LETTER XVII.

HORTICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS - - MELONS, CUCUMBERS, GOURDS, POMEGRANATES, AND SQUASHES-RED PEPPER, BEET-ROOT, AND RADISHES CARROTS AND PARSNIPS- CABBAGES, BEANS AND PEAS-CELERY, ASPARAGUS, SPINAGE AND SEA-KAIL WHEAT, MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN, RYE, BARLEY AND OATS - POTATOES, TURNIPS AND PUMPKINS-TOBACCO, HEMP AND FLAX.

ALTHOUGH the people of Canada pay little attention to horticultural pursuits, there are many fruits and vegetables found in their gardens, superior to the finest productions of our expensive hot-beds and flashy green-houses.

MELONS, the seeds of which are carelessly strewed over the ground, and covered without any attention to system or neatness, attain a degree of perfection, both as to size and flavour, that the Northern fruits of Great Britain can never acquire after all the artificial aid which they obtain. In Upper Canada they generally weigh 20 lbs., and the largest 50 lbs., affording one of the greatest luxuries, without labour or expence of any kind, to a people who are little capable of duly appreciating the delicacies which their indulgent skies scatter round them with the most profuse liberality. If

the climate of Canada were as unfavourable to the growth of fruits and vegetables, as that of Great Britain and Ireland, its inhabitants would live and die without ever partaking of either: For they are too indolent and careless to put forth those exertions which would then be necessary to procure them. If Manna were showered down from heaven into their mouths, I dare say they would swallow it; but if it fell upon the ground, they would submit to a degree of partial starvation before they would take the trouble of collecting it.

CUCUMBERS, Gourds, Pomegranates and Squashes, also attain the highest perfection of which they are capable, without any, the most trivial attention

or expence.

RED PEPPER is also produced in the Canadian gardens. When ripe, the pods are of the finest scarlet colour; and the pepper-corns, if ground with them, are not at all inferior to the best Cayenne.

BEET, the root of which, though very insipid, affords the Canadians a favourite pickle, may be found in great plenty.

RADISHES, Carrots, and Parsnips, although they are cultivated in the same careless manner as every other vegetable, grow to the most astonishing size. They are often found 18 inches in length, and nearly two feet in circumference.

CABBAGES are generally injured by insects; and few of them can be found excellent in quality, or of an agreeable flavour.

The Common White or WINDSOR BEAN never

comes to perfection; but French Beans of various kinds, and peas, thrive extremely well, and are cultivated on a very extensive scale.

CELERY, Asparagus, Spinage, and Sea-kail, or Colewort, though little cultivated, appear to flourish wherever they are tried. In fact, Dr. Goldsmith's lines on the fine productions of Italy, with a little alteration, would apply as well to Canada.

Whatever fruits in different climes are found,
That proudly rise, or humbly court the ground;
Whatever blooms in torrid tracts appear,
Whose bright succession decks the varied year;
Whatever sweets salute the Northern sky,
With vernal leaves, that blossom but to die ;
These, here disporting, own the kindred soil;
Nor ask luxuriance from the planter's toil;
In nature's beauty groves and woods appear,
MAN seems the only growth that dwindles here.

It is true there are many "fruits found in different climes," which are unknown in Canada; but it is at the same time generally allowed, that there are very few which might not be cultivated with success in the South Western parts of Upper Canada. There, the summers are very long and exceedingly hot; the usual range of the thermometer being, in the shade, from 70 deg. to 105 deg. of Fahrenheit.

GRAIN of every description also succeeds well in Canada, and may be cultivated well to any extent.

RICE has never yet become an object of attention to the Canadian farmer; though, there can be

no doubt, from the overflowings to which several of the smaller rivers are subject, that it might be rendered a very profitable production. It grows in a wild state on marshy grounds in various parts of the Upper Province, but particularly in the vicinity of the Rice Lakes in the Newcastle District. Wild fowl feed and fatten on this grain; and the Indians are very expert in gathering it on the sedgy margins of the lakes: They paddle into a growing mass, and thresh, in their own way, the grain from the stalk while it overhangs the sides of their canoes. They frequently obtain as much rice as serves for their own consumption, and the remainder is sold with a good profit to the European settlers, who use it for various domestic purposes. This rice is of a large kind, and has a brown husk.

MAIZE, OF INDIAN CORN, four quarts of which are sufficient to plant an acre, averages about 25 bushels in the Western Districts of Upper Canada, but not more than 16 in the Eastern Districts, or in any part of Lower Canada. It is sometimes planted in drills, and, during its quick growth, is carefully weeded, hoe-ed, and pruned. As the interstices between each plant are considerable, pumpkins are sown at various distances, and spread themselves in great perfection among the Indian corn. Twelve hundred large pumpkins are often thus raised on a single acre, and afford a very important article of home consumption to a settler's family, as well as excellent provender for his cattle in Autumn.

FALL or WINTER WHEAT is generally sown between the 1st of August and the middle of September, and sometimes even later. SPRING WHEAT is put into the ground about the 20th of April, and is ripe for the sickle by the latter days of August, which is from three weeks to a month after the Winter wheat is harvested. The average crop of Winter wheat is about 25 bushels to an acre. Spring wheat is equal in quality to the Winter wheat; but it is neither so productive, nor as safe a crop: Sixty pounds only are sown upon an acre, and sometimes not more than forty-five.

The

RYE is much cultivated, particularly in the Upper Province, where it is principally used for distillation. It averages about twenty bushels an acre, and sells for twenty-five per cent. less than wheat.

OATS, which are generally of a miserable description, appear to be the most unprofitable crop in the country. I have never seen an acre of even

This is partly owing to the diminutive size of the grain, and partly to the influence of the climate, which causes it to plant more extensively than it can in colder climates. The Hessian Fly, also, though not so destructive to the wheat-crops of Canada, as it is to those of the United States, has this season (1823) done much injury in many parts of the Upper Province. When a chrysalis, it is about the size and exactly in the shape of a grain of flax-seed. Its form, as an eruca, is that of a very small white maggot; and, in its perfect state, it is not much larger than a gnat. It deposits its eggs in the Autumn, above the first joint of the wheat: The embryo fly perforates the stalk, and in some instances cuts it entirely away.

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