302 B. N. A. BOUNDARY COMMISSION. 
on as sources of wealth. It is improbable that metallic ores, other than 
those of iron, will be found over the area of the plains, underlaid as they 
are by the soft and little disturbed rocks of the Mesozoic and Tertiary. 
Gold, it is true, is known to exist in small quantities in the drift materials 
of some localities,* and may here and there be found in remunerative 
proportion, but its production will probably never assume much import- 
ance. The great area covered by the coal and lignite-bearing formations, 
as they are at present known, insures a supply of fuel for all time, to the 
settlers of the western portion of the plains, but coal mining will only 
become an important industry, when the country has been opened up, and 
there are extensive agricultural communities depending on it. The great 
present object of those interested in the North-west, should therefore be 
to further agriculture, and the interests of the agriculturist and stock- 
farmer, in every possible way. 
711. Climatic conditions have already received some attention, and 
it is not here proposed to discuss them further. They have a very 
direct bearing on the utilization of the country, but for the present they 
must be taken as they are, and the special problems presented in each 
district will be solved by experience rapidly acquired. The severity of 
the winter season is certainly one of the greatest disadvantages of the 
North-west, as an area for settlement, but, agriculturally, the intensity 
of the cold is not so much a matter of importance as its duration ; and 
where—as in this region—the length and heat of the summers are 
known to be sufficient to mature all the ordinary crops, it may, to a 
great extent, be disregarded. For stock raising, both the duration and 
intensity of the cold must be taken into account, though even here the 
former is the more important. I am aware, that in this region, horses 
and cattle are at present frequently allowed during the winter, to feed 
themselves as best they may. They generally survive, and often do not 
look much the worse for their hard treatment; but this haphazard plan 
will not find favour with careful farmers. In the Red River country, 
animals to which proper attention is shown, require additional food to be 
supplied to them, either in the form of hay or roots, for at least six 
months in the year. For the cultivation of the latter variety of crops, 
the soil of the Red River Valley appears to be excellently suited. 
712. In northern Montana, the conditions are somewhat different, 
and stock is there systematically allowed to winter out independently, 
or with only very slight aid in the way of feed. Similar conditions of 

* Report of Progress, Geol. Surv. Canada, 1873-74, 

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