4 {lil Gy A © ap ZS ge GSS, DO YOUR GARDENING with the right tools, ete., and it will be much easier, pleasanter and prob- i We have every- Rakes, Hoes, | Garden Hose, 4 been: ably more successful. thing for the garden: Weeders, path Edgers, Lawn Mowers. If you have working with poor tools, get some of They | cost no more, so why not have them? ours and enjoy the difference. Xx Xk E. A. KLOS ONLYARIC EN DRYDEN 2990000099000 66 sa uIVVILBBDE Si is ¢ Dick Trist ¢ Bryden Livery, Transfer and Exchange Bars ET Sa 3H SAD ONT. be PPO 066000 00L000000000000 -$ A.J. GARDINER General Merchant EAGLE RIVER. ONT. AGENT FOR Gockshutt Plow Go.. Frost & Wood Implements Sharalg's Cream Sssaratars Raw Furs Bought aad Seld ; 49204444334 0990 3000440403 nen bilities of the country was supported re maw ee we + diary, there was less than five hun- Cobra, LJ YIU ; 1--A farm in the Peace River country. : < 2--Vegetables and children grow well in the newest north. © far as known, the first grain crop ever grown in what is now the Province of Alberta, was in they Peace River country. This was in| 1809. Daniel W. Harmon, in charge of the Northwest Company's post at] Dunmvegan, records in his diary that in that year on July 21st, he cut his barley. : : 3 "I think it is the finest," he wrote, "that I have ever seen in any coun- #ry. The soil on the points of land atong this river are excellent." ] Harmon's opinion as to the possi-; by traders and travellers who follow- ed. Professor John Macoun was the first scientific explorer to study it thoroughly. In a book published in 1882 he stated that "the vegeta- tion throughout the whole Peace River valley is of the most luxuriant character, and it seems more like that of the tropics than of a country drawing near the Arctic circle." But when the Province of Alberta was formed, ninety-six years after Har- mon made the entry quoted from his dred acres under crop in the whole area of 115,000 square miles, included in the drainage basin of the river. The Edmonton Dunvegan and British Columbia and Central Canada railways were built in the early years of the European war. The mileage from Edmonton to the town of Peace River is 311 and to Grande Prairie 407. But it was not till 1920, when the. C.P.R. took over the ogmeratign of these lines, that a satisfactory ser- vice was assured, and the settlers were given sufficient confidence to enlarge' their o ions. : Fa that year, according te the fig- ES RRR ARERR in 1921. River the following quantities of grain: Spring wheat, 1,495,680 bush- els, an average yield per acre of 30.34; winter wheat, 15,107, an aver- age of 16.26; oats, 4,334,400, an aver- age of 40.22; barley, 323,400, an aver- age of 22.42; rye, 40,092, an average of 43.81. Harmon's judgment was thwe well vindicated after 111 years. It should not be forgotten that its mineral and timber wealth may yet be shown to equal its agricultural. For over a century it has been a rich fur producer and many farmers add considerably to their revenue by trap- ping in their spare time. Dr. G. M. Dawson, when assistant director of the geological survey, made an estimate that in the Peace River territory there was at least 23,500 square miles of land suitable to agriculture. The acreage sown to various grains in 1920 in the coun- try immediately tributary to the river was under 175000. Estimates that have been made since have not re- duced his figure, so it is evident that there is plenty of opportunity for mew settlement, He calculated that if all the land available for cultivation were sown to wheat and yielded twenty bushels to the acre (ten bush- els less than the average yield for 1920) the total production would be 300,800,000 bushels -- more than all western Canada preduced in wheat As high as 69 bushels of Marquis wheat per acre has been obtaimed as far north as Fort Ver- milion, 250 miles north of @ Peace River, and 500 beyond Edmonton. The thermometer does go away down at times in these areas, doubtful if amyome haus qgor pulled but it is DA, FARTHER NORTH 3--Vermilion Landing on the Peace River. 4.--A Peru River potato patch. ures of the Alberta Department of Agriculture, there were produced in the provincial constituency of Peace Jom BEN ELAN ¥ out. on that account. The mean winter temperature than that of Winnipeg. - In the growing season the frost danger is not great. In thirty years in the Fort Vermilion farm, only twice has there been frost damage, and; then the loss was far from complete. The display of flowers and vegetables at that far northern point can be equalled at few points in the Canadian west. The long days hasten everything to maturity, and harvest begins about the middle of August. The average precipita- tion is between twelve and thirteeen inches, and as most of it occurs in June and July, it proves ample.r The charm which the country pos- sessed for all who traversed it in the days when it was still "the wild northland," the title which Sir Wil- liam Butler gave it in the seventies, still holds for those who pursue more prosaic tasks than his, To journey through the mountain canyon, west of Hudson's Hope, to the vermilion Chutes, seven hundred miles down- stream--there being no obstacle to navigation between the points--is an experience never $0 be forgotten, At Dunvegan the banks are nine hundred feet high, gradually lower- ing as the river broadens. At the Chates it is close to a mile and a half across. It is a waterway along which a find prosperity and comtentment., of Fort Ver-. milion is but a few degrees lower by the river, from where it bursts very large population must some day : What has been accomplished in the last few years makes it certain that - that "some day" is mot mew as far off as it seemed to be during the long period when Peace River | velopment was only a dream. * FR sesh 22 inl General Merchant, OXDRIFT, ONTARIO x F&F Dry Goods @roeeries Boots and Shoes Hardware and Farm Produce Frost & Wood and Cockshult Impiements WATKIN'S PRODUCTS Health and Toilet Specialties Largest business of its kind in the world DAD ROWLAND, Fresh Stock of ! GROCERIES, CURED MEATS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Arriving every Week Oxdrift Co-operative Company, Limited. i SE ---- oR CE RE RR The BISSELL DISK HARROWS Noted for GREAT CAPACITY, Light DRAFT, & Wonderful DURABILITY. Furnished in 2, 3, 4 and 6-horse size, in In-throw and Out-throw types. : Also in DOUBLE-ACTION TYPES, for use with all Standard Tractors. 1 have the Bissell Agency for, DISKS, PACKERS ROLLERS, and SILOS ET OHN MOORE OXDRIFT. AR JAMES MoeFADYEN : ' REAL ESTATE AND INSURANGCE Retailer CHAS. A. BURGESS OUR SODA FOUNTAIN Is now in full swing, with all thegood qualities of last year, and is ©. AT YOUR SERVICE Se POR Visit Our New Parlour -