THE HEATHER IN AMERICA. 



the feasibility of its being introduced by him, he in- 

 dignantly and characteristically replied: "Wadna I 

 hae been a fule, mon, to sow it on another man's land, 

 when my ain as guid wad hae grown it as weel ?" 



The former owner of the land remembered the 

 plants in 1810, and from deductions the committee 

 believed that the plants existed about 1700. 



In concluding his report, Chairman Rand re- 

 marked : "May not the Heather once have existed in 

 profusion on this continent, and have gradually died 

 out owing to some inexplicable, yet perhaps only slight, 

 climatic changes? May not this be the last vestige, 

 or one of the last, of what was once an American 

 heath? And if the Heather exists in Nova Scotia 

 and Newfoundland, may we not expect that some 

 intermediate stations may yet be discovered?" 



An abridgment of Mr. Rand's report appeared 

 in Silliman's Journal, the editors of which periodical 

 in a foot note state : "That Calluna also inhabits Nova 

 Scotia, is stated by Loudon, in his Arboretum, we 

 know not upon what authority, but should be glad 

 to be informed. If the claim for Calluna to be re- 

 garded as an American plant rests mainly or wholly 

 upon this Tewksbury locality, it would not gain ac- 

 ceptance ; but its existence in Newfoundland, and still 

 more in Nova Scotia (if verified), does away with 

 all antecedent improbability of its indigenous occur- 

 rence in New England." 



In the same periodical the discussion of the sub- 

 ject was continued for a considerable time, and I 



36 



