My first impression of this man was pretty nearly such as I have
described; and, though I suspected and shunned him, I was sure to
meet him at every turn. At length this unfavourable feeling wore off
in some degree, and finding him in the best society of the place,
I began to think that his countenance belied him, and I reproached
myself for my ungenerous suspicions.
Feeling a certain security in the smallness of my available capital,
I did not hesitate in applying to Mr. Q - - to sell me a farm,
particularly as I was aware of his anxiety to induce me to settle
near C - -, for the reasons already stated. I told him that 300
pounds was the very largest sum I could give for a farm, and that,
if I could not get one for that price, I should join my friends in
the backwoods.
Q - -, after scratching his head, and considering for a few minutes,
told me that he knew a farm which he could sell me for that price,
particularly as he wished to get rid of a set of Yankee rascals who
prevented emigrants from settling in that neighbourhood. We
afterwards found that there was but too good reason for the
character he gave of some of our neighbours.
Q - - held a mortgage for 150 pounds on a farm belonging to a certain
Yankee settler, named Joe H - -, as security for a debt incurred for
goods at his store, in C - -. The idea instantly struck Q - - that he
would compel Joe H - - to sell him his farm, by threatening to
foreclose the mortgage. I drove out with Mr. Q - - next day to see
the farm in question. It was situated in a pretty retired valley,
surrounded by hills, about eight miles from C - -, and about a mile
from the great road leading to Toronto. There was an extensive
orchard upon the farm, and two log houses, and a large frame-barn.
A considerable portion of the cleared land was light and sandy; and
the uncleared part of the farm, situated on the flat, rocky summit
of a high hill, was reserved for "a sugar bush," and for supplying
fuel. On the whole, I was pleased with the farm, which was certainly
cheap at the price of 300 pounds; and I therefore at once closed the
bargain with Mr. Q - -.
At that time I had not the slightest idea but that the farm actually
belonged to the land-jobber; and I am to this day unable to tell by
what means he succeeded in getting Mr. H - - to part with his
property.
The father of Joe H - - had cleared the farm, and while the soil was
new it gave good crops; but as the rich surface, or "black muck," as
it is called, became exhausted by continual cropping, nothing but a
poor, meagre soil remained.
The early settlers were wretched farmers; they never ploughed deep
enough, and never thought of manuring the land. After working the
land for several years, they would let it lie waste for three or
four years without sowing grass-seeds, and then plough it up again
for wheat. The greater part of the hay raised on these farms was
sold in the towns, and the cattle were fed during the long severe
winter on wheat-straw. The natural result of this poor nourishment
was, that their cattle continually degenerated, and great numbers
died every spring of a disease called the "hollow horn," which
appears to be peculiar to this country. When the lands became
sterile, from this exhausting treatment, they were called "worn-out
farms;" and the owners generally sold them to new settlers from the
old country, and with the money they received, bought a larger
quantity of wild lands, to provide for their sons; by whom the same
improvident process was recommenced.
These early settlers were, in fact, only fit for pioneers to a more
thrifty class of settlers.
Joe H - -, or "Uncle Joe," as the country people call any
acquaintance, after a fashion borrowed, no doubt, from the Dutch
settlers of the State of New York, was, neither by his habits nor
industry, likely to become more prosperous than his neighbours of
the same thoughtless class. His father had worked hard in his time,
and Uncle Joe thought he had a good right to enjoy himself. The
nearest village was only five miles from his place, and he was never
without some excuse for going thither every two or three days. His
horse wanted shoeing, or his plough or waggon wanted "to be fixed"
by the blacksmith or carpenter. As a matter of course, he came home
"pretty high;" for he was in the constant habit of pouring a
half-tumbler of whiskey down his throat, standing bolt upright at
the bar of the tavern, after which he would drink about the same
quantity of cold water to wash it down. These habits together with
bad farming, and a lazy, slovenly helpmate, in a few years made Joe
as poor as he could desire to be; and at last he was compelled to
sell his farm to Mr. Q - -.
After we had got settled down on this farm, I had often occasion to
drive into C - -, for the purpose of buying groceries and other
necessaries, as we then thought them, at the store of Mr. Q - -. On
these occasions I always took up my quarters, for the time, at the
tavern of our worthy Yankee friend, Mr. S - -. As I drove up to the
door, I generally found S - - walking about briskly on the boarded
platform, or "stoop," in front of the house, welcoming his guests
in his own peculiar free-and-easy style, looking after their horses,
and seeing that his people were attentive to their duties.
