CANADA'S WEATHER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 239, 6 October 1916, Page 7

CANADA'S WEATHER.

ASjayusoAL summer. j The unusual weather conditions which made the winter of 1016 remarkable soj far as Xew Zealand is concerned were] evidently part of universal meteorologi-1 cal confusion. Writing from On-J tario, the orchard province of Canada, a I correspondent says:—" The whole of Canada has groaned under a most unusual climatic season this year. For one thing, there was practically no spring season. It was winter till" the end of March, almost, with snow piled to the fence-tops; then they waked up, so to speak, and the snow was all gone in a few days. That was the timet arrived home. Apr 3 had a few warm days, but mostly dull and rainy, so little field' work could t>e done. But it was May! and June thart; put the kibosh on things I in an agricultural way. The oldest of old-timers could not remember two such wet months. It was only in isolated spots that any seeding could be done, and I have a friend at Bearasville (about 22 miles from here) who did not get his corn planted till June 29, and wis not able to cultivate his grapery till after i July I—l mean could not drive a cultivator through and turn the soil, from the excessive moisture. And this work should have been done end of April or first weeks of May— two full months behind. But he soon had a heaw crop of hay and alfalfa. He has 5.5 acres, mostly laid out in grapes, peaches, cherries, plums, apples, raspberries, blueberries, black and red currants, gooseberries, and other small fruit 3. besides some corn land, hay and alfalfa (you call tacerue). Then, right after July Ist. the heavens became as "burnished brass." and for nearly seven weeks hardly any rain fell in Ontario. In some parts no rain moistened the soil in that time, and everything dried up. It was regular Auckland clammy steam heat. July and August are Canada's two really hot months, but they have gone beyond the limit this year as May and June exceeded the wet record So it has been a rotten bad year. The queer thing is that crops, as a whole, are quite up to or ahead of the average, particularly in the prairie provinces tbiey are going to have real good crops. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta are calling for 40.000 harvesters to go and garner the big crops this and next month. If I knew enough, to make a horse open its "month and take the bit, I would go. You can get a return ticket from here to Calgary (about 2.000 miles) for 4.3 dollars" for two months, and five dollars a month extra if you stay two months longer, which is pretty cheap for a 4,000-mile' trip—about £10 10/. with £4 extra for berths and meals, going and cominf."