Under the French Regime 43

around Malpeque Bay was particularly hard hit between 1749 and 1751. Sieur de la Roque describes these catastrophic years:

...the first one was brought on by field mice, [...] as soon as they had totally devoured the countryside, they scurried into the water and drowned...

The second one was brought on by countless swarms of grasshoppers that were of phenomenal size, and so voracious that they ravaged the grain and all the vegetables, and even the hay and the buds on the trees; during the last one their wheat was completely shrivelled. (TR)*?

The colonists were quite successful with their vegetable gardens. In 1753, Intendant Prévost reported that the inhabitants produced a large enough crop of vegetables to be able to export some to Louis- bourg®. One particular settler, for example, managed to sell five hogs- head of turnips to Louisbourg*'. It should be noted that the Acadians did not grow potatoes at this time.

The agricultural practices of the early settlers do not appear to have been particularly effective since they depleted the soil. It is for this reason that Intendant Prévost recommended that the inhabitants be taught to fertilize their lands and to let them lie fallow at least every third year®?.

Herds were still relatively large on Ile Saint Jean. In 1735, although there were only 432 settlers, there were 433 head of cattle and 190 sheep®. Unfortunately the census that provides these details does not give any statistics pertaining to other animals. We can assume that pigs and poultry were also raised at the time. The census of 1740 is more detailed but mentions neither pigs nor poultry. Thus, for a population of 440 people there were 166 oxen, 337 cows, 402 sheep and 14 horses®*. The increase in population and livestock between the two enumerations is attributed mainly to the immigration of Acadians. The extremely detailed census of 1752 provides us with information on livestock holdings towards the end of the French regime. As a result of the arrival of many Acadians by 1749, the population had grown to 2,223°°. Livestock numbers had also in- creased considerably. In round numbers, there were 100 horses, 800 oxen, 1,300 other cattle, 1,200 sheep, 1,300 pigs, 2,300 hens, 300 geese, 100 turkeys, and 12 ducks®*. However, an average family like that of Joseph Arsenault and Marguerite Boudrot who had been living in Malpeque for twenty-three years only owned two oxen, one cow,