_44__ PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND FARM METHODS

In agricultural matters old methods are rapidly giving place to new. Following the example of other countries, many P. E. Island farmers are now bestowing attention upon the higher branches of agriculture, or in other words turning their raw material into a finished product, instead of marketing it as such. They are now feeding their coarse grain to live stock instead of selling it, and are producing butter, cheese, meat, poultry and fruits for the British market. This change will preserve the fertility of the soil, and give better returns for the labor and skill expended. Still, the average P. E. Island husbandman remains a general or mixed farmer, and specialists are relatively few.

FARMING WEATHER

The summer season is very favorable for farming oper- ations in Prince Edward Island. Although the tedious springs retard to a certain extent the early work, yet seeding is gen- erally through by the first of June. The summer is short and the crops rapidly grow to maturity—first hay, then barley, closely followed by wheat and oats. After the close of October, outside work is practically at an end, and from then until the beginning of April the farmer has comparatively little to do except attend to his stock, and haul wood, mussel-mud, etc.

The farmers of this Province are worthy of their fair heritage. They are an industrious, independent and moral people, and are generally a well-to-do class. The typical hus~ bandman is a plain hardworking and law-abiding citizen. As a rule, the farms and houses are characterized by great neat-

HESS. LEGISLATION AFFECTING AGRICULTURE

At the session of the Legislative Assembly in 1898, an Act was passed for the establishment of a Department of Agriculture. This Department it is expected will shortly be inaugurated.

The Domestic Animals’ Act, passed in 1888, with a later amendment, restricts the running at large of certain animals and provides for the arrest and sale of animals unlawfully at