and it is a little difficult at the time of writing to 

 forecast to what extent operations of this kind 

 will be carried out during the year. There are a 

 large number of warehouses, residences and 

 public buildings required and proposed construc- 

 tion work has been featured at a considerable 

 figure, but just what proportion, or whether the 

 whole program will or can be carried out during 

 1921, cannot at this stage be stated. 



Mining operations are still quiet and more 

 immediate developments are dependent on 

 prices; surveys are to be started with a view to 

 ascertain mineral areas and values thereof on 

 Vancouver Island and also covering a large 

 area of the British Columbia mainland country 

 from the Big Bend on the Columbia River north 

 of Revelstoke to the boundary country in the 

 south, this area being known to contain a very 

 large quantity of various kinds of mineral that 

 have not yet been sufficiently prospected to 

 determine their actual or potential values. 



In considering existing conditions, cognizant 

 with all factors likely to affect the West, it 

 would seem that though slowly, yet surely, an 

 improvement is evident in trading, with the 

 possibility of average conditions during the last 

 half of this year. 



The Fur Industry in Manitoba 



By Robt. C. Wallace, Commissioner of Northern Manitoba. 



That territory, which is now known as 

 Western Canada, first attracted British capital 

 owing to the value of the peltry which the 

 country could supply. Thus it was that the 

 Honourable The Company of Adventurers, 

 trading into Hudson Bay, were able to obtain 

 support in high quarters, and to show, after a 

 few years, very substantial profits on their 

 business operations. 



The Hudson's Bay Company has now 

 operated in Canadian territory for more than 

 250 years, and the profits from the fur depart- 

 ment of their manifold activities are still very 

 substantial. In their activity in Western 

 Canada, the part played by Manitoba soil has 

 been the predominating role. On establishing on 

 the shores of the Hudson Bay, Churchill and 

 York factories, both of which posts are now in 

 Manitoba, they became important posts on the 

 West coast. When, a century later, the inland 

 post was established at Cumberland House in 

 order that the trade of the interior be directed 

 to Hudson Bay and away from the Montreal 

 fur companies, the route for supplies through 

 the Hayes, Nelson and Saskatchewan Rivers 

 was again wholly in Manitoba. When finally 

 the territory controlled by the Company was 

 handed over to the British Crown, the head- 

 quarters of the great company, whose posts 

 extend from coast to coast and from the Inter- 

 national Boundary to the Arctic Sea, were 



established in the City of Winnipeg, in whose 

 early beginnings as Fort Garry the Company 

 has had so great a part. 



Rapid Settlement of Manitoba 



The rapid settlement of Southern Manitoba 

 by an agricultural population attracted by the 

 far-famed reputation of the Red River soil, in 

 time eliminated the fur-bearing animal from 

 that part of the province. The beaver were 

 greatly reduced in numbers, and now for many 

 years it has been declared illegal to trap beaver 

 except in Northern Manitoba where beaver are 

 still plentiful. Interest in the fur industry in 

 Manitoba has consequently centred more and 

 more in the northern and eastern sections of the 

 province, which have not been colonized by an 

 agricultural population and where the forests 

 are yet to a large extent intact. Even in this 

 very sparsely populated territory, close seasons 

 are observed on all fur-bearing animals and are 

 strictly enforced by the game wardens. 



The Indian and half-breed population, who, 

 except during the periods of very high price on 

 furs, form by far the most important section of 

 the fur trappers, fully realize the necessity of 

 protecting fur-bearing animals, and may usually 

 be relied on to assist in enforcing the statutes 

 and even in suggesting modifications in the 

 interests of the industry. 



The principal fur-bearing animals of Mani- 

 toba are beaver, otter, muskrat, ermine, fisher, 

 marten, mink, fox (red, cross, silver, white, 

 black), wolf, skunk, lynx, wolverine and bear 

 (black and polar). To a large extent their dis- 

 tribution is determined by climatic and geogra- 

 phical conditions. The white fox and the white 

 or polar bear are found on the shores of Hudson 

 Bay. The muskrat inhabit the swamps on the 

 lower Saskatchewan River from Cumberland 

 House to Lake Winnipeg, probably the greatest 

 muskrat preserve on this continent. The 

 periodic flooding of the Saskatchewan River 

 replenishes from time to time the lakes and 

 swamps of outlying flats and provides ideal 

 conditions for this important fur producer. 



Beaver, Marten, Fisher and Lynx 



Beaver are sought particularly on the 

 Churchill Basin and in the Oxford House terri- 

 tory in Northeastern Manitoba. Marten and 

 fisher are numerous from Oxford to Island Lake, 

 but are well distributed throughout Northern 

 Manitoba generally. Marten are even trapped 

 in the fringe of timber along the Hudson Bay 

 coast. Mink are plentiful on the northern 

 waterways. Otter are not numerous but may 

 still be reckoned among the northern fur. Lynx, 

 and to a lesser extent the fox, follow the periodic 

 variations of the rabbit and suffer a serious 

 diminution on an average every seven years. A 

 periodical variation has also been noted in the 

 case of the marten. 



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