Speech of the Hon. Louis Beaubien, commissioner of agriculture and colonisation, delivered in the Legislative Assembly, 26th December, 1893 on agriculture and colonisation [microform]

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SPEECH

OF THE

HON^. .LOUIS BEAUBIEN

COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTLIRK AND COLONISATION

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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

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26th DECEMBER, 1893

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SPEECH

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HON. LOUIS BEAUBIEN

COMMISSIONER OF AGRICl'LTURK AND COLONISATION

DELIVEUKI) IN THE IJXJISLATIV'E ASSEMHI.Y

2GTH DECEIVIBER, 18G3.

Mr. t^PEAKER : Sir,

It is with great pleasure that I opjii this debate on the agricultural
policy of the administration. I especially request the members for the
rural counties to take a full share in this discussion, for they, more
than others, can aid me in finding means to bring to perfection what
has been already done, and to inaugurate that which is to be pro-
posed.

I will not at present pause over all the items of the agricultural and
colonisation budget ; I reserve myself for giving on each item, when
it sliall be brought forward, all the details that can be desired.

Soliciting the support and co-operation of the members of this
House and of all who are interested in farming, and in the develop-
ment of the province, by colonisation, I will state what measures I
propose to bring forward for the present. This programme may be
briefly set forth as follows : — For agriculture : To fill our agricultural
schools with pupils ; to establish at once a creamery or cheesery in
every parish in which none exists at present. For colonisation : To

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conduct it as much as possible by groups reuniting all its element*
together, and not allowing them any longer to venture in isolated
bodies and thus to be without power in the country ; leading them
when thus grouped, to settle on good farms, and then assisting these
new settlements to furnish themselves with creameries and cheese-
factories.

For the execution of these projects, I fortunately find rushing to my
aid many powerful associations ; otherwise, I should not dare to hope
for success.

The Farmers' Clubs,

four hundred and eleven in number, have ardently entered the arena.
Their power for good is very great ; unlimited, indeed, and is already
making itself cogently felt. I may say incidentally, that a great cattle
breeder of the Island of Montreal, Mr. Andrew Dawes, wrote to me
the other day, that " The farmers' clubs will soon change the face of
the country ; since they started, I have not been able to supply the
demand for thoroughbred stock."

The law of last session establishing these clubs, has, we may say,
satisfied a real want. It was the beneficent Agricultural Decentralisa-
tion, permitting the different groups of the rural population to organise
themselves in a convenient manner, to derive advantages from all
those who, generally speaking, guide the opinion of the people of any
locality; to make of them devoted advisers, thoroughly trusted, and
leading them gently but firmly along the paths, new to many, of
sensible and remunerative agriculture.

The members of any one and the same club, from their mutual
vicinity, can render to each other all the good service of generous
neighbors ; a costly implement, purchased by the club, will be used,
from farm to farm in turns, by the whole parish ; interesting discus-
sions will take place, which will be frequented by large numbers,
and it will not be very inconvenient to attend them. When the agri-
cultural missioner or lecturer announces his arrival, there will be a
crowd to listen to him.

The agricultural societies cannot supply all the local wants. Their
members have more trouble to assemble together on account of the
long distances they have to travel ; so they confine their work to the
holding of exhibitions, competitions of best cultivated farms, and
ploughing matches for a whole county.

We were far from expecting so much success from this legislation
<5oncerning the clubs. For my part, I am happy to say that it has
greatly exceeded my forecast. The clubs have expended ^'27,000 in
the improvement of our agriculture in different localities. Thanks to
them, our JovrnnI of Agriculture numbers 30,000 subscribers. They
are generally presided over by the cures or by persons of influence in
the parish ; the members number 21,800, and all this in little more
than a year. The house will remember that, at the beginning of the
present session, in order to grant to these clubs a dollar for each mem-
ber, we had to place the sum of $25,000 in the supplementary esti-
mates for 18!>3.

Should the movement continue, we shall soon have a club in every
parish.

I have every reason to hope ihat by this means I shall be able o
address a considerable number of farmers. These societies receive
the public documents as well as the publications that furnish inform-
ation on the best way of conducting remunerative agriculture.

The clubs, like the agricultural societies, are obliged to send in a
yearly report to the department. By consulting those we have
already received, we can judge of the result.'s obtain/d.

I will not 1 nger over the recital of these reports, some of which,
however, are very interesting. We publish, in the Journal of Agricul-
ture, as far as space will allow, those that will serve as models. The
Hon. members read I suppose, irom time to time, this journal which,
I am happy to say, is appreciated by our rural population ; they must
have seen the fortunate results which have been attained, even by those
clubs that do not possess large means. In many places the system of
farming has been strikingly improved. Everywhere the people dis-
cuss, read and gain information. Here, at L'''vis. prizes have be.'u
given for the best built, the best cared for cowhouses. In the County
of Assomption, they have succeeded in placing -at the service of a
whole parish thoroughbred breeding stock, and at the same time in-
creasing the means of the association. In other parts, the growing of
green fodder crops, the secret of successful dairying, has been
vigorously pursued. Others, not having enough farmyard manure,
have devoted all their means to the purchase of fertiKseis. It is
pleasure enough to relate all these new attempts done in common,

thus introducing a good example everywhere ; it is enough to give
us confidence in a general and rapid advance.

I do not doubt that, when we ask each parish for a pupil to be sent
to our favra schools, we shall have the support of all these associa-
tions. Responding to the appeal of the generous and devoted men
in whom they have full confidence, they seem to be all determined to
travel resolutely along the path of progress.

Agricultural Missioners.

It is with deep satisfaction that I observe the arrival of our devoted
agricultural missioners. Appointed by the Bishops of the Province,
they have begun their labours, dividing among them the different
parishes of each diocese, so that every parish shall be visited twice a
year. They will thus go about, carrying the good news without
cost to the state, and with great benefit to our people.

To the clergy we are indebted for the higher education, which has
furnished us with the men we needed for our guidance and defence,
and to ensure to our country her proper position among the surround-
ing nations. To the clergy we shall be indebted for the good farmer
of the future, the strong man of the nation, who feeds it and makes it
what it is.

For, this second task undertaken by the clergy, we shall doubtless
find conducted as successfully as the former ; and is it not still easier?

These agricultural missioners working in concert with well dis-
posed men who have at heart the improvement of our agriculture,
have already met in consultation several times. They have agreed
upon a plan of agricultural instruction. On their return to their dif-
ferent divisions, the same directions having been given everywhere,
we may expect tuat the same excellent results will everywhere
follow.

Lastly, I rely on all friend- of agriculture, and I am happy to be
able to reckon a great number mi those who desire the immediate im-
provement of our farming, and who, to attain this end, are willing to
sacrifice their time. I am about to arrange all these efforts, to get
them to work in the same direction, a direction that will, 1 trust, lead
us to the success we all desire.

Our Farm-Schools.

"We want to fill them with students What sort of schools are they ?
If they are not yet quite what they ought to be, it is because work
has been unobtainable by the good workman. "With a full lecture
room, the teacher feels himself stimulated to communicate all h»'
knows to his hearers. But, with empty benches before him, his ardor
evaporates without any fault of his.

Still, there need be no iear that the teaohin^:J will not be such as is
wanted. Strong in the intelligent aid at my disposal, I can assert
that if the pupils are entrusted to me, I will be responsible for their
instruction. The schools we have at our command are sufficient for
the present. Some changes, some improvements will allow us to
utilise the staff whose efforts, up to the present, have not had the
wished for success, and we shall in this way recompense the devotion
and sacrifice of many a long year.

Let us employ the existing means, let us fill our schools with
students. "When the scholarships are all taken up, let the students
come all the same, their parents or friends paying the trifling charge
for board either to the school or in the neighbourhood. 't it be
taken for granted that the means of giving practical and theoretical
instruction will increase with the number of the students ; we will
see to that. When these schools, well managed, shall overflow with
.'^tudenls, we will think of establishing other schools which will then
have happily become necessary But I will have no more empty
schools ; and still less will I have a great central agricultural school,
which will be empty too, very likely. Up to the present, we have
had schools without pupils. Let pupils come to us now by the hun-
dred ; that is what we are striving after.

Notre Dame Du Lac (Oka).

" The finest farm in Canada" ; that is what a recent report says of
the farm of the R.R. P.P. Trappistes. And the report is signed by
such universally known good farmers as Messrs. Gr. Buchanan, Judge
of " Agricultural Merit," Thomas Irving, of Logan's Farm, and
Robert Ness, of Howick, Chateauguay. There is a good school. If
any one doubts it, let him opend at least a day there, enjoying the
hospitality of the good fathers. A whole day will not be at all too

8

long to give him a chaace of even glancing rapidly over this extensive
farm.

There, our pupils will find good examples in every branch of farm-
ing, and, more than that, they will be able to learn a good deal about
more than one industry connected with it.

Perfect theory demonstrated by intelligent practice ; that, in one
sentence, is the programme of the school. It is only jnst open, and
already numbers of students attend it.'

The good Prior is not satisfied with working with all his power to
pu^ his school on a good footing, but carries his solicitude still fur-
ther. Appointed by the Archbishop of Montreal as president of the
agriculiural missioners of the diocese, he finds time to attend the
meetings and to do his share of the common work. And that is not
all; he has founded, on the banks of the great Lake St. John, the Mis-
tassini establishment, which will be for that entire region what the
mother-house is for the western part of the province.

Ah, he is indeed a sturdy workman, a great toiler !

Ste. Anne

"We must congratulate ourselves on the zeal and spirit of enterprise
manifested by the directors of the School at Ste. Anne. The fields are
in good order and the crops abundant. The herd is rapidly improv-
ing, and the pupils are more numerous than usual.-' This school pros-
pers, and furnishes a proof under the very eyes of our farmers that
good farming pays. A few more improvements, which its managers
are always ready to accept, and we shall have here an institution that
will be of great assistance to this part of the province.

It is my intention that the directors, professors, and even the pupils
of our schools, should interchange visits during the year. From this
will, I trust, result a general improvement. Grood systems will be
initiated, bad ones laid on one side. When everything has been got
into good order in all the schools, there might be granted, to excite
greater emulation, certain prizes to the one that shall distinguish itself
the most.

'This school, although only 0[.>ened last autumn, already reckons twenty pupils. With
tliti fathers they grow root and green fodder crops on a large scale ; take their turn in the
cheesery and creamery ; learn how to graft and manage fruit trees, and even how to
make cider and wine. A fine vineyard is all ready there, and is the admiration of
vieitors.

-Here, too, there are, at pr-sent, fifteen pupils.

L'ASSOMPTION.

The SchooJ at LAssomption has not yet completed the changes and
improvements we thought it our duty to suggest ; but they are get-
ting on, and by next summer will, we doubt not, attract a good num-
ber of pupils

COMPTON.

We have only just founded the Compfon Model Farm for the Eastern
Townships. Every one knows that the locality selected is one of the
most celebrated for the excellence of its farms, for its good farming,
and for the care bestowed on the breeding of the best kinds of cattle.
The country of our great breeder, the Hon. Senator Cochrane, known
throughout America for his success in winning prizes at the exhibi-
tions, is indeed the place where one can most advantageously collect
young farmers and instruct thero in the intelligent breeding of cattle,
as well as in the art of growing crops suited to dairying And, so, I
thought it right to accept the offer of the municipality of the village
of Compton. The principal proprietors, all of whom are well known
farmers, take great interest in the new establishment ; the countnl
has bought the farm with its good and complete buildings, for which
$6,500 were i)aid, and has put it into the hands of a syndicate of ex-
perienced men. A model creamery the council is building, for which
all the necessary fittings have been carefully selected and bought ; it
will be ready to receive pupils next summer. Numerous will those
be, I hope, who will flock thither to perfect themselves in their busi-
ness on this classic land of good farming.

Three members, one of whom is appointed by the government,
compose the syndicate. The House will learn with pleasure* that we
have chosen my Hon. colleague, the member for Compton. as our
representative. This eminent post among his fellow-citizens, was his
due since he was the chief founder of this school, and took the greatest
pains to arrive at the desired end, its successful establishment. It was
also his due, on account of his success as a farmer, for by that busi-
ness alone has our honorable colleague raised himself to the distin-
guished rank he holds among us. If I add that the son pf the former
partner of the Hon. M. H. Cochrane, Mr. F. H. O. Smith, who exploits
at Compton one of the best as well as largest farms of the province, is
one of the founders of this model farm and devotes all his time to it.

10

it will be admitted that the young establishment is in good hands,
and that we have a right to expect great results from it. "We rf joice
in it for the sake of our English-speaking friends ; and I cordially
congratulate the municipal council of Compton on its enterprising
spirit, and the good example it is setting to the province at large.

So much for our schools, at least for the present, for I am sure that
if they are overcrowded, the House will hasten to aid in the establish-
ment of others.

Shall I say a word on the

Schools of Industry and of Horticulture for Girls.

The mothers of our robust and intelligent population have al-
ways been renowned for their adroitness, the dexterity of their fin-
■ gers, and their skill in the management of the garden, whence comes
more than one pleasant offering to the master of the house. We all
admire, too, the taste with which she adorns her home, thus making
it more attractive to the children. Shall we allow all these charming
industries of the fireside, which occupy so equally and profitably the
i'ountry life, gathering the family together, concentrating it, full of
afFectiou, to the great benefit of the whole — shall we allow these, I
say, to perish ?

I enjoy the acquaintance of an excellent la'-.y, a scion of one of
our old families, the ornament of society from the good quali-
ties of her mind and her heart, the joy of her family in which she can
count the grandchildren of her children ; skilful among all. no one
ever excelled her in the little industries of the home and in the
management of her brilliant flower garden. Now that her poor eyes
are beginning to shun the light, her nimble fingers, working for the
poor, still furnish her with an agreeable occupation, while she
amusingly narrates rales of former days.

Such were our mothers ; such we must wish our wives to be.

ROBERVAL AND St. BeNOIT.

If we read the programme of the School at. Roberva/, Saguenay, kept
by the R.R. Ladies of the Ursuline order, and of the St. Benoit school,
Two-Mountains, kept by the 11. R. Gray Sisters ; if we visit their
establishments, we shall soon be convinced of the good they are likely
to do in our province.

11

At Roberval, not ouly is the interior domestic industry prosperously-
carried on, not only jg t^e garden a model, but even the farm,
throughout its wholo extent, is an example of superior cultivation.

For certain tendencies to be g'ven to the teachings in our schools^
I can fortunately calculate on the assistance of men of judgment and
experience, men who ha e already given pro* of their skill in agri-
culture. Among those, I may mention my honourable friend, the
member for Comptou, and his colleagues in the Council of Agri-
culture.

Liberal offers have been made to us for the formation of new agri-
cultural .■- 'hools. To these we have answered that we weh.'ome-
their institution with pleasure, and will grant them all possible-
assistance as soon as we should feel justilied in doing so by the
increase in the number of pupils.

The Agkicut.tur.a-l Pupil.

Can we supply a numerous body of students to our schools ? By
what means ? I reply at once , by the same means that have filled^
nay, even overcrowded our classical colleges.

God forbid that I should regret all that has been done in that direc-
tion. The friends of classical education, fortunate in the enjoyment
of its benefits, \\\\\ always honour the memory of those men of
enlarged views, the founders of our colleges, prosperous to-day and
always necessary. From their bosom have sprung the leaders of the
nation.

In so praiseworthy an object, I intend to imitate their mode of ac-
tion, hoping to follow in their successful steps. This time, without
fear of oven'rowdiug, of excess, which, in every undertaking, is pre-
judicial. The field is vast, enormous ; in the new arena energy of
all kinds may find scope, and there will be no failures {declass^s).
There will be none of those lads who, having prepared themselves foi-
hononrable positions, see them fade away before them in spite of their
efforts and sacrifices.

In this province, there are five thousand students attending our
classical colleges ; a vast number ^ndeed, out of all proportion, I may
say, to the population at large. We have overshot the mark.

How has this result been arrived at V How comes it that the taste
for the higher education is so widely spread that almost every one of

• 12

our farmers longs for it for at least one member of his family ? It has,
80 to speak, become habitual. No one has to cry it up any longer ; it
can walk alone. Look at this settler who, full of joy, leaves his home
on the skirts of the forest. He is taking his son to the college of his
selection. He is about to realise the project so long, so fondly dis-
cussed by the fireside. What trouble, what labour, have been
submitted to for the accomplishment of this purpose! But he will
have among his children, one educated man at least, and what hopes
for the future rest on his head ! Who has advised this step, who has
urged him to it? No one; he is only just doing what others are
doing.

It is by constant exertion that this result has been arrived at. After
having, by dint of many sacrifices, built the colleges, the clergy set
strenuously to work to find pupils. The farmer, who could not
afford the cost of his son's board, was assisted by the clergy, who found
the money as they found the earnest advice ; the pupil was secured.

Thus, the province was supplied with educated men, some of whom
became able and devoted leaders. What was done iu this case was
more difficult than the steps we are now advising. The college
student was at first harder to find than the pupil of the farm-school
will be nowadays.

And the time is propitious for the new enterprise. A great agri-
cultural awakening is taking place The movement is growing
rapidly ; farming is the fashion : because it is becoming profitable.
Let us profit by the favour it is now enjoying to fill our schools
with pupils. Let us incite the farmer to feel an earnest desire to
have his family represented there ; let us once more undertake the
task which we have already performed ; let us advise him, let us help
him. Let the Club and the Agricultural Society come to the aid of
the father if, without their assistance, he cannot support his son at
school. When he returns, he will be an example for the rest to follow.
The government will not be wanting in assisting the clubs to have
their representatives at school.

We must insist upon a pupil from every parish. The demand is
not exorbitant. If successful, though, it would bring in from 900 to
1,000 pupils ; for there is that number of parishes. And we pledge
ourselves that they will become proselytisers. For they will be well
treated. They will learn to love both the school and agriculture.

13

When at home once more, they will find rivals and school-fellows
among" their young friends, and, thenceforward, as was the case with
the highe^ education, the system will go along of itself.

When the school has become too smnll, never fear, it will be in-
creased in sizo or others will be built.

G-ive me the pupil, and I will provide the school, and a good one,
too.

In every parish and every ilub there is to be formed a small com-
mittee whose special duty will be to find this pupil. By their own
exertions, the clergy has already found pupils for the colleges, and
now will assist us greatly for the agricultural missioners make it
the first item in their programme.

The movement is organised, the plan is arranged, just as formerly,
but this time, it is the farmer's son at home whom it concerns. At
last, it is his turn. He, entrusted with the duty of keeping up the
family and its traditions, of maintaining the family-house in good
repair, of sustaining the hospitality of the home, of that ho^e to
which will resort for renovation more than one brother who at one
time turned his back on the fields and betook himself to the noisy life
of towns.

I have known cures who, when the colleges were scantily sup-
plied with pupils, kept at their own cost fifteen to eighteen lads
as students. What expense and trouble ! Good, reiterated advice
from the same men will be sufficient now for what we aim at.

And, moreover, the time is at hand when the cultivation of the
land will offer a new career to our lads on their leaving college. More
and more is science finding its place in the exploitation of the land
as well as in the duties of the professions. It «;ornes in a marvellous
way to the aid of man by the multiplication of machinery ; it studies
the soil, prescribes and applies the elements in which it is defective ;
keeps in store remedies for the diseases of plants and crops ; watches
vigilantly over the health of our valuable herds ; repels contagious
diseases or contends with them when they occur : travels afar to find
new markets, studies them carefully, and shows us how to prepare
goods suited to their demands; and now we find it, strange to say,
bending electricity to its service in hastening the growth of plants.

Yes, indeed, farming will soon attract to its pursuit the educated •
youth. In it he will find a reward for his industry and intelligence.

14

If his arms cannot — and they should not — be at work all the time, the
work will go on none the worse for that, seeing that a well stored
bra'u will be superintending every operation.

It has been sometimes said that the vicinity of the college has been
•detrimental to the success of our farm-schools, the pupils being all
the time agitated by the idea of rising to the higher education of the
college. All this will be changed ; agriculture is engrossing all kinds
■of studies as it is talents of every description, at the same time that it
is becoming remunerative and universally in vogue.

Now is the time for the student at the college to pass over to the
farm-school, there to finish his education and to start on a happy and
prosperous life.

For admission to the farm-school, the pupil must be fourteen years
of age, be able to read and write, and to satisfy the Director and the
government Inspector, that he really intends to foUow^ farming as his
life business.

Thef first fifteen pupils admitted to a school are to be called bursars
and receive teaching, board, and lodging, gratuitously. The next that
«nter will have to board themselves, at the school, or in some house
in the neighbourhood. They will receive theoretical and practical
instruction, free.

Speaking of our schools, I will mention one that I call our

Travelling School.

It is a way of getting good out of the system of "Agricultural
Merit."

It is well known that the judges entrusted with the distribution of
the prizes to the owners of the farms submitted to competition have
to traverse successively the different parts of the province so as to
complete the circuit in five years. Up to the present, their duty has
been to settle who deserve the medals and diplomas. I have deter-
mined to get a greater amount of service out of these judges, who are
men of experience and judgment. I have instructed them to inspect
■each farm carefully, and to enter their remarks and advice in a note
book, a copy of which is to be handed over to the proprietor, the original
to be kept for themselves. The competitor thus receives from these
judges a body of counsels calculated to make his farm more than ever
a model to the neighbourhood. In this book, which he may consult

16

with benefit for years, will be found entered all the good that he has
done on his farm, all that might have been done differently to advan-
tage, and \he innovatious that the judges think he had better make
in his nsiial practice. The lessons, thus, are given on the spot,
after discussion with ihe competitor, while the judges are passing
field by field through the farm.

There, is a system t!iat is as pleasant as it is practical and useful. It
is good advice, disinterested advice, and consequently welcome ad-
vice, and therefore well followed, to Ihe great benefit of the farmer as
well as an example to the whole district, and I may say that people
accept it with gratitude and that it may be truly said to be effective.
It is " An object-lesson," to use a school. term, is this question dis-
cussed on the very spot where the finger can be laid on all that i.>s
deficient as well as on all that is efficient.

Competitors have declared that the visit of the judges of agricultural
merit marks a quite novel era in their system of farming ; that they
were pleased with the advice offered, and would avail themselves of
it at once ; and that it was more valuable to them than any medals
or diplomas that might be awarded to them.

The managers of our dairy-association sometimes employ teachers
who, furnished with the requisite implements, travel through the
country teaching the best w^ay of making butter at farm-houses ; the
plan is found to be a good one, and wherever these teachers have
been, it is proved that benefit has been derived from their lessons ;
and so with the tours of our judges of agricultural merit. The farms
that are submitted for competition are naturally the best managed i u
the district, and by improving them by the advice of the judges we
are creating model-farms without cost to the province.

We are going, if possible, to bring this travelling farm-school to
perfection. The judges are instructed to remain on the farm of each
competitor as long as there is any good to be done as regards his sys-
tem of cultivation. The distribution of prizes, although made with
never so much care and judgment, becomes thus a merely secondary
matter in the duties of the judges. Their first duty is to teach, to
reform practice, and then to reward. I have every reason to congra-
tulate myself on this innovation. After the successful issue of the dairy-
school, it is the one that I think the most valuable. It is not, here,
the boy who goes to school, it is the school that goes to the boy in

16

earnest, and the pupil is anxious enough to benefit by the benefits it
carries with it. The competilors of the " Agricultural Merit Com-
p^^t'tion" average sixty annually.

The St. Hyacinthe School.

I do not speak here of the dairy school at St. Hyacintho, for the
excellent reason that to mention it is enough ! It is successful ! Two
hundred and fifty to three hundred pupils ! Thank goodness I have
no reason to trouble myself about it, for it goes alone, like our classical
education It can do without our encouragement — in our speeches, at
least — for the farmer and his son attend it. It sows prosperity broad-
cast over the whole province, to which it furnishes specialists. I do
not include this among the establishments I commend to the care of
our farmers, for two reasons : first, because it is thoroughly appreci-
ated ; secondly, because, if we wish it to continue to be filled with
students, we must everywhere increase our production, improve our
farming, and make our farms yield more butter and cheese, both
articles of export trade that bring in the greatest profit. It is the
cultivation of the land that must be now attended to, since the final
making up of the goods is all right. Thus, we are providing by our
schools for the instruction, the need of which is making itself felt in
our rural districts, and we are acting, moreover, in concert with the
clergy, who, now more than ever, are entering with energy into the
arena.

But our agriculture needs immediate aid ; we want a fountain of
prosperity that can be turned over our rural parts, especially whero
the loss of population has been most severe, and where a good many
farms arc without occupants.

The Dairy Industry.

Dairying here comes in, with wonderful effect, to the rescue. It
will prove to be an effective inducement to lead the farmer to improve
his cultivation. By its aid he may become a lender, instead of the
borrower he too often is ; by it, farms, the houses on which, entrusted
to the care of a neighbor, are under lock aud key, will find happy and
properous occupants ; by it, the desert caused in some of our parishes
by an exhaustive system of farming will become gay, and the popula-
tion dense where it is now scanty. Everywhere onr land will feed

It

pleatifuUy a happy people and emigration will cease. In the old
parishes there will be a scarcity of labour, and work will be paid bet-
ter for thau it is abroad.

And much more, our compatriots will return from the States,
finding that there is plenty of work here, while it is scarce in that
country.

Experience, especially of the last two years, has shown us what
this industry of making butter and cheese can do for our land.

One of our leading financiers has just told us that it has sheltered
our province from the fearful commercial hurricane that lately swept
over the American Union. While, there, the financial institutions were
plunging into the depths one by one, in the midst of a general reign
of terror, ours, in a sereuer atmosphere, were peacefully pursuing their
prosperous and happy path. Thanks to dairying, the farmer, receiv-
I ing cash for his goods, has been able to pay cash for his purchases at
the store, the storekeeper has made all his payments ; the prosperous
branch has paid the great central bank, and thus our agriculture has
saved the province from the disasters that have raged elsewhere.

"Wherefore, we intend putting to some good use the services of the
clubs, of the agricultural missioners, and of all well disposed men, to
encourage the establishment of this business, from this year, in all the
parishes which are not already favored by its existence. This can be
done, now that the St. Hyacinthe school furnishes us with dairy-
men.

Some of our parishes last year sold as much as $60,000 worth of
butter and cheese apiece. What a success to lay before the eyes of
those of our farmers who, as yet, have not profited by this industry !

The cattle exist in every part. What Is wanted is the assured co-
operation of a sufficient number of patrons. The moderate capital re-
quired can easily be found. At the St. Hyacinthe school, as well as
at the more successful of the factories, the most suitable working
implements can be selected. All the arrangements can be made in a
very short space of time, and then the farmer will begin to draw
monthly payments for his labor. This is, indeed, very difierent from
that system of farming, the returns for which were only felt at the end
of three or four years !

By the production of a good article, extending f6r that purpose our
system of syndicates of creameries and cheeseries, making it even

• \ ■

18

obligatory if necessary, as well as by the stamping of our products, we
shall shortly have to dread the over-supply of the markets to which
we now consign our goods.

There is also tb winter fresh butter business, for which we have, in
our large towns, a sale that we are far from exploiting as we might
do. In this, we should imitate a country as cold as ours, Den-
mark, which sends to England yearly $24,000,000 worth of but-
ter. There the cows calve in September and October, so their great-
est yield of milk is in winter.

Green Fodder.

But if dairying is to be carried on ^reen fodder-crops must be grown.
That is the real secret of dairyinq ! Let the field be well
manured and ploughed in the fall, and see that it be extensive
enough to furnish a good supply of food in aid of the pastures during
the summer droughts. The cows will then go on milking, and will
be kept so throughout the autumn until they go into winter quart-
ers ; and here, again, there must be a provision of green meat for the
winter months. The field, to fill the silo, or the bay of the barn in
layers alternately with straw, besides furnishing the summer's
food, must be pretty large. Thus, the cows will be kept in milk for
ten months ; they will always be in good condition, whether to go
into winter quarters or to go out to grass in spring.

People ought to bear in mind that when a cow is once checked in her
yield of milk it is very difficult, if not impossible, to restore the flow.

Colonisation.

Alongside of this word I shall place the word re-peopling ; the re-
peopling of our old parishes. In some of these, desertion has passed
like a tornado, a fire, leaving everywhere a void. Numbers of houses
are locked up, under the care of a neighbor. If he thinks fit, which
seldom happens, he will get something out of the farm, to the profit
of the absent one.

" How many vacant farms are there in your parish ?" asked I of a
good parish priest, who was doing his best to get up a farmers' club.
" From thirty to forty," replied he, with a sigh. " And the parishion-
ers ?" " Grone to the large towns!" ,

Must not we fill up these sad voids while we are making such in-
roads into the virgin forest ?

19

Let us seize upon the land, as people often say. After seizing upon
it, the thing is to keep it. The 8ucc«^88ful general, after the victory,
leaves a good ^arrison in the captured towns.

Wo have already a great deal too much land under the plough. If
we ploughed less and farmed better, the profits would be larger. I
saw the other day a capital book, by an American author. Its title
was, " We farm too much land." In it he preaches the concentration
of cultivation, and brings plenty of evidence in support of his doc-
trine. (1)

There is also a fact that we see proved every day ; as soon as dairy-
ing becomes thoroughly established in a parish, the demand for labor
becomes greater than the supply. Laborers have to be imported.
Dairying paying the farmer, he at once increases his herd, and he has
the means of paying the help he needs.

Our rural population is by no means too thick ; every place will
soon have its creamery or cheesery. In spite of this, there will
always be need cf colonisation ; it must be led, aided, in such a way
that the settler, that hardy skirmisher of our exploitation, does not
despair and abandon, he as well as the man of the old parishes, his
task when half finished.

There will always be settlers to look after, to protect on the flanks
of the forest. These are led thither by divers motives ; many of them
cannot be induced to take hold of one of the cleared and abandoned
farms of our old parishes. No, it is the father of a large family who
sells his little farm near the village for the purpose of settling his
sons around him and giving to each a large property, the fruit of his
toil and foresight ; it is the farmer who met with misfortunes at the
old village ; he leaves it for the forest, to hide his trouble, and to re-
new his stock of energy and courage ; prosperity may await him
there ; it is the son who sees no prospect of inheriting further wealth,
who only expects it from the employment of his vigorous arm ; when
he has cleared his land, built his house and barn, he will return to

(1) The other day, at the agricultural congress at Huntingdon, that skilled agronome
Mr. Macpherson, of Lancaster, brought forward a farmer who testified to the excellent re-
sults of the concentration. This man had failed in exploiting a farm of 150 acres under
the plough, and was now doing well on a lot of 50 acres ; he kept more stock and gold
more. And he stated this as a fact before the large meeting above mentioned.

20

his old home, there to unite himself to the intrepid partner of his >
labor and his life.

How These Settlers Succeed in the Forest.

These settlers leave home, each in Ins own direction, seldom in im-
portant groups. They generally select the nearest spot, follow the
roads opened in the forest, or leave the road for some notion that
strikes them, or from some information they receive ; they bury them-
selves sometimes in the bush, separated from the rest of the world by
the absence of roads. Aftex years of misery of all kinds, the govern-
ment perhaps comes to their aid and gives them means of exit. There
are people established thus, 20, 30, even 50 miles from our establish-
ments. Snowshoes in winter, canoes in summer : such are their
modes of travel. Again, have they chosen good land for themselves?
How often, after having laboriously cleared off the bush, have they
not found that, to their grief, the soil was ungrateful and would al-
ways be so.

There are thus whole parishes that never ought to have been cut
out of the bush. The timber was large and stout, but the farmer's
land will never bear full crops. The wood was valuable, but the
crops that succeed are no great things.

The elementary part of settling has thus been left to itself ; it ar-
ranged itself as it could, rather by chance. Can we guide these precious
elements, urge them on in groups towards those rich valleys where
the thick layer of alluvium promises them success ; make them re-
nounce the rule of each one for himself, his own way to each, put a stop
to isolation, which paralyses everything, and replace it by the bene-
fits to be derived from the group, the beneficent effect of the parish ?
This is really what I aim at, and for my encouragement I have the
experience of what has been done among us during the last three or
four years. With an object, excellent from their point of view, per-
sons whose position commands the respect of the public, have come
among us for the purpose of recruiting the population of whole
parishes to people our Canadian North- West. Aided by the facilities
80 freely granted by the C. P. R., they send off in spring several train-
loads of entire settlements. These families, transported with their
furniture, and even with their stock, are carried to places two or three
thousand miles away. There, is an entire parish moving otf along the
line, and about to settle under other skies.

21 '

Could not we try to do something of this kind to arrive at the same
end, but at a much nearer spot, remaining at home, in our own
province ?

In fertile townships, within each diocese, I will have selected by
the explorer of the department the best places for the occupation of
settlers. I will beg the agricultural missionaries, on their visits
to the parishes, to be good enough to collect the names of all those
who wish to seek out new^ farms. All those of the same district will,
as iar as possible, be directed towards the same point. The parish
should be formed at once, and would then be easily provided with
roads by the government. If the settlers now are sutFering from
want of roads, it is because the settlements are too numerous and too
scattered, so that the means at our disposal are not sufficient.

Shall we succeed in thus guiding the stream of emigration towards
the Crown lands, in so arranging it that, there as elsewhere, union
shall give strength ? This is what I hope for, thanks to the powerful
movement we now observe. And the settler, far from having to take
his sad and lonely path into the bush, will arrive there full of good
spirits ; he will hud new neighbors, all delighted to afford him help
and pleasant companionship.

With groups like this, progress will be rapid ; mutual aid will be
efficient, and the assistance granted by government will benefit a
greater number. The people will be ready at once to receive the
lecturer, the agricultural missioner.

As soon as there are fifty cows belonging to the group, let a
moderate grant be made in aid of the establishment of a creamery or
cheesery. Thenceforward, the success of the settlement is assured.

The dairy industry, carried on by the settler : that is the best means
of promptly securing his success. When he gets regularly paid by
the factory for the products of his cows, he will gladly take upon him-
self the making and care of his roads. To start with, his hardwood .
lands will furnish pasture, and his burnt clearings will give him
maize, tares and oats for winter food.

How many settlers, in places where we are still making the roads,
have told me and the members of this House that they would will-
ingly take charge of the roads, if they could be provided with a butter
or cheese factory.

^- ■ '22

I can say, without hesitation, that part of the grant devoted to
colonisation roads might be advantageously employed for tlie above
purpose.

I have in some degree, but not as much as I could wish, put this
plan into practise, and the results are wonderful. The settlers are in
great spirits — many of them having left their homes poor — at being
able to earn hard cash at once, and that paid monthly, while they, at
the same time, are carving out fine estates for themselves from the
bush. News of the successful issue of the settlement is soon spread
abroad ; the settlers arrive with their cattle ; in the second year the
number of cows from fifty mounts up to seventy-five or eighty. At
the end of three years the factory no longer needs assistance, and a
new parish, young and full of energy, has arisen in the province.

I will have an account written, for the House or in the Journal of
Agriculture, the history of one of these colonisation settlements in the
maiden forest, in which the establishment of a factory produced ease
and comfort from its very commencement. We helped it, and, in re-
turn for that help, the settlers willingly took the care of the roads on
themselves. The settlers drive to the factory with their milk and
drive back with the cash. Money in the bush ! Tnis is indeed a
discovery, since the lumbermen have left !

This experiment greatly encourages us to persist. The factories
will be of the greatest service to colonisation, but it must depend
upon the grouping of the settlers together ; they must be gathered
up in a group ; we must not be satisfied with making a great boast
about opening long roads, planting here and there feeble colonies, and
calling upon the people to come at their pleasure. Many will come,
but they will go back before long. The roads cannot be kept up,
there is not enough population ; the bush threatens to recover its lost
ground. That is what is gained by spreading one's strength and acts
over too much territory. The life of these poor settlements will be
* weak and ailing. Not that it was unwise to have gone afar and so
deep into the bush, to occupy a grand position when everything was
promising for a strong settlement ; but the colonists should have
gone there in numbers, if they hoped to establish a centre of life and
activity.

And, now, we shall have to devote ourselves to completing all those
outlines that we have before us, where too much has been under-

23

taken at once ; all these have to be filled with people before we push
fresh settlers ahead. Let us combine our efforts, condense our means
and action, and try to make prosperous these places that we already
occupy.

"With the aid of right-thinking men, we shall be able, I trust, to
prepare new swarms ; to those who propose to become settlers due
notice must be given. They should start in the fall, all together, to
make the cut of the undergrowth [efferdochage] ; and, especially, word
should be passed when the time arrives to go up with the family to
take possession of the new estates, to burn the bush, and to make the
first sowings. In company — and in large companies — our country-
man is always happy, and w^orks with emulation. Do not let us any-
longer allow him to exile, to isolate himself. Let us do for our set-
tlers what the C. P. R. does for those in whom it is interested.

In drafting the list in each parish of those who wish to take up
new farms, we may perhaps, at the same time, gather in some who
intend to emigrate to the States, or who are returning thence ; there
are many of the latter this year. "We shall then have a sort of regis,
ter which will show us the elements we have to guide and protect.

Re-peopling.

To fill up the vacancies left by emigration in our old parishes, to re-
pair the losses, to fill up the outlines. I have long been anxious to
obtain a list of the abandoned farms, what price is asked for each, if
they can be rented for ten years, with right of purchase by the tenant
at any time during the lease ; how they are off for house and farm
buildings, for water and firing, total acreage, how much under the
plough, etc. I am succeeding in getting this information. This will
be made known to the clubs, and through them to the country. It
will be useful to those who wish to take new farms, and to those who
intend to return to the country.

More than one man, who knows how to farm properly, may thus at
once fit himself for beginning a paying business without having to
undertake the long and arduous task of the settler, the struggle with
the forest, the encumbrance of stumps, the distance from market.
And the parish, by degrees, will repair its losses, and children will
be born that will replace those it has lost. The heart of the country,
the old parishes, will be sound and strong ; the extremities will of a
surety feel its good effects.

24

All this cannot be done at once, that is certain, but it can be begun,
and that without delay. Without much outlay, we have here a good
opportunity of being useful, both to the parish and to the indi-
vidual. (1)

Farmers' Syndicates.

Before concluding, one word on the agricultural syndicates for
farmers. They are likely to be a great assistance to us. Upright and
devoted brokers, or middlemen, experts in the goods that are to be
bought or sold, they will save both the cost of journeys and the
search or inquiries necessary to find out the thing required. The one
at Quebec has for its president, both honorary and active, His Lord-
ship Monseigneur Begin, who thus gives a fresh proof of his devotion
to the cause. The Montreal syndicate is presided over by the Hon.
J. J. Ross, president of the Senate, and Legislative Councillor.

Both are composed of men well known to the public, as well by
their acquaintance with their special subjects as by their position in
society.

Our farmers may trust these bodies, and confide to them all their
transactions both in sales and purchases. Quite unnecessary to sacri-
fice one's time or money in getting the grain, seeds, implements,
fertilisers, breeding stock that one wants, or in selling butter, cheese,
hay, etc. All this can be done, at very little expense, through the
post, those to whom the orders are entrusted being worthy of confi-
dence.

This idea of syndicates came to us from France, where the system
has done wonders. They are associations of good citizens content
with a trifling remuneration, or with none at all, who place them-
selves devotedly at the service of farmers and of farmers' clubs. It is
easy to see cf how much use they may become. The person who
knows nothing at all about the article he orders, may order it all the
same, and trust the buyers to do him justice. The article he receives
will be all right. Through these syndicates, purchases will very often

(1) While this is at press, I am very happy to find that the Colonisation Society just
formed at Montreal is especially engaged in filling up these vacancies in our parishes. I
heartily wish it success. The young settlers who shall leave their parishes thus rendered
prosp3rou8 and populous, will arrive at the new settlement amply provided with every-
thing necessary to immediate success.

26

be made to much greater advantage thau by takiugupon one's self the
cost and loss of time that a journey creates.

The clubs and agricultural societies can benefit by the services of
these syndicates by affiliating themselves with one, at a cost of ten
dollars ; individual subscription, one dollar.

The Department has absolutely no connection with these bodies,
which are entirely out of its control. Still I think it is my duty to
recommend them to the agricultural public, as they may turn out to
be very useful to it.

Conclusion.

I beg to thank the House for its kind attention, for the marks of
sympathy I have received from, I may say, both sides. I would re-
quest the assistance of all men of good will, of all those who have at
heart the prosperity of our agriculture, to see that our schools over-
flow with pupils (a guarantee of a permanent agricultural success) ;
that creameries aiM cheeseries be erected where none as yet exist (a
guarantee that our farming is at once to become profitable) ; that
farmer's clubs be established where there are none ; that coloiiisation
be properly organised, that a hand be extended to the settler to lead
him to good land, to protect and encourage hira when settled there ;
that those of our con 'ry men who have emigrated, and who are now
far from prospering abroad, be brought back to our old parishes ; that
emigration from our parishes be abolished, and that every Canadian
find a happy home in his own country. Our bankers say that this
year our dairy industry has made our province secure and wealthy.
Let us continue that which has been so well begun.