Ernest J. Chambers

THE KEEWATIN AREA. (Newest Ontario and Northern Manitoba.) Agriculture and Arable Land. Early Agricultural Experiments and Their Success.--Evidence before the Parliamentary Committee of 1749.--Testimony of Official Explorers and Residents.--Many Areas Fit For Agriculture Described.--Wild Fruits Grow in Profusion.--Successful Gardens.--Much Country Capable of Improvement by Drainage.--Climate Inland Warmer Than Further East.--Natural Hay Meadows.--The Clay Belt.

The region west of James bay and southwest of Hudson bay, being the southern portion of the area known up to the time of the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan as the district of Keewatin, and comprising the territory recently (1912) annexed to the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, was the first part of the still unexploited northwest with which white men came into touch.

Some years elapsed between its discovery by Henry Hudson and Sir Thomas Button in 1610 and 1612 and the establishment of the first posts therein by the Hudson’s Bay Company at the mouths of Albany, Severn, Nelson and Churchill rivers. These posts were established and have since been maintained entirely for the purpose of the fur trade, and consequently no settlements have sprung up around them, and there has been no systematic attempt to exploit the agricultural possibilities of the adjacent areas. Nevertheless, it was some of the older servants of the big fur company who first drew attention to the fact that this region had agricultural possibilities, and it was from the posts on the bay that the first explorations of the interior were made. Of recent years, much information as to the agricultural possibilities of this area has been obtained by explorers of the Geological Survey of Canada, and through the explorations attendant upon the surveys for the location of the Hudson Bay Railway, which is projected to run in a northeasterly direction across this region from The Pas to Port Nelson.

The main object of those who secured the appointment of a select committee of the British House of Commons in 1749, to inquire into the condition of the Hudson bay territory and the trade carried on there (See page 8), was to secure the cancellation of the Company’s monopoly and to throw the country open to settlement. With this object in view much evidence was produced to show that the territory offered inducements to colonists, and, as inscribed in the pages of the official report, this gives us the earliest account of pioneer agriculture in this region, and an idea of the possibilities of the country from the old timers’ points of view.

Mr. Richard White, one of the witnesses examined before the committee, said that he went to Albany Fort in the year 1726, as clerk to the Company, and remained there seven years, and that he had been ten years at Churchill, which was the northernmost fort. He testified that “the Governor at Albany had a garden in which peas, beans, turnips and salad grew as well and plentiful as in England, but he never knew of seed raised in that country to have been sown again. He saw a small quantity of barley growing near Moose river in August, which is about two months before the cold weather, which barley was in the ear, but not full, but as he has never been used to tillage, he is a very indifferent judge in those matters.”

Mr. White stated that “he apprehended the countries adjoining to Hudson bay might be settled and improved, and that in the southern parts, oats, barley and peas would grow, but if persons were allowed to settle, he did not apprehend they could at first subsist by the cultivation of lands only he did not know why the Company did not grow their own corn, nor whether any proposal had been made to them for that purpose, for he really thought corn would grow there, which certainly would tend much to the advantage of the Company, as well as to the security of persons residing there. Their common provisions were fish and fowl, and they had no bread but what came from England; that all grain kept there very well, except peas; that in a general way they had two years’ provisions beforehand in their forts, especially of bread.”

Being asked if the Indians could not cultivate corn for one-third of the price it costs in Europe, this witness said—“The Indians are in general a slothful people and cultivate no corn.”

Soil Good and Climate Mild

Another of the witnesses examined before the committee, Mr. Matthew Sergeant, stated that while in the Company’s service he had been twelve miles up the country at York Factory, thirty miles up the river from Albany Fort, and had travelled by land from Moose river to Albany Fort, one hundred miles along the coast. The soil was good and produced good turnips, the climate for four months in the year being mild.

The record of the evidence continues:—“The good soil is not quite two feet deep, when you come to a stratum of loam and sand. In some places the frost is never out of the ground, but you may dig through it. The turnips he has eaten there are as good as ever he ate in England, but he does not know whether seed raised there would produce the same. It is the general opinion at York Factory that the soil is proper for wheat, barley, rye or oats. He has seen very good peas and beans grow there, but he never saw any corn grow there, except some wild oats; and that his mess-mate did sow some corn there, which, though it grew a good height, never came to perfection; but, in the opinion of the witness, oats would ripen at Albany, where he has seen a cherry-tree bearing black cherries. He has seen the Indians bring down currants, which, they said, grew in their country. They also brought down sugar, which was very black, and made from the tree of which their paddles are made; that the Indians informed the witness that there are large lakes behind the factory; that the witness had been in a lake ten miles long, without any fall going to it.

Prairie Land on lower Nelson river.

“It begins to thaw at Albany about April 8 or 10. There is a good soil there for six or eight inches, which may be gained within about a fortnight after the beginning of the thaw; that in two or three weeks more, as the weather happens, it thaws to the depth of two feet, commonly by the beginning of May. The frost sets in again about the beginning of October, and when the witness was there, October 4, it came in very hard. The witness believes there is time enough to grow wheat, for if summer grain were sown early in the southernmost parts, he thinks there would be time for it to ripen and to gather it in, but the frosts break sooner up in the country and come in later. There are vast tracts of land fit for cultivation, and the witness has seen very good lettuce, spinach, dewberries, strawberries and black cherries. The Indians very rarely eat any bread, nor do they live long enough in one place to raise corn, nor have they any yams or potatoes, their provisions being fish and flesh, which they preserve by drying it, not having the art of salting. In case they were interested in the arts of tillage, he does not know whether they would stay in a place long enough to raise corn, for though they love bread dearly they would rather go hunting than cultivate land. The wild oats he mentioned before never came to seed, being little better than a species of grass. Grass grows there sufficient for the support of cattle, and they have made hay at Albany. If the Company were to grow corn, they apprehend the French would come and take it as they did their sheep in the last war, but they might protect their corn from the Indians. Witness does not think it to the benefit of the Company to grow corn, because they must have a house built at a distance from the factories, and men to watch it, to prevent the home Indians from stealing it. They must also have men to cultivate it, which would be very expensive. The witness cannot determine whether it would not be more so than having their corn from Europe, and he thinks the Company would sow it, if it were for their advantage.”

Mr. John Hayter, another witness, said that he had been house carpenter to the Company six years at Moose river, three years at Churchill, and six months at Albany, and knew that no other trade was carried on there but that of furs. He had seen good barley grow at Moose river, and helped the person who grew it to dig his ground and sow it. It produced about the quantity of half a bushel, which he saw rubbed out. The ear was large, and yielded as well, in the opinion of the witness, as the barley sown on common ground in England. Some of the seed was sown the next year, and it grew again but the witness did not see the produce of it. The person who grew this corn told him the reason why he discontinued sowing corn was that the Governor hindered him. Witness further said that he had made hay at Moose river.

Mr. Edward Thompson, who had been three years at Moose river in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s service as surgeon, being required to give an account of the commodities, soil and climate there, before the committee, said that the chief commodities were the furs of the beaver, the marten, the fox and the bear. He testified that he had seen better barley and oats grow at Moose river than ever he saw in the Orkneys, but the quantity sown was but very small. The seed would bear sowing again, but diminished in goodness. There was suitable enough ground for this corn, but never any encouragement given for sowing it, but quite the reverse, the Governor absolutely forbidding it, for no other reason, as the witness apprehended, but that if corn had been sown, a colony would soon have been erected there, and he could not say whether that would be for the advantage of the proprietors. The witness himself sowed about half a dozen corns of wheat, for a trial, in October, which lay in the ground all winter covered with snow and came to perfection in August. It was sown in a piece of good ground near the foot of a tree, which was in some measure a fence to it. The witness thought that beans, peas, barley and oats would grow there. He never tried it anywhere but at Moose river, but apprehended that corn would grow in the inland countries at a hundred miles distance, even as far north as Port Nelson, for he had found the climate warmer the further one goes inland.

Enoch Alsop, who had been armourer to the Hudson’s Bay Company at Moose river, informed the investigating Committee of 1749 that he had sown barley and oats there, the same seed three years successively, and that it grew very well. He sowed a handful or two of barley and oats at first, mixed with dust and ashes, which produced two or three quarts or a gallon of barley, and he thinks in the third year he had above half a bushel. Governor Stanton then

Forbade Him To Sow Any More

but gave no reason for such prohibition.

Robert Griffin, another of the witnesses, stated that he had been informed that the soil one hundred miles up the country would produce corn. He had seen oats grow to perfection at Albany. He had also seen peas, beans, turnips, salading (sic) and cabbage, and some few carrots. The beans were generally blighted, but the turnips, peas and cabbage, were “in great plenty and perfection.” They had fresh seed sent over every year. The land was then cultivated for about a mile round Albany, being dug with spades upon the breaking of the frost, which generally happened from April 20 to 27.

In his evidence, Mr. Joseph Robson, perhaps the principal witness, explained that there was grass in abundance a yard high in the most northern parts of Hudson bay region he had seen. He did not believe corn would grow in the far north but grain would grow over large areas. He had eaten peas and beans which had been grown at York Factory, in latitude 57°, but he never knew any other corn tried there. The quantity of peas and beans he spoke of was as much as six or eight people could eat, but there were a thousand acres of ground in latitude 57°, which, if cultivated, would produce the same, and there was a much larger tract to the southward. The peas and beans grew by common cultivation, without any force, but the produce was not so large as in England.

Being asked if it would not be a great advantage to the Company to grow corn at York Factory or their other settlements, Mr. Robson said it would doubtless be so, and it was reasonable to think they would do it, but there were many things not done which would be of great advantage besides that, and there must be some secret cause for it to which the witness was a stranger. It had been demonstrated that the soil about Hudson bay would bear roots, such as carrots, radishes and turnips. It also produced coleworts, and all of these roots and greens grew in as great perfection as they do in England; yet he did not think that there were two acres cultivated at both the factories where he had resided.

Being asked how long the frost was out of the ground at York Factory, Mr. Robson said it was hardly ever quite out of it, for he had dug three feet and a half deep, and then found a shell of ice under which the ground was all soft. The hole he dug was in low ground, about thirteen feet from high water mark. He never had an opportunity to dig up in the country, but the surface of the ground was free from the latter end of May to the latter end of August, and in the summer they had

Eighteen Hours Sunlight at Churchill.

By the accounts of the people coming down, the frost breaks some months sooner up in the country.

Mr. Robson said he had seen oxen and horses belonging to the Company at Fort Prince of Wales (Churchill) which were brought from England and fed with hay and corn, the hay being got there and made into stacks.

Robson, who first went to Hudson bay in 1733, and finally left there in 1747, serving for some time as a mason, and later as “mason and surveyor,” in the construction of Fort Prince of Wales at Churchill, published his book “An Account of Six Years’ Residence in Hudson’s Bay” in 1752. In this volume he mentions going out in the “Mary” frigate, and says, in writing of Churchill:—“We had brought over in the ship a bull, four heifers, ten oxen and a horse. There was an Orkney bull there before. Some of the heifers afterwards calved, and I think with care they would have increased and done well, though this place is in 59°, and the most northerly settlement in the bay.”

On page forty-two of his book, Mr. Robson states:—“It is not to be imagined that the most northerly settlements in the bay should have as good a climate as the southerly settlement, there being so great a difference of latitude, as from 59° to 51° 30'. I was no farther up Churchill river than eight or nine miles but can say that the soil is very good, and that there are gooseberries and black and red currants growing near the sea upon points that appear almost barren. Those I have seen grow so low that the grass covers them. The marshes and low grounds are full of good grass, and there is a patch of ground near the fort on Eskimo point (near Churchill) which, though exposed to the north and northeast winds, produces good radishes, coleworts, turnips, small carrots, and lettuces, and other salading; blackberries also grow upon the heath. Upon clearing away the snow in the spring, we generally found the under part of it congested to ice, three or four inches thick, lying hollow from the ground. Whether this was caused by the snow melting and thawing downwards, and then congesting from the coldness of the earth, and moistening the snow which was afterwards congested again, I am not able to determine. I am inclined to believe the latter, because the top of the snow was formed into a hard icy crust, and within was heavy, though soft. However, beneath this arch of ice we found green vegetables growing up an inch or two above the ground. Cattle here would live and do well, if the same care were taken of them as is generally taken in England. The horses I found among them had been kept several years, and were constantly employed in drawing stones and other materials for the use of the fort. And if they can subsist and be fit for service at Churchill river in 59° they would surely subsist and increase also at the bottom of the bay in 51° 30', and in all the more southerly settlements.

“The soil at York Factory, which is in 75° 10', is much better than at Churchill river. Most kinds of garden stuff

Grow Here to Perfection,

especially peas and beans. I have seen a small pea growing without any culture, and am of the opinion that barley would flourish here, and consequently in much greater perfection at Moose and Albany rivers, which are 51° 30' and 52°. Gooseberries and red and black currants are found in the woods, growing upon such bushes as in England. Up the river are very good patches of grounds, and bottoms under banks, so defended from the north and northwest winds that there is a fine thaw below when the top is freezing; here whole families might secure a comfortable subsistence, if they were as industrious as they are in their own country. Upon Hayes river, fifteen miles from the factory, is such a bank as I have just mentioned, near which I pitched my tent. After paling in some ground for a covey-warren, and for oxen, sheep, goats, etc., I should expect by no more labor than would be proper for my health to procure a desirable livelihood, not at all doubting of my being able to raise peas and beans, barley, and probably other kinds of grain.”

On page sixty-three, Mr. Robson expresses the opinion “that the lands are capable of tillage, affording a good pasture for horses and cattle in the summer, and good hay for their subsistence in the winter. At Churchill, the most northerly factory, horses and cows have been kept in winter, though greatly exposed to the frost and cold. All sorts of garden stuff flourish at the factory, and where barley and oats have been sown, they come to perfection. At Moose Factory at the bottom of the bay, sown wheat has stood the winter frosts, and grown very well the following summer, though the cold is greater and continues longer than within land; black cherries planted here have also grown and borne fruit, as would other trees if propagated.”

Reverting to the subject of climate, Mr. Robson states:—“I perceived that the garden ground at York Factory and Churchill river thawed much sooner and deeper in the space of one month than the waste that lies contiguous to it, and the same is to be observed in England. By the heat therefore which the earth here would acquire from a general and careful cultivation, the frost might be so soon overcome that the people might expect regular returns of seed-time and harvest.”

An Excellent Farming Country.

Ed. Umfreville, in his volume “Eleven Years in the Service of the Hudson’s Bay Company and Four Years in the Canada Fur Trade”, published in 1790, speaking of latitude 55°, says:—“The Hudson’s Bay Company servants have tried Indian corn and barley by way of experiment which came to perfection. Potatoes, carrots, radishes, onions, etc., have been reared and found as good as those in Canada (Quebec). The natives collect vast quantities of wild cherries and bring them to the fort. Raspberries, strawberries, currants, cranberries, and an infinity of other kinds of which I do not know the names, are to be found everywhere. The grass grows to a great height which fattens our horses in a short time.

“The late Chief Factor Archibald, in his journal of Sir George Simpson’s trip from York Factory to the Pacific in 1828, speaks of having had, on July 12, two days after leaving York, “a peep at the Rock, an old establishment with its gardens.”

The Rev. John Semmens, who spent many years as a missionary in the north country, went to live on the banks of Burntwood river, at Nelson House, in the year 1874. He remained there two years, and for a number of years thereafter paid occasional visits to the locality and made journeys through the adjacent country. He writes:—“The most of my tripping was between Norway House and Nelson House, though I have been as far north as Indian lake, as far west as Nelson lake, and as far east as Split lake. The information I have to offer, therefore, concerns the lower reaches of the Burntwood after its junction with Rat river at Nelson House. Much of the country specified is hilly, with frequent outcropping of granite rock, and some large tracts of muskeg or swamp land, but there are found large areas of open country, and valleys of tributary rivers, where the soil is rich and deep and where grazing and stock raising could be very successfully carried on. The sheltering forests, and the abundant water courses, the numerous beaver dams, and the rich native grasses would indeed make this locality ideal to sheep raisers and general ranchmen. The absence of anything like a market has hitherto kept this country from being reported of, but if a railway becomes an actual fact, Manitoba will add very much to her available resources, when extension comes, and settlers will find that in soil, in wood, in grasses, and in waters, this unknown land will afford comfortable homes for thousands. It will be seen by the map that about one hundred miles down the Nelson all the branches of that noble river unite in one. From that point we are accustomed to strike across country to Landing lake, Wintering lake, Pipestone lake and thence into Burntwood river. This short cut has along its course many thousands of acres, such as I have described, and for fishermen as well as ranchers must some day be a paradise.

“The cold at Nelson House is no more intense than that of a winter in northern Manitoba as at present constituted, but the frost sets in rather sooner, and tarries rather longer than it does at the north end of Lake Winnipeg. Roots and vegetables planted about May 24 do well and are gathered about September 15. The presence of so much water so regulates the temperature that there are few frosts either early or late to make growth uncertain, yet, in my experience, wheat is not a sure crop. All depends on the season. Oats and barley will do well any time.”—(J. A. J. McKenna’s report on the Hudson Bay Route).

Split lake region.

The Reverend Doctor John McDougall, one of the pioneer missionaries of the west, has thus expressed himself regarding the region to the south of Split lake:—“The summer begins early, and the growth and vegetation are almost of a tropical character. This is attributable to the longer hours of sunshine that prevail, and to the proximity of streams of living waters everywhere in the district, each of which is conducive to plant nourishment. There is considerable rock throughout the section which indicates in the near future a season of development for the mineral prospector but there are also countless acres of good land which can be easily made to yield fruitful returns to the farmer, as has been the case southward in Manitoba and westward in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The soil is of clay sub-strata with sandy loam on the surface, and, although wooded to a considerable extent, is a far more enticing agricultural proposition than that which faced the early settlers on the bush farms of Ontario and other eastern provinces fifty years ago, and, with the advent of railways, a better market than the eastern settler had would be always available. The district in which are situated Norway House, Cross lake, Oxford House, Island lake, Nelson House and Split lake, covers a wide area, and at each of these places garden vegetables and grain for personal requirements have been successfully grown for a term of years. Summer frosts are practically unknown and the germination of vegetation, owing to the long hours of sunshine, is exceedingly rapid.” (McKenna Report.)

Doctor Robert Bell, in the report of his exploratory trip from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson bay in 1878 (See p. 17), states:—“Along the direct overland route from Churchill to York Factory the timber is reported to be generally small, and large prairie-like openings are said to occur, in which the ground is dry and covered with grass or other herbage. I saw very good potatoes and turnips growing in the gardens at Churchill. Previous to the advent of Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, the cultivation of potatoes had not been attempted, and the possibility of raising them at Churchill when suggested by Mrs. Spencer was ridiculed by the oldest inhabitants. However, in spite of predictions of certain failure, the ground was prepared, seed planted, and a good crop was harvested. The experiment has been repeated successfully for seven consecutive years, so that the question of the practicability of cultivating potatoes on the shores of Hudson bay in this latitude has been pretty well solved.

“Hay can be cut in abundance in the neighborhood of Churchill, and cattle thrive well, yet the same ignorance or obstinacy, as the above referred to, formerly prevented any attempt being made to breed stock on the spot, so that every fresh animal required had to be brought from some other place. Now, the small herd which is kept at the place is recruited by raising the animals calved at the fort itself. The open grassy land near the sea is practically of unlimited extent. Much of it is dry and undulating, affording abundance of pasture for the cattle. The butter made by Mrs. Spencer could hardly be excelled for quality and fineness in any country.”

Lake St. Joseph section.

In the report (Part G., Geol. Sur. Report, 1886) of his exploratory trip in 1886 (See p. 18), Doctor Robert Bell, speaking of the country in Lake St. Joseph section, in the extreme southern side of the region under review, writes:—“The climate, in the immediate vicinity of the lake at all events, appears to be sufficiently good to admit of the growth of a variety of crops. At Osnaburgh House, near the east end, where the soil is of a sandy nature, the principal crop cultivated at present is potatoes, but early Indian corn, peas, beans, and a variety of roots and other vegetables, to say nothing of a profusion of flowers, were in a flourishing condition at the end of July. In former years, when cattle were kept at the post, barley was said to have been a regular crop. Hay grows very luxuriantly. I was creditably informed that pumpkins and muskmelons had frequently ripened at this establishment.”

Doctor Bell, before the Senate committee of 1887, testified:—“Potatoes and all such vegetables would grow in Hudson bay district, but the immediate influence of the sea is unfavourable for gardens. Gardens close to the sea do not flourish as well as gardens inland. The frequent change from heat to cold and the fogs from the sea prejudicially affect them, and cause a sort of blight on vegetation close to the sea shore. But a few miles inland vegetation is more rank, and you can grow potatoes and the ordinary root crops. There are plenty of grasses there to keep cattle and sheep. There are many kinds of grasses there, also sedges, wild peas or vetches and lentils. They would make splendid feed for cattle.”

Mr. Fawcett (Annual Report, Dep. Interior, 1885, pt. II, p. 37), speaking of his descent of the Wenassago to Lac Seul, says:—“In a few places I noticed soil of vegetable mould and clay loam, which would be well suited for the growth of grain and vegetables should the climatic conditions be favourable. I also observed here that the best soil generally produced a growth of poplar, and wherever it appeared large and thrifty, good soil might be looked for, comparatively free from rock. On the rocky ridges, as usual, scrubby pine was the prevailing timber, while the flats and muskegs were invariably covered with spruce and tamarack. The good land noticed seemed to be in belts three or four miles wide and extending north and south for a considerable distance, as might be expected from the geological formation, the depressions and elevations succeeding each other in very regular order and much in the same direction.”

On Big Black river, which flows into the east side of Lake Winnipeg, Mr. A. S. Cochrane, of the Geological Survey, who surveyed that stream in 1882, reports the soil as “excellent, being a light-gray friable clay..... The land up to Pelican portage is first class, but above this there is a low and swampy country, which extends to ‘Rapids-close-together’. A border of good land, on which some fair-sized timber grows, runs along both sides of the river.”

Favourable lake and Severn lake.

Mr. Low, in the account of his trip in 1886, reports that along the shores of Favourable lake (which is from two to five miles in width) “there are considerable areas of good land, the best being on the peninsula and along the southern part of the lake, where the underlying rocks are hornblende and chloritic schists; the northern part is more barren, the soil resting upon gneiss. The soil is a fine, rich sandy loam, quite suitable for growing good crops, and summer frosts seem to be the only drawback to successful agriculture. These are said to not occur at Trout lake, though situated further to the northeastward. At the end of the peninsula the foundations of several old houses were discovered, out of which trees twelve inches in diameter were growing. These ruins evidently mark the site of some old Hudson’s Bay Company or more probably North West Company trading post.....

“There is much good land about Sandy lake. Indeed the greater part of the land around these lakes would make good farms.”

A short distance above Severn lake, according to Mr. Low, there is a considerable area of country “almost flat, with good timber and soil.”

Mr. Low describes Trout lake (east of Severn lake) as being forty miles long by twenty miles wide. He states in his report that Mr. Tait, the officer in charge of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at that point, “says that good crops of peas, potatoes and other roots are raised here yearly, and are very rarely injured by summer frosts. This being the case, the country to the westward, between Severn and Sandy lakes, which is more favourably situated, having all the appearance of a better climate and a richer soil, must undoubtedly be well suited for agriculture, and will at some future time prove valuable land for settlement.”

Mr. Low reports the soil around Fort Severn as a heavy clay and very swampy. Nothing but a few small turnips are with difficulty grown there. On August 8, strawberries, then beginning to ripen, were picked by Mr. Low on clearings around the post.

Mr. Low was examined at length before the Senate committee of 1907 (See p. 27), and stated in his evidence that the country between Norway House and Hudson bay is not very elevated. The highest points in it are probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of one thousand feet above sea level. For about half the distance to Hudson bay it is practically a rolling plain, and the rocks are ancient rocks of the Laurentian and Huronian ages. Beyond that there was an ancient deposit of limestone and sandstone, extending in a wide line around the northern part about half way across. These are large limestones, and they are lying almost flat. The country for about half way down from Norway House to Churchill slopes very gently towards the bay, so that the grade is not more than eight or ten feet to the mile, if it is that. The northeastern part is practically a plain.

There are considerable areas of low swampy lands. The surface going down into Hudson bay after reaching the Wolstenholme country is fairly swampy. The rivers have thrown up banks, and it is only at an occasional place that a break through those banks occurred to let out the drainage. In many places the river banks are from five to ten feet higher than the surrounding country, and in consequence the land beyond is drowned more or less, very often extending back for a distance as far as one can walk in a day.

Mr. Low considered that probably half the country due east from Norway House, say for one hundred miles, would be

Fit for Agriculture.

He would rank the agricultural possibilities there as fair.

Of course there are very few settlements in there now, and the only one Mr. Low visited was a Hudson’s Bay post at Trout lake, and they were growing peas and garden truck of all kinds, also potatoes and fairly decent looking crops. They were not bothered very badly with summer frosts, as Mr. Low could see from the crop of green peas. The climate seemed quite favourable for hardy crops. The soil areas that are fit for agriculture are fairly large; the rocky hills crop out only at intervals, and there is quite a large area there that Mr. Low thought would be fit for future settlement.

The low flat plain, southeast of Nelson river, appeared to be largely covered with muskeg and small spruce. He would suppose that there was more muskeg and spruce land than hay areas. The subsoil is clay largely. Down in the lower country near the bay there is a certain amount of sand on top. There was a fair amount of vegetable growth. Mr. Low remarked that he would not consider this low-lying area a good agricultural country at present, but with some drainage he thought a great deal of that country around James and Hudson bays is going to make a good agricultural country.

With regard to that territory north of Lake Winnipeg and east of Norway House and in the country southeast thereof, Mr. Low thought it would be a somewhat rocky country, but probably not more than one-third would be of that nature. Most of the land not rocky would be timber land. This would run up to about the eighteenth degree or probably more.

Mr. Low, speaking as to the climate of the region west of Hudson bay, explained that in the southern part, south of the Nelson, it is fairly good, he thought, for settlement. The summer frosts are rare, and he thought with the opening up of the country it would probably improve. He considered that settlers in there would not have any more difficulty in summer than they would in the settled part of the northwest. The summer is probably equal to that of Saskatchewan. The length of the summer days is an advantage. They get more sunlight during the summer than do the people of older Ontario or other points farther south, and that is a distinct help to vegetation.

In the summer of 1896, Mr. J. B. Tyrrell explored the country north of the mouth of Saskatchewan river. As a result of the exploration he states in his report:—“From Nelson river westward to longitude 100° 30', and from the north end of Lake Winnipeg northward to beyond latitude 56°, the country is generally covered with a coating of stratified clay, varying in thickness from a few feet up to fifty, sixty, or even one hundred feet. This clay is of much the same character as that of Red river valley, having been, like it, deposited in the bed of the old post-glacial lake that once occupied the basin of Lake Winnipeg. The rivers have, as a rule, cut down through this clay to the underlying rock, but away from the water-stretches rock exposures are not of any frequent occurrence. The

Soil is Rich and Fertile,

and the country will doubtless produce in abundance all the hardier roots and cereals grown in the province of Manitoba; and cattle, sheep, and horses could be successfully raised. If the country were made accessible by a railway passing through it to Hudson bay, it would certainly support a considerable agricultural population.”

At page seven of his report (Part F. Geol. Sur. Rep., 1900, Vol. XII) Mr. Tyrrell states:—“Much of the land is well adapted for agriculture. At Norway House some fine barley had been sown and ripened in the garden, and all the ordinary vegetables grown in Manitoba have been raised for many years past. At Cross lake many of the Indians had good large gardens of potatoes and other vegetables, and McLeod and Mclvor, two fur traders, had excellent gardens in which were growing potatoes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, radishes, cabbages, cauliflowers, onions, lettuce, beans, peas, etc. At Nelson House in the extreme northern part of the district explored, many of the Indians regularly grow potatoes, and both the fur traders and the missionaries cultivate small patches of ground on which they raise abundant crops of all the vegetables mentioned as growing at Cross lake. It is probable that the hardier varieties of grain would also ripen here, but at present there is no object in growing grain of any kind for it could not be readily utilized.”

In a foot note, Mr. Tyrrell states “Wheat ripens well at Norway House and Cross lake on the Nelson.”

On page eight of his report Mr. Tyrrell says:—“During the summer of 1896 no frost occurred until August 29. At Nelson House we were informed that, during the preceding seven years at least, no frost that would injure garden produce had occurred at an earlier date.”

At page thirty-four of his report Mr. Tyrrell states:—“Wuskwatim lake is a very pretty sheet of slightly murky water, six or seven miles long and three miles wide, surrounded by sloping clay-covered hills wooded with white spruce and poplar. Its surface is varied by a few islands composed of clay overlying a floor of gneiss. The two falls above mentioned, at and near its outlet, would furnish a large amount of

Power for Driving Mills

or machinery of any kind, while a supply of timber for building and fuel could be obtained from the surrounding country, and the soil would grow any of the ordinary roots or more hardy cereals, so that it is not improbable that before long when this fertile country is made accessible by the advent of a railroad from the south, one of the most prosperous towns in the district may grow up on the shore of this now secluded lake.

“Footprint lake, on the northern shore of which the Hudson’s Bay Company have had a trading post for a number of years, and the Methodists have a small church and mission house, has somewhat the shape of a rude cross, seven miles long from east to west, and six miles from north to south. The latitude of the trading post was found to be 55° 48' 26'' north. The lake is surrounded by banks of light grey friable clay from thirty to forty feet high, through which rise rounded hills of gneiss up to two hundred feet or more in height. The clay extends over the lower portions of these hills, but some of the higher summits appear to rise above it, possibly having risen above the surface of Lake Agassiz where the surrounding clay was deposited on its floor. When the lake was visited in August last both the trader and the missionary had excellent gardens in which they were successfully growing potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, onions, radishes, lettuce, peas, beans, turnips, carrots and other vegetables, and many of the Indians had patches of potatoes sufficiently large to assist materially in the support of their families throughout the winter.

“I enquired from the Indians who were living around the lake, how far the fertile clay-covered country extended towards the north, and they told me that it extended as far as Indian lake on Churchill river, north of which the surface is either of sand or rock.”

Mr. Tyrrell reports that many of the smaller fruits grow on the clay-covered country explored in great profusion. Among those that he reports as especially abundant were raspberries, gooseberries, red and black currants, strawberries, blueberries and headberries (Rubus Chameomorus).

Strawberries were growing “in great profusion” in the tract about Muhigan rapids on Muhigan river.

The country above Wuskwatim lake, according to Mr. Tyrrell, “seems to be a great clay plain, cut through by the sloping trough of the river, and trenched by wide lateral gulleys. The surface is generally covered with small poplar, with some spruce in the valleys, and there are no signs of rocky hills, or of rock, except here and there at the water’s edge.”

Mr. Tyrrell reports that McLaughlin river, throughout its whole course from the long narrow lake to its mouth, flows through a level, clay-covered country, the rock merely rising here and there in knolls and ridges above the general level.

Mr. Tyrrell, reporting (Summary Rep. Geol. Survey, 1890-91) on his survey of the district about Lakes Winnipeg and Winnipegosis, mentions a cliff at Limestone bay, in the extreme northwest of Lake Winnipeg, rising in some places to a height of forty feet, composed at the bottom of a stiff, blue alluvial clay, and at the top of a mossy peat, and further on in the report proceeds to say:—“A deposit of clay similar to that on Mossy point extends all along the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, and the waves washing against the soft cliffs become charged with the mud from which the lake derives its name. This clay is also of great economic interest, for instead of the east shore of the lake being an uninhabitable rocky wilderness, as is generally supposed, it is largely covered with

A Rich Blue Alluvial Soil,

and the area of rock surface is relatively small. Much of this land is covered with forests of poplar and spruce, while on account of the retentive, impervious nature of the clay soil much of it is also boggy and wet, but when it is cleared and drained it will form rich agricultural land. At Badthroat river, Mr. Wood, the local Inspector of Fisheries, had cleared a beautiful farm out of the midst of the poplar forest, and he informs me that he grows successfully all the crops ordinarily raised in Ontario. Mr. McKay, the Indian Agent at Berens river, has also a clearing situated on the south side of the river in the midst of what was a dense forest of small spruce. He has under cultivation a nice garden, and this year the potatoes were not cut down by frost till the middle of September.”

During his examination before the Senate committee of 1907, Mr. Tyrrell described the whole stretch of country extending from Lake Winnipeg and Split lake on the east to Churchill and Athabaska on the west^[14] as a “country essentially suited for agricultural purposes.” He could not say what there was beyond the limits mentioned as he had not been there. This was a forest belt. The eastern side of this tract would be Nelson river. Not having been east of that river with the exception of twenty or thirty miles, he could not speak of the country beyond. Mr. Tyrrell declared:—“That belt of forest is for the most part excellent agricultural land.” As far as the observations of Mr. Tyrrell went, he believed that that country, while a little harder to settle up, and not so attractive to settlers who are going in and looking for farms ready made and cleared for them and ready to put the wheat in, would be as fine an agricultural tract of land as there is in the Northwest. Everywhere in travelling through it, the evidence of rich vegetation was abundant, and everywhere where gardens or any kind of agriculture or horticulture had been attempted in this forest belt, it had been eminently successful. It is a forest country, a spruce covered country, and lies southwest of Hudson bay, west of Nelson river, north of Saskatchewan river, and extends to Mackenzie and Athabaska rivers. It would be about two hundred miles wide from north to south. Witness did not remember the length of it. It is land similar to that of Ontario, and will grow practically everything that will grow in that province, except possibly down in the southern peninsula. The summer is warm. The winter does not count, because things do not grow in winter. There is a good rainfall. A small part of the district is park country, half wooded. It is a continuation northward of the Saskatchewan country.

Mr. Tyrrell said he had seen growing in that country all the garden products that they grow in Ontario—potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, cauliflowers and all the ordinary garden produce. He saw excellent potatoes in the district around Nelson House. He could not say what time they were planted, because he was not there. The Indians constantly, when hunting, plant little patches of potatoes here and there in the spring and leave them all summer and dig them up when they go back to their hunting grounds in the fall, and use them for their winter supply. The witness had gone out and dug a pail of beautiful potatoes on several occasions out of these little Indian patches buried in the woods. They had never been hoed or cultivated in any way. They were not looked after from the time they were planted in the spring until they were dug in the fall. The potatoes seem to be able to grow sufficiently to keep down the weeds. As a protection against wild animals these potato patches are usually planted on islands. Witness had not actually seen wheat, barley nor oats grown in that country. He has fairly good evidence that they are grown there, but as far as he remembered he had not seen any himself. He had been told and believed that they grow there. There is no doubt whatever that the country described will support quite a large population. North of Lake Winnipeg there is another magnificent area of from five to ten thousand square miles of as fine country as there is in Manitoba or anywhere else. When Mr. Tyrrell came out of that district in 1896, after spending a summer there, and said there was

A Rich Agricultural Country North of Lake Winnipeg

the Hudson’s Bay Company’s men and the people in the southern country pooh-poohed the idea. They said they had been up at the head of the lake and knew there was not a foot of good land there. But Mr. Tyrrell emphatically declared that there is a magnificent stretch of country there, which extends westward along the Churchill. These lands north of Lake Winnipeg are clay lands, an extension of the same basin as the Manitoba clays.

Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in his evidence, pointed out that “the effect of the large body of water in Hudson bay and James bay on the temperature, summer and winter, of the surrounding country, was the equalizing of it very much, making the summers colder and the winters milder. There is a foggy climate around the bay. It is without much sunlight, so that it has not a chance to dry. The mean temperature of the summer within one hundred miles of the bay will not be so hot as it is back of that. The thermometer does not fall very low in winter at Churchill. At the same time any person will find it terribly cold on that coast, although the thermometer does not fall very low. There are a great many different matters in connection with temperature and climate that have to be taken into consideration. There is the amount of moisture in the air; whether the barometer is standing low or high; there are a great many of those things that have to be taken into consideration in any question of frost or of climate that arises. You may have frost with a north wind, while if that north wind were blowing up over a wooded country, where all the leaves were giving out their vapour from the ground into the air, you would not have a sign of frost.”

As to the climate of the great belt of arable land, that he had described to the Senate committee of 1907, Mr. Tyrrell said that at Nelson House the snow leaves the ground in May. There is little or no summer frost in that wooded country. He understood gardening commences the end of May, and the frost does not appear in the fall until about September 20. He had never known the potato crop to be lost through summer frost.

Asked as to the isothermal line, Mr. Tyrrell remarked that the isothermal is a line connecting points that have the same mean temperature for the year round. It has nothing whatever to do with vegetation. Things do not grow in the winter time. People have got to put the winter temperature absolutely out of the question. The summer temperature is the only temperature that counts for growth in the northern country where there is frost. In dealing with that, you have to take into consideration as between two places in different latitudes, the length of the day and the amount of sunlight, in order to get at the summer temperatures. Of course the sunlight has a great effect on the growth, and where the days have eighteen hours’ sun a plant will grow faster than where the day has only fourteen hours.

Mr. Tyrrell submitted to the committee a memorandum from Mr. R. F. Stupart, Superintendent of the Dominion Meteorological Service, comparing the temperature conditions of the district between Lake Winnipeg and Split lake in the several months, May to September, with European countries, as follows:—

Mr. D. B. Dowling, reporting (Part F. Annual Rep. Geol. Sur. Vol. VII) on his 1893 explorations (See p. 19) states:—“The agricultural possibilities of the valley of upper Berens river seem to be limited, and the areas suitable for cultivation are only to be found in isolated patches. These are principally in the neighbourhood of the larger lakes. The Indian reserves have been located with this end in view as they seem to cover about the best land seen. The soil is a light grey clay with a little vegetable mould, and the gardens made by the Indians produce potatoes of fair quality, the only vegetable grown. In the southern part of the district, better land is found and in greater extent than in Berens river valley. On Lac Seul, at the mission and trading post, there are

Several Very Good Gardens

in a flourishing condition, with all the ordinary vegetables growing very satisfactorily. The Indians appear to care little for any gardening except a very primitive attempt at raising potatoes. Land suitable for gardening was seen at Mattawa, and indeed the best and largest extent for this purpose is to be found between Lac Seul and Shallow lake.”

Mr. Dowling, writing of the northern branch of Berens river, states:—“The land reserved for the Indians on the upper part of this branch of Berens river, is a small tract situated on the north side of a long arm or narrows, running to the eastward, from a lake to which the name Pekangikum is given. The river enters at the eastern end of this area, coming from Sturgeon lake by a short stretch of river half a mile in length, in which there are two rapids. The Indian reserve appears fairly well timbered—principally with Banksian pine of slender growth and some spruce. The Indians have been able, in building their houses, to obtain timber of suitable size for the walls and rafters, and spruce of a diameter of fourteen inches is fairly plentiful. The shores of the lake are rocky, but strips of country inland appear, on which there is probably a fair quality of soil, though the surface is generally sandy. On one of the islands in the larger part of the lake, soil of good quality (clay) was seen, on which the Indians were growing potatoes. No doubt there is better land for this purpose on the reserve they have selected, but as they make their summer camp on a small island near the deeper part of the lake for the purpose of fishing—by which they mainly subsist—they naturally utilize the nearest land for their summer gardens.”

Mr. Dowling, writing in his report of the country north of Lake Winnipeg and south of Burntwood river, says:—“As the area is situated so far north of the boundary of Manitoba, it might be presumed that much of it is unfitted for settlement, but it is discovered that over a large part there is good soil, and

The Evidence of Several Gardens

at various posts shows that for all the ordinary vegetables and coarser grains the climate is not too rigorous. Splendid gardens were found as far north as Nelson House, which is in the northern part of the area here mapped. Proper drainage is needed, however, to bring much of the surface into a condition fit for agriculture. Along the river banks this is evident, for while the strip bordering the streams produces a great variety of grasses, shrubs and trees, a short distance back this is replaced by a swamp covered by moss and stunted spruce. This is more noticeable in the western part of Nelson valley, where the country is thickly covered by a coating of clay, and the surface is so uniformly level that its gradual slope to the east is not sufficient to drain it. The areas to which it would be possible to introduce a system of drainage, would at first be restricted to a narrow margin along the streams. The northwest corner of the district for present purposes may be classed as without a sufficient soil for agriculture. This may roughly be outlined as being composed of all the country lying to the west of a line from the outlet of Burntwood lake to that of Reed lake, and north of the escarpment which shows the northern limit of the Trenton limestone. In this the surface is rolling and hilly, the rocky ridges having a scanty coating of boulder clay and an occasional thicker deposit in the depressions. It will probably remain the home of the hunter and the trapper.

“To the south the country, underlain by limestone, has many of the characters of the northern part of old Manitoba. In the valley of the Saskatchewan there are large areas of rich soil formed principally by the river itself, which has brought down an enormous amount of silt from the upper part of its valley. The western part of the valley of Nelson river is covered by a thick lacustral deposit which reaches west to Burntwood lake and east to the channel of Nelson river. In this area good soil is found in almost every part and where drained would no doubt make fair farming land.”

Mr. Wm. McInnes describes the country about Winisk and Attawapiskat rivers, explored by him in 1903, 1904 and 1905, as consisting of three areas, the first a limestone area, along the bay shore, the second a boulder clay area, behind it, and the third in rear of it again, a high interior plateau. As to the latter area, he says:—“Although, considered as a whole, the central, elevated region cannot be spoken of as generally adapted for agriculture, there occur basins covered by heavy deposits of stratified sand and clay that seem to have been laid down in lakes held in between barriers formed by the walls of the retreating glacier and ridges of drift. An examination of some of these clays by Doctor Hoffman shows them to be highly calcareous and somewhat siliceous, a composition that with the admixture of the surface vegetable mould should produce an

Excellent Soil for General Agriculture.

The question of climate, which is, of course, of the utmost importance when considering the agricultural possibilities of a district, will be referred to more particularly in another place. It may be said here, however, that the climatic conditions are, if somewhat adverse, not by any means prohibitory to the general cultivation of suitably situated tracts.

“Muskeg, alternating with low ridges of gravel and boulders, covers wide tracts. It was noticed that the surface drainage became more perfect in that part of the region extending westerly towards Trout lake..........

“The tract referred to as the boulder clay area consists of a broad belt of country, about one hundred and fifty-nine miles in width, lying between the Archaean highlands and the edge of the limestones of the basin of Hudson bay, overlapping the latter, however, so that the surface features of the two are generally quite similar. Gently undulating, and with a slight slope northerly and easterly, its general surface aspect is that of a great swamp, sparsely covered with stunted and deformed trees, that reach a growth approaching their normal only along the immediate banks of the rivers where drainage is afforded by frequent short gullies into the trenches that constitute the river valleys. The interior, to within a chain or two of the river-banks, owing to the impervious character of the till,

Is Quite Undrained,

and consequently covered by a thick deposit of sphagnum moss from two feet to ten feet deep, the surface layer still growing, and even the bottom only bleached a little, but not at all oxidized. The short cool summer season, and consequent low temperature of the water that saturates the moss, is probably the principal reason for the absence of any of the visible effects of decay. The rivers flowing through this region have no real valleys, that is to say, they occupy trenches but little wider than the immediate channels in which they flow, cut down through the stiff, tough till, which stands up in nearly vertical walls that rise from the freshet mark on either side. At low stages of the water a slanting beach, often paved with boulders, slopes gradually from the foot of the bank to the edge of the diminished channel. A more or less continuous layer of marine clay, rich in fossil shells, overlies the boulder clay, ensuring, wherever it is present, a soil of good quality. The absence of other than swamp vegetation must be ascribed, then, to the almost total absence of drainage, and to the generally unfavorable climatic conditions.

“In the matter of the actual cultivation of these northern areas we have little to go upon. At the Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts at Fort Hope and Osnaburgh potatoes have been grown and small gardens maintained from the time of the establishment of the posts, and little difficulty has been experienced in maturing the common garden vegetables of Ontario, though occasionally the frosts of late summer have cut off all but the hardier kinds. As the posts were located with a view to their favourable situation for the purposes of the fur trade with the Indians, neither one is situated on ground well suited for cultivation, and much better results might reasonably be expected were trials made on more favorably situated tracts. An Indian cultivating a small garden plot at the head of the Pineimuta branch of Attawapiskat river succeeds in raising good crops of potatoes and turnips.”

As to this part of the country drained by Winisk and Attawapiskat rivers, Mr. McInnes in his report says:—“The climate, as would be expected in these latitudes, and in a wilderness country approximately a thousand feet above sea-level, is somewhat severe. The summer temperature, though on occasional days rising as high as 85° Fahr., averages very much lower, and the nights are practically always cool. Frosty nights often continue into the early summer, and recur again in the autumn before most grain-crops would be ready for harvesting. Temperatures were taken with the thermometer during two seasons, and these, averaged, gave the following results for the months of July and August on lower Winisk river, and for July, August and part of September on upper Winisk and upper Attawapiskat rivers:—

“The only points in the region where any attempts at cultivation of the land are made are the two Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts at Osnaburgh, near the foot of Lake St. Joseph, and at Fort Hope, on Eabamet lake.

“At these posts small kitchen gardens and potato-fields are maintained with some success, though neither place is favourably situated for the purpose, the soil in both cases consisting of an almost pure sand. Timothy and clover grow luxuriantly, and all the common

Garden Vegetables Thrive at Both Places.

Indian corn, however, is not sufficiently filled out for table use when caught by the frost. Barley has been successfully grown at Osnaburgh, and the potato crop, wherever a suitable tract of land has been utilized, has been generally fairly good at both places.

“The first killing frost in 1903 occurred on the night of September 3, and in 1904 on the night of August 30.”

Mr. McInnes (Geol. Survey Report for 1906, pp. 87 and following) describes the region explored by him in that year as follows:—

“It is bounded by north latitude 53° 50' and 56° 10', and by west longitude 99° 15' and 101° 15'. Its general elevation above the sea is between seven hundred and nine hundred feet..... For purposes of general description it may, in a broad way, be divided into three areas; the limestone area embracing all the tract underlaid by the horizontal or gently undulating, magnesian limestones or dolomites of northern Manitoba; the Archaean area, a somewhat broken and rugged country extending from the northern edge of the limestone escarpment northward and eastward until covered by the lacustrine sediments of the third or clay area. The latter, a gently rolling, clay-covered country, extends from the valley of Nelson river on the east to a contour, westerly, where the general elevation of the land is in the vicinity of nine hundred feet above the sea, or to approximately west longitude 99° 30'. The northern edge of the clay basin was not reached, but the Indians of Burntwood river region agree in saying that Churchill river valley forms its most northerly extension. The last of the three divisions is, generally, well suited for cultivation, but throughout the first two the areas suitable for agriculture are of limited extent. No part of the region is prairie though along some of the valleys, and here and there on the uplands, are found extensive hay marshes, with only occasional small clumps of willows, that, with drainage, would become virtually prairie lands..... Northwest of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at Split lake the country is generally low, swampy and intersected by a network of small lakes; near Waskaiowaka lake, however, an extension northeasterly of the clay land of lower Burntwood valley forms a comparatively dry ridge.”

A Garden in new Manitoba.

Speaking of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s trading post at Norway House, Mr. McInnes said:—“The chief factor in charge of the district cultivates a large garden, where, on June 10, peas, beans, beets and other vegetables were well started. Wheat had been successfully grown here as well as at Cross lake farther down the river, in latitude 54° 40'. There are many tracts of land along the river suitable for cultivation, though for long stretches the banks show only rounded surfaces of biotite gneiss, smooth and glaciated. The cultivable areas are confined to tracts overlain by lacustrine clays which alternate along the shores with glacial gravels and the bare rock surfaces devoid of any soil cover.”

Mr. McInnes also reports:—“Below Cross lake no land is under cultivation until Split lake is reached, just north of latitude 56°, where the postmaster for the Hudson’s Bay Company raises potatoes and the commoner garden vegetables.”

Mr. McInnes reports that, ascending Burntwood river a few miles above Odei or Hart river, there is much land “apparently well adapted for cultivation. The clay is entirely free from boulders, and mixed near the surface with enough vegetable humus to produce a friable and seemingly productive soil. The gentle slopes give good natural drainage, and the open character of the forests makes it a country easily cleared. For the next nineteen miles the river valley and neighboring country present the same general aspect. Where the valleys of the main river and the Odei approach one another they are separated only by a dividing ridge a little over a mile across, and a hundred and fifty feet high. The ridge is clay covered to the flat summit, where knolls of gneiss project. Beyond the valley of the Odei, to the north, is a rolling forested country with hills clay-covered to the tops, rising by gradual slopes to about a hundred feet above the intervening valleys, that are themselves from twenty to fifty feet above the river level. For the next twenty-eight miles the river, flowing in a rock-bound basin, has the character of a long, narrow lake from half a mile to over a mile in width. Covering the well-rounded ledges of gneiss that form the immediate shores is the same thick mantle of clay forming

A Country of Very Attractive Appearance.

Rising gradually from the river level to heights of from twenty to fifty feet, a flat or gently sloping plateau extends back from two to three miles to another rise, where the general level is increased to about a hundred feet. Recurring forest fires have not only denuded this section of its trees, but the stumps have for the most part been burned away, so that it is now covered only by an open growth of small white birch, poplar, willow and Banksian pine, with an undergrowth of vetches, grasses and small shrubs. Just above is Manasan falls where the river pitches over a ledge of gneiss with a vertical descent of thirty feet.

“Above Manasan falls,” Mr. McInnes continues, “the river expands again to form a long, narrow lake for the next ten miles of its upward course. The same rolling clay plateau extends back from both shores of the lake, rising gradually to an undulating, higher tract, perhaps one hundred feet above the lake level. The forest growth is still very open, allowing a good surface carpet of grasses, vetches and other vegetation. Diversified here and there by small open tracts where the grass-covered surface is free from trees, this country often presents quite a park-like aspect. Throughout all the clay-covered region the absence of erratics is striking; for miles no perched boulders nor transported materials of any kind; other than the lacustrine sediments, are seen, and even the country rock is deeply hidden under the heavy clay deposits that seem to be very homogeneous throughout, not laid down in thin layers as in the case of many clays of apparently similar origin in eastern Canada, but, if stratified at all, only in very heavy beds that seldom show their bedding planes. For the next fifteen miles to Wuskwatim lake, the river has a quicker descent and its course is broken by several small rapids. The surrounding country is slightly higher, rising in places about two hundred feet above the river, and more steeply from its shores. From the south shore a clay-covered bench a quarter of a mile wide rises to a comparatively steep slope to a height of one hundred and thirty feet, and extends back for miles at about that level, with a gently undulating surface, free from boulders or rock, excepting very rare exposures. As a matter of fact, but one small knoll of the underlying rock was actually seen, rising through the clay at a point about two miles back from the river. The Indians report that this plateau-like country extends right across to the valley of Grassy river with only gently swelling ridges and no high hills.”

Mr. McInnes estimates the size of Wuskwatim lake as eight miles by four, with a long bay extending to the west from its southern end. He states that “on all sides of the lake are large tracts of

Nearly Level Clay Land

extending back for several miles at heights of from fifteen to fifty feet above water level, and beyond that continuing at a level of a little over one hundred feet. .... The grass-covered slopes that rise with very gentle gradients from the shores of the lake, make this a country of most attractive appearance and one that apparently would be well suited for cultivation. The Indian inhabitants of this section cultivate with success small garden patches of potatoes.”

Country of the same general character, Mr. McInnes states, extends for thirty miles up the valley of the Burntwood above Wuskwatim lake.

On the shores of Footprint lake, in latitude 55° 45', small fields of potatoes planted by the Indians were looking remarkably well, the vines being eleven inches in height and about ready to blossom when this locality was visited by Mr. McInnes, July 10, 1906. Above the lake broad flats extend back from the river on both sides, rising, from half a mile to a mile back, to fifty feet above the river. The greater part of the flats and practically all the high land has been burned over within twenty years, and is clothed now with an open growth of small mixed timber; the land is free from boulders and gravel and has a good carpet of native grasses, including such good meadow forms as the blue-joint (Calamagrostis canadensis, Calamagrostis hyperborea) and the wild rye (Elymus dasystachum). The open character of the forest permits a somewhat luxuriant growth of these grasses, mixed with vetches, strawberry vines, etc., and with currant, gooseberry and other small shrubs and bushes.

“The land lying to the southward of the most southerly bend of the river was found to rise with a comparatively steep slope to a height of sixty feet above the river, and to extend back as a level clay-covered plain with about five inches of clay-loam soil well mixed with vegetable matter gradually merging downwards into pure clay. The plateau has a gently rolling surface, the bottoms of the hollows, where small areas of muskeg often occur, having a deviation forty feet lower than the slopes of the ridges, and the highest land reaching not more than one hundred feet above the river. For six miles back, the areas of muskeg that are not sphagnum swamps, but rather grassy marshes, are comparatively insignificant in extent, the higher land, wooded with Banksian pine, poplar and spruce and diversified by many open grassy glades, largely preponderating. Beyond this, however, a broad belt of wet, grassy marsh land extends southwesterly across to the heads of brooks running into Grass river below Wekusko lake, and forms practically the western limit of the clay-covered uplands, though in the river valleys and along the flanks of their bordering hills the clay land extends much farther west.

“Of the whole of this extensive plateau land, extending from the valley of the Nelson river westward to near Burntwood and Wekusko lakes (west longitude 90° 45'), northerly to beyond latitude 56°, and southerly to the limestone escarpment, an area of

About Ten Thousand Square Miles,

it may be said to be characterized by a heavy clay soil entirely free from boulders. Lacustrine clays, composed of the rock flour once held in suspension by glacial streams and deposited by them as they reached the quiet waters of a great lake, are essentially the soils of this region. There is no distinct surface soil clearly separable from the clay subsoil; the one merges gradually into the other, the clayey character of the soil being strongly apparent at the very surface where merely the shallow cover of decaying leaves and other vegetation is scraped away. Generally, for from five inches to over a foot down, the clay is deep brown in colour from the admixture of vegetable matter, and quite friable, and rootlets of even the smaller surface vegetation reach down far below this level, though on the tops of many of the ridges the light-buff coloured clay, without any appreciable coloration from vegetable matter, comes quite to the surface. The rolling character of the plateau generally provides fair drainage, but over considerable areas in its central portion, far from the valleys of the larger streams, there are large tracts that have not sufficient gradients for the proper flow of the surface water, and which could be made available for agricultural uses only by being artificially drained. The western limit of the good country is about longitude 99° 45'.”

Portage on Moose river.