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MANITOBA 106 MANITOWOC 'deciduous trees, and about 30 miles E. of Winnipeg begins a swampy district, in which are occasional elevations of ground covered with cedar, spruce, white pine, aspen, Cottonwood, balsam-willow, and tamarack. There are a few mountains of low elevation. Lakes, which are nu- merous, include Lake Winnipeg, Lake Winnipegosis, Lake Dauphin, and Lake Manitoba. The chief rrvers are the Winnipeg, Assiniboine, and Red. Al- though the climate in winter is cold, the mercury sometimes falling to 50° below zero, it is healthful. Soil. — The soil, containing a higher percentage of phosphate and nitrogen than any other known virgin soil, is generally a rich black mold, resting partly on a limestone formation and partly on a thick strata of hard clay, but now and then there are found un- productive sandy hills and alkaline patches. There is a luxurious growth of all kinds of vegetables and roots known to temperate climates. Agriculture. — Wheat, oats, barley, In- dian corn, hops, flax, hemp, and all kinds of garden vegetables yield excellent crops. For wheat growing Manitoba presents peculiar advantages. Potatoes and all other root-crops thrive well, and the prairie grasses furnish good hay. The total value of the crops in 1919 was $158,166,000. The live stock, dairy prod- uce, poultry, and wool were valued at $191,730,000. There are about 50,000 farmers in the province. Government. — The aifairs of Manitoba are directed by a lieutenant-governor, appointed for a term of five years by the Canadian Governor-General-in-Council, with an Executive Council of seven mem- bers, and a Legislative Assembly con- sisting of 49 members, who are chosen every five years by popular vote. ^ The province is represented in the Dominion Parliament by four senators, appointed for life by the Governor-General-in- Council, and by 15 members of the Legislature elected by popular vote. The judiciary includes a chief-justice, three judges of the Court of King's Bench, and three county judges. Education. — The public schools are free and non-sectarian, religious instruc- tion being permitted only by the parents' consent. The reports for 1919 showed: registered pupils, 105,000; teachers, 2,700; average attendance, 27,870. Col- legiate institutes for higher education are connected with the public school sys- tem in Winnipeg, Brandon, and Portage la Prairie, and other cities. Trade. — In 1918-1919 the exports were valued at $22,906,768, and the imports at $48,776,879. Manufacturing. — There were in 1917 1,329 manufacturing establishments, with a capital of $101,145,033, 19,205 em- ployees, wages $15,029,928; value of products, $122,804,881. History. — In 1769 English fur traders visited this region. These companies were united in the Hudson Bay Company. Manitoba was first settled about 1812, when the Hudson Bay Company con- veyed a grant of land to Lord Selkirk, who sent out a number of colonists. These settled on the W. bank of the Red river, 4 miles N. of the present site of Winni- peg. In 1836 the territory was repur- chased by the Hudson Bay Company, and was sold in 1867 for $1,500,000 to the British Government, which then transferred it to Canada. In 1870, un- der a law of the Candian Parliament called the Manitoba Act, the Province , began its constitutional life. The French settlers, discontented by the transfer of the Province, formed a provisional gov- ernment headed by Louis Riel. On the arrival of a British military expedition Riel fled to the United States, and oppo- sition to Canadian rule collapsed. With the completion of the Candian Pacific railway in 1886, Manitoba entered upon a new era. See Canada. MANITOBA LAKE, a lake of Canada, province of Manitoba, about 40 miles S. W. of Lake Winnipeg; length about 120 miles; breadth about 25 miles; area, 1,900 square miles. It receives the waters of several lakes at its N. ex- tremity, and at its S. White Mud river. It discharges into Lake Winnipeg through the Dauphin river. MANITOU CAVERNS, a group of caves near J*anitou Springs, Col. They were discovered by George W. Snider in 1881, but were only opened to the public in 1885. MANITOULIN (-to'lin) ISLANDS, a chain of islands in Lake Huron, separat- ing it from Georgian Bay. The principal are Grand Manitoulin (80 miles long and 28 wide), Cockburn Isle, and Drummond Isle; the last belongs to the State of Michigan, the others to Ontario, All are irregular and striking in their natural features, and Grand Manitoulin and Cockburn are covered with large forests of pine. Pop. about 2,000. MANITOWOC, a city and county-seat of Manitowoc co.. Wis.; on Lake Michi- gan, at the mouth of the Manitowoc river, and on the Wisconsin Central and the Chicago and Northwestern railroads ; 77 miles N. of Milwaukee. Here are the County Insane Asylum, St. Mary's Hos- pital, the James Library, a high school,