he National Transcontinental added the north to the
Dominion, gave the needed breadth to the perilously narrow fringe of
settlement that lined the United States border. The national ends
which Sir John Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier steadfastly held in
view were so great and vital as to warrant risk, to compel faith, to
justify courage.

In Canada the state, without much discussion as to the theory involved,
has endeavoured to foster production in countless ways. The
encouragement and sifting of immigration and the building or aiding of
railways and canals are perhaps the most important {233} single forms
this stimulus has taken; but they are far from the only ones. Farmer,
miner, fisherman, manufacturer, artisan, all have been aided by
policies more or less effective.

Under previous administrations the department of agriculture had done
good work and had raised the standard of farm production. That work
was now extended and re-vitalized. For the first time a farmer, Mr
Sydney A. Fisher, took charge of the department. Better farming and
better marketing alike were sought. On experimental farms and in
laboratories, studies were carried on as to the best stock or plants,
the best fertilizers or the best feeding-stuffs, to suit the varied
soils and climates of the wide Dominion. By bulletins and
demonstrations farmers were instructed in such matters as the selection
of seed, the cool curing of cheese, the improvement of stock, the
vigilant guarding against disease in herd and flock. Marketing
received equal attention. For the fruit and dairy industries
refrigerator-car services and cold-storage facilities on ocean ships
were provided. In these and other ways the effort was made to help the
Canadian farmer to secure full value for his toil.

The miner received less direct aid. {234} Railways built into mining
areas, bounties on lead and petroleum, bounties on iron ore and steel
products, laboratory studies in metallurgy, and reduction of the duties
on mining machinery, all played a part in the great development of the
mines of Canada which marked this era.

None too soon, an important step was taken in 1909 to ensure the
perpetuation or the prudent use of the country's natural resources. In
the early, lavish days men had believed these resources inexhaustible,
or had recklessly ignored the claims of the future in their haste to
snatch a fortune to-day. The United States had gone furthest on this
pat