ABANDONED FARMS 95 



the fruitless attempt, and to-day the whole region with which this 

 report deals is dotted with abandoned farms.* During the survey it 

 was made the practice to ascertain why the former owner had left, 

 though a glance at the fields was generally sufficient. There was always 

 the same explanation — inability to make a living. Time and 

 again, following a spur road, it would be found ending in a remote 

 pocket of soil, which had once been ferreted out as good farm land, but 

 which had, after all, been finally abandoned. Along the earlier col- 

 onization highways one finds long stretches unsettled to-day and with 

 no signs of any former occupation beyond the mute testimony of neat 

 piles of stones or occasional ornamental or fruit trees. There is not a 

 single township but has its quota of such examples as indicated on the 

 map. Often, these abandoned farms are among the best in the settle- 

 ment, but their owners could not continue getting a mere subsistence 

 despite their best efforts. Instances were met where the owner had 

 simply left his farm, often with buildings above the average, unable to 

 find a purchaser. 



The follomng statistics of population, taken from the Dominion 

 Census returns, indicate the extent of decline during the last decade. 



Population Population 



Census Census Census Census 



Township : 1901 1911 Township : 1901 1911 



From these figures it is seen that there has been a decline of 15.2 

 per cent. How much of this is due to the same causes as are accountable 

 for the rural decline throughout Ontario generally cannot be known, but 

 it can be surmised from the fact that the average decline of Ontario 

 is only 4.2 per cent. As is to be expected, it is usually the more pro- 

 gressive settlers and the young people who have fewer ties who are 

 not content to stay. 



* The term "abandoned" is here applied to a farm which from the appearance 

 of the buildings, etc., it is evident to the passer-by has been deserted by the original 

 owner ; the land, however, is generally in use by a neighbour. 



