IS THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



Lawrence from those of the Ottawa ; and the Lauren tian Hills run west- 

 ward from the Thousand Isles to Lake Simcoe, and thence form the coast 

 of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. The agricultural capabilities are very 

 great. A fertile belt extends over three-fourths of the present inhabited 

 parts, and a considerable portion of the territory in the hands of the 

 government. Large crops of spring and fall wheat are raised ; as also 

 oats, barley, rye, Indian corn, potatoes, turnips, &c., &c. The apple- 

 orchards of the south-western counties are exceedingly productive, and 

 pears, plums, grapes and cherries thrive there luxuriantly. The climate 

 is tempered by the near proximity of the lakes, and the winter is shorter 

 and less severe than that of Quebec. The principal rivers of Ontario 

 are the tributaries of the Ottawa; the French, the Maganetawan, the 

 Severn and the Nottawasaga falling into the Georgian Bay; the Sau- 

 geen, the Maitland and the Aux Sables falling into Lake Huron ; the 

 Thames running into Lake St. Glair ; the Grand into Lake Erie ; the 

 Trent under different names into Bay Quints', and the Niagara into Lake 

 Ontario. The gorgeous St. Lawrence sweeps through the eastern part of 

 the province from Kingston. The lakes are many and the largest on the 

 globe. They are Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Among the lesser 

 lakes are Nepigon, Simcoe and Nipissing. The province is rich in miner- 

 als. Iron, copper, lead, plumbago, antimony, arsenic, manganese, gypsum ; 

 marble of superior quality and building stone abound in the region be- 

 tween Georgian Bay and the Ottawa. On the north shore of Lake On- 

 tario there are extensive copper mines, and on the shore of Lake Superi- 

 or, especially at Thunder Bay, there are valuable silver deposits. There 

 are also found there amethysts, agates, mica, iron, gold, cobalt and bis- 

 muth. In the south-westerly part of the province are inexhaustible 

 petroleum wells ; and at Goderich and Kincardine are valuable salt wells. 

 Large peat beds exist in many parts of the province. An enormous lum- 

 ber trade is carried on in the province, and the chief lumber districts are 

 the Muskoka region and the waters of the Ottawa. Settlement has up 

 to a late date been made only south of the Laurentian "Range, but behind 

 these hills there is an extensive tract of rich agricultural land as level as 

 the St. Lawrence valley and timbered with a heavy growth of mixed white 

 pine and hardwood. Settlement is pouring in now upon the new district. 

 Enormous strides in railway development have been made in the past thirty 

 years, and the province has now upwards of 4,000 miles of railway. There 

 are several canals in the province ; the Welland between Lakes Erie and 

 Ontario to avoid the Niagara Falls, the Rideau between Kingston and 

 Ottawa, and the St. Lawrence Canals necessitated by the rapids of the 



