in the British Empire. The manufacture of wine from native grapes is one of the flourishing industries of this belt. Tobacco is extensively grown in the counties of Essex and Kent along Lake Erie where the soil and climate are found to be suitable, and tobacco grown from the right varieties of seed is pronounced to be comparable with that of the southern states. Most of the tobacco raised is manufactured within the province for home consumption but an effort is being made to reach the British and other markets. The cultivation of sugar beet is also becoming of importance and large sugar refineries are located at Chatham and elsewhere. The yield in 1919 was 240,- ooo tons, the product of 24,500 acres. The area of sugar-beet grow- ing constantly tends to expand. The growing of flax, both for seed and fibre, is attracting a good deal of attention.
In addition to the " United Farmers of Ontario," the objects of which are primarily political, many active organizations are main- tained by the farmers themselves to advance the interests of the agricultural community, including the Ontario agricultural and experimental unions, farmers' institutes, women's institutes, coop- erative societies, etc. The provincial department of agriculture also maintains a corps of district representatives, all skilled agriculturists resident at important farming centres, whose whole time is devoted to assisting the farmers. In the year 1919 the yield and value of the principal field crops in Ontario were as follows: wheat, 20,698,500 bus., $40,701, ooo ; oats, 78,388,000 bus., $71,378,000; barley, 13,803,- ooobus., $17,215,000; rye, 2, 219,000 bus., $3,279,000; peas, 1,818,500 bus., $4,180,000; beans, 288,500 bus., $1,039,000; buckwheat, 4,072,- ooo bus., $5,534,000; mixed grains, 19,735,300 bus., $26,672,000; corn (maize), 15,152,500 bus., $18,790,000; potatoes, 15,145,000 bus., $20,820,000; turnips, etc., 42,756,000 bus., $14,027,000; hay and clover, 5,589,000 tons, $115,161,000; fodder corn', 4,414,000 tons, $25,304,000; alfalfa, 314,400 tons, $6,351,000; sugar beet, 241,000 tons, $2,606,000.
Forests. Although Quebec has larger timber areas, the lumber industry of Ontario exceeds that of any other portion of Canada. The forest lands are estimated at 200,000 sq. miles. There are great areas of white pine, and of almost equal value with the making of pulpwood are spruce and poplar trees which occupy large districts in northern Ontario. The total amount of red and white pine still standing on lands belonging to the province exceeds 12,000,000,000 ft., while there are more than 350,000,000 cords of pulpwood on lands still in the hands of the Government. The largest pulp mill in the world is in operation at Sault Ste. Marie, and many others, almost equally large, are scattered over the northern section. Other valuable trees which are still plentiful are oak, beech, maple, elm and basswood ; the whole of Old Ontario in its primitive state was heavily forested with these trees. The most important lumbering districts are on the upper Ottawa, west of Lake Superior and north of Georgian Bay, and the finished lumber not only finds a large local market but has a wide foreign distribution. Ottawa is still the most important lumber centre of the province. The Provincial Government recognizes the necessity of forest protection and reaf- foresting. Fire rangers patrol the forest during the summer and fall and five great areas, with a total extent of 17,860 sq.m., have been set apart as reserves for timber conservation and the preserva- tion of water-supply. Algonquin Park, 2,000 sq. m. in extent, set apart as a national park, also contains valuable uncut timber.
The quantity of timber cut in Ontario in 1918 was 1,110,062,000 ft., valued at $34,168,754. Although the quantity cut was less than that in British Columbia, the value exceeded it by nearly $6,000,000. Over 52 % of the output was white pine, 1 1 % hemlock, 8 % red pine and about 6 % spruce. The returns made to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in 1918 by 603 milling firms showed that the capital invested in logging plants amounted to $6,697,923 in land, buildings, machinery and tools, and in mills $10,527,006. The value of mate- rials on hand was $18,846,365; cash trading and operating accounts $10,791,050, making a total capital employed of $46,862,344. The Ontario mills employed 16,804 persons in the manufacture of lum- ber, to whom $12,926,710 was paid in wages. In the same year the pulp-mills made for sale pulp to the value of $9,711,840 and the pulp and paper mills made 312,459 tons of pulp for their own use, total output of pulp being valued at $13,613,639. The value of all kind) of paper prodjced in 1918, including news-print, book and writing paper, wrapping-paper, boards and other products was $63,908,247. About $46,000,000 of this was for news-print alone.
Fisheries. The fresh-water fisheries of the province, including the Great Lakes and the Lake of the Woods and Lake Nipigon, are extensive and valuable. The principal fish caught are herring, whitefish and trout, but the catch also includes pike, pickerel, dore, sturgeon, eels, perch, tullibee, catfish, carp and coarse fish. The fisheries of the province are under Dominion regulation and pro- vincial control. For the purpose of restocking the waters and increas- ing the fish supply the Dominion Government maintains several fish hatcheries. A promising new field lies in the rich fisheries of Hudson Bay which have not yet been developed owing to lack of transport facilities. The total value of the catch for Ontario in 1919 was $3,410,750 and included herring $657,042; mixed fish $134,312- perch $152,440; dore $259,470; pickerel $167,419; pike $139,636; trout $772,174; whitefish $857,492.
Mining. Ontario, originally almost exclusively an agricultural
province, has taken the lead in mineral production, the output for 1919 being valued at about $66,000,000, almost double that of British Columbia (which formerly stood at the head of the list), while the output for 1918 was valued at as much as $94,694,093. Almost all the economic minerals are found except coal.
The mining of the silver ores discovered at Cobalt in 1903 reached its greatest activity about 1912. Shipments from the camp and out- lying silver areas up to Dec. 31 1918 were 292,385,866 oz., valued at $169,292,351. The total figures for the province in 1918 showed an output of 17,738,153 oz., valued at $17,415,882, and in 1920 5,308,852 ounces. As far back as 1896 the occurrence of gold in the Porcupine district, the prospecting of which was a natural outcome of the explorations in Cobalt, was noted by Government surveyors, but the district was not seriously considered until the spring and summer of 1909, when prospectors rushed to the district. By 1910 the country for miles around was staked and recorded, and the pro- ducing stage was soon reached. For 1918 the output of the province was 41 1, 878 oz., worth $8,502,480 the largest in the Dominion and tor 1920, 564,959 oz., 73-7% of the total in Canada.
It was expected in 1921 that the tributary regions E. and W. of the chief existing mines would prove to be amongst the richest in the world. The nickel mines at Sudbury constitute the most important source of supply of this metal. Copper is mined in the same district in large quantities. A large iron-mine is located at Michipicoten and there are iron and steel works at Midland, Deser- onto, Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie, Port Arthur, Owen Sound and Ottawa. Corundum occurs in the townships of Farrday, Dunganan, Monteagle, Carlow, Ragland, and adjacent townships of Hastings and Renfrew counties in southern Ontario, and within the Hali- burton-Bancroft area. There are many gas-producing wells in Ontario, the principal fields being, in order: Welland county, Haldi- mand and Norfolk, and Essex and Kent. Practically the whole output of petroleum in Canada is produced in Lambton county and from the newer oil-fields of Mosa, Tilbury, Romney, Bothwell, Leamington, Dutton, Thamesville, Comber and Onondaga town- ships in the extreme south of Ontario. The four chief oil refineries belong to the Imperial Oil Co., Sarnia; the Canadian Oil Co., Petrolea; the British-American Oil Co., Toronto; and the Empire Refining Co., Wallaceburg. There are extensive salt deposits in the western part of the Huron-Erie peninsula, some of great thickness. Salt is produced at Windsor, Sarnia, Golderich, Kincardine, Wing- ham, Stapleton, Elaston, Exeter and Parkhill. Feldspar, graphite, marble, quartz, pyrites, granite, sodalite, talc and zinc, as well as clay and its numerous products, together with limestones and excellent sandstones, are among the mineral resources.
In 1919 the statistics of mineral production were as follows: gold, 505,964 oz., value $10,451,709; silver, 11,363,252 oz., $12,904,- 312; nickel, 22,035 tons; copper, 12,099 tons; iron ore exported, 5.953 tons; pig-iron (from Ontario ore only), 46,769 tons, $1,200,793 ; total pig-iron, 632,586 tons, $16,010,537; Portland cement, 2,022,575 bar., $3,659,720; petroleum, 7,703,515 gal., $632,789; natural gas, 11,085,819 mill. cub. ft., $2,583,324; salt, 148,112 tons, $1,395,368.
Manufactures. With abundance of raw material, cheap power and ample facilities for transport Ontario has come to be the chief manufacturing province in the Dominion. The chief products are iron and steel machinery, electrical apparatus, agricultural imple- ments, carriages, wagons, automobiles, pianos, organs, flour, oat- meal, pulp, paper, furniture, woollen and cotton goods, clothing, sugar, wire fencing, paints, leather goods, boots and shoes, carpets, cement, canned goods, glass, biscuits, confectionery, and meat products. Nearly every village and town has its manufacturing plant of more or less importance, but the chief industries are con- centrated in the larger cities like Toronto and Hamilton. In 1918 '5i337 industrial establishments with a capital of $1,442,221,000 employed 320,808 hands and paid $302,399,000 in salaries and wages. Raw materials cost $905,153,000 and the products were valued at $1,64^0,772,000.
Communications. One of the national lines of railway passes through the northern part of the province, opening up the Clay Belt for settlement and cultivation. A branch connects the main line with Port Arthur. Running north from North Bay the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario railway, 253 m. long, owned and operated by the Provincial Government, joins the national line at Cochrane. In addition to the steam railways there are hundreds of miles of electric lines running through the rural districts, connecting the principal towns and cities. With the development of electrical power more and more such railways are being built, mainly under municipal ownership.
Apart from the great highway of the St. Lawrence, the Rideau canal between Ottawa and Kingston, the Trent Valley canals from Trenton through the Kawartha Lakes to Georgian Bay, and the Murray canal separating the peninsula of Prince Edward county from the mainland are of high commercial importance to Ontario. (W. L. G.*)
OPTOPHONE. The optophone is an instrument for enabling totally blind people to read ordinary letterpress, such as a printed book or newspaper, without the necessity of printing it in raised type to be read by touch. The instrument was
