NORTH OF CANADA

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 88, 14 April 1930, Page 16

NORTH OF CANADA

PEACE RIVER DISTRICT

SPLENDID WHEAT COUNTRY

A phase, of the northward movement in Canada is the interest taken in the Peace River district. This comprises the north-westerly part of tho province of Alberta and a part of British Columbia, and it lies between the 55th and 60th parallels of latitude. Tho Peace River rises in the trench of the Rocky Mountains, flows swiftly for 100 miles through mountain passes and canyons, and then • for 700 miles through the plateau which is now attracting attention as a field for settlement. Its drainage basin, exclusive 0f... headwaters, ■is about 90,000' square miles. 'The tract of land suitable for agriculture is about 73,500 square.miles, or 47,000,000 acres. A heavy mantle of fertile soil covers the whole country. The predominating soils' are' •clay and sandy loams, often with a covering of black humus. By far the greater part of the area ,is wooded, chiefly with white spruce, the aspen-poplar, black spruce, tamarack, balsam poplar and. birch. The major' part of the country consists of coppice or park-like areas in which patches of light open woods alternate with grassy tracts without trees.' Everywhere except in the dense woods there is.abundanco of grass (writes, the Ottawa correspondent of the "Manchester GuardSeeding is usually well under way by the middle of April, or in tho northern part of the country by the Ist of May. There follows a summer of rapid growth of grasses, cereals, and vegetables. Harvest begins early in August. There are occasionally frosts in summer and early in autumn, as there are in the present settlements of the prairie provinces. Figures as to gross production would be of little value, as settlement is :only beginning, but the experience of some .individual farmers is interesting.: Herman Trelle, of Wembley, ■>■ a little ".north, of the 55th parallel, won -the world's, championships for wheat and oats at the' International ' Show held' in' 1926. His wheat' (Marquis) weighed about 65.C1b per Winchester bushel and his oats 491b. He won the world's championship, again in 1827, and reserve championships in hard red spring wheat and white . field peas. Charles B. Anderson, of Pouce Coupe, farther north; and west,' holds •. the world's record, for wheat yields. ■ One 22-acre field in 1927 produced 77.4 bushels of-wheat to the acre, the wheat testing'64lb' to . the, bushel. These achievements,- while not conclusive as to -the-whole, country, have advertised its possibilities. It is not a one-crop country, but rather one adapted for mixed farming. Cattle and poultry do well, and visitors are struck by the ■ appearance of the gardens. A DEVELOPMENT SCHEME. Some time ago Major-General M'Hae, , Conservative M.Pr for ' Vancouver North, suggested that-the Peace River country'be developed as a great Empire settlement by the Imperial Government, the Canadian Government, and tho Governments of the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Under his plan the Provinces would furnish

the land, the Dominion Government would finance tho cost of clearing the land and erecting buildings, and Great Britain would finance the temporary requirements of settlers. A farm of ICO acres would be given free, 80 acres would be cleared, and a log house and barn built. The expenditure by the Dominion Government he estimated at 30 000.000 dollars (£6,000,0.00) a year, or'a total of 300,000,000 dollars (£60,----000,000) to be eventually repaid by tho settlers. Tho plan was regarded as rather too largo an adventure in assisted settlement, and nothing was done. Its importance lay in its expression of confidence1' in the future of the country. Money would be better spent on railways. The greatest of all benefits which could be conferred on the district is improved transportation. Formerly ex port grain wont eastward to tho head of the Great Lakes. Now a large proportion goes by way of the Canadian National llailway westerly to Vancouver. Tho route is somewht circuitous, and some time ago a Joint Board of engineers of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Bailways inquired into several proposed new routes. They reported that the railway which they considered best \yould requiro a minimum immediate outlay' .of 80,000,000 dollars (£16,000,000), and that it would be more economical to handle the business over the existing lines. The railwaymeii say that the country needs branclulincs, and .that to the settler the few; miles that may separate him from a railway station are of greater importance than the railway mileage from a station to port. The rate from Grand Prairie to Vancouver is 28 cents a bushel, while many farmers are paying 20 cents a bushel to truck their grain to Grand 'Prairie and other points in the Grand Prairie zone. Prince Rupert' has entered the field as a rival of Vancouver as the outlet of Peace River grain. Being far north of Vancouver it is nearer to the district to bo served. Distance, of course, is not the' only factor in railway construction, but the Prince" Rupert advocates also declare that a line built to that port would pass through a country richer in natural resources than one farther south. , Another railway project perhaps ra ther remote as to fulfilment is a railway from Peace River town 400 miles northward to Great Slave Lakci The immediate objective is to reach the lead and zinc deposits, oil the south shore of the lake; discovered by goldseekers on their way to the Klondike in 1898. Geologists and prospectors were at work/in. the north-east corner of Alberta during the past summer, and Canadians are now in a mood to explore the whole" northern country for minerals. ■ ;

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