As soon as he arrives at Quebec, he must lose no time in taking the steamboat up the St. Lawrence, and landing near to where he has decided upon locating. If he has made no decision, at all events let him leave the city immediately, and get into the country, for there he will get work and spend less money. Instead of thinking of making a purchase of land, let him give up all thoughts of it for a year or two; but hire himself out, and his wife and children also, if he can. If he is a good man, he will receive four pounds a month, or forty-eight pounds a year, with his board and lodging. The major part of this he will be able to lay by. If his wife must stay at home to take care of the children, still let her work; work is always to be found, and she may not only support herself and children, but assist his fund. By the time that he has been eighteen months or two years in the country, he will have his eyes open, know the value of every thing, and will not be imposed upon as he would have been had he taken a farm immediately upon his arrival. He will have laid by a sufficient sum for him to begin with, and he will have become acquainted with the mode of farming in the country, which is very different from what he has been used to in the old. He may then go on and prosper.
The next description of emigrant settler to which I shall address myself is he who comes out with a small capital, say from two hundred to five hundred pounds; a sum sufficient to enable him to commence farming at once, but not sufficient to allow him to purchase or stock a farm which has a portion of the land already cleared. The government lands fetch at auction about ten shillings an acre, and they are paid for by instalments, one-tenth down, and one-tenth every year, with interest, until the whole be paid; of course, he may pay it all at once, if he pleases, and save the interest. He must not purchase more than four hundred acres. He can always procure more if he is successful. His first instalment to government for the purchase of four hundred acres will be eighty dollars.
His next object is to have a certain portion of his land cleared for him. The price varies according to the size and quantity of the portion; but you may say, at the highest, it will cost about sixteen dollars an acre. Let him clear ten acres, and then build his house and barns. I will make two estimates, between which he may decide according to his means.
Estimate 1.
| Dollars. | |
| Instalment to Government | 80 |
| Shingle-house | 400 |
| Furniture | 100 |
| Barns and sheds | 400 |
| Ten acres clearing | 160 |
| Oxen | 80 |
| Cow | 20 |
| Pigs and poultry | 20 |
| Plough, harrow, etcetera. | 20 |
| Seed | 50 |
| Horse and wagon | 100 |
| About 300 pounds | 1,430 |
| To this (if you have no family | |
| able to work) for a man and his wife | 300 |
| Expenses of living the first year | 200 |
| 400 pounds | 1930 |
Estimate 2.
| Dollars | |
| Instalment to Government | 80 |
| Log-house and furniture | 100 |
| Barn | 60 |
| Clearing | 160 |
| Oxen | 80 |
| Cow | 20 |
| Pigs and poultry | 20 |
| Plough, harrow, etcetera. | 20 |
| Seed | 50 |
| Horse and wagon | 100 |
| 150 pounds | 690 |
But choosing between these two estimates, according to his means, that is, by reserving, if possible, one hundred pounds for contingencies, he has every chance of doing well. He must bear in mind, that although every year his means will increase, he must not cripple himself by an outlay of all his money at first starting. After the first year, he will be able to support himself and family from the farm. I have put every thing at the outside expense, that he may not be deceived; but he must not expend all his capital at once; his horse or oxen may die—his crops may partially fail—he may have severe illness—all these contingencies must be provided against.
But the settler who goes out under the most favourable circumstances, is the one who has one thousand pounds or more, and who can, therefore, purchase a farm of from two hundred to four hundred acres, with a portion cleared, and a house and offices ready built. These are always to be had, for there are people in the Canadas, as in America, who have pleasure in selling their cleared land, and going again into the bush. These farms are often to be purchased at the rate of from five to ten dollars per acre for the whole, cleared and uncleared. In this case all the difficulties have been smoothed away for him, and all that he has to do is, to be industrious and sober.
When I was at London, on the river Thames, (in Upper Canada I mean), I might have purchased a farm, lying on the banks of that river, of four hundred acres, seventy of them cleared, and the rest covered with the finest oak timber, with a fine water-power, and a saw-mill in full work, a good house, barn, and out-buildings and kitchen garden, for six hundred pounds. In ten years this property will be worth more than six thousand pounds; and in twenty more, if the country improves as fast as it does now, at least fifteen thousand pounds.