Excerpt from A Few Words Upon Canada, and Her Productions in the Great Exhibition

The country lying to the north of Lake Superior, so far as it has been carefully explored, presents little attraction to the settler; it is generally dreary, its streams are small, and it is deficient in wood fit for commercial purposes. The climate is cold, though not lying in a higher latitude than Quebec, and game and esculent plants are exceedingly rare. The north and north-east shores of Lake Huron are moderately elevated and broken. On the former there is a breadth of about ten miles, of which the valleys and slopes, yielding valuable wood and a good soil, are capable of settlement, but the country in the rear is inferior; while, on the latter, the coast is rocky, but there is said to be land of good quality beyond. The tracts of country between the Lake Huron and Lakes Erie and Ontario, and on the banks of the great St. Lawrence, to Quebec, are those which are more thickly pcpu lated, and where Montreal, Toronto, and all the principals towns are situated.

The climate of Canada greatly resembles that of the north of Germany and the centre of Russia. The greater part of the country is covered with snow from two to four months in the year, and most of the rivers are filled with ice for nearly the same period, so as to stop the navigation; but, on the other hand, the summer is hotter than in European countries lying under the same latitude, and the climate is altogether more constant; the extremes, appa rently so objectionable, rendering the natural productions of the country most varied. The strong and steady heat of the summer matures with great rapidity the most valuable plants and fruits, while the severe cold of the winter enables the inhabitants to combine the products of the northern with those of the southern climes. Thus the grape, peach, and melon come to perfection in Western Canada without the necessity of forcing; while wheat, which cannot be grown in Norway, ripens in similar latitudes of Eastern Canada. At Quebec apples and pears are abundant, but the peach and the grape do not succeed. At Montreal these fruits ripen; but in the districts surrounding Lake Erie grapes, peaches, and nectarines are produced in abundance and perfection. The purity of the air, and the absence of fogs at all times, mainly contribute to this result. All the vegetables grown in England can be raised in Canada.

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