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Mervin Inman, Belmont, relates that early settlers

planted two acres of wheat. The har-

Farming

Early settlers experienced hardship and struggled to clear land with nothing more than an axe, and a horse or an ox. Despite the difficulties, farm after farm gradually appeared on the horizon. By 1833, there were population gains on both the Lot 14 and Lot 16 sides of the Ellis (Grand) River with 400 to 450 people living in the peninsula area. There were 1500 acres of cleared land recorded.10 As early agricul- ture provided only subsistence, the barter system thrived. Potatoes, turnips, peas, and cabbage were planted between the tree stumps and grain seeds were spread by hand upon the ground. Hay was harvested from the marshes.

Yearly, settlers toiled to clear more land and slowly remove the stumps and level the land. Many of their tools were handmade. Each year, as more land was brought under cultivation, the acreage and variety of crops expanded. Oats, wheat, barley, and flax were the staple grain crops grown. Vegetable root crops that could be stored for the winter remained a priority. The livestock industry grew as the settlers were able to pro-

vest was enough to duce the necessary feed for cattle, sheep, and swine.

meet their flour needs and provide next year’s seed.

5

The measure of success was self—sufficiency and Island farms achieved this from 1850 to 1880. The Island became an exporter of oats, potatoes, cattle, sheep, and pigs to Britain, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the eastern United States.11 The early tenants of the land lived under the constant worry of losing all they laboured for should they fail to pay the rent, or incur the displeasure of the landlord. The land issue became a daily problem for the settlers until the Island’s entry into Confederation. A politician from Lot 16, Allan Fraser, spent his career in the House of Assembly fighting the land issue. Once farmers won the right to buy their farms, rapid improvements were made in farm operations and pro- duction levels. An apt description of farms in the Lot 16 area by the mid-18005 came from two advertisements from the Pioneer newspaper:

GROWTH OF A COMMUNITY