CANADA 



1103 



CANADA 



Canada's Natural Resources 



The Dominion of Canada is essentially an 

 agricultural country. Its greatest natural re- 

 source is the great belt of fertile land which 

 extends with scarcely a break from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific. This belt is the southern part 

 of the Dominion, including the rich river val- 

 leys of British Columbia, the fertile plains of 

 the prairie provinces and the productive valley 

 of the Saint Lawrence. With the exception of 

 the barren strip around Lake Superior this 

 belt is the best-developed section of Canada. 



It has been estimated that the forest area of 

 Canada is about 500,000,000 acres, from fifty to 

 sixty per cent of which are covered with timber 

 of merchantable size. At the present time the 

 lumbering industry is important in all the 

 provinces except Prince Edward Island and 

 the prairie provinces, but even in the latter 

 attempts are constantly being made to utilize 

 the timber now available and provide for an 

 increase in the future supply. 

 It has been said that the Canadian fisheries 



SOUTHERN FOREST REOION 

 NOT IDENSO-Y WOODED 

 DENSELY WOODED 

 WESTERN FOREST REGION 



FOREST AREAS OF CANADA 



North of this fertile belt is a strip of prairie 

 extending almost entirely across the continent. 

 Less fertile and less suited for cultivation than 

 the southern belt, it is yet an important area, 

 capable of great agricultural development. The 

 raising of cattle and sheep is comparatively a 

 minor branch of industry, but can be easily 

 developed in this region and in the higher areas 

 near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 

 The northern part of Canada is unsuited to 

 agricultural development, but it has great min- 

 eral deposits whose extent is scarcely appre- 

 ciated. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and 

 coal are found in large areas, even as far south 

 as the United States boundary. The coal and 

 iron deposits of the Maritime Provinces are 

 among the greatest in North America. 



The forests constitute another great resource. 



are the greatest in the world. This statement 

 is no exaggeration if account is taken of the 

 possible extent of the fishing industry rather 

 than its present development. On both the 

 Atlantic and Pacific coasts the fisheries, with 

 proper regulation, are capable of almost indefi- 

 nite expansion, and the inland, fresh-water 

 fisheries are also only beginning to yield their 

 wealth. In connection with the forests and 

 fisheries the subject of conservation (which 

 see) has naturally been a leading issue. The 

 mineral wealth of a country cannot be in- 

 creased by man, but the forests and fisheries 

 can be replenished and even increased by care. 

 Forests and fisheries, properly cared for, are 

 inexhaustible, and for this reason conservation 

 of these resources becomes an issue which 

 every nation must always face. 



