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when transportation will have been provided. But errors of the past
should be avoided, and while the cattle rancher finds certain advan-
tages in distance from areas of intensive agriculture, settlement of
farming lands at too great a distance from the railway lines has not
been found advantageous to the settler.

DRAINAGE.—The Peace River country in general contour is a
huge plateau, cut by the valleys of the Peace river and of the many
smaller streams which empty into it. The valley of the Peace varies
in width from a mile, at its canyon at Hudson’s Hope, to several miles
in width before it reaches Fort Vermilion, 250 miles north of the
town of Peace River, where the higher banks give way to the general
level of the surrounding country, which is much lower than near the
head of the river. The eastern portion of the Peace River Country
is drained into Lesser Slave lake, which in turn empties through the
Lesser Slave river into the Athabasca river and thence northward to
the Mackenzie river system.

The district consists of patches of open prairie land, park land
on which patches of small bush and prairie alternate, and timber
lands. On the timber lands are to be found several large tracts of
spruce saw timber, and further supplies of saw timber are to be
found in the several river valleys. A considerable number of small
sawmills are in operation, which not only supply a large part of the
local demand for building materials, but also ship out considerable
quantities of spruce lumber. In the districts which are recommended
for farming purposes, the average quarter section (160 acres) will be
found to contain from 30 to 100 acres available for plowing without
any further clearing, while if more is required the work of clearing
the small poplar brush is not expensive. The usual method is to
cut and burn the brush, and leave the land to be pastured for a year
or two, during which time the roots become quite well rotted, and
are plowed out without grubbing except in the case of the larger
stumps, which rot away in from three to four years.

Those who find objection to too high an altitude will find pleasant
relief in the Peace River Country, where the average altitude on the
plain is 1,800 to 1,900 feet, while in the river valley it is 1,090 feet.

A Wheat Field at High Prairie.