246 
Canadian Agi'iculture. 
me that the slime in the roads afforded strong indications of the 
fertility of the soils in the Red River valley, but the illustration 
is one that might profitably be dispensed with. The condition 
of its roads is a reproach to Winnipeg, but it is one which its 
enterprising citizens will no doubt soon make a thing of the 
past. 
I have spoken of the Red River cart, a remnant of bygone 
days. The Marquis of Lome says * : — 
." It is a very rough structure, but ingeniously made, for its wheels are put 
together without one piece of iron. There is ueitlier nail nor metal tire. 
Fig. l.—Tlte Bed Elver Cart. 
(From ' Canadian Pictures,' — by permission.) 
The thing creaks horribly, hut answers its purpose well. Caravans of these 
conveyances have for the last thirty years taken the half-breed's goods^by the 
prairie trails to all parts of the great valleys, and often occupy 90 days in 
getting to Edmonton." 
The word Manitoba means the land of the great spirit, and is 
of Indian origin. In pronouncing the word, the dwellers in the 
Province, I noticed, place the accent on the third syllable, and 
not on the last, as is sometimes heard in England. The tide of 
emigration to this Province during tlie last six or eight years 
has made the name very familiar to English agriculturists, and 
in the course of an eloquent address upon Manitoba by the Earl 
of Dufferin, during his tenure of the office of Governor-General 
* • Ciiiiiidian I'ictiiu's,' p. IHU. 
