1921-22 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 201 



pounds; timothy, 8,831 pounds. This seed was suppHed, in accordance with 

 the provisions of the Northern and North-western Ontario Development Act 

 1915, to registered locatees or patentees. Those who did not pay cash at the 

 time of purchase executed a promissory note for the amount of the purchase, 

 with interest at 6 per cent., payable on 1st December, 1921, the note being 

 registered as a first charge against the property. The seed was purchased locally 

 wherever the local Agricultural Representative could obtain the requisite 

 quantity, of good quality and at an approved price. 



Cattle Purchase, Section 2 (2). 



The settlers in the northern part of the District of Temiskaming, in the 

 neighbourhood of the Provincial Demonstration Farm at Monteith, expressed 

 to the Superintendent there a desire to purchase a good class of cow, and asked 

 the assistance of the Government in obtaining cattle of the best type. The 

 Northern Development Branch purchased through the Farm Superintendent 

 one car load of cows, containing 18 head, obtained in the Powassan section, 

 and these were shipped to Monteith. The farmers in the district readily availed 

 themselves of the opportunity of procuring cows of good quality, and the whole 

 consignment was sold for cash at prices varying from $30 to $60, the total 

 receipts being sufficient to cover the cost of the transaction. The cattle have 

 proved eminently satisfactory. 



Section 1 (D). 



THE ASSISTANCE OF SETTLERS. 



Re Feed Shortage. 



The attention of the Department of Agriculture was drawn during the 

 summer of 1921, by the Representative at Gore Bay, to the devastation caused 

 upon Manitoulin Island by the unusual conditions of drought which had prevailed 

 throughout the spring and growing season. As a result, the fodder and grain 

 crops, which have been a source of pride to the farmers of the island in previous 

 years, were extremely small. The condition was intensified through a plague 

 of grasshoppers, which completed the destruction of whatever growth had sur- 

 vived the absence of moisture. The local farmers are noted as large producers 

 of cattle, sheep and hogs, and fears were entertained that unless Government 

 assistance was forthcoming, not only would there be no surplus of feed for 

 wintering the stock, but that the available fodder would not be sufficient to 

 meet their needs during the fall of 1921. 



It was decided to assist the agricultural industry on the island by supplying 

 a quantity of hay, oats and corn to the farmers, to be paid for either in cash : 

 or by promissory note, executed by the purchaser and a guarantor. Arrange- 

 ments were made for this distribution to be done through the Northern Develop- 

 ment Branch under Section 1 (D) of the Northern and North-western Ontario 

 Development Act, 1912, and amendments. 



