First published in 1946, this historical analysis of Canadian agricultural policy from 1600 to 1930 tests the assumption that agriculture has been Canada's basic industry, central in the economic and political life of the nation. Professor Fowke demonstrates that agricultural interests have always been secondary in shaping agricultural policy. Government attitudes have been influenced less by economic and political agrarian pressures than by such considerations as defence of empire, provisioning of the staple trades, and later the investment opportunities offered to industry, commerce, and finance by an expanding agricultural frontier.