Outside Windsor and Detroit, most French-Canadians earned their livelihood on the land. The little villages that lined the Detroit River and Lake St-Clair were essentially agricultural communities and their rhythms followed the yearly cycle. One of the unmistakable signs of spring was the arrival each year of the famous Petite Côte radishes . Most of the inhabitants of Petite Côte (modern-day LaSalle) were gardeners, selling their produce on the Windsor and Detroit markets . East of Windsor, most of the French families were recent arrivals from Quebec, and they had come here specifically to farm the land. Agriculture was therefore more intensive in this area, as settlers cleared the forest and drained the marshes for the production of cash crops. Le Progrès and the other French newspapers of this era appreciated the importance of farming for their readers and consequently devoted much space to this endeavour. Market prices, essential information for producers as well as consumers of farm products, give modern readers a good idea of the diversity of local crops , .

In fact, one can glean the rich variety of farm products in Essex and Kent counties through the many articles Le Progrès ran about different sectors of the agricultural industry : grape growing , cultivation of fruit trees , sugar beets , tomatoes , and even potatoes - truly this was a bountiful area. Another article, however, reminded readers that not everything that came out of the ground was beneficial .

Even merchants in Windsor took the agricultural cycle into account, as we can see in this advertisement for Peck’s, one of the city’s largest clothing retailers . Many merchants sold products specifically to farmers , . It seems that all local merchants at this time were eager to attract Francophone customers, who made up a much larger percentage of the population than they do today. Even most Detroit businesses still advertised in French well into the 20th century , , , , . Some Windsor merchants advertised the special efforts they made to accommodate French-Canadian clients , , , , ,.

But French-Canadians were not solely consumers of products; many of them were also part of the merchant class, offering a wide range of products and services to Windsor and area residents , , , , , , . In short, Le Progrès shows us how, in many ways, the local Francophone population was a vital part of the Windsor-Detroit area economy at the turn of the last century.