Being asked if it would not be a great advantage to the Company to grow corn at York Factory or their other settlements, Mr. Robson said it would doubtless be so, and it was reasonable to think they would do it, but there were many things not done which would be of great advantage besides that, and there must be some secret cause for it to which the witness was a stranger. It had been demonstrated that the soil about Hudson bay would bear roots, such as carrots, radishes and turnips. It also produced coleworts, and all of these roots and greens grew in as great perfection as they do in England; yet he did not think that there were two acres cultivated at both the factories where he had resided.
Being asked how long the frost was out of the ground at York Factory, Mr. Robson said it was hardly ever quite out of it, for he had dug three feet and a half deep, and then found a shell of ice under which the ground was all soft. The hole he dug was in low ground, about thirteen feet from high water mark. He never had an opportunity to dig up in the country, but the surface of the ground was free from the latter end of May to the latter end of August, and in the summer they had
Eighteen Hours Sunlight at Churchill.
By the accounts of the people coming down, the frost breaks some months sooner up in the country.
Mr. Robson said he had seen oxen and horses belonging to the Company at Fort Prince of Wales (Churchill) which were brought from England and fed with hay and corn, the hay being got there and made into stacks.
Robson, who first went to Hudson bay in 1733, and finally left there in 1747, serving for some time as a mason, and later as “mason and surveyor,” in the construction of Fort Prince of Wales at Churchill, published his book “An Account of Six Years’ Residence in Hudson’s Bay” in 1752. In this volume he mentions going out in the “Mary” frigate, and says, in writing of Churchill:—“We had brought over in the ship a bull, four heifers, ten oxen and a horse. There was an Orkney bull there before. Some of the heifers afterwards calved, and I think with care they would have increased and done well, though this place is in 59°, and the most northerly settlement in the bay.”
On page forty-two of his book, Mr. Robson states:—“It is not to be imagined that the most northerly settlements in the bay should have as good a climate as the southerly settlement, there being so great a difference of latitude, as from 59° to 51° 30′. I was no farther up Churchill river than eight or nine miles but can say that the soil is very good, and that there are gooseberries and black and red currants growing near the sea upon points that appear almost barren. Those I have seen grow so low that the grass covers them. The marshes and low grounds are full of good grass, and there is a patch of ground near the fort on Eskimo point (near Churchill) which, though exposed to the north and northeast winds, produces good radishes, coleworts, turnips, small carrots, and lettuces, and other salading; blackberries also grow upon the heath. Upon clearing away the snow in the spring, we generally found the under part of it congested to ice, three or four inches thick, lying hollow from the ground. Whether this was caused by the snow melting and thawing downwards, and then congesting from the coldness of the earth, and moistening the snow which was afterwards congested again, I am not able to determine. I am inclined to believe the latter, because the top of the snow was formed into a hard icy crust, and within was heavy, though soft. However, beneath this arch of ice we found green vegetables growing up an inch or two above the ground. Cattle here would live and do well, if the same care were taken of them as is generally taken in England. The horses I found among them had been kept several years, and were constantly employed in drawing stones and other materials for the use of the fort. And if they can subsist and be fit for service at Churchill river in 59° they would surely subsist and increase also at the bottom of the bay in 51° 30′, and in all the more southerly settlements.
“The soil at York Factory, which is in 75° 10′, is much better than at Churchill river. Most kinds of garden stuff
Grow Here to Perfection,
especially peas and beans. I have seen a small pea growing without any culture, and am of the opinion that barley would flourish here, and consequently in much greater perfection at Moose and Albany rivers, which are 51° 30′ and 52°. Gooseberries and red and black currants are found in the woods, growing upon such bushes as in England. Up the river are very good patches of grounds, and bottoms under banks, so defended from the north and northwest winds that there is a fine thaw below when the top is freezing; here whole families might secure a comfortable subsistence, if they were as industrious as they are in their own country. Upon Hayes river, fifteen miles from the factory, is such a bank as I have just mentioned, near which I pitched my tent. After paling in some ground for a covey-warren, and for oxen, sheep, goats, etc., I should expect by no more labor than would be proper for my health to procure a desirable livelihood, not at all doubting of my being able to raise peas and beans, barley, and probably other kinds of grain.”