294 DIFFERENCE OF INTEREST BETWEEN 



of employing such a thing as bones, even for the manur- 

 ing of his worn-out wheat-lands. 



I returned from Lachlne, by the way of the valley — 

 apparently an old channel of the St Lawrence, or of the 

 Ottawa — along which the ship-canal and the railway 

 have been conducted. There Is rich flat meadow-land In 

 the bottom of the valley, only partially drained ; and 

 some tracts of rich alluvial soil, dry enough to be sub- 

 mitted to arable culture, and productive of excellent 

 crops. The upland, also, is generally of good quality, 

 and well-cultivated farms are not unfrequent. On one 

 of these I met with a warm and kind reception from Mr 

 Evans, the Secretary of the Lower Canada Agricultural 

 Society, editor of their Journal and Transactions, and 

 the author of a valuable treatise on agriculture, adapted 

 to the climate and productions of Canada. Both on this 

 and on subsequent occasions, I was indebted to the kind- 

 ness and attention of Mr Evans, and was obliged to 

 him for much valuable Information. 



Sept. 25. — Among other persons whom it gave me 

 pleasure to visit this morning was M. Morin, President 

 of the Legislative Assembly, and of the Lower Canada 

 Agricultural Society ; and M. Villeneuve, Principal of 

 the Koman Catholic college. Both of these gentlemen 

 expressed a strong desire to promote the introduction of 

 a better system of practical agriculture among the inha- 

 bitants of Lower Canada ; and no other kind of Instruc- 

 tion — I may say, from all I afterwards saw, no other gift 

 which can be bestowed upon this people — seems likely to 

 be productive of more material good to the province. 



Looking at the relation which an established clergy 

 bears to the agriculture of a country, in one of the 

 aspects in which it naturally presents itself, it would 

 appear as if no class of men ought to be more anxious to 

 promote agricultural improvement, to remove obstacles out 

 of its way, and to diffuse that kind of knowledge by which 



