“ The chief crops of the farmer are wheat (which from its flinty hardness and full kernel is the specialty of the Canadian north-west) , oats, barley and pease. Hay is made of the native prairie grasses, which grow luxuriantly. From the richness and mellowness of the soil potatoes and all taproots reach a great size. Heavy dews in summer give the needed moisture after the rains of June have ceased. The traveller and farmer are at times annoyed by the mosquito. ”

“ About 4000 French Canadians, who had emigrated from Quebec to the United States, have also made the province their home, as well as Icelanders now numbering 20,000. During the decade ending 1907 large reserves were settled with Ruthenians often known as Galicians, Poles and other peoples from central and northern Europe. Some 30,000 of these are found in the province. The remainder of the population is chiefly made up of English-speaking people from the other provinces of the Dominion, from the United States, from England and Scotland and the north of Ireland. ”

“ They are fresh, shallow and tideless. Winnipegosis and Manitoba at high water, in spring-time, discharge their overflow through small streams into Winnipeg. The chief rivers emptying into Lake Winnipeg are the Winnipeg, the Red and the Saskatchewan. The Assiniboine river enters the Red river 45 m. from Lake Winnipeg, and at the confluence of the rivers (“The Forks”) is situated the city of Winnipeg. The Winnipeg, which flows from the territory lying south-east of Lake Winnipeg, is a noble river some 200 m. ”

“ The Dominion government maintains an experimental farm of 670 acres at Brandon. The fisheries are all fresh-water, principally white-fish, pickerel and pike. Large quantities of fresh fish caught in lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba are exported to all parts of the United States. ”

“ French and Scottish farmers and fur-traders gradually settled along the Red River, and by their frequent marriages with the Indians produced a race of metis or half-breeds. From 1811 to 1818 Lord Selkirk’s attempted colonization greatly increased the population ”