, wheat, barley, oats, spring wheat, potatoes,
turnips, and all kinds of vegetables and small fruits. Pasture is good ;
there are hundreds of acres of thin bush land, grown np with native
grass. It affords fine grazing facilities for droves of young cattle. This
ought to be a first-clas.s .section, especially for the raising of young stock
and dairy product;:^. Some of the lower lands will require draining, but
as the country is generally rolling, and the bulk of the land has a porou;*
sub-soil, surface water will not give the faimcrs much trouble.

This section i.s well watere<l by natural springs and running creeks,
with plenty of good well water for the digging, which is generally found
at a depth of from 15 to 25 feet.

The local markets are gond. Port Arthur is quite an important town.
It is situated on Thunder Bay, at the western end of Lake Superior, and
on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Within three or four
miles of Port Arthur is Fort William. These towns are connected by an
electric raMway. Fort William has a |)opulation of about two thousand
inhabitants. The town is situated on the banks of the Kaministi(|uia
river. Here are a large number of grain elevators : one in particulai- is
of most modern design, consisting of six. or eight tanks built of steel
plates. At a distance they resemble two rows of round silos. The wheat
from the west is unloaded from the cars into the elevator, from which it
is transhipped into lake barges. This is the terminal point of the
Canadian Pacific Railway lake traffic. Not far up the river from Fort
William is the Kakabeka falls. The river (immediately above the falls)
is 1130 feet wide, and the water has a straight drop of 110 feet. The esti-
mated capacity of it is between 30,000 and 35,000 horse })ower. For
ease of access and convenience in utilizing, this splendid natural water
power at Kakabeka car. hardly he excelled on the American continent.

Port Arthur and Fort William are both good local markets. The
prices for farm products are high, and beef, pork, butter, eggs, poultry,
potatoes, small fruits and vegetables, always find a read}'^ sale at good
prices. There are some rich silver mines in the near vicinity, some of
which are now being worked, causing a still larger deniand for all kinds,
of farm products.

THE WABIGOOX COUXTHY.

Ilaviny^ finished my examination of the lan<l in the vicinity of
Port Arthur, I went west on the Canadian Pacitie Railway main lint', 217
miles, when I reached the town of J)rvdeii. which is in the centre of the
Waliitjoon district. It and the town of Wabiuoon, which is about 12 miles
east of Dryden, are the two most important centres of population between
Port Arthur and Kat Portage. This agricultural section is midway
between Fort William on Lake Superioi- to the east, and the <'ity of
Winnipeg to the west. The Canadian Pacific Railway passes through
the di. trict. The fertile land extends for forty miles along the railway
line from Diiiorwick to Eagle River.

It is estimated that the area of oood agricultural land in this district
if> about 170,000 acres, enough to form a fair sized county, comprising
the townships of Wainwright, Van Home, Eton, Rugby, Sandford, Aubrey
and Zealan<l. with another yet unsurveyed around Dinorwick. The ar«»a
now located is about .SO.OOi) acres.

The laud is rolling, antl \ ery little low. Hat, or swamp land can be
seen. Few peo[)le would believe that thei'e is any land suitable for farm-
ing between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods, but if at Dryden
tliey w<:)uld go inland from the railway six or eight miles, tliey would find
some very cond'ortable farm lunnes. In one or two of the townships the
ccjutry is broken with rocky ridges, but others are almost entirely free
from rock or stone.

Teik Soil.

The soil is quite uniform in character, and consists of a strong gre}--
colored clay, which changes in the lower sections to clay loam, (hi the
creek bottoms the soil is verv rich, and heavier timbered, making the
clearing more difficult. On the rolling upland the clay seems to be of a
<lrier nature, and will retjuire much more- rain or moisture than the
loamier soil in the same m'ighborliood. I saw no gi'avellv soil and very
little sand. In the neighborhood of the junction between the Pelican ar«l
Wabii-'oon rivers, judging from the luxuriant <«rowth in the bush of
wild peas, wiM currants, and native grass, I should say that the
soil is more of a loamy nature, and presents a very favorable situation
to the intending settler. Not much of the land in this locality has yet
ben taken up. The soil all o\ tn- tln' district is exceptionally free from
boulders and rolling stone. The clav that crumbles when worked and
cultivated, is very productive ; but where it is of a dry flaky nature, it
will require either manure oi* green crops plowed in to put life into and
quicken it before it will give the best I'esuUs.

THK TiMliKK.

The tiiiiljcr (Minsists of u <4r<>\\tli of smull )poj,lars, a few spruce, witli
here and there a taiir'-ac. l»uttli<' greater" l>iilk of the tinilici- is jack piii< —
a resiiKtus fir that predominatts throughout the wiiolc countiy. The
settler can make very good waives cutting jack pine into eoril-wood, for
whicl> tiieic is always a ready cash sale, at from ^'l.ti.') to SI.SO pn- cord
delivcicd at lailroad. It is shi])p»:d to Winnijtei; in l)o.\ car--, where it is
use<l as fuel. It is handled at all seasons of the year. In three months
:J40 car-loads Were shipped from I^ryden to Winnipeu. A larL;e ]»ortion
of the tind)er Is dead, recent tires ha\ injr killed it. and it is this dead jack
pine that heljts to keep the people of VV^iiudpen wai'iii. Tainarac ties,
ei<j^ht feet lonif. sell at 25 cts. eacli. while ties of the same material twelve
feet, are worth 40 cents For the first few years the settleis will have
remunerative winter work chop]»inLj and haulini;cordwood and making-
ties. The country has not all been hurnetl o\er. andto the south, east
and north-east there ir, a thick forest ijfrow'th of small u,freen tindier which
is e.'isily cleared. The bulk of the tind»er thiou^hout the whole country
is small, ranL:ino' from three to ten inche^ in thickness, and in some places
there is no tind)er whatever, with here and there a sinali j)ojdar scrub.
In fact there are large areas at the ]>resent time almost tit for the plow.
The timber has been buined oft nearly clean, ami the land is grovvint: n]>
with native ^ra^^s and wild peas.

TnK Ci.i.M.VTb:.

At Wabi<>()on th»* clima.te is \erv heahhv. The summers are
moderately warm, with cool nights, and heavy dews. The fall months
are generally dry, with plenty of sunlight. The winters are steadily cold,
but free from blizzards, and from chilly rains and slushy thaws. Some
seasons the .snow-fall is light. This spring most of the seed was sown in
April, but generally the .seeding is <lone about the first week in May.

Althougli crops have been giown for three or four seasons, summer
frosts are unknown. In passing thi"ough tlie district on the 18th of July,
I staxed (jver i day and made a hurried secontl examination of the crov)s.
Potatoes that were ])hinted in the latter part of May had niade rapid
growth : the}' were rank, green and healthy. The withering blight of the
severe frost of July lOth, which was felt with such damaging effect (jver a
lai"ge part of Ontario, hurt neither the crops nor the tenderest vegetables
in this section, for I saw potatoes, beans, corn, tomatoes, cicrons. and
encumbers, fresh, green, healthy, and growing well. Summer frosts have
not done any damage here. Plowing usually begins afjout the last week
in April and finishes aboiit the second week in Novendier.

Watki; SriMM.v.

Water can l»e luul for tlio 'lii;i;in<; on almost f\ tMV fanii at from tt-n
to twentv^-tive feet (le«'p. I tjisted the water fioni a niimUer of tlie wells,
iin<l fouiiil it j)ure, cool ainl '^ootl. The country is i^enerally wt-U watered.
WahJL^oon lakr is a l>eantifiil shoet of watt-r. alunit tliirty uiiles lon<,' In'
tivf or six miles wide. At l)iyden a dam has heen formed to deepen the
lake, so as to hel]) naviu^ati<»n. From the lake the Wahigoon river, a
hroad, navi^Mhle .stream, with alaindant watei* power, Hows north and west
throui,di the townships of Wainwri^ht, Eton ami San<lford. The Pelican
river Hows fi'om I'elican lake, in the township oi" Rni,d)y, thro'.iii;h th;it
township and four or live i.iiles into the townshij) of Kton, when it joins
the Wabit^oon. The townshiji of Aubrey is bounded on one side by Ea^le
lake. From this it will be seen that the country is particularly well
watered.

Ilo.XDS.

For a new countrv. the loads are ^-ood : the soil is naturallv suitable,
foi" when once <;raded, except in a very wet tiine, it is (piite comfortable
travellinir. Tweiitv-thive miles of colonization roads have been built by
the (un'erninent, and twenty-H\e more miles liave been cut out by the
settlers. I dro\e throuuh the bush or. old lumber roads in a buck-board
Bicyeles are running on the roads for five or six miles from the town of
Dryden. IJy this it will be seen that it is comparatively an easy matter
for a new settlei' to get his household and farm effects in to his location.

Clp:.a.uin(; the Laxi>.

As the timliei" is small anfl much of it dea-i. it is easily burne<l and
the land made reatiy for the plow. A man and sti'ong boy can in some
places clear up and stump as fast as a team can }))ow. One .settler who
came I'rom the county of York, (he was a tenant farmei- there) has a louple
of (rood woi"kin<^ buys. lb; located in the township of Eton close to (►x-
ilrift station, arriving .about the beginning of last April. Me started to
plow on the bsth of the sjitiie month and by the 15th of May had twenty-
five acres cleaned up. plowed, and sown with wdieat, oats, peas and barley.
I was at his place on the 28th of ^b^y: he had planted his potatoes and
corn, and was jireparing his turnip land. I held the plow tor a couple of
rounds ami Iwul the satisfaction of knowing that I turned up to the sum-
mer sun some of the virgin soil of tlie Wabigocm countrv. The land is
n(»t all tjuite so easily cleared as this, Ijut five dollars an acre will clear up
an«l stump most of the land in this settlement, with the exception of land
along the creek bottoms^ which is heavier tind>ered. To get the V)est
results the land should be plowed twice, and thoroughly cultivated pre-
vious to sowing the first crop.

Fentenij, Bun.Di\»;s, Etc.

Cedar posts and wire make the Itest and most duralde fences. The
uld-fashioned zi^-zag fencf will find no place here. Some farmers are
building good stiong, durable fences out of tauiaracand spruce poles, with-
out posts, fastening the stakes and riders together with pliable oiled wire.
With the exception of not being pig proof, it makes a cheap, servicealtle,
and, when well built, a strong fence.

Some of the buildings are old-fashioned log structui'es, dove-tailed
or notched at the corners. Saw-mills are convenient. Custom sawing is
done for So per thousand feet. On many of the lots there is some spruce
and taniarac that woukl make small saw-logs. Good sound lumber can
be bought at the mills for !?1() or .*?11 per thousan<l feet.

Markkts.

The local markets of Dryden and Wabigoon will consume all that can
be raised for some time in the district. Dryden has a populi'.tion of 600,
while Wabigoon is a rapidly growing town, which is likely to become a
mining centre of .some importance, for the region between the Canadian
Pacific Railway and the American border is rich, not t)nly in timber Imt
in deposits of gold, iron, and other minerals. Eighty miles west is Rat
Portage, a growing town of ovtir 5,000 inhabitants. It is not situated in
an agricultural district, and so has been getting its food supplies from
Manitoba. The towns of Rat Portage, Keewatin, Dryden, and Wabigoon
will cou.sume all th- beef, pork, butter, eggs, poultry, vegetables, small
fruits, hay, oats, and potatoes that the Wabigoon farmer will be able to
produce for some time to come, and so his market will be at his very door.
In summer, the mining camps afford the faimers an excellent home niar-
ket for their produce. Butter brings from 20 to 25 cents per lb. ; eggs,
from 18 to 20 cents per dozen. In winter the lumber camps and railway
tie camps afford a market e'}ually as good.

Cost of GETTiXf; to Waiugoon.

By the all-rail route (»n the Canadian Pacific Railway, from any
station west of Jvihgston, th«^ single fare is S21 ; children half i-ate. For
boat and rail by way of Owen Sound and Fort William, the fare is $17.
Car of 20,000 pounds of settlers' effects from same points, SOO (cue man
with each car free); 30. V cents per 100 lbs. for all overweight. For settlers'
effects, shipped in less than car lots, the rate is 01 cents per 100 pounds.

The PioiNEER Fai{m.

The Ontario Government was the pioneer of the Wabigoon country.
In the spring of 1(S95 the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. John Dryden,

personally selected the site for the house and barn, an<l commenced farm-
inf^ operations with the view of testing the agricultural capabilities of
the section. A small crop was put in that summer, consisting of wheat,
oats, barley, grass and a few roots. In the early summer a warm, com-
fortable house wos built, such as any settler of moderate means might
t'rect. Later, a basement barn with the necessary accommodation was
added. At the present time there are l.SO acres cleared and stumped, so
that all kinds of labor-saving machinery can be used to the best advant-
age. Last fall and this spring being very dry until the second week in
June, fall wheat and hay were not heavy crops, but the spring wheat,
oats, barley, and turnips gave promise of lai-ge yieMs. The farm is sur-
rounded by a substantial cedar post and wire fence. The farm buildings
are acros? the railroad track and almost directly opposite the railway
station. A young orchard has been planted, but the standard apples have
not done well. Crab apples and cherries made a fairly promising growth,
and small fruits do well. As I stood at the back of the farm and looked
to the railway station, a pleasing rural scene filled the eye, — a fifty-acre
field of oats just beginning to shoot, another field of heavy spring wheat
and barley waving in the wind, and just be^^ond, the dark green of a
healthy field of Swede turnips : a flock of Shropshire sheep were nibbling
in the home field next the barn, while half a dozen useful milch cows were
industriously grazing the young tender grass which recent rains had
caused to cover the pasture fields, while the farm team was just finishing
the plowing of a ten acre fallow field that had been grubbed, stumped and
burned this summer. The Pioneer Fai'm has demonstrated very clearly
the excellent agricultural advantages of this section by changing it in
four short years from wild, waste land to clean fields and a well cultivated
farm. From what I have seen in the Wabigoon country, I know from my
own experience in clearing land that a working farmer of moderate means
with an industrious family (if not afraid of flies for a few weeks in the
heat of summer for the fir.st few years, and other drawbacks incident to
pioneer life), can in five or six years have 100 acres cleared and free from
both stumps and stones. Thus many men who are now forced to work
for others, if they were to put forth an eftbrt and deny themselves .some
of the luxuries of life, could in a few years become independent, by hav-
ing a very comfortable farm home of their own in the Wabigoon country.

The advantages of the Waljigoon country may be summed up as fol-
lows :

L Cheap land and easily cleared (fifty cents per acre on easy terms).

2. The main line of the (Janadian Pacific Railway [)asses right
throuo'h the agricultural belt

3. The best of local markets.

4. Sufficient timber for building, fencing and fuel.

0. The country is well watered with rivers, creeks and wells.

(i. The soil and climate are particularly well adapted to the growing
of fall and spring wheat, l-arley, oats, potatoes, turnips, and all kinds of
vegetables and small fruits. Corn and standard apples dont seem to do
so well, unless it be the very hardiest varieties.

7. Grasses i^row in great luxuriance.

8. A very healthy climate.

0. (iootl roads for a new country.

10. Plenty of winter work in the lumber camps : also hauling and
cliopping cofdwood.

RAT PORTAGE.

Having made a thorough examination of the agricultural resources
of the Wabigoon country', 1 visited the town of Hat Portage, which is
about eighty miles west from Dryden and 130 miles east of the city of
Winnipeg. Rat Portage is the principal town between Lake Superior
and Winnipeg. It has a population of between live and si.K thousand.
Its citizens are a pushing, enterprising, public spirited ])eople. The town
is growing rapidly. The buildings of later years are durably built and
of modern design. The town is situated at the northern end of Lake of
the Woods, and is a divisional point on the Canadian Pacific Pailway ; it
is also the commercial and judicial centre for that part of Western
Algoma. It is the shipping j)ort of I^ake of the Woods. All the tele-
graph poles, railway ties, fence posts, and in fact all the timber from the
Rainy River country, including sawn lumber, pa>ses through thi.s
point on its way west to Manitoba, The Lake of the Woods and
its tributary lakes, rivers and streams abound in tish. The tishinj;
industry here has become one of con.siderable importance, so that Rat
Portage, wuth its suburbs of Norman and Keewatin, is destined to become
a very populous centre. These two villages are only a few mile.s^
from the town, with which they are connected by a good r()a<l. and in
the summer steam ferry boats make hourly trips between these villages
and Rat Portage. At Keewatin there is an immense water power, partly
developed. Here is situated the Lake of the Woods mill, which is the
largest flour mill in the Dominion, having a capacity of two thousand
barrels a day, and elevators that will hold nearly five hundred thou.sand
bushels of wheat. The manufacturing of Hour an<l its bye-products, Vn-an
and shorts, has become an industry on which Rat Portage can permanently
rely. In connection with the Hour mill there is a barrel and siding lactoiy
which turns out about one thousand Hour barrels per day ; also house
siding, ))laned, matched and all ready to put on in four feet lengths, laige
quantities of wdiich are shipped to the Southern States. A few rods from
the tlour mill is situated the customs reduction works, wheie ijold and
silver is separated from the rock. A mill of this kind nnist materially

tend to develoj) the mineral resoui-ces of this mining,' region, for they
crush as low as ten ton lots. With a tishing, mining, lumbering, and
manufacturing industry, Rat Portage will l)e a centre of wealth and pop-
ulation that will always afibrd a tirst-class market for the products tjf
the fai'iii.

TIIK JtAINV KIVKH VALLEY.

After spending a da}' in Kat Poitage and vicinity. I took passage
on the steamer " Edna IJrydges " lor Rainy river, sailing down Lake of
the Woods for al»out one hundred miles till the mouth of the river is
entered at Hungiy Hall ; then eastward up the river to Fort Frances. It
is on this stretch of river fro-.i t'lat tlie agricultural land is situated. I
made a close inspection of the soil, timber, crops, market, etc., at five diti-
erent points on the river, viz. : — Pine Wood, P>oucherviIle, Emo Big Forks,
and Fort Frances, stopping a few days at each point and travelling on
toot inland and through the adjacent town.ships.

The CoiNTRY,

The l\ainy Kiver country proper is a strip of agricultural land on
the north side of the river of that name. It is from fifteen to twenty
miles wide, and is estimated to contain about si.x hundred thousand
acres of good farming land. 'I'lie Rainy rivt.-r finds its source in Rainy
lake, and its outlet in Lake i)f the Woods. Ic is about ei^htv miles
long, and for its whole length forms the boundary line between Canada
and the United States. ()ii the noith side is tlw PiovincL' of ( )ntario :
on the south is the State cf Minnesota. The surface of the country is
fairly ievekand nothing like a hill is to be seen ; lait generally speaking, it
has a gentle roll towards the rivei*. There is a small peicentage of
swamp land which is well timbered with cedar, aiid now and then a patch
"f nuiskeg, which is found here and there all over the district. Along
the river front the land is entirely free from stone, but as you get furtlier
iidand. some of the lots have a little stone on them. Mr. James
Conmee, M.P. P., for West Algoma. says (hat the :^ood land is not con-
fined to the rivei" valley alone, but extends north-easterly along the .shore
of Ijake of the Woods, and estimates that the agricultural land in this
section covers an erea of four million acres. I had a conversation with
.Mr. Alex. Luttrell, Road Foreman, a very practical man and keen ob.ser-
ver, who a few years ago cut a winter road through to Litile ( inissy river.
He informed me that much ((f the unsurveyed section of the ( Irassy river
country is tint> farming land.

("I.IM.VI K.

The climate is very healthy. The winter is of an even temperature,
colder than around Toionto, but a clear bracing air with an entire absence
of damp, chilly, searching, raw winds. There is always plenty of snow

for sleighing from the middle of December to the end of March. Wlien
the snow melts and the ground gets bare, tlie growing season sets in.
Most ot the seeding was done this year in April. In summer the days
are warm but the nightj- cool, with very heavy dews. The climate is
well adapted for the growth of grass and all kinds of cereals. Native
Indian corn matures to perfection, and in some seasons melons an<l toma-
toes. The plow is generally stopped about the 20th of No\ember.

The TiMi'.EH.

The timber consists of white pine, poplar, tamarae, spi'uce, balsaju,
cedar, birch, and a few oaks, elms, ashes, and soft maples Lumbering
operations are carried on extensively on both Rainy river and Lakt; of
the Woods — in fact the river is sometimes full of pine logs, especially in
the early part of the summer when the drive is being pushe<l foi-ward to
the boom. It is estimated that from six to eight hundretl men are
em])loyed in the lumber camps every winter. Most of the timlier on the
farm lan<ls that has any commercial value is cedar, tamarae and spruce.
In winter the settlers take out telegraph poles 2o feet long at 4o cents ;
railway ties, 16 cents a piece, cribbed : fenc<' posts, 5 cents each, cribbe<l;
and cord wood from §1.80 to 81.70. One farmer I met had taken out
S200 worth of ties last winter. The steamboats use the cord wood. It
will be seen that the settler wh.o does not care to go to the luml>er camps
in winter can do fairly well working; up his own timber at home.

The Sofl.

The soil is the foundation of all agricultural success if it is naturally
rich and is so composed that it will withstand the extremes of drouth
and wet. The owner of such a farm has a source of income that will
never fail. There are thousands of such farms in this district. While
the soil is not altogether of one «|uality but ranges from a black, rich,
productive clay to a clay and sandy loam, nearly all of it is ver}'
fertile. Where the countrv has been burned over, it is covered with a
rank growth of wild cUn-er. Native grass, peas and vetches were grow-
ing luxuriantly in the early part of June. Nearly all the land fronting
on the river is suital)le for settlement, but as you get back IVom the river
inland, there is some stone, with hei'e and there a rocky blufl" but the soil
is good.

Watku.

There is a plentiful supply of goo<l well water at from eight to
twenty-tive feet deep. Water is generally struck when a gravel bed is
reached. Streams intersect the whole country throughout. The land is
well watered. Some of the low lands will retpiire to be ditched, for which
there is plenty of fall. The water runs in some places for miles where
the roads are irraded.

Roads.

For a new country the roiuU are passable wIkii you consider tlie
nature of the soil and the scarcity of road-making matt-rial. The Govern-
ment grants large sums yearly for the opening up of new roads. The
settlers only are employed on the colonization roads, for which work they
receive $1 per day and board. A few more years at the rate roads are
now being built will open up the entire arable belt.

Clkahin*; Land.

[n some localities where the land is heavil}- timbered, and tht- land
low, the clearing is difficult, but in other sections, where the bush has
been burned over, it is comparatively easy to clear. I stooil at the south-
east corner of a settler's farm in the township of Sheiistone. He had
located two years ago. The farm sloped gently to the south and you could
see his whole location, there being neither hill nor tree to V»lock the siorht.
The soil was a clay and sand loam. He had twenty acres of crop
in. It was very easily cleared and tlicre were no stumps. All he had to
pay for the KiO acres was 75 cents, which is merely the fee to the land
aoent for makinjr out the affidavit, the land beiiit: free grant. The timb-
ered land wid cost fiom !?12 to .*?I<S an acre to chop, log and fence. The
stumps come out in from eight to ten years, but in some townships there
are larije areas of " brule," or burnt land, which takes verv little labor to
make ready foi' the plow. So the difficulties of clearing are largely a
matter of choice with the settler when he locates, whether he chooses a
timbered or a Vmrned lot. Fencing and building material is plentiful ;
some of the cedar is as tine as you can find anywhere in the Province.
For building, rough lumber can be bought at th<' mills from $7 t<i SIO ;
dressed lumber from $10 to S20 ; pine shingles, $2 ; custom .sawing 83
per thousand feet.

Croi's and Productiveness.

Fall and spiing wheat, barley, peas, oats, potatoes, and all kinds of
vegetables grow exceedingly well. Clover crowds out the timothy. I
.saw fields of cloyer that were seeded in 18!)4 and 189") that hud last year
yielded over three tonsi to the acre; this season they had the appearance
of giving as heavy a crop. You could s(!arcely find a l)lade of timothy
but the clover was rank, broad-leaved, healthy and gn^en, and had all
the indications of a heavy crop although seeded four and five years ago.
Mr. Robert Watson has clover that has been cut twelve successive times.
Mr. Phair says that clover seeded down twelve years has been cut twice
every year. They don't know what it is to miss a catch of grass. Most
practical farmers admit that clover is the most important plant grown on

the farm, keepini:' the farm clean <>\' weeds, maintaininu: and increasim; its
fertility, liesides yielding a great Uulk of fodder, which, when well cured
and fed in winter. l>rinu> our stock iiearei" to summer conditions than any
other food grown

The testimony of some old residents in this section is very valuaMe,
and has much weight. Mr. Anlu lieid, a very worthy settler, who has
l)een liere a nundier of years, and now has the satisfaction of seeing Ids
family settliuL'' around him, says ■ " My ei-ops have been jjood : thev would
average, wheat 22 l-usheU, oats 4.j liu<hels, peas :>() bushels to the acre.
Hay is always a lieavy crop: native Indisin corn gi\es good returns ;
potatoes alway- do well, ond so do turnips." Mr. Williams, Fort Frances,
says, •' I have a «|uaiter of an acre ganlen patch. Sold last yer.r >l»l 40
WM)rth of vegetables — one cal>bage weighed 87 lbs. 1 had in my store
window last fall a jiumi^kin that weighed KiO lbs., and a s«|uasli that
weiiihed 125 lbs. (they were lx)th raised b\- Mr. John J)ini;a!), and have
grown radishes an«l lettuce in the open aii- on the 10th ot May. ' Mr.
William Phair also bears testimony to the extraordinary pioductiveness
of the soil : he says, '• produced 49 bushels of Fife wheat per acre : 270
bushels of oats on four acres ; between two and three tons ^f timothy per
acre, first crop cut in dune, second crop early in Se})tembei". ' Mr.
Thomas Luntlry whose farm 1 travelled over and found that the
soil is a strong rich productive claj', as is almost all the soil in
the townships of Caipenter, Lash and Delvin) says: "The soil on
Rainy river cannot be suri'assed. Vou can sow bai'ley on new ground as
late as the middle of July and get a good crop. My neighbor, J)uncan
Reid,sowe<l two bag> c»f wheat, about four bushels, and threshed ninety -six
bushels. Where the ground is properly cultivated. I d<»n't care wdiat you
plant you will get a crop. There is plenty of pasture in the bush: and
tall and spring wheat do immense." From what I saw when there last
summer, the spleudi<l crop prospects, the excellent climatic conditions for
Cfrowth. and fit)m tin nature of the soil, I believe there is no more fertile
soil in the Province ot Ontario, and 1 ijuestion if there is another traci
any more pnxluctive on this continent.

Markkts.

The local markets are good, the rapid development of the Iiunbering
and mining industries havini; created a demand for all kinds of farm
pioduce which as yet the farmers have not been able to supply.

Mr, Reid says : • The prices I have leceived for my crops wouM
aveiage, oats oO ccnt^. potatoes .'»0 cents per bushel, buttei' 20 to 2') cents
per lb.. «'ggs is to 22 cents per do/., beef, dressed, S7 to S<S, pork
$8 to §10, hay. S'-' per ton. This spring, piices were somewhat higher :
at Emo, a village about half way up the river, wheat SI, oats 75 cents
peas §1.25, ptttatoes 7-'> cents pn- l»ushel, butter 25 cents per lb., eggs 25

cents per 'lozoii. pork.drt ised, i?|{). beft' .^10, hay SIO |)er ton, mutton
fi'iiu s to 10 cents pfi- 111. poultry, divs.st'd, from I'll to 15 cents per !b.
Young sound working' horses, from four to six years oKl, weighing between
1200 and 1400 pounds, bring from ^100 to 'sl20. Fresli calved milch
cows in spring biing from !?^>') to 8+2 ; weaned pigs .^4 to S5 a pair.

Mk.\NS ol' A( « KS.s.

At pn-sent \\\t Portage, on the CaJiadian Pacitic Railway, at the
noithern extremity ol Lake of the Woods, is the jioint to aim for.
It is distant frcjm Toroiito l)V rail 1,154 milt^js From Rat I'ortaiie to
Fort France.s is ISO mihs. Rainy River is NO miles long, and the length
of Lake of the Woods fronj north to south is 100 miles. The steamboat
fare from Rat Portage to Emo. tirst-class is S4.00. second class S2.G5
Fare alon<r the river from local stations is live cents per mile. FreiiJfht
from Rat Portage to Emo : Settlers eliects. 20 cents per hundred pounds ;
horses per head, .^4.50 : cattle. J?4 00 ; hogs, ;?1.00; sheep, 5(; cents. These
rates include cost of transfer fiom cars or freight s]ie<l and wliarfaixe at
Rat Portage. A carload of settleis effects Irom Toronto to Rat Portage,
one man free, costs about S(i2.

Raii.w.w.

1 am pleased to know that the contract has been let for the first
.section of the Rainy Rivei- Railway, which is to connect with the Port
Arthui- and Western line at Staidey st;ition. about twenty miles west of
the town of Port Arthur, and that in a short time it will be pu.shed
through to the agiicidtural belt on the Rainy river. Nothing that I am
aware of has the same influence towards opening up a new cour.try a.s
direct railway eomunniication with the outside world, for it brings with
it the knowle<lge that the productive powers of a country need never be
limited foi' the want of a market.

When the railway penetiates the a)"able land of the IJainy river,
settlement will advance rapidly and the land will be cleared and better
tilled. New men settling there will introduce advanced methods which
will act as ol)ject lessons to the older settlers. This must result in the
cidtivation <jf a spiiit of wholesome emulation, causing many to widen
their base Ijy nuiking larger clearings and relying more on tl»e farm and
le.ss on tiiidier for a living. While the local market here is exceptionally
good, causeil bv the allied industries of lumbering and mining, yet the
best aL'rictiltural results can only be obtained when there is constant
direct daily connnunication with the outside so that the producer will be
aV)le to keep himself in close touch, not only with his own local market,
but with the markets in the huge industrial and commeicial centres as
well.

It is <alin()st a pity to see so much of the best of the land here occu-
jtied as Indian reserves. Theio are five or six of them alon<^ the river
bank. If some amicable arrangement could be made between the Indian.s
and the Dominion CJoveinment so that these reserves could be o])ened for
settlement, it would materially hel]) the devcdopment of the whole country.
The banks of the river liave been settled for years. The older settlt-r.s
coml)ined trapping, fishing, hunting, and working in the lumber camp.s
with farming. Another class that came in some years later. princi]»ally
from the counties of Huron and Bruce, have kept closer and worked more
steadily on their farms. Some of them have large clearings, free from
stumps, and are using nearly all kindsoflaV»o)'-saving machinery. Many
have their married sons and daughters located netir the parental home.

CONCLUSTONS.

(1) That there are schools and churches in almost every part of the
settled sections.

(2) That jilenty of employment can be had at any season of the year
in the lumber camps, on tlu- roads, and at the mines ; and that wages are
good.

(8) The flies are bad on stock for a month ami a half in mid-summer,
requiring the cattle to be put in the stable during the day time.

(4) The winters are bright and clear.

(5) As a stock and dairy country it cannot be surpassed.

(6) Local markets are good and likely to continue, as it is closely
adjacent to the mining regions.

(7) That one can have an easily cleared farm by locating on the
burned land, or if a timbered lot be chosen, the settler will have plenty
of profitable winter W(U'k at his own home as long as the timber lasts.

(8) Good natural drainage, and splendid spring and well water.

(9) That preseverance and industry will l>ring its reward in a good
comfortable fann home, and a working man with limited means who'
wants a home can get it here.

THE SAULT STE MARIE SECTION.

Around Sault Ste. Marie, at (Joulais Bay, in the townships on the
Sault Ste. Marie branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and on St.
Joseph Island, the best of the land has been taken up, but at nearly all
of these points, there are yet some lots tit for settlement, with from 80
to bO per cent, of fairly good arable land. At (Joulais Bay and in the
township of Vankoughnet, part of the lands belong to the Dominion
Government, but two-thirds of the township of Vankoughnet is Ontario
Government land. This township is open for settlement ; it is about 26

miles fioin Sault Ste. Marie and is rcachotl l»y wagon road. The land
aroiinil (Jonlais Way varies fron: a clay to a sandy yellow loam. You
will soinetinies find sevt^ral kinds of Noil on the same lot. The coinitry
is somewhat lnoken and the land is generally in the valleys liennued in
li\' rockv ridi^es. The l»e.st soil is a sandy loam, which, when intellicfentlv
cultivated, gives very j)rotital>le results. Two-thirds of the timber on
the uplands is hard sugar maple, ii'on woo<i, and black and yellow birch.
The low hinds h.ive, in addition to maple an<l bii-ch, l»al.sam, spruce and a
few tamarac. The maple land is not as dithcult to clear, as the timber is
more easily burned. The cost of clearing: would be from SI 2 to i?l5
an acre.

Fine natural springs and splendid clear running streams abound, and
i^ood well water can Ije obtained everywhere near the surface. Onlv the
very low lands retjuire draining. The soil being mostly a sandy loam
with an open, ])orous .sub-soil, the suiplus moisture readily soaks
throng] I it.

Wheat, both fall and spring, does well. Oats in the early part of July
were in many places two and one-half feet high and not beginning to
shoot The oat fieMs had a tine appearance and gave promise of a heavy
<'ro[). The loamy soil of this section .seems to be especially well adapted
for the growth of cereals, peas, barley anil hay. Potatoes on the high
dry land looked well, but on the low swampy lands they had a set l)ack
tromsuunner frosts. Thert- is not nmch corn raised as the season is too
short \ov it to mature every year. Turnips are always a sure crop.
Apples do well, especially the hardier standard varieties. I have formed
opinion based on careful observations that, where the sugar maple grows,
apple trees will thrive. 1 saw a number of tine young orchards, with
dean-barked, heaithydooking ti-ees, just coming into bearing.

'J'he market is the town of Sault Ste. Marie. It is good for
all kinds of farm produce. When a new road that is in process
of construction is finished, it will brin*' (.Joulais Hav within 20 miles of
Sault Ste. Marie. The peo|)le here seem to be well >,atisfied with their
tarms for few want to sell tliem.

Si. .b»>KrH l.s|,ANI\

This island is .situated at the futrance to Ste Marys river. It
is about 20 by 14 miles, and contains about 02,0<Hl acres. It is all
located but 4,000 acres. The .soil is \erv changeable, varvinj; from
a stiff' red clay to a light loam ; but most of the .soil is a clay or
sandy loam. In many |)arts the sui'face is covered with rolling stone,
while other sections are entirely free. The rock is principally lime-
stone. The Island is well watered with s|)rings and lunning creeks.
The crops grown are the same as in the older sections of Ontario.
The timber is hemlock, basswood, beech, maple, ironwood, spruce, cedar
iuid elm. Here partly cleared farms can be bought from SI 50 to

SI ,000, according to soil and improvements. Persons with small
capital could, for a few hundred iollara, purchase a partly cleared farm.
Men who have had little experience in selectinj/ a farm in the bush,
may make a mistake, but on a partly cleared farm, even if it is
stumpy and rough, they have much better opportunities of judsing the
soil and surroundings than where it is in an unbroken forest. But they
should be very careful to see that the title is good and that the location
is in all respects a suitable one. All along the main line from Garden
river to Massey, the pea crop looked well — the best I had seen anywhere
this season. Here they have no trouble with the pea bug. Peas and
pork are the two most profitable lines of production I know of, and make
a combination that takes very little fertility from the soil, while hogs
give a Detter return for the food consumed than any other animal we
raise on the farm.

TEMTSCAMIN(aiE.

Crossing the Province from Sault Ste. Marie ei stward, passing the
nickel mines at Sudbury, to Mattawa, then north by rail and boat to
Haile\'bury or to Liskeard. we reach the southern point of the agricultural
land in the Temiseamingue district. In a straight line, Liskeard is about
250 miles north of Toronto.

Here there is a large tract of tine farminir land, reaching from the
northern end of Lake Temiseamingue, north and east. Geographically, it is
situated on the 48 parallel, and is a long way south of any part of the
Province of Manitoba, being about on the same latitude as the Rainy
River. More than one half of the European continent is north of the 48
parallel. Three rivers drain the country into the lake, vi/., Montreal,
Wahbes, and Blanche or White river. The lake is l)ut a widening of the
Ottawa river; it is GN miles long, and not n}ore than tive or six miles
wide at its widest place. It is said to be very deep : Temiseamingue
means deep water. Geologically, the land is of the same character as
that of Southern Ontario. The rock, being the Niagara limestone
formation, makes fine building stone and also first class lime. There are
three or four lime kilns at Haileybury. The area of agricultural land in
the district is estimated to be about L2o0.000 acres.

The Soil.

The soil is very uniform,and consists of a strong rich clay An analysis
made by Professor Shuttleworth, Professor of Chemistry at the Ontario
Agricultural College, Guelph, proves that the soil is very rich in phos-
phoric acid and potash, and that the vsub-soil is unusually rich in nitro-
gen. The timber, chiefly balsam and spruce, is so thick and unbroken
that the sun and wind cannot penetrate it. First there is a covering of
moss, and then about four inches of vegetable mould, when the clay is
reached. This land will stand any amount of cropping, and when

intelligently fanned will give very profitable returns. The surface of
the land is smooth with few cradle holes. Upon the river Blanche,
there are large tracts of level cLy land, which were burned over a few
years ago and could be brought into cultivation almost as cheaply as
prairie land. It is not yet in the market, however.

Timber.

The timber consists of pine, spruce, balsam, tamarac, cedar, poplar, and
a .scattering of white oak and black ash. But on the best farniins.; land the
timber has very little commercial value, e.xcept pine and cedar, which grow
to a large size. But the bulk of the timber is balsam and spruce, rang-
ing from live to fourteen inches in diameter.

The settler can get enough of building material, both timber and
lumber, for house and out-buildings. There is generally enough cedar for
fencing, but unless there is some demand for pulp wood, which cannot be
until the railway is built, the quicker the .settler gets rid of his timber
find gets the stumps out of his land the sooner will he have some ease
aid comfort in the cultivating of his farm. For a young man to reserve
his timber, looking for it to ri.se in } rice, would be a serious and almost
irreparable mistake, for the land is the most valuable. In part of the
Blanche river district the timber has no value whatever, except near the
river. On the lowlands, which are sometimes Hooded in the spring, the
timber is elm, ash, oak, and soft maple, but up the river (which is navi-
gable for small steamers for 25 or 30 miles) the country was
burned over some eight or ten years ago, and is very easily cleared.
There is no timber on large tracts of it. only scrub poplar, and white
birch bushes.

Clim.me.

The climate is somewhat similar to the other parts of northern Ontario
that I have visited. In the winter, stead}' cold with plenty of snow and
not much slu.shy, soft weather. About the 25th of April the land is fit to
work. Seeding generally begins about the first week in May. Potatoes,
vegetables and garden st^I are planted about the 24th of May. In the
early part of the summer ther6 is generally plenty of rain, warm days,
cool nights, with heavy dews, and the growth is rapid. I mea.sured timothy
in the last week in June that grew an inch in twelve hours. Barley
that was sown on the 11th of June was six inches high on the 28th of
the same month. Haying begins about the 15th of July and the
harvest a month later. Navigation opens about the 10th of May and
closes about the last week in November.

Clearing the Land.

In the the tov/nships around Liskeard and Haileybury, the country
is generally covered with a dense mass of small timber, which, when
properly chopped into 12 or 14 feet lengths and the brush carefully
trimmed, it being evergreen, will, if wind and weather is at all favorable,

hv. almost sure of a clean burn of l»rusli. As those wlio liave cleaifd liuid
will know, this materially helps in the tinal cU-arini^ up of tlu' fallow.
The cost of the wo^k of clearini,' if let bv contract to cliop. log, and
fence, but not stump, is from ."iflG to ^Is per acre. From six to eight
years after chopping, the land can be stumped. The greatest (haw-back
in clearing is burnini" the wind-fallen timber. In an »'vei"-gr»'en I'Ush.
whiclt is shaded at all .seasons of the year, the falle'.i tiees get thoroughly
water soaked. Tlie best way to get rid of them is to pile the logs up in
heaps, being careful to put th.e fallen timber on top of the piles, allowing
them to remain two or three weeks, before setting them on tire. If
there is a good w"in<l, and the time dry, not only will the piles burn, but
the fallow will Vmrn over a second tim»', burning ntoss, rotten wood and
much of the surplus vegetable matter. On light land this .second l»urning
is not necessary, in tact tlie more decayed matter on it the better ; but on
this fertile, cruuibly. calcareous clay, if there is too nnich mould an<l
wast(; nnitter on the surface, the roots of the giain cannot penetrate t<j
the clay soil beneath and the crop is more likely to be attected by summer
frosts. Summer frosts, which, like tlies, are always troulilesome in the
fiist years of settlement, get less frequent and often entirely di.sappear
as the clearings are made largei' and the country becomes opened up.
But if the crops are rooted in the clay they will stand frosts and tlie
extremes of weather nuich better than when sitting on the surface,
with their roots reaching for food amongst the mould and rotten wood of
a partially cleared f;illow. In crossing n number <^f fields of oats (first
crops), I noticed that wherever the oat lOots had reached the under soil
they were stroni«:, healthy and ffreen. but where they were hairowed in
amongst a mass of rotten wood, the leaves were touched by the summer
frost. Some of the settlers who havf had txperience in clearing, rake
the land over by hand after logging, gathering into small heai)S, chips,
rotten wood and moss, and burn them ofJ. so that the hairow teeth can
reach the soil to mix it with the vegetable suiface mould, insurin<x ^i safer
crop and a far uiorv })rotitable return. ( 'learing land is not altogether
done by l)rute force — some skill is re(iuired. Hiw most impoi'tant point
is to see that the surface is made •"■o clean that the roots of the tirst crops
will easily reach the clay soil below.

Here, as at the Rainy River, you can locate on the burned lands, and
avoid many of the difficulties of clearing a tind^eied lot. I p the Blanche
liver, in tlie townships of Hilliard, Brethour, Ingram, and Evantund, (some
of w^hich are not yet opened for settlement) there are large areas of fine
farming lands very easy to clear, where two or three days' work will
make an acre ready for the plow. It is therefore a matter of choice
whether you locate on a timbered or 'ourned lot.

Dr.\i\.V(;e,

The natural drainage is good, the numerous creeks and rivers afford-
ing suflBcient outlet. A few open ditches through any of these lots in the

•21

early sta<^e.s of .settlement would well repay tlie labor. Tlic .soil here will
compare favorably with the best lands in southwestern Ontario, l)ut the
latter (iid not give the be.st returns until they were drained.

Water Supi'ly.

Plenty of water can be had near the surface for the digging. What
efiect the clearing (if the land will have on the water .supply, time alone
can tell. At present it is plentiful and fairly good. The small ereek.s arc
not to l»e dependf'tl upon for hou.se supply, as after rain the water becomes
ijuite muddy and thick from the washings of the clay soil. It is then
neither palatal)le to the taste nor pleasing to the eye. Wells and natural
s])rings must be depeu'led on for the water .supply.

The Temiscamingue settlement is (juite young. Five years ago there
were only about a dozen settlers on the Ontario side of the lake. Now,
on the lake and rive)* fronts where the land can easily be reached, the lots
liave nearly all been taken up. Lack of roads i.s at present the greatest
drawback to settlement.

Crops Gkowx.

\'egetables of every kind grow to perfection and so do small fruits,
while all the cereals grown in southern Ontario, with the exception of the
more tender varieties of corn, grow well. Here I saw fine crops of peas,
barley, fall and spring wheat, oats, timothy and clover hay, potatoes, etc.
Some fields of hay grown on new land amongst the .stumps would go over
two tons to the acre. A piei^e of new land in fall wheat, the Surprise
variety, on the 2-')th of June was fully headed out. It was over four and
a half feet high and had all the appearance of a heavy crop. The soil
seems to be especially adapted to the growth <»f pi^as, oats and potatoes.
I>ut the best results cannot be obtained from this strontr, rich .soil until
the stum})s are taken out and the land plowed into narrow ridges lead-
ing to open ditches, so that the surplus water will be (juickly carried off.
When the plow turns this strong clay up to the action of frost, sun-
light and air, it crmnbJes liks air slacked lime into small pieces about
the size of peas or wheat, and when farmed under favorable agricul-
tural conditions, yields good crops one year after another without
becoming exhausted. On the Quebec side of the lake at Bale des
Peres, there is a farm of 350 acres of cultivated land. The principal
product is hay. This season they had 180 acres of mixed grass, timothy,
(•t)mmon red and ^ little Alsike clever It was estimated that there would
be over 500 tons. Some of tht fields had been mown for six years. I
never saw so muci. fine hay growing m one place. The first and second
year's cut v/ould yieltl three and three and a half tons to the acre. This
land never had been manured. This farm was in bush previous to 1884,
I'Ut is now growing immense crops of hay, barley, peas wheat, oats,
potatoes and vegetables, without the aid of either artificial or barnyard
manure. They keep about twenty-five head of cattle. The hay is pressed

ou the farm and sold to the Umilieriiien. The oats and potatoes <ro to the
same market. 1 asked the manager how he could raise such crops without
manure. He said, " the soil all through this section is naturally very
fertile, but it recjuires to be well and neatly plowed in narrow ridgea
Hfteen feet wide, so that water will not stand ou the land. It also
needs to be plowed in the fall, and in the spring given a thorough culti-
vation. " He raises about three thousand bushels of mixed grain, — a
mixture'of corn, oats and vetches was sown, — for green summer feed for
working teams an<l milk cows. He also says, " to insure a crop of hay
don't allow the cattle to pasture on the hay fields in the fall, for it requires
all the fall growth of grass to cover, protect and mulch the timothy and
clover roots." Here cultivation seems to have changed the color of tha
soil. On this farm it looked and handled more like a black clay
loam. The farm manager had been a resident of Baie de« Peres for
twenty-four years, and had been farming since 1884, but during that
time had never seen the frost do much harm. I asked him what w is the
difference, naturally, between the soil on his farm and that on the Ontario
side of the lake. He said that the land in the township of Dymond was
equally as good, if not a better soil ; in fact, almost all the land on the
Ontario side was the same, and he thought if cultivated in the same way,
would give the same profitable returns. At Baie des Peres they are
l)uilding ii grist mill and a cheese factory.

The most northerly point of lake navigation is North Temiseamingue.
There I met Mr. Adam Burwash. He has farmed at this point for the
past twenty years, and has I 20 acres free from stumps and stones. He has
all the latest agricultural machinery, including bin<ler, mower, seed drill,
horse rake, and a two-horse tread-power threshing machine with a capacity
of three hundred bushels of oats a day. Only twice did he see summer and
autumn frosts do damage in twenty years. He thinks that as the country
gets cleared up frosts and tiies will disappear. He gave me Ins average
of crops and prices, as follows : Potatoes 150 bags per acre at 75 cents per
bag ; oats H5 to 40 bushels per acre at 40 cents per bu.shel ; peas 20 to 25
bushels per acre : wheat 18 to 25 bushels an acre : buttd 20 to 25 cents
a lb. : eggs 15 to 2J cents a doz. : beef ^(i.OO to |i7.00 per hundred in the
fall, and" pork ;?.S.00 to .^'J.OO ; hay at the barn, pressed, S12.00 a ton.
'J'omatoes ripen in the open air. The hardiest varietiers of apples may
do. Native Indian corn ripens well. IMilk cows sell at $25.00 in the
fall and §30.00 to $85.00 in the spring ; horses from :?75.00 to $100.00 ;
oxen from 880.00 to S!>0.00 a yoke ; weaned pigs from $4.00 to $5.00 a
pair.

About the seasons, Mr. Burwash said that they had more rain than
at Lachine, near Montreal, in summer. Snow about two and a half feet
deep. The plow was stopped by frost about the 12th November, and started
about the last week in April. Seeding generally begins about the first
week in May. Milk cows have to be fed from the first of November to

2:{

tlie loth of May. Winter is clear and cold. He looks forvvaid to the
rapid d('Velo[)UH.'nt of the Ontario side of Lake 'reniiscaniin^iie.

I have ^iven my interviews wiih these two farmers on the Quebec
side because it was inipossil)le to find any one on the Ontario side with
more than a few yeais, a^aieultural experience. From my own know-
ledge of soil and farminij, I am satisfied that, if the land on the Ontario
side was once cleared of stumps and timber, so that tlie plow and cidti-
vator would work to the best advanta<;e, and the under soil thorouf^hly
worked up with the surface niouM, the same results W(iuld be obtained
as on the farm I have mentioned at Bale des Peres, viz., a rich black
clay loam that will piofitably produce almost any crop i^rown in the tem-
perate zone.

MaKIvETS.

At present the lumber camps afford excellent market facilities. Hay,
oats, pork, beef, potatoes, butter, etc., brinj.j hi^h prices, but as the tim-
ber gets further back and the country gets settled, the farmers will have
to depend less on the local and more on the outside market. The British
market will soon regulate the price of pork, beef and wheat for the far-
mers of Temiscamingue, as it does for those engaged in agriculture else-
where. This .section is only two hundred and fifty miles in a straight
line from the city of Toronto, with eighty miles of railway to build from
North Bay into the heart of the best farminfj; land. Temiscamingue
farms are as near our ocean port, Montreal, as the farms in any of the
counties of Simcoe, York, Halton or Peel. A short railway haul of four
hundred and forty miles will take the farm products of this section to
the point of transshipment into ocean .steamers at Montreal. This
is a great advantage when compared with the expense of freighting
a distance of fifteen hundred or two thousand miles, which will always
be a heavy permanent charge against the farms of the far west. Experi-
ence has clearly shown that there is a limit to the distance from the sea-
board where products for export can be profitably produced.

Means of A<^ce.ss.

Mattawaon the Canadian Pacific Railway, is the point t<> make for-
thence north on a branch line about forty miles to Temiscamingue
station The train on this short line runs three times a week. At Tem-
iscamingue station connection is made without delay with a line of lake
steamers. The railway and steamboat fare from Toronto is about
?13 rtO. Freight from Toronto to Temiscamingue station is 25c. per hun-
dred pounds, but arrangements can be made with the C.P.R. Freight de-
partment .so that .settlers' effects, by the car-load, will be taken at reduced
rates. When the propos-^^d Toronto and James Bay Railway is built, which
is, I understand, to be a continuation of the Grand Trunk from North Bay to
the north-western shore of Lake Temiscamingue, a distance of eighty-one
miles, it would, as a colonization road, soon open up this whole section,

and bring this large tract of fertile farm land in a direct line with and
within easy reach of the city of Toronto.

I tliink it would be wise for the Oovernment to raise the price of
laud here from fifty cents to one dollar per acre, using the added fifty
cents to give increased aid to the first eighty miles of the line. With
direct railway communication, the land would soon be taken up. Pulp
wood would then have some value. There would be communication with
the outside at all seasons. With a railway, Temiscamingue would be in
close touch with every part of our province. To the pushing, enterpris-
ing, progressive farmer, railway communication is of the first importance,
meaning (juick transportation and ready access to the world's market.
The payment of a dollar per acre would be no draw- back but a strong
inducement for the right class of settlers, if they were certain that wnthin
the next two or three yeai's there would be direct railway com-
munication.

GEXEitAL CoNCI.rSIONS.

In Ontario there are at least 2,500,UOO acres of good land at present
available for .settlement — enough to absorb our surplus agricultural
Tiopidation for many years. I would not advise farmers in com-
fortable circumstances to go to a new section and engage in clear-
ing land. But there are some who are encumbered with a heavv
mortgage and who have a yearly struggle to meet the interest ;
tenant farmers, farmers" sons, farm workers, unemployed artisans,
and laboring men with strong arms, who have courage and good
health — for such there is plenty of room on the unoccupied lands of
Ontario. The land is cheap, it is easy of access, the climate is healthy,
money can be earned at the lumber camps, the mines and on the
colonization roads, so that the settler and his family will be maintained
in comfort during the first and second years, until the farm produces
enough to support his family. So for the struggling mechanic, day woi'ker,
and all those who are putting their labor on the market, there is a better
chance for homes in the unlocated land of Ontario than staying in the
t)ver-crowded industrial centres, where the cry for work is bec'»mirig
yearly more acute ; for even if such have but a rudimentary knowledge
t»f fai'ming they v/ill be able to learn from their neighbors.

I cannot close this without desiring to thank the ofiicials of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, with whom I came in contact, for thnir kind-
ness and courtesy, which materially assisted me in making a full exam-
ination of the sections visited.

From the lOth of May until the 2.Srd of July, I travelled by rail
fi,450 miles ; by boat 525 miles; in buggy and buck-board 110 miles; on
foot 815 mile.s. Total 7,400 miles.

DUNCAN ANDERSON,

Rugby, Ont.