No. No No. Area.

2,504 77

1,200 00

282 02

3,680

1,482 02

320 00

1,280

3,200

1,930 5

13,018 29

1,930 00

466 23

2,396 23

2,040 00

1,537 76

4,572.78 821

45,153 49

1,719 י1

3,474 50

13 00

572 02

4,050 52

2,140 00

5,092 96

1,995 00

207 34

9

1,440

2,202 34

440 00

33.008 47

2,237 62

9 95

183 57

2,431 14

920 00

8

14

1,757 88

25

1,691-72

48

5,298 27

1,870 00

57 00

381 14

2,308 14

390 00

6 35

28

4,4:0

14

2,240

41

8.719 04

1,990 75

.....

199 41

2,190 16

1,230 00

10.036 52

1,200 00

.....

70 00

2,691 50

16

11

1,613

2,983 72

25

1,460 00

10 2,719-60 503 76,108 99 224 35,715 26 864

........

00 08

105 00 1,027 40

No. 4.

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C., 1st November, 1887.

SIR,-I have the honor to report through you for the Minister's information upon matters of interest relating to Crown Lands in British Columbia administered by the Dominion Government.

The New Westminster Agency having been but recently opened at the date of my last report, little could then be said of the progress made in settlement of the lands within the Railway Belt. The Agency may now be considered as fairly estab lished and in good working order; its operations, however, by reason of the partially explored state of the country and the immense extent of territory yet to be surveyed, have been limited chiefly to the New Westminster District, in which an area of 71,148 acres has been entered under the Homestead Regulations since the lands were opened for entry in August, 1886, and at least an equal area is held by squatters on unsurveyed lands, and in townships the surveys whereof are awaiting confirmation. In Chilliwhack Municipality, comprising about five townships, nearly all the available lunds bave also been squatted upon.

This municipality is one of the most thriving settlements in the Province, producing large quantities of hay, oats, barley, peas and root crops, butter, cheese, and other marketable products; but up to the present time no steps have been taken to investigate the claims of settlers and open the lands for entry, nor can anything be done towards that end before the dispute between the Provincial and Dominion Governments, with respect to the ownership of these lands-which are claimed by the former Government under an effete Provincial Act known as the Sumass Dyking Act, 1878-has been settled or finally set at rest by a decree of the Exchequer Court of Canada. The bona fide settlers on these lands are very anxious to obtain titles, and would much prefer to have them administered under the Dominion Regulations. In the interest of all parties it is to be hoped that the proposition which the Minister made to the Provincial Government during your visit to Victoria last summer may be acquiesced in by the Provincial authorities.

This proposition was to the effect that the lands in question, pending a decision of the Court, bould be administered under the Dominion Regulations, the patents to be issued jointly by the two Governments, and the purchase money of $1.00 per acre paid to the credit of the Receiver-General to abide the ultimate decree of the Court. A settlement on this basis would be a great boon to the settlers, as all further delay would be avoided and they could at once get their entries, and many of them their patents.

Outside of the municipality of Chilliwback the uneasiness which had long been felt by the settlers of New Westminster District in consequence of the lands having been unavoidably kept locked up since 1878 under the Railway Reserve, was entirely dispelled by the establishment of this Agency, and they are now assured that under the Dominion their claims will be respected, and so far as I have been able to learn they are perfectly satisfied with the present administration of the lands. Speaking generally, the public feeling is that under our Regulations this beautiful and fertile district, which has so long remained uncultivated and almost unpopulated, will soon become the centre both of the population and the wealth of the Province, and it is well understood that the aim and intent of the Dominion Government is to have every available quarter section in the district occupied by a producer and consumer. Settlers who have obtained entry are, as a rule, well pleased with their locations, and by far the greater number are steadily fulfilling the conditions of settlement.

The wet, backward spring, followed by an unusually dry summer this year, has proved rather discouraging, but notwithstanding these drawbacks the grain crops have been nearly up to the average, and the preparation of the ground for next year's

operations has been proceeded with under the most favorable conditions; the drought has affected the root crops more than any other, especially on the high lands. On the low lands the yield has been fully up to the average and of unusually good quality.

The fruit crop, as a whole, has been very satisfactory, apples and pears being particularly fine, both as regards size, quality and yield; the supply of home grown fruit, however, is not at all adequate to meet the demands of the local market, the bulk of the fruit consumed being imported from Oregon and California. The early settlers of this Province do not appear to have been fully alive to the importance of this pleasant and profitable industry, their orchards, generally speaking, being small and ill-kept; in fact, fruit growing has been merely a side issue, just sufficient to give a satisfactory test of the climatic conditions and productiveness of the soil, and to show the unlimited capabilities of the Province as a fruit growing region. Our homesteaders on the railway lands, especially those from the Eastern Provinces, are more far-seeing, as many of them are making strenuous efforts to plant all the trees that they can command. The adoption of certain provisions, framed specially to encourage fruit culture, promulgated in the recently amended regulations, is a step in the right direction, and one which, when fully understood, will be duly appreciated, especially by settlers of small means; these provisions are very liberal and permit the homesteading without conditions of residence, of legal sub-divisions of various areas to which a title may be acquired at the end of five years, on payment of $1 per acre for the land, and on proving to your satisfaction that a certain portion of the area entered has been annually, during the first three years, cleared, fenced and planted with fruit trees, and also maintained under good culture until the expiration of the fifth year from entry. With the inducements offered by these liberal provisions, the productiveness of the soil and other favorable conditions enjoyed by the Province, there can be no question but that fruit growing is destined to become, in the near future, one of its chief and most profitable industries. The growing demand of Manitoba and the North-West Territories for dried, canned, pre-erved and green fruits, combined with the easy transportation facilities offered by the Canadian Pacific Railway, must eventually create and open up an immense trade in these commodities.

The Hot Mineral Springs, situate at the southern end of Harrison Lake, and within five miles of Aggasiz Station on the Canadian Pacific Railway, have, during the past summer, obtained, as a sanitarium and pleasure resort, more than mere local notoriety.

From Yale, Kamloops District, numerous informal applications have been. received from squatters for lands in the vicinity of Secamsus, Notch Hills, Shuswap Lake, Grand Prairie and other localities, and a large amount of work in investigating and dealing with these claims will be added to the Agency so scon as the surveys already made are confirmed and the lands formally opened for entry.

This district being much more of a pastoral than an agricultural character, there is a feeling prevalent amongst the old settlers who have acquired titles from the Provincial Government to the arable river frontages, and who have uninterruptedly used the public domain for grazing purposes free from taxation or dues of any kind, that these lands, being now in the bands of the Dominion Government, their privileges will be greatly curtailed by the disposal of these lands to strangers, in areas suitable for ranching purposes: the sale of these hill-grazing lands would undoubtedly prove a serious matter to a large majority of them, as they must either carry less stock and turn their attention to other farming operations, or, in order to prevent its falling into other hands, purchase a sufficient area to enable them to continue their pastoral pursuits. Generally speaking, stock raisers in British Columbia have had little to complain of during the past season, stock having passed through the unusually severe winter in fair condition, the average loss not exceeding 20 per cent., and a loca! market, at very remunerative prices, being found for all beef cattle that could be

sent to the coast.

The long standing dispute between the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia as to the ownership of minerals within the railway belt,