This brings us naturally to the other side of the question—whether or not a good experienced farm man can get work. The wages given to a married man range from $250 (£50) to $350 (£70) the year, to which are added (as a rule) a rent-free cottage, and some extras such as milk and firewood. Often both the wife and children (as they grow out of early childhood) can also earn something. The wages for unmarried men of eighteen years of age and upwards, according to experience, or lack of it, range from $10 (£2) to $25 (£5) the month—in a few cases to $35 (£7)—with board, lodging and washing free. Board and lodging usually means living with the farmer’s family, and there is no question that a man of good physique, good intelligence, real willingness to work and some thrift can soon attain a position of independence. As one newcomer to an Ontario farm expressed it, here “the boss hunts for a man, not the man for a job.” It is often wise for a newcomer to work for a while for someone else and to gain experience before attempting to acquire a farm for himself; but it must not be forgotten that, besides the numerous farms in well-settled districts that may be bought at prices which are often little more than yearly rents asked for land in England, there are Crown lands in Ontario, some of which are offered for sale at the nominal price of 50 cents (2_s._) the acre—payable in four instalments with interest—and some which are given away free. But there are conditions attached to the sale or granting of Crown lands. In the first place, these lands can be acquired only by a male settler over eighteen, or the mother of a family who has residing with her at least one child under eighteen. The settler must live for three years on the homestead, and within this time must clear and cultivate about 10 per cent. of the land, and build a small habitable house. The size of the grant or farm lot is generally one hundred and sixty acres; and in the case of free grants there is usually a provision that an adjoining eighty to one hundred acres may be purchased at 50 cents per acre. Often, but not invariably, the Crown lands are sold subject to timber licences or to a reservation of minerals. The public lands for sale are situated chiefly in Nipissing, Timiskaming, Sudbury, Algoma, and Rainy River districts; and those offered as free grants are in the districts of Nipissing, Timiskaming, Algoma, Kenora, Rainy River, and in the tract of land “lying between the Ottawa river and the Georgian bay, and comprising the northerly portions of the counties of Renfrew, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Hastings, Peterborough, Victoria and Simcoe; and the districts of Muskoka and Parry Sound.”