48 CANADA AND THE EMPIRE.

more than in the States south of the boundary line.
The principal causes for this are that the farther you
travel toward the northern limit of its growth the
finer is the quality. The subsoil during the early
period of the growth of the wheat is kept moist by
the slow melting of the winter frosts through the
intense heat; the moisture ascending to the surface
and nourishing the roots of the grain, thus stimulating
the growth and producing a bountiful crop. Again,
at a later period, the sunshine is longer, just at the
needed time, when the heads are ripening. Heat
alone will not bring wheat to maturity, solar light
being needed to assist, and the greater the amount
the better the result obtained. From the 15th of
June to the 1st of July there are nearly two hours
more daylight in every twenty-four hours in Western
Canada than in Ohio.
The black alluvial soil, like a blackened plate of
glass, absorbs heat in seemingly enormous quantities ;
and the subsoils that are to be found in every district
of Western Canada are marvellous in the amount of
their plant foods, and during the long, bright, even
occasionally hot, summer day the transformation of
plant cells is so rapid as only to be likened to the
growth of plants under glass.

4. Sozl—There is far more of the rich alluvial
soil of the Red River valley, such as is found in
Russia and in Hungary, lying in Canada than in
the United States. This soil appears to be nearly
inexhaustible, so here, again, Canada offers more
than the United States to the farmer. Canada’s
fertility is further guarded by the education of the
farmer by the Government, which, profiting by the
experience of the United States, has urged the
rotation of crops, manuring, &c., even on those