ME. GOWLER. 



149 



the White Horse Plain district, thirty bushels to the acre 

 is an average crop of wheat, but on new land forty 

 bushels is not only common but generally expected. 



On the morning of the 16th we paid a visit to Mr. 

 Gowler, whose farm is situated on the immediate banks of 

 the Assinniboine, about nine miles from Fort Garry. 

 Nearly all farming operations were over, but an inspection 

 of his farmyard and garden enabled me to form an 

 opinion of his success and prospects as an agriculturist 

 on the Assinniboine. 



A small stack-yard was filled with stacks of wheat and 

 hay ; his barn, which was very roomy, was crammed 

 with wheat, barley, potatoes, pumpkins, turnips and 

 carrots. The root crops were shortly to be transferred to 

 root houses, which he had constructed by excavating 

 chambers near the high bank of the Assinniboine, and 

 draining them into the river. The drain was supplied 

 with a close and tightly fitting trap, which was closed 

 when the water rose during the spring above its mouth, 

 at that time eight feet above the level of the river. The 

 chambers were about nine feet high, and their ceilings 

 three feet below the prairie level. Access was obtained 

 through a hole in the ceiling, which was covered with 

 a neat little movable roof. There were three of these 

 cellars or root-houses before the dwelling-house, and 

 between it and the river. Frost never entered them, and 

 he found no difficulty in preserving a large stock of pota- 

 toes and turnips through the severe winters of this region. 



Mr. Gowler farmed fifty acres in white and green crops, 

 hay and pasture being furnished by the prairie. He 

 owned much more land, but found it useless to crop it, 

 as no market for surplus produce existed. In 1856 he 

 had sold many bushels of potatoes at sixpence per bushel, 

 and had carted them nine miles. I had been previously in- 



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