38 CANADA AND THE EMPIRE.

and that the figures here given are probably not in
any way exaggerated,
It is difficult to gain any reliable information as
to the effect of early frosts on crops, and therefore
as to the regularity of the Canadian wheat supply
(for this is one of the points on which the authorities
are somewhat reluctant to speak), but so large is the
dominion, so varied its climate, that, allowing a
somewhat wide margin, the yield, if not the quality,
may be regarded as fairly constant. The figures
of wheat exportation in a given time, or even of
wheat in the elevators at a certain inspection, are
hardly to be accepted as final, for the more prosperous
 the farmer becomes the more likely he is to
hold his own crops and await a favourable market.
Rain—The rains are mainly concentrated into
definite seasons, and so agriculture is not so much
interfered with by this uncertain element as in our
less fortunate country.! In considering the climate

“The progress of the seasons and the labours of the
husbandman, throughout the North-West, may be summed
up as follows :—Early in April the hot sun dissipates the
slight covering of snow, and almost immediately ploughing
commences, as, after the frost is out six inches, spring
work may begin. Seeding and ploughing go on together,
as the ground is quite dry, and in a few days the seed
germinates owing to the hot sunshine. By the time the
rains and heat of June have come, abundance of roots have
formed and the crop rushes to quick maturity.
“ After the middle of August the rains almost cease, and
for ten weeks scarcely a shower of rain falls, giving the
farmer ample time for harvesting. These general characteristics
 apply to the climate of the whole North-West, and