NOTES ON MANITOBA. 159 
matter to the test. By the time that the rains of May and June 
come the roots have a firm hold of the ground, and growth is 
extraordinary. The July and early August rains nourish and swell 
the ear of the now ripening crops, and complete the promise of the 
early spring. Towards the end of August the winds change and the 
almost rainless period sets in and continues all winter. The Farmer 
harvests his crop without loss and in the highest possible condition ; 
stacking it in the open without even the necessity of thatching it for 
the winter. 
TO STOCK BREEDERS 
The advantages are equally great. Storms of sleet or wet snow are 
unknown on the Western Plains. Such snow as does fall is always 
dry and light, hence cattle and horses may be left out the whole 
winter without the possibility of suffering from wet. Intense cold 
they may experience, but stock-raisers know that where such cold is 
dry their cattle take no harm. Hence cattle can be, and are raised, 
on the North-West Plains without the necessity for buildings for 
wintering them. 
