A very large part of Canada is so far north that the ordinary food-stuffs cannot be grown there; the river-valleys of British Columbia and the basin of the Saskatchewan excepted, there are but few marks of human industry beyond the fiftieth parallel. The general conditions of topography resemble those of the United States—a central plain between the high Rocky Mountain ranges in the west and the lower Laurentian ranges in the east.

Canada is an agricultural country, and because of the great skill with which its resources have been made commercially available, it is the most important colony of Great Britain. The basin of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River is the most populous part of the country. This region is highly cultivated and produces dairy products, beef, and the ordinary farm-crops.

From Lake Winnipeg westward, nearly to the Rocky Mountains, the land is a succession of prairies admirably suited to wheat-growing.[56] The wheat is a hard, spring variety, and the average yield per acre is about one-fourth greater than the average yield in the United States.

The area of forestry includes the larger remaining part of the great pine belt, together with a very heavy reserve of merchantable oak-timber. The part of the forest area in Canada aggregates one and one-quarter million square miles, and yields an annual product of about eighty million dollars; about one-third of the lumber is exported.

The northerly region of Canada produces furs and pelts. As long ago as 1670, Charles II. granted to Prince Rupert and a stock company the lands comprising a very large part of Canada around Hudson Bay, and secured to them the sole right to trap the fur-bearing animals of the region. In time the company, known as the Hudson Bay Company, transferred all its lands to Canada, and out of the domain thus annexed various provinces and unorganized districts have been created.

The company now exists as a corporation for the merchandise of furs. For the greater part, Indians are employed as hunters and trappers, and the pelts are collected at the various trading-posts, known as "houses" and "factories," to be sent to the head-quarters of the company near Winnipeg. Nearly every Arctic animal furnishes a merchantable pelt. The cheaper skins are made into garments in Canada and the United States; those commonly classed as furs are sold in London. Several other fur companies are also operating in Canada.

The fisheries of the coast-waters and the Great Lakes are among the most productive in the world. Everything within the three-mile limit of the shore is reserved for Canadian fishermen. The smaller bays and coves are reserved also within the three-mile limit. Beyond this limit the waters are open to all, and a fleet of swift gun-boats is necessary to prevent illicit fishing. Salmon, cod, lobsters, and herring form most of the catch, amounting in value to upward of twenty million dollars yearly.

The output of minerals varies from year to year; since 1900 it has averaged about sixty million dollars a year. The gold product constitutes nearly one-half and the coal about one-sixth of the total amount. Nickel, petroleum, silver, and lead form the rest of the output. Iron ore is abundant, but it is not at present available for production on account of the distance from transportation.

Commerce is facilitated by about eighteen thousand miles of railway and nearly three thousand miles of canal and improved river-navigation. One ocean-to-ocean railway, the Canadian Pacific, is in operation; another, an extension of the Grand Trunk, is under way. The rapids and shoals of the St. Lawrence and Richelieu Rivers are surmounted by canals and locks. Welland Canal connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the Canadian lock at St. Mary's Falls joins Lake Superior to Lake Huron. By means of the lakes and canals vessels drawing fourteen feet may load at Canadian ports and discharge at Liverpool.

The harbors of the Atlantic coast have two great drawbacks—ice and high tides. Some of the steamship lines make Portland, Me., their winter terminus. The Pacific coast harbors are not obstructed by ice. An attempt has been made in the direction of using Hudson Bay and Strait as a grain-route, but the difficulties of navigation are very great and the route is open only two months of the year.

Practically all the foreign trade is carried on with Great Britain and the United States. The trade with each aggregates about one hundred and fifty million dollars yearly. The exports are lumber and wood-pulp, cheese and dairy products, wheat and flour, beef-cattle, hog products, fish, and gold-quartz. The chief imports are steel, wool, sugar, and cotton manufactures.

Politically, Canada consists of a number of provinces, each with the usual corps of elective officers. A governor-general appointed by the Crown of Great Britain is the chief executive officer.

Nova Scotia.—This province is prominent on account of its coal and iron, and also because of its geographic position. The iron and coal are utilized in steel smelteries and rolling-mills, glass-factories, sugar-refineries, and textile-mills. It is one of the few localities in the eastern part of the continent yielding gold. Halifax, the capital, has one of the best harbors of the Atlantic coast of North America; it is not often obstructed by ice, and is the chief winter port. Halifax is the principal British naval station of North America, and this fact adds much to its commercial activity.

Prince Edward Island.—The industries of this province are mainly connected with the coast-fisheries. During the summer the island is visited by thousands of fishing-vessels for the purpose of preparing the catch for market. Fertilizer manufactured from the refuse is an incidental product. Charlottetown is the capital.

New Brunswick.—Fisheries and forest products are both resources of this province. Coal is mined at Grand Lake, and an excellent lime for export to the United States is made at St. John. Lumber, wood-pulp, wooden sailing-vessels, cotton textiles, and structural steel for ship-building are manufactured. A ship railway, seventeen miles long, across the isthmus that connects this province to Nova Scotia, is under construction. St. John, the capital, is the chief seat of trade.

Quebec.—This province was once a possession of France, and in the greater part of it French customs are yet about as prevalent as they were a century ago; moreover, the French population is increasing rapidly. The English-speaking population lives mainly along the Vermont border. As a rule the English are the manufacturers and traders; the French people are the farmers.

Montreal is the head of navigation of the St. Lawrence for ocean steamships. It is also the chief centre of manufactures. These are mainly sugar, rubber goods, textiles, light steel wares, and leather. The last-named goes almost wholly to Great Britain; the rest are consumed in Canada and the border American States. Quebec is the most strongly fortified city of the Dominion.

Ontario.—This province is a peninsula bordered by Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Farming is the chief employment, and barley is an important product. Most of it is used in the manufacture of malt, and "Canada malt" is regarded as the best. Several of the trunk railways whose terminals are in the United States traverse this peninsula. Toronto, the capital and commercial centre, is one of the most rapidly growing cities of North America. Hamilton owes its existence to its harbor and position at the head of Lake Ontario. Ottawa is the capital of the Dominion. At Sudbury are the nickel-mines that are among the most productive in the world.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.—These provinces include the level prairie lands of the Saskatchewan and the Red River of the North. They comprise the great grain-field of Canada. A considerable part of the wheat-growing lands are yet unproductive owing to the lack of railways. Much of the product is carried to market by the Canadian Pacific and its feeders, but a considerable part finds its way to the Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads. The coal of Manitoba and Alberta is an important fuel supply not only to the provinces and states surrounding, but to the railways above named. A good quality of anthracite coal is also mined in Alberta. Winnipeg, the metropolis of the region, is one of the great railway centres of Canada.

British Columbia.—British Columbia, the Pacific coast province, has several resources of great value. The gold mines led to its settlement and commercial opening. The salmon-fisheries are surpassed by those of the United States only. The beds of lignite coal have produced a very large part of the coal used in the Pacific coast States. The forests produce lumber for shipment both to the Atlantic coast of America and the Pacific coast of Asia.

Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is connected with various Asian ports by fast steamships. Nanaimo, Wellington, and Commox are the centres of the coal-mining industry. The copper-mines at Rossland produce most of the copper mined in Canada.

Newfoundland.—Although a Crown possession, Newfoundland is not a member of the Dominion of Canada. The extensive fisheries are its chief resource. The Labrador coast, which is used as a resort for curing and preserving the catch, is attached to Newfoundland for the purpose of government. St. Johns is the capital.

The islands of Miquelon and St. Pierre, south of Newfoundland, are a French possession. Fishing is the ostensible industry, but a great deal of smuggling is carried on.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE