The Unexploited West / A Compilation of all of the authentic information available at the present time as to the Natural Resources of the Unexploited Regions of Northern Canada

by Ernest J. Chambers

at various posts shows that for all the ordinary vegetables and coarser grains the climate is not too rigorous. Splendid gardens were found as far north as Nelson House, which is in the northern part of the area here mapped. Proper drainage is needed, however, to bring much of the surface into a condition fit for agriculture. Along the river banks this is evident, for while the strip bordering the streams produces a great variety of grasses, shrubs and trees, a short distance back this is replaced by a swamp covered by moss and stunted spruce. This is more noticeable in the western part of Nelson valley, where the country is thickly covered by a coating of clay, and the surface is so uniformly level that its gradual slope to the east is not sufficient to drain it. The areas to which it would be possible to introduce a system of drainage, would at first be restricted to a narrow margin along the streams. The northwest corner of the district for present purposes may be classed as without a sufficient soil for agriculture. This may roughly be outlined as being composed of all the country lying to the west of a line from the outlet of Burntwood lake to that of Reed lake, and north of the escarpment which shows the northern limit of the Trenton limestone. In this the surface is rolling and hilly, the rocky ridges having a scanty coating of boulder clay and an occasional thicker deposit in the depressions. It will probably remain the home of the hunter and the trapper.

“To the south the country, underlain by limestone, has many of the characters of the northern part of old Manitoba. In the valley of the Saskatchewan there are large areas of rich soil formed principally by the river itself, which has brought down an enormous amount of silt from the upper part of its valley. The western part of the valley of Nelson river is covered by a thick lacustral deposit which reaches west to Burntwood lake and east to the channel of Nelson river. In this area good soil is found in almost every part and where drained would no doubt make fair farming land.”

Mr. Wm. McInnes describes the country about Winisk and Attawapiskat rivers, explored by him in 1903, 1904 and 1905, as consisting of three areas, the first a limestone area, along the bay shore, the second a boulder clay area, behind it, and the third in rear of it again, a high interior plateau. As to the latter area, he says:—“Although, considered as a whole, the central, elevated region cannot be spoken of as generally adapted for agriculture, there occur basins covered by heavy deposits of stratified sand and clay that seem to have been laid down in lakes held in between barriers formed by the walls of the retreating glacier and ridges of drift. An examination of some of these clays by Doctor Hoffman shows them to be highly calcareous and somewhat siliceous, a composition that with the admixture of the surface vegetable mould should produce an

Excellent Soil for General Agriculture.

The question of climate, which is, of course, of the utmost importance when considering the agricultural possibilities of a district, will be referred to more particularly in another place. It may be said here, however, that the climatic conditions are, if somewhat adverse, not by any means prohibitory to the general cultivation of suitably situated tracts.

“Muskeg, alternating with low ridges of gravel and boulders, covers wide tracts. It was noticed that the surface drainage became more perfect in that part of the region extending westerly towards Trout lake. . . . . . . . . .

“The tract referred to as the boulder clay area consists of a broad belt of country, about one hundred and fifty-nine miles in width, lying between the Archaean highlands and the edge of the limestones of the basin of Hudson bay, overlapping the latter, however, so that the surface features of the two are generally quite similar. Gently undulating, and with a slight slope northerly and easterly, its general surface aspect is that of a great swamp, sparsely covered with stunted and deformed trees, that reach a growth approaching their normal only along the immediate banks of the rivers where drainage is afforded by frequent short gullies into the trenches that constitute the river valleys. The interior, to within a chain or two of the river-banks, owing to the impervious character of the till,

Is Quite Undrained,

and consequently covered by a thick deposit of sphagnum moss from two feet to ten feet deep, the surface layer still growing, and even the bottom only bleached a little, but not at all oxidized. The short cool summer season, and consequent low temperature of the water that saturates the moss, is probably the principal reason for the absence of any of the visible effects of decay. The rivers flowing through this region have no real valleys, that is to say, they occupy trenches but little wider than the immediate channels in which they flow, cut down through the stiff, tough till, which stands up in nearly vertical walls that rise from the freshet mark on either side. At low stages of the water a slanting beach, often paved with boulders, slopes gradually from the foot of the bank to the edge of the diminished channel. A more or less continuous layer of marine clay, rich in fossil shells, overlies the boulder clay, ensuring, wherever it is present, a soil of good quality. The absence of other than swamp vegetation must be ascribed, then, to the almost total absence of drainage, and to the generally unfavorable climatic conditions.

“In the matter of the actual cultivation of these northern areas we have little to go upon. At the Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts at Fort Hope and Osnaburgh potatoes have been grown and small gardens maintained from the time of the establishment of the posts, and little difficulty has been experienced in maturing the common garden vegetables of Ontario, though occasionally the frosts of late summer have cut off all but the hardier kinds. As the posts were located with a view to their favourable situation for the purposes of the fur trade with the Indians, neither one is situated on ground well suited for cultivation, and much better results might reasonably be expected were trials made on more favorably situated tracts. An Indian cultivating a small garden plot at the head of the Pineimuta branch of Attawapiskat river succeeds in raising good crops of potatoes and turnips.”