110 
THE CANADIAN NATUHALIST. 
with his exchange. The exception is one of a gentleman who 
has money at his disposal^ and who has been here but a short 
time^ who, I have heard^ takes off his hat, and blesses God that 
ever He brought him to such a garden of Eden as this. A sub- 
sistence can be procured here ; but it is by incessant labour : 
the land is in general infertile, and the season of preparing the 
ground for the summer's crops so exceedingly short, that a 
man can do but little with his unassisted exertions. We 
cannot usually harrow our fall-ploughed land until May is 
considerably advanced, on account of the frost in the ground, 
and the consequent wetness. Then, there is all the grain to be 
sown, and the potatoes to be planted, during the remainder of 
May and a small part of June, or no return can be expected. 
The summer is short, though warm ; early frosts frequently 
destroy or greatly injure the wheat before it is ripe, and often 
quite cut off the buckwheat and potato plants. I have 
known severe night-frost as early as the twelfth of August, 
doing incalculable injury. It is not an uncommon thing for 
potatoes to be frozen and spoiled in the ground, before they 
can be secured in autumn. Weeds, smut, rust, and flies are 
full as pernicious here as in other places, and all tend to di- 
minish the farmer's means of existence. The extreme seve- 
tity of the winter, the thermometer frequently falling more 
than 20"^ below zero, sometimes more than 30% is another 
inconvenience severely felt by the poo7* farmer. The tending 
of his cattle, and the cutting and drawing of firewood, are 
sufficient to occupy nearly all his time in the short days of 
winter. The advantages are, freedom from tithes and 
taxes, a pure air, healthy climate, excellent water in abund- 
ance, and the prospect of gradually but slowly increasing his 
comforts, and leaving an inheritance for his family. Whether 
these outbalance the disadvantages, I can hardly tell. If a^ 
farmer in England finds that with all economy he grows 
poorer, and thinks he could put up with these evils, and 
