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.
