Читать книгу The Unexploited West - Ernest J. Chambers - Страница 14

Typical country on Hudson Bay Railway Survey.

During the summer of 1910, an inspection of the timber along the line of the proposed Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Split lake was made by J. R. Dickson, B.S.A., M.S.F., Assistant Inspector of Dominion Forest Reserves, and his report was printed by the Forestry Branch of the Department of the Interior, as a Special Bulletin (No. 17) in 1911. Mr. Dickson’s exploration covered a distance of some two hundred and thirty-five miles along the line of railway. The line of inspection followed was along the waterways on the northwest side of

The Proposed Line of Railway,

from which men were sent in at intervals of a few miles in each direction so as to locate the timber. On the return journey the waterway route to the south of the line was taken and similar inspections made from it. The special object was to locate and estimate the areas of commercially valuable timber that could be made use of in the work of constructing the railways, and as a result a good idea of the character and location of the timber along the line has been obtained.

The route followed by the party was from The Pas to Moose lake, thence by portage to Mitishto river, down that stream and via Setting, Paint, Wintering, Landing and Sipiwesk lakes to Cross lake. From the last mentioned lake the party crossed to Minago river, and via that stream, Moose lake and the Saskatchewan returned to The Pas. The area covered was estimated by Mr. Dickson at eight thousand square miles. In addition to the information about the timber of this district given in this report there are many facts as to the topography of the country and its natural resources.

Mr. Dickson’s party found that except for a varying percentage of rock outcrop usually in the form of low ridges covered by stunted jackpines, there is a great muskeg extending northeast along the whole course of Mitishto river, and appearing in fact to blanket the entire watershed in the region between Saskatchewan and Grass river systems.

Mr. Dickson’s exploring party, in passing from Setting lake to Cross lake, by way of Paint, Wintering, Landing and Sipiwesk lakes, traversed part of the so-called “clay-belt” which, according to Mr. Dickson’s report “contains upon the whole from fifty per cent. to seventy-five per cent. of arable land and probably has

A Good Agricultural Future.”

The report as to the rocks and soils of the area explored says:—“The bedrock for one hundred miles northeast of The Pas is limestone—probably largely dolomite—and it frequently obtrudes through the muskegs or shallow soils which blanket it. These outcrops form low, narrow, flattened ridges, rising just above the general level of the muskeg, and nearly always running northeast and southwest. The line of contact between this limestone area and the Laurentian granite (upon which it rests conformably) runs northwest and southeast from a point ten miles east of Limestone bay on Lake Winnipeg across the southwest end of Hill lake on Minago river to Cameron falls on the Mitishto, thence passing in a westerly direction along the south shores of Reed, Wekusko and Cranberry lakes. Along this line, especially in the vicinity of Hill lake, there is a zone of deep clays of very promising agricultural value. In the area of granite farther north, the whole future, so far as agriculture or forestry is concerned, depends upon the general depth of the boulder clay. From the mere fact that it is a drift deposit, this depth constantly varies, but only a detailed soil survey of each township could show where and how much. There are large areas of almost pure rock outcrop and muskeg of little or no value even for timber production. But in general, over the great clay belt, the soil, which is almost uniformly

A Very Tenacious Boulder Clay

(nearly free of boulders, however), averages between four and twelve feet in depth, quite deep enough, therefore, for cultivation. It must be understood that no hard and fast boundary line can be laid down as showing the confines of this clay belt. The change is often so gradual, and so many as yet unknown factors enter—as, for instance, soil depth and possibilities of drainage—that any estimate of the bounds, area and average arable content of this belt can, with our present very limited knowledge, be given only in general terms. I estimate the area of that portion included from north to south between Wintering and Cross lakes, and from east to west between Setting and Sipiwesk lakes at two thousand square miles.

“With regard to soil conditions, drainage is the great necessity everywhere. To render the soil fertile for cropping, the heavy stiff boulder clay must be opened up to the action of the air. Probably the use of a subsoil plough might obviate the necessity for underdrainage over large areas. But however secured, aëration is necessary to change the present cold, dead, impervious soil to a warm, porous, friable one, full of bacterial life, available plant food, and resulting fertility. The soil is exactly similar to that around Cochrane in New Ontario, which yields such large returns under right treatment.”

Mr. Dickson says in his report:—“The climate and the soil conditions are the two basic factors which determine farming value. Where frequent or recent fires have not resulted in the formation of purely ‘temporary’ or ‘fire types’—as e.g., young jackpine on heavy clay—a study of the existing flora answers many questions as to the climate and the soil. On well-drained spots as far north as Split lake the flora is almost identical with that of similar sites in Riding mountains of Manitoba, proving that during the growing season these localities lie under one and the same isotherm, or nearly so, And yet Riding mountains are nearly four hundred miles southwest of Split lake. Two other factors which help vegetation in this northern clay belt are the low absolute elevation—only five hundred to seven hundred feet—and the large proportion of sunlight during the growing season, because of the long day. No doubt also the large proportion of the country covered by water has a tendency to prevent late spring and early fall frosts. In the absence of weather records, it is impossible to say whether the summer of 1910 was an average season or not, but certainly it was favourable for farming operations. There were showers every week and the growth of the native vegetation

Was Amazingly Rapid.

The total annual precipitation, including two or three feet of snow, would appear to be about the same as for western Ontario, to wit, thirty to forty inches. At Cross lake no damaging frosts occurred between June 8 and September 11, an interval of ninety-three days. But as a ‘sixty-day’ oat or barley in Ontario will mature in that region in forty-five or fifty days—a general rule which applies as well to fruits, roots and vegetables—there would appear to be no difficulty from a climatic standpoint in growing all the hardier products of the temperate zone. The size and the quality of the wild fruits between Setting and Split lakes were first-class. During the last week of July we enjoyed ripe raspberries, gooseberries, black and red currants, blueberries, saskatoons and strawberries (late ones). The first three mentioned were especially fine—the bushes loaded down with fruit as large and juicy as many tame varieties in Ontario. The average temperature of the growing season is about 60° Fahrenheit. Certainly vegetables will grow to perfection anywhere between Cross lake and Nelson House. At the former we ate potatoes weighing a pound and a half each, dug on the last day of August, and when we left on September 10 the corn and tomatoes were still untouched by frost. I would respectfully point out the advisability of the Dominion Government placing several small experimental stations at suitable points within the limits of this clay belt to make careful test of its seasonal variations and cropping possibilities. When the railway is completed such information will be of the utmost value to intending settlers. The winters are quite as enjoyable as in Manitoba—probably more so. Mr. Clifford, one of the railway location engineers, who has spent two years between The Pas and Split lake, assured me that he

Liked The Winter Season There

much better than the summer. Whereas in many parts of the continent the summer of 1910 was a peculiarly dry one, in Keewatin it was just the opposite. Rain fell frequently, and high winds, especially nor’easters from Hudson bay, were almost constant and occasioned us some loss of time on the larger lakes.”

Mr. William Beech, for many years back, and still, a resident of Churchill, in a communication to the press in 1911, wrote:—“The opinion generally entertained concerning the country around the bay and at Churchill is that it is a barren waste, covered with ice and snow for the greater part of the year, and devoid of any vegetation whatever. The opinion is an erroneous one. At the head of the bay there is an area of from two thousand to three thousand acres where in the summer months good hay can be cut, and which Professor Macoun has pronounced as affording excellent forage. There are many other places also where the same condition exists, and where the country is covered with a rich thick growth of grass. It would surprise you, wouldn’t it, if I should tell you that there are at least half a dozen different species of wild fruit which flourish in great abundance in the rocks and among the mosses throughout the country round the bay. Wild black and red currants, gooseberries, cranberries, crowfoot berries, and baked apple berries may be gathered by the bushel in season, and make the very best of preserves, so that we don’t really have to depend on dried apples up there as many of you imagine. As for vegetables, I have seen radishes, lettuce, and turnips raised right at Churchill.

“Of course it is generally understood that the winter climate of the country round the bay is usually very severe. The lowest temperature I have experienced there, however, was 39° below zero on Nov. 29, 1906, with a strong wind blowing from the bay, which intensified the cold. It is exceedingly rare to have winds off the bay in the winter months. In winter the wind is generally from the west and northwest, while in summer it is generally from the east and northeast. I have always found the thermometer lower one hundred and fifty miles inland. It can never be called dark in the north, even in the depth of winter.”

[14]	It will be observed that part of this evidence treats of other districts than the one immediately under consideration; but it cannot conveniently be eliminated here without awkwardly dislocating Mr. Tyrrell’s evidence.—(E. J. C.).