Towards the Future
There were still difficult times ahead for the Allardville colonists. Fluctuations in the economy would continue as the new decade approached, and the settlers were continuously challenged by harsh winters, rocky soil, crop failures, and a short growing season. In addition, the settlers' financial resources were still strained to the limit, and they continued to rely on government funds to subsist. Despite all their hard efforts and the hope of government leaders, few of the colonists had become financially independent.
A federal department of agriculture study, completed in the summer of 1939, shed some light on the financial state of settlers in northern New Brunswick at the close of the Depression. The report revealed that of the 300 settlers in northern New Brunswick studied, the average total net worth per family, which included cleared land, buildings, farm implements, and personal possession, after an average of 4.1 years of being on the land, amounted to a mere $578. This figure fell short of the $600 family household heads would have received from government had they resided in a province that participated fully in the tri-party back-to-the-land scheme. However, despite limited financial resources, the Allardville pioneers, like their 18th century forefathers, had carved out a place for themselves in the New Brunswick wilderness.