“Important, however, as a marketable situation appears, it ought by no means to be procured by any great sacrifice as to the quality of the land; for, as Mr. Talbot justly states, it is vain for a cultivator to be near a market, if he has little or nothing to carry to it. It has been already mentioned, that after paying the original price, a much larger sum, nearly equal in every case, must be expended in bringing the land under cultivation. Thus there is little difference between the cost of good and bad soil, while the former only, under existing disadvantages, ever can remunerate the settler. It is a grievous thing, as Mr. Shirreff observes, to incur heavy labour and expense in clearing a spot, and then find it worth little. The settler, therefore, who brings with him a certain amount of capital, practises a most wretched economy when he hesitates to pay such an original price as will secure both a good situation and good land. If a small sacrifice must be made, it should rather be on the former. A larger produce will pay for a small addition on the cost of transport, and time may remedy the one evil, but will never make a bad sale good. Some sacrifice of this kind may often be necessary; since, as Mr. Fergusson remarks, on the immediate banks of lakes and rivers it is not unfrequently light and sandy, whence arises the necessity of going somewhat into the interior in order to find the more valuable description. “In consequence of the views now stated, it becomes a highly important question what are the market or _cash_ districts (as they are sometimes called), in contradistinction to those in the _bush_. In regard to Canada, the topographical details already given must throw important lights on the subject; and to these some general observations shall now be added. The shipping ports of Montreal or Quebec form the central points, by proximity to which the advantages of all sites in either province are to be estimated; and next to this is a location on navigable waters having a ready communication with them. The banks of the St. Lawrence between these two cities are occupied to a considerable depth inland by the French seigniories. Land, however, in the vicinity of Montreal may still be procured, having the advantages of a ready market; but from this very circumstance it cannot be purchased under a price varying from 10_l._ to 20_l._ an acre, a rate beyond the reach of most emigrants. It may be rented indeed at 10_s._ or 12_s._ and Mr. Shirreff is of opinion that farming may there be carried on with advantage; but in a country where land may be obtained in full property at so cheap a rate, the British settler is not likely to be content with this dependent tenure. His object, therefore, must be sought somewhat farther in the interior.