PEACE RIVER 



4537 



PEACH 



The Peace River Country 



Agricultural Conditions. A few years ago all 

 works of reference dismissed the Peace River 

 with a brief article, usually ending with the 

 words: "Its valley is fertile." To-day it is 

 known that the Peace River Country is one of 

 the few remaining large tracts of unsettled 

 arable land, a section which will support thou- 

 sands of people and provide for them a pleas- 

 healthful home. In the neighborhood of 

 Pea< Landing the farms which are al- 



ready under cultivation prove that the land is 

 suitable for the production of all kinds of cereal 

 and root crops. In the vicinity of the "Water- 

 hole," thirty miles from the Landing, are many 

 farms of 500 acres or more. The production 

 of wheat ranges from forty to fifty-five bushels 

 to the acre; oats, about sixty bushels; and bar- 

 -oventy bushels. Corn, tomatoes and other 

 garden vegetables ripen satisfactorily in that 

 on. At Fort Vermilion, nearly 300 miles 

 from Peace River Landing, wheat, planted on 

 April 15 and harvested on August 17 has 

 yielded forty-two bushels to the acre. Large 

 tracts at various points are suitable for stock- 

 raising. Water is plentiful, there are many 

 natural hay meadows, and native grasses, in- 

 rluding blue joint and wild pea, furnish feed. 

 illy millions of acres await the hand of 

 the settler. 



Transportation. Until the beginning of the 

 twentieth century easy means of communica- 

 tion were lacking, travel was difficult, and set- 

 tlers were advised to keep out of a section 

 which was far from markets. These conditions 

 are rapidly changing. The completion of the 

 Edmonton, Dunvegan <fe British Columbia and 

 the Pacific Great Eastern railways will provide 

 easy access to the Peace River Country. Opera- 

 tion of these two railways was begun before the 

 lines were completed. 



Until the Peace River emerges from tin- 

 Rocky Mountains it is not navigable, but below 

 Hudson Hope, at the lower end of Rocky 

 Mountains' Canyon, there is no obstruction to 

 steam n.-t -\\\\\\ tin- Vermilion Chutes 



are reached, about 500 miles farther down. At 

 the Chutes the river plunges over a limestone 

 ledge ten feet hiph. hut the completion of 

 irre:itly facilitate the trans- 

 shipment of goods. On Great Sin 

 is a similar obstruction at the Slave Rapids, 

 but with these two exceptions there is a total 

 distance of 2500 miles of river, navigable for 

 steamers drawing four feet of water, from the 



Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Macken- 

 zie River. The Peace River has an average 

 depth of twenty to thirty feet, and an average 

 width of one-half to three-fourths of a mile. 

 The current is always fairly rapid, seldom fall- 

 ing below two and one-half miles an hour. 

 The Smoky River is navigable for scows and 

 motor boats, but none of the other tributaries 

 of the Peace are navigable except for canoes. 



Timber and Mineral Resources. In its primi- 

 tive state, the Peace River Country was proba- 

 bly covered with dense growths of spruce and 

 other coniferous trees. These for. }>een 



destroyed to a large extent by fire. Here and 

 there are patches of this first growth, and in 

 some of the river bottoms are groves of old 

 cotton woods, but for the most part the forest 

 area is covered with a second growth of aspen 

 and birch, always with some spruce inter- 

 mingled. On higher ridges there is often a 

 thick growth of scrub pine and spruce, and in 

 swampy soil tamarack is found. The timber 

 is one of the most valuable resources of the 

 Peace River Country, and is already being 

 utilized. 



Of minerals, too, there seems to be a con- 

 siderable variety, although the search for min- 

 erals has far from disclosed the wealth of the 

 region. Gold, iron, lignite, gypsum, natural 

 gas and oil are those which seem to promise 

 successful commercial development. 



Fish, Game and Fur-Bearing Animals, The 

 Peace River district, taken as a whole, has an 

 abundant stock of fish, including whitefish, lake 

 trout, pickerel, pike, bluefish, sucker and Back's 

 grayling. The Peace River itself is not so 

 plentifully stocked as the smaller rivers and the 

 lakes. The buffalo or bison are now practically 

 extinct, but moose are plentiful, and red deer, 

 blacktail deer, black and brown : in 



large numbers. Caribou are found in the north- 

 em part. Game birds, including prairie chicken, 

 ruffed grouse and partridges are found every- 

 where. The fur-bearing animals are still plenti- 

 ful ; these are the mink, otter, beaver, black 

 and red fox, wolf, lynx, skunk, marten and 

 weasel. The fur catch is increasing steaclily, 

 but it will not for a long time have an appre- 

 ciable effect on the supply. w j-x. 



PEACH, /..(/!. a fruit of temperate cli- 

 mates, surpassed by none in beauty, fragrance 

 or flavor. It is essentially a product of the 

 United States, for that country raises more 

 and better peaches than any other section of 



