aring the land: and by burning at this season you will
attract a drove of cattle about you that will destroy all
sprouts which may be growing; do not leave more than four
trees on an acre and girdle these in the full moon of March
and they will never leaf again; thus you may have your land
prepared for the seed before harvest.

The act of 1830 provided a grant of L100 for a society in each district,
upon condition that the members subscribed and paid in at least L50, and
in the case of a society being organized in each county the amount was
to be equally divided among the societies. The condition of making the
grant was set forth in the act as follows: 'When any Agricultural
Society, for the purpose of importing valuable live stock, grain, grass
seeds, useful implements or whatever else might conduce to the
improvement of agriculture in this Province,' etc.

As a result of this substantial assistance by the government,
agricultural societies increased in number, and their influence, in
assisting in the improvement of the live stock and the bringing of new
implements to the attention of farmers, was most marked.

Horses, sheep and milch cows increased rapidly. Purebred cattle now
began to receive some attention. The first record of importation is the
bringing of a Shorthorn bull and a cow from New York State in 1831 by
Robert Arnold of St Catharines. In 1833 Rowland Wingfield, an Englishman
farming near Guelph, brought a small herd of choice animals across the
ocean, landed them at Montreal, took them to Hamilton by way of the
Ottawa River, the Rideau Canal, and Lake Ontario, and then drove them on
foot to Wellington County. The Hon. Adam Fergusson of Woodhill followed
two or three years later with a similar importation.

The first Ayrshire cattle can be traced back to the Scottish settlers
who arrived during this period. These emigrants had provided their own
food for the voyage to Canada, and in some cases brought a good milch
cow to provide fresh milk on the voyage. She would be disposed of on
landing, at Montreal or in the eastern part of Upper Canada. This
accounts for the early predominance of Ayrshires in Eastern Ontario.
Thus to the period 1830-45 belongs the first foundation of the pure-bred
stock industry.

It was in this period also that the first signs appear of improved farm
implements and labour-saving machinery. Ploughs of improved pattern,
lighter and more effective, wer