CANADA 



1109 



CANADA 



silver is mined it is found in combination with 

 lead; the production of this latter mineral is 

 about 37,000,000 pounds a year. Among the 

 minor mineral products .are arsenic, brick-clay, 

 corundum and graphite. 



Other Minerals. Canada is the world's great- 

 est producer of nickel and asbestos. Its only 

 rival in the production of nickel is New Cale- 

 donia, an island near Australia, which is now 

 in second place, and in asbestos it has no 

 rival. Nickel is mined in Ontario, in the Sud- 

 bury district, northeast of Lake Huron, and 

 the asbestos comes from the eastern part of 

 Quebec, Thetford being the center of the in- 

 dustry. Iron is found in every province, but 

 its production has been unimportant until 

 recent years. Upon the outbreak of the War 

 of the Nations the production of Canadian 

 iron increased enormously, due to war demands. 

 Large amounts of copper are extracted each 

 year in Ontario and British Columbia, and 



smaller quantities in Quebec. The great war 

 gave such an impetus to mineral development 

 that its effects in this direction were destined 

 to be permanently beneficial. The table below 

 summarizes the output of the important min- 

 erals of the Dominion, the figures of production 

 being annual averages : 



Asbestos 130,000 



Cement, Portland.. 8,000,000 



Coal 15,000,000 



Copper 75,000,000 



Gypsum 600,000 



Iron 



Lead 37,000,000 



Lime 7,000,000 



Natural Gas 20,000,000 



Nickel 47,000,000 



Pig Iron 80,000 



Sand and Gravel . . 



Silver 30,000,000 



Granite 



Limestone 



Total mineral production, annual 



average $130,000,000 



Canada has great natural resources and 

 abundant power to develop them, but the 

 expansion of the manufacturing industries has 

 become a feature only in recent years. Be- 

 tween 1900 and 1910, for example, the output 

 of Canadian factories increased 142 per cent, 

 from $481,000,000 to $1,165,000,000. More 

 recently, since the beginning of the War of 

 the Nations, Canada has begun to manufac- 

 ture on a large scale certain articles, such as 

 shells and bullets, which it had previously made 

 only on a small scale or not at all. War has 

 also increased the production of pig iron and 

 steel, and of some prepared foods which can 

 be sent to the men in the trenches, but some 

 of this increase has been at the expense of the 

 regular industries of peace. Foundries, iron 

 works and mills which formerly made bridges 

 and structural steel began in 1914 to turn out 

 munitions. 



The country was well suited to the develop- 

 ment of this new industry, but when the war 

 broke out Great Britain naturally looked to 

 the United States, with its greater industries, 

 for immediate supplies. Before long, however, 

 Canadian industries were also able to respond 

 to the unprecedented demand. At first there 

 was considerable confusion in the allotment of 

 orders among Canadian manufacturers, but 

 the Shell Committee and its successor, the 

 Imperial Munitions Board, did remarkable 

 work in the organization of the new industry. 



It was estimated that the total of all war 

 orders placed in Canada in 1915 was about 

 $600,000,000, and for 1916 was probably greater. 

 Nearly half of the total amount was spent 

 for shrapnel, but a considerable percentage 

 was for high-explosive shells, rifles and cart- 

 ridges, harness, clothing and foodstuffs. The 

 effect of these war orders on Canadian industry 

 was tremendous; the output of Canadian 

 manufactures was increased fifty per cent in a 

 single year. Some of this increase was due to 

 the stimulation of existing branches of manu- 

 factures, but most of it came from the new 

 industries. The boom created in the iron and 

 steel industry by the war exerted an influence 

 in almost every other branch of industrial 

 activity. 



Manufacturing has naturally developed most 

 in those sections which have offered the best 

 opportunities. In Nova Scotia coal is plentiful, 

 and in Ontario, Quebec and to a less degree 

 in New Brunswick there is abundant water 

 power. Large sections of these provinces are 

 manufacturing communities. In Ontario the 

 electric power derived from Niagara Falls is 

 distributed to towns at a distance. The forests 

 supply raw material for furniture and all kinds 

 of wood products. An abundant supply of 

 hemlock has made these provinces the leaders 

 in the leather industry. Cotton goods are 

 made chiefly in Quebec and woolens in Ontario. 

 In British Columbia the manufacture of lum- 



