ON AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 99 



than agriculture, hence there is good local demand for dairy 

 produce. There are, however, not a few farms which have 

 large areas of pasture land, and along with that have a con- 

 siderable extent of " Dyke " land, formed of alluvial mud, brought 

 in by the high tides of the Bay of Furdy. The Dykelands are 

 wonderfully fertile, and grow good crops of meadow hay. Many 

 farmers in such favourable situations go in for the production of 

 beef, and keep a fairly good class of cattle for that purpose. Again 

 in the orchard districts the fruit-growers often find it more advan- 

 tageous to keep a class of stock which demand less labour than 

 dairy cattle and some make good returns from beef raising. In 

 1864, the Provincial Government began giving grants under an 

 Act passed for the encouragement of agriculture, and in 1907, the 

 grants under this scheme — given to 160 agricultural societies 

 in the counties of the Province — amounted to $10,000. These 

 societies had a membership then of 7849, and $13,015 were locally 

 subscribed. This sum, along with the grant, was administered 

 by the societies and seems to have been largely expended on the 

 purchase of bulls for use in their respective districts. Judging from 

 the annual reports of these societies, published by the Provincial 

 Secretary for Agriculture, the breed of the animals selected depended 

 on the fancy of the majority of the members, the Shorthorn being 

 the favourite, while Ayrshires, Jerseys, Guernseys, Holsteins, and 

 Herefords had each a certain amount of support. By the provision 

 of these pure-bred bulls it was hoped that eventually what is called 

 the " Scrub Sire " nuisance would be overcome. While the large 

 majority of Nova Scotian farmers, who keep cattle in addition to 

 those required to supply the wants of their own households, go in 

 for the sale of dairy produce there are a few who have herds of pure- 

 bred Herefords, Shorthorns, or other breeds, though not on a very 

 large scale, and some very good animals are brought out at the 

 autumn and winter exhibitions. With a suitable climate and a rain- 

 fall of over 35 inches spread well over the spring and summer. Nova 

 Scotia in many parts seemed specially adapted for rearing and 

 feeding cattle. Roots of all kinds seem to grow well, and hay of 

 good quality is abundant, which means that the provision of winter 

 keep for stock is not a matter presenting much difficulty. 



In New Brunswick much the same state of matters is found 

 as in Nova Scotia except that perhaps some of the other industries 

 mentioned as giving such a good local market for farm produce in 

 Nova Scotia, do not exist here to the same extent, also land settle- 

 ment has taken place on a comparatively smaller area of land. 

 The proportion of milk-producing stock to beef animals is less here 

 than in Nova Scotia. The local government assists farmers to keep 

 up the standard of their stock but generally on the settled parts, 

 farming and stock keeping are conducted in much the same way as 

 already described. 



Only a comparatively small portion of the Province of Quebec 

 was visited by the Commission. This home of the French Canadian 

 produced the impression that the farmers were happy and con- 

 tented, in many parts living on the produce of their farms, without 



