REPORT OF MR. AXGUS MACKA7. 433 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The first was held at Prince Albert. From there we drove eastward through a 

 magnificent grain and dairj-ing country, and held a meeting at McDowall's school-house. 

 Thence, south-east to Melfort, a distance of sixty miles by trail, the first half of which 

 was through an excellent grazing country, and the other half through one of the finest 

 mixed farming districts I have visited in any of the Territories. The meeting at 

 Melfort was like the country surrounding it, satisfactory in every respect. 



Retracing our steps for twenty miles, a meeting was held at Kinistino, the centre 

 of another fine district, in which large herds of cattle, rolling in fat, were every- 

 where encountered. The meeting was large and intelligent, and as at Melfort, gave 

 indications that when railway facilities are afi'orded these two sections of the country, 

 they will be second to aione in the Territories. 



From Kinistino a westerly course was taken, and late at night, and after a long 

 journey, a meeting was held at Harper's View. The meeting was probably the best of 

 the series, not from the i^oint of attendance, but from the eagerness of those present 

 to find out everything that any one of the speakers could tell in regard to farming in 

 all its branches. At this point the finest crops of grain and vegetables encountered 

 on the trip were seen. 



St. Louis de Laugevin was the next meeting place. This is a point on the south 

 branch of the Saskatchewan River, and was fixed in our memories by a pleasant visit 

 to a large experimental garden, owned and worked by Mr. E. Lefebvre, whose flowers, 

 shrubs, trees, fruit, grain and vegetables gave evidence of a rich soil and very careful 

 and intelligent woi'k. 



Other meetings were held at Lindsay, Duck Lake and Kosthern, on the line of 

 railway. 



Acting under instructions from the Honourable the Minister of Agriculture. I 

 visited Lethbridge, Alberta, in September, and had a conference with the management 

 of the Lethbridge Irrigation Company, with reference to tree-planting in connection, 

 with their system of irrigation ditches. 



A trip was also made to Calgary at the time of the Inter-western Provincial 

 Exhibition, with the intention of visiting the irrigation experiment station at that 

 place. Unfortunately, a heavy rain and snow storm raged over Alberta at that time, 

 and it was impossible to see the farm. 



This autumn a large institute meeting at Broadview was attended ; and a series 

 of meetings is now being arranged in Eastern Assiniboia by Mr. M. Bulyea, in which 

 I have promised to take part. 



DISTPtlBUTIOX OF SAMPLES. 



During the months of March. April and May, the following distribution of samples 

 was made to applicants throughout the territories of Assiniboia, Alberta and Sas- 

 katchewan. 



The number of applicants was, as usual, largely in excess of the supply available 

 for this purpose ; and the stock of seedling trees and shrubs, cuttings of fruit-bushes, 

 rhubarb-roots and tree-seeds grown for the purpose, did not begin to fill all the orders 

 received. 



This, and the demand for larger trees by express, indicates a much more lively 

 interest in tree and fruit growing than has heretofore been shown, and it is much 

 to be regretted that, on account of the extremely dry season, our crop of seedlings is 

 this year very small, and will be totally inadequate to fill the applications already 

 beginning to come in. 



Besides the seedlings mentioned below, many thousands of maple trees, from 3 to 

 5 feet in height, were given to settler- of the districts and others, who drove in as far 

 as 50 miles to secure the means of beautifying their homesteads. 



16—28 



