32 ONTARIO. 



The capital necessary for a practical man to commence 

 farming in Ontario is from 500Z. to 3000?. With the 

 latter sum he can buy and stock an excellent 200-acre 

 farm in a good accessible situation. On a farm such as I 

 ,am speaking of, there will be a good house and out- 

 buildings, 100 acres or more of arable land, garden, 

 orchard, and a patch of woods. The latter is perhaps the 

 most essential item. Coal is the dearest, in fact I may 

 say the only dear necessary of life in Ontario, and some 

 wood for fuel as well as for fencing and other purposes is 

 most desirable on a farm. A man who owns a well- 

 cultivated farm in Ontario is as comfortable and indepen- 

 dent as a farmer can be. His farm gives him and his 

 family all the necessaries and most of the comforts of life, 

 and in a new and rapidly growing country he has the 

 satisfaction of knowing that each year as it rolls away 

 adds to the value of his property, and that every hour's 

 well-directed labour spent on his land will be entirely for 

 his own advantage and that of his heirs. 



Gentlemen farmers sometimes complain that in settling 

 in the country districts of Canada, they are out of reach 

 of congenial society. This is to a certain extent the case 

 at present. In a new country one cannot expect to find 

 men of leisure like country gentlemen in England. Men 

 who have acquired an independence in Canada naturally 

 live in or near the cities, where there is plenty of society 

 and amusements. But after all, what society can a man 

 of this class have in England, whose sole income is derived 

 we will suppose from a capital of 2000Z. or 3000/. ? He 

 may perhaps dine once a year with the squire, and his 

 wife will probably pay a formal visit once in a way at the 



