80 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



The order in which the various township boundaries were run was in exact 

 conformity with that set out in the instructions, and on the whole very satis- 

 factory connection was made with prior surveys. 



Timber and Soil 



The percentage of timber of commercial size in the area traversed by this 

 survey is small. A liberal guess would be ten per cent. Only in the vicinity 

 of streams the timber is of any size in quantity. There are large areas of flat 

 country from which the water does not drain freely, and in those areas the 

 timber is very stunted in growth and size. In some sections, there is much young 

 tamarac which seems to thrive better in the wet land. The timber along the 

 base line north of the Missinaibi River, while still too small for commercial 

 purposes, was, generally speaking, larger than east and west of the Abitibi 

 River. Whi e there appears to be a great amount of muskeg, the depth of muskeg 

 is usually shallow. There does not appear to be the deep muskegs as found 

 farther south. I was informed by the T. & N. O. Railway engineers that the 

 deepest they found north of Coral Rapids was eight feet, and usually the depth 

 was much less. This can be observed along the railway grade, where consider- 

 able ditching has been done. 



In connection with the ditching of the railway right-of-way, off-take ditches 

 were dug for great distances from the railway, and as this will necessarily drain 

 the land in that locality, it would seem to me a good opportunity of observing 

 if it means anything to the timber growth to drain the land. I am not prepared 

 to say whether or not the chemical condition of the top muck soil is such that 

 drainage would sufficiently aid the timber growth to make it worth while, but 

 the railway ditching seems to me to provide an opportunity of finding this out. 

 In most places, where we dug through the muck, we found a good clay beneath. 

 There is very little rock showing in this area. 



Minerals 



A portion of the coal and clay deposits, at present being investigated by 

 the Department of Mines, lie within the area covered by this survey. Gypsum 

 deposits, concerning which you already have information, are also to be seen 

 on the Moose River for some distance below the T. & N. O. Railway bridge. 

 Granite rock shows near the 8-mile post on the east boundary of the Township 

 of Dyer. 



Water Powers 



There is nothing concerning water powers that I can add in addition to 

 data already obtained by your Department, which I understand includes every- 

 thing on the Abitibi and Missinaibi rivers, excepting a water fall on the Little 

 Cedar River. Thfs falls is about twenty-five chains southwest of the 8-mile 

 post on the east boundary of the Township of Dyer. There is a fall of from 

 thirty to forty feet. Relatively it is small and not much of importance. This 

 falls is over granite rock. 



Game 



There were signs of moose and bear, but we saw neither. Large game does 

 not seem to be very plentiful and there does not seem to be much small game 

 either. The area we were in is, for the most part, too wet for game, so that the 

 above remarks should not be necessarily taken as representative of the whole 

 north area. I am told that moose is more plentiful in some sections. 



