4SS TRAVELS THROUGH LOWER CANADA 5 
barn, the largest in all Canada,, with a farm 
yard exactly in the English style; behind the 
Barn was laid out a neat garden, at the bottom 
of which, over a bed of gravel, ran a purling 
stream of the purest water, deep enough, ex¬ 
cept in a very dry season, to Boat a large ca¬ 
noe. A small lawn laid down in grass ap¬ 
peared in front of the house, ornamented with 
clumps of pines, and in its neighbourhood were 
about sixty acres of cleared land. The com¬ 
mon method of clearing land in America is to 
grub up all the brushwood and small trees 
merely, and to cut down the large trees about 
two feet above the ground : the remaining 
stumps rot in from, six to ten years, according 
to the quality of the timber ; in the mean time 
the farmer ploughs between them the best 
way he can, and where they are very numer¬ 
ous, he is sometimes obliged to use even the 
spade or the hoe to turn up the soil. The 
land, however, at this settlement had been 
cleared in a different manner, for the trees and 
roots had all been grubbed up at once. This 
mode of proceeding is extremely expensive, so 
that few of those destined to make new settle¬ 
ments could afford to adopt it; and, moreover, 
it has not been accurately proved that it is the 
most profitable one; but the appearance of 
lands so cleared is greatly superior to those 
cleared in the common method. 
v 
