The climate exhibits high variability of temperature, both daily and seasonal, together with a good average temperature for the year. The humidity, however, particularly in winter, is low. For the 20-year period, 1888-1907 at Winnipeg the mean daily range of temperature has varied from the maximum of 26.4° for May to the minimum of 18.1° for November. The mean annual range of temperature has been 68°, though the highest absolute range of tem perature recorded has been 153°. The highest mean monthly temperature has been 77.6° in July, the lowest —13.4° in February. The annual rainfall has averaged 20.42 inches, hut it is a remarkable fact that 10.9 inches of this have fallen during the four months May to August. The percentage of possible sunshine during the same period has averaged about 55.5 per cent —nearly double that of Edinburg. The growth of vegetation is thus remarkably rapid. The climate is healthful and invigor ating, though the winters are severe and the changes from winter to summer and vice-versa are unusually sudden.
Geology and The geological formations encountered in Manitoba are Pre cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Cre taceous, Pleistocene and Recent. Of these the early formations are found in ascending order from east to west, except that in the north eastern angle of the province adjacent to Hud son Bay there is a belt of Silurian with another of Ordovician adjoining it. The Precambrian area, comprising practically the whole district east and southeast of Lake Winnipeg, extends roughly in a northwesterly direction, including nearly the whole of the central and northwest ern part of the province. Outcroppings of Huronian and Keewatin are numerous (see Re sources) though but limited areas have been as yet carefully prospected. The topography of this Archaean region is very rugged with numer ous lakes and wooded ridges of granites and gneisses largely denuded of soil by glacial action. The term °prairie province° long ap plied to Manitoba thus applies only to the southern and southwestern areas of the prov ince, comprising less than two-fifths of the whole. The Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian belts, extending also in a general northwesterly and southeasterly direction, underlie the great lake districts of Lakes Winnipeg, Manitoba, Dauphin and Winnipegosis. Valuable limestone, gypsum, shale and sandstone deposits outcrop at many points over these areas (see Re sources). The Cretaceous area directly over lying the Devonian in the southwestern district of the province exhibits soft shales and basal sandstone. The escarpment which forms the eastern edge of this area extends from the Pembina Mountains, near the international boundary, to the Pasquia Hills just south of the Saskatchewan River. The Pleistocene deposits of clay over the older formations, particularly in the south, are due, like the highly com posite nature of the surface soils of this area, to the action of the great glacial lakes Agassiz, Souris and Saskatchewan — probably 110,000 square miles in area (Upham) of which con siderably more than three-quarters lay within the boundaries of the province. The
original outlet of this great lake, the receding shores of which are marked by no fewer than 28 beaches (Upham), was toward the south until the melting of the ice-barriers opened up the natural outlet into Hudson Bay. To the rich composite deposits of surface soils during this process, particularly where the early reces sion of Lake Agasstz permitted adequate °weathering° of surface molds, the fertility of southern Manitoba may largely be attributed, though more recent alluvial deposits of both clay and humus are traceable in the Red River Valley. In the northern areas of the Lake Agassiz district the drainage is still very de fective and the °weathering° of the soil corre spondingly incomplete.
Perhaps the most striking topographical feature of the province is the surviving lake area of Lakes Winnipeg, Manitoba, Dauphin and Winnipegosis. Lake Winnipeg particularly (approximately 9,500 square miles) is the re pository of the Winnipeg River system from the southeast, the Red and Assiniboine River systems from the south and the Saskatchewan River system together with the Winnipegosis, Manitoba and Dauphin Lakes system from the west. The outlet is by Nelson River into Hud son Bay. The Churchill River flowing also into Hudson Bay drains a largely unexplored area in the northwestern part of the province. This variety of surface features is found with a very limited range of altitudes. The highest hills are found in the escarpments of the Cretaceous area —Pembina Mountains, Tiger Hills, Rid ing Mountain, Duck Mountain (2,600 feet) and the Pasquia Hills.
Fauna and The wild life was at one time prolific and is still justly famous, though game is now carefully conserved. The fur-trade was the first historic industry of the country. The buffalo, once found in almost in credible numbers on the prairie, is now extinct in its wild state, but the wapiti or elk, the ante lope and the moose are still plentiful. Among fur-bearing animals are the otter, beaver, mink. fisher, skunk, martin, muskrat, wolf (°timber° and uprairiep), bear, fox, lynx, ermine and wolverine, with the rabbit in great abundance as the basis of carnivorous life. Bird life is plentiful, including prairie thicken, wild duck, mallard chick, wild goose and partridge among game birds, and more than 250 other species of wild birds. Among fish the whitefish, pickerel. pike, sturgeon, tullabee and goldeye have con siderable commercial value.