20 PEICE OF LAND PEEE GRANTS. 



one farm, highly improved, about eighteen miles above Ot- 

 tawa, for which as much as 201. an acre was expected. This 

 very greatly exceeded any estimate that I could form of the 

 value of the land in such a locality. The summers are very 

 hot, and the musquitoes abound in the woods to such an extent 

 as to render it impossible almost to live in them at that season ; 

 and the winters are long and severe, costly in fodder for cattle 

 over such an extended period. 



Between the Ottawa river and Lake Huron free grants of 

 land, not exceeding 100 acres each, are made to settlers, on 

 condition that they build a log hut and reside on the lot, and 

 that they clear and bring under cultivation twelve acres in four 

 years. These twelve acres are probably reckoned the measure 

 of what the labour of one man and his family may be reason- 

 ably expected to clear in a period of four years. The whole of 

 this country is covered with wood : the soil being more sandy 

 than most other parts of Lower Canada, it is found better suited 

 for autumn wheat ; but it is generally too poor, even when 

 cleared, to be profitable. 



From Ottawa to the St. Lawrence at Prescott the country 

 presents a similar character. On the shore of the river there 

 are some good farms tolerably cultivated, with hop-gardens on 

 favourable spots. From this point to Kingston, and thence to 

 Coburg, the country is but partially cleared ; very often the 

 train shoots for many miles together through the primeval for- 

 est, a path having been cut in the woods for the railway track, 

 and the felled trees and branches still lying where thrown, on 

 both sides of the line. 



Northwards of the line, between Coburg and Toronto, there 

 is a better tract of country, which has well repaid the labour of 

 the farmer. Formidable though the cutting down of the forest 

 appears, to the strong arm of a healthy young man, it is one of 

 the most pleasing of out-of-door occupations. Though the win- 



