422 Our North Land. 



acre, the common weight being twelve pounds each ; Edward Scott, 

 of Portage la Prairie, raised four hundred bushels of turnips from 

 half an acre of land ; Mr. W. H. J. Swain, of Morris, had citrons 

 weighing eighteen pounds each ; Mr. Francis Ogletree, of Portage la 

 Prairie, produced onions measuring four and three-quarter inches 

 through the centre. 



" It must be remembered," says the Hon. Minister of Agriculture, 

 "that none of the farmers mentioned above used any special cultiva- 

 tion to produce the results we have described ; and out of nearly two 

 hundred reports which we have received from settlers concerning 

 the growth of roots and vegetables in the Canadian North-West, not 

 one has been unfavourable." 



The culture of fruit and apples in the North-West is yet in its 

 infancy. Farther to the north-west, in the Peace River country, 

 there is a vast fruit region, equal to the western portions of New 

 York State. However, even in the Province of Manitoba certain 

 varieties can be grown with good success. There is an abundance 

 of wild fruits all over the North-West, such as strawberries, rasp- 

 berries, whortleberries, cranberries, plums, black and red currants, 

 blueberries and grapes, so that there is no scarcity in this respect 

 for the settler, and he will find the flavour of the wild fruit of the 

 North-West most delicious. In fact, strangers, when tasting our 

 strawberries and raspberries for the first time, invariably pronounce 

 them superior to the cultivated varieties. 



Lately, some of the farmers of the North-West have paid special 

 attention to the growth of flax and hemp with most satisfactory 

 results. There is not the least doubt that, as the climate of the 

 North-West is peculiarly favourable to the production of a good 

 quality of -both flax and hemp, they will play an important part in 

 the future resources of the country. There is, however, another 

 product to which I would draw attention, and that is the sugar beet, 

 a root for the cultivation of which the North-West is peculiarly 

 adapted. A good deal of attention is already being paid in different 

 parts of Canada to the cultivation of the sugar beet, and it promises 

 to be one of the future important pursuits of the North-West. 



Game of nearly all kinds is abundant, and in the rivers and lakes 



