17

In 1915 another land agency came into being. Originally named the Agri-
cultural Credit Commission, it became the Land Settlement Board in 1917.
The function of the Board was to foster agricultural development by making
mortgage loans to farmers. In addition the Board was granted land from time
to time for direct sale to farmers. The Board also has had some land for dis-
position which it has acquired through mortgage foreclosures. The operation
of these two distinct methods of acquiring land, then, accounts for the fact that
an equal number of farmers in the study acquired raw land by purchasing and
by homesteading Crown Land.

LAND ACQUISITION

Slightly less than one-half (44 per cent) of the farmers included in this study
had started with raw land (Table 9). An equal number (17 per cent in each
ease) had purchased raw land from the Crown or acquired it as a homestead.
Ten per cent had purchased it from private persons. On the other hand 56 per
cent had acquired their first parcel as partly improved land. Some of these
parcels had been inherited, a few had been rented but the majority had been
purchased from private persons. Raw and improved land had been purchased
for an average of $837 and $2,262 respectively per 160-acre parcel, with an
average down payment of $336 and $1,025, respectively. Payment terms had
not tended to conform to any standards. The periods for repayment had varied
greatly as also had the interest charges.

TABLE 9.—METHOD OF ACQUISITION OF FIRST PARCEL OF LAND IN FARM,
PRINCE GEORGE-SMITHERS AREA, 1943-45

a Raw land | Improved | anand
land

per cent per cent per cent
Taher @atarte el: ans ohare oe beads Gu adonenb odes HOUND aO GO SEOGOgUNE 17 0 17
Painchasemeromn Clo wal esis ise is cloiessieiet stele ci nieresnte Sieinin elelarare!sr warns) stsierefers 17 9 26
ig ieee lane ie hie APEC IS Gotten on RERAE ECON D once DROS ht 10 30 40
Purchased from company eee 0 3 3
TENA ris kc ae a nie 8 Cen een tn Arete Sener Srincieicieirna ae eoy AoC 0 5 5
iano by Dagens eta ah aS eee aUSEE Tue qotenerod on AbeaancaMano unos 0 9 9
AEN os She CAR SOO e ddonae BaBnB Edin hts FATAB SNM ae Gos 44 56 100

An analysis of the method by which improved parcels had been acquired
gave some clue to the success of original settlement. It may be stated with a
fair degree of certainty that improved land purchased from the Crown was
reverted land on which the former operator had failed. Nine per cent of the pre-
sent number of farmers had acquired this type of land. Land purchased or
rented from private persons might represent a normal turnover of land, that
is, the operators had ceased farming operations for good reasons, such as having
reached retirement age. However, 39 per cent of the first parcels in farms were
acquired in this manner, a proportion that seemed high for normal turnover and
therefore suggested that some of those parcels were purchased or rented from
original settlers who had decided that prospects for farming were not favourable.
Thus the nine per cent estimate of failure could be augmented by part of the
39 per cent, that is by those who had to give up but were fortunate in having an
opportunity to sell or rent their property instead of allowing it to revert to the
Crown. Furthermore a large majority of the farmers had acquired a second
parcel, in most cases partly improved land. They did so, in nearly all instances,
before their first parcel was fully improved. This fact indicated that farmers
had considered it cheaper to purchase or rent land already improved than to

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