THE LAND SLEEPS. 423 



England, although, owing to the cold, a considerably 

 larger amount of fodder is required. When properly 

 fed and sheltered, stock do not mind the cold; nature 

 furnishes them with warmer clothing ; and the Canadian 

 farmer rarely if ever loses stock from any cause other 

 than his own neglect. 



From the beginning of November to the middle of 

 April the Canadian farmer cannot touch his land. His 

 ploughing, sowing, and harvest have all to be completed 

 within, at the outside, seven months of the twelve. In this 

 respect he is disadvantageously situated as regards the old- 

 country man, who can plough, ditch, drain, and do sundry 

 other jobs in the winter. But, all things considered, I am 

 not sure but that five months of frost and snow, with a hot 

 summer and a dry seed-time and harvest, is not better 

 for the farmer than the damp yearly level of our English 

 climate. In the first place, all growth ceases in the 

 Canadian winter; the land has perfect rest, and awakes 

 from its sleep in the spring like a strong man refreshed 

 in the morning. The soil is then so friable from the 

 action of the frost that it can be ploughed with the 

 greatest ease, and all clod breaking, together with a great 

 deal of harrowing, can be dispensed with. Seed-time and 

 harvest, especially the latter, are very busy times with 

 the Canadian farmer. All his crops, roots as well as 

 cereals, have to be stowed away before the winter. During 

 this six and a half or seven months of farming season he 

 has, however, the inestimable advantage of a steady 

 climate, with unfailing sunshine to ripen his crops ; none 

 of that catchy wet weather that makes haymaking and 

 harvest so laborious to the old-country farmers. During 



