422 CLIMATE, ETC. 



Here the mercury has been known to fall 35 below zero, 

 and 15 or 20 below is not looked upon as anything un- 

 usual. I have myself seen a change of 70 of temperature 

 within twenty-four hours in the maritime provinces. The 

 greatest heat in summer is about 98 in the shade ; but 

 although now and then the mercury does ascend to this 

 height, the heat is never overpowering. However hot the 

 sun may be, the breeze is always bracing and refreshing, 

 and the nights are cool. There is no day in the year in 

 which a healthy man cannot do a good day's work ; and 

 sunstrokes are unknown. The extremes of heat and cold 

 occur in cycles of not more than three days' duration. 

 I have rarely known more than three very cold nights in 

 succession, nor more than three very hot days. The hot 

 days are often brought to a close by a heavy thunder 

 shower, and the cold ones by a fall of snow. 



The length and severity of the winters is generally sup- 

 posed to be a serious drawback to farming in Canada. To a 

 certain extent this is the case ; but, as compared with our 

 English climate, the disadvantages of the Canadian 

 winter are by no means so great as might be imagined ; 

 in fact, their severity is a positive advantage. 



Stock has to be housed and fed for rather more than six 

 months of the year. During this time it is customary to 

 turn them out in the straw-yards for a few hours each day. 

 During this long winter none of the farmyard manure is 

 lost or wasted. It is not subject to a deluge of rain, 

 which in the old country washes away a great part of its 

 value, but, on the contrary, is sealed up and preserved by 

 the frost. The time during which cattle have to be fed 

 is certainly not more than one month longer than in 



