Farm Lanps anp NaturAL RESOURCES. 13

The whole Bonaparte country seems to be well adapted for grazing and
dairying and capable of producing excellent fodder-crops.

In the vicinity of Green and Horse Lakes the surrounding country
rises with gentle undulation to the rolling plateau. A branch from the
70-Mile-North Bonaparte Road diverges near the westerly end and follows
the north-west side towards Watch Lake. The surveyed areas here are on
bordering flats south of the lake and on gentle slopes of the ridge between
the lake and North Bonaparte Road. The soil is black loam with good
clay subsoil generally free from stones and would be well suited to agri-
culture, although the range of products would be limited to the altitude
some 3,400 feet. This area presents first-class dairying and grazing possi-
bilities and should prove admirably adapted to settlement. It is close to
the railway and has good roads and schools in the neighbourhood.

North of Green Lake, eastward from the railway and in places from
3 to 4 miles west, the Government surveys are continuous for many miles
both east and north. A large portion of this territory is suitable for stock-
raising and parts of it for dairying. In the stretch between Green and
Horse Lakes it is almost all splendidly adapted for cultivation and there
is little waste land.

Sheridan and Bridge Creek Basins.

Eighty-three-mile Creek in this section drains a small valley with some
fine meadows to Green Lake, and 93-Mile and Atwood Creeks run north-
east in slight depressions with good meadows to Horse Lake. The drainage
divide between Green and Horse Lakes is on a gently sloping ridge which
the railway-line crosses at 3,855 feet, widening around Lone Butte Hill
and descending towards Little Bridge Creek. Three miles east of the
railway the plateau slopes gradually towards Sheridan Lake and Bridge
Creek basins. Here Fawn Creek drains the northerly part of the area to
Horse Lake. The post-office of Fawn is located a mile south of the latter
lake. Recent information discloses over thirty-four settlers in this vicinity,
mostly engaged in cattle-ranching.

The Dairying and Stock-raising Lands in the “ Lake District.”

Fawn neighbourhood is considered an excellent grazing and cattle
country and dairying is also a very strong feature. Sheep-raising would
undoubtedly prove profitable. This district was apparently once covered
by large firs, destroyed by successive fires and leaving a few groves and
scattered trees. Fires evidently burned the soil down to the clay, and fol-
lowing a considerable lapse of time a thin covering has been left on the
clay loam of the uplands, the nutritive value of which is shown by the
variety and rankness of the vegetation. Deep black loam is found in the
spruce-swamps, willow-swales, and meadows. The present forest-growth
is small, generally open, with many free patches.

Horse Lake, an enlargement of Bridge Creek for 8 miles, has a series
of flats on the south side and benches rise to the plateau, some of consider-
able extent.