52 EEPOKT OF THE No. 3 



the soil is of inferior quality for agricultural purposes, but in the southern 

 twenty-two miles of the work the surface indications are such as to attract pro- 

 spectors for iron. 



Rivers, streams and lakes abound, particularly in the southern part of the 

 work and numerous swampy areas were seen. Fire has swept, within the past 

 twenty-five years, over nearly all the southern half of the tract covered by the 

 survey, and as a consequence there is little timber of value now standing. In 

 the remaining part, including the clay belt, less damage has been done by fire. 



Soil. 



As above intimated only a comparatively small part of the survey lay within 

 the clay belt, the remainder comprising stony, rocky and sandy soil. The clay 

 belt itself is not here of as good quality as that to the north, but in the vicinity 

 of the Kapuskasing there is a fair sized area of excellent land, and the proportion 

 of good soil increases to the north and north-east. 



Timber. 



To the south of Pishkanogami Lake the timber is nearly all of second 

 growth, but small areas of the original growth, which had escaped the fire, were 

 seen. 



A tract of probably fifty or sixty square miles from the Ridout River east- 

 ward and from the tenth to the fifteenth miles on the first meridian was fire- 

 Bwept during our survey, and no timber of value remains. On the first meridian 

 between Pishkanogami Lake and the first base line, a number of groves of white 

 and red pine of good quality were seen. On the first base line, both east and 

 west of the first meridian, a fair quantity of spruce and poplar, suitable for pulp- 

 wood, and banksian pine and tamarac for railway ties, was found. 



In the fifth and sixth miles of the first base line east of the first meridian, 

 groves of red and white pine occur also at a point on the Pishkanogami River, 

 about two miles north from the mouth of the Muskego River, there is a grove 

 of red pine of good quality, ranging up to twenty-four inches in diameter. In 

 fact, taking into account both quality and quantity, this region is the most 

 promising for white and red pine that we have noted in the James Bay watershed. 



Along the valley of the Kapuskasing River, spruce, poplar, birch and tamarac 

 with occasional groves of banksian pine and scattered cedar, are found. The 

 poplar and spruce are of good quality, and capable of supplying timber for local 

 purposes. 



To the west of the fifteenth mile on the third base line the country has been 

 visited by fire, probably fifteen or twenty years ago, and the growing timber is of 

 little value at present. 



Water. 



i 

 The whole district is well watered by rivers, streams and lakes, with water 

 of good quality. 



Rapids and small falls on the Woman, Ridout, Pishkanogami and Kapus- 

 kasing Rivers are sufficient to supply power for mining and other local purposes. 

 The most important of these falls noticed was on the Pishkanogami River, about 

 three miles down stream from the lake of that name, which forms a natural 



