100 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



rounding country. The shore line of Lake St. Joseph and of all the islands 

 within the limits of the survey have been reduced by a pantograph, and plotted 

 on this plan, which accompanies this report. 



The country as a whole is rolling and rocky, the valleys being filled with 

 the muskegs typical of this section of Northern Ontario. There is very little 

 agricultural land, and what there is occurs for the most part in small isolated 

 tracts. There are several fairly large areas of gravelly and stony land, par- 

 ticularly near Lake St. Joseph, from the commencement of the base line up to 

 about the fourth mile, and again near the twenty-third and twenty-fourth 

 miles on the base line and on the fourth meridian. There is a fairly large area 

 of sandy land near the Hudson's Bay Co.'s Post at Osnaburgh, and some sec- 

 tions of this are capable of being successfully cultivated. There is a good gar- 

 den at Osnaburgh, and potatoes and other vegetables appeared to grow very 

 well. Some of the Indians have small gardens scattered about on some of the 

 islands, but they do not appear to grow anything but potatoes. The potato 

 patches were usually very well cultivated and gave evidence of considerable 

 care and attention. On the whole, however, the amount of land suitable for 

 cultivation is relatively very small. 



The prevailing timber is spruce, white birch, jack pine and balsam, with 

 considerable scrubby cedar close to the shores. No red or white pine was seen. 



Forest fires have wrought great destruction throughout the greater part of 

 this territory. A very great portion of the country adjacent to the south shore 

 of Lake St. Joseph has been burnt over only a very few years ago, and extensive 

 areas are now covered with masses of fallen timber, which make travelling very 

 difficult. On the areas which have been burnt for some time, a healthy second- 

 growth of jack pine, spruce, white birch, etc., is growing very nicely, and if 

 fires are kept out in the future, will eventually form a considerable addition 

 to the forest wealth of this country. 



Between the fourteenth and fifteenth miles on the base line, there is a 

 striking example of what the timber resources of this country might have been 

 had the fires been prevented. For a distance of about half a mile along the 

 base line in this locality there is an area which has apparently never been touched 

 by fire, and there is a stand of splendid spruce, balsam and white birch of large 

 size. This is the largest and best timber seen during the season. Another 

 splendid example of what is apparently original forest is found on a large island 

 in Pashkokogan Lake, near the twenty-eighth mile on the base line. 



There is a considerable quantity of good spruce, etc., scattered throughout 

 the country, as there are still large areas which have escaped the many fires. 

 It is difficult to estimate the proportion, of the total area that has been burnt 

 over, but I would venture to say that in the neighbourhood of fifty per cent, 

 of the country seen from the lines, and from the south shore of Lake St. Joseph, 

 has been burnt over within comparatively recent years. Notwithstanding the 

 great destruction that has been caused by fire, however, there is still a great 

 quantity of timber suitable for pulpwood, which will some day be a very valu- 

 able asset to the Province. It is not impossible that the timber resources of 

 this territory are greater than one would at first be led to believe. The desola- 

 tion caused by a forest fire stands out so prominently on the landscape, that 

 there may well be a tendency to estimate the damage done by it as being greater 

 than it really is. 



Most of these fires are caused by carelessness on the part of the local 

 Indians, and I would suggest that some effort be made to impress on the Indians 

 the necessity for care in the use of fire. If arrangements were made to have 



