WHEAT SOWING ON NEW LAND.

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to feel that there was anything out of rule in such intrusion. We were close to the boundary of the country where all men are born free and equal.

The wheat crop in these northern parts of America has a history which is interesting, not merely to the practical agriculturist, but even to the political economist of the broadest views. I shall have occasion hereafter to return to this subject, in discussing the relation of the American wheat-producing capabilities to our home agricultural condition. I shall here, however, mention two particulars of a practical kind.

In the first clearing of a piece of woodland, when he hews his farm out of the forest, the new settler sows his wheat in the autumn. The winter snows fall and cover it, till one sweeping thaw comes in spring, when the green blades spring up under the influence of the sun, and ripen into a healthy crop. But after the woods have been cut back, and the land has been more widely cleared, the continued covering of snow is not so certain. Spring comes with partial thaws and freezings, which throw out the winter wheat, and kill it in whole or in part. The only practical remedy adopted for this is to sow spring wheat, which rushes up and ripens rapidly, but yields a grain which is said to be not equal in quality to the winter corn. This fact has an important bearing on the supply of first-quality flour to the American and European markets.

Again, in many localities the wheat crop is liable to rust, and in many more the wheat-fly has come like a pestilence, and almost put an end to the cultivation of it. The practical remedy for these two evils is to sow bearded wheat. Of this two varieties are here sown, both spring wheats. The one is known as the old bearded red, and the other as the Black Sea wheat-a white bearded variety. These are supposed to be less liable to the attack of both the vegetable and the animal

plague; but even of these varieties, average crops, until the present, which is a very promising year for grain, have been by no means to be depended upon.

After breakfast, I drove back to the Tobique, and attended service in the Episcopal church. The service was well read, but the congregation was small, and the horses and waggons tied to the railing showed that most of the people had come from considerable distances. The Episcopal clergy of the province have hitherto, I believe, been almost entirely supported by remittances from the Propagation Society at home. These, as the country becomes settled, must, of course, be withdrawn; and the Bishop is, I understand, exerting himself very much in preparing the people for the coming emergency.

At the mouth of the Tobique, on a flat high intervale of good land, upon the opposite or left bank of the St John, is situated a native village, of twenty or thirty houses, containing about a hundred and twenty Indians. After forenoon service, I crossed to the village in a canoe, and was informed by my Indian ferryman that the population was nearly all collected in the chapel. I went towards it, and, as I approached, a few small children ran screaming from me in terror, and beat lustily for admission at the chapel door. On reaching the chapel, I was admitted by some of the older people attracted by the noise. I found a few well-dressed Indians, men and women, seated in pews, but the herd of the squaws and dirty children squatted on the floor at the end of the chapel. There might be thirty, young and old, in the place, and two men of the tribe, kneeling at a respectful distance from the altar, were doing their best to chaunt the service. I staid a few minutes, and then, having put a bit of silver into the collection-box, and distributed all the copper coins I had among the little ones as I went out, I left them apparently not dissatisfied with my in

trusion.

MELLICETES IN THE PROVINCE.

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On walking down the village, I met one or two of the Indian men, and on asking them why they were not at prayers, they said they did not belong to the priest's people; but whether they were Protestants or heathens, I did not clearly make out. I then went into several of the cottages, and found in some only women and children, in others brawny men devouring wild-berries, which the women had been collecting in the woods. Some of the cottages were clean, and the inmates comfortably clad. This was especially the case with the house and family of the chief, whom I visited after his return from the chapel, where he had been officiating in the absence of the priest. He was an old man, small in size, but with a very intelligent face.

These Indians are of the Mellicete tribe, as I believe are all the Indians of New Brunswick. They are a robust race of men, not half civilised however, and never to be weaned from their love of the woods. At this place they own a reserve of 16,000 acres, a large portion of which is choice land, which they will never cultivate, and which must by-and-by be sold by Government in some way for their benefit. There are altogether in the province some 1400 Indians, and they hold reserves of about 63,000 acres of land.

I returned to the Aroostook to dinner, and afterwards went on to the Grand Falls. This was a drive of four hours, and, by the aid of the good roads, we reached the Falls-otherwise, the town of Colebrook-about 8 P.M. The roads in New Brunswick are really good, and very creditable to the province. This opinion, which I had already formed, was subsequently everywhere confirmed, after I had travelled nearly 2000 miles upon them in all directions.

About half way between the Aroostook river and the Grand Falls, we passed a small settlement of Roman Catholic Irish, whose very failings, wherever we met

64

INDUSTRIOUS IRISH SETTLERS.

with them, henceforth appeared as virtues in the eyes of my fellow-traveller, in whose honour the Woodstock charivari had been got up by the Woodstock Orangemen. These families, however, were really industrious, had good crops, and appeared to be thriving. One of the settlers, called MacLachlan, had eleven children, and a farm of 200 acres, of which 60 were cleared. He had cut 10 tons of hay, and had some of the best oats and potatoes I had seen in the province. He had been in the country four years, and had cleared all with his own hands: I suppose that means with the help of his children, for all can do something. He said an emigrant who had £20 in his pocket, after paying for his land, would be easy. He only required a little to carry him on till his first crops were gathered. His own 200 acres, with the 60 cleared, he said, might now be worth £100. There were many excellent hard-working Scotch and Irish farmers in the neighbourhood, he added; the natives -native-born he meant--were too lazy, and liked lumbering better. Indeed, the more I saw of North America all over, the more I was satisfied that an indolent man will do better at home than on the new continent; but industry and patience are sure to be rewarded with competence and a comfortable living.

Another Irishman had been three years in the country, and a third only one year. All were happy, and had excellent crops, with new-chopped land burning for those of next year. One of these had paid £50 for his 200 acres, because a little of it had been cleared. The Government price is 3s. currency an acre, and 3d. for surveying, payable in four instalments, or 20 per cent discount for ready money; so that 1000 acres would cost £120 to Government, and £12 to the surveyor.

These Irish settlers struck me as representing industry personified. I saw many others of the same nation, afterwards, of whom I could not speak so well. The

THE GRAND FALLS.

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labour they undergo appears severe; but I am told, by those who have themselves gone through it, that it is not really so severe as it appears to be, and that it is by no means unpleasant. This is intelligible enough after the anxieties and seasoning of the first year are over, and the crops on the new land begin to ripen. One comfort certainly attends it, the greatest of all earthly ones, undisturbed good health. Ague and fever, as 1 have already said of the sea-coast of the province, are unknown; and a healthier set of children of all ages I have never seen anywhere than greet the eyes of the stranger all over this province.

The slate rocks towards this upper part of the St John become more calcareous, and beds of limestone occasionally occur, which will afford an additional means of advancement to the future agriculture of the country.

The town of Colebrook is prettily situated, on a little peninsula, formed by a sharp turn of the river St John, which here precipitates itself perpendicularly over a ledge of slate rocks from a height of 58 feet. It then proceeds through a narrow rocky gorge of hard slate for about three-quarters of a mile, in the course of which it descends 58 feet more, making its total descent 116 feet. As a picturesque object the falls are very striking, when seen from the high over-hanging rocky cliffs, and well deserve a visit. Economically, they form a great reservoir of mechanical power, which on some future day will, no doubt, be made available for useful purposes. Some years ago saw - mills were erected upon the edge of the falls on a large scale, and expensive constructions made by the late Sir John Caldwell, which brought many people about the place, and for a time quickened the growth of the town. These works, however, have been long ago abandoned; the buildings have been allowed to go to decay, and

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