[sTANSFiELDj THE "BURN-OUT" DISTRICT 63 



longer than at other points, until the roots of the grasses were quite 

 burned away leaving the soil light and loose, and that these parts 

 were then blown away, the soil being left on the spots which were 

 only just singed by fire. Wind action would appear to be a satis- 

 factory explanation of the result, but whether this were preceded by 

 fire or not, may be left open to doubt. The name "burn-out" is used 

 here as a matter of convenience without accepting the idea involved 

 to account for the formation of the two-soil land. By retaining the 

 name the population of those parts have no hesitation in knowing what 

 is being discussed. 



The "burn-out" lies for the most part on the level or nearly 

 level prairie, only a few miles northeast of the Missouri coteau, but 

 southeast of Radville it also runs for some distance up the face of the 

 coteau. It is also found on both sides of Long creek (Souris river), 

 to the southeast of Radville. (This creek is instanced by the inhabi- 

 tants as having stopped the prairie fire which is supposed to have 

 caused the "burn-out," but this idea would appear to be untenable.) 



Outside the main area of the "burn-out" as outlined above, there 

 is also a small area southwest of Colfax, and occasional small patches 

 are to be found here and there on other parts of the prairie in southern 

 Saskatchewan. 



Results in the Past 



In the first wave of settlement of southern Saskatchewan a num- 

 ber of settlers entered the "burn-out" district. Some of these have 

 stayed on and have made a success of farming there. Others have 

 been unable to make a success, and after a series of unsatisfactor>' 

 seasons have left the district, so that in one instance, i.e. Webster^ 

 formerly a station on the Canadian Northern railway, a possible 

 centre of progress has ceased to exist. 



When the "burn-out" is ploughed and put under crop the en- 

 suing growth is not uniform over the fields, as is usual with uniform 

 soils, but the growth is patchy. The good growth is found on what 

 were originally the high spots, but the low spots give rise to a very 

 thin growth or none at all. So that where the "burn-out" is at its- 

 worst a field is marred by a series of bare spots which have no crop 

 at all. Even the growth of weeds on summer fallow shows the same 

 (see Figs. 2 and 3). The total effect of these bare spots on the yield 

 of a farm can be readily understood. Yet the fact that some of the 

 settlers have stayed on and are able to continue business successfully 

 shows that the problem is not hopeless. 



