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OF TIIK

N W W DOMINION.

" Ooiil thuivforn conim;ini1s tlic ii;rt' — iin' Aire of Coul. Coal, in truth, stands
not !)esicl(", but oiitirely aluivo ;ill otlicr conimodities. It is the iiuiterial ciiorfiy of
the coiinn-v- the universal aiil--lhe tactor in every thiiiir we do. With eoal
almost any teat is possihle or easy ; witliout it, we are ihnnvn haek into the
liiborious I'njvertv of early tiMies."— 'Ac V«a\ Qiusthn, liij W. Stanleij Jpvtnis, A. M.

BY R. O. HALIlU'irrON, F.S.A., F.mH-'^-N.A.

Secretary Nova Svoiin Vnnl-Owncrii' Association.

HALIFAX, N. S :

PRINTED BY T. CIIAMBKKLAIN, 17(5 AKGYLE ST.

18(ks.

^■.<

Art. X. The Coal Trade of the New Dominion. Br
K. G. Haliburton, f. s. a., f. r. 8. N. A. Secretary of
the Nliva Scotia Goal-Owners' Association.

On glancing ut tlio map of the world, the eye rests on three
points as peculiarly adapted to be the great centres of commer-
cial and maritime activity. The first is situjited on the eastern,
and the second on the western shores of the Atlantic, and the
third is to bo found on the Pacific coast of America. All ot
them lying sufficiently far from the tropics to be the homes of a
healthy and industrious race, form portions of the British
Empire. England, placed between the German ocean and the
Atlantic, seems to guard the highway of commerce from the
North of Europe with the rest of the world. Nova Scotia,
standing far out into the ocean, looks like some vast pier which
nature has raised up to intercept the trade of the New and of
file Old World, while Vancouver's Island more nearly recalls to
lis, by its climate and its insular position, the geographical
fixtures of the mother country. Yet valuable as a favourable
position is to enable a country to lead the van of commerce,
there are other scarcely less important elements of national
gi'eatness. A people possessing abundance of coal and iron
must in time become a capitalist among nations ; but combine
geographical advantages such as I have described with the
possession of these essential elements of national wealth, and
you constitute a country whose greatness is simply a question ot
time, and is inevitable.

All of these peculiar advantages we find combined in Great
Britain and in Nova Scotia and Vancouver's Island.* Along
the shores of the Atlantic, from the Orkneys to the Cape ot
Good Hope, there is only one country. Great Britain, which
possesses extensive coal fields that are adjacent to the seaboard.
Spain has a large carboniferous tract, but it is undeveloped,

*I am not aware whether iron mines exist in Vancouver's Island, but we may infer
that this is the case, judging by the other coal fields of North America,

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and its capiibilities an' still iiiikiiown. On tlir ucstoni shorcj*
of the Atlantic, IVoin Caiu; North to Capo Horn, the only
awossiblc coal fields of any iniportanri' aic those of Nova
Scotia; while on the i*acitic coast, from liehrin/^ Straits to the
Straits of Ma<;ellan, there is nothnii;' to compete with Vancou-
ver's Island, which, with its coal seams cropping out on the shores
of excellent harbours, is destined to. he tin; future coal depot
for the steam tlee<^s of the AiUn^', and the home of mauufac-
tiros and commerce. That th(! eastern and western portals of
British America should he so favoured by nature, auirurs well for
the New Dominion, which possessing a vast tract of magnificent
agricultural country between these extreme limits, oidy requires
an energetic, self-reliant people, worthy of such a home, to raise?
it to a high position among nations. Nova Scotia and Van(H)u-
vcr's Island, however, find to their cost that these advantages,
great as they are, require the aid of capital and labour, while
(irreat Britain has discovered to her disnuiv that her coal fields,
like all things earthly, must have an end, and are liable to
exhaustion. The theory advanced with great ability by Mr.
Jevons in his well known work on the cf)al question, that within
a century this truth will be sensibly felt by Great Britain, has
excited unich interest and no little alarm. Mr. Hull, a previous
writer, remarks : — ' ' I can conceive the coal fields of this coun-
try so far exhausted that the daughter in her maturity shall bo
able to pay back to her mother more than she herself received.
May we not look forward to a time when those ' water lanes '
which both dissever and unite the old and new world, shall be
trod by keels laden with the coal produce of America for the
ports of Britain ?" iiy the term exhaustion is meant, not the
working out of all the coal in Britain, but of that portion which
is at such a moderate depth that it can be worked profitably and
can compete with the product of foreign coal fields. The Quar-
terly Journal of Science for October, 1860, has an interesting
article on the subject, which while opposing Mr. Jevons' theory to
a certain extent, admits that the price of British coal must, before
many years elapse, increase to such an amount as to render the ex-
portation of coal for ballast no longer practicable, and to transfer
the smelting of iron and the heavier branches of iron manufac-

tun? to forciirii coiinli'u's ; luid it [xmit-. to PoMiisylviiiiiu as the
I'litiiic iiiliorit(U" of the present pnjtitiiljlo IhmmcIioh of iiulustry
ooiincctod wllli tlu> coiil tioUls of Oroiit Hritiiiii. It supposos
tliat tlio lighter iiiul more chiborak' matmfacturcH r(M|uiring little
fuel will oii<::ross nor industrial onor«^ios, and supply the loss that
the supposed iidvaiitagos onjoyod by American coal and iron
will entail on her. A map of the coal ticlds of the world, thai
accompanies the article in question* suffgcsts some important
views as to the future of Nova Scotia, and may lead us to hope
that the mantle of British industrial wealth connected with the
use of cheap iron and coal will descend, not upon our American
cousins, but upon Nova Scotia. In point of position her mines
compare favourably with those of Britain. The Belgian and
French coal fields are not very far removed from the sea coast,
and might, if not exhausted as soon as those of Britain, compete
with her collieri(!s at some future day when the price of British
coal increases as has been anticipated. But Nova Scotia need
fear no com[)etition on this side of the Atlantic. No ingenuity
can overcome the difficulty of a long land transport. Railways
are expensive luxuries. The freight over every mile of railway
represents so much outlay actually lost to the nation — so much
deducted from the value of its products. The manufactures of
New England arc dependent for their existence on obtaining
cheap coal, either from England or Nova Scotia. The former
is a supply contingent on the other l)ranches of trade, for
English coal unless sent as ballast could not possibly compete
with Nova Scotian coal on the Atlantic seaboard. The imposi-
tion of a heavy duty on imported coal is as clearly fatal to
manufactures in Massachusetts as draining the life blood ie
fatal to vitality. This might not be so if there were no coal
mines in the interior ; but with the vast coal and iron regions of
Pennsylvania to invite manufacturers to their vicinity, it is clear
that every cent paid by the New England manufacturer for
railway freight on his coal brought from Pennsylvania is a tax
on his industry and a protection to tin; Pennsylvania manufac-
turer. But if the heavy freight on coal from Pennsylvania
prevents its coming into competition with Nova Scotian coal on

*The map acoompnnying this paper is, witii some slight aflditionR, copied from
portions of the map in question.

the sea board, umIobs protected by a prohibitory turifl', if th«
Americans cannot phice their coal on the wharves at Boston and
New York as clu'apiy as wc can, it is manifest that American
coal can never fulfil one of the main ends to which the export
of coal has so eminently conduced in Great Britain. Mr.
.Jovons has shown in his very interesting and valuable Avork that
the commerce of England is immensely benefited by one
branch, and that the smallest department of the coal trade — the
export as ballast to foniign countries. By this means the <'"tr-
ward voyage, if it brings no profit, though this it often does, is
not a dead loss to the shipjier, to be made up by increased
freight of the raw materials brought back on the return voyage,
and by the enhanced cost of the article imported to be paid by
the manufactur'3r, and ultimately by the consumer.

If Nova Scotia were jiart of the United States, the n^^.nufac-
factures of Massachusetts would l>c compelled to emigi'ato to
this province, for it would be impossible for them to compete
with the productions of Nova Scotian industry, protected as
they would be by that tariff which no legislature can repeal,
which nature itself has favoured us with, and Avhich consists in
having our coal and iron near good harbours, and in our pos-
sessing what tradesmen so well aj)preciate the value of, " a good
stand for business." If the day should ever come when the two
great families of the Anglo-Saxon race in the New World should
find it to their interest to abolish the formidable barriers of hostile
tariffs which are growing up between them, to level the frown-
ing fortifications which scowl defiance at each other, and which
even in peace give us a " lively sense of benefits to come" in
the shape of towns burned down, commerce paralyzed and valu-
able lives destroj^ed, the most prosperous pcntion of the repub-
lic, and of the new world will be that which conil)ines everything
to make it the cntreprtt of trade and commerce. That day is
farther distant than philanthropists might hope. The heavy
taxes in the United States, the violent party storms that
threaten to uproot what even the whirlwind of civil war has left
standing, Fenian raids, and the incessant abuse of England, put
off the day when our ministers of war will be uselcsi? luxuries,
and when a union of North America under one government will

F)c lioiuni for, or dcisiniblc. Althou;^h rfuch u union would in six
years «jua<liuplo tlu; value of mineral property in this i)rovince,
at present it would bo a ruinous or at best ii hazardous experi-
ment. It will take years before peace can eflace from the sword
the stains of a bloody contest, and we are not likcdy to wish to
tread upon the ashes that conceal the l)urnin«( embers of civil
war. Let us then look at what is practicable, not at what may
bo a (jucstioii for our children and for posterity.

Within the past year the map of the world has; Ikmmi altered
to admit a new Dominion^amongjthe nations, and a large portion
of the continent has changed its name, if not its ilcstinies. We
cannot shut our eyes to the fact that its })osition is, to say the
least, inconvenient. The AuKU'icans through accident and our
bungling diplomacy seem, at tirst glance, to have monopolized all
except the outskirts of the cultivable portions of the continent,
and to have left us not much more than the selvage of an empire,
and the casual observer might infer that England having long
ago entailed the bulk of her possessions in America upon her
lirst born, could only spare us the limited allowance of a younger
son. Scant and attciuiated as it may seem, however, when
compared with the compactness and immensity of theJUnited
Stiites, it is vast enough to be the home of a great people, if
they are only nnited by national feeling, and by the bonds of
commerce and trade. '^Neither of these yet exist, nor is it easy
to create them suddenly in the face of geographical barriers.
True it is that we might imitate our neighbours and " make
history," by having some of our towns burned by an enemy and
our people cut oft" on the battle-field, and our minister of war
might in time become a famous personage ; but it is far better
with our small population, that we should rea}) oats rather than
glory, and it is probable that, until we have a surplus popula-
tion, our people can be more profitably employed in cultivating
than in fertilizing the soil. Our bond of union, then, must
depend on a community of interests, on an interchange of com-
modities between the East and West. How is this to be attained ?
We must not shut our eyes to the fact that our commercial
system must be adapted to the geographical difficulties of the
Dominion. Nature would seem to have intended Ontario to

tnidc v/itli Nl'w York, Ohio and Vormoiit, iind has placed Nova
Scotia and Now Brunswick at \h" doors of Massiichiisctts, Ihat
intercourse iniijrht spring up })etween us. But the natural course
of events has heen nitarded bv artificial obstructions. A hostile
tariff cuts olf the eastern part of the; Dominion from the natural
outlet tor its productions, and the ({ucstion arises whether this
very policy on the part of our neigh})ours may not be turned
to good account in a national point of view, and l)e made the
means of building u[) an intercolonial trade, and of uniting these
provinces bv common interests.

A\'hen the repeal of the reciprocity treaty was notiliod to our
(fovernment, iMr. Buchanan, in an able i)amphlet, showed that
immediate steps must be taken to open uj) the Lower Provinces
its a home market for the flour of AVestcrn Canada, for even a
limited mart near at hand is far more profitable than a more
distant one however extensive, and he gave some cnrions
statistics to show how, previons to the treaty, a barrel of flour
was worth one-fifth more on the American, than on the
Canadian : side of Niagara. The American had his home

4 CD

market to fall back on, as well as his foreign market ; whereas
the Canadian wheat growler, having only a distant market open
to him, found his wheat depreciated in valne. With these facts
Mr. Buchanan argued, that ludess this home market conld be
added to the foreign market for flour, the Canadian grain growers
would be " iftarved[into annexation." He says : —

" To me it seems self-evident that now we must either be
drifted by industrial necessity into Annexation, even in the ab-
sence of any disloyalty in these provinces, or must find markets for
our industry, and an outlet for our trade through means of an
intimate and indissoluble union of all the provinces comprising
British North America.

*' I believe, let me repeat, that the Provinces of British Am-
erica have within them the elements of independent gre<i,cness
and prosperity, but that these can only be reduced from chaos by
a certain most energetic policy immediately gone into, in respect
to our Provincial industry. Such a policy, I believe, would
have the eflcct of saving to British America the advantages of
the continuance of the Reciprocity Treaty with the United
States, in the only way this can be done, yiz : — by rendering us
independent of it. Such a policy w'ould at all events save these

North Anieiicim Provinces to Britniii : uliili,', witliout a lionicly
Mild patriotic [)olicv, the loss of llicm to tlio Kini)ir(,' will be more
tliiin likely, espeelHliy if the Reciprocity Treaty with the United
States is withdrawn. My great object, therefore, is to impress
others with my own strong eoiivictions that // is Vital that tlif
(Janadutu Faf^ucr aliouJd ihniiedi(((eh/ have, in the Alavkctt* of
the Maritiuie Provinces a sufjsti/nte Jbr the yiarkeis tre may lose
in the United )S'tates; and that it is er/tialli/ vital that the
Maritime Provinces shonld innnediateh/ have in the Canadas a
sHitstitute for the Trcule theij are non: carryinrf on intji the
ignited ^States, under the Jieciprorlt// Treat//."

A home market has been opened n}) in Xew Brnnswick, and

Nova Scotia, which imposed a dnty on American Honr, so as to

create a trade with Ontario and Quebec. But the same ordeal,

ov rather a more serious one, is awaiting Nova Scotia as respects

its staple product — Coal; foi- we have hitherto liad no home

market, and have had even our foreign market suddenly restricted.

So far the pressure has been borne without a murmur; but this

cannot last forever, nor is there any reason why it should. The

Canadian wheat-grower's loyalty has been preserved by us from

the test of starvation, and the time for " reciprocv! od duties"

has arrived.

"Under no circmnstances," says Mr. Buchanan, " can T
anticipate any great disagreement of views among the parties
who are to form the British American Confederacy. That they
have a common interest, will very soon come to be understood.
And in the meantime I have no doubt that the other sections
will join it with the same determination as Canadians do, to
respect the views and experience of their new friends, a senti-
ment well expressed in the old lines :

" Who seeks a friend must come disposed,
T' exhibit, in full bloom disclosed,

The graces and the beauties
That form the character he seeks,
For 'tis a union that bespeaks

Reciprocated duties.''

While Nova Scotia, which shipped coal and fish to the
United States and received flour in return, had every reason
to hesitate in taxing American flour for the purpose of
buying it from Canadians who wanted none of our produc-
tions, the people of Ontario and Quebec now stand in a

very diU'crent position IVoin wli:it we then did. Our tnidi
is thoirn ; our resources add to the ;''eneral revenue. Kverv
tou of c()il .sent back to the hikes is so much t'reioht saved on
the Hour exported. IIen<.'e the grain grower, l)y a i)ecuHar
feature in the coal trade, consisting in its being the feeder and
the complement of other branches of commerce, is jointly inter-
ested with the Nova Scotian coal (nvner in the return cargo of
-ooal. Nor should the market be regarded as a limited one.
Every barrel of flour used in the West Indies should come from
western Canada to Nova Scotia, the Canadian ship returning
from this province with a cargo of coal and West Indian produce,
while the flour could be forwarded from Halifax with other
articles to its destination, the Halifax merchant procuring ^Vest
Indian produce in return. This is a natural and protital)le
channel of trade, which if developed and opened up, must be-
come an important outlet for our respective staples.

Nor would the exports from Nova Scotia to the w(!stern
portions of the Dominion be limited to coal. Salt and pottery,
being bulky in their nature, in some British ports supply
outward freights from England, and occupy the place which is
generally assigned to coal. Salt works have Ixsen already
commenced here with every prospect of success, and the
existence in Pictou county (for my own personal experience of
the Nova Scotian coal flelds is mainly conflned to them) of
superior clays for fire brick and pottery, immediately underlying
workable seams of coal, point to a period when " the Black
Country " of the New Dominion will centre in the neighbour-
hood of our coal mines, and the potteries of StaflTordshire will
find a colonial rival in Nova Scotia. The quality of the clays
has been pronounced by parties in Staffordshire unsurpassed by
anything that has been discovered in the mother country,* The
enormous amount of coal used in the potteries of Staffoixlshire
will give us some idea of the home consumption that may be

*The Eastern Chronicle of New Glasgow shortly befoio the publication of the
Transactions made the following statement in a notice of the Crown Brick and Pottery
works : — " There is abundance of suitable ■"l>>y for the purposes on the spot, while the
coal for burning purposes is within fifty yards of the kiln. There is also an extensive
seam of fire clay alongside the coal pit, wliich has been pronounced to bo of a very
superior quality. We have been shown a small dish made from a tpinntity of the clay
sent home to Britain, which takes a polish as fine nrjporcelain."

created hcrejifter for our coiil. Hut in ailditioii to all
these sources of demand for coal, we have our iron near
excellent limestone within a few miles of the collieries now
opened. Wliat its <|uality is can be best judged by n^ferring to
Fairburn's euloafistic notice of it in his work on tin; manufacture
of iron.*

Along tlu; northern and soutliern lianks of the (Jobecjuid
mountains, which seem to form the backbone of the country,
we have immense deposits of iiematite and sjiecular ores. At
P^ast River a large bed of remarkably good hematite has been
tound, and on the line of railway 1 have discovered and tested
a workable deposit of very rich s[)e('ular ore, such as is imi)orted
at a huge price into England from Sweden for certain purposes,
for which very pure and refractory ores are required. Little
doubt can exist that it would pay handsomely, if we were to
com})ete with our Swedish I'ivals. Tin? Acadia C^harcoal Iron
Works in (.■olchester ('(nnity turn out an article ('(jual to the l)est
Swedish brands, but as thev are far from the coal mines, thev
Hie unable to produce anything except the most expensive iron,
lor which the demand, even in Knglaivl, is somewhat limited,
lint we may look forward to the day when the vicinity of cheap
coal to al)undant ore of excellent ([uality In Pictoii county, will
give rise to (ixtensive iron works which will consume a large

*rin Nova Scotia some of the rieliest ores yet discovered occur in exiimistless abun-
dance. The iron manufactured from tliem is of tlic very best quality, and is oijual to
the finest Swedish metal. The spcfular ore of the Acadian Mines, Nova Scotia, is
said by Dr. lire to be nearly pure ])croxi(le of iron, coiitainin;; 99 per cent, of the
peroxide, and about 70 per cent, of iron. When smelted, lUd parts yield 75 of iron,
the increase in weij;^ht being due to comliined carbon.

The Acadian ores are situated in the ncif^hbourliood oi' lari^'c tracts of forests,
capable of supplyiuf; ahno«t any quantity of charcoal for the miinufaciurc of the sujieri-
or qualities of iron and sl'cl. Several s])ecimcns of iron from thoc miiii'> have been
submitted to direct experiment, and the results prove its hii^h powers of icsi^tance to
strain, ductility, and adaptation to all those processes by which tlic iinest description of
fire and steel are manufactured.

The dittieulties which the Government have liad to encounter, durinj; the last two
years, in obtaining a sulticiently strong metal for artillery, are likely to be removed by
the use of the Acadian ])ig-iron. Large (puintities liave been iiurdiasod i)y the War
Ofiice, and experiments are now in progress, under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel
Wilniot, Inspector of Artillery, and myself, which seem calculated to cstal)lish the
superiority of this metal for casting every description of heavy ordnance. *>

jimoimt of our coiil. Whiit will ho the <i:i'o\vth of our coal trade
in the next twcnity years it is difficult to foresee. As respects
tli(! ca|);il)iliti('s for snpjdyiii.'jj ;iii extousive demand, Nova
Sc'otian (•ollci'ie.s now opened or in preparation, would raise in
live years Hve or six millions of tons annually, and the supply
could be <i:radually increased to meet any demand, however
great.

That our eoal trade will be very large, unless it is paralyzed
by foreign legislation or donu'stic dirterenees, is perfectly clear.
In a few years not less than two millions of tons will be re((uired
for domestic purposes alone in British America, for even in the
mild climate of Britidn a ton per head is consumed for house-
hold purposes, and our long winters will render at least three
times as much necessary. Evn-y day " the wood age " is be-
coming a thing of the past, like the " stone age " of arclueolo-
gists. \Vood suitabk; for fuel gradually becomes more remote
from roads and ports, and rises in pi'ice, so that even in Toronto
coal is used for household purposes. In parts of the lower pro-
vinces the forests have been so wastefullv and so etlectuallv
destroyed, that the farnu'rs have to use coal for house purposes ;
and the scarcity of wood and the demand for coal are daily
ra[)i(lly incr(!asing. Mr. Mc'Julloch estimated the yield of coal
in (Ireat Britain in 1.S40 to be thirty millions of tons; last year
the consmnption was one /itDuhrd millions of fo)i,s. As this
progress has ui)sct the calculations even of the most careful and
experienced judges, how can we suppose that the future will
not dwarf the present by the enormous development of manu-
facturing and commercial industry that is destined to take place.
But the British American coal trade has elements of develo[)-
ment which do not exist in Britain. \Ve have the increase of
po[)ulation through immigration to count upon, and the increase
of the domestic consum[)tion of coal through our rapidly pass-
iuir out of " the wood ase." It will be a bold man who will
venture to [)rediet the limits ot oui- coal trade in a few years,
if it is encouragiul in its infancy l)y wise legislation, and is
developed by capital and industry. At present the mines ot
Nova Scotia are gradually passing into the hands of the Ameri-
cans, there being more Nova Scotia coal stock owned in New

York and Boston than in the whole province of Nova Scotin.
English capitalists will go to Mexico, South America, Heaven
only knows where, to risk tlieir money in mines that, at the best,
are but a lottery, while a province, the nearest part of America
to England, with (excellent harbours, a healthy climate, and un-
limited mines of gold, coal, and iron, is left neglected, to becon e
the property of American capitalists.

English capital, it is true, has found its way here, but the
causes which led to this ilattcring result, are somewhat like those
to which Prince Edward's Island is indebted for a solitary Irish
emigrant having selected it as his home. He was shipwrecked
on the Island, and never could earn money enough to enable
him to leave it. The Duke of York having become deeply m
debt to his jewellers, was saved from their importunities by the
liberality of the British Government, which generously made
them a present of our mines and minerals, the lease of
which issued to the Duke, and was by him assigned to
them. Our ' black diamonds ' proved, however, a somewhat
puzzling windfall to his Grace's jewellers, who sold them to the
General Mining Association of London, an enterprising and
wealthy English Company which had sunk a large amount of
capital in foreign mines. The striking fact that the Nova
Scotian mines, in spite of the heavy outlay necessary to
develope them, and of the funds that were sunk in foreign
mines, have at least quadrupled the value of the Association's
shares, is a sufficient proof of the importance of these vast
mineral resources which the British Government so recklessly
threw away on a spendthrift and his favourites. This monopoly,
which was partially restricted by an act of the Legislature,
expires in 1886, when every trace of its exclusive rights will no
doubt be swept away for ever. In the meantime large tracts
are tied up by the lease. That so large an amount of valuable
mineral property is now held by other companies, is due, not to
the generosity of the General Mining Association, but to their
fortunate ignorance of the extent of these resources which the}'
had so long monopolized. The extensive areas reserved at
Sydney, Lingan, Bridgeport, the Albion Mines, Springhill, and
the Joggins, were supposed by them to include all the mines

that were worth having. Since then new carboniferous districts
have been tlitscovered in Cape Breton and in Huvii Scotia, while
in Pictou a far more vahiable coal field than that reserved by the
Association, has been found near Middle River. These new
mines have been explored and arc being opened up by
foreignera, for though there is abundance of capital here, there
is a slight want of enterprise among us. If, however, mining
rights are only carefully preserved from being endangered l)y
changes of Government, andby the claims oi" political parti zans.
we may rely upon strangers for the speedy development of our
mines. In a material point of view it may matter little from
whence capital comes, so long as our mines are opened up.
But as the Americans are daily becoming the owners of our
gold and coal mines, the political effect must in time be apparent.
If we are to form part of the British Empire, it is desiral)le
that we should be connected with it by something more than
hit i-editary ties, and the grateful reminiscences of history. W
the most important sources of provincial wealth are owned and
develojiod by foreigners, the people must in time learn to look
up with a filial feeling to those, whoever they may be, to whom
they arc indebted for the welfare and prosperity of the pro-
vince. Fortunitely, however, the capitalists of Ontario and
C^uebec are slowly turning their attention tt) our mines, and \\v
may look forward to the disy when, within the Dominion, we shall
find the enterprise and the capital which alone are required. A
future of manufacturing and muieral wealth is simply a question
of time, and must necessarily result from the position and
resources of Nova Scotia.

Of all the numerous Colonies of Britain, Nova Scotia, the
oldest, the nearest, and the most neglected, presents the
strongest family likeness to its mother country, in the singular
variety and excellence of its resources, combined with its being
near the markets of the world. A province, which ranks as one
of the first fruit growing countries in the world, which has such
a genial climate* that its grapes grown in the open air can rival

* No country can hope to be a centre of nianufacturin); or commercial activity,
which jMisscsses u rigorous or unhealthy climate. The following extracts may serve to
remove some wide-spread prejudices as to the climate of N«va Scotia. The Gardener's
Chronicle says, " Our readers and the nsitors to the Fruit Shows of the Royal Horticul-

those of Italy, which possesses iron equal to that of Sweden,
and gold which excels that of Australia and Calilornia in purity,
which has unequalled tisheries, safe harbours, extensive coal
Helds near the water's edge, and above all a position almost
midway on the very highway of nations between the Old and
the New World, may hope, at some future day, to inherit a Hill
share of that greatness, which Britain must, in her ohi age,
resign to her children or to strangers.

tural Society cannot have forgotten the surpasHing beauty and equal cxcellenre of the
apples communicated by the great Colony of Nova Scotia. Certainly nothimj like them
had been previously seen at any Public Exhibition in this rottntry." " What gives this
collection especial interest is the example it affords of the excellence «f the climate of a
Colony whicli half the world believes to be dismally dreary' Tlie London /Vme« also
suys, " The beauty of the apple beats anything wo have ever seen;" and the Royal
Horticultural Society, in its proceedings, states, " The only other country excejit Turin,
which exhibited grapes grown in the open air, was Nova Scotia, and several of these
were of the same kinds as those from Lombardy, but thvy setnned to have agreed bettir
with this nei.0 habitat on the other side of the. Atlantic, and to have beaten their old country
cousins both in size and Jlavoiir." The explanation for this may be found in the fact
that Nova Scotia is situated in the same latitude as Nice, and that its antumns arc pro-
longed by its proximity to the Gulf stream.