Summary of Developed Water Power in Alberta. The Domestic Fur Industry 



Power sites of the Bow River and the Rocky Rapids 

 of North Saskatchewan., as well as those created by the 

 great dams of the Canadian Pacific Railway irrigation 

 system (notably that at Bassano), lie close to existing 

 railroads, and in the north railways recently taken over 

 by active and aggressive management are being improved, 

 so that within the not distant future many of the larger 

 power sites of that part of the province will be brought 

 within transmission distance of settled centres of popula- 

 tion. 



Undeveloped Water Power 



Investigations of the Bow, Elbow, Red Deer, North 

 Saskatchewan, Peace and Athabaska Rivers and numerous 

 other streams disclose the following estimated possibilities 

 of development. 



Summary of Undeveloped Water Power in Alberta. 



This represents the estimated total power at sites 

 concerning which some definite data is available. 



To sum up, it might be stated that Alberta is well 

 endowed with water power resources whose development 

 will eventually be of vast benefit to the industrial and 

 commercial, as well as to the domestic life of the province. 

 The locations of these undeveloped powers in respect to 

 the present centres of population, are in some cases 

 favorable to their early development. Each power site 

 or prospect requires, however, individual consideration 

 of all circumstances and conditions pertinent to its devel- 

 opment before its economic value to the community can 

 be definitely decided upon. 



The early history of Canada is contained in 

 the chronicles of the fur trade. It was the 

 knowledge of the country's unsurpassed posses- 

 sion of fine pelts which first induced exploration 

 and later settlement. For years the entire popu- 

 lation was in some manner or other connected 

 with trapping or trading in furs, and the money 

 accruing from the many enterprises was practically 

 the country's entire source of revenue. Settle- 

 ment upon Canada's fertile lands and the sub- 

 duing of the land to cultivation gradually drove 

 many of the valuable fur-bearers to the north 

 or into those regions which, from their unsuit- 

 ability to agriculture, retained without change 

 their natural state. The fur trade became sub- 

 servient to agriculture, and, with the extensive 

 settlement which the past decades have wit- 

 nessed, the border line of the profitable trapping 

 area has travelled farther and farther north. 



Then, with the country facing an ultimate 

 issue which approximated fur depletion, and 

 with the prevalent demand for more furs, interest 

 was aroused in the possibility of raising fur- 

 bearing animals in captivity. Originating in 

 Prince Edward Island with foxes, widespread 

 attention came to be centred upon the industry 

 when it had successfully passed the experimental 

 stages, and came to cover the Dominion in 

 its following and to include many different fur- 

 bearers tending towards depletion. As demand 

 increased and prices rose, more and more 

 ranches were established, and though relatively 

 a subservient industry, it is yearly attaining 

 more important proportions and aiding in no 

 small manner to bring back to Canada its 

 pristine prominence as the world's fur centre. 



The First Accurate Survey 



The first accurate survey of the industry in 

 Canada has been carried out by the Dominion 

 Bureau of Statistics, covering the year 1919, and 

 this shows fur farming in the Dominion to be 

 worth $3,968,591, comprising $879,668, the 

 value of lands and pens, and $3,088,923, the 

 value of the fur-bearing animals. Altogether 

 there were, in 1919, 414 fox farms in operation, 

 including 249 in Prince Edward Island, 48 in 

 Nova Scotia, 21 in New Brunswick, 52 in Quebec, 



10 in Ontario, 1 in Manitoba, 1 in Saskatchewan, 



11 in Alberta, 8 in British Columbia, and 13 in 

 the Yukon. There are also three mink farms in 

 Nova Scotia, and two small raccoon farms in 

 Quebec. 



The number of foxes on these farms at the 

 end of December, 1919, was 6,433, with a total 

 value of $3,013,115. Patch or cross foxes 

 numbered 831, valued at $75,458, and red foxes 

 255, valued at $10,295. Of the total number of 

 silver foxes, Prince Edward Island possessed 

 4,704, Nova Scotia 361, New Brunswick 472, 

 Quebec 318, Ontario 120, the Prairie Provinces 



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