concerns are negotiating for entering the West- 

 ern field and must be provided with the necessary 

 buildings. A continuation of the housing scheme* 

 is obligatory as the situation is still precarious 

 and many hundreds of houses have yet to be 

 built. 



On the Coast the new dry-dock will be under 

 construction and the prospects are for additional 

 pulp-mills, while British capital has become 

 interested in Western power development and 

 possibly steel works. Mining would appear 

 to have somewhat better outlook, and the lum- 

 ber market appears to be ready to take care of 

 considerable expansion. Manufacturing, whole- 

 sale and retail trades, for the first two or three 

 months, are not likely to show an upward ten- 

 dency, but early spring will bring a decided gain 

 in trading, with low stocks to be replenished. 



The outlook at the time of writing would ap- 

 pear to justify an optimistic vision of conditions 

 from the month of March onwards. 



Profitable Fur Season 



The Canadian trapping season is well under 

 way with possibly the best prospects that have 

 attended the chase for some years with the 

 exception of the extraordinary season of 1919-20. 



A winter army of larger proper i ions than 

 usual has left for the snowy vasts of the north 

 to take its toll of the fur-bearing denizens of 

 this region, and this in itself is augury of a pro- 

 fitable season anticipated. Last year Canada's 

 wild fur catch was worth to the trappers about 

 twenty million dollars, and a substantially 

 greater amount is looked for this year. 



It is the most difficult thing in the fur trade 

 to presage the conditions of a season ahead, as 

 very trivial factors are often responsible for 

 momentous changes in a very brief space of time. 

 Expectation of a large catch this season is, how- 

 ever, based on considerable evidence. The 

 greater number of licenses issued with the in- 

 creased number of trappers indulging the pur- 

 suit would indicate this. Again, last year 

 trapping was light, and in consequence the 

 available live animals this season is substantially 

 augmented. Muskrats, depleted during the 

 years of high prices, are reported as being vastly 

 increased in numbers, whilst fox is also expected 

 to furnish profitable trapping. 



Prices to be Higher 



In prices, the tendency in both the United 

 States and Canada is to be higher for the new 

 catch than experienced for some time. Whilst 

 furs have dropped from the phenomenal prices 

 which prevailed two seasons ago, raw pelts are 

 selling at several times the amounts they brought 

 prior to the war. Fur houses are in need of 

 pelts and in many cases the shelves of dealers 

 are practically denuded. There has been a 

 resultant flurry recently on the part of certain 



manufacturers and dealers to obtain small 

 supplies for immediate requirements which is 

 a clear indication of availability. 



It is expected and confidently hoped by 

 fur dealers that as the quantities of new mer- 

 chandise come on the market, the range of 

 prices will be kept well in check and any pos- 

 sibility of forcing the market up obviated. From 

 the trapper's point of view, however, there is 

 little doubt but that a substantial catch with 

 consistently good prices will make the season 

 a very profitable c ne for him. The fur catch 

 now means a considerably enhanced revenue 

 to the Dominion since the establishment of 

 fur markets at Canadian centres which now 

 control the sale of the greater part of the Cana- 

 dian catch. Yet wider attraction is anti- 

 cipated for it in the spring and the influencing 

 of greatei supplies of the raw product from 

 other countries. 



Across Canada London 



Among the lesser Canadian cities which have, 

 in the past, shown a particularly aggressive 

 industrial growth and development, London, 

 Ontario, stands out prominently. A fair city, in 

 a picturesque locality, with charming surround- 

 ings and an equable climate, surrounded by 

 a rich agricultural district which annually has 

 a substantial revenue, it is like its prototype and 

 namesake, situated on a river Thames. For 

 manufacture and engagement in the export 

 trade, it is ideally situated, and its advantages 

 in this connection have attracted many foreign 

 business firms in the past and are still drawing 

 considerable attention from prospective in- 

 dustrial settlers. 



Four railroads serve the city, giving it in- 

 stant touch with all parts of the Dominion 

 and the centres of the United States, whilst, 

 joined with Port Stanley by a short electric 

 line, it has communication by steamer with 

 Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo. It is the eighth 

 industrial centre of Canada and the fourth 

 bank centre of Ontario. Bank clearings in 

 1920 were $192,157,969 or nearly $30,000,000 

 in excess of the previous year. 



Apart from its business importance, it is the 

 heart of educational endeavor for a large area 

 and the seat of Western University with its 

 faculties of arts, medicine and divinity. It has 

 numerous other schools of a high order and 

 churches of fine architecture; its spacious streets 

 and handsome public buildings are sources of 

 civic pride; its residential districts are well laid 

 out, commodious, and free from any congestion. 



The city's healthy growth may be gleaned 

 from the fact that the population increased from 

 37,976 in 1901 to 59,100 in 1920, and the value 

 of taxable property in the same time from 

 $25,151,000 to $46,013,550. 



