94 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



striking number of abandoned farms occurring in every township tells 

 its own story. Neglecting the townships of Wollaston, Chandos, 

 Somerville and western Harvey, the three southerly tiers of townships 

 in the region concerned contain, as a whole, few agricultural areas be- 

 yond mere gardens, such areas not totaling even lo per cent of the land 

 area. They constitute a territory whose obvious use is for forest growth. 



The farming practice is along lines especially called forth by the 

 natural conditions already described. Generally speaking, the only 

 crops are hay and oats, but it is a struggle for each settler to grow 

 even enough of these for his own use. The shallow soil requires fre- 

 quent rains as an absolute necessity for the vegetation, so that two 

 weeks of hot dry weather means poor crops, as was evidenced in many 

 districts during the past season. 



However, with an abundance of rough grazing land, the main 

 interest centres in dairying. Scattered throughout the whole region, 

 especially the eastern portion, in each settlement is to be found a 

 farmers' co-operative cheese factory, and one is impressed with the 

 extent to which each settler is dependent on his cows. In the western 

 portion and especially along the Irondale, Bancroft and Ottawa railway, 

 the dairy industry takes more usually the form of cream shipments to 

 centres of consumption farther south, or to local creameries. Worthy 

 of note among these latter is the creamery at Kinmount, which manu- 

 factures some 30,000 pounds of butter annually. But, as a general 

 rule, the cattle are not high grade and the returns are not very satis- 

 factory. The average gross returns are about $20 to $30 per cow for 

 the season, or about $5 per cow per month. In addition, as the number 

 of cattle a settler can winter is controlled by the crops he can raise in 

 the summer, the size of each individual operation is limited. The 

 dearth of hay land is partially met by the natural meadows and marshes 

 which are eagerly sought out. 



There is no doubt that there is room for improvement in the farm- 

 ing methods followed, especially as regards rotation of crops, soil 

 manuring and improvement of stock. Relatively little sheep raising 

 is done, and fruit growing is not attempted at all. The formation of 

 co-operative breeding associations and farmers' institutes, together 

 with the circulation of farm journals, would help the general status of 

 the agricultural industry. But the fact remains that the soil is only 

 here and there suited to that use. 



Abandoned Farms 



With conditions so unfavourable to agricultural activities the re- 

 turns suffice for a bare living, which must usually be supplemented 

 from some other source. Many, after years of struggle, have given up 



