S48 



KEPORT— 1884. 



If; 



roiiiities. In 187S we grew n,.'581,701 acres of wliear, and in 1883 only 2 713 28' 

 «cres, tlio latter year 8howinj^ a decrease of 20 per cent, on the former. ' ' " 



Our import of wheat from nil sonrces in 1870 was r)d,',]C)S,\40 owt, and since 

 then tiie averaj.'B increase lui3 been 1,000,000 cwt. per annum. But while t!it> 

 imports from tlie United States and Canada have diminished, those from Inilii 

 Lavt^ underj.'ont' an enormous increase, Britisli India liavin;^' sent us less than 

 1,000,000 cwt. in 1879, and upwards of II ,000,000 cwt. in ]88;5. 



The principles involved in the laying down of land to permanent ])asture are 

 ))ecominu: better understood, the immber of species of gras.s emploved is luore 

 restricted, and there is an ir.creasini,'' determination to employ nothing but clean 

 pure, and fertile grass-seeds, so that seed-adulteration is largely clieelced. Of 

 plants new to agriculture, comfrey has secured a limited recognition, wliile tiirt 

 weed spurrey, now recommanded to be grown for ensilage, has all its wav yet to 

 make. 



A determined crusade is lieing made against crop-destroying insects. Tli« last, 

 serious attack of tunii])-fly, in 18^1, is estimated to have cost English and Scotch 

 farmers as much as 07 J.! •■'5(5/. ; and in b'^'^J the l']ni:lisli hop-growers lost tln'oivh 

 the ravages of the bop-aphis l,.")0O.O0O/., not less than 200,000/. of which represents 

 wages lost to tlu' hoj)- pickers. 



Ensilage is receiving a fair trial at the hands of Britisli farmers, and is mo.<t 

 likely to prove successful, if at all, on farms where a large number of stock have to 

 lie wintered. But silage can never become the marketable commodity that imv is, 

 on account of its perishable nature, and from the foct that 80 per cent, of its 

 weight is water. 



Foot-and-mouth disease has proved a dreailful scourge during recent years, Imt 

 the farmers' demand that British pf)rt3 should be closi'd against live stock from 

 infected foreign countries was certainly not prompted by the desire, or rather tli.' 

 intention, of introducing the tliin end of the wedge of Profection. The niajoritv 

 of our farmers are reconciled to Free Trade, because they regard it as the 

 inevitable. 



The price of wool continues to decrease, and this article is now little more ibauau 

 agricultural bye-product. Importations of colonial wool completidy swanip tli.; 

 home growth. On the other hand, the price of pedigree live stock is well main- 

 tained, and it is in supplying the markets of the world with the best strains of 

 "bovine and oviae blood that one of the brightest outlooks of the future is to 

 be sought. 



Dairy-farming Is lar-gely on the increase, and this, combined with In-coding, is 

 the most profitable development British agriculture is likely to see in the near 

 future. Great and important im]irovements luive been introduced in the practice of 

 dairying ; the supply of milk to large towns is a rapidly-increasing industry, hut 

 our produce in cheese and butter still lacks that uniformity of character which it id 

 desirable it sliould possess. 



Looking forward, it ispi'obable that rents, except on first-class dairy-farms, will 

 continue to decline, and the rent of land at home Avill approximate to that of land 

 easy of access in the Colonies. Farmers will possess a better technical education 

 than heretofore, land owners will take a more direct interest in the cultivation of the 

 soil, and laud agents will, through the ell'orts of the Surveyors' Institution, be 

 better qualified to discharge the important duties that devolve upon them. Home 

 railway-freights on Lome-grown agricultural produce will probably be modified to a 

 euflicient, extent to at least place our own farmers on a level with those in otlier 

 countries. Permanent pasture will go on increasing, and the acreage under corn 

 will diminish, though never become evanescent. Dairy-farming and stoclc-breeding 

 are the sheet anchors of the future. 



7. The Agricultural Ttesources of Ontario. By John Carneoie. 



This paper does not, as its name implies, deal with the resources of the entire 

 province, but only with the .«outhern, and already moderately well-developed, por- 

 tion of it. Although the part dealt with contains only about one-fifth of its entire 



