Moveable capital County of Northumberland, fixed capital, exclusive of mills, in wharfs, &c.; and exclusive of houses and real property, valued at £300,000, belonging to persons carrying on the lumber trade 58,750 Moveable capital annually invested in the lumber Moveable, about County Charlotte, fixed, at the ledge, at St. An 35,000 Moveable, &c. &c., about 40,000 £940,750 Total fixed capital at present in mills, including POPLINE those built since the estimate of the year ending Dec. 1831 238,000 £1,178,750 Total fixed capital in the timber trade of the meg The above calculations I have drawn up, with great care, from the various returns sent me from the province. It is difficult to ascertain the quantity of gypsum exported. A confusion appears in the returns made from the port of St. Andrew's, and a great portion is imported for re-exportation, from Nova Scotia. The whole quantity of gypsum is about 10,000 tons; value 5000l. Grindstones form another commodity of export; in value about 30,0001. The average annual exports of timber and lumber, for the years 1830, 1831, 1832, equal The balance of exports consists of the value of dry and pickled fish, about 36,000l. Cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry, a little agricultural produce, hides, horns, butter, cheese, lard, furs, which, with the gypsum, grindstones, and timber, form the articles of export actually belonging to the colony. The remaining exports consist of West India produce, received in return for lumber and fish, and British manufactures re-exported. CHAP. XI. AGRICULTURE. THE agriculture of New Brunswick, which must one day be the essential pursuit of the majority of its population, was long considered unworthy of attention, as if the lands of the province were incapable of yielding any valuable production excepting pinetrees, and as if these, and the furs of wild animals, with the salmon that frequented its rivers, and the cod, herring, mackerel, gaspereaux, and shad, that swarmed round its shores, were the only means from which the inhabitants should ever derive their subsistence, or upon which they could depend as sources of wealth.* The cultivation of the soil was, therefore, a pursuit that continued for a long time without attractions. The fertile diked marshes of Westmoreland, and the rich intervale lands on the St. John and other rivers, were, it is true, under tillage, or appropriated to grazing; but, further than raising a sufficient quantity of grain and potatoes for a bare subsistence, and rearing a horse or two, and a few horned cattle, sheep, and pigs, agriculture, in reality languished; and the majority of the most valuable farms were, after the reaction which succeeded the peace in 1815, and again in 1826, mortgaged to their full value. Many of the best farms in this, and in all the other North American colonies, may, I believe, be found, at the present day, under similar embarrassments, wherever the possessors have followed other pursuits,a in preference to the cultivation and improvement of their lands. * A gentleman of talent, experience, and high standing, residing in the colonies, when comparing the condition of Nova Scotia with that of New Brunswick, observed to me, "Every country has its age. The present age of New Brunswick is the age of wood.' It must necessarily be so, until it become more populously settled, and then the lands will be well cultivated. It will have its ' age of agriculture' in due time. In new countries, you must allow people to gain their living as they best can; you cannot force them into any path of industry; but you may gradually lead them by example, when they observe that you are thriving." The establishment of agricultural societies in Nova Scotia had some influence on the farmers of New Brunswick; but it does not appear that the spirit of agriculture began to diffuse itself with any degree of animation, until after the appointment of Sir Howard Douglas to the administration of the government. The penetration of Sir Howard immediately dis covered that the fertile lands of the province afforded the only substantial source of subsistence and plenty, to its inhabitants. He accordingly requested a meeting, at Fredericton, of the members of the legislature, and of intelligent men from all parts of the province, in February 1825.00 He addressed them in a speech, which explicitly stated his views in calling them together. His address, on occasion of this meeting, proved how well he knew the condition of the province. He adverted, with great truth, to the vast sums the colony paid to other countries for food, and to the necessity of cultivating its extensive fertile lands. He then directed their attention to whatever might render the condition of emigrants comfortable, or their labours useful; and recommended the establishment of a savings' bank and the formation of agricultural and emigrant societies. These were established immediately after; and, in order to improve the breed of live stock, horses, bulls of the short-horned Durham breed, rams of the Dishly or Leicestershire breed, pigs, &c., with various improved implements of husbandry, as models by which to make others, were imported by the agricultural society. District agricultural societies were formed soon after; and the spirit of agriculture has since that period been gradually diffusing itself among the farmers all over the province. Emulation is also excited by ploughing-matches, the exhibition of cattle and agricultural productions, and by the distribution of premiums. Farming, however, is yet in a rude state. There still exists a lazy attachment to the make-shift system, an absence of neatness amidst luxuriant vegetation. In short, the mere means of living are too easily obtained; and when this is the case, the stimulus to improvement and the attainment of order seems to cease. Ab It is difficult to change confirmed habits; and the colony requires a vast addition of industrious agricultural settlers to its present population, before it can possess that prosperity, independence, and wealth, for which its valuable lands afford a solid and permanent foundation. : Horses, black cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, thrive as well in New Brunswick as in England.* Near the sea-coast of the Bay of Fundy, wheat : * A young ox, reared in the province by Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, weighed, when killed 1 |