ONTARIO, a Province of the Dominion of Canada, bounded on the north-east and east by the Province of Quebec; on the south-east, south south-west and west by the River St. Lawrence and its great lakes; and on the north and north-west by James Bay and the Albany River, and on the extreme west by the Province of Manitoba. Length from south-east 10 north-west about 750 miles, and from north-east to south-west about 500 miles. Area, land and inland waters, 260,862 square statute miles, equal to 141,125,120 acres of land surface, or including its lake and other water areas, 166,961,680 acres. The occupied, settled area of Ontario is today (1905) some 22,670,000 acres, while about 4 million more acres, of good farming land are now surveyed and open for settlement. The surface of the country is gently undulating, rather than mountainous, and is diversified by rivers and lakes. The ridge of high land which enters the province at Niagara Falls extends to Hamilton, and is continued to Owen Sound, thence along the peninsula to Cabot Head and through the Manitoulin Islands of Lake Huron. The Laurentian hills run westward from the Thousand Islands, near Kingston, and extend north of Lake Simcoe, forming the coast of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. A main water-shed separates the waters of the Ottawa from those of the St. Lawrence; a minor one divides the streams flowing into Lake Simcoe, Georgian Bay and Lake Huron from those flowing into Lakes Erie and Ontario.

North and west of the Ottawa River and the upper waters of the Georgian Bay and Lake Superior, are the newly-organized stretches of North Western Ontario, the Nipissing, Algoma, Thunder Bay and Rainy River districts. Most of these districts are still heavily timbered and in parts well watered, and are available for colonization purposes. The line of the Canadian Pacific RR. skirts the southern parts of these districts, and soon now also the region will be traversed by the line of the new Grand Trunk Pacific road. The agricultural resources of the country are very great. The fertile belt extends over three-fourths of the present inhabited parts, and a vast area, in the hands of the Government, now open for settlement. Immense crops of wheat, are annually raised; also oats, barley, Indian corn, rye, potatoes, turnips, etc., etc. The apple orchards of the south-western counties are very productive, and pears, plums, grapes, cherries and various kinds of berries thrive luxuriantly. The climate of Ontario is agreeably tempered by the proximity of the great lakes. The winter is considerably shorter and milder than that of Quebec. Recent returns (those for the year 1905) give the value of the entire farm lands of Ontario as $649,201,364: of farm buildings as $264,384,514. of farm implements as $68,629 546, and of live stock $172,483,760. The value of live stock sold during the year (1905) is placed at $59,378,046. In 1905, we learn that the area of land occupied in the Province was over 24 million acres, the bulk of it being owned by the holders. The area and yield of grains, hay and the chief root crops for the same year are as follows: Fall wheat, from 796,213 acres, the yield was 17,933,961 bushels; spring wheat, from 190,116 acres, the yield was 3 582,647 bushels; barley, from 772,633 acres, yield 24,265,394 bushels; oats, from 2,668,416 acres yield 105,563,572 bushels; rye, from 101,292 acres yield 1,714,051 bushels; corn, from 295,005 acres yield 20,922,919 bushels; buckwheat, from 101,591 acres yield 2,108,652 bushels; peas, from 374,518 acres, yield 7,100,021; potatoes, from 132,530 acres, yield 14,366,049 bushels; hay and clover, from 3,020,265 acres, yield 5,847,494 tons. in 1905, Ontario turned out the enormous total of 164,866,223 pounds of cheese the gross value of which was $17,417,757. The principal rivers of Ontario are the tributaries of the Ottawa: the French, the Magnetawan, the Severn and the Nottawassaga, falling into Georgian Bay; the Saugeen, the Maitland and the Aux Sables, falling into Lake Huron; the Thames, running south-west into Lake St. Clair; the Grand, flowing south-east into Lake Erie; the Trent, in part of its course called the Otonabee, and the Moira, flowing south-east into the Bay of Quinte; and the Niagara, falling into Lake Ontario. The mighty St. Lawrence sweeps through the eastern part of the Province, from Kingston, and the Ottawa forms part of its north-east boundary. The lakes of Ontario are numerous and magnificent. The largest are Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. They cover an area of 80,000 square miles, and contain nearly half the fresh water of the globe. The minor lakes are Nepigon, Simcoe, Lake of the Woods, Muskoka, Nipissing, and those in the counties north of Lake Ontario, and in the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence Rivers. The principal bays are the Georgian, Nottawassaga, Owen Sound, Long Point, Burlington and Quinte. The mineral wealth of the Province is not surpassed, if, indeed it be equalled by any other in variety and richness. Iron is found in large quantities a short distance back of Lake Ontario, in the country between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa; also, in the same region, copper, lead, plumbago, antimony, arsenic, manganese, gypsum; marble of the finest quality and building stone. The Sudbury nickel mines are already famous. Gold has also been found, and in New Ontario, at Cobalt, rich veins of silver have been disclosed. On the north shore of Lake Huron are extensive mines of copper, and on the shores of Lake Superior, particularly round Thunder Bay, are enormous silver deposits. Amethysts and agates are also found there, as well as mica, iron, gold, cobalt and bismuth. The petroleum wells in the south-westerly part of the Province are yielding immense and apparently inexhaustible supplies, and so are the salt wells at Goderich and Kincardine. The article is obtained by evaporating the brine, and is exceedingly good for table use, having been found, upon chemical analysis, to be of almost perfect purity. Large peat beds exist in many parts of the Province. in 1906 Ontario's mineral production for that year was valued at $22,388,382.

The almost unlimited supply of water-power throughout Ontario, now about to be largely increased by drawing upon the great volume of water that flows over the Falls of Niagara, affords unusual facilities for manufactures, to which that power is adapted, and in conse quence many and various descriptions of industry are springing up in all directions; steam-power is also used to a large extent. The principal articles manufactured are cloth, linen, furniture, sawn timber, flax, iron and hardware, paper, soap, starch, hats, caps, boots, shoe, leather, cotton and woollen goods, steam engines and locomotives, sewing machines, wooden ware of all descriptions, agricultural implements, etc. The settlements in Ontario have hitherto been made south of the Laurentian range of hills, which are thought to bound the lands fit for settlement, but behind this range there is another tract of rich agricultural land, as level as the St. Lawrence Valley, and timbered with a heavy growth of mixed white pine and hardwood. These lands are approached by the branches of the G.T.R. on the one hand, and by the C.P.R. on the upper Ottawa on the other. They have the basin of Lake Nipissing and the water-shed of the Ottawa for their drainage. The railway system has made rapid strides in Ontario during the past 10 years. in 1881 she had 3,478 miles, and in 1903, this had increased to such an extent that she had no less than 7,426 miles. These facts point in no uncertain language to the great strides the Province has made during the lifetime of many of the statesmen who now watch the destinies, not of a single Province, but of a broad fertile dominion, greater in extent than the wealthy republic to the south of the line. The mining and timber regions of the north have yet To be tapped and captured, figuratively speaking, by the iron horse. That stretch of country in the vicinity of Lake Superior, whose trade is tributary to Toronto will, in a very few years now, see enterprising extensions of the Grand Trunk and other railway systems. The Canadian Pacific has paved the way for the enterprising railway man, ever on the alert to tie cities, towns and villages together with a band such as has changed the face of the whole world and made the nineteenth and twentieth centuries two of the grandest epochs in history. The following are the railways in operation:

Grand Trunk: 3,072

Canadian Pacific: 2,588

Bay of Quinte Ry: 100

One Thousand Island Ry: 3

Brockville, Westport & Northwestern.: 45

Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo: 105

Kingston & Pembroke: 104

Central Ontario: 123

Canadian Northern Ontario: 149

Temiscaming & Northern Ontario: 138

Michigan Central: 424

Canadian Northern Ry: 356

Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Ry.: 16

Irondale, Bancroft & Ottawa: 50

TOTAL: 7,428

There are several canals in Ontario, the Welland, between Lakes Erie and Toronto, to avoid the Niagara Falls; the Rideau, between Kingston and Ottawa; the Sault Ste. Marie, between Lake Superior and Lake Huron; and the St. Lawrence canals, rendered necessary by the rapids of that river. The school system of Ontario is admirable. It affords the children of the rich and poor alike the means of free education. It is under the control of a Minister of Education, who is a member of the Provincial Government exofficio. The schools are undenominational, but Protestants and Roman Catholics are permitted separate schools under certain limitations, public and high schools are generally opened and closed with prayer and the reading of Scripture, without comment. All regulations are made by the Minister Of Education, subject to government approval. The schools are under the control of local trustees, elected by the rate-payers, and are permitted only certificated teachers. Education of children between 7 and 13 is compulsory for 100 days per year at least. in 1906, there were 5,793 public schools in Ontario, with 1,839 male and 6,840 female teachers, and an average attendance of 232,077, out of a total number of pupils registered—397,170. The expenditure on these public schools, in 1905, was $5,524,107. During the same year there were 428 Roman Catholic separate schools, with 49,324 pupils, the average attendance being 32,030 or 65 per cent. There were also 140 high schools, with 24,661 pupils. There were 5,793 school houses, 2,720 of brick, 547 stone, 2,292 frame and 234 log. Financially, the schools stood as follows: — Public schools, legislative grant (1905), $414,004, municipal grant and assessment $4,928,790, other sources, $1,886,400. Total, $7,229,194, High school and Collegiate Institutes receipts, $1,096,266; expenditure, $1,004,498. Normal and model receipts, $21,794; expenditure, $67,092. Teachers' institutes, receipts, $13,604; expenditure, $7,615, balance $5,989; free libraries, receipts $174,324; expenditure, $151,504. There were also in 1905 in the Province 56 county model schools with 17,050 teachers in training, 80 teachers institutes, with 8,958 members. 4 provincial normal and model schools with 536 students, and 4 art schools with 308 pupils. Under the Department were 242 public libraries, with 28,748 members and 473,160 books and 134 free libraries. There are besides a large number of universities, as Trinity College, Toronto University, Kingston University, Ottawa College and the Kingston Military College is in Ontario also. The municipal system of Ontario is among the most perfect in the world. All religions are free without State preference. There are numerous public institutions throughout the Province, chiefly under control of the Government. Chief among these are the magnificent Legislative buildings at Toronto, recently completed at large cost. There are also the Lunatic Asylums at Kingston, Toronto, London, Amherstburg and Orillia, the Reformatory Prison at Penetanguishene; the Asylum for the Blind at Brantford; the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Belleville: the Normal School, University College and Osgoode Hall, Toronto. Other public buildings have of recent years been erected or are in course of construction.

The public affairs of the Province are ad ministered by a Lieutenant-Governor, au Executive Council of 7 members, and a Legislative Assembly of 98 members, elected every 4 years. The laws and the mode of administering them are mainly the same as in England; the practice, however, is simpler and far less expensive. There is a Superior Court of Judica ture, consisting of two permanent divisions, called the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. The first is divided into Queen's Bench, Common Pleas and Chancery, the first two having each a chief justice and two judges, and the third a chancellor and three judges.

Ontario is divided into the following counties (which are sub-divided into 90 electoral district), viz.:

Algoma: 26,403, Sault Ste. Marie.

Brant: 36,171, Brantford.

Bruce: 52,491, Walkerton.

Carleton: 97,855, Ottawa.

Dufferin: 19,230, Orangeville.

Dundas: 17,426, Cornwall.

Durham: 25,346, Cobourg.

Elgin: 41,451, St. Thomas.

Essex: 59,203, Sandwich.

Frontenac: 39,179, Kingston.

Glengarry: 19,253, Alexandria.

Grenville: 18,242, Brockville.

Grey: 65,074, Owen Sound.

Haldimand: 19,438, Cayuga.

Haliburton: 5,945, Haliburton.

Halton: 18,794, Milton.

Hastings: 52,395, Belleville.

Huron: 56,072, Goderich.

Kent: 52,309, Chatham.

Lambton: 51,654, Sarnia.

Lanark: 34,435, Perth.

Leeds: 33,896, Brockville.

Lennox & Addington.,: 21,032, Napanee.

Lincoln: 30,728, St. Catharines.

Manitoulin: 6,775, -

Middlesex: 91,402, London.

Muskoka: 19,604, Bracebridge.

Nipissing: 26,053, North Bay.

Norfolk: 26,326, Simcoe.

Northumberland.,,: 31,725, Cobourg.

Ontario: 38,563, Whitby.

Oxford: 44,891, Woodstock.

Parry Sound: 17,065, Parry Sound.

Peel: 19,077, Brampton.

Perth: 49,036, Stratford.

Peterborough: 34,931, Peterboro.

Prescott: 25,968, L'Orignal.

Prince Edward: 17,661, Picton.

Rainy River.,: 10,389, -

Renfrew: 48,663, Pembroke.

Russell: 17,497, L'Orignal.

Simcoe: 80,374, Barrie.

Stormont.: 24,477, Cornwall.

Thunder Bay: 16,022, Port Arthur.

Victoria: 29,528, Lindsay.

Watorloo: 54,753, Berlin.

Welland: 32,282, Welland.

Wellington: 53,774, Guelph.

Wentworth: 88,732, Hamilton.

York: 305,273, Toronto.

Total area of the above counties, 65,097,643 acres with a population to day (1906) of over 2,500,000. In 1903 the Indian population of the Province was 21,093. The prevailing religion of Ontario is Methodist. next Presbyterian, then that of the Church of England and Roman Catholic. The Church of England dioceses are five in number: Toronto, Niagara, Ontario. Huron and Algoma. The Roman Catholic dioceses are seven in number, viz., the archdiocese of Toronto, and the diocese of Ottawa, Kingston, Hamilton, London, Peterboro and Alexandria. According to the census of 1901 the religious denominations in the province are as follows:

Methodists 666,388

Presbyterians 477,386

Church of England 367,937

Church of Rome 390,304

Baptists 116,329

Lutherans 48,052

Congregationalists 15,289

Disciples 10,154

Salvation Army 6,479

Jews

Brethren 6,416

Quakers 3,648

Thinkers 1,493

Adventists 1,226

Miscellaneous 66,519

Total 2,182,947

The largest, and in every respect the most important city is Toronto, the capital of Ontario. The city has a population (1901) of 208,040; today (1906) close upon 300,000. It is well situated on Lake Ontario, very handsomely built, and contains a large number of fine buildings. Ottawa is the capital of the Dominion, and is beautifully situated on the river of the same name. It contains the Parliament Buildings, one of the noblest structures on the American continent. Kingston is a well built and fortified city, beautifully situated at the outlet of Lake Ontario. Hamilton is a fine commercial city, at the head of navigation on Lake Ontario. London is a handsome inland city, in the centre of the western peninsula. Brantford, Windsor, Guelph, St. Thomas.