CHAPTER III 
The Leading Industry—Agriculture* 
IRST among the primary industries of the province is agriculture. 
Fe chief agricultural areas are found in the western portion of the 
province, mainly in the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa 
rivers and in the Eastern Townships. Promising new agricultural areas 
are, however, now being settled along the line of the Canadian National 
Railway, in the Temiskaming, Gaspé, Lake St. John, Abitibi districts, 
and elsewhere. According to the latest available returns, the estimated 
area of total possible farm land in the Province of Quebec is 43,745,000 
acres, of which the estimated area under cultivation in 1927 was 6,877,900 
acres (or about 15 per cent) and the value of the field crops was $144,273,000. 
The farm acreage in 1921 was 17,257,012 acres and the estimated gross 
agricultural wealth of the province in 1927, including all farm property, 
live stock and production, was $1,379,654,000. The gross agricultural 
revenue of the province for 1927 is estimated at $282,354,000. 
In common with the rest of Canada, the rural population of Quebec 
as compared with the urban is dec’ining. The accompanying table indi- 
cates the extent to which this has taken place since 1901. Various causes 
have been given for it, not the least important of which is the improvement 
of agricultural machinery and methods of production, thus enabling as 
great, if not greater, production with fewer hands. The remarkable indus- 
trial development in parts of the province has likewise considerably 
influenced agriculture. 
RURAL AND URBAN POPULATION IN QUEBEC, 1901-1921 
Vear 
1901............ 
OIL. 
Soi 
Total 
Popu- 
st10n 
,648,898 
1005776 
361.190 
Rural Population 
Number | Fer cent 
994,833 
1,038,934 
038.630 
60.34 
51 -80) 
13.00 
Urban Population 
Per cent 
Number | of total 
654,065 
566,542 
322 560 
39.66 
48.20 
56.01 
Systems of Farming.—Whilst the system of mixed farming is 
followed bv the large majority of agriculturists in the province, the following 
* Revised by the Department of Agriculture, Quebec. 
R8105—83 232