Whole Prospect Becomes Animating.”
Sir John also mentioned that the first flight of swans northward was noticed at Chipewyan on April 15, the first geese on April 20, the first robins on May 7, and the first house martins on May 12. Barley was sown at Chipewyan on May 15, potatoes on May 21 and garden seeds on May 22, and it was expected that all would be ready for use by the close of the following September.
Sir George Simpson’s party were regaled with “new, but very small potatoes,” on August 11, 1828.
Sir J. Richardson, before the British parliamentary select committee of 1857, asked to state to the committee any general opinion which he had formed of the capabilities of any considerable portion of the country which he had traversed, for the purpose of settlement and colonization, replied:—“With regard to the production of cereals, wheat may be grown up to the 58th parallel of latitude (same latitude as Fort Vermilion) in favourable places, but only in parts.”
The report of the Dominion Government’s survey parties sent out in advance of the Canadian Pacific contain important references to agriculture in the country. In the report for 1877-78 (p. 332) appears the following reference to Chipewyan (latitude 58·7°):—“Professor Macoun there obtained in 1876, fine samples of wheat and barley—the former sixty-eight pounds to the bushel and the latter fifty-eight pounds. At the French mission, two miles above the fort, oats, wheat and barley were all cut by August 26.” In 1880 report it is stated (p. 102), “Reverend Gordon said in 1880 that wheat and barley raised at Chipewyan received a medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876.”
In the report of 1877-78 (p. 326) there is this reference to McMurray (latitude 56·7°):—“Professor Macoun on September 8, 1875, found tomatoes, cucumbers, wheat and barley, under cultivation together with all vegetables found in kitchen gardens in Ontario. He spent ten days there and obtained specimens of wheat and barley which
Have Astonished Everyone
to whom they were exhibited; many of the ears contained one hundred grains and the weight of both wheat and barley was nearly ten pounds above the ordinary weight per bushel. These grains had been raised on soil comparatively poor—very poor for the district—and lying only a few feet above the level of Lake Athabaska.”
In a report of his then recent trip through this country written by William Oglivie, D.L.S., in 1884, he writes:—“A great deal of the soil along the bank of the Athabaska was of very fair quality. At McMurray, where there are a couple of small prairies or meadows, the soil is good, and the root crops and garden produce raised there are generally very good. The Hudson’s Bay Company have a garden at McMurray of upwards of an acre in extent, and the Episcopal mission one of smaller area, but the soil is very sandy. The Roman Catholic mission have a garden also, most of which they obtained by draining a bog into the lake. In the season of 1883 (which was a pretty favourable one in that district, being free from summer frosts) the Hudson’s Bay Company raised about four hundred bushels of potatoes, the Episcopal mission thirty bushels on a small patch, and the Roman Catholic mission about five hundred bushels. Many of the retired Hudson’s Bay Company’s servants also have small patches which they cultivate, potatoes and fish being the principal articles of food used during the winter.”
Doctor Robert Bell, before the Senate committee of 1887, testified that they grew cucumbers and melons as far north as Lac la Biche. He had seen them there himself, and he was not sure but that they grew pumpkins, too. He pointed out that where cucumbers and melons grow pumpkins will grow also. It is hard, Doctor Bell pointed out in the course of his evidence upon this occasion, to induce the Indians to grow anything. Even potatoes, which they all know to be a safe crop, they will not grow unless encouraged by supplying them. If supplied with seed in the autumn they will not preserve any over the winter. They would not take the trouble to dig a pit or build a cellar in which to preserve the seed, but in the spring, when the time comes for planting, if anyone were to give them the seed they would plant it. Artichokes would be very suitable to introduce amongst the Indians, because they are very hardy and productive; the seed remains in the ground and the Indians could not destroy it all.