stones are not visible above the surface, and the remainder are so
covered with moss and leaves, that they require a practised eye to
detect them. I have no objection to a small quantity of stones, as they
are useful to construct French drains, or to roll into the bottoms of
the rail-fences.

When limestone-flag is near the surface, the stems of the trees will be
shorter, their heads more bushy, and the roots spreading along the top
of the ground. Such land is apt to burn in hot weather, and soon
becomes exhausted. White pine, or hemlock ridges, are almost always
sandy, and good for little--except the timber, which is valuable, if
near enough to water. White-pine, mixed with hard-wood, generally
indicates strong clay land, good for wheat; but the difficulty of
clearing off such heavy timber, and the long time it takes to get rid
of the stumps, render such a selection unprofitable, and add additional
toil to the emigrant.

The best land for wheat should be gently undulating soil, rich loam, on
a clay bottom. In the summer months you can judge the quality of the
land by the freshly turned-up roots of trees, which have fallen by the
wind.

In winter, when the surface of the ground is covered with snow, and
frozen hard, the growth and quality of the timber, as before described,
are your only mode of judging correctly.

A constant supply of water is absolutely necessary, in a country liable
to such extreme heat in summer. Canada West, abounding, as it does, in
small spring-creeks, rivers, and lakes, is, perhaps, as well watered as
any country in the world; and, in almost every section of the country,