THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Sept. i, 1865. 
CO NATURAL CAPABILITIES OF 
Judging from present experience, there can be no doubt that, in 
point of salubrity, the climate of British Columbia excels that of Great 
Britain, and is, indeed, one of the finest in the world'. Moreover, it pos- 
sesses elements peculiarly favourable to the European constitution, — an 
essential recommendation in the case of any British colony, but more 
especially of value when the wandering, open-air, and self-dependent 
habits of a gold-mining community are taken into consideration. There 
is an entire absence of pestilential localities, and in the pure, bracing 
mountain air men of even delicate frames soon acquire surprising vigour 
and healthiness of constitution. Thus the miners are enabled to face 
habitually, and without fear of detrimental effects, hardships, and ex- 
posures, under which in less favourable climates, they would inevitably 
break down. 
With the advantage of a magnificent climate, the rapid development 
of all the available resources of British Columbia may be with reason 
anticipated ; and, as any but the most general remarks upon the quali- 
ties of the soil have been thus far omitted, it may not be uninteresting 
to conclude this hasty geographical sketch with a brief outline of the 
colony's agricultural and pastoral capabilities. With this object it will 
be necessary to return once more to the central belt, or rather to that 
portion of it lying to the east of the 124th meridian, which has been 
already spoken of as the most attractive district in the colony. Here, 
in sheltered and well-irrigated valleys, at altitudes as much as 2,500 
feet above the sea, a few farming experiments have been already made, 
and the results have thus far been beyond measure encouraging. The 
soil, when well watered, is found to possess properties exceedingly 
favourable to .the growth of nearly every variety of our English cereals 
and vegetables. At farms in the St. Jose and Beaver valleys, situated 
nearly 2,200 feet above the sea — and, again, at Fort Alexander, at an 
altitude of 1,540 feet — wheat has been found to produce nearly forty 
bushels to the acre, and other grain and vegetable crops to be abundant 
in like proportion. Again, at Papillon, in the dry zone immediately to 
the east of the Cascade range, the soil, aided by artificial irrigation, has 
proved to be prolific to a remarkable degree ; the potato-crop having 
reached as high as fifteen tons to the acre, and single turnips having 
been known to attain the enormous weight of twenty pounds. 
In Cutoff valley also, on the shores of Okanagan Lake, and in many 
other favoured localities, equally astonishing results have been ob- 
tained. 
The district, however, is not without its drawbacks. The farmer 
suffers occasionally from night-frosts extending far into the summer, 
from long droughts in the latter part of the season, and, still more often, 
from the difficulty and expense of irrigating the soil in the arid districts. 
Nevertheless, without going further into details, there is already abun- 
dant proof that many portions at least of this fertile belt are not wanting 
in most of the elements that conduce to successful agriculture. It will 
be remembered, too, that the experiments hitherto made are but first 
