Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/863

 PRINCE EDWARD PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 839 streams ; area, about 350 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,004, of whom 7,898 were colored. It has a diversified surface and a generally fertile soil, and contains mines of coal and copper. It is intersected by the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio, and the Richmond, Danville, and Pied- mont railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 43,820 bushels of wheat, 87,440 of Indian corn, 67,445 of oats, 960,700 Ibs. of tobacco, and 51,791 of butter. There were 692 horses, ' 519 mules and asses, 1,241 milch cows, 528 working oxen, 1,051 other cattle, 1,600 sheep, and 4,223 swine. Capital, Farmville. PRINCE EDWARD, an E. county of Ontario, Canada, on the N. shore of Lake Ontario; area, 388 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 20,336, of whom 6,649 were of English, 5,906 of Irish, 4,866 of German, 1,378 of Scotch, 697 of French, and 634 of Dutch origin or descent. It consists of a peninsula, separated from the mainland by the bay of Quinte. Capital, Picton. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, a province of the Dominion of Canada, comprising the island of Prince Edward, lying in the gulf of St. Law- rence, between lat. 45 58' and 47 7' N., and Ion. 62 and 64 27' W., separated from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the southwest by Northumberland strait, which varies in width from 9 to 30 m. The length from N. W. to S. E. is 105 m. ; the breadth varies from - not more than 2 m. to about 40 in. ; area, 2,173 sq. m. It is divided into three counties : Prince in the northwest, Queen's in the cen- tre, and King's in the east. Charlottetown in Queen's co. (pop. in 1871, 8,807) is the capital, chief commercial point, and only city. There are three towns: Summerside (pop. 1,918) and Princetown (417) in Prince co., and George- town (1,056) in King's co. The population of the province in 1797 was 4,500 ; in 1827, 23,266; in 1833, 32,292; in 1841, 47,034; in 1848, 62,599; in 1855, 71,496 ; in 1861, 80,857; in 1871, 94,021 (47,121 males and 46,900 fe- males), including 323 Micmac Indians. Of the white population in 1871, 80,271 were natives of the province, 3,246 of other parts of Brit- ish America, 4,128 of Scotland, 3,712 of Ire- land, 1,957 of England, and 384 of other coun- tries. There were 25,952 children between 5 and 16 years of age, 12,790 males from 21 to 45, 14,841 families, 64 blind persons, 70 deaf and dumb, and 188 insane. The natives of the province are chiefly descendants of the French Acadians who remained after the cession of the island to Great Britain ; of settlers from the highlands of Scotland, introduced subsequent- ly to 1770 by the proprietors of townships; and of American loyalists to whom lands were granted at the close of the revolutionary war. The surface is generally flat, but rises here and there to a moderate height, without be- ing anywhere too broken for agriculture. The coasts are bold, and are lined with red clitts varying from 20 to 100 ft. in height, and deeply indented by bays, with numerous pro- jecting headlands. The principal bays are Eg nont, Halifax or Bedeque, and Hillsborough on Richmond opposite Halifax. Bedford and Hills- iorough, and Richmond and Halifax bays, be- ing separated from each other merely by nar- row isthmuses, divide the island into three pen- insulas. The chief headlands are North point at the N. E., West point at the N. W., East point at the E., and Cape Bear at the S. E. ex- tremity ; Cape Aylesbury, at the S. E. entrance of Richmond bay ; Cape Kildare, directly S. of North point ; Cape Egmont, between Egmont and Halifax bays ; Rice point, at the N. W. and Prim point at the S. E. entrance of Hillsborough bay. The prevailing geological formation is trias or new red sandstone. This is supposed to be underlaid throughout by carboniferous rocks, but the depth of the coal seams is prob- ably too great for profitable working. Brown earthy limestones occur, and there are consid- erable deposits of peat suitable for fuel. No valuable minerals have been discovered. The soil, watered by numerous springs and streams, is remarkably fertile. It consists for the most part of a thin layer of decayed vegetable mat- ter over a light bright red loam about a foot deep, below which is a stiff clay generally resting upon sandstone. With the exception of a few bogs and swamps, the whole island is cultivable. Fires, lumbering, and cultivation have made large inroads upon the original for- est, which covered the entire island, but a con- siderable portion still remains. The principal trees are beech, birch, maple, poplar, spruce, fir, hemlock, larch, cedar, mountain ash, and wild cherry. The climate is salubrious, and is milder than that of the adjacent conti- nent. The air is almost entirely free from fogs, which are prevalent along the -shores of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. The winters are long and cold ; the summers are warm, but not oppressive. The mean temperature of the year 1870 at Charlottetown was 38*64 ; of the warmest month (August), 63-42; of the cold- est month (February), 13-74; maximum tem- perature, 83; minimum, 21; number of days on which rain or snow fell, 120; num- ber of days of strong wind, 38; number of thunder storms, 8. The total precipitation of rain and melted snow during the year ending Aug. 31, 1873, was 41'38 inches. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the people, but the cultivation is not of the most approved kind. The climate and soil are well suited to fcl production of the smaller grains, root crops, and hay, and for dairy purposes. The sum- mer is not warm enough for Indian cor The chief productions according to the < sus of 1871 were 269,392 bushels of wheat, 75,109 of buckwheat, 176,441 of barley, 3 ,0,- 576 of oats, 2,411 of Indian corn 11,86 grass seed, 3,375,726 of potatoes, 395 358 turnips, 5,992 of other root crops 68,34 of hay, 27 282 Ibs. of flax, 981,939 of butter, and 155524 of cheese; value of apples and other
 * he S. W. coast, Cardigan at the E. extremity of
 * he island, Bedford opposite Hillsborough, and