The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-15 00:00:00

THE SIIN, LONDO X, TUESDAY Ili VENING, OCTOBER 15, 1861.

however, where the sun-warmed soil itself is equi-
valent to our most skilfully-contrived forcing frames,
and where, without manuring or care of any kind,
the melons, pumpkins, and gourds of all descrip-
tions, flourish in spontaneous abundance. Writing
to a correspondent in one of the penal colonies,
CHARLES LAMB once drily put to his friend the
query----" Do you grow your own hemp ?" Canada
could certainly answer a like inquiry with literal
truth in the affirmative. Acknowledging the same
also in regard to flax. For flax and hemp, there,
are alike indigenous. There, too, are obtained by
the agriculturist, among the ordinary crops, very
fair returns, indeed, of Indian corn, of hops, and
of tobacco.

Reverting to the fruit crops of Canada, the
product of the garden or of the orchard, it is sig-
nificant, assuredly, as indicative of the geniality
of the climate and of the fruitfulness of the soil,
that in many parts of that colony—as, for example,
by the Niagara frontier or along the shores of
Lake Erie—the grape and the peach grow luxu-
riantly, mellowing to perfection in the autumnal
air, without any artificial assistance at all. As
for the apples of the island of Montreal, they are
known to vie with the rarest produce culled from
the apple orchards of Kent or Devonshire. While,
as to the plums grown upon the island of Orleans
—who does not know the fame won for them-
selves by the Orleans Plums ? Canada, in many
parts of it, in fact, is little less than a fruit
garden, in which the gardener has little else to
do than to prune and gather in the crops.

Now, as to the cereal produce of the Canadian
soil. Let the following facts speak for them-
selves : " The average yield of wheat in some
townships," says a recent number of the Canadian
News, " exceeds 22 bushels to the acre, and where
an approach to good farming prevails the yield
rises to 30 and even 40 bushels to the acre. On
new land 50 bushels is not very uncommon ; and
it must not be forgotten that Canadian wheat,
grown near the city of Toronto, won a first
prize at the Paris Exhibition." "It may truly
be said," adds our colonial contemporary, " that
the soil of what may be termed the agricul-
tural portion of Canada, which comprises four-
fifths of the inhabited portion, and a vast
area still in the hands of the Government and now
open to settlement, is unexceptionable, and when
deterioration takes place it is the fault of the far-
mer and not of the soil. In Canada the yield of
wheat in 1860 considerably exceeded 40,000,000
bushels, and the quality of Canadian wheat is so
superior that the American millers buy it for the
purpose of mixing with grain grown in the United
States, in order to improve the quality of their
flour, and, in some instances, to render it fit for ex-
portation." Aware of all this, it is no matter of sur-
prise to us that the course of emigration sweeps on
so steadily, and powerfully, and increasingly in the
direction of Canada. Neither is it in any way re-
markable that the value of land there has risen, and
in point of fact is still rising so wonderfully !
" With reference to the value of land," says the
colonial authority last • quoted, "Australia ex-
cepted, no country can furnish such singular in-
stances of the rises in value of survey lands as
the last seven years nave witnessed in Canada.
The cause, too, is so obvious, now that it is
understood that men wonder why the event had not
been foreseen years before its occurrence. The rea-
son is fully conveyed in the assertion that the coun-
try was not prepared for it. Eighteen hundred and
fifty-two saw Canada 'without a railway ; eighteen
hundred and sixty-one sees her with 1,876 miles
completed, and many more in process of construc-
tion. The rise in the value of land is thus easily
explained. Means of communication•of the highest
order have opened up the country, made available
a vast amount of inert wealth, stimulated industry,
and effected a complete revolution in farming eco-
nomy within 20 miles on either side of the course
they pursue." Let but Canada continue thus mar-
vellously to advance, and let British Columbia con-
tinue also to develope its own wonderful resources,
and the day-dream in which our imagination has
so often luxuriated must, in the natural course of
events, be realised ! And that day-dream ? Who
does not recognise it, upon our merely mentioning
thus together the suggestive names of Canada and
British Columbia ? It is the bringing into rapid
communication with each other of the shores of the
Atlantic and the shores of the Pacific by continuous
lines of railway and by the extension of the electric
telegraph.

VISIT OF THE KING OF HOLLAND TO FRANCE.—
*is worthy of notice that the Moniteur, in announcing
the arrival at Compiegne of the sovereign commonly known
as the King of Holland, styles him the King of the " Low
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fmPunaarbinisyeddtiostehreee:pemanoPeniieegsdnuientytthfooeirr statements this evening. We
read in the Opinion Nationale :—" The ceremony of the re-
ception was the same as that observed for the King of
Prussia, only that there was a little less etiquette and more
familiarity." The Presse says, on the other hand :—" Con-
trary to what was the case with the King of Prussia, the
reception of the King of Holland is altogether official." This
much appears certain—that the sovereigns met in full uni-
form, instead of in plain clothes." According to the Patrie
the first words of the King on meeting the Emperor were,
" It must be said that I am punctual, for I am here five
minutes before the time." But the chronicler of the .Presse
says that his Majesty's exclamation was, " Oh, sire, I have
kept you waiting;" to which remark the Emperor gra-
ciously replied, " Not at all your Majesty. I believe it is
scarcely the time." It is to be hoped that history will
settle these important differences. The following is the
programme of the entertainments provided for the King :
To-day a visit to Pierrefonds. On Monday a court stag-
hunt, at which the Imperial Prince 'will appear on a pony,
and will be dressed like his father, in a hunting suit of the
time of Louis XV. On Tuesday the Emperor will accom-
pany the King to Paris, and the two sovereigns will dine
at the Tuileries. On Wednesday there is to be a shooting
party at Versailles, and a breakfast in the forest. The
King will afterwards stay two days in Paris.
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE NEW LIFE BOAT.—Yes-
terday some interesting experiments were made in the Re-
gent's Canal Dock, Limehouse, with a new lifeboat which
had been built, under the superintendence of the National
Lifeboat Institution, for the government of the Cape of
Good Hope, through Messrs. Barnard and Julyan, the
agents general for Crown colonies, by the Messrs. Forrestt.
The boat is 33 feet long and 8 feet 2 inches wide, and rows
ten oars. There were present at the trial the secretary of the
National Lifeboat Institution, Mr. Prowse, its building sur-
veyor, Messrs. Forrestt, and a large concourse of persons.
The lifeboat was capsized by means of some tackling con-
necting her with a hydraulic crane. She instantly self-
lighted, and self-ejected the water thus shipped, through
patent valves, in 25 seconds, which appeared to be quite a
marvel to the bystanders: It required 33 men to bring the
gunwale of the boat to the water's edge; thus showing how
difficult it would be for the heaviest seas to capsize hey.
Again, when the boat's valves wero opened and the beat
half filled with water it required 23 men to bring her gun-
wale awash, showing still further her great stability. A
transporting carriage, built by Mr. J. Robinson, of Camden
Town, accompanies the boat, which leaves to day for the
Cape of Good Hope, whence they will be sent to the port of
East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo River, British
Kaffraria. Messrs. Forrestt had previously built two or
three self-righting lifeboats on the same principle for the
Cape Colony. It was said at the trial that some of the life-
boats of the National Lifeboat Institution had within the
last 21 months been the means of rescuing from different
shipwrecks on the coasts of the United Kingdom 410 per •
sons—a most gratifying fact, and showing how much has
been accomplished by the well -directed efforts. of the institu •
lion in this important and philanthropic cause. It is sin-
cerely hoped the public will continue to strengthen the
hands of the committee of the institution eons to assist them
tTgtooihvcgeoairevtrhxeyaamossonpicral vigorously, during the ensuing winter, their
great and national
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