lack of foresight or of proper management, or perhaps simply the bad luck of having a runaway fire go through an areaso‘a — could lead to such fuel scarcity. Forty years later, the problem would seem to have become more general, if we can believe a witness to the Land Commission of 1860 who stated that ”hundreds of our oldest settlers find it exceedingly difficult to obtain firewood, and many have already begun to purchase coal for fuel"5°9. In fact coal, imported from Nova Scotia, seems to have become a significant fuel for at least some island residents (presumably mostly in Charlottetown), from at least the 18305 when legislation was passed to standardise its measure.51o Further evidence of the perceived growing scarcity of firewood is provided by the geologist William Dawson in 1871, who, noting "the rapid disappearance of the forests” of the island, recommended, that the government give consideration to the use of the island’s limited peat reserve as a domestic fuel source.511 5°“ Johnstone (1822) had commented that “when the hardwood is burnt upon a farm, the people have no convenient way of supplying themselves with fuel". 509 Land Commission 1860: evidence of Mr. George Beer. M.P.P. Other similar statements were recorded by each of the two commissions: a ‘delegate’ from Lot 64 told the 1860 Commission that “on account of the destruction of the forest years ago, fence poles and fire wood could not easily be obtained” on the lot — forest fire may have been a factor in the destruction, as another witness referred to the fires that had run over the land. Another example is cited of a man selling his farm on the Georgetown Road five miles from the town because there was no firewood on it, while, G. W. DeBIois, the agent for the Cunard estate, said that when tenants “had no firewood on their land", they were allowed to take it off “unoccupied lands". Finally, the Land Commission of 1875 was told by a witness from Lot 11 that even on that late-settled lot “people have to 90 miles for their fire wood”, and that it “will be a drawback when all the wood is cut off‘; while Donald Ferguson of Lot 35 said, with reference to land-clearing operations, that they were “glad where [he lived] to have [the trees] to cut for fuel”. 51° The earliest ‘coal act’ for the island that l have come across dates from 1 March 1839 when the General Assembly passed an act enabling the appointment of “two or more fit persons residing in Charlottetown whose duties it [was] to admeasure, according to the Standard Coal Measure of this Island, all such Coals imported into Charlottetown". In 1842 a further act was passed providing for the appointment of such ‘Coal Meters’ “in any port or place in this Island”, though only “on the petition of at least Twenty Householders”. [PARO: Acts of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island for 1839 (p. 458) and for 1842.] 5” Dawson 1871. He recommended especially the domestic use of peat by “farmers whose supplies of wood have run out, and who have peat bogs on or at no great distance from their farms". He was thinking particularly of the peat in the three large bogs between Malpeque and Cascumpec Bays: the Lennox Island bog, the ‘Squirrel Creek bog’ near Bideford, and the Black Banks of Lot 11, for all three of which he provided estimates of the volume and monetary value of the peat. There is no evidence however that peat ever became a domestic fuel on the island, even for people living near the bogs — despite the reported wood shortages in Lot 11 (see footnote 509). In fact it was not until the 1970s that 78 Other evidence given to the Land Commission of 1860 indicates that the scarcity and increasing cost of firewood seems to have exacerbated the already poor relations existing between some landlords and their tenants. Some tenants claimed that there were clauses in their leases prohibiting them from cutting firewood on their farms512 — this was disputed by one landlord’s agent, who said that tenants were even allowed to take firewood from 'unoccupied lands’, though his opponents immediately countered with a specific example to the contrary“. It appears that the reserving to the landlord of trees that might be cut for firewood was indeed written into some leases, and though we may imagine it would have been difficult for agents to police and enforce, this did not prevent such clauses in leases from being used by the opposing sides to score points before the Commisson.514 Fifteen years later, further evidence of the general scarcity of firewood — at least in the central part of the province — is highlighted by the attention given by the Land Commission (1875) to a mere 62 acres of ”wilderness land” on the Colville Road in present-day Hampshire.515 It was claimed that it was ”the only block of [such] woodland so near the town” and that it was particularly ’valuable’ because ”wood is becoming scarce”5‘6. It was said to have a ”good deal of firewood and ship timber” on it, some of it having already been sold as ‘cordwood’ ten years before. The owner also said that people had recently offered to buy ’plots' on the land (presumably to serve as a source of firewood), and from ’Meacham’s Atlas’ it is evident that by 1880 the 62 acres had indeed been divided into eighteen narrow strips each with a frontage on the roads”. commercial extraction of the peat from these bogs for use for non- fuel uses began (see Morrison (1983) (Vol. 1: 163-65). 512 Land Commission 1860: evidence of John Clarke of Lot 5. 5‘3 Land Commission 1860: evidence of the agent, G. W. DeBlois, concerning the Cunard estate. 5“ See the section on ‘Timbership ownership'. 5‘5 Land Commission 1875: the 62 acres was part of the Douse estate — see the evidence of Henry Douse, John Douse, James Douse and Henry Cundall. 5'16 The increasing monetary value placed on forest land on account of firewood is also evident from testimony given to the earlier Land Commission of 1860: Hon. James Warburton said that the highest price paid for “wild lands" that he knew of, was "£3 per acre”, and that was on account of “the fuel". 5” Allen (1880) ‘Meacham's Atlas’ (see Lot 31 on p. 80).