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when transportation will have been provided. But errors of the past should be avoided, and while the cattle rancher finds certain advan- tages in distance from areas of intensive agriculture, settlement of farming lands at too great a distance from the railway lines has not been found advantageous to the settler.

DRAINAGE.—The Peace River country in general contour is a huge plateau, cut by the valleys of the Peace river and of the many smaller streams which empty into it. The valley of the Peace varies in width from a mile, at its canyon at Hudson’s Hope, to several miles in width before it reaches Fort Vermilion, 250 miles north of the town of Peace River, where the higher banks give way to the general level of the surrounding country, which is much lower than near the head of the river. The eastern portion of the Peace River Country is drained into Lesser Slave lake, which in turn empties through the Lesser Slave river into the Athabasca river and thence northward to the Mackenzie river system.

The district consists of patches of open prairie land, park land on which patches of small bush and prairie alternate, and timber lands. On the timber lands are to be found several large tracts of spruce saw timber, and further supplies of saw timber are to be found in the several river valleys. A considerable number of small sawmills are in operation, which not only supply a large part of the local demand for building materials, but also ship out considerable quantities of spruce lumber. In the districts which are recommended for farming purposes, the average quarter section (160 acres) will be found to contain from 30 to 100 acres available for plowing without any further clearing, while if more is required the work of clearing the small poplar brush is not expensive. The usual method is to cut and burn the brush, and leave the land to be pastured for a year or two, during which time the roots become quite well rotted, and are plowed out without grubbing except in the case of the larger stumps, which rot away in from three to four years.

Those who find objection to too high an altitude will find pleasant relief in the Peace River Country, where the average altitude on the plain is 1,800 to 1,900 feet, while in the river valley it is 1,090 feet.

A Wheat Field at High Prairie.