Agriculture And Timber Industries Grow
The Timber industry.
During the French period in North America, the Richelieu River district had been the main lumber- ing area, but lumbering operations shifted gradually, particularly after the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists, to the St. John River area of New Brunswick, the Ottawa River Valley, the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Lumbering was often found to be more profitable than farming (with subsequent ill effects on the settlements), and there was a steady demand for squared timber, ships’ masts, planks and barrel staves in the main ports. In 1807 the first timber raft was floated down the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence and thence to Quebec City, a journey of thirty-five clays. Sixteen years later there were more than 300 rafts making the journey annually. Lumbering began in Upper Canada as a family affair, but soon developed into large-scale operations involving numbers of employees. The timber trade encouraged the establishment of so many small sawmills that by 1845 Upper Canada alone had two thousand. Growing shipbuilding industries drew on the vast supplies of timber in the Maritimes, and as trade with Great Britain, the West Indies and the Mediterranean expanded after the war of 1812, Nova Scotia built up her merchant fleet until it became one of the largest in the world.
Agriculture
Canadian agriculture has experienced a markedly distinct evolution in each region. A varied CLIMATE and geography have been largely responsible, but, in addition, each region has been settled at a different period in Canada's economic and political development, with a range of national and international forces being exerted. The principal unifying factor has been the role of government: from the colonial era to the present, agriculture has been largely state-directed and subordinate to other interests. Before 1000 BC, Native peoples of the lower Great Lakes and St Lawrence regions received horticulture from the south or west. Iroquoians practised slash-and-burn farming, but no group depended on agriculture totally for subsistence. They planted 2 types of maize (Native CORN), SQUASH and BEANS and practised seed selection and elementary principles of forcing, but were not aware of the value of manuring. Long before the appearance of French traders, agricultural Native peoples traded maize for skins and meat obtained by woodland hunters. After the advent of the FUR TRADE, Algonquian middlemen traded maize with more distant bands for prime northern pelts, and traded furs, in turn, with the French. Native agriculture was important in provisioning the fur trade until the late 18th century.
During the French period in North America, the Richelieu River district had been the main lumber- ing area, but lumbering operations shifted gradually, particularly after the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists, to the St. John River area of New Brunswick, the Ottawa River Valley, the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence and the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Lumbering was often found to be more profitable than farming (with subsequent ill effects on the settlements), and there was a steady demand for squared timber, ships’ masts, planks and barrel staves in the main ports. In 1807 the first timber raft was floated down the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence and thence to Quebec City, a journey of thirty-five clays. Sixteen years later there were more than 300 rafts making the journey annually. Lumbering began in Upper Canada as a family affair, but soon developed into large-scale operations involving numbers of employees. The timber trade encouraged the establishment of so many small sawmills that by 1845 Upper Canada alone had two thousand. Growing shipbuilding industries drew on the vast supplies of timber in the Maritimes, and as trade with Great Britain, the West Indies and the Mediterranean expanded after the war of 1812, Nova Scotia built up her merchant fleet until it became one of the largest in the world.
Agriculture
Canadian agriculture has experienced a markedly distinct evolution in each region. A varied CLIMATE and geography have been largely responsible, but, in addition, each region has been settled at a different period in Canada's economic and political development, with a range of national and international forces being exerted. The principal unifying factor has been the role of government: from the colonial era to the present, agriculture has been largely state-directed and subordinate to other interests. Before 1000 BC, Native peoples of the lower Great Lakes and St Lawrence regions received horticulture from the south or west. Iroquoians practised slash-and-burn farming, but no group depended on agriculture totally for subsistence. They planted 2 types of maize (Native CORN), SQUASH and BEANS and practised seed selection and elementary principles of forcing, but were not aware of the value of manuring. Long before the appearance of French traders, agricultural Native peoples traded maize for skins and meat obtained by woodland hunters. After the advent of the FUR TRADE, Algonquian middlemen traded maize with more distant bands for prime northern pelts, and traded furs, in turn, with the French. Native agriculture was important in provisioning the fur trade until the late 18th century.