Science and Colonial Development 



connection between the Pacific and Winnipeg. 

 This part of the undertaking should be remunera- 

 tive, as it will render accessible land which is 

 known to be very fertile ; but the eastern section 

 can scarcely be profitable in itself, and its avowed 

 object is to divert traffic from the United States. 



The crown lands in the North-West have been 

 parcelled out upon a system that was borrowed 

 from the United States. They are divided up into 

 blocks of 36 square miles, which are again sub- 

 divided into 36 sections. Of these, 14 belong to 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway, 2 to the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, as a compensation for the loss of 

 its territorial jurisdiction, 2 are set apart by the 

 Government for purposes of education, while the 

 remaining 14 are offered by them for settlement. 

 The unit is the quarter section of 160 acres which 

 is granted as a homestead upon the payment of 2. 



This is the system under which the great wheat 

 belt is developed ; and the methods by which the 

 Government have attracted occupiers to the land 

 have already been described. But they did not 

 consider that their responsibility was then at 

 an end. Arrangements must be made whereby 

 scientific knowledge should be placed at the dis- 

 posal of those who did not possess it. How this 

 has been done is described succinctly in the recent 

 report 1 to the Board of Trade by Mr. Mavor, 

 Professor of Political Economy at the University 

 of Toronto. 



"The result of the inquiry by the Committee 

 1 Cd. 2628. 



145 K 



