Three Centuries and the Island

Book excerpt: This study is one of the first in the field of historical geography to be published in Canada. Written after exhaustive research, it uses a particular approach to the study of historical agricultural geography which concentrates on the use of basic distributional evidence for the description and interpretation of the changing character of any region through any period of time. By the analysis of over 1200 maps, some of which form part of the text of the book, Professor Clark studies agriculture as the dominant economic activity of Prince Edward Island and traces with remarkable clarity through the changing patterns of land culture throughout the province. The book begins with a description of the natural geography of the Island which, despite its small size, shows surprising variety. It goes on to prove the necessity for careful consideration of the background of habit and prejudice of groups of different origin when studying the changing geographies of land use. The settlement of the Island is traced from the time it was used as a summer campground by the Micmac Indians. Details of the arrival of the first Acadians, the transfer to British rule, and the subsequent influx of Scottish, Irish, Loyalist, and English stock are given together with evidence of the effect their coming had on the agriculture of the region. One hundred and fifty-five maps and sixteen tables to illustrate the distribution of population by area and origin, changes in kind and distribution of crops, census of livestock, etc., from the early eighteenth century to the present day, and from the days when the potato was unknown as a crop through the fur-farming era. The author presents this study as part of his life-work, a programme of research on the settlement overseas in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries of the people from the British Isles. He is descended from Prince Edward Island settlers and writes of the province from a background of personal knowledge of, and affection for, the land of his forbears.