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The country is hilly and the river in many places is bordered 
by rocky precipices which in the upper reaches of the stream 
rise abruptly to a height of 1,500 to 1,700 feet and are often 
covered with an abundant growth of timber. One of the attrac- 
tions of the first ten miles of the trip was the thrift of the farmers, 
mostly of French descent, with their farms of flourishing crops. 
This was a surprise to us as the soil at first sight appears to 
fact that while the top-soil is light it is stratified with layers of 
clay from which the water seeps. The clay subsoil lies so close 
to the surface of the ground that it holds a sufficient amount of 
moisture to supply the needs of the growing vegetation, and 
makes it possible for the farmers to produce excellent crops. 
Astudy of the timber regions shows a comparatively small num- 
ber of varieties of deciduous trees, this region being too far north 
to furnish conditions favorable for this kind of vegetation. The pre- 
dominating types are the paper birch and aspen; a few yellow 
birches and slippery elms were noticed along the lower part of 
the stream, Of the coniferous trees the spruce and balsam-fir are 
the most abundant, but these are usually small rarely attaining a 
diameter of a foot and usually much less. A few varieties of 
pine are occasionally seen. The whole region has been fire swept, 
virgin: forests being very rare, and offers most favorable conditions 
for the study of the problems of reforestation. The aspen and 
white birch are the deciduous trees which usually follow the fires, 
sometimes the one predominating and sometimes the other, but 
appearing never to mix, a fact which is difficult to account for as 
there is apparently no differences in soil conditions. 
Of the smaller woody shrubs, the mountain-maple, alder, bear- 
berry were common and the ground hemlock occurred in abun- 
dance often covering considerable areas. hile the number of 
varieties was small the number of individuals was very great. 
Among herbaceous plants, the willow-herb, bellflower, ragweed, 
dock, smartweed, gentian, golden rod, and asters were some of 
the most common, Sedges were very abundant but grasses 
were comparatively few. 
Among the lower plants, a few ferns were seen, an abundance 
