CLIMATE. SOIL. 181 



excellent harbours for shipping, and the smaller ones are 

 navigable for fishing and coasting craft, and offer great 

 facilities for ship building. In winter these numerous 

 inlets are bridged over by the frost and form the best of 

 roads. 



The climate is healthy and invigorating. The islanders 

 are as robust in person and as florid in complexion as 

 English people. Epidemics are unknown. Contagious 

 diseases imported in ships soon die out in the (to them) 

 uncongenial air. The sea moderates both the heat of 

 summer and the cold of winter, and gives it a more 

 equable climate than exists on the adjacent mainland, 

 and yet the fogs of the Atlantic Ocean never reach its 

 shores. The winters are less severe than in Lower Canada 

 and New Brunswick. 



Prince Edward Island is an alluvial deposit of the St. 

 Lawrence. The soil is a light sandy loam very easily 

 cultivated. The latter is an advantage which cannot be 

 over-estimated in a climate in which seedtime is short. 

 The staple crops are barley, oats, and potatoes, all of which 

 grow to great perfection. Over two million bushels of 

 oats, and half a million bushels of potatoes are annually 

 exported to England and the United States. The pork 

 fed on the island is said to be equal in quality to Irish 

 pork. Most farmers grow enough wheat for their own 

 use, but it is not such a certain crop as oats and barley. 

 Owing to the equability of climate the pastures are 

 greener than in any other part of British North America 

 that I have seen. White clover grows naturally, and in 

 the early summer the pasture fields are white with the 

 blossoms of this sweet grass. From 600 to 800 bushels 



