(A. P. C.)
Area and Population.—The following table shows the division of the Dominion into provinces and districts, with the capital, population and estimated area of each.
In 1867 the Dominion was formed by the union of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (Lower Canada) and Ontario (Upper Canada). In 1869 the North-west Territories were purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company, from a corner of which Manitoba was carved in the next year. In 1871 British Columbia and in 1873 Prince Edward Island joined the Dominion.
The islands and other districts within the Arctic circle became a portion of the Dominion only in 1880, when all British possessions in North America, excepting Newfoundland, with its dependency, the Labrador coast, and the Bermuda islands, were annexed to Canada. West of the province of Ontario, then inaccurately defined, the provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia were the only organized divisions of the western territory, but in 1882 the provisional districts of Assiniboia, Athabasca, Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed, leaving the remainder of the north-west as unorganized territories, a certain portion of the north-east, called Keewatin, having previously been placed under the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba. In 1905 these four districts were formed into the two provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and Keewatin was placed directly under the federal government. In 1898, owing to the influx of miners, the Yukon territory was constituted and granted a limited measure of self-government. The unorganized territories are sparsely inhabited by Indians, the people of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s posts and a few missionaries.
Population.—The growth of population is shown by the following figures:—1871, 3,485,761; 1881, 4,324,810; 1891, 4,833,239; 1901, 5,371,315. Since 1901 the increase has been more rapid, and in 1905 alone 144,621 emigrants entered Canada, of whom about two-fifths were from Great Britain and one-third from the United States.
The density of population is greatest in Prince Edward Island, where it is 51.6 to the sq. m.; in Nova Scotia it is 22.3; New Brunswick, 11.8; Ontario, 9.9; Manitoba, 4.9; Quebec, 4.8; Saskatchewan, 1.01; Alberta, 0.72; British Columbia, 0.4; the Dominion, 1.8. This is not an indication of the density in settled parts; as in Quebec, Ontario and the western provinces there are large unpopulated districts, the area of which enters into the calculation. The population is composed mainly of English- or French-speaking people, but there are German settlements of some extent in Ontario, and of late years there has been a large immigration into the western provinces and territories from other parts of Europe, including Russians, Galicians, Polish and Russian Jews, and Scandinavians. These foreign elements have been assimilated more slowly than in the United States, but the process is being hastened by the growth of a national consciousness. English, Irish and Scots and their descendants form the bulk of the population of Ontario, French-Canadians of Quebec, Scots of Nova Scotia, the Irish of a large proportion of New Brunswick. In the other provinces the latter race tends to confine itself to the cities. Manitoba is largely peopled from Ontario, together with a decreasing number of half-breeds—i.e.children of white fathers (chiefly French or Scottish) and Indian mothers—who originally formed the bulk of its inhabitants. Alberta and Saskatchewan, particularly the ranching districts, are chiefly peopled by English immigrants, though since 1900 there has also been a large influx from the United States. British Columbia contains a mixed population, of which in the mining districts a large proportion is American. Since 1871 a great change has taken place throughout the west,i.e.from Lake Superior to the Pacific. Then Manitoba was principally inhabited by English and French half-breeds (or Métis), descendants of Hudson’s Bay Company’s employes, oradventurous pioneers from Quebec, together with Scottish settlers, descendants of those brought out by Lord Selkirk (q.v.), some English army pensioners and others, and the van of the immigration that shortly followed from Ontario. Beyond Manitoba buffalo were still running on the plains, and British Columbia having lost its mining population of 1859 and 1860 was largely inhabited by Indians, its white population which centred in the city of Victoria being principally English.
French is the language of the province of Quebec, though English is much spoken in the cities; both languages are officially recognized in that province, and in the federal courts and parliament. Elsewhere, English is exclusively used, save by the newly-arrived foreigners. The male sex is slightly the more numerous in all the provinces except Quebec, the greatest discrepancy existing in British Columbia.
The birth-rate is high, especially in Quebec, where families of twelve to twenty are not infrequent, but is decreasing in Ontario. In spite of the growth of manufactures since 1878, there are few large cities, and the proportion of the urban population to the rural is small. Herein it differs noticeably from Australia. Between 1891 and 1901 the number of farmers in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces decreased, and there seemed a prospect of the country being divided into a manufacturing east and an agricultural west, but latterly large tracts in northern Ontario and Quebec have proved suitable for cultivation and are being opened up.
Religion.—There is no established church in Canada, but in the province of Quebec certain rights have been allowed to the Roman Catholic church ever since the British conquest. In that province about 87% of the population belongs to this church, which is strong in the others also, embracing over two-fifths of the population of the Dominion. The Protestants have shown a tendency to subdivision, and many curious and ephemeral sects have sprung up; of late years, however, the various sections of Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists have united, and a working alliance has been formed between Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists. The Methodists are the strongest, and in Ontario form over 30% of the population. Next come the Presbyterians, the backbone of the maritime provinces. The Church of England is strong in the cities, especially Toronto. Save among the Indians, active disbelief in Christianity is practically non-existent, and even among them 90% are nominally Christian.
Indians.—The Indian population numbers over 100,000 and has slightly increased since 1881. Except in British Columbia and the unorganized territories, nearly all of these are on reservations, where they are under government supervision, receiving an annuity in money and a certain amount of provisions; and where, by means of industrial schools and other methods, civilized habits are slowly superseding their former mode of life. British Columbia has about 25,000, most of whom are along the coast, though one of the important tribes, the Shuswaps, is in the interior. An almost equal number are found in the three prairie provinces. Those of Ontario, numbering about 20,000, are more civilized than those of the west, many of them being good farmers. In all the provinces they are under the control of the federal government which acts as their trustee, investing the money which they derive chiefly from the sale of lands and timber, and making a large annual appropriation for the payment of their annuities, schools and other expenses. While unable to alienate their reservations, save to the federal government, they are not confined to them, but wander at pleasure. As they progress towards a settled mode of life, they are given the franchise; this process is especially far advanced in Ontario. A certain number are found in all the provinces. They make incomparable guides for fishing, hunting and surveying parties, on which they will cheerfully undergo the greatest hardships, though tending to shrink from regular employment in cities or on farms.
Orientals.—The Chinese and Japanese numbered in 1906 about 20,000, of whom, three-quarters were in British Columbia, though they were spreading through the other provinces, chiefly as laundrymen. They are as a rule frugal, industrious and law-abiding, and are feared rather for their virtues than for their vices. Since 1885 a tax has been imposed on all Chinese entering Canada, and in 1903 this was raised to £100 ($500). British Columbia endeavoured in 1905 to lay a similar restriction on the Japanese, but the act was disallowed by the federal legislature.
Finance.—Since 1871 the decimal system of coinage, corresponding to that of the United States, has been the only one employed. One dollar is divided into one hundred cents (£1 = $4.862⁄3). The money in circulation consists of a limited number of notes issued by the federal government, and the notes of the chartered banks, together with gold, silver and copper coin. Previous to 1906 this coin was minted in England, but in that year a branch of the royal mint was established at Ottawa. Though the whole financial system rests on the maintenance of the gold standard, gold coin plays a much smaller part in daily business than in England, France or Germany. United States’ notes and silver are usually received at par; those of other nations are subject to a varying rate of exchange.
The banking system, which retains many features of the Scotch system, on which it was originally modelled, combines security for the note-holders and depositors with prompt increase and diminution of the circulation in accordance with the varying conditions of trade. This is especially important in a country where the large wheat crop renders an additional quantity of money necessary on very short notice during the autumn and winter. There has been no successful attempt to introduce the “wild cat” banking, which had such disastrous effects in the early days of the western states. Since federation no chartered bank has been compelled to liquidate without paying its note-holders in full. The larger banks are chartered by the federal government; in the smaller towns a number of private banks remain, but their importance is small, owing to the great facilities given to the chartered banks by the branch system. In 1906 there were 34 chartered banks, of which the branches had grown from 619 in 1900 to 1565 in 1906, and the number since then has rapidly increased. The banks are required by law to furnish to the finance minister detailed monthly statements which are published in the official gazette. Once in every ten years the banking act is revised and weaknesses amended. Clearing-houses have been established in the chief commercial centres. In October 1906 the chartered banks had an aggregate paid-up capital of over $94,000,000 with a note circulation of $83,000,000 and deposits of over $553,000,000.
There are four kinds of savings banks in Canada:—(1) the post-office savings banks; (2) the government savings banks of the Maritime provinces taken over at federation and being gradually merged with the former; (3) two special savings banks in the cities of Montreal and Quebec; (4) the savings bank departments of the chartered banks. The rate of interest allowed by the government is now 3%, and the chartered banks usually follow the government rate. The amount on deposit in the first three increased from $5,057,607 in 1868 to $89,781,546 in October 1906. The returns from the chartered banks do not specify the deposits in these special accounts.
The numerous loan and trust companies also possess certain banking privileges.
The federal revenue is derived mainly from customs and excise duties, with subsidiary amounts from mining licences, timber dues, post-office, &c. Both the revenue and the expenditure have in recent years increased greatly, the revenue rising from $46,743,103 in 1899 to $71,186,073 in 1905 and the expenditure keeping pace with it. The debt of the Dominion in 1873 and in 1905 was:—
While the debt had thus increased faster than the population, it weighed less heavily on the people, not only on account of thegreat increase in commercial prosperity, but of the much lower rate of interest paid, and of the increasing revenue derived from assets. Whereas in 1867 the rate of interest was over 4%, and interest was being paid on former provincial loans of over 6%, Canada could in 1906 borrow at 3%.
The greater part of the debt arises from the assumption of the debts of the provinces as they entered federation, expenditure on canals and assistance given to railways. It does not include the debts incurred by certain provinces since federation, a matter which concerns themselves alone. A strong prejudice against direct taxation exists, and none is imposed by the federal government, though it has been tentatively introduced in the provinces, especially in Quebec, in the form of liquor licences, succession duties, corporation taxes, &c. British Columbia has a direct tax on property and on income. The cities, towns and municipalities resort to it to supply their local needs, and there is a tendency, especially pronounced in Ontario on account of the excellence of her municipal system, to devolve the burden of educational payments, and others more properly provincial, upon the municipal authorities on the plea of decentralization.
Commerce and Manufactures.—Since 1867 the opening up of the fertile lands in the north-west, the increase of population, the discovery of new mineral fields, the construction of railways and the great improvement of the canal system have changed the conditions, methods and channels of trade. The great extension during the same period of the use of water-power has been of immense importance to Canada, most of the provinces possessing numerous swift-flowing streams or waterfalls, capable of generating a practically unlimited supply of power.
In 1878 the introduction of the so-called “National Policy” of protection furthered the growth of manufactures. Protection still remains the trade policy of Canada, though modified by a preference accorded to imports from Great Britain and from most of the British colonies. The tariff, though moderate as compared with that of the United States, amounted in 1907 to about 28% on dutiable imports and to about 16% on total imports. Tentative attempts at export duties have also been made. Inter-provincial commerce is free, and the home market is greatly increasing in importance. The power to make commercial treaties relating to Canada rests with the government of Great Britain, but in most cases the official consent of Canada is required, and for many years no treaty repugnant to her interests has been signed. The denunciation by the British government in 1897 of commercial treaties with Belgium and Germany, at the request of Canada, was a striking proof of her increasing importance, and attempts have at various times been made to obtain the full treaty-making power for the federal government. The great proportion of the foreign trade of the Dominion is with the United States and Great Britain. From the former come most of the manufactured goods imported and large quantities of raw materials; to the latter are sent food-stuffs. Farm products are the most important export, and with the extension of this industry in the north-west provinces and in northern Ontario will probably continue to be so. Gold, silver, copper and other minerals are largely exported, chiefly in an unrefined state and almost entirely to the United States. The exports of lumber are about equally divided between the two. Formerly, the logs were shipped as square timber, but now almost always in the form of deals, planks or laths; such square timber as is still shipped goes almost entirely to Great Britain. Wood pulp for the manufacture of paper is exported chiefly to the United States. To that country fresh fish is sent in large quantities, and there is an important trade in canned salmon between British Columbia and Great Britain. Few of the manufacturers do more than compete with the foreigner for an increasing share of the home market. In this they have won increased success, at least five-sixths of the manufactured goods used being produced within the country, but a desire for further protection is loudly expressed. Though the chief foreign commerce is with Great Britain and the United States, the Dominion has trade relations with all the chief countries of the world and maintains commercial agents among them. Her total foreign trade (import and export) was in 1906 over £100,000,000.
Shipping.—The chief seaports from east to west are Halifax, N.S., Sydney, N.S., St John, N.B., Quebec and Montreal on the Atlantic; and Vancouver, Esquimalt and Victoria, B.C., on the Pacific. Halifax is the ocean terminus of the Intercolonial railway; St John, Halifax and Vancouver of the Canadian Pacific railway. Prince Rupert, the western terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific railway, was in 1906 only an uninhabited harbour, but was being rapidly developed into a flourishing city. Though Halifax and St John are open in winter, much of the winter trade eastwards is done through American harbours, especially Portland, Maine, owing to the shorter railway journey. Esquimalt, Halifax, Kingston (Ont.) and Quebec have well-equipped graving-docks. The coast, both of the ocean and of the Great Lakes, is well lighted and protected. The decay of the wooden shipbuilding industry has lessened the comparative importance of the mercantile marine, but there has been a great increase in the tonnage employed in the coasting trade and upon inland waters. Numerous steamship lines ply between Canada and Great Britain; direct communication exists with France, and the steamers of the Canadian Pacific railway run regularly to Japan and to Australia.
Internal Communications.—Her splendid lakes and rivers, the development of her canal system, and the growth of railways have made the interprovincial traffic of Canada far greater than her foreign, and the portfolio of railways and canals is one of the most important in the cabinet. There are, nominally, about 200 railways, but about one-half of these, comprising five-sixths of the mileage, have been amalgamated into four great systems: the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian Northern and the Intercolonial; most of the others have been more or less consolidated. With the first of the four large systems is connected the Grand Trunk Pacific. The Intercolonial, as also a line across Prince Edward Island, is owned and operated by the federal government. Originally built chiefly as a military road, and often the victim of political exigencies, it has not been a commercial success. With the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific (planned for 1911) and the Canadian Northern, the country would possess three trans-continental railways, and be free from the reproach, so long hurled at it, of possessing length without breadth.
At numerous points along the frontier, connexion is made with the railways of the United States. Liberal aid is given by the federal, provincial and municipal governments to the construction of railways, amounting often to more than half the cost of the road. The government of Ontario has constructed a line to open up the agricultural and mining districts of the north of the province, and is operating it by means of a commission. Practically all the cities3and large towns have electric tramways, and electricity is also used as a motive power on many lines uniting the larger cities with the surrounding towns and villages. Since 1903 the Dominion government has instituted a railway commission of three members with large powers of control over freight and passenger rates and other such matters. Telephone and express companies are also subject to its jurisdiction. From its decisions an appeal may be made to the governor-general in council,i.e.to the federal cabinet. It has exercised a beneficial check on the railways and has been cheerfully accepted by them. In Ontario a somewhat similar commission, appointed by the local government, exercises extensive powers of control over railways solely within the province, especially over the electric lines.
Despite the increase in railway facilities, the waterways remain important factors in the transportation of the country. Steamers ply on lakes and rivers in every province, and even in the far northern districts of Yukon and Mackenzie. Where necessary obstacles are surmounted by canals, on which over £22,000,000 have been spent, chiefly since federation. The St Lawrenceriver canal system from Lake Superior to tide water overcomes a difference of about 600 ft., and carries large quantities of grain from the west to Montreal, the head of summer navigation on the Atlantic. These canals have a minimum depth of 14 ft. on the sills, and are open to Canadian and American vessels on equal terms; the equipment is in every respect of the most modern character. So great, however, is the desire to shorten the time and distance necessary for the transportation of grain from Lake Superior to Montreal that an increasing quantity is taken by water as far as the Lake Huron and Georgian Bay ports, and thence by rail to Montreal. Numerous smaller canals bring Ottawa into connexion with Lake Champlain and the Hudson river via Montreal; by this route the logs and sawn lumber of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick find their destination. It has long been a Canadian ideal to shorten the distance from Lake Superior to the sea. With this object in view, the Trent Valley system of canals has been built, connecting Lake Ontario with the Georgian Bay (an arm of Lake Huron) via Lake Simcoe. In 1899 and subsequently surveys were made with a view to connecting the Georgian Bay through the intervening water stretches, with the Ottawa river system, and thence to Montreal. In 1903 all tolls were taken off the Canadian canals, greatly to the benefit of trade.
Mining.—The mineral districts occur from Cape Breton to the islands in the Pacific and the Yukon district. Nova Scotia, British Columbia and the Yukon are still the most productive, but the northern parts of Ontario are proving rich in the precious metals. Coal, chiefly bituminous, occurs in large quantities in Nova Scotia, British Columbia and in various parts of the north-west (lignite), though most of the anthracite is imported from the United States, as is the greater part of the bituminous coal used in Ontario. Under the stimulus of federal bounties, the production of pig iron and of steel, chiefly from imported ore, is rapidly increasing. Bounties on certain minerals and metals are also given by some of the provinces. The goldfields of the Yukon, though still valuable, show a lessening production. Sudbury, in Ontario, is the centre of the nickel production of the world, the mines being chiefly in American hands, and the product exported to the United States. Of the less important minerals, Canada is the world’s chief producer of asbestos and corundum. Copper, lead, silver and all the important metals are mined in the Rocky Mountain district. From Quebec westwards, vast regions are still partly, or completely, unexplored.
Lumber.—In spite of great improvidence, and of loss by fire, the forest wealth of Canada is still the greatest in the world. Measures have been taken, both by the provincial and the federal governments, for its preservation, and for re-forestation of depleted areas. Certain provinces prohibit the exportation of logs to the United States, in order to promote the growth of saw-mills and manufactures of wooden-ware within the country, and the latter have of late years developed with great rapidity. The lumber trade of British Columbia has suffered from lack of an adequate market, but is increasing with the greater demand from the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. A great development has also taken place in Ontario and the eastern provinces, through the use of spruce and other trees, long considered comparatively useless, in the manufacture of wood-pulp for paper-making.
Crown Lands.—Large areas of unoccupied land remain in all the provinces (except Prince Edward Island). In Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the so-called railway belt of British Columbia and the territories, these crown lands are chiefly owned by the federal parliament; in the other provinces, by the local legislatures. So great is their extent that, in spite of the immigration of recent years, the Dominion government gives a freehold of 160 acres to everybona fidesettler, subject to certain conditions of residence and the erection of buildings during the first three years. Mining and timber lands are sold or leased at moderate rates. All crown lands controlled by the provinces must be paid for, save in certain districts of Ontario, where free grants are given, but the price charged is low. The Canadian Pacific railway controls large land areas in the two new provinces; and large tracts in these provinces are owned by land companies. Both the Dominion and the provincial governments have set apart certain areas to be preserved, largely in their wild state, as national parks. Of these the most extensive are the Rocky Mountains Park at Banff, Alberta, owned by the Dominion government, and the “Algonquin National Park,” north-east of Lake Simcoe, the property of Ontario.
Fisheries.—The principal fisheries are those on the Atlantic coast, carried on by the inhabitants of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the eastern section of Quebec. Cod, herring, mackerel and lobsters are the fish chiefly caught, though halibut, salmon, anchovies and so-called sardines are also exported. Bounties to encourage deep-sea fishing have been given by the federal government since 1882. In British Columbian waters the main catch is of salmon, in addition to which are halibut, oolachan, herring, sturgeon, cod and shellfish. The lakes of Ontario and Manitoba produce white fish, sturgeon and other fresh-water fish. About 80,000 persons find more or less permanent employment in the fishing industry, including the majority of the Indians of British Columbia.
The business of fur-seal catching is carried on to some extent in the North Pacific and in Bering Sea by sealers from Victoria, but the returns show it to be a decreasing industry, as well as one causing friction with the United States. Indeed, no department of national life has caused more continual trouble between the two peoples than the fisheries, owing to different laws regarding fish protection, and the constant invasion by each of the territorial waters of the other.
Education.—The British North America Act imposes on the provincial legislatures the duty of legislating on educational matters, the privileges of the denominational and separate schools in Ontario and Quebec being specially safeguarded. In 1871, the New Brunswick legislature abolished the separate school system, and a contest arose which was finally settled by the authority of the legislature being sustained, though certain concessions were made to the Roman Catholic dissentients. Subsequently a similar difficulty arose in Manitoba, where the legislature in 1890 abolished the system of separate schools which had been established in 1871. After years of bitter controversy, in which a federal ministry was overthrown, a compromise was arranged in 1897, in which the Roman Catholic leaders have never fully acquiesced. In the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, formed in 1905, certain educational privileges, (though not amounting to a separate school system) were granted to the Roman Catholics.
All the provinces have made sacrifices to insure the spread of education. In 1901, 76% of the total population could read and write, and 86% of those over five years of age. These percentages have gradually risen ever since federation, especially in the province of Quebec, which was long in a backward state. The school systems of all the provinces are, in spite of certain imperfections, efficient and well-equipped, that of Ontario being especially celebrated. A fuller account of their special features will be found under the articles on the different provinces.
Numerous residential schools exist and are increasing in number with the growth of the country in wealth and culture. In Quebec are a number of so-called classical colleges, most of them affiliated with Laval University.
Higher education was originally organized by the various religious bodies, each of which retains at least one university in more or less integral connexion with itself. New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba support provincial universities at Fredericton, Toronto and Winnipeg. Those of most importance4are:—Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S. (1818); the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B. (1800); McGill University, Montreal, Que. (1821); Laval University, Quebec, and Montreal, Que. (1852); Queen’s University, Kingston, Ont. (1841); the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. (1827);Trinity University, Toronto, Ont. (1852); Victoria University, Toronto, Ont. (1836); the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont. (1848); the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man. (1877).
Of these McGill (seeMontreal) is especially noted for the excellence of its training in practical and applied science. Many of the students, especially in the departments of medicine and theology, complete their education in the United States, Britain or Europe.
Most of the larger towns and cities contain public libraries, that of Toronto being especially well-equipped.
Of the numerous learned and scientific societies, the chief is the Royal Society of Canada, founded in 1881.
Defence.—The command in chief of all naval and military forces is vested in the king, but their control rests with the federal parliament. The naval forces, consisting of a fisheries protection service, are under the minister of marine and fisheries, the land forces under the minister of militia and defence. Prior to 1903, command of the latter was vested in a British officer, but since then has been entrusted to a militia council, of which the minister is president. The fortified harbours of Halifax (N.S.) and Esquimalt (B.C.) were till 1905 maintained and garrisoned by the imperial government, but have since been taken over by Canada. This has entailed the increase of the permanent force to about 5000 men. Previously, it had numbered about 1000 (artillery, dragoons, infantry) quartered in various schools, chiefly to aid in the training of the militia. In this all able-bodied citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 are nominally enrolled, but the active militia consists of about 45,000 men of all ranks, in a varying state of efficiency. These cannot be compelled to serve outside the Dominion, though special corps may be enlisted for this purpose, as was done during the war in South Africa (1899-1902). At Quebec is a Dominion arsenal, rifle and ammunition factories. Cadet corps flourish in most of the city schools. At Kingston (Ont.) is the Royal Military College, to the successful graduates of which a certain number of commissions in the British service is annually awarded.
Justice and Crime.—Justice is well administered throughout the country, and even in the remotest mining camps there has been little of the lawlessness seen in similar districts of Australia and the United States. For this great credit is due to the “North-west mounted police,” the “Riders of the Plains,” a highly efficient body of about seven hundred men, under the control of the federal government. Judges are appointed for life by the Dominion parliament, and cannot be removed save by impeachment before that body, an elaborate process never attempted since federation, though more than once threatened. From the decisions of the supreme court of Canada appeal may be made to the judicial committee of the imperial privy council.
Authorities.—The Canadian Geological Survey has published (Ottawa, since 1845) a series of reports covering a great number of subjects. Several provinces have bureaus or departments of mines, also issuing reports. The various departments of the federal and the provincial governments publish annual reports and frequent special reports, such as the decennial report on the census, from which a vast quantity of information may be obtained. Most of this is summed up in the annualStatistical Year Book of Canadaand in theOfficial Handbook of the Dominion of Canada, issued at frequent intervals by the Department of the Interior. See also J.W. White (the Dominion geographer),Atlas of Canada(1906); J. Castell Hopkins,Canada: an Encyclopaedia(6 vols., 1898-1900);The Canadian Annual Review(yearly since 1902), replacing H.J. Morgan’sCanadian Annual Register(1878-1886); Sir J.W. Dawson,Handbook of Canadian Geology(1889); George Johnson,Alphabet of First Things in Canada(3rd ed., 1898); A.G. Bradley,Canada in the Twentieth Century(1903);Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada(yearly since 1883); R.C. Breckenridge,The Canadian Banking System(1895); A. Shortt,History of Canadian Banking(1902-1906); Sir S. Fleming,The Intercolonial(1876); John Davidson, “Financial Relations of Canada and the Provinces” (Economic Journal,June 1905);Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, passim, for valuable papers by H.M. Ami, A.P. Coleman, G.M. Dawson, W.F. Ganong, B.J. Harrington and others; also articles inCanadian Economicsand in theHandbook of Canada,published on the occasion of visits of the British Association.
Authorities.—The Canadian Geological Survey has published (Ottawa, since 1845) a series of reports covering a great number of subjects. Several provinces have bureaus or departments of mines, also issuing reports. The various departments of the federal and the provincial governments publish annual reports and frequent special reports, such as the decennial report on the census, from which a vast quantity of information may be obtained. Most of this is summed up in the annualStatistical Year Book of Canadaand in theOfficial Handbook of the Dominion of Canada, issued at frequent intervals by the Department of the Interior. See also J.W. White (the Dominion geographer),Atlas of Canada(1906); J. Castell Hopkins,Canada: an Encyclopaedia(6 vols., 1898-1900);The Canadian Annual Review(yearly since 1902), replacing H.J. Morgan’sCanadian Annual Register(1878-1886); Sir J.W. Dawson,Handbook of Canadian Geology(1889); George Johnson,Alphabet of First Things in Canada(3rd ed., 1898); A.G. Bradley,Canada in the Twentieth Century(1903);Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada(yearly since 1883); R.C. Breckenridge,The Canadian Banking System(1895); A. Shortt,History of Canadian Banking(1902-1906); Sir S. Fleming,The Intercolonial(1876); John Davidson, “Financial Relations of Canada and the Provinces” (Economic Journal,June 1905);Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, passim, for valuable papers by H.M. Ami, A.P. Coleman, G.M. Dawson, W.F. Ganong, B.J. Harrington and others; also articles inCanadian Economicsand in theHandbook of Canada,published on the occasion of visits of the British Association.
(W. L. G.)
Agriculture
Canada is pre-eminently an agricultural country. Of the total population (estimated in 1907 at 6,440,000) over 50% are directly engaged in practical agriculture. In addition large numbers are engaged in industries arising out of agriculture; among these are manufacturers of agricultural implements, millers of flour and oatmeal, curers and packers of meat, makers of cheese and butter, and persons occupied in the transportation and commerce of grain, hay, live stock, meats, butter, cheese, milk, eggs, fruit and various other products. The country is splendidly formed for the production of food. Across the continent there is a zone about 3500 m. long and as wide as or wider than France, with (over a large part of this area) a climate adapted to the production of foods of superior quality. Since the opening of the 20th century, great progress has been made in the settlement and agricultural development of the western territories between the provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia. The three “North-West Provinces” (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) have a total area of 369,869,898 acres, of which 12,853,120 acres are water. In 1906 their population was 808,863, nearly double what it was in 1901. The land in this vast area varies in virginal fertility, but the best soils are very rich in the constituents of plant food. Chemical analyses made by Mr F.T. Shutt have proved that soils from the North-West Provinces contain an average of 18,000 ℔ of nitrogen, 15,580 ℔ of potash and 6,700 ℔ of phosphoric acid per acre, these important elements of plant food being therefore present in much greater abundance than they are in ordinary cultivated European soils of good quality. The prairie lands of Manitoba and Saskatchewan produce wheat of the finest quality. Horse and cattle ranching is practised in Alberta, where the milder winters allow of the outdoor wintering of live stock to a greater degree than is possible in the colder parts of Canada. The freezing of the soil in winter, which at first sight seems a drawback, retains the soluble nitrates which might otherwise be drained out. The copious snowfall protects vegetation, supplies moisture, and contributes nitrogen to the soil. The geographical position of Canada, its railway systems and steamship service for freight across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, are favourable to the extension of the export trade in farm products to European and oriental countries. Great progress has been made in the development of the railway systems of Canada, and the new transcontinental line from the Atlantic to the Pacific, passing through Saskatchewan via Saskatoon, and Alberta via Edmonton, renders possible of settlement large areas of fertile wheat-growing soil. The canal system of Canada, linking together the great natural waterways, is also of much present and prospective importance in cheapening the transportation of agricultural produce.
Ofwheatmany varieties are grown. The methods of cultivation do not involve the application of so much hand labour per acre as in Europe. The average yield of wheat for the whole of Canada is nearly 20 bushels per acre. InCrops1901 the total production of wheat in Canada was 55½ million bushels. In 1906 the estimated total production was 136 million bushels. The total wheat acreage, which at the census of 1901 was 4,224,000, was over 6,200,000 in 1906, an increase of nearly two million acres in five years.
Up to the close of the 19th century, Ontario was the largest wheat-growing province in Canada. In 1900 the wheat acreage in Ontario was 1,487,633, producing 28,418,907 bushels, an average yield of 19.10 bushels per acre. Over three-quarters of this production was of fall or winter wheat, the average yield of which in Ontario over a series of years since 1883 had been about 20 bushels per acre. But the predominance in wheat-growing has now shifted to the new prairie regions of the west. A census taken in 1906 shows that the total acreage of wheat in the North-West Provinces was 5,062,493, yielding 110,586,824 bushels, an average in a fairly normal season of 21.84 bushels per acre. Of this total wheat acreage, 2,721,079 acres were in Manitoba, 2,117,484 acres in Saskatchewan, and 223,930 acresin Alberta, with average yields per acre at the rates of 20.02 bushels in Manitoba, 23.70 in Saskatchewan and 26.49 in Alberta. In these provinces spring wheat is almost universally sown, except in Alberta where fall or winter wheat is also sown to a considerable extent. Summer fallowing for wheat is a practice that has gained ground in the North-West Provinces. Land ploughed and otherwise tilled, but left unseeded during the summer, is sown with wheat in the succeeding autumn or spring. Wheat on summer fallow land yielded, according to the North-West census of 1906, from 2 to 8 bushels per acre more than that sown on other land. Summer fallowing is, however, subject to one drawback: the strong growth which it induces is apt to retard the ripening of the grain. Canada is clearly destined to rank as one of the most important grain-producing countries of the world. The northern limits of the wheat-growing areas have not been definitely ascertained; but samples of good wheat were grown in 1907 at Fort Vermilion on the Peace river, nearly 600 m. north of Winnipeg in lat. 58.34 and at Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie river in lat. 61.52, more than 800 m. north of Winnipeg and about 1000 m. north of the United States boundary. As a rule the weather during the harvesting period permits the grain to be gathered safely without damage from sprouting. Occasionally in certain localities in the north-west the grain is liable to injury from frost in late summer; but as the proportion of land under cultivation increases the climate becomes modified and the danger from frost is appreciably less. The loss from this cause is also less than formerly, because any grain unfit for export is now readily purchased for the feeding of animals in Ontario and other parts of eastern Canada.
Suitable machinery for cleaning the grain is everywhere in general use, so that weed seeds are removed before the wheat is ground. This gives Canadian wheat excellent milling properties, and enables the millers to turn out flour uniform in quality and of high grade as to keeping properties. Canadian flour has a high reputation in European markets. It is known as flour from which bakers can make the best quality of bread, and also the largest quantity per barrel, the quantity of albuminoids being greater in Canadian flour than in the best brands of European. Owing to its possession of this characteristic of what millers term “strength,”i.e.the relative capacity of flour to make large loaves of good quality, Canadian flour is largely in demand for blending with the flour of the softer English wheats. For this reason some of the strong Canadian wheats have commanded in the home market 5s. and 6s. a quarter more than English-grown wheat. At the general census of 1901 the number of flouring and grist mill establishments, each employing five persons and over, was returned at 400, the number of employes being 4251 and the value of products $31,835,873. A special census of manufactures in 1906 shows that these figures had grown in 1905 to 832 establishments, 5619 employes and $56,703,269 value of the products. There is room for a great extension in the cultivation of wheat and the manufacture and exportation of flour.
In the twelve months of 1907 Canada exported 37,503,057 bushels of wheat of the value of $34,132,759 and 1,858,485 barrels of flour of the value of $7,626,408. The corresponding figures in 1900 were—wheat, 16,844,650 bushels, value, $11,995,488, and flour, 768,162 bushels, value, $2,791,885.
Oats of fine quality are grown in large crops from Prince Edward Island on the Atlantic coast to Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast. Over large areas the Canadian soil and climate are admirably adapted for producing oats of heavy weight per bushel. In all the provinces of eastern Canada the acreage under oats greatly exceeds that under wheat. The annual average oat crop in all Canada is estimated at about 248 million bushels. As the total annual export of oats is now less than three million bushels the home consumption is large, and this is an advantage in maintaining the fertility of the soil. In 1907 the area under oats in Ontario was 2,932,509 acres and yielded 83,524,301 bushels, the area being almost as large as that of the acreage under hay and larger than the combined total of the other principal cereals grown in the province. Canadian oatmeal is equal in quality to the best. It is prepared in different forms, and in various degrees of fineness.
Barley was formerly grown for export to the United States for malting purposes. After the raising of the duty on barley under the McKinley and Dingley tariffs that trade was practically destroyed and Canadian farmers were obliged to find other uses for this crop. Owing to the development of the trade with the mother-country in dairying and meat products, barley as a home feeding material has become more indispensable than ever. Before the adoption of the McKinley tariff about nine million bushels of barley were exported annually, involving the loss of immense stores of plant food. In 1907, with an annual production of nearly fifty million bushels, only a trifling percentage was exported, the rest being fed at home and exported in the form of produce without loss from impoverishment of the soil. The preparation of pearl or pot barley is an incidental industry.
Rye is cultivated successfully, but is seldom used for human food. Flour from wheat, meal from oats, and meal from Indian corn are preferred.
Buckwheat flour is used in considerable quantities in some districts for the making of buckwheat cakes, eaten with maple syrup. These two make an excellent breakfast dish, characteristic of Canada and some of the New England states. There are also numerous forms of preparations from cereals, sold as breakfast foods, which, owing to the high quality of the grains grown in Canada and the care exercised in their manufacture, compare favourably with similar products in other countries.
Peas in large areas are grown free from serious trouble with insect pests. Split peas for soup, green peas as vegetables and sweet peas for canning are obtained of good quality.
Vegetables are grown everywhere, and form a large part of the diet of the people. There is a comparatively small export, except in the case of turnips and potatoes and of vegetables which have been canned or dried. Besides potatoes, which thrive well and yield large quantities of excellent quality, there are turnips, carrots, parsnips and beets. The cultivation of sugar beets for the manufacture of sugar has been established in Ontario and in southern Alberta, where in 1906 an acreage under this crop of 3344 yielded 27,211 tons, an average of 8.13 tons per acre. Among the common vegetables used in the green state are peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflowers, asparagus, Indian corn, onions, leeks, tomatoes, lettuce, radish, celery, parsley, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash and rhubarb. Hay, of good quality of timothy (Phleum pratense), and also of timothy and clover, is grown over extensive areas. For export it is put up in bales of about 150 ℔ each. Since 1899 a new form of pressing has been employed, whereby the hay is compressed to stow in about 70 cub. ft. per ton. This has been a means of reducing the ocean freight per ton. The compact condition permits the hay to be kept with less deterioration of quality than under the old system of more loose baling. Austrian brome grass (Bromus inermis) and western rye grass (Agropyrum tenerum) are both extensively grown for hay in the North-West Provinces.
The almost universal adoption of electrical traction in towns has not led to the abandonment of the breeding of horses to the extent that was at one time anticipated. Heavy draught horses are reared in Ontario, and to a lessLive stock.but increasing extent in the North-West Provinces, the breeds being mainly the Clydesdale and the Shire. Percherons are also bred in different parts of Canada, and a few Belgian draught horses have been introduced. Good horses suitable for general work on farms and for cabs, omnibuses, and grocery and delivery wagons, are plentiful for local markets and for export. Thoroughbred and pure bred hackney stallions are maintained in private studs and by agricultural associations throughout the Dominion, and animals for cavalry and mounted infantry remounts are produced in all the provinces including those of the North-West. Useful carriage horses and saddle horses are bred in many localities. Horse ranching is practised largely in Alberta. There are no governmentstud farms. The total number of horses in the Dominion was estimated on the basis of census returns at 2,019,824 for the year 1907, an increase of 609,309 since 1901.
Cattle, sheep, swine and poultry are reared in abundance. The bracing weather of Canadian winters is followed by the warmth and humidity of genial summers, under which crops grow in almost tropical luxuriance, while the cool evenings and nights give the plants a robustness of quality which is not to be found in tropical regions, and also make life for the various domestic animals wholesome and comfortable. In the North-West Provinces there are vast areas of prairie land, over which cattle pasture, and from which thousands of fat bullocks are shipped annually. Throughout other parts bullocks are fed on pasture land, and also in stables on nourishing and succulent feed such as hay, Indian corn fodder, Indian corn silage, turnips, carrots, mangels, ground oats, barley, peas, Indian corn, rye, bran and linseed oil cake. The breeding of cattle, adapted for the production of prime beef and of dairy cows for the production of milk, butter and cheese, has received much attention. There is government control of the spaces on the steamships in which the cattle are carried, and veterinary inspection prevents the exportation of diseased animals.
A considerable trade has been established in the exportation of dressed beef in cold storage, and also in the exportation of meat and other foods in hermetically sealed receptacles. By the Meat and Canned Foods Act of 1907 of the Dominion parliament and regulations thereunder, the trade is carried on under the strictest government supervision, and no canned articles of food may be exported unless passed as absolutely wholesome and officially marked as such by government inspectors. There is a considerable trade in “lunch tongues.”
The cattle breeds are principally those of British origin. For beef, shorthorns, Herefords, Galloways and Aberdeen-Angus cattle are bred largely, whilst for dairying purposes, shorthorns, Ayrshires, Jerseys, Guernseys and Holstein-Friesians prevail. The French-Canadian cattle are highly esteemed in eastern Canada, especially by the farmers of the French provinces. They are a distinct breed of Jersey and Brittany type, and are stated to be descended from animals imported from France by the early settlers. The estimated number of cattle in Canada in 1907 was 7,439,051, an increase of 2,066,547 over the figures of the census of 1901.
All parts of the Dominion are well adapted for sheep; but various causes, amongst which must be reckoned the prosperity of other branches of agriculture, including wheat-growing and dairying, have in several of the provinces contributed to prevent that attention to this branch which its importance deserves, though there are large areas of rolling, rugged yet nutritious pastures well suited to sheep-farming. In the maritime provinces and in Prince Edward Island sheep and lambs are reared in large numbers. In Ontario sheep breeding has reached a high degree of perfection, and other parts of the American continent draw their supplies of pure bred stock largely from this province. All the leading British varieties are reared, the Shropshire, Oxford Down, Leicester and Cotswold breeds being most numerous. There are also excellent flocks of Lincolns and Southdowns. The number of sheep and lambs in Canada was estimated for the year 1907 at 2,830,785, as compared with 2,465,565 in 1901.
Pigs, mostly of the Yorkshire, Berkshire and Tamworth breeds, are reared and fattened in large numbers, and there is a valuable export trade in bacon. Canadian hogs are fed, as a rule, on feeds suited for the production of what are known as “fleshy sides.” Bacon with an excess of fat is not wanted, except in the lumber camps; consequently the farmers of Canada have cultivated a class of swine for bacon having plenty of lean and firm flesh. The great extension of the dairy business has fitted in with the rearing of large numbers of swine. Experimental work has shown that swine fattened with a ration partly of skim-milk were lustier and of a more healthy appearance than swine fattened wholly on grains. Slaughtering and curing are carried on chiefly at large packing houses. The use of mechanical refrigerating plants for chilling the pork has made it practicable to cure the bacon with the use of a small percentage of salt, leaving it mild in flavour when delivered in European markets. Regular supplies are exported during every week of the year. Large quantities of lard, brawn and pigs’ feet are exported. In 1907 the number of pigs in Canada was estimated at 3,530,060, an increase of 1,237,385 over the census record of 1901. Turkeys thrive well, grow to a fine size and have flesh of tender quality. Chickens are raised in large numbers, and poultry-keeping has developed greatly since the opening of the 20th century. Canadian eggs are usually packed in cases containing thirty dozens each. Cardboard fillers are used which provide a separate compartment for each egg. There are cold storage warehouses at various points in Canada, at which the eggs are collected, sorted and packed before shipment. These permit the eggs to be landed in Europe in a practically fresh condition as to flavour, with the shells quite full.
Canada has been called the land of milk and honey. Milk is plentiful, and enters largely into the diet of the people. With a climate which produces healthy, vigorous animals, notably free from epizootic diseases, with a fertileDairy products.soil for the growth of fodder crops and pasture, with abundance of pure air and water, and with a plentiful supply of ice, the conditions in Canada are ideal for the dairying industry. Large quantities of condensed milk, put up in hermetically sealed tins, are sold for use in mining camps and on board steamships. The cheese is chiefly of the variety known as “Canadian Cheddar.” It is essentially a food cheese rather than a mere condiment, and 1 ℔ of it will furnish as much nourishing material as 2¼ ℔ of the best beefsteak. The industry is largely carried on by co-operative associations of farmers. The dairy factory system was introduced into Canada in 1864, and from that time the production and exportation of cheese grew rapidly. Legislation was passed to protect Canadian dairy produce from dishonest manipulation, and soon Canadian cheese obtained a deservedly high reputation in the British markets. In 1891 cheese factories and creameries numbered 1733, and in 1899 there were 3649. In 1908 there were 4355 of these factories, of which 1284 were in Ontario, 2806 in Quebec, and 265 in the remaining seven provinces of Canada. Those in Ontario are the largest in size. Amongst the British imports of cheese the Canadian product ranks first in quality, whilst in quantity it represents about 72% of the total value of the cheese imports, and 84% of the total value of the imports of that kind of cheese which is classed as Cheddar. In 1906 the total exports of cheese to all countries from Canada reached 215,834,543 ℔ of the value of $24,433,169.
Butter for export is made in creameries, where the milk, cream and butter are handled by skilled makers. The creameries are provided with special cold storage rooms, into which the butter is placed on the same day in which it is made. From them it is carried in refrigerator railway cars and in cold storage chambers on steamships to its ultimate destination. For the export trade it is packed in square boxes made of spruce or some other odourless wood. These are lined with parchment paper, and contain each 56 ℔ net of butter. The total export of butter from Canada in 1906 was 34,031,525 ℔., of the value of $7,075,539. According to a census of manufactures taken in 1906, the total value of factory cheese and butter made in Canada during that year was $32,402,265.
There are large districts lying eastward of the Great Lakes and westward of the Rocky Mountains, where apples of fine quality can be grown; and there are other smaller areas in which pears, peaches and grapes are grownFruits.in quantities in the open air. The climate is favourable to the growth of plums, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, etc. There are many localities in which cranberries are successfully grown, and in which blueberries also grow wild in great profusion.
Apples and pears are the chief sorts of fruit exported. Thehigh flavour, the crisp, juicy flesh and the long-keeping qualities of the Canadian apples are their chief merits. Apples are exported in barrels and also in boxes containing about one bushel each. Large quantities are also evaporated and exported. Establishments for evaporating fruit are now found in most of the larger apple-growing districts, and canning factories and jam factories have been established in many parts of Canada, and are conducted with advantage and profit.
The chief fruit-growing districts have long been in southern and western Ontario and in Nova Scotia; but recently much attention has been devoted to fruit-growing in British Columbia, where large areas of suitable land are available for the cultivation of apples, pears and other fruits. In some parts of the semi-arid districts in the interior of the province irrigation is being successfully practised for the purpose of bringing land under profitable cultivation for fruit. Collections of fruit grown in British Columbia have received premier honours at the competitive exhibitions of the Royal Horticultural Society in London, where their high quality and fine colour have been greatly appreciated.
Wine is made in considerable quantities in the principal vine-growing districts, and in several localities large vineyards have been planted for this purpose. An abundance of cider is also made in all the large apple-growing districts.
Honey is one of the minor food-products of Canada, and in many localities bees have abundance of pasturage. Canadian honey for colour, flavour and substance is unsurpassed. Maple sugar and syrup are made in those areas of the country where the sugar-maple tree flourishes. The syrup is used chiefly as a substitute for jam or preserved fruits, and the sugar is used in country homes for sweetening, for cooking purposes and for the making of confectionery. The processes of manufacture have been improved by the introduction of specially constructed evaporators, and quantities of maple sugar and syrup are annually exported.
Tobacco is a new crop which has been grown in Canada since 1904. Its cultivation promises to be successful in parts of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.
The department of agriculture of the Dominion government renders aid to agriculture in many ways, maintaining the experimental farms and various effective organizations for assisting the live-stock, dairying and fruit-growingState aid.industries, for testing the germination and purity of agricultural seeds, and for developing the export trade in agricultural and dairy produce. The health of animals branch, through which are administered the laws relating to the contagious diseases of animals, and the control of quarantine and inspection stations for imported animals, undertakes also valuable experiments on the diseases of farm livestock, including glanders in horses, tuberculosis in cattle, &c. The policy of slaughtering horses reacting to the mallein test has been successfully initiated by Canada, the returns for 1908 from all parts of the country indicating a considerable decrease from the previous year in the number of horses destroyed and the amount of compensation paid. A disease of cattle in Nova Scotia, known as the Pictou cattle disease, long treated as contagious, has now been demonstrated by the veterinary officers of the department to be due to the ingestion of a weed, the ragwort,Senecio Jacobea. Hog cholera or swine fever has been almost eradicated. A laboratory is maintained for bacteriological and pathological researches and for the preparation of preventive vaccines. Canada is entirely free from rinderpest, pleuro-pneumonia and foot-and-mouth disease.
The work of the live-stock branch is directed towards the improvement of the stock-raising industry, and is carried on through the agencies of expert teachers and stock judges, the systematic distribution of pure-bred breeding stock, the yearly testing of pure-bred dairy herds, the supervision of the accuracy of the registration of pure-bred animals and the nationalization of live-stock records. The last two objects are secured by act of the Dominion parliament passed in 1905. Under this act a record committee, appointed annually by the pedigree stud, herd and flock book associations of Canada, perform the duties of accepting the entries of pure-bred animals for the respective pedigree registers, and are provided with an office and with stationery and franking privileges by the government. Pedigree certificates are certified as correct by an officer of the department of agriculture, so that in Canada there exist national registration and government authority for the accuracy of pedigree livestock certificates. The government promotes the extension of markets for farm products; it maintains officers in the United Kingdom who make reports from time to time on the condition in which Canadian goods are delivered from the steamships, and also on what they can learn from importing and distributing merchants regarding the preferences of the market for different qualities of farm goods and different sorts of packages. Through this branch of the public service a complete chain of cold-storage accommodation between various points in Canada and markets in Europe, particularly in Great Britain, has been arranged. The government offered a bonus to those owners of creameries who would provide cold-storage accommodation at them and keep the room in use for a period of three years. It also arranged with the various railway companies to run refrigerator cars weekly on the main lines leading to Montreal and other export points. The food-products from any shippers are received into these cars at the various railway stations at the usual rates, without extra charge for icing or cold-storage service. The government offered subventions to those who would provide cold-storage warehouses at various points where these were necessary, and also arranged with the owners of ocean steamships to provide cold-storage chambers on them by means of mechanical refrigerators. The policy of encouraging the provision of ample cold-storage accommodation has been developed still further by the Cold Storage Act of the Dominion parliament passed in 1907, under which subsidies are granted in part payment of the cost of erecting and equipping cold-storage warehouses in Canada for the preservation of perishable food-products.
Besides furnishing technical and general information as to the carrying on of dairying operations, the government has established and maintained illustration cheese factories and creameries in different places for the purpose of introducing the best methods of co-operative dairying in both the manufacturing and shipping of butter and cheese. Inspectors are employed to give information regarding the packing of fruit, and also to see to the enforcement of the Fruit Marks Acts, which prohibit the marking of fruit with wrong brands and packing in any fraudulent manner.
The seed branch of the department of agriculture was established in 1900 for the purpose of encouraging the production and use of seeds of superior quality, thereby improving all kinds of field and garden crops grown in Canada. Seeds are tested in the laboratory for purity and germination on behalf of farmers and seed merchants, and scientific investigations relating to seeds are conducted and reported upon. In the year 1906-1907 6676 samples of seeds were tested. Encouragement to seed-growing is given by the holding of seed fairs, and bulletins are issued on weeds, the methods of treating seed-wheat against smut and on other subjects. Collections of weed seeds are issued to merchants and others to enable them readily to identify noxious weed seeds. The Seed Control Act of 1905 brings under strict regulations the trade in agricultural seeds, prohibiting the sale for seeding of cereals, grasses, clovers or forage plants unless free from weeds specified, and imposing severe penalties for infringements.
The census and statistics office, reorganized as a branch of the department of agriculture in 1905, undertakes a complete census of population, of agriculture, of manufactures and of all the natural products of the Dominion every ten years, a census of the population and agriculture of the three North-West Provinces every five years, and various supplemental statistical inquiries at shorter intervals.
Experimental farms were established in 1887 in different parts of the Dominion, and were so located as to render efficient helpto the farmers in the more thickly settled districts, and at the same time to cover the varied climatic and other conditions which influence agriculture in Canada. The central experimentalExperimental farms.farm is situated at Ottawa, near the boundary line between Quebec and Ontario, where it serves as an aid to agriculture in these two important provinces. One of the four branch farms then established is at Nappan, Nova Scotia, near the boundary between that province and New Brunswick, where it serves the farmers of the three maritime provinces. A second branch experimental farm is at Brandon in Manitoba, a third is at Indian Head in Saskatchewan and the fourth is at Agassiz in the coast climate of British Columbia. In 1906-1907 two new branch farms were established. One is situated at Lethbridge, southern Alberta, where problems will be investigated concerning agriculture upon irrigated land and dry farming under conditions of a scanty rainfall. The other is at Lacombe, northern Alberta, about 70 m. south of Edmonton, in the centre of a good agricultural district on the Canadian Pacific railway. Additional branch farms in different parts of the Dominion are in process of establishment. At all these farms experiments are conducted to gain information as to the best methods of preparing the land for crop and of maintaining its fertility, the most useful and profitable crops to grow, and how the various crops grown can be disposed of to the greatest advantage. To this end experiments are conducted in the feeding of cattle, sheep and swine for flesh, the feeding of cows for the production of milk, and Of poultry both for flesh and eggs. Experiments are also conducted to test the merits of new or untried varieties of cereals and other field crops, of grasses, forage plants, fruits, vegetables, plants and trees; and samples, particularly of the most promising cereals, are distributed freely among farmers for trial, so that those which promise to be most profitable may be rapidly brought into general cultivation. Annual reports and occasional bulletins are published and widely distributed, giving the results of this work. Farmers are invited to visit these experimental farms, and a large correspondence is conducted with those interested in agriculture in all parts of the Dominion, who are encouraged to ask advice and information from the officers of the farms.
The governments of the several provinces each have a department of agriculture. Among other provincial agencies for imparting information there are farmers’ institutes, travelling dairies, live-stock associations, farmers’,Agricultural organizations and education.dairymen’s, seed-growers’, and fruit-growers’ associations, and agricultural and horticultural societies. These are all maintained or assisted by the several provinces. Parts of the proceedings and many of the addresses and papers presented at the more important meetings of these associations are published by the provincial governments, and distributed free to farmers who desire to have them. There are also annual agricultural exhibitions of a highly important character, where improvements in connexion with agricultural and horticultural products, live-stock, implements, &c., are shown in competition. The Dominion government makes in turn to one of the chief local agricultural exhibition societies a grant of $50,000 for the purposes of the national representation of agriculture and live-stock. The exhibition receiving the grant loses its local character, and thus becomes the Dominion exhibition or fair for that year.
There are several important agricultural colleges for the practical education of young men in farming, foremost amongst them being the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. Agricultural colleges are also maintained at Truro, Nova Scotia, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. In most of the provinces are dairy schools where practical instruction and training are given. Since the beginning of the 20th century agricultural education and rural training in Canada have been greatly stimulated by the munificence of Sir William C. Macdonald of Montreal. A donation by him of $10,000, distributed to boys and girls on Canadian farms for prizes in a competition for the selection of seed grain, as recommended by Professor J.W. Robertson, led to the Macdonald-Robertson Seed Growers’ Association. This soon assumed national proportions in the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association, which, with the seed branch of the department of agriculture mentioned above, has done much to raise to a uniform standard of excellence the grain grown over large areas of the Canadian wheat-fields. The Macdonald Institute at Guelph, Ontario, the buildings and equipment of which Sir William provided at a cost of $182,500, and the Macdonald College at Ste Anne de Bellevue, 20 m. west of Montreal, have been established to promote the cause of rural education upon the lines of nature study, with school gardens, manual training domestic science, &c., which on both sides of the Atlantic are now being found so effective in the hands of properly trained and enthusiastic teachers. The property of the Macdonald College at Ste Anne de Bellevue comprises 561 acres, of which 74 acres are devoted to campus and field-research plots, 100 acres to apetite culturefarm and 387 acres to a live-stock and grain farm. The college includes a school for teachers, a school of theoretical and practical agriculture and a school of household science for the training of young women. The land, buildings and equipment of the college, which cost over $2,500,000, were presented by Sir William Macdonald, who in addition has provided for the future maintenance of the work by a trust fund of over $2,000,000. In connexion with the public elementary schools throughout Canada, where the principles of agriculture are taught to some extent, manual training centres, provided out of funds supplied by the same public-spirited donor, are now maintained by local and provincial public school authorities.