The total annual precipitation, including two or three feet of snow, would appear to be about the same as for western Ontario, to wit, thirty to forty inches. At Cross lake no damaging frosts occurred between June 8 and September 11, an interval of ninety-three days. But as a ‘sixty-day’ oat or barley in Ontario will mature in that region in forty-five or fifty days—a general rule which applies as well to fruits, roots and vegetables—there would appear to be no difficulty from a climatic standpoint in growing all the hardier products of the temperate zone. The size and the quality of the wild fruits between Setting and Split lakes were first-class. During the last week of July we enjoyed ripe raspberries, gooseberries, black and red currants, blueberries, saskatoons and strawberries (late ones). The first three mentioned were especially fine—the bushes loaded down with fruit as large and juicy as many tame varieties in Ontario. The average temperature of the growing season is about 60° Fahrenheit. Certainly vegetables will grow to perfection anywhere between Cross lake and Nelson House. At the former we ate potatoes weighing a pound and a half each, dug on the last day of August, and when we left on September 10 the corn and tomatoes were still untouched by frost. I would respectfully point out the advisability of the Dominion Government placing several small experimental stations at suitable points within the limits of this clay belt to make careful test of its seasonal variations and cropping possibilities. When the railway is completed such information will be of the utmost value to intending settlers. The winters are quite as enjoyable as in Manitoba—probably more so. Mr. Clifford, one of the railway location engineers, who has spent two years between The Pas and Split lake, assured me that he LIKED THE WINTER SEASON THERE much better than the summer. Whereas in many parts of the continent the summer of 1910 was a peculiarly dry one, in Keewatin it was just the opposite. Rain fell frequently, and high winds, especially nor’easters from Hudson bay, were almost constant and occasioned us some loss of time on the larger lakes.”