When the French commenced their settlements in Canada, the country presented the appearance of one vast unbounded forest, and great privileges were bestow ed to encourage the colonists to attempt it., improve ment. The lands on each side of the St Lawrence, and of the rivers, which fall into its channel, for a space of nearly 300 miles in length, extending from 90 miles be low Quebec to 3') above Montreal, were granted by the French king, in extensive lots, called seigneurics, to offi cers in the army, to companies or associations, and to such other individuals as possessed interest to procure them, and my ho thus became 6eigneurs or lords of the territory. These tenures were entirely of a feudal na ture, held immediately of the king ; and, upon every transfer of the property, the new purchaser paid a fifth part of the value to the receiver-general, who gav e a re ceipt upon the title, and by- this act invested him with the possession. These seigneuries occupied front lot, to 500 square miles ; and the proprietors were ht,initl o. concede them in smaller lots to the settlers, upon cc r tain conditions. These lots were very narrow in front, seldom extending along the course of the river more than three acres ; but they stretched a considerable way, generally 80 acres, into the country. These grants. or concessions, were also of a feudal character ; and tl e grantees were the vassals of their lords, as the lords were the vassals of the king. For these lots there is seldom any- price given by way of purchase money; and the rent paid by- each tenant is very inconsiderable, fre quently not more than three liv, cs. (2s. 6d.) a year, be sides a bushel of wheat and a couple of fowls ; hut the seigneurs, who have many inhabitants on their lands, (le rive a handsome revenue, partly from these trifling rent:, from the fees received at his mills, to w hich his tenant, arc bound to bring their grain, and from the fine which is due to him upon every transfer of the lots by sale or long lease. There are about 100 of these seigneuries in Lower Canada, all subject to French law ; and the proprietors might have attained considerable affluence. had the estates been allowed to remain entire ; hut, ac cording to the old French law, which is still in force in the colony, the property of every individual, who dies in testate, descends in certain proportions to his widow and children ; and thus both the seigneuries themselves, and estates of much smaller extent, held in roturc, have been so frequently subdivided, that many of the proprietors of the former retain little more than their title ; while the greater part of the holders of the latter are so mise rably poor, as to have neither capital nor spirit for agri cultural undertakings. This law has been found to have a very hurtful effect, also, in a moral point cf view, tending very much to weaken the natural affection, which should subsist between parents and children, as a well as to introduce a general spirit of litigation into Lot ilies. Since the conquest of Canada by the British arms. all those parts of the lower province, which had not been pre viously granted as seigneuries, have been surveyed I y order of government, and divided into townships, vv hick arc about ten miles square, and are granted to individuals, to be held by the English tenure of free and common sc. cage. These are situated in the more retired parts on the south bank of the St Lawrence, bent cen the rivers Chaudiere, St Francis, Yameska, and Chambly, extend ing to the 45th parallel of latitude, and subject, lira the upper province, to the law of England. The persons to whom these townships are granted, are bound to cultivate a certain number of acres within a given time. The great er part of these lands lie contiguous to the territories of the United States ; and are chiefly occupied by emigrants from thence, who, before obtaining their grants, have taken _ the oath of allegiance to his Britannic majesty. They hold in general above 200 acres each'; and are bound to keep open the highways passing through their posses sions. The first step in the process of cultivation, is to build a log-hut, and open a road of communication with the nearest neighbours. They next proceed to clear the land of the wood, and this is done in various ways. One mode is, to cut down the timber, to dig out the roots, and then to burn the whole in heaps upon the ground ; which, when thus laid open, is soon covered with ve getation, and capable of grazing cattle ; but this method, besides being very tedious, is attended with great ex pence, and costs about thirty shillings per acre. The Americans have introduced a more simple and econo mical, and, at the same time, equally successful plan, viz. to cut clown and burn the trees; and, after turning up the earth with a hoc or harrow, to sow the spaces between the standing roots. A third method is to set fire to the growing wood, to stop the growth of the larger trees, by cutting a deep circle in the bark, to sow the interstices with grain, and to remove the de cayed timber at leisure. In these cases, when the un derwood is thick, the blaze of the burning forest is tru ly awful, continues for weeks together, and often ex tends its progress far beyond the intended space. In clearing the ground, however, a certain portion of wood is always left standing, for supplying fuel and other domestic purposes ; and these stripes of forest, while they serve as boundaries between the different lots, contribute to give, even to the cultivated districts, a wild and woody appearance. The usual condition upon which farms are let, are, that the proprietor furnish the cattle, supply the utensils of husbandry, and incur the expellee of clearing, ditching, and fencing ; the pro duce is then equally divided between the tenant and him self.
With the exception of a few eases, the Canadians are very deficient in agricultural skill. In consequence of the law before mentioned, their farms are small, and their capitals limited, so that they are not at all able to attempt experiments. They are also destitute of edu cation, and ignorant of recent improvements ; much in clined to indolent habits, and, like the peasantry of most countries, strongly averse to admit any innovations. It is only of late years, and to a very small extent, that they have begun to adopt the application of manure, the rotation of crops, and the use of artificial grasses. They have begun particularly to employ the marl, which is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the St Lawrence ; but the general practice is to plough the same field, and sow the same grain, twenty times over; while the only remedy for land in this manner, is to leave them fallow for a few years. Seed-time com mences about the 20th of April, and harvest early in August. The average produce of the soil in Lower Ca nada has been estimated at 25 to 1 for oats ; 12 for bar ley ; 6 for pease ; and 11 for summer wheat. Barley, oats, Indian corn, and other ordinary kinds of grain, are produced in considerable quantities for home con -mniption, but seldom its such abundance as to supply exportation. It is but very lately indeed that barley has been known in Canada ; and was introduced, with great difficulty, by a gentleman who had established a distil lery at Quebec. That which is now produced, makes excellent malt ; and considerable quantities of ale are exported to the West Indies. The soil and climate of Canada are very favourable to the growth of hops, of which enough is raised to supply the wants of the brew ers, and which might easily be rendered an article of exportation. Hemp has begun to be cultivated with much success ; and government has greatly encouraged the growth of that article. See on this subject, a pa per by William Bond, Esq. in the 26th volume of the Transactions of the Society for the encouragement of .4rts, &c.
At the time when Canada was first discovered, the in habitants of Europe were so entirely engrossed with the acquisition of those precious metals, which had been imported from Mexico and Peru, that no country, in which these were not produced, was considered as de serving of any attention. It was soon understood, that no mines were to be found in that quarter of North Ame rica ; and hence the colony of New France fell into com plete disrepute, before a proper knowledge could be ac quired of its soil and productions. This early prepos session to its disadvantage was the principal source of the future discouragements and obstacles, with which its commerce had to struggle ; and it never attained any degree of prosperity, as long as it remained in the hands of the French. It sustained very great injury, also, by the frequent alterations which took place in the medium of exchange, especially by the inconveniences which re sulted from the introduction of card or paper money. In 1706, the whole trade of the colony was carried on with a fund of 650,000 livres, distributed among a population of 30,000 inhabitants. During seven years of its most flourishing period, previous to its conquest by the Bri tish, its annual imports were valued only at 160,0001., sometimes at 240,0001.; while its exports seldom ex ceeded, and frequently did not reach, the sum of 80,0001. The balance was supplied by the sums, which the French government expended in paying the troops, building ships, raising fortifications, &c.; but the bills drawn upon the treasury of France on these accounts were not long very punctually paid. For a few years after the reduc tion of the colony, the British traders derived consider able assistance from the quantity of furs which had been previously collected, and from the sums of money which were regularly remitted for the payment of the large mi litary force then supported in the country; yet the com merce of Canada was still rather in a declining than in creasing state ; and, in 1769, the quantity of produce ex ported amounted only, according to Heriot, to 163,105/. ; but, according to Lambert, to 345,0001., and was shipped in 70 vessels belonging to Great Britain and her colo nies. During almost thirty years longer, its commerce continued in a state of great fluctuation, according to the varying degree of demand in Europe for its produc tions ; but, in the year 1795, it was very considerably augmented by the scarcity of grain, which prevailed about that time in Great Britain and most of the Euro pean countries ; and not less than 128 vessels (19,953 ton nage) arrived that year in the river of St Lawrence. At that period, also, the construction of vessels at Quebec was begun by a company of London, and very consider able profits were drawn from that branch of employment. In 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802, an immense quantity of grain was exported ; and, in the last of these years, it amounted to 100,000 bushels of wheat, 38,000 barrels of flour, and 32,000 casks of biscuit. The vessels employ ed in the transportation of these and other productions, were not fewer than 211, and the amount of tont,age nearly 36,000. As the crops in Canada, however, arc extremely precarious, and the demand ffir its grain equal ly irregular, the surest statement of its commerce must be taken from an average of several years.