FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. 37 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Bassett — When I was there in your country, they pointed out to 

 me land that they said was worth f 1,000 an acre— tell us about it. 



Mr. Thompson — We have land that is selling as low as |200 an 

 acre and from that up to $2,000 an acre. Of course, |2,000 land has 

 some improvements in the way of buildings. We have land selling at 

 $1,000 and $2,000 without any buildings on or buildings that are of 

 little or no value. A good deal of that land derives its value from the 

 fact that a number of people are going out there, retired men on salaried 

 positions, that have had to give up their work, owing to loss of health. 

 And then there are others who, through the influence of stories they 

 read in the papers, and from land agents, and through other influences, 

 have been induced to purchase this land through land agents and have 

 paid these prices for it with the idea that they were going to make 

 a fortune out of it by raising fruit. Land for fruit growing up in our 

 section is certainly on the boom. I thought a few years ago that we 

 had reached out limit, but it is not so. 



In the years that are past I have had the oversight of the largest 

 shipping point in the Dominion of Canada, and I have had a good 

 chance to consider the question from all standpoints and I am free 

 to say that while land in our towns and cities is sometimes inflated, yet 

 in the matter of farm lands, I think that even at these prices, the money 

 would be well invested. I have my eye on a piece of land next to 

 where a canal may go through, and I am prepared to give $600 per 

 acre for seventy acres of raw land for fruit growing. I look for a 

 decided increase even in these prices. 



The reason for that is a number of our men are going there to set 

 out peaches, thinking that peaches are the only thing that they can 

 make money on. Many of the people fought against the reciprocity be- 

 cause they were afraid of your peaches. While many feel this way, that 

 there is more money in peaches than anything else, at the same time 

 I have sworn off on peaches, for there has been a great deal more money 

 sunk in peaches there than ever was brought out. And a good many 

 people realize the truth of this, this year. In looking over my land I 

 have twenty acres of valuable land — I consider it altogether too valu- 

 able for raising peaches on it. I can grow other things more safely 

 such as small fruit. The reason for these values is we have a large 

 body of people all interested in the one line. We can ship all our 

 fruit at express rates by freight. Where the express is 80c per hun- 

 dred, we can ship it for 30c by fast freight. To Winnipeg the express 

 rate is $2.(50 whereas we get a rate of 70c. We count on from 150 to 

 250 bushels per acre for tomatoes, the average is running nearer 500 

 and some men are getting as high as 700 to 1,000 bushels per acre. 

 Then there is asparagus. I planted three-fourths of a crop for the fac- 

 tory alone. Lately we found the factory was going to pinch us down 

 a little but even then that asparagus has brought in more money than 

 any peach orchard. 



(A Voice — Give us the figures.) 



Giving figures is hardly fair when none of the conditions and 

 other matters connected with it are given. If we should do this then 



