it with a ”white sandy soilmg, and a witness to

the Land Commission of 1875, said it was a sign of ”second quality land”, a term that for him

included sandy and wet soilsm.

But it is Bain (1890) who provides the greatest information on the soil and community relations of the species: he noted that one of the substrata on which it occurred were the ”often swampy heavy clay soils” overlying shale beds, where it occurred with black spruce, ash and willow. He later added that larch was one of the tree species occurring on ”the swamps and barrens” in general - where “spruces, poplars, birches, aspens and firs” also contributed to the timber growth.271 In the records of the Land Commission of 1875 we have specific examples of such sites: in Lot 13, a witness said ”the barrens are covered with juniper or clear"272; in Lot 16, there was ”a great deal of juniper swamp covered with water”m; in Lot 19, ’juniper’ grew with spruce, in an area with ”a light soil [and] a light growth of soft wood”, on what was considered ”the poorest land on the township’m“; at Carleton Point, Lot 28: ”small stunted spruce and juniper" was found on ”poor wet landms; on a vacant farm in Lot 36, ’juniper’ grew ”with ferns” on "blueberry barrens’ms, while on another area in the same township, its associates were listed as ”wild—tea, blueberries and spruce”277; and at Johnstons River ”small juniper" was found on ”light land”, that "appeared to have been burned”m.

Finally, Macoun (1894) observed that on the island (as well as in parts of Nova Scotia) tamarack colonized abandoned pastures and meadows. However, his assertion that such areas had once

269 Land Commission 1860: evidence of T, H. Haviland for a site

in eastern Kings County.

270 Land Commission 1875: evidence of R, P, Haythorne.

27‘ The census-taker Joseph Higgins also refers to its association

with 'swamps' on Lot 7 (Census 1841), while in evidence to the Land Commission (1875) H. Braddock makes reference to a “juniper swamp" on a farm in Lot 36.

272 Land Commission 1875: evidence of Samuel Ramsay.

273

Land Commission 1875: evidence of Donald Campbell.

274

Land Commission 1875: evidence of William Tuplin.

275

Land Commission 1875: evidence of Donald McFarlane.

276

Land Commission 1875: evidence of Patrick Smith.

277

Land Commission 1875: evidence of Archibald Carmichael.

278

Land Commission 1875: evidence of Alexander McLean.

184

had a cover of hardwood forest is questionable, as is his deduction that forest clearance had brought about a deterioration in the soils of such sites by letting in the sea air, making the soils wetter — and thus presumably more amenable to colonization by tamarack.

Properties and uses — Several recorders highlight either the "durability” of tamarack wood or, more specifically, its resistance to decaym. This gave it particular uses: Stewart (1806) said it made the best knees for ship-building and the best ’trunnells’ [tree-nails) of any wood; MacGregor (1828) also noted this latter use, as well as its use by ship- builders for other unspecified purposes; Bain (1890) said it was used for railway ties and fence posts, as well as knees for vessels, while the Land Commission (1860) recorded that the export of ’juniper’ sleepers and knees was a cash-earning activity for tenant farmers.280 Stewart (1806) alone noted that it had a medicinal use: its turpentine, he said, had ”powerful medicinal qualities” and he had seen its "very good effects on coughs and colds”.

Conclusions — Tamarack was viewed as a rather uncommon medium-sized tree that grew especially in the swamps and barrens, and in other areas of poor land. Its wood however had particular uses, especially for fencing and in ship-building.

EASTERN WHITE-CEDAR (Thuja occidenta/is)

Identification and nomenclature — Since cedar is the only conifer occurring on Prince Edward Island that has scale-like rather than needle-like leaves, it should have been easily distinguished from all other trees. However, assuming its distribution before European settlement to have been similar to that of the present, it would have been found only in the west of the island in the area of Malpeque and Bedeque Bays and westward. By the mid- eighteenth century the name ’cedar’ (sometimes as ’white cedar’), even though a botanical misnomerzs‘, had become the standard name for the species Thu/a occidental/s, and it is by this

”9 Stewart 1806, Plessis 1812, MacGregor1828, Bain 1890, 28° Also Plessis (1812) records that larch was used in place of cedar (which he said was rare on the island), but he does not state the uses.

281 The true cedars (Cedrus species, the best known of which is the cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libam) are very different in appearance.