586 THE GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ. 



south to north, with a width of a half mile to 2 miles, in the east part of 

 Midland, Pembina County. 



In both Minnesota and North Dakota these bogs are destitute of trees 

 and shrubs, and are occupied mostly by rushes, sedges, and marsh grasses, 

 which usually attain a very rank growth. No malarial diseases, however, 

 are produced by the marshes in their present condition, and the principal 

 injury to be charged against them is that they hinder or prevent the con- 

 sti-uction of roads which would be a pulilic convenience. So long as they 

 remain undrained, these lands are almost or cpiite worthless, but when well 

 di-ained and brought under cultivation they will be a great addition to the 

 wealth and resources of this fertile valley. 



East of the Red River Valley, the wooded part of the area of Lake 

 Agassiz in northern Minnesota contains frequent swamps, ranging from a 

 few acres to many square miles in area, usually occupied by a sparse 

 growth of tall and slender tamarack and black spruce trees, but in their 

 central portions often destitute of trees and covered by peat mosses, in 

 which there may be a pool or lakelet, either of clear water or tilled with 

 rushes. Extensive swamps of this kind, locally called muskegs, adjoin Red 

 Lake, Mud and Thief lakes, the Lake of the Woods, and Roseau Lake. 

 Indeed, they are reported as covering a large part of the country northeast- 

 ward from Red Lake to the international boundary, forming a region 

 which is well-nigh impassable excepting in winter, when the surface of the 

 muskegs is frozen. 



The vast forest region of Lake Agassiz comprised within Canadian 

 territory has many scattered muskegs, but also much land with dry and 

 rich soil, worthy to be cleared and cultivated, tlu-oughout all its extent from 

 Rainy Lake and River and the Lake of the Woods northwestward by the 

 great lakes of Manitoba to the Saskatchewan. During many years to come 

 no attempt will probably be made to utilize the swamps or muskegs of the 

 wooded country; but in Manitoba, as already noted in Minnesota, many 

 of the marshes and swamps of the prame region are being drained for 

 agriculture. The main ditches are dug as a part of the public improve- 

 ments by the Provincial Government, which is reimbursed by the sales 



