Indians who come down from the Touchwood Hills for the purpose of 

 fishing. * * * Before many years steamboats will be plying on its waters 

 and the lovely land bordering- on its shores will be dotted with farm 

 houses. One of the richest tracts in the Qu'Appelle Valley lies east and 

 north from Last Mountain and when known will be speedily taken up by 

 farmers, as the much dreaded frosts of the Saskatchewan Valley are un- 

 known. \Vhileeiicamped near the head of this lake, in 1879, we had an 

 ample opportunity to examine this portion of the country. We were par- 

 ticularly charmed with its soil, productions and position. * * * To the 

 east of the head of the lake lay the rich country which produced the 

 enormous mushrooms referred to in chapter XL, and when speaking- of 

 the flowers, e.'iused me to call this region the 'Flower Garden of the 

 Northwest.' Abundance of good water is found on every part of thistraet, 

 * * * and future settlers will find that good, permanent wells can be 

 obtained, at a reasonable depth on any part of the prairie." 



Speaking on page 75, about the tract of country lying south of the 

 Touchwood Hills, extending from the mouth of the Qu'Appelle River to 

 the South Saskatchewan, he states, " That there is a block of 16,000,000 

 acres that as to my knowledge, over 90 per cent, is fit for agricultural 

 and pastoral purposes. No alkaline soil is known on iny part of it except 

 a narrow tract extending from the head of Last Mountain Lake toward 

 Quill Lakes. * * * /There will be no difficulty in obtaining first-class 

 wheat crops throughout the greater part of it, as the soil is generally a 

 rich black loam, mixed with silica. * * * The sub-soil in nearly every 

 case, is a light colored clay, or clay intermixed with carbonate of lime." 



Realizing that the above was written over twenty years ago, it is not 

 surprising that this country is now termed the " Famous Lasi Mountain 

 Country," even though these lands have not yet been on the market three 

 years, because involved in litigation. 



MANITOBA WHEAT PRODUCTION IN COMPARISON 



The following table will give some idea of the producing capacity per 

 acre of this land as compared with that of the wheat raising belt in the 

 United States. 



In the Northwest Territories being much more recently settled than 

 Manitoba the records do not go back so far, but they show an average 

 yield per acre equal to that of Manitoba, and for the last six years, as a 

 matter of fact, greater. The official returns for Iqo4, are not yet published, 

 but the average for Manitoba was about 16% bushels per acre, while that 

 of the N.W.T. was considerably higher, being about twenty bushels per 

 acre. The Last Mountain Valley district yields ranged from twenty to 

 forty bushels per acre. A conservative estimate would make the average 

 about 25 bushels. Taking the last five years this district has averaged at 

 least that yield to the acre without any signs of rust whatever. 



