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.

Vernon C. Fowke (1907-1966) was for many years Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto.

Vernon Fowke's profile page

"Everyone interested in Canadian agriculture...will want to read this book. It is an example of historical scholarship at its best...Mr Fowke has added materially to our understanding of the role which agriculture has played in the Canadian economy and of the treatment it has received at the hands of the government."

Saskatchewan History