22 The Agricultural Ilesourcea of Canada. 



than that. This district has a heavy rainfall, which makes it more 

 suitablo for dairying than for growing corn. 



.1: On Wednesday, October 4th, we left Chilliwack and drove 



Agassiz. to Agassiz. Owing to the heavy rain, the roads — if roads 

 they may be called — were nearly impassable ; so much so, 

 that one of our party was thrown clean out of the car into a pool of 

 water. After reaching the river side, we crossed, and " footed it '' through 

 the Indian reservation for about three miles, along a rough footpath, 

 till we got to Agassi/,. The land seemed to be very fertile. The 

 Indians had cleared portions of some fields, and had planted orchards. 



We visited the experimental farm, the superintendent of which 

 is Mr. T. A. Sharpe ; it is 300 acres in extent, and situated near the 

 railway station. Part of it is in the valley, and other portions 

 rise somewhat suddenly to a height of 800 ft. At that elevation 

 orchards have been planted, and the experiment is watched with 

 much interest. The expense of clearing this land must have been 

 very he:ivy — quite $75 (<£15> an acre. It was formerly covered with 

 heavy timber. The climate is mild ; the lowest reading of the thermo- 

 meter last winter was seven degrees above zero. On the side of the 

 mountain a large orchard has been planted, containing 887 varieties of 

 fruit. This, we were told, is the largest collection of fruit on the 

 continent. Although only three years have elapsed since the trees 

 were planted, their growth is something wonderful. The value of 

 these experimental farms must be rery great to this province in 

 finding out the most suitable fruit trees for the district. If this 

 had been left to individuals, it would have taken many years to 

 acquire the knowledge that is now obtained free, and without trouble. 

 We left Agassiz about 3 p.m. on Wednesday to re-cross the Eocky 

 Mountains. 



jj J. f By Saturday morning we reached Winnipeg, having 



j;^f'^ . travelled 1,411 miles on the same train. On our way 



^ •^' we saw several crops of wheat out, not yet carried, 

 especially at Qu'Appelle and Indian Head districts. 



On Saturday, at noon, we started by train for Chicago, 

 Chicago. arriving there on Sunday night. We passed through a 



large tract of land in North Dakota, most of which is 

 similar to Manitoba. St. Paul and Minneapolis, which we passed 

 through, are thickly populated districts. 



Arriving late on Sunday night, with the newspapers reporting that 

 no bed coidd be had upon any consideration, was everything but 

 pleasant. However, we soon found a place to lie down, and enjoyed 

 our rest to the utmost. On Monday morning we started to see the 

 World's I'air. It being " Chicago Day," with 742,000 persons visiting 

 the Show, it could not be the most advantageous day to see things. 

 However, I soon met several Welshmen froui my own neighbourhood, 

 one of whom had lived at the next farm to me. From him and from 

 others I got a full account of the " Eisteddfod " that was held 

 there. We were told that 80,000 Welshmen attended it from 

 different parts of the world. The Eisteddfod week was the one in 

 which the largest number of persons visited the Fair since its opening. 



