CANADA. This large country, with its magnificent lakes, cannot fail to rise steadily in commercial importance. The mineral re sources are immense, but till very recently they have been almost whollyneglected. Mar bles and serpentine are quite common. Plum bago, ores of antimony, lead, iron, and copper are frequently met with. The mountains north of the Saguenay abound in iron to such an extent as to influence the mariner's compass. The iron mines of St. Maurice have long been celebrated for the excellence of their yield, and metal not at all inferior is cheaply pro duced at Charlotteville near Lake Erie, and at the Marmora works about 32 miles N. of the Bay of Quinte. The dreary wastes northward of Lake Superior contain stores of copper, perhaps unsurpassed any where in the world. At the Coppermine river 300 miles from the Sault de St. Marie the metal occurs in great masses in a pure state. Gold, silver, and tin have also been discovered in the same region. The northern and western shores of Ontario abound in salt springs, some of which (Stony Creek and St. Catherine's) are very produc tive. The north shore of Lake Erie exhibits immense beds of gypsum which are quarried for agricultural purposes.
Copper mining is now being prosecuted with great energy on the banks of Lake Superior. If the accounts recently received should prove correct, Canada will far excel every other part of the world in the richness of the copper ore ; indeed it seems as if the produce should scarcely be termed ore : it is almost pure native copper.
The variety of trees found in the vast Cana dian forests is astonishing, and it is supposed that many kinds still remain unknown. Of all these none is more beautiful and useful than the maple, the adopted emblem of Cana dian nationality. Its timber is valuable for many purposes, and large quantities of excel lent sugar are made from its sap. The other forest trees most prevalent are beech, birch, elm, bass, ash, oak, pine, hickory, butternut, balsam, hazel, hemlock, cherry, cedar, cypress, fir, poplar, sycamore, whitewodd, willow, and spruce. Timber and ashes, the raw produce of the forests, constitute the chief exports of the province. An immense quantity of oak
and pine is annually sent down to Montreal and Quebec. The American ashes contain a larger proportion of pure potash than those of Dantzic or Russia.
The total breadth of land under culture in Lower Canada in 1814 was 2,802,317 acres. The number of inhabited houses in Lower Canada in the same year was 108,794 ; the number building 1652 ; vacant 4115. The following particulars, given in the returns of that year, throw some further light upon the habits and occupations of the people :—Lbs. of maple sugar 2,272,457; number of taverns, 1052; stores where spirituous liquors are sold, 808 ; grist mills, 422 ; oatmeal mills, 108 ; barley mills, 45 ; saw mills, 911 ; oil mills, 14 ; ful ling mills, 153; carding mills, 169 ; threshing mills, 469 ; paper mills, 8 ; iron works, 99 ; triphammers, 18 ; nail factories, 0 ; 36 ; breweries, 30 ; tanneries, 335 ; pot and pearl ash factories, 540; other factories, eq. There were in Lower in 1844, 469,851 cattle, I46,729 bores, p2t821 sheep, and 197,985 swine.
in Upper Canada in 1818 the number of acres occupied was Tje lapels re turned as ender were 1,780,152 acres flyable, and 706,7 pasture, or 4,54p,o2q iu all. The crops of Upper .1847 were—Wheat, 7,558,773 blisligis, Om increase of more than 50 per eont.in five years); barley, rye, and buckwheat, 1,p9403; oats, 7,054,730; maize, 1,137,551? ; potatoes, 4,751,331 ; peas, 1,753,846. In 1818 there were in Upper Canada 665,815 neat cattle, 151,389 0+,41 dogs, 833,8p7 sheep. The average annual yield of maple sugar in Upper Canada is 1,14q,eq7 IN., which is very nearly q ihs. for each'inhabitant, no pPrtion of this produce being exported. There were sent to market in 1848—butter, q,30,4nn cheese, 668,347 lbs.; peel' or pork, 99,231 barrels. In the census returns of 1848 are enumerated 553 grist mills, 96 oat and barley mills, saw mills, 239 fulling mills, 138 distilleries, 100 lireweries, q54 tanneries, 1,20q asheries, 67 )v4;911911 factories, 10 shingle factories, 105 foundries.