CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND
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
What, if any, climatic or topographic boundaries separate Canada and the
United States?
Which of the two countries is the more fortunately situated for the
production of food-stuffs?
Which will support the larger population?--why?
The harbors of the Labrador coast and of Cape Breton Island are superior
to those of the British Islands, situated in about the same latitude;
why do the latter have a commerce far greater than that of the former?
Compare the industries of the eastern, middle, and western regions of
Canada with the corresponding regions of the United States.
FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE
Statesman's Year-Book.
Statistical Year-Book of Canada (official government publication,
Ottawa).