REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 59 



VISIT TO THE EDMONTON DISTRICT. 



At Calgaiy the bi-anch line of railway to Edmonton was taken which runs 

 through a district I had not visited before. The country for the first fifty 

 miles has much the same appearance as about Calgary, the grass is short and 

 trees and shrubs are almost or entirely wanting, excepting along the margins of 

 streams or watercourses where the moisture is sufficient to sustain them. North of 

 this changes begin to occur, the grasses gradually increase in length and in luxur- 

 iance, clumps of shrubs and dwarfed specimens of trees are occasionally seen, and 

 after a time these are succeeded by patches of woodland of stronger growth with 

 stretches of open prairie adorned with clumps and occasional larger areas of timbered 

 land. Streams and rivers also are oftener seen and by the time that half the distance 

 between Calgary and Edmonton has been covered, the country is found to be well 

 wooded and watered, grasses and pea-vines are luxuriant and abundant and the soil 

 is a dark rich fertile loam. The woods afford shelter and the luxuriant herbage 

 furnishes unlimited quantities of food for stock, making this part of the territories 

 specially suitable for mixed farming. During the five days spent at Edmonton 

 many of the farming settlements in the neighbourhood were visited which involved 

 about 130 miles of driving. All through this district the grain crops looked re- 

 markably well. The harvest was in progress during the time of my visit, and the 

 heads of grain were plump and well-filled. For about sixty miles north of Edmon- 

 ton until the height of land is crossed, the agricultural capabilities of the country 

 appear to be much the same as those about Edmonton, but in the next forty miles 

 which drain into the Athabasca'Eiver, the soil is said to be less fertile although this 

 district is believed to include much excellent land. This belt of fertile country 200 

 miles or more in width, is said to extend westward from Edmonton more than 200 

 miles towards the Tellowhead Pass in the Eocky Mountains and eastward, varying 

 in width, for several hundred miles to the shores of Lake Manitoba. At many 

 points in this immense fertile area settlement is progressing satisfactorily, but the 

 capacities of the district are such that millions will eventually find comfortable 

 homes and abundant sustenance there. 



EXPERIMENTAL FARM, AGASSIZ. 



Returning to the main line of railway and proceeding westward a journey of 

 about 35 hours across the mountains brought me to Agassiz, where several days 

 were spent in examining the results of the season's growth, not only on the ex- 

 perimental farm, but also on the lands of the neighbouring farmers. At the time of 

 my arrival, a drought had prevailed in this part of the country for five or six weeks 

 and crops of all sorts were suffering for want of rain. Most of the grain was short 

 in straw, but with heads moderately well filled, the yield however was turning out 

 considerably under the average. The root crops were then very backward, but 

 subsequent rains improved these considerably. In the orchards many of the young 

 plum trees were laden with fair crops of fruit of excellent quality, a collection of 

 which was made and forwarded to the World's Fair in Chicago, but the results with 

 most other fruits were disappointing and the apple crop was unusually light. On 

 the experimental farm at Agassiz, there are now more than 1,100 varieties of fruits 

 under test, about 800 of which are large fruits and most of the trees are doing well. 

 Some of the orchards have been planted on the valley land, others on the fertile 

 benches at different heights on the face of the mountains varying from 100 to 800 

 feet. The orchards located at the highest of these points have thus far been found to 

 have the healthiest trees and are the first to leaf out in the spring. A comparison 

 of these with the trees planted in the valley land for a series of years will be most 

 useful and instructive. 



