652 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



sected with running streams. Let him pass 

 through its waving fields, saunter along its sandy 

 beaches, or sail up and down its romantic rivers, 

 and he will agree with me, that it is a charming 

 Island. If beautiful at this season of the year, 

 (July,) how much more beautiful, in the harvest 

 month, when the fields are covered with men, wo- 

 men and children, gathering the golden harvest. 

 And likewise in autumn, when the forests are 

 brilliant with autumnal splendor? 



• * • * • 



The farmers of the Island generally prepare 

 their land for planting early in April and May, 

 sowing wheat and oats about the middle of the 

 latter month, and potatoes towards the close. 

 Turnips are sown in July. The average crop of 

 oats, to an acre, is said to be about 40 bushels, 

 barley and wheat about GO bushels, potatoes about 

 180 bushels. On some farms this general average 

 is excelled. Crops are sown in rotation, oats are 

 planted first, then potatoes, after which the land 

 is allowed to run into pasture for a season ; then 

 wheat is sown. Some of the farmers grow wheat, 

 Timothy, and clover together. Flax and hemp 

 are cultivated ia small quantities for family use. 

 ***** 



The staple exports, are oats, barley, wheat, po- 

 tatoes, oatmeal, pork, butter and eggs. Incredi- 

 ble quantities of the latter are sent to the "States." 

 They are bought at 5 to 8 cents per dozen here. 

 During the summer they are carefully packed in 

 cool places, and shipped to Boston in the fall, 

 where they bring 29 to 25 cents per dozen. Some 

 speculators have lately exported large quantities 

 of grain to the mother country, which has found 

 a ready and profitable market. Great care has 

 been recently taken by a few parties in putting 

 up pork for the Nova Scotia market, which is be- 

 ginning to be preferred to the American. As the 

 Island affords quantities of suitable food for 

 swine, no doubt this trade will form a valuable 

 item in the exports of the Island. The Island 

 sends to Nova Scotia alone something like 89,- 

 000 bushels vegetables and 133,000 bushels oats 

 and barley. 



During the year 1860 there were raised on the 

 Island 346,125 bushels of wheat; 223,195 bushels 

 of barley; 2,218,578 bushels of oats; 50,127 

 bushels of buckwheat ; 2,972,335 bushels pota- 

 toes ; 348,784 bushels turnips; 31,088 tons of 

 hay; 109,233 pounds of cheese; 711,485 pounds 

 of butter ; 19,307 pounds of clover seed. There 

 are owned in the Island 18,765 horses ; 60,012 

 neat cattle; 107,245 sheep ; 71,535 hogs. 



Whilst hundreds of tourists have sailed up and 

 down the mighty St. Lawrence — hunted or fished 

 upon the rock-bound coast of Newfoundland — 

 traversed the magnificent timber forests of New 

 Brunswick — rambled over the picturesque hills 

 and valleys of Nova Scotia, and given to the 

 world a pictorial description of their peregrina- 

 tions. Prince Edward Island has been passed by, 

 as unworthy of a visit, although affording natural 

 attractions, unsurpassed in any other North 

 American colony. Many persons, for want of an 

 authentic histojy of the Island, form very erro- 

 neous ideas regarding it. Some think it a small 

 potato or oat country, situated not far from Nova 



Scotia ; others that it is an Island owned by a 

 few individuals, and settled by their tenants. 

 Whereas it comprises an area of 1,365,000 acres, 

 having an industrious population of 80,714 souls, 

 classed as follows : 45,306 Protestants and 35,408 

 Catholics. It is divided into 67 electoral districts, 

 or townships, each containing about 20,000 acres. 

 The people have universal suffrage, and are repre- 

 sented in the Lower House of Parliament, by 30 

 members, and in the Upper Chamber by 16 mem- 

 bers. The Home Government pays the Gover- 

 nor's salary, which is £1500 sterling. 



***** 



The Island is provided with good roads, which 

 are easy and pleasant to travel upon. Owing to 

 the configuration of the country, they are gener- 

 ally straight and level. The soil being soft and 

 free from stones, it does not cost much to make, 

 or keep them in order. The government grant 

 for the road and bridge service, is about £5000 

 sterling annually. We passed numbers of men 

 along the roads, performing their statute labor, 

 which did not seem laborious. The horse and 

 plow perform, as usual, the heaviest part of the 

 labor. Although there are no stones upon the 

 Island, yet seams, or veins as of red sand stone, 

 are to be found a few feet below the surface, and 

 along the shores. Plenty of clay abounds, fit for 

 manufacturing into bricks. 



No part of the Island is thickly settled, with 

 the exception of Charlottetown and Georgetown. 

 It being literally an agricultural country, the 

 homes of the inhabitants are much scattered. You 

 cannot travel eight miles in the interior, without 

 meeting a house, seeing the ocean or a flowing 

 river. Still travelling alone is very wearisome to 

 a stranger. We frequently visited some of the 

 farmers' houses, delighting the honest tillers of 

 the soil with our admiration of the condition of 

 their crops, and live stock. 



***** 



The people are very kind and hospitable ; no 

 matter what hour you enter their houses, you are 

 sure to be made welcome. The majority of the 

 farmers are very comfortable, possessing valuable 

 farms and quantities of live stock. 



***** 



Great attention is given, by government, to 

 "Education." There are 300 public schools scat- 

 tered over the Island. The people are annually 

 taxed for the support of these schools, the Legis- 

 lature grants £300 extra from the general reve- 

 nue. Landholders pay a half-penny per acre for 

 school tax. * * # * 



To obliterate the political feuds to settle the 

 land question, and properly develop the agricul- 

 tural wealth of Prince Edward Island, as well as 

 to develop the vast and magnificent resources of 

 her sister Provinces, there must be a Federal 

 union of all the lower Colonies ! Nova Scotia 

 with her rich minerals. New Brunswick with her 

 valuable timber, Newfoundland with her inex- 

 haustible fishery. Prince Edward Island with her 

 unrivalled fertility, could form — independent of 

 Canada — a powerful union, possessing within 

 themselves all the elements that make a nation 

 prosperous. 



Annual Register of Rural Affairs. — We 

 have before ue the eighth number of the Annual 



