CANADA 



1100 



CANADA 



and the delightful autumn, with its Indian 

 summer, is regarded by many as the best 

 season of the year. For details of the climate 

 in different localities, see the articles on the 

 separate provinces. 



On the Atlantic coast and in the Hudson 

 Bay region the climate is distinctly Arctic or 

 sub-Arctic. The summers are short and warm, 

 while the winters are long and very cold. The 

 Labrador peninsula is not very inviting to set- 

 tlers. The cold Labrador Current, laden with 

 icebergs, which sweeps southward through Davis 

 Strait past the shores of Greenland, keeps the 

 entrance to Hudson Bay frozen for eight or nine 

 months each year and carries icebergs and pack 

 ice along the Labrador coast sometimes until 

 midsummer. 



South of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence are the 

 Maritime Provinces, whose climate is affected 

 by the warmer currents from the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico. The Maritime Provinces, especially on 

 the coasts, have frequent fogs and an excessive 

 amount of rainfall, sometimes as high as fifty 

 or fifty-five inches a year. The Saint Law- 

 rence section has a bracing climate ; the winters 

 are cold and dry, with much snow and occa- 

 sionally short periods of ' exceedingly cold 

 weather. The winter air is invigorating, and 

 the Saint Lawrence Valley is the scene of many 

 outdoor winter sports, such as snow shoeing, 

 tobogganing and skiing. The summers are 

 warm and pleasant, without much humidity, 

 but at the necessary time there is usually an 

 abundance of rain for the crops. Northern 

 Ontario, like the Labrador peninsula, has severe 

 winters, with much more snow than the south- 

 ern part. Even in winter, however, there is 

 a great deal of sunshine, and the cool, clear 

 summers have made the region a favorite 

 resort. 



The climate of the western half of the Do- 

 minion, including the mountain and prairie 

 sections, shows even greater variety of climate 

 than the eastern half. The prevailing winds 

 are from the west, and reach the coast after a 

 passage over the warm Pacific Ocean, whose 

 waters are 20 warmer than those of the 

 Atlantic. When these westerly winds strike 

 the cold Coast Range they lose much of their 

 warmth and moisture. Along the coast there 

 is consequently a warm, rainy climate. Flow- 

 ers bloom the year around, and fruits and 

 vegetables almost reach perfection. Some- 

 what lightened, the winds sweep eastward to 

 the Rocky Mountains, whose western slope 

 has much snow and rain and abundant vegeta- 

 tion. The intervening interior plateau, how- 

 ever, gets little rain, and the growth of vegeta- 

 tion depends largely on irrigation. 



By the time the winds cross the Rocky 

 Mountains they have lost nearly all of their 

 strength. A local wind, called the chinook 

 (which see), has marked influence on the cli- 

 mate, cooling the air in summer and warming 

 it in winter. A noteworthy result of the 

 chinook wind is the open character of the 

 winters; the snow is quickly melted and evap- 

 orated by the warm, dry winds. The prairie 

 provinces as a whole have a distinctly conti- 

 nental climate with short, warm summers and 

 very cold, dry winters (see CLIMATE). Both 

 in summer and in winter there is abundant 

 sunshine. The growing season for crops is 

 short, but as the sun is above the horizon for 

 nearly twenty hours out of the twenty-four, 

 nearly all staple grains and vegetables mature 

 far north in the Peace River Valley, and even 

 beyond. There is always in these extreme 

 northern regions, however, the fear that frost 

 will come before the crops are matured. 



Plant and Animal Life 



Native vegetation in Canada is less varied 

 than might be expected from the great extent 

 of the country and the wide differences in cli- 

 mate. The entire northern and northeastern 

 part of the Dominion has an Arctic or sub- 

 Arctic type of plant' life. The vegetation is 

 sparse, and includes only mosses, lichens and a 

 few hardy herbs and willows. A large area 

 between Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean 

 is almost a desert ; this section is usually known 

 as the barren grounds, or tundras. South of 

 this region appears an entirely different type 

 of vegetation. The Saint Lawrence Valley 



and the Maritime Provinces were once cov- 

 ered with great forests, including both hard 

 and soft woods. Large areas have been cleared 

 or burned, and others have been deforested 

 from natural causes. There are still, however, 

 large areas of standing timber which constitute 

 one of the great resources of Eastern Canada. 

 The most important species are white spruce, 

 white pine, balsam fir and hemlock, among 

 the cone-bearing trees, and birch, maple, bass- 

 wood, elm, oak and ash, among the hardwoods. 

 This section also has many wild flowers and 

 wild fruits. 



