Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/857

Rh CANADA 775 esteemed for their delicacy and richness of flavour ; and the returns of the fisheries, as given in the separate accounts of the various provinces, show the relative abundance of cod, haddock, mackerel, herring, salmon, halibut, white fish, and other produce, of the Canadian fisheries. The returns of the last census show that in 1871 Canada produced 82,844 quintals of cod and haddock, and 085,272 barrels of fish of various sorts, besides 678,894 gallons of fish oil ; and the total value of the produce of the fisheries exported during the fiscal year 1874 was $5,292,368. The quantities here stated are exclusive of the valuable fisheries of Newfoundland, which employ large fleets, and yield a corresponding return from cod, salmon, herring, mackerel, and other fish, from the oil of the whale and cod, and from seal-skins. Neither British Columbia nor Manitoba has yet been brought within the provisions of the Fisheries Act ; and the total yield of their fisheries can only be approximately estimated. Valuable oyster beds exist on the Pacific coasts of the Dominion. The salmon fishery promises, if rightly protected and regulated, to prove a valuable branch of industry. During the year 1873, 195 tons of salmon were canned for export ; and 4000 barrels were salted. In the great lakes and rivers of Manitoba the white fish arc no less abundant ; and they constitute an important source of supply of food in certain seasons of the year throughout the whole North West. The total value of the yield of the fisheries of the Dominion for the year 1874 was estimated at not less than $11,000,000. Canada has been esteemed from its earliest discovery for its valuable fur-bearing animals, and was prized chiefly on this account so long as it remained a dependency of France. In 1670 Charles II. granted the charter to the Hudson s Bay Company, whereby they acquired the exclu sive right of trading with the Indians in the vast regions vaguely recognized as surrounding the great inlet from which the company took its name. In 1783 a rival com pany was established under the name of the North- West Company, which claimed that, as the Koyal Charter of their rivals had not been confirmed by Parliament, all British subjects were free to engage in the fur trade of the North- West The results of the jealousies and hostilities of the two companies played an important part in the early history of Canada, and in the first attempts at settlement on the Red River, which paved the way for the rise of the new province of Manitoba. After many bitter contentions, and after impeding each other s operations for years, the rival companies at length effected a junction in 1821 ; and the fur trade has since been successfully prosecuted under their joint action, till the acquisition by Canada of the north west territory as a necessary step towards the prosecution of the plans of confederation, and the formation of new provinces throughout British America. There still remains, however, not only a vast extent of unoccupied territory in which for many years to come the hunter and the trapper will find undisturbed sway, but the regions around the Hudson s Bay, and stretching west ward to Alaska and northward to the pole, must ever remain a shelter for fur-bearing animals, and a resort of the hunter. All the furs collected for the great fur com pany are shipped to London : in part from their factories of York Fort and Moose River, on the Hudson s Bay, which are visited by a ship from England every year, and in part from Montreal and Columbia River. In the vicinity of Canadian clearings deer are still found in abundance, and venison is plentiful during winter in all the markets of Canada. But wherever the deer abound wolves are sure to follow ; and wherever they occur sheep-farming is impossible, and their depredations on the farmer s stock make them an object of special dislike. In order to encourage their extermination a premium is paid by Government for the head or scalp of each wolf produced to a local magistrate, and it is not uncommon in new dis tricts for the settler to pay his taxes in wolf scalps. By this means they rapidly disappear from the neighbourhood of the settlements. The bear is another mischievous native of the Canadian forests. The winter furs both of the bear and the wolf are prized for robes; and thoir value furnishes an additional stimulus to the extirpation of both wherever the country is settled. Beyond the settlements, in the remote recesses of the uncleared forest, the beaver still abounds. Foxes of diverse kinds (silver, grey, red, and black), racoons, otters, fitches, martins, and minks are no less abundant. The musk rat is to be met with on all the Canadian rivers ; and the red, black and grey squirrels sport everywhere in the forest, and at times even invade the clearings and make free with the farmers crops. In the more remote regions, now also being invaded by settlers, vast herds of buffalo are met with ; and beyond them are the moose, the wapiti, the reindeer, the white Arctic fox and the polar bear, whose haunts are safe from the invasion of the settler, however rapidly the Dominion may extend, and carve out new provinces in the great wilderness of the North- West. The total value of the furs exported from Canada in 1871 was $1,633,501. This is distinct from hides and other products of the farm. In the abstract of the value of goods, the growth, produce, and manufacture of Canada, exported from the Dominion during the fiscal year 1874, animals and their products are classed under one head, showing a total value of $14,679,169. This includes a classification of farm and dairy produce along with the products of the chase, the chief items of which may be stated as follows, the same being exclusive of all home consumption : Animals and their Produce. Horses number 5, 399 Hcrned Cattle ,, 39,623 Sheep 252,081 Swiue 6,983 Poultry Pork, Beef, and other meats cwt. 300,003 Butter, Cheese, and Eggs Lard and Tallow lt&amp;gt; 3,232,488 Hides, Pelts, Hams, and Hoofs Wool lb 2,764,796 Furs, dressed and undressed Value. $570,544 951,269 702,504 56,894 79,224 2,172,581 6,731,105 306,860 394,069 983,846 1,633,501 Cultivated Land and Agricultural Products. Canada is pre-eminently a country of yeoman farmers. The land is held in possession and tilled by the settler on his own account ; and with every addition to the numbers of its industrious population fresh acres are recovered from the wilderness, and added to the productive resources and the wealth of the Dominion. The number of persons occupy ing land within the four provinces of Nova Scotia, New- Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario according to the census of 1871 was in all 367,862. Of these there were 324,160 owners, 39,583 tenants, and only 2119 farm labourers or servants. Those facts alone suffice to illustrate the striking contrast between the condition of Canada and most of the countries of Europe. By patient industry and frugality it is in the power of every Canadian to become owner of a house, and proprietor of whatever amount of land he can turn to profitable account ; while the character of the population resulting from this condition of things checks the accumulation of extensive landed estates in the hands of single proprietors. The majority of the farms are small, tilled by the proprietor with his own hands, with the help of his sons and occasional hired labour in the busy season