Stranica 219 [219]
OCR
w 15th. Wages of blacksmiths, masons and carpenters are very high. 16th, Wages of common laborers: $130 per annum; per winter month, from $8 to $13; per summer month, $12 to $16; for harvest work, per day, 5s. and boarded. Women, for house work per week, 5s.; women, for spinning, 5s. to 6s. per week. 17th, Price of mowing grass for hay, 2s. 6d. per acre, and boarded ; reaping wheat, 5s. per acre, and boarded ; cradling grain, 2s. 6d. per acre, and boarded. 18th. Cost of clearing and fencing: A given piece of woodland, say five acres, from $13 to $15 per acre. It may be well to observe here that new land in general does not require ploughing, but simply harrowing for the first crop. 19th, Price of a good work horse, 4 years old, from $50 to $70; a pair or yoke of oxen, 5 years old, from $70 to $80; a good cow, from $20 to $25; sheep, $2 to $3 per head. zoth, Quantity of wool yielded from one sheep, from 2 to 5 lbs. Average price of wool: Ordinary quality, 25.; superior, 2s. 6¢ per pound. 21st. Time of turning out beasts to pasture: Young cattle are generally turned into the woods about the 2oth of April, as also cows, but if the spring is backward, it is necessary to feed thema week or two longer. Horses and working cattle or oxen are kept up till the ploughing season is over for the spring crops. They are generally taken to stable or yard some time in November, according as the season is. 22nd. Ordinary time of sleighing season: The commencement much depends on the forwardness of the winter, but generally begins about tlie zoth of December, and ends about the 2oth of March. This mode of travelling is both pleasant and expeditious, and of the greatest utility for conveying timber and heavy loads. Ploughing in the spring commences about 2oth April, 23rd. Time of sowing wheat in the fall: from the 25th of August to the 15th of October—the earlier the better. For spring wheat and rye, the ground being previously ploughed in the fall, it is sown to most advantage by harrowing the seed in as early as possible, say from the 15th to goth of April. Usual time of reaping: generally from the zoth of July to the middle of August. Barley, oats, and pease are cultivated with great success; the same rules for spring wheat are also applicable to these grains. 24th. Quantity of wheat to sow an acre of ground : one and one-quarter bushels if sown early—if later, a peck is generally added. Twenty-five to thirty bushels may be considered as the average yield, ——— = = although many have been the instances of a much greater quantity, especially in early sowings and faithful culture. 25th. One cow will produce 150 lbs. of cheese and 80 lbs. of butter annually, and a greater quantity if highly fed. Average price of cheese, 82; butter, Is. 3d. currency per pound. We cannot confine ourselves to answer as to the age of an ox, or the quantity of pasture ground, but experience has shown us that if a full grown working ox is turned out in the wilderness in the spring, in the following fall he will weigh from 800 to 1,200, and produce about 60 lbs. rough tallow, 26th. Ordinary course of cropping new land: Experience has shown it is the best way to take but one crop of wheat off, and seed the ground down to grass, which will produce abundantly for five or six years, by which time the roots are so far rotten that it may be ploughed and fallowed to good advantage for wheat, and afterwards suitable for other grains for several years, requiring no manure, except it is required to plant Indian corn, in which case manure is necessary. The last mentioned grain does extraordinary well on new land the first crop, and very well the second crop. Potatoes and turnips are raised in great abundance also on new land. Of the former, new ground will yield from 30 to 40 bushels to one bushel planting. In this Township, 600 bushels of turnips were raised on two acres of new ground. The natural advantages of the country are great in point of helps, for any of the above mentioned waters. Reproduction is understood, but not as yet much practiced. 27th. It is difficult to let lands to advantage without stocking it. If stocked the produce is equally divided. 28th. Price of wildlands: At firstsettlement, 25. 62. per acre, and some was sold for less; in eight or ten years it rose to 5s. per acre ; in a few more years to tos., and so to 15s. per acre. Lands on the river are now worth 205. per acre. Those in the 2nd and 3rd ranges, tos.; further back, 5s., provided no settlement is near. 29th. The quantity of land now for sale in this Township is very great, as but few of the back lands are settled, except in the rear of the Township. It is supposed, on good grounds, that there may be upwards of twenty thousand acres for sale. 30th. State of public roads: Formerly our roads were almost impassable. It is about four years ago the government took the matter into consideration and granted money for laying out and repairing the good purposes. In this township the money granted 1’ ail ad
