In these days some people are inclined to speak of the near disappearance of free land in Canada. If by free land it is meant that there is no longer the liberty to settle at random without any qualifications for so doing, then there is truth in such a statement. But the history of Canada during the past two decades proves that if the Dominion is to prosper, there must be settlers who either have the necessary farming knowledge or the ability to acquire it. In either case the Government or the Railways will grant land as near free land as it can be made.
To train young farmers in the science and practice of agriculture, colleges and experimental farms have been established, and both Canadians and new-comers have taken advantage of them. For instance, in 1874 there were twenty-eight students at the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. To-day the total enrolment is about 2,400. It can be seen, then, that there is a real desire upon the part of the rising generation for a scientific knowledge of farming, without which even virgin { 483} soil cannot yield indefinitely. It is admitted that there may be more comfortable conditions in other countries, but Canada still remains the land of opportunity towards which the people always extend a beckoning hand.
When the grain is on the stalk, and the fields of wheat extend as far as the eye can see, the glowing red sun sinks beneath a golden horizon at the end of a summer's day. But, like young Canada, it rises again the next to breathe life on the land and destiny of the Empire's Great Dominion.
[1] Speech, House of Commons, March 13, 1900.
Abbott, Sir J. J. C., 415 Abenakis, 114; allies of French, 212 Abercromby, General, defeated by Montcalm, 245 Acadia, meaning; of, 5; its modern divisions, 5; occupied by De Monts, 50-54; history of, as French possession, 92-109, 203, 206-208; ceded to England; 208; French inhabitants of, 218; their unhappy fate, 231-236 Acadians, expulsion of, 231-236 Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 219 _À la clair fontaine_, French Canadian ballad, 452 Alaska, discovery of gold in, 430 Alaskan boundary award, 430, 461 _Alcide_ and _Lys_, French frigates, captured by English, 229 Alexander, Sir W. (Lord Stirling), receives rights in Acadia, and names Nova Scotia, 89 Alfonce, Captain Jehan, French pilot, 47 Algonquin Indians, 114; tribal divisions of, 114, 115; customs of, 123-128; illustration of, 111 Alverstone, Lord, Chief Justice of England, 430 American Canadian Waterways Commission, 478 American Revolution, War of, attitude of French Canadians during, 282; Canada invaded, 283, 284; Montreal taken, 283; Quebec besieged, 285-287; death of Montgomery, 285; American troops retire from Canada, 286, 287; defeat of Cornwallis, 288; peace, _ib._ Amherst, General, 242, 245 Amundsen, Roald, 465 Andastes, 82, 83 Anglo-Japanese Treaty, 480 Annapolis (Port Royal), valley of, 51, 52; old capital of Nova Scotia, 206. _See_ Port Royal _Anse-an-Foulon_ (Wolfe's Cove), Wolfe ascends Quebec heights from, 254-256; Montgomery's march from, 285 Antillia, 21 Archibald, Adams, first Governor of Manitoba, 392 Arctic Exploration, 464 Argall, Samuel, destroys St. Sauveur and Port Royal in Acadia, 64, 65 Arms of the Dominion. _See_ cover of this volume [Transcriber's note: missing from book] Armistice, 469 Arnold, General Benedict, his expedition against Quebec, 284-286; raises siege, 286 Arthur, Sir George, Canadian Governor, 355 Ashburton Treaty, 375 Assembly, Legislative, first at Halifax, 302; at Quebec, 306; in other provinces, 302, 303. _See_ Legislatures, House of Commons Assiniboia. _See_ Red River Association of Nations, 457, 467 Astrolabe, lost by Champlain, 79 Atlantis, island of, 12 Ayleswurth, Mr. A. B., 430 Autonomy Bills, 461
