AGRICULTURAL NOTICES. 249 



sowed ridge by ridge, and he was the only individual engaged 

 in the operation. The previous crop had been Indian corn, 

 and the land had not been ploughed since its removal. Dung 

 is not applied to the fields, though sometimes to the gardens, 

 in which melons and potatoes are chiefly cultivated. At 

 Springfield, the potato of Britain is not of fine quality, and 

 passes by the name of Irish potato, to distinguish it from the 

 sweet potato, a species of convolcolus. These potatoes seem 

 not to be suited to the same climate. Here, and farther to the 

 south, the sweet potato was of large size, and more palatable 

 than the Irish one, although not equal to this root when 

 grown in a colder region. I observed a few plants of Guinea 

 corn, which its cultivators said answered as a substitute for 

 coifee, but none of them seemed to have given it a trial. 



Clovers, or any description of herbage plant, did not come 

 under my notice. The prairie grasses, when closely depastured 

 for a series of years, fall off, and are said ultimately to disap 

 pear. This circumstance was a source of uneasiness to some 

 settlers, who looked forward to the time when there would be 

 a scarcity of food for cattle, and which seemed to me as irra 

 tional as the Canadian farmers fears of wanting firewood. 



I did not see breeding-horses or sheep in any part of my 

 journey, although I have no doubt there are plenty of both in 

 the country. The cattle were not numerous, but of good size, 

 and in tolerable condition. The prairie herbage was so com 

 pletely withered, that I could not form an opinion of its feed 

 ing qualities in spring. What had been burned to afford a 

 fresh supply, was so closely cropt by the cattle, that its re 

 productive properties could not be estimated. In some situa 

 tions near Springfield, where stock is pretty numerous, and 

 the prairie has been cropt by them for years, the herbage ap 

 peared thin and unnutritious. Pigs were frequently seen 

 running about the forest, and were, like all others seen at 

 large in course of my tour, perfect starvelings. The acorn 

 season had arrived, and I was amused at the pigs scrambling* 

 for this fruit. They ran grunting from tree to tree, and the 

 noise of a falling acorn was the prelude to a race and fight. 



The inhabitants are thinly scattered over the country, and 

 chiefly settled on the skirts of the forest, the middle of prai- 



