The wiry grass is very short
there, something like the Milk River grass in Southern Alberta,
and hay is scarce. This drawback will doubtless be got over hereafter
by dry farming, or better still by irrigation, should the lakes to
the north prove to be available.
I have pointed out disadvantages which in all likelihood will
disappear with time and settlement by good farmers. It is a region,
I believe, predestined to agriculture; but, in some localities, the
rainfall, as has been said, is rather scant for good husbandry, and,
therefore, farming to the north of the river, on the upper level,
is not as yet an assured success. To the south better conditions
prevail, and thither no doubt the stream of immigration will first
trend.
Altogether we estimated the prairie areas of the upper river at
about half a million acres, with much country, in addition, which
resembles the Dauphin District in Manitoba, covered with willows
and the like, which, if they can be pulled out by horse-power,
as is done there, will not be very expensive to clear. There
is, of course, any quantity of timber for building and fencing,
though much has been destroyed by fire, the varieties being
those common to the whole country. To the south, in the Yellowhead,
and on the Upper Athabasca and its tributaries, there is considerable
prairie also, more easily reached than Peace River; but this is
apart from my subject.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118