SOUTH OF PEACE RIVER BLOCK.

To the south, adjoining the western boundary of:the Block, about
6,000 acres are surveyed near Moberly River and a large area extending
westerly up the South Pine. This river heads in Pine Pass. The
mountains, lowering as the river is descended, are generally close to the
river, but leave some fertile flats in the bends. At intervals the
mountains are 2 or 3 miles distant, leaving room for valleys of larger
extent, on which natural hay meadows alternate with patches of timber.
Agricultural lands in the valley, including that part within the Block,
are computed at 130,000 acres. Mean elevation is about 2,400 feet.
General character of the soil is black leaf-mould with sandy loam or clay
subsoil, appearing to be well adapted for garden produce and oats, and
the rich wild hay in the meadows and grass on the hill-slopes would
allow cattle-raising on a moderate scale. Surveyed land outside the
Block is largely in the area known as the Burns Block at the south-west
corner.

There is no settlement on Sukunka River. On Murray River,
another tributary of the South Pine, there are small settlements at Cowic
and Wolverine Creeks, the former 72 miles and the latter 80 miles from
Pouce Coupe, the nearest town. Apart from farming, the only industry
is trapping. On open area up the creeks, as among the scattered poplars
and willows, soil is black loam with sandy clay subsoil. Wheat ripens
and oats are a sure crop, but as no threshing is possible with present
means of transport, the wheat is used chiefly for chicken-feed and oats
for green food to cattle and horses. Excellent potatoes are grown, but
judicious location is necessary to ensure them against frost. All ordinary
garden vegetables do well in the short but hot summer. The open
spaces afford good wild hay and where meadows can be irrigated they
can be cut year after year. Settlement areas being small and transporta-
tion lacking, profitable wheat-raising cannot be expected, and, as cattle
must be fed in winter, mixed farming is considered the most likely
industry. Range cattle will feed through all but the hardest winters.

Kiskatinaw River heads in some marshes and is comparatively
sluggish. Like other streams, its valley deepens into descent, also those
of the tributaries. Ascending the creeks areas of open land with excellent
soil are found, but nowhere is there room for settlement of over 100
to 200 people without clearing off the timber. Excluding these fertile
areas up the creeks and flats at their mouths, with occasional strips in
the valleys, the country is mountainous. About 86 square miles have
been surveyed near Kiskatinaw River, south of the Block.

To the eastward 165 square miles have been surveyed, extending 14
miles west from the Alberta boundary north and south of Swan Lake,
including considerable good lands in the southern extension of the Pouce
Coupe Prairie.

The country in vicinity of Swan Lake is rolling, with long even
slopes. From Swan Lake, in southerly part of Township 26, a long gentle

Forty-four.