Another of the witnesses examined before the same committee of the Senate was Mr. W. F. Bredin, member of the Alberta legislative assembly for the district. Mr. Bredin, in his evidence, stated that as regards Peace river valley, he would judge that from the mountains to Peace point, a distance of between seven and eight hundred miles, following the winding of the river, there is an average of seventy-five miles in width on each side of Peace river that is equal to the soil on any similar length of the Saskatchewan. That would make Peace river country about one hundred and fifty miles in width, and extending from the mountains to Peace point, a distance of seven or eight hundred miles, which is all equally good for agricultural purposes with the Saskatchewan valley. That would extend considerably beyond the bottom lands of the river, including also the table land back of the river. A great deal of it is clean prairie, on the north especially. There is more of it covered with scrub and small timber than there is clean prairie, but the soil is equally good where the timber grows. Mr. Bredin stated that he had a ranch at Grande prairie for six years, and raised oats and vegetables every year there. He had cattle there for five winters, and the average length of feeding them during those five years was six weeks of each winter. That is south of Peace river, but within this belt of one hundred and fifty miles. In that Spirit river country he knew there were some white settlers, as well as half-breeds, who were making their living by RAISING STOCK AND FARMING. That seven hundred or eight hundred miles of good country, of which he spoke, would extend right to the foot of the Rockies. As to the question of the uniformity of the quality of the soil, he had only been down to what they call Wolverine point, near Fort Vermilion. He would say the country is uniformly good from Rocky mountains to that point. At Wolverine point the valley is much lower and perhaps the soil may be blacker, and the black soil may be deeper on the lower stretches of the Peace. All of that country would be good for stock. Both slough and upland hay is abundant. The pea vine and all the small fruits that grow anywhere else in the northwest grow up there, and all the wild flowers that he knew of in the northwest grow there. This area in Peace river country would compare on the whole with any part of Canada.