Horse and Stock Raising 



I that fine book " The Great Lone Land," and 



ferring to the Saskatchewan country, i.e. the 



alleys of the rivers, uses such words as these : 



Northward lies a forest, southward a desert, 



hile to the eastward is a great swamp," and 



len goes on to speak in very high terms of 



le part he is referring to; and it would appear 



lat the C.P.R., as the Canadian Pacific is fami- 



arly called, was originally planned to run through 



lis country, but for what are known as strategic 



)asons was carried further south, nearer the 



nited States border. 



Of course, all this is ancient history now, and 

 le C.N.R., the G.T.P., and branches of the C.P.R. 

 re now running through the country further 

 orth ; but it may just serve to remind travellers 

 ver the old transcontinental that they have 

 ot seen much of the best part of the prairie. 



Not only are there great differences of soil 

 nd climatic variations, but certain localities seem 

 ) have special characteristics. There is, for 

 istance, a district just east of Last Mountain, 

 r Long Lake, which hardly ever suffers from 



ost, possibly because the deep depression of 

 le lake catches and holds the cold north-west 



inds or light airs during those dangerous autumn 

 ights when the frost spirit is apt to be so 

 estructive. Such places and the great Regina 



221 



