544 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



The rate per mile for both freight and passengers by Canadian rail- 

 ways is about the same as that charged by the railroads in the United 

 States. The competing lines of railway in this province may be re- 

 garded as a sufficient guarantee against an overcharge in the item of 

 freight. 



FEEDING AND HOUSING CATTLE IN ONTARIO. 



As to housing cattle, all stock breeders agree in recommending warm 

 and well ventilated stables. There are different kinds of stables, but the 

 most convenient method appears to locate the stalls in a large and roomy 

 stone basement. The cattle are usually tied with chains fastened to a 

 collar of leather which encircles the neck, the animals facing each other 

 with an alleyway between them. Corn fodder, or green unmatured corn- 

 stalks, is a favorite food for cows, and is freely fed to milch cows dur- 

 ing the last weeks of July and the month of August. This food, it is 

 claimed, keeps up a steady flow of milk and keeps the animal in good 

 condition. Canadian farmers cut their hay earlier than formerly, as 

 they say grass allowed to shrivel and bleach in the sun and rain loses 

 much of its nourishment ; hay, to retain its sweetness, must be cut early 

 and dried quickly in the sun. 



CHEESE MAKING IN ONTARIO. 



Previous to the year 1864 factory cheese-making had not been known 

 in Canada. At about the date mentioned (as I learn from the report of 

 the Ontario agricultural commission, Mr. Harry Farrington, of Her- 

 kimer County, New York, settled in Oxford County, Ontario. Mr. 

 Farrington commenced the manufacture of cheese as he had previously 

 done in New York State, and, to use the language of Mr. Ballantyue (a 

 witness before the commission above referred to), " a deep debt of grati- 

 tude is due to Mr. Farrington for having established this new and thriv- 

 ing industry in Canada." To show the growth of this industry, I may 

 be permitted to refer to the following figures : In 1857, 1858, and 1850, 

 the exports of cheese from Canada to the United States the reciproc- 

 ity treaty being then in force was 124 cwts., 117 cwts,, and 323 cwts., 

 respectively ; in 1860, 1863, and 1864, 1,110 cwts., 466 cwts., and 1,138 

 cwts. The highest money value of cheese exports in any of the above 

 years was $16,199. In 1879 and 1880, the exports of cheese from Can- 

 ada amounted to no less than 43,441,112 pounds, the declared value be- 

 ing $4,094,046, or nearly 10 cents per pound. Of this, 40,368,678 pounds 

 was the produce of Canada; 3,000,000 pounds of American cheese for 

 the same period apparently found its way to a foreign market, through 

 Canadian ports. The following table shows by counties the quantity oi* 

 milk used, the quantity and value of cheese made, and the quantity of 

 cheese on hand as returned for three hundred and six factories in De- 

 cember, 1882. Also the total number of factories in the province for 

 the same year. It will be seen that whilst the returns show four hun- 

 dred and seventy-one factories in Ontario, reports were received but 

 from three hundred and six, leaving one hundred and sixty-five facto- 

 ries in the province from which no returns were made for the year 

 1882: 



