ON AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 36 



of the mountain left its moorings and came down, burying most of 

 the village absolutely, and throwing the stones two miles across 

 the valley. Every now and again a mining town was passed, in- 

 describably dirty, amid the most majestic scenery. If Ruskin 

 had only seen the hovels and the dirt, and the mess man had made 

 of nature, he would have exhausted all the dictionaries of all time 

 to find words forcible enough to give expression to his rage. Forest 

 fires were smouldering here and there on the mountain sides, 

 especially in the district where the great Fernie fire raged. The trees 

 were either burned to the ground or were standing bare, black poles. 

 Hard by the railway a sawmill was a blackened heap, with the funnel 

 of the engine twisted into a shapeless mass. At Fernie there was 

 the blackness of desolation. The town of 6000 inhabitants was 

 swept out of existence, all save a few of the houses. It was only 

 a little more than a month since the fire, and quite a number of the 

 tents which housed the people were still being used, but there were 

 scores of houses — wooden houses, of course — already erected, and 

 others were being rushed up at a great rate, for Fernie is an important 

 mining centre. The people need have no fear of another fire. This 

 one has done its work well, and there will be nothing more to burn 

 for a long time. Beyond Creston, where the railway line turns 

 northwards, the first indication of fruit-farming was seen in clearings 

 in the forest. At Kootenay landing, which was reached about five 

 o'clock, the Nelson steamer was waiting the arrival of the train. 

 Kootenay Lake is a pretty lake, and the sail to Nelson is interesting. 

 Unfortunately, most of it had to be done after darkness had set in. 

 It was far on in the night when Nelson was reached. 



At 9 A.M. on Friday, 11th September, in company with a number 

 of the outstanding men of Nelson, the forenoon was spent in visiting 

 the town, and getting facts and figures about its development. The 

 afternoon was spent among the orchards on the banks of the lake, 

 where the land is so limited that the people of the Okanagan tell a 

 story of a man, who, passing along the shore of the lake one day, 

 saw dust rising from the road, and on reaching the spot, found a 

 Kootenay fruit-grower getting to his feet, muttering in his wrath 

 that that was the third time that day he had fallen out of his orchard. 

 The following day was devoted to an exploration of Fire Valley. 

 Killarney, on Arrow Lake, was reached by boat from Robson at 

 five o'clock in the morning. Horses were waiting, and a twenty-six 

 mile ride had to be done before night, partly over a waggon track 

 and partly over a bridle path. Halts were made at different farms 

 by the way, which had been cleared of timber and were under 

 cultivation. The growth was certainly amazing. It would be 

 difl&cult in any part of the world to surpass the growth of fruit- 

 trees and of clover in the Fire Valley. It was four o'clock in the 

 afternoon when the party got back to Killarney in time to catch 

 the boat for Robson. It was a roundabout way to get to Arrow- 

 head, whither the Commissioners were bound, but as there was no 

 boat going north, they had to take one going south, which was 

 timed to leave Robson early, the following morning, direct for 

 Arrowhead. 



