Page 303 - Annuaire Statistique Québec - 1918

Vln--PRÜDUCTlüN

We have grouped in this section the figures indicating the economie
state of the Province of Quebec regarding agriculture and the industries
derived from it, the breed ing of fur-beal'ing animaIs, the trade in furs,
the industries drawn from the forest, the exploitation of fisheries and
mines and the production of manufactures. The last part of this
chapter contains a brief sketch of our national wealth.

A-AGRICULTURE

Champlain and the twenty-seven settlers who accompanied him
in 1608, tested the fertiUty of the banks of the St. Lawrence, and in the
following year, the founder of Quebec gathered corn \vheat, rye and
vegetables in his garden of New France. These farmers, however, were
merely transient and did not become attached to the soil they had dis-
covered; the true pioneer of the most important and most prosperous
industry of the Province of Quebec was Louis Hébert who settled in
Quebec in 1617, possessing no other agricultural implement than a
spade. Other colonists settled afterwards in the vicinity of the forts
and inhabited regions in order to devote themselves ta farrning. Arnong
these ploughmen were Abraham Martin and Robert Giffard to whom
the first seigni0ry was granted in 1634..
The development of ngriculture was slow but continuous and in
proportion to the growth of the population. The census by the gov-
ernors of the colony furnished limited information regarding cultivation
at this period. Every census previous to 1692 mentions only the areas
cultivated and the number of heads of cattle. In 1667, there were
11,488 arpents of land under cultivation in the colony which then had
a population of 3,918. The farru animais numbered 3,192 of which
3,107 were cattle and 85 were sheep. In 1692, the area under cultivation
was 26,669 arpents and the area reserved for pasture amounted to
3,643 arpents. The population in that year was 12,431 inhabitants.
W'beat especially was cultivated, and gave a crop of 89,711 bushels.
The number of cattle had increased to 11,804. Each census which fol-
lowed at irregular intervals until 1784, then every ten years starting
from 1851, always showed a constant increase in the amount of areas
under cultivation or in pasture and the number of domestic animaIs.
In addition to the plants required for food, Bax a.nd hemp for the
manufacturing of Jinen were cultivated. Tobacco was not neglected
sinee the crop of 1734 yielded 106,054 pounds. The farmers also began
breeding cattle as soon as their lands became sufficiently productive.
By referring to the previous editions of the Year Book one will
find detailed statistics l'egarding the development of agriculture and the
importance of stock raising, in the official figures of every periodical
census.