Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-08-11
From the North West Territories.
Calgary, Alberta, July 10Th, 1898.

Samuel Simmons haying broke loose
from the party and returned home;
Thos. Wharton and VIM. Saville gone
East to visit friends; Fred Currier and
myself here in Calgary for n weeks
stay; and the rest of the Michigan dele
| CATION gone 200 miles north to prospect
and view the country.
So far we have had delightful time
although the long ride in the cars was
very tedious. But the monotony was
relieved a great deal by the stOp-overs
at various points along the road. At
Winnipeg the Territorial Agricultural
| Fair was on. The delegation visited
the fair, free tickets beng furnished
| by the Dominion government, and 1t
was Il surprise to all to see the exhibits
in the various departments. 1t being
| but new country, in wheat and other
grains and grasses, need not take back
seat for any country either east or
west. Horses, cattle and hogs compar-
ed favorably with like fairs III Michi-
gan. Sheep, however, did not show up
as well. \ very good showing was also
made in the fine arts and fancy work.
| Winnipeg is the capitol of Manitoba.
! The Red and Assiniboine rivers rum
ming near by. The population is said
! to be about 30 900, mainly from Ontario,
is quite handsome city, although
somewhat scattered. But there are
many fine buildings of stone and brick,
although along the principal street
there are clusters of small shacks that
| give evidence of its recent origin.
There are large Touring mills, grain
| elevators, and many very line public
| buildings. In the center OF the city
stands very fine monument built by
| the citizens and dedicated to the men,
DRY of the brave boys who fell IN the
| half-breed rebellion IN 1879.
The Canadian Pacific Il. II. owns the
odd numbered sections in the belt OF
land extending n miles on each side of
track between Winnipeg and the Rocky
| Mountains. The even sections being
principally held by spectators, fact
which hinders the growth of the cOun-
| try very much, as actual settlers have
| To 90 back that distance III order to ges
| farms, very few settlements of farmers,
| except at the small stations along the
road, are noticed on the entire route.
Leaving Winnipeg on Wednesday,
our next stopping place was at Moose
min, near the mountain OF that name,
| in the Province of Assiniboia. This is
an Indian name signifying moose tail,
an old Indian chief living near by bear
ing the same name. This is a small
town with about 600 inhabitants, is very
! nicely laid out, has some very fine
stores, a good grist mill and several
| large elevators. The Hon. j. IL. Nail,
NJ. l.. A., as we'll as the mayor and
other officials, met us at the station
and gave us Il very hearty welcome,
provided carriages for the entire party
| for tour of inspection round amongst
the farmers. The prairie here Is very
rolling, but not too much so. Some
fine farms were visited and the farmer
portion of the party were delighted
with the appearance of the wheat crop,
| hundreds of acres frequently found IN
one unbroken field, and in fine shape.
1t is indeed a grand sight as far as the
eye could see, the ripenlng gram sway
ing to and fro, nodding IN the breeZes.
The principal grain raised IN TINS sect
ion is the Fife variety of wheat, eXper-
fence teaching them that that KIND can
! be grown most successfully, ana III
many cases we saw fields OF 1t growing
OH stubble ground, owners not even
taking the trouble Of plowlng 1t for
several years in succession. Although
oats can be grown successfully, yet
I
grain. At this point the boys had a
| drink out of several wells, the inside
| from about SIX feet down to the bottom
being through solid ice. Very suggest
| i've of the signs of winter in this coun.
try. A very fine vegetable garden,
| owned by a man named Peters, an old
friend of Thomas Wharton's, was also
visited, and Judging from the speci-
mems shown by Mr.. Peters, the soil Is
well adapted for that purpose.
Pulling up stakes after two days stay
at this point, u ride of % miles brought
us to Indian Head. Here is located
| the Experimental Farm, owned by the
| Dominion government and superin-
tended by A. Mckay Esq. very agree
able and sociable gentleman, who kind
| ly placed at our disposal carriages to
take the whole party over the farm.
The sights that greeted the eyes of the
visitors, especially the farmers, were
astonishing. Every known cereal and
| grasses, having i'll turn been tried, and
| the cultivation of "the survival of the
| fittest" was brought to its fullest per-
| lection. Fields of wheat which would
no doubt yield 80 and 60 bushels TO the
acre, oats sure of 100 bushels to the
acre, also barley, one field especially,
was much praised by all, standing fully
feet 6 inches, and as level and even
as floor. Vegetables, excepting TOM
atoes and small fruits, are also grown
to perfection. Currants as large as our
cherries, and strawberries, which all
sampled to their hearts content, as
fine as any grown in Michigan. A rhu-
barb plant, common to the country,
was measured-stalks inches round,
and the leaves Al feet across. In this
locality is located what is known as the
Bell farm, comprising 100 square miles,
although since subdivided, part owned
by Major Bell, part by Lord Brassy, and
part by Scotch syndicate. A ride
over these farms made our Michigan
farms appear very insignificant, some
fields of grain covering 800 acres and
all looking well. To give better idea
of the extent of some of these fields,
it is stated that the burrows in some
cases are miles long, and to pillow one
furrow and back is q days work for
man and team, resting for dinner and
return. In harvesting and threshing
the grain on one of these farms requires
thirty-seven binders and seven steam
| threshers.