Preludices superior to that from Norway. One of these objections is at the same time untrue and

against NO’fh ridiculous, that is, its being more congenial to the propagation of bugs than other

Amer/can "”7139" wood. It has been confidently stated in some of the public prints, that not only do the trees in the forest abound with these disgusting insects, but that the timber when landed from the ships has swarmed with them. I need only observe, that there can be little difference between European and American Timber as far as regards the one being more genial to the increase of bugs than the other: they are exceedingly rare in the wooden buildings in America, except in the oldest houses in the towns; and it is well known that there are few of the old houses in the towns in England that are not infected with those loathsome Vermicu/a. The durability of American Timber is also questioned: the yellow pine is certainly not so durable as the red pine of Norway, although for many purposes it is much better adapted. The Pitch Pine, Red Pine, and Juniper, or American Larch, will, I am firmly convinced, last as long as any wood of the same genus growing in any part of Europe. The Hemlock, a large tree of the fir tribe, is, I consider, the most durable wood in the world; and it possesses the peculiar property of preserving iron driven into it, either under water or exposed to the air, from corroding.

APPENDIX. NOTE C. [Endnote for p. 68] There are, in the very face of a wood-farm, a thousand seeming, and it must be confessed, many real difficulties, sufficient at first to stagger people of more than ordinary firmness; but particularly an English farmer who has all his life been accustomed to cultivate land subjected for centuries to the plough. It is not to be wondered at, that he feels discouraged at the sight of wilderness land covered with heavy forest trees, which he must cut down and destroy. He is not acquainted with the use of the axe; and if he were, the very piling and burning of the wood, after the trees are felled, is a most disagreeable piece of labour. He has, besides, to make a fence of the logs, to keep off the cattle and sheep, which are allowed to range at large. [p. 261]

The trials of a wood—farm.

APPENDIX. NOTE D. [Endnote for p. 69] Far from being discouraged at the toil of clearing a new farm, [the descendants of the American Loyalists] make a trade of doing so. These people fix on a piece of wood-land, clear a few acres from the trees, build a tolerable good house and barn, and sell the land and improvements the first opportunity that offers. When this is accomplished they settle on another wood-farm, which they clear and dispose of in the same manner. [p. 262]

1 . MacGregor (1832) (p. 312) alters this last part to: ”pine, spruce, larch, and other varieties of the fir tribe".

2. MacGregor (1832) (p. 313), hyphenates as: ”spruce-firs”.

3. MacGregor (1832) (p. 313) increases this to: "twelve to fifteen inches”.

4. MacGregor (1832) (p. 313) at this point summarizes the remaining tree species as follows: "The principal kinds of other trees are spruce-fir, hemlock, beech, birch and maple, growing in abundance; oak, elm, ash,

and larch, are not plentiful, and the quality of the first very inferior.”

5. MacGregor (1832) (p. 313): "Poplars of great dimensions are plentiful; white cedar is found growing in the northern parts."

6. MacGregor (1832) (p. 313) mentions also "whortle—berries" along with blueberries, as being “astonishingly abundant”. 7. MacGregor (1832) (p. 338): ”Ship-building unless it be the building of vessels for the carrying of trade of

the colony, and a few schooners for the Newfoundland fisheries is at an end."

8. Although this information is included in his chapter on New Brunswick, the points he makes must also apply to Prince Edward Island, and are likely to be based on observations that he made while living on the island.

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