118 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



north of the 49th parallel, which forms the northern boundary of the 

 United States, wheat and other cereals are grown abundantly, as well as 

 most of the common vegetables, and as soon as transportation facilities 

 are provided these more northern sections will become great grain-pro- 

 ducing countries, no doubt exceeding an average production to the 

 Dakotas or Minnesota, and few, if any, failures. 



Much of these lands still belong to the Canadian government and are 

 open to settlement on favorable terms, while other large tracts are under 

 railroad control, having been granted as subsidies to induce and assist in 

 building roads into these localities. 



The Canadian government is doing everything possible to bring set- 

 tlers into this country, while at the present time two lines of railway 

 are heading toward the Peace River country, and no doubt will extend 

 their lines through Yukon, to Alaska, Edmonton is the most north- 

 erly railroad point on the continent, a modern city of 12,000 population, 

 and is at the present time the terminus of three railroads, C. P. R., 

 G. T. P., and C. N. R., two of which are pushing their lines through to 

 the coast, thus opening up to settlement rich and promising sections, and 

 paving the way for a rapid settlement of the great Northwest. 



So great has been the movement that during the past year or so 

 nearly all the great American magazines have had more or less to say 

 concerning the development of this country, staff writers having spent 

 much time there, and large numbers of people are being drawn from 

 the United States. The tide of immigration is by no means letting up, 

 and it is safe to say that from the United States alone 150,000 to 200,- 

 000 people have crossed the border to invest in Canada cheap lands 

 during the past twelve months. Don't think for a moment that these 

 are a lot of "ne'er-do-wells" or "shiftless" people who are going over. 

 Far from it. I personally have met hundreds of them in Alberta, and 

 will say that a more enterprising and intelligent class of farmers would 

 be hard to find, and the greater portion of them have considerable 

 means, too. If this may be taken as an earnest of what may be expected 

 to continue during the next few years, the United States will certainly be 

 justified in making a rigid inquiry to offset, if possible, this great drain- 

 age from our progressive population. 



The cheapness of land has always been, and always will be, an induce- 

 ment, and while climatic and other conditions are also favorable to go 

 with it, it makes it doubly attractive as a matter of investment. Canada 

 land companies are alert as to this feature, and are not leaving a stone 

 unturned to present their claim in the most attractive way possible; 

 but I must say, with the exception of a few unreliable concerns, the 

 actual conditions one meets are such that it is not possible to offset, by 

 sound argument, these statements which are circulated freely all over 



