8 
On the north side there are many bold shores with cliffs of rock rising 
hundreds of feet and sometimes running continuously for miles, and there 
are similar relations on the east, especially near rocher Pored (Plate II A) ; 
but on the south cliffs are less frequent and are low, and often the land 
sinks gently toward the sea as marshes, or sand stretches, or gravel bars. 
The north side of Gaspe is without an island, and Bonaventure island, 
near Perce, is the only important one on the southern coast. 
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 
Soils 
Most parts of Ontario and Quebec have soils due either directly or 
indirectly to the action of glaciers, many of the strongest clay soils being 
formed by the weathering of boulder clay. To this Gaspe is a striking 
exception, since the great Labrador ice-sheet never crossed it and the small 
glaciers radiating from the mountains deposited very little boulder clay. 
The chief soils are of three kinds, residual, marine terrace materials, and 
flood-plain deposits of rivers. 
Over the greater part of Gaspe rock comes to the surface on the hills, 
and the soil has been formed by the weathering of bedrock in place, so 
that the character of the soil varies with that of the rock beneath. Where 
the rock is shale or slate with limestone present in ribs or as separate beds 
it is often excellent, particularly in the lower parts between the hills. On 
the crests of hills and ridges such soils are apt to be thin. The residual 
soils over sandstones or conglomerates are naturally poor. Residual soils 
are farmed successfully at a number of points on the north side of Gaspe 
and on the highlands along the Matapedia. The areas of slate and also 
of basic eruptive on the south side of Gaspe provide good soils, often 
cleared as farms, but the prevalent sandstones and conglomerates are less 
favourable for agriculture. 
Marine terraces form most of the level land of northern Gaspe and 
nearly all the villages and the main roads are located on them, so that 
the earliest fields to be cultivated were naturally on such terraces. Un- 
fortunatoly many of these small plains are of poor beach gravels and sands. 
Often, however, the terraces of the shore are continued up the river valleys, 
on delta deposits formed at different stages of sea-level, providing very 
good soils. These old marine shelves are confined to the neighbourhood 
of the sea and never rise more than 200 or 300 feet above present sea-level 
toward the west, sinking to about half that height on the east. 
River flood-plains afford the richest soils of Gaspe and on the north 
coast they have the additional advantage of comparative shelter from the 
raw winds and fogs of the St. Lawrence. Surprisingly fine crops of grain 
and hay may be seen along such flats in the valley of Ste. Anne river, where 
of recent years farmers living near the coast have taken up lots of govern- 
ment land. Unfortunately these choice localities are comparatively rare and 
represent only a small part of the available farming land of the peninsula. 
It is generally stated that land in the peninsula above 1,200 or 1,500 
feet is subject to frost and undesirable for settlement. But lands at this 
elevation are actually being worked near Causapscal in the Matapedia 
valley, and potatoes and other garden vegetables have been successfully 
raised at the Federal Zinc and Lead mine, 1,800 feet above the sea. As 
in other parts of Canada it is to be expected that the danger of summer 
frosts will diminish as the land becomes more completely cleared. 
