The British market presented new conditions, new demands. The North-West could send her raw products in the shape of wheat; Ontario must send finished products--beef, bacon, cheese, butter, fruit, eggs, and poultry--these and similar products could be marketed in large quantities if only they could be supplied of right quality. Transportation of the right kind was a prime necessity. Lumber, wheat, and other rough products could be handled without difficulty, but perishable goods demanded special accommodation. This was a matter belonging to the government of Canada, and to it the Dominion department of Agriculture at once began to give attention. The production of the goods for shipment was a matter for provincial direction. Gradually the farmers of the province adapted themselves to the new conditions and after a time recovered their lost ground. General prosperity came in sight again about 1895. For several years after this the output of beef, bacon, and cheese increased steadily, and the gains made in the British market more than offset the loss of the United States market. It was during the five years after 1890 that the farmers suffered so severely while adjusting their work to the new conditions. With these expanding lines of British trade products, the values of stock, implements, and buildings made steady advance, and in 1901 the total value of all farm property in the province crossed the billion dollar mark. Since that year the annual increase in total farm values has been approximately forty million dollars. The following statement of total farm values in Ontario, as compiled by the Ontario bureau of Industries, the statistical branch of the department of Agriculture, is very suggestive: _Total Farm Values_ 1885 $958,159,740 1886 989,497,911 1887 975,292,214 1888 981,368,094 1889 982,210,664 1890 970,927,035 1891 971,886,068 1892 979,977,244 1893 970,361,070 1894 954,395,507 1895 931,989,574 1896 910,291,623 1897 905,093,613 1898 923,022,420 1899 947,513,360 1900 974,814,931 1901 1,001,323,296 1902 1,044,894,332 1906 1,189,119,120 1909 1,241,019,109 From the above table it will be seen that the closing of the United States markets in 1890 was followed by a depreciation in general farm values which lasted until 1898, when the upward movement that has continued ever since set in. And now let us see how the population was changing, as to its distribution between rural and urban, during these years. First, we shall give the assessed population.