CO885-(20-21) — Page 145

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference

C.O. 885

20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

two years.

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women entering Canada from the United Kingdom had improved greatly in the last

Miss partly because there was less real unemployment; partly because the work of relief This was was better understood and better organised than in 1907. Being less indiscriminate and impulsive, it had less tendency to create the very condition which it set out to relieve,

I spoke of the distress in Toronto in the winters of 1907 and 1908. Fitz-Gibbon was conscious of a distinct improvement in the latter year.

Miss Fitz-Gibbon thought it very dangerous, in conducting the emigration of women, to aim at covering anything more than expenses. The desire to make profits brought one within the sphere of the peculiar risks and dangers which surround this work. She had great faith in child emigration, and shared Mrs. Close's view that the earlier a child was emigrated, the greater the ease and certainty with which it would adapt itself to Canadian conditions. Close's scheme might have great success in the comparatively well-settled districts But, while she thought that Mrs. of the maritime Provinces, she doubted the wisdom of attempting anything on the same lines at present in the North-West, where distances are greater, and the sense of remoteness from the life of a community might have a damaging effect. I gathered that the point of the criticism was that the absence of neighbours would tend to drive the little band of children in upon themselves, and so create that "institution spirit which it is one of Mrs. Close's main desires to avoid.

GUELPH.

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On Thursday, the 12th of August, I left Toronto early to spend the day at the Ontario Government Agricultural College at Guelph. Mr. Creelman, the President, was away, but he got back before I left, and I had a drive and a talk with him about the work of the College. During the day I was taken round and had everything explained to me by Professor Day, the Head of the Live Stock Department and Superintendent of the Farm, and Professor Zavitz, the head of the field husbandry section of the farm work. experiments in selection, acclimatisation, hybridisation, and agricultural methods I was taken round the experimental plots, and the various were shown to me in the most interesting fashion. It is apparent even to the mere visitor like myself what a great work the College is doing for the farming industry, and particularly the agriculture, primarily of Ontario, and ultimately of the whole of Canada. The farmers, after talking a good deal about the expense of the College, have rapidly realised that the discovery of an improved grain, of better methods of agriculture, or of means of combating diseases and pests, rapidly pays for the College many times over. College every summer, and are entertained and taken round with the greatest care Some 20,000 or 30,000 farmers now visit the and patience. The result is that, whereas there was great difficulty a few years ago in getting a farmer here and there to experiment with seeds and plants supplied by the College, there are now more than 4,000 farmers in Ontario co-operating with Professor Zavitz in his series of experiments. The influence of the College is, in addition, spread broadcast by means of its bulletins, and through the 1,000 odd students whom it trains and then distributes throughout Canada every year. There are, besides, short courses for practical farmers during vacation time in such special branches as seed selection. process of accomplishing a great work in introducing a highly scientific spirit and There cannot be the least doubt that the College is in Scientific methods into Canadian farming.

HAMILTON

From Guelph I returned to Toronto to pick up luggage, and then went on to Hamilton, which I reached on the evening of the 12th of August. On the following morning I started out early with Mr. R. H. Lewis, the Government Inspector, for a trip through the fruit district. of Mr. E. D. Smith, at Winona. Mr. Smith is the largest fruit grower in the dis- The main feature of interest was a visit to the farm trict, probably in Canada. His own farm is 800 or 900 acres in extent. every kind of fruit, apples, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, peaches, and many kinds of market-garden produce as well, such as strawberries, currants, and tomatoes. He grows Besides marketing his own fruit, he acts as merchant for many of his neighbours. He has an up-to-date canning establishment on his farm, and the fruit which is not despatched the day it is picked is turned into jam or sauces, or is canned.

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The fruit district is a remarkable tract of land, nearly 50 miles long and from 1 to 7 miles wide, running east from Hamilton to Niagara. It consists of a llat plain between Lake Ontario and the foot of the Niagara plateau. The impression derived from going through it is that of a very fertile tract, nearly every acre of which is under careful cultivation. Mile after mile there are orderly rows of fruit trees or lines of plants, carefully tended. house. Everything denotes prosperity. Though the general impression is one of Here and there appears a very substantial abundant fertility, caution is necessary. variations may occur within a few yards. One plot may be rich enough for peach- The land is streaky, and very important growing or for nursery purposes. pears; in some cases hardly even for that.

Its neighbour may be suitable only for apples and acquiring a farm in the district.

Thus abundant care is necessary in experiment with the poorer land and make money out of it where a poorer man could Mr. Smith, who is on a big enough scale to do nothing with it, held very strongly that any man, no matter how experienced, should examine land carefully before buying, and that the new-comer should acquire experience by working for someone in the district before attempting to judge the capacity of the soil. There was a great story going round the neighbourhood of a man who had just been "fooled" into paying a fancy price for a farm. The story was told to me by more than one with great zest as a preliminary to the remark that this time it was not an Englishman but a Canadian who had been “had.”

The fair price of land varies considerably for the different kinds: poor land costs $100 an acre; better land, suitable for apples, pears, and plums, $150 to $200 an acre; very good land, suitable for peaches, up to $500 an acre. demand for farm help.

There is a good useful account on a fruit farm. Men with large families are specially desirable, Any agricultural or general labourer can be turned to because the wives and children are much wanted at the times of picking. hands get $1.40 a day, and have to keep themselves out of it. This they can do for Farm about $3 a week. Mr. Smith has formed "messes " of his men, and thinks of building houses on the estate for their accommodation.

There are a good number of Englishmen in the district; all of whom, so far as I could ascertain, have done well. I met one of them, a young 'Varsity man, who went out to Cobalt and made enough money to buy a small fruit farm of 12 acres at Jordan, about 25 miles from Hamilton. He was running the fruit farm with a friend, and needed no help except at picking times. He preferred girls and women as pickers, and Indians if he could get them. But I gathered that getting Indians meant reference to Ottawa, and that a great deal of trouble was involved. He seemed quite satisfied with his success in fruit farming, though he felt that the small farmer was rather "squeezed" by the big one.

From the fruit district I paid a visit the same day to Niagara, and returned to Hamilton.

On Saturday, the 14th of August, I went round the Hamilton market in the company of Mr. Lewis. He introduced me to some of the prominent business men. One or two of them were very ready to complain of the lack of adaptability to his new surroundings shown by the ordinary Englishman. It was quite clear that the "Hints to Emigrants" which appear at the beginning of the "Cañada Circular " and "Handbook are calculated to meet this fault, and all the Canadians to whom

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I read or showed the "Hints" seemed to think them very good for the purpose. It was evidently the general feeling among business people that there was no specific demand in Hamilton for men of the mechanic or artisan class, in spite of the large industries of the town, though a good man of this class would be certain to get on if he were not too finicky about the class of job he took up to begin with. I had a talk with Mr. Hoodless, a large manufacturer of furniture, and President of the Greater Hamilton Association, an association of some of the leading men of the town whose object is to increase the importance of Hamilton industrially and commercially. It has nothing to do with finding employment for individuals, but is concerned with the introduction of more capital and the extension of industries and businesses. Mr. Hoodless shared the opinion as to the prospects for a mechanic or an artisan quoted above. There was no marked demand, but a good man would get on. He mentioned a case in which the possession of a Cockney accent had been a distinct handicap to a man, because of the prejudice entertained against London immigrants. personal intervention of Mr. Hoodless, and proved his worth.

But the man got a job through the thought trade and financial conditions were improving steadily all round, and saw no reason to fear further trouble with unemployment such as they had experienced

Mr. Hoodless