The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-08-31
The British Northwest.
rom the Lake Superior News.

I
In this article we confne our
selves to the northern realm, which
we call the Manitoba realm; Mani
toba proper is only the eastern
province "a parallelogram u 35
miles by l34, containing $4,000
square miles. But the Red River
valley runs entirely through it, and
the river is navigable from one
boundry to the other, fed and deep
ened by its % smaller streams. 1t
is therefore, little else but river bot
tom land, once the bed of a lake,
with a soil, shown by analysis to
contain nitrogen, lime, potash, ,phos-
phoric acid, sodium and magnesis
so combined as to make it unsur-
passed as soil for cereals by any
latitude; a soil exhaustiess in It's
depth. The tide of immigration
has begun to flow into it with a
broad current that viii deepen year
by year But Manitoba is only q
gateway to the immense valleys of
the Bow, the Saskatchewan; aud the
Peace rivers running westward
toward the Pacific. The Saskatche-
wan has northern and a southern
branch. The northern branch is
$50 miles long to the junction asd
then the united branches continue
200 miles further to the lake. The
area of the entire basin is 240,00
square miles. The Peace river, still
further north, is / 1000 miles long,
Professor Nacoun, who accompanied
the chief engineers of the Pacific
Railroad survey, as botanist, states
that he ''found the entire district
along the Peace river, for distance
or 100 miles, in q belt $50 miles on
each side was as suitable for the
cultivation Of grain as that Of Onta-
rio." The climate was more suit
able. He found samples of wheat
weighing 68 pounds to the bushel,
and barley SO; and yield in one
case as high as go bushels to the
acre. lie estimates that there "Were
252, 100000 acres in that region
adapted 10 the growth OF cereals. "
Gle was positive that the climate
was uncommonly suitable for agri-
culture, and stated that the further
one went north or northwest, the
warmer the summers became" In
short, Professor Macoun believed
the northwest to be the richest
part of Canada, and prophesied that
it would yet be the home of millions
Of people prosperous and happy.
In regard 10 climate DIr. BIodgett
in his able work on cllmatoIogy
says: "The increase of temperature
westward from the sources Of the
Mississippi in northern Minnesota
| is quite as rapid as it is south
ward toward New Mexico, and the
Pacific borders at the 50th parallel,
are milder in winter than Santa Fe. p"
He runs the summer isothermal line
70dg. through latitude 4idg. in Long
island, Pittsburg, Cleveland and
Chicago, as far north as latitude SO
dg, on the Saskatchewan at lI0dg.
back to latitude 47dg. in Oregon
and 30dg. in California. Again,
Manitoba is several hundred feet
lower than the sources Of the Red
River, and mile in height causes a
descent of 15dg. in temperature.
''Hence the anomaly OF a milder cli-
mate going north" The temperature
is said 10 be warmer at Pembina
than at Fargo. Rev. II. McDorgal,
for Is years a missionary in The Sas
katchewan valley, says" ,"the cattle
run oul al winter and grow fat. "
Prof. Bryce of Winnipeg, who
las just returned from q trip Of 200
miles up the Saskatchewan, says,
"the settlers are full of erthu-
siasm about the country" Al
these valleys are 10 be rapidly
and ere-long, densely peopled.
And for the present at least
the great highway tor their prod
ucts east, to Canada,to New York,
and to Europe will be through Du-
luth. Does the Press exaggerate,
when it puts the transportation OF
wheat on the Northern Pacific and
the St. Paul & Pacific IN six years
at ten million bushels, and IN ten
years at eighteen millions? But in
ten years the growth Of this new
empire will have but just com
menced.