10

The Smithers-Telkwa district is in the Bulkley River valley and extends
from Smithers in the north as far south as Houston. Farms are principally of
the mixed livestock type although some specific conditions have allowed the
development of a few special-product farms, among them vegetable seed growers,
milk producers for the Prince Rupert whole milk market and poultry raisers.

Most of the farms are located on either a degraded black loam or an alluvial
sandy loam. ‘The former is of the greater extent and is characterized by a
sloping topography, an important consideration in determining the most advan-
tageous land use. As a result it has become essentially a timothy growing area.
The crop serves to prevent erosion from the sloping fields and obviates the high
costs of cultivating steep slopes for annual crops. The alluvial soils are associated
with a more favourable topography. Consequently, utilization involves more
cereal crops and clover. In addition the specialized business of vegetable seed
growing is being developed on these soils by a number of farmers in the Houston
district. As a result of changing conditions further development of that busi-
ness in this district may be limited.

Services for the agricultural community are provided by the towns of
Smithers and Telkwa. Located within the district are several co-operative
associations, among them a seed cleaning and shipping plant at Telkwa.

Throughout the four districts extensive lumbering operations are being
carried on. Many farmers therefore take the opportunity to augment farm
income by part time employment in that industry. Some operate their own
sawinills or sell ties cut from their own farms. Others prefer to work as employees
in the local sawmills. Altogether the supplement to farm income is quite large.

NATURAL FEATURES OF THE AREA

The soils, climate and water supply of an area are the most significant natural
features that determine land use and delimit the types of products that may be
produced.

Soils

The soils of the area belong to the Northern Woodland Soils Region. Two
zones from the Region are represented, namely, Northern Grey-Wooded and
Grey-Black Transition. Within each zone the Soil Survey has grouped the
soils that exhibit similar qualities into Associations.

For purposes of this report a summary of the description of each Association
has been made from the Soil Survey Reports.1 The Associations considered
were divided into two main groups. The first group contained those eight
Associations which the Soil Survey has classified as non-arable. The Associations
in the second group are either all or partly arable. Thus the soils most likely
to be of agricultural importance are segregated in the latter group. It is also
on these that most settlement has taken place. The arable Associations are
ten in number. Generally they consist of lacustrine? and alluvial® deposits and
the soils developed on glacial till where the topography is suitable for cultivation.

Arability

Approximately 832,462 acres or two-fifths of the land area covered by the
soil survey between Prince George and Smithers has been classified as arable
(Table 1). This is about nine-tenths of the area of soils suitable for settlement.

1 See Appendix I. 2 The deposit of glacial lakes. 3 Deposited by running water.
+See Appendix I for table of total and arable acreages in the various soil Associations.