SECTION IISOIL
I havealready made frequent reference to the soil conditions as observed on my line of travel. Of course I had little opportunity of forming more than a general idea. Before any accurate report can be given on this subject it will be necessary for the Government to have an exploration survey made by men competent to give an authoritative opinion. For many years I have been impressed with the idea that Canada has failed to realise what it is losing year after year from its lack of information of its unoccupied areas.
What would be thought of the settler who built his house and commenced to clear and till his land on the front of his lot without ever taking the trouble to examine the rest of his possessions? The chances are that he would afterwards find that much of his labour had been misdirected.In many parts of the country land has been surveyed and opened up for settlement that was unfit for Agriculture, and which should have been left for the growth of timber for which it was well suited. Frequently this land looked attractive to the inexperienced, and in many cases the settler spent years of hard labour only to find at last that beneath the few inches of humus there was nothing but barren sand.
Our governments are wisely spending much public money in bringing agricultural immigrants into the country, and their next step should be to direct them to fields where their labour will receive its just reward.
On the great plains of our north-west this was perhaps not so necessary, but in the country under consideration, which is mostly wooded like our eastern Provinces, such supervision should not be neglected.
Extending from Lesser Slave Lake through to the valley of the Peace River, and throughout the whole course of that stream, as well as down the Slave River and theMackenzie even to the delta of the latter, the soil appears to be a rich alluvial deposit, broken in some cases by rocky land and in others by sandy ridges. East of this we may expect to find more exposed rock, and probably less land which would be attractive to the agriculturist. I am well aware, however, that north of the North Saskatchewan, to east of the district I have named, and in perhaps some instances extending well up to the barren lands, may be many valleys that will yet be inhabited, but it remains for the Government to ascertain where these lie in order to direct the incoming settler aright. The life of the tiller of the soil is arduous enough in any case, and in a country such as ours there is no reason why his labour need be in vain.
Beyond the watershed of the North Saskatchewan there are millions upon millions of acres in the aggregate fully as suitable for settlement as many parts of Northern Europe which now afford homes for a prosperous people. Of course this being a wooded country and the climate more severe, it does not offer the same attractions asthe rich prairies farther south, but after these have been settled the emigrant from Scandinavia and Russia will find here a new home similar to the one he has left.