[coyxe] THE TALBOT PAPERS 81 
X.—TALBOT’S SCHEME OF SETTLEMENT. 
Simcoe was now in London, and on the 11th February, 1803, he 
writes Lord Hobart, Colonial Secretary, strongly pressing Talbot’s claim 
for 5,000 acres, and also for further lands under a new scheme of settle- 
ment that he proposes. It was briefly as follows: 
He desired that the allotment of 5,000 acres, to which he was 
entitled as a field officer settling in Canada, should be granted in the 
Township of Yarmouth, and the remainder of the Township reserved 
“ for him to settle with proper subjects of his own selection,” according to 
his plan. This was, that for every family established by him on a 200 
acre lot, 50 acres should be granted to the settler in perpetuity, and the 
remaining 150 to Talbot “ for the expense and trouble of collecting and 
locating them.” Simcoe considered it “an object of the greatest 
national importance to turn the tide of emigration which was then 
flowing to the United States, ultimately to rest in this Province.” This 
would speedily, in his opinion, fulfil his favourite idea “of elevating 
this valuable portion of His Majesty’s Dominions from the degrading 
situation of a petty factory, to be a powerful support and protection 
to the British Empire.” Simcoe proceeds: 
“ His (Talbot’s) plan is to introduce himself amongst a large body 
of Welsh and Scotch families who arrived in New York in the summer 
of 1801, and who have temporarily fixed themselves in the interior of 
that state, many of whom are already disgusted with the dissolute prin- 
ciples of the people there, and feel strong inclination to return under 
the Government of England, but do not possess the means of purchasing 
land or paying the fees demanded by the Provinces on grants.” 
The cultivation of hemp in Canada, to supply the Royal Navy, 
had been a subject of study: by Simcoe, as early as 1791, before leaving 
England for his Governorship. In 1792 and later years, Russians 
were introduced into the Province to instruct farmers in the proper 
system of planting and gathering it, and prizes were offered to the 
settlers who should be most successful in its growth. Talbot had been 
very successful in cultivating it “on proper principles and to a greater 
extent, perhaps,” wrote Simcoe, “than any other settler in the Prov- 
ince.” The soil of Yarmouth was well adapted in his view to the 
production of this valuable commodity, and he proposed to extend its 
cultivation through the whole township.! Simcoe manifests throughout 
the strongest affection for his former secretary, and a high appreciation 
of his qualities, his ability and his record. Referring to Talbot’s ser- 

1See Brymner’s Archives Reports for 1891, pp. XLII-XLIII, and for 1903, 
pp. XXII-XXIHII. 
