A SHORT SKETCH of the Province of UPPER CANADA, for the Use of the poorer Class of Persons disposed to emigrate thither.

SITUATION.

THE organized part of the province of Upper Canada stretches along the River St. Lawrence, and Lakes Ontario and Erie, to an extent of about 600 miles, and varies from 50 to 150 miles in breadth. Its north-eastern boundary is a day's ride from Montreal, whither vessels of 250 tons burden frequently ascend from the ocean, and the southern frontier is accessible from New York, in from six to twelve days' journey, by land or by water, varying according to the situation of the place in Canada one wishes to arrive at.

D

CLIMATE.

The climate of Upper Canada may properly be termed temperate, and I think would never be found oppressive by an Englishman in either season. The clothing necessary for rendering a seat on the outside of a stagecoach comfortable during the winter in England, would be found amply sufficient for resisting the ordinary cold of an Upper Canada winter's journey; and the heat in summer is always accompanied by genial breezes, which render it elastic, and prevent its becoming sultry. The nights are, with but few exceptions, cool and reviving after the hottest days. The best practical criterion, however, perhaps, is the dress of the inhabitants, which, varying according to the seasons, differs in no material respect from that of the corresponding classes in England.

SOIL.

The soil of Upper Canada is not surpassed by that of any other country of equal ex

tent in either hemisphere; and it will be more intelligible to the class of persons for whom I am writing to say, that all the grass, grains, vegetables, fruits, and other productions which thrive in the open air in England, may be cultivated to perfection in Upper Canada. Clover and timothy are the most common grasses, and are, perhaps, the most profitable, as requiring least labour in their cure and cultivation. Wheat, rye, oats, pease, barley, buckwheat, tares, and Indian corn, are commonly cultivated. Flax and hemp may be and often are cultivated in great abundance. The crops vary more, perhaps, according to the labour bestowed and mode of agriculture adopted by the farmer, than in proportion to the fertility of the soil.

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I have known six quarters and a half of wheat grown off an acre of good medium land, with the application of ordinarily good English husbandry; but I think half that crop would be nearer the average with fair culture. Hay varies from one to two and a half tons per acre, and chiefly from the like

causes.

All kinds of building timber, wood

for cabinet and joiner's work, &c., abound in all parts of the country.

LABOUR.

A man

In Upper Canada labour is the staple capital of the country in its fullest sense. of any or no profession, trade, or handicraft, if sober and industrious, without a farthing to begin with, may set his foot in Upper Canada, with a stout heart and firm step, fully convinced that in four or five years he will become an independent freeholder, and in a few years more, require the aid of labourers in his turn to carry on his more extended operations.

This is not a fanciful picture of what may be done, it is a bare statement of what is frequently accomplished in Upper Canada by the better class of poor emigrants of all countries. One instance out of many just presents itself to my recollection, of an emigrant from Yorkshire, who upon landing from a schooner in the harbour of York, the

capital of Upper Canada, casually directed his steps to my house, and requested me to give him something for himself and family. He was a robust, stout man, and I felt some degree of mortification at hearing a person, who by his looks seemed to bid defiance to ordinary adversity, ask charity, and I remonstrated with him for degrading himself, by asking as an act of charity for that small pittance, which a few hours' honest industry would have entitled him to demand as a right. The poor fellow had feeling, and shewed, by the tear starting from his eye, that he was no common beggar, and was as conscious of his own tempoary degradation as I was, and excused himself by telling me, that he had landed from the vessel which had just entered the harbour-had paid his last shilling for his passage was an emigrant, as his dialect amply confirmed, fresh from Yorkshireknew nobody and wanted a meal for himself and his family-was willing to work, but had had no time for seeking employment. I gave him what I considered proper instructions for his future conduct, and a small sum to supply