A y)\\iv,\\r, Suuimff liinh oj Pri'iirr E<f-uiird Ifltiiitf. flnn 



resents here as elsevvlieie the spreadiiijr of civilization that destroys 

 utterly the Ibrest of its own j^eneration ami takes no thonglit for 

 the possible necessities of the fnture. liefore the woodman's axe, 

 the evergreen forest has melted away in many parts of our conti- 

 nent never to return, its place l)ein<j taken, as is well known, 

 by deciduous trees, they sulVeriiijj^ in their turn, and this process 

 is now well advanced even on I'rince Edward Island. 



The native trees are chiefly conifenc and more than nine 

 tenths of them spruce {P/cca 7iig)-a and /*. alda) and lir {Abies 

 balsamea). Amonji; the more abundant decidnous trees are 

 maples (chiefly Acer saccharinum)^ birches {Brtu/a lenta^ 

 B. hitca^ and B. f^apyrifcra, all in consitlerable numbers), 

 beeclies {Fag-ns fcrr/iol/ica)^ and some of the willows and 

 poplars. Of the shrubs the heath family is well represented, 

 especially by the genera Vacciuium (blueberries), Ledum (Lab- 

 rador tea), and Kalmia {K. aiigusti/olia^ sheep laurel). 

 Alders are generally distributed. As to the herbaceous plants, 

 thev are those of the northern woods and fields. It is said 

 that some plants of the adjacent mainland are not found 

 on the island. In other words, tiie twenty miles or so of the 

 Straits of Xorthuml)erland act as a barrier to the possible 

 tinsre of more southern forms, and the same mav influence the 

 northward range of certain species of birds more or less common 

 on the mainland. One may find fragrant banks of the lin\ , \\o(\- 

 ding Limnca, pai'ures red with sorrel {B/imcx acetosella)^ 

 swamps blue with iris {Iris versicolor) ^ clearings green with 

 coarse ferns, beneath wiiich gray mosses and clumps of the 

 scarlet l)uuchl)erry ( Corn/is canadensis) may be fouml, and tlie 

 dark evergreen woods are carpeti'd with the greenest of mosses. 

 There are m;iny other trees and bushes, notably larch ( Larix 

 americana) and arbor vitoL' {T/inya occidentalis) which are 

 rather common locally, but they are not especially conspicuous 

 features, and I merely wish to call attention to certain parts of 

 the flora to indicate in a very general way its character. There 

 are many tracts of second-growth, usually almost wholly beech 

 or maple which, if small, are shunned by birds, and nowhere can 

 one wander tar without entering tracts of timber, from which per- 

 haps only tiie larger trees have been culled. When lire runs 

 through timber, dead and blackened trunks are left that in a few 

 years become, by the rotting away of their branches, the njonoto- 



