Report by the Engineer in Chief: Addressed to the Hon. the Minister of Railways and Canals, Canada1880 - 251 pages |
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agriculture Appendix Athabasca banks Battle River bridge British Columbia Burrard Inlet Cambie clay climate coal coast contract Creek crops crossing cultivation distance district Dunvegan east eastward Edmonton entered this section examination feet deep feet high feet wide flats Forks Fort McLeod frost grass hills Hudson Bay Hudson Bay Company Hudson's Hope inches Indians Lac la Biche Lake Babine Lake Tatla land latitude Lesser Slave Lake Little Smoky River McLeod mile wide mouth muskegs nearly northern numerous Omenica Pacific Railway Pack River Parsnip Peace River Pine River plateau poplar Port Essington Port Simpson Portage portion prairie quantity reached Red River region ridges rocks Rocky Mountains route sand Saskatchewan shore side slopes Smoky River snow soil southern spruce stream summit swamps temperature thence timber trail travelled valley Vancouver Island vegetables Wark Inlet wheat width Winnipeg wood
Popular passages
Page 117 - Hope the horses are sent southward to Moberly's Lake to winter, and according to Mr. Selwyn, do well there. Lesser Slave Lake, with its wonderful natural meadows, has long been known as an excellent place for wintering stock, and is referred to as such by Sir J. Richardson.
Page 221 - From this point northerly he describes the river as being " confined within narrow limits," and with a more impetuous current. The Bishop mentions that at the Stone Fort the river was " running at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour.
Page 113 - River country, for which the exploration of last season enables pretty accurate general information to be given, may be considered as extending eastward from the Middle Forks of Pine River. West of this point, as already stated, the areas of fertile land are small, being confined to certain river valleys, which penetrate the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains and high plateau attached to them. With this western limit, the region now to be described may be considered as bounded on the north by the...
Page 107 - However, the mercury has fallen below zero of Farenheit in only four years out of the 45, and has risen about 80° during but seven years of that period. The coldest month is January, the warmest, August ; June is slightly warmer than September.
Page 173 - Though the prairies are most immediately available from an agricultural point of view, the regions now covered with second-growth and forest, where the soil itself is not inferior, will eventually be equally valuable. The largest tract of poor land is that bordering the valley of the Athabasca on the north. This rises to an elevation considerably greater than most of the region to the north and west, and appears during the submergence to which the superficial deposits are due, to have been exposed...
Page 182 - Eiver with Woody River and far northward, while southward there was a stretch of rich but wet land extending to Swan River. Westward of the reserve the soil was excellent, and the country heavily wooded with very fine timber, poplar, spruce and tamarac.
Page 115 - With regard to the climate of the Peace River country, we are without such accurate information as might be obtained from a careful meteorological record, embracing even a single year, and its character can at present be ascertained merely from notes and observations of a general character, and the appearance of the natural vegetation. " It may be stated at once that the ascertained facts leave no doubt on the subject of the sufficient length and warmth of the season to ripen wheat, oats, and barley,...
Page 110 - Seme cultivation is carried on. Potatoes are occasionally nipped by frost in the spring and on two occasions have been effected by summer frosts. They are generally harvested in the end of September, but are ripe before that time, and can be obtained large enough for use about the first of July. Indian corn does not ripen, and wheat, Mr. Hankin believes would be an uncertain crop. The season of 1878 was exceptionally long, and two successive crops of oats ripened before the frost ; the second being...
Page 113 - Three frosts were experience i, on the nights of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of August, the thermometer reading 30 5°. 28° and -30°5 on these nights. Strong westerly winds, falling calm at sundown, with a clear sky were the conditions causing the frosts.
Page 107 - Simpson, and considerably further west, doubtless represent a climate considerably worse than that of the northern part of the coast of British Columbia. It may, however, be useful to extract from these the following facts. The latitude of Sitka is 57° 3: , or about one degree north of Glasgow (Scotland). Temperature observations extend over a period of forty-five years with little interruption. " The mean temperature of spring is 41-2° ; for summer, 54-6° ; for autumn, 44'9° ; for winter, is2'5°,...