CONTENTS. PAGE. iii. LETTER OF TRANSMISSION. PART I.-THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS. Notes from Temiscamingue District.. FARM LANDS: Statistics by county groups showing rural area assessed, cleared lands, woodland and Acreage under crop and proportion per 1,000 acres of cleared land. FIELD CROPS: General description, showing by county groups the area and production for 1897 and 1898 as compared with the annual averages, with extracts from remarks made by corres- COMPARATIVE YIELD OF FIELD CROPS: Showing ratios of yields to the annual averages Rain and snow The weather at Toronto.. The weather at Lake Temiscamingue .... RURAL AREA: Showing by counties and districts as taken by municipal assessors for 1898 the total FIELD CROPS: Showing by counties and districts the acreage and production of the several field crops for the years 1897 and 1898, with the yearly average for the seventeen years, 1882-98; also Ratios of total production in 1898 to yearly averages of each crop Ratios of yields per acre in 1898 to yearly averages ACREAGE UNDER CROP: Showing by counties and districts the aggregate area of the above 14 crops; also the area in pasture, in orchards and in vineyards RATIOS OF AREAS UNDER EACH CROP PER 1,000 ACRES OF CLEARED LAND. APPLES: Showing the number of trees. PART II.-LIVE STOCK, THE DAIRY, AND THE APIARY. LIVE STOCK ON HAND: General review of the condition of live stock in 1898, and showing by county groups the numbers of the several classes on hand on July 1, with comparative totals for five Creameries, comparative totals for six years.. Cheese factories, comparative totals for sixteen years.. STATISTICS OF LIVE STOCK: Showing details of numbers by counties and districts: STATISTICS OF CHEESE FACTORIES: Showing by counties and districts for 1898 the amount of milk used, the quantity and value of cheese made, the number of patrons and the amounts paid to (The list of cheese factories is issued as a separate pamphlet.) VALUES OF FARM PROPERTY: Showing statistics by county groups for 1897 and 1898 of the values VALUES OF LIVE STOCK: Showing by county groups, in 1898, the values of the several classes of live stock on hand on July 1, and of those sold or slaughtered in the year ending June 30: MARKET PRICES: Showing for the leading markets of Ontario the average prices of agricultural pro- All field crops as above PART IV.-CHATTEL MORTGAGES. Months. PART I. THE WEATHER. Temperature, rainfall and sunshine, together with the character of the soil and the nature of the tillage, are the chief factors in determining the quality of crops. Seasonable temperature and timely falls of rain or snow tend to develop a generous and well matured crop, while frosts which come too early or too late, or alternate thawing and freezing in winter, a great drouth during the growing period, or a too frequent or too prolonged rainfall, may mean the failure of a crop. Sunshine also plays an important point in the proper maturing of grain and fruit. The following weather tables, therefore, are full of interesting suggestion to those who may study them. TEMPERATURE. The following table gives the temperature from April to September inclusive-practically the growing season-at ten well distributed points in the Province, and also the average for the seventeen years, 1882 98: Mean for six 1898 58.4 61.1 61.5 59.8 63.2 61.0 60.6 59.7 1897 56.5 59.5 61.2 58.6 62.2 59.0 57.5 57.6 months.. (1882-98 56.3 59.4 60.7 59.1 61.3 58.5 57.5 57.2 61.0 58.5 60.5 59 3 57.5 58.9 58.9 55.1 58.4 The mean temperature of the Province for April-September was 60.5°, being 1.6o bove that of the same period in the preceding year, and 2.1° higher than the average for the seventeen years 1882 98. Stony Creek is credited with the highest mean temperature, 63.2° being reported, London coming next, while Saugeen and Rockliffe record 58 4o and 58.5 respectively. Both April and July failed to show as high a temperature as in 1897, but each of the six months experienced a higher average temperature than its own figures show for the seventeen years' term. [1] |