LX THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



In the first place, in mining a coal seam from 50 to 90 per cent 

 of the coal is left in the workings for the purpose of supporting the 

 roof. Of the coal which is taken out and burned under boilers in the 

 usual manner, only about 12 per cent of the total energy is developed. 

 That is to say, we secure for useful purposes only about 5 per cent of 

 the total energy conta'ned in the coal occurring in the area. If the 

 coal is burned in gas producers and the gas so obtained used in in- 

 ternal combustion engines, these having a higher efficiency develop 

 about 30 per cent of the energy in the coal actually mined, or about 

 12 per cent of the energy locked up in the coal of the whole area. 

 This is an improvement but still represents an enormous waste. 



On the other hand, the coal may be mined for the production of 

 coke for metallurgical purposes. About three-fourths of the coke 

 produced for this purpose in North America and all the coke made in 

 western Canada is manufactured in Bee Hive furnaces, which yield a 

 relatively low percentage of coke while the other products of the coal 

 —gas, tar, ammonia, benzol, etc. — go to waste. All these products 

 may be saved by making the coke in by-product ovens, representing 

 in localities where the surplus gas can be sold at a reasonable rate, 

 a gain which is estimated by Mr. F. E. Lucas, manager of the coke 

 ovens of the Dominion Coal Company, at $1.98 per ton of coke made. 

 This figure will of course vary with the locality in which the coke is 

 produced, but it emphasizes the great saving which may be effected 

 by the use of the modern by-product oven. The tar and ammonia 

 obtained by this process, moreover, meet with a ready market. The 

 former is already being used extensively in the Dominion for a variety 

 of purposes, among them, as a binding material in the manufacture 

 of briquettes from slack coal, thus enabling this waste product to be 

 successfully utilized, while the ammonia is a fertilizer of the greatest 

 value, for which there is a great demand abroad and for which an ever- 

 increasing demand will arise in Canada as the necessity of employing 

 improved methods of agriculture is brought home to our farmers. 



Fisheries. 



Not only is Canada richly endowed with natural resources which 

 have their locus upon the land but she is bounded on three sides by the 

 salt waters of the sea and running through her domain are many 

 streams and great rivers which have their origin in thousands of inland 

 lakes, some of these being among the largest bodies of fresh water in 

 the world. These waters abound — or should abound — in fish and 

 other living creatures which constitute another of our great natural 

 resources. 



