The Most Pleasant Season

The farmers in Canada have to work hard during the summer but in winter there is not much work, those that are clearing off land generally do their heavy chopping in winter, and thresh out their grain, take it to the Mill, then carry their flour to market ....

The winter is considered the most pleasant season for people travelling, for when the snow falls it seldom goes away until spring. In winter the farmers use sleighs instead of wagons or carts. The runners of the sleigh are of wood shod with iron, and bent up at front so as to rise over any log that might be in the way. They carry heavier loads with the sleighs in winter than they do in summer with the wagon. In winter the snow fills up the little hollow places and makes it nearly level.

David Gibson of Markham Mills, 1827. Local History Collection, Richmond Hill Public Library