24 



COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



This is an instance where rural depopulation is a benefit, not an injury, 

 to the country as a whole, although, of course, it is injurious to the 

 people who remain behind in the depleted area. As Dr. Fernow 

 states, "It is to be expected that those who left are elsewhere doing 

 better than merely eking out a precarious existence; the land which 

 they left, being fit for nothing else but forest growth, gradually re- 

 forests itself."* 



The following is a summary of the facts set out in Part III of the 

 report relating to the economic and industrial conditions of the area: — 



(1) The geological origin and nature of the soil of the region 

 is for the most part unsuited to agriculture, yet the bulk of the popu- 

 lation is engaged in farming. 



(2) In two of the townships in the area less than two per cent 

 of the land is cleared, and in the whole area of 1,171,614 acres only 

 about 11.4 per cent was cleared land. 



(3) Where land was found to be in possession of considerable 

 settlement, despite the unsuitable character of the soil, this was no 

 doubt owing to accessibility of railway transportation. Specific refer- 

 ence is made to instances of this kind in Hastings and Haliburton 

 counties. At Minden and Monmouth, in the latter county, farming 

 is mostly confined to the vicinity of the railway. 



(4) In spite of the difficulties with which the farmers have to 

 contend, it is found heroic efforts are made to buildup a system of 

 co-operative dairying, and in each settlement there is a farmers' co- 

 operative cheese factory or creamery. 



(5) The prevailing explanation given for farms being aban- 

 doned was inability to make a living. 



(6) Often the abandoned farms were among the best in the set- 

 tlement, but their owners could not continue getting a mere subsist- 

 ence despite their best efforts. 



(7) It was usually the more progressive settlers, and the young 

 people who had fewer ties, who were not content to stay. 



(8) It is explicitly stated in the report that the settlers through- 

 out were an energetic, hard-working, resourceful people, who had 

 been attracted to the district years ago by the offer of free land, but 

 who are face to face with an impossible proposition. Much of the 

 land was patented for the timber it carried, and not on account of 

 its agricultural suitability. 



* In another report prepared for the Government of Nova Scotia on "Forest 

 Conditions in Nova Scotia," Dr. Fernow estimates that 80 per cent of the Maritime 

 Province — when not barren — is forest country, and practically destined to re- 

 main so. 



