With special reference to climatic conditions, Mr. Crean, in the report of his explorations in 1908, says:—“The climate seems well adapted for raising any cereal. In fact, wherever wheat has been tried it has grown successfully. At Methye portage, which is considerably north (Latitude 56° 35′ 11′′), oats and barley have been grown. Wheat was not tried, but I feel sure it would grow successfully, notwithstanding the relatively high altitude. Methye portage has an altitude of about one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven feet as compared with one thousand three hundred and ninety-eight feet at Prince Albert. It is very much above the general level of the country to the south and east.”
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