time had been too short for them, or for anyone on the island for that matter, to have accumulated sufficient data to realize that given sufficient time the tree species of the original forest would eventually re-establish themselves. Of course what Johnstone and MacGregor were observing were the early stages of what we now know as ’vegetation succession’, which almost a century later was to be developed into a general ecological theory by the eminent American ecologist, Frederic Clements.138

Apart from Johnstone and MacGregor, many other recorders noted the re—colonization by trees of

areas that had been burned139 or cut—over‘w.

Some had observed that in the early stages, plants

such as raspberries‘“, fireweed‘“ ’brambles’”3, ”4 and ’dwarf

ferns , laurel'145 were among the early colonizers, to be followed by trees such as spruce‘“, firm, white birch‘“, poplar149 and wild

‘33 Clements 1916. I note that Johnstone's description of the

process precedes the supposed first use of the term ‘succession‘ by the renowned American naturalist Henry David Thoreau; who in recent years has been receiving recognition for his insights into succession (see Foster 1999; pp. 134-48; 244-46). Preceding even Thoreau are the observations on succession of Titus Smith of Nova Scotia based on his 1801-02 survey of the province, and formulated in 1835 (see Gorham 1955). I note also that Dawson (1868) [not extracted] utilised and commented on Smith's observations on succession.

‘39 After fire: Anon. 1762 (at East Point): Selkirk 1803 (at Lot 62, and in general); [MacDonald] 1804; Stewart 1806; Johnstone

1822; MacGregor 1828; Gesner 1846; Dawson 1868; Mollison 1905.

140

After cutting: Johnstone 1822; Carrington 1837; Dawson 1868.

“1 After fire: Selkirk 1803; Johnstone 1822; MacGregor 1828; Hill 1839; after either fire or cutting: Stewart 1806; after cutting: [MacDonald] (1804).

“’2 All after fire: Stewart 1806; Johnstone 1822; MacGregor 1828).

“3 MacGregor 1828 (after fire). He must mean blackberries, since ‘bramble' is the name used in the British Isles for the widely- distributed blackberry species Rubus fruticocus, though the common name has never come into wide use in North America for the equivalent species Rubus allegheniensis and R. canadensis.

‘“ All after fire: Stewart 1806;Johnstone1822; Lewellin 1832.

145

Stewart 1806 (after fire) - (probably Ka/mia angustifolia, the sheep laurel).

145

After fire: Selkirk 1803; Johnstone 1822; MacGregor 1828; Mollison 1905; after cutting: Walsh 1803; after either fire or cutting: Dawson 1868.

147

After fire: Johnstone 1822; Mollison 1905; after either fire or cutting: Dawson 1868.

“8 All after fire: Selkirk 1803; Johnstone 1822; MacGregor 1828.

23

cherry150 — none of which, as Johnstone and MacGregor had noted, were important in the old— growth forests of the island.151

Another example of succession that was also commented on by many recorders was the colonization of abandoned farmland by trees. In the early period it was the colonization of the lands that had been cleared by the French that drew the notice of recorders, for by the time of the arrival of the first British settlers all of these once cleared lands were again covered with trees.152 In fact, only seven years after the deportation of the French settlers Captain Holland (1765) could write that:

a great part of the Lands formerly cleared is so much overgrown with Brush and small Wood, that it will be extremely difficult to form a true estimate of the quantity of cleared land, or to make it fit for the plough again.

This colonization was also noted as a general phenomenon that occurred wherever farmland was abandoned“, with the trees involved being observed to be ’Spruce’154 and ’fir’155 especially, but also white birch‘56 and tamarackm.

”9 MacGregor 1828 (after fire).

‘5‘) After fire: MacGregor 1828; after fire or cutting: Stewart 1806.

15‘ Stewart (1806); exceptionally, said that yellow birch also grew upon lands destroyed by fire. (See footnotes 450 and 451 of

Appendix 1 .)

‘52 Recorders who commented on the colonization of the French

lands by trees were: Holland 1765 (October); M'Robert 1776 (at Bedeque); Selkirk 1803 (at Pointe-Prim Village and Pinette); Walsh 1803; Selkirk 1805 (at Pointe-Prim Village); Stewart 1806 (the Hillsborough Bay area; and in general); Johnstone 1822; Gesner 1846 (at Low Point, near Porthill — though the French land here may have been subsequently occupied by Scottish settlers who had later abandoned parts of it).

‘53 Selkirk 1803; Johnstone 1822.

‘5‘ Selkirk 1803 (at the Fort Farm, Lot 65); Stewart 1806; Johnstone 1822; Gesner 1846 (at Low Point in Lot 13, and in Lot 17). The 'spruce' was undoubtedly white Spruce; though Stewart (1806) said that what he called ‘red Spruce’ sometimes grew on “old cleared lands which have been long out of cultivation".

‘55 Stewart 1806; Johnstone 1822; Gesner 1846 (at Low Point

in Lot 13, and in Lot 17).

‘55 Selkirk 1803 (at Pinette); Stewart 1806; Johnstone 1822.

‘57 Macoun 1894.