153:(formerly the Grand Trunk) and the potential for fire. He makes extensive mention of the condition of the timber, and has a somewhat tempered view of their potential commercial value. He then moves on to a somewhat more positive report on the soil and its suitability for farming, saying its future is "bright". Wishing to avoid the "Trent watershed" problem, an earlier failed settlement attempt, he suggested setting up an experimental farm to test what "treatment is necessary on the various soils". Such a farm was set up in Kapuskasing on the west side of the river to explore and develop crops and systems for farming the area.
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some farming was successfully established within the Great Clay Belt, however, it proved to be impractical because of the short growing season. The clay soil is tremendously fertile, but long snowy winters coupled with unpredictable rainfall during the short growing season meant most farming yielded
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and exposed bedrock shield surrounding it. Moreover, the combination of its general fertility, flat topography, high water table and relative accessibility to an extensive network of roads for logging and mining make it suitable for some types of farming. The following year, the government announced
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This satellite photo of Lake
Timiskaming shows a clear difference in landforms, with the muskeg of the Canadian Shield to the southwest and flatter drained and cleared area of the Lesser Clay Belt to the north and east. The white coloring is due to snow lying on the flat land, while it is hidden
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The area was first mapped by Dr. Robert Bell and his assistant Arthur Barlow in 1887, as part of a wider series of surveys in northern
Ontario. In 1899, Barlow wrote a report on the geology and natural resources of the area, which suggested that the rich belt of clay that lay north of Lake
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Despite provincial incentives, by the 1930s the short growing season, summer frosts, poorly drained soils, and economic factors discouraged all but the heartiest of farming settlers, with most abandoning their land and the region (Randall 1940, McDermott
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By 1935, immigration to the Great Clay Belt virtually ended. One farmer, describing why he returned to urban life, stated that, in the Great Clay Belt, "there are seven months of snow, two months rain, and all the rest is
189:. Settlers received homesteads, grants and guaranteed loans and were paid for clearing their own land. However, by 1920 only nine of more than a hundred original settlers remained. The farming consisted of some
57:, covering 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) in total with 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 sq mi) of that in Ontario. It is generally subdivided into the
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Neither the Great nor the Lesser Clay Belt seems able to attract any sort of sustainable industry to employ people for long periods of time. Both regions go through periodic
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was completed. Many of the farmers shifted to mining once minerals were found in the area. Others entered the logging industry. Some towns still remaining today include
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also passed legislation in 1927 to enable the migration of farmers from barren lands in older parts of the
Province, such as
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Temiskaming was ideal for agricultural settlement. The area has a rich clay soil, in contrast to the low fertility of the
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593:"An Assessment of the Vulnerability of Forest Vegetation of Ontario's Clay Belt (Ecodistrict 3E-1) to Climate Change"
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169:. Governments of the day were mistakenly impressed with the agricultural potential of the Great Clay Belt. Under the
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Burke G. Vanderhill (1988). "Agriculture's
Struggle for Survival in the Great Clay Belt of Ontario and Quebec".
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traveled the area at the behest of the federal
Commission of Conservation, ostensibly to survey the area of the
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Report of the
Minister of Lands and Forests for the Province of Ontario, For the Year ending 31st October, 1927
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467:"Assessing the vulnerability of Ontario's Clay Belt area to climate change + facts about the Clay Belt"
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around 8,200 BP, whose lakebed sediment forms the modern landform. The Clay Belt is surrounded by the
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George L. McDermott (1961). "Frontiers of
Settlement in the Great Clay Belt, Ontario and Quebec".
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cycles, depending upon the fortunes of the pulp and paper industries and the mining industries.
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379:"La colonisation des Clay Belts du Nord-Ouest québécois et du Nord-Est ontarien"
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Kent, JON (1966). "Agriculture in the Clay Belt of
Northern Ontario".
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Jon Kent (1966). "Agriculture in the Clay Belt of
Northern Ontario".
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encouraged immigrants to settle there as farmers during and after
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plans to develop the area by tapping its natural resources.
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493:. Ottawa: Commission of Conservation. pp. 9–12.
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Tract of fertile soil in
Ontario and Quebec, Canada
329:Annals of the Association of American Geographers
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185:to settle veterans that had returned from the
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490:Conditions in the Clay Belt of New Ontario
126:under the fir-covered Shield to the south.
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383:Revue d'Histoire de l'Amérique Française
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320:Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway
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315:The Great Clay Belt of Northern Ontario
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208:Graphic describing lands affected by
105:" dot the northern areas of Ontario,
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630:Little Claybelt Homesteaders Museum
406:American Review of Canadian Studies
248:." Some of the farmers returned to
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453:10.1111/j.1541-0064.1966.tb00530.x
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471:Ontario Forest Research Institute
274:National Transcontinental Railway
574:. pp. 19–24. Archived from
565:"Ontario's Great Clay Belt hoax"
542:Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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601:Ministry of Natural Resources
572:Canadian Geographical Journal
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377:Benoît-Beaudry Gourd (1973).
563:Donald Pugh (January 1975).
175:Soldier Settlement Act, 1919
171:Soldier Settlement Act, 1917
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183:Kapuskasing Soldier Colony
418:10.1080/02722018809480946
256:. Some moved west to the
173:(shortly replaced by the
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103:glaciolacustrine deposits
179:Soldier Settlement Board
441:The Canadian Geographer
85:to the northern tip of
523:The Forestry Act, 1927
510:(R.S.C. 1927, c. 188)"
508:Soldier Settlement Act
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210:The Forestry Act, 1927
141:Bernhard Eduard Fernow
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687:Geography of Ontario
544:. 1928. pp. 8–9
95:Glacial Lake Ojibway
41:, stretching across
25:Map of the Clay Belt
692:Geography of Quebec
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358:Canadian Geographer
163:Canadian government
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33:is a vast tract of
677:Geology of Ontario
525:, S.O. 1927, c. 12
217:Ontario government
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682:Geology of Quebec
653:49.000°N 81.000°W
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51:Abitibi County
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605:. Retrieved
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81:down to the
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67:Lake Abitibi
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35:fertile soil
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485:B.E. Fernow
318:. Toronto:
290:Kapuskasing
242:black flies
167:World War I
63:Kapuskasing
671:Categories
426:References
246:mosquitoes
199:vegetables
83:Wabi River
69:and on to
31:Clay Belt
548:4 October
272:once the
193:, mostly
187:Great War
157:Promotion
151:main line
117:Discovery
79:Englehart
487:(1913).
278:Cochrane
262:Manitoba
254:Montreal
231:little.
228:outcrops
111:Labrador
644:81°00′W
641:49°00′N
349:2561659
322:. 1913.
286:Timmins
270:Alberta
250:Toronto
235:Decline
65:, past
47:Ontario
614:1961).
607:29 May
347:
294:Hearst
292:, and
197:, and
191:grains
177:) the
133:muskeg
109:, and
107:Quebec
55:Quebec
39:Canada
596:(PDF)
579:(PDF)
568:(PDF)
345:JSTOR
609:2020
550:2013
268:and
252:and
244:and
215:The
195:oats
161:The
71:Amos
49:and
29:The
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
