Thursday, February 29, 1968

for agriculture. And in such massive land-clearing, he pointed out, would only make the water situation in the province more serious. How serious is it today, how serious is it today, if it is going to make it more serious?

Walter R. Shaw: It is serious. Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: We have two hundred times the water . . . . Walter R. Shaw: Who told you that?

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: Somebody that knows a little more about this Island Province than you, Sir. I will get on to my figures in a moment.

Walter R. Shaw: You have water on the brain.

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: He says that we are going to have to go to Northumberland Strait, Mr. Speaker, to find some more land in this Province.

Walter R. Shaw: Where is it? Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: I will tell you exactly where it is. \Valter R. Shaw: Black Banks?

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: The 1961 census indicated, according; to Acres Report, and you have it, that there are 580,000 acres of improved agricultural land in the Province. 580,000. However, we have looked more thoroughly into these figures and this is where our land is, and it may be of interest to all members to know how much land is here because we have referred to ourselves as a “Million Acre Farm”. The Leader of the Opposition tells us not too long ago that all we had was a million acres, and then he made some subtractions to prove his point. The total acreage in this Province is 1,407,321 acres of land.

Walter R. Shaw: That is not correct.

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: Well, then, you are the expert.

Walter R. Shaw: That is not correct.

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: You are the expert if you say 1,398 . . . . Walter R. Shaw: You better ask some of your experts that know.

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: A million five hundred thousand acres of land in the province, Mr. Speaker . . . .

Walter R. Shaw: There are not.

Hon. Alexander B. Campbell: The best land that we have is class two and class three agricultural land. There are 1,008,000 acres of class two and class three land in the Province. And in addition to that there is good agricultural land of class four and there is 127,000 acres below that. That makes a total acreage of land capable of agricultural production of 1,135,000 acres.

Now what are we doing with all this land? What use are we putting it to? After all, this is our soil, this is our chief resource, this is our bread and butter, our land. Improved pasture and forage takes up at the present time 653,000 acres of land. Unimproved pastures, 9,000 acres of land. That means, then, that improved pastures, our forage crops and unimproved pastures occupy 745,000 acres of land.

I don’t know if the Leader of the Opposition agrees that there is that much land in the province, but I will quote the 1911 figures for improved and cleared land. In 1911 we had 769,000 acres of land cleared and improved for agri- cultural nroduction. That means that there are 24,000 acres of land fewer available for agricultural production today than was the case in 1911.

Walter R. Shaw: Abandoned land. L. George Dewar: Only 24,000?

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