The Unexploited West: A Compilation of all of the authentic information available at the present time as to the Natural Resources of the Unexploited Regions of Northern CanadaChambers, Ernest J.
History
The Unexploited West: A Compilation of all of the authentic information available at the present time as to the Natural Resources of the Unexploited Regions of Northern Canada
Chambers, Ernest J.
Canada -- Economic conditions; Northwest, Canadian -- Economic conditions
Mr. Crean quotes Professor John Macoun’s remark that “in considering the
possibilities of agricultural development of all this modern country,
one fact to be kept steadily in mind is the advantage of the low
altitude and the long day, which are fixed conditions and will always
remain the same,” and gives a table verified by Doctor W. F. King, Chief
Astronomer of the Department of the Interior, to compare the hours of
sunshine on specified days during the summer at Ottawa, Prince Albert,
and Methye portage. On May 1 the length of the day between sunrise and
sunset at Ottawa (45 north latitude) is 14 hours, 4 minutes; at Prince
Albert (53 north latitude) 14 hours, 46 minutes; at Methye portage
(56.36 north latitude) 15 hours, 12 minutes. June 20, the hours of
sunshine are as follows:—Ottawa, 15 hours, 26 minutes; Prince Albert,
16 hours, 42 minutes; Methye portage 17 hours, 30 minutes. For August 20
the figures are:—Ottawa, 13 hours, 42 minutes; Prince Albert, 14 hours,
17 minutes; Methye portage, 14 hours, 36 minutes.
Mr. Crean states that in 1908 “The first frost registered by my
thermometer was on October 2, when the thermometer fell to 24 degrees
Fahr. I was at Methye portage on September 17, and the potato tops were
not frozen in the least. The garden was also quite untouched. Nor had I
seen any frozen vegetables on the way up. . . . . . . The lakes began to
freeze on October 20, but remained open for perhaps two weeks, the
weather turning quite mild again. There was not sufficient snow to
travel with dogs until November 20, and the snow was not deep until
December 15. The rainfall in this district is ample, though not
excessive, and its uniformity from year to year is a valuable feature.
As far as I could learn the heaviest rains occur in the early summer
JUST WHEN RAIN IS MOST NEEDED
for agricultural operations. The snow fall is not generally heavy,
seldom exceeding eighteen inches, and, as with the rainfall, is
uniform.”
[Illustration: Green Lake settlement.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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