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Archiver > QUEBEC-RESEARCH > 2004-03 > 1080169450
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Subject: [Q-R] Excerpt Of History
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 18:04:10 EST
"In the 1780s farming began in Upper Canada with the arrival of the
Loyalist settlers. They cleared the land of dense forest to build homes and farms
that would provide their basic needs. Over the next few decades, more immigrants
joined the first Loyalist settlers. More land was cleared, roads and waterways
were improved, and communities grew. By the late 1830s farming was well
established. Wheat was the main crop and source of income. Then, as now, wheat
supplied much of the worlds food so there was a ready market for any surpluses
which farmers could produce.
By the mid 1850s wheat production began to decline due to a combination of
factors, crop diseases, wheat midge, rust and smut),(watch out for that midge
and smut, Tu Tu) soil exhaustion, and climatic change brought on in part by
deforestation. The declining income from wheat sales forced experimentation with
mixed farming. This form of farming gained popularity by the 1860s and
continued in eastern Ontario for almost 100 years when it was gradually replaced by
more specialized dairy farming. By the late 1860s, a progressive farmer had
become more dependent on livestock for his income. This necessitated a change in
the types of crops grown. Hay and oats for livestock feed began to displace
wheat on some farms."
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