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STA]

ITSP]

INI

A Resid
yeait
ofCi

iDWi

STANFORD'S EMIGRANT'S GUIDES.

OAK AD As

ITS PRESENT CONDITION, PROSPECTS,
r AND RESOURCES,

FULLY DESCRIBED

FOR THE INFORMATION OF

INTENDING EMIGRANTS.

WILLIAM HUTTON,

A Resident Ag^culturist in that Colony for the last twenty
yeai*8 ; Author of the ** Prize Essay on the Agriouiture
of Canada," ko.y &o. ; and now Secretary to the Govern-
ment Board of Statiadce.

LONDON:

IDWARD STANFORD, 6, CHARING^CROSS.

"r ' -,• ,; ,v.- ;'"■■ %:• 9^^^y-i:^r-irr -ftl

•:ii;J;:SV ■■-•:■

CONTENTS.

. -.- -i'? v/

>U ^ ■-•

■■i.r i'. ^,lr>■^'"-.''

i":

:..,K

,ivvp-^k

CHAP'

IE]

■ f

...iiO

PAG]

Canadian Climate and Seasons^Their Effects on Labour
and Wages — Mineral Wealth of Canada— Timber avail-
able for useful purposes ,

CHAPTER II.

Oovemment Regulations affecting Land Sales— Value of
Land — ^Validity of Titles — How to Inrest Money-
Tools, Wearing-apparel, &c. — Cost of Farm Buildings-
Labourers and Artifioen^ Wages — Routes to the New
Districts, &c. — Who should Emigrate, and when — Pros-
pects of Canadian life

CHAPTER n.

Results of Industry on Canadian Farms — ^Family Emi-
gration recommended— A Picture of Canadian Progress
—Colonization the feeder of a Nation's Wealth— Fea*
tures of the Country

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

PAGE.

)mparative progress of Canada and the United States
I of America— Population Returns — Remittances home
Iby Settlers — Value of Land and Produce — The Emi-
grant's first step — Manufacture of Pearl- Ash and Pot-
Ash — Clearing the Land — How to begin — After Pro-
Igress — The future — Taxation and Expenditure — Men
)f Capital — Roads — Railway Communication — Their
fast benefits— Trade and Tradesmen in Canada . 62

THI

CHAPTEE V.

h '■-.:

}/.

^mestic Animals employed in Canada — Farming and
ravelling Cattle— The Wild Animals of the Forest —
Canadian Fish . . « * . . . 104

CHAPTER YI.

icational Establishments— Statistics — Ministers of Re-
ligion— >How supported . . . . • .113

'.' , r :■ *

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Canadian
Wages-
useful

Aftee J
Canada,
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Statistic
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THE EMIGRANT'S GUIDE TO

CANADA.

. Cf » > IT ' - >:y

^'^-.:i*

CHAPtEE I.

i:m:

'•4 :i^<ilgkR '^ =

^^ J

V f

Canadian Climate and Season^ — Their Effects on Labour and
Wages — Mineral Wealth of Canada — Timber available for
useful purposes.

Afteu a residence of very nearly twenty years in
Canada, I find myself once more in my native country.
Whilst here the thought has occurred to me, that I
might explain to my countrymen the positio. *ii
which Canada now stands, and the prospects which
that colony presents to intending emigrants of every
class. It is my purpose, therefore, to give a succinct
and truthful exposition of her present state and con-
dition : — Agricultural, Manufacturing, Commercial,
Statistical, Political, Educational, and Moral, if^^atirtt

My desire in thin undertaking, is to add to the
happiness of my friends and fellow-countrymen in
my native land ; and if, by so doing, I can at the
same time legitimately advance the prosperity of the

B " '-

HISTORY.

)and of my adoption, I shall be \vell pleased that both
can be accomplished^ and a happy result obtained.

Without intending to adhere closely to the con-
sideration of the different branches of my subject
which I have specified, I propose generally to con-
sider the several interests in the order I have
suggested ; viz. the Agricultural, the Manufacturing,
the Commercial, the Statistical, the Educational, and
the Moral.

It is not my intention to go into the history of
Canada from its first discovery, however interesting
it might be. My object is, to explain its present
capacity for affording a happy and comfortable home
to the industrious settler. It may, however, be not
unimportant to state, that very little was known, even
as to the fact of there being such a country, until the
year 1 534, when Francis I. of France established a
colony there. The emigrant will scarcely care to be
told how far and for how long the French Canadians
held possession of that country, nor yet to learn of
the struggle by which the whole of the Canadian
territory eventually passed to the British Crown. I
will therefore pass to the real object of this book.

In a country extending about 900 miles from east
to west there must necessarily be a great variety of
climate in the localities distant one from the other,
and also a climate that varies very much in its nature,
in the lapse of a^ few years. . .

"^here the woods remain in a state of nature, and

drive

wint

and

then

was

CLIMAIE.

the land is uncleared, the sun cannot ahsorh the
moisture from the earth, or from the swamps which
are covered from its rays hy dense forests^ nor can it
deposit heat in the soil. In proportion as clearances
are effected in the country, and these swamps exposed
to the action of the sun, the climate becomes more
moist, and less subject to intense cold. There has
'been a very material improvement in the climate of
Canada within these last twenty years, and there is
no doubt it will continue to improve in the ratio of
its settlement.

The snow which falls in the Upper Province gene-
rally early in December, and in the Lower Province
late in November, is with the inhabitants a season of
rejoicing rather than of lamentation. It gives the
farmers a natural railroad for drawing their produce
to market, or their supplies of firewood, lumber, &c.,
home from the woods, and afifords facilities for travel-
ling in sleighs with an ease and rapidity such as your
best roads do not afford. . • ; n wf^rj?

• As to the extremes of cold, which seem to be so
great a bugbear to the inhabitants of these islands,
no real inconvenience is suffered by it. We can
always protect ourselves against the cold, and even
drive about for pleasure during almost the whole
winter in our sleiglis, with the aid of buffalo robes
and furs. I have never known any winter in which
there were more than six or seven days that the cold
was so intense as to preclude the enjoyment of sleigh-

CLIMAT£.

driving, even by ladies; nor have I ever known one
winter in which teamsters were stopped that number
of days from their usual avocations. I have been out
travelling on one or two occasions when the thermo-
meter stood ten or sixteen degrees below zero ; but
such intense cold is of very rare occurrence, even in
the Lower Province, and never heard of in the
western part of Upper Canada ; and there is much
that is exhilarating and delightfully cheering even in
the cold of our atmosphere, and its clearness and
unclouded brightness are no sooner felt than they
are appreciated.

Persons desirous of settling in Canada can choose
the climate that suits them. With the experience
that I have of the country, I prefer that portion of it
where there is snow and frost enough to afford faci-
lities of communication in every direction, for about
three months of the year. The country is yet too
new to have good roads in every direction. The
snow and frost furnish this desideratum, and enable
the manufacturer of lumber to draw out of the
woods into the rivers, his timber of every description,
whether fot masts and spars, or square timber for build-
ing and exporting, or saw-logs for cutting into planks
and boards, or staves for exportation ; and I have
excellent reasons for desiring, as a farmer> a locality
within reach of these manufacturers. They are very
extensive consumers of our farm produce of almost
every description. The immense number of teams

HINT9 TO SETTLERS.

of horses and oteti which they employ as long at
the snow remains on the gronad, causes a very large
consumption of hay and grain, ]lork, &c., which
the farmer can no longer supply in the woods when
the snow and the ice have disappeared, there being
no roads by which wheeled vehicles can have access
to their shanties, --v.;

Intending settlers who have terrific ideas con-
nected with ice and snow, ought to settle in the far
west of Canada ; here they will not be much troubled
with it. They may, perhaps, have rather more mud
than in the more easterly parts, but this evil is in
some degree remedied by the increased exertions
which are made to provide good roads, and also by
the extra amount of acreahle produce, which, per*-
baps, enables them to pay more attention to the
state of their roads ; but of this more hereafter.

During the four winter months, December, Janu^
ary, February and March, the thermometer ranges,
on an average, in Toronto (about the centre of the
Upper Province) at 20 degrees of Fahrenheit,
and during these four months, I venture to say, there
are not seven days in any one year in which ladies
may not be seen walking for pleasure and health in
that beautiful city; and not two days to prevent thein
in Quebec or Montreal. The air is clear and bracii^,
and the snow is not attended with that moistening
eifect which in this country gives such ^a idea of
discomfort, in the shape of wet feet and garments.

EFFECTS OF SNOW.

Snow, in Canada, instead of being the bugbear thai
it is imagined to be by old country pe(^le, is, in
fact, the delight of the inhabitants. No resident in
Canada would voluntarily relinquish the snow-clad
road, and the sound of the merry sleigh-bell, for the
best carriage road that ever was made of Mc Adam's
materials. *'^

"With all the pleasure and benefits, however, which
we derive from the snow, there are disaa;antages
when it tarries too long, which I ha e no desire to
conceal. Our agricultural pursuits are often delayed
too long in the spring, so that we have not time
enough to sow our spring grain in good order, nor to
prepare our land for green crops, as a good farmer
would desire. ^ >:-.^-, ~i.t..x* -.^i:

For three years, out of the nineteen, I have known
the snow remain so long that we could not plough a
furrow of land until the first of May, on which to
sow our spring grain ; that is grain that will not
bear the winter's frost (contradistinguished from
winter grain, such as wheat and rye, which remain
in the ground without being winter killed), and
though on these occasions nature provides that the
increased rapidity of growth somewhat atones for the
late season, yet the farmer, in a general way, has not,
in such late seasons, strength enough of team or of
bands, to cultivate the quantity of acres which the
extent of his farm requires.

These three seasons were, however, exceptions to

ITS DISADVANTAGES.

the general course of nature. ' The average time for
oommencing ploughing is, from the 20th of March
to the 20th of April, always bearing in mind that
within these two periods the season is earlier, as
you proceed further west, and also hearing in mind
that where I do not particularize localitiec I allinle
to the central part of Canada West., i ^^..;..
: D There are also other disadvantages when the snow
remains too long, and those chiefly connected with
the condition of our cattle and horses. When our
winters are very long we, of course, require much
more food for our cattle, and, upon some occasions,
there have heen scarcities of straw and hay, which
have caused the loss of numbers of cattle, especially
if the snow happens to be so deep as to prevent the
oxen and cows from going to the bush to browse on
the tops of the trees which are felled by the axeman,
unless he too has been prevented by the depth of the
snow. The winter of 1850 was the only one in
which I knew this to be the case, during my resi-
dence, and that winter the loss of life amongst the
cattle was very extensive ; but this very circumstance
has been the means of creating a very general and
wide-spread desire, on the part of the farmers, to
economise their winter feeding, by building warm
houses for their cattle, by growing increased quan-
tities of turnips, mangel-wurtzel, and closer, and by
making freer use of chaff-cutting machines, which
are very great economisprs of hay and straw ; but the

CANADIAN 80MM£RS.

great exertion seems to be to provide waom houses ;
ibr with these, three tons of hay or straw goes
farther, and does much more good to the cattl^ than
four tons given without shelter. ^ ^ r '- ^m.

If we have then this evil, the effect of long and
"vevere winters, we can provide the antidote, as there
is no scarcity of timber for the purpose of building
in any portion of Canada with which I am acquainted ;
and straw-cutterSy as well as every other labour-saving
machine, are to be had of the very best description,
and at reasonable rates ; and the soil and climate are
specially adapted for the growth of succulent root-
crops, turnips, mangel- wurtzel, &c. >v » » iy^^,* v^»;,n*i

In speaking of our summers, I may fairly state
that they are in general too dry — the clouds do not
drop fatness as they do in Great Britain. We are
three, four, and sometimes five weeks together
without a shower, and I think I have known even
six weeks together without any but a sprinkling.
Other summers, such as that of 1851, have been
abundantly moist, with copious showers every three
or four (^ays; but such summers as these are cer-
tainly the exceptions. This, it is true, is a great
drawback from our prosperity ; but the very same
causes that will render our winters milder, will also
render our summers moister. ^^ \i'Mit ttik k^t'Hf

As the clearances become more extensive, the ran
exhales more moisture, which must return to the
^artfa that gave it; and the. proof of this u clearly

SftTN£88 OF eilMATK.

idiscernible by r? / fanner of five years stlkoding.
Portions of his buakh-laod which continued swamp so
long as the bush remained dense, hare, soon after
being cleared, been converted into rich and arable
land, even without the aid of artificial draining. The
sun and air do their work, and the swampj placet
become dry and fertile ; the land, too, that lies be-
tween large bodies of water, is Jess affected with
drought than land otherwise situated. The counties
t>f Welknd, Lincoln, and Haldimandj for instance,
lying between Lakes Erie and Ontario, suffer less
from drought than any other portion of Canada
West, except perhaps the most westerly portions
having Lake Huron to the north, and Lake Erie
to the south. Perhaps in these portions particularly,
but I may say indeed in all Canada West, aU kinds
of grain which are among the productions of the
mother-country are cultivated with great success,
and indeed very many of those descriptions of
fruits and vegetabks which cannot be raised in Great
Britain or Ireland without immense expense, and the
care of professed gardeuv^^rs, attain without this aid a
richness, and size, and height of perfecticn, entirely
unknown on this side of the Atlantic. -^^

But, vnth these acknowledged disadvantages of too
dry a climate, we have also advac^iges that in some
degree compensate.

For instance, the dryness, and what is in general
termed the excellence of our climate, enables the

EFFECTS ON LABOUR.

farmer to hardest and store his hay and grain crops
at a lower acreable rate than the same description of
crops can be harvested in any part of Great Britain
or Ireland. Our wheat, for instance, though we pay
5« to 6« 3d currency per day to harvestmen, without
reference to thje weight of the crop, can be safely
housed in the barn at 6« sterhng per acre, including
all expenses. ^^ .;v.,..i .^**«y4.

"We are very seldom, indeed, obhged to move the
shocks, or go to any expense in unbinding or moving
the grain, other than the mere cutting down, binding,
and dravring in. ^ ^-'^ ' ' '^ ' f^iik;^

- Two men, one cradhng and the other binding,
will complete two acres of heavy wheat in a day;
,and fully one-third of the best wheat of the Upper
Province can be carried to tbe barn as soon as it is
bound in sheaves, without having to undergo the
operation of stocking even. I do not say that that
proportion is so carried, but that it might be with
safety, and a very large portion is so carried off the
very cradle, p^vj »»)?i!* /i^tiut *RK,ij,iio:'>» i-'y-c'-'/si *»■»• !>».!«?»: »»i.' ,

Our hay, too, is ready for putting into hand-cocks
the same day that it is cut, and can be drawn in good
order to the barn or stack in two days following,
thus saving an immense amount of labour, which
would be necessary if the weather were unsteady or
damp — and there is also some waste always attendant
upon damp. This saving of labour is truly, in Canada,
a very material point, where we pay 4a currency per

HATf-HAEVEST.

day for mowers, and 5s to 6s Zd for harvestmen in
the grain-field. One reason why graio-harrestmeB
have higher wages than mowers is, that the season
heing short, the winter-grain all over the country
comes nearly at the same time, and the harley-harvest
follows very close, and consequently there is a great
demand for harvestmen at that season. '

The grass, and peas, and oats, on the contrary,
will keep without much injury for a f^W days uncut;
and hy thus extending the time of hay-harvest, in*>
creases the supply of labour in this branch of harvest*
husbandry. • u---,x^^4ikukik:^\.^ ■ .

The expense of cutting meadow is about 29 per
«cre mth us, whereas here it is probably 3* 6rf
sterling per acre; but I have no desire to conceal
the fact, that though the acreable price of cuHiiqf
meadow is much lower with us than with you, yet
the price per ton comes rather higher. The expense
of saving is about the same price per ton in both
countries, our warm climate balancing your low wages.
Your acreable produce is, probably, two tons per
English acre, whilst ours does not exceed \\ tons on
an average. I have often seen and had two tons per
English acre, but IJ is about the average of the
country, and for this the average price is 35« cnr^
rency per ton, the same weight as your ton — 20 cwts.
of 1 12 lbs. We have an advantage, probably, in cor
price per ton being higher than yours.

On our old and well-cleared lands we make very

OLD SETTLGB FARMERS.

free ase of the horse-rake, gathering cleanly and Well
with one horse and one man fully ten acres in a day,
and raking the ground to our entire satisfaction. We
have admirable labour-saving machines, and we makd
free me of them. We have also introc'uced within
the last two years, reaping-machines of a very superiof
description. One pair of horses and eight men will
with great ease cut down and bind up and stook ten
acrcaof fine wheat, having thirty bushels to the acre i
nnd so beautifully is the work done, that you do not
see a head of wheat lost, and the stubble is as level
as a floor. This instrument (like the horse-rake)
cannot, of course, be used to advantage where there
are stumps or stones ; but last harvest it was exten-
mvely and successfully used in the Upper Province
coBbngst the old settled farmers. *^ **^^ii v*^*^ ^ ^* •

Some of you will probably ask what I call an old
mttUd farmer. In reply to this I may state that
many of our townships, such as those along the navi^
^ble waters, have been settled partially for thirty,
Ibrty or fifty years. On my own farm, in the Bay of
Quinte, the man is still living, and not an old man,
who cut the first tree on it, about forty-five years ago ;
and this is perhaps the average age of the clearances
on the front next the navigable waters : one of
twelve or thirteen years, however, in Canadian par-
lance, would be called an old clearance.

No clearance loses its title to new till the stumps
are pretty well rotted out, and this requires nine

DOUBLE CROFFINO.

years to effect^ even with the most industrious. Haid
wood stumps, such as beech* maple, oak, iron-wood«.
elm, &c.» rot out in that period, pine stumps will
remain much longer sound, and reqmre to be under-^
mined and burned out with the aid of other wood.
^ It is too much the custom to tax the virgin soil^
too severely by double cropping, and when the richj^
ness of the top vegetable moulu is exhausted or deN>
teriorated. the farmer too often finda that the subsoil
is not as fruitful as he expected, and for this mosfe^
natural reason — that the wide-spreading roots of the.
mighty forest trees have made their natural and un*
ceasing demands for nurture on the soil that aur*
rounds them. . ^' .

The roots of trees must be fed in Canada as. well
as in any other country, and no wise farmer will
exhaust the vegetable supersoil so that it will not
improve the subsoil when incorporated with it. It ia
much easier to keep land rich when you find it so,
than to exhaust and then be obliged to recruit ifr.
People are generally very much mistaken when they)
talk of the inexhaustible riches of the virgin soil, and
much more so when they practise severe cropping to
avail themselves of these boasted riches. It is killing
the goose for the golden eggs.
n I do not wish you to understand by this that the
Tirgin soil is not rich, but merely that its riches should
not be exhausted before the plough comes to b* uaed^

yfxms OF LABOUR.

\i:t

wliich is generally not till about six years after the
first clearing of the land.

• Having here connected my observations on the
Climate of Canada with the subject of Wages of La^
hour, with which it has a close affinity, as I have
shown by comparing the facilities of harvesting and
haymaking in Canada with those of Great Britain,
Mid the smaller acreable cost of labour in the foimer
country on account of its climate, I may pursue the
subject of wages of labour, which is a very interesting
one to every individual of every rank contemplating
emigration to that happy land ; whether he be capi-
talist, farmer, merchant, manufacturer, mechanic, or
labourer. »^ t

Canada is the country perhaps above all others
/ where the diligent practical man, no matter to which
f of these callings he belongs, reaps an ample reward
for his industry. ' 4W*

, Wages of labour, in fact, are so high that none but
working men, in the wide sense given to that word,
can possibly prosper— mere overseers cannot brefithe
in our atmosphere. ■ " %\^^=;^>::^.>;.i.^4iu'i4..,.,.

The chief profit that the farmer makes is by doing
his own work by himself and family, and thus not
only saving outla}' of cash for wages, but earning
those wages for himself ; thus, for instance, the man
who hires another to do his work, say at 58 per day,
•nd remains idle himself, loses the 5a which might

MINEEAL WEALTH.

have been the reward of his personal industry, and is
tempted by that very idleness to spend still more ;
and his neighbour, perhaps, who performs his own
work himself, is 10* richer than he when night
comes. ■i.Wfi^t'MM'mnmiii^'-mt Mii^ ■

It is thus that Canadian farmers, who are a most
industrious class, soon accumulate means to pay for
their holdings and render them freeholds.n^* «*

In the Upper Province there is scarcely such a
thing known as a tenant-farmer; we are almost all
our own landlords, or working our way up to that
proud position ; not one farmer in 500 pays rent so

There may be some of my readers who may wish
to know something of the mineral wealth of Canada.
I will not enter into details, but merely show that
Canada is not deficient in the treasures of the mine,
as well as of the forest and the inland sea.
« r We have Gold-fields of considerable promise within
a very few miles of Quebec, near the Chaudiere Falls,
in the county of Sherbrook, and on the property of
the British American Land Company, the shares in
whose stock have risen nearly cent per cent, owing to
the prospect of finding gold, as well as to the contem-
plated railroads, which next year will intersect » large
portion of their lands. There has also been gold
found on the shores of Lake Superior, at a place
called Prince's Location*
'We have also a great abundance of very rich

MINSRAL WZALTHf,

iron-ore in the county of Hastings* m two township^!
called Madoc and Marmora^ where tbere are works
erected, and in the latter place in very excellent
working order. The Company owning them is at
^ present looking out for a purchaser, or persons to
j lease them, their capital being too limited to carry
them on to advantage: excellent iron-ore is also to
I be found on Lake Huron, and in very many pl^c^
; IB t^ Lower Province. :.. .-^.u.t^fi.'i'mii^j •'ii:„-'t^s^-<

There are also many very valuable copper-mines

i on Lake Huron and Lake Superior, and the stock

\ of the Montreal Mining Company has lately risen

I from 6d per share to 26s 6d, and promises to afiford

large profits to the shareholdersihiofr ^jo Y«fn nod i'

We have also lead mines, and zinc and ochres of
aH colours, and soapstone and lithographic stones,
and sandstone, and a never-failing supply of gypsum
and shell-marl for manures and plaister good enough
for statuary, and most beautiful descriptions of mar-
bles — ^white, black, brown, gray and mottled, varie-
gated green and white and verd antique: potters'
clay and fullers' earth, and even agates and jasper,
and rubies and sapphires, and amethysts and ribboned
chert for cameo? have been found on the shores of
Lake Superior and elsewhere ; and many other de»
scriptions of minerals have been mentioned by Smith
as abounding in Canada. Limestone is the general
substratum of all Canada West. ' ii:..^,^^,s,0

With regard to the products of our forests, the

CAN^DXAK TtUBER.

unbounded supply >of the Ttluable, the ornameutal,
and the beautiful descriptions of timber which our
woods produce, is too well known to require more
than a passing comment. In an Essay on the
Vegetable World, as contributing to the Great Exhi-
bition, Professor Forbes, of King's College, London,
says, ** The Black Walnut of North xlmerica is a
rich purple-brown hue, but little used by cabinets
makers in this country. Its capabihties are well
shown in the chairs and tables made of it, exhibited
by the Canadians, and highly creditable to their taste
and skilL" It can be obtained in Tery large planks,
and he might have added, in very great abundance,
as in the western portion of Canada West, there are
tens of thousands of acres, having a very large
proportion of woodland consisting of trees of this
kind of timber, of immense growth, especially the
country of Lambton and the Huron tract Latterly,
the Americans have been very anxious to procure it,
not having any of their own, and it is so abundant,
that th^y can procure it at about £3 for everjr
1000 superficial feet, counting the foot twelve inches
square, and one inch thick, and the export of it is
likely to become a very extensive trade. Our beett
and most beautiful furniture in Canada is made of
it» and it even supersedes mahogany. :

The Hickory is also a tree of the walnut tribe,
remarkable for its excellence and toughness, though
not, perhaps, .£01;^ its heauty* It was exhibited at

SAW MILL9*

the World*8 Fair, .in the shape of axe and tool handlei^
and was much admired ; being so tough, the handles
of tools can be made lighter and more handy than
with any other wood, not even excepting White Ash.
We have also a very large supply of Bird's-Eye
Maple, so called, from the polished wood resembling
bird's-eyes, and which I have seen in large quantiti^
condemned to the log-fire, along with other very
valuable woods, such as Rock Elm, White Oak,
White Ash, Black Cherry, Bass, or White wood, (the
Lime-tree of this country), and Black Birch and
Black Oak and Beech, and many others, ruthlessly
dragged to the mighty pile to be burned, to make
room for the growth of human food. .;.,. .u> ..: . ;
Timber, however, has of late become a much more
valuable article, and there is not now the same ruth-
less destruction that there used to be. The saw
mills of thfi country, now so wonderfully increased
in number and power, supply a demand for the best
descriptions of timber, for which the manufacturers
find a very ready sale in the United States, and the
railroads will, in their formation^ create some diim&rid,
as well as in the facilities of furnishing supplies
to other consumers^ which they will everywhere

t J ^t/T*n -

:-w---,- :*»L'«t** ■

present. .=^ ....» ,.

This is a \ery impc^rtant feature in the advance-
ment of Oar^^da, that our splendid forests containing
the timbers I have named above, as well as red and
white Fine to an unlimited extent^ and also Tamarac

▲XIIIOAN DBMANBk

(dr La^cb) and Cedar, both red and white, and many
other varieties which I have not enuTnerated, are
now yielding a return to the manufacturer (or lum-
berer), which could not have been even imagined
30me five years since, so greatly has the demand
increased, an<l with it the facility of supply. It is
a mcst hap;3y circumstance for us, that in the State
of New York, and the New England States, there is
a very ehort supply of timber, and the inhabitants
of those States are depending almost solely upon
Canada for the immense quantities which their ~
''go-a-head" building propensities are constantly
absorbing. :t **

I shall not attempt to give any " generic" descrip-
tion of our giants of the forest ; most of them are
now pretty well known, at least by timber merchants.
Our Pine, Elm, Oak, Ash, &c. have beien long knor n,
and the more ornamental woods, such as the Black
Walnut, Butternut, the Bird's-Eye and Curled
Maples, &c. are now rapidly becoming favourites for
vcabtnet and ornamental work* ^'^ . . ^-^M <*^'i ?

TlienOak, — Of this we have several varieties, but
the White Oak (Quercus alba) is the most valuable
for general purposes; extensively used for ship-
building and wi^eel Wright's work. The wood of the
others is nol fo valuable, but the bark is used for
tanning.

The Maple, — Besides the two varieties named, the
Curled and Bird's-Eye, we have the Sugar Mft.ple

ITENITURB WOODS.

(Acer saccharinum), yielding a, sap from which deli-
cious sugar is abundantly made. Its ashes are rich
in alkali and furnish most of the potash made in
the country. They all afford excellent fuel.

Thft Walnut. — Black and Butternut ; the Black
(Juglan§ nigra) attains the height of seventy or
eighty feet, and three or four feet in diameter, and
the wood is most beautifully grained, susceptible of
a high polish, and highly prized for fuiniture, and gun-
stocks. The nuts are very good if kept for some
time. The Butternut (Juglans Cinerea), is of infi-
nitely less value, but the nuts are preferred to thos^
of the former. . .. .. ..i

. The Hickory. — This wood possesses great tenacity,
and is much used for tool-handles, handspikes, &c;
and its nuts are much esteemed. . . . ,, ..■,.:

The Elm, — (Ulmus Americana), grows to a pro-
digious height, and in size, perhaps, exceeds every
other tree, but its wood is not much used. There
is another variety (Ulmus Fulva), or Slippery or Red
Ehn, whose bark is used medicinally. , . t .

The Pine. — Of this we have two or three varieties,
all growing to a vast height. The White Pine (Pinus
htrobus), attains a height of one hundred and sixty
feet, but the wood of the Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)
is far more valuable ; the former is much used for
masts, but it yields timber of larger jize, which is
adapted to a greater variety of purposes than any

other, tree.,, J v*.. .....ii.M , .i--: ^u-.x L^i^^ljim^j

, TIRE WOOD. )

'The ^«A.~Of this there are several kinds, but the
most valuable is the White Ash (Fraxinus acuminata).
This wood is greatly used for carriage building, pos-
sessing great strength and elasticity. - * -'' - *!f

The Tulip Tree (Liriodendron), is found in the
south-western district, and attains the height of
eighty or ninety feet. Its wood is useful, t --ik^'fS
' The Button-wood, or Sycamore (Platanus occi-
dentalis), called also Cotton Tree, it* one of the
largest of our forest trees, but its wood is of little

value. = •-■■r : •>-•-:• • ■-- - '..- ^-^ '11' -..mM#

The Birch.— There are two or Jhree varieties of
this; one the Canoe Birch (Betula papyracea), so
called from its being made by the Indians into
canoes ; this tree is only found in the north ; the
wood of all is highly prized for fuel.

We have also the Chesnut (Castanea Americana),
bearing an excellent fruit, and the wood producing
good charcoal. The Beech, red and white, (Fagus
ferruginea and Americana), affording excellent fuel,
and a very tough and compact wood. The Iron-
wood (Ostrya Virginica), called also IIop-Horn-
beam, from its flowers resembling those of the hop ;
the wood of this is amazingly heavy, and used for
the heads of mallets and other purposes. We have
various Willows and Spruces (Abies). Hemlocks
(Abies Canadensis), a beautiful tree attaining a height
of from sixty to eighty feet ; wood not good, but
the bark valuable for tanning. The Black Spruce

GIAKT TBEE8.

in*

(Abies nigra), equally large and extensiyely used in
fihip-building, and almost always for spars ; from the
young branches of which is made the spruce beer.
The Balsam Spruce (Abies Balsamifera), from the
trunk of which exudes a turpentine, Tulgarly called
•* Balm of Gilead.'* The Larch or Hachmatah
(Laris microcarpa), attains one hundred feet in
height : also used in ship-building. The Cedar •
(Cupressus).— Of the white variety excellent char-
coal is made, and the red is very durable ; used for
ship-building, and for posts and rails ; the berry \b
used in the manufacture of gin. The Sassafras
(Laurus Sassafras), a fine aromatic, and producing
an alterative medicine. The W^ild or Bird Cherry
(Cerasus Yirginiana) attains an enormous size ; the
fruit small, and only useful as an infusion ; the wood
highly prized for furniture. In the south-west, the
Safran (Asimina triloba) is occasionally to be met
with ; it is a small tree, but produces a fruit which
resembles the Banana in shape and flavour. •'\

y V

• II i

•^■yt'^M^ '■• 'l^s.\ K ' ! r

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, • ' '■; f7

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B that

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H bougV

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H acres,

LAND SALES.- '^

f a ft * i^i.;

CHAPTER 11.

i^' „;.,;; •I.GifiJ.

Government Regulations affecting Land Sales— Value of Land
— Validity of Titles — How to Invest Money — Tools, Wearing-
apparel, &c. — Cost of Farm-buildings — Labourers and Arti-
ficers' Wages — Routes to the Nev Districts, &o. — Who
should Emigrate, and when — Prospects of Canadian life. ^

Before proceeding to any details respecting the
culture and management of Canadian farms, it will
be very desirable that some information be afforded
to the intending settler as to the price of land in dif-
ferent localities, the circumstances influencing the
value of the same, as well as the suitability of various*
districts for especial purposes, and other matters
which, though they may appear trivial in the eyes
of some, will be found by experience to have an un-
mistakeable importance to the emigrant when he
finds himself on the other side of the Atlantic.

To begin with land, one of the most important
elements in emigrant calculations, I may mention,
that the smallest quantity of land which can be-
bought of the Government in the colony is 100
acres, except in a few localities where fifty acres are

PEJCE OF LAKP.

sold for the performance of certaia settlement dnties,
and on condition of actual residence thereon ; in these
cases the adjoining fifty acres is reserved for ten
years, to enable the holder of the first fifty acres to
purchase the remainder of the half lot.

The general upset price is 8* currency, or 6s 6d
sterling per acre for the best Government lands ; but
there are abundance of very excellent lands to be had
at from Is 6d to 4s currency, or Is 3d to 3s 6d ster-
ling per acre ; and there are very many lots in the
possession of private individuals which cannot be
purchased under 35* currency, or 30* sterling per
acre ; and I have seen wild land sold for £3. currency,
or\^*2. \0s sterling per acre, in excellent situations.

There is no difficulty whatever in ascertaining the
validity of titles to private lands. In the county
town of every county there is a registrar^ by whom
every transaction affecting the title to each lot must
be registered, in order to make it valid ; and prioriti/
of registry secures the title, even if the owner had
previously disposed of the property to another party.
The expense of searches in these offices is only U 3d
sterling for each search. : . ' - .

The cost of clearing a field of heavy timbered-land
in the usual Canadian fashion, leaving the larger
stumps, three feet high, above the ground, and cut-
ting all under six inches diameter level with the
ground, and burning all the cut timber off, and
building a substantial f^nce eight feet high, t.e. with

CO.ST OF CLEAfliyG.

fifeven rails not less than four incbes at the thinnest
part, and also riders at 6aeh corner to keep the wind
from blowing the fence down, and in fact leaving the
field ready for wheat-sowing, amounts to. j£3. 15« or
£A, currency, say £S. os sterling per acre— not so
much as it would cost in England to manure and
prepare old land for the wheat-crop ; and it should
be remembered, that when a summer-fallow is pre-
pared for wheat in England, it is only for that crop
and partially for two succeeding ones; but when a
new fallow is prepared in Canada — it ranks in the
farmer's assets for ever at the value of its cost of
clearing, as when once a field is cleared and burned
off and fenced, it is so much reclaimed from the
forest, and with good management not likely to re-
quire manuring or fencing for fourteen or fifteen
years — it will, in fact, be improving every year ac-
cording as the stumps rot out, when it will become
gradually level, and subject to the same tillage as the
old lands of other countries. This cleared land is
raised in vnlue to the extent of the cost of clearing
and fencing, and will generally sell freely for that
sum extra the price of the same land wild. '«w' UH

The best lands generally cost most in clearing,
more particularly heavy pine-lands. ;,..... ,.,>i

A capitalist, on arrival, ican see by charts and maps
what lands are open for sale, so far as Government
lands are concerned. If he require information about
lands of private individuals, he must find out to whom

111

CROWN LANDS.

m I. ■■

!!•■

they belong riear the spot ; but frequently even this
information can be given in the " Crown Lands'
Office," as they can tell to whom the Crown patents
were issued.

A capitalist can settle on unsurveyed lands ; and
when they are surveyed, the fact of his having pos-
session gives hira a right of pre-emption (or being
the first to purchase).

A purchaser of surveyed Government or Canadian
Campany lands, is detained only a day or two
before obtaining possession. If the lands are those
of a private individual, much depends upon the dis-*
tance of his residence, and his willingness to oblige.

In the Upper Province only mines and minerals,
or rather the right to one-third the net proceeds of
mines and minerals, is reserved to the Crown. In
the Lower Province there are many other reservations
to the Seigniorsi many of whom hold under the
French law.

The charges upon the land advance in proportion
to the state of cultivation, and the demands of the
locality for improvements in roads, bridges, &c.
Wild land is generally rated at one halfpenny to
three farthings per acre per annum, and cleared
lands, having houses, barns, &c. on it, from 'Sd to
6d per acre per annum. The land is assessed every
year by sworn assessors chosen by the people them<«
selves, and the amount required is equally assessed
on all according to the value of their property. j^i

TAXX8 IK CANADA.

The extent of the taxation depends upon the
expense of maintaining the gaol, roads, bridges,
public officers, &c., and also to the number of free-
schools in each locality. The taxes, for example, on
my farm of 250 acres (175 cleared, and 75 ^ild) ar«
£5» 5s per annum, or £4, 10s sterling. There tan
no other taxes, nor are there tithes. We suffer no
oppression vfhBtev^r in the shape of taxes. What
we pay we get full value for in the shape of improTed
roads and bridges, and excellent free-schools ; and
every land^holder has a vote in the nomination of the
persons to expend even the small amount of taxes
which we pay — occasionally, we are taxed extra for
the building of school-houses, or of town-halls for the
transaction of public business within our own locali'^
ties; but these extra taxations, from their nature,
seldom occur.

The best way for intending settlers to take out
money other than what may be required for travel-
ling expenses, is to deposit it in any well-known
bank and take a certificate of deposit, which can
be cashed at the full rate of exchange in any town
in Canada east or west. •- •• ^ .««»?

English shillings are worth Is 3d currency in the
payment of small amounts, but are not a legal tender
over 50*. Sovereigns are worth 24* 4c?, and bills on
London at sight, or certificates of deposit, are worth
rather more than 24* 4d per ;€, as are also Bank of
England or of Ireland notes — but \hej might be

■■• f

(('■

%■■

LAXD UNDER- TILLAGE.

lost, whe* eertifieWes of deposit would be perfectly

§ ^(e, ' id\ -.Pivi't iiiC-^Mfl! ?!.;;) ••itf.

iiKT;'

,■< •

JHJS ■^*T^I^

-' I woulcl not bi'inff out any goods for sale. I would
not take out any farming- stock or furniture, but I
would carry with me all the bedding and wearing-
apparel that. I had on hand, rather than sell at a
sacrifice. There is no extra charge for freight to the
emigrant, and these articles are generally speaking
dear. I would not buy a large stock of clothes,
because farmers and their wives and daughters soon
l«arh to nianufacture their own winter clothing suitable
for the climate, and only very light clothing is re-
q aired for the summer.

?> ;By far the larger portion of the cleared land is
under tilkge for two reasons — 1 st. Because there is
^o much pasture in the woods and on the partially
cleared lands, that to maintain the proper number of
stock they do not require to have much cleared land
under pasture. And 2ndly. Because every farmer
requires so much straw and hay for the winter main-
tenance of his stock, that he is obliged to have as
large an extent of his cleared land as possible under
grain crops. There are, in fact, no portions of Ca-
nada that can be called grazing districts. Near towns,
of course, there is a greater extent of pasture to sup-
ply the inhabitants with milk, but in towns there
are generally distilleries and breweries which afford
winter food for the cows. r ■ i jn* ::

o< Cheese and butter almost always bring remunc-

EARMING profits;

2^.

rating prices, but the length of the winter renders it
very difificult to have a dairy farm as contradistin*^-
guished from a grain farm, the straw is so necessary
for winter keep. Beef does not pay so well as butter
and cheese, but sheep well kept pay remarkably well;

"With regard to leasing or renting farms from year-
to year, I may inform the reader that occasionally af
farm may be had at a yearly rent^ — many more now
than could be had five years ago. The plan of rentH
ing farms is on the increase, but so long as the faci-
lities of purchasing land on long credit, and annual
payments of small instalments, with interest, are so
great, it cannot be expected that many persons mi^
hire farms at a rent. The usual rent for farms, with
dwelling-bouses and barns and sheds erected on tb^m,
is from 5s sterling to \os sterling per acre for the
cleared land, charging nothing for the wild land, and
granting the privilege of getting fire-wood for the
tenant's own consumption. ■ '. .i ? r' o; ; on^ i

As to the rate of profit to be looked for from
farming operations generally, it depends so much
upon the skill, industry and economy of the farmer j
and the quality of the land on which he settles, that
it is a difficult point to determine^ Perhaps the best
statement I can give is, that a settler is quite sure of
being well rewarded for his industry, if industrious^
and in the ratio of his industry being well directed.
He will also have a fair return for whatever capitij
he expends judiciously en his farm^

. ^,1 ii* iJft^ v^<>

FARM BUILDINQS.

'•!!

Failures of crops are by no means* conriTMott. I
hxLve known fields of wheat entirely cut off by the
weevil, and also by the Hessian fly ; bat these are
insects of passage, and not destructive to any great
or general extent. I have never known general fai-
lures of ail the crops, though there are sometimes
partial failures of one particular crop. ^ ' •;.? r vv'

The cost of farm buildings is a point worthy of

Log houses cost from £5. to £50., according to
size and finishing ; one costing this latter sum would
be roomy and very comfortable — 36 feet by 20, and
H stories high, and divided into four or five apart-
ments. l^V T'^' ■':-.: ^ ,..;-"^ ^{\'s^i:^'lb .

A frame house costs from £75. to £300 ' ' ^*-
A frame barn, 24 feet by 48, costs about £48. —
£l. per foot being the general cost, if 16 feet high in
the post and 24 feet wide. The threshing-floor in
the centre is generally 20 feet by 24, laid with 2-inch
pine plank, the rest of the floor not being laid unless
required for a stable. A loff barn costs about £20.,
but these are now very seldom built, as they do not
last very long, and saw-mills are so abundant that
fanners can have their logs sawed in almost every
locality. The sawed lumber makes better and more
lasting bams than the logs unsawed. ^''^ ^^^^^^

The wages of skilled artificers and others form, of
i»urse, items of consideration in the farmer's outlay.
Carpenters, Masons, &c., when emplo}ed by the day.

A&TIPXCEHEs' WA.OSS.

have 68 3^ currency, or 5« sterling per day^ boarded
and lodged. If by the month, which means twenty*
six working days, they are paid from 20 to 22 dolr
lars, i. e. £5, to £5, lOa currency, or £4,. 10« to
£5. sterling per month, boarded and lodged ; if no(
boarded and lodged, about 1 s sterliqg per day more.
This is, in fact, the general wages for nearly all artir
ficers. Whitesmiths are paid rather more.

Labourers wages vary in summer from £2. 1 0« to
£4, per month currency — £2, to a£3. 5« sterling per
month, boarded and lodged. In winter about 10#
sterling less. If employed by the day in harve^
time, they get from 3s to 6s 3d, and even 7s 6d per
day in certain places, boarded on the best that is to
be had. Bailway and canal labourers have 3s 9d per
day, boarding themselves. ? 4,^^^

In cities and towns the wages of women vary from
lOs to.25« sterling per month, boarded, and in
country places the average is about \5s per month ;
but a good cook'^will get 30s to 35s sterling per
month in the cities. Washerwomen get from 2s to ^
per dozen pieces, or \0s per month foar washing far
one gentleman . , , _ ^,. , . , , ^ ^^ j^- ., , . ^^„ ^,

The best route to Upper Canada is decidedly by
Quebec. The luggage is put on board a steamer at
Quebec, for the Upper Province, and has not to be
reshipped till the emigrant arrives at his destination :
the passage is cheaper, and there is no trouble about
extra freight; or luggage, or customs' dues.^

■I .;

lABOUBfcRg* PAMILIT.S.

' ^SBy a late Act, the emigrant tax is 5s (4* sterling)
per head for eacli adult who arrives, having had the
sanction of the Government for leaving his native
country, and 7s 6d (6« sterling) if he has not had
that sanction ; children ahovc 3 and not 1 6 are half-
price, and infants free ; sick people are well taken
care of in the hospital hy skilful physicians ; and in
case of the death of parties, their money effects are
carefully preserved for their heirs or relatives. Where
there is any contagious disease on board, the vessel
remains in quarantine till relieved by the competent
^health officer. '•»* .tl ; ,.r, ' . -...^

- I would not advise labourers or artisans to take
their tools with them, unless they have good ones
'4hat they cannot sell except at a sacrifice. The
American tools are generally much better adapted
for the work in Canada than British made tools.
' ^ The wives and c children of agricultural labourers
iusually find employment iu cultivating the large gar-
dens which their husbands and fathers can almost
idways have, or they can spin or knit woollen stock-
ings, or plait straw hats, and can always find profitable
employment at home when not at school ; but they
'iought to be seiit to school very regularly while young,
>^a&|When they become strong their labour is so valu-
able as to make it quite a temptation to parents to
ikeep them from school..^^ ;j, vi^i^^ \ •i^mi * r i,„ H - r
' The kind& of mechanics or artizans most in request
are bricklayers, stonemasons, carpenters, joiner*, ca-

THE BEST ROUTE.

binet-makers, wheelwrights, waggon and coach-makers,
blacksmiths, whitesmiths, tinsmiths, coopers, shoe-
makers, tailors and foundry men.
' The best time of year for emigrants to arrive in
Quebec is early in May, as they are more likely to
get employment then, and^ can plant potatoes and
sow spring grain upon any land they may obtain,
which will be a great assistance in bringing their
families through the following winter, — feeding a

.:jih-

S, .^,.1

cow, hog, poultry, &c.

The settler having made choice of his destination
before he leaves this country, which it is alwi^S
wisest to do, is immediately instructed by the chief
emigrant agent employed by Government at any of
the ports, as to the best route, and there is no diffi-
culty, as steam 'Vessels go direct to almost all the
ports on the River St. Lawrence, the Bay of Quinto,
and the four gr^at lakes — Ontario, Erie, St. Clair and
Huron. If going to an inland county, he will be put
ashore at the port whence access to that county is to
be best had. The Government emigrant agent having
a knowledge of every county in Canada, will instruct
him where to disembark, provided he has fixed on
the county to which he will proceed. If going to
work at the public works, the emigrant agent will, in
a similar manner, advise him. - r

To the reader who may be disposed to put the
question ''Should I emigrate?*' I would reply , if
your circumstances, or those of your family, are such

THE LAND OF THE WEST.

•■»'■

Ii;

that you are really desirous to improTe them by
steady, sober industry, and if you feel that your cir-
cumstances are in need of improvement, and that
you are willing to work to effect that improvement,
then leave home and take a wider field for your con-
templated industry, where there is more elbow-room,
and less- chance of your jostling your neighbours,
and a much more certain and more ample reward of
industry than in more crowded communities. ,.,,it>f
To that land of the West, which more than any
other country is calculated to secure to the indus-
trious man, the pure gold of competence, health,
contentment, happiness. Where you will escape the
contaminations of reckless and desperate adventurers,
who themselves outcasts from society, are now
crowding to the regions of perhaps more attractive,
but certainly less pure gold ; more enticing, perhaps,
but certainly containing a hundred fold more alloy.
Come to the British West, where true Britons find a
more congenial home, which day by day becomes
more dear to them. Society which will go far to
reconcile you from any separation from friends or
,relatives ; a cHmate which though perhaps presenting
new features to a European, is singularly healthy
and exhilarating ; a language which is your own ;
a liberty, civil and religious, unparalleled in the
world. A land whqse youthful history pourtrays
an advancement in improvement altogether uusur-
ipasaed by any other country. Cities and fowns

A COMPABISON.

>»- K ^

which not only rival, hut exceed, in rapidity of
growth and prosperity, the far-famed cities of St.
Louis, Cincinnati, and every other city in the United
States of America, A land where (though only now
in its infancy) universities and colleges and schools,
are thrown open freely to every creed, the former
superintended by most eminent professors from
Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and the latter ably
taught by both male and female teachers, trained in
a Normal school that has already acquired a world-
wide renown. ■,:."■.' ^'.. f.i tw.V .1, 'V>1r .*; 1 ».*: fif

A land which although it cannot yet number
sixty years since it was primeval forest, will, in
three short years more, be traversed through its
its length and breadth by railways of superior build ;
and already, with its inland seas and majestic rivers,
possesses the most extended, the safest, the finest,
and in every way the best water communication in
the world.

Without drawing any illiberal or invidious com-
parison between the Eastern and Western Colonies
of Great Britain, this I may safely and truly assert,
that to the man of small capital, and to the labourer,
the Western possesses greater advantages than any
other country. -^

To the man who is now only a tenant, no matter
how good his landlord may be, there is a very strong
inducement, and it is this — ibat without any means
whatever but a stout arm and a willing heart, he can,

THE CANADIAN FREEHOLDER.

[Ill'

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r. I' f

in five years, be himself a landlord, the owner of
one hundred acres of beautiful and productive land,
without having to pay so much as one shilling for
it for ever after. - ' ' '^

If afraid he cannot effect the purchase and the
improvements iny?v^ years, he will find hundreds of
landholders who will give him ten years. The
Canada Company, and many other companies and
many private individuals, give this length of time,
and a man can always pay foi it sooner if he please.
To be the freeholder of one hundred acres of good
land is, indeed, a high privilege, and is ever keenly
felt to be so bv him who has hitherto heen only a
tenant, and perhaps ai ti nant at the will of another,
from year to year.

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FAMILY I ;DU8TRY.

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"{•'

CHAPTER III.

Results of Industry on Canadinn Farms -7 Family Bmigration
recomniendecl— A Picture of Canadian Progress— Colo-
nization the feeder of a Nation s Wealth— Features of the
Countiy. " ■ ". ... ,.*; :^*r :.U: ^ih>^f

That my readers may be enabled to judge as to
the probability of their own success iu Canadian
farming, I will relate some few of the numerous
cases of good fortune which I have known attend
the exertions of settlers in that country. 'f^t "^:\T

I can give many instances where, by the combined
industry of father and sons, two hundred acres have
been paid for, and the freehold secnred in three
years, off the land itself, without any extra pecu-
niary aid. And there are numberless instances of
yearly occurrence where one individual has paid for
one hundred acres of improved land, from the pro-
ceeds of his own industry in five years, havuig
nothing to commence with but his axe, and not only
has he the land paid fqr, but thirty or forty acres
cleared, and a house built, and perhaps a log-barn
and cow-house, and all this from his own unaided
labour.

Where he requires a second or a third hand to

HOW TO SUCCEED.

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•^1 :

lii *■■

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raise his house, or gather ia his harvest, he has to
chaoge work with his neighbours, giving them time
for what they give him ; and not unfrequently you
will see the wife or daughter " pitching" the hay or
the sheaves in harvest time, and I have often also
seen women helping to roll in the large logs for

burning. - .: ,..?

One farmer who settled in the county of Hastings,
came there with his axe and nothing more, worked
on his own land when he had earned some pork and
flour by hiring to another farmer, cleared eight or
ten acres ; put up a log-house, bought a cow or two;
married, had twelve sons and six daughters, brought
them all up comfortably ; built a large and comfort-
able house and outhouses, and planted an orchard,
costing in all ^600 ; purchased two hundred acres
for each son as he reached the age of twenty-one ;
gave him an outfit of horses, oxen, cows, sheep, and
furniture ; and told me not very long ago, that he
paid for the last two hundred acres, for the twelfth
fion, making two thousand four hundred acres alto-
gether. I remarked to him, being an old neighbour,
that now I supposed he would be going to buy some
for the girls. No, said he, I buy for my boys, and
other farmers will do the same, and it will be farmers*
sons that will be likely to marry my daughters. This
is the custom amongst the old Dutch inhabitants of
the country. ^..iM

Here was an instance of great success from the

CANADIAN WEALTH.

united labours of an industrious familj. Many of
these young men, I know, are most comfortably
situated, and this family is just an example, though
on a large scale, of what may be seen in all the o|4
settled counties of Canada West.^}?;; -^i^Aii^Ki}^ ^i^jIIv^

I giro another example. — A near neighbour was
put upon one hundred acres of wild land, with a yoke
of oxen, an axe, a barrel or two of flour, and some
pork, given to him by his father, who was an old
soldier, being land which he had drawn for services
in the army. On the one hundred acres he built a
log-house ; married, reared five sons and three
daughters ; owns now two thousand acres of first*
rate land, worth £6000, and has ^2000 out at
interest; all accumulated by his own and his family* t
exertions as a farmer, having no other calling or
occupaticr .,,,.,,

Both of theac men are near neighbours of mine,
and are old settlers in the country. Their history it
that of tens of thousands of others, the ugh not on
quite so extensive a scale as to size of family or suc-
cessful industry, ri-' ta 'im-A^ ■i-y n t '^u^.** H*di

But to give examples of more recent settlers.

A man of tli. name of Elwart, came to me with-
out a shilling in his possession, or clothes of any
kind that were not patched all over. I hired him at
eight dollars, or ^I. 12« pterhng, per month, after-
wards increased to ten dollars, or £2. per month ;
found him at the end of the year a valuable man^

:{■■■

RE9ULT OF ECONOMY.

'HI

nil

raised his wages to twelve dollars, or £2, 8« sterling
per month, and kept him in all eighteen months, at
the end of which time he had accumulated j£34. in
addition to an abundance of comfort Able clothing.
After eighteen months he left me, and hired as a
lumber man out in the woods, that is one who pre-
pares the timber for the British market, and draws it
to the rivers out of the woods, in order to float it
in large rafts down to Quebec. Being an excellent
teamster, he was paid sixteen dollars per month, or
£3, bs sterling, boarded, and afterwards £3, lbs
sterling, per month. In five years he saved, aflei*
supporting and clothing himself, upwards of JS200.,
and when I last saw him, he said he had just got the
deed for ever of a fine farm of two hundred acres
in my county, partially cleared, and with some build-
ings. ♦ - :. .J: •-V..'iSV.,

This man could neither read nor write, nor had
he any peculiar gift, but that of persevering industry
and seal for his master*s welfare, and honesty, and
sobriety and economy. There is not a good labourer
here that could not * do nearly as well as this man if
he bad the same good properties. . ^^Hifi.ia?

Wages are quite as high as ever I have known
them in Canada. The men on the railroads and
public works are receiving from three shillings to
four shillings sterling per day, to board themselves.
Very oftnn you see advertisements such as this :
'* One thousand Labourers wanted, to whom a dollar

FAMILY EMIGKATION.

a-day will be given ;'* about 4« 2d sterling ; bill
these are not the description of labourers that acciji«
mulate means or purchase property ; they are the
least respectable class, and generally spend all they
earn. It is the farm labourers who generally accii-^,
mulate, though the lumberer has just as good ax^
opportunity, and fewer temptations, being generally
in the depths of the woods, where there is no pos-
sibility of spending money, if ever so much inclined
to do so. They are as much shut out from tempta-
tion as the sailor whilst at sea. ^ »>* !<..•«.,' ;., .*s| k#Y^

But it is unnecessary to dwell on the advantages
that Canada p esents to the steady labourer. It is
emphatically the country for the labourer ! Ht'*j|«*5

If it be so, some of you will say, it cannot be for
the farmer who hires the labourer. I will grant the
validity of this argument if the farmer be no l<h
hourer ; but to show you the almost universal pros-
perity of the working farmer, I will continue to give
a number of authenticated examples of men who had
within the last few years left the shores of Old
Ireland to secure an independence for themselves and
families. , ^.,. .„..., ^.. :.,^^i. .^

Three brothers came from the north of Ireland ;
had not 20^ on landing ; hired to some of my
neighbours at ^'20. to £30. per annum, for four or
five years. Bought farms of 200 acres each in my
county ; went upon them, helped one another ;
made good clearances, had excellent crops ; paid for

UNION IS STRENGTrti

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their lands, and haye now most excellent houses,
barns, and buildings of every kind ; owe no man any
thmg ; have horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, yes, and
comfortable carriages and handsome harness, to their
heart's content, and are amongst the best of our
independent yeomanry ; their houses are a picture of
prosperity and comfort. Some of their rooms car-
peted and curtained, aad a hearty welcome with all
of them for a brothei Irishman. ., .-

Contrast this with what their lot would have been
had they remained where they were. Would they
ever, think you, have enjoyed their beautiful and
extensive freeholds? Would they ever have been
able to drive capital horses in a comfortable car-
riage ? They were common labourers. I leave your-
selves to answe^. The three brothers are now worth
^3000. , .t.^.

And I will take occasion to observe here, that
brothers, relatives, and neighbours, ought to emi-
grate together, and keep together, and purchase
neighbouring lots. If there be an evil in Canada,
it is the absence of near and dear friends, when you
settle in the bush. Sickness or accident may befal
you, and there is also much work that requires
accumulated strength. The building of houses, or
barns, or sheds, cannot be done without ^'om^ effort,
nor can even the rolling in of log-heaps to the fire
be done by one person by himself, to advantage ; nor
can the harvesting, or haymaking, or drawing into

»>: FIELD FOR THE PIMGENT.

the barn, be done by one individuaV howerer w^
inclined. So that independent of social enjoyment,
or aid and comfort in tim^ f sickness, or the thou-
sand advantages of hourly occurrence which kind
neighbours and friends freely reciprocate, there iB a
real advantage in having an accumulation of stren^h.
Men can always effect more by joini exertion than
by the same amount of time and strength expended
in separate individual effort. Therefore it is wise
fi: relations and neighbours to migrate together, and
they are always sure of procuring, if not adjoining^
at least neighbouring lots. * .-uiMijU??- i.-! ?^(rA«A>

** Large as are the numbers/' says Mr. Lillie^
''who are flocking annually to our shores, I have
often wondered when looking at the advantages
which Canada offers to the virtuous and the dili*
gent, that they should not be very much larger.
Such may command almost anywhere they please to
locate themselves all the substantial comforts of life,
with a fair measure of exertion. Who are the owners
of our largest and handsomest and best stocked
farms ? Generally speaking, men who have procured
and improved them by their own labour ; many of
whom you find in all the older parts of the country
living like patriarchs, surrounded by their children
to whom they have given inheritances* v.^ r?rAj' -^^6^1

" For example," says he, ** I was myself intimately
acquainted a few years ago with an old gentleman
thus situated in Flamboro' West (where there are

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ROUGHING IT.

•yfi-?.;

:A<«-!r .

many others in similar circumstances), whose pro-
perty consisted when he came into the country of
nothing more than the axe which he carried on his
shoulder, with a moderate supply of clothes for him-
self and his young wife, and who, ere he could
procure a place to lie down and sleep, had to make
himself a tent by throwing a blanket over a few
boughs which he cut from some of the trees in the
yet unbroken forest. This man was now the owner
of a beautiful and well-stocked farm, with all the
comforts and many of the luxuries of lifie." '' •

Again he continues : — " Meeting some time ago
with a countryman of my own who had occupied a
respectable position at home, and whom I found
living in a hmdsome stone-house with all the evi-
dences of comfort around him, and in the enjoyment
of the respect of his neighbours, I remarked to him,

* I suppose you do not regret having come to Canada.*

* Oh, no !' was his prompt reply. * It has, to be sure,
been pretty much of a struggle all the time, but I
have brought up seven sons, to four of whom I have
given farms, and I hope by-and-bye to be able to
provide them for the rest.' His time of residence in
the country had been, I believe, twenty- seven years."

Such instances are indeed very common, but you
hear them sometimes complaining that Canada is
not the country for a farmer, though surrounded
with all these comforts. It is often most amusing
to hear their complaints On one occasion I re-

CANADIAN GRUMBLERS.

collect a most determined grumbler telling me, that
there was nothing but ruin and decay. I quietly
turned round, and asked him how much he would
take for his farm. He said, seven thousand dollari^—
about ^'1500 sterling. I insisted, for amusement
sake, that six thousand would be enough for it, but
he very indignantly declared he would not take one
farthing less than seven thousand dollars — ^i750.
currency. Yet this man had been put on that farm
in a perfectly wild state, with scarcely a tree ciit
upon it, and with very little else than a yoke of
oxen and an axe ; and though he had reared a family
of teii children in comfort, and established two of hit
sons on go-jd farm's, and had realized ^1500. he
would have led a stranger to suppose that farniing
was a most ruinous business. This man was a very
near neighbour of my own, and I have watched his
progress from year to year. In 1849 he built a most
beautiful house, having a most delightful view of the
Bay of Quinte, and in excellent taste, with about
twelve rooms in it, at a cost of upwards of ^400.
It gives one every idea of comfort to see him driving
his well-clad daughters in his most comfortable four-
wheel pleasure-carriage, with beautiful horses and
silver-mounted harness, and vet this man is for ever
grumbling and declaring that there is nothing to be
made by farming. We have abundance of such poor
men as these — poor in spirit, who think little of
being in possession of splendid farms constantly im-

• SCOTCH INDUSTEY.

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proyiog, and good houses, and good cattle, and good
constitutions, and good health, and every thing good,
but a sense of gratitude to the Giver of all this good.
Are Biieh men as these much to be pitied? What
would they have been possessed of had they remained
in Great Britain ? Would they have had one foot of
ground that they could have called their own ? ,.,\.

Again, I give you the history of my next neigh-
bour, an old Scotchman, who came to Canada from
Aberdeen in 1 8.35. He had been a blacksmith, and
had realised about ^61000 by industry and inheritance
— he purchased the next farm to mine, 200 acres,
for £h per acre currency ; he had, therefore, enough
left- to buy his horses, cows, &c. He had two sons
and three daughters. He bought a farm of 300 acres
for his eldest son for ^66 .50, built a nice house in
town for a widowed daughter, and the property he
has accumulated is now worth nearly ^4000. He
^as an old man when he came out, but he says he
might have laboured long enough and sair enough in
Auld Reekie before he could have earned what he
now has.

"But,** says Smith, in his admirable work on
Canada, " as an example of the success that usually
attends exertions properly applied in Western Canada,
we may repeat an anecdote told to us by an eccentric
friend, the truth of which we can vouch for. The
story cannot be better told than in his own words :
-^I vas standing,' said my friend, *one day about

M...T. AX ANECDOTE.

four years ago by the rlTer-side, watching the steanv^
boat which had just arrived on her upward trip*
While she was taking in wood and discharging cargo,
tbe captain drew me aside and pointed out some of
his passengers, whom he was taking up the river in
search of a new home. Led by the glowing descrip*
tions continually published of the United States, they
had left Englaud and emigrated to the far West,
Illinois or Wisconsin, I forget which. After remain-
ing there until they had lost all the little property
they had taken out with them, worn out with sick-
ness, and worse still with that hope deferred which
maketh the heart sick, they determined to make
their way to Canada, in hopes of finding amongst
their own countrymen, that sympathy and assistance
they had in vain sought among a nation of strangers.
The couple were still young, but had added years to
their ages by the trials they had undergone. As they
stood upon the deck of the boat — strangers in a
strange land, spiritless, moneyless, almost hopeless —
the man looked gloomily about him and spoke in
melancholy tones, the wife held down her head and
said nothing.

** * The captain asked if I could do anything for
them. I turned over in my own mind what I could
make of him, and as I had just finished my new mill
I determined on making a cooper of him ; so I told
the captain to put them and their traps ashore, and
going to the man I told him to step ashore. I am

HOW TO MAKE A COOPER.

iT'?

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looking out for a cooper, said I — you are just the
man I want, so step ashore and I'll give you employ-
ment. He looked at me in astonishment. 1 am no
cooper, said he ; I never worked at the trade, and
know nothing about it. Pooli ! pooh ! said I, don't
tell me, I know better, come ashore. I tell you I
am no cooper, said he. Nonsense, man, come ashore,
I tell you you are a first-rate cooper ow/y you don't
know it! So I got them ashore and the boat
started.

** * Now, said he, you have stopped me on my way
and got me here, and I do not see that 1 can do any-
thing for you, or how I am to get a living. — Why
what do you want 1 — In the first place we want a
house to shelter us, then we want something to eat. —
There is a house (said I), pointing to one, you can
take possession of it ; there is a store, you can get
meat and grocerieej :here ; there is the mill, you can
get flour there, and I dare say your wife can make it
into bread, and then you can go to work. — But I
have no tools ! — Go to the store and get them ; in
short, I determined to make a cooper of him and I
succeeded. You see that neat white cottage on the
hill, that is his — that building beside it is his work-
shop. He now employs several men ; he is out of
debt, has purchased the lot adjoining his premises,
and is worth at least a thousand dollars (^250).*
Our friend laughed heartily when he told the story,
and well be might. All honour to the man who

COLONIAL ADVA.NCBM£NT.

'49 •

would step out of his way to relieve t fbllow-cr^ature
in distress, and start him on his way rejoicing — he
may well he proud of the result. We found his state-
ment correct, and more than that we chtdned tha
man who was made a cooper against his wiU a6 a
subscriber to our work.'* . .,;,.,.; ,m, ^ * wml

There are many valuable and wealthy settlers who
have enfered into trades and occupations with which
thjy were not originally acquainted, but to whicli
circumstances directed their attention and pointed to
them the opening. There is employment iu every
line of busin jss, and each may adopt the one most
suited lo his taste or means. . i .i.u

We have varieties of instanced of this. School-
teachers become successful store-keepers. Tinkers
become owners of large foundries and implement
manufactories. A cobler becomes the owner of •
large shoe-warehouse, and a justice of the peace into
the bargain. I have known a butcher's boy become
a wealthy distiller ; and a baker's boy, who in my
own time used to carry a few cakes for sale in a
basket, become a large mill-owner and giiin-merchant.
I have known several cases of millers' boj s becoming
wealthy store-keepers ; and, in fact, instances of rapid
advances are innumerable without the aid of inherit-
ances, but merely by persevering industry and care.

I might also have mentioned that I have known
some lawyers, who might have been called young
lawyers when I went to Canada, bedome most emi-

I 50

(^ENEBAL PROGRESS.

I :

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ik-

nent judges of the Queen's Bench ; and I cannot give
you a more truthful account of the progress of most
of the towns in Canada, than by quoting the address
of one of these very judges to the grand jury at the
Coburg Assizes, in January, 1852. He addressed
them in the following terms: — »' «• ♦ iv*^ ri^>(>tf.,

** On the first occasion of my delivering a charge
to the jury of this place, I cannot refrain from a
reference to my earlier acquaintance with this part
of the Province. - - = ' r

" Thirty- two years have elapsed since, on my arrival
in Canada, I became a resident here. I am almost
led to doubt the correctness of my recollection of
the past, in view of the evidence of the present. At
that time, from the eastern to the western extremity
of the then district of Newcastle, there was not a
solitary wharf along the shores of the Lake. The
towns of Coburg and Port Hope together did not
contain as many houses as are now to be found in
the worst settled streets of either ; while, I verily
believe, the population of those two towns now
•equal, and probably exceed, the population of the
whole district at that period. Saw mills and grist
mills, though things of absolute necessity, were
-thinly scattered where occasion most called for
them, but there were, to the best of my recollection,
•^**it two mills that manufactured flour to be sent to
another market, and every foot of lumber that was
sawed was used in the immediate neighbourhood, ni

EDUCATIONAL INStlTUTtONS.

*' An occasional schooner might drop her anchor to
land an emigrant family, or a few bales of merchan-
dise, or to carry away a load of flour ; and at a
long distance off might now and then be seen, the
funnels and smoke of the old 'Frontenac,' as she
prosecuted her thrli;e a month voyages from Kingston
to York and Niagara, and back again, touching
nowhere by the way* There was a church in course
of erection at Coburg, but at the period to which I
allude, I do not remember one building which was
exclusively devoted to public worship, from the river
Trent t/^- the western extremity of Darlington, (about
100 mi \ The mails were carried on horseback,
excepting in winter, and even then quite uncer-
tain, there was not a single public conveyance. The
roads ! ! you must have travelled to be able to appre-
ciate them ; nay, even between the place where wre
are now assembled, and what had then just begun to
be called 'Coburg,' there was a swamp all but
impassable at some seasons of the year.

**0f educational institutions there was the district
school and a few common schools, of which the
best perhaps that can be said is, that they were
better than none at all. Of those comforts of life
which habit makes almost necessaries, there was not
always a sufBciency, the hour for the cultivation of
refinements had not yet arrived, and of many luxu-
ries which now abound there was no supply. Look
at the advancement that has taken place ! Wharves

BENEFICIAX CHAjfGES. ?:€

andh^ -hours daily, almost hourly, visited hy all de-
scriptions of vessels which navigate Ontario. Roads
connectir these couuties vrith those that adjoin,
and fac* iting internal trade and communication,
and grcwmg commerce, of which the export of our
products, raw or man^^ifactured, forns a large pro-
portion. Schools for general education, for which the
wise policy of the legislature has received extensive
afrplication by the hearty co-operation of the people^
Postal communications of increasing number and
facility, to which, recently, the telegraph has added
its lightning speed. A population becoming greater
in ratio beyond the most sanguine expectation, almost
beyond belief, and what I trust may, in some sort, be
taken as a favourable indication of further advance,
numerous edifices from which ascend to heaven the
mingled voice of prayer and praise ; all these amply
establish the beodicial changes wliich years have
made.

" Such arfe, indeed, subjects of just and hearty
congratulation, as well as subjects of fervent thanks-
giving to the Almighty Giver of all good, and I
trust I may be permitted thus to allude to them, not
the less, that within the period I have spoken of, the
stranger youth, who found in this neighbourhood
hi« first home in Canada, has been blest, in the
course of years, with that success and advancement
which enables him in mature age, to address you
from this seat/' ' v.i. : •:?, i ^:si'iu.:> :m m

.^^ LABOUE AND CAPITAL.

This from one of our enlightened and excellent
judges of the Queen's Bench, Judge Draper^ is
surely strong testimony of the vast improvement of
our beauteous colony.

,'•■.-' '■• 7'*rs .> r^-* •» ij»-r^i««

'». *>:i f :

.*>* :HtJ'\'

Some of my readers may possibly complain, thitt
by inducing farmers and labourers to leave this land
for a colony, I am assisting to remove capital and
labour that might be employed more beneficially at
home. I am not of that opinion. I think it could
not be employed more beneficially here than in
Canada, in any sense of that word, whether to the
individual or the community. Wealth is produced
in oui' colony, not by large investments of capital
removed from employment at home, but by the
labour of the emigrant on the virgin soil of a fruit-
ful territory. His individual happiness and pros-
perity is wonderfully increased, and if true of an
individual it is also true of a community. naiv';iBiO

But even if it were true that extensive emigration
would absorb a large amount of the surplus capital
of the mother country, it does not necessarily follow
that any injury would be thereby occasioned. Capi-
tal will find its own level, and it is impossible to
retain it at home if a more profitable investment
can be found for it abroad ; the verv circumstance of
its spreading over a wide surface in the Coloniea^
shows that it is pent up too narrowly at home. ,;^r>.

It is surely much better that it should be em-
ployed in adding to the strength and prosperity of

MACAULAY ON COLONIZATION.

*-;!»

the empire by fostering her colonies, than be vested
in foreign loans or foreign labour, for the advantage
of foreign countries. . ^ . v.

The prodig'V'is amount of British capital now
diffused over e States of the Union (probably
thirty millions of pounds sterling), might be much
more advantageously employed in giving birth to
settlements, and stimulating increased prosperity
within the bounds of our own empire. And at the
present moment Canada Bonds are of higher value
than those of any foreign country under the sun ;
Canadian Six per Cents being at £\7* premium.
The cause of the prevalence of foreign investments
is the want of knowledge of the superior stabihty
and prosperity of our beautiful Colony.

** I tell you (says Mr. Macaulay), that in those
Colonies which have been planted by our race, the
condition of the labouring man has long been far
more prosperous than in any part of the Old "World.
Every wher . the desert is receding before the advance-
ment of the flood of human life and civilization, and
the industrious classes never endure those privations
which in old countries too often befal them. And
why has not the condition of our labourers been
equally fortunate ? Simply, as I believe, on account
of the great distance which separates our country
from the new, unoccupied, and uncultivated fertile
part of the world, and on account of the expense of
traversing that distance. ' ^ ' /i??,f

• / ;Vt ■ f;&-*'»EE TRADE. .;..., ^^ ,/ "■ .^

v*< Science, however, has abridged, and is abridging
that distance. Science has diminished, and is dimi-
nishing that expense. Already New Zealand is
nearer for all practical purposes than New England
was to the Puritans who fled thither from the tyranny
of Laud. Already the coasts of North America,
Halifax, Boston, or New York, are nearer to England
than, within the memory of persons now living, the
Island of Skye, or the County of Donegal, were to
London. And do not imagine (says the same elo-
quent speaker), that our countryman who goes
abroad is altogether lost to us. Even if he go from
under the protection and dominion of the English
flag, and settle himself among a kindred people, still
he is not altogether lost to us, for, under the benig-
nant system of free-trade^ he will still remain bound
to us by close ties.

'* If he ceases to be a neighbour, he is still a bene-
factor and a customer. Go where he may, if you
will but uphold that system inviolate, it is for us
that he is turning the forests into corn fields on the
banks of the Mississippi ; it is for us he is tending
Lis sheep, and preparing his fleece in the heart of
Australia; and in the meantime, it is from us he
receives the commodities which are produced with
vast advantage in an old society, where great masses
of capital are accumulated. His candlesticks and
his pots and pans come from Birmingham ; his
knives from Sheflieldr, the light jacket which he
wears in summer comes from Manchester, and thf

■"(y^f-''-^*''",;^^"

UNCLEARED 1,A'ND,

good dotli coat which he Weard in winter, coities
from Leeds ; and, in return, he sends us hack what
he produces in what was once a wilderness ; the good
flour out of which is made the large loaf which the
Englishman divides amongst his children.*' s;,i ^:*tfc»t#
It is just the same if he he settled anywhere in
Canada. The settler there becomes a much larger
consumer of British manufactured goods than if he
had remained at home. He is enabled to bring up
his family in comfort, and acquire for them a certain

It independence, and the more children, he has the
better ; the larger men's families are, if only they
have common industry, the greater will be the ratio
and the speed of their success. How different this
is from the state of matters in Great Britain, I leave

the reader to infer. - - > . .^.:

The average value of wild uncleared land in the
Upper Province, including Crown Lands, is probably
10« per acre currency, or Ss sterling. Some of it
being at 20s or even 2ds per acre, and I have seen
it sold for £3. There is, however, a great deal to
be had now of excellent quality, and in good situa-
tions at 4 #, currency per acre. ' '; ,';, s^irl; liiJ
That is the Government price up to a certain mark
in the western boundary of the County of Hastings,
somewhere ii?w the centre of Canada West. From
that line west, the Government price is Ss currency
per acre. '.■ ■■ -»• — .-•^- .^ ...... .,. i,i.i-.jij, tjr<n •ra....-.-!^ >.c>n»

]i w This fact shows that there must be a strong public
feeling that the lands and climate of the Western

!••

WBSTBEN LANDS.

parts of Canada are the best and most highly prized.
There are millions of acres in Lower Canada that
can be purchased at la 6d currency per acre.

The reason for drawing that line of de^iarcation
seems a just one, as many of the lands of the northern
part of that country are very rocky and full of iron
ore, and not likely to be settled for many years to
come ; and the land on the west of that line is of a
superior character, and beautifully watered with such
a grand continuous line of lakes, that even now steam-
boats are plying on them, and before long the ingress
and egress to and from these fine lands will be much
facilitated ; and every settler will naturally prefer the
locality where there is water* communication and
water-power in abundance. ^ x.

i • .. 4.

Lit' m.

But let me not be misunderstood whilst explaining
the reasons why the Government of Canada made
that the line for a marked distinction in the priee of
their wild lands ; I am far from holding the opinion
that there are not millions of acres at 4« per acre
quite as good in value as those sold by the Govern-
ment at 8«— yes, and in every particular quite as
desirable for the settler if he be an agriculturist. ^^***»

Along the entire length of the Ottawa and its
numerous tributaries, there are to be found the
richest possible lands in the most desirable situa-

This district which is now occupying so large a
share of public attention, deserves perhaps some
special notice. The following extract, from a iiv^ws-

VALLEY OF THE OTTAWA.

■i

paper published at Bytown, will convey some idea of
a locality, known perhaps to many only as having
suggested Moore's exquisite "Canadian Boat-song;",
and the same river, which, when visited hy him, bore
nothing on its bosom but the frail and tiny barks of
the Indian and Canadian voyageur, now proudly car-
ries down a freight in one article alone of nearly one
million and a half of iponmh in \al\ie : — - *,

. " The valley of the Ottawa contains an area of
about 80,000 square miles, nearly equal in extent to
the island of Great Britain. The river Ottawa com-
mences its course in the northern highlands of the,
Hudson's Bay territory, runs through Lake Temis-
caming, and after a course of about 750 miles, flows
into the St. Lawrence at the foot of the island of
Montreal.

** Its volume of water is immense, and during the
spring months probably exceeds that of the St. Law-
rence at the Falls of Niagara. During its course it
receives numerous tributaries exceeding in size the
largest rivers of Great Britain. One single branch,
the ' Gatineau,' drains an area of 12,000 miles,
equal to about one-quarter the area of England and
Wales, On the banks of the Ottawa are the largest
pine-forests in the world, accessible to the markets of
Europe or the Northern and Eastern States ; nearly
the whole of its course is below the 47th parallel of
latitude (that of Quebec), and it is estimated that in
its valley there are more than thirty millions of acres
capable of successful cultivation still belonging to the

LUMBER TRADE.

ea of

iving

ng;"
bore

Province. There is a general impression that wheat
is the great article of Canadian produce, but this
opinion is far from accurate. The trade returns of
last year show, that of our aggregate exports lumber
is by far the most important item ; and, in fact, that
compared with the other great classes into which our
exports are subdivided, viz. products of the mines,
the seas, agriculture aud manufactures, the products
of the forests exceed all the re&t by the large amount
of 56207,000.

••.V^S-li

" Total exports per trade returns of 1 852 2,824,630
Of which products of the forest . . 1,5 1 5,878

"/- »'••

Excess of products of the forest .

'* Amongst the productions of the forests,
however, are classed furs and ashes
amounting to 216,361

Total export of lumber .... 1,299,517

1,308,752
207,1 2d

1,515,878

** Tiie distance from Montreal to Lake Huron by
the Ottawa and Nipissing is little more than 400
miles." , ♦. .

Amongst the numerous incidental advantages which
the Province derives from the lumber trade, one may
be named of no small importance — the enormous
fleet of merchantmen which annually arrives at Quebec

IMPROVEMENTS OF WORKS.

f:;'

for the parpose of transplanting it to England re-
quiring for its supply large quantities of Western
produce; and the very beneficial effect of the lum-
bering establishments in the Ottawa district in the
encouragement of agriculture, will be fully apparent
from the following extract from a letter addressed by
the house of Messrs. J. Egan and Go. to the Govern-
ment agent, and published with other returns by order
of the Legislative Assembly of the Province. After
entering into a detail of their own personal expendi-
ture in the improvement of their works, amounting
to upwards of 5630,000. they add —

" We give constant employment to about two
thousand men, at an average rate of wages from ^14
to ^16 per month and board, who consume about
six thousand barrels of pork, and ten thousand bar-
rels of flour. We employ about sixteen hundred
horses and oxen during the winter, which consume
about sixty thousand bushels of oats and provender,
and twelve hundred tons of hay. The oats at an
average cost of 2s 3d per bushel of 34 lbs. delivered,
and hay £4. per ton, which is the means of giving
employment to hundreds of farmers in the valley of
the Ottawa," ; ^^ . r =; '■"-.;.■'•> •'■ -

Other houses, it should be remarked, have made
a much greater outlay than Messrs. Egan and Co. ;
and we find from the same parliamentary return, that
the house of *' Gilmour and Co." had up to that date
expended the sum of je58,843. in improvements, and

.i. CANADIAN SCSNEUY.

that of " Hamilton, Brothers," a sura of a^l 1 9,628. ;
and the total amount expended by private individuals
in saw-mills and other works, was not less than
^331,723. ^

The scenery on this majestic river is indescribably
beautiful — studded with islands, clad with timber of
luxuriant foliage, and abounding in rapids and cas-
cades, it must become as attractive to the tourist as
it is to the settler. The falls of the " Chats " a ad
the '* Chaudiere *' may in beauty, if not in size, vie
with those of any other country, and the soft and
sweet scenery of its lakes, in which the water is pecu-
liarly glassy and beautiful, afford, with their iee^ly
indented bays and countless islands^ a charming com-
bination of the picturesque. ^

'4 tt^-':it-'

S i ' 1 < '

.)-/

.'.,-i n' I'

ifiij'j i ifVf

'.f I ■\ ^ fci', ■ ^ ^ y^

-■ " •■ ■•••,'' n^'i'H ■• -^

I ;.<! V »»i V ■

^' ' . ^^ ,- ^'*«*'f'i?"

UNITED STATES AND CAKAD^f

r^'^"«">Hi

;■ *

CHAPTER IV.

Comparative prog^ress of Canada and the United States of Ame-
rica — Population Return& — Remittances home by Settlers —
Value of Land and Produce— The Emigrant's first step —
Manufacture of Pearl-Ash and Pot- Ash-^ Clearing' the Land
— How to begin — After progress — The future — Taxation
and expenditure — Men of Capital — Roads— Railway Com-
munication-^Their vast benefits — Trade and Tradesmen in

Canada. \,i

" ":\' ■

' rf-»~J' ,J^.')t ■■:\ if;.

A VERY general feeling has for some time prevailed
that the growth and prosperity of Canada are not
commensurate with that of the United States, and
without any inclination to deny or conceal the rapid
progress of our neighbours, it may be well, by a few
facts compiled from statistical returns, to prove how
erroneous such an impression is, the growth of Upper
Canada, taking it from the year 1800, having been
nearlv thrice that of the United States.

According to the " World* s Progress," a work
published by " Putnam, of New York," in 1851,
page 481 — the free population of the United States
was, in 1800— .5,305,925 j in 1850 it was 20,250,000 :
thus in 50 years its increase was not quite 400 per
cent, whilst that of Upper Canada was upwards of
1 100 per cent, for the 40 years from 181 1 to 1851.

iMlitOBATION INTO CANADA.

■*;;^'n

^f^' ^ 1794 there was not a single human habitation
except Indian wigwams, between the site where To-
ronto now stands and Amhersburg, a distance of 325
miles, situated on the banks of the Riyer St. Clair;
and Dr. Howison, a writer of 1825, in describing a
journey which he took from the Talbot Road to the
head of Lake Erie, mentions, that even in that year
there was a stretch of 37 miles, called the Long
Woods, without a single habitation but one ; **just
such a solitary trip," says Lillie, ** as I had the
pleasure of making last summer, 1 85 1 , in Iowa, with
the exception that tbe solitude consists there of
prairie (or wild meadow) instead of forest, which it
was in Canada.'' * "* '"

Instead of wilderness we now see towns and
villages, many of them of great size, beauty and
wealth.

The immigration into Canada has been much
greater, in proportion to her population, than that
into the United States. In round numbers, that into
the States may be calculated, says Lillie, at 300,000
per annum, and that into Canada about 30,000,
whilst their population (exclusive of slaves) is as
fifteen to one, and the immigration only ten to one.

Within the 20 years, from 1830 to 1850, the
immigration into the United States, according to
Davis' " Half Century," ia estimated at 1,500,000;
according to Scobie's Almanack (one of the most
vftluabU works of reference) that into Canada, for the

EMIGRANTS RSMITTANC^S;

a^,

'i:

dame period, was 512,797) making our immigration*
compared with that of our neighbours, as five to on^.
That into Canada, for the year 1 85 1 , reached
the large number of 40,299; that for 1852, was
39,176. >i ^. .t .

«v

The whole population of Canada West, is 952,004
Ditto ,u:. Ditto Ditto East . 890,261

Total of both Provinces 1,842,265

* i&.it . 1

Mr. Lillie has also given in his Lectures a state-
ment of the amount of money remitted from 1844 to
1850y inclusive, through the Canada Company Alone
by immigrants to their friends, to bring them out to
Canada, amounting to £92,655. according to the
published statement of this Company.

£, s» d.
In 1814 they sent home 4,611 10 11

%^r

tUi

<;J?

1845
1846

1847
1848
1849
1850
1851

7,532 10 2

9,744 3 5

15,742 13 11

12,517 8 5

12,575 13 7

14,385 6 9

15,515 16 10

■J

Making in 8 years £92,655 4

,:l

%■

This amount is by one Company alone, and it is
supposed that banking institutions, and other parties
together, have sent far more than that amount. At
any rate I am confident I am quite within the mark

»ib

GROWTH OF WUEjWT.

»2,004
10,261

tvlien I state that, in these eight years, £600,000.
has been sent to Europe by immigrants in Canada,
i. e. more than £2. sterling for every man, woman
and child that reached those shores.
. , Does not this fact alone speak volumes for the
prosperity of Canada, and the liberality and benefi-
cence of her adopted sons, five-sixths of whom are
from the £merald isle, — I mean of those who have
sent money to their friends. , ^^^^^^ ^, ,^^^^

In the United States the growth of wheat has in-
creased 48 per cent durii.^g the last ten years ; whilst,
in all Canada, during the same period, it has increased
upwards of 400 per cent ! And taking the article of
Indian corn, which is the production that compares
the most favourably for the United States, the in-
crease on it for the ten years between 1840 and 1850
has been equal to ii6 per cent ; whilst the increase in
Canada, during the last nine years, has been 163 per
cent. During the same period also, the growth of
oats in the United States has been 17 per cent;
whilst in Upper Canada it has been 133 per cent —
in Lower Canada, 4 1 per cent, and in both united, 70
per cent. . . -

Ohio, in cultivated acres, possesses ^ of all the
United States ; in uncultivated acres, -j, .

She possesses a i more cultivated land per inhabi-
tant than Canada, having 5 acres to 4.
,^ All Canada produces one-seveath more bushels of

INCREASE OF PABM PRODUCE.

m':.

wheat than Ohio, and H hushels more per individuaf'.
Upper Canada, however, produces 6 hushels more
wheat per individual than Ohio ; the latter producing,
in her staple, Indier corn, 29 times more than Ca-
nada,— which prodjre.^ 77 times more peas, and 54
per cent more oats whan Ohio. ?^^i' i teHiAi^^nitlt

The land of Ohio is valued at nearly douhle that
of the average of the Union, and has more than
three times as many inhabitants to the square mile.
The whole United States produced in 1850 only
100,479,000 bushels; whilst the one State of Ohio-
one out of thirty-six, and four immense territories-
produced more than one-seventh of the whole Union.

In butter and cheese, Ohio shews a great supe-
riority ; indeed, 'he latter has hitherto been greatly
neglected in Canada, and we find that within the
three years 1849, 50, 51, the amount of butter pro-
duced has in the Upper Province increased 3/2 per
cent, and that of cheese, during the same period, 233
per cent* ■ * " "■ "^''•" •*-■»' :<»«-•■> *v 'ti,. _• , rj«v»

In sheep also, Ohio beats us greatly in numbers,
but not in increase or weight of fleece. ^ " •
, According to Mr. Kennedy's report on the United
States census, the rate of increase is greatly in favour
of Canada, as compared with the Unied States ; for
in ten years, the increase in the States has been only
1 per cent, and in the weight of the fleece only 32
per cent ; whereas iu Canada the increase in wool has

.a^^ct UiM ^''-iMjif

OHIO AND CANADA.

€7

in nine years been 64 per cent, and that of sheep 35
per cent, — shewing an improvement in the weight of
fleece of not far off 30 per cent, ^k? -- * /»

The average weight in Canada is found to be : — In
Upper Canada, 2\^ lbs. ; Lower, 2^g lbs. ; all, 24^
lbs. : whilst iu th^ United States it is, according to
Mr. Kennedy's report, 2^ lbs. ^^^ ■ ^^i

From this kind of comparison; which is very fully
carried out in Tables appended to the Report I have
alluded to, and which I may probably again allude
to, it appears that —

Ohio far exceeds Canada in Indian corn^ butter and
cheese, gr \ss-seed, wool, tobacco, and beef and pork.

Canada f<ir exceeds Ohio in wheat, rye, barley, oats,
buckwheat, peas, hay, hemp and flax, hops, maple
sugar, and potatoes ; and also, considering that Ohio
has one third hwre cultivated land, in total value of

i-«ji;. 1 1^ .i

live stock. - "^ ♦. • . . . ?i *-. t

The ratio of increase of population in Ohio, for ten
years, from 1805 to 1840, is30/oV P®' cent; that o^
Upper Canada, in the same period, has been 104-/^
per cent ; that of Lower Canada for seven years, from
1844 to 1851, has been 20 per cent. ; *, .

When it is considered that there are thirty-one
States, one District, and four Territories, and that
Ohio has 8 per cent of the whole population of the
Union, 8} per cent of the live stock of the whole
Union, 10^ per cent of the grain of the whole Union
except me^ and about lOi per cent of all the agricol-

CGMPlRATlVfi ReStLtS.

h-"

toral produce not manufactured, and 7 per ceifit af
butter, cheese, beef, pork, and domestic manufactureis
of the whole Union, and that Canada eqn;ils Ohk> in
aereabie produce,-- h there not reason for exp^tiiig
that Canada, with her more extended scope ana her
itiore rapidly increasing population, will, in a very few
years, make a much nearer approximation to the pro^
duce of the whole Union than Ohio doea now. "^

Already the population of Canada is more i^yati
one-thirt< !;Qth of the Union. The area in square
miles, excluii'-e of the Territories, is one-sixth, and of
ooiirse in acres the same ; in occupied acres about
one-seventeenth. In growth of wheat, very nearly
one< ?xth of the whole Union, Territories included.
In growth of peas, one half the whole Union. In
barley, more than one fourth. In all grain, including
Indian corn, about one-nineteenth ; exclusive of In-
dian corn, about one-sixth. Of rice, Canada has
none, neither has Ohio. The whole Union produces
215,312,710 lbs., which, at 3d per lb., would be
je2,691,4(>8. in favour of the Union. ' ' ' ''^

Even at present Canada compares most favourably,
in proportion to her population, with the States ; and
when the railroads now in course of formation shall
have united the whole British possessions in Ndrth
America, then increased facilities, and aroused aud
invigorated energies, and improving climate, and more
rapidly increasing population, and interminable water^
and extensive fisheries, will in a few years enable tbe

CHANGE OF CLIMATB.

British North American possessions to make no un«
favourable comparison with the Union, flourish as she

rvio¥r *•-■'■'■ ■-«-■'-■ *''■ "*f,'' w t,.-'

ijf,yhe whole area of the United States and Territo-
ries is 3,230,572 square miles, which, multiplied hj
6-JO, gives the number of acres, 2,067,566,080 ; t«»*
tainly a prodigious territory, but the British posses-
sions in North America far exceed this. The exact
amount, according to Allison, is 4,IQ9,630 square
geographical miles , and the water in British Amerioa
is 1,340,000 square miles. The whole terrestrial
globe embraces about 37,000,000 square miles; so
that British America contains nearly a ninth part of
the whole terrestrial surface of the globe ; the number
of acres is 2,630,163,200. Allison remarks, thatia
very large portion is perhaps doomed to everlasting
sterility, owing to the severity of the climate ; such ia
no doubt the case, but it should be recollected, that
as the country becomes cleared up, the climate im*
proves, and that there are at present thirty or fotif
millions of acres, to the successful cultivation of wy<^
the climate presents no insuperable barrier.

Two or three centuries ago the Rhine used to kt
frozen, and the animals, the natives of the Nortboro
regions, were abundant on its banks ; now sueh #
thing is not even dreamt of. It will be so in Britisdi
North America, with this difference, that the m*
roving clinuite will keep pace with tlie vastly aooefe^

INCREASED VALUE OF LAND.

rated movements, and more rapidly increasing numbers
of the New World settlers. ;. ..^ 5,- .^^ ,, ,:- 4-

Having spoken largely of the increase of our popu-
lation, which certainly forms a very important element
of prosperity in a new country, I now come to the
increase in the value of the land, and the increase in
its productions, and the value of the land, &c. in pro-
portion to its population. --- ^ - ^ ' ^* /->V^ ^i 'm^*

I will hegin with the county of Hastings, where I
reside, and with whose progress, &c. I am best
acquainted. >:-^' ';/''■ .■- ■ ^-^ -■:'---.■: -^'^^■^'f m-:, J ^ '^

It contains a population of 32,000 souls, including
tiie town of Belleville, having 5000. It contains nine
inhabited townships, and three uninhabited, averaging
tbout twelve miles square each township, containing
altogether 847,800 acres : omitting the three that are
uninhabited, there are 643,200 acres, or 71,466 acres
in each township. The assessed value of this county
foT taxing purposes, by the sworn assessors for 1852,
Was, at^cording to the returns given in Scobie's valu-
able Almanac for 1853, procured from the county
authorities, ^940,242.; as nearly as may be, ^29. 10«
for every individual in the county : and this assess-
ment does not include sheep, nor young cattle, nor
farm produce of any kind, nor colts, nor implements
of husbandry, nor farm waggons, nor sleighs, nor
household furniture (except it exceeds ^250. in
f«lne); all these being exempt from taxation. The

VALUE OF PBOPERTY.

-.n'-'-

value for 1 853, made by their own sworn assessors
elected by themselves, was ^1,323,262.; which, di-
vided amongst 32,000 inhabitants, gives about £41, C*
for efiich man, woman, and child.
^^ The value of the unassessed property has been
fairly calculated as being about 40 per cent of the
assessed property,* — making the actual wealth of this
county, which is about a fair average of all Canada
West, a little over ^'40. for every man, woman, and
child in it ; not calculating any value on the unsur-
veyed and uninhabited townships,
, In the county of Carleton, the amount of property
gives £39. 12« lO^d for each individual in the

county.

Ai-f fijii'

■.Jk

The united counties of Leeds and Grenville give
£35v 2« 7 id for each individual; and the county of
Leeds, if taken by itself, would show nearly £38, for
each individual. • •-» ^^ -* '• -t*. .—

In the county of Prince £dward, which is opposite
Hastings, and between it and Lake Ontario, the
amount of property gives £61. 1 U 9d for each iudi-
vidual : the largeness of this amount is accounted for
hj there being very little wild or unoccupied land in
the county, and it being an old settled county, having
many wealthy farmers with large farms. It is often
called the model coucty of Canada West, the people
are so remarkable for their peaceful demeanour, that
the Judge has seldom a prisoner to try at the Assize,
and frequently earns his pair of white gloves, which it

.INCSEA8B OF lUXVBIES.

is usual to present on such occasions when there is no
prisoner to be tried. Oxford and Hastings have also
this honour occasionallj, though posses^ng nearly
double the population. *^-*^'^ii*^^fi4^#*#i%'^1t^^?f?^

The county of Oxford gives £b9. 19* for every
individiiaL The population of this fine county has
doubled itself in the ten years from lt$42 to 1852. ^

The counties of Huron, Perth, and Bruce give
i&46. 13« for each individual in the three counties. ^

I may here observe that the Rev. Adam LUlie esti-
mated, at a very reasonable rate, the whole value of
the property of Upper Canada, at i(B43. Is A\d on
an average for each individual, children as well as
adults ; and he very justly adds — " Can the country
which is in the possession of this be justly held to
be very poor?** .w.'w^ ^.ui..^^^ -t.^, Siy-^-r

Another circumstance with regard to my own
county I may state, which, though it may appear
trivial to old country listeners, is yet of very consi-
derable import, and it is this : — When I first came
into this county, there were not five carriages kept for
pleasure in the entire county ; now there are upwards
(^ six hundred. There were only three old pianos in
the whole county, now there are upwards of one
hundred, costing on an average about £68. - -• *•

uWhese are lux^uriesy and paid for out of the surpkis
eMmings of the people; there being no such persons
as independent gentry amongst us, except those who
have made it by hard earnings. All the property

■%.

MANUrACTU ^NG F1106RE%S. 73

both of the tawn and country, has been made in it ;
and all the comforts we enjoy are procured by oar own
active industry, aided by the capabilities of the soil^
or the everlasting and inexhaustible power of the ever*
aiding stream. .iftf-?**^^

The town of Belleville stands on the river Moira—
a stream that turns the machinery of about one hun-
dred mills and manufactories of various kinds. It
prssesses flour mills, saw mills, carding and fuUiDg
ff jlls, paper mills, axe factories, sail factories, turoiog
lathes, chair factories, cabinet factories, last factori^,
foundries, shingle factories, tanneries, morocco leather
factories, soap and candle factories, distilleries, si|C
churches, three banks, three insurance offices, thte^
newspaper offices, and a general printing office.

Nor is my own county of Hastings perhaps supe-
rior to the general average. It stands fourth in
population out of 42, and perhaps about fourth m

water-power. j.-> '^jw^rj^^ ■•ffj;;i7rirr^* ''T!?t«slir'#^':i?J|f -t"-

The wild lands of the crown have been hitherto
kept up to 8« currency, or fi* 6c? sterJing per acre,
but are now reduced to half that amount, as I stated
before ; the boundary here between the 8* land itnd
the 4* being the western line of the county, including
Hastings, in the low-priced lands of the east.

This reduction in price, however, has not taken
place Yi\ii\i private holders of land. On the contrary^
the wonderful increase in the iralue of land is indica-
tive^f our rapid prograas*., ; i|il*st# ,s^-= fefju.

LABOUR AND FOOD

•*S^^A^--

We could easily supply labour and food, and a
hearty welcome, and a guerdon of success, to one
hundred thousand immigrants every year, if only they
came amongst us with a determination to be indus-
trious, and not expect to make large fortunes at one

tj« t, »•-»,/ -. /* -irXA

fr* '» H'-4 V ** *-

sweep.

This stipulation appears somewhat necessary ; for I
have known many instances, and very many, where
men who have been accustomed to be paid in their
own country 9d or liid a day without board, have
refused, upon their arrival amongst us, to take 2s 6d
a day and the best of board ; and I have known them,
immediately on their landing in the city of Quebec,
refuse 7id per hour for their work, — expecting, no
doubt, that if they walked on, they would have the
gold for the lifting. I have myself often offered £2.
per month, boarded, and it has been very, very often
refused.

- Jl^^-^XAJ* Z'l-i

>'■ I •* - JA-i.

■J' -.i-iii' y y^r-^tvijjr^;^

But I have said enough before about labourers

The small capitalist will perhaps enquire of me,
* What am I to do ? -j~ fj^'i-'- '-•.« !■...-»;.■>».?.?.*- y*-v?.»;''.>i#?^^^y

For the sake of perspicuity, I will suppose the
questioner a man having a wife and children, and one
hundred pounds sterling after having paid his passage
to Quebec. In the first place, I would recommend
him to make up his mind, or nearly so, be/ore he
reaches Quebec, to what part of Canada he will go,-^
he must not loiter in any of the cities. He ought to

ADVICXE TO EMIGRANTS.

•ii

take with him nothing but bed, bedding, blankets,
and whatever warm clothing he has, and these should
be packed in water-tight barrels of about forty gal-
lons, and headed up. I have known very heavy losses
to occur to immigrants having large boxes ; they are
unhandy, and often are broken to pieces. One emi-
grant of the name of Logan, who was coming out to
me, having known me in Ireland, lost all his clothes
and about twenty sovereigns ; the box being very
heavy and not sufficiently strong, it fell oS the hooks
into the sea when he was landing,
.^ Being in Quebec, he can get as far west as he
pleases to go (on board a canal propeller), at from
28 6d to 7s 6d for each member of the family.
Last summer, emigrants were carried several hundred
miles for 2s 6d each. He can carry on his provi-
sions, if he has any left after the voyage.

When he lands at the county town where he means
to stop, let him take his family to the country, to
friends if he ha^s any, if not, to the farm house of
some countryman, who, if he charges them fof their
board, will charge very moderately, as the custom of
the country is to extend hospitality to new settlers.
He will be sure to hear of some old neighbour, who
will willingly receive him until he can choose his
farm, and he will be sure to hear of numbers of farms
for sale. There are so many speculators, and such a
wide field for profitable speculation, that mraiy are
found ready to sell out for a few pounds of ready

FIRST STEPS.

I" I?

li'

money, giving time for payment of the rest, provided
it be secured on the property. '

Some sell their farms because they want to under-
take some other speculation, — to take contracts in
public works — to move further back — or elsewhere,
on account of relatives, or schools, or churches, or on
account of a wish to go into some business or factory,
or a thousand and one speculations for which there is
so much room in a new country, and so many of which
turn out prosperousl3% We have in fact a moving,
energetic, speculative, ambitious, spirited, and go-a-
head population, and almost any man will sell what
he makes a profit on.

But as I have first taken the man with only ^61 00.
sterling, as capital, I would recommend him to pur-
chase crown lands, which he will get of excellent
quality, at ^21). currency for 100 acres. He will
find a crown land agent in every county town, who
will give him a list of unsold lands. Having so small
a capital, he must, of course, go through more hard-
ship than his neighbours of larger me ms.

After selecting his lot, which he would do well not
to do without the aid of some resident in the neigh-
bourhood, who knows the kind and quality of timber
that grows on the best soils, and who can almost
judge of & farm though the land be covered with
snow, — let him without delay take out his patent
from the agent. Crown land patents are always safe,
anc' given free of expense.

M»i

POTASH MANUFACTURE.

But let him be convinced that the land is good.
Of this he will himself he a judge in seme degree, by
noticing whether the trees are large, and of what are
called hard wood. Beech, and nuiple, and elm, and
bass-wood, and large pines, are generally sure crite-
rions whereby to judge land. If the trees be small of
stunted, either oak, or pine, or poplar, or any other
kind, the land is not good. ; -it -triHt

This, with regard to large trees, is however not
always the case. I have seen trees of amazing size,
and almost all huge, and yet the land was not worth
having, because the large round boulder stones were so
thick that the plough could not be driven between
them. These large round stones are always a sign of
deep land, wherefore the large trees.

Many hundreds of acres of this kind have been
cleared of the heavy timber for the sake of the pot-
ash, and then abandoned. I should explain, that the
ashes of three acres of this hard wood, if burned
carefully and tlie ashes covered from wet, will make
a barrel of potash, which is worth on an average of
years about £6. per barrel, or £2. per acre. - r%m

There must, of course, be deducted the labour of
leaching the ashes and boiling the lye, and tilt in-
terest of the hrst cost of the potash-kettle, wirkjh
costs from ^6. to ^*10. according to the weight of
metal ; but an industrious man, who undersiands it,
V his land be good (and the trees, of course, large),
will not only pay himself well for his labour, but the'

A BEE.

i\.i

It.

potash will produce him more than lOs per acre net
profit. ^

• T.The immigrant having secured good land (and he
need not be afraid to go into the bush to do so, for a
few short years ago we were all in the bush), the
next thing is to gather his neighbours to what is
called a *' bee,*' to cut down and draw in with oxen
to the site of his house, which he has selected with a
view to a good supply of good water, and from which
he has previously cut down the trees that would over-
hang it, and in one day, if he can get twelve or
fourteen men together and four yoke of oxen, he will
have the frame of his house put up to the square

He will have to provide them good cheer at the
house of some neighbour — plenty to eat and drink,
but no pay, except return work when his neighbour
wants a similar good office. During this day the
very heavy part of the work that requires an accU'
mulation of strength will be done, and two or three
handy men will in a fortnight have the house com-
fortable, the immigrant providing boards for flooring
and partitions, and doors and window-sashes, which
latter he can buy ready made to suit him.

The whole house, including a chimney, will not
cost him more than ^15. having two apartments
below and a loft above, exclusive of his own labour
for six or eight weeks. Many a house of this kind
have I seen built in a very short time, ard have spent

many
them ;
kept b€
outside
bright J
happy i

As tl
ticus, h
for a s
and a h
as you
original
near th
twelve c
wise mj
and a
building
and he

I ha
small c{
he read

One hu
Traveiii
Buildin

■

Furnitu
Oxen, )

A BUSH HOUSE.

many happy days and conifortaV^le nights within
them ; they are most warm and snug, and can be
kept beautifully neat, being plastered both inside and
outside. Many a beautiful white table-cloth and
bright silver spoon, and well-filled table, and shining
happy countenances, have 1 seen in such houses.

As the immigrant becomes richer and more ambi-
tious, he leaves this house for his labouring man or
for a store-house of some kind, and builds another
and a handsome one near. In hundreds of instances,
as you ride through the country, you will see the old
original log-house of tiie newly-arrived immigrant
near the handsome frame-house of the man now of
twelve or fifteen years standing; but» in general, the
wise man builds a large barn firsts and fills it well,
and a shed also for his cattle, before he attempts
building his handsome house. The ham is his bank,

and he does well to look to its coffers.

I' f
I have thus arranged the outlay of the mnn of

small capital, say <£100. sterliii^^ in his pocket, after

he reaches his destination : — ,

One hundred acres of land at As
Travelling expenses to select ditto
Building log-house, IG X 2^
Furniture for ditto ....
Oxen, yoke and chain . . .

£.

7 10
17 10

ir>ir

i»

'A I..

Carried forward, £^\

1 U'J.V

111

SO > FIRST OUTLAY.

Brought forward, 64

Cow . . . . . . . . . . .

Four barrels of pork, 800 lb9. . . .

Twelve ditto of flour

Potatoes for eating and seed ....

Half of expense of clearing and fencing
ten acres of land at £3. lOs, the
immigraiit doing the other half . .

£.

«t

\7 10
^112

One hundred pounds sterling being worth ^122.
of our money at this tirnC; the immigrant has still
jBlO. in his pocket for groceries, or for haj for his
oxen and cow, or for any trifling emergency, and is
in possession of a freehold property for ever without
having to pay any rent or interest, and his taxes may
be perhaps 1 0* per annum for the first two or three
years. If he should fall short of money for groceries
or little comforts, he can work a few days for a
neighbour. He can have ten acres of wheat in the
ground the first year of his arrival in Canada, and if
he comes early he can have a few potatoes planted in
Juue for his first winter provisions.

During his first winter he draws saw-logs to the
mill, and cuts the heavy square timber that is re-
quired for his barn ; having provided a temporary
shelter for his cow, and the second year he has pro-
bably six or eight acres more of new land for wheat

and for
first cle,
Thus
to put 1
I said 1
the saw-
through
of, woul
Thus
leaving ]
he most
sons grc
in the b
Canada 1
worked
prospects
Weak
only a c(
Canada i
his thous
is lord o
neither r
to him
many an(
as the 11
livery ser
sure in b{
his own \
riagp, aiu

S^AIL CAPITALISTS.

and for oats, and peas and meadow, in the ten fu^res
first cleared. ^.^ :?;»*

Thus before t^e second winter arrives, he is able
to put up a snug barn for his grain. The snow, as
I said before, enabling him to draw his timber to
the saw-mill, of which he will find great abundancv
throughout all Canada, and in no cas? that I know
of, would he be obliged to drive it many miles. »

Thus have I disposed of the man of small capital,
leaving him to thrive and prosper year after year, as
he most assuredly will, and in a greater ratio as his
sons grow up. It may be said that I have left hira
in the bush, it is true, and many a wealthy man in
Canada has been set down there before him, and has
worked out his way to clear daylight, to cheering
prospects, and more extended views.

Wealthy did I call him ? Yes ! but this word has
only a comparative meaning - the wealthy farmer in
Canada is not what you call wealthy here, he has not
his thousands or tens of thousands of pounds, but he
is lord of the soil he lis es on — he can be asked for
neither rent nor tithes — he is surrounded with what
to him forms every comfort of life — he enjoys as
many and as gremt luxuries in proportion to his wants
as the man you call wraltby here; he has not hij«
livery servants, in truth, for he would Save no pl^;i-
sure in having them, but he tiikes tlf»light in driving
his own beautiful horses in his own comfortable car-
riage, and takes pleasure in taking care of them after

8^2

A COMFORTABLE INDEPENDENCE.

he .has drivea them. His tastes are •.he tastes of a
farmer, and happily for him. If they yrere those of
a nobleman, he has no business in Canada, unless he
bring with him the wherewith to indulge them in
our beautiful cities. . . ....:.

I claim not for Canada either the power or the
opportunity of speedily realising large fortunes, but
I claim for her the greatest facility of securing a
most comfortable independence with a very small
capital, and in a very short time, with reasonable
•exertion and judicious industry and economy. These
are the foundation of independence. A man who is
always hovering on the verge of want (and how many
alas! are of that class in this country) is in a state
not far removed from that of slaverv i he is in bon-
dage to others, and must accept the terms they
dictate to him — he is not his own master — he cannot
help being servilcj for he cannot look the world
boldly in the face. Sad, indeed, is the plight of the
man who is only a few days journey a-head of want ;
but the maii who has secured a little freehold, even
if it be but small, has secured a kind of breakwater
against poverty and destitution.

If bad times come upon him, and should one crop
entirely fail (a thing next to impossible), he can at
least keep the wolf from the door till better days
come round, his little freehold is a source of power
and gives him greater strength and energy for futura
eifort— his self-respect is maintained uninjured —he

CANADIAN LANDHOLDERS.

83:

ites of a
those of
inless he
them in

r or the
ines, but
curing fi
ry small
;asonable
. These
in who is
ow many
in a state
p in bon-
ms they
le cannot
ae world
it of the
of want ;
old, even
eakwater

one crop
le can at
tier days
of power
or futur«
ured —he

c^n walk erect, regardless of the parish*overseer or
the landlord's agent or bailiffs— he is his own landlord
— there is no fear of him becoming an inmate of
the workhouse, or a burden to society in any way,
either himself or his little ones— he can neither be
bought nor sold, nor driven to the hustings to vote
against his conscience, he can afford to keep that
unimpaired and walk erect, his dignity as a man un-
compromised. He feels that he is no cypher in
society, that his voice as a freeholder is as powerful
and effective as that of his neighbour, and even if he
be temporarily unsuccessful he has the wherewith to
cause him to hope— yes, to hope freely, earnestly,
steadily, and fearlessly. His little freehold is a tower
of strength. Could I picture to you the wonderful
delight that I experienced (myself a tenant-farmer in
Ireland, and under the best of landlords too) when I
possessed a property that I could call my own^ free
from rent, free from tithes, free I may say from
taxes —conveying, too, all the powers of a freeholder
ar.d the privileges of a freeman. Could 1 convey an
idea of the delight with which I daily trod upon »iy
vicn soil, and were your feelings consonant with mine
the tic that would bind vou here must be strong in-
deed. There, every stroke of the axe, every hour's
work is done for yourself or your family. Labour
and industry are there regarded wiih a respect which
make the country delightful for an industrious man
to live iiu and are indeed are the in&tauces where a

V.=|vl

\-^^:---tr:

LOCAL EXPENDITURE.

man who has once set his foot upon his rmm freehold
will consent to leave it. If he does it will.be with
deep regret. ,

There, too, the result of his industry is well hus-
banded for his own good, for every man, if only hi»
name be on the assessment roll for ore shilling, has
a voice in the expenditure of that shilling. We have
excellent municipal institutions. Our municipal coun-
cillors are elected by the tax-payers from amongst
ourselves, they control the expenditure of our taxes
— no nobleman or gentleman can take our money
and make roads through his own demesne or through
his own turf-bog, as they used to do in my day in
Ireland. We have all a voice in the expenditure.
We have no taxation without full representation ;
our councillors elected by ourselves expend the small
amount of taxes that we pay to the best advantage,
or if they do not they are turned out of office, and
new men are brought in of better capacity.

At first it was extremely difficult to find men capa-
ble of managing these free niunicipal institutions iu
so new a country, and, in order to make them work
well, our public sell cols were largely endowed
throughout the whole province by a wise Govern-
ment, who saw the difilculty : and the effect of them
is even now beginning to be felt in the education of
the yoking men elected to fill these important trusts.
In the next generation, there will not be one child in
a hundred that will not be able to read and write and

cipher ; 1
are well
another
whatever
. what m€
strange t
tion by t
quently
t rates by
When
ter Sessic
our instit
have mad
our muni
and from
been left
unless ch
the local
These
small cap
and bridj
and egre
know wh:
neighbou
taxes th(
their pn
most is n
jobbing ;
amount

EOADS AND BRIDGES.

cipher ; but the educational facilities of Canada West
are well deserving of more lengthened remarks in
another chapter. The magistrates have no control
whatever, as such, over our finances. We put in
. what men we please as nmnicipal councillors, and,
strange to say, that their being placed in that situa-
tion by the voice of their neighbours, is very fre-
quently the cause of their being appointed magis-
trates by the Governor in Council.*

When I first went to Canada the Justices in Quar-
ter Sessions ruled the expenditure of our taxes ; but
our institutions are becoming better modelled, and we
have made very rapid progress in improvement since
our municipal officers have been elected by ourselves,
and from among ourselves, and the magistrates have
been left to attend to the administration of justice,
unless chosen as men^ not as magistrates, to transact
the local business of the country.

These I consider very great advantages to the
small capitalist as well as to the large. Our roads
and bridges are repaired — our facilities for ingress
and egress are attended to by practical men, who
know what is most required for their own and their
neighbours' welfare — who know what it is to earn the
taxes they pay, and who, therefore, look sharp to
their profitable expenditure ; hence it is that the
most is made of our money. We have little or no
jobbing ; and every traveller is surprised at the
amount of work that is done upon our roads, and

'•^.:

LARGER CAPITALISTS.

it'

througli our woods, and in bridging our waters, la
proportion to t .e paucity of our inhfjujiants. Now-
a-days, the settler in the bush finds access to the
clearance in much less time than he used to do some
ten years hence, and this is no trifling advantage to
the settler of the present more experienced and more
enlightened age.

To the capitalist, having ^£300. or ^6400. I would
recommend a very sin.tlar course to that recom-
mended above, with this exception, that he should
buy 200 acres instead of 100, and buy them nearer
market than the Government lands are generally
to be had, and pay more in proportion for them»
leaving the more experienced axe- man to go back
into the hush. Propinquity to town and naarket>
and mill, and school, and church, is a great advan-
tage, and well worth paying extra for, if a man has
it to pay. These small capitalists I have supposed to
be working farmers ; mere overseers with such small
capital cannot breathe in our atmosphere. It is the
manual industry that brings the rich return, and a
small capital can effect little without that.

For the capitalist having £2000. or upwards, and
a large family to educate and provide for, and being
unused to manual labour, the author has a special
sympathy. He was himself one of that class, and has
come through the ordeal of a Canadian settler's life
with dear experience, but finally with great success.
, Times and prospects ar- indeed greatly changed

since he fii
misery wo
friend to g
others.

His on

Canada it

her state

may be d

some ma]

the disad\

certain, tl

with a del

there is n

new counl

new vigo

that yout

, The d

present r

money, a

bank in (

of deposi

the cash

pleases,

Chartere

Canada,

towns.

If he
should I
dred acr

ENERGY AND ENTERPRISE.

since he first went to Canada in 1834, and very much
misery would have been saved him if he had had a
friend to guide him, as he hopes he can now guide
others. [;■■'' ■-■■ — ■ ■= ,s.: i.: r -.- . ,,,.■,.._ _^:. ..«-,,,!
His only object in stating what he knows of-
Canada is to give a just - 'd true exposition of
her state and prospects, el ''ting facts. These

may be differently interpr* »* different readers ;

some may think that the advantages, and some that
the disadvantages preponderate. There is one thing
certain, that no one should come to Canada except
with a determination to do well : to say in his heart,-
there is no such word as "/ai7,'* to consider her a
new country^ and to clothe himself with new energy,
new vigourj and a new spirit of enterprise to suit
that youthful country. , < , '

, The ;£2000. of this class of capitalists, at the
present rate of exchange is worth ^2440. of Canada
money, and should be deposited in some well known
bank in Great Britain, the owner taking a certificate
of deposit with him to Canada, for which he will get
the cash in any town there, where and when he
pleases, wherever there is an Agency of any of the
Chartered Banks. Of these there are seven in
Canada, and Branches innumerable in the several
towns. • / .

. If he be not a practical and working farmer, he
should not invest much of it in land. One hun-
dred acres, near some town, where his children could

^!^^.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

1.1

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!g iiS 12.0
WUKM

125

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Photographic

Sciences

Corporation

33 WIST MAIN STRUT

WnSTM.N.Y. MSIO

(71«)a7a.4S03

*^'

-VSf>.

BANKING ESTABLIfinMENTS.

be educated y could be purchased, with a good houde''
and orchard, and barns, and sheds, for £750 or'.
£800.; £200. or ^6250. more, would purchase what'
horses, sheep, cows, and implements and furniture, v
&c. might be required, and the ^1400. should be
invested, so as to produce a regular annual income,
to assist the farm. The farm would produce the
necessary food, and with care, the wages of labour
also. The income would be required for clothing
and education and groceries, &c. v4 ^^ii ^^*'^^^i^#;^^f

j£l400. if well invested will produce £8. percent,'
or £112. per annum. There are numberless in*
stances of money producing ^10. or even M\2.
per cent, where judiciously invested; but as a
stranger cannot be a judge of these investments, it
is safer for him to take £^. per cent, paid half-
yearly at the bank or elsewhere, until he becomes
acquainted with the various ways of effecting more
profitable investments. * / .. - ^.-

Some of our Banking establishments are dividing
seven per cent, and latterly, owing to the prospects
of the country, and the increased demand for the
representative of capital, Bank stock has risen very
considerably, and applications are now being made
by two or three Banks for an extension of their
Charter. ' * ' .*nf#.i

Our Banks are upon the most firm foundation,
and for fifteen or seventeen years a failure of one of
them has not been known. They are admirably

mgs,

.S PLANK ROADS.

,.i i,

conducted, and the most implicit confidence pkeed
in their stability.

Our plank roads throughout the country have
most of them proved to be most excellent invest-
ments, many *of them paying 12J per cent on the
paid up stock. From this there will, no doubt, be
some drawback for repairs, after eight or nine years
wear, but it is fairly judged that they will pay d810.
per cent, per annum, clear of all expenses. ^9

The first that was built in the county of Hast-
ings, paid 40 per cent, per annum, and upwards,
and is still paying very largely, although lines
nearly parallel have been run leading to the same

point. f.' <!.f"; ■^;: -•.^- — ■• ■?;>. -.«■■'<..;:•;£'■»?«'.

So far we have had experience of plank roads,
calculating the toll at Id per mile for a waggon or
carriage drawn by two horses : they have proved
excellent investments, and as our population increases
the Old Stock will be still more valuable. -^-r "^ ,

Whilst writing on the subject of profitable invest-
ments, I cast my eyes upon the following advertise-
ment: — ** Western Assurance Company's Office,
Toronto, 4th December, 1852. Notice is hereby
given, that the President and Board of Directors
have this day declared a Dividend to the Stockholders
in the Western Assurance Company, of ten per cent,
for the year ending the 30th November, 1852, pay-
able at the Company's Office, on and after the 22nd

CASH INVESTMENTS.

day of December inst. with a bonus of twenty-Jive
per cent, to be added to the paid up capital I ! *;^a

>i^t **By order. Robert Stanton, hv-
-^^-'■--'f'^i^i :■. Iff -BM '■"•-.'?' .\i^ " Secretary and Treasurer.'*
• There arie also numbers of Building Societies
which are paying £10. to j6 1 5, and ^20. per cent
per annum, though the investments in these societies
do not give annual returns ; but each, after the lapse
of a certain number of years, pays its stockholders
the whole accumulated fund. But the most general,
and indeed very common method of realizing £S. to
j612. per cent, for money, and that legally too,
is by the purchase of mortgages on real estate ;
at present, almost any amount could be invested
in this way, so as to secure ^8. per cent per
annum.

1 have given above the reasons why so many are
desirous of rtgaging their property. The spirit
of speculatio.. and enterprise is very great, and our
unbounded waterpower and rapid movements in
rail-road and plank-road extension, give opportunities
of making larger profits than farming operations
can possibly afford. ^ i.^ *

It is not poverty that causes men to mortgage,
but this spirit of speculation and improvement
which is so rife amongst us, and in which the
Canadians are imitating their neighbours across the

borders.

CANADIAN SCHOOLS.

?«.t

- Mills and factories, and machine-sbops and stores
of all kinds, are springing up with wonderful rapidity,
and with almost universal success. Hence the desire
for ready money to invest in other than agricultural
pursuits, which last, if they do not yield so quick or
so large a return, will, at all events, insure the com*
forts of life in steady, unobtrusive and smiling abun-

• Having thus set down the £2000. capitalist in the
enjoyment of all the necessaries, and very many of
the comforts of life — many more than he could enjoy
in Great Britain, with double the means, being now
rent-free, tithe-free, poor-rate-free and almost tax^
free (for £3. per annum will pay his taxes) — I now
proceed to show him the advantages he has in other
respects. . , ,, , ^ ^

: I have all along supposed him to have a large
family. These he can give the best classical educa«
tion to, at our excellent grammar-schools, at £5. per
annum for each boy. . . tp^* r? ^ •f^^^-

Every county town has its classical, or grammar-
school, fostered by the Government, the teacher being
allowed £100. per annum out of the grammar-school
lands, and, in some instances, a normal school assistant
to teach the English branches. The head master is
required to be a man of good classical attainments,
and the lads are here prepared for the numerous
universities, in many of which the acquirements of
the young men are quite equal to those of many of

LARGE FAMILIES AHV SMALL MEANS.

the best universities of the old country. His daugh-
ters, too, can be educated in the different towns of
Canada, as well as any parent could desire. Many
excellent teachers from the old country have settled
amongst us, and our rising generation of young people
are the admiration of all who visit our colony. And
after their education at school or university is over,
the parent has no fees to pay to obtain for him the
knowledge either of business or of the learned pro-
fessions ; his services at the ofRce or at the counter
are esteemed an equivalent ; and if he enter a store,
in order to become acquainted with wholesale and
retail dealing, and the trade of the country, he is
paid a small salary after the first year ; and if he be
attentive and diligent, a handsome salary after the
second year, and better still after the third ; thus is
he, very early in life, able to support himself, and
relieve his parents from the expense. ^ '*•' "^^^ "
The ease of disposing of sons, and enabling them
to support themselves respectably and comfortably at
a very early age, is, in truth, one of the greatest
inducements to bring a parent out to this thriving
colony ; and the very great wonder is that so few of
my countrymen, so circumstanced, come to our shores.
Certain I am that, if only the true state of Canada
were known, we should have thousands of men come
amongst us who have large families and small capital.
With us, families are wealth, if industriously brought
up — wealth to their parents as well as to the colony.

FIELD FOR INDUSTRYi

The very habits of industry that they must exert, and
that they will be rewarded for exerting in our new
country, will be a mine of wealth to themselves as
well as to their parents and the colony. Where
industry has its reward, there is always contentment
and happiness. Industry is good for us all» and
Canada is the country where it does not fail to reap
its rich reward ; and as for the prospects of the young
people who come amongst us, I may only remark
that we have plenty of elbow-room. Lower Canada
contains an area of 210,000 square miles, and Upper
Canada, 32,500 ; an extent very many times that ot
England and Wales ; and the prospects of our noble
country are such, that it is destined, at no distant
day, to hold a high and honourable position among
the nations, and even hereafter to exert a deep and
powerful influence over the world's being.

Now is the time for youths to come to our country
to be young with its youth, to grow with its growth^
to strengthen with its strength, to prosper with its
prosperity, and to joy with its rejoicing.

The numerous Railways now in operation, or pro*-
jected, will give a tremendous impetus to our im*
provement, and I would specially allude to one which^
when finfished, will be one of the longest in the world.
The Grand Trunk Railway is intended to be 1112
miles in length, with a uniform gauge of 5 feet %
inches, and to extend throughout the entire length of
the provinces connecting the Atlantic with the Lake9.

CANADIAN RAILWAYS/

1^.

The cost of its completion has been computed af
£9,500,000 ; this Railway will be completed within
the next four or fr^e years. It is almost impossible
to appreciate the immense national interests which
are involved in the construction of this gigantic rail-j
way across the continent. It is not improbable that
it may one day be carried forward through the north-
«m portion of the British possessions to the Pacific,
and so shorten, by 5000 miles, the communication
between Great Britain and her Eastern dominions^
This was suggested by Mr. Jackson, the great railway
contractor, the other day, in his speech at the Ste*
phenson dinner in Montreal. In connection, however,
with this railway, there is another work in contem-
plation, which, for boldness of design, and the diffi-
culties to be grappled with in its execution, is certainly
destined to be one of the greatest works of this or any
other age ; and it was to judge of the feasibility of
this that Mr. Robert Stephenson, the greatest engi-
neer in the world, has recently visited Canada. His
name will for ever be associated with the tubular
bridge over the Menai Straits, and he now declares it
possible to erect a similar construction over the Rivei:
St. Lawrence, near Montreal* where the river is twp
miles in width, at a spot where its course is inter-
rupted by violent rapids, and where it would be
•xposed every season to the accumulation of gigantic
masses of ice, thrown against it in wild disorder by
Jthe impetuosity of the current.** >^Hi»«**><t lu^^-'n^^itiht

VAKMIRS irXUKlES.

i t

*^ Can you doubt the resources of a country whicii
justify the execution of such colossal works, and the
expenditure of so many millions of money? And
from these arteries which will intersect the country
in its length and breadth, added to the finest water-
communication in the world, must fiow to each and
alof us increased prosperity, not only to the farmers,
but to the tradesmen and manufacturers and artisans
in the cities and towns. They always prosper in
proportion as the rural districts prosper ; and mer-^
chants and dealers of every description feel an impetus
from the increase in numbers and growth in pros-
perity of the country-people, and with such a soil
and such a climate it must needs be that a large
surplus over their immediate necessities is yearly
forthcoming, and a consequently increased demand
for the comforts and even the luxuries of life. It is
upon his turpl^ . that the farmer depends for his
luxuries. ,

^ His handsome carriage, his harness, his furniture,
his carpets, his sofas and bureaus, his holiday suits,
his plate, his china, his delf, his painted and papered
rooms, and, I may &dd too, his musical instruments
and his books, as well as the manufacture of his
wheat into flour, require the handiwork of the coach-^
maker, the blacksmith, the whitesmith, the hajness-
maker, the cabinet-maker, the weaver and tailor and
shoe-maker, the potter and painter and glazier, the
printer and bookbinder, the machinist, the wheel^

9(i

INDIVIDUAL PROeRESS.

Wright^ the miller, the turner, the pajpier-maker, the
cooper, the tinsman, the watchmaker and jewellery
the hatter, the furrier, the tanuer, and a host of
others.

"^'2 1-', ■^'■i ■'."" I- ■ '•*;

And in every town in Canada all the tradesmen I
have mentioned are to he found earning handsome
^ages, and living in comfort and true enjoyment of
Ufe ; and if they are not rapidly acquiring, it arises
from idleness or intemperance, or some fault of their
own, and not of Canada, for all are employed at
remunerating wages — generally from twenty to thirty
dollars per month, and boarded. ,; ,,,.t,i,

The general value of the dollar is about is 2d
sterling. >5v— ^- ■-^■^^'- - ■•--■ -^^ ■■ - --■ i-. .--'- '--,

Many journeymen of those trades 1 have men-
tioned earn from As to Ss sterling per day, and
master-men about double that amount, r i^v ■ r-*^ t

But I will advance one step further in this argu-
ment, and show you that our small tradesmen become
large tradesmen, and the large tradesmen, merchants
and ship-owners, large proprietors of bank, railway,
and other stock, with magnificent houses and costly
furniture ; and these, with hardly an exception, com-
menced their career with limited means, in some case*
none — and the ship-boy of a few years ago has, by
perseverance and good conduct, worked his way up
the ladder until the last step, when ceasing to be a
store-keeprr, he abandons that branch of his busi-
uess, as I have frequently seen the case, to one or

•l.^-v5

by
up
■»e a
usi-
or

CONSUMPTION OF NBCBSSA.RIES.

two of his most deserving assistants, and becomes
the merchant and the ship-owner.

And to show how krge is the consumption of arti-^
cles above what are properly considered the absolute
necessaries of life, as compared with that of the
United Kingdom, I give you a few quotations based
upon the returns of the Canadian Board of Statistics,^
of which I have the honour to be secretary, and the
returns of the British Board of Trade, for the year

1853: —

-iU ici

,■^^llC v.'/:ri .^&W^:M^)'

V Annual British consumption of coffee '^^'' ^

per head ■ >^^^ . 1 lb. 6 os.'

Annual Canadian ditto . . .l^'i-^m- 13 oz.
From this it appears, that the consumption of
coffee in the United Kingdom, per head, is about
double that of Canada ; but it must be remembered,
that tea is a much more favourite beverage with us
than amongst our fellow-subjects on the other side
the Atlantic.

r I Annual British consumption of

^ sugar per head 14 lbs. 4 oz.

^ Annual Canadian ditto ; . V .'^^18 lbs.

In this article, shewing an excess of 3 lbs. 12 oz.
per head in favour of Canada. ^--^ «p4^«i/ x.i«.

Of tea, Britain consumes per head . 2 lbs. 2 oz.
^ ' Canada^ I .^ ' / i* '^^ " v 2 lbs. 8 oz.

Of tobacco, Britain consumes per head 1 lb.
^ Canada ■^'^**' . . 21bs. 8oz^

This i^ows an immense excess in a very uselesi^

CANADIAN CONSUMPTION.

article, and one which is enjoyed by only ond
sex; it includes segars. The difference of lib.
8 oz. would be greatly increased if the quan-
tity of home-grown tobacco were added to it ; and
we may fairly place the Canadian consumption
per head, at three times that of the United King-

Of brandy^ Britain consumes per head 1.16 gal.

^yri l^anaClft »;.-i. *;♦.■.■*■- A/t-iUgf-.f -■'^;f ■ 1«1U '

It is probable, however, that the consumption in
Canada of whiskey, home-made and imported, ex-
ceeds that of British home-made spirits. /.

Of molasses, Britain consumes per head . 3 lbs.
Canada . < w:: t :« ^.. 6 lbs.
Perhaps the most remarkable article in our catalogue,
however, is wincy of which ^

Britain consumes per head . 2 i pints
.jj Canada • . . . 5 „
The difference in this article is, no doubt, to some
extent owing to the comparative lowness of the pro-
vincial duties upon the cheaper descriptions of wines,
which enables them to be freely used by a class
who only taste wine as a rare luxury in £ngland,
where the duties are so contrived as to exclude
almost all but. high-priced wine9,t^5;niniri 1^ ?^n?^i^»^

But perhaps the best way to prove our advance-
ment is to give a short account, in the extent and
value of our imports and exports, and in the in-
creased number of steam and sailing vessels navi-

.'V*-,- •

! ?f.«

STEAM NAVIGATION,

gating our inland seas And rivers of huge ** Amettcamt*
dimensions.

The first steam boat that sailed on the St. Law-
rence, a prodigious river that runs through and
along over five hundred miles of Canadiain territory^
was built in 1809. It made the passage betweeu
Quebec and Montreal^ 180 miles, in 66 hours, stop-
pages included, or in 36 hours actual sailing, i.e
five miles per hour. -• > n *4* r^v^f , ,,

A second was launched in 1813, which performed
the trip in 22^ hours^ c-r eight miles per hour. The
passage is now made down with the current in about
11 hours, and up against the current in about 14
hours, about thirteen miles per hour. The fare used
Co be nine dollars for going up, but now it is only 2}
dollars, not quite id, per mile, v n , : ., r

In 1 8 1 0, there were two more built for that river
but the first boat that sailed in Upper Canada
waters was built in 1817. This plied on the Bay of
Quinte, at the rate of about five miles per hour. ^* In
1849," says Lillie, "there were 103 steamers on
Canadian waters, with a tonnage of 16,156. Now
there are above 120." , ,] u .

Within the last few years, by the construction of
canals, and other favourable circumstances, the in-
dustry of Canada has been stimulated, and her
resources developed with extraordinary rapidity.
From Lake Erie, and of course from Lakes Huron
and Michigan, both sailing and steam vessels €aa

100

CANADIAN SHIPPING.

now descend the St. Lawrence to the sea. For this
object, the Welland Canal was constructed : it is
about 27 miles long, and connects the two great
lakes of Erie and Ontario ; there are 'also seyeral
small canals along the St. Lawrence, where falls
occur in that river, with capacious locks, and in the
whole about ninety miles in length. Besides these,
there are the R^"^«f!U Canal, 1 28 miles long, connect-
ing Bytown on the river Ottawa, with Kingston on
l^e Ontario ; and the Chambly Canal, which con-
nects Lake Champlain with the canals of the St.
Lawrence, near Montreal. Through the canals of
the St. Lawrence, in 1850, passed 7106 vessels and
steamers, of which, 6827 were British and 339
American, and the aggregate tonnage was 547,322
tons ; and through the Welland Canal 4 76 1 vessels
and steamers, of which 2962 were British and 1 791)
American.

In 18.^0, there were 1469 vessels came to Quebec
and Montreal, teu times the number that came there
in 1805, having 573,400 tons, and having 20,000
men, and also 1 7S vessels from the Upper Province,
having 20,00} tons. Very nearly 600,000 tons
in all.

I forgot io mention, tliat the tolls of the Welland
Cakial, in one month, that of November, 1852,
amounted to ;sR9200. The year's tolls of the same
canal were, in 1850, 5637,742 and in 1851, they
amounted to 5^48,241.

TRADE OF THE STATES.

101

le
ley

In 1850, the gross revenue of all the canals in the
Province was ^55,772, and in 185 1, ^^876,216.
, ■ Again, to give you an idea of the extent of out
commerce with the United States, I give you a
detailed account of the exports of one little town of
5000 inhabitants, with which I am best acquainted —
the beautiful and thriving town of Belleville before
mentioned. In one quarter of a year, from the 5th
July to 1 0th October, 1852, that little town ex-
ported to the United States alone the following
named articles: : "^^

Feet ' £, s.

Sawed lumber or planks, 1 1 ,148,000, value 22,747

Shingles for roofing houses . .
Railroad-sleepers, 10,625

Rags, 4 tons ....
Grass-seed, 100 bushels

Peas

1,392 „

Wheat

1,920 „

Barlev

•

1,523 „

Rye

4.700 „

Flour

100 barrels

Potash

66 „

Wool

9,700 lbs.

Sheep

290

Making

10 14

701 5

174

346 15

194 15

525 12

96 6

330 2

570 17

250

^£26,087 6

This includes only what went to the United Statei

102

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

in three months ; there was about three times that
amount of Talue exported, Tia Montreal and Quebec,
to Great Britain and elsewhere, making our exports
upwards of ^100,000. in one quarter; and during;
the time of navigation from the 1st May to 1 0th
October, there were 3 1 8 vessels, independent of the
daily and weekly steamers, that arrived for cargoes
at that one port. Our total exports were about
jei 48,000. and our imports nearly £2>^,{)00,

From the exports of this locality, you will naturally
infer that the exports of all Canada must be very
large indeed in proportion to her population.

I give you the exports and imports for the last
five years, so that you may judge of the wonderful
progress which Canada is making in these respects —

Imports, Exports.

In 1848 ^3,191,32S 562,801,778

1849 3,002,892

1850 4,245,517

1851 5,358,697
•: 18r)2 5,071,623

And the difference in the half year ending 5th
July of the years 1852 and 1853—
1852 1853

^2,168,665 563,421,231, and the duty
313,339 446,673

The exports being to imports about 3) to 5. '
The total number of bushels of wheat grown in
Canadtt in 1852 was 16,375,000 Winchester bushels :

2,668,245
2,990,428
3,241,180
3,500,000

COMPARATIVE TEADE.

103

of these there were 10,985,000 consumed at home,
allowing five bushels of wheat for every barrel of
flour, being 5 j- bushels of wheat for each inhabitant.

And there were exported in that year the enormous
quantity of 5,390,000 bushels, including the flour at
the above rate.

And to show you how Canada stands in relation
to her exports and imports, compared with the
United States, I have taken the following facts from
Lillie. The value of the products of the United
States exported in 1849 (taken from the American
Almanac, p, 172), was Jf 132,666,955, which was
less than thirteen times ours, viz. ^10,679,992, al-
though their population is fifteen times as large as
ours. . ( -^^ . • ^ > ' •■-''■•■-' •

And the value of imports for the same period is
still less in proportion than ours, being about nine
times as much as ours, viz. as ^148 millions is to
$\1 millions. So that, whether we take exports or
imports, tho prosperity of Canada exceeds that of
the United States in proportion to her population ;
the exports being as 15 to 13, and the imports as 15
to 9 in f ivour of Canada.

'-r

-I * 4

104

CAKiDIAN HOUSES.

^,.$\ ;m-Ji^- '-'V-rm ■:^-'.i»!,\ti J': ]-:''h s .> i yfbi%i£^:^'■m^^ "^i^-h ^ I

■^.;r''.

My--l"-/^:^^m ^i^

>i i:-i - n

i ^

BomeBtic Animals employed in Canada — Farmings and trairel'*
lin^ Cattle — The Wild Animals of the Forest—Canadian

Fish. /

■"{^'"A■

With regard to the domestic and wild animals of
Canada, it may ]:)erhaps be expected that I make
some observations. We have a most serviceable
description of horse for the kind of work required
of it— strong, active, and hardy. Time being of very
great importance, and distances to market often great,
we require active horses and light waggons, and our
loads of farm-produce not being as yet very large,
and expenses at taverns being a great drawback from
the price of the produce if the farmer is detained
long on . the road, the heavy dray-horse would be of
little service to us. In the Upper Province we use
waggons drawn by two horses abreast in preference
to carts drawn by one, as they are much better
adapted for bad roads : if one wheel gets into a deep
rut or hole, the others help to keep the weight off of
it, and it is much easier to draw out a waggon with
four wheels than a cart with two, the load per horse

YAJiUE OF CATTLE.

105

.. I

being the same. Waggons are also more easily loaded
and in every way better suited for general farm use,
though a cart on a farm is always desirable for
drawing out manure. The common load put on a
waggon for a pair of horses varies from ten cwt. to
two tons, according to roads, distance, &c. and our
hardy and excellent horses will perform from thirty
to forty miles per day (going and returning included)
with an average load, without being injured.

In winter they will draw heavier loads and perform
longer journeys, if the sleighing be good. In plough-
ing, 1^ acres per day is a fair average day's work, if
well done and the land tolerably stiff; but I have
often known two acres per day readily accomplished
and well done. Good horses, of calibre sufficient to
perform this amount of work, can be had for about
£2\i currency each, i.e, £17 sterling. The first
horse was imported into Lower Canada about 166",
and according to the census of 1852 we have now
385,377 horses of all ages in the Province ->an im-
mense increase, considering that we export to the
United States many hundreds every year. <^ r^w

. We number one horse for about every five inhabi-
tants in the Province, the population being 1,845,000.

With regard to cows, the common cows of the
countiy are a small undefinable breed mixed up of
every description, but acclimated and hardy and
easily fed, and will keep alive not only with little
food, but with little care and little shelter. The

106

BREED OP COWS.

average produce of butter with ordinary care is 3 j
lbs. per week, or half lb. per day ; but they pay well
for extra care, far exceeding this average. • "i

There are very many farmers who have fine Dur-
hains, Devons, Herefords, and Ayrshires, and these
improved breeds, so called, are finding their way
through the length and breadth of Canada — and if
pnly the increase in the growth of green food and
clover, and in the erection of comfortable buildings,
keep pace with the increase of these descriptions of
stock, they will then deservedly be called improved
breeds, and will greatly improve the circumstances of
the Canadian farmer. Butter and cheese have hitherto
borne excellent prices, 9d sterling for one, and 5d
sterling for the other, and pay the farmer well. Beef
has also much improved in price, and the extra con-
sumption that will be caused by the building of more
than 1 000 miles of railroad, and the extra facilities
of sending it off to foreign markets, such as Boston
and New York, where they are always dear, makes it
ftnd will continue to make it a most profitable branch
of business for the farmer. Good cows, with good
feed, and good care, and good shelter, produce iu
Canada as elsewhere from 6 lbs. to 8 lbs. of butter
per week, or from 9 lbs. to 12 lbs. of good cheese.
The price of a common Canadian cow is £4 sterling,
and for fancy cows, which are always to be had, you
pay a fancy price in Canada as in every other country.
The number of milch cows was by the census of 1851

SUBEP AND SWINE.

I or

returned at 591,438, or about two to every seven in-,
habitants, and some thousands were exported last
year to the United States. Independent of cows, the
number of oxen and young cattle is 741,106. P

With regard to sheep we have a great abundance,
beautiful and excellent both in fleece and carcase,
subject to no disease that I know of, very hardy and
easily fed ; the average weight of carcase is about
14 lbs. per quarter, and fleece 3 lbs. of rather a fine
description of wool, well suited to the wants of the"
country. lu Lv

The export of wool last year was very considerable.

A|^ the number of yards of fulled cloth and flannel
manufactured in Canada, is 3,338,508— nearly two
yards for every inhabitant of the province, and almost
all done at the farm-houses. The mutton in the
Toronto market is a just source of admiration to every
one who visits it. The prevailing breeds are Leicester
and Southdowns mixed. The value of store sheep is
from 7s 6d to 15«; of fat sheep, from \2s 6d to 30*.
The number in Canada is 1,.')97,8-19 ; not very far
from one to every inhabitant. In the Upper Province
there are more than one for every inhabitant, being
16,000 over the number of the population.

As to swine, I will only observe that our pork is
of excellent description, and the breeds very much
improved of late. It is very common to hear of hogs
being slaughtered, weighing 300 to 400 lbs. — the
average size is probably 250 lbs. at nine months old.

108

BE A a HUNTING.

Last year there was fatted in Canada 534,000 bar-
rels of pork, of 200 lbs. per barrel, worth £2. 10*
sterling per barrel ; that is value for upwards of a
million and a quarter sterling. Independently of this,
there was a very large importation of living swine to
the United States.

Thus in the number and value of our domestic
animals, Canada exhibits a very large amount of
wealth ; greater, probably, in proportion to her popu-
lation, than in any other country, not excepting the
United States.

It may not be uninteresting perhaps to enume-
rate the animals of Canada that are not don^tic.
There seems to be a very general opinion here that
the farmers of Canada suifer severely by wolves,
bears, &c. This is quite a misapprehension. I rather
think most farmers would be delighted to have more
frequent opportunities of seeing bears in their woods.
The sport of pursuing them is very great indeed ; and
the flesh, skin, and grease are treasures not to be
acquired half so frequently as they could desire.

There are said to be four varieties of fox, — the red,
the grey, a mongrel betvveen these two, and the black
fox which is esteemed very valuable for its fur, but
very seldom seen. We have also the black wolf, and
the grey wolf; and now and then a lynx is seen. The
deer are still abundant ; beautiful animals, and deli-
cious food when properly cooked : there are three or
four varieties^the American deer, the elk, the cari-

•HE POLE-CAT.

109

boo, and the moose. There is still a fair supply of
Tenison to be seen in our market during the winter,
especially if the snow be very deep and hard on the
top. In this case the hounds can pursue them
without sinking ; whereas the deer are retarded in
every bound, not having a good foundation for their
spring. A deer skin is worth about Ss sterling, and
sportsmen take great delight in hunting these beauti-
ful animals. It not unfrequently happens that they
take to the lake to swim to avoid the dogs, but there
they are easily overtaken by the hunters in canoes,,
and killed in the water. We have also a few otters
and beavers, an abundance of hares in the Lower Pro-
vince, and squirrels of many varieties in both pro-
vinces. These latter are very good, and I have often
eaten them : the large black squirrel is extremely
delicate, and highly thought of, and is a most beau*
tiful animal when alive. We have also racoons and
musk-rats, which are eatable. The most annoying
animal which we have is the skunk, or pole cat
{Mephites Americana) ; it gets under our barns and
sheds, and into our wood piles, and eats our eggs,
and kills our hens and chickens, and the smell of it
is so dreadful, that it is very difficult to approach it.
It is most amusing to see a dog that is accustomed
to them, endeavouring to kill them without being
sprinkled with the nauseous liquid from the animal's
reservoirs. I have never seen the rabbit in Canada :
at the same time I must admit that our hare, as

110

CANADIAN GAME.

compared with the rabbit of Great Britain^ has sotn6
strong points of resemblance. -^ r.:^.-.;.

. So far as quadrupeds are concerned, the sportsman
has but little variety ; but in the shooting of birds he
can gratify his taste fully, — the abundance of wild
duck of four or five different varieties, also of wild
pigeons, and snipes, partridges and woodcocks, and,
in the west, wild turkeys, will afford ample sport.
No farmer can afford much time in the pursuit of
game, if he expects to live by his farm ; but I may be
addressing many who may wish to know what the
prospects are in these respects, and who may desire to
pay Canada a visit, for the purpose of enjoying those
sports for which it offers so wide a field. Our birds
are far inferior to yours in the music of their notes ;
but many of them, in brilliancy of plumage, equal
those of the Tropics. The red cardinal, the wood-
peckers of every variety of colour, the American
robin, the indigo bird, the scarlet tanagers, canaries,
meadow larks, whip-poor-wills, starlings, finches, and
last and least, the exquisite little humming-birds,
which, like bees, dart from flower to flower, and dis-
play every possible combination of colours. According
to Gosse's Canadian Naturalist, we have about sixty-
six varieties of birds ; but the greater part of them
leave us in winter, and the snow-birds, the winter
wren, and an occasional woodpecker, are in that season
almost the sole tenants of the woods. Swallows are
much encouraged about farm houses, as they perse-

FISHERIES.

Ill

cnte the chicken-hawk, and are a great protection to
' the farm yard : they hunt the hawk with pertinacious
hostiUty, probably for the protection of their own
young. .^ , . .

; To those who are fond oi fishing^ Canada presents
the best imaginable opportunity for enjoying the
sport : from the small speckled trout to the huge
maskalonge, or the still huger sturgeon, there is the
best possible sport in the greatest abundance and
variety. One of the most common is that of trawUng
for pike, pickerel, or maskalonge, with a small tin
fisV» attached to the hook, which is eagerly taken by
these ravenous fish. ;' > o : as; wiii :fifi^?

The white fish of our bays and lakes is said to be
the finest fish perhaps in the world. The flavour of
it is incomparable, especially when split open and
fried with egg and crumbs of bread : they weigh on
the average about 2 lbs. each when cleaned, 100 of
them filling a good sized barrel. Those caught in
Lake Huron are more highly prized than any others.
I have seen a fine maskalonge caught from the stern
of a steamer in full sail, by throwing out a strong line
with a small tin fish attached. We have also very
fine salmon trout in our lakes and some of our rivers.

I do not wish to occupy much of your time on
sporting subjects, as such; but the varied and im-
mense wealth of our unbounded waters, as well as
lands, well deserves a few passing remarks, and is
much more important as a source of profit than of

112

FISH TBADS.

ATnnsement. Th? quantity of fish carp'^ in Canada 19
about 100,000 barrels (worth about 20« per barrel) ;
but this year the take has been immense, and the
demand still greater. This is not only a very valu'r
able article of food for our own population, but as
one of export it now occupies a very high position,
Ind^endent of this large quantity, tbero ^^^ f^xported
Ihst season from New Carlisle and Gaspe, in the
Lower Province, oi dried Ssh, 82,521 cwt. producing
£49,504.; and of pickled fish, 1471 barrels, pro-
ducing ^800.; and from the Magdalen Islands,
£9000. worth;— making in all, ^59,304. So that,
including the home consumption in both Provinces,
our waters yield us nearly £ 1 50,000. worth of fish
every year, and may be made to yield tenfold that
amount.

ft--

» . ;■' -

i' .

^S v» JtJ i

EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS.

113

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IMI^S:

CHAPTER vi.^ - "^ f *^'^'

Educational Establishments— Statistics — Ministers of Religio^

^•sfjir-iii^^^^fifi- :>*?'r T How supported. x^^'-wi'm- '.■ '

'iji *'

I HAVE in a former part of this book alluded to
the admirable system of education which prevails in
Canada ; and it is a subject affecting so vitally not
only the present, but the future condition of the
colony, that I have thought it well to add a few
remarks on the subject, which appeared som** lime
back in that invaluable periodical " Chambers' Edin-
burgh Journal." , . . . . ^

" The manner in which the great question of ele-
mentary education has been dealt with in Canada is
worthy of attention, not only from the effect which it
is likely to produce in Canada itself, but from its
general interest. It may be mentioned that the pro-
vince has been provided with an excellent system of
schools of different grades ; a system infinitely more
perfect than that which prevails in the parish school
establishment of Scotland. It is encouraging to know
that the number of public schools reported as existing
in Upper Canada this year (1850) amounts to 30o|),

T-

114

NORMAL SCHOOLS.

and that the number of pupils in these schools is
151,891, increased in the following year to 168,159.
The amount of school visits by superintendants, and
official visits of clergymen, magistrates, &c. in 1851,
amounted to 32,608 : this proves a very important
agency in promoting and sustaining public interest,
and is highly encouraging to both teachers and pupils.
With what earnestness the people have engaged in
the cause of education is shown by the published
account of the * Proceeding at the ceremony of laying
the chief corner stone of the Normal and Model
School and Education Offices, by the Earl of Elgin,
Governor-General, at Toronto, in July, 1851.' From
an address delivered on the ground by the Rev. Dr.
Ryerson, Chief Superintendant, we learn that the
institution will accommodate 200 teachers in training,
and 600 pupils in the Model School ; and that the
land set apart for it is an entire square, consisting of
nearly eight acres, two of which are devoted to a
botanical girden, three to agricultural experiments,
and the remainder to the buildings of the institution,
and to grounds for the gymnastic exercises of students
and pupils.

*' To accomplish this project, a public grant was
made of £15,000 ; * an enhghtened liberality on the
part of our Legislature in advance of that of any
other Legislature on the American continent.* Near
the close of his address the Chief Superintendant

remar

coura^

our ec

entire

of oui

to the

cedent

on the

norma

avail i

that t

last ye

of tea*

numbe

averagi

of the

essentii

books,

with i.

soon b<

Infi

Canada

thing I

all the

mother

disputa

been p

univers

CANADIAN SYSTEMS.

1J5

remarks, 'There are four circumstances which en-
courage the most sanguine anticipations in regard to
our educational future. The first is, the avowed and
entire ahsence of all party spirit in the school affairs
of our country, from the provincial legislature down
to the smallest municipality. The second is the pre-
cedence which our Legislature has taken of all others
on the western side of the Atlantic in providing for
normal-school instruction, and in aiding teachers to
avail themselves of its advantages. The third is,
that the people of Upper Canada have during the
last yeaf , voluntarily taxed themselves for the salaries
of teachers in a larger sum in proportion to their
numbers, and have kept open their schools, on an
average, more months than the neighbouring citizens
of the State of New York. The fourth is, that the
essential requisites of suitable and excellent text-
books, which have been introduced into our schools,
with the necessary books, maps and apparatus, will
soon be in advance of those of any other A)untry."

In fact, the system of education now established in
Canada, far exceeds, in its comprehensive details, any-
thing estabhshed in the United Kingdom. While
all the ordinary plans of national education in the
mother country have been delivered over to sectarian
disputation and obstruction, those in Canada have
been perfected and brought into operation, to the
universal satisfaction of the people. ^

IP —

116

EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS.

: . I will just add that the population of Upper

Canada is . 952,004

And the grand total of students and pupils
^ . attending universities, colleges, grammar,

private and common schools, is . . 177»624
The population between the ages of five and

sixteen years, is about . . . 258,000

The amount available for salaries of common

school teachers in Upper Canada . ^102,050
The average number of months each com-
mon school has been kept open . . . lOf
And the average attendance of pupils during
, the year 1851 at the common schools,

was . . . . . . . 83,390

But the subjoined very interesting table furnished
to me by our excellent chief superintendant. Dr.
Ryerson, so lately as October, 1853, gives a most
satisfactory view of the wonderful progress of Upper
Canada in school matters.

By it, it appears that the number of pupils attending
common schools has increased, within the last ten
years, from 66,000 to 179,500, whilst the whole
school population, between the ages of five and six-
teen, are only 262,700. It shows, too, that the total
sum available for educational purposes has increased,
during the same period, from ^41,500 to 5^176,000,
that is, that, for the same period during which the
population merely doubled, the amount devoted to

educal

than^

It I

creasei

volumi

And,

univer

attends

of the

the fa(

and in

frequer

Judge

three c

contain

crimin?

gloves.

RESULTS OF THE SYSTEM.

117

educational purposes has increased considerably more
th&n /our/old.

It shows, too, that our school libraries have in-
creased, in six years^ from 85 to 1,045, and the
volumes contained in them, from 10,600 to 164,100.
And, I may add, that Sunday-schools are almost
universally adopted, and punctually and numerously
attended. That the morals and religious instruction
of the young are efficiently cared for, is proved by
the fact that, very few convictions of crime occur ;
and in very many of our most populous counties it
frequently happens, as I have stated before, that the
Judge of assize has not a single prisoner to try. In
three counties, on a late occasion, to my knowledge,
containing 80,000 inhabitants, the Judge, having no
criminal to try, was presented with a pair of white
gloves, or entitled to that privilege.

GENERAL STATISTICAL TABLE SHOWING THE

CANADA, FROM 1842

Subjects compared.

1842.

1843.

1844.

1845.

Population of Upper Canada

486,055

622,570

Population between the ages of 5

and 16 years . . , .

141,143

183,539

202,913

Colleges

•S

Normal and Model Schools

Established in 1847

Grammar Schools and Academies

Common Schools

1721

2610

2736

Private Schools, as far as reported

■♦J

Total Educational Institutions

1795

2701

2839

Students attending- Colleges

•—

—

Students and Pupils attending the

Normal and Model Schools

Pupils attending Grammar

Schools and Academies .

—

Pupils attending Common Schools

65,978

96,756

110,002

Pupils attending Private Schools

as far as reported .

—

Total Students and Pupils .

66978

96,766

110,002

Amount available for Salaries of

Common School Teachers

£41,500

£61,714

£71,6X4

Amount expended for Building,

Rents, Repairs of School-houses,

—

^
^

—^

—

Amount received by Colleges. Aca-

demieSjGrammar&PrivateSchools

—

Total for Educational Purposes .

£41,600

£51,714

£71,614

Common School Teachers .

—

2,860

Average Salary of Mole Teachers

—

«2

—

Average Salary of Female do.

—

•^

—

Total number of Libraries, as far

as reported . . . .

■-.

—

Total number of volumes therein,

as fur as reported .

fe5

—

Mem. — ^The Statistics of Colleges, Academies, and Private Schools, are
approximated from such information as could be obtained.

Education Office,
Toronto, 4th October, 1063.

STATE

TO 185

1846.
204,580

34
2589

80
2708

101,912

101,912
£67,906

£67,106
2925

• Se

?■■■'•'

riNG THE
FROM 1842

44.

1845.

622,570

STATE AND PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN UPPER
TO 1852 INCLUSIVE.* ...

1846.

J,539 202,913
5' 5

iblishedinl847

26
2610

60
2701

33
2736

65
2839

6,756

6,756
1,714

110,002

110,002
£71,514

204,580
5

34
2589

80
2708

1,714

£71,514
2,860

101,912

101,912
£67,906

£67,106
2925

irate Schools, are
btained.

1847.

230,975

2727

2866

700

1000

124,829

1831
128,560

£77,599

£77,599
3028

£37 I

85
10.604

1848.

723,292

241,102

2800

117

2960

740

256

1115
130,739

2345
135,195

£86,069

3177

£62

£32

431

59,877

1849.

1850.

1851.

253,364

2871

157

3077

733

400

1120
138,405

3648
144,366

£88,478

803,493 950,551

259,258 258,607
7 8

S 2

£88,478

3209

£58

£35

505

68,571

57i
3l)59|

224
33491

684

376

2070
151,891

4663
159,684

£88,536

£14,189

£102,725

3476

£60

£40

675

96,165

70
3001

159
3240

632

380

2550
170,254

3948
177,764

£102,050

£19,334

£32,834

i;i54,2I8

3277

£79

£51

870

130,934

1852.

953,239

262,755

3010

167

3285

751

545

2894
179,587

6133
188,910

£113,991

£25,094

£36,989

£176,074

3388

£83

£52

1045

164.147

* See also the Annual School Reports for 1851, page 59 and 62.

120

CONCLUSION.

U '.

Thus have I given a short hut faithful account of
the real state of Canada, her prospects and resources;
and if, by what I have said, I shall he the means of
inducing earnest and industrious men to improve
their circumstances, and add to their happiness and
well-heing, or that of their families, by settling in
what I certainly deem a truly prosperous colony, I
shall be well pleased at having contributed to their
happiness, and also to the welfare of my adopted
country ; for, in its present state, the addition of in-
dustrious and moral men to its population, is to it, as
to all new countries, a great desideratum.

It:

»4' ^-

: . :,.^ v^-4v^ - _

THE END.

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