] ( 



M 



l?'<il 



860 



REPORT — 1884. 



men, disbanded troops — or crofters from the Highlands ; cone of whom had any 

 knowledge of farming. Hence the little progress and low state of agriculture in the 

 provinces, of which the agricultural capabilities are great. In 1818, Mr. John 

 Young, under the title ' Agricola,' stirred up the farmers, but shipbuilding has so 

 engrossed the attention of thu people that more than half a million tons of woodin 

 vessels are owned in the province ; and mining, milling, and fishing draw the people 

 from agriculture. But Nova Scotian produce is much larger than returns .show,iv< 

 its fishermen, as well as those from tne United States, provision for the season in 

 its ports, and several hundred steamers calling lor bunker coal lay in food-supplies 

 The western part of Nova Scotia largely feeds St. John, New Brunswick, whilst 

 Caiie Breton sends to Newfoundland all it requires; and as Nova Scotia lies nearest 

 to England, its especial products of cattle and fruit should and must command the 

 best prices. 



Taking the census of 1881, the yield of wheat has almost doubled since 185] 

 rising to half a million bushels ; oats to nearly two million bushels ; potatoes 

 from two million bushels to seven-and-a-half million; turnips to one million 

 from less than one third; other roots 336,000 bushels, an increase of 1,000 per 

 cent. Hay has doubled, and now yields 000,000 tons. Butter from 3,500,000 to 

 7,500,000 lbs. Cheese shows 1,000,000 lbs. In 1851 apples were imported, hut in 

 1881, 9,000,000 busliels were raised ; other fruits increased very largely. Hops grow 

 splendidly, but costly labour checks the cultivation. Grapes only appear in 1871 aj 

 8,000 lbs., but in 1881 ,35,000 lbs. are returned, the climate being found well suited lor 

 them. 300,000 cattle and 400,000 sheep were owned in 1881 ; 63,000 cattle and 

 151,000 sheep were sold for consumption in that year. The area, 13,000,000 acres, 

 has a large proportion of lake, and the south-coast is rocky ; but most of the land 

 is cultivated with very ffood returns, and 2,000,000 acres have been improved, 

 1,000,000 being under crop, an increase of above 100 percent, since 1851. The 

 many thousand acres of dyke lands at the mouths of the rivers and heads of bars 

 are most productive, and never require manure. 



After eighteen years' experience on a new farm, I can testify to the productive- 

 ness of the soil and climate of Nova Scotia. Cattle live well at pasture from June 1 

 to October 1 5, and will hold their own a month longer. Oats and wheat usuallv 

 mature in 100 days, and last year 25 acres of spring wheat gave me 25 bushels u 

 the acre. Barley about 40 bushels, oats about 45 bushels, potatoes about '27'j 

 bushels ; swedes from 500 to 800 bushels ; but not on a southern slope, so I consider 

 we are near the limits of turnip cultivation. Green corn as a fodder crop does 

 wonderfidly well, and in storing some as ensilage last year, I weighed out the crop 

 at 20 tons to the acre. On 170 acres of land I raise food for 100 fatting cattle, 

 besides 10 horses ; but I buy oil-caive. Permanent grass-fields becoming cholied 

 with moss, dyke-land farmers depend on hay as the principal crop, the dyke pro- 

 duce maintaining the upland parts ; but upland farmers who have copied this plan. 

 cannot maintain the farms in heart; crops fail, farms and farmers grow poorer. 



Rotation is necessary. This means implements and teams ; it means capital in- 

 vested ; but capital sees the farmer unprosperous, and is frightened away. Tech- 

 nical training is a necessity, not merely from books, but combined with practice; 

 and the Government must earlier or later furnish tliis — an agricultural school and 

 a model farm. 



Ontario has a college where working farmers are taught science, and educated 

 men are taught manual labour ; but it is important to have an establishment in 

 each province, as climate aVid conditions vary. 



There is ample room for men of small capital in Nova Scotia ; young men, with 

 from 500/. to 5,000/., may in farming establish a comfortable home, and good 

 returns for their time and means. I consider that, with capital invested and 

 knowledge applied, a very bright future lies before the agriculture of Nova Scotia. 



SATURDA Y, A U6 UST 30. 



The Section did not meet. 



