14 DrparTMENT or LANDS.

Lake and west of the Cheslatta Trail as far south as Ghowsunkut Lake are mostly
covered with poplar. The trail itself follows high gravelly and rocky ridges, but
leaving the trail westerly the soil improves, ultimately consisting of black loam and
light vegetable mould, while rock only occasionally appears on the surface. The
whole of this tract is entirely unsettled, and is seldom traversed except by the few
Indians who trap through the district.”

NORTH OF FORT FRASER.

Nine miles due north from Fort Fraser is a settlement reached by trail, but to
which a wagon-road is expected to be constructed. In 1914 about thirty pre-emptions
were occupied hereabout, the majority having been recorded during the previous two
years. Owing to the labour involved in clearing—the land being thickly timbered—
there has not been much improvement made, although the settlers are nearly all
bona-fide residents, who hope eventually to make this section of the country one of
the most productive in the district.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

The district in vicinity of Fraser Lake seems favoured by an earlier spring and
seems less subject to summer frosts than any visited between Hazelton and Prince
George. Just why this should be is difficult to say, but there is no doubt the lake
is largely responsible for it. Much of the wind blowing over the Francois and Ootsa
Lakes country finds its way into the depression occupied by Fraser Lake, and,
blowing eastward down the lake, seems to keep up a somewhat higher and more
constant wind here than on most parts of the plateau. However, high winds are the
“exception over all this plateau, and this district about Fraser Lake can only be called
windy in comparison with other parts near it favoured to a less extent.

Light, intermittent falls of snow come early in November and sometimes in
October, but it is usually November 15th before snow falls to Stay. It averages
214 to 3 feet in depth and is somewhat powdery. On the clearings most of the snow
has disappeared by April 10th to 15th, though it varies according to the seasons.
Winter thaws are exceptional, though one occasionally occurs in January. The
thermometer sometimes drops quite low, but only fairly hard freezing weather is
the rule. Spring cultivation can be commenced very soon after the snow disappears,
So that cereals can usually be sown by May ist, and often a week or more earlier.
The spring months are the driest. Summer frosts do considerable damage sometimes.
May is somewhat frosty, and occasionally frost occurs in June and sometimes even
in July. According to the telegraph operator at Fraser Lake, C. W. Proctor, the
Hudson's Bay Company has not lost a single crop of potatoes in twelve years by
frost, and its location is no more favourable than most of the land surrounding the
lake. Feed is generally found in suflicient quantity to pasture stock by May 6th
to 10th.

ENDAKO VALLEY.

Westward from Fraser Lake, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway follows up the
Endako Valley to Burns and Decker Lakes, beyond which is the divide where the
railroad crosses into the Hazelton Land Recording Division in the Bulkley Valley.
The Endako River, which flows from Burns Lake to Fraser Lake, is more like an
attenuated pond than a river; it is so sluggish. It is about 2 chains wide, tortuous,
and with scant current. The valley proper, though narrow, is very rich; it contains
some good areas of farming land. (See Pre-emptors’ Map 88, Nechako Sheet.) The
soil in the bottoms is a rich black loam, with a rank growth of grass and weeds.
On the bench lands which rise on either side of the valley the soil is of lighter
texture, having generally a gravelly subsoil which is exposed to the surface on the
higher lands, while in other localities gives way to a deep sandy soil entirely free
from rock. The water-supply is plentiful, many small lakes and tributaries and
connecting creeks draining into the river.