249. Trade and transport.—(1) Traders. The people of New England and of the Maritime Provinces of Canada have been great traders since the first settlement of the country, three hundred years ago. The strong boats in which they went to the fishing banks were seaworthy enough to make the trip to Europe, and to the West Indies. In 1840, the merchant ships of Boston and Salem were bringing tea from China. From the shores along the Pacific Ocean they brought goatskins, to be used by the shoemakers of eastern Massachusetts. Whalers of Nantucket and New Bedford were cruising in every ocean. Then, as now, coasting vessels went up and down the whole length of our Atlantic and Gulf coasts, taking lumber, granite, and manufactures; bringing cotton, sugar, molasses, lumber, and tobacco to New England.
(2) Railways.—To enable Boston to have a shorter railroad connection with Buffalo and the West, the long Hoosac tunnel was dug through the mountains of western Massa chusetts. Since the Canadians did not want to be left behind in the opportunity for trade, their government helped to build the Canadian Pacific Railroad from Vancouver to St. John, New Brunswick; and to Yarmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia. To make a shorter cut from the Atlantic to Winnipeg, a great bridge has been built across the St. Lawrence at Quebec. (Fig. 210.) (3) Ocean liners.—Each year hundreds of ocean liners call at Halifax and St. John, Portland, and Boston, and connect with the railroads that reach to the heart of the conti nent and to the Pacific Ocean. Hundreds
of factory towns in this New England Canadian Maritime District now have an extensive trade by land and sea. A town making cloth or paper or shoes can send its product to many cities, and with the money received from the sale of its one product, the town can pay for the thousands of other things that it buys from all parts of the world.
250. Future.—What is the future of this region? (1) Food.—Only a small part of this region is in farms. How would the tree crop agriculture thrive here? (Sec. 87.) The stone-covered glacial fields often have rich, deep soil underneath their rough surface. Would more trees make the country more or less beautiful than it now is? If we ever need to use our land as closely as the Swiss use theirs, this region can be made to yield large quantities of dairy prod ucts, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
(2) Manufacturing.—Much more water power can be developed. Some of it can come from waterfalls, some from tides along the coast; but best of all, even the coast towns can use the millions of horse power that can, if needed, be brought by wire from the St. Lawrence River, from Quebec, and from plants beside Pennsylvania coal mines.
The New England-Canadian Maritime Region can keep on buying food, fuel, and raw materials, and paying for them with the fine goods which her skillful and indus trious people know how to make.