INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF CANADA. 135 



INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF CANADA. 



Setting out lately to visit INiairara Falls, for the first time, by the way of Buf- 

 falo, we Avere easily drawn by the Rapids, and other no less resistless influences,* 

 down to Montreal and Quebec. 



Lundy's Lane, and the Hights of Queenstown, and the Plains of Abraham, and 

 the old Forts ISiiagara, Ticonderoga, &c. all had their attractions of historical in- 

 terest. No American could regard with indifference the very localities conse- 

 crated by the blood of such men as Brown and Scott, where that rare occur- 

 rence in military annals took place — the crossing of bayonets, as at Lundy's 

 Lane ; and that, too, by men, as might be expected, of the Saxon race. 



" AVhen Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." 



Neither can any man of true sensibility, of whatever country, walk without emo- 

 tion over the very spot where the young and gallant General Wolfe, expiring in 

 the arms of victory, exclaimed, " Now, then, 1 die contented." Absorbed by the 

 recollection of such signal events, hospitably entertained, and charmed by the 

 splendid music and military movements of the famous Scotch Highlanders, at 

 Montreal and Quebec, it may be supposed that little chance was aflbrded to no- 

 tice the agricultural resources and products of the region so hastily traversed ; 

 yet in that respect the journey was by no means devoid of value, as we may 

 endeavor, when more at leisure, to show our readers. For this we siiall find jus- 

 tification in the resemblance between the climate and soil of the Canadas and 

 of Western New- York and a large portion of Vermont. 



The crops about Montreal, as well of grain as of grass, were to all appearance 

 highly remunerating as to quantity, indicative of a fine soil to work upon ; but 

 the cultivation generally was not marked by extraordinary neatness, nor did it in- 

 dicate an active and general spirit of improvement. 



In such cases, as in many others, trifles " show which way the wind blows." 

 Of these trifles, if so they may be termed, we might mention several of strong 

 signification. The most inauspicious was the languishing condition or death of 

 societies which had existed for the promotion of improvements in Agriculture. — 

 Sad and unpromising is the moral condition of a great class of men, when, through 

 despair or indifference, they abandon the hope of promoting their common wel- 

 fare by communion of thought, the interchange of discovery, and by concert of 

 exertion and influence for the protection of those interests which, when left un- 

 guarded, are sure to be assailed by rival or antagonist classes : and these remarks 

 are as applicable, under like circumstances, to all other agricultural communi- 

 ties, as to that of the Canadas. 



Let us advert to another symptom which, whatever others may ihink, had its 

 force with us. In a bookstore at Montreal, we inquired if they had any agricul- 

 tural works ? hoping to pick up something new. The answer was, " they be- 

 lieved they had one," — and then produced " A Treatise on the Theory and 

 Practice of Agriculture, Adapted to the Cultivation and Economy of the 

 Animjl and Vegetable Productions of Agriccjlture in Canada." On asking 



* There were ladies in the case. 



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