supply of whitefish. Lake Athabasca, which is 

 as yet untouched except for local food supplies, 

 teems with fish, and the same may be said about 

 Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake and many 

 other lakes known to the map makers, together 

 with great numbers which are nameless and 

 known only to the trapper and the Indian. 



The quantity of fish available in the Northern 

 lakes is beyond computation, and there is little 

 room for doubt that in the whitefish, which from 

 the coming of the first white man has been the 

 mainstay of the missionary, the trapper and the 

 trader, Western Canada has an asset which is no 

 mean one, even though it may bulk small in 

 comparison with the great agricultural, mineral 

 and timber resources of the country. 



The Cascara Drug Industry 



The recent announcement of the shipment of 

 five tons of cascara bark from the British 

 Columbia forests to British and American drug 

 firms has revealed the fact that the only known 

 supply, in large quantities, of this valuable drug 

 is located in that province, according to the 

 Canadian Forestry Journal. Previous to the war, 

 the major portion of the world's supply of cascara 

 bark was obtained from Japan, Germany, and 

 the United States. When the war started, the 

 German supply was cut off, while the inroads 

 made on the Washington and Oregon supplies 

 by careless dealers practically exterminated the 

 bush within easy access of transportation in those 

 regions, and, as a consequence, eliminated the 

 United States from active competition with the 

 rest of the world in this phase of the drug industry. 



The large number of valleys situated along 

 the British Columbia coast, together with the 

 long, warm, damp days, furnish a splendid 

 combination for the growing of this herb. The 

 plant grows to a medium height, and when it 

 has attained full growth, the bark is taken off 

 by collectors, who dispose of it to drug manu- 

 facturers. A peculiar characteristic of the shrub 

 is that if one-fourth of the bark surface is taken 

 from the tree it will cause the death of the plant, 

 and in order to avoid this, great care must be 

 taken by the collector to leave a strip of bark 

 that would eventually grow around the trunk. 



Company to Commercialize Drug 



Botanists and government forestry officials 

 have known of the existence of this valuable drug 

 for some time, but no effort was made to commer- 

 cialize it. At present, there is in formation a 

 company which has for its its aim the cultivation 

 on pre-empted land of this herb, for the purpose 

 of supplying drugs in the raw state to the whole- 

 sale drug houses. It is estimated that with 

 proper care and cultivation, a man, with 40 

 acres of land planted in wild botanicals, will 

 produce as much revenue as a man with forty 

 acres of richly cultivated bottom lands growing 

 fruit and garden produce. 



Departmental Publications 



Any of the following publications will be sent 

 free on request. 



Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A descriptive 

 statistical booklet on the three prairie provinces with 

 full information on the West. 



The Park Lands of Central Alberta. Descriptive of 

 the area tributary to the Calgary and Edmonton line 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Alberta. History, 

 description of soils, development, lands open for 

 settlement, and information for settlers. 



Irrigation Farming in Sunny Alberta. Full description 

 of Alberta's irrigated lands, their progress, production 

 and possibilities. 



Business and Industrial Opportunities in Western 

 Canada. Full listings of industries existing and 

 business openings in the provinces of Western 

 Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and 

 British Columbia. 



Canadian Pacific Reserve Frjrm Lands in Lloyd- 

 minster and Battleford Districts. Information 

 of Canadian Pacific lands in these districts, history, 

 farming information, progress, and possibilities. 



Canada's System of Government. Canadian govern- 

 ment briefly outlined to portray its democratic traits. 



The Story of Canadian Nickel. History of the nickel 

 mining industry. 



Canadian Oil Exploitation and Prospects. An expert 

 engineer's history of Canadian oil development and 

 future possibilities. 



Canadian Water Power Development. Authoritative 

 and exhaustive survey of water power reserves and 

 possible development. 



Paper Pulp from Flax Straw. An investigation 

 engineer shows the possibility of the development of 

 a new industry in the West. 



A Canadian Grain Handling Plant. How Canadian 

 grain is stored and shipped. Authoritative article on 

 Canadian elevators. 



Value of a Settler to Canadian Railroads. Computa- 

 tion from reliable statistics of a farming settler's 

 revenue-producing worth to Canadian railroads. 



Bituminous Sands of the Athabasca Region. 



Description with known values, and possibilities of 

 development of the widely known tar sands of 

 Northern Alberta. 



The New Canadian Oil Field. Dealing with the Arctic 

 oil region of the new strike. 



Water Powers of the Maritimes. Authoritative article 

 on the undeveloped power systems of the Eastern 

 provinces. 



Water Powers of Manitoba. The water powers of this 

 province dealt with exhaustively. 



Oleomargarine. History of oleomargarine in Canada 

 and its future prospects. 



Synopses of Natural Resources. Forty-five pamphlets 

 dealing briefly but concisely with Kaolin or China 

 Clay, Oil Shales, Mica, Fluor-spar, Asbestos, Molyb- 

 denum, Magnesite, Fruit, Flax Fibre, Nickel, Coal, 

 Clays, Salt, Copper, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Pyrites, Iron, 

 Potash, Talc, Feldspar, Platinum, Phosphate (apatite). 

 Manganese, Graphite, Cement, Barytes, Gypsum, 

 Irrigation, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Corundum, 

 Sulphates of Sodium and Magnesium, Timber and 

 Pulpwood, Fish, Fur, Peat, Grazing Lands, Mineral 

 Waters, Building and Ornamental Stone, Whaling, 

 Sealing, Wheat, Oats and Barley, and Water Powers. 



99 



