106 INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. [Dec. 



such as hazel, moosewood, dwarf maple, etc., are also abundant ; 

 indeed, this is the fertile belt of New Brunswick. It is also, in 

 general, free from stone, and yields bountiful returns when cleared 

 and put in crop, being equally good for the production of cereals 

 and vegetables. More than a million of acres of this land is yet 

 forest-covered, and without inhabitants. As it constitutes the 

 largest body of good farming land in N"ew Brunswick, so it carries 

 by far the most extensive growth of black birch and maple ; it is 

 also the seat of the best and most extensive groves of the Thuja. 

 The pines growing among these liardwoods were more than usually 

 sound. They were generally scattered on the sides of ridges, or 

 in clusters around lakes, the trees which grew scattering being in 

 general the best. White spruces generally took the place of the 

 black ones ; they grew along the brooks, and in the bottoms of 

 valleys, seldom occupying the summit of the hills, which are here 

 usually left to the almost undisputed possession of hardwoods. 



LOWER CAEBONIFEROUS ROCKS. 



Among these, beds of gypsum and limestone occur in a narrow 

 belt around the base of the millstone grit, or in isolated patches. 

 They are the favourite habitat of the hemlock sprirce, which, often 

 unsound and shaky when growing on some other formation, is on 

 this of excellent quality. Indeed, the soil resting on the lower 

 carboniferous formation is admirably adapted to the growth of all 

 kinds of forest trees, as well as to that of fruit and vegetables. 

 The apple grows especially well in this situation. 



MILLSTONE GRIT AREA. 



We now come to the millstone grit, which constitutes about one- 

 third of the rock formation in New Brunswick, occupying the middle 

 section, and extending from a point twenty miles or more west of the 

 river St. John to the gulf of St. Lawrence, widening out as it extends 

 to the eastward. The stratification is nearly horizontal, having 

 suffered but little disturbance. Oir its surface the largest peat 

 barrens are to be found, many of them miles in extent ; and the 

 same rules hold true with regard to the growth on them, as to those 

 resting on the Lower Silurian. The low ridges by which they are 

 frequently surrounded, have been coveied by A^ery thick groves of 

 black spruce, occasionally intermingled with white pines of moderate 

 size. The spruce trees here are generally much sounder than the 

 pines. 



There have been and are yet very extensive ridges and knolls 

 of hemlock spruce scattered over this country. The wood of these 



