IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4p 1.0 I.I ■ 50 •^~ 2.5 2.2 i m mi Itf 144 ^ tiS. 12.0 IS 1.25 1 1.4 11^ < 6" ► V, '/ Photographic Sdences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STRKT WIBSTIR.N.Y. 145M (716) S72-4503 ^^ f^'l. ^V ) CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibiiographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibiiographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture eno'ommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou peiliculAe I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autre^ documents T!ght binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t4 filmAes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la methods normale de f ilmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es rri Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur6es et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachet6es ou piquies □Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes EShowthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality in6gale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partir'ly obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont M filmAes A nouveau de fagon A obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X lire details ties du ; modifier ger une I filmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and In keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies In printed peper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or Illustrated Impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. t i^es L'exemplaire film6 f ut reproduit grice k la g^nArositA de: La bibiiothdque des Archives pubiiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont txh reproduites avec la plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la netteti de rexemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires orlglnaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimte sont filmte en commen9ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'Impresslon ou d'iilustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires orlglnaux sont fiimte en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'Impresslon ou d'iilustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — »> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des svmboles suivants apparattra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols —»> signifle "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". ire Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be? entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmi A partir de i'engle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants lllustrent la m^thode. >y errata ed to mt me pelure. B9on A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ;^ 18 '7 The 6REI NOR w Of Inti ^ !sg^ia@@@gS@@@© @@@Q@@ @@^jS g';ii@@g^g5@@@gsQ@@g^g©@^^@@@gs€^@^ @^^ i) 1886. 1886 I ^1 The Resources and Future Greatness ^^j^>^^ GREAT HORTH-WEST *-r=:=:^^=^ PRAIRIE LANDS. -*er^ With Information for All. •^»*4>.«.— ••♦•■^ Of Interest to the intenoing Setiler and the Capitalist seeking Profitable and Sake Investments. By THOMAS SPENCE, Ciintiis Commissioyier, and Jat^ tlerfc oj the LeglsUtive AaiifyMy ofMaaUoha, •.•*i<'*tii*t,„,,'\~» '>3,(^%W.'!.. 1.; ' } •^A...«f C) rA.QS, 1 10 3 3 to 9 9 to 10 .^ y l^ I it. t. V la J^' M '^c %pKamtf. J~,. -^ <■• . ° '. i- lis d iO to 23 *\V«"'<\ r •'*"'^ ^Mt/V ^' ..,^ >■' ^ ..,VrN^^' ,p Y. to j %- { '"' ^''^ K ---^ .. ,.,,u ft 6 \ ■' ,A \. \ ^-yf- "V' /„ - -^-^ i r ^- ..,.r ^ ^^ ^v* ^ iV;' ;?■ trkn-'"' , fl,ll"1 , ■•> ^ '^•k<7^^7' ^^ :« iv r'^' ;-■••%• -» ^v ''*'""'"'^-'^■i»..Tv ^ wiinMiuimiii '^Nit!*^'- ^^ /;;ii«^,^^'f**'';"> Jiv/it A .m J; ;. A . . » Ai K.; O T ,A A /"\ -. * .// "•-^,.-"''' ,,J CV y^'^^:^^ '-y -«««^c.t i-iJw iil.llliol'"" .iHkIK'" .15 A '^' 5i : irnif^ y ft-""' „«' ,.«>•' hw »u> ^\,, (.»*•> 2^ ^. 7™**— F >*^'- !.•?" ^f^ 6 / 4 Itl «^^ cQi^ ? ^' !!&': '7 . ' <*♦* •v.. J K^^,i.l%^?S. V' "ya > ^J^ X Off ;*>•* >X'' '>**.-\ << %) %: , p H' A *>"' ^...>^-"^ ^ '^RTOf THEUNITOisTATES- ^ ^'^ ^ ^'^"^ 'V <'-"•«''"' *'"'"■"'"■ aJJ*^ *' L;*"'*" Unundnnr* o) (aniula >£, i^V, *t (Sl''''* " of Ihf hmimrt ■ ■^y. tr.r- (' Slfttnihtnit Liilfs. — — _— -.- 1883. SCAII or MILFS 'S^'f r huii«n': ..ilhn^AptiM i>M In the Elliott settlement, which is about thirty miles to the south of Brandon, in Manitoba, we have another typical group of highly successful farmers. These generally have 320 acres of land each; and although the settleme,)' ./as only commenced three or four years since, yet, as they commenced with moderate capital, they have had nothing to impede their success. Substantial dwellings, school-houses, churches, well filled with merchandise, are to be found all over the settlement, and last winter over 100,000 bushels of wheat were sent from here to Brandon for sale. * As we approach Brandon we enter upon a still larger class of farms about 640 acres in extent. Those belonging to the Honourable Mr. Sifton, Mr. Whitehead, Dr. Fleming, and Mr. Johnston may be taken as typical cases of farms which were speedily rendered complete by their owners, and forthwith brought under successful cultivation. In all these cases the profits on two years' cropping would repay the purchase of ths ttlwpi fcr^. la nacintth* IgCDWidlf nt of good isted Boili. those who fature, and rmers. By lich follow previoualy T a Ttflit tt Lgricaltoit oaded witl^ eland, thai imperfaot ' when tho ks valaaUa ir securing > learn how fr year th^ anagemeal kuthority in 0U8 settle- on gat those type to a ome farms ore capital have their J just given if hundreds •othe^ We ice fees for ehillings a Me to get with wheat eat and all y brother/* ained to be iiese small a farm of to give up Bteadv and ito tnat of ) an earlier r example. kandon,in 16 generally meed three have had churches, last winter le. * As we >s in extent, iming, and y rendered /ation. In lase of the p ? aperty, and also the onilay Ibr tinproTcmeBts. Other lands ia the same distrlM were lamed under a different arrangement, as, for instance, Mr. MoBuraie's &rms. He purchased 4,000 acres of land, it was enclosed, ploughed and backset ready for ■owinc, convenient residences and small farm buildmgs ^ere erected, and these farnM were then let to tenants at a moderate rental, which thoroughly well remoneratsd hoth the owner and the occupiers. Amongst all the settlements I visited none gave me so much complete satisfac- tion as thai, which has been established by Lady Gordon-Cathcart, about ten miles to the south of Wappella on the western side of Manitoba. It is particularly worthy of notice as being a well-conducted and successful colonization scheme. For varioua rtacons Lady Gordon-Cathcart decided to render assistance to some of her tenantry who bad become too crowded upon one portion of her property. A loan of £100 was kindly offered to each family desirous of emigrating to Manitoba, of which sum £26 might be expended in connection with their journey, and £76 was reserved for expenditure on tne lands granted to them by the Canadian Government. The repayment of the loans was secured in regular course ujpon the land granted, and in accordance with the provisions of the Dominion Land Act. One of their body- John McDiarmid, an aole and intelligent person for such a duty — was sent forward as a pioneer, and he, with the assistance of the Government Emigration officials, made a preliminary selection of lands. As soon as the party of emigrants arrived in Manitoba, ten or fifteen miles from the selected lands, tne women and children were left in comfortable quarters near the railway, whilst the men marched off in a body to see what lands their comrade had selected for them^ One after another the several homestead lots of 160 acres each were approved of by the different members of the ^roup, and were duly scbrduled in the names of the individual emigrants. They then returned to the nearest Government Land Office, and the registration of the land was complet<^d, afler which they secured tools for putting up some turf hutH, which work being accomplished they had then to purchase their general farm supplies. Without delay working bullocks, waggons, ploughs, seeds ana provisions, Ac, &c., were purchased, and paid for out of the money remitted for this purpose. It was on a bright and happy da^ late in May last, that they formed in procession, and marched to their farms with all they required for their tillage and proper management' They soon commenced ploughing the turf of the prairie, simply covering in their potatoes with the fresh-turned turf. They also sowed their wheat and oats upon the newly-turnea sod. Very rough style of farming many will be disposed to nay, still it must be remembered that they had no choice, out the results caused them no regi-et. Within eight weeks from the time of planting the potatoes they were digging their new crop, and before two weeks had passed I had some of those po'ialoes for dinner, and I do not hesitate to say that for size, flavour and maturity, they were excellent. The roughly sown wheat and oats were then progressing rapidly, and a good harvest awaited their in-gathering. <> During the summer they nad raised a netter class of house, they had secured a supply oi food and seed for another year, and their settlement was practically completed. A total area of about 3,200 acres had thus been secured, the quality of the land was good, the surface was gently undulating over the entire area, and it was as nicely wood^ as many a park in tne old countrv. The change in their position had been so quickly accomplished, that I can reaaily imagine that they must at times have wondered whether it was a dream or a reality. ( IV'as it really true that they were no longer small tenants and laborers struggling against pecuniary difficulties which well nigh tempted them to rebel, and that they had so suddenly become the owners of happy homes and nice farms, without the shadow of a care or a fear as to their future support? It was true, and the deep gratitude manifested by those settlers towards Lady Gordon-Cathcart, no words of mine can adequately describe. ^It was obviouslT unnecessary to enquire whether they were happy in their new homes j but I did ask one of the party wliether he had sent home to his friends a full account of the place* •• Why. sir," he replied, " if I only told them half they would never believe me again.'Y These facts show very clearly that a loan of £100 prudently applied, is sufficient to enable a family to be broueht fVom a condition of poverty to one of comfort and prosperity, and the money being secured upon the land, permits of ft 6 reaso/iable time being given for the rs-payment of the loan and interest, and with perfect safety so far as regards the capitalist." The foregoing statements, made by such a reliable authority on agricultural matters in England, and whose mission, from the Council of the Institute of Agriculture, had for its especial object an enquiry into the advantages, or otherwise, which surround emigration to the Canadian North-West, cannot fail to prove conclusively to the mind of the most ordinarily intelligent person, that the reports which have been so industriously circulated in England, and which describe in such extravagant language the distinctive character of tne climate of the North-West and its adaptability to agricaltnre, and the lack of prosperity among the settlers, are utterly false and malicious, circulated only with the object of diverting the flow of emigration. The soil may be described as generally an alluvial black argillaceous mmild, rich in organic deposit. Scientific analysis develops the presence m due proportion of elements of extraordinary fertility, comparing favorably with the most celebrated Boils of the world. The very great wealth it contains is shown first, by the large yields of wheat which reward even poor culture, the average established by statistics 80 far, being about twenty-five bushels to the acre, while careful cultivation has been known to bring as high &s forty bushels, occasionally even more without manure — and has special excellence, for the superior quality of flour made from it. With these uniform characteristics, the soils are of different grades of fertility, according to local situation : it would be absurd to expect any country of this vast extent to be all equally lit to receive the plough at once. Barley gives also magnificent crops, and the quality of the yield is very superior, the amount Deing like that of wheat, to a large extent dependent on good methods of cultivation, and varying from twenty-five to forty bushels an acre. Oats also thrive with wonderful luxuriance, and yield very large crops — from fifty to seventy bushels an acre. The soil is also extremely favourable for root crops of ell kinds. Potatoes and turnips yield enormous; cabbage and cauliflowers grow to a size which astonishes people from abroad, and all ordinary garden vegetables thrive with luxuriance. Tomatoes ripen, but are not always a certain crop. The fact of their ripening at all in the open air is, however, a favourable climatic teat of freat importance. Their ripening cannot be counted on in the United Kingdom, 'he wild grasses extending to the foot ot the Rocky Mountains are famous lor the nourishment they contain *They not only afford rich and ample pasturage, upon which horses, cattle and siiOP thrive well, but also make an excellent quality of hay. As a practical illustration of the agricultural capabilities of even the territory along the line of thj Canadian Pacific oet ween Moose Jaw and Calgarry, nearly 600 miles, as yet ver^ sparsely settled, and in consequence of American newspaper reports of a trr^st injurious nature, going so far as to assert that this large tract was made up of desorc and alkali lands entirely unfltfor cultivation, the Railway Company to prove how utterly at variance with the fiacta such assertions as these were, conceived the idea of establishing farms at various points to test the agricultural capabilities of this district, not with the view of satisfying themselves as to the fertility of these lands, but by absolute proof to show to the many thousands of tourists, capitalists, and settlers who would travel over the section of the line between Manitoba and the Rocky Mountains, that their assertions as to the value of the land were well founded. Accordingly a special train of a novel character, composed of fourteen cars and locomotive was dispatched from Winnipeg for the west on the I2th of October, 1883, It cont(.ined teams, men and outfit necessary for the establishing of the experimental farms on the virgin soil of the wild prairie, and at a most unfavorable time, the season being so far advanced for breaking the sod. The first ground was broken at a point 44.3 miles west of Winnipeg, at an elevation of 2,284 feet above the sea level ; eleven and a half acres were broTken at this point. Second, at Rush Lake, about 40 miles further west, 2,S10 feet above the the sea level, 13 acres were broken. Third, at Stoift Current, 2,430 above the sea level, 20 acres were broken. Fourth, at Oull Lake, 2,569 feet above the sea level, 30 acres were broken.^ Fifth, a< Maple Creek, 2,500 feet above the sea level, 18 acres were broken. Sixth, at Forres, 2,437 feet above the sea level, 28 acres were broken. Seventh, at Duntnore, 2,406 feet above the sea level, 36 acres were broken. Eighth, at Stair, 2,439 feet above the sea level, ISaeres ;ere8t, and with on agricaltnral lie Institate of 0, or otherwise, . fail to prove hat the reports escribe in such lorth-West and .he settlers, are ;ing the flow of laceons mould, due proportion most celebrated ?t, by the large led by statistics vation has been tiout manure — it. With these jording to local xlc-.t to be all i very superior, ood methods of ge crops — from e for root crops uliflowers grow •den vegetables ain crop. The climatic test of lited Kingdom, famous lor the asturage, upon quality of hay. n the territory rry, nearly 600 lan newspaper arge tract was ilway Company wrere, conceived I capabilities of rtilify of these sts, capitalists, nitoba and the •e well founded, •teen cars and October, 1883, e experimental rable time, the was broken al ! the sea level ; Lake, about 40 roken. Third, 'ourth, at Oull Maple Creek, J,43T feet above , above the sea t level, 18aeres were broken. Ninth, at Tilley, 2,470 feet above the sea level ; and last, at Gldchetif 2,961 feet aoove the sea level, 42 acres were broken. It was not intended to attempt the raising of crops on the farms during the season of 1884. The idea was to cultivate and prepare the ground thoroughly in accordance with the best known practice ol breaking and backsetting, so as to have a seed bed early for the spring of 1885. Those in charge of the work were, however, afler seeing the land once turned up, so impressed with the belief that a fair yield would be obtained, even off the sod, that it was decided to make the attempt ; considering it advisable, in view of the reiterated statement that this section of the country was unfit for settlenient, to run the risk ol imperfect cultivation rather than have the important question unsolved for another season. Therefore on the 27th March, 1880, a special train was sent out, taking boarding cars, men, teams, implements and seed grain to commence the spring operations. When Dunmore was reached on the 29th tlie enow was entirely gone, the ground dry and the frost out to a depth of several inches. Tlie train arrived at Gleichen, 150 miles this side of the Rocky Mountains, on the 30th, and ploughing and seeding commenced on March 3l8t,with ground dry and weather mild. Having regard to the date at which the breaking was done, it need hardly be gaid to tliose at all conversant with prairie farming, that the sod had no chance to rot, and the land, when apring seeding was commenced, was practically in the same condition as when left in the autumn, so that a proper seed bed could not be prepared, and as a consequence much of the seed grain lay on the surface to be dried up by the sun or carried off by birds and gophers. The reader will bear in mind that the dates of breaking the land refer to the year 1883, and those of seeding and harvesting to 18H4. The earliest harvesting being at Dunmore was barley on the 23rd July ; oats or. the 6th August, and wheat on the 7th August; the barley requiring three months and sixteen days to mature, oats four months and one day, and wheat four montlis and two days. At Oleichen wheat and oats were cut on the 25th August, and the balance of wheat on the 9th September. The highest yield of wheat was 30f bushels per acre, weight 62^ lbs., and the average from all the farms as follows : — .•^ Wheat, 21i bushels; oats, 44^; banley, 23J; peas, 12^. The above yields were ascertained by accurately chaining the ground and weighing the grain, this work being done by a qualified land survevor. The results obtamed, considering the manner in which the land was treated, proved much more satisfactory than was anticipated, and proves most conclusively the great .'jrtility of thi'^ region reported by detractors of the Canadian Nortli-West to be entirely unfit for ciiltivfttion. The next and perhaps most important consideration is the climate and health- fulness of the country to which a settler is about to go. The fear of the alleged trying cold of the North-West of Canada is not fortified by the character of tlie climate. Cold it certainly is during four or five months of the year, but the cold is dry, and not so chilling as the damp winter days in the old country and the further west you go the milder are the winters generally. But 25 or .30 degrees below zero is not a wet to be simply ignored, and requires proper protection in dress and in buildings, as undue exposure without such protection must lead to froet-bites of more or less serious consequences. With adequate protection, however, snch as is the custom of the country, this degree or e"en a lower one, is by no means unpleasiint, but on the contrary and bracing, pro3eeding from the dryness of the atmosphere. It is a significant fact that in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the work was not delayed a single day by rejison of the weather being too severe for the men to continue tlieir work. Possibly if the Canadian North-West had not been such a very attractive country, its climate would never have been so thoroughly misrepre- sented. There are occasional storms in winter, which are called in the language of the country " blizzards,'* from the blinding effects of snow in violent winds, but people who are not obliged do not choose days when "blizzards" are blowing to go travelling, and they are decidedly exceptions to the generally uniformly bright weather of the winter. The average fall of snow is about six inches per nionth, lessening as you go westward. The snow falls in small quantities, at different times, and is rarely blown into drifts so as to impede travelling. Thus, while m lower latitudes they are drenched by the cold rain storms, or buried beneath huge drifts of wintry snow we enjoy a dry atmosphere, with bright, cloudless days and ocrene, starlight nights ; and when the moon turns her full-orbed face towards the earth, the night scene ia one of peerlcR?! grandeur. The warm days in sammer are i;' Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Yet liability to a damage of this sort has noi been a drawback which has stood in the way of the enormous development thul has been witnessed over the Krtions of the Continent referred to. The Olasgow Free Press of September lOth it reports that serious injury had been done to the potato crop in parts of Scotland by recent frosts, and that in not a few instances the oat crop had also been injured and appeals to landlords on behalf of tenants whose crops have thus suffered Ifany thing so disastrous had happened in the North-West, with its so-often alleged vigorous climate, a tremendous outcry would have been raised, and the most deterrent arguments put forth by our opponents to warn intending immigrants not to come iiither. The injury to the crops heie from the last September frost was generally scarcely noticeable, which may be accounted for from the following reasons: — i. — The dryness of the atmosphere (which is a peculiarity of this region), allows ■ a much lower range of temperature without injury to vegetation, thon in moister cliiuate8 ; and in addition to the heat, gives greater vigour to the plants ; they grow rapidly but with firm texture, and are consequently aole to resist much cold. On account of their excessive vitalitv, the same as a persor -^ho boa dined heartily on rich food, is better able to bear tne cold of winter. 2.— The sudden change of temperature, which is often the case in this region, one extreme following another in rapid succession, is less deleterious to vigorous Elants than a gradual lowering of temperature. The earth and plants still retain the eat previously absorbed, ancTare thus enabled to bear an atmosphere at 20* muoh better than at 36*, after their latent heat has been given off. The soil of the prairio • in jjeneral dry, and is rapidly warmed by the rays of the sun in sririne. nmer are rprewriye oopiouB )8S of the ind forth rn States, ncy of it« \ climate as people. Id may be is. -^ ig in open be briefly aons, viz : n hours of lently our It is a 3 juices of it the seed. b produces ood. The be stem or iod. This In regard the season is not any seen made jountry by i to a jooc Mt. It did shnrelled ed to very beginning ; this same age in the utario and which has d over the imber 10th >f Scotland also been as suffered ten alleged 3t deterrent lOt to come generally ns: — on), allows in moister they grow . cola. On heartily on Ihis region* to vigorous 1 retain the t 20* much the prairi* 3.— -The dryness of the air is accounted for from the fact that the moistHTC] conveyed in the air has a tendency to soften the delicate covering of the plants, aa# thus render them more sensitive to cold. 4* — The heat retaining character of the soil. For these and several othw reasons that might be mentioned, the climate (^ Manitoba is leas subject to ldlli«^ feoats than might at first ba supposed, on aooount of its high latitude. OHAPTBBni. FB0OBK88 AlfD DWELOPmHT Ol^THB NORTH-WBST — MANITOBA, ASSIITIBOIA, ALBBBTA, AND SASKATOHBWAN. The remarkable, rapid progress of the Province of Manitoba and the North- West Territories is one of the most remarkable events which men in our day have tha opportunity of seeing pass before them, and has been unparalleled in the history <» the world. From a vast tract of country, destitute of dwelling houses, of cultivated fields, of fixed inhabitants — where Indians wandered over it, but did not leave a singla trace of having made a home, or subdued the soil, or having changed the face of Nature — in the short space of a very few years a large area of this desolate waste has become the happy home of thousands of people, coming from nearly every quarter of the globe. Prosperous towns have sprung up as if by noagic alon^ the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, having schools, churches, stores, mills, and wheat •levators. A celebrated Catholic missionary, who crossed the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia eastward to the bead waters of the south branch of the Baskatchewan River, many years ago characterized the NorthWest as an " Ocean of prairies," and thus wrote his reflections : — " Are these vast and innumerable rich fields of hay forever cU'stined to ba consumed by fire or perish in the autumnal snows? Can it be that they ara doomed to remain forever inactive ? Not so. The day will cofrie when soma laboring hand will give them value. A strong, active and enterprising people are accused tation in its to the ul to the USEFUL Iment lies of which ]reat and country, rormatioD Ifuel and liated by woodeti Icing the lu in the leceBBity |ated, the in, an jng rid of tbeo). When the stumps are of ^ine or the land stony, the cost will be mttli^ greater. Id general, pine statu pe, if removed at all, will cost at least Ss. apiece, and some will cost 25s. We have here as one item, at least £4 10s. an acre, of expense to be incurred, on account of the wood, before the land can be brought under the plough. This is the cost o^ those who can afford to pay for ihe labour of skilled back- woodsmen, accustomed to the use of the axe, who can do twice as much of that kind of work as the immigrant from Europe, even though accustomed to other kind of hard labour. To the tenant farmer or farm labourer from Great Britain, whose time and industry, if applied to the cultivation of our rich prairie land, would be even mori valuable than that of the back-woodsman, the cost of clearing wood land in money'd worth of his labour will be twice as much. If he be very young he may learu the use of the axe perfectly ; if not, he will never learn to use it so as to be able to do as much work with it as the native back-woodsman. As by far the greater part of the immigrants who settle in the woods have to clear their farms by their own unskilled lahour, admitting even that they hecom* gradualdy more proficient, the' cost to them in their own labour, of clearing tlteik farms, and removing the stumps, may, on a low estimate, be set down at £5 lOs. '. an acre. We do not speak here of the valuw which their labour in clearing would command. No one would give them such a price for it. We are speaking of th« value of the labour unavoidably lost by them on account of the woods. Here we have, then, to a family clearing, a farm of a hundred acres in ten or fifteen years, a loss of £550 on account of ihe woods. The settler expends all this and ten or fifteen years of ihe best of his life in toilsome struggles to convert his farm into such proportions of open and wooded laud as the settler on our partly wooded prairie lands finds his when he first goes on it j in other words, he actually receives from the Government the free gift of a ready-made farm of the richest kind. He can put as much land under the plough and reap the fruit of it soon after commencing, as the former can do after ten or fifteen years of crushing toil in clearing laud, which necessarily consumes much time which he would gladly devote to more extensive cultivation and raising larger crops when the woods are not an ob-itruction to his doing so. Besides this relief from heavy toil and time lost in clearing, there is another advantage of prairie land that operates strongly in the settler's favour, the full value of which can only be appreciated by a man who has made a beginning in the unbroken forest, an advantage which tells immediately to the personal comfort and benefit of the settler and his family — that is, the infinite abundance of the rich grass for summer and winter food for cattle, with which he is surrounded. The new settler on our prairie land can keep as many cows for the supply of his family with milk and butter and cheese for sale, as it may suit his means to purchase from the first day oj his settlement ; for his pastures and meadows are already in abundance before him, and in most places the cattle can find the chief part of their winter food for themselves, and be fat in spring. ^ i;^- It is not surprising, therefore, that so many European immigrants have hitherto' passed throu;j;h Canada to seek the prairie land of the United States, which cannot "uuiuete in fertility with that of the Canadian North-West. Nearly Ul tKe rivers and streams are skirted with belts of timber fit for building ' and fuel, principally oaiv, poplar, etc., and in some parts spruce and tamarac, with extensive forests. I'oplar for fencing will generally algo be found in small groves ou the prairie, which gives it a beautiful park-like appearance. If the bark of this wood is peeled ofl it makes a good and lasting fence, small ash, oak or tamarac being used for posts, when they can be conveniently fouud. Where wood is scarce wire fence is UM-d and cu.sis verv little. In such a locality settlers will find ii a great advantage to set out trees anJ groves on their farms. Good barns and houses are a fine thing to have, but lor actual worth a grove adds more than anything else. The cost ia almost nothing, and the benefit to be derived is something that should interest everyo settler who owns land in the Norlh-West. Aside from the uss the timber thus grown '^ may be put to in u few ycur3, the beauty they odd lo the form is of vast imporiaacft " stow much more home-like and delightful are the fkrm houses surrounded bj flat crovefi and hedges ; how they impress a trayeller in a country where there was formerly nothing but the bare prairie. They are in this reeard a luxury which no fitrmer can affora to be without. But as a shelter during the winter, trees seem to be almost desirable and most important. The agent which has caused the destruction afforests that once occupied many parts oi the prairies is undoubtedly fire, occasioned by the carelessness of travellers and Indians cam pine, and thesame swift and effectual destroyer prevents the new growth from acquiring dimensions, which would enable it to check their annual progress. This, however^ will soon be arrested with th« advance of settlement and governmental care. In view of the importance of the ■mbject, the following practical hints are offered, and will be found of value to tibe new settler as well as the old. nrrOKUATION OV TEEK OULTUBB. — DIRKOTIONS from KXPXRIXKCB. — rRKPARATIOS or THE SOIL. A proper and thorough cultivation of the soil is an indisputable pre-requisite te anocess; without this thorough preparation, failure and disappointment are Inevitable. To secure the best resuUs tne ground must have been previously broken and the sod thoroughly decomposed ; then, with a common stirring plouga, the ground to be planted should be given a thorough ploughing to the depth of ten inches, after which It should be thoroughly harrowed until the ground is completely pulverized. It is recommended that the ground for a single row for a fence or for a hedge should be prepared in the above manner, in a strip eight feet wide, in the centre of which the cuttiugs shoild be set in, leaving a margin for cultivation four feet wide on each side of the cuttings. METHOD OF PLAKTIKQ. Stretch a small rope of suitable length over the exact place where it is desirable to plant the cuttings, each end of the rope to be staked firmly to the ground. The ? round immediately beneath the rope should be smoothed off with a small iron rake, he planter should then take as many cuttings as he can conveniently carry under one arm and proceed to stick them in the ground close up to the rope. They should be stuck deep, leaving not more in any case than two buds out or the ground. If stuck in the full length it is just as well. It is advised that they should be stuck in standing, say at the angle of from 30 to 46 degrees and invariably butt end first. For a live fence or hedge, they should be stuck as nearly as possible one foot apart, 6,280 cuttings will plant a mile of such fence. Two good hands can plant this mile in a day if the ground is partly prepared for them. METHOD or OCLTIVATION. As soon after planting as the weeds and grass show themselves hoeing should be commenced ; every cutting should be carefully hoed. All of the four feet margin on each row should be hoed thoroughly, as soon afterwards as the cuttings have started, so that the row may be distinctly seen, the grass and weeds killed, leaving all of the four feeton each side of the row perfectly mellow. This process should be repeated two or three times during the season, as not a weed or a bunch of grass should be allowed to go to seed. Great care should be exercised in hoeing not to disturb the cutting of the young tree. Afler harvest all the weeds and grass found within the four feet matgin should be gathered and burned. Look out for praiiie fires, and, if the plantation is in danger, burn round it. It cannot be suficiently impressed upon the tree planter that thorough cultivation the first set^son will ensure the success of the plantation. The second year the plants will do with half the cultivation, and tbe third year no further culti\fttion will be required. By pursuing this treatment the cuttines will be grown in five years to a size and height which will form an impenetrable barrier to horses and cattle, as well as a valuable wind-break. Ten '^cres planted in Id 3 by fiB« here was which DO i eeem to jetruction •ccasioned i effectual lid enable with the ace of the lue to the LSATIOV r> eqnisite to inevitable. :en and the round to be after which [zed. It is Bhould be which the m each side IMi wmr la rows eight (bet apart will in that petiod (fire years) not onlr «U the rael and fencing neoeaoarf to svpport a tarm, but will aloo bring a oandsoiBt inoome from the fenc i poles whieh may be spared to less forunate neighbours. The earlier the cuttings are planted af^r the frost is out of the grond the bettor^ hnt the planting may be continued to the 1st of June with success. Guttings set kf ■Brioe ploughing time should have the earth pressed on each side of them as ftwt a0 tae planting progresses . The cuttinp oiay be prooured from the nearest natural groTss or belts of woodP •■Ifhe margin ot streams or the rirer sides. TOinia num ax» suds. Tonng aspen and jpoplar, one or two years old, may be gathered in waegon load! tn the prairie in the vicirUy of grores which fires have not run over. The eeeda ot the ash-leared maple, tht. ish and the elm— very pretty and suitable for protection sound the house and stublee — ^may be found in abundance from these trees along the margins of the streams, and should be gathered as soon as ripe. Soft maple aod elm, ripens in June, and should be planted before the seeds are dried, or they fail to •eme up ; the seed should be plantea in drills in small furrows previously made br the hoe, and should be liberally sown, then covered with a small iron rake to a depth of from one to two inches. Seed necessary to be kept throughout the winter should be kept in moist sand, in boxes or barrels, two parts of eand to one of seed, and where they will be kept cool and at about their natural moisture. )i riKOIKO. is desirable ound. The iron rake. rry under fiy should round. If )e stuck in end first. bot apart, it this mile eing should eet margin tings have ed, leaving should be ch ol grass >eing not to grass found 38 und it. thorough The second no further ings will be able barrier planted io It has become a custom among fanners in some districts, to save the expense of fencing, to herd cattle during the summer, confining them in small yards at night. Two or three boys can thus take care of the cattle and sheep of an entire neighbourhood —which limits the amount of fencing re€[uired to what is necessary for enclosing only a few acres about the house and stabling. This saving becomes considerable, in comparison with which the cost of herding is insignificant. PLAV roB ▲ srtur's Housa. - ' A comfortable house, large enough for a family of several persons, may be built at * cost of $236, or about £47, 4s. stg. It would be 16 ft. 20 inside, contain a living room 13 x 16, bedroom 7 x 12, pantry 4 x 7, on the ground floor, with stairs leading to the attic. The studding would be twelve feet from the sills to the eaves, the lower ■torey eight feet ; four feet above with a sloping roof will give an attic large enoueh for food sleeping accommodation. The house would need five windows, one outside and two inside doors. The itoms of expense would be approximately as following, not indnding assistant labour that may be required, the settler having his own tools. 4,000 feet common lumber, at $30 $120 00 4,000 shingles, at $6 24 00 NailB,eto 20 00 , Sheathing paper (to make air tight) 20 00 Doors, winaows^ eto 24 00 i For contingencies, say 3S 00 ;, To*al $236 00 Beadymade bouses, built in sections and easily put together, ctm, now be fmrchasea in Manitoba, which will be found a great saving in labour, material ami money. They are well finished, warm and comfortable, and range in prices from. $150 to $336. See particulars in advertisement on back inside page of Qover« 14 ^ THE COLONY SYSTEM. '. The system of emi^ratiug in small colonies will be found very advantageous M'^^ jjVell as economical ; neighbours in the old land may be neighbours in the new; friendA^ ^av settle near each other, form communities ana the nucieup of new settlements' ^d towns, establish schools, and, iu short, avoid r- of the traditional hardship* r^hich have usually attended pioneer life. The system is also calculated Uf Mipply the needs of all members of the cominu, . , and to furnish employment tot »very industry. Whenever a colony ia established there will soon be near its ceaife ■Uie storekeeper, blacksmith, curpeuter, etc., post office, school house and church. COST OF FARMING, BTO. — ONE MAN'S EICPERIENCE. The following reliable instance is offered, as proving what can be accomplished 'rofit of ||5.25 per acre. But when the railway passes his place he will probably get 65 cents ^ bushel at the bam, leaving him a net profit of $9.75 per acrej or $1,560 for his 160 jMires, after paying himself for his labour and for the use of animals and jmplemeoiA. ^t f(\\ist not ne takeu from this that none othei^ than per'sons v^ith £1,000 ^oilld sieittio 4n Matiitoba, or the North- West; far fVom it^thert ib room f6r very taeity years to'"", come lor Any raao able and willing to work, with a small capital Of eyen £150 on hit'!'"' arrival. With that amount he can make a fair start. " * T the set the qu many ■imply of a p< of 160 1 lumber can be consisti bedstea yoke of £84.16. ▼egetab! $60; gn 'ake, ec J Equal to If all having oj calculatio lueans. He wi r«ar he n Deducting per bushel clothing, e »nd fiarm ■ay 2,000 1 depends mi eomfortabl Siveq abov rst; but TLey are i> For th< larger scale UupJenients Wi Exi Crc Ba Sul 15 intg'4 lip* f t id shed , and' Btalt,,' c. :— ^'. cami from more* nd to r next eived. Iwen^ r. v ssed |0<.; ;rain to -, wholA , le coak . all h» ,,. ^barged i cents % Mr. , ;$« • Uls per Erofit of \6 centa Ibis 160 ^naeni*. on bift . The question is often asked, how much monejr is indispensably necessary for the settler to get a fair start with ? The answer to this depends very much upon who the questioner is, what family he lias, with how little they couldf be content, and many other circumstances which cannot be anticipated. It is therefore best to tell aimply what may be done, under ordinary adventitious circumstances. In the case of a poor man going on Government land : First, the entry fee for his homestead of 160 acres will be |10 ; a tent, etc., say |12 ; material for his house, if built of sawn lumber, size 16x 18 feet, say $125— if the work is done by himself. For winter this can be made warm enough by building a sod wall outside of the boards. Furniture, consisting of a cooking Stove, crockeryware, half a dozen chairs, one table, aiul two bedsteads (bringing his own bedding) will require about $40 ; to work his farm, a yoke of oxen, $130 to $150; a breaking plough, $20; waggon, $75; total *-llO, or JE84.16.0. If he begins in the spring, he can grow corn, potatoes and garden vegetables, but will have to buy flour — if for a family of four perhons — sav $40 ; pork, $60; groceries, $20; a cow, $50; add for two or three pigs, chickens, hoes, shovel, rake, scythe, and other incidentals, say $40 ; and we have the following : — Entry fee for homestead $10 Tent, etc 12 Material for house 125 Furniture, exclusive of bedding 40 Farnf) implements and oxen 245 '/ Living, the first 16 months, if no wheat sown 160 ' *' Incidentals 40 Equal to £130.10. stg. $632 If all his time is not employed about his own farm, he may safely calculate upon having opportun ity to work for his neighbors, and earn considerable. The above calculation is of course only intended as a guide for the settler with very limited lueans. THE SEOOin) TEAR. ^ 1 , . He will require cash for seed wheat and a drag to harrow it in — say $75. This year he may confidently expect from his fiftv acres of wheat 1,000 bushels at least. Deducting 200 bushels for bread and seed, and selling the remainder at say 60 cents per bushel, will bring him $480. His cash expenses may be limited to groceries, clothing, etc., say $150, and he has $330 to improve his house and add to nis stock and farm implements. If he breaks fifty acres again this year, and secures a crop of ■ay 2,000 bushels — a very low estimate — the third year, the accomplishment of which depends mainly upon his own industry, he will be able to make himself and family comfortable, and nave a good home. AH such as have more money than the sum given above will not be under the necessity of submitting to so many privations at first ; but it may be repeated — three things are neceseary for success in any country :• Tlxey are iNoubTRT, eoonomt, and OAHsruL business kamaoememt. IMPLEMENTS KEBDED — ^PRICES, BTO. For the information of those with more ample means and desiring to farm on a larger scale the following is added as a detailed list of present prices of agricultural implements and machinery. (See ad.) Waggons, complete $ 70 ^ $ 90 A',"i<^ Bxtra prairie breaking plough 20/® 25 I- Cross plough, 13 inches 17/3) 20 Oaltivators, 6 teeth ltd) 9 t Harrows, iron, with 60 teeth 15/8) 20 Sulkyplough 60/® 66 (Tnese sulky ploofhs are much in use, saving the labour of walking, 4k« korses being drivaa as in a waiciiflii.1 1« . Bulky plough, 2 gangs 116 Seeders 70/9 90 BeapiDg machiD(>8 • 90/9 110 Fanning mills • •> 35/9 46 Mowing machine •••• 70/9 90 Horse rakee 30/9 36 Self-binding harvester 216/9 240 (Which is supplanting all others, as one man with one of these and bundle-carrier will accomplish the work of seven men with the ordmarj reapers.) % ■■"S CHAPTBB V. WATER AND FCEL. — RIYEBB AND LAEXS.— OAMB, riSH, FBUITS, BTO. Manitoba and the North- West is on the whole well watered. There is a system ol navigable rivers and lakes of imncense extent, which of themselves form a remarkable feature of the continent, and generally throughout there are numerous ■mailer rivers, lakes and coulees. On the plains and in all parts where the settler would take up land, water is easily obtained by digging wells to the depth of from twenty to fiftv feet, and in some places flowing wells of cold pure water nave easily been obtained. There are also occasional natural springs of pure water. In places where large supplies of water are required at a distance from the rivers, the principle of the artesian well has been tried with more or less success, and where salt water has been struck, tb" boring has been carried below this again, in such a way as to obtain fresh water lu the tube. The experiments in artesian wells, however, are yet iar from exhaustive, and it has not been found that the practical larnner requires anything of this kind. An abundant supply of good water is frequently obtained by simply erecting dams across a small creek at very little expense. In some parts of the couutrv alkaline deposit on the land is regarded by some as an objectionable feature. Tne water drawn from the Immediate locality of these alkaline soils should certainly be avoided, and strangers to the district should be particularly careful in this respect ; but even in these alkali lands springs of beautiful pure water are to be met with. Much more has been made of this difficulty than is really necessary. The country is so vast it is easy to avoid the lands wnich are thus marked with alkali, and these waters are most easily, detected by their taste. Good waters and fertile land can be so generally obtained.' We must not forget that the thousands upon thousands of square miles which have been so suddenly opened up, were only a few years since the almost undisturbed haunt of the Indian, various kinds of game and wild animals, and that we should not expect to find it all in good condition. With such a very large proportion of the North- West of such a thoroughly valuable character, it is certainlv undesirable to give undue prominence to small oortions, which may be supposed to possess objectionable conditions, and which may be regarded as a detail of land improvement which will be subsequently worked out as the necessity arises. Meantime a home is offered to many thousand? who seek for the land which now lies ready for their use. -• ^ The supply ot fuel is next in importance to that of water, and this, fortunately for the country,i6 found in illimitable quantities. By the wise provision of Providence where wood is scarce coal is in abundance. The problem of an abundant and cheap supply ot fuel for the North- West is forever set at rest by the recent opening of the Oalt mines and others on the Saskatchewan,',from which a practically unlimited supply can now be drawn, and it has been calculated that there cannot lie much less than fiOO,OOU square miles that are underlaid by true coal The average breadth of this belt is about 250 miles. 17 > 8 a system es form a numeroua the settler th of from lave easily Id places le principle salt water way as to rer, are yet er requires )btained by ne parts of )jectionable ioils should ' careful in it are to be necessary, arked with waters and Lsands upon only a few r game and tioD. With It valuable ill Dortions, ch may be 'ked out as seek for the fortunatelj Providence t and cheap ning of the lited supply h less than bdth oi this The coal from the Gait mine, to which a railway connecting with the Oaneditt Pacific has recently been opened, which is owned and operatra by a company of English capitalists, posaesses great heat-giving power, aud^is considered quite as goal M the bituminous coals from Pennsylvania, with this udvantage, that it does nol eause the annoyance from dirty dense smoke, from which these bituminous coals are inseparable. In short it comes nearer to the famous Scotch splint coal than anyUiinf yet tried, and this coal is looked upon as the finest parlour coal in Great Britain* •wine to its clear, clean, burning properties, in which it is if anything inferior to the Gait. It is found by actual measurement and calculation that under a square mile o territory there are 9,000,000 tons of coal, enough for the supply of a generation in the North- West, and yet there are hundreds of thousands of such square mile of coal I Whatever question there may be of the limited[suppliee of England, therefore, giving out, there can be none as respects these regions. It is also to be observed that anthracite coal, so important if not essential for many manufactures, has been found on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, withm a mile of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The importance of this discovery for the North- West is ver^ great, as iron is also found throughout the coal region. These are facts which point in the future to commercial and industrial supremacy, •nd this in the near future, which will have a marked influence in giving money value to the products of the plains. Strtvw is used with great economy and efficiency for the driving of steam engines for the tbreshiog out of grain and other openitions on farms. Petroleum is known to exist o?er large areas, and will probably before lone be developed by enterprising capitalists, uuu Curm a large branch of commerce with the nations of the Pacific ocean. I BIVERS iND LaKBS. ' ' r The largest and most important river in the North- West is ' The SasJcatchewan-— The North and South branches of the Saskatchewan, or Ei-sis-kah-chewan (the river that runs swift), have their sources in the Rocky Mountains, but a few miles apart. From their nearly common 60urce the North branch diverges north-eastward, and the South branch, or Bow River, south-eastward, till at two hundred and fifty miles due eastward they attain a distance of three hundred miles from each other, the south branch being there within forty-five miles of the frontier ; then gradually approaching, they meet at five hundred and fifty miles eastward from their source. The length of the North branch, by the manuscript field notes of a survey, is 772} miles, and that of the South or main branch is about 810 miles. From their junction, <. be course of the main Saskatchewan to Lake Winnipeg is 282 miles. This and the two branches are navigated by steamers nearly to the Rocky Mountains. The magnitude of this magnificent river will be more fully understood by the following comparison, the total length being 1,864^ miles :— > It is 184 miles longer than the Ganges. " 1164 '« «* «« ." Rhine. « 1649 " " " « Thames, And only 376 miles shorter than the Nile, ' The Bed River rises in Minnesota, in the United States, close to the sources of the Mississippi, and enters British Territory at the boundary line of Manitoba, about 120 miles from its mouth, where it discharges into Lake Winnipeg ; it is navigable for about 400 miles, commodious steamers, carrying freight and passengers, ply the river ; also several smaller tug steamers. The Assiniboine. — This river, with its rich and beautiful valleys, by its very winding course, is over 600 miles in length. For 220 miles in direct distance from its mouth, its course is nearly West, and above that its course for upwards of 200 miles in direct distance is north-westerly, lying nearly parallel to Lake Winnipeg, at a distance of 240 miles west of it. At 220 miles west from its mouth, where it turns northward, it receives its tributary, the river Qu'Applle, which continues directly westward 260 miles further, having its source netir the elbow of the south X8 branch of the Saskatchewan, 470 miles directlj westward from the mouth of the Adeiniboine, at the City of Winnipeg, in Manitoba. Red-Deer, Bow, and Belly Itivers are tributaries of the south branch of the Saskatchewan, having their source in the eastern elope of the Rocky Mountaitjs, between parallels 60° i»nd 52* N., and drain a beautiful and most fertile region, and already settlers are flocking into this inviting country, which is celebrated as a stock- raising couutry, and very extensive cattle and sheep ranches are established — some ©f them by English noblemen and gentlemen of wealth. Battle River enters the north branch of the Saskatchewan, about 170 miles above the main forks. It drains a large part of the country between the north and ■outu 'oranches, and has its source about 10 miles from the north branch at the foot of the Mountains. Qu'Appelle, or Calling Rioer, runs through a delightful valley, and of which the expansion forms eight beautiful lakes, where the best kind of whiteflsh abounds. A number of English gentlemen are settled in this district, who have gone extensively Ml to farming and stock raising. It is within 18 miles of Qu'Appelle Station on the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. These are only a few of the principal rivers, and are fed by numerous smaller streams throughout the North-West. ' ,,. adapted has be^ Wester! fact, ei honey climat^ Tl and a a large perfect rants. Bandy Bupplij in mec qualitjl cultivf H (V THE LAKES may also be said to be innumerable. The largest is Lake Winnipeg — 264 miles long, and averaging 35 miles wide, and is the common reservoir of these confluent streams, discharging its waters into Hud- son's Bay. Lakes Manitoba and Winnipegoosis p.ie connected with Lake Winnipeg, on the west by navigable channels, and are two other large bodies of water, being together as long as Lake Winnipeg, with about half its breadth, The water area of these lakes will equal that of Ontario and Erie combined. '■ • : ,.1 ■• r^. OAMK, The farmers of the United Kingdom are in general fond of a bit of sport, and they can here enjoy it without offending the landlords. Wild duck and geese are here in countless thousands during the season. When these are not to be had the S)r&irie grouse and wood partridge aflord excellent sport and a grateful addition to the armers larder, while for more aspiring sportsmen the moose, elk and deer roam through the woods in large herds, and only require perseverance, a good rifle and steady aim to become the trophy of the hunter. Bears are also numerous, and, unless when brought to bay, harmless. Otter, mink, beaver and muskrat are the pincipal aqut tic animals that frequent the water courses. The prairie grouse and wood partridge are fairly abundant, and the strict preservation laws which have lately been enacted will, no doubt, tend to their increase, by stopping their destruction out of season. FISH. The larger lakes abound in white fish, a delicious article of food, weighing from four to eight pounds. The rivers and streams also abound in pickerel, pike, cat fish, Bturgeon, sun fish, gold eyes, etc., and in the cool streams coming from the Rocky Mountains, the disciple of Walton may find all the sport he desires, as they abound with magnificent trout from one pound up to five. BEES thrive well in the North-West, as they reauire a clear, dry atmosphere, and a rich barvest of flowers ; if the air is damp, or fhe weather cloudy, they will not work so well. Another reason why they work less in a warm climate is, that the hone^ Ethercd remains too fluid for sealing a longer time, b'^^^, if gatliered faster than it ickens, it eours and spoils. Our clear, bright skies, dry air and rich flora are well 19 adapted to the bee culture, and since the process of burying bees during the winter has been introduced successfully in Minnesota, and generally adopted in the North- western States, the length and coldnesa of our wint«r ceases to oe an obstacle, in iact, experience in Minnesota proves that bees succeed better there, consume leaf honey during the winter, and the colony comes out much stronger than in warmer climates. FRUITS. The resident of Manitoba or the North-West has nature's garden to gather fronif and a verjr bountiful garden it is. Strawberiies in a £ood year, are so abundant that a large pail may be filled in a very short time. The berry is small, but the flavour perfect, and by many preferred to the cultivated. Raspberries, black and red cur- rants, quite as goodas those cultivated in Europe, and plums are very plentiful in sandy soil, while in the marshes cranberry is in great profusion. The prairie Bupplies the kitchen with all the herbs necessary for culinary purposes, and xs rich in medicinal plants. The blufls of timber are loaded with hops of the verv nnest quality. If growing so luxuriant in their wild state, what would be their yield under cultivation ? A resident settler, Avriting on this subject, says : — " Hops will do well cultivated. I have planted wild hops out of the bush into my garden along the fence and trained on poles, bearing as full and fine and as large as any I ever saw at Yalding and Staplehurst, in Kent. " Lovis DcNEBiNG (Emerson)." The cou >try is too young to find enclosed gardens, but after a time with good walls protecting from the bleak winds, many European fruit-bearing trees can be Buccessfully grown. The grape-vine also grows luxuriantly in many places. In Minnesota, the wild plum improves so mucTi by being transplanted and cultivated, as to equal any of the garden varieties. The high bush cranberry also improves by transplanting, and makes a beautiful ornament to the grounds about the prairie farmer's house. The culture of fruit, especially the apple, has been almost entirely neglected ; in fact it has ouly been attempted by a few settlers in the Province of Manitoba, probably on account ol there being generally such an abundance of wild fruits, or the difficulty of procuring cuttings. For this ana other reasons an erroneous impression has prevailed, that we could not raise fruit or apple orchards. This is a mistake, and an extraordinary inference, when we consider that many forms of wild fruit are indigenous to the^ country, abounding in the woodlands, and unsurpassed in flavour, size, and productiveness. The celebrated and delicious apple peculiar to the neighborhood of Montreal, known as the " Funieuse," will no aoubi be successfully raised in Manitoba and the North- West. Although we are nearly the degrees furtner north than Montreal, yet we are twenty -six degrees further west . The " Fameuse " is a rich and beautiful apple, as already remarked peculiar to the climate and soil of the island of Montreal, a rich loam, with a heavy clay sub-soil, which retains the rooting >>.nd prevents the growth of the tree pushing ahead too rapidly for the severe frosts of that latitude. it should be borne in mind, that it is not the severity of the winter that kills the young apple tree, but the alternate thawing and freezing of the south side of the tree in the spring, which can be avoided by mulching and, protecting the stem of the tree when young, bv a wrapping of straw ; with these precautious, and procuring plant* from a suitable climate, or planting the seeds, and thus acclimatising, there is do reason why every farm may not have its orchard iu Manitoba, as w other ports of the Dominion. FLAX crows in great luxuriance on lanu drst broken, and is beneficial in hastening the disiatcgration and decomposition of the sod. It is cultivated by a few merely for the eeed, which sells at a dollar to a dollar and a half per bushel. The fibre is burned. The Belfast and other merchantH and niauufaoturers would do well to turn their aiteatioD to this country lor an unfailing supply. It is well known khat flax and hemp come only to perfection in a cool country ; their bark in southern climates ie hanm and brittle, because the plant is forced into maturity so rapidly, that the lint does not acquire eitlier consistency or tonacity. The Canadian North-Weat will prove equal (or flax and hemp growlh to Northern Europe. so CHAPTER VI. wuuv OBownro.— LABOUR-eAmro maohiniby akb iicrLuiiinrB.' ■KF AKD WOOL OBOWINO. — ^DAIBT rABMINQ AVD OHBBai MAKWO. BAIBlXa.— , Blodgett, an American authority of repute, states " that the basin of the Winnipeg (which refers to the vast country drained oy the waters flowing into Lake Winnipeg is the seat of the greatest wheat product on this continent, and probably in the world/' This statement is amply verified by the fact that while in the best wheat-growine districts in America, viz., Minnesota and Dakota, the average yield from official sources is set down at seventeen bushels to the acre, in Manitoba and the North- West it is hoenfy-five, the range of ordinary yields being from 16 to 40. The wheat grown is spring wheat. The variety most commonly used is the Scotch l^fe. The great general e^scellence of production is evidenced by the fact that considerably the larger Bit eent. of wheat grown in any one year in the North- West grades in the market as 0. 1 hard, and it commands a higher price than any other grain when it goes to market unmixed and well cleaned. The average price received by the producer at the stations along the line of the Canadian Pacific and other roads has usually been from GO to 80 cents per bushel. The crop of some seasons of course brings a l^;her price ; for that of 1884 many farmers obtained as much as $1 per bushel. Many very laree farms, consisting of thousands of acres in one body of land, are conducted in the North- West. This class of estates in crop are known as the bonanza farms, and in an ordinary fruitful year they return a profit of from $600 to $700 for every 100 acres in wheat after the'fiist crop, under the average of farming conditions. As an illustration of the superiority of the spring wheat grown in Manitoba and the North-West the following instance may be used. An extensive miller in Minnesota was astonished at the yield of wheat in his hand. He said " We have had an excellent harvest in Minnesota (considered one of the best wheat-growing states in America) but I never saw more than two well formed grains in eacli group or clutter forming a row, but hire the rate is three grains in each cluster, T'iaVs the difference between twenhj and thirty bushels per acre." Wheat growing has been termed the ** back-bone of agriculture." When the vital importance of maintaining and increasing the production of a grain so essential to civilized man is considered, it cannot be assigned a less place in agricultural economy. ^, England, who has long been conceded the mistress of the seab'^^nd whose dependencies well nigh encircle the globe.has so stimulated and enlarged her capacity for wheat-growing, that her annual average is twentv-eight bushels per acre; but her consumption so far outruns her production, that she lays the world under contribution for her supplies of bread. The grave significance of the question involved is not susceptible of concealment, when the fact is considered that while the consumption of wheat, as the choice food of the human race, is rapidlj extending the capacity of Wheatrgrowing regions for its production is rapidly aimmishing. We are told thai in New England, U. 8., the entire wheat product of a vear is barely sufficient to feet! her own people for three weeks, and the State of New York for six months. In the light of these facts it is not difncult to foresee that the North-West of the Dominion •fCanada must yet assume a proud pre-eminenoy in wheat growing. The following facts are demonstrated ;— First. — That there exists a constantly and inevitably increasing foreign demand ter breadetuffs, with a constantly increasing demand for domestic consumption. Second. — That therefore the value of wneat, as a commercial staple, is advancing in a compound ratio. Third.— Thatt within this zone, the climate and other causes tend to ooocantrato the growth of wheat in the best districts. JFbtfr^A.— The prairie lands of the Oanadian North-West are the besioftheM wheat districts, having^ the largest average yield, the most certain orope, and th* ' beet and healthiest grains. As has been stated, wheat ie the principal crop. It has, in flMt, been so far almoet exclusively the crop marketed. It will doubtlees remain the chief crop for many yean. Though of all the oereals the shyest bearer, it commands so mnoh highes. . 21 prioe than anj other, tfie coat of transportation is bo much less as compared mA Talu«. The possibility of over-production in the wheat-crowing districts m anyyeai' BO remote, and its cultivation in Manitoba and the North- West has been so satisfactorr and lucrative indeed, on account of the qn-alittf and reliability of the crop, that it wiH doabtless for years to come allure the attention of the farmers from more general and varied cultivation of their farms and improved lands. It cannot, of course, be claimed that the Canadian North- West wheat lands will never deteriorate and wear •ut under the unremitted cultivation of wheat, although it may be stated wheat has been grown in some of the older settlements on the Ked River for forty yeans Buccessively without fertilizers, and the crop is said to still maintain its excellence of •uality and large average yield. That waste without restoration will not in tiniedegrade tlw old wheat fields of Manitoba and the North-West cannot be hoped ; but it 10 •artain that by the superabundance of their natural forces they can snstain sueh a •ourse of extravagance without decline of production for a greater length of time than has been known, or is possible in other countries. This proves or asserts nothiog in palliation of wasteful practice ; public economy, on the other hand, demands iSM m country of such very remarkable excellence in the production of the great staple, wheat, should be carefully preserved from degradation of soil. But the writer seeks aot to advise. His mission is to state the facts as he finds them. BTOOK-KAISING in the Canadian North-West is now becoming an important and profitable induBtr7y and in the region most favourable, viz: the District of Alberta, along the foot hiiis of the Rocky Mountains, it is carried on by ranchers on a very large scale, and is one of the most promising of the diversified channels into which the industry of the capitalist is to be directed. The progress already made in its direction, affords a gratifying proof of the rapid growth of this interest in the North-West. The general healthfulness of the climate, and the favorable conditions for feeding cattle, norses and sheep are the attractions and chief advantages. The cold, dry air of the winter sharpens the appetite, and promotes a rapid secretion of fat, and vigourous muscult r development. As a general thing, in tnat district the animals get through the winter without other food than that supplied by grazing on wild grass, and the quality of the beef and mutton has been pronounced of superior excellence. The largest owners of horned stock are doing much to improve its quality by infusing short-horn blood into the herds. The vast tracts of open country unoccupied will afford for many years to come a wide range of almost free pasturage, only a nominal rent being charged by the Government in leasing grazing lands. Cattle ranching is Sarticularly suited for a certain class of immigrants, viz : sons of gentlemen who nd every profession at home overstocked, and is a most enjoyable and healthy occupation, combining excellent fishing and hunting with good society. Among the principal ranchers of Alberta, or connected with them, will be found retired officers of high rank in the British army and navy, one or two M.P.'s of the English House of Commons, and many gentlemen of education and refinement, who now work away on their ranches, are healthy and robust, and everything an Englishman ought to be, and, it may be added, although they are always in the saddle, neverthelen they lose none of their good English manners, and none of their original culture. .ii'».» SHIKP AND WOOL OROWINO IB one ot the greatest and most productive industries, in connection with cattle raising, and is now being carried on in the North-West, under the most favorable conditions of climate that can anywhere be found. Eligible locations for pursuing this branch of enterprise in a country so large, are to be found without limit, and there is no doubt that this business, conducted on intelligent principles, is certain to yield large profits. There is not room in this pamphlet to give the subject of wool- growing the attention which its importance deserves. From the experience of some settlers who have been engaged in the business in Australia, the following conclu.«iona are established beyond a reasonable doubt : — 1.— That from the nature of our climate and the general undulating character 22 ol the prairies, the richness of the grasses, and the purity of the waters, this country is adapted in an eminent degree to tbe healthful ana profitable breeding of sheep. 2. — That sheep are entirely free from the diseases which cut them oft so largely in more southern cliniates. 3. — That the characteristic dryness of our winters, not only protects them fr>., says : — «• The Canadian North- Wee* needs no vindication. It will soon be as well known to the world as is the Bock of Gibraltar. As for the cold, I have been more miserably cold on the heights of Shornclifte, Kent (England), than I ever have been in the North-West. Of course a man may allow himself to freeze to death if he chooses, or if he is standing near a fire he may allow himself to burn if he chooses — it's all a matter of taste." G. A. Cameron, of Indian Head, N. W.T., writes : — " As good a place as a man can find if he has pleutv money and brains, or if he has no money, but muscle and pluck. Send as many nere as you can and they will bless you for it." William Taylor, of Beulah, P.O., Man., says: — ^"Settlers should be used to labour with their hands without kid gloves unless provided with ample means. The grumblers here are composed of men who are raised idle at home, who have not means to carry it out here. Labouring men and hired girls coming out with those that hire them do not want to be bound for any length of time, as wages rule much in higher here than the old countries." Christian Trotbr, of Sec. 22, T 2, R 2, W 2, Alameda, Assiniboia, N.W.T., says: — « I should advise intending settlers to encumber themselves as little as possible with extras, with the exception of clothing, and be cautious on their arrival to husband their resources. As I claim to be a successful North- Wester I would be pleased and most happy to give advice and information to intending settlers free." J. R. NiFP, of Moosinim, N.W.T., states : — "The fact that I settled shows that 1 had confidence in the country, and afler two seasons' experience I am more than rtatisfied. As a grain-growing country I believe, with proper cultivation and energy, it cannot be exceeded.*^ J Georoe Roddick, an old sailor, who knew little or nothing of farming, and had very little capital, arrived in the countrjf in 1G79 with a wife and seven children- After strugghng through many difficulties as an early pioneer, he is now in very comfortable circumstances and states : — " During the past season we raised 6,200 bushels .ot grain, besides potatoes and other vegetables The season was a remarkablv dry one, and the grain ripened verjr unevenly, and in consequence a considerable quantity was injured by frost, especially what was late sown. Farmers will no doubt learn an important lesson, and sow as early u.s possible in future. The 25 nee M • . we ar» '.ek. ik. Igary. • parts of than &v% be worldj me ; an