AND FARMERS. 355 



state of New York, on the 29th October, 1833, the cold, in 

 all probability, must have been greater in Lower Canada, 

 which is several degrees of latitude farther north. Accordingly, 

 a gentleman of my acquaintance, who settled in the township 

 of Leeds, stated in a letter, &quot; that misery and famine stared 

 farmers in the face ; frost having set in early, all their tur 

 nips and potatoes had been destroyed, and, in some cases, 

 also their grain crops.&quot; The condition of the animals is also 

 evidence of the severity of the climate. Sheep and oxen, as 

 seen by me in the months of summer, were mere skin and 

 bone compared with those of Britain, which I attributed, in a 

 great measure, to the cold of winter ; and sheep of the Leices 

 ter breed, sent from East Lothian, sunk under its effects in 

 the most southerly part of the province. 



However much the man of pleasure may extol the winter of 

 Lower Canada for the glorious sleighing it affords and its 

 boasted advantages seem to be confined to this mode of travel 

 ling the industrious farmer must regard it as an evil, by sus 

 pending his operations, and injuring his live-stock. Nature 

 here assists him more sparingly than in warmer latitudes, and 

 he will not live comfortably on cleared land by his own labour, 

 except in the most southerly parts of the province. To clear 

 forest land in most parts by his own exertions, would not 

 reward him for five or six years afterwards, if land was to be 

 had for nothing, and its inferior produce cannot afford good 

 wages to labourers. For the farmer of capital, the neighbour 

 hood of Montreal holds out many advantages. The province 

 is not, however, favourable to farmers who are in search of 

 food and clothing for themselves and families, and still less so 

 for labourers of any description. Both classes must, of neces 

 sity, be idle during a considerable portion of the year, and 

 they are not likely to improve their condition by emigrating 

 from Britain to Lower Canada. 



