Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/839

Rh ONTARIO profitable branch of farm produce. In the still earlier settled district of Niagara, which lies between the two great lakes, the extremes alike of summer heat and winter cold are tempered by those large bodies of water. There accordingly the peach, grape, and plum flourish ; orchards of apple and pear trees cover large areas ; and, as seen from Queenston heights, the landscape looks like a garden. The vine is indigenous, and grows luxuriantly in the woods, as do all the smaller fruits. But the energy of more recent settlers has greatly ex tended cultivation. Bands of pioneers, lumber-men, and free-grant settlers have carried the axe and the plough into the Muskoka, Nipissing, and other northern districts ; and those regions are now accessible by steamboat and rail way. The rich mineral regions of Lake Superior are also filling up with settlers. The town of Prince Arthur s Landing, at the head of the lake, is now the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and already numbers fully 2000 inhabitants. According to the census of 1881, 19,259,909 acres were in occupation, of which 11,294,109 were improved, 304,815 being in gardens and orchards, and 10,989,294 under cultivation in pasture or grain and root crops. Much of the land is well adapted for wheat, but in many places the crop has been grown too often. Barley, oats, and pease are common crops. Maize and tomatoes ripen well. Tobacco and sugar are profitable crops in some districts. The growth of flax is largely on the increase. As the soil in nearly every part of the province is admirably adapted for root crops, cattle are very largely kept, although there are no extensive grazing districts. The beef trade with England has become very extensive, and dairy-farming is largely prosecuted, especially the making of cheese, a large number of cheese factories being now established on the co-operative principle. Honey is an important source of revenue, about 1,200,000 lb being exported annually. There is a very large export of timber, including pines, oak, elm, hackmatack, birch, maple, walnut, and hickory. In the official returns of the exports of the different provinces some of the most valuable produce of Ontario is included in the shipments from the ports of Quebec. According to the trade and navigation tables for 1883, the total value of goods entered for consumption was $44,452,804, or 9,134,143, and of exports 832,890,019, or 6,758,242. The splendid natural water communications have been extensively supplemented by railways, of which there are about 4000 miles in operation. There are very extensive saw-mills at Ottawa. The manufacture of agricultural implements employs a large number of persons through out the province, as does also that of machinery, sewing- machines, and edged tools. Among the principal other manufactures are woollen goods (especially tweeds), cottons, leather, paper, soap, and iron and hardware. According to the census returns the total capital invested in the various industries, not including agriculture but includ ing cheese factories, was 880,950,847, the number of hands employed 118,308, and the total value of products $157,989,870. Population. The population in 1871 amounted to 1,620,851; in 1881 it had increased to 1,923,228. Of this, the population of twelve towns of upwards of 5000 inhabitants numbered in 1871 179,829. In 1881 the towns of a population exceeding 5000 had increased from twelve to nineteen, with inhabitants numbering 288,964, leaving the remaining population as occupants of the small towns, rural villages, and farms. At the end of 1883 the population was estimated at 1,935,130 (urban, 671,917; rural, 1,263,213). Classified according to race, those of European origin were as follows in 1881 : Irish 627,262 English 535,835 Scotch 378,536 German 188,394 French 102,743 Dutch 22,163 Welsh 6,397 775 Swiss 2,382 Scandinavian 1,521 Russians and Poles 787 Italians 687 Spanish and Portuguese 285 Jews 254 In addition to those from other provinces, the United States, etc., there were 15,325 Indians and 12,097 Africans. Classified according to religion, the principal denomina tions were in 1881 as follows : Methodists 591,503 Presbyterians 41 7, 479 Episcopalians 366, 539 Roman Catholics 320,839 Baptists 106,680 Lutherans 37,901 Congregationalists 16,340 Disciples 16,051 Quakers 6,307 The capital of the province is Toronto (population in 1881, 86,415); next in point of wealth, population, and general local advantages is the city of Hamilton (35,961) ; Ottawa (27,412) is the capital of the Dominion ; the other large centres of population are London (19,746), Kingston (14,091). Next to these are Guelph, St Catherine s (on the Welland Canal), Brantford, Belleville, St Thomas, Stratford, Chatham, Brockville, Peterborough, Port Hope, Woodstock, Gait, and Lindsay, with populations ranging from 9890 to 5080. Cobourg (4957) is the seat of Victoria College. Education. One of the most distinctive features of the province is its system of public instruction, to which special attention has been given from an early period. So early as 1797 lands were set apart for educational pur poses ; and there now exists a thoroughly efficient system of public schools, high schools and collegiate institutes, provincial college and university, under the administration of a minister of education as the head of this department. The management of all funds for general- educational pur poses, the provincial school inspectors, normal and model schools, &c., are under the direct charge of the educational department. Under its control the local government is vested in boards of school trustees elected by the rate payers in rural districts or townships, villages, towns, counties, and cities, in accordance with a general system of municipal organization. Each local board determines the required rates to be levied for school purposes, purchases sites, builds schoolhouses, appoints teachers from among those duly qualified and holding Government certificates, and determines and pays their salaries. The councils of county municipalities have certain powers and duties con ferred on them in reference to the townships, villages, and towns within each county. They also select duly qualified inspectors, appoint county boards for the exami nation of third-class teachers, and levy a rate equivalent to the amount of the legislative educational grant to be expended in the payment of one -half of the salaries of their teachers and school inspectors. Collegiate institutes and high schools (in which a higher English course is taught, along with classics, mathematics, and French and German, to pupils admitted from the public schools on an entrance examination) are under the management of special boards of trustees appointed by city or county councils, with the power of requiring the council to raise all funds requisite for the efficient maintenance of the schools. Provincial normal schools for training teachers are estab lished at Toronto and Ottawa, with model schools attached to them ; and each county town maintains a model school for training third-class teachers. The school-system is thus mainly dependent on county and local rates levied for the purpose by councils and school-boards elected by the people. This general system is modified in one respect. In any locality where Roman Catholics reside in sufficient numbers, they may require their share of the school funds