116 



THE NEW G ENE6EE FARMER, 



Vol. i. 



was, however, a noiivp of the soullicrn nml maritime 

 regions of Europe, and was brought ironi Iinly. The 

 Romans were acquainted with the white beet, which 

 they called cicla, sictila or Sicilian. 



UPPER CANADA. 



Having completed our rambles in Upper Canada, 

 wc might offer some detailed remarks on the agricul- 

 ture of that province; but we are happy to say the task 

 has fallen into abler hands than ours. It is highly 

 gratifying to find occasionally such men as the Hon. 

 Adam FtRci'so.v, who at times can stand in the halls of 

 Parliament and grapple with giant intellects in discus- 

 sing the afl'airs of government, and then return to the 

 quiet farm and find scope for their powerful minds, in 

 elucidating the science and practice of agriculture. 



It was about noon, one warm day in July, while 

 journeying from Toronto to Hamilton, on horseback, 

 that we turned aside from the main road, to find the re- 

 sidence of Mr. Ferguson. We found the house, beau- 

 tifully situated on the side of a hill, overlooking the 

 broad Lake Ontario in one direction, and in another 

 the Bay of Burlington, with the picaennt village of Ha- 

 milton backed by green hills in the distance. Near 

 the house is a fine expanse of fields and meadows, in 

 which we found some of the best and most perfect an- 

 imals of farm stock we have ever seen. Mr. F. is an 

 experienced amateur of fine cattle, and has imported 

 quite a number of splendid animals, one of which 

 (" Sir Walter,") is now owned by Mr. McKnight, 

 of this city. He has another, similar to it, which he 

 now offers for sale. 



Wo shall not soon forget the pleasant afternoon 

 which we spent at Mr. Ferguson's, and the hospitality 

 of his accomplished lady will long be fresh in our re- 

 collections, 



Agriculture of l-pper Canada. 



(by the HON. ADAM FERGUSON.) 



WooDHiLL, Upper Canada 

 JulySUth, lb40. 

 Mr. Bateham : 



Sir — When I had the pleasure of a visit from you, 

 (shorter, certainly, than I could have desired,) you 

 expreescd a wish that I ehou'.d give you some of my 

 notions on Canadian farming. 



Conscious of my inability to do justice to the subject, 

 I am yet willing to make the attempt, principally, if 

 not solc-ly, actuated by a desire to see American and 

 Canadian farmers unite in promoting the most im- 

 Ijortant temporal concern in which man can bo enga- 

 ged, viz : the cultivation of the soil, and improvement 

 of our breeds, and management of domesticated ani- 

 mals. I have all my life been zealously attached to 

 rural pursuits, and with all its vexations I believe no 

 line of life ia better calculated to ensure happiness, 

 health and independence, than that of the husbandman, 

 " Ufortunati Agricola sera si bona norint." 

 Canadian farming, to be fairly estimated, must be 

 coneidored the rude efforts of manufacturing labor, ex- 

 pended upon a mass of raw material, valuable in itself, 

 but requiring bcth capital and time to perfect. 



The Upper Province, or I may say, the upper por- 

 tion of the province of Canado, to which the3e crude 

 remarks are chiefly intended to apply, is a country 

 eminently designed by Nature for Agricultural enter- 

 terprize. The soil and climate, the vact means of in- 

 ternal navigation, the choice of markets, all clearly in- 

 dicate her as the Farmer's Home. Her sons, natiteor 

 tuloptcd, must not indeed indulge in sloth, or in golden 

 di cams of wealth, rapidly amassed, but they may count 

 upon a (air return, for diligence and labor, with the 

 ealisfaction of spending rational and happy lives, pos- 

 sessed of every rational comfort and true enjoyment. 



To form, as I have said, o fair estimate of the skill 

 pnd prpf)cipnj:y of our farmers, due nllowanco must be 



made (or the complicated difficulties which the early 

 settlers were compelled to encounter, and which they 

 have in so large o measure efTectually overcome. It 

 would be most preposterous to look for nice attention 

 to the minute details of farm management, from men 

 struggling for a hare subsistence, and who could com- 

 mand no other aid save the inmates of their shanty or 

 log hut. In this our day, it is scarce possible to con- 

 ceive the harassing privations and obstacles which they 

 have to encounter, in the want of roads, distance of 

 mills, and merchants, with many a sad et cetera, now 

 hardly felt in the most remote sectionsof the Province. 

 Years have rolled away, great changes in the frame 

 of society have occuired in Europe, and hosts of well 

 educated individuals, possessed of capital and skill, 

 have chosen Canada os a home. A new era has arri- 

 ved, and vast improvements may reasonably be antici- 

 pated, should Old Settlers and Neu> Comers, cordially 

 and honestly concur in giving and taking counsel to- 

 gether. If the one party is possessed of superior 

 knowledge or skill, the other enjoys the no less valua- 

 ble fruits of experience, with a useful training in the 

 school o{ malie shift. Each may do a world of good 

 to himself and to his neighbor, by evincing a sincere 

 willingness to learn, a frank desire to communicate, 

 and a firm resolution to shake off the trammels of pre- 

 judice, whether native or imported. 



A fair test of rural improvements has been correctly 

 deduced, from the all'ention paid to facilitate inter- 

 course, by good roads. In tracing the progress of 

 Scotland to that distinguished station which she is ac- 

 knowledged to occupy in the history of Agriculture, 

 we find that the value of good roads began to be appre- 

 ciated just as a better system of cultivation commenced. 

 Whether this may be strictly attributed to cause or 

 effect, matters little. The fact remains incontroverti- 

 ble, that good farming and an amendment of roads 

 have invariably gone hand in hand. Sixty years ago 

 wheel carriages were nearly unknown in some of the 

 richest districts of Scotland, and grain was conveyed 

 to mill and market on horses backs, through roads 

 well entitled to vie with the worst mud-holes of Cana- 

 da. Tried by this test, the agriculture of our Pro- 

 vince moy well be stated as in its infancy, but we have 

 already a glimpse of better days, and ere long, it is 

 more than probable, that a decided change will take 

 place in our system of road making. In the early days 

 of a new country, personal service upon the roads is 

 the most convenient, and in fact, the only system that 

 can be pursued ; and while the population continues 

 sparse, and every man works near his own farm, it 

 will suffice and will go on smoothly enough. In 

 time, however, a more extended scale is required, as 

 business and general intercourse increases. Farmers 

 begin to grumble as their road duty is raised, unwil- 

 ling to calculate, or to admit, that the increased scale 

 of road making is to benefit them. In this way, road 

 service is too often performed with a grudge, and in a 

 slovenly manner, and we have even heard of on in- 

 stance, where on a hot day theparty actually sent for a 

 barrel of beer and a fiddler to animate their spirits, 

 with what advantage to the road may be easily ima- 

 gined. 



Under these circumstances, it is earnestly to be ho- 

 ped, that a pecuniary commutation for labor will be 

 made compulsory in ploce of being merely optional, 

 OS at present. There can be no question that both the 

 roads and the public will profit by the change. 



If the law warranted the exaction of money for rood 

 service, upon a reasonable scale of conversion, and if 

 it became a reil burden upon the land, then might 

 townships, or individuals, interested in the formation 

 or repair of any line of road, be in safety, by receiving 

 an adequate ossignment of th» road fund, to advance. 



or to borrow the money required, at once, and thus 

 complete in one secson, and in <ifar superior siyUj a 

 useful public work, which must at present drag heavi- 

 ly on thiough many years, each revolving one finding 

 enough to do, in repairing the damage of the prece- 

 ding season, the main work continuing almost at a 

 stand. But it is more than time to leave the loads and 

 attend to the fields, and even there I find that it will 

 be well to restrict my remarks to some of those points 

 where improvement is most palpably required. It 

 would occupy a volume to discuss rotations of crops, 

 drainings, farm buildings, and implements, varieties 

 of seeds, grasses, ^c. ^c. and in confining myself to 

 lire stock, 1 am satisfied that I pitch upon a branch of 

 rural economy, where all who know Canada, and un- 

 derstand the subject, must admit that ample room for 

 improvement is to be found. 



Live Stock. 



If required to report upon the cattle of Upper Cana- 

 da, and to assign them a place with any recognized va. 

 ricty of the ox, the most e-tperienced breeder would 

 find himself wolully at fault. Affinity, may, no doubt, 

 be often traced to North Devons, Herefords, or Sussex, 

 and to the Alderney or Norman breeds, but nothing 

 definite will be met with, and it is therefore an object 

 of paramount importance to procure a more permanent 

 variety of stock, likely to maintain its identity, and 

 suited to the wants of the Province. It is not to be 

 supposed, in making this attempt, that Canadian far- 

 mers will at once admit the superiority of any new 

 breed. Time must be allowed for dispelling preju- 

 dice, and converts obtained by unobtrusive but decisita 

 examples. 



We shall assume that no impartial and competent 

 judge will hesitate to admit the decided superiority of 

 these breeds, which have for many years been the anx- 

 ious subject of improvement in Britain. 



Of cattle used in draught, the two most in repute 

 are Herefords and Devons, the former large and hea- 

 vy, the latter of smaller size, and more agile form. — 

 For farm labor, or forest work, no fitter breeds could 

 be found, but it may be reasonably doubted whether 

 the stock amongst us may not provide the farmer with 

 sufficiently useful animals for such purposes, without 

 incurring the expense and hazard of importing buIU 

 from Hereford or Devon. Such, however, is not the 

 case in relation to the Dairy, or the raising the great- 

 est possible weight of svpcrior beef within the shortest 

 possible period, and at the least cost, for food. 



Early maturity, and a tendency to lay flesh and fat 

 upon the raluablc points, (a quality perfectly uiider- 

 derstood and duly appreciated by intelligent butchers,) 

 are distinguishing characteristics of well bred and 

 symmetrical animals, and in no existing breed have 

 these been so steadily maintained, or so distinctly de- 

 veloped, OS in the Improrcd Short-horn or Durham 

 Breed, and the introduction of thoroiigh bred Bulls of 

 this description will decidedly prove the simplest and 

 most etreetuol mode of improving our slock for every 

 purpose. As Improved Short-horns arc yet strangers 

 in our land, a slight sketch of their history and claims 

 may not be altogether out of place. 



The counties of York and Durham were the original 

 sources of this valuable breed, and the banks of the 

 Tees furnished the stock upon which improvement 

 was grafted. Much has been written and spoken, and 

 great has been the speculation ond altercation upon 

 their early history and progress. A degree of myste- 

 ry contiuues, and will probably even obscure the stepa 

 of their advancement. Great secrecy wos maintained 

 by the Messrs. Colling and other early breeders, and 

 little more is known than the exercise of exquisite 

 skill, patience and attention in selecting animals of 

 promise, one excelling in one point, and another in 



