The soil is in general a light red loam, in some places approaching to a tolerable strong clay, but in most districts more or less sandy; but even where the soil may be called sandy, if it incline to a dark color it is very fruitful, and with tolerable cultivation yields good crops: where white sand predominates the land is poor, and wants frequent manuring. The quality of the soil in its natural state, may always be known by the kind of timber it produces; the best land growing together, large maple, beech, black and yellow birch, mixed with the different kinds of pine and fir, the trees will stand at a distance, and the roots do not appear to run along the surface, which in general will be found covered with the dwarf yew, or as it is commonly called ground spruce, which is always an indication of good land. The next best kind is that which produces large hard wood of the kinds above mentioned, unmixed with any evergreens or soft wood, if the trees stand at a great distance, and push their roots well out of sight, and the surface is covered with the dwarf yew, this land is very little inferior to the first mentioned kind. The next indication is, when the land being covered with hard wood, and the roots run much along the surface, and that is without the dwarf yew on it, this land is poor in comparison to the others, the upper stratum of the soil will be found thin, and the subsoil cold and hard. The worst land in its natural state, is that which produces nothing but spruce, small white birch, and scrubby pines, this land is generally very light and sandy, and requires too much manure, to be profitably cultivated in the present state of the Island.

The value of the swamps or low wet ground is not yet much known by experience, few attempts having yet been made to reclaim any but such as by producing in their natural state abundance of grass, promised an immediate profit with very little expence; the management of these has been merely to drain them a little where that was required, and to cut away the trees and bushes with which they are more or less encumbered, and then to throw some timothy grass seed on the surface; in this way without further cultivation large crops of that grass have been obtained. The low grounds which produce strong alder bushes, large annual weeds, particularly nettles, are also fine lands, and will produce large crops of the same grass without any other cultivation than grubbing up the bushes, burning the surface, and the bush harrowing the seed upon it.

Of the swamps which produce nothing but small black spruce trees, or those which having few or no trees of any kind, are covered with a soft fog or moss, in which a man will sink to his knees; nothing is known of their value, no attempts having yet been made to improve them, under some of the swamps beds of strong white clay have been discovered, the same article is also seen in some districts in walking along shore between high and low water mark, it is said to be very fine, and is preferred at Halifax, by the regiments in garrison, far cleaning their accoutrements to what is imported from England, which is the only use it has ever yet been put to.

In some districts large tracts of the forest were destroyed by fire near a century back, the soil of these tracts is not esteemed so valuable as that whereon the original growth of timber is still standing, many parts of them are without useful timber of any kind, and a great deal is overrun with strong ferns, dwarf, laurel, and other shrubs; the ferns are difficult to be got the better of, they grow in some places six and seven feet high, and push their roots very deep into the earth. The burnt lands, as these tracts are called, were long thought of little or no value, from an idea that the fire had in a great measure destroyed their fertility. It is probable, that in general they never were so good as the other parts of the Island, the very circumstance of their original growth of timber having been destroyed by fire, shews that the predominant species upon them was such as indicates an inferiority of soil, as we now know by many years experience, that though the fire will sometimes in very dry years, in the months of May and June, kill and partially burn the timber on our best lands, it never acts so severely on them as to injure their fertility, on the contrary, the finest crops are procured by burning all the timber upon them.

From the appearance of the burnt districts, and the number of old pine trees and stumps still remaining upon them, it is evident that these lands were covered chiefly with pine and other resinous woods, and therefore, the soil in its original state, could not have been of the best. There is now, however, good reason to believe from a variety of trials, that the greater part of the burnt lands will pay very well for their cultivation; I have lately been surprised to see parts of them which had been long considered of little or no value, brought into cultivation at a much smaller expence certainly, than it is possible to cultivate the forest lands for: still it must be confessed, that in general, the lands on which the original growth of timber remains, and is such as has been noticed, as indicating the best soil, are much more to be relied upon, though the process of bringing them into cultivation is more expensive, and the necessary time greater, than is required for the burnt lands.

A settler in indigent circumstances, who relies from the beginning for the means of subsistence on the produce of his labour, must not at first meddle with the burnt lands, he should cut down and clear away the forest, which will never disappoint him. Let him but get rid of the timber, and scorch the surface with fire, whatever seed he commits to tile earth will produce him a good crop, though the stumps of the trees still remain. A settler who is farther advanced, has a stock of cattle, and a capital to command labour; may find it profitable to cultivate the burnt lands, large tracts of which he will be able to render tolerably productive, in much less time than is required to get rid of the stumps of the trees, in the lands which he clears from the forests, a circumstance which forms no trifling temptation to their cultivation; at the same time it is universally allowed, that our forest lands are much easier cultivated, than the forest lands on any part of the neighbouring continent, the surface being much easier levelled, and almost totally unincumbered with rocks and stones, so that when the stumps of the trees are got the better of, all the difficulties to complete cultivation are overcome.