FARM-COTTAGE IN NOVA SCOTIA 13 



1st, but the man with fixed income, be it more or less emigration 

 is not quite so serious a matter, because he is able to return home if 

 he does not find his surroundings to his liking. Success in the far 

 West is often only to be had by the sacrifice of many good things 

 in life which can only be found in an older community like Nova 

 Scotia. I might cover page after page with glowing and attractive 

 pictures of the possibilities of rustic peace and cheerful simplicity 

 of life out here to one ' to the manner born ' : the true lover of 

 the life of the farm and the forest. Not only people whose means 

 are uncomfortably short may profitably settle in the province of 

 Nova Scotia, but those with resources of mind and pocket may 

 obtain new vigour by the return to nature, by the enjoyments 

 possible in a country that is not yet pressed for breathing space. 

 Some patch of earth which endears itself to the heart, carefully 

 cultivated and guarded, may yield more continuous pleasure than 

 any other manner of life, provided that the reward of a wholesome 

 and happy existence is held a worthier aim than the ceaseless round 

 of getting and spending and the hot scramble for dollars. The 

 soothing and invigorating sights and sounds of the country-side, it 

 may be the flashing of the landscape under the spring sunshine, or 

 the good smell of the brown earth as the ploughshare speeds on its 

 errand ; the response of the land to intelligence and well-directed 

 labour ; the sleek herds at pasture ; the cheerfulness of heavily 

 laden fruit trees, make irresistible appeal to these fortunate ones who 

 find farming a vitally interesting occupation, and have a deep instinc- 

 tive feeling for the land ' bred in the bone.' In Canada one seems 

 to get closer to the heart of nature than in the old country. To 

 many minds there is a distinct fascination in living in a country where, 

 to quote Hookham Frere, ' the Almighty has kept large portions 

 of the land in His own hands.' The more sharply defined contrasts 

 furnished by the climate and the seasons constitute to many a 

 peculiar charm. Each season has its varied attractions. Even 

 ' torpid and taciturn winter ' has its keen outdoor enjoyments : 

 skating on the frozen lakes, snow shoeing on the powdery white 

 wastes, sleighing on the highway worn to a slippery smoothness 

 by the winter's traffic. 



What can be more beautiful and exhilarating than a fine winter 

 morning after hours of continuous snowfall ? You look out on a 

 white world. All the soils and stains of earth are blotted out. 

 Beneath the clear blue sky the facets of the snow crystals glitter 

 like diamonds. The landscape sparkles like some fairyland. The 

 atmosphere is keen and bracing. The beneficent snow, moreover, 

 not only provides the most pleasant mode of all possible travelling, 

 but it shields and enriches the soil, distributes water gradually, 



