AND THE NATURAL FERTILITY. 137 



in this province. Those of the upper and under coal- 

 measures are in some measure interchangeable bogs and 

 worthless barrens occurring on the under series, and 

 occasional good land on the upper. But observation 

 bears out the general characters above given and a 

 stutly of the structure, while it confirms what the 

 observer says he has seen, extends also his deductions to 

 parts of the country which have not been visited, and in 

 regard to which only partial information mere hints, 

 perhaps have hitherto been obtained. 



In an old country like our own, we can well enough 

 appreciate the beauty and interest of such a close 

 economical connection as the above, between geological 

 structure and agricultural capability ; but it is only in a 

 new and unsettled country that the full value of such 

 material generalisations can be perceived. To the pro 

 vincial authorities, it indicates where settlements are 

 likely to prosper most, and where immigrants, therefore, 

 should be encouraged first to locate themselves. To the 

 individual, it points out the physical phenomena which 

 ought to guide him in his choice of land ; while to all, in 

 every part of the province, it tells the occupiers what 

 their land requires most to make it productive, and 

 where certain most valuable means of improvement are 

 to be most economically obtained. 



A few miles of the poorer country of igneous and 

 metamorphic rocks already described, brought me to the 

 head of Loch Lomond ; and as I drove along the southern 

 side of it, the view backwards was very beautiful. The 

 high-lands which skirted the lake were covered with 

 hardwood trees, still gay in all the warm tints of the 

 climate ; while several new houses in the course of erec 

 tion, on either side of the sheet of water, showed that, 

 even in these regions, where purely material considera 

 tions chiefly influence the people, there were some genial 

 minds to whom, in selecting a retreat, the rich features 



