Gardening vi the Canadas. 63 



seed of the best varieties of known plants, as well as of species 

 yet untried, to be produced with certainty, and on a scale 

 adapted to the wants of the farmer?" It is from the art of 

 horticulture, rather than from that of agriculture, that any such 

 improvement will probably emanate. Messrs. Lawson have 

 ialready furnished an important contribution, but who will con- 

 tinue their labours, by continuing to experiment on the most 

 important plants in the Manual P 

 Near Doncasier, Dec, 1839. 



Art. III. Observations on the present Appearance and Prospects of 

 Gardening in the Canadas. By Alexander Gordon. 



Having occasionally troubled you with some passing remarks on the state 

 of gardening in the United States of America, I now send you some observa- 

 tions on the present appearances and prospects of horticulture in the Canadas. 

 In the years 1833 and 1834 I lived in the upper province, yet my sphere of 

 observation was too limited to warrant my then attempting anything like a 

 general statement; but, during the past summer, I have traversed the provinces 

 to the extent of from 1 000 to 1 200 miles, and I believe my tour included all 

 those places where gardening has received any attention, further than the 

 planting of an orchard, or growing a few culinary vegetables. 



My tour in the Canadas commenced at the justly celebrated Falls of Niagara, 

 and thence to the city of Toronto. From Toronto I explored the country on 

 to Hamilton, and from the latter place I traversed the shores of Lake Erie, 

 and ultimately on to Lake Huron. From Lake Huron I returned to Toronto, 

 but by a different route ; and from that city I continued my journey on to 

 Montreal, diverging, of course, very considerably from any given route. During 

 this wide range, I believe I embraced almost every town or village of any 

 importance. You will perceive that in the following remarks it frequently 

 occurs, that a large tract of country is passed over without receiving even the 

 slightest notice j the cause is obvious. The duties imposed on settlers in a 

 jiew country are very multifarious ; and absolute necessaries must naturally 

 give precedence to every other consideration. The clearing of lands occupies 

 considerable time; and, even when there is a latent taste for the art, gardening 

 will naturally be nearly, if not entirely, neglected, except so far as its produc- 

 tions are subservient to some useful purpose. But when the harassing fatigues 

 of a new settlement are, in some measure, overcome, then the man of refined 

 taste will follow the natural bent of his incHnations ; and, in the soil where 

 grew the sturdy oak, there the fragrant rose, the gay lily, and the showy tulip will 

 display their beauties, and exhale their fragrance around. The former wilds 

 will display the ornamented parterre, and the corduroy roads must yield to 

 gravel walks. Still, these metamorphoses, as I before remarked, must be the 

 result of time ; and, as much of my tour was through a country which has 

 been but very recently a desert wild, the barrenness of gardens will be easily 

 accounted for. 



I shall commence my observations at Lake Huron, but, for a considerable 

 tract of the most fertile country in the provinces, I am sorry to say my field 

 is narrow, nay, in fact, without a single place worthy of even a passing notice. 

 The western district in the province of Upper Canada has peculiar advantages 

 for horticulture, and 1 venture to prognosticate it will, at no far distant day, 

 stand high in the cultivation of choice fruits and vegetables. When the settlers 

 properly appreciate the benefits which horticulture, when systematically con- 

 ducted, is capable of extending to a country ; when wealth shall enable the 

 pommunity to call into active exertion the latent powers and susceptibilities 



