176 FORESTRY IN CANADA. 



much in different parts. In Canada, the Cordillera consist of four 

 ranges of mountains of which the Kockies are the highest, rising 

 in the central parts to 13,000 feet with a distinctly alpine 

 character. The timber line is at 7,500 feet elevation. The 

 coast ranges seldom rise to 9,000 feet. The Klondike region 

 and the country around it is described as a tableland with the 

 highest elevation of 3,500 feet above the sea. In the south-west 

 corner of Yukon the St. Elias range rises up to 18,000 feet 

 eh>vation. 



A great part of the outermost coast range in British Columbia 

 is submerged, leaving Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte 

 Islands above sea. The former has beds of excellent coal, many 

 of the mines being under the sea, just as those in Nova Scotia. 

 Vancouver Island consists of a great mass of mountains rising to 

 9,000 feet elevation. 



2. Geology and Soils, 



The geological features are very varied in such an enormous 

 extent of country. The Kocky mountains consist chiefly of 

 palaeozoic rocks, also the islands on the west coast. The coast 

 range is chiefly granitic. The intervening ranges are of mixed 

 formations varying from rocks of sedimentary origin to granites. 

 To the east of the Rocky Mountains in the prairie country, the 

 underlying rocks are of sedimentary origin of the tertiary and 

 mesozoic ages. The basin of the St. Lawrence river and the 

 great Lakes contain a variety of geological types, partly of the 

 southern Laurentian type and partly of sedimentary origin of the 

 palaeozoic age. The rock formation in New Brunswick is largely 

 mesozoic with areas of granite. In Nova Scotia the proportion 

 of granite is greater with large areas of late pre-cambrian or 

 Cambrian rocks. The most fertile valleys in the last-mentioned 

 two provinces are underlaid with Mississippian palaeozoic rock. 

 Prince Edward Island is built up of permian and upper 

 carboniferous rocks. 



The best soils are concentrated in the valley bottoms of the 

 hilly parts and in alluvial deltas. The soil in the great interior 

 basin is rich and fertile, forming an agricultural and pastoral 

 country. The land in the Lake region and in the St. Lawrence 



