82 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



The waters from a little more than one-half of the area drain into 

 Paudash lake in the east-centre of the township. From this, they 

 flow by Paudash creek and Deer river into Crow river and thence 

 into the Trent canal. The waters of the southwestern quadrant of 

 the township collect in Eels lake and are carried by Eels brook into 

 Stony lake. A portion of the northwestern quadrant of the township 

 is drained southwesterly into Irondale river and thence by Burnt river 

 into the canal, at Cameron lake. The township contains 5,330 acres 

 of water surface. The largest lake is the Paudash group which contains 

 about 1,400 acres. 



Topography. — ^The eastern half of the township is a high plateau 

 which has been dissected into broad rounded ridges. The plateau 

 ascends in going northward, and in the northern portion of the town- 

 ship is 50 to 100 feet higher than in the southern. The most 

 pronounced ridges in this area Ue west of Paudash lake and on the 

 divide between the York and Trent waters. The ridges in the north- 

 western part of the township are nearer together and sharper in outline. 

 The highest points in Cardiff are in the granitic outcrop in the southwest 

 quadrant of the township. Swamps are frequent; the largest, containing 

 some 2,500 acres, is found in the southeastern comer of the township. 



Rock and Soil. — ^The rocks of the township are about equally divided 

 between granite, hornblende schist, crystalline limestone and gneiss. 

 The granite lies in the northeastern and the southwestern comers of 

 the township, and the two outcrops are coimected by a narrow band 

 west of the north aim of Paudash lake. A large area of hornblende 

 schist lies between these two granite masses. Most of the limestone 

 is in the southeastern comer of the township. The gneiss lies for the 

 most part around the borders of the granite. From Cheddar post- 

 office eastward and northeastward nearly to the township line there 

 is a belt of fairly deep glacial drift soil, on which the good upland farms 

 of the township are located. In the rest of the township the soils are 

 thin or sandy. 



Forest Conditions. — ^The township is covered with forests to the 

 extent of 93 per cent of its area. Somewhat more than half (56.6 per 

 cent) of the area was originally covered mostly with pine, but it has 

 been replaced by the old-bum poplar-birch type. The coniferous 

 forest is now confined to the swamps ; it occupies 7.7 per cent of the 

 area, and has been thoroughly culled of its commercial timber. The 

 hardwoods cover 13,000 acres, one-quarter of the township, and only 

 200 acres of these were classified as virgin and semi-virgin. The 

 mixed coniferous and hardwood type occupies 4.3 per cent of the town- 

 ship. Only o.i per cent of the area has been recently burned. 



