XLVI THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Agriculture. 



Agriculture is and must always remain the chief industry of the 

 people of Canada. The population which the Dominion can support 

 in the future will depend chiefly upon the area of land suitable for 

 farming which exists in Canada and the manner in which this is 

 cultivated. 



The fact that Canada occupies more than half of the continent 

 of North America and has an area almost identical with that of Europe 

 is sometimes mentioned as carrying with it the implication that it 

 would afford support to an almost unlimited population. 



It is impossible at the present time to arrive at an accurate 

 estimate of the actual area of arable land in the Dominion, but there 

 are certain salient facts which, while not generally recognized, have 

 a very important bearing on this question. 



The first of these is that there is practically no land which can 

 be properly cultivated in that portion of Canada which lies north of 

 the area indicated on the accompanying map as being covered by a 

 forest growth. 



Secondly, with the possible exception of the clay belt in northern 

 Ontario, there is no part of the Canadian Shield which can support 

 more than a very sparse farming population or in which farming can 

 be made a really profitable industry. The recent report of the Com- 

 mission of Conservation on the condition of the farming community 

 on the southern margin of the shield on the watershed on the Trent 

 Valley Canal in southern Ontario, shows a state of affairs long recog- 

 nized by those familiar with the Laurentian country. 



Thirdly, the area of arable land in British Columbia, as compared 

 with the size of the province, is quite small. 



There are only two great areas of land capable of continuous 

 cultivation throughout their entire extent and of thus supporting a 

 large agricultural population. The first of these is the plain lying 

 between the southern margin of the Canadian Shield and the boundary 

 line of the United States in Quebec and Ontario, extending from the 

 hilly or mountainous district of the Appalachian folding in eastern 

 Quebec to the Great Lakes. The second is the southern portion of the 

 plains in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and eastern Al- 

 berta. These, in referring to the physiographic divisions of Canada, 

 were classed together as the Great Plain of Central Canada. 



Many of the estimates which have been made of the amount of 

 land which is suitable for farming in the Dominion are undoubtedly 

 too high. A recent writer has stated that "a conservative and easily 

 grasped statement is that the farm lands of Canada would fill a strip 



