Pruceedinijs. 31 



They are covered with a very short growth of herbage, and 

 have the appearance of worn-out pasture. In summer they 

 are clothed with briUiant flowers, and in autumn with great 

 numbers of CompositcB, inckiding thirty or forty species of 

 Asters of the Michaelmas Daisy type, Rudbeckias, GaUlardias, 

 the smaller Sunflowers, Solidagos, and Liatris. Petaloste- 

 vion violaceus, the Prairie Clover, is another species that 

 abounds, and the species and families are mostly mi-European. 

 The look of poverty of soil is, however, deceptive. When the 

 crust is tui-ned over, a very rich black soil appears. Where a 

 trench has been cut by the side of a railway, plants are found 

 growing to a height of two or three feet, which on the prairie 

 only grow to from three to six inches. 



This rich black soil is of immense advantage to the settler. 

 By ploughing early in the spring and getting in his grain at 

 once, he secures an uneven crop the very first year. After 

 cross-ploughing, during the second season he brings the ground 

 into full cultivation. Farmers in Manitoba boast that they 

 will be able to sell wheat in Liverpool at 20s. a quarter when 

 they get the route by way of Hudson's Bay opened for summer 

 traffic. 



Between the Prairies and the Eocky Mountains lies a region 

 of Cretaceous rocks, known as the Foot Hills ; they are covered 

 with rich pasture, and are not unlike our Downs ; they rise 

 abruptly from the plain. Owing to the dry air and small 

 snow-fall, they are admirably adapted for cattle ranches, 

 horses and cattle being able to keep themselves in condition 

 through the winter. The line of junction between the Creta- 

 ceous rocks of the Foot Hills and the Cambrian of the Eocky 

 Mountains is so abrupt as in some places to present the 

 appearance of the Cambrian overlying the Cretaceous. 



The North Pacific Eailway rises to a height of 6000 ft. at 

 Kicking Horse Pass, on the Eocky Mountains. Between the 

 Prairies and the Pacific it has to pass through a mountain 

 region 400 miles across, including three parallel chains. In 

 one day Mr. Menneil recorded 190 species of plants near 

 Kicking Horse Pass, The flora is closely similar to the 

 European Alpine flora, forty per cent, of the species being 

 identical with tlio European. Silene acaidis, Dryas uclopetcila, 



