12 Gro. 5 EXAMINATION or Natrurat Resourcns. S7

higher lands are suitable only for a limited amount of grazing and no opportunities offer for
extended settlement.

From Clinton to Exeter the line crosses a high plateau of poor soil, with scattered bull-pine
and brush, with many alkali ponds and lakes, suited only for a limited amount of summer grazing.
To the east of the line, in the vicinity of Green Lake, there is some scattered settlement, but
the district does not lend itself to any marked extension of settlement or development.

From Exeter Station an automobile trip was made east to Canim Lake, following the valley
of Bridge Creek. In this yalley there are some forty-seven settlers and to the east some fourteen
along the shores of Canim Lake. This valley was one of the most attractive visited. Irrigation
is not necessary and fine crops are raised. Information obtained indicated that land ean be
cleared and made ready for cultivation at a cost of about $40 per acre, and there is the oppor-
tunity of locating 150 additional settlers in the district, provided they are given encouragement
and assistance, their present greatest need being a good road through the valley and its extension
to the east along the south shore of Canim Lake, and the establishment of a creamery at
Exeter Station.

From Exeter to Williams Lake the line closely parallels the Cariboo Road through a district
particularly adapted for ranching. Several large ranches are met with, particularly those in
the vicinity of 100-Mile House and Lae la Hache, and the high quality of the cattle seen was
noticeable in this as well as in all the other ranching districts visited. This section is not suitable
for agriculture without irrigation and further development is limited by the water-supply. Cattle
must be fed during the winter season, which, of course, imposes a limitation upon ranching
development. A very fine ranch with extensive irrigated areas is located at the St. Joseph
Mission near Williams Lake, but, in my opinion, further agricultural development in this district
is dependent upon subdivision of the large ranch areas and their utilization upon a more intensive
system of production.

There is a large area of country tributary to this section of the line lying to the east and
north-east of Williams Lake, in the Horsefiy District. In this district, near Rose Lake. Harper's
Camp, and at other points along the road from Williams Lake to Horsefly Lake, there is consider-
able settlement, and‘ the possibility of extending this settlement if a first-class road iS provided
and some assistance giyen in clearing land and bringing it under cultivation.

Also tributary to this section of the line is the extensive ranching area in the Chilcotin
District lying to the west of the Fraser River. An extensive automobile trip of some 100 miles
was made through this district, whose marketing centres are on the railway-line at Williams
Lake, Chasm Station, and Clinton.

The Chilcotin District is a high plateau with large areas of open prairie country and
scattered timbered areas of jack-pine and poplar. The growth of bunch-grass is sparse, indicat-
ing the semi-aridity of the district, but it is specially adapted for summer grazing of cattle, sheep,
and horses, which haye to be fed during the winter months. In the valleys or at points where
water is obtainable for irrigation bountiful crops of fodder are raised, but these areas are some-
what limited in extent and the fodder for winter feeding which can be raised is, of course, a —
limiting factor upon the total of stock production. The district contains several large ranches,
and again the high quality of the cattle seen grazing at large was noted. The annual shipment
of beef cattle from this district amounts to some 3,000 head, and it seems probable that the
district is now carrying about as many cattle as can be taken care of, and that unless extensive
additional areas can be brought under irrigation for production of fodder-crops the number of
export cattle is not likely to be largely increased in the near future. The Chilcotin District is
suitable only for ranching, outside of the small areas which can be irrigated, but development
in the district can be materially aided by improving the main roads to the marketing centres
on the railway-line.

TIMBER RESOURCES.

There are not large areas of merchantable timber immediately tributary to this section of
the line. The timber adjacent to the line is largely bull-pine, jack-pine, and some poplar, and,
as a fact, many districts would be improved for ranching and settlement purposes if this timber
was burned off. ; :

North-east from Williams Lake, in the Horsefly Lake District, there are some large areas
of fine timber and also of pulp-wood, but this timber is tributary to Section 3, via Quesnel Lake
and River, and is more particularly dealt with later on.