The Ordinary People of Essex

Environment, Culture, and Economy on the Frontier of Upper Canada

By John Clarke
Series: Carleton Library Series
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Hardcover : 9780773536746, 776 pages, November 2010
Paperback : 9780773537774, 776 pages, September 2011
Ebook (PDF) : 9780773581258, 773 pages, November 2010

Description

Clarke covers a remarkable number of topics, including geographic factors in the choice of agricultural land, land acquisition and clearance, energy expended in clearing and planting the land, and selection of specific crops and their extent and yields in particular combinations of soils. He also investigates the geographic parameters for wheat production - which drove the local economy - and the cultural origins of farmers as it relates to their use of intensive and extensive agriculture. Brimming with detail and expert analysis, The Ordinary People of Essex is an illuminating study of settler life and the conditions that make it possible to found a community. It complements the author's award-winning Land, Power, and Economics.