and more than fifteen in the summer. Labour shortages When the French-speaking Belgian and French settler-labourers in the area were not sufficiently numerous, as was the case at Meyer's 'in Rolanderie', de Roffignac's Bellevue, and de Jumilhac's and de Saurras' Kalenterin ranch, the aristocrats had to employ settlers of other nationalities. Fr. Fallourd described the problems that this solution posed: "This personnel, composed of French, English, German, Swede, etc., could not talk to each other except by signs - "a real Tower of Babel," as described later by Mr. Renoult." Indians also were employed. The Colonist indicates: "During the pulling season this year (at Bellevue, 1890) assistance was so scarce that a number of Indians were employed and paid in proportion to the work performed." With a large community of French-speaking Catholics settled in the district, the nobles could count on a lingually uniform and readily available pool of labourers to man their various enterprises. The community of new immigrants moreover would provide a market for the products produced in 'the Counts' factories. Old country conflicts De Roffignac and van Brabant, and most of the other aristocrats on the Pipestone with the exception of de Beaudrap and perhaps de Seyssel, had access to large reserves of capital. De Roffignac in 1889 had been ruined financially by a horse-raising venture he had undertaken with de Langle and M. Farquet. The venture had resulted in a lawsuit in France and had seen de Langle capture control of the herd of horses and Farquet not return to Canada. But by 1890 de Roffignac had been financially reinvigorated by his marriage to Germaine de Salving, daughter of Count de Bosieu, and by his appointment as manager at 'la Rolanderie'. The Societé had sold the ranch to a group of French investors, who had formed the 'Rolanderie Stock Raising Society' and replaced Meyer by the Count. De Roffignac and the other nobles sought to benefit from the opportunities on the underdeveloped prairie by investing in novel agricultural and industrial experiments. Certainly cash was not in plentiful supply, but they probably hoped to circumvent this problem by reaching specialized markets, both in the area and in other parts of Canada. Mr. W. H. James, one of the farmers who grew chicory for the chicory factory, tells us that they even were prepared to "build a narrow gauge railway from Whitewood to the factories before the business