Soil, Climate, etc.—The soil is gener ally clay, beneath a rich vegetable loam, and is covered in its natural state with oak, elm, walnut, whitewood, pine, fir, and maple trees. It is well adapted to general agriculture, and is capable of the highest cultivation. The climate varies greatly. In the S. provinces the sum mers are warm, and, although the winters are cold, they are pleasant and bracing. In the W. the climate is milder than in the rest of the Dominion. In the extreme N. the ground is covered with snow early the entire year and the winters are very severe. The greater part of the Dominion is covered with forests.
Agriculture.—The greater part of Nova Scotia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario and Vancouver Island, besides the coun try lying between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains, is admirably adapted to agriculture. The total farm wealth of Canada exceeds $7,000,000,000. The field crops in 1919, both in value of crops and acreage, are the highest on record. Their value amounted to $1,448,153,500, com pared with $1,372,935,570 in 1918. The value of the most important products is as follows: Wheat, $360,573,000; oats, $317,097,000; barley, $77,462,700; rye, $14,240,000; peas, $9,739,300; beans, $6, 214,800; buckwheat, $15,831,000; mixed grains, $37,735,400; flax, $22,609,500; corn for husking, $22,080,000; potatoes, $118,894,200; turnips, etc., $54,958,700; hay and clover, $338,713,200; fodder corn, $34,179,500; sugar beets, $2,606,000, and alfalfa, $10,800,200. The crops yielded in 1919 over a billion bushels of grain, and over 20,000,000 tons of hay and corn. There were 667,951 farms. Of these 184, 347 were in Ontario; 143,958 in Quebec; 103,912 in Saskatchewan; 67,603 in Al berta; 53,638 in Nova Scotia; 49,855 in Manitoba; 37,204 in New Brunswick; 13, 743 in British Columbia, and 13,705 in Prince Edward Island. Within 50 years the grain-growing center has shifted from the E. to the W. In 1870 85 per cent. of the wheat, oats, and barley were grown in Ontario. In 1919 Saskatchewan alone produced over 60 per cent. of these products in all Canada. The estimated wool yield was 17,300,000 pounds. Can ada stood fifth among the world's wheat producing countries. There were in operation in 1919 nearly 4,000 grain elevators, with a capacity of 221,279,964 bushels.
Fisheries.—The fisheries stand fifth in order of value among Canadian in dustries. The product of the fisheries in
1919 was $37,137,072. A capital of over $30,000,000 is employed, and about 100, 000 persons are engaged in fishing, or in handling fishing products. There were in 1919 over 1,300 vessels, and 40,000 boats engaged in fishing. These were valued at about $10,000,000.
Banking.—There were in 1919 a total of 4,442 branch banks in Canada. Bank clearings for the year amounted to $16, 709,598,895. The total deposits in banks amounted to $1,841,478,895, and the to tal assets of the banks amounted to $2,965,373,675.
Cammerce.—The foreign trade of Canada for the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, was as follows: Imports $886, 134,043, of which $550,516,656 were dutiable goods, and $335,617,387 were free goods. The exports amounted to $1,260,312,671, of which $1,201,801,387 were Canadian goods, and $58,511,284 were foreign goods. The imports from the United States in 1918 amounted to $701,087,586. The imports from the United Kingdom amounted to $79,023, 483. The exports to the United States in 1919 amounted to $433,337,935, and to the United Kingdom, $540,378,091. The principal exports were wheat, flour, oats, fish and fish products, wood and lumber, wood pulp, printing paper, and agricul tural products. In the year ending June 30, 1920, Canada exported to the United States goods valued at $537,337,381, and imported from the United States goods valued at $890,135,023.
Education.—Primary education is compulsory. The percentage of illiter acy is 11.02 per cent., the highest among the foreign born and the lowest among the native born. There were in 1919 24,871 primary and secondary schools, with 36,000 teachers and 1,250,000 pu pils. The Provincial Governments have control of education of elementary schools, secondary schools, normal schools, and universities. In Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Saskatchewan there are separate schools for Roman Catholics. In other provinces the schools are non-sectarian. There are 22 universities, and each Province has one or more. In addition, there are several colleges. The most important of the uni versities are the University of Toronto, McGill University, and Laval Univer sity, which is French-Canadian. In the universities and colleges are about 16, 000 students. The total expenditure for public education is over $60,000,000 an nually.