RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 29 



and not with good conditions with a view to showing how to extend 

 them. In a large part of the settled regions in Ontario the land is of 

 the most fertile kind, and farming is being made to pay in a way 

 which can favourably compare with any country. There are still 

 millions of acres of good land unsettled or unimproved. In some of 

 the Ontario counties the area under cultivation and the number of 

 occupiers per square mile is as satisfactory as in the best parts of some 

 older countries. For instance, the district of Essex N. has a popu- 

 lation of 158.84 per square mile, and Waterloo N. has 123.06. Out of 

 a total occupied area of 311,754 acres in Waterloo N. and S. it is 

 estimated that no less than 252,253 acres, or 80 per cent, are under 

 cultivation. The corresponding acreage for Dundas is estimated 

 at 75 per cent, for Northumberland 73 per cent, and for Carleton 59 

 per cent. Even in these districts, however, a large part of the land 

 which is stated to be under cultivation is practically sterile for want 

 of capital and labour to use it. It would be desirable to make a sur- 

 vey of conditions in good counties so as to show a better side to the 

 picture than that which is presented by the investigations which have 

 been made in the poorer counties. To ascertain causes of failure one 

 must also investigate and ascertain causes of success. Investiga- 

 tion is needed as to why some areas of fertile land in Canada, with 

 good means of communication, have not been so successfully set- 

 tled as other areas of the same character and location. 



A large part of Ontario has all the appearance and features 

 of a highly cultivated English countryside. It possesses these fea- 

 tures without having had a rich landlord class to subsidize the 

 development of the land; it possesses them because of good soil, good 

 climatic conditions and good settlers. What has been achieved in 

 the best Ontario counties is practicable on millions of acres of 

 unsettled or partially settled territory in Canada. Perhaps Essex, 

 Waterloo and other counties have succeeded because of circum- 

 stances which could not be repeated in other counties, and no 

 doubt different methods will be necessary to secure similar results 

 elsewhere. Greater government stimulus will have to be given in 

 some areas than in others, but with organized effort and careful 

 planning an enormous improvement could be made in many dis- 

 tricts. It may be argued that some of the best counties enjoy their pros- 

 perity because they include thriving towns within their areas. This 

 condition may indeed be largely responsible for the fact that they have 

 maintained their population while counties like Huron and Wellington 

 have lost as much as 17 per cent in ten years. So far, however, as pr< »x- 

 imity to cities has conferred any benefit on these counties, it proves the 



