mers. The Dominion census of 1911
gives the following statement of population for the provinces and
districts west of Lake Superior:

Rural Urban
1911 1,059,681 681,216
1901 446,050 199,467
--------- -------
Increase 613,631 481,749

The western provinces are generally considered to be almost purely
agricultural, and yet the percentage increase of urban population has
been nearly double the percentage increase of rural population. And this
rapidly growing urban population also has demanded food products. Their
own farmers grow wheat and oats and barley. British Columbia produces
fruit for her own people and some surplus for the prairie provinces.
There is some stock-raising, but the rapid extension of wheat areas has
interfered with the great stock ranches. From out of the Great West,
therefore, there has come an increasing demand for many food products.
Add to this the growing home market in Ontario, and, keeping in mind
that the West can grow wheat more cheaply than Ontario, it will be
understood why of recent years the Ontario farmer has been compelled to
give up the production of wheat for export. His line of successful and
profitable work has been in producing to supply the demands of his own
growing home market, and the demands of the rapidly increasing people of
the West, both rural and urban, and also to share in the insatiable
market of Great Britain. Another element of more recent origin has been
the small but very profitable market of Northern Ontario, where
lumbering, mining, and railroad construction have been so active in the
past five or six years.

The result of all this has been a great increase in fruit production.
Old orchards have been revived and new orchards have been set out. The
extension of the canning industry also is most noticeable, and has
occasioned the production of fruits and vegetables in enormous
quantities. Special crops such as tobacco, beans, and sugar beets are
being grown in counties where soil and climatic conditions are
favourable. The production of poultry and eggs is also receiving more
attention each succeeding year. The growth of cities is creating an
increasing demand for milk, and the production of factory-made butter
and cheese is also increasing, as the following figures for Ontario from
the Dominion census prove: