Useful information about the property culled from the cruiser's report includes details on the types of soil, the variety, age, location and value of trees, harvestry and forest management assessment, the topography, the bedrock geology, the stream, the river, and accessibility.
The land falls within Ecodistrict 310, the Cape Breton Hills with an Ecosite rating of WMHO, denoting well drained medium textured soils with hummocky topography. Soils consist of 2 Series, the Westbrook Series with a reddish brown sandy loam till with good drainage and the Debert Series also with a reddish brown sandy loam till but with imperfect drainage. The Surficial Geology consists of a sandy till 2-4 meters thick. The underlying bedrock consists of the Carboniferous Period, Horton Group and Creignish Formation which consists of medium to coarse grained sandstone and reddish brown conglomerate.
Species of trees to be found on the land include balsam fir, larch (juniper), white spruce, black spruce, white birch and red maple.
The land is rectangular in shape and has very favorable topography for forest management. There are no steep slopes. Access is very good with the S.S. Roseburn Road forming the eastern boundary. Indian River (tributary of the Skye River which bisects Whycocomagh and drains into the Bras d'Or Lakes) forms the western boundary. A small stream passes through the center of the acreage; privately owned lands occur to the north and the south. Boundary line evidence found consisted of traces of barbed wire on the southern boundary and piled field stone ridges on the eastern end of the north and south boundaries.
There is an unusual elevated knoll about 1 hectare in size with large white spruce growing on it near the junction of the small stream and Indian River (photograph included in slide show above). Another elevated knoll or hill exists on the northeastern corner of the property near Roseburn Road and suggests a very attractive home site with good location relative to access with privacy and expansive views (tree clearing needed for views) of valley and mountains.
The area of Roseburn Road where the property is located is sparsely populated - by people. Wildlife and wild harvests, as a result, are more noticeable. There is good cover and feed on this property for deer, rabbit and grouse as well as the occasional pheasant, bear or coyote. Wild mint and watercress grow in profusion along the stream that runs across the center of the property while clearings interspersed throughout provide good growing areas for both wild blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and choke cherries, among others. There are large areas of deep, soft moss under softwood stands where Chanterelle mushrooms can grow in great quantity. Trout fishing is sometimes quite good in Indian River at the back of the property away from the road.
Traffic and other noise is mostly absent in this backwoods location - S. S. Roseburn Rd. dead ends farther up the valley beyond this land so there is no through traffic and very little local traffic.
