Dairying Dairying is practised in all the provinces of Canada, but it is car ried on chiefly in Ontario and Quebec. The factory system for the manufacture of cheese and creameries for the making of butter have been largely instrumental in the development of the industry. Cheese factories date from the early sixties, the first cheese factory in Canada having been established on the farm of G. V. de Long at Norwich, Oxford County, Ontario, in the spring of 1864. Much has been done by both the Dominion and provincial governments to improve the methods of cheese making in Canada, as well as to repress fraudu lent practices injurious to its reputation. Since 1890 Canadian trade in agricultural products to Great Britain has greatly developed and there has gradually been built up an increasing export trade in Canadian cheddar cheese which in the British markets now enjoys a high repu tation for purity and excellence of quality.
Butter made under the creamery system was formerly exported in considerable quantities to Great Britain; but during the past decade,— a period coincident with a marked increase of the population of Canada by immigration—the exportation of butter has been greatly reduced, whilst for the same reason the quantities manu factured and exported of cheese have dimin ished. The production of milk has increased, but its use has been diverted from the making of cheese to the making of butter, of which comparatively little is available for export after satisfaction of home requirements. Since 5 Aug. 1909, when the Payne-Aldrich tariff took effect, there has been a considerable exporta tion of fresh cream from Canada into the United States. In the year 1916 the pro duction of cheese in factories amounted to 192,963,597 pounds of the value of $35,512,622 as compared with 220,833,269 pounds of the value of $22,221,430 in 1900. The production of creamery nutter in 1916 was 82,564,130 pounds of the value of $26,966,357, as com pared with 36,066,739 pounds of the value of $7,240,972 in 1900, the number of factories and creameries being 3,446 as against 3,576 in 1900. The production of homemade butter in 1910 was 137,110,200 pounds as compared with 105,343,076 pounds in 1900, and in 1910 the production of home-made cheese was 1,371,092 pounds. For 1910 the total production of cheese was 201,275,297 pounds and of butter 201,808,365 pounds. In 1910 condensed milk products were made in 11 factories amounting to 27,831,596 pounds of the value of $1,814,871. During the five fiscal years ended 31 March 1916 the average annual exports of cheese have been 153,941,732 pounds as compared with 215,137,339 pounds for the first five years of the century. Similarly, for the same periods in the case of butter the exports have averaged 3,413,515 pounds as against 26,930,551 pounds. There is
on the other hand a comparatively small im portation of varieties of cheese not manufac tured in Canada, amounting annually to about 1,500,000 pounds. Dairying in the Prairie provinces has recently made considerable progress, and there is every indication that the dairy products of these provinces will soon be more than sufficient to supply all the west ern requirements and leave a substantial sur plus for export.
Fruit Growing.— This is an increasingly important branch of the agricultural industry in Canada. Apples, plums and small fruits are grown successfully all over Canada; but the production of fruits on a large scale is con fined practically to three well-defined fruit growing districts, viz., the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, the eastern, southern and western parts of Ontario, especially in the southern part of the Niagara peninsula, and in the val leys of British Columbia. In Nova Scotia apples for export are the chief fruit; but in the Niagara peninsula pears, peaches, grapes and other tender fruits, as well as apples, grow to perfection. In British Columbia great progress in fruit growing has taken place dur ing the present century, and in certain parts of the province, where the rainfall is scanty, irrigation has been resorted to with marked success for the growth of all kinds of fruit. The census returns of 1911 show an increase in the area devoted to orchards of 47,490 acres, the area having grown from 356,106 acres in 1901 to 403,596 acres in 1911. Grapes are grown for wine making to a small extent in southern Ontario, and the total acreage under vineyards was 9,836 in 1911. The total number of fruit trees in bearing in 1911 was 14,002,145 and of non-bearing fruit trees the number was 8,315,236. The output varies considerably with the season and the prevalence of insect pests, but in 1910 the production of the following fruits was, in bushels, as follows: Apples 10,618,666; peaches 646,826; pears 504,171; plums 506,994; cherries 238,974; other fruits 47,789. Apples are exported principally to the United Kingdom, the quantity ranging during the past five years from 523,658 barrels in 1911 to 1,664,165 barrels in 1912. In 1916 the ex ports were 577,451 barrels. One barrel holds on the average about three bushels. A certain amount of cider is annually made in the apple growing districts, the exports being upward of 150,030 gallons and occasionally exceeding 200,000 gallons. Maple sugar and maple syrup are made on farms where the maple tree flourishes, chiefly in Quebec and Ontario. In 1910 the total production of maple sugar was 10,488,340 pounds and of maple syrup 1,802,581 gallons.