222 
Canadian Agriculture. 
subsequent description of prairie farming. The latter part of 
the paper deals with the agriculture of the longer settled and 
better known provinces of Eastern Canada. 
The Pbaieie. 
Physical Features. — The surface of the prairie region of 
British North America occupies three extensive steppes, or 
table-lands, the lowest of which is on the east, and the most 
elevated on the west. The political boundary between Canada 
and the Western United States is here identical with the 49th 
parallel of north latitude, and along this line the prairie extends 
from the 96th to the 112th meridian, a distance of about 
900 miles from east to west. Northwards the prairie becomes 
narrower, and where it disappears on the bleak coasts of the 
Arctic Ocean its width does not exceed 400 miles. The Cana- 
dian prairie is bounded on the east bv the rocky plateau which 
fringes the western shores of Lake Winnipeg, and then strikes 
west and north-west to Lake Athabasca. This plateau consists 
of very ancient crystalline rocks, of Laurentian and perhaps 
Huronian age, and does not present an unbroken front to the 
prairie, for it is penetrated by the Nelson and Churchill rivers 
on their way to Hudson's Bay. The character of this plateau 
may be well observed in travelling along the Canadian Pacific 
Railway from Port Arthur, Lake Superior, to the city of Win- 
nipeg, a distance of 429 miles, nearly 340 of which are across 
this boundary ; much of the scenery is wild and rocky, and sug- 
gestive of mineral wealth, while in some parts dense woods and 
undergrowth, and in others extensive swamps, meet the eye. 
This wide belt of country presents few or no features of agricul- 
tural interest, and, indeed, whatever agricultural development it 
is capable of is likely to be long deferred, while such vast areas 
of fertile treeless prairie remain to the west. In the neighbour- 
hood of Telford, 338 miles west of Port Arthur, and 91 miles 
east of Winnipeg, the rocky plateau, with its poplars, tam'aracs, 
and other trees, gives place to a level sweeping country with 
stunted shrubs, and the clear rapid streams of the rocks are 
replaced by sluggish, muddy rivulets. The land of rock and 
swamp and timber is left behind, and the rich alluvial soil of 
the eastern fringe of the prairies is entered upon, for this is the 
Red River valley, with its eastern belt of muskeg, or floating 
swamp, 20 miles wide. 
The western boundary of the prairie region is constituted by 
the magnificent natural rampart of the Rocky Mountains, the 
junction of plateau and mountain being usually flanked by foot- 
hills, such as those to the south and west of Calgary, among which 
