466 Bureau of Farmers' Institutes. 



countries to the mutual benefit of Canada and the countries which, 

 purchase from her. 



The production of foods is the main aim of farming operations; 

 and over 45 per cent, of the population of Canada are engaged in 

 agricultural occupations. There are vast areas of fertile soil from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, and the climate or climates 

 range from subtropical to subartic, with a rainfall varying from 

 sixty-seven inches per annum in British Columbia, seventeen 

 inches in Manitoba, to from thirty to forty-five inches in the 

 Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and 

 Prince Edward Island. The mainland practically lies between 

 60° W. longitude and 125° W. longitude. The distance across 

 Canada from east to west is rather more than one-sixth of the 

 d : stance around the earth at that latitude. It extends from a 

 little south of 42° N. latitude to the arctic regions. France lies 

 between 42° N". latitude and 51° 1ST. latitude, which corresponds 

 to the latitude of the settled portions of Canada. For instance, 

 Toronto lies in latitude 43° 39' N., and Cannes, in the south of 

 France, in latitude 43° 34' N. Winnipeg, in the Province of 

 Manitoba, lies in latitude 49° 50' 1ST., and Havre., on the north 

 coast of France, in latitude 49° 29' 1ST. However the climate on 

 the whole is warmer in summer and colder in winter than in 

 corresponding latitudes in Europe. " ' : 



Canada lies in latitudes similar to those of the great countries 

 whose peoples are foremost in the world's affairs. It has a land 

 surface nearly twenty-nine times larger than Great Britain and 

 Ireland, or seventeen times larger than France. If the area of 

 the whole of Europe be represented by twelve, then the area of 

 Canada would be eleven. Of course large tracts in the northern 

 arctic regions are uninhabitable and entirely useless for the pro- 

 duction of foods; but across the continent, there is a zone about 

 3,500 miles long, and nearly as wide as France, with a climate 

 adapted to the production of foods of a superior quality. Within 

 that belt there are some mountainous regions and a few hundred 

 miles of arid prairies, where the settlement will always be sparse 

 and the production of foods scanty. 



These comparisons indicate roughly the enormous capacity of 

 Canada for the production of foods. In places which are now 

 cultivated the soil has been found fertile. The freezing of the 

 soil in winter, which at first sight seems a drawback, retains the 

 soluble nitrates which might otherwise be drained out. 



