536 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  19  1902. 
British  Coiumbia. 
At  the  present  time  capital  and  enterprise  arc  seeking  out 
every  corner  of  the  world  where  there  are  available  openings. 
Especially  are  British  capital  and  enterprise  going  everywhere. 
Climatic  conditions,  no  matter  how  adverse,  do  not  deter  them. 
The  lack  of  settled  government  and  the  presence  of  unfriendly 
native  tribes  are  alike  unable  to  keep  them  back.  All  they  seem 
to  ask  is  that  there  is  a  reasonable  chance  of  profit.  Risk  does 
not  count.  When  we  see  what  is  done  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  we  sometimes  think  that  if  British  Columbia  were  more 
difficult  of  access,  if  deadly  diseases  haunted  our  coasts,  if  hostile 
natives  .swarmed  along  our  rivers,  if  a  merciless  climate  rendered 
life  here  scarcely  endurable,  British  enterprise  would  be  more 
attracted  in  this  direction.  The  spice  of  danger,  the  element  of 
romance,  would  attract  the  descendants  of  the  adventurers  of 
Elizabeth’s  day.  But  conditions  here  are  prosaic.  The  country 
is  easily  reached.  It  is  cne  of  the  healthiest  regions  on  earth. 
There  are  no  hostile  natives.  The  climate  is  in  many  parts 
ideal,  and  nowhere  too  severe  for  comfortable  living.  The  seeker 
after  wealth  does  not  have  to  array  himself  in  the  paraphernalia 
of  war  and  carry  with  him  an  arsenal  as  well  as  a  banking  account. 
It  is  simply  a  splendid  country  to  live  in,  with  a  settled  govern¬ 
ment  under  the  British  flag,  where  life  and  pi'operty  are  as  safe 
as  in  the  heart  of  the  Emirire  itself.  It  does  not  lend  itself  to 
-blood-curdling -magazine  stories,  and  the  illustrated  press  finds 
no  sensations  here.  There  are  no  “  natives  ”  with  imaginary 
trade  possibilities  concealed  about  their  otherwise,  naked  persons. 
Hence  it  does  not  attract  the  attention  that  less  favoured  parts 
of  the  world  do.  To  many  persons  it  seems  unreasonable  that 
a  part  of  the  globe,  so  rich  in  natural  wealth  and  so  blest 
climatically  as  British  Columbia  should  remain  unoccupied. 
Such  people  do  not  take  account  of  the  vastness  of  North 
America  nor  of  the  comparatively  recent  date  within  which  the 
potentialities  of  this  Province  became  known.  Under  these  cir¬ 
cumstances,  we  suggest  that  all  who  are  interested  in  the  future 
ef  this  Province  should  engage,  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  in  a 
campaign  of  education.  It  is  with  this  object  that  the  sei’ies 
of  articles,  of  which  this  is  the  first,  will  be  published.  There 
will  necessarily  be  stated  in  them  many  things  which  are  familiar 
to  many  readers,  but,  perhaps  even  the  best  informed 
-among  the  latter  will  not  object  on  this  account,  but 
on  the  contrary,  will  follow  what  is  said,  and  when 
they  can  will  add  what  of  interest  may  occur  to  them. 
We  hope  to  point  out  the  way  of  making  the  Province  better 
known,  trusting  that  others  better  ecj[uipijed  for  the  work  will 
give  us  their  hearty  co-operation  in  a  labour  which,  to  be  well 
clone,  will  call  for  much  research,  and  which  no  single  individual 
can  hope  to  do  thoroughly.  The  area  of  British  Columbia  is 
approximately  1-00,000  sc^uare  miles.  The  latest  official  state¬ 
ment  on  the  subject  is  as  follows: — “The  total  area  of  British 
Columbia  is  about  382,000  sciuare  miles,  of  which  28-'3,000  square 
miles  are  estimated  to  be  wooded.”  A  very  large  portion  of 
the  mainland  and  many  of  the  Islands  have  not  been  surveyed, 
so  that  an  accurate  statement  of  the  area  is  impossible.  For  pur¬ 
poses  of  comparison,  we  may  take  it  to  be  the  figure  first  stated, 
namely  400,000  squai'e  miles.  The  area  of  the  British  Isles  is 
121,483  square  miles,  that  of  Germany  is  208,738  sciuare  miles, 
that  of  France  207,801  sciuare  miles,  and  that  of  Spain  197,000 
square  miles.  From  its  south-eastern  corner,  near  the  Kootenay 
Pass,  to  the  north-western  corner  near  Mount  St.  Elias,  the 
distance  is  1,250  miles,  or  as  far  as  from  John  o’Groat’s  House 
to  Madrid,  or  from  London  to  St.  Petersburg,  air  lines  being 
taken  in  each  case. 
British  Columbia  lies  between  the  49th  and  COth  parallels  of 
north  latitude,  with  the  exception  of  the  southern  portion  of 
Vancouver  Island,  which  extends  to  within  twent,Y  miles  of  the 
48th  parallel.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
Victoria,  the  capital  of  the  Province,  lies  twenty  minutes  south 
of  the  latitude  of  Paris,  and  Bennett,  the  most  northerly  town 
in  the  Province,  is  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Petersburg.  Between 
these  latitudes  in  Europe  the  greatest  material  and  intellectual 
progress  of  mankind  has  taken  place,  and  in  iroint  of  natural 
wealth,  and  all  the  other  elements  which  go  to  make  greatness 
and  prosperity  possible,  British  Columbia  is  at  least  equally 
well  endowed  with  the  corresponding  portion  of  Europe.  What 
it  may  lack  in  one  respect  it  makes  up  in  others.  Wo  do  not 
Avish  to  push  the  comparison  too  far,  and  must  not  be  understood 
as  claiming  that  this  Province  is  ever  likely  to  sustain  as  great 
a  population  per  sc[uare  mile  as  is  crowded  into  Central  Europe. 
The  point  which  rve  wish  to  make  is  that  British  Columbia  is  all 
Avithiu  habitable  latitude.;,  and  those  in  Avhich  men  are  at  their 
best.  This  is  a  consideration  of  the  greatest  importance  Avhen 
the  geographical  position  of  the  Province  as  regards  Asia  and 
the  British  Empire  generally  is  taken  into  account,  for  it  shoAvs 
that  here  may  be  built  up  a  British  community  of  the  highest 
type,  and  that  here  the  greatest  triumphs  of  civilisation  are 
possible.  Roughly  speaking,  the  Province  may  be  divided  into 
three  great  parts,  a4z.,  the  Dry  Belt,  or  Upper  Mainland,  by 
Avhich  is  meant  that  part  tn  the  eastward  of  the  Coast  Range ; 
the  Lower  Mainland,  being  that  part  between  the  Coast  Range 
and  the  Sea;  and  the  Islands,  a4z.,  Vancouver,  Queen  Charlotte, 
and  the  Gulf  Islands. 
The  general  appearance  of  the  Upper  Mainland  part  of  the 
Province  Avould  indicate  that  at  some  remote  period  it  Avas  covered 
Avith  Avater;  in  fact,  a  large  lake,  and  with  the  subsidence  of  the 
Avater,  by  reason  of  the  cutting  through  of  the  mountain  ranges 
by  such  rivers  as  the  Fraser  and  Columbia,  the  country  was  left 
in  Avhat  is  known  as  benches,  that  is,  level  prairie  land  running 
back  in  successive  stages  until  the  foot-hills  are  reached.  This 
is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Fraser  and 
of  the  Columbia,  where,  starting  from  the  river  level,  which  may 
here  be  likened  to  a  deep  ditch  Avith  sloping  sides,  the  first 
bench  is  reached  after  a  climb  of  perhaps  200ft.  This  bench 
may  run  back  for  a  mile,  or  thereabouts,  Avhen  another  bank 
is  encountered,  running  still  further  toAvards  the  foot-hills,  and 
so  on.  These  bench  lands  are  nearly  all  of  the  same  nature, 
being  either  a  sandy,  clayey,  or  a  mixture  of  both,  alluvial 
deposit,  for  the  most  part  of  extraordinary  fertility,  when 
moisture  is  in  sufficient  quantity.  The  general  altitude  of  the 
lower  bench  lands  is  from  1,000ft  to  1,200ft.  On  these  benches 
most  of  the  ordinary  productions  of  the  temperate  zone  can  be 
successfully  cultivated,  but  as  the  altitude  increases,  so  is  the 
possible  range  of  production  circumscribed,  until  AA’hen  the 
highest  points  are  reached  the  production  of  live  stock  is  alone 
Ijossible. 
British  Columbia,  although  not,  strictly  speaking,  an  agricul¬ 
tural  country,  has  nevertheless  large  areas  of  arable  land  of 
great  fertility,  and  capable  of  producing  much  more  than  is 
required  of  its  present  or  prospective  population.  The  mining 
and  other  industries  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  Province  so 
completely  occupied  the  attention  of  its  inhabitants  that  British 
Columbia  came  to  be  considered  by  them  and  naturally  by  out¬ 
siders,  as  a  country  ciuite  unfit  for, agricultural  pursuits;  and  so 
much  Avas  this  the  case,  that  Avhen  the  subject  of  Confederation 
AA'as  first  mooted,  not  only,  Avas  British  Columbia  designated  by 
one  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  East  as  “A  -  Sea  of 
Mountains,”  but  it  was  actually  looked  upon  as  utterly  worth¬ 
less,  “the  derelict  of  Canada,”  by  many  people  who  should  and 
perhaps  did  knoAv  better;  and  even  after  the  Avonderful ^resources 
of  the  Western  Province  had  dcA-eloped  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
Avring  the  acknowledgment  of  its  richness  from  its  detractors, 
the  belief  still  existed  ,and  does  exist  among  many,  that  although 
rich  in  minerals,  timber,  fish,- and  coal,  there,  is  not  agricultural 
land  sufficiently  extensiAye  or  good,  iu  the  Province  to  produce 
enough  to  feed  its  own  inhabitants,  to  say  nothing  of  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  its  production  ever  reaching  .such  a  point  as  to  contem¬ 
plate  exportation  outside  its  confines. 
On  account  of  its  topography  and  extent,  ranging  as  it  does 
from  the  49th  to  the  60th  degrees  of  latitude,  and  intersected  as 
it  is  by  immense  mountain  ranges,  Avith  the  Avarm  Japan  current 
setting  over  to  its  .shores,  it  may  easily  be  understood  that  the 
climate  of  British  Columbia  is  A-aried  in  its  character,  that  its 
products,  as  a  natural  sequence,  are  also  very,  varied,  embracing 
those  of  the  semi-tropical  as  Avell  as  of  the  temperate  zones.  The 
Apple,  par  excellence,  is  the  fruit  of  the  country,  which  with  the 
Pear,  Plum,  Prune,  Cherry,  and  all  small  fruits,  attains  great 
perfection  in  most  of  the  settled  portions  of  the  Province. 
Peaches,  Apricots,  Nectarines,  Grapep,  and  such  finiits,  are 
naturally  not  so  Avide  in  their  distribution,  but  are  successfully 
cultivated  in  many  parts  of  the  southern  portions  of  the  Pro¬ 
vince.  Melons,  Tomatoes,  Chili  Peppers,  Egg  Plant,  and  all 
vegetables  of  this  character,  are  also  grown  to  perfection  in  many 
parts.  In  the  matter  of  Nuts — Almonds,  Walnuts,  Filberts, 
Hazelnuts,  Cobnuts,  Chestnuts,  &c. — these  produce  Avell 
wherever  grown.  It  is  impossible  at  the  present  Avriting  to  give 
any  statistical  information,  even  of  the  approximate  character, 
of  the  number  and  kinds  of  orchards  in  the  ProA'ince,  nor  the 
amount  of  fruit  produced.  This  may  be  said,  hoAveA-er,  that 
whereas  a  feAv  years  ago  most  of  the  fruit  consumed  Avas 
imported  from  the  neighbouring  States  and  California,  now 
most  of  the  fruits  coming  to  the  Province  from  these  sources 
are  early  fruits,  which  come  before  the  home  production  is  ready 
for  the  market. 
The  exportation  of  fruit,  likeAvise,  to  the  North-West  Pro¬ 
vinces  and  the  Yukon  is  assuming  lai’ge  proportions,  and  the 
quantity  is  increasing  year  by  year,  as  the  young  orchards 
which  have  been  set  out  come  into  bearing.  The  area  under 
fruit  has  been  increased  greatly  during  the  last  five  or  six 
years,  and  people  generally  are  adopting  methods  more  in  accord- 
