Canada To-day and To-morrow

by Arthur E. Copping

Mr. Tyrrell has no doubt that the country in question will support quite a thick population; and he mentioned that, south of the forest belt, and north of Lake Winnipeg (in other words, the region to be traversed by southern sections of the Hudson Bay Railway), “there is another magnificent area, from five to ten thousand square miles in extent, and as fine a country as is to be found in Manitoba or anywhere else. That area extends westward along the Churchill. These lands to the north of Lake Winnipeg are an extension of the same basin as the Manitoba clays.”

Let me now call another witness—Mr. A. P. Low, Deputy-Minister of Mines in the Federal Government, and, as an earlier chapter has borne witness, formerly a prominent member of the Geological Survey. In that capacity Mr. Low pursued some explorations in Keewatin, with the result that he is able to make the following contributions to our knowledge of this undeveloped region:

Between Norway House (which is north of Lake Winnipeg) and Hudson Bay the country is not very elevated, the highest points being probably about 1,000 feet above sea level. For about half the distance to the bay the traveller passes over a rolling plain, the rocks being ancient formations of the Laurentian and Huronian age, while farther on there is a deposit of limestone and sandstone. On the first half of the journey from Norway House to Churchill the country slopes very gently towards the bay, the grade being not more than eight or ten feet to the mile, if it be that. The north-eastern part of the country is practically a plain.

Mr. Low pointed out that considerable areas of swampy land exist. The rivers have thrown up banks, and there is only an occasional break in those banks to serve for drainage. In many places the river banks are from five to ten feet higher than the adjoining land, which consequently is more or less drowned for a distance often extending back as far as one can walk in a day.

He considers that probably half the country due east from Norway House—say for one hundred miles—would be fit for agriculture. There are, of course, very few settlements in there at present, and the only one Mr. Low visited was a Hudson Bay post at Trout Lake. There he found peas, potatoes and other garden crops growing and looking well. That no appreciable trouble occurred from summer frosts was shown by the condition of the green peas. Apparently, indeed, the climate is quite favourable for hardy crops. The soil areas fit for agriculture are fairly large, rocky hills occurring only at intervals; and he has no doubt that quite a large region will be available for future settlement.

With regard to the plain south-east of Nelson River, Mr. Low said it appears to be muskeg and spruce land rather than a hay area. He does not regard that low-lying country around Hudson Bay as of first-class agricultural value in its present form; but it shows a fair amount of vegetable growth, the subsoil is largely clay, and with some drainage, he thinks, a great deal of it will be good for farming.

Another influential witness is Mr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey. Speaking from personal knowledge of the region to be traversed by the railroad, Mr. Dowling threw light on the strips of raised land running beside the rivers. He said they represent a mile, or less than a mile, of well-made country covered by fine forests. “The centre portion between the streams,” he added, “is now exactly as it was when it first came from the sea, except that it has some vegetation on it which it had not at that time. All it needs is drainage. The soil and climate are good.”

On this crucial matter of farming prospects in the country to be opened up, the personal experience of two other members of the Geological Survey is available. I refer to Mr. Owen O’Sullivan and Mr. William McInnes. Mr. O’Sullivan, in 1904, was engaged in studying the west coast of James Bay, and in the summer of 1906 he started from Split Lake, on the Nelson, and went down the Little Churchill to the Big Churchill. The land about Big Lake, he said, is a good loamy soil, but from Big Lake to the Big Churchill the country is rocky and swampy, though with a good deal of rich clay loam in places. Mr. O’Sullivan was able to testify that very tasty potatoes are grown at Split Lake. In the month of June he ate some that had been grown during the previous year. He saw turnips, cabbage and lettuce growing, and they appeared to be very good. The potatoes were taken up on August 23rd and 25th. Some left in the ground had the tops touched pretty severely by frost in September. On being asked about the land near the head of Lake Winnipeg, Mr. O’Sullivan said he never tasted better potatoes than some that were grown at Cross Lake. Concerning a point far to the north of the terminus of the new line, this explorer had an interesting piece of information to impart. He saw lettuce and turnips growing at Churchill, and he is of opinion that potatoes, with proper attention, would mature there.

Special interest attaches to the experience of Mr. McInnes, because he zig-zagged across the actual ground to be crossed by the first half of the Hudson Bay Railway. The whole region from Split Lake to the Saskatchewan is, he said, a clay-covered country. In traversing that country he went by way of the Burntwood River and returned by way of the Grassy River, making a number of excursions between those two boundaries. After leaving Split Lake, he found the clay-covered country absolutely free from boulders and gravel. Even on the shores of the lakes, unless a height of about 800 feet were reached, no gravel bars were met with. “There is absolutely nothing to interfere with the cultivation of the soil,” testified Mr. McInnes. “The country has been repeatedly burnt over, and it is covered by a very open forest. Grasses grow fairly luxuriantly there, the blue joint grass and a wild rye being the prevailing species. I understand that these are a good meadow growth and make excellent fodder. While there in June, July and August I saw grass growing to a height of from eighteen inches to two feet.” Asked to indicate the extent of the country he was describing, Mr. McInnes computed it at about 10,000 square miles, adding that he did not mean to say the whole of that area was good agricultural land.

This explorer’s testimony will enable the reader, without consulting a map, to have a definite idea of the nature of the land along the new route. The Pas, on the Saskatchewan River, to the north-west of Lake Winnipegosis, may be taken as the starting-point of the line, since a railway to that place has for some time been constructed as part of the Canadian Northern system. Setting out from the Pas, and proceeding towards Nelson, Mr. McInnes passed through about 140 miles of country underlain by the flat limestone of northern Manitoba. He walked for miles over bare hills that carried hardly any soil. Then he entered the clay belt previously mentioned. The railway, he explained, would traverse about 170 miles of those clay lands before it reached Split Lake.