The folk-lore of French Canada is too vast and varied to lend itself to summary treatment. Its hoard, whether amassed and centralized or still awaiting the harvester, is so rich in cultural traits, in traditional narratives, pictorial patterns, tunes, and verse-forms, that it cannot be rendered by mere statistics and and chapter-heads. It must be sampled in actuality, as a gourmet samples old wines or cheese; its contents have to be picked up on sunny mornings, as a gardener culls flowers or scented herbs. In this culling there is a need for wisdom, knowledge, and profound human interest.