Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/138

* CANADA. no CANADA. Quebec. In British Columbia it is found in com- bination with gold and silver, and is rained chielly as a by-product. Xone of the Canadian copper ore is refined in Canada, but the ore is shipped into the United States for that purpose. ailver and lead have likewise increased great- ly, the latter from almost nothing, the fomier from a few hundred thousand dollars annually to about .S:.',700.000 each in I'JOO. British Co"- liimbia produces the greater iiortion of these, the two metals being united in the same ore, which is found in the clay schists and intrusive granites occurring in the Kootenay region. Canada holds a position of special advantage in the production of two minerals, nickel and asbestos, having excelled ber only rival (Xew Caledonia) in the production of the former, and having the field almost wholly to herself in the production of the latter. The nickel is mined in the 8ud>urv district, northeast of Lake Huron, where mining began in 188S, and in 18'.)1 the output amounted to $2,700,000, after which it decreased somewhat mtil 1000, when it rose to $.3,227,000. The asbestos is mined in the eastern to™ships of Quebec, where it is found in veins which nm through rocks of massive serpentine; the annual output averages about $500,000. Iron is perhaps the most widely distributed mineral, being found in every province, liut its utilization has sulTcred from the lack of coal for smelting purposes, and from the prohibitive tar- iffs of the United States. The Dominion Gov- ernment and also the Government of Ontario have placed a bounty upon pig iron, which has stimulated its production, the v.alue of the prod- uct exceeding .$500,000 in 1900. The prospects for the development of iron-mining are greatest in Xova Scotia, inasmuch as coal and limestone are there found in close proximity to the iron ore. The production of petroleum and of salt in the peninsular part of Ontario has long constituted well-established industries; the annual value of petroleum products exceeds $1,000,000. Nat- ural gas is also fovmd in this region. Among the less important minerals are gyp- sum, graphite, pyrites, and mica. The output of lime averages $700,000 per annum, and the production of cement is rapidly approaching that amount. There are enormous resources in the way of building-stone and clays, which are extensively drawn upon. While the future holds in pros))ect an increasingly rapid exploitation of Canadian minerals, the supply is so great that the question of their final exhaustion scarcely l)resents itself, and the inhospitable Laurentian regions to the north will contain untouched hoards of wealth for centuries to come. Fi-SUKKIES. With oceans washing its shores on three sides, the Great Lakes and numerous small lakes and rivers scattered throughout its domain, Canada has exceptional advantages for the de- velopment of the fishing industry. Naturally, this was developed early, and in at least three of the four ilaritimc Provinces it has long ranked next to agriculture in importance. Later fishing be- came prominent in the lake waters adjoining Ontario, and still more recently in British Co- lumbia and on Lake Winnipeg. The total value of the fish product has incrca-^ed from $ti.577.O00 in 1870 to $17,000,000 in 1800, and .•?21,800,000 in 1800. The recent gain has been almost wholly in the West. Nova Scotia far outranks tlie other provinces, her yield having stood at about $7,000,000 for a decade and a half. During the same i>eriod the vield of New Brunswick has fiuctuated at about $1,000,000. Ontario and t^iu'bec have each stood a little under the $2,000,000 mark. Prince Edward Island has fluctuated at about $1,000,000, but British Co- lumbia has increased during the decade ending in 1800 from $15,000 to $5,000,000. and Manitoba has increased from almost nothing to $1,000,000, having fallen considerably below that amount, however, for the last few years. The total number of fishermen is slowly increas- ing, having been 03,700 in 1800 and 70.800 in 1000. Of the latter number 70.800 represented boat fishermen, and 8000 vessel fishermen. Be- sides these, 18,700 persons were employed in the lobster canneries. The Dominion Government since 1882 has paid a bounty for deep-sea fisher- ies, which at present amounts to $100,000 an- nually, about two-tliirds of which is taken by tlie Nova Scotia fishermen. In 1800, 27,100 men shared the bounty. Of the east coast fisheries, cod and lobster are the most important, each annually exceeding $3,000,000 in value; the herring fisheries ex- ceed $2,000,000; and of a large variety of other kinds of fish the most important are mackerel, smelts, sardines, haddock, and hake. In the Gi'cat Lakes trout is the most important, fol- lowed by pickerel and pike. Whitefish leads in the lakes of Manitoba, and on the Pacific Coast salmon is of greatest consequence. The sea- otter and seal fisheries of the west are also im- portant, though much less so than in former years. Thirty-five thousand five hundred seal- skins (valued at $-140,000) were taken in 1000, of which 10,430 were from the coast waters of British Columbia and 17,500 from the Bering Sea. From 1871 to 1000 the sealskins taken by the Canadian pelagic sealing munbered 737,048. The best wliale-fishing region in the world extends along the north coast, from the mouth of the ^lackenzie to Labrador, and vessels from many nations visit it annually. The fishing industry is wisely guarded by the Government, the Minister of Marine and Fish- eries being charged with its oversight. Arti- ficial i)isciculture is carried on in fourteen hatch- eries. -VfiRlcii-Tl KE. Dating from the earliest per- manent settlement, agriculture has stood preemi- nent among the Canadian industries, and 45 per cent, of the population secures its livelihood directly from the soil. The fertile lands of the -Maritime and Saint Lawrence provinces <ere early brought under cultivation. On the other hand, the vast i)roductive plains of the far ^^'est, owing to their isolation and their real and sup- posed inclemencies of clinuitc, have only recently been utilized. A large portion of the fertile lands of southern ilanitoba were taken up at the close of the Nineteenth Century and the occupation and cultivation of the region farther west progresses as it is made accessible by the construction of railroads. The practicability of agriculture in this section has been clearly dem- onstrated, the climatic conditions not being so unfavorable as they were formerly represented. It is only in the northern portions of the plains that the growing crop is greatly endangered by summer frosts. . d. though the rainfall is scant, it occurs during the growing spring