DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1929 9 



each district of Northern Ontario has its own attractive features from an 

 agricultural point of view any measures adopted with a view to the settlement 

 of a particular section to the exclusion of another would be instantly seized 

 upon as sectional legislation and in consequence land regulations must in the 

 main be of a uniform nature with sufficient el^asticity to meet local requirements. 



The basic principle has been laid down and is being followed that unless 

 an area is primarily adapted to farming and carries with it the prospects of 

 continuous production it is not now opened for settlement. Years ago, when a 

 mistaken idea was prevalent that the timber resources were inexhaustible, but 

 little attempt was made towards segregating areas, the result being that 

 extensive sections were thrown open for promiscuous settlement with dire 

 results in many instances both to the farming and lumbering interests. Many 

 of the present day problems of the Department are directly traceable to such 

 injudicious treatment. 



In Old Ontario much of the land opened for settlement was allocated 

 under the Free Grant Act within territory generally speaking covered by Timber 

 Licenses, and more or less unsuited for real settlement. Certain lots within 

 a given area would be taken up and after the timber was harvested without 

 any co-related move to cultivate and produce they were abandoned. Other 

 lots, in pockets of alluvial soil, yielding to the intensive and persistent efforts 

 of the well intentioned pioneer, became in the fullness of time productive farms 

 and in part redeemed an otherwise pitiable situation. But at best such settle- 

 ment was isolated and lacked the community benefits of a compact one. 



In a timbered area where land is of an agricultural character the cutting 

 of the timber and the harvesting of it is inseparably tied up to the land settle- 

 ment and cultivation. 



To avoid the folly of the past a rigid enforcement of the regulations is 

 being followed with a sane and reasonable encouragement to the bona-fide 

 settler. The gradual cutting of his timber in conjunction with an effort to 

 clear and improve the land is now being checked up under a system of permits 

 and clearances. This operates to the advantage of the man who intends to 

 stay and to the disadvantage of the timber farmer or bird of passage, whose 

 prime purpose is to exploit the timber. 



Appendices 12 and 13 of this report show detailed statements of all trans- 

 actions covering both the Free Grant and Purchased Lands. While 538 persons 

 availed themselves of the opportunity of acquiring Free Grant Lands no less 

 than 504 forfeited their rights due to failure to meet settlement obligations, and 

 of these thirty per cent, was in Southern Ontario, where 36 fewer located and 

 secured Free Grants than the number cancelled. In the same area, however, 

 91 received Patents on completion of settlement duties. 



The settled policy of the Government to discourage settlement on worn 

 out land, or within areas more likely to be productive of timber growth, accounts 

 largely for the gradual though effectual reduction in location in Southern Ontario. 

 In the Northern part where Free Grant lots are procurable 426 were located 

 against 356 cancelled, while 145 proved up and received patents. 



In the District of Cochrane, in the Northern Clay Belt, where there are 

 wide stretches of pulpwood extending along the Transcontinental Railway in 

 townships that contain excellent farm land the vigilance of the Department's 

 officials resulted in the spurious settlers, the wood exploiters, being closely 

 checked and their claims cancelled. The insistence of the officials in carrying 

 out directions has fortunately operated against this type of so-called settler, 

 and yet it so frequently occurs that he initiates an agitation amongst and gets 



