ONTARIO Vprammar 256861 265 EMIGRATION. THE BRITISH FARMER'S AND FARM LABOURER'S GUIDE TO ONTARIO, THE PREMIER PROVINCE OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA, Essued by authority of the Government of Ontario, HON. ARTHUR S. HARDY, Secretary of the Province and ommissioner of Immigration, Toronto. DAVID SPENCE, Immigration Secretary, Toronto. TORONTO: PRINTED BY C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, 5 JORDAN STREET. 1880. alumatundlich LABA MUME Hi 21 TEMEN SI PE THUR mimin LOIL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO. THE NEW '18 256861, VUNDATION6. ::00 CONTENTS. .................................................. ........................ ................................................. PAGR WHY SHOULD I EMIGRATE? ....... WHITHER SHALL I EMIGRATE ? WHAT ONTARIO HAS TO OFFER. Free Land.... Free Schools... No State Church. .......... A Land of Self-government. ..... The Franchise.... Administration of Justice .... The Medical Profession Summary of Advantages ....... THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO.. Accessibility of Markets ........ ONTARIO COUNTIES–SOIL, PRODUCTS, INDUSTRIES, COMMUNICATIONS ......... LAKE ERIE COUNTIES- Essex ............. Dression ........ ......................... ............ ........... S eN ....................................... ...... ........ Kent.. ............................................................ ........... ... ..... .......... ..... .......................................................... Elgin ....... Norfolk ...... Haldimand........... NIAGARA DISTRICT- Monk ........ Welland Lincoln LAKE HURON COUNTIES — Lambton.. Huron .............. Bruce .......... WESTERN (INLAND) COUNTIES — Middlesex... .: Perth ......***• :: Oxford..:.....: Waterloo...... Wellington : -, .. on.............................................................. .......... ......................................................... ................. ...... ...................................... i Dutierin. : ....... ....... : ::Cardwell...:.... ...Brant. ....... · Contents. iii. PAGB .......................................... .............................................................. GEORGIAN BAY COUNTIES- Grey ................. Simcoe....................... NORTHERN COUNTIES- Victoria................................. Haliburton ....... Peterborough........ LAKE ONTARIO COUNTIES- Wentworth. Halton...... Peel.. York ......... Ontario ......... Durham.......... Northumberland. .......... BAY QUINTE COUNTIES- Hastings ... Lennox ...................... .......... Addington. ....... Prince Edward. ......... RIVER ST. LAWRENCE COUNTIES- Frontenac... Leeds........................................." Grenville....................... ....................... Dundas, Stormont and Glengarry .. ......... 1........................................................... VI T Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenirew .......................................................... ... RIVER OTTAWA COUNTIES- Renfrew ...... Lanark ... Carleton....... Russell........... Prescott... ....... ......... TAB GREAT MANITOULIN ........ ALGOMA .......... URINI IV VIVIANIU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S ........................................ AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN ONTARIO .. The Ontario Farmer's Customers Grain, Green and Root Crops ..... Stock Raising .......... Dairy Farming ................ Fruit Growing ......... Flax Growing ................. The Seasons .......... Disinterested Testimony ....... Comparison with the United States.... Agricultural College, &c. .................. .......... ilhas IRUAN TINAN WA UINO Anaitwa VAN TORLD STI, ENCUONAFTE GRANT FRONT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE GROUNDS, GUELPH, 268 THE BRITISH FARMER'S AND FARM LABOURER'S GUIDE TO ONTARIO. WHY SHOULD I EMIGRATE ? “WHY SHOULD I EMIGRATE ?” is the very natural w question put by the British Agriculturist, when the subject of emnigration is first mooted in his hearing. That question answered, and the proposition to emigrate once seriously entertained, the next question is, “TO WHAT COUNTRY OR COLONY SHALL I EMIGRATE WITH, ON THE WHOLE, MOST ADVANTAGE ?” We propose, in this pamphlet, to answer both questions with facts, plainly and truthfully stated, free from exaggeration or the slightest flavour of romance. We shall discuss the subject with the British farmer first, and the farm labourer afterwards, in just as practical a fashion as, at his own fireside, the one might talk over the adyantages of shift- ing his tenancy, or the other his labour, from one county to another. As we proceed the map will help our explanations, The difficulties the British farmer has to contend with at home are sufficiently present to his own mind. No doubt they have been recently enhanced by the failure of crops and the ever- increasing competition the British agriculturist is subjected to, from the vast increase of production abroad, notably on the. American continent. While production in the United Kingdom is handicapped with many conditions incidental to old country GUIDE TO ONTARIO. institutions and other circumstances from which in new lands it is free, the British farmer's competitors in the market where he sells his produce are the agriculturists of countries in which the cost of production is lowest. The price of land, the impedi- ments to its free transfer, the impossibility in many cases of pur- chasing at any cost, the charges for rent, and for taxes national and local, the maintenance of a State church, as represented by tithes or their equivalent, are obviously important elements in the British farmer's calculations and considerations. The exist- ence, too, of game preserving, under the protection of laws of feudal origin, however ameliorated by friendly arrangements between landlord and tenant, is notoriously a source, in too many instances, of great loss and annoyance, and constitutes a burden the latter would always gladly be rid of. Still if the British farmer does not make much money he lives in moderate comfort and contentment. With a conside- rate landlord many difficulties are got over; at all events in good seasons. But then many seasons are not “good” and the British climate is peculiarly fickle and uncertain. Three or four bad years means that hundreds of tenant farmers go behind irreparably and for ever. Now, what on the other hand is to be said in favour of a change, say to Ontario, the premier province of the Dominion of Canada; and what does Ontario offer by way of contrast to the difficulties above described ? In the first place the farmer in Ontario is a producer, under- taking all things together—the most, instead of the least, favour- able conditions. Canadian wheat, oats, barley, beef, cheese or butter are the very competitors the British farmer has to dread. We shall deal with figures later on. Meanwhile that one fact speaks for itself. (2.) He need pay no rental, for if he be only a small capitalist, he can buy land with the money he pays at home for rent, or if he should happen to prefer renting, he can rent a good farm for from eight shillings to sixteen shillings sterling per acre. (3.) His taxes are light. Those he pays indirectly, for Federal purposes, represent the current expendi- GUIDE TO ONTARIO. ture of the public service, or interest on a debt contracted for public improvements, railways, canals and other public works, for which he consequently gets value. His local taxes are for schools, roads, the protection of the law, and contributions to railways or other matters from which he derives direct advan- tages. (4.) He pays no poor rates for there are few paupers. (5.) He pays no tithes or their equivalent, for there is no State church to maintain. (6.) He suffers no appreciable injury from game, and what little he cares to shoot, or has time for shooting, he is welcome to. (7.) If he rents a farm the conditions are the simplest, and he can buy one on easy terms at any time. There is always plenty of improved land in the market, plenty of people or com- panies are willing to advance money on mortgage at some 7 or 8 per cent. interest, and the whole cost of transferring a fine farm, settling title, and all, does not ordinarily amount to the value in Canadian currency of a British five pound note. Now in this general way we have surely said enough to induce the British farmer to believe there may be some good, if not conclusive, reasons why he should emigrate. Others will present themselves as we proceed. WHITHER SHALL I EMIGRATE ? We have now incidentally opened up the way to a consider- ation of the next question: “ TO WHAT COUNTRY OR COLONY SHALL I GO ?” In trying to settle this point satisfactorily, let us clearly understand whom we are talking with. The farmer we have in our mind is the man with moderate capital, say from £250 to £2000 sterling, and usually nearer the less rather than the larger amount after all his debts are paid, with good health, steady habits, a will to work, and a family growing up needing to be settled in the world. We leave out of view for the moment the large capitalist on the one hand, or the man with no capital, on the other. We shall see what are the require. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. numerous are they everywhere that a population exists. All the leading denominations have colleges for ministers, and any young man with a call to that office may, without difficulty, obtain the necessary theological training. A LAND OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. Ontario is preeminently the land of self-government. The people, in all municipal matters, really manage their own affairs. Every village of 750 or more inhabitants, every town of 2,000 and upwards, and every township, has its council elected annu- ally by the rate-payers. The whole have, by their Reeves or Deputy Reeves, a representation in the County Council which meets periodically. A vast amount of business that needs special Acts of Parliament in Great Britain is successfully carried on by these municipal bodies under the provisions of the general law. The taxes, for local purposes, are very light indeed. The farmer and his sons: take their share of the expense by what is called statute labour-putting the roads in order annually. Nearly every one joins in this, although a money payment or a substitute is allowed. But as friends and neighbours all take part in the work with their teams, and the season chosen is a leisure one, the duty is, after all, pleasant, and not regarded as onerous. THE FRANCHISE. Practically, every owner or occupier has a vote for mem- bers of the Provincial Legislature which meets annually at Toronto, or for the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa. In Ontario, too, there is an income tax franchise for the young men in cities, and a farmer's sons' franchise for young men work- ing on their father's farms. The income tax in Ontario is a municipal tax for local purposes only. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Law is cheap and plentiful, and administered by Judges, Police Magistrates and Justices of the Peace as efficiently and righteously as in Great Britain. There is not a judge on the 271 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. ACCESSIBILITY OF MARKETS. Coming eastward, the first place of importance we arrive at is the flourishing town of Cornwall, about 60 miles from Montreal and thirty within the provincial boundary. Cornwall is the county town of the united counties of Dundas, Stormont, and Glengarry. At this place are bankers, grain buyers, and every facility for the transaction of business and shipment of produce, by the canal, which is at this point substituted for the too rapid navigation of the St. Lawrence, or by the Grand Trunk Railway, to Montreal or other of the great outports. The inland railway communications in this section are not yet very complete, but railway construction is in progress. Back from the St. Lawrence we enter the Ottawa district, including the counties of Prescott, Russell, and Carleton. These counties have the Ottawa River as their outlet on one side, while rail- ways connect them at Prescott and Brockville with the Grand Trunk, and St. Lawrence navigation, and another line is now in operation direct from Ottawa to Montreal. The railway from Ottawa to the St Lawrence at Coteau Landing will, when completed, be an additional means of transport. Further west still, the fine agricultural, manufacturing or lumbering counties of Grenville, Leeds, Lanark and Renfrew, connect to the eastward with the City of Ottawa, and to the south with the Grand Trunk and St. Lawrence at Brockville and Prescott. We have now passed beyond the Ottawa District and River counties and struck Lake Ontario at Kingston, a place of import- ance and once the seat of Government. At all the places men- tioned the agencies for transacting business, and the facilities for shipment are ample, while at the inland towns shippers, forwarders and buyers, have their representatives. The city of Kingston, the counties of Frontenac, Lennox, Addington and Renfrew, are all, or will soon be, well supplied with railways connecting the rear settlements with the front. Their chief 10 GUIDE TO ONTAR10. outlets in the latter direction are Kingston and Napanee, both important commercial centres. The county of Hastings, with the city of Belleville on the Bay of Quinte (pronounced Kan-ty) as its capital, is the next reached, and, lying south of it, joined by a narrow isthmus only to the main land, is the county of Prince Edward. The latter now has its railway from Picton, its county town, to Trenton on the main land. The county of Hastings, besides its front navigation and the Grand Trunk Railway, has, in addition to excellent gravel roads, railways now pushing. north and north-west into the rear Northumberland and Peterboro'—the first having Cobourg as its chief town and port, the latter the large inland town of Peterboro'- are traversed by the Midland, Grand Junction, and Cobourg and Peterboro’ Railways. Peterboro', too, has inland water communications. The next group of counties consists of Durham, Ontario and Victoria, connected with the Grand Trunk and the Lake by the Midland and Whitby & Port Perry lines. We now reach the metropolitan county of York, and to the north the County of Simcoe, reaching to the shores of the Georgian Bay. From Toronto, the Toronto & Nipissing to the north-eastward, the Northern penetrating to the Free Grant district on the one hand and the waters of Lake Huron on the other, the Toronto, Grey & Bruce, the Great Western, the Credit Valley and the Grand Trunk supply abundant rail- way communications. Toronto is a fine city of some 70,000 inhabitants, the seat of the Provincial Government and Law Courts, and the chief centre of commerce for western Canada. To follow out in detail the railway system which supplies with interior communication every part of western Ontario would be almost confusing. The map will speak for itself. Here again, too, as we go west and south-west the grand natural means of transportation come into play. Lake Huron, the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, and Lake Erie—the latter connected with Lake Ontario by the Welland Canal, thus 272 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 11 avoiding the obstruction occasioned by the Falls of Niagara- place the western Canadian farmer literally on one of the finest highways in the whole world, which by its facilties, makes Ontario a more than successful competitor in the world's markets with the distant, inland, although easily cul- tivated prairie lands of the west and north-west. In all this region not only are railway construction and water navigation to be had, but competition by both, and, each against the other, comes to the producer's aid, and by reducing the cost of trans- portation to the seaboard to a minimum, leaves him the larg- est possible profit for himself. In the nearness then and accessibility of his market, the agriculturalist in Ontario will find himself as well off as he can desire. When, too, it is recollected that twenty-seven years ago there was not a mile of railway in the province and that now there are three thousand six hundred miles of railway constructed, and others in progress, it will be seen how well and closely railway facil- ities keep pace with the wants of the community and the progress of settlement. The intending emigrant, however, being assumed to be a man with capital to invest, and wishing to make a change, once for all, and once only, will desire some more precise information as to the peculiar features of the different sections of the country, the soil, products and most profitable branches of agricultural industry. The information we shall give him on this point has been collected with great care from respon- sible and well-informed persons. It is not suggested that any purchase or final arrangements should be made before the arrival of the proposed settler in Canada. On the contrary personal inspection and observation, and all the experience that can be gained should be sought for before a bargain is com- pleted. The country will not suffer on acquaintance and it is an excellent plan, where circumstances are favourable for such an arrangement, for the head of a family to pay a preparatory visit and fix upon a farm before bringing out his whole household. Meantime, the following particulars of the 12 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. information most wanted will be of great service in assisting any one proposing to emigrate to Ontario to make up his mind on some points of much importance to him. . The accompanying map will enable the reader to follow the description given of the situation of the respective counties, and their relation to the railways and water communications. 273- GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 13 ONTARIO COUNTIES. SOIL, PRODUCTS, INDUSTRIES, COMMUNICATIONS. LAKE ERIE COUNTIES. ESSEX. andin clay bobicown to perfry mild, a The county of Essex, the most south-westerly in Ontario, has been partially settled by a French Canadian population for from 150 to 200 years, but has, since that period, been the resort of all the English speaking nationalities. The county has many natural advantages, its climate is very mild, and every class of grain or fruit is grown to perfection. The soil is a black loam with clay bottom, except in one or two townships where a sandy loam predominates. The liberal aid rendered by the Ontario Government to drainage operations has done much for the county of Essex, where large areas of fertile land have been reclaimed and cultivated. All the cereals, including Indian corn, grow freely, and a very large quantity of grapes are grown and exported annually. A great deal of pork is also packed for shipment in Essex. The manufacture of railroad ties is a source of considerable profit to the owners of wild land, and not less than thirty saw mills, engaged in cutting hardwood of various kinds, give welcome employment to many hands in the winter months. With the help of the local agricultural societies there has been a great improvement in farm stock in the county of late years. Cleared lands, with all needful improvements, bring from $25 (£5) to $40 (£8) per acre; or, on the river or lake shore, from £8 to £10 per acre. Bush farms fetch from £2 to £4 sterling per acre. In many places the wood on the land pays the purchase money of the farm. Rented farms are to be had for about 8s. sterling per acre. The county, which is bounded on its southern coast by Lake Erie and on the east by the Detroit River, is also traversed by the 14 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. Great Western and Canada Southern Railways, while a new road is projected from the town of Windsor to Lake Erie, so that no farm will be more than eight miles from a railroad. KENT. The county of Kent is second to none in the Province for its fertility or the variety of its products. It stands perhaps first as a fruit growing district, apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, quinces, and grapes being produced in vast quantities. Grape culture is made a specialty with some persons. While all the cereals grow well, Kent is one of the few counties where a con- siderable area is devoted to the growth of Indian corn. On the Lake Erie front the soil is a gravelly loam, farther back clay loam is met with, and in the northerly and easterly parts of the county a sandy loam prevails. All in turn are of a most pro- ductive character in regard to the products to which they are specially adapted. As in the adjoining county of Essex a very considerable industry in hardwood manufactures is carried on in Kent, with great benefit both to the persons employed and to those whose products they consume. There is a good deal of very fine stock in Kent, much attention having been paid to the breeding of improved animals during late years; this ap- plies to horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Prices of farms vary from $10 (£2) to $100 (£20) per acre, depending mainly on locality and the extent of improvements effected. The lake supplies ample water navigation, and this is supplemented by the Great Western and Canada Southern Railways, which cross the county from north-east to south-west, and a line is now being constructed from Rond Eau to Chatham, thence northward to Dresden, and finally to Sarnia, not only intersecting in its course the two main lines already referred to, but also connect- ing at Sarnia with the Grand Trunk system. All things con- sidered, Kent is a county that may be very favourably re- garded by the new comer as a place of settlement. ELGIN. This is one of the Lake Erie counties; the climate mild, winters usually quite open, and snow seldom lying more than three months. The country is undulating, soil varying from heavy clay to clay loam, some of the latter very rich. The 16 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. tions. There are a large number of horses and cattle of improved breeds, as well as sheep of a fine class. From the configuration of the land, draining is not so necessary as in some parts, but where it is carried on the work is greatly facili- tated by natural advantages. No farm is far from a good market. The county town, Cayuga, is situated at the head of the Grand River navigation, and four railways, the Buffalo, branch of the Grand Trunk, the Hamilton and North-western, the Great Western Air Line and the Canada Southern, supply it with abundant communications. Farms may be purchased at from $20 (£4) to $50 (£10 sterling) per acre, or leased at $1.50 (say 6s.) to $3 (12s.) per acre, with about three-fourths cleared. Fuel is abundant, both coal and wood being cheap, the latter from local supply, and the former, via Lake Erie, from the Pennsylvania coal fields. Large beds of pure gypsum furnish an inexhaustible supply of that deposit. cal swant, bothcre, ma per NIAGARA DISTRICT. first-elas largely cultient is often verpelham and Wain the con- MONCK. This is a thickly settled and most thriving district, formed for electoral purposes out of portions of the three Counties of Welland, Lincoln, and Haldimand. The climate is mild, and the soil generally rich, consisting of clay or clay loam, with in some parts a sandy gravelly loam. The farms are generally first-class, and sell at good prices. Fruit, including peaches, is very largely cultivated. The land is rolling, and in some parts hilly; the scenery is often very beautiful. Some of the townships in the division, especially Pelham and Wainfleet, are noted for their excellent municipal management, and the con- sequent lightness of their local taxation. The division is watered by two or three navigable rivers, and is traversed by the Grand Trunk, Canada Southern, and Air Line Rail- ways. Few districts offer better inducements to an old country farmer with capital than this one. WELLAND. The county of Welland is very thickly settled, and contains: within its limits a great variety of busy industries. The ...bt ;K I Un ENOX AND ! ENDATIONS. 1. MES JE . - HT | C. BEEBEREDE PHOTO LITH BY THE BURLAND LITH CO MONTREAL AN ONTARIO FARM WITH FARM BUILDINGS. 275 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 17 varieties of soil are great. A large portion consists of a black clay loam of great richness; in some parts a fine sandy loam, and in others a gravelly loam predominates, while part is still marsh, although in process of reclamation with very profitable results. The staple cereal grown is fall wheat, although beans and roots are largely cultivated. In some townships fruit, in- cluding peaches and grapes, is grown in enormous quantities. The climate along the course of the Niagara River is exceed- ingly temperate. The traffic on the Welland Canal and the works in progress there—the improvements extending over several years—create a large local demand for all classes of pro- duce, and a good trade is done in vegetables and all the smaller fruits. There are one or two excellent weekly markets in the county for the sale of farm produce. Farms may be purchased at from $10 (£2) an acre for marshy land up to $100 to $110 (£20 to £22) per acre for first-class farms. Good improved farms may be had for $40 (£8) per acre. Very few farms are held on lease, but about $3 (12s.) per acre is regarded as the maximum rental. There is a good deal of improved stock in the county, which is, by reason of its climate, soil and other causes, an inviting one for the new settler. The Welland River is navig- able for nearly thirty miles from its mouth, and the Welland, Erie and Niagara, Canada Southern, Air Line, and Grand Trunk, all traverse the county. LINCOLN. The county of Lincoln, with the city of St. Catharines as its business centre, having Port Dalhousie at the Lake Ontario end of the Welland Canal as its port, is also one of the finest fruit growing districts of Ontario. Peaches are largely cultivated as well as all the hardier classes of fruit. The soil is, in the lower parts of the county, sand or sandy loam, but the higher land is clay. Wheat and hay are the chief crops on the heavier soils ; fruit, Indian corn and roots being cultivated in the lighter soils. Several important manufactures create a local market for farm produce. They include two paper mills, two cotton mills, and a large number of extensive Aouring mills. The price of farm property ranges from $30 (£6) per acre, to as high as $150 or £30 per acre. The extent of orchard lands and proximity to markets have much to do with the high price placed upon some farm properties. The county, besides its water facilities, is traversed by the Great Western, Welland and Erie and Ontario Railways. 276. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. and well watered, the soil a sandy loam. It is a great grain- growing country, but its specialties would probably be cattle- raising and dairy farming, for which it is well adapted. There are already a large number of cheese factories and one creamery in the county. There is a good deal of fine improved stock in Huron, and considerable progress has been made of late in draining. In the south-western part of the county near Goderich and Seaforth are enormous salt beds. There is probably wood enough for fuel purposes to last for 25 years. Farms are usually 100 acres each, but some 50 acres, while others are of 200 acres. They may be bought at prices varying from £5 to £14 sterling per acre, or leased for periods of five years for from 8 to 12 shillings sterling, annual rental. The climate is extremely healthy, very little colder than that of the Lake Erie and Ontario regions. A steady winter, however, with good and uninterrupted sleighing more than compensates for a little cold. The population of Huron is pretty evenly divided between the three British nationalities, the Scotch and Irish slightly predominating. for fertilihe soil is a sandcarly 50,000 sotu BRUCE The county of Bruce has only been settled since 1853, but had in 1871 a population of nearly 50,000 souls. The general char- acter of the soil is a sandy loam, surpassed by none in Ontario for fertility. All the usual cereals and roots are cultivated, but for wheat-growing Bruce is regarded as one of the best dis- tricts, if not the best district in the Province. The salt works at Kincardine, which are very extensive, and other industries give employment to a large number of persons. The improve- ment of stock in Bruce has not been so rapid as in some counties, but the farmers are increasingly turning their atten- tion to this branch of the business, with the view of depending more in future on stock raising than on cereal crops. The price of exceptionally good farms in Bruce is from $50 (£10) to $60 (£12) per acre, but farms can be procured for one-half that price. Bruce has Lake Huron on its western boundary, with the ports of Kincardine and Southampton, and is also supplied with communications by the Wellington, Grey & Bruce, and Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railways and branches. the cos (412,ptionally glodaising the the the "v; GUIDE TO ONTARIO. WESTERN (INLAND) COUNTIES. MIDDLESEX. The land of this district was originally all hardwood forest, with a few swamps. It is undulating and naturally well drained, the climate very healthy and moderate in temperature. It is well watered by creeks and small rivers. The soil varies from a heavy clay to a sandy loam, and is well adapted for stock-raising About one-third of the land is still wooded, ensuring a cheap and plentiful supply of fuel for many years, as well as wood for other purposes. The average production of the cereals and roots is said to be about as follows:-Fall wheat, 20 bushels; spring wheat, 8 bushels (not a very certain crop in this district); barley, 30 bushels; peas, 12 bushels; oats, 35 bushels; potatoes, 100 bushels; turnips, 300 bushels; hay, 14 tons, per acre. There are some excellent stock animals and many very serviceable horses in the district. The business of grazing and feeding cattle for the English market is making rapid progress. There are seven cheese factories, and ample facilities for marketing produce. The county contains sev- eral towns and villages, and is well supplied with railway facilities. Its County Town is the city of London, à business centre of great activity and importance in Western Ontario, and a first-class market for all agricultural products. Farms may be bought in a highly improved condition, the prices varying from $35 (£7) to as high as $100 (£20 sterling) per acre. Farms may be rented at from £20 to £80 sterling per 100 acres. The railways traversing the county are the Grand Trunk, main and branch lines, the Great Western, London and Port Stanley, London Huron and Bruce, and Canada Southern. PERTH. stock-raisiting and very lay loam, in not cov The county of Perth offers many imducements to agricul- turists. While portions are flat and perhaps better adapted for stock-raising than the cultivation of the cereals, a larger area is undulating and very favourable for grain culture. The soil is generally a clay or clay loam, in many parts highly pro- ductive. The rate of production varies, of course, considerably in different parts of the county, but a return from the several townships shows as follows: Fall wheat, 18 to 25 bushels ; ductiv generally as and very fastivation of taps 272 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. The land os festent. Busy mals have beend and improve spring wheat, 10 to 20 bushels ; barley, 25 to 45 bushels (aver- age, 30 to 40); oats, 40 to 50 bushels ; peas, about 25 bushels; potatoes, 100 to 150 bushels (frequently the latter); turnips, 500 to 700 bushels; hay, 1 to 11 tons per acre. The land in Perth is generally well filled, and improved breeds of all classes of animals have been introduced to a considerable extent. Busy towns and villages supply a brisk demand for home consumption for all kinds of produce. There are numer- ous local industries not connected with agriculture, and several cheese factories do a thriving business. Farms may be bought according to location, quality of the land and improvements, at from $30 (£6 sterling) to $80 (£16 sterling) per acre. Rents run from $2.50 (10s.) upwards, but the number of farms to be had on lease is not large. The county is traversed by the Grand Trunk, Wellington, Grey and Bruce, and Stratford and Lake Huron Railways. OXFORD. The county of Oxford is one of the finest agricultural dis- tricts in Ontario. It was first partially settled about 80 years ago and the work of improvement has been going on ever since. The surface of the country is generally undulating, the soil a clay loam and in some parts a sandy loam. Both as to soil and climate it is well adapted for either grain, stock, or fruit raising. The county is well studded with thriving towns, such as Woodstock and Ingersoll, and villages of more or less import- ance. Its cheese manufacture is on a very extensive scale, and two large pork-packing establishments are located at Ingersoll. A good deal has been done towards the introduction of improved stock and in all departments of agriculture intelli- gence and enterprise are more or less visible. Farms may be purchased at from $20 (£4), to $80 (£16 sterling) per acre, or rented at from $2 (say 8s. sterling) to $4 (16s. sterling) per acre. The Great Western Railway, the Lake Huron and Port Dover, the Canada Southern, and the Brantford and Port Burwell Rail- ways, supply the county of Oxford with abundant railway facilities. Fuel is cheap and abundant, and where coal is pre- ferred to wood, it is obtainable by railway at moderate rates. WATERLOO. This county was settled in the early part of the present century, chiefly by Germans from the State of Pennsylvania, GUIDE TO ONTARIO. many of them being of the Mennonite persuasion. The soil is of mixed varieties, but generally fertile and watered with num- erous spring creeks. It produces all the cereals and roots and large quantities of fruit, with the exception of peaches, which have not yet been grown successfully to any extent. Flax grow- ing is carried on upon a large scale; the flax being exported in both a dressed and undressed state. The soil is also considered very favourable for the cultivation of sugar beets. There are seve- ral flax mills in the county in addition to other industries, the chief town, Galt, being one of the most thriving manufacturing centres in Ontario. The land is all cleared, and farms may be bought with every improvement at from $40 to $100 (£8 to £20 sterling) per acre. Very few farms are leased, but from 8s. to 20s. sterling per acre is about the rental charged, Great progress has been made in the improvement of cattle and the breeding of horses. The county is traversed by the Great Western, Grand Trunk and Credit Valley Railways. a of this fine settleme mostly to clay WELLINGTON. Portions of this fine county have been settled for fifty years, but the bulk of the settlement has taken place during the past thirty years. The soil is mostly a loam, varying from the extremes of gravel on the one hand to clay on the other. The latter is most usually met with, and is of a highly productive nature, and easily tilled. The raising of stock from improved breeds is carried on to a larger extent in this than in any other county. This has led to grain cropping being largely superseded by the cultivation of roots, which are grown to an immense extent. Barley is a sure crop, and a large area is sown with that cereal. The city of Guelph, a very flourishing manufactur- ing centre, is the county town. Fergus, Elora and Salem are also busy manufacturing villages. Cleared farms range from £8 to £16 per acre, while some would bring even a higher figure. There is very little wild land obtainable, even in the newest townships. Wellington is well supplied with railways, being traversed by the Grand Trunk, Wellington, Grey and Bruce, Toronto, Grey and Bruce, Credit Valley, Georgian Bay and Wellington, and Waterloo, Wellington and Georgian Bay. .: 278 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 23 DUFFERIN. This is a new county formed out of portions of Wellington, Simcoe and Grey. The soil is mostly a clay loam, although in one section it is light and rather rough land. The leading cereals are the principal farm products. The price of the best land runs from $30 to $40 (£6 to £8 sterling), per acre. Farms of 100 acres with 60 to 70 acres cleared, and log buildings, can be had for $2500 to $3000 (£500 to £600 sterling); and wild lots for from $1000 to $1500 (£200 to £300), per 1 0 acres. Rented farms bring from $2 to $2.50 (8s. to 10s. sterling), for cleared portions. In one of the townships-Garafraxa—there is a good deal of improved stock; but not much elsewhere in the county. The county town, Orangeville, is a very thriving place, and an excellent market centre. The Toronto Grey & Bruce, and Credit Valley Railways, supply Dufferin with abundant means of communication in all directions. CARDWELL. The Electoral District of Cardwell, formed out of portions of Peel and Simcoe counties, about 20 by 25 miles in area, is wholly agricultural in its character. It has been settled for from fifty to sixty years, and about nine-tenths of the land is under cultivation. The county is rolling and well watered. The land, with the exception of one or two rough portions divided between clay and sandy loam, is well adapted for grain growing. Dairy farming has not yet made so much progress as elsewhere, there being at present no cheese factories or creameries in the district. Many of the farmers are men of substance; the houses and buildings are good, and the aspect of the farms is thrifty and productive. At Beeton, in the Township of Tecumseth, is the largest Bee Farm in Canada, the proprietor disposing of some 50,000 lbs. weight of honey annually. The district is intersected by two railways: the Toronto, Grey & Bruce from Toronto, and the Hamilton and North-Western from Hamilton. The climate of the district is dry and bracing. The population contains a very large Irish element, both protestant and catholic. In one township, Cale- don, are a large number of Scotch, both lowland and high- land. The rest of the population is mixed. In Cardwell, farms of 100 or 200 acres may be purchased at prices ranging from £6 to £16 per acre, or leased at an average rental of 12 24 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. shillings. Ninety per cent. of the land would be cleared, the balance wooded, but this is not more than would be profitably retained or used for home purposes. BRANT. The county of Brant possesses all the characteristics of a fine farming country, combined in many parts with very beautiful natural scenery. With every variety of soil it is eminently favourable to nearly every variety of crop, and all branches of agricultural industry appear to flourish. At Bow Park, near the city of Brantford, which is the county town of Brant, is perhaps the largest herd of short horns in the world. Opportunities for introducing improved stock from this and other sources are very good. Brant is well watered and pre- sents admirable facilities for drainage, the Grand River flowing through the middle of the county. The market facilities, by means of good local roads as well as railways, are excellent, and a large trade is done, both at Brantford, already mentioned, and at the town of Paris, at the junction of the Great Western and Buffalo and Lake Huron Railways. In addition to the two last mentioned roads, the Brantford and Port Burwell connects with the Canada Southern and Air Lines, and will ultimately extend to Lake Erie. The price of farms in Brant ranges from as low as $10 (£2) to $80 (£16) per acre, or may be rented at from $2 to $4, or at an average of $3 (12s.) per acre. It is a part of the country where an old country settler would feel at home at once, and presents, for such, some excellent openings. The city of Brantford is the seat of extensive manufactures of agricultural implements of all kinds, as well as of engines, stoves, and a variety of other goods. The local water power and transportation facilities give it special ad- vantages as the seat of such industries GEORGIAN BAY COUNTIES. GREY. Grey is rather a new county. Settlement there commenced about the year 1842. The general character of the soil is good, but diversified, consisting of clay, clay loam, and a large 279. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 25 portion of what farmers call sharp soil, which is very pro- ductive if well tilled. Some of the Townships, however, are rather stony and the extreme north is somewhat broken by limestone rock. Grey is, on the whole, a good agricultural county. Wheat is the staple, while oats, peas, barley and hay crops are above the average. Fruit is grown largely and the country along the shores of the Georgian Bay is famed for the quality and vast quantities of the plums it produces. Grapes, peaches and pears do well. The price of land ranges from $1,000 to $6,000 (£200 to £1,200 sterling) for farms of 100 acres. The average price, where 60 to 70 acres have been cleared and the buildings are good, may be put down at $3,000 (£600). There are many excellent openings in Grey for pur- chasers at the present time. Farms can be leased at from $2 to to $3 (8s. to 12s. sterling) per acre, exclusive of taxes or statute labour. SIMCOE. The county of Simcoe offers peculiarly. favourable opportuni- ties to the settler who, with small means, desires gradually to make his way in the world. The southern part of the county, part of which is in the electoral district of Cardwell, has been long settled and is well farmed by a substantial class of farmers. But there are sections that present every stage of colonization from the improved farm and trim homestead to the log shanty and bush clearing. In the south the soil is generally a good clay or clay loam, more to the northward a sandy loam pre- dominates. Here and there some pretty rough land is met with but there are few portions that are not fertile. Wheat and all the coarse grains, as well as roots and hay, are largely culti- vated, and in the western part of the county fruit, especially 'the plum, is grown on a very large scale. A great assistance to the settler with little money is the existence of the lumber- ing industry, which is very extensively carried on in Simcoe. This affords employment, permanent or temporary, to large numbers of able-bodied men, and causes a free circulation of money, both in wages and in the purchase of supplies, in some very remote districts. Not only can the settler choose either wild land or land in any stage of improvement that may suit his resources, but he can by the aid of the lumberer often maintain his family, wholly or in part, while his own farm is too small to supply his necessities. Good improved farms bring as high GUIDE TO ONTARIO. as $80 (£16) an acre, but they can be purchased at all prices from $5 (£1) an acre upwards, and wild land, of course, for much less. Farms can be rented at from 50 cents (2s.), to $4 (16s. sterling) per acre. The town and port of Collingwood on the Georgian Bay has a large lake traffic, while Barrie, the county town, on an arm of Lake Simcoe, and Orillia are places of considerable importance. The Northern, Hamilton and North- Western, North Simcoe, and Midland lines supply the county with ample railway connections. NORTHERN COUNTIES. VICTORIA. Victoria is a very large and ever-growing county, for, as it includes a considerable portion of free grant territory, as one township after another is settled it is added to the county municipality. Thus, while the southern townships have been settled for fifty years, more or less, some of the northern ones have come into existence as but yesterday. Great varieties of soil and climate are necessarily found in such a tract of country as Victoria covers. The soil of the southern portion is a rich clay loam, and extremely fertile. As we pass northward the soil becomes lighter, and sandy loam is most frequently met with, while in places the rock crops up freely, although even here in reasonably moist seasons, good crops are raised by the settlers. Fall and spring wheat, peas and coarse grains are the chief products, and there is a good deal of cheese, factory- made, and butter, dairy-made, in the county, which should be particularly favourable in many respects for the latter branch · of farm business, although no creameries have yet been esta- blished. Not much has been done so far to improve the breeds of cattle, but there are a number of very fine sheep in the county. One feature of Victoria is its beautiful lakes and numerous streams. Its chief town, Lindsay, is quite a railway focus. The Midland Railway passes through Lindsay on its route from Port Hope, on Lake Ontario, to Midland City, on the Georgian Bay; the Whitby and Port Perry, by its junction with the Grand Trunk and the Toronto and Nipissing, connect it with Toronto, and the Victoria Railway forms another im- portant highway to the northward. Farms may be bought at wn, Lin its beauty fine shee the 28 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. LAKE ONTARIO COUNTIES. WENTWORTH. Wentworth is a fine agricultural county. It possesses a great variety of soils, the portion nearest Lake Ontario consisting of a gravelly loam well adapted for most agricultural purposes, but especially favourable to the growth of fruit, which is there produced in very large quantities. All the cereals including Indian corn are cultivated, as well as every description of roots. The farm stock has been considerably improved by the import- ation of thorough-bred animals. Farms sell at from $40 (£8) to $80 (£16 sterling) per acre, and may be rented at from $2.50 (10s.) to $5 (20s. sterling) per acre. The large manufacturing city of Hamilton, the second in size and importance in Ontario, is the county town of Wentworth. Its position at the head of Lake Ontario with a large and nearly land locked harbour gives the rural districts surrounding the city great advantages. The Great Western, Hamilton and Lake Erie and Hamilton and North-Western Railways intersect the county. HALTON. This is one of the older counties of Ontario, its settlement dating from the year 1790 to 1820. The emigrant from Europe will reach it from Toronto if he comes via Quebec, or from Hamilton if by New York and Suspension Bridge. It has Lake Ontario and the Great Western Railway along its south- ern front, and the Grand Trunk Railway in the rear, while the Hamilton and North-Western line intersects it from south to north, and the Credit Valley line from east to west. The soil on the front is sandy, further back all clay, and still further back a rich loam. Along the lake vast quantities of straw- berries are grown, the culture of that fruit being a most profit- able and ever-increasing industry. The larger fruits, especially apples, are being cultivated on a large scale. Both grain and stock-raising are carried on very successfully. The county is level at the front, but further back rolling and hilly. Halton is watered by several fine streams, utilized for various industrial purposes. Å good lumbering business is still done there. The climate is temperate, the near presence of the lake tending to moderate the extremes either of heat or cold. Both in horses 281 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 29 and cattle there have been very considerable improvements of late years by the introduction of thorough-bred animals. The price of farms for sale varies from £8 to £20 sterling per acre, while others can be had on lease at from 8s. to 16s. sterling per acre, according to their fertility, the condition of build- ings and contiguity to markets. The direct connection of Halton with the cities of Toronto, Hamilton, and Guelph, gives it exceptionally valuable advantages in these respects. Wood fuel is cheap and plentiful in Halton, and coal also obtainable by the railways at low rates. The population is composed of natives or descendants of natives of all three British nation- alities. Few counties offer greater attractions to old country settlers than Halton. contiguity 4 their fertilitet from 88. terling per acre lernt not only have oned their attentieding of PEEL. The soil of this county presents considerable variety. In the south a clay or clay loam predominates, but this changes gradually to a light sandy loam in the northern section. For- merly the great product of the county was wheat, but of later years not only have other cereal crops been largely cultivated but farmers have turned their attention considerably to the growth of roots and the raising and feeding of cattle. A good deal of improved stock has been introduced during the last few years. Butter is also made in large quantities by the farmers, but not much cheese. Large woollen mills and imple- ment factories are among the local industries of the county. Farm property can at the present time be purchased on pretty favourable terms, at least 20 per cent. less than two or three years ago. Good farms, with fairly substantial buildings, range from $45 (£9) to as high as $60 (£12) per acre. Rents run from $3 (12s.) to $4 (16s.) per acre. The Grand Trunk, Toronto, Grey and Bruce, Hamilton and North Western, and Credit Valley Railways supply the county of Peel with abun- dant accommodation. fermers, but not are among present times bess than iw buildings YORK. The settlement of the county of York commenced at the close of the last century, many of the settlers being from Penn- sylvania, and other of the United States. The soil is generally à rich clay, or clay loam, and very productive. Wheat is grown in large quantities and all the other cereals and roots 282 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. but some few persons have carried on the importation of thorough-bred stock to a considerable extent. The county is served by the Lake Ontario navigation at the front as well as by the Grand Trunk Railway. The Whitby, Port Perry and Lindsay, and the Toronto and Nipissing Railways traverse it, and the Midland offers another outlet from its northern extremity. DURHAM. The county of Durham, with its front on Lake Ontario, was settled at the latter end of the last century. Its land is undu- lating with mostly a clay loam soil, and very productive. All the ordinary cereals grow well, and the cultivation of root crops is on a large scale, for cattle-feeding purposes, numbers of cattle being shipped from Durham to Europe and elsewhere. In its principal towns, Bowmanville in the west, and Port Hope in the east division of the county, a large trade and some extensive manufactures in furniture, agricultural implements, and other articles are carried on. Port Hope has an excellent harbour and a considerable lake shipping trade. Farms may be bought at any price, according to situation and improve- ments, from $25 (£5) per acre upwards. Some would realize $100 (£20), or even more per acre. Farms may be leased at from 8s. to 28s. per acre. A good deal has been done to im- prove the breed of horses, horned cattle and sheep, but there is room for further progress in this direction. Durham presents some excellent opportunities for an intelligent agriculturist from the old country with moderate capital. The Grand Trunk traverses the county along its front from east to west, and the Midland line to the Georgian Bay with a branch to Peterboro' has its terminus at Port Hope. For shipments to the foreign market the facilities are excellent. NORTHUMBERLAND. Northumberland is one of the Lake Ontario counties and has been settled for nearly 80 years. Land rolling and soil largely consisting of sandy loam with some clay. The farming is less skilful than it ought to be, but some improvement is going on in the introduction of improved stock and horses. The number of sheep kept is small. Cheese factories are numerous. Towns and villages of considerable size create a very large local demand, with Bila BORNE Sell TEAM dal TELE ADUATORIAL பெயாpயாபா.NE வாயian TEMPUT W VW TEORI R ETRO VW 990 UEUEUITID Arte S . ULT THE HIT QET PHOTO LITN BY THE BURLAND UTH CO MONTREAL AN ONTARIO FARM WITH PARTIAL IMPROVEMENTS, 34 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. at the head of the Bay of Quinte (pronounced Kan-ty). The soil is chiefly of a calcareous nature, and singularly productive, even where of no great depth. In parts there are large tracts of sandy loam, while in others clay and black loam are to be found. About a tenth part, perhaps, is poor, of a light sandy character. The average yield of crops is not equal by any means to the amount that might be produced by improved farming. The ordinary yield of wheat is probably not above ž0 bushels to the acre, but double that quantity is known to be raised by careful cultivation. The same remark will apply to other cereals. The county of Prince Edward is noted for its fine carriage horses ; and has some excellent cattle, both grades and thoroughbreds. Farms may be purchased at from $30 (£6) to $80 (£16 sterling) per acre, or rented at from $1 (say 4s.) to $3 (say 12s.) per acre. Agriculture is, with a few exceptions, the sole industry of the county. There are some 26 or 27 cheese factories in constant operation. Prince Edward has one railroad from Pieton, the county town, to Trenton on the mainland. With the lake on its southern side and the beautiful Bay of Quinte to the north, Prince Edward lacks nothing in the way of situation or scenery to make it attractive. The whole county presents an appear- ance of solid comfort and prosperity on the part of its popula- tion. RIVER ST. LAWRENCE COUNTIES. FRONTENAC. This county, with Kingston for its capital, has been settled for from 50 to 100 years. Of its 213,000 acres some 150,000 are under cultivation, and probably have more or less deterior- ated for want of skilful management, a fault that new settlers with old country experience would in time remedy. There is, however, a considerable quantity of good land in Frontenac, but ample room for the improvements that energy, skill, and capital can supply. The business of cheese-making is pretty largely carried on and may be extended with great advantage both to the land and the farmer indefinitely. The county has the lake or river as its front, as well as the Grand Trunk Railway, while the Kingston and Pembroke line intersects it longi- tudinally, and some 100 miles of macadamized roads serve 284. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 35 local purposes. The soil is divided between clay and loam, and is adapted to all varieties of crops. The climate is temperate, averaging 45° Fahrenheit all the year round. Farms can be bought at from £2 to £12 sterling per acre. Fuel either obtained locally or brought in by the K. & P. Railway, is abundant and cheap. The American market for light pro- duce is so near as to be very advantageous to the farroers of all the river counties of Ontario. LEEDS. The county of Leeds with a frontage of some thirty miles on the St. Lawrence, and ports at Brockville, Gananoque, and Rockport, while it is traversed by the Grand Trunk parallel with the River, by the Canada Central from Brockville north- ward through its centre, by the Rideau Canal in the rear, and having the Kingston and Pembroke skirting its western boundary has exceptionally good facilities so far as traffic and connections are concerned. Lying, too, exactly opposite, and only divided by the St. Lawrence from American territory, the agriculturist of Leeds has in the American cities an unlimited demand for his produce at his very door. Large quantities of sheep, cattle, and poultry are being constantly shipped to the States; while cheese and butter, the latter having an exception- ally high reputation, the “ Brockville brand” being famous, are also produced in the county. The soil is mostly a clay or clay loam, the land undulating and well watered by streams. Rock here and there crops up, but although it gives a less kindly aspect to the country where it appears, the surrounding land is often of great fertility. In both Brockville and Gananoque there are busy industries, those for implements, castings and stoves having a wide celebrity. A good deal has been done to improve farm stock, and thus to maintain the reputation long enjoyed by the county as a fine grazing district. Farms sel] for from $10 (£2) to $60 (£12) per acre, the price depending upon quality and situation, the variety in the former respect being great and the changes in soil very abrupt. GRENVILLE. Grenville is another of the river (St. Lawrence) counties. The soil is of fair quality, consisting principally of clay and 286. GUIDE TO ONTARIO.. the cities of Montreal or Quebec. Another line to Montreal and Ottawa via Glengarry is also in progress. Farms may be bought and leased on fair terms. RUSSELL. The soil of the county of Russell is mostly a clay or clay loam and fertile, although in some situations rocky. It was formerly a great lumbering region, and a good deal of timbered land remains yet uncleared, although the pine is gone. Wheat grows largely and all the other cereals. The extremely pure water is favourable to butter making, which is carried on very extensively in both the farm dairies and local creameries. The city of Ottawa, which is close to the western boundary line of the county, is a splendid market for all farm produce, as well as for wood for fuel and all kinds of timber. Farms sell for from $10 (£2) to $50 (£10) per acre—a first-class farm being obtain- able at the latter price. Rentals are from $1 (4s.) to $3 (12s.) per acre. There is a good deal of improved stock in the county. Drainage is very easy, the land being generally undulating, and the Rideau and Castor Rivers forming natural outlets. The Ottawa River is the northern boundary of Russell, and a new line of railway connecting Ottawa with the St. Lawrence at Coteau Landing will pass through the middle of the county. PRESCOTT. The land of the county of Prescott is rolling and well watered. The soil is in parts clay; in others, of a gravelly or sandy nature. Limestone is plentiful in most parts of the county. Spring wheat is grown for home consumption, but the chief crops are oats, peas, barley, Indian corn and potatoes. Of late years farmers have given increased attention to the raising and im- provement of cattle. The chief industry of the county is agri- culture; but a great deal of lumber is manufactured in Prescott, and woollen manufacture is carried on to some extent. Farms vary very much in value, the prices ranging from $1 (4s.) to $50 (£10) per acre. Rentals are equal to about eight per cent. of the value of the lands. There are some good herds of cattle in the county, but the majority are grades more or less mixed with the Ayrshire and Devon breeds. Prescott has at present . GUIDE TO ONTARIO. no railway connections, although the line from Ottawa to Montreal via Coteau Landing would touch it at its south- western corner. Its north front is on the Ottawa River. THE GREAT MANITOULIN. This beautiful island, lying in the north part of Lake Huron, is now being rapidly settled, and contains a population proba- bly of from 10,000 to 12,000 souls. The lands are held in trust for the Indians by the Dominion Government, but they are sold at fifty cents per acre to settlers, and then become part of the provincial territory, and receive the same help in the shape of grants for roads and necessary local improvements as other new districts. The settlement in Manitoulin has been chiefly from Ontario counties, and most of those who have emigrated thither are enthusiastic in their praises of the capabilities and resources of the island. are enthunties, and motin Manitoulovements auape of their praisse who havbeen chichter ALGOMA. The island of Manitoulin forms part of the parliamentary district of Algoma, which embraces practically all the islands in the northern part of Lake Huron and the mainland on its northern shores —including Bruce Mines: Sault Ste. Marie, St. Joseph's Island—and also the region lying north-west of Lake Superior. All this vast region contains more or less agricultural land, in some parts of considerable fertility. But it is not thither the immigrant from Great Britain will first direct his steps. The mineral wealth, forest lands, and fisheries of Algoma however are gradually attracting a busy and enter- prising population, and providing a market the farmers will have to supply. The information above afforded is not, of course, designed to form the basis of final and absolute arrangements as to purchase and settlement by the British farmer who purposes to emigrate to Ontario. But it shows (1) the general charac- teristics of the different sections of the country as well as those of the Province as a whole; (2) the capabilities of the soil ; (3) 42 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IN ONTARIO. THE ONTARIO FARMER'S CUSTOMERS. The accessibility of markets for the produce of the Canadian farmer is one very important matter; another is the demand for the produce of his industry. Ontario, as already explained, is the great agricultural province of the Dominion. Her share, then, in the exports of the country is far larger in proportion than those of any other province. But, as a great part of the produce of Ontario farms is shipped from the port of Montreal in the Province of Quebec, it is not very easy to ascertain precisely how much of the total exports are to be credited to Ontario. An approximate idea however, will be formed of the demand for the farm products of Ontario by referring to the official reports of the Customs Department of the Dominion, known as the Trade and Navigation Returns. In twelve months ending June 30, 1878, Canada, besides supplying her own demands, exported of her own raising and exclusive of shipments of the products of the United States made at her ports, more than 14,000 horses, nearly 30,000 horned cattle, and over 240,000 sheep. Of the produce of the dairy were exported 13,000,000 lbs. of butter, 38,000,000 lbs. of cheese ; about 14,000,000 lbs. of meats, over 5,000,000 eggs, and 2,500,000 lbs. of wool. Then of wheat, Canada exported nearly 41 million bushels, of barley 77 million bushels, of oats nearly 21 million bushels, of peas nearly 21 million bushels ; besides other articles of produce in smaller quantities. The openings for the extension of this trade are great. The exportation of cheese has doubled in five years. The foreign trade in butter has also increased, but not so'rapidly as it will do now that Canadians are waking up to the necessity. for improved methods of butter making and packing. 288. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 43 No branch of the Canadian export trade affords to the Canadian farmer greater encouragement than the trade in '' horses, horned cattle, sheep and meats with Great Britain. In 1873 not a single horse was exported from Canada to Great Britain. In 1878 Canada sent Great Britain 1743, and in 1879, 1247 horses. In 1873 Canada sent no horned cattle to Great Britain. In 1878 Canada sent to Great Britain 7,433 horned cattle, and in 1879 not less than 20,587 horned cattle. In 1873 Canada sent no sheep to Great Britain. In 1878, Canada sent to Great Britain close upon 12,000 sheep, and in 1879 no less than 54,421 sheep. The increase in the cattle and sheep export trade is most remarkable. In 1873 Canada sent to Great Britain less than a million pounds weight of beef. In 1878 Canada exported to Great Britain 4 millions of pounds weight of beef. The trade so far has been little more than experimental, but it has been profitable even allowing for all the difficulties besetting a new enterprise. Another fact, too, has been disclosed in this connection, and that is the total absence of epidemic diseases among Canadian stock. While United States live cattle, or even live cattle shipped from any United States ports are absolutely excluded from the British market, the most rigid scrutiny has failed to detect any trace of disease among the Canadian arrivals, which go on uninterruptedly. The Durham, and other imported breeds even improve in Canada, and thor- ough-bred animals raised in Canada from imported stock have been exported to England and sold for fancy prices. For horses of serviceable quality, combining tractability, strength, endurance, and symmetry Ontario is perhaps unsurpassed. The cost of raising is so small, the climate is so healthy, and the art of training horses is so well understood by every farmer that the trade in horses is likely to become enormous and highly lucrative. Nor has this very large accession to the Canadian export trade with Great Britain resulted from markets elsewhere being closed against Canadian stock. The total number of horses GUIDE TO ONTARIO. * ... Barley,generally a sure crop, at about 30 to 40 bush.per acre. Oats . . . . . . . . . . . 40 to 50 “ “ Peas and beans . . . . . . . 25 “ “ The straw of all the cereals, averages 3,000 lbs. “ Indian Corn is grown (except for green fodder) in very few counties. In this cereal Ontario cannot pretend to compete with the prairie regions of the West. Large quantities of corn are imported by our farmers as a cheap feed for cattle in exchange for the coarse grains, in which Ontario excels. Of green crops the following may be estimated as the average yield under liberal treatment: Lucerne, four cuttings . . . . . 20 tons per acre. Winter rye, two cuttings . . . Red clover, two cuttings. . . . 6 " “ Tares and oats, one cutting ... Millet, two cuttings . . . . . 4 “ Maize, one cutting . . . . . . 30 “ “ Rape, one cutting ...... 7.“ With greater attention to the stock-raising and dairy departments of farm industry has come the profitable cultiva- • tion of root crops on a much more extensive scale than formerly. The yield of these may be said to average about as follows :- Swedes . . . . . . . . . . 18 tons per acre. Mangolds . . . . . . . . . 22 “ “ Carrots . . . . . . . . . . 15 « « Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . 8 « « Of hay, a yield of from 3,000 to 5,000 lbs. per acre is common. · O STOCK RAISING. The business of raising and feeding stock for the market approaches in Ontario more nearly to British experience in this respect than in some other countries. Ontario has none of the great pasture-runs of the Western States or South America, 46 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. but Ontario possesses the best possible facilities for taking the raw material there produced by wholesale and bringing it to a finished state of perfection. There are those, in fact, who incline to the belief that ultimately the breeding and rearing of young animals intended for the butcher will be confined to two or three parts of the world, while four or five countries, Canada being one of the most favourable, will prepare the meat for the market. Putting together the healthiness of the climate, the cheapness of materials for erect- ing the buildings necessary for the proper management of cattle designed for food, the variety of the agricultural products for which the soil is adapted, the prolific growth of root crops, and the comparative accessibility of the British market, and the position of Ontario as a great stock-raising and feeding country is assured. It is scarcely twenty years since the first herd of thorougbred short horns was brought to Canada. Up to that time the improvement of stock by the use of thoroughbred animals was scarcely attempted. Yet, already, the proportion- ate supply of prime cattle to Great Britain is greater from Canada than from the United States, while Canadian animals have carried off prizes in British exhibitions against all com- petitors. In the letter from a British farmer in Ontario at page 88, the writer says: “We can take a Durham or Here- ford cross-bred steer from its milk when six months old, put it upon green or dry fodders according to the season of the year, with bran and pea meal or corn meal, and, within 24 months, place it on our seaboard at an average live weight of 1,400 lbs., and a cost not exceeding £14. In this, and all its connections, there necessarily results a large profit.” We have already noticed the demand for Canadian beef and mutton in England, and the marvellous growth of the export trade in those respects. DAIRY FARMING. The progress made by Ontario during the past few years in the production of cheese and butter has already been referred to. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 47 The substitution of the cheese factory for the old system of cheese making lies at the bottom of the success that has attended that branch of industry. The factory is usually conducted on the co- operative principle. The milk is collected by a waggon sent round from the factory for the purpose, tested by a lactometer to ascertain if it is of standard quality, and the farmer credited with the quantity supplied. The returns, less expenses, are divided among the contributors after the sales have been made. By this means not only is an improved article and conse- quently an improved price secured, but the farmer, or rather the farmer's wives and daughters, are spared a laborious part of the dairy work, and the actual market rate is secured with only the abatements incidental to manufacture and manage- ment. Butter making has not been so generally reduced to a system yet as the production of cheese, but the advantage of the creamery over the old process is beginning to be appre- ciated, and in a very short time Canadian butter will doubtless rank with Canadian cheese as a successful rival of the butters of Ireland or Holland. FRUIT GROWING. Fruit-growing is, in Ontario, a very interesting and profitable branch of agricultural industry. It is greatly promoted and encouraged by a Fruit Growers' Association which receives, in addition to the subscriptions of its members, a handsome subsidy from the Provincial Government. Many of the Canadian apples are unsurpassed for size, flavour, and beauty. Several varieties of pears have attained to remarkable excellence. Plums are largely cultivated in certain sections, and peaches grown on standard trees in the south-western counties are pro- duced in immense numbers. Strawberries are cultivated on a large scale and delivered literally by ship loads in the season at the different lake ports and railway depots whither they are sent from the places at which they are cultivated. The show of Ontario fruit at the Centennial Exhibition was such as to call Tube Danflans Edelande TH.. moram AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE BUILDING, GUELPH. 292. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. in its agricultural capacity. It is the natural habitat on this continent of the combing wool sheep, without a full, cheap, and reliable supply of the wool of which species the great worstod manufacturing interest of the country cannot prosper, or we should rather say, exist. It is the land where grows the finest barley, which the brewing interest of the United States must have if it ever expects to rival Great Britain in its present annual export of over 11,000,000 dols. of malt products. It raises and grazes the finest cattle, with qualities especially desirable to make good the deterioration of stock in other sec- tions, and its climatic conditions, created by almost an encircle- ment of the great lakes, specially fit it to grow men. Such a country is one of the greatest gifts of providence to the human race, better than bonanzas of silver and rivers whose sands contain gold." of tools an encireble COMPARISON WITH THE UNITED STATES. Of the agricultural capacity and progress of Ontario, no better proof can be afforded than that obtained by a compari- son between Ontario and the United States in this respect. Not only is the cash value of farm property greater per head of the population than that of the United States, but of agricul- tural implements—a very sure sign of advancement—the value employed for every hundred acres of cultivated land is in Ontario $1.86, or say 7s. 8d. sterling, and in the United States, $1.50, or 6s. 3d. sterling. Ontario again, raises 17.64 bushels for every one of her population, while the people of the United States raise only 5.50 bushels per head. Even the great wheat- growing Western States produce only 10 bushels per head, or 7.64 bushels per head less than Ontario. Of the great leading staples of wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, peas, beans and potatoes, Ontario produces 55.95 bushels for each of the population, and the United States only 43.12 bushels per head. If Indian corn, which is grown to only a limited extent in Can- ada, but over a vast area in the Western States, be excluded from the list of products above given, Ontario will be found to pro- duce 54.34 bushels per head to a production in the United States of 16.74 bushels per head. The value of live stock 52 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. owned in Ontario is $38.13, or say £7 19s. sterling per head, while in the United States it is $34.64 or £7 4s. 3d. sterling per head. In Ontario, on the average, every hundred inhab- itants own 27 horses and 32 milch cows, while in the United States, the average per hundred of the population is 20 horses and 27 milch cows. Of sheep the numbers are 84 to each hundred of the population, and in the United States only 71. In pigs alone is the average in favour of the States, a fact owing to the great corn-producing capacity of the latter. In ten years, Ontario increased her annual production of butter 67 per cent., while the increase in the United States for the same period was only 464 per cent. In ten years the produc- tion of wool in Ontario increased 40 per cent., while the in- crease in the United States was only 15 per cent. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND EXPERIMENTAL FARM. The deep interest taken by the Government and all classes of the people of Ontario in the progress and improvement of agriculture is evidenced in the establishment, a few years since, of the Ontario College and Experimental Farm, near Guelph, in the County of Wellington. The farm is about 550 acres in extent, with a College for the residence and instruction of the students, and all the buildings and appliances necessary for giving full effect to the objects of the institution. These are stated to be :- 1st. To give a thorough mastery of the theory and practice of husbandry to young men of the Province engaged in agricultural or horticultural pursuits, or intending to engage in such. 2nd. To conduct experiments tending to the solution of questions of material interest to the agriculturists of the Province, and publish the results. In the advantages of this valuable institution any ratepayer or the son of any ratepayer is entitled to share, on condition, 294, GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 55 . In thoseion, may the chil worship his Maker where and how he pleases, for "churchman" and " dissenter” are names unknown here. In another part of this pamphlet we have referred at some length to the public schools of the Province. In those schools the child of the humblest labourer has a free education, may lay the foundation for any position in life, and takes rank with the children of the richest man in the township. No agricultural labourer need fear any difficulty in securing work in Ontario at remunerative wages. The practice of board- ing farm labourers in the house has naturally secured a preference for single men. But there are many farmers now in Ontario who appreciate the steady habits and tendency to remain in one place that usually characterise the married farm labourer. The agents at the immigration depots are always able to dispose immediately and satisfactorily of as many agricultural labourers as present themselves, married or single. A man, with a wife who is willing and able to do a day's household work now and then, and half- a-dozen, more or less, boys and girls coming on to be useful, is a welcome settler in any part of the rural districts, and sure to get on. We are speaking now of the man used to farm work in the old country. Farmers, like other persons in business, although willing to give a job to any handy man when they want one, expect skill and experience in the every-day duties of the farm when they engage a permanent hand. A great many people come out to Canada with the notion that muscle is all that is wanted. In the open season, and when a good deal of rough work is going on, nearly everybody who comes finds employment, and nearly all manage to secure a living. Buit our farmers are increasingly particular as to the qualifications of the men they engage, and will often go out of their way to secure a competent person, while they would refuse to employ an incompetent one altogether. The wages of a man boarded and lodged are from $12 (say £2 10s. Od.) to $20 (say £4) a month. A married man would, perhaps, get little or no more in money, because in a farmer's household very little is thought of the cost of food. But he will have his cottage probably rent 58 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. built a house and barn. Continued clearing the land and putting in as much wheat crop as possible. The land being new it was exceedingly productive and crops were abundant. He has continued farming up to the present time and now owns 300 acres, worth, at a low valuation, $12,000 (£2,400), besides having first-class buildings and the farm well stocked with valuable horses, cattle, and sheep, as well as the most approved agricultural implements. He has bought and sold several farms, besides giving one hundred acres each to two sons. He has money to the good, and invested, and amounting to $25,000 (£5,000). He made all his property by farming and investing his surplus cash at the usual rates of interest. Mr. Murray preferred Canada to the United States, and never regretted making it his home. Mr. William McFarlane was born at Dunkeld, in Perthshire Scotland, in the year 1802. His father, Donald McFarlane, was a tenant farmer in Scotland and emigrated to Canada in 1843, bringing all his family with him. Mr. McFarlane on his arrival in Canada, purchased 100 acres of land on the Talbot Road, township of North Cayuga, county of Haldimand, aŭ $5 (20s. sterling) per acre, payable in instalments. He had no capital with which to begin, having to earn everything by hard work. Clearing land sufficient for a crop of wheat was at once begun, and the winter occupied by getting out pine saw logs. He put up buildings as soon as there was a clearing made, log at first, but replaced in a few years by substantial frame. He has never followed any other occupation but farm- ing and now owns 540 acres, of which 400 acres are under cultivation, the remaining being covered with valuable timber and wood. The land is worth $20,000 (£4,000), besides being provided with stock to the amount of $4,000 (£800). Has $6,000 (£1,200) invested at interest. Has raised a family of five children, and has every reason to feel gratified with the country in which he has prospered so well. Mr. John Colley, of the township, of Albion, is a native of Middletown, near Pickering, Yorkshire, England. He sailed from Hull, for Quebec, in the year 1831, previous to which time he had been a farm labourer. He was married on the 11th of May, and emigrated on the 31st of the same month, at which time he was in his 25th year. His wife accompanied him, and thus together they faced the difficulties of what was at that time backwood's life in a new colony. Their voyage hardapital with what per acre, Wh Cayuga, cores of land lane on work. Clewhich to begin, yable in instalty of Haldimathe 13. I been a fared on the year. Hisiculties of our voyage 60 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. Mr. Patrick Gaerty emigrated to Canada, in the year 1828, from the county of Monaghan, Ireland, and settled in the township of Caledon, county of Peel, in the year 1832, where he purchased a farm, and to pay for it worked as a farm servant. He married in 1842, and in due time became the father of three daughters and three sons. Mr. Gaerty is at present proprietor of a well stocked farm of 350 acres, of the value of $25,000 (£5,000 sterling). John Evans, farmer, township of Esquesing, Halton, came from the county of Antrim, Ireland, in 1859, had about £2 : on his arrival in New York, has secured now a good farm of 200 acres of cleared land with brick dwelling and good out- buildings. He is worth $8,000 (£1,600 sterling), is well known and commands a good deal of influence. William Chaplin, farmer, township of Esquesing, Halton, came from Forfarshire, Scotland, in 1860, had about $1,200 on his arrival in Esquesing, is now worth about $6,000 (£1,200); and stands well in his neighbourhood. . Thomas Boak, farmer, township of Trafalgar, Halton, was born in Cumberland, England, in 1829 ; emigrated from there in 1857,as a farm labourer with his wife and family; when he landed in Hamilton, Ontario, was $45 (£9)in debt; worked as labourer until he got enough saved to start farming, which occupation he is following in the township of Trafalgar, county of Halton; is worth now $5,000 (£1,000); holds this year the position of President of the County Agricultural Society, and has a wide- spread reputation as a breeder of pure bred Durham cattle. Mr. John Copeland, now Registrar of the county of Stor- mont, is a native of Kircudbrightshire, Scotland. He came out to Ontario in 1829. Up to 1870 he was engaged in farm- ing, beginning with no capital, but good health and a deter- mination to acquire a farm and house of his own. He has now, besides a comfortable income from his official position, a farm of 150 acres, worth at least $45 (£9 stg.) per acre, a house and lot in the town of Cornwall worth $3,000 (£600 stg.), and an- other house and building lot, worth $2,500 (£500). For a number of years after Mr. Copeland arrived in Canada, cash could not be got for produce, and merchants gave goods in ex- change often very much to the farmer's disadvantage. Now, cash down can be obtained for every sort of produce at market 297 . GUIDE TO ONTARIO. rates, and the farmer is quite independent owing to the com- petition that exists. Mr. James Ogle, a native of Fermanagh, Ireland, arrived in the township of Cornwall, in 1849, with a very small capital. He has been, since his arrival, engaged in farming, has a capital of $7,000 (£1,400 sterling), and is a member of the Municipal Council. Mr. Ogle says, “I like the country well, the land is good and the climate healthy. The yearly average of crops is good and farmers are well paid for their labour. Any person of an industrious and careful disposition, possessed of good health, must inevitably succeed in acquiring property and making himself a comfortable home in this country.” Mr. Joseph McEwen is a native of Antrim, Ireland, and arrived in Canada in the month of July, 1828. He has been engaged in farming from 1836 until the present time. He says: “I had little or no capital at commencing, but being blessed with good health, having had a desire to acquire à farm and house of my own, through careful management and attention to my work, I did so. I have acquired 500 acres of very valuable land, having four sons settled on the same very comfortably and all free from debt. We had the struggles of .. early settlers—bad roads and no cash markets for anything; but now there is a cash market for everything we can raise, and within easy reach. On the whole, I am well satisfied that I came to Canada, and would advise any person that has not a comfortable home to come to Canada and do as I did. He will not have the hardships to undergo which early settlers had and can soon become comfortable and independent.” Mr. Thomas Lee, of the township of Townsend, in the county of Norfolk, came to Ontario from near Leeds, in Yorkshire, in 1845, he then being 29 years of age. He had no means and nothing to depend upon but determination to suc- ceed by his own industry. He is now worth some $20,000 (£4,000 sterling), and has one of the best farms in the town. ship. He began by renting and then purchased. Mr. Lec re- marks, “the new settler must be patient, and make some llow- ance for the difference he will find in many things be'ween a new and an old country.” Mr. Wm. Rose came to Ontario from Banffshire, Scotland, in 1838, just at the time of the Rebellion, when money was not to be had and work very scarce too. He had only an English 62 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. shilling left and was ridiculed by old acquaintances he met for coming to such a country. He was a tailor by trade and got some work in that line, but also worked as a labourer for a year, when he married, and soon after bought 20 acres of land, put up a shanty on it and commenced to clear it. He bought more land as he could afford it, until at last he owned the whole lot of 200 acres. After a time his five boys began to be useful, and when he had educated his family and got his farm into good order he had a comfortable cash balance still to his credit. When he sold the land a few years ago he had with the money he had saved and the money paid him $12,000, or about £2,400 sterling. Mr. James Stamp, from Barton-on-the-Humber, England, had been a farm labourer, and managed to save a little money. He came out to New Brunswick in 1851, having about $100 (£20), after paying his own and his wife's passage money. They only stayed a short time in New Brunswick, then came on to the county of Norfolk, Ontario. Here he rented for about twelve years, but made very little. Then he rented a farm about one and a half miles from Port Dover, going in debt to stock it. By industry and good management he paid off his debt, and at the end of 16 years he had saved enough means to buy the farm, the present value of which, with the stock, is about $8,000 (£1,600 sterling). Lewis J. Clark, was born at Barnaby, in the county of Sutfolk, England, where he had been thoroughly trained to agricultural pursuits. He emigrated to Canada in the year 1834, in possession of twenty sovereigns. His first investment was a threshing machine, in the use of which he accumulated some considerable means, and in 1836 bought 100 acres for $625 (£125 sterling). In the year 1839 he married. He con- tinued to buy land, in the township of Malahide, as his means permitted, until he owned 450 acres, a part of which he dis- posed of to assist in educating and settling his family of nine children. During the 40 years in which he has been engaged in farming in the township of Malahide, he has been elected to honourable positions. He now owns 300 acres of very fine land, worth about $15,000 (£3,000). John Blake Sweet, was born in the parish of St. Mabyn, in the county of Cornwall, England. He emigrated to the cunty of Elgin in September, 1854 ; had just married, but hid no means but his two hands, a good stock of energy and 64 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. venient to school, church and post office, and if he wanted to sell he could easily realize sixteen thousand dollars for his farm. John Glenn immigrated from the county of Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1840, with his wife and three small children. He worked as a farm labourer in the county of Durham for three years, after which he bought one hundred acres of land from the Canada Company, in the township of Blanshard, county of Perth. He made some improvements, sold out and removed into Osborne, the next township, which was an unbroken forest at that time, and bought two hundred acres from the same Company. He has since bought two hundred acres more, being now the owner of four hundred acres of land, well stocked, and is worth at least thirty thousand dollars. Robert Cann immigrated from Devonshire, England, in 1849. He worked two years in Darlington as a farm labourer, when he and his brother rented a small farm for five years. He then removed to the township of Osborne, in the county of Huron, and bought fifty acres partly improved. He has, since that time, bought two hundred and fifty acres more, having now three hundred acres of good land, worth at least twenty thousand dollars. Neither he nor either of the other two last mentioned immigrants had any capital to commence with, but strong arms and resolution to go on and prosper. J. M. O'Grady, of the township of Nepean, county of Carle- ton, about ten miles from the city of Ottawa, came to this country in 1826 from his native place, county of Tipperary, Ireland. He arrived at Prescott on the 20th of June, and proceeded direct to Richmond, a small village, within ten miles of which he settled on a farm. He had then no capital, but is now worth about ten thousand dollars. Samuel Boyd arrived in this country in 1840, from the county of Down, Ireland. He went direct from Quebec to the · township of Gloucester, county of Russell, and settled on a farm about ten miles from Ottawa City. He had no capital, and is now worth over twelve thousand dollars. John Birt, of Gloucester, arrived in this country about the same time as J. M. O'Grady, and settled in Gloucester, county of Russell, at farming. He possessed no capital at the time of his arrival, but is well off now. George Williams, Newmarket, county of York, was born at 301. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 69 laboutirers can the wasting P Monck Electoral District.-In each of the townships and vil- lages there is a demand for domestic servants, whose wages would range from $1 (ts.) per week upwards. Good servants would have no difficulty in getting comfortable homes at good wages. The demand for farm labourers is also continuous, and this class in large numbers would do well in this county. At a yearly hiring good wages can be obtained, ranging from $12 to $20 (say £2 10s. Od. to £t sterling) per month, exclusive of board. Norfolk.—There is a good demand for domestic servants at from $6 to $8 (say 25s. to 32s.) per month. Farm and general labourers can earn from $10 to $14 (say £2 to £2 16s. sterling) per month with board ; and from $14 to $18 (say £2 15s. Od. to £3 15s. sterling) per month and board themselves. In the two busy summer months as high as $25 (£5 sterling) per month is often paid for haying and harvest work, or from $1 to $2 (4s. to 8s.) by the day. Northumberland. For both domestic servants and farm labourers there is a good demand, especially for the former. Labourers can have steady employment for at least eight months in the year. The wages for domestic servants are from $4 to $6 (say 16s. to 25s. sterling) per month ; farm labourers, $12 to $20 (or £2 10s to £4 sterling), with board and lodging. North Lanark.-Since 1874, the supply of labour has equalled the demand, but a revival in trade and business generally will leave the labour market rather bare. Ontario.—There is not much demand in this county for domestics or agricultural labourers. Oxford.—The demand for farm labourers in Oxford is not very considerable except during the harvest season, but engage- ments can be made from $15 (£3), to $20 (£4 sterling) per month with board in the summer, and for half or two-thirds of the summer wage in the winter months. Domestic servants will find ready employment at from $4 (16s.), to $8 (32s. ster- ling) per month. Perth.—There are openings in this county for domestic ser- vants at wages varying from $+ (16s. 8d.) to $6 (25s.) per month, and for good farm hands at from $12 (£2 10s.) to $16 (£3 5s. 6d.) per month, with board. Peterborough.—There is not much demand in this county GUIDE TO ONTARIO. at present for farm labourers, but domestic servants are in request. Prince Edward. There is a great demand for female ser- vants, but not much for farm labourers. Renfrew.-Farm labourers can always find employment at good wages in the summer on farms, and in winter at lum- bering. Russell.-Farm labourers are pretty sure of employment in Russell at from $10 (£2) to $14 (£Ž 15s.) per month on an annual hiring. Domestic servants are always in good demand. Simcoe.-Farm labourers can always find employment either in their own or the lumbering business. Domestic servants are Iso in great demand. Waterloo.—At certain seasons of the year, during the sum- mer, farm labourers are in demand-wages according to their worth. There is quite a demand for female domestic servants the year round, with good wages, from a dollar to a dollar and a half (4s. to 6s. sterling) per week. Welland.-Any number of farm hands and domestic servants may find permanent employment in Welland. $20 (£4) a month with board is about the rate of wages for the former on annual engagements. Wellington.-Both agricultural labourers and domestics, thor- oughly understanding their duties, can meet with ready employ- ment at fair wages, but there are few openings for mere "greenhorns.” Smart farm labourers have ample opportunities w work up to good positions as tenants. Wentworth.—An opening can always be found for first-class. farm hands and domestics, at good wages. York.—There is a good demand at fair wages in many parts of the county for farm labourers, and everywhere for domestic servants. It will be seen by the foregoing returns that the demand for farm labourers varies in different counties. But the course for the agricultural labourer to take is, on his arrival, to put him- self at once in communication with the Government agent, who LE CL CLIC UND UNTE an au Dhe PHOTO LITH BY THE SURLAND LITH CO. MONTREAL BUSH CLEARING WITH LOG-HOUSE. 86 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. ON BOARD SHIP. As soon as the emigrant gets on board ship, he should read the rules he is expected to obey. He will find them hung up in different parts of the steerage. He should do his best to keep himself and all about him clean, as this will add to his own good health and comfort, and also to that of others. If he has any grievance or cause of complaint, he should, while on board apply to the captain for redress; and if the grievance occurs after landing, then to the Government Immigration Agent, who will at once take steps to investigate the case. Emigrants are especially cautioned not to attend to any of the remarks and tales told them by interested parties, either on the voyage or after their arrival. ON ARRIVAL AT QUEBEC. After debarkation at Point Levis, Quebec, the immigrant should at once secure his luggage as it is landed from the steamer, and collect it in one place. This will enable the Cus- tom House officers to expeditiously complete their work, and the immigrants will be able to proceed on their westward journey without any delay. The Government Immigration officer for the Province of Ontario attends the arrival of every steamer, and is instructed to give every necessary information and assistance; and the immigrant should, immediately after landing, report himself at the Ontario Immigration Office on the wharf, near the steam- Plandino. Immigran mediatermati The women and children, and small articles of luggage, should at once be taken to the Immigration Depot, where they can remain until the train is ready. The heavier luggage, after being passed by the Custom House Officer, will be carted to the Immigration Depot free of expense. Before leaving Point Levis, the immigrant should see that his luggage is pro- perly checked, as otherwise the railway company will not be responsible for it. Immigrants will find themselves accosted by runners for different hotels and public houses, offering cheap refreshments : they will do well not to accompany these persons, as everything requisite will be found provided for them in the Immigration Depot, at the lowest charges. Immigrants will also do well not to change any English money at Quebec, but wait until 310. GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 87 their arrival in the Province of Ontario, as Erglish money is more valuable there; but if obliged to do so, they should inquire of the Immigration Agent the amount of Canadian money they should receive for their English, or consult the fol- lowing money table :- MONEY TABLE. Sterling Money in Canadian Currency. Sterling Money. Its equivalent in dollars and cts. Canadian currency. Its equivalent in Sterling Money. eno Dols. Cts. 0 02 Dols. Cts. £ 8. 0 0 d. 0 o ܟ o ܟܝ o ܗ ܤ ܗ ܗ 005 0 0 7 0 0 10 01 Oy ooo 0 0 6 007 008 0 0 10 0 0 11 01 0 01 3 016 ܝܕ ܝܕ ܚ ܘ ܟ ܗ ܗ 019 0 2 0 o 2 6 0 16 5 10 61 1 4 8 2 1 1 4 2 24 5 2 10 5 163 20 10 11 0 0 0 0 100 100 5 0 0 50 100 00 For general purposes it will be sufficient to remember that the Canadian cent and the English half-penny are almost identical in value. 3 11 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 89 A PRACTICAL LETTER. The following letter is addressed more particularly to farmers with capital, who may be disposed to transfer their skill, exper- ience and the means at their command to Ontario, with the view of engaging in the business of agriculture on a large and liberal scale in this country. The writer brings his own very intelligent knowledge of the subject to bear in that direction, and his letter is most instructive and interesting, at the same time it must not be taken to imply any discouragement to per- sons with smaller means than those he more immediately addresses, to avail of the advantages the Province presents to them under arrangements adapted to their circumstances. TO THE BRITISH FARMER. (From a British Farmer in Ontario.) DEAR SIR,—You are desirous, I dare say, of obtaining such information regarding this part of the world as may enable you to make a choice of land for future investment and residence. Hitherto such information has been of too general a character, and not unfrequently too one-sided for safe guidance. This letter, therefore, is addressed specially to the average far- mer of the British Isles, and in its recommendations I am con- scious of no partiality, and present nothing for which I cannot give personal experience or point to existing examples. My claim to be an authority on this subject is a twenty years' daily professional intercourse among yourselves, and an eight years' one as practical and as intimate with Canadian far- mers. Now, just as I make a specialty of addressing a particu- lar class of agriculturists, so I shall confine my remarks to a particular part of this Dominion. 90 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. My subject is not to be the making of a new home in a new part of a new country, but the purchase and occupation of old land in a new country. I very much deprecate the too common practice of advising the settlement on entirely new land, by those who have been accustomed to the comforts and comparative ease of Old Eng- land. There can be no class of uncultivated land, whether prairie or woodland, where, whatever his energy and persever- ance, the well-to-do British farmer can expect to cope with those born and bred to pioneering. I speak generally; for cases exist of success under all conditions of colonization, from all ranks of society in the world. So then, without further preface, allow me to introduce you to the Province of Ontario, the garden of the Dominion of Can- ada. This is a high title but a true one. About 750 miles up the River St. Lawrence, a chain of four lakes begins, which, running west, north and west, forms a frontage of 1,200 miles to this Province, but Ontario proper for our present purpose is limited by Lakes Ontario and Erie, having a shore of over 500 miles, irrespective of outs and ins. The mean height of these lakes above sea level is 300 feet. The land backing northwards rises gradually to a water shed six hundred feet above them, and distant seventy miles on an average. This belt of 15,000,000 acres is the garden of Ontario. The physical features of this district are, at first sight very uniform, yet the diversity is remarkable on intimate acquain- tance. There is much undulating land, hill and dale, plain, large rivers, and numerous streamlets and lakes of many sizes, shelving rock and precipice, with every character of soil, exposure and timber-growth common to the continent of America.. Two-thirds of this garden is under cultivation, the remain- der consists of woodland, swamp, pasture and water. Compara- tively few tree-stumps remain to mark the progress of clear- ing during the last half century, for this short period practi- cally limits the history of the plough in Ontario, neither can we count many log huts, though primitive rail fences are plentiful. Dwelling houses of stone and brick, equal and superior to many of your own, are very common. Men from England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany have done all this. Wealthy landed proprietors here were formerly Yorkshire cattlemen, Highland shepherds, or Paisley weavers, GUIDE TO ONTARIO. ply challenging any country in the world to exhibit a more satisfactory bill of health. You are not unacquainted with the fact that Ontario possesses thorough-bred herds and flocks, inferior only in numbers to yours; with, perhaps, one excep- tion—we can count over 500 short horns at one farm ; 100 Herefords at another, and most of all the other principal breeds of cattle and sheep proportionately throughout the Province. We surpass the Americans in keeping up the sample of wool, and its quantity per head, as much by climatic help as good management; for Nature is too propitious here to all farm work, for the early cultivation of economy. It is not alone the climate that enables us to successfully compete with yourselves and the United States in the maintenance of live stock excellence, but the variety of food produced serves as an unfailing medicine chest for this purpose. While as yet we have not succeede 1 in establishing the same number of pas- ture grasses as you, our regularly cultivated crops are more numerous, and as nutritive. Our Indian corn, especially, gives so much bulk of green fodder and fair amount of grain per acre, that, wore it possible, to uphold animal life on one field product alone, Canada and the United States would easily cap the world in feeding your millions with beef, mutton and pork. The want as yet of the number of beeves and wethers from us to you is owing simply to the want of time, and not realizing the significance of the market thus opened ; certainly not for the want of food. I am certain the area of root and fodder cultivation within the last three years would stand over 200 per cent. more than any former period, as well as the use of ten pure-bred bulls in place of one. But these are not enough. We can grow first-class beef and mutton with the products of our own soil, as fast and for less than you can do. We can take a Durham or Hereford cross bred steer from its milk when six months old, put it upon green and dry fodders, according to the season of the year, with bran and pea meal or corn meal, and within 24 months, place it on our sea-board at an average live weight of 1400 lbs., and a cost not exceeding £14. In this and all its connections there necessarily results a large profit. You have heard of the woodlands of this country, and the difficulty in many cases of clearing and getting rid of the stumps and roots. This is true to those new to the axe, and as true that our hard wooded lands give more choice of site and 31469 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 95 soil than prairies, and certainly are more reliable for alternate farming and more valuable as an investment. The tree crop itself in Ontario is as costly as the best arable, so that when you come to purchase, the desire will be for more tree surface than is generally to be had. Be sure of the long and dear- bought experience of our pioneers, that no land on this continent is so safe and so kindly as from the primeval forests. Then again, few Governments are so liberal as ours in encouragement to agriculture and arts. Our Township, County, and Provincial Exhibitions are a most important and interesting feature in connection with the progress of agricultural industry. We have also to offer you variations in your profession that now command the attention of our most enterprising capitalists. I refer to fruit-growing and dairying. Cheese and butter making is conducted here on a scale and by methods unknown to the average British farmer-a branch of our rural economy characterized by immediate returns on moderate capital. It appears almost unnecessary to note that the excellence in bulk and variety of cur fruits take no second place in the World's competition. The farmer's orchard here means one sixth of the family keep. While a very large country, Ontario is not yet thickly populated. Ontario all over has only from 1,800,000 to 2,000,000 souls, and as we plough some 10,000,000 acres, an estimate of our surplus may be made. That surplus though not so large as it ought to be, will ere long be an immense one, even on the doubling of population. Our flour is well known in your own markets as of superior quality. The United States grade our No. 2 barley as equal to their own No. 1 (cause, soil and climate), and take all we can afford to send them. The herds and flocks of Ontario are now looked up to by all on this continent as fountain-heads of excellence, purity, and healthful- ness. We are at the present moment unable to supply the de- mand for Cotswold sheep and Hereford cattle, and thus all over we are desirous of adding to our wealth and skilful management by the accession to our ranks of those who have the pluck to endure a few years' personal labour with the certainty of success in the end. If now you say—“So far, good; but what about the prices of land and cost of working it?" As intelligent men of business, and practical farmers, you will readily conclude that the price of land in Ontario is regu- lated by various considerations : GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 1. Character of soil, shelter, and timber supply. 2. Condition of management. 3. Character of fences, buildings and water supply. 4. Situation as regards markets. 5. Similar good neighbourhood. 6. Demand, depending on outside and local causes. 7. Monopoly, by individual or corporate wealth. Such is the extent of our field and its variety, that almost any fancy can find its reality. As'a case in point, partly for and partly against, interesting at least, if not of much practical value, take the following memoranda made by myself before leaving Scotland in 1871, and afterwards the actual realiza- tion :- 1. Total cost of purchase, stocking, &c., limited to £2000. 2. Good soil, neither light nor heavy, and naturally dry. 3. To have been previously well managed. 4. One-fifth to be under good hardwood bush. 5. To have an abundant water supply. 6. To be pleasantly and healthily situated. 7. To be well sheltered and to have a good exposure. 8. To be within two hours' drive of a good market. 9. Houses, good, sufficient and well arranged. 10. To possess a good garden and orchard. 11. Fences to be substantial and sufficient. 12. Roads to be in keeping with progress of country. 13. The title and boundaries to be indisputable. 14. The estate to be susceptible of such increase by improve- ments and the natural progress of the country, that it will double itself in value within fifteen years. I purchased 220 acres for $5280 (£4 18s. 6d. per acre); beautifully situated on the shores of a navigable lake within five miles of a town, which is the centre of a rising district of a midland county of Ontario, that soon became the junction of two railways. Soil, a rich clay loam, naturally dry, except ten acres, and about fifteen very stony; has been poorly cultivated, is well sheltered (lake, south and east, excepted) by one-third of the area which is under a maple, beech and birch bush; garden and small orchard indifferent, fences old and poor, houses fair, roads good; a stream runs diagonally through the farm, and 316 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 99 It appears, then, that a capital of £2600 invested in British farming takes fully one-third of itself for annual support, of which one-fourth is household; and that there is an annual gross revenue equal to half the invested sum, which sum does not always increase in value, but may be considerably lessened under certain conditions. It also appears that £2152 invested in the purchase of land and the farming of it, in Ontario, requires one-fourth of itself for annual maintenance, of which nearly one-half is household; and that there is a gross annual revenue equal to nearly one- third of the invested sum, which sum increases 22 per cent. in value during five years under special conditions. The return per acre is much larger in Britain ; living is not so different for your class as may be supposed, and the great differ- ence of annual maintenance is largely in rent and labour. I could say much more that should be of interest to old countrymen and colonists, but a letter having to be a letter only, I must defer until a better opportunity for details. I trust very many of you will at once take advantage of the present condition of things, that is (1) your own difficulties, and (2) the fact of land here being 25 per cent. lower in price than four years ago. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, Your obedient servant, WM. BROWN. GUELPH, 15th October, 1879. only, I much and Cch more is largely posed, ania; liv, defer Ubonists, butat shoulda rent ar 104 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. ridge. The turnips were a very good crop. The divisions of crop on this farm were as follows:-75 acres hay, 60 acres pasture, 15 turnips, 20 fall wheat, 20 peas and 20 oats. The taxes payable by the tenant, were about £13 in addition to eight days' statute road labour. This farm was part of a block of 500 acres for sale at £12 per acre. Near Guelph we saw two farms of 400 acres, farmed by two sons of the late Mr. Gerrard Marchfielà. They pay £200 a year rent and taxes, and are said to be doing well. These seemed very desirable, in a good situation, and were for sale : price £12 to £13 por acre. We passed through part of the Paisley Block, a district settled a good many years ago by emigrants from Paisley, few of whom had been brought up to farming. They have in nearly all cases been successful, and possess very comfortable residences, and tidy, well-managed farms. We next visited Galt, where a large pro- portion of the people are of Scotch descent. Mr. Cowan, a native of Dumfries-shire, has a good farm of 540 acres in the neighbourhood. We saw a first-rate flock of ewes. He also breeds short-horns. The land is mostly rolling-a deep sandy loam and free from stones.” Mr. Biggar in conclusion, says, as to the farmers' prospects in Canada : "In a statement drawn up for us by a committee of practical farmers, the interest on farming capital is shewn at 6 per cent. on an average of the last five seasons. No exact system of rotation has been followed. Successive grain crops have been grown too long, till wheat is in many cases not a paying crop, and the famers of Ontario are now beginning to see that they must pay more attention to green crops and stock-raising. A few, very few, use artificial manures, but by and by they are likely to come into more general use. · A large buyer of barley told us that a few farmers who used superphosphate, sent him barley as much as five and six lbs. per bushel hoavier than their neighbours'. Labour in Ontario is about 15 per cent. dearer than in this country, but the farms are evidently worked with fewer hands. We are told, again and again, that no farmer should go there who did not intend to work, but taking the whole year round we think we know many farmers here who work as hard as farm- ers seemed to do there. We now come to the question of immigration, I feel that there is much responsibility in answering that question. I am satisfied that men with some capital could make more of it in Canada than in this country.” Mr. Cowan, the delegate from Wigtonshire, was at Stranraer on the 19th December, 1879, and referred, among other things, to the great cheese making industry of Ontario. He said :- “ In the Province of Ontario we visited the town of Stratford, county of Perth, in the immediate neighbourhood of which are several large cheese factories. I was fortunate enough to have a letter of introduction to Mr. Ballantyne, M.P.P., who resides in Stratford, and who received me in a most kindly manner. Mr. Ballantyne, a highly intelligent gen- tleman of active business habits, is a great enthusiast in the manufacture of cheese, and has, perhaps, done more than any other man in Canada to perfect the system of factory cheese-making. He owns one or two fac- 320 GUIDE TO ONTARIO. 107 well-cleared farms could be bought in any of the old Provinces. The crops in Ontario were the same as here, with the exception of Indian- corn. Wheat seemed most in favour on the better soils ; it yielded on an average about 20 bushels per acre ; the market value of wheat in To- ronto last September, was 4s. 6d. per bushel. At this price an aver- age crop of wheat would be worth £4 10s. per acre. Oats were generally a very poor sample, the hot days of summer bringing them forward too rapidly; they very seldom weighed more than 34 lbs. per bushel, and yielded 50 bushel per acre. In Toronto, last September, they sold for 1s. 4d. per bushel, so that an average crop would be worth £3 68. 8d. per acre. Bar- ley was generally a good sample, although not so good as we could grow here, the average yield being about 30 bushels per acre and the prico 28. 4d. per bushel. Turnips were not grown very extensively, although, except in a very dry season, they grew pretty well, and there was no doubt a more extensive culture would be beneficial to the farming interests of Canada. One of the main hindrances to a more extensive cultivation of turnips was the amount of manual labour they require. Potatoes grew well and so did peas, of which he saw some excellent samples. He also saw a large number of Colorado beetles upon some potatoes, but they did not seem to have done much harm as the potatoes were an excellent crop." METEOROLOGICAL. THE TEMPERATURE-OFFICIAL STATISTICS. In addition to the information given at page 49 the following further par- ticulars, from an official source, respecting the climate of Ontario, may be interesting and serve to remove some misconceptions on this head. There is, in Ontario, a department in which accurate statistics of the weather have been collected for ten years past, and from these it is easy to institute a comparison between the temperature of Ontario and that of Great Britain, at the various periods of the year. Statements, it may here be remarked, respecting other portions of the North American continent, in the same latitude as Ontario, may be, and probably are, substantially true, while they would not be in any sense correct as regards this Pro- vince, the almost insular character of the latter protecting it from the extremes of heat and cold of the Western States and Territories. The intense cold which prevails in those places is seldom felt in Ontario, and in summer, when, in the Western States, existence is scarcely tolerable under the abnormally high temperatures recorded there (frequently 100° in the shade), in Ontario life is enjoyable with the thermometer somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90°. This difference is accounted for by the fact that the vast bodies of water contained in the great lakes receive and part with their heat much more slowly than the land. The LES À MAR 2 1926