PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 101 teemed and used as an article of food instead of wheat. No less than thirty-four vessels, measuring 2,388 tons register, were built this year (1830). During the next five years the colony was very prosperous and by 1834 it took double the number of ships in the over-sea trade and one hundred and twenty-three ves¬ sels in the coasting trade, as against eighty- one in 1829. Twenty thousand bushels of barley were exported and the imports had risen to over $500,000. While only the same number of ships were built (34), the tonnage was nearly double, being 4,297 tons to 2,- 388 tons. Dry goods importation was $100,- 000, with rum, $35,000. Next year, 1835, ^ 'orty ship6 built, nearly 5,000 tons register. The nominal ex¬ ports run up to as much as the imports, but really were larger. One hundred and twelve thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two bushels of oats, 145,52s bushels of potatoes, 30,000 bushels barley, 4,000 bushels wheat and 727 head of cattle were among the ex¬ ports. The grist mill, run by water power, had already put the old-fashioned quern out of commission and the flail had largely given way to the horse-power threshing machine. Still very little machinery was imported and the sickle, scythe and cradle were contem¬ poraries. Notwithstanding the great prosperity of the province, which was doubling its popula¬ tion in fourteen years and quadrupling its wealth, the colonial secretary of the Imperial Parliament wrote our governor: "Gifted with a soil of unusual fertility and possessing every advantage of climate and geographical position, the advance of Prince Edward Is ¬ land has hitherto been delayed by inade¬ quacy of population," and suggesting some change in the land laws as a remedy. With¬ out, however, receiving such benefit, the Is¬ land trade and commerce kept on an increase. True, 1836 was an off year, but 1837 to 1841 saw a general and rapid advance; shipbuild¬ ing particularly made great strides—thus, in 1840 eighty-five vessels were launched, which for a population of 47,034 the following year would indicate that a ship was built in the ratio of one for every six hundred men, women and children on this Island. As many of these ships as could get full cargoes at home were loaded, mostly by their owners and sent to England . There they were sold generally at good prices. As intimated above, the population dur¬ ing the period of fourteen years between 1827 and 1841 more than doubled itself— a ratio of increase which if it had been main¬ tained until today (1906), would give us a population of about 700,000, including the emigrants, or without any immigration we would have 400,000 people to-day. In 1841 our farmers produced 2,230,000 bushels po¬ tatoes, or over forty-seven bushels to each man, woman and child; over 600,000 bushels of the finest oats in the world were also pro¬ duced this year. Barley, too, of which 14,- 000 bushels were exported, showing a total crop of 23,000 bushels, and of wheat 153,000 bushels. Lest our readers get tired of these statis¬ tics, we may say of the following seven years that the advance was great and persistent. Notwithstanding the three last years under review, 1846-7-8, were years of famine, the population still increased amazingly. In 1845 blight struck the potato crop and nearly destroyed it, and in 1847 rust nearly de¬ stroyed the wheat crop The government of the day had to. first in 1846 and again in 1848, grant public money to enable the desti-