108  State  Aid  to  Agriculture  in  Canada. 
field  ex-ops  there  are  continuous  annual  records  of  area  and 
yield  since  1882,  which  cannot  be  stated  of  any  other  Canadian 
province.  Finally  the  Colonisation  Branch  of  the  Department 
deserves  mention,  for  it  is  not  yet  generally  realised  that  in 
northern  Ontario,  now  being  pierced  by  the  new  Grand  Trunk 
Pacific  Railway,  there  are  at  least  16,000,000  acres  of  fertile 
wheat  land  awaiting  settlement. 
Quebec. — In  the  French-speaking  province  of  Quebec  are 
agricultural  and  dairy  societies,  schools,  farmers’  clubs,  insti- 
tutes, and  fruit-growing  associations,  all  under  the  general 
control  of  the  Quebec  Department  of  Agriculture.  Butter  and 
cheese  factories  are  under  government  inspection.  Farmers’ 
clubs  and  institutes  bear  to  each  other  a reverse  relationship  to 
that  which  they  bear  in  Ontario.  In  Quebec  the  club  is  the 
larger  and  the  institute  the  smaller.  Government  grants  of 
5 1.  as  a minimum  are  made  to  the  clubs  on  condition  that  they 
hear  at  least  one  agricultural  lecture  yearly  ; but  their  principal 
function  is  the  co-operative  purchase  of  seed  grain,  live  stock 
and  implements.  The  membership  fee  is  $1  (4s.)  and  certain 
sums  are  offered  in  prizes  ; the  clubs  number  altogether  625 
with  a total  membership  of  60,000.  There  are  80  agricultural 
societies  holding  shows  or  exhibitions  ; these  receive  govern- 
ment grants  aggregating  over  8,219Z.  out  of  total  receipts  of 
28,150?.  Both  clubs  and  societies  are  managed  by  a Council 
of  Agriculture  appointed  by  the  Department. 
Competitions  of  agricultural  merit  or  farm  prize  competi- 
tions are  held  in  different  districts  in  rotation,  the  rewards 
consisting  of  a gold  medal  for  the  competitor  placed  first  and 
of  silver  and  bronze  medals  with  diplomas  of  merit.  Eleven 
experimental  fruit  stations  were  established  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  in  different  fruit-growing  counties — six  in  1898 
and  five  in  1903.  The  Journal  of  Agriculture  and  Horti- 
culture, an  organ  of  the  Department,  has  72,000  subscribers. 
Although  not  under  government  control  the  fine  new  Agri- 
cultural College  and  Experimental  Farm  at  Ste.  Anne  de 
Bellevue,  near  Montreal,  built  and  endowed  by  Sir  William 
Macdonald,  may  be  referred  to  as  an  asset  of  great  value 
to  the  English-speaking  population.  The  College  is  affili- 
ated to  the  McGill  University  at  Montreal  where  students  may 
graduate  with  the  degree  of  B.S.A.  as  in  the  case  of  Guelph 
and  Toronto. 
Maritime  Provinces.  — Of  the  three  relatively  smaller 
Maritime  provinces,  Prince  Edward  Island  depends  upon 
agriculture,  Nova  Scotia  has  its  iron,  steel,  and  coal  industries; 
and  New  Brunswick  is  largely  devoted  to  lumbering  and 
fisheries.  The  breeding  of  heavy  horses  is  a profitable  in- 
dustry. In  Nova  Scotia,  out  of  about  15,000,000  acres  of 
