CHAPTER V.
_Productions—Agricultural Societies—Want of Pasturage—Progress of Forest Settlement—First Crops on Forest Land—Worn-out Soil—Mildewed Wheat—Misrepresentations of Canada—Mr Ferguson’s Statement—Township of Nichol—Praises and Detractions—Choosing a situation—Advantages and disadvantages of Upper Canada for different Emigrants—State of the Inhabitants—Constitution—Game._
The productions of the country are various, and embrace almost every thing that is desirable in life. Wheat is the staple commodity. Indian corn ripens well in the most southerly parts, but is not extensively cultivated any where, and, in the present state of the country, is an uncertain crop beyond 41½ degrees of latitude. Oats, rye, barley, peas, and millet, number amongst the grains. Tobacco, turnips, potatoes, melons, apples, pears, and peaches, amongst the vegetables and fruits. The climate of the southern parts is genial, the industry of man applied to the cultivation of the soil renders it fruitful.
The agriculture of Upper Canada has not been reduced to a system in the oldest cultivated parts, and is carried on in the rudest manner in recently settled districts. The legislature having lately appropriated L.100 to each district for the encouragement of agriculture, societies have been formed for this purpose in Niagara and other districts. I am possessed of a copy of the Niagara District Agricultural Society’s rules, and its exertions will, in all likelihood, be directed to the improvement of stock.
In all countries perhaps, and more especially in one covered with dense forests like Upper Canada, the first efforts of the inhabitants are directed to the growing of grain for their own subsistence, and pastural agriculture is introduced at a later period. This course of farming must, of necessity, have been followed in Canada, as the forest does not yield a single blade of grass, which is owing, perhaps, to the rays of the sun being excluded from the surface of the earth throughout the whole season, by winter’s snow, the foliage of summer, and the fallen leaves of autumn. The severity of winter would also retard the keeping of animals, as an artificial supply of food and shelter is necessary to their existence. So defective is the pastoral farming of Upper Canada, that almost every town or village of magnitude in the district is dependent on the United States for the sheep and cattle which are slaughtered for the use of the inhabitants. Mr Somerville of Whitby accounted for this, on the ground, that all oxen reared in the country were required by new settlers to plough the soil. It is, however, quite evident, that there is not a sufficient extent of cleared surface on almost any farm to graze breeding stock, and provide them with proper food for winter. The rearing and fatting of animals in Canada must require such a division of labour as did not come under my notice while in the country, and the time has scarcely arrived when it can be successfully adopted. The animals of every kind are of an inferior description, and no great improvement can be effected with them until proper winter food and shelter are supplied. The working oxen are chiefly obtained from the States.
Most new settlers find difficulty in providing pasturage for their milch cows; and butter made from the cream of animals roaming in the forest is often of the worst quality. I have been at the residence of settlers who could not produce butter of their own manufacturing at table in the fourth year of their farming. The want of grass is one of the greatest privations of first settlement.
In the old cultivated districts manure is sometimes applied to land. Gypsum is frequently used successfully to clover and Indian corn, and Providence seems to have provided most of the districts composed of sand with an inexhaustible store of gypsum, to which soils it is chiefly applicable. I could not learn that lime had been tried. The robbing system hath long been followed, and its effects are every where apparent.
The progress of bush or forest settlement admits of little choice. After a log-house hath been erected, the trees are cut down with an axe, about three feet from the ground, the branches are lopped off and the trunks chopped into lengths of about fifteen feet, piled together, and burnt. The piling, or logging, as it is called, is by far the most arduous part of the process, requiring the aid of several men and oxen. The burning cannot be effected but in dry weather, and I learned considerable importance was attached to a clean or effectual burning. The ground is then fenced by means of rails, split from logs by an axe, and piled above each other—the whole country being considered common when not properly fenced. The ground is then sown with wheat, or planted with Indian corn, or some other crop, and the harrow passed over the ground, it being impracticable to use the plough for the stumps and roots of trees. At the expiry of seven years, the stumps are found to be decayed, and the plough may then be employed. From the time of clearing, the land may have been cropped by means of the harrow, or employed in producing grass. There is little room for the display of genius or management, the process being nearly the same in all cases.
From the ashes of the timber a great deal of potash was at one time made, and sent to Britain; but a substitute having been found for this commodity, the ashes are generally spread on the ground, and sometimes, when the land is too rich, they are removed for manure to another part of the farm. When soil is viewed as a workshop, laying prostrate the members of the forest must be a cheering employment to the contemplative landowner. Being of no value in its original state, every sunbeam which darts on the surface, by removal of the trees, is assurance of imparted fertility, and never-ending productiveness; and as the light streams in from heaven, his heart will be filled with gratitude to God, and his arm nerved for new exertion. But the chopping of timber is a most laborious task to one unaccustomed to handle the axe, and the person possessed of a little capital had better pay others for clearing land, than attempt it himself on a large scale. To clear a farm out of the midst of the forest, by personal exertion, requires such an iron constitution and strength of arm as few British agriculturists of middle age possess. Many individuals who make the attempt excavate a small space, that may be termed an hospital, which ultimately becomes their graveyard.
I experienced disappointment at crops on newly cleared land being so indifferent, having been led to suppose they were generally too luxuriant. Believing every vegetable substance to be composed of the same elements, and reduceable by decay, so as to enter into new combinations, I fancied the soil the very essence of fertility, from having been enriched with the decaying leaves of many centuries. If all the woody fibre of the forest and vegetable mould which covers the surface could be at once decomposed, my anticipated fertility would be realized. But in burning the trees, fire passes over the entire surface, and consumes almost every particle of vegetable matter. The agency of fire, joined to the imperfect tilling of the soil, will sufficiently account for the want of luxuriance in first crops, which may generally be considered a fortunate circumstance, when a free circulation of air is prevented.
Settlers have often been cautioned against purchasing what is termed worn-out soil, timbered land being preferable. This appears to me to be one of the many deceptions used to entrap the unwary emigrant into the wilderness. I have already observed the first crops are not luxuriant after clearing the forest. The first wheat crop is, however, the best one until the stumps decay, when the soil will afterwards improve with good management. The most productive wheat crops, combining quantity and quality, are found on the oldest cultivated soils. Much soil hath been abandoned to nature after being cleared, not owing, however, to its having become exhausted, but to its natural inferiority. It is better to restore the most exhausted soil than clear forest land of the same quality. Nature never becomes exhausted, and the farmer has only to do his part in order to obtain her bounty.
In course of my tour in North America, I was particular in my enquiries regarding mildewed wheat, knowing how destructive the disease is to that grain, as well as to others visited by it. Many growing crops and bundles of straw of the previous year’s growth were examined, and the result of my observations tended to strengthen the opinions I had formed of the origin and localities of its effects.
Mildew appears to me to result from frost, produced by the radiation of heat, rupturing the sap-vessels, and the moisture which exudes being favourable to the germination of the seeds of the fungus which grows on the straw of the plant, and checks the filling of the grain. It has been established by repeated experiment, that in certain states of the atmosphere, cold, within the limits of freezing, takes place on the surface of the earth when the temperature, at an elevation of a few feet, is ten or twelve degrees warmer. This is beautifully explained in “Wells’ Essay on Dew,” which I recommend to farmers wishing to become acquainted with atmospheric effects on vegetation. The natural agency favourable to the radiation of heat, or production of cold, is a clear sky and still atmosphere. The luxuriance of crops is a predisposing cause to a visitation of mildew, from the breadth, colour, and succulency of the foliage.
In the year 1830, I made an attempt to prove the correctness of my opinions regarding mildew by experiment. My apparatus, which was of the simplest kind, was often exposed; but the difficulty of catching a favourable atmosphere rendered all my attempts unsatisfactory; but some of my observations with the thermometer were remarkable. On the 19th August, at eight o’clock in the evening, a delicate thermometer, on Fahrenheit’s scale, at four feet from the ground, indicated 45°; and a similar one, immediately below the other, exposed on the surface of the grass, 38°; and at half-past eight, respectively, 47° and 43°, the wind having risen in the interval. Next morning, at four o’clock, the thermometers stood at 38° and 35°; and another, enclosed in a glass-case, and exposed on the outside of a window, at 45°. At five o’clock, the thermometer, four feet from the ground, indicated 34°, and the one on the grass, 30½°. The thermometer at the window remained unaltered, and, being removed from the case, was placed with the other two on a piece of lodged spring-sown wheat. At a quarter past five, all the three indicated 29¾°. The sun was then a little above the horizon, and obscured by a small cloud; the sky was clear, the air still, and mild to human feeling. In the same situation, the thermometers, at eight o’clock, indicated 55°, and at two P. M. 75°. At ten in the evening, the thermometer, four feet from the ground, stood at 44°, and the one on the grass, at 42°. At half-past four on the morning of the 21st, the thermometer, four feet from the ground, stood at 34°, one on the grass, at 28¾°, and one on the wheat, at 29°. The thermometers on the grass and wheat were thinly coated with ice, and the morning was clear and agreeable. The formation of dew was not very copious on either of the mornings, and my reapers made no remark about cold or frost when handling the grain. The field of spring-sown wheat, already mentioned, and one of barley, were at this time in a green state, and very promising; but the grain made no farther improvement, and mildew appeared on both crops in a day or two afterwards.
Although I have not been able to produce mildew by artificial means, the observations made with the thermometers in 1830 almost amount to a demonstration of its origin. Every case of mildew, whether general or partial, in a district, may be accounted for by cold produced by the radiation of heat, coupled with the state of the crops; and the hypothesis has been strongly supported by Scottish writers on practical husbandry, Brown and Aiton, while recording, as the cause of mildew, natural phenomena which result from or generally accompany the radiation of heat.
But from whatever cause mildew may proceed, there is no question of the wheat crop, throughout a considerable extent of North America, being liable to its effects. Many instances of mildew are recorded in my tour; and I scarcely passed through a district, the surface of which consisted of sudden undulations, or small forest clearances, where the wheat was not seriously injured by it. Some accounts which I have received from parts of Upper Canada for 1834, allude to the destruction of wheat by frost. In all partially cleared parts of Upper Canada, with exception perhaps of situations on the margins of lakes, wheat will suffer from mildew. The want of success which so often attends first crops on small clearances in the midst of the forest, is in all probability owing to the frosts of spring, summer, and autumn, caused by the radiation of heat, and which a free circulation of air will alone prevent. This casualty is a serious evil to first settlers, and ought to form part of their calculations in choosing a situation.
Upper Canada has been much overrated by some people who have visited the country. Many of the written accounts may be regarded as advertisements; and the statements have been the means of deceiving the unwary. During my sojourn in the province, I frequently heard Mr Adam Fergusson of Woodhill become the subject of reproach; and this season, the clamour is loud against him. A correspondent states in one of his letters,—“Many extravagant notions of America are entertained at home. Some people will form such notions in spite of any writing; but certainly many absurd things have been published about America by individuals who have travelled through the country without mixing with the people, or who seem to have written from interested motives. I know not how the Highland Society of Scotland will like to hear of Mr Fergusson’s errors. Its patronage certainly tended to mislead many. I have met with people in this part of the world who told me so, and who rail against him at a great rate.”
I agree with my correspondent in thinking the patronage which the Highland Society bestowed on Mr Fergusson added weight to his statements, and some of its members will feel disappointed at hearing them called in question. Societies, however, like individuals, often misplace confidence, and spurn the advances of real merit. But his most objectionable matter is contained in “Practical Notes made during a Second Visit to Canada in 1833,” with which the Highland Society is not connected.
Mr Adam Fergusson of Woodhill occupied a respectable, and perhaps an elevated, place in Scotland. He was understood to be a leading director in one of the first agricultural societies in the world, and acted conspicuously in the public matters of Perthshire, one of the most important counties of his native country. He was considered to have a competent knowledge of agriculture, and to be a person deserving of credit. But his character renders the statements he has put forth more mischievous, and their exposure more necessary. To have censured Mr Fergusson’s statements would have been painful to my feelings under any circumstances, and is especially so at present, when he is so far removed. It is, however, a duty I owe my countrymen to be candid, and they shall be allowed an opportunity of judging of our sentiments on Canadian farming.
After stating he has purchased a block of 7000 acres in the township of Nichol, he adds, “In reference to the capabilities of Nichol, I offer with some confidence the following calculations. With a capital of L.500 sterling, which is equal to L.600 currency, a man may purchase and improve 200 acres of wild land in Nichol.
FIRST YEAR. The purchase money of 200 acres, at $4 per acre, or L.1 currency per acre, L.200 0 0
A log-house, 50 0 0
Some furniture for log-house, 20 0 0
Barn, including stable and cow-house, 50 0 0
Household and other expenses till after harvest, Clear, fence, and sow, 50 acres with wheat, at 30 0 0
L.4 per acre, 200 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.550 0 0
—————— —— ——
On the 50 acres of wheat he will have 25 bushels per acre, which, at 4s. 6d. per bushel, L.281 5 0
Deduct expense of harvesting, L.35 5 0
Household and other expenses, 46 0 0
——— —— —— 81 5 0
—————— —— ——
Clears the first year, L.200 0 0
SECOND YEAR. He expends this year as much of the L.200 as will clear 37½ acres more, which, at the same rate as last year, will be L.150 0 0
The other L.50 he has for purchasing a team of oxen, and household expenses till after harvest, 50 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.200 0 0
This year he has the original 50 acres and the 37½ cleared this season, all in wheat, the seed for the 50 acres to be debited against the ensuing crop. 87½ acres, at 25 bushels at 4s. 6d. L.492 3 9
Expense of harvesting, &c. L.61 10 5
Seed, as above for 50 acres, at 1 bushel per acre, at 4s. 6d. 11 5 0
Household and other expenses, 39 8 4
—————— —— —— 112 3 9
—————— —— ——
Clears the second year, L.380 0 0
THIRD YEAR. All having been hitherto done by contract, there has now to be charged the expense of stocking the farm, and servants’ wages and board, L.285 0 0
Wheat seed for 87½ acres, at 1 bushel per acre, at 4s. 6d. 19 3 9
Grass seed for 25 acres, at 3s. per acre, 3 15 0
Assistance during harvest, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, 52 1 3
—————— —— ——
L.380 0 0
Has the same crop as last year, but not at so much expense in thrashing, and his own servants assisting. 87½ acres in wheat, L.492 3 9
Assistance in thrashing, &c. L.35 0 0
Household and other expenses, 37 3 9
—————— —— —— 72 3 9
—————— —— ——
Clears this year, L.420 0 0
FOURTH YEAR. He clears 62½ acres more, making in all 150 acres cleared, which is sufficient on a farm of 200 acres. He this year plants some potatoes, sows turnips, &c. on that part of the 50 acres, first cleared, not in grass. To clear, fence, and sow 62½ acres, L.250 0 0
Erects a thrashing machine, 80 0 0
Builds some houses for feeding stock, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, 30 0 0
Sundry improvements about the house, 40 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.420 0 0
—————— —— ——
Has this year the 37½ acres formerly cleared,
and the _62½_ cleared this year.
In wheat, 100 acres at the same rate, L.562 10 0
The other 50 acres valued at, 120 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.682 10 0
Deduct for household and other expenses, 82 10 0
—————— —— ——
L.600 0 0
At the end of the fourth year he has his farm paid for, stocked, and L.600 currency in his pocket.”
The result of a statement depends entirely on the data which have been assumed, and there is no doubt of Mr Fergusson’s, in the quoted account, being very erroneous. The chief error consists in clearing land, sowing it with wheat, and reaping the crop in the first year, which is an impossibility. The same error is repeated in the fourth year. Thus four instead of three crops are reaped in the time specified. I am aware that land has been let to be cleared, on condition of not being paid for until after a crop has been reaped. Mr Fergusson cannot, however, escape from his error on this account, because he does not mention the circumstance, and the cost of clearing being very low, is entered along with the purchase-money of the land, the building of the house, and household expenses of the first year. Three successive crops of wheat are taken from the first cleared portion of the ground, without a falling off in the crop, which is an absurdity, and such a mode of cropping is almost never had recourse to. He has omitted the expense of thrashing and marketing his crops, and also, sometimes, seed for sowing, all of which may appear trifles to the writer of “_Practical Notes_,” although of consequence to a farmer. He stocks with animals and servants in the “third year.” The former must be valuable creatures, for they live without food, at least the whole produce is charged as sold. But the servants are superior to the animals, as they seem to live on air, and refuse wages—the household, harvest, and other expenses in the fourth year, when the crop consists of 100 acres of wheat, do not greatly exceed the same charges in the second year, when there is 87½ acres in wheat, and no servants engaged. The farm is not stocked until the third year, but a team of oxen is charged in the second, which, perhaps, ought to have been written cows, as these necessary animals are not mentioned elsewhere.
Mr Fergusson’s calculations do not appear accurate, and scarcely intelligible in the way he has given them. They shall, therefore, be arranged, without altering his data, as they would actually occur. The entries marked with asterisks are new, and indispensable in practice.
FIRST YEAR. Purchase-money of 200 acres, at $ 4, L.200 0 0
A log-house, 50 0 0
Some furniture for a log-house, 20 0 0
Barn, including stable and cow-house, 50 0 0
Household expenses, two entries, 76 0 0
Clear, fence, and sow, 50 acres with wheat, at L.4, 200 0 0
SECOND YEAR. Clear, fence, and sow 37½ acres with wheat, at L.4, 150 0 0
Oxen, and household expenses, 50 0 0
Household and other expenses, 39 8 4
Expense of harvesting, 35 10 0
Seed for 50 acres of wheat, cleared the first year, and sown again the second, at 4s. 6d. 11 5 0
* Harrowing and sowing, 12 10 0
* Threshing the crop, ⅑th of 1250 bushels, or 140 bushels, at 4s. 6d. 31 10 0
* Teaming to lake Ontario 1110 bushels, at 9d. 41 12 6
Crop, 50 acres of wheat will yield 25 bushels per acre, and sell at 4s. 6d. per bushel, L.281 5 0
At the end of the second year L.967, 15s. 10d. has been expended, and L.281 received.
THIRD YEAR. Stocking the farm, and servants’ wages and board, 285 0 0
Grass seeds for 25 acres, at 3s. 3 15 0
Assistance during harvest, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, two entries, 89 5 0
Assistance in threshing, 35 0 0
* Seed for 37½ acres, at 4s. 6d. 8 8 9
Crop, 87½ acres of wheat will yield as formerly, 492 0 0
At the end of the third year L.1408, 8s. 9d. has been expended, and L.773, 5s. received.
FOURTH YEAR. Clears, fences, and sows, 62½ acres, at L.4, 250 0 0
Erects a thrashing-machine, 80 0 0
Builds some houses for feeding stock, 20 0 0
Household and other expenses, two entries, 112 10 0
Sundry improvements about the house, 40 0 0
* Seed for 25 acres, in turnip and potatoes, 15 0 0
Crop, 37½ acres wheat at former rate, 210 18 9
50 do. grass, valued at 120 0 0
—————— —— ——
L.1926 15 7 L.1104 3 9
At the end of the fourth year the landowner is minus, L.822 11 10
====== == ==
The prospects of the farmer become better after the fourth year, and on the assumed data he would soon become wealthy. At the end of the fourth year, when the land has been cleared, the farm, with buildings, furniture, stocking, and 100 acres of growing wheat, may be valued at L.1200. By the original statement the fourth crop has been reaped, in which case the farm, with buildings, stocking, and furniture, may be valued at L.750. According to my way of arranging Mr Fergusson’s statement, the purchaser of 200 acres of land at the end of the fourth year is only worth L.427, 8s. 2d., or a loser of L.172, 11s. 10d. By the original statement he is worth L.1400, or a gainer of L.800 above his capital of L.600, after maintaining himself and family. Mr Fergusson’s statement of Canadian farming, like the Marquis of Londonderry’s application to Lord Liverpool, may be marked with the words “_too bad!_”
With due deference to Mr Fergusson’s practical knowledge, I may remark, that he seems to have forgotten the part of the world in which Nichol is situated when framing his statement. How are people to be obtained for thinning turnip in the midst of a forest country, and who is to tend his thrashing-machine?
The data of an agricultural statement must be very fluctuating at all times, as the influence of the season affects the quantity and quality of produce, and consequently prices. Mr Fergusson assumes 25 bushels of wheat per acre as the produce of new cleared land, but the results of my enquiries and observation, including chance of mildew and imperfect cultivation from stumps, do not warrant their being rated higher than 18 bushels per acre. It appears odd that he should fix the price of wheat in Nichol at 4s. 6d., when he quotes the Niagara price at 4s. 3d., and it would require 9d. per bushel to bring wheat from Nichol to Lake Ontario, where it would meet the same market as Niagara. At the time he wrote, Nichol wheat could not be worth more than 3s. 6d. per bushel, Halifax currency. But the price of wheat in Canada is regulated by the prices of Britain. The expense of sending wheat from Nichol to Britain, by way of the St Lawrence, including ensurance, freight, merchant’s profit, and many other charges, will amount to nearly 4s. 3d., Halifax currency, per bushel, and it may be worth in London 7s. 3d., which makes wheat worth about 3s. at Nichol.
Having exposed Mr Fergusson’s statement, one of my own may perhaps be expected, but nothing satisfactory of the sort can be framed. The expense of clearing, fencing, and sowing, depends on the nature of the timber, and varies from L.3, 10s. to L.5 per acre. The succeeding wheat crop, also, varies from 12 to 25 bushels per acre, and prices from 1s. 6d. to 5s. per bushel. Generally speaking, money is not rapidly made by clearing forest land, while patient industry seldom fails of being ultimately remunerated.
The township of Nichol is not, however, such a situation as I would make choice of, being situated too far to the north, and too distant from water-carriage. Supposing the carriage or teaming of wheat, as it is called in the language of the country, from Nichol to lake Ontario costs 9d. per bushel, and that two successive wheat crops are taken from newly-cleared land, yielding 20 bushels each per acre, the carriage of the produce to market will amount to 30s., or double the price of what the land is originally worth, and this charge will operate as a tax, or rent, on every crop that is raised afterwards. The distance from water-conveyance, also, tends to render dear every imported commodity that may be required. When the Ouse or Grand river is made navigable, Nichol will be nearer water-carriage; but, at present, I would rather pay a high price for land in a good situation and climate in Upper Canada, than take a present of land in Nichol, if I was bound to occupy it.
The writers of private letters, the verbal tales of individuals, and the public journals, are often called into requisition to laud and misrepresent the country, and people of Britain ought to consider the accounts well before giving them credence. In a Montreal newspaper, which lately reached me, I observed a paragraph announcing that a yacht club had been formed at Goderich, of which Captain Dunlop was president. At the time of my visit to Goderich, in the end of August, 1833, the population were chiefly subsisting on flour and salt pork, imported from Detroit. The harbour contained three craft of the smallest size, and I did not see a boat or yacht of any description. The youth of Britain, who anticipates displaying at Goderich the uniform of a yacht club, and having the fair sex greeting his triumphant entry into the harbour by the waving of handkerchiefs, may delay his departure for half a century. A steam-boat had appeared off the village in 1833, and could not gain admittance into the harbour for want of water. I did not learn the object of her call, but I am sure all the disposable agricultural produce of the settlement, up to the present time, would not freight a nutshell.
Captain A——, in the township of Blenheim, was told by an agent of the Canada Company, that a stage-coach would convey himself and family from Hamilton to the property he had purchased. No such conveyance existed. On representing the imposition which had been practised on him to the managers at York, an abatement of price was offered. I saw the correspondence on the subject.
If Upper Canada has been too much praised on the one hand, it has also been unnecessarily cried down by some who are anxious to conceal their want of industry, and endeavour to shift from themselves to the country the cause of their return to Britain. Many people emigrate to America who ought to have remained at home, having been inflated by the representations of others and their own imaginations. I have often heard such characters rail against the province; and, on pressing one of them for the reason of his dislike, was answered, “It could not afford a well-cooked beef-steak.” They often lounge about villages, and are a moral pest. Like the fox who lost his tail, they are anxious to involve others in disgrace with themselves; and as most emigrants experience a few weeks’ despondency on first arriving in the country, the society of the idle and discontented ought to be avoided.
A person will find considerable difficulty in choosing a lot of land in Canada. Nine-tenths of the population are interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale of land. The accounts he will receive are more likely to mislead than instruct him; and, if possible, he ought to rely on his own judgment in purchasing. When he has decided on the neighbourhood in which he would like to reside, let him look at all the properties for sale, and take the best bargain. Most of the small landowners, being deeply indebted, are anxious to sell partially cleared estates for ready money; and more favourable terms will be obtained from them than the crown, Canada Company, or extensive proprietors.
The wheat of Upper Canada is sown in autumn, and greatly superior in quality to the wheat of the lower province. It embraces, however, a variety of climates, and the quality of wheat improves as the southern boundary is ascended. In Montreal market, the wheat of the upper province sells from 10 to 20 per cent higher than the wheat of the neighbourhood, and what is grown in the extreme west is of most value.
The expense of transport from the upper to the lower province is not yet reduced to proper terms, especially from remote quarters. But, in a general view, the improved quality of the wheat may be regarded as covering the expense of sending it by water to Montreal, while the climate will produce a greater quantity than the lower province. This may perhaps hold good as far west as the Thames, but on passing that river to the north, both the climate and distance of transport will operate in reducing the value of wheat.
Upper Canada possesses many advantages to the farmer over the lower province. The winter being of shorter duration and less severe, he has more time to prepare the soil. A greater variety of plants can be cultivated, and all of them will attain greater perfection. Animals have a longer summer to fatten, and a shorter winter to pine. Less dry fodder is required for them, and it is more easily obtained. Succulent food might be grown and preserved with greater ease. Still, Upper Canada is not likely soon to become a stock country, both from the limited cleared surface, and severity of winter. Indian corn, too, is not easily grown, except in the southern parts, and it seems to be the chief winter support of animals in America, where labour is high compared with produce.
Notwithstanding labour is high and prices low in Upper Canada, capital and labour may be better employed in cultivation than in the lower province, with exception of the vicinity of Montreal, from the great assistance nature affords. But much capital cannot at present be employed in the cultivation or improvement of land, and perhaps no portion will yield profit without active personal superintendence and assistance.
A British farmer with cleared land would obtain labour to hire in almost any part of the country, and be enabled to afford good wages from the produce. In many situations, however, he would find difficulty in obtaining a cash price, which is at present one of the greatest drawbacks to the country. Barter is often had recourse to, and the farmer being generally indebted to storekeepers, they make their own terms with him, and prey on his vitals. This state of things is, however, soon likely to change from competition; in the meantime, the needy former is sadly imposed on. Labour cannot be divided as in Britain, and cultivation must be carried on in a rude manner. The farmer, however, could find no difficulty in maintaining himself by his own exertions. With two days’ labour in the week on an average throughout the season, he may lead a listless life, without domestic comfort, or care, or anxiety of any kind, and dream of future riches till the close of his existence. With industry, comforts, happiness, and wealth, would be his portion. With forest land the British farmer would be sacrificed, unless in the prime of youth. In chopping, logging, and burning timber, he could not for a time render much assistance, and his previous knowledge would be of little avail. The plough could not be used for seven or eight years. Cultivating merely with the harrow, and mowing with the cradle-scythe amongst blackened stumps, would ill accord with his former habits. In such pursuits he would not, in all probability, find happiness or wealth. The young man of ardour and perseverance, whose habits could be changed, is differently situated, and he may enter the forest with every prospect of success. It is the returns from clearing forest land being distant, though certain, which gives youth great advantage over age, independent of his moral pliancy and physical strength.
The agricultural labourer of Upper Canada finds employment at good nominal wages during summer, but, instead of getting money, he is served with an order on a neighbouring store, from which he obtains goods to the amount, 20 or 30 per cent above real value. In winter his wages are reduced nearly one-half, or he engages in the clearing of forest, on terms of distant payment, and in the interim subsists on store credit. From seldom being paid in money, he sees the hopelessness of raising himself by purchasing land, and the disappointment often leads to drunkenness. At present, it appears to me doubtful if the British agricultural labourer of middle age would greatly better his condition by removing to Upper Canada. It is certain he would obtain more of the good things of life at a sacrifice of some little comfort, and unless he has strong attraction to the country, it is scarcely worth his while to make the change.
It has often been said manufacturers and artisans of all kinds make better Canadian farmers than agriculturists do. This seems to me part of the deception which has been played off on the people of Britain. Knowledge is power in all things, and however prejudiced agriculturists may be, their acquaintance with the time and mode of sowing, harvesting, and many etceteras, must give them advantages over other classes. I can conceive few situations more trying than a person without capital, totally unacquainted with farming, placed in the midst of a forest to live by his own exertions.
The man without capital ought to consider well before engaging with forest land, however cheap and advantageous the terms may appear. Almost all who do so can scarcely avoid being ruined, if interest is to be paid on the stipulated price. At page 363, I have supposed a new settler in the forest to have thirty acres in crop the fourth year. But when all things are taken into consideration, it is found that a settler, unaccustomed to chop wood, does not generally clear more than six acres in a year, and attend to other necessary things. Under these circumstances, it will be impossible for him to spare a fraction of money to pay interest or principal for the first five or six years. This is rendered evident also by the consideration, that the first crop of wheat does not, by the most favourable calculation, even pay the expense of clearing the forest and cultivating the soil. It is therefore demonstrated, that clearing forest is at first unprofitable to a person without capital, if he had the land for nothing, and that every acre which he clears is at an immediate loss. The cleared land, however, continues productive, and would ultimately reward him, if there was no principal or interest to pay. By suffering privations, he may wait like the capitalist for distant returns, which, on arriving, would be paid to the real proprietor of the land; and like an over-rented East Lothian farmer, he would not receive the fruits of his own labour. It is overlooking the difficulties of first settlement, which has involved half the recent settlers inextricably in debt, given the storekeeper such influence over the farmer, and prevented the labourer from obtaining cash wages.
In almost all parts of the country, landowners or their agents will urge people to settle on land, well knowing that every yard which is cleared of trees will ultimately become valuable to the estate, although the settler may be ruined by his engagement. Is it from philanthropic or interested motives the puffs regarding Upper Canada have been circulated? The unthinking poor too often become the dupes of the designing in all parts of the world.
America has been emphatically styled “the poor man’s country;” but Upper Canada does not now merit such a title. The system of store pay, which is so general in the province, operates against the poor man, and does not affect the rich. The system of selling land in large lots on credit has a similar effect; while the late rise in the value of land seems to me to be chiefly destructive to the poor man’s hopes, by diminishing the demand for labour, and increasing his difficulty of purchasing land.
In stating my belief that the middle-aged agricultural labourer of Britain need not change his residence to Upper Canada, I supposed him to be without capital, having constant employment, and living in some degree of comfort at home. The chance of such a person becoming an independent landowner is small, with irregular employment and store pay. The case of the rural inhabitants in many parts of the Highlands of Scotland and Ireland is, however, different, and they would find their condition improved by a change of residence. The sober, the prudent, and the industrious of any country will, however, succeed in Upper Canada, if they can laugh at the hardships of first settlement, and with persevering industry look forward to be ultimately rewarded. It seems to me to be a country chiefly for the young, and those seeking to provide for a family.
Of the unagricultural population of Upper Canada, and their prospects, I am not well qualified to speak. Clergymen, lawyers, and doctors, seem not to be much cared for by the inhabitants, and but indifferently rewarded. Bricklayers find ready employment. Stone-masons are not wanted. Joiners, who can put a great deal of rough work through their hands, are in constant demand at higher wages than other tradesmen, with the advantage of employment in winter. Tailors, shoemakers, and blacksmiths, have good wages in towns and villages. When they commence business on their own account in the country, the thinness of the agricultural population does not always furnish regular employment, and their poverty renders cash difficult to be had. In remote parts of the country, the traffic is carried on chiefly in barter, and many tradesmen in such situations almost never finger money.
The merchants and storekeepers are said to be the most wealthy and influential people in the province, and owe the position they have attained to the situation and character of the inhabitants. The settlers being thinly scattered over an immense and almost inaccessible territory, are necessarily unacquainted with traffic and the price of commodities. Their limited produce does not spur them into active exertion to dispose of it; and the state of the roads only admitting of transport for a part of the year, confines the time of sale to the winter months. During this season, the St Lawrence, which is the only channel of trade, being closed by ice, limits the number of merchants, and drives all out of the market but capitalists. The necessities of farmers do not enable them to hold produce from year to year, and they appear to be at the mercy of the merchants, who obtain thousands and tens of thousands of bushels of wheat, at the head of Lake Ontario, in exchange for shoes and other necessaries, without a fraction of cash being paid on either side. The inland storekeeper has still greater advantages over the farmer, and their profits are said to be excessive; 300 per cent on dry goods having been currently obtained at one time. The merchant and storekeeper is, however, distant from the markets of Britain, which regulates the price of Canadian wheat; and the navigation of the St Lawrence, and transport of goods, are so expensive, that profits may not be so great as is reported. Of their influence in the country, there is, however, no doubt; and that it arises from the pecuniary difficulties of landowners is universally admitted, who, in numerous instances, are irretrievably burdened with debt.
The first settlers, at the close of the war with the colonies, being at too great a distance to admit of much intercourse with each other, and having no outlet for their produce, soon sunk into listless inactivity. Many Germans and Dutch afterwards followed, who commonly settled near each other, and although quiet and industrious people, were altogether without enterprise. The greater portion of British emigrants, who first settled in the province, having little capital or education, and obtaining grants of forest in isolated situations, made small progress in a mode of farming so new to them. Having been nurtured in poverty, they had few wants and were not ambitious to improve their condition. From a people so situated, and composed of such materials, little could be expected. Individuals connected with government seem to have been more solicitous about their own than the people’s welfare, and little was done to call forth the resources of the country, or to rouse the slumbering energies of the inhabitants. The people, however, formed good subjects for active traders, who still gather a plentiful harvest. How long this state of things may last with traders will depend on competition. Their profits will fall with the opening of communication throughout the country, but capital employed in trade is likely to yield a good return, so long as the necessities of the agricultural population continue urgent.
Every inhabitant of Britain, contemplating the commencement of trade in Upper Canada, must be prepared to do so in a new mode, and, while he views high profits, he ought not to lose sight of transacting business on a limited scale, and in an expensive and disagreeable manner.
If the early inhabitants of Upper Canada sunk into indolence, some of the succeeding settlers were ill fitted to improve them, being blended with the scum and refuse of mankind. For many years the bankrupts in character and fortune, the poor, the idle, and the dissipated, departed from Britain. From the United States the knavish whites, and the runaway blacks found shelter, and after having cheated the Canadians again set off. Such a population receiving grants of forest, separated from each other by clergy reserves and large absentee estates, could not be expected to exert themselves amidst the difficulties of first settlement. People of enterprise, who reached the province, soon made a fortune and retired again.
I found some of the oldest settlers treading out their wheat crop with horses; living in miserable houses, and without a particle of sugar to sweeten their tea. This state of things arose from laziness, their possessions being large, their time unoccupied, and the juice of the maple might have been collected a few yards from their residence for the making of sugar.
At the time of my visit nine-tenths of the hotel-keepers and stage-drivers, and most of the active business people, had originally come from the United States. Every horse and ox of size or fatness could be traced to have come from the same territory, and the Canadians appear to me to be much indebted to the people of the United States for any activity and refinement that is to be met with in the province.
The first settlers, the people of business, and almost all travellers for pleasure or health, having come from the United States, their manners and customs have been impressed on the inhabitants of Upper Canada, and I do not think the large influx of British emigrants which has taken place of late years will efface them. I found much less refinement than in the lower province or in the United States, while the coarse manners of the people, and their habits of intemperance, were so prominent, that I heard more oaths and witnessed more drunk people the first few days I was in Canada, than I had met with during my previous wanderings in the States. I must do Upper Canada, however, the justice to say, that such characters appeared to be late importations from Britain and Ireland, and I was sorry to observe intoxication was by no means confined to the lowest class of emigrants.
Knowing that a great deal of moral worth, physical energy, and capital, have lately flowed into Canada, I have no doubt of time producing an important change in the state of the country and people. Indeed, hewing down the forest may be termed mortgaging labour to nature, whose generous returns accumulate like compound interest, and I look on Upper Canada as the germ of a numerously inhabited and wealthy state. Nothing but misgovernment can prevent such a consummation. A number of human beings have, however, been most improperly seduced into the province of late years, and at present I regard Upper Canada as a wretched, an immoral, and a misgoverned country.
I found many of the Canadians filled with inveterate prejudice against the inhabitants of the United States, whom they regarded as a band of cheating and lying democrats. Some excuse might have been found for this feeling, had it alone existed amongst the first settlers, who suffered during the late war; but the greatest degree of inveteracy was evinced by persons lately from Britain, whose conduct, in the intercourse of the world, had not been altogether blameless at home. The prosperity of the people of the United States seems to excite the envy of the Canadians. The same feeling does not exist in the State of New York towards the Canadians, who are there considered indolent and dissipated.
The constitution of Upper Canada is modelled after the British one, and there is a council appointed for life by his Britannic Majesty on certain conditions. The House of Assembly is chosen by voters, twenty-one years of age, British subjects, and possessed of 40s. freehold for a county election, and L.5 for a town qualification. The province possesses the power of taxing itself, and the impositions are as little felt as in any country in the world.
There is a general opinion in Britain that Canada is an excellent sporting country, and almost every young emigrant carries out a gun with him to shoot game. Few people however go in quest of it, the winters being so severe, and food so scarce, that game cannot exist in numbers. In every situation deer is difficult to be had, and I only met with one deer-shooter in my travels. The turkey is found only in the western district in limited numbers. Quails are more plentiful, and confined to the west. There are two kinds of pheasants throughout Canada, and not plentiful any where but in the west. The ruffed grouse or prairie hen has never been found in the country. Ducks are particularly numerous in autumn, and at certain seasons so are woodcocks. I have seen more game in half-an-hour in Scotland than I saw in all my wanderings in Canada, and there is no part where good shooting can be obtained but near the River Detroit.