States seiners reap a very profitable harvest. In lobster 

 fishing the most effective gear is a sunken cage made of 

 laths and specially contrived, one boat generally operating 

 no less than 200 of these "traps." 



All fishermen are convenienly classed in Government 

 reports as going in boats or vessels, the former working 

 the shore-belt only and the latter the outer and inner 

 grounds respectively. The boat fishermen, who in a vast 

 majority of cases own the craft which they manage, num- 

 ber approximately 20,000, while the latter, frequenting 

 the outer banks, may be set down at about 5,000. The 

 home port for the grand bankers is Lunenburg, the real 

 fishery emporium ofAtlantic Canada, rivalling Gloucester 

 (the notable New England head centre), both in units and 

 production. Just now, members of the crews are often 

 part owners in the vessels which they man; a sort of 

 co-operative system which accounts for the successful 

 voyages. A single trip takes up several weeks. 



Handling the Catches 



The inshore takes, as a rule, are sold to local dealers 

 (large firms or small companies) fresh from the boat. As 

 the case may require, these catches, according to kind, 

 are handled in the following manner: salted and dried; 

 exported fresh or frozen; cut for steak and boneless; 

 pickled; smoked; or canned. The fares landed from the 

 inner banks are treated in the same way on most portions 

 of the coast, as the trips are of short duration and the 

 fish, consequently, in good condition for the different 

 processes. The catches of the great bankers, however, 

 whose trips sometimes run into months, must be dressed 

 and salted as soon as brought aboard by the dories. When 

 landed, these fares are "washed out," dried, and exported 

 in containers called drums, mostly to the West Indies 

 and sub-tropical countries in Europe and America. The 

 fresh frozen goods and those otherwise prepared are sold 

 in Canadian markets or exported to the United States, 

 where the largest consuming areas are located. 



Of the annual lobster catch, second largest in value 

 and importance, rather less than one-half is canned in the 

 local factories, the balance being exported alive to the 

 United States where exceptionally high prices are obtained. 

 In districts not too remote from the foreign market, the 

 fishermen themselves are the shippers of their own 

 individual hauls, thus realizing market prices at the least 

 expense and without the services of middlemen other 

 than their own consignees and commission merchants. 

 This is a point of vantage which constitutes the main 

 factor in the prosperity of the shore settlements in Nova 

 Scotia. 



On the South shore, the weather is never severe 

 enough to suspend fishing operations for more than a day 

 or so at a time, the harbor and roadsteads keeping open in 

 the coldest months, because the ice-forming winds, which 

 are only from the north, blow directly off shore, and are 

 never of long duration. Generally speaking, the rotation 

 of fishery crops, previously alluded to as taking place 

 every year with the passing seasons, consists of groundfish, 

 mackerel and salmon; in spring, the first-named continue 

 through the summer with the addition of haddock, halibut, 

 and pollock later; in the fall months (haddock persisting), 

 herring, mackerel (southward migration), oysters, sword- 

 fish, tuna and some other species; and in the winter, cod, 

 halibut, and hake by the inshore fleet and smelt fishing 

 streams. Open lobster seasons are fixed by law and differ 

 according to conditions east and west, none exceeding 

 three months in length. 



Therefore, some branch of the great industry is 

 prosecuted every month of the year, and no active fisher- 

 man of proper push and ordinary resources need idle for 

 a single week. 



Annual Value of Fisheries 



The total yearly value of Nova Scotia's fisheries is 

 estimated now at $15,000,000 in round numbers. This sum 

 represents the value of the fish when brought to land or, 



in other words, ic is the aggregate earnings of the whole 

 number of fishermen. Ic .will be observed that the per 

 capita amount is $600, but in many instances the indi- 

 vidual earnings are much higher, and as among the inshore 

 fishermen, where the boat is operated by the owner and 

 one or two of his sons under age, the value of the year's 

 work to the family would be nearly three times the amount 

 of the rate per head. The calling, as conducted in Nova 

 Scotia, taking one season with another, may be considered 

 as fairly remunerative, with an undoubted future develop- 

 ment which will raise it to a still higher standard in the 

 provincial field of labor. It should be added that the value 

 of the total yearly product when marketed has been 

 placed at $20,000,000. 



Some branches of the inshore fisheries are regulated 

 as to season and gear by the Canadian Federal Govern- 

 ment, which exercises a certain jurisdiction over the indus- 

 try as a whole. The laws are designed to preserve the 

 species and guarantee the rights of the fishermen individu- 

 ally. The said Government also pays an annual bounty 

 for the encouragement of the fisheries, the portion allotted 

 to Nova Scotia being about $100,000 a year, divided by 

 a slightly different scale as between the owners of boats 

 and crews on the one hand, and the vessel owners and 

 crews on the other. The latter receive the larger share 

 per man and tonnage rate. 



With few exceptions the fishermen realize the proceeds 

 of their labor with the least possible delay, the catches of 

 the shore boats being paid for in cash at the point of 

 landing. The men on the great banks receive a settlement 

 in the same way and at stated times. This system, a vast 

 improvement on that which obtained fifty years ago, now 

 enables fishermen of all classes to own their homes, secure 

 a comfortable livelihood and even enjoy a moderate share 

 of luxury, while maintaining a degree .of industrial 

 independence unknown among ordinary wage earners. 



The Jack Pine Finds Favor 



The Jack Pine has quite recently and 

 suddenly come into favor in Canada. Previously 

 regarded in the light of a rather useless member 

 of the timber family, the prodigal exploitation of 

 more aristocratic woods has turned attention to 

 it with the discovery that it possesses many 

 hitherto unknown properties of value. Hereto- 

 fore used solely for the extraction of certain 

 chemical qualities, for railway ties and for kraft 

 wrapping paper, its utilization has been decidedly 

 limited and pulp and paper manufacturers have 

 practically ignored it in their operations. Now, 

 the discovery that Canadian Jack Pine can be 

 successfully used in the manufacture of either 

 sulphite or groundwood pulp sets a new value 

 on the Dominion's millions of cords of this wood 

 and ushers in the era of the Jack Pine. 



Before the time came about of a dawning of 

 the realization that Canada's pulpwood supply 

 was anything but inexhaustible, a wasteful 

 selection was the rule in the forests, but the 

 depletion of the most desirable species of woods 

 compelled a search for substitutes of those trees 

 once considered essential. This search for 

 substitutes has, in many cases, revealed the fact 

 that they are equally as good, and sometimes 

 better than the original woods used. 



Not many years ago, spruce was considered 

 the only wood which could be used in the 



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