Mower County transcript., 1908-08-12

II
Of water. The Canadian Pacific rail-.
way has undertaken great irrigation
project, taking water from the river
here at Calgary and conveying It In
"a large ditch for 250 miles to Medicine
Hat, with a capacity Of irrigating two
and one-ha1f million acres OF land
The Calgary citizens rendered the ed
5itors a carriage drive around the city,
which was greatly enjoyed. The
country about Calgary is open prairie,
and has long been a cattle ranching
district. Now grain raising has been
taken up extensively, especially the
raising of winter wheat, which seems
to do well in southern Alberta.
BANFF AND LAGGAN.
Leaving Calgary Wednesday even.
| ing, the train heads west for the run
to Laggan, 116 miles west of Calgary,
in the heart of the Rockies. Laggan
was reached at s o'clock Thursday
morning, where carriages and saddle
horses were in readiness to take the
party to the hotel three miles away,
/ built on the shore of La1s Louise,
most charming lake over two miles in
diameter, and $3.50 feet above sea
level. Still higher up and within
mile or two, are Mirror lake and Lake
Agnes, the latter 1000 feet above the
! hotel. Towering snow clad noun
tains> surround these lakes, making
! picture of sublime grandeur never to
! be forgotten. Back to the cars again
by II o'clock, we were off for Banff,
35 miles east, in time for lunch. The
Canadian Pacific has large and fine
hotel here. The mountain scenery is
beautiful. The Bow river flows
through the place, with tumbling rap.
ids just alongside the hotel. Here we
took luncheon and dinner, and spent
the afternoon in drives and sight-see-
! ing. Banf and Laggan are visited by
thousands of tourists every year, as
the mountain scenery rivals that of
/ Switzerland in rugged grandeur.
| HIGH RIVER, Mcleod, LETH-
BRIDGE.
Leaving Banff in the evening we
returned to Calgary, and from there
went south through High River and
on to Mcleod, thence east to Leth-
bridge. All these points are in what
! is known as Sunny Southern Al
berta." Lethbridge is less than fifty
miles from the Montana line. All are
thriving cities, Lethbridge being the
largest Of the three, with a population
of $1,000. The country through this
section is level or slightly rolling with
good soil, though not so reliable for
) rainfall as points further north and
east. Irrigation is practiced, to a
considerable extent. Winter wheat
and alfalfa are the principal crops,
while beets are also raised and manu-
| factured into sugar. The Winter
Wheat Was just ripening for the har-
vest when we were there, July Oath.
There was fine stand, part of the
crop being on irrigated land and some
on land not watered The section
about Lethbridge is level as a floor,
and the soil is chocolate colored and
fertile. We saw fields of 1000 acres
OF fine wheat near Lethbridge.
At this place we were taken out two
miles from the city to see the expert
mental farm, where fine showing
was made of growing crops, small
fruits and shrubbery. A fine supper
was spread at the farm, the bill OF
fare including strawberries Of home
growth. A reception followed at the
club rooms in the city in the evening,
! The writer of this article was taken
by auto about ten miles into the coun-
try and shown the heavy crops
| At Mcleod and High River the ex-
cursionists were toasted and fcted,
shown wonderful crop exhibits, and
will long remember the cordiality
shown by the people.
From here We started on the back
track toward Winnipeg on the main
line of the Canadian Pacific railway
All day Saturday, the 25th, we were
making the run between Lethbridge
and Regina, the capital of the Sas-
katchewan province. During the day
we passed
MEDICINE HAT AND MOOSE JAW.
Medicine Hat is city of 5000 peo-
| pie, in district that should have irri-
cation to make crops certain. Some
thing has already been done along the
/! line of irrigation projects, and large
areas will soon be under fowage from
the bitches. Considerable dry farm
| ing is being done under the summer
| fallow system, with excellent results.
4! Medicine Hat has one great advantage
over other towns. 1t has natural gas
| In exhaustless quantities. The party
visited one we'll owned by the Can
adian Pacific railway, where the pres
sure at the outlet vas 427 pounds to
! the square inch This gas is used for
| lighting, heating and power purposes.
The street lamps burn all day, be-
. cause it is cheaper to allow this than
to turn off the gas in the morning and
relight the jets at night. While or
dinarily gas costs the consumer from
80 cents to SITE per 1000 feet, here
at Medicine Hat the price is to 13h
cents per 1 1,000
At Moose Jaw the editorial party
was met at the train with autos and
carriages, driven to the boat landing
on the river, and from there by
canoes and launches to cool park on
| the bank of the stream a mile from
the city, where refreshments were
| served. The day had been very hot and
| this diversion was most welcome to
/ the tired excursionists.
OFF FOR REGINA.
! The stop at Moose Jaw had to be
curtailed, as we were due at Regina
for supper. We arrived there at Z
4 pm. and went at once to the fine new
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