Part 7

=Financial.=--The income of the farming community exceeds that of all former years. It is estimated that the product of this year that will be converted into cash for the liquidation of debts, is nearly 65 million dollars. The farmer is therefore in a position to pay his machinery debts, store debts, and other obligations. Consequently the farmers are optimistic and are planning extended operations for the coming season.

Measured by every economical standard, Alberta shows sound prosperity and justifies a continuance of the confidence of outside capitalists in her established business, and increased investments in the development of her vast resources of farms, mines and forests.

=Population and Live Stock.=--(Dominion Census Bureau):

1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Population ...... ...... 374,663 ...... [2]500,000 Horses 263,713 294,225 407,153 451,573 484,809 Milch cows 116,371 124,470 147,687 157,922 168,376 Other cattle 910,547 926,937 592,163 587,307 610,917 Sheep 171,422 179,067 133,592 135,075 178,015 Swine 139,270 143,560 237,510 278,747 350,692

[2] Estimated.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Stretching from the Rockies to the sea and from the United States to the 60th parallel, British Columbia is the largest Province in the Dominion. It is big enough to enable one to place in it, side by side at the same time, two Englands, three Irelands, and four Scotlands. Looking across the water to the millions of British subjects in India, in Hong-Kong, in Australia, and the isles of the sea, one catches brief pathetic glimpses of the commercial greatness which the Pacific has begun to waft to these shores. Nature intended British Columbia to develop a great seaward commerce, and substantial trade relations are now established northward to the Yukon and southward to Mexico. Population, June, 1911, 392,480.

British Columbia has natural wealth in her forests and her fish, in her whales and seals and fruit farms. But it is from her mines, more than from aught else, that she will derive her future wealth.

The parallel chains of the Rockies, the Selkirks, and the Coast Ranges are a rich dower. They furnish scenery unrivalled in its majesty; they are nurseries of great rivers which pour tribute into three oceans; and in their rocky embrace they hold a mineral wealth second to none.

British Columbia contains an aggregate of from 16 million to 20 million unoccupied arable acres. Sir William Dawson has estimated that in the British Columbia section of the Peace River Valley alone, the wheat-growing area will amount to 10 million acres. It is a country of big things.

=How to get the Land.=--Crown lands in British Columbia are laid off and surveyed into townships, containing thirty-six sections of one square mile in each. The head of a family, a widow, or single man over the age of eighteen years, and a British subject (or any alien upon making a declaration of his intention to become a British subject) may for agricultural purposes record any tract of unoccupied and unreserved crown land (not being an Indian settlement), not exceeding 160 acres in extent.

Free homesteads are not granted. The pre-emptor of land must pay $1 an acre for it, live upon it for two years, and improve it to the extent of $2.50 per acre. Particulars regarding crown lands of this Province, their location, and method of pre-emption can be obtained by communicating with the sub-joined government agencies for the respective districts, or from the Secretary, Bureau of Agriculture, Victoria, B. C.:

Alberni, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Golden, Cranbrook, Kaslo, Nelson, Revelstoke, Bakersville, Telegraph Creek, Atlin, Prince Rupert, Hazleton, Kamloops, Nicola, Vernon, Fairview, Clinton, Ashcroft.

=Agriculture.=--It is not so long ago that agriculture was regarded as a quite secondary consideration in British Columbia. The construction of railroads, and the settlement of the valleys in the wake of the miner and the lumberman, have entirely dissipated that idea. The agricultural possibilities of British Columbia are now fully appreciated locally, and the outside world is also beginning to realize that the Pacific Province has rich assets in its arable and pastoral lands.

Professor Macoun says: "As far north as the fifty-fourth degree it has been practically demonstrated that apples will flourish, while in the southern belt the more delicate fruits, peaches, grapes, and apricots, are an assured crop."

On a trip through the valley one sees apple orchards with the trees fairly groaning under their loads of fruit, and pear, plum, and prune trees in like manner. In many places between the trees there are rows of potatoes, cabbages, and other vegetables, showing that the land is really producing a double crop. Grapes, water melons, and musk melons also thrive in the valley, and large quantities of each are grown. Tomatoes, cherries, and berries of all kinds are grown extensively. Wheat, oats, and corn give excellent yields. As an instance, one man's wheat crop this season averages 48-1/2 bushels to the acre. Of prunes, one orchardist grew a crop of 7,000 boxes. The apples shipped find a ready market in Calgary, Regina, and in the other cities in the prairie provinces. Prices this year are considerably better than they were a year ago. Last year this valley produced 350 carloads of fruit and vegetables, and some of the farmers have made net profits of as high as $250 an acre.

Those who have turned their attention to mixed farming are exceptionally well pleased with the result. A local company is being organized to build a cannery and this will be in operation next year. And besides this one, another cannery is being talked of.

In the valleys, of which there are many, there are tracts of wonderfully rich and, largely of alluvial deposits, that give paying returns.

The Columbia and Kootenay Valleys, comprising the districts of Cranbrook, Nelson, Windermere, Slocan, Golden and Revelstoke are very rich. The eastern portion requires irrigation; they are well suited to fruit farming and all kinds of roots and vegetables. Timber lands are said to be the best, when cleared. In the western portion of these valleys there are considerable areas of fertile land, suitable for fruit growing. The available land is largely held by private individuals.

The valleys of the Okanagan, Nicola, Similkameen, Kettle, North and South Thompson, and the Boundary are immensely rich in possibilities. The advent of the small farmer and fruit grower has driven the cattle industry northward into the Central district of the Province. The ranges are now divided into small parcels, occupied by fruit growers and small farmers. Irrigation is necessary in most places, but water is easy to acquire.

The Land Recording District of New Westminster is one of the richest agricultural districts of the Province and includes all the fertile valley of the Lower Fraser. The climate is mild, with much rain in winter. The timber is very heavy and the underbrush thick. Heavy crops of hay, grain, and roots are raised, and fruit growing is here brought to perfection. The natural precipitation is sufficient for all purposes.

For about seventy miles along the Fraser River there are farms which yield their owners revenues from $4,000 to $7,000 a year; this land is now worth from $100 to $1,000 an acre. As much as 5 tons of hay, 120 bushels of oats, 20 tons of potatoes, and 50 tons of roots have been raised per acre.

Vancouver Island, with its great wealth of natural resources and its commanding position, is fast becoming one of the richest and most prosperous portions of the Province. Its large area of agricultural land is heavily timbered and costly to clear by individual effort, but the railroad companies are clearing, to encourage agricultural development. Most farmers raise live stock, do some dairying and grow fruit. Grains, grasses, roots, and vegetables grow to perfection and yield heavily. Apples, pears, plums, prunes, and cherries grow luxuriantly, while the more tender fruits--peaches, apricots, nectarines, and grapes attain perfection in the southern districts when carefully cultivated.

F. A. Starkey, Pres. of the Boards of Trade says that a clear profit of 66-2/3 per cent can be made in fruit growing.

=Lillooet= is well adapted to dairying, cattle raising, and fruit growing.

=Central British Columbia=, through which the Grand Trunk Pacific is now being constructed, comprises the valleys of the Bulkley, Endako, Nechaco, Fraser, and Stuart, where there is considerable land inviting to the settler. The soil and climate of the valleys extending westward to the Bulkley are adapted to grain growing and cattle raising, while further westward and to within fifty miles of the west coast belt apple culture as well is successful.

Down the Fraser from Fort George there is active development in settlement, and wheat, oats, barley and hay are highly productive; the climate is good. The soil is a brown silt covered by a layer of vegetable mould, and the timber is light and easy to clear.

Along the Nechaco, between Fort George and Fraser Lake, is same character of soil and a similar country, there being large tracts well fitted for general farming. Native grasses yield abundant food; there is ample rainfall, and the winter climate moderates as the coast is approached.

North of Fort Fraser there is good grazing and farming land, somewhat timbered and covered with rich grasses. The prevailing price is $25 an acre; owners are not particularly anxious to sell.

The Bulkley and Endako valleys have a lightly-timbered rich soil, and a well-watered country with mixed farming possibilities. There is no necessity for irrigation. It would be rash for the inexperienced to penetrate this district in search of land before the railway. The difficulties and cost are too great. To the hardy pioneer, who has knowledge of how to select good land in a timbered country, the future is at his feet. Most of the available land within a reasonable distance of the railroad is taken up, and the days of the pre-emptor, except in remoter parts, are past. Land can be secured at a reasonable figure from those who have purchased in large blocks from the Government.

Central British Columbia is lightly timbered from end to end; natural open patches are not frequent, and occur mostly on river banks and at the ends of lakes. While railroad construction is under way and settlement in progress good prices will be obtained for all agricultural products. This portion of the Province can now be reached by way of Prince Rupert, by rail from Edmonton, or by trail from Ashcroft, B. C.

=Highways.=--One-half million dollars was spent last year in opening up first-class wagon and motor roads throughout the Province.

=Education.=--The school system is free and non-sectarian; equally as efficient as in any other Province of the Dominion. The Government builds a school-house, makes a grant for incidental expenses, and pays a teacher in every district where twenty children between the ages of six and sixteen can be gathered. High schools are also established in cities, where classics and higher mathematics are taught.

=Chief Cities.=--Victoria, the capital, about 60,000; Vancouver, the commercial capital, 123,902; New Westminster, 13,199; Nelson, 4,476; Nanaimo, 8,168; Rossland, 2,826; Kamloops, 3,772; Grand Forks, 1,577, Revelstoke, 3,017; Fernie, 3,146; Cranbrook, 3,090; Ladysmith, 3,295; Prince Rupert, 4,184; Fort George and Fort Fraser on the Fraser and Nechaco rivers and Grand Trunk Pacific will be important towns in the near future.

Hon. W. R. Ross, Provincial Minister of Lands, says that there is a total of 93,000,000 acres of land reserved for pre-emption within the confines of the Province at the present time. Of the 250,000,000 acres of ground estimated to be within the Province only 5,000,000 acres, or about 2 per cent, had been sold to date he said, even excluding reserve land, available for settlement. As a matter of fact, during the past few years between 9,000 and 11,000 pre-emptions had been issued by the Government to settlers, and during the last year 3,600 had been issued outside of the railway belt and about 1,200 within the area.

The cities afford a splendid reflex of the trade of the country, and show the development in mining, fishing, lumbering, shipping, manufacturing and agriculture.

=Climate.=--Near the coast the average number of days in the year below freezing is fifteen; rainfall varies from 40 to 100 inches. Farther inland the average number of days in the year below freezing is sixty-five. The northern districts of Hazleton, Pearl River, Cassiar, and Atlin are somewhat colder.

Ocean currents and moisture laden winds from the Pacific exercise a moderating influence upon the climate of the coast. The westerly winds, arrested in their passage east by the Coast Range, create what is known as the "dry belt" east of the mountains; the higher air currents carry the moisture to the lofty peaks of the Selkirks, and the precipitation in the eastern portion of the Province is greater than in the central district, thus a series of alternate moist and dry belts is formed. The Province offers a choice of a dry or moist climate, an almost total absence of extremes of heat and cold, freedom from malaria, and conditions most favourable.

=Mineral Resources.=--The precious and useful metals abound in British Columbia, and it was the discovery of placer gold in the Cariboo District that first attracted attention to the Province. Occurrences of copper, gold, silver, and lead ores are widespread, and mining is being carried on in those districts convenient to transportation facilities. Coal is extensively mined in Vancouver Island, in the Crow's Nest Pass district and more recently, in the Nicola Valley region. Miners' wages are high, and there is usually a constant demand for workmen. The value of the mineral production last year was 32 million dollars, of which coal contributed 9 million and copper 8 million dollars.

Much successful prospecting is in progress in the region traversed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, the completion of which will undoubtedly be followed by important mining development. Already many valuable finds of coal and metal ores have been made. The mineral resources are not confined to any one section, although the principal metalliferous operations have so far been confined to the southern portion of the Province. The various mining camps, employing large numbers of men, who are paid high wages, afford a fine home market for the products of the farms and orchards.

=Timber.=--Next in importance, at the present time, are the timber resources. It is admitted that the largest remaining areas of first-class building timbers in the world are in British Columbia. The lumber industry has increased enormously of recent years owing to the demand from the rapidly growing Prairie Provinces. For many years to come it will have to undergo constant expansion to keep pace with the ever-growing needs of the untimbered prairie regions. The principal woods are Douglas fir, cedar, spruce, tamarac, pine and hemlock.

=Fisheries.=--This Province has risen to the rank of the greatest fish-producing Province in the Dominion. Besides its extensive salmon fisheries, it has, lying within easy distance of the northern part of its coast line, extremely rich halibut grounds, while herring are in great abundance all along its shores. These various branches of the fishing industry are being rapidly developed, but there is yet room for great expansion. The value of the fisheries of the Provinces for 1913 amounted to about 11 million dollars.

=What Premier McBride says=:

"Millions of British money is finding investment in British Columbia, and there is scope for millions more. One of the advantages of British Columbia is that all of its industrial and other enterprises are of a permanent character. There is room for millions of people. We have the resources, the geographical situation, and the climate that will appeal.

"Our elementary school system is free and compulsory, and one of the most efficient in the world, making ample provision, as it does, for ambitious students to pass on to the universities of Canada, the United States, and England. But we are also to have our own University."

Much attention has been attracted to the result of the opening of the Panama Canal on the shipping future of the ports at the coast.

=Lakes and Rivers.=--The most important are the Columbia, which has a course of 600 miles in British Columbia; the Fraser, 750 miles long; the Skeena, 300 miles long; the Thompson, the Kootenay, the Stikine, the Liard, and the Peace. These with their tributaries drain an area of one-tenth of the whole of the North American continent. The lake area aggregates 1-1/2 million acres.

On the lakes and rivers first-class steamers give accommodation to the settlements along the banks and in the valleys, and afford excellent transportation for tourists. There are lines of steamers in service between Vancouver, Japan, and China; between Vancouver and Australia; between Vancouver and Mexico, and between Vancouver and England via the Suez Canal. These ocean communications of British Columbia are highly important. Vancouver is the terminus of the shortest route from Liverpool to Yokohama and all important points of the Far East. The Province has a considerable coasting fleet, having direct connection with Yukon and Alaska. There is not as yet a large Pacific marine of Canadian registry. Although in the service of Canadian interests the tonnage is largely British.

=A Rich Province.=--British Columbia coal measures are sufficient to supply the world for centuries. It possesses the greatest compact area of merchantable timber in the world. The mines are in the early stages of their development, and have already produced about 400 million dollars, of which coal contributed 122 million. The value of the mineral production in 1911 was 30 million dollars. The fisheries return an average annual yield of nearly 10 million dollars. British Columbia's trade, per head of population, is the largest in the world. The chief exports are salmon, coal, gold, silver, copper, lead, timber, masts and spars, furs and skins, whale-oil, sealskins, hops, and fruit.

=Railways.=--The Canadian Pacific Railway has two main lines and several branches making connection with United States railway systems, as well as operating on Vancouver Island. With the exception of one or two small gaps the Grand Trunk Pacific will have its line completed through Central British Columbia this year. This will open up a very large area for settlement. At the Pacific terminus in Prince Rupert, splendid steamers connect with other portions of the Mainland and with Vancouver Island.

The Canadian Northern has secured low grades across the Rockies and, making its way down the Fraser and North Thompson, finds an easy outlet at Port Mann near Vancouver. The Great Northern enters the Province at points in the boundary. The provincial railway mileage is 1,854 miles with 1,000 miles under construction.

=Stock.=--Dairying pays handsomely in British Columbia. The local demand for butter is constantly increasing and the prices secured are higher than in Eastern Canada. The Province possesses many elements necessary to constitute it a great dairying country. There are extensive areas of pastoral land in the interior, while increased cultivation in the lower country will form the necessary feeding ground. With a plentiful supply of good water, and luxuriant and nutritious grasses, there is every required facility added. Cattle raising on a large scale was formerly one of the chief industries of the Province, and many of the large ranches are still making money, but the tendency of late has been for smaller herds and the improvement of the stock. Sheep raising is another branch of agriculture capable of great expansion. Hogs, in small farming, are probably the most profitable of live stock, owing to the general demand for pork, bacon, ham, and lard, and much attention is now being given to raising them. Over 1 million dollars of hog products are imported annually, and prices are always high. The demand for good horses, especially heavy draft and working animals, is always increasing, and prices are consequently high.

=Dairy Products.=--In 1912 this industry reached a valuation of nearly 4 million dollars. Poultry raising is a branch of general farming which is beginning to receive special attention in British Columbia. The home market is nowhere nearly supplied either with eggs or poultry, large quantities being imported from Manitoba, Ontario, California, Washington, and elsewhere. Good prices prevail at all seasons of the year. Every portion of British Columbia is suitable for poultry raising. In the Coast districts, hens, ducks, and geese can be raised to great advantage, and the dry belts and uplands are particularly well adapted to turkeys.

=Grain.=--Wheat is grown principally in the Fraser, Okanagan, and Spallumcheen Valleys and in the country around Kamloops. Barley of excellent quality is grown in many parts of the Province. Oats are the principal grain crop, the quality and yield being good, and the demand beyond the quantity grown. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, mangolds, and all other roots grow in profusion wherever their cultivation has been attempted. Hop culture is carried on in the Okanagan, Agassiz, and Chilliwak districts. British Columbia hops command a good price in England and recently Eastern Canada and Australia have bid for them. Some attention has been given to the cultivation of sugar-beets, tobacco, and celery, and in each case with the most gratifying results, ensuring an early expansion of operations in all of these lines.

In 1912 there was a total agricultural production in the Province of about 14-1/2 million dollars, but there was imported another 15 million dollars' worth.

British Columbia agriculturists and fruit growers are particularly fortunate in having a splendid home market for their products, and for their surplus there is the enormous present and illimitable future demand of the Prairie Provinces, assuring always good prices and ready sale for everything they produce.

=Game.=--For big-game hunters there are moose, wapiti, sheep, caribou, goat, deer, grizzly, black, and brown bear, wolves, panthers, lynx, and wild cats; in the way of small game there is the best snipe shooting procurable anywhere, and duck and geese, prairie chicken, grouse, and quail abound. In addition to sport with rifle and shot gun, salmon fishing, unknown elsewhere, trout and grayling fishing, unsurpassed in any other country, may be enjoyed at a minimum of cost and inconvenience.

WHAT WINS IN CENTRAL CANADA