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Lea diagrammea suivants illuatrant la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 IPT Vw- MHNHPiWi -«~/-rc — T^c^^s^p" ♦'^-V^ /^ ^'(f REMARKS ration offers very cheering prospects; and the almost cer- tainly of a livelihood in ihe North Anter ican Cc^onies, by a moderate application of bhour, 8 are the special and general grounds on which most should decide in the taking such a step as that of blmigratinK) — and it is these whicn form the ground worK of the following pages. Whether the Emigrant is led by one or the other cause — whether he have means at once to take his station as a master, or only as a labourer or servant^ it is absolutely neces- sary that he should acquire positive informa- tion relative to a variety of points on which his future comfort is to depend. The order of persons with property, small or large, who emigrate, is generally of two classes : one whose occupation has been essen- tially agricultural, and who, knowing the first elements of farming, can apply that know- ledge with readiness to the cultivation of colonial lands, being directed only, as to sea- sons and minor points, by the wisdom and experience of those who have preceded them. — The other class comprehends the small traders^ men who have been brought up in business, with minds and hands but little cal- culated for farming, and whose inexperience as to local commercial pursuits, is continually throwing them into difficulties of all kinds ; the troubles and misconceptions which natu- rally attend the change, (oftentimes sudden) from one occupation to another, frequently at a period of life when physical force and men- tal energy are on the wane — the difficulties and losses which attend this order, operating as well in the colonies as in the mother coun- try, and are only to be remedied by a long and attentive observation of the manners and proceedings of those who have preceded them. Concerning this last class of persons, little more can be said — their relative stP.tti«» of ) .9 prosperity or difiiculty depending on causes which are too sinnple to need further com- ment. The last class comprises the mechanic and labourer, and of them it may be said that through the totality of the North American Colonies, both are in high request; the de- mand being modified by situation, &c., and to whom no real difficulties present themselves. We have now obtained three, or, more strictly, two divisions of Emigrants — the class of persons with large or ample property, re- quiring no consideration here — persons with limited means, and labourers with none, or but too trifling to commence as masters or landholders, and both inclined towards agri- cultural pursuits. The exaggerations and unfounded asser- tions, as to the relative merits of one province over another, of the climates, crops, &c., have been the means of creating and perpetuating those difficulties which surround the Emi- grant — he is led to believe, by interested pub- lications, that little more than the mere act of emigrating is necessary to produce him abun- dance of all the necessaries, and some of the luxuries of life ; that he would be again seated in a second paradise, in a land flowing with milk and honey, without remembering the Divine curse of eating bread in the sweat of one's brow ; — that well cleared farms, cattle, game, flsh, &c., were in his immediate grasp; and that, at his presence, nature would cease to present her usual obstacles to agricultural improvement and pursuits. - The Emigrant will always find old settlers, who will readily and freely give him counsel 10 j!, V- 1 , n I *' and assistance; and he will likely desire to become a settler in the very first place where he has had any extensive intercourse with its inhabitants ; the uniform hospitality of the people acting like magic on a mind, perhaps soured by ingratitude or misery at home. The extended information necessary for Emi- grants, may be found in any of the works on Emigration, published during the last three years, and their general opinions, on location* alone excepted, may be taken as nearly ap- proaching to iruih.t A man, however, must prepare for changes, which will make a strong impressiop on his mind, and which are likely also to effect proportionate changes in his cir- cumstances and moral conduct. The almost entire seclusion from large towns, the neces- sary abstinence from the luxuries of such places, an incessant intercourse with his family, and constant occupation — all conduce to such results. But real, practical, and therefore useful information, like any other article of value, is to be obtained only in the same man- ner. The wealthy lilmigrant will pay in a variety of ways ; he will travel, and have to undergo the necessary expenses attendant on sociability among his own class; while the labourer, or poorer l^jnigrant, mustjl^a? himself in some spot and occupation, drawing gradu- ally to himself the information of others, by which he is enabled, at some subsequent , * The particular spot or district on^ or in which the Emi- grant settles, constitutes his location. f The smallest, the cheapest, and the best, is that by Martin Doyle, whose works, now collected into 2 vols. Timo. shouM be m the possession oi e very emigrant and farming labourer. — See Cobbett's Cottage Economy, Loudon's Cot- tage Gardening. Husbandry, &c. II period, to advance progressively towards inde- pendence. Such is the influence of money in assimilat- ing man and his actions to the two grand classes of animated bodies — Animals and Vegetables. The first seek their food and home, and choose — the latter are fixed, and draw their sustenance from the soil in which they are embedded. So is a poor man — he is obliged to remain in a spot, toiling and wasting his strength on what occupation may casually be offered him, while he that has means, merely of transport, may, on the con- trary, seek an employment which will amply repay him. ' ' ^ We have neither the room, nor the wish to enter into the causes of the great distress which prevails among certain classes of soci- ety, nor to examine with proper attention, the state of our pauper establishments, with a view to applying Emigration, as a substantial remedy ; — nor to decide the point whether forcible Emigration would be justifiable or not. We leave the subject to work its way silently, and, as it has hitherto, effectually. To attribute the distressed state of any class to the pressure of taxation only, is, in our opinion, a very confined and unsatisfac- tory reason. An excess of numbers, combined with certain distributions of property, is a more simple and satisfactory one. It is of no use for a man to be able to work unless he have the raw material — the foundation of his products. How many hundreds of persons in this country, even with small means, say from 300/. to 600/., are unable to invest their little in any manner, as to make it return a some- thing on which to subsist. Do they wish to trifiv •':?IT.''' ''-'^'.:-'* iv-l ( 12 u- J. follow the natural occupation of man, farm- ing, the competition is such that they are likely to lose their all in renting a farm now- a-day, and to be the owners of land is alto- gether out of the question. Year after year passes on ; his property gradually vanishes, difficulties of various kinds present them> selves, and then Emigration is likely to be thought of, as the last though doubtful chance of saving himself and family from the work- house. It may be asked by some, who and what are the description of persons to whom Emi- gration offers advantages worth making a trial, at once expensive and trying to the feel- ings ? Every one should consider that some sacrifice is required ; but, at all times, some present sacrifice must be made to ensure future success. All who have health and strength, and are desirous of a change, for a hundred different reasons, whether to break from bad society — to discontinue an unprofitable business, without seeing any chance of a better— to improve his condition from an under-paid agricultural labourer, or holder of a small unproductive farm — active and intelligent mechanics of every description, who, though not skilful enough to get the best wages at home, are sufficiently so for a new country; all such are sure of doing well, if they allow themselves a fair chance, by avoid- ing the too frequent sin of drunkenness , alike destructive to the energies of body and mind. All those in fact, who, with limited means, and the reality or anticipation of large families, find a difficulty " in getting along," will, by the aid of a farm, find not only a pleasing occupa- tion, but the means of bringing up a family in comfort and independence. Those who are I Id doing tolerably well in their occupations, or have fair hopes of doing better, should not think of giving up their present comforts, nor are they likely to do so.* To such a class of persons especially, the British North American Colonies offer very Promising prospects. Labour and industry ave scarcely ever failed in that district, to reap a rich reward. There no restraint on some of the finest and most moral of our feel- ings is necessary, Man walks as he ought to do, with a consciousness that the wherewithal to subsist is within his own grasp. Is he a labourer or mechanic, he will find plenty of work and good wages. Is he a farmer, with small means, the country is open to him — lands cheap, no taxes, a fertile soil, and conse- quently the means of providing every neces- sary, and some of the luxuries of life. The annual rent of a small farm at home, would here be sufficient to purchase an im- proved property and stock, constantly increas- mg in value with the influx of population— and securing a permanent home and independence for his family. The industrious operative may also earn by his labour, double what he can in Britain — or, if he has a little money, he can clear a farm for himself with an assurance of a rich reward for his toil. He need not fear that a wife and children will be a burden to him — indeed it is to the sober married man that Emigration offers by far the most comfi rt and happiness. His children, in lieu of being a burden and clog on him as at home, consti- tute his most valuable possessions. Their labour is always more than sufficient to pro- vide them with necessary sustenance ; and a * Gould's " Practical Advice." I ^ 14 1^. 1^ variety of the occupations required on a farm, are as easily effected by them as by adults : — the watching and care of cattle, driving horses or oxen, milking cows, &c. sufficiently at- test it. In lieu of passing the early years of a child's life in the sunken deteriorated atmos- phere of confined apartments and large towns, there is plenty of healthful occupation — free, uncontaminatedair — and the Divine first curse, of working, and eating bread in the sweat of one's brow, becomes comparatively a blessing. Men who cannot work should not go — men who will work will find work — and men who can, but will not work, should be made to work. Let him however who is thinking of a set- tlement, whom age, or any other cause has not irrecoverably debilitated — who can enter upon the change with readiness, yet with caution, recollect that, (in the great majority of cases) his native home is henceforth to be abroad for ever ; but consoling himself that he is performing a great and meritorious action, by realizing, without fear of prospective misery, the happiness of being surrounded by his family, in a country where, by his own industry f he stands lord of his grounds, and possessing the realities and not the mere name of a home. -'^ ■ !i^f?i*? '^vm ■:i'^ 't^* Two objects being the leading causes for Emigration, and the same operating in special location, two results are naturally to be ex- pected. In the first, a desire for a comfortable retirement, settlement, &c., for self and family, without any object of aggrandizement, is pe- culiar only to a few — to those who have mo- derate or extensive means; and to whom, while nought but actual self observation can 15 accomplish their wishes, the Colonies every where present a vast variety of situations. The other object we suppose to be the de- sire of gain, from exertions in the business of farming, a desire which requires great care and trouble to gratify, and is only effected by a cautious and rational method of adopting one's means to certain objects and ends. Misjudging the one, and misapplying the other, have been the parents of those distresses, mani- fested even in the most favoured situations. Lands, like all other commodities, bear a value proportionate to their situation, their in- trinsic qualities, and the demand for their pro- duce. The proximity of one district to a good road or navigable river ; its adaptability to the raising of wheat or any other article always in demand ; and a market where, from the occupations of different persons, agricultural produce is required, will neces- sarily induce persons who have means, to purchase in or near it; while those who are less favoured by prosperity, will as naturally seek locations, or if not seek them, will be forced to take lands or farms at a distance from the former ; and, although the qualities of the land be the same in both cases, the one must, from necessity, adapt his land to his Zo- cal situation, as well as his persmtal situation to the land. ^^i^ 'n'l But suppose two settlers placed on farms — ©ne well situated, as regards markets, the other at a distance — let each follow the same plan, let both raise wheat — the one will prosper, while the other becomes im- poverished — the one may succeed in making money, although the prices of produce be low — the other will sacrifice his property in > if fa- [- :r fci:t. 16 the mere carriage of his commodity to mar- ket. It is by such misapplication of good principles of farming, to circumstances over which we have no control, that has tended to weaken men's minds as to the relative advan- tages of the North American Colonies. What then constitutes the immediate disad- vantages to farms situated at a distance from markets? The expense of transport, arising from bad roads, waste of cattle, labour, &c. &c. Could a farmer make his produce convey itself to market, all would go well ; and this apparent impossibility is what he must effect. In lieu of growing wheat to excess, he must raise cattle. In lieu of drawing his artificial resources, as manure, &c. from a distance, he must have every thing within his grasp ; and little observation is necessary to perceive that grass or its adjuncts, such as can he consumed on his lands, not wheat for long land transport, is the most useful and most to be depended on. In all settlements chosen by emigrants, some little regard should be had to prospec- tive as well as to present advantages; they may often see them likely to occur from an increase of settlement ; they have therefore, in all likelihood, the means of adding to the village numbers. Does his farm answer his moderate expectations, friends are always ready to listen to his advice, to join him— roads become improved — markets establish- ed — factories and stores spring u^ like magic around him — his lands, irom his own exer- tions, become more and more valuable — and fortunes are to be, and have been acquired by means which at first seemed little likely' to effect such ends. .. 1 17 •to 1st. A location is to be chosen in regard to one's means. 2nd. Its productions are to be regulated by the faciUty with which they can be changed into money, or other kinds of pro- duce. Srd. By the quantity of labour which we ha\v. at command. And 4th. By the im- mediate consumption of the produce. A location is to be considered general or special. The tide of Emigration has, for a great number of years, been settling towards Upper Canada; lands have become, if not scarce, dear — consequently inaccessible to a great number of emigrants. Bad winters, par- tial frosts, diseases, all impediments have been overlooked, or attempted to be conquered, until some less hardy and more venturesome, less rich and more calculating persons, turned their attention to the Lower Province, or cer- tain parts of it; where, if the winter was some- what longer, the roads to market or for trans- port were continually good ; where, if it were colder, no peculiar disease prevailed ; and where, if wheat was not so abundant in its crops, it was equally profitable; and grass, potatoes, peas, &c. more so ; where labour was cheaper, the distance shorter from the great exporting markets, and the residents in the neighbourhood were persons originally or native British. Writing not from interested motives, we can have no object in withholding our reasons, if not for preferring the Upper to the Lower Pro- vince, at least to place them on a par as to eligibility for intended Emigrants. A sort of delusion has sprung over the minds of Emi- grants — a delusion which ignorance or private prejudices, and misrepresentations, have con- tinued to increase, that either there was no I ■: lii V r 18 south side of the St. Laurence, or that for useful purposes it was unworthy notice. Facts, however, are stubborn things. Farms, equal to any we have seen in Upper Canada, are to be found there— lands cheap and good-— no oppressive laws — nothing wanting but the great desiderata of the colonies — money and lahmir. Crops which amply repay their pro- ducers; where all articles of consumption meet with a good and ready demand; and main roads, which during summer we have seldom seen surpassed in Upper Canada ; and during winter, a constant layer of hard snow facilitating the transport of wood, &c., for local and domestic purposes, and grain, &c. for general ones. We have alluded to a few general special- ties. — 1st. Winters, marked by the continu- ance of hard snow on the ground, and this impossibility of following the usual agricul- tural employment of ploughing, &c. *'^ - The continuance of hard snow on the ground for several weeks will in all probability be thought by some a feature not of the most de- sirable kind ; but when considered in reference to Canadian farming, and the personal conve- nience of the agriculturist, or general trader, its presence and continuance becomes a mat- ter of great moment. The greater part of the farmer's productions are, at this period, to be transported for sale ; his supplies for summer or winter consumption, and his implements, are to be brought back ; his timber logs are to be removed (if by land) to the saw-mill, his fire wood to be drawn home from the uncleared land, and lastly the socialities of the season require him to be moving about among his friends: for all these objects, a good, even. ^^f t9 for hard road is an indispensable requisite, not only as a matter of comfort, but as a means of saving an immensity of animal labour. As to the alleged inferiority of the climate, the superior salubrity of Lower Canada more than compensates for the greater rigour of the winter, particularly as the milder seasons are yet of sufficient 'duration, to afford ample time to gather in every desirable production of a fertile soil. Besides, the husbandman in this Province, has a great advantage in the proximity of a market for the fruits of his industry ; his profits are also enhanced by the higher price obtained for articles of export, and the lower rate at which imported goods can be procured, owing to the difference of the additional expense, which the cost of distant transport entails upon all merchantable produce in the more inland parts of the Ca- hadas. The necessity of conveyance to and from the upper settlements, the great distance which Ires between them and an open navi- gation to the sea, is a heavy burden upon the produce of the Upper Province. In the Upper Province, or in great part of it, the winter to be sure is jiot so lengthy by a few weeks as in the major part of the lower ; the degree of cold, however, is much the same in both. Snow falls about the same time in each, and continues generally from the end of November to the middle of March— but in the one it freezes, and offers until the very end of winter a hard smooth surface, over which ve- hicles (sleighs) loaded heavily with produce, &c., are drawn with great facility, witn a very small expense of animal labour ; while in the Upper Province thaws are frequent, so that the good road, or sleighing ground of to-day. 20 r' I § -.telli is a mass of mud and puddle in a day or two after ; nor is the answer made by the Upper Canadians, (hat the diminished length of their winter allows them to get their crops earlier out of the ground, so as to allow them a better opportunity for fall ploughing, one, which is unanswerable. The farmers of the Upper Province are more intelligent in their busmess than those of the Lower ; the latter, with but few exceptions, never sowing wheat in the fall; and this is the only article of which, for forwardness and abundance, the Upper Pro- vince may, with justice, claim a superiority. We should be careful, then, in discriminating whether it be not the imperfect system of French Canadian farming, rather than an in- ability to produce, arising from climate or soil. ■.,;:., . .L ,».._., .•.....:.,..-, .- ':u;.-.. '. The object of most emigrants is, or rather should be, the comfort of self and dependants. The peculiarities of climate demand, there- fore, to be attended to. Health (a freedom from any serious disease) is, in a distant country, of more importance perhaps than at home . Scar- city of professional aid, its enormous expense, and a loss of one's bodily strength (for metUai energy will not avail so much there) are cir- cumstances of no trifling import, and no candid observer can fail to give the preference, in point of salubrity, to the Lower Province. — There, no intermittent fever or ague, no lake remittent fever, manifest themselves. The church-yards in many of the first-settled dis- tricts, and the venerable appearance of a number of the earlier settlers, will satisfy the most scrupulous of its correctness. We do not mean to assert that Upper Ca- nada is generally unhealthy, but the flats. 21 swamps, &c., with which it abounds, will con- vince any one that such diseases are likely to occur, should he be sceptical on the actual point of their existence. ' ' ' ' ' Leaving then the point of location considered generally^ and believing thai enough has been already said to convince any impartial en- quirer that the Lower Province does possess some qualifications, which, at least, entitle it to our consideration ; let us next examine the point of location in the only remaining view, in that of special generality. ' "' No doubt, one of the great inducements to emigrating to Upper Canada has been the uni- versality of language which is spoken there, and that this is a very good reason no one, we think, will deny. Lower Canada, from its orir;in to the present time, has been altogether, or nearly so, occupied by French or their Ca- nadian descendants, and the French language consequently has been, and is now spoken by a vast majority of the inhabitants. With the exception of the greater part of the Eastern Townships^ the agricultural inhabitants of the remainder may be said to be entirely of French origin, preserving the language, habits, customs, &c. ot the original settlers. These "Townships" would then seem to pre- sent themselves at first sight to the emigrant: but reasons which will be more fully detailed hereafter, offered a stronger than a physical obstacle. The extensive frontier oi French Canadian settlements, the indisposition and want of welcome feeling exhibited by its occu- piers to ^^ foreigner s^^^ such as many^ who ought to know something^ dare to aflftx even now, on the British emigrant, may be men- tioned as moral causes. Its qualities however : 1 22 I f .. , 7' ■>';■ did not escape the Americans of the border, Mr. Goodhue, for one, and some few English emigrants like Messrs. Felton and Whitcher, contributed to make the district more known. To Lord Aylmer, the late Governor General of Lower Canada, in the first place, is due the merit of having thrown the country open, by the surveys undertaken by his orders, and ex- peditions made in person :— and, in the second place, to the incorporation of the British American Land Company, whose history and probable influence on the district, may bie best traced in a review of their proceedings and property belonging to them. There are too many, who, in their outcry against Emigration, show as much their igno- rance of the~ present advantages, and relative comforts enjoyed by emigrants, as those, T:ho, in adopting the other extreme, would lead the emigrant to believe himself about to enter a second £1 Dorado. The first may have had grounds for their opinions — the second may have. In the early periods of Emigration, the toils and troubles, to say nothing of the dan- gers, must have been severely felt. The want of roads, of water carriage, of markets, of institutions congenial to our nature, and necessary for our comfort, must have afforded plenty of occasions for running down Emigra- tion — and doubts and fears might have been naturally enough expected. The best answer to this side of the case is, that Emigration siill progressed^ and continues to progress, on ac- count of the removal of those obstacles to which we just now adverted. The country above is cut up with roads, either under the direction of the Colonial Legislature, or the Land Company, whose possession of property 23 in that Province, forms a new sera in Emi'^^r*:- tion. Water carriage has become the m«:it complete of any in the world — markets abound in every direction, and a catalogue of human- izing institutions may be made, such as would do honour to any more ar^cient state. So much for the Upper Province. In the Lower, or in the peculiar district of the Eastern Townships, evjry thing bids fair to revive such results. Roads, bridges, &c., have not only been commenced, but are in excellent repair, and a Land Company ^* the British American," with extensive means, and ereat powers, actually in operation. What has oeen done for the Upper is now about to be, or is in ffreat part done for thns district in the Lower Province. The expenditure of a large por- tion of the purchase money* to be accounted for to government in return for the lands con- ceded to the Company, in necessary improve- ments of all sorts, will of course tend to increase yearly the value of the settler's pro- perty. The certainty, safety, and good faith with which all bargains can be completed with such a body, are matters of extreme import- ance to an emigrant in a strange country. Their (the Company's) property cannot return a fair profit to them^ unless a propf'^ return be made first to the emigrant — a. ^ this alone migh* serve as a satisfactory reason of the propriety and safety of emigrating to such a spot. What individuals alone must fail in accomplishing, a Chartered Company, with capital, &c., may easily effect ; and any result in the way of gain justly belongs to it. £50,000. .1 ?. J' 24 1 1 I 1' i ■ The *' Eastern Townships'' form a ]al*ge tract of land of some millions of acres in extent, lying in the rear of the French Canadian Seigneuries, on ♦* e south side of the St. Lau- rence, between the parallels of 45° & 46^° N. Lat, and 71° &73° W. Long. The southern boundary being the border line, (the parallel of 45°,) separating the United ^^tates from Lower Canada, and the northern, the St. Lau- rence The counties of Stanstead, Shefford, and Sherbrooke, are those to which we would more particularly direct the Emigrant, and in the which are found those natural and artifici'>l resources, necessary for his comfort and con- venionce. This tract, of which Sherbrooke Town may be taken as a centre, forms, with the three great markets on the St. Laurence, a triangle, whose apex is about equi-distant from Quebec, 'J'hree Rivers, Sorel, &c., &c., and in immediate connection with the northern and eastern parts of the United States. The county of Stanstead, as being more to the southward, and adjoining the States, has been more settled than any other parts of the Townships, It is well wooded and watei-ed, as indeed are ail the Townships, and presents, with its adjoining counties, a complete resem- blance of the more level and fertile portions of Devonshire. The county of Sherbrooke is the greatest in I extent of all the counties comprised within the i Eastern Townships, its length being abouti sixty-eight miles, and its breadth fifty-seven. \ti is divided imo the Townships of Melbourne,! Brompton, Orford, Ascot, Eaton, Newport, DittonyChesham, Compton, Clifton, Auckland, Hereford, Shipton, Windsor, Stoke, Dudswell, 25 Weedon, Garthby, Bury, Westbury, Ling- wick, Stratford, Hampden, Adstock, Whitton, Marston, and Clinton, ^j'he greater propor- tion of the land in this county, is, in point of richness and productiveness, equal to any in the Canadas. It may properly be called the grazing district of Lower Canada, whilst, at the same time, numerous rises and slopes, particularly adapt it for all sorts of crops re- quiring dry situations. The timber generally is of a good quality did indicative of the rich- ness of the soil, which is a fertile loam, of vari- ous qualities. The best settled parts lie towards the county of Stanstead, and along the bend of the river St. Francis, from Duds well to Ship- ton ; exhibiting, besides beauty of scenery, highly cultivated farms, with good houses, barns, orchards, and gardens. The most populous Townships are Ascot, Compton, Eaton, Shipton, and Melbourne. The thriving town of Sherbrooke, the capi- tal of the Eastern townships, is the centre of this tract of country, being about one hundred miles equi-distant from Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal. It is situated on the river Magog, at its junction with the St. Francis, e?^tending along the rising ground of both banks — settled only within seventeen years by the great exertions of Mr. Felton, the com- missioner of crown lands, and Mr. Goodhue, the late proprietor of the British American Land Company's property in this neighbour- hood.* One is not a little surprised at finding, in addition to a jail, the county register office. * The British American Land Company have upwards of £10,000 worth of property, as mills, houses, and buildings lots of land in this town, ,Tfr-«r^- --^ --ri«. 'i ?L! m 26 a court house, two chapels, Roman Catholic and Protestant Established, several large inns, stores or shops, in which, all things necessary for a settler in the way of provisions, or im- plements of every kind, are for sale ; saw,clothj carding and flour mills, a post office, the resi- dences of the local judge and clergymen, five or six barristers, naval and military officers, a public school, no workhouse, and about 70 excellent dwelling houses; a news-room, in which all the Colonial and some of the United States journals are flled, two local newspapers publisned, and various other establishments conducive to the welfare of society. - A woollen manufactory has also been f^-^ The timber in the Townships is generally large, maple, beech, elm, fir, pine, hemlock, butternut, cherry, and oak; the hard woods prevailing, indicating the best soil. imoo The communications with Quebec, and the other parts of Lower Canada, are regular, and now will be daily. The roads in general are better than in any part of Canada. I It is in this district that the British American Land Company have commenced operations. An extensive block of land con- taining upwards of 600,000 uores, the centre of which is traversed by the Salmon River, (see Townships of Bury, &c., in map) has been sold them by the Government; and detached portions of wild lands, rind farms in actual cultivation, in different parts of the Townships, have been purchased by the same, for selling to emigrants. v.) This, the great mass of their lands, is what is called the territory of St, Francis, (see map) traversed by the Salmon River, and the seat of the first settlement under the direction of the company. The report of the surveyors appointed to inspect the district, is exceedingly }/.■ m 28 :' !• w if favourable, and the building of saw mills, &Cm &c., and making direct roads to ^herbrooke, is proceeding rapidly, affording plenty of em- ployment to the poorer emigrant, and in- creasing facilities for the farming settler. A town plot has also been cleared for building, and the banks of the Salmon Riverbid fair to be soon under general and profitable cultivation. The lands in this district will be sold at from Is, to 20*. per acre, for the fee simple, which can be paid in six annual instalments, bearing interest (6 per cent.) from the date of sale, un- less purchasers choose to pay the amount at once. We may mention here the rapid advance In the price of lands in the immediate neigh- bourhood of small towns or villages. In Sher- brooke Town, a lot of f of an acre for build- ing, fetches upwards of £60, and it is only 18 years old. The population of the Eastern Townships is said to be about 40,000. All lands are held in free and common ^oeca^e J n fee simple, and are under the operation of the English law. The climate of the Eastern Townships, as re- gards its salubrity, is not to be surpassed by. any yet known. *l his may arise in great part from the number of streams and rivers which intersect, and thoroughly drain it, — and to the natural undulating character of the surface of the land, causing a rapid flow and discharge of their contents. The temperature during sum- mer, though hotter than in this country, (as being necessary to push on vegetation rapidly), is free from much of its debilitating eflfects ; — and the winter of four months, though severe in Itself, becomes not only easy to be endured, but highly useful to the settler. The air at this period is dry, and the cold, always to be 29 neutralized by exercise, (a more agreeable name than labour,) is highly invigorating. Without wishing to underrate the value of the Upper Province, we think enough has been said to draw the attention of emigrants to the Lower, or certain parts of it. We have no interest in sending emigrants here or there — all we desire is to see them as happy and com- fortable as their means will allow them to be — to make them choose a location *. c themselves, from their own personal observation, rather than from the interested and garbled state- ments of others, to proceed wildly, and settle hastily, in some spot, where no other advantage is held out, than that numbers had previously located themselves there. vi^^^i Ij,?; £!f?d! i Another object was, to remind the emigrant of the great necessity for using his means to the best advantage — ^to adapt his labour and productions to suitable objects and markets ; to make fortunes is a different affair. In these days, it is something to stand on our own land, and see a certainty of absenteeism from pau- perism and the workhonse - to increase our means of support as our necessary wants in- crease — and, above all, to see no prospect of distress in a family after our days are over. These observations are essentially applicable to persons of small means — persons who from habit, and ill-judged attempts to resemble- others, placed by fortune in more favoured^ circumstances, are continually, Jaily, adding to their troubles — to their own as well as their families' unhappiness. It is no longer^ safe to give a child a good education, or an expensive professional educa>tion^ and turn him into the wide world to seek his fortune by his own exertions, as was once the case, ^ I! •^•♦r*.- .* 30 and with almost certainty of success. In lieu of professional and elegant^ give him a know- ledge of the useful accomplishments. We should be careful that, in trying to make all or too many eminent in one way, we are not for ever injuring them, or preventing the bene- ficial results of some necessary change of their profession or trade. Custom and fashion, in lieu of talents, too often render a professional man successful ; and his necessary preliminary as well as essential education, too frequently elevate the mind to treat with scorn the means necessary to win the confidence or appro- bation of the public ; so that from pride, dis- gust, or necessity, or all conjoined, men, whose talents and lives should be used and honoured in their native country, seek refuge in the wildernesses of the Colonies ; and in the cir- cuit of a few miles, you may, at times, find a M.A, a M.D., or a W.S. chopping wood or digging potatoes. in 05 -■ There are some other powerful reasons for locating in the *' Townships," provided that a prima facie case in their favour can be made out — their contiguity to the ordinary landing- I places of emigrants-^so that a mere trifle can i place them, theii families, and their baggage, I on any part thereof in a few days — in lieu of i the tedious, circuitous, expensive, and, worse I than all, the varied water and land route to I the Upper Province. 't' ^ -/^ The gross expense attendant on emigration tj(pA£ctib to the Eastern Townships, will vary according to the class of vessel, &c. &c. But it is in the comparative expenses from Quebec, to the above-named district and the western portion of the Upper Province, that makes such a difference. From this country to Quebec, full i'it'O 31 I O: ill grown persons have of late years, been con- veyed at from 40s. to 80s. each, and 5s. more will place them directly in Port St. Francis, on the boundary of the Townships ; on any part of which, he, with his baggage, say half a ton, can be placed in three or four days, for about £2, I consider, therefore, the average rate at which emigrants can be located in the Townships, at not more than £7 per head; while the journey merely to York, in Upper Canada, will take (with luggage of the same extent) four or five times the number of days, and the subsequent removal to the back coun- try, some days more, at an expense, in all, of not less than £11, and probably more, — a loss of time and money for what purpose ? To those who know the difficulties expe- rienced by emigrants, in the transport of themselves and baggage, the locality of the Eastern Townships and the situation of Port St. Francis, present great conveniences. From Quebec the emigrant can proceed direct, by steam boat, (at an expense of 5s. per head) to the Port above-named, about ten miles above Three Rivers, but on the opposite side of the St. Laurence. Here an extensive range of buildings, as stores, lodging houses, and stabling, have been built for the accommoda- tion of the emigrant; and, from this spot, conveyances can be obtained to all parts of the Townships. The land in this immediate neighbourhood, belonging to the Land Com- pany, has been laid out in lots for building on, and the Port, from its great artificial and natural resources, must soon be a place of some importance. '^ A wharf, extending 500 feet into the river, has been built, and here, and here alone, of (.11 i :i 32 M\ w ■ > til* ;' '" " the south side of the river, from Quebec to Sorel, can the steamers and sea- going ships come direct alongside, and hold immediate communication with the shore. The steamers plying on the St. Laurence have already made it a regular touching place for supplies of wood fuel. From this place commences the new road to the Townships, through the Seigneuries; but by it more than twelve miles of the worst road formerly travelled over will be avoided. An agent of the Company will be here found, Captain Coldough, who will render every assistance to the emigrant. On the other hand, this place offers immense facilities to the farm- ers settled in the 1 ownships, for the disposal of their produce, or for its shipment to Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal. Granaries will, 'ere this, be there established, and for curing provisions, every facility needed will be ob- tained. But to the poorer emigrant, its advantages are very great ; work is sure to be found in the making roads, (if he do not deem it advisable immediately to turn farmer,) and a hundred other occupations necessary in forming a new town ; and this without any loss of time, or expense of shipping and unshipping his baggage for days and weeks together, as must be the case if he go far west into Upper Canada. Under such circumstances a man with or without a family, can under- take to be in the Eastern Townships, and if he chooses, settled, in less than forty days from his departure from home, — and at an expense of about one half less of what it will cost him to get with his luggage west, in the Upper Pro- vince. Emigrants generally err in bringing too many useless articles, or such as can be 33 procured equally good and cheap in the coun- try, — but to the'settlers in the Eastern Town- ships, every facility of transport by land and water is open, and as the distance even to the Company's territory of St. Francis, is not great, advice on this head is not so much needed. Care should be taken however to have the packages of a handy size and weight, and well secured. To those who desire on their arrival to become purchasers of lands belonging to the Company, it would be well if they deposited their money with the Company's officers in London, who will give them an order for the same, in currency, payable in Quebec or Mon- treal, by which, not only is the premium on the transaction secured to them, but also in- terest at three per cent, per annum, while it may remain undisposed of. This will prevent any loss from accident on shipboard, or theft, and secure a certainty of receiving the full amount in the currency of the country, of the sum previously deposited at home. If they however prefer taking their money with them, let them make choice of sovereinitm which have now a fixed value, Sflir Presuming that the emigrant has resolved to settle in the Townships, no time is to be lost in proceeding to his destination. From Quebec he may set out by steam-boat, either to Three Rivers, or, better still, to Port St. Francis, (now^ always to be preferred) and thence along the borders of the St. Francis River, to Drummondville, Shipton and Richmond, to Sherbrooke and Lennox- ville, and si ill further south, to Compton, Hatley and Stanstead.— Or he may proceed merely to St. Nicholas, 12 miles above Que- 'I J,,.,, •^m f ■tl 34 bee, and thence by Craig's Road, through Inverness, Halifax, Weedon, Dudswell, a^ain to Lennoxville, Either of the three first- named places, should serve as head quarters, and an enquiry into the habits, proceedings, methods, of tiarming, &c., of those already set- tled, diligently proceeded in. In this task the British American Land Company's agents, will prove of incaleulable benefit in directing the emigrant to particular localititis, and imparting information suitable to his wants. He will find, moreover, another class of men, real friends of mankind in (Ken^- ral-r-the country clergymen, who will always readily afford him every assist^t^nee and advice that lays ia their power. A tj^w weeks thus spent m making observations, is, always am^ ply repaid, or should be so, in its resultifs. And It will be time enough to bring forwar4 the baggage from head quarters, when a location has been chosen. What then should a man who- knows any thing about farming do when he arrives, in the country in search of an estate ? We answeri by asking another, — What dOes be do in tthas ? He looks about for markets, and enquires the prices of cattle, grain, labour, Ac-. The subse- quent proceedings^ depend on the nature oftbQ land chosen— as a partly cleared farm*, or en- • tij^ely wild land ; if the first, the same system,) of farming is to be adopted as at home, modi-;} fi^d^ of course, as to periods of time, and th^;-! di^rence of object which so different a situ-^ at ion and circumstances, must necessarily^ induce; if the lattier, a m)8thod must beit adopted peculiar to the country, such as we shaU presently describe. [We are now speak-- ing exdusiveiy of meq, with small or some means.] " ' ."6 " ■y 35 1 From what has been previously said, it may appear that I am not favourable fo the latter mode, except under various restraints. Those who have small meanSy will never undertake it, at least, in reality, but will keep in reserve, a home in the immediate neighbourhood, until a sufficient clearing has been effected for them by others, and a place fitted for the re- ception of themselves and families, however rou^h it may be, provided. While it is the business of those, with no means but their hands, to prosecute their labour for others, at the good wages which are certain to await the active and well disposed labourer, until he have set apart a sufficient sum to commence as a master landowner. And even then, the clearing wood lands is a matter which is much better effected through the agency of those who have been specially brought up in such an occupation, and with whom a contract should be entered into, recollecting, that the right to the ashes produced, will materially alter the price per acre for clearing. If, however, such a dive into the forest l>e determined on as a first step, it is plain what must be done, and* what must be had. A shelter from the wea- ther in the shape of a log-hut, and provisions sufficient for use, until the ground to be clear- * ed, can be made to produce more, when new and more convenient buildings become neces- sary for the family, and the former dwelling serves for the new comers in the shape of sun- dry head of cattle; specially taking care to- locate in a spot where a good spring or springs'' of water will add' to his comfort, and the con- venience of his cattle, a point too frequently* overlooked in this well-watered district, but studlbudy attended to in some of the €^y' spots in Upper Canada. c 2 36 :; ■ :,l r '^ I m w m The log-hut is, as its name implies, a hut of logs, a more convenient and comfortaole dwel- ling-place than many would believe. A couple of men will get one put up, 30 by 20ft., or larger, in 10 or 14 days; and however rough such a habitation may be deemed for British settlers, it must be recollected, that thousands have done so before them, and found them- selves comparatively comfortable. Js it to be wondered at, that such a proceeding should sicken many, who are foolish enough to com- mence in such a manner, unaccustomed to such hardships, and who, having small meanSy are able to do otherwise; or, that those with no means, but a little provision to keep them from starving, can be induced to adopt such a course, whilst work is plenty and wages high. Yet it is so,- and in this manner, many thou- sands have actually risen to a state of inde- pendence and comfort; but, as IVIr. Gould justly observes, their minds and hearts were of the right sort, A proximity to markets is not to be over- looked, but, above all, a healthy situation is to be preferred to a few miles of distance. In some parts of the United States, considered the most healthy, it is astonishing how many days' labout is lost by actual sickness. Even in Upper Canada, the settler has to go through a seasoning of fever and ague ; by which, if life be not shortened, the period for labour is greatly diminished when it is most required. Salubrity of situation should be preferred, even at some expense of fertility of soil. But unless a settler is wilfully blind to all the laws of nature and discretion, such as living in a swamp, &c. and expose himself to causes, which it is his business to avoid rather than ■! P 37 to combat with, he will find no difficulty in fully accommodating himself. A slight eleva- tion for the site of the building, should be made of avail, as being highly useful in faci- litating a large roomy cellar being dug under the house,— a matter absolutely necessary. Matters being so far settled, the clearing is now to be begun. Hitherto the light of Heaven has been partially excluded from the surface of the ground, by the umbrella-top which the trees in a wild state invariably assume, and the ground beneath presents, according to circumstances, a clear plain sur- face, or one covered with trees of second growth, and underbrush. The axe, not an l^'nglish one, but a real Canadian one, is now to be taken up, and he must " cut into the forest with all bis might and main." The small trees and underbrush are to be cut close to the ground by means of a strong short scythe, and the larger trees at a convenient distance from the ground, say three feet, by strokes of the axe in an horizontal and forty-five degree direction, regulating at will, the direction in which the tree shall fall. Here the Back- woodsman shows how to suit his convenience by his contrivance. A number of trees are thus notched, but allowed to stand, and another allowed to fall in their direction, accumulating weight and impetus, and in this manner a number come down together. The branches are then cut off, the trunks chopped into lengths, hauled by oxen (who display great docility and strength in such occupation) into heaps and burned, reserving such as may be useful for sph'tting into rails or other pur- poses, which may be deemed necessary. I ! ■tu\ it I' i i *i^'^ ■^.i. 38 Sometimes the Jarge trees may be made to fall, especially when they are in a light and thin soil, by cult' *^ round their roots, and the stumps, in this case, are at once abstracted. It is much t® be regretted, that in such a country, a greater number of trees are not preserved in regular lines, both for ornament and convenience ; gratifying* the eye and iffording during summer, a pleasant retreat for cattle. The ashes produced from such burnings, are to be reserved for various purposes : to make potash, or to be kept as manure in lieu of lime. Half a ton of the first nrist at least be produced on an acre, and they are worth 12s. to Ids. per cwt. on the spot. An American Backwoodsman would support his family from the proceeds of the ashes, and save something ; but an European, to whom all this is new^ could scarcely expect to do this. These ashes are housed, by being put into cribs made of logs and covered with bark, to project them from rain, and are to be worked up at con- venient seasons. But British farmers don't like being potash makers ; and it would be as well, or even better, if they would reserve them for manure, only re collecting to use them as such. Such is the effect of "clearing" — and with this preparation, the ground is rendered fit for all necessary purposes. Wheat is sown rough on the surface and immediately harrowed in with a narrow triangular harrow, often made of a forked piece of a beech tree, including a part of the stump and the first fork in it^ thus Y, into which the teeth are driven : and other kinds of grain and roots proceeded with 39 i as indicated under their several heads, l^io- vision is to be made for housing the crops in due season, and the bush settler now is trans- formed into a farmer, living on a patiiy^ cleared estate. If the trees are pretty far apart, and the ground free from underbrush, another manner of proceedmg is, at times, partially adopted, called girdling. This consists in taking a large ring of bark, &c. off each tree, causmg it to die, and preventing the bushy top from keeping out the light. A coarse kind o(' farm- ing can be carried on between the decaying stalks, a^ording a great facility in raising certain crops, \^ithout the preparatory trouble of cutting down and burning the trees, the which can^ perhaps, be effected with greater convenience at a future opportuniiy. The appearance of the stumps in the ground 18 very unseemly to the eye of a home country man, accustomed to see level fields with neat hedges. They however offer but little \mpQ' diment to the operations of the farmer, being generally wide apart ; and after four or six years^ become quite rotten and are easily drawn out by a pair of oJten and burnti The exoence of clearing, is for the first operation^ about 9 to 14 dollars per acre, 2^. to 3/. 3^., and the subsequent removal of the stumps can be eflfected at from 6 to 8 dollars per acre. The lots sold by Government and in geiierafl all lotSj average 200 acres ;* so hi* will have * Each township, on an average, contains al^out 60,000 acres, divided into lots, whose boundary Unes run due north ttftd south. Each lot contains about 200 acr^Sj of 103 rttdft ot p^rch^s in v>idth, and 300 in dej^th. the Hnes indicatiiig^ the tvhble widths friark the ct)h<*6ssit5Ai^, sWd thfe lihes 6^ ^1 MWMIMIM «■ 40 t \\ i ( mm ^Bl^ 64 II a lai'ger or smaller portion cleared, as his means will allow ; applying the surplus of the produce from the cleared part to fresh clear^ ings, each successive year. It is a matter of some doubt, whether such a commencement, under improved circum- stances, i, e,, with a good convenient frame house* to live in, &c. be more judicious than commencing on land, or a farm partly cleared and already cultivated. Such lots are every where for sale, with decent houses, barns, &c. and can be procured at a price generally less than the actual expense of clearing the land ; but then it frequently happens that the por- tion previously cultivated has been exhaiisted depths mark the numbers. Hence in the Government or private sales, you find the lots designated as Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. in No. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 concession ; and the grand boundary line of the whole is generally taken along some road or river, and a certain portion, at regular distances, reserved for roads in the new town- ship. 1* is more than probable, that the lots now laying out in the St. Francis Territory, the seat of the Company's new settlement, will consist of 100 acres each, and thus afiford greater facilities for the settlement of poorer emigrants. * A frame house is a frame of wood similar to the frame work of d brick house, covered inside and outside with half inch board, and the outside and roof again with shingles or wood slates, much in the same manner as the frame and sides of a boat. The space between the boardings is, at times, occupied with bricks, and in such a style, formt the most convenient and best house 3 for the country. The style of building for settled purposes, usually adopted in the Eastern Townships, is very similar to that in the North American States ; and forms a handsome contrast to that of the French Canadians. — Built chiefly of wood and brick, which allow more range for the ornamental than stone, painted white, with deep verandahs, the pillars, &c. of which are clothed in summer with wreaths of green hoj) plants, affording a pleasing shade, and a supply of hops suflicient for domestic purposes, as fermr'-it in makmg bread. These buildings when of wood are not painted until they hb-n. stood exposed for some two or three years, and the complaint, su generally urged at home against the durability of white pine, is but seldom heard there, owing, no doubt, to the long seasoning which it previously undergoes. ¥ *1 or nearly so ; though, in such cases, you gene- rally find an abundance of old manure which has been accumulating for years and never applied to its proper purpose. It is to be considered, however, that the products from recently cleared lands are pro- portionably great, and the first crop, say wheat at twenty or thirty bushels per acre, at a dollar, will clear the expense, leaving the ashes out of the question, and the land requires no manure for a year or two more. But this is a point for the emigrant himself to consider and decide on. During my sojourn in Sherbrooke and its vicinity, I procured a list of sixty farms offered for sale; the one that was considered the dearest and certainly not the best, but within a mile of the town, consisted of 200 acres, on the margin of the river on which the town is situated, and which is navigable for boats some miles above and' below. Of this farm, 70 acres were cleared and free from stumps, a decent house, and two barns in bad order ; a good orchard of an acre and a half, well watered, and the land rather superior. This, with the crops of two acres of wheat, five of oats, &c. &c. and ten or more tons of hay, was offered for about 390/. sterling, or 430 currency.* ' < .^ • Dr.WilliamWilson,late of Ripon, in Yorkshire, who emigrated to Canada, and settled in the Eastern Townships about two years since, writes, as the result of his extended enquiries, (which I feel great pleasure in confirming, having on various occasions par- taken of his hospitality, and admired the ability and readiness displayed by himself and family, in conforming in mind and body to the proper pursuits of farming emigrants) : — "Innumerable farms are here offered at prices within the reach of small capitalists. The mere wreck or scattered frag- ments of many an English farmer would supply him with a farm, 43 '1: l! .i;f!* ■:■■ II 'I , I From this, a tolerable idea may be formed of settling on wild or on half cleared lands ; exists no necessity recollecting that there stock, and implements all his own, and enable him to look upon his family, not with anxious and painful doubt, \yit as a certain source of help and comfort. The farms usually contain from 100 to 350 acres, having house, bams, &c. of wood, and may be pur- chased for £250 to £350. I am in treaty for one on the River Massawippi, six miles from this place, and two from the village of Lennoxville. It contains 211 acres, of which 50 are cleared and cultivated. It is in a warm sheltered situation on the prir cipal road ; the river divides it into two equal parts, and abounds in excellent fish, sturgeon, mullets, maskinonge, which are usually taken at night, by torch-light, with a spear, and sometimes weigh 351b. 1 401b. each ; there is also on the farm a large growth of ma^ i t J, producing sugar; the soil is as good as any in the province, ig chiefly on the edge of the river, and of alluvial formation. This property, with eight head of cattle, twelve sheep, twenty tons of hay, eighty bushels of potatoes, farming implements, some useful household furniture, iron boiler, and su^ar utensils, has been offered to me for £500. The land is estimated at £400 ; I have bid £350, and as the owner is anxious to return to the United States, and ready money for his whole property is not easily had, I think I shall step into his place for £450, and for this moderate sum, obtain a farm capable of pro- ducing every requisite for the use of my family, except tea." Again, at a subsequent date : — "We are now comfortably settled upon the farm which I men- tioned in my last ; I entered it in the beginning of March, but as the house required great alterations and repairs, I left my family at Sherbrooke, and went to superintend the workmen. It was ready for occupation in the middle of May, when my femily found a home which greatly delighted them. It is indeed a lovely scene. My cottage fronts the west, and on this and the southern aspect, I have built verandahs. Here my little ones enjoy a shade or shelter in the open air, as the sun, wind, rain, or snow prevail ; and here, how greatly should 1 enjoy the society of my good English friends ! Our site is a dry knoll descending in every direction, except the north, where it rises to a height eufficient to shelter us. The river flows at the foot. On the other side the Massawippi, where is the greater half of my land, there is a gentle rise of fifty acres, from thirty of which the forest has been removed. The surface then becomes steep, and termi-' nates in the summit of a mountain range, having an outiitie of most beautiful undulation. The fece of this mountain is in a state of nature, covered with a dense mass of maple tr6es, which yield me sugar. A good public road, leading directly into the United States, passes between my house and tne river. On all sides of us are farms having a fourth or a third part cleared, occit- pied chiefly by Americans. We have six cows giving milk, and 43 I 1 to advance, as many have done, hundreds of miles in the interior of a wild country. We return to the consideration of the essen- tial qualities of the Eastern Townships, be- lieving such district to be at any rate the most eligible for settlement in Lower Canada. Its facilities for producing wheat have been gene- rally considered inferior to those of the Upper Province, and this opinion may possibly be correct, although the grounds on which such a statement has been made are probably insuffi- cient. The great export of wheat from Upper Canada can not be considered a decisive proof of its general superiority in raising that grain over the portion cf Lower Canada to which we refer. The *' Townships " have only of late begun to be visited and settled in. The settlers have not hitherto bad the benefit of such a judicious government as the Upper Canadians;— roads, canals, and other facilities for transmission of produce, have not till very lately been forwarded and improved ; and we ask, what was thought of Upper Canada &e- fore such steps had there been taken ? But perhaps, for the real benefit of Eastern Town- ship farmers, and prospective emigrants to them, it would be better to wave the point of equality on this score, entering, however, by J three others, a yoke of fine oxen, a pair of horses, and a dozen sheep and their lamhs. We have got above twenty tons of hay, and a few days ago we put the first sickle into our wheat. We have also potatoes, oats, turnips, and a little barley. Our garden, which occupies the slope horn, thv^; house, towards the south-west^ has supplied us well with peas, cucumbers, and other vegetables, and promises som& fine melons. In a country just emerging from the wilderness, the people are more engaged in producing the things which sustain life, than in adding to its enjoyments ; httle attention has therefore been given to the niceties of gardening, and no ^ood fioiit has yet been raised. Good English seeds of ul desc^iptionis are therefore valuable here." 44 way of protest, two facts — first, that wheat, as we shall have occasion again to mention, is grown with great facility, and large returns — is a sure crop — fetches double the price in Elace fo what it does in Upper Canada, — may e eventually, and is now, exported in quan- tities ; and, secondly, that the proper pursuit of Eastern Township farmers, grazing and its accompaniments, is, and can be pursued under far more favourable auspices, from the nature of the country and its universally abundant supply oi good water, than can be in a great portion of the Upper Province. The true causes of some of the difference may be justly attributed to bad farming and ill management, and by tracing such causes to the two different classes who constitute the inhabitants of the country, may afford a satis- factory reason why the Eastern Townships have not enjoyed so great a popularity as they deserve. The St. Laurence frontier of the Townships is, as we have before said, occupied by the descendants of the old French settlers, to whom farming (except for their own purposes — their immediate necessities) is a matter that receives no attention. The frontier thus hinted at extends backwards from seven to twenty or more miles in the route usually taken to the more distant townships ; and of course, under the slovenliest of management, and bad roads, presents nothing to induce a travelling emigrant to settle. Nature, which has been extremely bountiful to such district — a large portion of which is deluged by the St. Laurence every winter, has accordingly effected what the habitant rarely thinks of doing — manuring and restoring in heart his 'w # '3. ,tif 45 grounds ; and for grass, and such like, no country can return such quantities of fodder. The uplands and gentle hills, which even com- mence on the very frontier, cannot however be expected to furnish such results— and an attempt to draw successive crops of wheat and other grain from them must necessarily give rise to a very unpromising appearance, such as too frequently is the case, and causing in many instances the abrupt return of the emigrant. This state of things may b*_ traced as far as Drummondville, the settle- ment effected under the direction of Colonel Heriot ; and it would be well for the emigrant to consider his journey but begun when he has arrived at this place, the last spot that any native or English farmer ^vould think of settling in. But even here he can perceive what, under the most unfavourable circum- stances, the stock in trade of every emigrant (labour, and a proper system) can effect; while, if he visits a series of farms lying on the same line, of the same soil, he will find little difficulty in divining whether they be held by a native or an old countryman, by the strange diversity in the appearance of the crops. From Drummondville the country com- mences to be Anglicised, and a progressive improvement in its appearance, continues as he may advance ; but another reason why such returns of wheat are not to be expected here as in Upper Canada, soon becomes evident. The land in the Kastern Townships has been more accessible to the American axeman, as lying immediately on the border line, between the States and Lower Canada. Their relation to farmers is much like that of M H l9 !J ' 46 i; ft a body of pioneers to an army, to clear away impediments to a free progress, by cutting down the forest. To make a clearing, build a hut, work up ashes, and get a crop or two of wheat, and then sell or sometimes leave the land, is the manner peculiar to them, — leaving the more regular details of farming to subsequent hands. An attempt to follow such fashions is the real cause of the bad appearance of farms generally; but it affords a useful lesson to those, whOi while they neglect not their proper business, can make such pursuits subsidiary to their general good. On farms, however, where proper care is taken, and an recently cleared lands, not the slightest doubt can exist, that wheat in crop» of twenty to forty single bushels per acre, is, and can at any time be raised, and it will be time enough to raise a reasonable outcry of the inferiority of the Eastern TownahipSy when a proportionate number of emigrants shall have settled^ and the British American Land Company had a proportionate trial with the Upper Canada Land Company. We have thus traced the effects of bad farming on the only disputed production of the Provinces ;— other reasons, relative to ill management, might be given, but it is not our object to write, specially, on agriculture, nor are we able to do so. Spring sowing has, we may say, been invari- ably adopted* Of late, however, fall sowing has been practised in some few cases, and the result has been nowise unsatisfactory. The covering of snow which the young plant has for so many weeks, seems to have no deleteri- ous influence, — nay, even guards it from* the h f 47 excessive cold and frost which would other- wise destroy it. But under the ordinary method, the ground, covered with hard snow for three months, possesses, at the breaking up of winter, such invis:orating power, that the crop is always pushed on wiih a rapidity, which, while it is surprising, would seem to render the former system if not advisable, at least not to be hastily entered on.* The causes of failure, are want of attention and evil practices— not inability to produce. The price of wheat varies from 5s, to 8s. 6d„ but the average may be taken at per bushel of 601bs, (generally of that weight although it fetched the extreme price at ^iherbrooke, and even a scarcity was felt, during September, 1834. This is somewhat a better prospect lor an industrious poor farmer, now at home, than the present price of wheat, and the ruinous rents, which the great land- lords exact, merely to keep the tenant under political bondage; and above all, not a particle of it goes towards any such a cormorant as a political parson or greedy tithe proctor. The soil in general of the Eastern Town- ships i« composed of a fine rich sandy loam, remarkably deep, and very eaeily worked. Barley, in consequence, answers remarkably well; but, strange to say, it is not generally grown : like^ its predecessor, wheat, it has suffered a general deterioration from a neglect I • Should an^ one have any doubts on the extreme rapidity of frowth usual in such climates, it may be sufficient to state, that a eld sown with wheat in the immediate neighbourhood of QuebeCj m the second week of June 1834, was reaped and saved in fine order before the first week of Sept^nfoer. W, F. B. :!r I 'if I : 48 of changing the seed, &c. its adaptability to the situation, and proper pursuits of Eastern Township farmers, in the rearing and fat- tening of cattle, especially pigs, which fetch, as pork, a much higher price than any other meat, and the great good it would effect in a moral point of view, as leading the inhabitants to make malt and drink beer, in lieu of the horrid trash called spirits^ distilled here, and drank to excess from the want of beer or cider, are circumstances which are only now beginning to attract notice. — Lastly, the greater certainty of a full crop than can at all times be raised from Indian corn. Its average price is about 3*. 6d. per bushel (single.) . The climate of the Eastern Townships gener*\lly allows the growth of Indian corn ; and where care is taken, by choosing a situ- ation not much exposed, from forty to sixty , bushels per acre are frequently obtained. It ; is grown in greatest perfection on land newly cleared, or in old cleared spots well manured ^ with wood ashes. The seed is to be sown or rather dibbled in (two or three grains together,) at distances of one foot and in rows three feet apart. Five to eight quarts will plant an acre, the time varying from the middle of May to the beginning of June. Its , general value about 3s, 6d, to 4«. per bushel (single). The ear or cob when boiled or roasted, in its green state, forms a delicious table vegetable. -tt The grain can be applied to a variety of uses ; as meal, it is far superior to that of oats, and, for fattening pigs, equal or even superior to barley, giving the meat, as it is said, a firmness rarely seen from other kinds of food. The tops, i, e. the upper stalk (from five to : 49 seven feet high) and leaves, which are usually cut off on a level with the topmost ear, before the grain is quite ripe, are much relished by cows. Sometimes they are stacked, and in some cases the grain is even sown late in summer, and the stalks cut without any regard to the ripeness of the ear, as a means for supplying a bulky fodder for winter. The late Mr. Cobbett introduced it into this coun- try, and having accidentally failed, but few have continued the practice. Pumpkins, a most important production for those who are fond of pies, (in which taste the American colonists rival our neighbours in Cornwall,) are, from their great size, facility of growth, and the nutritious matter they contain, of great use in feeding all kinds of farm-stock. The seeds are set in the spaces between the stalks of Indian corn, and the plants creep along the ground without injuring the growth of the other. A crop of corn, with its large dark-green leaves, and the ground bespeckled with pumpkins, of a fine yellow colour, offers to the eye a picture which nothing can surpass. The meat of cattle fed exclusively on the raw pumpkin, acquires a fine gold colour; like turnips, however, they must be kept from the frost. Oats, rye, &c. answer equally well as in England ; the former worth about Is, 6d, to 2*. per bushel ; but owing to carelessness in neglecting change of seed, is, in many in- stances, nothing but a crop of straw. Potatoes are much grown, — and till lately formed, with hay, the sole winter keep for stock of all kinds. The returns are very large, the dark vegetable mould, formed by the decayed leaves, and the looseness in % 50 general of the soil, being well suited for their growth ; — from 200 to 600 bushels per acre, sold at from I*. 3d, to 2*. per bushel. Peas, beans, &c. produce as good crops here as at home. Cabbac^es, though not grown by farmers, might easily be raised ; and, in conjunction with turnips and mangel-wurzel, promise to effect a very beneficial change in the system of farming. The farmers are beginnin^r to appreciate the real value of such productions, and much credit is due to Captain Colclough and a few British settlors, for showing the possibility and extreme facility of growing such crops. For turnips, the ground should be cleared with more care than for some other cropr — a soil too moist for wheat or other grain ill suit them, and they will grow well among ine logs. I hey are apt to be attacked by the fly, as in this country, particularly if sown too early in the season. Time for sowing from the middle to the end of June, and may be housed early in October. The ruta baga, or Swede turnip, is generally transplanted, from a notion, whether true or not, that if grown otherwise it would be sticky. Carrots, parsnips, onions, and all kinds of garden vegetables, may be raised in any quantities. A most important difference exists between the preservation of roots and other farm pro- ductions in the home country and the North American Colonies. During ^ inter, potatoes, turnips, carrots^ &g. require to be kept most carefully from the effects of the excessive Gold^ and the value of such crops, as Swede turnips, mangel wurzel, and potatoes, can fl n sn 51 only be fancied by such as know what it is to keep a stock of cuttlo in-doors during three or four months. For the house, the underground cellar suffices ; here milk, butter, meat, fluids, &c. are kept from freezing in the winter, and in- juring in the summer; while, for the cattle's food, similar underground arrangements, and deep pits divided into compartments, are ab- sc lutely necessary. The grasses flourish in great luxuriaT??^, and mark the real capabilities of the disi** ^;(, and the proper pursuits to which they should be applied. Timothy is the grass usually gro . n, its roots being large and striking deep into the ground, it is enabled to withstand the greater heat of summer; red clover is usually grown with it, and the shears of them are extraordinary. Indeed the soil seems naturally adapted for clover, — as most pieces • of land, if allowed to lay fallow a certain time, become covered >\ith the white or perennial. Hay is sold but rarely in the Townships, being reserved for winter keep ; price from 25*. to 45*. per ton, according to .•. circumstances. Hay-making and saving is a matter of much less trouble in this climate, owing to the settled weather and great heat in summer, enabling all to be finished with great rapidity. Clover seed is beginning to be saved as an article for sale and export ; worth from 75*. to 855. per cwt , and timothy and birds seeds- from 6*. to 9«. per bushel. f The great superiority of the Townships as> a grazing country, has been already noticed,* and the facilities for carrying on such system, are proportionably great ; but the rage for D 2 ■• J .. M i / * t^ In .fi' , Good decent farm horses fetch from 71. to 20/., and others for saddle or cab up to 50/. Ploughs sell from 2/. to 4/. ; ox carts 7/. to 10/. and the light waggons peculiar to the country, and generally used in travelling, from 10/. to 16/. ...-: , -.:n^tv-r , r An increased atieiition to the rearing of sheep, promises to be att'^ ided with advan- tageous results. Wool fetche«« from is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per lb., and therefore constitutes an important part of the farmer's produciions, when it is considered that his cloth \L. oh, from their capability of bearing severe cold, and the quantity of wool they give, are admirably adapted to the climate. The scourge of sheep in our own country, the rot^ is unknown ; and it can not be doubted, that sheep farming 56 * M: r n% must eventually be, as it is in many cases now, a source of great profit to the settler. To the legs of mutton admirers of this coun- try, the fi^enerality of sheep present but poor I)rospects. They seem to fall off from the oin, backwards ; so that with good shoulders and breasts, their legs bear every resemblance in size, to those of our lambs, the natural con- sequences of inattention, till lately, in breed- ing ; the general price from Ss, to 16*. each. Pigs, which attain a large size, are easily kept, especially when a number of oak and beech trees are left standing, to supply acorns and mast. A. portion of the uncleared land is fenced, and the animals turned in, returning in a short period much improved. Their car- cases as meat, fetch nearly double the price of other meat. The breeds are very good, as the Americans who inhabit the border, are great pig fanciers. It thus appears, that meat, which from the cheapress of the land, &c. must be cheap, fetches sufficiently remune- rating prices for the farmer. Beef and mutton, average twice as much during si^mmer as in winter, 3d, to 5d. and 2d. to 3d, Fodder during the latter period, from the ill-manage- ment of the farms, becomes scarce. Sufficient hay is not kept for stock ; and the great re- source for English farmers, Swede turnips, are not grown. To counterbalance this, how- ever, the season and the accompanying climate have done much. Cattle are fattened in the fall, and when frost and snow have fairly set ID, killed and hung up. The meat of the car- case retains its freshness and juices until the breaking up of the winter, thus rendering unnecessary the continual winter feeding. r 57 Poultry are treated in a similar manner,— killed, cleaned, and packed in snow. Fruit, — We see no reason, why, in th^ greater part of the Eastern Townships, apples and pears, but especially the former, might not be more generally and successfully grown. Montreal, which is on a more northern parallel than Melbourne, Sherbrooke, Goutpton, &c., and but a short distance from them, produces the finest apples in the world, and cider in large quantities might be easily made; but where the necessaries of life are so readily obtained, and where the means of obtaining such are as open to a man's successors, as they have been to himself, a provision for a family after a parent's death, is a matter but little attended to ; and activity, either of body or mind, in regaM to improvements and changes (always disliked by farmers) is rarely exhibited. In the whole of the Eastern Townships, con- taining some score of large and small villages, and where, from the great heat in summer, a re- freshing drink is required, scarcely a ton of cider is made, and there is not a single brew- ery. — Hops are grown in great perfection; and barley, as we have before shewn, is one of the best crops that can be raised — with no hop duty, no malt tax, casks extremely cheap, and fire wood for a mere song— it is a matter of serious complaint, that nothing but foreign spirits, as rum and brandy, and Colonial potatoe or rye whiskey, should be the common (irink of the settlers. Brewing, however, must be considered as attended with more difficulties in the Canadas than in the home country. It can only be made in the spring and fall — must be kept in I 53 m w under-ground cellars to avoid heating and freezing, and cannot be transported from place to place during winter, but with gr^at pre- caution ; but as a set off to these, it realizes a greater price even in Quebec and Montreal, than in England. It is to be understood, that the common gar- den fruits, such as apples, gooseberries, cur- rants, raspberries, and strawberries, are not only suited to the climate, but are grown in great perfection, though to a trifling extent. And it is more than probable, that a brewery will be proceeded with this summer, at Sherbrooke. On these, and on all other points connected with the agriculture of the country, satisfactory information can be obtained only by actual observation ; and few will, or should be, in- duced to enter at once on the duties and ma- nagement of Canadian farms and farming, until they have witnessed the practices of, and results obtained by those who have preceded them. It has been well remarked by Mr. Gould, that great caution is necessary in not giving too much credence to the exaggerated accounts of the wages of labour in the United States, as compared with those given in the Canadas. This arises from the same dollar in the former, being divided into a greater number of shillings than in the latter, and hence, wages when reckoned by shillings, may be made to appear double of what they really are. In Canada, the dollar is 5*., in the state of New York 8s, In the *' Townships," labour is usually remunerated at from seven to twelve dollars — 30^. to 50«. per month — with board ; ^#-^'^ %"'• ...f '..f%\.M 59 and the greater part of this is usually paid in produce, at the regular market price.* At times, farms are managed on what is called shares^ the owner finding implements, oxen, or horses, as may be necessary, and seed, — the share-mdXi labour, for which the latter receives from one-third to one half the produce, the remainder goes, without trouble, to the owner. We are justified in believing that, from hence- forth, farmers will find more ready means of disposing of, and obtain more ready money for, their produce. In the infant state of the country, every tradesman or mechanic was obliged to raise and secure his own crops, &c., to mingle one business with another. As, however, numbers increase, the joint employ- ment will cease, and each confining himself to his proper occupation, productions will be more easily obtained, and works of art rendered cheaper — the great influx of emigrants every year, will circulate, in proportion, more money — and nothing but an impolitic interference with the colonists themselves, or unnecessary restraints upon emigration, can fail to render the " Eastern Townships^^ (the English por- tion of Lower Canada,) not only " a land of promise," but of performances. The state of society, of course, will be con- sidered as widely different from country society in England. Different it is, but the difference is in favour of the colonists. The forms and I ti I * It may be conceived from this, what value a large growing family is to a man in such a country, and it is a pretty fair answer to most of those tales which are told by those who return discon- tented or disappointed. Of all classes, however, that return, farmers, indisputably, form the smallest ; whilst, as we stated, at page 8, the disappointments of other classes, afford no criterion as to the present or prospective advantages of the colony. ■^ m 14 60 absurd refinements of a more settled country, are not found there. Each one is more inde- pendent of, and, at the same time, more dependent on his neighbour. The labourer, as a necessary result of his high wages, is a person somewhat in request, and therefore is united more strongly and closely to the more Y 3althy class. The latter have generally sprung from the former, and possess feelings in unison with them. The detached manner of living is admirably adapted to promote sociability; each one serves his neighbour in his turn, while any refractory member is sure of suffering both in personal and social enjoyment. In addition to this, the footing of equality, on which almost every one is placed, as regards voting for members of the House of Assembly, the highest, and, at the same time, almost the only public duty required from the settler, makes the par of men depend more upon intelligence than property, since nothing but principle can be the object of their voting. They have no taxes to complain of, except the statute labour required on the por- tion of road which bounds or traverses their farms ; no institutions foreign to their wants, as grounds of public discord ; and, lastly, no possibility of a state of subserviency, so as to render their consciences at all assailable by the intrigues of others. We consider it unnecessary to say more either in the way of advice to emigrants, or of inducing them to settle in the " Townships." But, surely, where produce is as easily raided as in Upper Canada ; where the English laws and language prevail ; where the titles to pro- perty are safe, and always made satisfactory to intending purchasers," by means of a "Re- 61 gjstration"* establishment; where no peculiar aiseases prevail, and where even the modern pestilence, the cholera, has never reached— a comparatively trifling distance from the great ports of Quebec and Montreal, the shipping places for all parts of the world— with good schools for children, and religious instruction easily obtained, and still more readily con- veyed, by a body of intelligent men, such as the clergy of the Province are, whether Pro- testant or Catholic; whose remuneration is contrasted with their services, and who the^re- fore hold their claim on the respect of the settlers, by their conduct and exertions alone —these are at least some reasons for not discarding this peculiar district in the Lower Province from the attention of British emigrants, — with land to be obtained for 7s. to 20*. per acre, and by the offers of the British American Land Company, partly cleared farms, with houses, &c., on terms which would appear cheap at home as annual rent ; — in fine, with every requisite for the man of small means, and a complete '^ Refuge for the Destitute." who can labour. While the current of emigration was rapidly flowing towards Upper Canada, and the French * The registration system adopted in the Townships, is an affair of great utility. A lot is offered for sale, and the number of it given. The intending purchaser makes enquiries at the office, and sees whether any mortgage or other incumbrance be saddled on the lot. If not, of course all is well, — if the e is, it is his duty to see the mortgage cleared off, previous to his signing any deeds. The mortgagee always registers his claim to prevent the second mortgagee (if any), taking ike first benefit, as he would if the first mortgage on the estate had not been registered, and a sale was to be effected. So all parties by this judicious system are pro- tected. The new purchaser will recollect, therefore, to have his purchase deeds registered. The whole expense is but a few shillings. 62 r frontier of the Townships, never, or but rarely, passed by the British ennigrant, the Americans from the neighbouring^ State of Vernnont, quietly squatted themselves down on the most fertile tracts along the River ISt. PVancis. The former were in the meanwhile handed along, eight hundred miles from the markets of Montreal and Quebec; while this beautiful country, possessing a climate infinitely more healthy, superior as a grazing country, superior also for oats, barley, and potatoes, (and inferior only in its capabilities for producing heavy crops of wheat and Indian corn,) lay within two days' drive of Quebec and Montreal. England cannot produce finer oxen than are reared in the Eastern Townships, and the native horses of Lower Canada are perhaps as hardy and active as any in the world ; they may be driven forty or fifty miles a day with perfect ease. When, in connexion with the peculiar advantages which this part possesses over every other portion of British America as a grazino: country, we consider the supe- riority of its climate over that of Upper Ca- nada, the greater number and purity of its springs, its clear running streams, and free- dom from marsh fevers and agues, it appears wonderful indeed, how various clever pro- ductions could have so turned people's heads, as to send them eight hundred miles up the country, without stopping to inquire what they might do nearer hand. r* ;.:, r:.:" The system of farming, adopted in the greater part of Lower Canada, is, without doubt, of the very worst description. Among the old settled French Canadians, the system of non-selling the lands bequeathed theni'byl'*' their predecessors, their indisposition to traffic, :•> 03 except for the common necessaries of social lite, and of managing large farms, with the sole aid of themselves and family, oftentimes give rise to something more than an apparently/ bad estate. 1 have known farms, of from 50 to 150 acres, not producing wheat enough for the families living on them ; and, with the ex- ception of a few potatoes, and sometimes a little tobacco, no other vegetable, save accidental grains, growinjif. Hay and potatoes thus serve as the general food for cattle, and the result is, that in the Spring, when cattle fetch the best prices, the native stock is thin and poor, and unfit for market ; and, to make up the deficiency, the sharp-sighted United Statesman pours in droves of cattle ; the na- tural result of this is, that the beasts must be fattened or improved again, and sold in the fall, when prices are low. Besides this, the gross mis-application of manure, which is accumulating from year to year, oftentimes rendering it a matter of less trouble to shift or build new sheds, &c., than empty the old ones ; in fine, a general neglect of all good and sound principles of farming. No country in the world is better adapted than the Townships for raising mangel wurzel, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and such like plants, and yet, on account of the necessary labour and attention required, comparatively none are sown. Nor is this a matter of reproach, especially to the old native farmers — almost all the settlers from this and other countries, gradually follow, and arrive at the same state. The almost certainty of acquiring the means of living with but little trouble, would seem to destroy the desire of increasing them, the natural result of difficulties and necessity ; combined with the 1 64 consciousness that the same means are always open to our posterity. If there be one general fault with settlers, it is that of endeavouring to do too mucky by which they get too little ; they would, by more attention to a small portion of land, get absolutely more than by expending the same trouble on a larger : the truth of this I have had abundant opportunities of witnessing in the lots with large and small clearings. It requires but little exertion of mind to tell not only what are the defects, the glaring defects, of the agricultural system adopted in the Lower, and in too great a part of the Upper Province, but also to point out a plan which nature, or natural obstacles to farming in this country, would seem to render neces- sary. The production of manure— of a.jimals — of the ashes of hard wood burnt — of clay in some cases — sand in others — and, above all, the vegetable lop coat of ground, covered with trees, which has been accumulating for ages, must be carefully kept, procured, and used when the soil begins to be weakened by two or three years' cropping, especially of white crops. With the common resources of a farm yard, and the last natural one referred to, which is always to be obtained at the mere cost of col- lection, and in a state the most congenial for vegetable increase, the man who lets his farm be unproductive, is analogous to the barren fig tree, so appositely alluded to in Scripture. He is merely an incumbrance to the earth, and is fit, as he very soon must be, only for removal — he is a robber, not merely of man, but of God — for in a short time, he leaves his lands, which, with moderate care, might have been 65 productive, a prey to weeds and thorns, &c., which injure even his very neighbours. In the major part of the Lower Province, and specially in the Eastern Townships, the soil is admirably adapted for the (growth of such plant'! as afford a bulky nourishment du- ring winter. If Paley, or his illustrious com- mentator, Brougham, had needed a strong evidence of design^ they could have nowhere found a stronger than in this latter fact. For nearly half a year, vegetation, if not at a^ stand, is imperceptible, or not to be made available, on account of the continuance of hard frost; but to counterbalance it, the soil can produce, during the remaining months, such crops as will make up the deticiency. For turnips, mangel wurzel, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, barley, oats, corn, vetches, grass, &c. all plants producing large returns in a short time, a rich, but, at the same time, a li^ht and forward soil was necessary ; yet, with some honourable exceptions, the greater part are not grown on a large scale, and hence, those results which we have elsewhere noted. Fertility of Land. — The land, as re- lates to its quality, is always discerned by the trees growing on it. In swampy spots, the cedar; in poor sandy soil, the pine; but a mixture of ash, oak, beech, birch^ hiccory, and maple, denote the best and most serviceable lands. In the Canadas, as may be supposed, there are no moors or commons, but large tracks of deep, rich, intervale land are every- where to be seen ; these latter are inexhaust- ible, requiring only deep ploughing to furnish the most luxuriant crops, and thus bear a striking resemblance to the Prairies of the i I 1 1 I H-Rf 66 more southern and western districts.* But the productiveness of newly deared lands ceases to be a matter of astonishment, when it is Considered that, in addition to the vegetable additions and decompositions of thousands of years, the act of clearing, which comprises ihe burning of the timber cut down, must add not less than two hundred bushels of hard wood ashes per acre ; to all this, a fallow, (if that can be called such,) when the ground is ♦covered with snow, for at least three months every year. Call it what you will, a difficulty and ex- pense of getting and maintaining labour is the main, I may say, the only obstacle to a suc- cessful result on a moderately well chosen location ; the causes of thi^ are, however, easily accounicd for ; while the causes of a complete paradox may be shown to lie among the very same. Consider for a moment, the emigrant labourer landed, after a voyage to which he has never been accustomed. Brought up in misery, or reduced to that state from one of comparative independence — his hopes at homCy destroyed — his prospects on arrival, are usually of the brightest, at least, as viewed by himself. He wants to jump, at once, from his habitual station to something higher, and in lieu of affording his aid, his labour to others, he locates, and wants the labour of others; but his location, from his poverty, is in a wild, uncleared, and to him, unfavourable J : r J • Many of the most fertile spots are beaver meadows, which have been formed by the dams, which these inteUi^ent animals build across small rivers or brooks ; — an inundation is thus made, sometimes of immense extent ; the consequent earthy and vege- table deposit, becomes, when drained, the richest soil. i 67 district. — He succumbs to his difficulties, and finds he must return to his primitive station, as a helper to others ; but pride, vexation, &c. usually entice him lo some other spot, he dis- likes remaining in the scene of former misery, and most probably, he seeks the precincts of a large town, where labour, generally in de- mand, fetches a less price than in the country^ Hence, may be accounted for the swarms of ill-clad, diseased, and penniless characters, that are to be found in Quebec and other places up the St. Laurence, while, at the same time, crops cannot be quickly saved in some places, from a want of hands^ or a ruinous charge for labour at such periods ; and adver- tisements are published, as we have seen du- ring the last year, for some thousands of men to be employed on large public works.* f )' * It is a very common mistake, to suppose that every emigrant should turn farmer on his arrival in Canada. Misfortunes, it is said, will happen in the best regulated families, and surely such are likely to occur when an occupation is taken up as a means of livelihood, to which the party has never been accustomed. We have specially adverted to agricultm-al emigrants, because to them, observations founded on more than ordinary certainty can be addressed, and to those who have a knowledge of farming, with smalt means, we have pointed out, that such an occupation may, with great proba- bility of success, be entered on; and to those who have no means, abimdant work at higher wages than can be obtained at home. Although a seven years' apprenticeship be not required to form an agricultural labourer, who has strength and disposition to work, still it is not to be expected, that in a new country, labour for a vast number of c*her occupations is in iiuch great request, and, politically speaking, it is not to be desired. But this country, or at least one part of it, Ireland, could well afford to part with a vast number ot its population, who are essentially laborious and agricultural, and who, in addition to the four-fold increase of their present wages, which they are siu'e to obtain, would become an orderly and well-disposed class ; a better proof of their fitness to manage their own affairs, than all the twaddle urged against it, and showing what is the only manner in which it is to be effected, — by bettering at the same time their condition. •J :f 68 i.u i !s ; I: i I m m- h ' ■ 13 W I It may be -asserted as a fact, that of those who have risen from poverty and wretched- ness to independence and comfort, nine-tenths are those who have steadily continued their labour for others, and have profited by the experience that necessarily follows. Such, at least, is our opinion. We have heard of va- rious plans to remedy this, but for the working poor class, no remedy, we think it is plainly shown, can exist. What is bad for one, must be bad for two, or twenty, placed under simi- lar circumstances. To those, however, who have small means, (and every one should have such before he attempts anything like a removal from his sphere of working for others,) a system has been proposed of emigrating en masse, in a tribe, a clan, or community of per- sons bound together by national, or social ties, mutually serving and being served. The pro- gress of such associations, at least, in the home country, has not been very successful, since to make them so, requires not only a combination of hands, but Aear/«,and heads. An inability to approximate and equalize the different kinds of work and labour — the enmities, general and private, which are continually occurring, soon threaten, and eventually subvert the little re- public, founded on, and but ill-suited to, an artificial state of society. But in a family com- bination, circumstances are widely different, and hence we find, generally, the largest fa- milies among the old settlers, to be the best off — a satisfactory hint to such as fear to emi- grate from that cause — and confirming to our minds, the advantages which are likely to ac- crue from the joint stock operations of two, three, or four young, healthy, and laboriously inclined men, whose labour reverts in undimi- i.'^ nished plenty to (hose hands that toiled, and not lost from the casual scarcity or great expense attendant on foreign assistance. If there are advantages, say some, why do not more emigrate ? We answer — how many do they wish? Is it nothing to find from 15,000 to 25,000 persons annually landing on the shores of the St. Laurence, and who hears of their starvation? their premature deaths? their return to their native land, in a proportion of three per cent, on their number ? Is it nothing, we asK, to find as many more emigrating to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, and the United States, the latter of whom again enter the w estern parts of Upper Canada ? It is no longer a matter of doubt— the effects stare you in the face. Have not two Land Companies, with immense capital, dived into the very recesses of both provinces, and with a certainty that some long period must elapse ere it be possible to realize the actual amount expended, to say nothing of their regular and contingent expenses ? Have not roads, steam boats, Since the war, unfortunately, a number of army, as well as navy officers, have been half- payed, the best term 1 can lind» — Their sons, emulous to acquire fresh laurels, or add to those of their parents, hesitate to acquire a knowledge of a trade, and a profession is too expensive. Do vacancies occur, a thou- sand applicants are in readiness for each. The services are of no service to them. A similar indisposition on the part of the sons of that class who are, in these days, styled " the mob,'^ '* multitude,"*' " middle class,'' and a junction, in one person, of various offices, such as formerly served as employment for a number, all these have been the means of sending a number of men to the Colonies, no 71 doubt, very respectable and intelligent, but those ill-disposed to work or suffer hardships, which, as we have shewn, are absolutely neces- sary in the cases of those with no nneans, while their former comparative comfort renders their troubles more keenly and severely to be felt.* Hence, a bad report of the Colonies from such persons, who declare them fit only for slaves, and not for their tender gentilities ; while it is a commonly received fact, that none have done so well, or succeeded better, than half- pay offi- cers who have emigrated, and can rough it. Talk of roughing it^ — why, you have a rough climate in winter, and sometimes you find rough people ; but we question whether there be not more real comfort in this roughness than is thought. What matters it, if one have a rough coat, of Joseph-colour even, provided it keeps you warm ? You have no street-dan- dies to criticise your clothes, without paying for their own — if your home-made sugar is rather dark, it is sweet and good, and your own fault that it is not whiter. You are obliged, per- haps, to eat veal, or pork, or venison, for days successively, on account of having killed a calf or a pig from your stock,or a deer in one of your rambles up a river, where you have picked up *:^ ! * Nine-tenths of those who emigiate have scarce an idea of what they are going about. Of the whole of the emigrant pas- sengers, that sailed in the same ship with me, and all of whom were possessed of some means, from £200 to £1000, not one knew where he was likely to settle, or anything respecting the coimtry or its productions. Others, especially yoimg men, with no means but just enough to equip them against the severities of the climate, both in summer and winter, think there is little else to do than hunt and shoot all the year roimd ; as, if where there were no game laws and plenty of game, such practices would be desirable or fashionable; or that it was probable that hunting was much followed in a country, the fields of which were completely studded with standing stumps of trees. 8 i I IHWMI t ll I 72 a few score of trout, &c.,of some pound or more each, — or you must milk your cows yourself — and then no society. What society have far- mers with us? The truth is, your time, du- ring summer, is continually employed on your farm— you have your family lor society, and when winter sets in, you may travel over half the provinces in a few weeks, visiting and be- ing visited. In the house or fields, all are stirring, from the oldest to the youngest, and it is in such cases that may be observed the comparative utility of a woman skilled in do- miestic affairs, and one who has never washed any thing but her hands; who could entertain a stranger with an Overture of Weber's, butcan get no music out of a frying-pan or a hen-roost. If we might be excused in wandering in a manner from the subject before us, we would unhesitatingly affirm, that emigration to such a country, is most likely to lead to a grand mO' ral change in society, such as is anticipated, and, no doubt, will come to pass, when, as Mr. Combe would say, the people will be direct- ed by the principles of Benkvolence, rather than,by those of Justice. The Colonies named, offer a complete contrast to the present, as well as the probable future moral state of such a Colony as New South Wales. In the first, the settlers are composed of persons, most of whom have felt acutely the troubles and anxieties of this lilein their native country — they abandon it — some with a determination never to return — and many, acquiring such new, attractive, or compulsory associations, as to withdraw all desire to do so. They, to be sure, place them- selves in a position, in a manner, such as the patriarchs of old and their descendants occu- pied. But, instead of being ruled by Autho- .'5 ; 73 RITY, they have already advanced one grand step at home — to be ruled by Justice or Law; thev carry with them the seeds of mutual forbearance, help, and love, the practising of which they will find necessary in their new station. With desires A^or aggrandizement much lessened, no hunting for the needful, not the one thing needful, but with labour, (the yoke which we shall never remove,) with moderate labour, acquiring a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. Above all, a cessation of the disputes concerning/orm*, ceremonies, and names of religion, and a daily observation of the grace and bounties of an Almighty power, will do much to accelerate the coming of a new era, in which the precepts of Christ shall serve really as the guide of the people. While, on the other hand, the refuse bad spirits of this country, who, it seems, are likely to form th*=» mass in New South Wales, are doomed (if the progress of other branches of society be taken as a guide,) to wade through anarchy, despotism, and its accompaniments, to a much more distant and less favourable result. We have thus drawn together a series of facts, and such speculations on them, as should form a ground work for self-examination in every person who has the remotest idea of emi- grating. Our endeavourshave not been directed so much to brighten their prospects, as to in- crease their real comforts, by a candid state- ment from personal and unbiassed observation. The elements, or the actual state of happiness, is more abstract than a great many believe it to be, and those are the most likely to arrive at such a state, or approximate the nearest to it, who find the anticipations of their future progress, however small or trifling may be its ■H ■■ 74 addition of real comforts, coincide with its actual results. The principles on which to raise a system of doctrine applicable to emi- grants in general, are varied and fluctuating ; an attempt, however, has been made in these pages with regard to one class following one occupation. At any rate, the preparatives to emigration, whether mental or bodily, are not, in general, the result of a hasty resolve ; and it is more to direct the former in a proper channel, that has induced the compilation of these remarks. ^ \ r:.'^rr'S 1' ar X' J ^m y\* tj \i <:■ '•;>■'■ '\l'!>_ .■':¥- <'i i^m: (■f 'I-JS-f^ '-» -. .V-C^' VM" £RRATA, &C. In p. 30 insert the following : — A line of stages three times a week is now established between Port St. Francis and Sher- brooke, to perform the distance, 85 miles, in the course of the day. The steam-boats leave Quebec and Montreal every evening and meet at Port St. Francis about six or seven o'clock the fol- lowing morning, landing the passengers for the Eastern Town- ships, and on the alternate days the stages are in readiness to convey them to Sherbrooke. From Quebec or Montreal, there- fore, the whole distance is performed in less than twenty-four hours, the ni^ht being passed on board the steam-boat. The line of stages is continued on through Stanstead to Burlington on Lake Champlain, and direct communication thus had witn New York and Boston. P. 33, line 14 from bottom, /or sovereings, reae^ sovereigns. P. 47, the average price of Wheat should be 5*. P. 54, line 17 from bottom, for thousands, read hundred. P. 57, line 13 from bottom, insert— A brewery is now esta- blished at Lennoxville and another at Stanstead. ^^> J.Ti yiit'-i .; ''rc^ijl'i ^"1, Ikfoi' «■- I. J V . li^;. J3 li I*.* L-i'J At' ^«v,-.«J A*iw f-i..i©-i yw» ^i. li' . • .-i . . . *' .1 J J I "T ' f ' ■■•«■ * N ,->' f -'. '- * ' s.'\.t >k%^'' 73 RiTY, they have uh'eady advanced one grand step at home — to be ruled by Justice or Law; thev carry with them the seeds of mutual forbearance, help, and love, the practising of which they will find necessary in their new station. With desires for aggrandizement much lessened, no hunting for the needful, not the one thing needful, but with labour, (the yoke which i •• r'«;.>. It I u 1 p. M \ t ', ' ^ M -- j'V, Vl lU \.)y >'■■■- . ">.'r.-u:' ^:( ■* > / •-"' \ '.iinV'i' i ••. ;: « '<^ ,'''^'' M.iii « ' - 'i. ;,, ...t-f'-.r-' ..''. )'■»,; 'iff''' ■,,'.• 'if';- .'''!;''■*'• ".^f J i ^ Ml • 4 .i"/ J' _, t 1< |.:H; 1 1 '» , }5 . ■ »' ■Tl ERRATA, &e. 1 1 J. In p. 30 insert the following : — A line of stages three times a week is now established between Port St. Francis and Sher- brooke, to perform the distance, 85 miles, in the course of the day. The steam-boats leave Quebec and Montreal every evening and meet at Port St. Francis about six or seven o'clock the fol- lowing morning, landing the passengers for the Eastern Town- ships, and on the alternate days the stages are in readiness to convey them to Sherbrooke. From Quebec or Montreal, there- fore, the whole distance is performed in less than twenty-four hours, the ni^ht being passed on board the steam-boat. The line of stages is continued on through Stanstead to Burlington on Lake Champlain, and direct communication thus had witn New York and Boston. P. 33, line 14 from bottom, /or sovereings, read so\ereigns. P. 47, the average price of Wheat should be 5s. - P. 54, line 17 from bottom, for thousands, read hundred. P. 57, line 13 from bottom, insert — A brewery is now csta* blished at Lennoxville and another at Stanstead.