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Ben, or known as BJ, looked after his cattle and pigs on the farm according to Donna Thompson.  BJ must have had an eye for greenery, espeically flowers; what does he do? He builds a conservatory.  Lots of flowers especially roses, probably for the ladies, and nature to the Miramichi with a nature greenhouse conservatory.  Fruits including plums and grapefruit were ripe for picking. Grapefruits and others won prizes in Europe.  Botany like plants were a pastime of many.  The Miramichi Natural History Museum shows evidence of many types of flora that existing in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  This museum contains ledgers from Joseph Cunard is the 1820-1840s at the height of the wooden ships.  Joseph’s brother Henry was part of BJ's passion for the Woodburn Farm Conservatory.   Along with many cattle and pigs on this lovely farm was the Georgian architecture of a beautiful quality home and well-built barns and trails.  One of these magnificent barns is still standing today.  There are some unique species of plants that BJ has left to the community.  On the unique bush trees that line the property is the Hawthorne tree with its natural medicine properties include berries with arsenic pits to the bark for making teas. Hawthorn is used for diseases of the heart and blood vessels such as congestive heart failure, chest pain, and even irregular heartbeat.

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BJ knew plants and the mechanisms of greenhouse construction and craftsmanship.  His barn is still on the location today.

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Why plants?  Plants provided natural remedies for eating healthy and maintaining lifestyles. Hawthorn berries and loaded with anti-oxidants and these berries should be utilized in the 21st century to help in treating heart failure.  BJ and his plants were a connection to a forest garden and community. BJ even has a wooden forest tobaggan run for the family and snowshoed in the winter amongst the trails of high pine.  This toboggan run was in another fire caused by brush fire through the railway.  A lot of buildings have been the fate of fires including the homestead in 2008. 

Fires were common and in 1825 was the Great Miramichi Fire which travelled so fast it barely scared the tips of the tall pine trees.  The Morrison Cove natural terrain and its brook, which is rarely frozen, creates a unique ecosystem of thermal warmth in the harsh winters of the Miramichi but coolness in the summer.  Its protection from the Northeast winds helps to provide unique species of plants to survive in the North.  There are two dams in the Morrison Brook watershed which provide sanctuary for ducks, river otters, eagles and many fish including brook trout.  These dams were build in 1905 to provide water for the town of Chatham and reservoirs for recreation.