Wheat Field, Upper Fraser, Near Quesnel

HE field illustrated opposite is typical of the cleared
(UI and cultivated bench land along the banks of the Upper
Fraser. It is a portion of the Australian Ranch, and last
year yielded a magnificent crop of wheat. ‘The figure on the
right is J. M. Yorston, the owner of this splendid farm,
and that on the left Mr. W. A. Ryer, a visiting investor
from Spokane.

The land usually rises from the Fraser in a series of
steps or benches. ‘The soil is a deep vegetable loam, in some
cases black, in others a rich chocolate color. Frequently it is
covered with a natural growth of cottonwood or spruce (in
this country an indication of rich soil), but when this light
timber is cleared the older farmers unite in testifying that
the very best of crops grow with minimum cultivation.

Farther north, in the more immediate vicinity of Fort
George, there are much larger areas of good agricultural
land than surrounds any other embryo city on the G. T. P.
line in Central British Columbia. The prevailing popular
impression, that the country surrounding Fort George is
mostly mountainous, affording little opportunity for the
farmer, has been almost altogether dispelled as the result of
investigation. “The Nechaco, Fraser, Mud, Willow, Stuart,
and Salmon River Valleys each contain hundreds of thousands

of acres of the very best of farm land, and their settlement
and cultivation are all of the greatest importance from an
agricultural point of view.

Of course Central British Columbia is not prairie land,
and in the hilly districts the percentage of waste land, for
farming purposes, is fairly high, but the country is so enor-
mous in extent that the prospective farmer has abundant
room to pick and choose. “The regular, natural phenomena
of the country are observed in the Fort George district,
limiting the cultivable land to the valleys of the rivers and
lakes and the benches above. The good land is not in con-
tinuous blocks, as in the prairie country, but in small areas
interspersed between ridges of gravelly soil supporting a
growth of small timber. ‘The fertile areas are extremely
productive. “The river bottoms are usually deep loam, rich
from age after age of deposit from the streams. On the
bench lands the soil is usually a whitish silt, with clay sub-
soil. This, too, is a very productive soil.

Much of the good agricultural land must be cleared.
Although many large meadows have been cleared by fire,
yet in the main the settler must expect to cut a crop of
cottonwood and brush before beginning to raise potatoes and
oats. The clearing is very light, as a rule mostly second
growth.

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