Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/591

BRITISH COLUMBIA. of the northwestern Atlantic. These warm winds are loaded with moisture. They are chilled by their first contact with the high coast mountains, causing rapid condensation of the moisture and a heavy rainfall, accompanied by liberation of heat. This is more marked at the northern end of the province than in the south. The consequence is an equable rainy climate on the coast, very similar to that of the south of England, the rainfall usually amounting to about 86 inches at Vancouver. It is least copious in the early autumn. At Victoria the mean temperature for January is 37.2° F.; for July, 59.6° F.; and flowers bloom all the year round in the gardens. At Agassiz, in the lower Fraser Valley, the figures are 33° and 63.9°. Relieved of much of their moisture and warmth, lifted up to 8000 or 9000 feet, and cooled and rarefied by crossing the coast mountains, the west winds are kept at that height by the buoying currents of warm air rising from the heated valleys, and blow across the great interior plain without interruption: hence over this wide area rain is very infrequent in summer, the snowfall is light in winter, and there results the conditions of drouth, treelessness, and extremes of beat and cold, which are characteristic of interior plains everywhere. At Kamloops, about 200 miles from the coast, the annual rainfall hardly amounts to 12 inches, and the thermometer varies from 100° above zero in midsummer to 40° or 50° below zero in midwinter. Agriculture depends upon irrigation, the tablelands are covered with bunch-grass, and the climate is like that of Idaho or Alberta. East of these interior valleys, however, stand the Rocky Mountains, whose summits catch the wind and collect from it almost all its remaining moisture. Hence the Gold Range and Selkirks are crossed in all their lower slopes with heavy forests, their crests bear hundreds of glaciers, and the snowfall in the passes amounts to 30 feet in depth; and hence, also, the powerful rivers they sustain. Little moisture is left for the easternmost parts of the Rockies, whose climate is comparatively dry, very cold and clear in winter, and whose forests are thin. Similar conditions in the north, with the favorable addition of the Chinook, make the Peace River Valley not only pleasantly habitable, but clothed with a vegetation much like that of Ontario, and possessed of climatic and agricultural possibilities similar to those of Scotland.

Soils vary, of course, over so wide and diversified a region, but fertility is general. The rich delta of the Fraser is a perennial garden, and vegetables and fruits there reach an extraordinary perfection. In the interior, light, dry soils prevail, which prove highly productive under irrigation, and seem particularly rich in the Okanagan and Nicola districts. Arable regions are limited, however, and form a small part of the total area of the province. On the interior plateau the rainfall is insufficient for the growth of crops, and the rivers so generally flow through deep, narrow channels that the irrigable area is very limited. On the coast and elsewhere, where the rainfall is greater, the forest growth is usually so heavy that it requires great expense to clear and maintain land for cultivation. Wheat grows luxuriantly, but the kernel is too soft for milling purposes. Nevertheless, the southern portion of the province contains scattered districts admirably adapted to ranching and agricultural pursuits, and progress has been made in the delta and lower valley of the Fraser River, and in the Okanagan district. In the latter region, especially, fruit-farming and hop-raising are attaining much importance, and the southern plateau and part of the interior are remarkably well adapted to the cultivation of these products, where labor necessary for picking the hops is supplied by the Indian population. In the late nineties the fruit-growing industry of the Fraser Valley suffered much from the prevalence of fungous diseases affecting trees and fruit. Considerable market-gardening is engaged in by the Chinese in the neighborhood of the larger towns. The pastures of British Columbia are proving valuable. On the Cariboo road (between Soda Creek and Quesnel), there is a plain 150 miles long, and 60 or SO wide; and between the Thompson and Fraser rivers there is an immense tract of grazing land. The creamery system has been introduced, and in 1900 there were eight creameries in the province.

The flora is distinctly of a northern type, and the forest resources of the province rank next to the mineral wealth in importance. British Columbia probably contains the largest unbroken area of merchantable forests on the continent. The western slopes of the mountains, particularly the coast ranges, are covered with a dense growth of forest trees which attain remarkable proportions. On the eastern slopes the forests are not so dense nor the trees so large, while much of the interior plateau is well-nigh treeless. The lower Fraser country especially is densely wooded. Smaller streams and the numerous inlets and arms of the sea give access to extensive forests all along the coast. Owing to the very limited Pacific Coast market, the forest resources have as yet been but little drawn upon. There are about eighty sawmills in the province, and the annual cut runs from 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 feet. The most abundant and valuable species is the Douglas fir. On the coast it sometimes attains a height of 350 feet. The white cedar is also widely distributed, and is extensively used for shingles and for finishing purposes. The yellow cedar, confined largely to the more northern regions, is also of great commercial value. The dense forests of spruce and hemlock north of Knight's Inlet afford an almost inexhaustible supply of pulp-wood of a superior quality. The precipitous coast streams supply all the power necessary for carrying on the pulp-manufacturing industry, and arrangements have been made looking to its establishment. Other important varieties are Menzie's fir, yellow pine, arbor vitæ, yew, oak, white maple, aspen, cherry, willow, and cottonwood.

The animals of British Columbia are those of the Northwest generally. Wapiti remain only along the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but moose, black-tailed deer, and caribou are abundant throughout the valleys everywhere, while the bighorn abounds upon the Alpine pastures of the Rocky Mountains and the white goat frequents the summits of the coast ranges. Bears, wolves, and wild-cats are known everywhere, but the puma is unknown except along the southern border, and is rare there. Fur-bearing animals are numerous, and in the northern part a great trade in the collection