BRITISH COLUMBIA 9

valleys usually found at the foot of mountain ranges. This land is singu-
larly free from rock and is composed of rich fertile soil, with sufficient
timber for the construction of buildings and for domestic purposes. Water
for irrigation is plentiful and can be brought on land for minimum expense.
To the south of Windermere Lake lies the Upper Columbia Lake, connected
to the former by Mud Lake, a shallow piece of water which can be forded
in places. Throughout the whole district are numerous medicinal springs,
amongst the most widely known being those of “Sinclair” and “Fairmont.”
The present means of access to the valley is by boat on the Columbia
River from Golden in the north, and southward are splendid Government
roads open for team or automobiles at all times. A new automobile road
is being constructed across the mountains from Banff, and when open for
travel will make one of the finest tourist roads in the whole of the Dominion.

Climate.

Windermere Valley is remarkably free from extremes of heat and cold.
Summer heat is moderate and winter, generally speaking, mild. Snow-
fall is extremely light, in fact cattle and horses range the year round in
open pasture. Good qualities of apples, cherries and smaller fruits can
be and are being produced, and it is yet an undecided question wuether
grapes and peaches can be grown commercially. Amongst the varieties of
apples suitable to the soil are the well-known “Wealthy” and “ Fameuse.”
All the smaller fruits can be produced in abundance, also potatoes, tomatoes
and garden stuff.

On the west shore of Windermere Lake, the Columbia Valley Irrigated
Fruit Lands Limited, Head Office, Wilmer, have extensive irrigated lands,
divided into areas of ten to eighty acres, for sale, on easy terms, at prices
ranging from $75.00 per acre upwards.

KOOTENAY RIVER.

Going southward from Windermere District, at Canal Flats the road
leaves the Columbia and enters the Kootenay Valley with its thousands of
acres of rich, arable, and fruit growing soil, millions of timber trees and
apparently inexhaustible mines. From Thunder Hill to Sheep Creek
(23 miles) is through rich pastoral country ready for the agriculturist or
rancher. From Sheep Creek to Wasa (17 miles) the road is through large
open tracts of land free from rock and timber, alternating with well tim-
bered lands and park-like glades. Several creeks intersect this territory
showing an abundance of water for irrigation purposes.

Wasa is a townsite on the Kootenay Central Railway and the prospec-
tive centre of a large mining and agricultural district. At present there
are a few houses and stores and a thoroughly up-to-date hotel. From
Fairmont Springs to Fort Steele, 76 miles, the road travels through a
park-like country, not heavily timbered, and at places giving views of
scenery unsurpassed in any part of the world. Separated from the Colum-
bia River in its upper reaches by a range of the Rockies, the Kootenay
River flowing south for about 100 miles, approaches to within a mile and
a half of the Upper Columbia Lake at Canal Flats. From there it proceeds
southward and passes into American territory at Gateway, where it makes
a bend west and re-enters British Columbia at Rykerts. Continuing
northward the river enters Kootenay Lake at its southern end, and thence