The greater portion of British emigrants, arriving in Canada without

funds and the most exalted ideas of the value and productiveness of

land, purchase extensively on credit, and take up their abode in the

midst of the forest, with the proudest feelings of independence, and in

the confident hope of meeting their engagements, and becoming fine

gentlemen at the end of a few years. Every thing goes on well for a

short time. A log-house is erected with the assistance of old settlers,

and the clearing of forest is commenced. Credit is obtained at a

neighbouring store, and at length it is found necessary to work a day or

two in the week for hire to obtain food for the family. The few garden

stuffs and field crops, grown the first year, produce little for want of

a free circulation of air, and the imperfect manner in which they had

been sown. Should fever and ague now visit the emigrant, which is

frequently the case, the situation of himself and family, enfeebled by

disease, is truly wretched. Hope is, however, still bright, and he

struggles through the second year, with better crops and prospects than

the preceding one. The third year brings him good crops, which furnish a

supply of food for his establishment. During this period he has led a

life of toil and privation, being poorly fed and most uncomfortably

lodged. But the thoughts of owning so many fair acres has been a

never-failing source of joy and sweetener of life. On arrival of the

fourth harvest, he is reminded by the storekeeper to pay his account

with cash, or discharge part of it with his disposable produce, for

which he gets a very small price. He is also informed that the

purchase-money of the land has been accumulating with interest. The

phantom of prosperity, conjured up by his imagination, is now dispelled,

and, on calmly looking into his affairs, he finds himself poorer than

when he commenced operations. Disappointment preys on his spirits, and

the aid of whisky is perhaps sought to raise them. The hopelessness of

his situation renders him indolent and immoral. The land ultimately

reverts to the former proprietor, or a new purchaser is found.

To render the situation of an emigrant purchasing without capital more

evident, his case shall be illustrated by figures. Suppose 200 acres,

which is the common size of lots purchased, at 15s., and that the

emigrant has the means of maintaining himself without working for hire,

and continues in good health. The three first crops being required to

feed the family and obtain necessaries, he may be supposed to have

nearly thirty acres in crop the fourth year, if he has been very

industrious, but making allowance for stumps, fences, and roads, the

actual surface in crop will not exceed twenty acres. At this time, near

the end of the fifth year, when the fourth crop is reaped, the

purchase-money, and interest on it, will amount to about L.200. The

interest of this sum at the rate of the country is L.12, and a burden on

the land in crop of more than 10s. an acre, which it cannot meet. In

this estimate there is no return made for forest land, which is

generally as unproductive of grass as the surface of the sea. It is the

quantity of land purchased which operates so unfavourably on the

settler. If, in the case chosen for illustration, 50 had been purchased

instead of 200 acres, the result would have been very different. It is

seldom a person depending on his labour clears and cultivates more than

40 acres in course of his life. Therefore 50 acres is a sufficient

extent for such a character to buy, and under no circumstances ought he

to exceed 100 acres.

In the case where the purchase-money has been paid, the settler finds

himself but indifferently off, and generally indebted to storekeepers.

It must, however, be kept in view, that the land which has been cleared

is of considerable value, and at the end of the fifth or sixth year, an

industrious man may have his property worth much more money than he paid

for it.

There is never any hesitation in selling land to a man without capital,

as the rights of it are withheld. Every tree which is cut down enhances

the value of the property, which is unproductive while they are

standing. When a settler absconds after some years’ residence, a case by

no means rare, the proprietor derives great advantage from his

operations. An agent to a very extensive and wild property, informed me

he had sold twenty-five lots of land, consisting of about 6000 acres,

and received in all of purchase-money L.300.

If the sketch which I have given of settlers without capital is thought

to be overdrawn, from the fact of so many individuals having become

prosperous, let it be remembered that land was formerly granted on

paying fees of office, and without purchase. The system of selling land

on credit, and contracting debt at stores, hath proved ruinous of late

years to settlers without capital, who have no other means of

extricating themselves than selling their properties.

In almost every district people are found anxious to sell land, and

small farms may be bought on cheaper terms than lands belonging to the

crown, Canada Company, or large proprietors, more especially if cash is

paid. Indeed the necessities of many people are so urgent, and credit so

general, that an individual with cash in his pocket may drive a good

bargain at all times.

In a country of such diversity of soil, climate, and situation as Upper

Canada, the price of land in its territory must be extremely variable,

and will be found to run from 2s. 6d. to L.6 per acre. On a general

view, it is cheapest in the southern part of the western district, when

climate and soil are taken into consideration. Few settlers have located

themselves of late years in this part of the country, and trade can

scarcely be said to have travelled so far west in Canada.

Steam-navigation will, however, soon alter the present state of things

in this quarter.

When the extent of unoccupied surface, the extent of soil which is

occupied and remaining uncleared, and the tens of millions of acres

which have never been surveyed, are considered, the price of Canadian

land is extravagantly high, and far above its intrinsic value to actual

settlers. Land, like other things, is cheap or dear by comparison,

government land in the United States being sold at 6s. 3d. Halifax

currency, ready-money, ought to make the British government blush for

its policy in Canada. The price of land surrendered by the Six Nations,

and covered with forest, is fixed at 15s. per acre, which is more than

double the price of government land in the western United States,

superior in quality, situated in a finer climate, clothed with luxuriant

grass, and without an obstacle to immediate cultivation. The credit,

with accumulating interest on the price of land in Canada, is

practically an evil to the purchaser and the country. It is population

alone which imparts value to land, and a more effectual method could not

be devised for preventing a farther influx of inhabitants to Upper

Canada, and draining away many of those already settled, than government

adhering to the present upset prices of land.

The want of information which could be relied on regarding the United

States, and the praises lavished on Upper Canada by interested parties,

has drawn a number of emigrants to this district of late years. The

stream of emigration has, however, begun to take a different course, and

the price of land in Canada will tend to steady its direction. It is a

knowledge of the Western States, joined to their pecuniary difficulties,

which makes so many farmers anxious to sell their properties. The late

rise in the price of land operates as an inducement for enterprising

individuals to leave the province, and already some of them yearly take

their departure.

But the whole system of settling land in Canada has been bad for many

years. The retention of two-sevenths of the land for crown and clergy

reserves, retarded improvement of every description, and granting

immense tracts to favourites of government increased the evil. Bestowing

grants of 200 acres by favour of government, or private individuals,

prevented settlers choosing situations for themselves, and they were

often directed to unfavourable parts of the country, with a view perhaps

of enhancing the value of properties in the neighbourhood. A lot of 200

acres of forest land was too great an extent to grant unconditionally to

settlers, without capital, as experience proves they seldom clear 50

acres with aid of a family. From these causes the province may be said

to be overrun instead of having been settled,—the evils of a

forest-covered surface perpetuated, and the good effects which result

from concentration and unity of population effectually retarded.

It might now perhaps be difficult to remedy the state of things. A tax

ought to be levied on forest-land above a specified extent, to check

speculation in land, and induce large landholders to sell or improve

their possessions. Land ought to be sold cheap, in small lots, for ready

money, on condition of actual settlement and annually clearing a certain

extent. The Canada Company ought to be got rid of, or forced to dispose

of its land at fixed prices, and on stipulated conditions. Britain, in

legislating for Upper Canada, should do justice to the colonists and the

home subjects who may wish to emigrate. But in all likelihood she does

not now possess the power of carrying proper views into effect. The land

of the province being held at a monopoly price, operates as a barrier to

British emigration, and is a tax on the industrious who reach the

province, principally for the benefit of absentees.

Much as Upper Canada appears to me to have been misgoverned, her evils

are not likely soon to end. The properties of a great portion of the

industrious farmers are either mortgaged to storekeepers or capitalists,

and almost the whole of the influential inhabitants are interested in

land. The men filling official situations generally having large

estates, the managers of the Canada Company, and of other extensive

tracts of land, will oppose, from selfishness, the introduction of a

better system, and endeavour to perpetuate the present state of things.

I had little opportunity of judging if the inhabitants are fit to govern

themselves. They will, however, find it a most arduous task to get rid

of the present party in power, and a separation from the mother country

would, in all probability lessen their chance. Upper Canada is likely to

separate from Britain in seeking to retain monopolies.

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.

CHAPTER VI.

_United States—Climate—Diseases—Productions—Agriculture east of the

Alleghany Mountains—Agriculture west of the Mountains—Wages—Choice

of Residence—Progress of Wealth—Wages of the United States and the

Canadas—Profits of Capital._

The territory of the United States is situated between 24, 27, and 49°

north latitude, and 10° east, to 54° west longitude from Washington. Its

mean breadth from north to south is about 830 miles, and mean length

from east to west, 2500 miles. The area embraces 2,076,410 square miles,

or 1,328,902,400 acres, consisting of the following states and

territories: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,

Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,

Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, and

the Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, North-west and Western territories.

A territory differs from a state in not sending members to Congress; and

the President of the United States, with consent of the senate, appoints

the executive officers. Congress has power to make general laws in the

territories, which become states on containing a sufficient population.

Many people in Britain have difficulty in forming a conception of the

extent of the United States, and imagine each state something like the

size of the counties in their own country. But some of the divisions

into which the territory is separated are much larger than the whole

island of Great Britain. The United States must therefore be considered

a union of countries—each state, having its own government and laws, is

divided into counties, which are subdivided into townships.

Having travelled over only a small portion of the United States

territory, lying between 37° and 45° north latitude, embracing the

states of New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,

Indiana, Illinois, and the territory of Michigan, my remarks shall be

confined to this region, which might, with propriety, be divided into

the eastern, middle, and western states, if particular consideration was

intended to be given it.

The climate of that portion of the United States which I travelled over

participates of the general character of the continent, having the

extremes of heat and cold. The length of winter will of course vary with

the latitude, which, in the north, will be nearly six months, and in the

southern part, about six weeks.

This region is intersected by the Alleghany mountains, commencing in the

state of Maine, and passing through New Hampshire, Vermont,

Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,

dividing the country longitudinally. Some parts of this range is of

considerable height—Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, being 6634 feet

above the level of the sea. Monadnock, in the south-west corner of New

Hampshire, was the most elevated point which I was near, being 3254 feet

in height, and, with the exception of the falls of the Niagara, the only

truly sublime object I saw in America. The Alleghany range varies in

breadth at different places. Across the mountains in New Hampshire is

about 120 miles—in New York, about 150 miles, and in Pennsylvania, 130

miles. In such situations, climate will be affected by altitude as well

as latitude.

In the country east of the Alleghanies, north-east winds prevail for a

considerable part of the year, especially in the New England states,

where they are cold and raw to human feeling in the spring months. To

the west of the Alleghanies, the most prevalent wind is from the

south-west, and is mild in temperature. The winds blowing chiefly from

different directions, on opposite sides of the mountains, have been

ingeniously accounted for by Volney and other writers, and thought to be

connected with the trade winds, gulf stream, a cold current of air from

Davis’ Straits, and the configuration of the country. There seems to be

an opinion amongst the writers on this subject, that the climate of the

west is two or three degrees milder than the east, under the same

parallel of latitude—the winters of the latter being more severe, and

the summers of the former cooler. Judging from human feeling, this may

perhaps appear to be the case from the influence of the sea air, in the

country bounded by the Atlantic, but the thermometer observations which

have been published seem to make the temperature nearly alike at the

same altitude on both sides of the Alleghanies. The meteorology of the

United States has not, however, been properly investigated, and the most

important difference to the farmer, in the climate of the two countries,

is a deeper fall of snow in the east than in the west, and a steadier

winter.

To the east of the Alleghany mountains, where north-east winds prevail

in spring, consumption is a frequent complaint with the human race, and

more especially near the sea-coast, the air being particularly keen at

certain seasons. This disease is most frequent in the New England

states, where the cold and dampness of the north-east wind is strongly

felt. The inhabitants of New England have not that dark seered

complexion so common in other parts of the Union, many of them closely

resembling the people of Britain. It is probable the florid complexion

of the people, and their proneness to consumption, arise from the

dampness of the climate. To the west of the Alleghanies, the most common

complaint is bilious fever, in every variety of type, passing by the

names of “ague,” “chill and fever,” and many etceteras. Fever is

essentially a disease of the country, and seems connected with the

luxuriance and decay of natural vegetation. In every part of inhabited

America, fever, originating from this cause, must be frequent, and will

be more severe towards the south, as the heat and length of summer

increase. It is common on the banks of rivers and on the prairies, from

exhalations produced by the rays of the sun; and on first clearing wood

lands, the same effects are produced. With the progress of cultivation,

fever is likely to abate, and I have no doubt the fatality of the

disease in this region is at present heightened by the quantities of

animal food consumed by the inhabitants. On both sides of the

Alleghanies, inflammatory complaints, arising from sudden transitions of

temperature, are common. There is no reason, however, to imagine this

part of America more unhealthy than the Canadas, unless the prevalence

of north-east winds in the east, and the want of cultivation in the

west, are more unfavourable than a severe and steady winter.

The agricultural productions are the same as what have been noticed as

the growth of the Canadas. A portion of this country may, however, be

termed the region of Indian corn, which grows with uncommon luxuriance,

and is one of the most important plants in American farming. Mr John

Taylor of Virginia called it the “meal, meadow, and manure” of the farm,

and it well merits his emphatic description. It is used as human food in

a variety of forms; in maintaining and fattening animals during winter

it far surpasses every agricultural product, and affords a great

quantity of materials for manure. When soil and climate are adapted to

its growth, it furnishes more nourishment for man and beast on a given

space, and with less labour, than any other plant. It is the only means

of fattening animals during winter in remote parts of the country, and,

under present circumstances, no district which I visited in course of my

tour can become eminent in breeding and fattening live stock, which is

not congenial to the growth of Indian corn. It does not seem to be

cultivated with success beyond 43° north latitude, and an agricultural

emigrant, who values the necessaries of life, ought only to settle where

this plant can be successfully grown.

Indian corn seems to differ from most other agricultural plants, by

growing vigorously for a succession of years on certain soils without an

application of manure. There is much evidence to establish this fact in

the Western United States, and amongst the Indians in Upper Canada. I

saw it growing luxuriantly on soft prairie soil in Ohio, which farmers

assured me could not produce a wheat crop without an application of

manure. It is this peculiarity of Indian corn which has given rise to

some exaggerated accounts of the fertility of American soil, by

producing so many crops without manure. In some parts of the country,

Indian corn seems to be like an indigenous plant, and its growth for a

succession of years is perhaps no greater test of fertility of soil than

grass is in Britain.

The soil on the eastern side of the Alleghanies is generally of an

inferior description, with exception of the lands on the banks of

rivers. The cleared lands have been long cropped under the robbing

system, and are far from being productive. The whole of the land that is

worth occupying is owned by private individuals, although a great

portion of it is covered with forest; and I was frequently told, that in

all situations near a village, or which had ready access to

water-carriage, forest land was more valuable than what had been

cleared, fuel having became so dear of late years. Much of the land

covered with wood is not worth cultivating, and should the forest be

removed for fuel, it is likely to remain in pasturage or be suffered to

produce trees again. The price of farms varies from L.5 to L.30 sterling

per acre, according to quality of soil, buildings, and situation. Labour

can at all times be had, and every description of produce finds a ready

market. Manures are chiefly employed in growing vegetables, and can be

bought from the stablers of New York at 7d. sterling a cart-load,

similar in shape and size to the carts used in Scotland. Market

gardening is the most profitable department of farming, and the growing

of grass ranks next.

Notwithstanding the good markets, command of labour, and low price of

manure, the cultivation of grain in this part of the country is attended

with little profit, which circumstance, joined to a grass crop being

more lucrative, illustrates the parts nature and man perform in the

production of farm produce which has been so often alluded to. And a

Briton who has been accustomed to pay a high rent will be very apt to

overlook, on first reaching America, many circumstances affecting the

profits of farming.

Land which has been impoverished by a long succession of crops, under

the robbing system, will not yield much grain without a plentiful supply

of manure, which the rate of labour may frequently prevent being applied

without incurring loss. Suppose an acre of wheat to yield with a

moderate application of manure twenty-four bushels of wheat per acre,

which is worth $1 per bushel. The cost of producing the crop, including

twice ploughing, harrowing, seed, sowing, harvesting, and carrying home,

thrashing, dressing, and marketing, will amount to $14, leaving only

$10, or L.2, 2s. 6d., to meet the interest of capital employed in the

purchase and cultivation of the land, taxes, professional profit, and

the purchase and application of manure. If the purchase money of the

land and capital invested in cultivation amount to $60 per acre, the

interest may be taken at $4, leaving only $6, or L.1, 5s. 6d. sterling,

for taxes and manure. The cost of manure is scarcely worth estimating,

but the expense of its carriage and application are so high as often to

forbid its use. On the assumed data there will only remain about 18s.

sterling per acre to meet the carriage and spreading of manure. The

expense of labour is strikingly exhibited in contrast with the value of

the crop. The wages of a labourer may be stated at seventy-five cents

per day, and the value of an acre of wheat would employ a man about

thirty-two days. In Britain a wheat crop of similar productiveness, at

ordinary prices and rates of labour, would employ a man between eighty

and ninety days. The same mode of management is obviously not suited to

both countries.

In grass husbandry human labour is but little employed, nature being the

chief agent of production, and hence it is remunerating. The difficulty

of transporting certain kinds of grass produce from a distance, such as

hay and fresh dairy produce, keeps up the price of these commodities,

but the small quantity of labour bestowed on their production is the

chief cause of their profitableness.

A man with capital may purchase a farm to the east of the Alleghany

range, and occupy it with a prospect of having a good return for the

capital invested, if he possess prudence and industry. He must not,

however, lavish capital on fanciful improvements, or employ much labour

on finical operations. Wages are so high that he will require to

calculate the value of every day’s labour, and render the closest

personal superintendence, and perhaps also assistance. Unless this is

done farming will be unprofitable, as a great many of the workmen are

idle and unsteady. Farming cannot, however, be pursued on a large scale

with a prospect of success, from the difficulty of superintending the

operations and forming a proper division of labour with unskilful and

untractable workmen. There is, however, an excellent field for prudent

skill and industry near all towns. In short, science seems scarcely to

have been thought of in American farming, and a cautious application of

it in draining and other improvements, in particular situations, would

be remunerating.

Land may be rented in many parts of the country on fair terms, more

especially near towns. In such situations many British emigrants

successfully pursue market gardening and dairy husbandry. Native

Americans prefer occupying land of their own to paying rent for the use

of a farm belonging to others.

The labouring emigrant does not readily find agricultural employment on

the east coast, from the country being thickly settled, and the constant

influx of emigrants without funds to support them. He should, therefore,

lose no time in pushing back into the country, where wages are higher

compared with the price of the necessaries of life and land, and where

information necessary to a settler on cheap land, can alone be acquired.

The soil on the western side of the Alleghanies is generally much

superior to the eastern, although it is to be found of all descriptions

and degrees of fertility. It has not been very long cropped, and the

natural composition of a great portion of it will, under any

circumstances, render it productive of wheat and Indian corn. Almost all

the land in the eastern part of this district is owned by private

individuals, but much of it remains uncleared of forest. Towards the

west the greater part of the land is held by the United States

government, and costs $1¼ per acre. In every part of the country forest

or improved land may be purchased, and the price is governed by local

situation and other circumstances. Labour can generally be had, except

in the extreme west. Farm produce is in constant demand, and prices are

regulated by the markets of the towns on the east coast and New Orleans,

to all of which there is access by rivers, canals, or railroads. Prices

may, therefore, at all times be considered lower than the markets on the

east by the expense of transport. Manures are very seldom used except in

the neighbourhood of large towns, where the demand for vegetables and

shortness of carriage render it worthy of the farmer’s attention.

The money wages of labour may be stated to be nearly the same from the

east to the extreme west, but any difference that exists is towards a

rise in the west. In the same direction a decline in the price of

produce takes place. Therefore, as the distance from the markets on the

coast increases, the farmer pays a greater share of produce to the

labourer, and must be remunerated either by the low price of land or its

natural fertility. Labourers are of a more unsatisfactory description

than in the east, land being so cheap that every prudent man is enabled

to purchase a farm for himself in the course of a year or two, and it is

only the imprudent who continue labourers. The character of the workmen

renders labour dearer than is at first apparent.

The country to the west of the Alleghanies is of such extent, and

gradually increasing in distance from the seaport towns which regulate

the price of the land produce, that farms of equal quality of soil vary

from 5s. 4d. to L.12 sterling per acre.

A person possessed of capital may purchase a farm in many situations

with advantage. But the exercise of prudence and industry in choice of

situation and management is particularly called for. The price of

produce is so low compared with labour, that only a small portion of

capital and labour can be profitably applied to the cultivation of the

soil. In almost every instance where cultivation is followed personal

assistance will be necessary to obtain profit. It has already been

remarked, that money wages in the west are nearly the same as in the

east, and as hired men are generally boarded, the western employer has

some advantage from the cheapness of provisions. Supposing an acre of

ground without an application of manure yields twenty bushels of wheat,

which sells at 50 cents per bushel, and a labourer gets $120 a-year with

board, the value of an acre of wheat will employ a man twenty-six days

without including board. To the east of the Alleghanies the value of an

acre of wheat was stated to pay the wages of a hired man about

thirty-two days, including board. In the one case, however, manure is

supposed to have been applied, and in the other it had not. But in many

parts of the west, wheat generally sells considerably lower than 50

cents a-bushel, and in such situations a hired labourer either obtains a

greater share of the produce, or the fertility of the soil is greater.

In Sangamon county, in the state of Illinois, the soil of which is very

fertile, the price of wheat at Springfield was 37½ cents when I was

there. Supposing wheat to yield twenty-five bushels per acre, its value

would employ a labourer about twenty-five days. In every situation the

hiring of agricultural labour ought to be determined by calculation. If

the former obtains a fair profit from the outlay of capital he need not

repine at the wages of the labourer, however high they may be.

An emigrant will not always find agricultural employment to the west of

the Alleghanies from the low price of farm produce; but there is always

a demand for labour in towns and villages, at high wages, and he need

not remain idle if he is disposed to work. An industrious and sober man

must rapidly accumulate wealth by working for hire, and many perhaps err

by purchasing land instead of continuing to work under the direction of

others. On leaving New York, a gardener, who was working at Haddington

when I left Scotland, gave me ten pounds sterling, which he had saved

since his arrival in America, to enable his wife and family to reach

him. A young man, whom I had often employed at spade-work on Mungoswells

farm, at 1s. 6d. a-day without board, was earning, by sawing stones at

Cincinnati, 4s. 3d. a-day with board.

A person cannot purchase and farm land to the east of the Alleghanies

without possessing a considerable portion of capital; and to the west of

the mountains land is not likely to be cultivated with profit without

personal labour. The luxuries of life being prepared in the east, to

meet an extensive demand, are cheaper than in the west by the expense of

transport from one market to the other. It is the reverse with the

necessaries of life; and the agricultural emigrant ought to be guided in

his choice of residence on either side of the Alleghanies by his habits,

finances, and wants.

All wealth, according to the views I have endeavoured to establish,

being the result of nature and labour, the riches of a community must be

regulated by the soil and climate of the country, and the skill and

industry of the inhabitants. The soil and climate of two countries being

equal, the most skilful and industrious people will be the

wealthiest—with equal skill and industry the inhabitants of the country

most favoured by nature will become the richest. Under a parity of

circumstances, with regard to nature and inhabitants, the oldest nation

will be the wealthiest, and the progress of new countries in wealth will

depend on the facilities of cultivation—a forest-covered surface

yielding wealth slower than one clothed with grass. The ratio of extent

of territory to the inhabitants of new countries also affects the

progress of wealth. With a limited surface capital will rapidly

increase, from the cheapness and division of labour that will

necessarily ensue, and wealth will be unequally distributed amongst the

inhabitants. With an extensive surface capital will accumulate slowly,

and all the inhabitants will enjoy an ample share of the necessaries of

life, without possessing much tangible capital.

The first settlers in this portion of the United States had to struggle

with severe privations. Besides being engaged in warfare with the

natives, they settled in insulated situations in the midst of a densely

wooded surface, without experience as to the mode of rendering it

fruitful, or possessing facilities of communication. They were unable to

subsist by their labour, and many perished for want of food. But on

every portion of cleared surface nature continued productive, and her

exertions being aided by new skill and industry, wealth appeared in the

progress of time. There being no rent, and scarcely a burden of any kind

to pay, the inhabitants reaped the combined fruits of their own and

nature’s labour without division. Individuals had as much land as they

chose to cultivate; and having every inducement to render it productive,

they rewarded labour with liberal wages. The abundance of land induced

labourers to turn landholders, and reward others with high wages, who

likewise became landholders. Thus there was a constant progression in

society, by the prudent and industrious labourers rising into wealth,

and receding from the first point of settlement on becoming landholders.

These movements continue up to the present time with the existing

cause—abundance and cheapness of land, to which many of the

peculiarities of the country and its inhabitants may be traced.

Good land being sold by the United States government at $1¼ per acre,

people will not permanently hire themselves for a less reward than can

be obtained by cultivating on their own account. When competition

depresses wages, operatives commence farming, and wages rise. Thus the

wages of labour are regulated by the profits of farming, and will

continue to be so until all the good land is occupied.

The profits of farming do not regulate the wages of labour in the

Canadas, because land is there held by monopolists, or sold at a

monopoly price. And the late rise in the price of land in Upper Canada

not only renders the ultimate prospect of labourers becoming landholders

more distant, but also lowers the wages of operatives through

competition, by tending to confine them to their professions. But

supposing land to be equally abundant and cheap in the Canadas and

United States, and the wages of labour to be regulated in both countries

by the profits of farming, wages would necessarily be higher in the

United States, from possessing superiority of climate. Nature performs

more towards the manufacture of agricultural produce in the United

States than in the Canadas, and the reward of industry, which is divided

between the landholder and labourer, is consequently greater.

This view of the wages of labour in the different parts of North America

which I visited, is supported by facts, wages being generally

considerably higher in the United States than in the Canadas. During the

summer of 1833 the carpenters of New York struck work when getting 5s.

sterling per day, and by doing so obtained 6s. per day. The future

prospects of operatives appear to be good, a vast portion of the best

land of the country being still unoccupied, a subject which will be

afterwards noticed.

The profits of capital employed in farming do not seem to affect the

profits of capital invested in other fields of production. Indeed, the

high price of labour, and the difficulty of combining systematically and

giving proper effect to agricultural labour in most parts of the United

States, render the employment of much capital in farming unprofitable.

The high price of labour affects the investment of capital in other

channels, and it will be found difficult to manage a large fortune

safely and profitably. On this account wealth is seldom accumulated in

large masses, while almost all the inhabitants have it in their power to

acquire a competency. The customs of the people are favourable to this

degree of wealth—a father’s property being generally equally divided at

death amongst his children. Capital, however, in many cases, will enter

into competition with labour, and its profits in the United States,

where the fields of production are so extensive, and its inhabitants so

enterprising, cannot be low for many generations to come.

CHAPTER VII.

_Wealth and refinement of different parts—Writers on American

Manners—Plainness—Civility—New England Character—Unfair

dealing—Emigrant’s Situation and Character—Government—United States

and Upper Canada._

The comparative wealth and refinement of the eastern parts of the United

States, arises from the annual savings of the combined exertions of

nature and industry having had time to accumulate and affect the

inhabitants; and the gradual falling off in these attributes, which

takes place towards the west, is owing to most of the settlers having

originally been operatives in the east, and not having had time to

accumulate wealth, or adopt refinements.

Although I did not often witness the domestic manners of the Americans,

my opportunities of meeting the inhabitants of the United States in

public were frequent, and the impressions imbibed during my intercourse

with them were different from what the accounts of others led me to

expect. Many travellers who have written on the subject were perhaps ill

qualified to form a just estimate of American manners and character,

from the sphere of society in which they themselves had previously

moved. No scion nor associate of British aristocracy, who has not been

brought into familiar intercourse with the middling and lower orders of

his own countrymen, is likely to do justice to the Americans, and the

tenor of many of the remarks which have been given to the world on the

subject is evidence of the writers never having before associated with

the class of people to whom they allude. The inhabitants of Britain, in

private and public life, being divided into grades, some individuals are

altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs of the classes

below them. And as Englishmen of high pretensions and refinement, on

reaching America, mingle on terms of equality at public tables and in

conveyances with the commonest operatives, they feel disgusted with the

manners of the people around them, without considering they belong to a

different class from their own associates at home. In Britain, a person

of rank is generally regarded with respect by the classes below him. In

the United States, rank seldom meets with or expects deference from the

people, and the humblest citizen familiarly enters into conversation

with every individual who addresses him. This self-possession of the

Americans is often mistaken for forwardness, and their unembarrassed

conversation for insolence. In Britain, the different classes of

population generally remain distinct, and many of their excesses are hid

from common gaze. In most parts of the United States, the bar-rooms of

hotels form the only scenes of tippling, and, being at all times open to

the public, a traveller is apt to consider the people more dissipated

than they really are. Were a gentlemanly foreigner to meet the lowest

class of the people of England at table, and associate with them in

their haunts of vice, his adventures would form a high-coloured picture

of British manners and society.

The strictures of British writers on the manners of the people of the

United States seem to have created a strong prejudice in the minds of

emigrants of every description. In the month of May last, a person who

had long followed the trade of a country wright in his native village,

situated in East Lothian, introduced himself, and asked my opinion

regarding the best place of settlement for himself and family in

America. He had made up his mind to emigrate, and left me in the

determination of residing in the United States. I have just learned,

however, that he keeps a spirit store in the village of Niagara, Upper

Canada, and assigned as a reason for leaving the States, that he could

not endure the manners of the people. The conduct of this Scottish clown

is a good satire on the remarks of such refined travellers as Trollope,

Hamilton, &c.

On first reaching the United States, the plainness of the people’s

manners appeared remarkable. In all classes there was a total absence of

grimace and corporeal token of respect, with corresponding sounds of

address, an expression of obligation or thankfulness seldom being heard.

In courteousness the inhabitants appear as far behind the British as the

French exceed them. But, on the other hand, vulgarity, rudeness, or

insolence, is almost never met with in the humblest walks of life.

Mechanics and storekeepers ride in the same vehicle, and sit down at the

same table, with the most polished members of society; all seem desirous

of behaving well to each other, a rude or indelicate remark never being

made, nor a disgusting practice indulged in. On one occasion only I met

with revolting behaviour, at the table of the Washington hotel, during

my first residence at New York. On my second visit, I found the

individual still an inmate of the house, in which he had lodged for

fourteen years. He was an eccentric character, and originally from

England.

A general propriety of deportment and softness of manner pervades the

lower classes, and that coarseness, which is sometimes met with in

Britain, does not appear to exist in the United States; but certain

circles of society in Britain seem to have a higher polish than what is

to be met with in America, and perhaps the general standard of manners

of both countries is not widely different. The lower orders of the

United States are, however, beyond all question, greatly superior in

refinement and intelligence to the lower orders of Britain.

The many classes into which society is divided in Britain, and the

privileges assigned them by the laws and customs of the country, are so

distinct, that some individuals, who are jealous of their dignity,

endeavour to repulse all beneath them. On the other hand, some people

seek distinction by rudeness towards others. And amidst such jarring

elements the poor sometimes become servile and debased, the rich

contemptuous and overbearing. In America, every individual seems

possessed of self-respect, and in the intercourse of life, arrogance is

seldom assumed, and never submitted to. Worth is duly appreciated, and

hollow pretension exposed.

The civility of all classes in the United States is so universal, that

during my intercourse with the inhabitants, I scarcely experienced an

indication of insolence, and never observed that democratic sauciness

which I was taught to expect amongst the lower orders. Every individual

feels that he is independent, and never alludes to the subject. The case

is, however, different in Canada, where some British emigrants seldom

let an opportunity escape of telling a well-dressed person, that “this

is a free country, and that he does not care a * * * * for any man.” The

emancipated bondsman alone boasts of being free from fetters. A

foreigner, however, who arrogates to himself superiority in the States,

will be despised by the meanest of the people, and his money will

neither purchase their attention nor services. The United States which I

visited, seem to me an excellent place for teaching an overweening

person a due estimate of himself and his fellow-mortals. Twelve months’

intercourse with the people would greatly improve the fagged and fagging

youthful aristocracy of Britain. Their haughtiness of demeanour, and

acerbity and impatience of temper would be changed, and they would

return home with a just sense of the place they occupy in the world, and

qualified to discharge the important duties they owe society. Every

Briton who has mingled with the people for any length of time, and

practised self-examination, will testify to the truth of my remarks.

Whatever may be the state of manners and customs in the United States,

the foppish need not desert Britain in search of happiness in the New

World, for there such persons are lightly esteemed. The emigrant ought

not to vex himself about having heard that people place their feet on

tables, or on the mantel-piece, as nobody will interfere with the

position of his on the floor, nor whether they chew tobacco or cheese,

as he will be allowed to eat what he pleases. The necessaries of life

are generally obtained without much difficulty, and whoever regards

mankind as created by the same Being, of the same materials, for the

same end, and entitled to the same privileges, need not despair of

happiness if he leads a life of virtue and industry.

By far the greater portion of the people I came in contact with were

natives of the New England States, who seem to have spread over a

considerable portion of the States of New York and Illinois, and the

territory of Michigan. The character of this people has often been

drawn. They have many strong characteristics, and in nine cases out of

ten may be recognised in walking into a public room, having an air of

confidence and self-esteem above all other people. They form the true

_Yankees_, and are obnoxious over the continent of North America, like

the Yorkshiremen in England, and Aberdeenshiremen in Scotland, for their

unremitting keenness and industry in business, which may have been

engendered by the poverty of the soil, and badness of the climate of New

England. They are descended from the first settlers who fled from

religious persecution in England, and seem to inherit what may be

supposed to have been the prominent dispositions of their forefathers.

They faithfully observe all the external forms of decency, and their

taciturn, phlegmatic, and calculating disposition, may render them

objects of dislike. But their intelligence, self-esteem, enterprise, and

perseverance fit them for a young country, and the growing prosperity of

the northern section of the United States’ territory is in a

considerable degree indebted to them.

The Yankees have been generally charged with unfair dealing, and

although I had no opportunity of judging of this matter personally, many

circumstances induce me to think the charge is to a certain extent well

founded. To emigrants the morals of a people are of more consequence

than their manners, between which, however, there is no connexion. The

Irish are a more polite people than the Scotch, but greatly inferior in

morality; and the Yankees, with all the outward forms of virtue, are

considered the most dishonest race in the Union. Yankee knavery is said

to consist in overreaching every one with whom they have dealings, if

the character of their customer admits of their doing so with impunity.

The charge of dishonesty is not applicable to the people of New England

generally, and much of the prejudice against them arises from their

industry and success in business. In course of conversation I never

heard imposition of any kind alluded to in terms of approbation, while

honesty of character, and more especially in public men, was invariably

praised. Virtue will ever be respected in civilized society.

In new and extensive territories the restraints of dishonesty seem

weaker, and the temptations to overreach stronger than in densely

peopled old countries. In new countries, local attachments, family

character, and many other feelings which influence conduct, are unfelt.

Individuals seldom remain long in one place, and traffic with others

similarly situated. The laws are imperfectly put in force, and

successful fraud is sometimes considered clear gain, as the parties may

never hold farther intercourse, and in the event of exposure, a change

of residence obviates disgrace. Most of the people are poor, and grasp

at wealth. There are few prejudices of birth or station in society, and

no barrier in the field of enterprise or ambition to the lowest

individual. The reverse of all this takes place in old countries, where

other policy than honesty commonly entails ruin in worldly matters. In

both situations the degree of moral principle may be the same. But in

Britain all is not virtue which appears on the surface of society, and

the fear of punishment, resulting from public opinion and effective

laws, has perhaps more influence than the dictates of conscience in

checking knavery. The intercourse of the people of Britain and certain

parts of America, seems to arise more from the different circumstances

in which they are placed than from religious and moral feeling.

If the view which I have taken of the commercial intercourse of new

countries is correct, the emigrant will soon discover that the New

Englanders are not the only sharpers in America. A gentleman settled in

the township of Hinchinbrooke, Lower Canada, in writing to his friends

in East Lothian, states, “although the inhabitants here are not Yankees,

yet all act on the Yankee system.” And I shall renounce all pretensions

to discernment if many of the inhabitants of Upper Canada are not the

most accomplished Yankees on the other side of the Atlantic. The change

which sometimes takes place in the habits and morals of people on

reaching America is not confined to the modes of acquiring property. In

some parts of Upper Canada the Sabbath was chiefly spent in shooting,

and many Scotsmen did so who lived in the vicinity of a church. Every

new settler is liable to be beset by all the knaves and cheats of the

district on his first arrival. If he defeat their first attempt they

seldom make a second, and he may afterwards transact business without

much risk of being imposed on. Too much caution cannot, however, be

exercised at first settlement, more especially towards old countrymen,

who can make advances under more favourable circumstances than a native

American, and are equally prone to take advantage.

The greedy and dishonest intercourse which takes place in many parts of

North America must be repugnant to honourable feeling, and emigrants

ought to guard against being led into the system. But however unpleasant

such a state of society may be, the people of Britain need not shun the

New World on such grounds. Your experience in life, my dear brother, has

not been extensive, but from your knowledge of, and intercourse with,

the people of East Lothian, you must be aware that amongst the peers of

the realm, their law agents and factors, the tenantry and dealers in

horses, cattle, and corn, there are individuals who lay aside morality

when transacting business, and are alone guided by the letter of the

laws. Their conversation is as little to be depended on as the passing

wind, and their writings are sometimes worded with intent to deceive. In

short, there are bad characters in every part of the world, and whoever

is capable of transacting business with the _Yankees_ of Britain need

not be afraid to encounter those in America. I admit the degree of

mercantile honour and morality may be higher in Britain than in America,

and imposition less frequent, but contend there are cheats in both

countries, and the same caution which is necessary to meet the plans of

one knave in Britain will defeat the tricks of twenty in America.

The situation of an emigrant on reaching America must be very different

from what it was at home. In the midst of a people whose manners and

customs are in some measure new to him, he is an isolated being, without

any one in whom he can confide for advice and assistance. If he cannot

think for himself, and rely on his own resources in transacting

business, he will be a helpless mortal, and in all probability become

the prey of designing persons. It is the dependence of the inhabitants

on each other in old countries which unfits so many of them to play

their part in the newly settled portions of the United States, where

each individual acts independently, and trusts to himself alone.

Americans are, therefore, the most acute people in the world in the

ordinary intercourse of life, and few foreigners need take up their

abode in the country in hope of outstripping them. The most essential

requisites in an emigrant are energy of mind, steadiness of purpose, and

persevering industry. Without possessing these qualifications, no one

need expect to mingle successfully in the bustle of life; although it is

possible to exist as a farmer, without being so highly gifted. It is a

wrong estimate of themselves which so often gives rise to disappointment

and failure on the part of British emigrants. There is nothing in the

soil or climate of America which can impart wisdom to the fool, energy

to the imbecile, activity to the slothful, or determination to the

irresolute. Examination of character should therefore form part of every

emigrant’s preparation, as his fate will perhaps altogether depend on

it. It is folly for the idle and imaginative beings who float in British

society to seek an Elysium in the United States, from whence they will

again be speedily wafted to their native country. It is the industrious,

prudent, and frugal people alone that can calculate on success.

It has already been mentioned that the United States consist of

twenty-four separate states, with a general government for defence,

commerce, and taxation. Each state has a distinct republican government,

for the regulation of its own affairs. The governments of the different

states resemble each other, although not precisely alike, and consist of

_Legislative_, _Executive_, and _Judiciary_. The mode of electing and

the powers of each branch vary in some states, but in all of them the

influence of the people is supreme.

With governments, as with almost every thing else, there is a difference

of opinion, and many individuals may dislike the republican form and

democratic tone which prevail in the states. In such a state of things

it is, however, certain, that the interests of the many never can be

sacrificed for the advantage of the few, and that the laws, taxation,

and expenditure of the country must accord with the wishes of the

people. Whatever creed emigrants may have adopted, they can live

unmolested, without joining in the turmoil of American politics. The

field of industry is open to their exertions, and its fruits may be

enjoyed in peace and security.

Travellers cannot deny the unspeakable advantages that have accrued to

the industry of the United States from the nature of their governments,

and many of them, as if stung by envy, dilate on the instability of the

Union, and by the consequent convulsion see a termination of the

happiness and prosperity of the people. It is impossible to say what

events may be in the womb of futurity; but there is no rational ground

for supposing the dissolution of the Union by war is at hand. Almost all

the domestic wars which have taken place amongst civilized men, have

either resulted from ambitious chiefs leading deluded and enslaved

followers against each other, or from resistance to tyranny. In the

region of the United States, to which my remarks are applicable, tyranny

in any shape can scarcely be said to exist; and should ambitious men

take the field, where are they to obtain followers? But supposing war to

happen, and that the democrats of America copiously shed each other’s

blood, are the aristocrats and serviles of Europe exempt from such

barbarism? The emigrant may calculate on peace from the love the people

have for their government, the absence of aristocracy and abject

poverty, and unfettered industry. Should he, however, shun the United

States, from apprehension of intestine war, in what part of the world

will he seek a retreat?

I alluded to the contrast between the United States and Upper Canada, as

witnessed near the frontier on each side of the river Niagara. After

having had an opportunity of seeing extensively both countries, I

consider my first opinions, as expressed at pages 95–96, to be

substantially correct, although other causes may have operated in

producing the difference than the governments of the countries.

It may be perfectly true “the people, soil, and climate, were originally

alike” on both sides of the Niagara, but the United States and Upper

Canada cannot with propriety be contrasted by those spots alone. The

inhabitants of the United States, generally speaking, may be said to

have been born in the country, and consequently possessed of the

peculiar feelings and qualities of a people suited to a young country.

On the other hand, most of the inhabitants of Upper Canada are either

the descendants of the Royalists, slothful and unenterprising from the

neglect with which they have been treated, or emigrants from Britain,

where many of them had acquired notions and habits ill adapted for

settling a wood covered surface. Upper Canada having also become a place

of refuge for the outcasts of other countries, and many of the settlers

being composed of the poorest of the Irish and Scotch Highlanders, two

of the most indolent and unambitious portions of civilized society,

there can be no question of the people of the United States being more

industrious and energetic than the inhabitants of Upper Canada. The

United States sooner became peopled than Upper Canada, and may,

consequently, be said to be an older country. The climate of the States

is generally also better than Upper Canada. If the view which I have

taken of the source of riches be correct, the United States, being an

older country, with a better climate, and a more industrious population

than Upper Canada, should also be wealthier. It will accordingly be

found that in all external appearances, such as villages, houses in the

country, hotels, internal intercourse and trade, and the dress of the

people, Upper Canada is about a century behind the United States.

The governments of the several States and Upper Canada are alike in

form, consisting of a governor and two deliberative assemblies. In the

States persons invested with power are chosen by the people. In Upper

Canada the governor, the members of the highest assembly, and of the

judiciary, are appointed by the King of Great Britain. The States may be

said to have passed the youth of government and attained vigorous

manhood. The government of Upper Canada is still in the helplessness of

infancy, and cannot, in the nature of things, continue permanent in its

present state. Many people give a preference to Upper Canada because it

is under the British government; but when emigrants reflect on the

nature of the two governments, let them ask themselves what the British

government has done for them at home? What they expect from it in

America? And how long Upper Canada is likely to remain subject to

Britain?

Each of the United States forms an integral part of a large confederacy,

and the advantages which the population derive from an extensive and

unfettered commercial intercourse are great. Upper Canada is insulated.

The river St Lawrence forms its only channel of trade, and already

disputes have arisen with the Lower province about the imposts collected

on foreign commodities. In the event of the Union of the States being

dissolved, the interests and feelings of the population would, in all

probability, lead to the formation of smaller unions, without disturbing

the governments of the separate states. When Upper Canada breaks, or is

thrown off from Britain, what will be her situation? While the French

interest remains strong in Lower Canada a union of the two provinces

will not take place, and all intercourse with foreign nations would be

at an end. The inhabitants of the Upper province, in such a state of

things, would be reduced to the necessity of subduing the Lower

Canadians by force of arms, or begging of the United States to be

admitted into the Union.

In the United States the expenses of the federal government are

impartially levied throughout the Union, and the burdens of the

government of each State are paid by its own inhabitants. In every State

cheap justice and free education are provided for the people; and

taxation is lighter, compared with the advantages enjoyed, than amongst

any other independent people in the world. In Upper Canada a part of the

expenses of the country is paid by the people of Great Britain and

Ireland, who also bear the expense of defending the province. Free

education is not provided for the inhabitants. Taxation is at present

almost unfelt, which is owing to the British government. The people of

Britain are not, however, likely to be long burdened with the expenses

of the province, and when the inhabitants meet the expense of governing

themselves, taxation in Upper Canada will be augmented.

The manners and customs of the people, as witnessed in public, are the

same in both countries. In all things there is much less refinement in

Upper Canada, and the manners of the people are coarse contrasted with

those in the States. Morals seem to correspond with the manners. It was,

however, the unfortunate emigrants from Britain and Ireland who imparted

such a character to the population. Many individuals seemed to me

conscious of self-debasement, and to have left home for the purpose of

indulging their vicious propensities without encountering the scorn and

censure of their friends and relations. Should it be thought that I have

judged harshly of some of my countrymen, let it be remembered I speak

only of what was observed in public, and that the bar-rooms of Upper

Canada exhibited the worst part of British society without a redeeming

feature. The domestic manners and morals of the people of either country

did not come properly within the scope of my observation. I may,

however, remark, that I was favourably impressed with the manners of the

royalist inhabitants of Canada, and it would be ungrateful on my part

not to acknowledge the uniform civility and kindness which I experienced

in private from every class of settlers.

In the United States the machinery of government is controlled by the

people, who do every thing for the welfare of the country, and political

power is invested in worth and talent alone. In Upper Canada government

is swayed by an aristocracy, who have never lost sight of their own

interest in legislating for the country. A higher and more uniform tone

of independence and self-respect pervades the inhabitants in the United

States than in Canada. The emigrant who delights in lording over his

fellow-mortals, and measures his importance and wealth by the servility

and wretchedness of others around him, ought to shun the States. The

emigrant who seeks a fair and favourable field for his industry, and

aspires to share, in common with his brethren, the just rank and

privileges of man, ought to shun Upper Canada.

The United States are rapidly progressing, and their future prosperity

seems illimitable. I ascertained there were eighteen large steam-boats

belonging to the States on lake Erie in 1833, and a gentleman, who was

there in 1834, assured me they had increased to twenty-four. By the

official report of the Postmaster-General to the President of the United

States, the annual transportation of the mail was, in 1829, 13,700,000

miles, and in 1832, 23,625,021 miles. There is not one-tenth of the

surface yet devoted to the production of human food. The coal-fields of

the west are perhaps inexhaustible, the water communication is almost

without limits, and the extent of canals and railroads already exceed

that of any other nation. The country is great even in its infancy. If

its territory, consisting of 1,328,902,400 acres, were peopled to the

same degree as England, containing a great deal of land which cannot be

cultivated, the inhabitants would amount to 537,872,383, while the

present population is about 14,000,000. A vast extent of the best soil,

situated in the finest climate, is still unoccupied, and if the views

regarding the assistance nature affords the farmer, and his reward

affecting wages of other labour, which I have already laid down, be

correct, industry cannot fail of meeting with a rich reward for many

centuries yet to come.

The internal and external state of the country is free from molestation,

and the principles of education and good government are so firmly

established, and applicable to every condition that may arise, that

nothing is likely to check the prosperity of the United States but

fancied opposition of interests resulting from extent of territory. A

state of things will soon appear, however, to hold the Union together in

spite of opposing interests. Between 37 and 45 degrees of north

latitude, and beyond 5 degrees of west longitude from Washington, lies

the most favoured region of North America. By inspecting a map it will

be seen this district is intersected in all directions by navigable

rivers and other channels of commerce. The great outlet of the region is

by the Mississippi to New Orleans. The river Ohio communicates with

Philadelphia and Baltimore by canals and railroads, and by canals and

lake Erie with New York. The rivers Wabash, Illinois, Mississippi, and

Missouri, will also, in progress of time, communicate with New York by

the Erie canal or other means. For reasons which will be afterwards

stated, population must soon accumulate in this district, which

possesses almost every thing within itself which can add to the wealth

and greatness of a country. The chief power of the States will centre

here, and the interests of the inhabitants being interwoven with the

mentioned seaports, they will insist on an observance of the Union,

whatever may be the views of the northern and southern states.

The inhabitants of the States speak the same language as the English,

which may be called the language of commerce. They are made acquainted

with the improvements and discoveries of Britain a few months after they

become known, and from the freedom of institutions, and energy of the

people, greater effect can sometimes be given to them. On a general view

of all the circumstances affecting the character and situation of the

country and the people, it is scarcely possible to imagine a region

promising such unchecked prosperity and future greatness.

Upper Canada has made unparalleled advancement of late years, which is

not likely to continue at the present rate, as the causes of prosperity

have been altogether artificial. A great number of gallant men, after

meritoriously serving Britain in war, were placed on the half-pay list,

in prime of life. Seeing no prospect of employment or farther

advancement in the profession of arms, many of them retired to Upper

Canada, in hope of providing for their families, where they were

assigned a grant of land. This class of emigrants cannot, however, be

much augmented, and the chief source of value to the country of those

already settled—their annuities—will terminate with their lives. Of late

years, immense sums have been lavished unproductively by the British

Government on canals and other works, and in paying public services,

which cannot be continued in the existing state of things. A third

source of advancement has been the tens of thousands of individuals

lured into the country from Britain by devices which will soon lose

their influence, in consequence of a rival to the Canada Company having

appeared in Lower Canada, under the title of the American Land Company.

Many of the shareholders reside in Quebec and Montreal, who will employ

their influence to prevent strangers proceeding to the Upper province.

From these causes, which are temporary, and others formerly stated,

there is little reason to expect a continuance of the recent progression

in Upper Canada. The country has, however, great advantages in water

communication, which, in progress of time, will become useful to trade.

There is still much unoccupied land, a great part of which, however,

lies in an unfavourable climate. From this circumstance, the monopoly of

land, and its consequent high price, the reward of industry and wages of

labour are more likely to diminish than increase.

The position of Upper Canada in its external relations, which has been

stated at page 413, must be considered unfavourable, and in the internal

condition of the country there is much which is unsatisfactory. The

province is an appendage to Britain, and seems to have aped many of the

frailties of the mother country. The principle of government has been

patronage; the rule of governing, enriching the few and despising the

many. Hence abuses in extensive grants of land, pensions, superfluous

offices, an aristocracy, and such an aristocracy! a rapacious church,

and the neglect of education. The institutions of Britain are a century

behind the intelligence of her inhabitants. Upper Canada is generations

behind North America in legislation. I have already said the government

of the province is in helpless infancy, and add, it must pass through

the slippery paths of youth before attaining strength. There is already

discord amongst the inhabitants, who are assailing the oligarchy under a

sturdy, though not comprehensive minded, leader. The strife is likely to

be tedious, and without bloodshed; the poverty of the country and

character of the people being a sufficient guarantee against aggression

or envy on the part of the United States, and the scattered condition of

the settlers a protection against themselves.

The policy of the movement party ought to be, to seek the aid of the

mother country, and steadily but cautiously proceed with measures

calculated to cripple the aristocracy, the dominant church, and the

Canada Company. These changes can only be lastingly and beneficially

effected by extending the elective franchise, and providing free

education for the inhabitants. The ultimate policy of Upper Canada is to

court a union with the United States, which would open channels of trade

by way of New Orleans and New York.

On a general view of the circumstances affecting the country and people

of Upper Canada, much time will be required to develope the resources of

the country; and a period of excitement is likely to intervene before a

permanent government can be established.