What the British Columbia Government

Says About Fort Fraser’s Surrounding Country—The Fertile Nechaco Valley

(From Official Bulletin No. 22)

LL reports go to show that Nechaco is one of the finest agricultural dis- tricts of the interior. While the Endako and Bulkley Valleys are more suitable for stock-raising, the Nechaco, with its level valleys and rich

white silts, offers special inducements to farmers. It will become one of our most valuable agricultural districts. Its advantages are many; the land is level; the soil is rich and to a great extent open; the climate is milder; the principal crops can be grown without trouble, and the general altitude is much lower than that of the surrounding country.”

Mr. A. L. Poudrier, D.L.S., who investigated the district for the Provincial Government, reports in the following terms of Nechaco Valley:

“Although the ground is generally covered with thickets of small trees, patches of prairie of large extent often occur. These are always level and covered with the greatest varieties of nutritious grasses. On the north of the Nechaco River very large tracts of land have been burned, and are now fast becoming rich meadows. The whole country could be cleared most effectually and cheaply. The soil almost everywhere is of the richest quality. It is com- posed of fine white silt with clay sub-soil; in some parts the silt attains a thick- ness of over 40 feet. Not only is the grass very luxuriant on the prairies, but even in the wooded portion pea-vines and vetches of different species grow to such a height that it renders traveling very difficult. Barley, oats, and all kinds of common vegetables have been grown successfully at Fort Fraser, and ~ farther north and in a higher altitude. I have seen in many places heads of wheat, probably brought amongst other grain by pack-trains, thoroughly ripe; and timothy and clover are also found in many places along the trails. I have no doubt that an early wheat, like Ladoga, or Red Fife, could be successfully grown, at least over the largest part of the valley. The rain is not abundant in summer, but quite sufficient to enable farming to be done without irrigation. During the latter part of August and the month of September the Nechaco abounds with salmon, which make their way from the sea to their spawning- grounds, and are at this time taken in thousands by the Indians, who dry them for their winter supply of food. Trout and sturgeon are also numerous, and a small fish that the Indians call whitefish. The climate is all that could be wished for, no extremes; the days during the summer months, though hot, are never uncomfortably so, whilst the nights are generally so cool that a blanket is acceptable. During the winter, I ascertained from the Indians, the snowfall is light, and although sometimes the glass drops very low, as a rule the weather is not very severe. They informed me that they never thought of feeding their cattle until about Christmas, and that in March they could be, as a general rule, turned out again. Now and then during the summer season light summer frosts occur, but, owing to the warm nature of the soil, they seem to do little damage; and I have no doubt that as the country becomes opened up and the soil turned over, these frosts will entirely disappear.” een contre don of this report, the following by Dr. G. M. Dawson may be

eee previous reports I have described the flat countr basin as constituting the greatest connected region suse pHbIo Geen Geto the Province of British Columbia. Its area has been estimated at 1,000 square nee me bad on fine, white silty deposits of the later portion of the glacial Hear ; ae eens a soil almost uniformly fertile, and is remote from high,

Pe eee

“No grist can be ground with the water that has run past the mill.’—OLD ADAGE