48 General Information about Canada, 



the heat is favourable to tho growth of fruit ani the crops, and 

 .n every way pleasant and beneficial, and tlie cold is not prejudicial 

 to health or life. In fact, Canada is one of the healthiest countries 

 in the world. The winter lasts from the end of November or the 

 b^giiiuing of December to the end of March or middle of April ; 

 sp.^ing from April to May; summer fmm June to September; and 

 autumn from Oc':ober to the end of November. The seasons vary 

 sometimes, but the above is the average duration of the different 

 periods. The nature of the climate of a country may be measured 

 by its products. In winter most of the trades and manufactures are 

 carried on as usual, and, as regards farming, much the same work 

 is done on a Canadian farm in autumn and in winter as on 

 English, Scotch, or Irish homesteads. Ploughing is not possible, of 

 course, in the depth of winter, but it is done in the autumn and early 

 spring, and in the winter months cattle have to be fed, the dairy 

 attended to, cereals threshed, machinery put in order, buildings repairea, 

 carting done, and wood-cutting, and preparations made for the spring 

 work, so that it is by no means an idle season. One thing is perfectly 

 certain — that the country would not have developed so rapidly as it 

 has done, and the population would not have grown to its present 

 proportions, had the climate been unfavourable to the health, pros- 

 perity, and progress of the community. Of course there are good and 

 liad seasons in Canada, as everywhere else, but, taken altogether, the 

 climate will compare very favourably with other countries in similar 

 latitudes. 



As the temperature in Manitoba and the North-West 

 Temperature. Territories is frequently referred to, it is desirable 



to quote official statistics bearing on the question. 

 The mean temperature at Winnipeg in the summer is 00*3°, and during 

 the winter 1°; Brandon, 58-1° and -1-8°; Sapid City, 62-2° and 27°; 

 Portage-la-Prairie, 61-8° and 12-6°. In the North-West Territories, the 

 summer and winter mean temperatures at the specified places are as 

 follows:— Kegina, 59-2° and -2-4°; Calgary, 55-6° and 12-2"; Edmon- 

 ton, o5'2*' and 11*3°. It is very evident the temperature only very 

 occasionally reaches the various extreme limits that are sometimes 

 Taentioned, or the mean winter temperatures could aot be anything liko 

 the figures above quoted.. .•■--»,. ,,^.... J. .,.. ; -.■..;„...., ',.-, p 



lieference has been made elsewhere to the agricultural 

 Products of products of Canada. Tho countr} also possesses great 

 Canada, wealth in the timber contained in the immense forests, and 



m»inifrh>(' in the minerals of all kinds, including coal, gold, silver, 

 iron, copper, &c. Then, again, the fisheries along the extensive coasts, 

 both on the Atlantic side and on the Pacific, and in the inland waters, 

 are most valuable and varied, and are valued annually at several millions 

 sterling. The principal fishes are salmon, trout, cod, herring, mackerel, 

 halibut, and haddock. Oysters and lobsters are also most nume- 

 rous. The manufacturing industry already occupies a most important 

 ])Osition, and is growing more extensive every year. Almost every 

 kind of manufacture is carried on. This activity is not confined to 

 any one part of Canada, but is apparent in all the older provinces, 



