retail conditions during the Christmas season. 

 The improvement shown in the earlier part of 

 September has been maintained, but at tha 

 time it was anticipated that greater develop- 

 ments would have taken place than those which 

 have manifested themselves. It is known what 

 the various causes were that constituted a check, 

 and that while the western crop is large, the 

 gradual diminution in price has had the effect 

 of curtailing purchases and rendering collections 

 somewhat more difficult than was at one time 

 believed would be the case. 



In the meantime, prospects of new enter- 

 prises are not by any means at a standstill. The 

 Manitoba Power Company is going ahead with 

 its new power plant on the Winnipeg River. 

 The Calgary Power Company have under con- 

 templation a new plant on the Bow River to 

 develop an additional 8,000 to 10,000 h.p. The 

 Lethbridge Northern Irrigation scheme is well 

 under way in its construction work, while the 

 Alberta Provincial Government has appointed 

 an excellent committee to go fully into the 

 questions of irrigation and other matters in the 

 Southern Alberta territory. 



Prospects for additional United States 

 branch plants continue to be received and Brit- 

 ish firms are nibbling at Western contracts ; 

 the ice company at Winnipeg has deemed it 

 necessary to reorganize with a view to erect a 

 large plant for the production of 200 tons of 

 artificial ice per day in addition to its annual 

 natural ice harvest, while on the coast prospects 

 are for immediate construction of the floating 

 dry-dock at North Vancouver. The gas com- 

 pany at Calgary is already working on its 15 

 miles of pipe line to connect its main gas pipe 

 with the Dingman field, thus giving additional 

 natural gas to the city of Calgary. Other 

 developments include the opening of branch 

 wholesale houses and in many cases extension 

 of promises to take care of expansion of business. 

 In some cases there has been consolidation of 

 interests, and a general effort to curtail oper- 

 ating costs is very noticeable 



A Distinct Revival likely 



Whilst it is not generally believed that any 

 immediate change in the bettering of existing 

 conditions is about to take place, there is a 

 more hopeful outlook towards the settlement of 

 some of the more important problems which 

 must be felt in the West as elsewhere. San- 

 guine views are held in this relation, and with 

 the consummation of such hopes a distinct 

 revival is likely to be noticed in which the West 

 will share to a very large extent. As has been 

 stated many times before in these monthly 

 notes, the West is less affected and recovers 

 more speedily than more thickly settled coun- 

 tries. 



Throughout the fall continued efforts have 

 been made to take care of unemployment, and 

 during November, in Manitoba, a survey was 



made to ascertain to what extent the farmers 

 could piovide winter work for some six or seven 

 thousand applicants. Of course, each winter 

 brings this problem, but it has never before been 

 taken in hand so thoroughly and with greate 

 cohesion among the Western Provinces than it 

 has this year, making it very evident that every 

 effort to find jobs for all unemployed is being 

 carried out with the utmost diligence. At the 

 time of willing it is quite possible that the situa- 

 tion will be well cared for. 



Looking back over the past eleven month 

 it will be seen that many disappointments have 

 had to be met and that the optimistic predic 

 tions of the earlier months did not in their 

 entirety materialize. Yet this notwithstanding 

 substantial progress has again bee.i made 

 While prices for farm produce on the prairie 

 were below what was anticipated, a very larg 

 amount of money is being realized to take care 

 of immediate commitments and requirements 

 for next year's efforts. In British Columbia, 

 apple and fruit growers had a good season. As 

 a matter of fact the apple crop of the Okanagan 

 was one of the best, giving to the growers their 

 third successive wealth-producing crop. The 

 crop was handled and packed with expedition, 

 finding a good market as far east as New York. 



Fur Farming Expands 



Through the medium of this bulletin encour- 

 agement has been ceaselessly given to fur farming 

 in Canada and constant endeavor been exerted 

 to point out the many opportunities which lay in 

 this direction. That the stimulus it was attempt- 

 ed to impart and the inducement held out to 

 those contemplating this novel branch of agricul- 

 ture were amply justified by circumstances and 

 conditions, would seem to be borne out by the 

 record of- expansion the industry has undergone 

 in the space of a single year, as well as the tend- 

 ency of the prices of raw furs to rise substantially, 

 those at the fall auctions ranging from twenty to 

 forty per cent, higher than in the spring. 



According to returns made to the Canadian 

 Bureau of Statistics during 1920, there were in 

 Canada at the end of that year a total of 582 fur 

 farms, in comparison with 419 twelve month 

 previously. In the same short span the value i 

 the animals on Canadian farms had increase 

 from $3,088,923 to $4,632,605, or roughly fifty 

 per cent. A total of 573 fox farms at the end 

 the year compared with 414 in the previous 

 December, the number of mink farmshad doubled, 

 and a Karakul sheep ranch came into existence. 

 The value of the land and buildings on these 582 

 farms amounted to $1,178,788. 



Prince Edward Island Leads 



Of the total number of fur farms in Canada 

 in 1920, Prince Edward Island claimed over ont 

 half, having 306 within the confines of the little 



230 



