354 CLIMATE AFFECTING AGRICULTURE 



The difficulty of raising produce is unquestionably the cause 

 of its high price, which is not likely to be lowered by other 

 means than importing supplies. The French Canadians, 

 having few wants and strong local attachments, labour 

 cheaply rather than remove to a distance, which, joined to the 

 influx of destitute emigrants from Britain and Ireland, renders 

 wages lower perhaps than in any other part of the American 

 continent. High prices and cheap labour are favourable to 

 investing capital in cultivation ; and a skilful and prudent 

 farmer cannot fail of being successful in the immediate neigh 

 bourhood of Montreal. Here he will feel the change from 

 Britain less than in any other part of America, with exception 

 of climate, and even the length and severity of winter are said 

 to be agreeable. A considerable extent of capital is required 

 to purchase land in a good situation, which costs from L.10 

 to L.20 per acre. Land is also occasionally to be had on 

 lease ; and when a sufficient number of years, and proper 

 terms are obtained, an outlay of capital in improving the 

 soil would be profitable. 



If soil is the workshop of the farmer, and animals and plants 

 his machinery, the climate of Lower Canada is an impedi 

 ment, seriously affecting plants, animals, and man, which can 

 not be removed. With six months of winter, the machinery 

 of the farm is suspended half the year. Few plants can be 

 properly matured, and -crops, in- all seasons, are liable to be 

 injured by frost. Animals require a large supply of dry 

 fodder, as succulent food cannot be provided, and the intense 

 cold reduces them in condition. Man is so long prevented 

 by winter from labouring the soil, and so hurried by the short 

 ness of spring and autumn, that he has not time to prepare it 

 suitably for the reception of crops. To these causes may be 

 ascribed the leanness of animals, the high price of produce, 

 the poverty of the people, and the cheapness of labour. 



The climate is too cold for the cultivation of Indian corn, 

 which only occasionally comes to maturity in the most fa 

 voured spots. Autumnal sown wheat is similarly situated, 

 and the wheat of the country sown in spring is of the most 

 inferior quality. Fahrenheit s thermometer having stood 

 twelve degrees below the freezing point at Albany, in the 



