210 



of fertile soil suitable for potatoes, cabbages, turnips, oats 

 and other agricultural crops, whilst various vegetables, currants, 

 gooseberries and raspberries can be grown in sheltered gardens. 

 Oats rarely ripen but are grown as a green fodder crop. There 

 is naturally a great shortage of lime in the soil and agricultural 

 lime cannot be easily obtained from other countries to correct 

 the acidity of sour soil. Occasional movements of bog land on 

 the hills and mountains take place, and in several instances 

 such movements have caused the inhabitants a good deal of 

 inconvenience.* The only roads in the islands are in the 

 neighbourhood of Port Stanley, communication between the 

 various points being by sea or on horseback. 



The climate is severe but healthy, except for those predisposed 

 to pulmonary affections. It is uniformly cold, the mean tempera- 

 ture being 42° Fahr. The thermometer ranges between 20° 

 and 50° in winter, and between 40° and 65° in summer. The 

 cold is intensified by constant high winds which prevail, 

 especially in the summer, rising about 10 a.m. and falling away 

 between 4 and 5 p.m. The annual rainfall seldom exceeds 25 

 in., though there are a good many wet or damp days, the number 

 ranging between 220 and 240 a year. In the summer the 

 atmosphere is remarkably dry, and evaporation is rapid. The 

 population in 1915 was 3451, t the majority of the people being 

 engaged in sheep farming or in seafaring industries. 



The flora consists of herbaceous plants and shrubs. The largest 

 hush is Veronica elliptica. A few plants approaching 7 ft. in 

 height have been recorded from West Falkland, otherwise its 

 as:e height is from 3 to 5 ft. Chiliotricliwii amelloideum 



(Fachina), grows 3 to 4 ft. high and Myrtus nummularia is also 



prominent. The commonest shrub is the M Diddle-dee " (Empe- 



trum nigrum var. rub r urn), which is found from a prostrate 



plant to dense, rounded bushes 1 to 2 ft. high. A few of the 



other low-growing shrubs are Pernettya einpetrifolia (P. 



pumila), Gavltheria microphylla, Baccharis viagellanica, and 



Veronica .serpy Hi folia. Poa flabellata, Hook, f., the " Tussock V 



or " Tussac % Grass, a large-growing perennial at one time the 



most prominent feature of the shores but now scarce on the 



larger islands, is a valuable fodder plant, otherwise the natural 



vegetation is poor as fodder, and only carries one sheep to four 

 acres. 



The chief difficulties to encounter in forestry operations appear 

 to be wind, wet, sour and badly drained ground, and apathy or 

 lack of initiative and knowledge on the part of the inhabitants. 

 But considering the difficulties that have been surmounted in 

 other countries where successful forests have been established 

 under what were equally disheartening conditions, there appears 

 to be no good reason why the subject should not be given a 

 proper trial, for in a place where natural trees do not exist, the 

 establishment of woods of even moderate growth would be of 

 great benefit to the islanders both from the shelter they would 

 afford, and as a source of firewood and timber for fencing. 



The general amenities of the Islands would also be much 



* Kew Correspondence. 



t Whitaker's Almanack, 1917 





