ALBERTA 



156 



ALBERTA 



rice and to some extent the variety of plant 

 life. Nearly all sections are covered with a 

 large variety of native grasses. The south is a 

 short-grass count ry. in which the growth cures 

 naturally on the stem. In the center the grow- 

 ing period is longer and the top of vegetation 

 more luxuriant. To the grasses are added the 

 sedges and a great variety of legumes, shrub- 

 bery, wil and "bluffs" or groves of 

 irrowth. commonly called pole timber. 

 The prairie is studded with a rich growth and 

 ssion of wild flowers for more than half 

 the year. The heavier timber of the north 

 includes fir, poplar, birch, jackpine, spruce and 

 balsam. 



al Life. The plains were once the 

 home of countless thousands of buffaloes, or 

 MS. But wild herds were rapidly extermi- 

 nated in the early seventies through the de- 

 mand for buffalo skins established by white 

 .re from Fort Benton. In the mountains 

 and woods are grizzly, black and brown bears, 

 and the coyote's howl is familiar almost every- 

 where. Because many of their haunts are inac- 

 ble to man, mountain sheep and goats are 

 still numerous, and elk, antelope and red deer 

 are common, and even the lordly moose, mon- 

 : of the forests, is frequently seen. Among 

 other animals are the lynx, mountain lion, por- 

 cupine, squirrel and rabbit. 



iier to the north the fur hunter still 

 follows the traditional occupation of the north- 

 land, and ermine, otter, beaver, mink and mar- 

 ten reward his labors. The north is also the 

 home of the musk-ox, and is the nesting- 

 ground for ducks, geese, swans and other 

 migratory birds. The eagle, crane, partridge, 

 hawk, owl and crow are plentiful. The lakes 

 and rivers are well stocked with fish, pike, 

 pickerel and whitefish being most abundant. 

 In the mountains the brook trout lures the 

 sportspian. 



A policy of strict conservation is being fol- 

 lowed with respect to the desirable wild life of 

 tin- j.rovinre. Five parks are administered by 

 the Dominion Commissioner of Parks, and in 

 these the animal and plant life is fully pro- 

 tected. Rocky Mountains Park and Jasper 

 Park are great national resorts as well as game 

 and forest preserves. At Buffalo Park and Elk 

 Island Park a herd of a thousand prairie buffalo 

 and a considerable number of moose, elk, deer 

 and antelope are held. See, also, ROCKY MOUN- 

 TAINS PARK. 



Mineral Wealth. Below the surface of the 

 earth Alberta has resources which are perhaps 



as important, if not as varied, as those which 

 it possesses above ground. A little placer gold 

 has been found along the North Saskatchewan 

 River, hut the gold mining industry has slowly 

 decreased in importance since 1896 and 1897. 

 Within the cily nf Medicine Hat and at other 

 points near, natural gas for both domestic and 

 commercial purposes is plentiful. Considerable 

 supplies that have not yet been set to work 

 exist at Fort McMurray and at other points in 

 the province. Evidences of oil are still more 

 general and promising, but the province is still 

 in the exploration stage so far as this product 

 is concerned. 



By far the most important of all the min- 

 erals in Alberta is coal. Practically all of the 

 southern half of the province is underlaid with 

 coal measures, though only a small proportion 

 of the area includes high-grade coal. Even 

 where the coal is not good enough to repay 

 the cost of transportation to a distance, it 

 supplies local demand; this is especially true 

 of the lignite, or brown varieties. On the main 

 line of the Canadian Pacific, near Banff, are 

 the most valuable deposits of bituminous and 

 semi-anthracite coal. (See COAL, for map of 

 Canada's coal deposits.) 



Industries. Farming and Ranching. These 

 are the leading industries. There are about 

 700,000 head of cattle in the province, besides 

 200,000 milch cows. Dairying is important in 

 the central part of the province, and is rather 

 highly specialized in the sections tributary to 

 Edmonton and Calgary. The cows are mostly 

 Holsteins, Ayrshires and Jerseys; the beef 

 cattle are largely Shorthorns and Herefords. 

 The raising of horses is an important branch, 

 and their number seldom falls below 500,000. 

 The soil, grasses and climate are highly favor- 

 able to this industry. Alberta horses are 

 famous for their endurance and generally sound 

 constitutions. During the War of the Nations 

 large numbers of them were sent to Europe 

 for the use of the allies. The raising of sheep 

 is a minor industry, but hog-raising is steadily 

 Increasing in importance. 



The growth of farming since 1901 is remark- 

 able. In that year Alberta had 9,486 farms, 

 occupying about 2,700,000 acres. In 1911 these 

 figures had risen to 61,500 and 17,751,000 re- 

 spectively. The value of the land occupied 

 by farms increased in the same decade from 

 $13,156,000 to $344,759,000, an increase in the 

 ratio of one to twenty-six. Hardly less aston- 

 ishing is the increase in the value of field 

 crops, including wheat, oats, corn, barley and 



