208 LAND CONFERS NO INFLUENCE. 



cent upon its market value in the form of rent, besides 

 which he has the benefit of the continual rise in the value 

 of land, which has added enormously to the value of this 

 property since it came into the hands of his family. But 

 this return is scarcely advantageous enough to present an 

 inducement to moneyed men of the Old World to invest 

 their capital in the purchase of large tracts of land in the 

 New. The possession of this land carries with it little 

 increased consideration, and confers no political influence. 

 On the contrary, in most places it is a cause of jealousy, 

 distrust, and dislike. The feeling is that the living man, 

 and not the dead chattels that he owns, ought to influence 

 the destinies of the country. 



The wheat in this Genesee region is sown in the last 

 week of August, or first of September. It thus gets well 

 rooted before the winter sets in, and is not so liable to be 

 thrown out. It begins to grow again about the first of 

 May, and from that time is ripe in about eighty days, 

 being usually reaped in the last week of July. This 

 rapid growth, in Mr Wadsworth's opinion, stands in the 

 way of their raising generally, in this district, crops of 

 wheat so large as ours. The heavy crops which are 

 occasionally reaped, however, are not in favour of this 

 opinion. It is, nevertheless, an interesting subject for 

 experiment. What the land of this region would pro- 

 duce, under skilful culture steadily conducted, is not yet 

 known. If the land were enriched with substances which, 

 while they did not raise so great a rush of straw as to 

 increase the chances of rust, should especially promote 

 the growth and filling of the ear, tlie true influence of 

 the climate upon this important crop would be more 

 distinctly made out. 



An interesting fact connected with the agricultural 

 history of this country is, the change that has taken place 

 in the relative values of human labour and of rural 

 produce. Forty years ago the wages of a man for a 



