' '^twH ^"'■'''-' . ft.:: THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ttery district .^of lire at Britain 207 88. Cotton and woolen textiles in England OQg 89. Tilbury docks 211 90. Germany 215 91. The free port of Hamburg 216 92. Subdivisions of the soil in Germany 217 93. Southwestern Germany 218 94. Coal and iron district of Germany 220 95. Ehine-Westplialia industrial region 223 96. Kailroads in Germany 224 97. Industries of France 229 98. France — interior navigation ■ _ 231 99. Subdivisions of the soil in France 232 100. Agriculture and animal rai.sing 233 101. Wine and fisheries in France 234 102. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Lu.xemburg — agriculture . . 243 103. Subdivisions of the soil in Belgium 244 104. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Lu.xemburg— industries and com- merce 253 Subdivisions of the soil in the Netherlands 256 Subdivisions of the soil in Sweden 259 Subdivisions of the soil in Norway 259 Scandiaavia — agriculture and fisheries 260 Scandinavia — mines, industries, and commerce 263 Subdivisions of the soil in Denmark 264 Switzerland — industries and agriculture 269 Subdivisions of the soil in Switzerland 270 Switzerland's railroad connections 274 114. Subdivisions of the soil in Austria-Hungary 278 115. Agriculture in Austria-Hungary 279 Industries and mineral products of Austria-Hungary . . . 282 Density of population in Austria-Hungary 283 Eailroad map of Austria-Hungary 284 Italy — most important railroads and seaports 289 Italy — agricultural and mineral products, and fisheries . . . 290 Italy — density of population 291 Subdivisions of the soil in Italy _ . . . 292 Industries of North Italy 296 Spain and Portugal 299 Russia — climate 306 Subdivisions of the soil in Russia 307 Russia — agriculture, manufactures, and fisheries .... 309 xvi COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY FIO. PAGE 128. Eussia — minerals, navigable rivers, and seaports .... 311 129. Russia — chief railroads 315 130. The Balkan States 319 131. Agriculture in Mexico 329 132. Railroads in Mexico 330 133. Mining in Mexico 333 134. Central America 338 135. V'^enezuela and tlie Guianas 344 136. Brazil 349 137. Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay 359 138. Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru 371 139. Bolivia 380 140. Agricultural and mining regions of Siberia 391 141. Russian Central Asia 395 142. India— density of population 397 143. India — areas of wheat, rice, and millet culture 399 144. India — areas of tea, cotfee, cotton, and opium culture . . . 401 145. Japan — distribution of tea and raw-silk culture 407 146. Japan — distribution of wax, lacquer, and camplior trees . . . 410 147. Chief products of China 416 148. China — railroads, navigation, and treaty ports 422 149. Hongkong and environs . .' 425 150. Australia-Parable and grazing- lancls 436 151. Australia — distributisn of^mining'^ .. „ ... . : ;. . . . 441 152. Railroads in Australia : '. 443 153. New Zealand 446 154. Africa — railroads, navigable waters, steamship routes, etc. facing 453 155. Algeria and Tunis 457 156. Agriculture in Africa 462 157. The Congo river and its navigal)le tributaries 465 158. South Africa 471 STATE nOKMAL SCHOOL, boa Attaabiu, oMt, ?^ /\. (jreenwich 00 Longitude 30 East 00 Facing page 1, COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER I THE BASES OF COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Man works to supply human needs. In his lowest state of culture man has very few needs, and supplies them all from the region where he lives. The dwarfs of Africa, for example, fashion their rude lances and bows and arrows with which they hunt, build only the simplest huts of boughs and grass to protect them from the rain, and wear no clothing, or at most merely the skin of an animal or a bit of grass cloth. But as man advances in civilization he requires a greater variety of food, better shelter, and com- fortable clothing ; and in his highest state of culture his wants are very numerous, and he draws not only upon his immediate surroundings, but upon the whole world to supply them. The materials used by man are obtained either directly or indirectly from the soil or from rock and mineral substances. The larger part of them are derived directly from the soil, such as cereals and other vegetable food ; trees, bamboo, and those vegetable products which supply the principal material in house building ; also cotton and other fibers from which cloth is made. Many necessaries also are sup- plied by land and sea animals whose flesh, fat, skins, bones, wool, and hair are utilized by man. All these animal commodities are derived indirectly from the soil, for the reason that the food of all animals is vegetation or other 1 1 2 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY animals that eat plan ts. Another large source of necessary commodities is rock and mineral substances, such as coal, iron, and the precious metals, that are dug from the earth. Natural riches are very unevenly distributed. Civilized man must go far for many of the things he needs. There could be no vegetable life without the heat and light that come from the sun. As heat and sunshine are un- equally distributed over the earth, they produce differences of climate and consequently many varieties of vegeta- tion, as, for example, the wheat of the temperate zones and the cotton and rubber plants of warmer regions. Some regions also are far poorer in useful rocks and minerals than others. Thus Holland has no building stone, Switzer- land no coal, and the United States much less sulphur than it needs. Each country, therefore, must sell commodities in which it is rich and buy commodities in which it is poor. Commerce is the exchange of commodities. The causes that give rise to commerce are (1) the differences in the productions of various parts of the world, making exchanges necessary, and (2) the division of labor among men. Thus Argentina, poor in iron and coal but rich in wheat and cattle, sells grain, meat, and hides in other countries, and buys their iron manufactures and coal. If everybody should produce food, and make coats and boots, there could be no commerce in these commodities, because each woixld supply his own need ; but when one man produces only food, another coats, and another boots, the necessity for trade arises. So the difference in the commodities pro- duced by different regions, and the division of labor have compelled man, in every stage of culture, to engage in trade. The Congo fisherman exchanges his dried fish and the African dwarf his fresh meat for vegetable food sup- plied by the surrounding tribes. But it is only highly civ- ilized nations that develop world-wide commerce. Commercial geography describes the world in its rela- tions to man as- a producer and as a trader. It tells of THE BASES OF COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 3 the geographic and other conditions that help or hinder man in his efforts to produce commodities or to buy and sell them. Thus the slope of the land determines the di- rection of the rivers, and whether they may be utilized to carry commodities to market. Mountain ranges hinder commerce so far as they tend to keep peoples apart and in- crease the cost of transportation. Valleys and plains are the great sources of food for man and his domestic animals. Mountain regions are the largest sources of the metals and minerals he uses. The luxuriance and variety of vegetation decrease from the equator toward the poles, and from sea level toward high altitudes. The ocean supplies fish and salt, and is the cheapest highway of commerce. All these natural conditions have a direct bearing upon the needs of the merchant. He wishes to know where he may procure his commodities in large and regular supply at reasonable prices and at low cost of transportation. Commercial geography therefore treats of the many influences operating all over the world which promote or retard the production, transportation, or exchange of the commodities, natural or manufactured, which man consumes or utilizes. The facts of commercial geography prove that the world has be- come a vast trading community through the discovery and perfecting of rapid and cheap communications ; that the invention of machinery and other appliances has multiplied many fold the capacity for production, so that the United States, with one fifth the population of China, has a greater productive capacity than that country ; and that the divi- sion of labor makes experts in all lines of production, thus improving the quality, increasing the quantity, and thereby decreasing the cost of commodities. TATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MtAftOlbU.eJUi. CHAPTEE II natural conditions affecting commerce Climate Climate is the largest influence in determining where animals and plants may thrive. The volume of trade and the directions it takes are greatly influenced by climate. Large commercial relations can exist only between large populations, and these are found in those temperate or tropical regions that are best adapted to support human life. Man can not thrive in the rarefied air of high moun- tain regions, in the severe cold and long darkness of the polar zones, or in the parched desert ; consequently such regions have small population and little commerce. Men from more favored lands are tempted to go to them only to secure some great natural resource, such as the right whale of the Arctic, the gold of the upper Yukon, or the nitrates in the desert of northern Chile. Climate influences agriculture more than soils do. Similar clinicites have similar vegetation the world over, but there is a wide difference between the products of similar soils in one climate and in another. The larger part of the Sahara and nearly all of the Cobi plateau in Asia need only greater rainfall to fit them to support abundant life. Xorth Can- ada, the polar lands, and Tibet, the loftiest tableland in the world, need only higher temperature to make them teem with vegetation On the other hand, liigh temperature and excessive rainfall combine to produce too luxurious vegetation in the forested Amazon basin and in the forest 4 NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 5 belt of equatorial xlfrica, rendering them comparatively unfit for agriculture ; while the hot and steaming atmos- jihere promotes fevers that render such regions almost un- inhabitable. Malaria is usually developed in hot, marshy dis- tricts. ^0 large industries, except mining, no commerce, except in mineral products, can thrive where climate does not permit large agriculture or animal raising. The greater part of Australia would never have any importance in the world's trade if it were not for irrigation and the gold and other metals and minerals found in its rocks. Temperature is one of the two most important climatic elements. Temperature depends chietly (1) upon distance from the equator — in other words, geographical latitude — and (2) upon elevation above sea level. The effect of lati- tude upon temperature and consequently upon life will first be considered. Typical tropical regions have the greatest luxuriance of plant and animal life. This is due to the excessive heat and moistvire of these regions. Trees and many lesser plants are giants in stature. The largest of wild beasts roam through the forests or jungles. Staple foods, such as the banana and cocoanut, grow wild, and little shelter or cloth- ing is required ; man's wants are few ; his mind and body are not stimulated by the need of a struggle for existence, and he has little ambition or energy. Many tropical coun- tries, therefore, could have little part in commerce if they did not produce fruits, food stuffs, and raw materials for manufactures that are largely demanded in other lands. The polar regions are poor in plant and animal life. They present the other extreme of climate. The Antarctic is not tenanted by man. The arctic Eskimos require abundant food, clothing, and shelter, but the materials for providing them are scanty. Most of the land is buried un- der snow and ice, and for half the year the gloomy land- scape is not cheered by a ray of sunlight. The natives are clad in skins of animals which they kill for food with 6 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY weapons fashioned from bones and walrus ivory. Their I huts are made of snow, ice, stones, and skins. The struggle for a bare existence is intense, and man is content if the severest exertion will provide him with sufficient food and ^ warmth. His grim environment schools him in hardihood, patience, and stolid endurance ; but only in south Green- laud does he gain a little store of oil and eider down to ex- change for foreign commodities. i The temperate zones afford the golden mean of climate. ' They lie between the climatic extremes. Man thrives best in the temperate zones because genial conditions of life abound there, imparting physical energy and vigor of mind. Hard work with hand and brain brings out the best that is in the human race and lifts it to the highest plane of development. Industry and invention multiply the comforts of life, so that man produces a far greater variety of desirable things, and buys and sells many more kinds of commodities than the people of the other zones. Thus it ] happens that by far the larger part of the world's commerce | is between the busy farmers, ! manufacturers, and other la- i borers who inhabit the coasts ! and fertile plains and valleys of the temperate regions. ! Temperature decreases ver- j tically 1 Fahr. for every 300 I feet of elevation above the sea j (Fig. 2). Temperate or frigid ' climates are therefore found in the higher parts of the trop- ical zone. In Ecuador the low- lands yield rubber and other j tropical products, the Andean j uplands produce wheat, and the summits above them are i capped with snow. The equator crosses both the Congo j and Amazon basins, but most of the Congo system is much j 18,300 ft. Fig. 2.— Showing "the effect of al- titude in distributing vegetation from ttie tropical sea level to the frigid summit of Mt. Kenia. un- der the equator in East Africa. NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 7 liigher above the sea. This is one reason why the Congo lias a larger population and a more rapid development of commerce. Rainfall is the second most important climatic element. The sea is by far the largest source of rain. The amount of rain on the land (Fig. 3) varies with the distance from the sea, so that the rainfall of the far inner parts of the continents is much less than near most coasts. It also va- ries with the direction of the prevailing winds ; so that, for example, the Sahara and southwest Africa are deserts because the prevailing winds blow toward the sea instead of from it, and consequently are always dry ; while the Amazon valley is drenched because the northeast trade winds incessantly pour over it the water brought from the sea. Winds are transporters of climate. Tliey carry heat from the tropics to the cooler regions, and the icy temperature of the polar areas to the warmer latitudes ; they also dis- tribute rainfall over land and sea. Thus they have an im- portant influence in fixing the abodes of man and the re- gions of his commercial activity. The sea climate is more equable and mild than the con- tinental climate. This is so because the air over the land becomes much hotter or colder than the air over the open sea. Thus land near the ocean has a more equable climate than land in the interior ; but the continental climate may be extended to the coasts as on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, if winds from the interior sweeji unim- peded to the ocean. The heat conserved by the ocean tempers the air currents moving over it ; and as the pre- vailing winds over the north Atlantic move eastward across the ocean they distribute over northwestern Europe the moderate temperature they have derived from tlie Atlan- tic ; so that barley thrives far north in Norway and its ports are open the year round, while Labrador, though much farther south, is bleak and barren most of the year "VDVf \ NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 9 because the prevailing winds come from the arctic interior of northern Canada instead of from the sea. Ocean cur- rents, such as the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Labrador current, contrary to earlier opinion, are now believed to have little influence upon the temperature of the land. 3«S '"Si CHAPTEE III natural. conditions affecting commerce The Ixfluence of Soils, Forms of the Eaeth's Sue- face, AND Ocean Currents and Winds Good soils are required to produce luxuriant plant life. Vegetation needs not only the carbonic acid it draws from the air, bnt also certain mineral snhstances in the soil which are plant food and are taken into the plant for its nourishment by the water that ascends from the roots. Soils are composed of particles worn away from the masses of rock and mixed with plant and animal remains. A poor soil contains Origny-Ie-Se^ Aube ^ -SCALE 1:300,000 little of these food substances and so yields little vegeta- tion ; or it may be rich in food sub- stances but is of such a nature as to prevent water from doing its part as a carrier of plant food. A Very sandy soils, derived from crystalline rocks, such as granite, do not retain much moisture and are therefore unsuitable for thriving plant growth. Clay soils, derived from feldspar 11 Fig. 5.— Contrasted areas in Fuance. In one of these districts tlie houses nntl hamlets are widely dispersed, for all may easily obtain water, as an impermeable roek stratum beneath them keeps most of the water near the surface. In the other district the water, sinking deep thronjrh per- meable rocks, is hard to ^'(^t, aTid the poi>iilation is trroiiped around deep wells. a - ^ -3 14 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and some other minerals, are so heavr as to interfere with the circulation of water and air, and so are not favorable for agricnlture. When sand and clay are mixed with an important quantity of plant and animal remains a loamy soil results, and this is best adapted for general agrictdture (Fig. 4). Eocks and minerals also influence human life in various other ways. Their nature often determines the location of houses and towns (Fig. 5). The growth of Lon- don toward the north was retarded until water was con- veyed thither in pipes, because the underlying rocks do not retain the rainfall. Over the great plains of Eussia, Hun- gary, South America, and in Holland no building stones are found, and these countries are thus deprived of a large source of wealth. Villages may be thickly sprinkled over some particular geological formation, as on the upper green- sand in England, noted for its fertility, or along an outcrop of the cx)al measures. The distribution of minerals over the earth has an important influence in the distribution of the human race, attracting a large population to mountain districts which would be almost uninhabited if it were not for the metals found in them (Figs. 6 and 7). Xot only the nature of rocks, minerals, and soils, but also the forms of the land have grea^ influence. All forms of the earths surfsice promote or hinder trade. These topographical feature?, the slope of the surface, highlands, lowlands, rivers, and the character of coasts have a marked effect upon the accessibility of regions, the occupations of men, and the density of population. Behind Amoy, Fuchau, and aU other ports in southeast China, for example, are parallel mountain ranges that are not easy to cross. The importance of all these ports is diminished by the fact that these impediments prevent easy communica- tions with the distant interior where millions of buyers and sellers live. Thus mountains may obstruct commerce. Let us see how the forms of the land may affect human occupations in various ways. NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 15 The slope of the land influences production. The sun's light and heat have most power within the tropics because there the solar rays fall nearly or quite vertically upon the earth ; and they become less and less powerful the greater the distance from the equator, for they fall upon the earth more and more slantingly ; but in any latitude where the land presents a sloping surface to the son it receives the solar rays in a more vertical direction, and consequentlv has more warmth than surrounding surfaces that are flat or slope away from the sun. This is why in the northern hemisphere farms and hamlets cling to the southern slopes of the lower Himalayas, while the northern slopes are al- most uninhabited ; for the same reason the apple orchards of the United States and Canada are planted preferably on the southern slopes. In the southern hemisphere also the vineyards of Cape Colony and the peach orchards of Xew Zealand are planted on the northern slopes. Though lati- tudes far from the tropics have less intensity of solar heat, the days of the summer or growing season increase in length with distance from the equator, till at the poles there is con- tinuous sunlight for six months. Hence in high latitudes deficient intensity of solar heat in the growing season is partly repaired by longer duration of sunlight ; maize, which requires much warmth, may be ripened in southern Canada. Mountain ranges have great influence upon cliniate. po- litical geography, and commerce. Many of them form cli- matic boundaries. The Cordilleras of western America and the Scandinavian mountains arrest the warm, moist western winds which rise along those great rock barriers to cooler altitudes, where their water vapor is condensed and falls as rain, so that the country on the windward side of the mountains is wet and that on the leeward side is dry. Mountain chains stretching east and west across central Asia protect the southern part of the continent from frigid arctic winds. The large winter tourist traffic of the Ri- viera is due to the mountains that shield this favored IQ COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY French-Italian coast from the north and northeast con- tinental winds, giving it a considerably warmer winter's temperatnre than that of Rome, two and a half degrees farther south. As Xorth America has no mountain barriers across the pathway of polar winds they sweep southward even to the Gulf of Mexico, and have twice destroyed Florida's orange groves within a decade. Mountain ranges are conspicuous in political geography because they are the natural boundary between many nations and languages, as the Pyrenees between France and Spain, the Alps between Austria and Italy, and the Himalayas between Tibet and India. Mountains sometimes guard nations from attack by the isolation they give and therefore promote national unity. Thus the Swiss are among the few peoples in Europe who have maintained the integrity of their state. Com- mercially, mountains are of great importance as a source ^f water, which they store in snow, glaciers, and lakes. Snow and ice, melting slowly on the mountains, are an un- failing source of supply for perennial rivers and thus pro- mote navigation. Mountains are the largest source of water power, which is more valuable than ever now that electricity is employed to transmit it to convenient centers for use in the industries. A large part of the mining machinery in the United States is run by water power. Switzerland, which has no coal, turns the wheels of its mills with water. Mountains supply most of the metals and minerals, and are therefore the scene of the largest mining industry. They are also among the greatest sources of forest wealth. Though the slopes are not favorable for agriculture they afford good pasturage, and the debris of the rocks washed into the valleys and plains by mountain torrents supplies good soil. Thus the Appalachians have been worn dou-n to a comparatively low level, and the soil formed from tlu-ir rock particles is the basis of large husbandry. The scenic attractions of many mountain regions is a source of large revenue. The Alps attract crowds of tourists who spend NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 17 a])out $20,000,000 a year in Switzerland and Austria, and give employment to many thousands of persons. Rivers provide cheap transportation and rich soiL Farms, towns, an(i factories may be pushed inland nowhere so easily as along rivers that supply navigation. Their valleys may be more easily developed than other regions because water freightage is less expensive than any other form of land transportation, and thus communications with markets and the sea are easily maintained ; also because the valleys, enriched by the alluvium which the rivers, at flood, spread over them, supply abundant food. Thus rivers are the lines of least resistance to the advance of man ; and their valleys are settled first when man begins to carry his indus- tries and commerce inland from the sea. As civilization developed first along the great rivers, the Nile of Egypt, the Euphrates and Tigris of Mesopotamia, the Ganges and Indus of India, and the Iloang and Yangtse of China were the creators of history. Rivers are the transporters of fertilizing alluvium from the highlands and mountains where they rise to the lowlands through which they flow. Thus a large part of Holland is the gift of the Alpine re- gions transported by the Ehine. The Saskatchewan of Canada is heavily charged with alluvium from the Rocky Mountains, and the widest zone of arable lands on the Ca- nadian plains is in its basin. The estuaries of rivers, as those of the Delaware in the United States, the Thames and Clyde in Great Britain, the Elbe in Germany, and the Gironde in France, enable sea vessels to penetrate far into the land, and their great importance is shown by the large commercial and manufacturing cities on their banks. Plains and valleys facilitate transportation and stimulate manufactures. If they are fertile the tendency is to popu- late them densely because agriculture thrives, and also be- cause, transportation being least difficult, they offer special facilities for the development of factory industries which need to bring in raw materials and to send out manufac- 18 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY tured products at small cost for carriage. Their advantages are enhanced if they are near the sea, so that the great ocean highway of commerce may easily be utilized ; and also if they are near large supplies of coal, which is the greatest source of power in the manufacturing industries. Thus the densest populations are found on fertile plains, particularly along the seacoasts, but also as far inland as the prairies of Illinois and Minnesota ; or in fertile valleys, as along the Nile or in the Yangtse basin ; and in these areas of largest population are many centers of special density where Xature has placed coal, or where the most convenient, accessible, and excellent sites for cities and harbors are found. There are also wide plains, far inland, which do not have sufficient rainfall to nurture the growth of forests or cultivated crops. Grass takes the place of the larger vegetable growths. These grass areas are called by different names. They are steppes in Euro-Asia, where they extend from Mongolia through southern Eussia into Hungary ; the great plains in Xorth America, where they stretch from the middle of the Dakotas and Texas to the Rocky Mountain phiteau ; downs in Australia, pampas in the Argentine Republic, llanos in Venezuela, and savannas in other tropical regions. These plains develop the jias- toral life, and a dense population is never found in regions where grazing is the chief pursuit. The isolation of islands sometimes promotes commerce. Thus the insularity of Great Britain saved that country from the ravages, in the Thirty Years' War, that devas- tated half of Eurojie. Before that time Flanders and Ger- many had surpassed Great Britain in many lines of trade and manufactures ; but, thereafter, she had nothing to fear from continental competition. The insularity of the Jap- anese, also, has promoted the peculiar and advanced civili- zation that is develojied among them. Coasts help commerce if they afford protection from heavy waves. This is the case along a great part of the broken NATURAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING COMMERCE 19 shore line of Europe, where there are many harbors. The vast development of the European sea trade is partly due to these coastal indentations, many of which extend far into the land. The broken Atlantic coast of the United States provides numerous harbors, and is far more favor- able to commerce than its high and rocky Pacific coast, exposed to the full fury of gales, with only a few places of shelter. Population is less dense on coasts with few har- bors because commerce is thus restricted, as on the south coast of Sicily, where the waves beat against an almost un- broken wall of rock, and most of the islanders therefore settle nearer the other coasts where there are opportunities for maritime enterprise. Such high, unbroken coasts ex- posed to storms are a danger to navigation. Low, sandy coasts rising from shallow seas are also a danger, as on the west and north sides of the Gulf of Pe»-chili, where the Chinese engage almost exclusively in agriculture and inland trading because their coast is unfavorable for sea trade. Ocean currents and winds help or retard navigation. As ocean currents (Fig. 7) are caused largely by the prevailing winds they have about the same course over the sea. A vessel sailing from the Isthmus of Panama to the Philippines, for example, is steered into the equatorial current flowing west and may gain forty miles a day, while it might lose thirty miles a day if it were sailed in the eastward flowing equatorial counter current. Winds (Fig. 8) affect the speed even of modern steamships, and the routes of sailing vessels are shaped by them. A clipper ship from England for Australia, for example, skirts the coast waters of Europe and Africa to the northeast trades, sails before this wind to South America, and follows its shores southward out of reach of the southeast trades to the westerly winds, which carry her due east to Australia. On the homeward voyage these same westerly winds carry her east past Cape Horn and to Africa, where she strikes the southeast trades that take her over to the American coast, where she travels in- 20 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY shore to avoid the northeast trades till she meets the anti- trades or westerly winds that helj) her home. Sailing vessels with ample sea room make good but retarded progress by tacking against the wind. The tropical whirlwinds, called Fig. 8. — The prevailing winds that most influence navigation are : (1) The northeast and fioiitheast trade winds, blowing steadily the year round, but shifting their position to some extent ; (2) the dry north monsoon which, in winter, blows from the south Asian lands over the Indian Ocean and the south China Sea ; and the moist south monsoon which in summer blows from these seas over the lands ; (3) the anti-trade or westerly winds between the fortieth and fiftieth parallels in both hemispheres. The westerly winds of the southern hemisphere (the Roaring For- ties of the sailor), unimpeded by land, make the royal road of sailing ships from Australia east to the Cape of Good Hope. typhoons in the monsoon regions and cyclones elsewhere, sometimes do much damage to shipping and ports ; and the great waves raised by high winds iu the shallower coast waters are also among the dangers of navigation. ST.PETEKSBURG 1 Mill, Fig. 9. — COMI'AIIATIVE SIZK OK LARGE CITIES. indoii, Puris, Borliii. ami Vieiiiiii h!iv(! each sprwid out, aloni; market bi<;li\v!iys (or miles beyond th(! main body of tlic city. The KnL.'lisli dr.iw ii line around llieimler limits of these narrow extensions of London and call the ciicuniscribed area " (Ircat- er London." whiidi has a ponnlation of over (;.i«)ii.(M)0. or -J.OilO.lHlo more than Lon- don county. Th(! comparatively small area and larf;e jjopulation of CoMslMiilinople and Tokio illustrate tlie wretched overcrowding of Eastern cities. I' HARBOR Fi«. 13.— The fiords of Norway afford many sheltered harbors for the fishermen. One of the largest leads to Trondhjem, a cen- ti-r for steamer trade. Fig. 14. — The valley, snbmerjred by sea wa- ter, entering tlirough the Golden Gate, gives San Francisco one of the largest harbors in the world. valley harbors (Fig. 14), narrow and deep arms of the sea often extending far into the land. Long sand banks, heaped up by the waves along the coast from Long Island to Florida, some distance from the mainland, inclose water areas that maybe called barrier harbors (Fig. 15), as in Albemarle and Pimlico Sounds, usually too shallow for the larger shipping. Philadeljihia, Kichmond, and 'New Orleans 26 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY are examples of river harbors (Fig. 16). Many atoll har- bors (Fig. 17) are found in the Pacific and Indian ISLA]VD HARBOR f^J-^- — ^ \ -V- Avx ■• " ' \ wW^(a^^^^ /■ V^^ w ^■^N— ^^^Shangliai ^, MOUSE l;^> RIVER HARBOR-^,,— -^ V^" CHINA Tsi-pa SCALE 1; 1,500,000 / / MILES ■ 1 ' \ 5 10 / Fig. 15.— Callao, Peru, and Boston. Mass., Fig. 16.— Shanghai means "Near the Sea." are examples of ports protected more or The port is an example of a fine riv- less by the barriers that islands present er harbor available for large ocean ves- to the sweep of ocean waves. sels. Oceans. A few commercial harbors are formed by the breaking down of one side of a crater (Fig. 18), so that the sea may enter the depression. ^ iGGENAOIK p.SS^^.^^"'^ ATOLL HARBOR C RALICK IS.) SCALE 1; 1,500.000 S. W. Passage MX- CRATER HARBORS BANKS PENINSULA Fig. 17.— Many coral islands in the Pacific Fig. IS.— Akaroa and Lyttelton are good are so arranged as to inclose lagoons, crater harbors in New Zealand. Lyttel- into which ships may enter through pas- ton is the i)ort of Christchnrch, the sec- sages between the islands. ond largest town in the colony. CHAPTEE V human control of commerce The I:n^fluexce of Eaces, Goverxmexts, axd Eeli- Gioxs— Impediments to Trade A common classification of the races is into the black, yel- low, and white types (Fig. 19). Commerce is very unequally divided among them. The black type are least civilized, and live mostly in iVfrica, south of the Sahara desert, but millions of them — the descendants of Africans transported as slaves — live in the Americas and the West Indies. The black races have the smallest part in trade. The yellow- type, which include the American Indian and the Eskimo, predominate in Asia and are seen at their best there in the Mongol varieties, of whom the Japanese and Chinese alone are highly civilized and take an important part in trade. The Turks and Magyars of Europe and the Malayan and Polynesian peoples belong to this group. The white type include the most civilized and progres- sive peoples, a large part of whom live in the temperate zones where climate, soil, and a great diversity of natural resources tend to produce the highest development. The Indo-Europeans, the largest family in the white group, have spread all over the world and control most of its commerce. They dominate nearly the whole of Europe, the Americas, Australia, Africa, and large parts of Asia and Oceania. The Eomanic races of Spain and Portugal have occupied Soutli America, the Germanic (or Teutonic) races of northern Europe have spread over North America and Australia, and the Slavonic Eussians have occupied the w^hole of northern Asia. The Germanic races have been most active in ex- 37 HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 29 tending civilization and developing natural resources and commerce ; and the governments they maintain are more efficient than any others in protecting life and property and fostering business interests. Commerce can thrive only under good government. Bad government always kills or cripples industry and trade. Men can not work well unless peace and order prevail, and will not produce much if they are likely to be robbed of their products. Flanders was the great manufactory of Europe till the sixteenth century, when her industries were ruined by Spain's occupation. Under the tyrannical Mahdist government (ISSo-'OG) the area of cultivated land in fertile Dongola, on the upper Xile, was diminished two thirds. The trade in ostrich feathers and gums, sent across the desert from Timbuktu to Morocco and Tripoli, is being diverted to Senegal because the French have made the southern route safe while robbers infest the Sahara. Good government promotes commerce in many ways. Government departments have special care of trade and industrial interests, as the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Foreign Commerce at Washington, the Board of Trade in Great Britain, and the Department of Trade and Industry in France. Government funds are used to improve rivers and harbors, dig canals, build light- houses and life-saving stations, make sailing charts for ocean vessels, and discover and mark hidden rocks that are a danger to navigation. Most of the perils of the sea are near the coasts where the waters are shallow, and all coasts visited by merchant vessels are therefore charted and many thousands of soundings are shown on the maps. Govern- ments also increase and improve production by collecting and distributing information of value to farmers and man- ufacturers. The sea, lakes, and rivers teem with food, and fisheries boards promote fish culture in various ways. Geological surveys locate mining and quarrying districts, sites for artesian wells, and deal witli irrigation problem?. 30 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Many citizens of one country have large business inter- ests in other lands. Each nation, therefore, stations its consuls in many other countries to have special care over the rights and interests of their countrymen. In lands that can not guarantee the protection of life and property, as in Morocco and some Oriental regions, law cases in which foreigners are concerned are tried by the consuls under the laws of their own countries. Nations promote trade with one another by commercial treaties, each agreeing to reduce the tariff tax upon imports of the other's products or to maintain a fixed schedule of duties for a series of years, thus obviating the disturbances to trade caused by tariff changes. If the treaty contains a " most favored nation " clause, the two countries agree that each shall share the trade advantages that either may subsequently give to any other country while the treaty is in force. Tariffs, or taxes upon imports and, in some countries, exports, are maintained by all governments for revenue ; and many nations (the chief exception being Great Britain) place a high tariff on some or many products with a view to protecting home industries of the same kind from com- petition. Usually, only a small tariff, or none at all, is im- posed on raw materials imported for manufacture, or on the most needed commodities, if they can not be produced in sufficient quantity at home. The effect of frequent changes in tariff rates is to unsettle business. Merchants and manufacturers are reluctant to buy or produce till they know how an impending tariff change will affect prices. A merchant loses money, for example, if he buys cloth just before a change in the tariff reduces the import duty on cloth and thus cheapens it in the market. To secure new markets for their products, new sources of raw material, and special privileges for their traders, European powers have acquired many colonial possessions (Fig. 20). The greater part of Africa has thus been di- vided, in recent years, between Great Britain, France, Ger- HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 33 many, Portugal, and Italy. Great Britain and Germany have acquired most of the unappropriated islands in the Pacific. Usually, but not always, the mother country has a larger part of the external trade of her colonies than any other nation. Thus the value of imports into Cape Colony from Great Britain are nine times that of the imports from the United States, which stands second on the list. The external trade of Tunis with France is five times as great as with any other country. Besides these powerful influences that government exerts upon trade there are other factors by which business is helped or hindered, and some of them will now be considered. Predominant religions influence commerce (Fig. 21). Thus the Thirty Years' War, due to religious strife, laid Germany prostrate and destroyed her trade. The Eoman and Greek Catholic countries, in proportion to population, consume the largest amount of fresh and salted fish. Canada's exports, for example, to Italy, the West Indies, and Brazil are nearly all fish. Alcoholic liquors are imported into Mohammedan countries only to a small extent, as their use is forbidden. The spread of Mohammedanism in Africa has enlarged the demand for white cottons and in- creased and improved the production of native cloth, leather, and other manufactures. Buddhist opposition is one of the reasons why foreign trade is kept out of Tibet. Capital and labor are both necessary to industry and commerce. Capital provides the raw materials, machinery, slielter, food, and other supplies which labor utilizes in the production and marketing of commodities. The end souglit is attained only by their co-operation, and strife between them destroys the prosperity of both. In the British coal strike (1893) hundreds of factories were closed for lack of fuel to supply power, and thus both capital and labor suf- fered severely. Both suffer also when they produce more commodities than can be sold. Over-production diminishes or destroys both profits and wages, because prices are sure 3 34 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY to fall. It is essential, therefore, to study the fluctuations of supply and demand. Cotton-growers and manufacturers reaped little benefit from the low price of raw cotton (1894) brought about by vast production. The quantities of goods thrown on the market could not be consumed. Sicily (1895), within three months, shipped to America 800,000 boxes of fruit, glutting the market, and much of it was sold for freight charges and duties. It is important to bear in mind that nations having an abundance of cheap labor are not always enabled thereby to undersell other nations which may pay even twice as much for labor. ^Tliis is because the cost of labor is to be measured not by the wages jjaid but by the value of the product of labor. \ If a bootmaker receives $2 a day and makes 17 worth of boots, his labor costs less than that of the bootmaker who is paid only |1 a day and makes only $3 worth of boots. The labor on a ton of steel billets and rails in the United States costs less (1901) than in Great Britain, though American wages are higher. The labor cost of a certain grade of shoes in a Massachusetts shoe fac- tory, where wages are high, is only 40 cents a pair, but in Germany, where wages are low, the cost is 58 cents a pair. Such results are due to highly trained labor and the best labor-saving machinery and skill in its use, which greatly reduce the cost of products though the price of labor may be high. Thus the United States, with high-priced labor, is able to sell many of its manufactures in foreign markets in competition with countries in which the price of labor is low. Various expedients are used to facilitate trade. When commerce grew beyond the stage of barter, which is the direct exchange of one commodity for another, a medium of exchange was necessary, and thus money came into use. Anything that has value may be used as money ; thus to- bacco in Virginia and codfish in Newfoundland were once used. Cowrie shells are still money in the Sudan. Gold HUMAN CONTROL OF COMMERCE 35 and silver, from early times, have been the money of civil- ized and commercial peoples, because they are intrinsically valuable and easily coined. A currency of stable value is of great importance, because when fluctuations in the value of the currency occur it is not easy for farmers, manufac- turers, or merchants to foretell whether they will make or lose money. It is an impediment in the business relations of coun- tries if they use different standards of weights and measures. Iron work for bridges in Xorway was ordered, in 1900, from Belgium. The specifications were based on the metric system of measurements. The Norwegians declined to re- duce them to British feet and inches, as English manufac- turers asked them to do, and sent the work to Antwerp. All nations using a common standard of weights and measures speak the same language as far as weights and measures are concerned. This is the reason why two thirds of the people living under Christian governments now use the metric system devised in Fjance. The people of the United States are authorized by law to transact their business by metric standards if they so desire. Confusion results if railroad, telegraph, and other busi- ness does not conform to a common standard of time. Fif- teen degrees of longitude equal a difference of one hour in time. AVhen it is exactly noon where we live it is 1 p. m. 15° east of us and 11 a. m. 15° west of us. Philadelphia time, longitude 75° W., is thus five hours earlier than Greenwich time, xill the leading nations except France take Green- wich as the prime meridian or 0° of longitude. The hour zone of time reckoned from Greenwich for every 15°, or one hour difference, east or west of the prime meridian, is employed in the United States (Fig. 75) and in all the countries of Europe, except France, Portugal, and Greece. The change of date line (Fig. 1) to mark the change of day in circumnavigating the earth, east or west, is placed 36 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY in the Pacific, where navigators may most conveniently add a day to or subtract a day from their calendar. It follows the 180th meridian except where it is carried west or east to give certain regions the eastern or western date, so as to serve the convenience of their business relations with the nearest countries or their political interests. In Bering Sea, for example, it is made to pass between the Aleutian chain and the Kussian islands, so that the United States territory has the western and the Eussian territory the eastern date. The Spaniards carried the western date to the Philippines, and for mauy years the calendar day there was twenty-four hours behind that of any other part of the Orient. The resulting confusion finally compelled Spain to adopt the eastern date in her colony. Commerce is most influenced by density or sparsity of popu- lation (Fig. 22). The largest commerce can be developed only in well-populated areas, for most sparsely peopled re- gions can buy little and have little to sell. They may be rich in natural resources, but have neither capital nor labor to develop them. Thus the progress of most Latin- American countries has been slow. Capital is not easily attracted to railroad building where population is too sparse to insure a profit. Commercial routes develop slowly, and the people are too few to form manufacturing centers. The United States, therefore, welcomed a flood of European labor, while Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and many other coun- tries have offered large inducements to immigration. The most densely peopled regions are along the fertile valleys of great rivers like the Yangtse-Kiang, the Hoang-Ho, the Ganges, and the Xile ; in the neighborhood of coal and iron mines, sup23lying fuel for steam power and iron for machine-making, where manufactures are consequently well developed, as in Belgium and Saxony; and along the sea- coasts, where temperature and rainfall are more equable, and the cheapest commercial routes, those of the ocean, are at hand (p. 18). In all countries of the Germanic races ViDV^' \ 38 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the industrial regions are most and the agricultural lands least thickly populated ; but this rule does not hold in the densely peopled lands of China and India, which are agri- cultural countries, whose people, moreover, are so poor that their commerce is not commensurate with their great popu- lation. CHAPTEE VI teansportation The Use of Wind, Steam, Animals, Conduits, and Electricity in Carrying Commoditip:s More freight is carried between different countries by water than by land (Fig. 23). Nearly three fourths of the earth's surface is ocean, and most commodities carried from one country to another go by the sea route. In some coun- tries, also, as in Russia and China, more material is moved by water than by land from one part to another of the same country. Many rivers, lakes, and inland canals, however, lose much importance as trade routes after large railroad systems are built ; but even then they have much influence in reducing freight rates when they run parallel with rail- roads and thus compete with them. They are still exten- sively utilized for freight carriage in continental Europe and in the United States, though railroad freights are very cheap, the inland water ways are used to a large extent in transporting grain, coal, iron ore, lumber, cotton, and other bulky articles ; and the coastal traffic from port to port is very large. China utilizes interior water ways more than any other nation, for they are almost her only interior trade routes, except very poor cart roads. In all undeveloped re- gions like the Congo basin, rivers are especially utilized for trade. Great improvements in transportation have been brought about, mainly by the introduction of steam in the middle of the nineteenth century. Economy of time is of great moment in transportation. Steam has therefore superseded wind power on the ocean. 39 40 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Ocean sailing vessels merely skirted the coasts till 1500, and then for three centuries they commanded every sea till the rapid development of steamships, after 1840, de- prived sailing craft of many opportunities, though they still carry much freight whose speedy delivery is not important. Steamship routes are usually shorter than those of sailing '-" ER WILHELJI CANAL SCALE OF MItES Fig. 25.— The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, between the month of the Elbe and Kiel Bay. 61 miles long, admits the largest vessels and saves two days' time by steamers between Hamburg and all the Baltic ports of Germany, as compared with the old route via the strait between Jutland and Sweden. CORI>TII ( W VL ^Gulf of Coi inth,.ty^/ , ^ .SCALE of miles ^ u.. --IVi. The Isthmus of Curiiith L'aual. ;j /; miles long, connects the Ionian and vEgcan Seas, and gives a much smootlier and shorter pass- age from Italy to Odessa than that around the south end of Greece. ^OItTll 11(11. LAN, Slllr ( A.NAL 6CALE OF I Kk;. 2".— The North Holland ship canal, 10 miles long, was built by the Dutch (Jovernment to afford shorter transit between the 'North Sea and Amsterdam available for large vessels. 44 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY PROJECTED NICARAGUA AND PANAMA CANALS Fig. 28. The Nicaragua or the Panama Canal (Fig. 28) will shorten the sea distance from all Xorth Atlantic ports to the Pacific ports of America one half or more.* The most important rail- roads connect the interior with the oceans (Fig. 1). Their ex- tensions and branch lines en- able them to provide a great many interior points with rap- id transit to the ocean high- ways. The transcontinental lines in the United States and Canada are thus a part (1901) of the shortest and quickest routes to Japan, East China, and Xew Zealand for all Xorth Atlantic ports of America and Europe. When the Siberian railroad is completed to Vladivostock travelers may reach Japan and China in less than twenty days from London. The United States has a far larger mileage of railroads than any other country (Fig. 74). Xearly all the villages and farms of the United States east of Omaha, Kansas City, and Houston have a railroad station close at hand or only a few miles distant, so that all parts of the more thickly settled regions have quick communication with one another and with the seaports. Freight trains on these roads run faster and freight rates are lower than in any other country. Thus abundant, rapid, and cheap trans- portation has helped to make the United States the leading commercial nation. Is it any wonder that there is far * This American canal will bring the Atlantic coast of North America nearer to Australia and Japan than any north European city is, and will place New York, Boston, and Philadelphia on even terras with Liverpool, London, and Hamburg in relation to sea distance from all the coast of China between Hong Kong and Tientsin. West of Hong Kong the Suez Canal will be shorter to the Orient for both European and American ports of the Xorth Atlantic. X TRANSPORTATION 45 smaller commercial development in Spain, for example, where trains run only 15 to 20 miles an hour, and freight rates are so high that it costs more to carry goods by rail from Saragossa to Barcelona, 200 miles, than by ship from England ? Water transportation is cheaper than land transportation. The reason for this is that the same power can move a greater tonnage through water than over the land. The cheapest freight rates are on some of the long ocean routes. The cost of moving freiglit on the great lakes of JSorth America is slightly higher than on the ocean, because lake vessels are smaller and navigation is restricted at the con- necting rivers and canals. The cost on the Erie and other canals is higher than on the Great Lakes, because canal navigation is restricted by small boats, shallow water ways, and locks. The average cost on the railroads of the United States is about twice as much as on its rivers and canals. The cost on wagon roads is much higher, varying from six to ten cents a mile for hauling a ton of freight over the best roads to twenty-five cents or more over very poor roads. The cost of haulage by wagon on the common roads of Europe is much less than in this country because of the superiority of the European roads. In Holland, Eussia, and India there is little or no rock suitable for road metal, and many of the Dutch roads are paved with brick. Animal power is the most expensive means of transport (Fig. 21)). It is still used where there is littki or no water or rail transportation. Two classes of draft and pack- animals may be distinguished : (1) those which, like the reindeer, yak, llama, and elephant, are restricted to certain regions and (2) those which may range over nearly the whole world, as the dog, horse, donkey, and ox. In equa- torial Africa, where there are few pack or draft aninuils, native porters carry loads of 60 to 80 pounds on their backs. The wages of Congo porters is only $10 a month, and yet before the railroad was built it cost over $200 a ton to move TRANSPORTATION 47 freight around the 235 miles of cataracts in the lower Congo. Fluid commodities gave rise to conduits as a means of transport. The first important use of conduits was in Greece and Italy, the Eomans building fine aqueducts to carry water to the towns. In quite recent times the use of con- duits has become very extensive, and such commodities as petroleum, illuminating gas, and water are conveyed long distances in iron pipes. Crude petroleum is forced by pumps through pipe lines for hundreds of miles from our oil fields to the refineries ; and the Russians pump petro- leum over the mountains for 600 miles from Baku on the Caspian to Batum on the Black Sea. Electricity is used to transmit power and intelligence (Fig. 6). The energy of steam, water, wind, or other power used in generating electricity may thus be made effective many miles away. The electric motor has become a large agent in transportation, particularly in street-car service, and intelligence is flashed all over the world by electricity. The movements of vessels and trains are directed by wire. With the aid of 200,000 miles of ocean cable lines the business men of widely separated countries conduct their mutual affairs as though they lived in the same town. Long-distance telephone messages are sent from Maine to Wisconsin and from France to Holland. Thus electricity has become a far-reaching medium of communications upon which the transactions of finance and commerce largely depend. The postal service is a cheaper and slower means of communication. It is so important that the United States, for example, annually expends about $10,- 000,000 more than its postal receipts to provide its vast area with adequate service. Most countries are members of the Postal Union, and postage charges are uniform from any country of the Union to any other, except that in some cases, as between the United States and Canada, the rates are lower than the international rates. Tlie value 48 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY to commerce of the postal and telegraph services is ines- timable. f Sea Merchant Vessels of the Chief Countries in 1899 (Tonnage in million tons.) STEi MERS. Sailing VESSELS. Number. Gross tons. Number. Gross tons. The United Kingdom The United States 7.654 502 1,095 754 734 436 464 275 251 . 453 338 584 192 229 118 11.3 0.8 1.6 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 8,220 3,697 1.208 1,614 2.617 1,145 255 1,609 546 2.415 899 1,568 161 344 1,153 2.9 1.3 Germany Prance 0.5 0.3 Norway .... Spain 1.1 0.2 Japan 0.03 Italy Netherlands 0.5 0.1 Russia 0.4 Denmark .... Sweden Austria-Hungary Brazil Greece 0.1 0.3 0.04 0.07 0.2 CHAPTEE YII the united states Climate— j^Xatural Features — Distributiox of Leading Products The United States is able to produce at home nearly all the necessities and luxuries of life. This is because its territory, extending north and south over 1,500 miles and varying in altitude from sea level to more than 10,000 feet above the sea, permits the cultivation of nearly all the food and industrial plants of the temperate and subtropical zones. Its mineral resources also are large, and the inhabitants are able to produce most of the commodities they desire. Only countries that embrace half a continent and great variety of climate like the United States, or all of a continent like the Australian Commonwealth, may thus become nearly self-sustaining. The continental climate prevails even to the Atlantic Ocean (p. 7). The country east of the Pacific slope is there- fore colder in winter and warmer in summer than western and central Europe. If there were high mountain ranges stretching east and west across the continent they might ward off the icy northern and hot summer blasts that blow over nearly the whole country, but they would also arrest the moist winds from the Gulf of Mexico that now scatter their wealth of water over the whole length of the Missis- sippi Valley, making it one of the most productive regions of the earth. The prevailing climate in the extreme South is subtropical, while along the Northern frontier and in tlie high plateau region of tlie West the mean annual tempera- 4 49 50 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY ture is 20° to 30° lower; so that the hardy cereals are the characteristic products of the most Northern, and cotton, rice, sugar cane, and oranges of the most Southern States. The eastern half of the country has abundant rainfall. As the precipitation is well distributed through the year the growing season has an adequate supply (Fig. 30). 115 11^ 96 85 l/r a; _j kulfOr d 2u mid , ■ Img lie I A reai Hi Fig. 30.— Rainfall in the United States. Good crops may be grown with 18 to 20 inches of rain, and this amount is doubled in two thirds of the humid region. The subarid zone is a belt of prairie nearly 200 miles wide, where good crops grow without irrigation only one or two years in five. It merges into the wide arid region, whose aridity is dne to the arrest by the western mountains of vapor-laden winds, preventing them from passing east- ward. Compare this map with Fig. 31 as an illustration of the influence in the United States of humidity and aridity upon density of population. Thus the country east of a line passing north and south through the central parts of the states from Xorth Dakota to Texas, together with a long narrow strip of the Pacific coast, comprises the area of farm lands. Here and there throughout the subarid and arid regions water is secured from rivers or wells to give fertility to adjoining lands by irrigation, which is the diversion of water to fields and gar- THE UNITED STATES 51 dens for agricultural purposes. The cost of irrigation in Cali- fornia is 810 to $20 an acre, which is more than balanced by increased productiveness. The largest number of deep-water harbors are along the North Atlantic coast. They face the Old World and are nearest to the leading commercial nations (Fig. 1). These inlets, from Maine to Virginia, and particularly Massachu- setts, Xew York, Delaware, and Chesapeake Bays, being the best harbors and the nearest to foreign markets, command Fig. 31.— The density of population in the United States is far less than in any coun- try of Europe except Norway and Sweden. With its small density of population and its vei-y large territory it could not have attained the present development of its commerce if its vast system of communications, chiefly by rail, had not af- forded the lowest land freight rates in the world. the largest part of the export and import trade. The At- lantic coast south of Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico have smaller harbors of much importance in the dis- tribution of southern and Mississippi Valley products ; but the steep Pacific coast has no harbors of importance except those of San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, San Diego, and the river port of Portland, Ore. THE UNITED STATES 53 So 5" -^ H H ■< H •a The predominant surface forms are a wide, low, central plain shut in on the east by low mountain ranges, and on the west by high plateaus and mountain ranges. These surface forms and their general effect upon industry and com- merce may best he studied in connec- tion with Figs. 33 and 33. Contrast the low-lying Atlantic and southern coastal plains (white, in Fig. 32) with the high, steep, and rocky Pacific coast. Compare Fig. 32 with Fig. 72, and note the many short reaches of river navigation on the Atlantic and Gulf seaboard made possi- ble by the gently sloping coastal i^lains and the contrast in this respect which the Pacific coast offers. Xearly all the navigable rivers and lakes are in the eastern half of the country tributary to the Atlantic, the highway to the larg- est foreign markets. This fact is of great advantage to the producers of breadstufl's and meats. These rivers and lakes supply three water routes to the Atlantic: (1) the Mississippi system to the Gulf of Mexico; (2) the Great Lakes, supplemented by the Erie Canal to the Hudson River ; and ' (3) through the St. Lawrence in Can- ada. The Mississippi basin affords over half of the navigable mileage of the^ country. In the western half of the country, the railroad is the commerce carrier, except that the Pacific slope* has about 1,400 miles of river naviga- tion. 54 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The Atlantic coastal plain has a large variety of indus- tries. This is due in part to the diversity of the soils, which are arranged in narrow belts extending north and south. A clay belt near the inner edge of the plain gives rise to the potteries of Xew Jersey ; farther east is a hilly belt with limestone soil devoted to cereals and hay ; still nearer the ocean is a sandy plain, either barren or covered with pine forests, which in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida yield large supplies of lumber and turpentine ; and along the sea edge are swamps, particularly south of Chesa- peake Bay, very fertile when drained, and producing much rice in the Carolinas and farther south. Large quantities of fruit and vegetables are raised for Xorthern markets, and the most important fisheries are those of the Atlantic coast. Water power along the inner edge of the Atlantic coastal plain developed manufacturing. The rivers cross- ing from the hard rocks of the Appalachian belt to the soft rocks of the coastal plain have more rapidly worn away the soft rocks, thus forming falls and rapids. This line of falls is called the " fall line." Manufacturing towns from Trenton, X. J., to Montgomery, Ala., which use the water power are shown in Fig. 72, at the head of navigation on the coast rivers. The Appalachian belt contributes the larger part of the country's coal, petroleum, and natural gas, and much of its iron. It consists of mountains and border plateaus, and extends behind the coastal j^lain from Maine to Alabama. This belt, a source of great water power, made Xew Eng- land the first and largest center of factories. Manufactures and commerce therefore have thus far been most highly concentered in the East, where there are fine natural har- bors, rich deposits of coal and iron near them, many rivers of large or considerable value to commerce, abundant water power, and comparative proximity to Europe. The southern coastal plain is mainly agricultural. It is almost wholly included in the cotton belt, but has impor- THE UNITED STATES 55 tant sugar production, chiefly in Louisiana, and all the Gulf States produce large quantities of lumber. It merges in the Great Valley. The Great Valley is pre-eminently the agricultural region. The northern part is the greatest wheat and maize-pro- ducing area in the world, the southern part the greatest cotton-growing area, while in the border lands between them (mainly Kentucky) is the largest of the' tobacco areas. There is extensive hog and cattle raising in the corn belt from Nebraska to Ohio, where the chief centers of the animal industries (meat packing, etc.) are situated. The Great Plains are the largest field of the grazing in- dustry. They extend from Canada to Mexico (Fig. 32). The rainfall in large sections is insufficient for tillage with- out irrigation, but millions of cattle and sheep feed on nu- tritious bunch and other grasses over nearly three fourths of the plains. Sparsity of population (Fig. 31) begins on the plains and continues to the Pacific coast settlements, except in a few small, well-watered districts. The Great Plateaus are the largest sources of gold and silver. They are surmounted by the Eocky Mountains, ex- tend from the Great Plains to the Sierra Xevada range, and include the Great Basin, whose few rivers have no outlet to the sea. These arid plateaus embrace about one third of the country. The mines among the mountains supply a third of the world's output of silver and a fourth of the output of gold. Agriculture is possible only by means of irrigation, except along a few river valleys in the north. The Pacific coast has gold, wheat, lumber, and fruit as its leading products. The northern two thirds is well watered (Fig. 30), and irrigation has reclaimed large tracts ^farther south. The rich wheat-growing regions of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys in California, and of the Willamette and other valleys in Oregon and Washington, are the granaries of the Pacific slope. The mountains of the north, clad with pine, spruce, and firs, are one of the country's 56 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY chief sources of lumber sujiply. Thus wheat and lumber are very large shipments from Pacific coast ports. The vine and subtropical fruits are also grown with success. The basin of the St. Lawrence River is the largest source of iron and of inland fisheries. Most of the white pine lumber also, the largest wood croj) of the country, comes from the upper lake region; the south and west shores of Lake Superior produce the largest iron ore output of the country ; in the Keweenaw Peninsula on the south shore, are some of the largest copper mines of the world. In the southern part of this basin are scores of manufac- turing towns whose prosperity is partly due to their con- venient situation between supplies of iron ore on the north and coal on the south. The Great Lakes are the highway on which many of the most bulky commodities of the country are transported in large steamers at low freight rates, such as the wheat of the Dakotas, the iron ore and lumber of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and coal from the Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania fields. Manufacturing is carried on in most parts of the United States. While these industries are chiefly in the northeast and north central parts of the country, they are found wherever conditions are favorable for collecting raw mate- rials and marketing products. Thus, in the Southern states sugar is refined at Xew Orleans, near which are the largest cane plantations. Lumber and furniture are made at Macon, Montgomery, and Mobile, near the large forests of the Gulf states. The manufacturing areas are prac- tically identical with the regions covered by the two darker shades in Fig. .31. The development of the vast resources whose distribution is here briefly outlined has made the United States, in a little over a century, a nation of sev- enty-six million people, the largest agricultural and manu- facturing and the most nearly self-sustaining nation in the world, CHAPTER VIII THE UNITED STATES-ICon/niued) Vegetable Food Peoducts, Beyekages, Tobacco, A-HB THE TeADE IX ThEM The United States holds the first place as an agricultural nation. Its farms, five million in number, make the largest contribution to the worlcrs supply of breadstuffs, meat products, and raw cotton. Most of the land available for tillage in the humid area is now owned by farmers, but only a fourth of it is tilled. The remainder is uncultivated or in timber. All vegetable farm products were derived from wild plants. They have been greatly improved in size and nutritive quality by cultivation. Some of them, as maize, the potato, tobacco, and the tomato and pumpkin, were not known in Europe till introduced there from America. The cereals are a few grasses whose seeds, improved and enlarged by tillage, are used as breadstuffs. They are the vegetable food of most importance, and hence are the largest product of the world's farming lands (Fig. 34). 1000 2000 J 1 I I 1 I I I I I I [ I I I I I I I I I I f I I I I ^™"" Fig. 3-).— World's production of cere- "^^^ al.s. ill million bushels. Unbroken lines show average annual yield for ten years, 18«0-'»9. Broken lines show yield in 1898. 57 THE UNITED STATES 59 Wheat is the most widely distributed, most costly and nu- tritious of the cereals (Figs. 35 and 36). It is the chief breadstulf of western Europe and the temperate parts of America. It tl^l'ives in temperate climates, and is also a winter crop in warm countries like northern India, where the winter is at least as cool as a Minnesota summer. ) 100 200 300 100 500 1 1 >> 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 1 , 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 FRANCE SPAIN UNITED KINGDOM RUMANIA ARGENTINA CANADA ALL OTHER COUNTRIES ^^^^ Fig. 36. — Average wheat crop of the world for five years, 1894 to The United States is the largest wheat producer (Figs. 36 and 37). This is due not only to suitable climate and soil, but also to cheap land, the best agricultural machinery, and the most economical methods of handling and transporta- tion. Wheat is sent to market in bulk (in a loose con- dition). From the time it leaves the farm wagon it is handled almost wholly by mechanical means. The labor is greatly reduced by grain storehouses, called, elevators, into which the grain is raised and emptied into bins and later transferred to the conveyance in wliich it is forwarded, all the work being done by machinery. As each owner's grain can not be kept separate from the rest, it is inspected and graded, each quality going into bins assigned for its grade, and a receipt being given to the owner showing the quantity 60 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and quality of his grain. Only the larger grain centers of Europe employ this economical American system. The domestic distribution of wheat and flour is very large. Minnesota and the Dakotas, which comprise the greatest wheat region, Kansas, Nebraska, Washington, and Oregon sell I23.-'ri;;;., (116 Fig. 37.— Observe the chief wheat-shipping ports and the cities producing most flour. While wheat is grown in many States, the areas of largest production are com- paratively small. Eastern farm lands can not now compete in wheat raising with the low-priced prairies of the Northwest. The plump kernel winter wheat is grown in the Central and Southern States. Hard spring wheat of the upper Mis- sissippi Valley, the wheat of export, is the best for many puqjoses; its price regu- lates the world's wheat markets. the larger part of their product to buyers outside their own territory. All the northeastern, southern, and Eocky Moun- tain states must buy wheat to make up their deficiency. The United States is the largest seller of export wheat (p. 74). About one half of its total crop is sold in foreign ^f '«M.« THE UNITED STATES 01 countries. Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Balkan states are the only European countries raising all the breadstuffs they require. All the others buy wheat from the United States,' Russia, India, Hungary, Argentina, or Australia. Russian and Argentine wheat have only a short haul to ship- ping ports, while our wheat must be carried an average dis- tance of 1,000 miles to ocean steamers. This disadvantage is overcome by low rates of rail and water freightage to United States seaports. One third or more of the United States wheat exports is in the form of flour (p. 74). Flour manufacture was revolutionized by the new milling process adopted in the hard wheat region about 1874. Chilled iron and porcelain rollers took the place of the old millstones, the grain being run through six or seven sets of rollers. A large part of the wheat of Minnesota and the Dakotas is ground into flour at Minneapolis and Superior, and thence distributed East, South, and to Europe (Fig. 37) ; Minneapolis, on the threshold of the hard wheat region, is the largest milling I center in the world. Great Britain buys about four sevenths of all the flour the United States sells ; other European countries buy more wheat than flour and do most of their own milling. All tropical and Oriental countries buy much more flour than wheat, for they lack the flour-making facil- ities that the large wheat-raising countries have perfected. Maize or Indian corn is the best grain for fattening' animals (Fig. 38). It contains a larger proportion of fats than other cereals. Europeans eat little of it, but feed it to their stock. Americans, however, use it extensively as food both for man and beast. It is also widely used in the manufacture of distilled liquors, starch, and glucose. Maize is the largest cereal crop of the United States. This country produces three fourths of the world's supply (Fig. 39). The greatest maize-growing states are Xebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, which are known as the Corn Belt. Most of the enormous crop THE UNITED STATES 63 in the corn belt is fed to hogs and cattle and thus con- verted into pork and beef; the live stock return to the land as manure much of the valuable salts extracted from it; and the animal waste products, converted into fer- tilizers, also help to maintain fertility. Maize is exported mainly in the condensed form of meat. The exportation UNITED STATES AUSTRIA-HUNGARY ITALY RUMANIA OTHER COUNTRIES I'ImImI'I:';:!^ Fig. 39. — Production of maize by countries, in million bushels. Unbroken lines show average annual yield for five years, 1885-'89. Broken lines show yield in 1898. of the grain is large only to northwest Europe and Canada, and the value of the total export is only one third that of wheat and wheat flour (p. 74). The reasons for this com- paratively small export of the grain are (1) its low price in proportion to weight (p. 74), making its transportation more expensive than that of wheat ; and (2) its limitation to animal feeding in the importing countries of Europe. Oats is used chiefly as horse feed. Its importance as human food is increasing with the larger consumption of prepared cereal foods. It is grown most largely in the corn belt of the United States and i?! the moist sea climate of Ireland, Scotland, and western Xorway, and near the Baltic coasts of Germany and Russia (Fig. 40). Half of the small export from the United States is sent to Great Britain (p. -5). Rye is an important food grain in Russia, Germany, and Scandinavia. It is cheaper than wheat and not so nutri- tious. It is largely used in distilling whisky in the United States, gin in Holland, and vodka in Russia. Russia is the largest producer (Fig. 41). Our export is small (p. 75). 100 I I I I I I I UNITED STATES GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY CANADA DENMARK OTHER COUNTRIES 200 300 400 500 600 700 I I I ' I I I I I ' I I I I I ' I I I I I I I I ' I I I 1 Fig. 40.— Production of oats byconntries. in million bushels. • Unbroken lines show average yield for five years, 1885-'89. Broken lines show yield in 1898. 100 200 300 I 'I I I I I I I I I 1 I i I I I AUSTRIA-HUNGARY FRANCE GREAT BRITAIN OTHER COUNTRIES 500 600 I 1 ' I 1 I I I Fig. 41.— Production of rye by countries, in mil- lion bushels. Unbroken lines show average yield for five years, 1885-89. Broken lines show yield in 1898. RUSSIA AUSTRIA-HUNGAR-i GREAT BRITAIN OTHER COUNTRIES 50 100 200 1 , , , . 1 1 ■ , , 1 , , 300 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ l^H^^ — - __Mi»_a«_MH»^l-B^^^M.B.^MI^^ Fig. 42.— Production of barley by countries, in millinn busliols. Unbroken lines show average yield for five years, 1885-'89. Broken lines show yield in 1898. 64 THE UNITED STATES 65 Barley is most used for beer brewing. In north Europe it is also used for bread and horse feed. Grown from Xor- way to Algeria, it has a large climatic range, and its culture in England and Germany is about as important as that of wheat (Fig. 42). California raises nearly one third of the crop in the United States. !N early all American barley is malted for beer brewing (j?. 7-4). Rice is the main food supply of haK the population of the world. It is the largest food resource in southern and eastern Asia (Fig. 43). Two crops a year are grown on Asian lowlands and deltas wherever there is abundant water. The southern coastal plain of the United States, chiefly Louisiana and Texas, supplies about one half the quantity the country consumes. Improved field machinery, the substitution of pumping for natural irrigation, and better processes of milling encourage rice-growing in the United States. Buckwheat is grown in Eussia, France, and some Alpine districts. Its acreage in the United States has declined one half in thirty-five years. The sugar of commerce is derived almost wholly from sugar beets and sugar cane (Fig. 38). The Teutonic peoples, par- ticularly the Anglo-Saxon race, are the largest consumers, while the Latin races eat much less. In fifty years beet sugar has largely supplanted cane sugar, and thus the great- est producing areas have been shifted from the tropics to the temperate zones, and the price of sugar has been re- duced about one half in thirty years (p. 75). The beet supplies two thirds of the total sugar product. North and central Europe make nearly all the beet sugar, and Germany is the largest producer (Fig. 44). The in- dustry thrives in California, and is followed on a small scale in Utah, Nebraska, and New York. The cane sugar indus- try was crippled by the abolition of slave labor in the West Indies and the competition of beet sugar. Sugar cane thrives in many warm lands (Fig. 45). Most of the cane THE UNITED STATES 67 sugar produced in the United States is grown in Louisiana, on the flood plain and delta of the Mississippi. Sugar making begins on the farm and ends at the re- finery. The juice obtained from the sliced beet by soaking , , , , 500 1000 1500 lllllllllMllllllinlllMllinrlliiillll ,li,,i!iiillMlil,iiilinilniili,nlin,l,.,il.| GERMANY AUSTRIA FRANCE RUSSIA BELGIUM HOLLAND ALL OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 44. — Annual production of beet sugar by countries, in tiiousand tons. it in warm water, with which it mingles, and from the cane by crushing the stalk between rollers, is evaporated to elim- inate the water. Two products result : raw sugar, brown or yellow in color, and molasses. The raw sugar is sent in ( 200 400 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 GOO 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 800 Mil Ll_uJ JAVA CUBA HAWAIIAN ISLANDS BRAZIL MAURITIUS / QUEENSLAND LOUISIANA OTHER COUNTRIES P'iG. 4.'). — Annual production of caiie suirar by countries, in lli^Mnd tons. tierces, hogsheads, and bags to refineries, and is wliite when ready for market. As the difference between the cost of raw and refined sugar is only about a cent a pound, sugar refining can be profitably conducted only by very large plants turning out an enormous product. It is thus restricted in the United States to a few mammoth refineries in the sea- 68 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY ports of Brooklyn, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Boston, Balti- more, 'New Orleans, and San Francisco, which draw upon all parts of the world for raw cane sugar, and also buy a small portion of the raw product from the sugar beet farms of Europe. Among lesser sugar products is maple sugar, made from the sap of the sugar maple, chiefly in Vermont, Xew York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio (p. 75) ; sorghum, grown in the Mississippi Valley for molasses, a syrup wliich is also produced in the manufacture of cane and beet sugar on sugar plantations (as West Indies and N^ew Orleans molasses) and in sugar refineries (sugar-house molasses). Molasses is a cheap substitute for sugar, and is also used in the manu- facture of rum. Glucose is a liquid sugar produced in the United States from corn starch, and in France and Ger- many from potato starch, and used for confectionery and for mixing with molasses in the manufacture of table syrups. Various palms in India yield sugar (jaggery). ^ Sugar is the largest import into the United States. The per capita conswrniytion is GO pounds a year, and this country leads the world as a sugar consumer. All the wheat the country sells to foreign lands does not pay for the sugar it buys from them. Germany supplies nearly all the beet sugar, refined and raw, that the country buys. The United States is tlie only leading nation which still consumes far more cane than beet sugar (p. 75). The largest part of the cane sugar supply comes from the Hawaiian Islands, the East and West Indies, and South America. Fast transport and cold storage have stimulated commerce in fresh fruits. Xorth Eurojie receives fresh grapes in mid- winter from South Africa and Australia. California sends grapes, pears, peaches, and apricots to the most distant home markets in competition with nearer sources of supply. The strawberry is the most valuable small fruit in this country. The fruit industry is largely specialized, the peach, for example, thriving mainly in particular localities, THE UNITED STATES 69 as in Michigan, Delaware, Maryland, and western Xew York. Fruit preserving and canning is a very large in- dustry. Pineapple raising in Florida, and orange, lemon, and olive culture in California, have diminished tropical and subtropical imports, of which the largest items are bananas from the nearer Latin-American countries and lemons from Italy. Dried fruits, such as currants, raisins, dates, and figs, are largely imported into the United States, as well as into all other northern countries. Dried, green, and ripe apples comprise about one third of the fruit ex- ports from the United States. The United Kingdom is the largest consumer of our fruits, and France, Germany, and Canada are also important buyers. Root crops and garden truck have little part in inter- national trade. They are too heavy in proportion to value to be worth long-distance transport, but Bermuda seads many early potatoes and onions to the United States. The potato is the staple food of many of the European peasantry, especially in north Germany and Ireland. It is raised in all parts of the United States, but is not so large a feature of the dietary as in Europe. Several plants yielding beverages are of large commercial importance (Fig. 4G). They are (1) those containing sugar or starch, which by fermentation is changed into alcohol (alco- holic drinks), and (2) those whose leaves or seeds infused in water yield a stimulating drink, as coffee or tea. Wine, the most important alcoholic drink, is the fermented juice of the grape. It is the common beverage of south Eui'ope and of France, which is now the chief wine land of the world, Italy and Spain coming next. The cheapest quali- ties are sold in those countries for a few cents a gallon. The United States produces most of the wine it consumes, California supplying half of it. The industry is growing in importance in Xew York, Ohio, and some otlier States. The imports from Europe amount to 4,000,000 gallons a year, and the tendency is to consume less foreign and more American THE UNITED STATES Yl wine. There is a growing export of California wines to Europe, Japan, and China. Beer, the favorite beverage in north Europe, is made from cereals, usually barley, changed into malt by partial germination, thus converting the starch into saccharine matter ; water and hops are added and the mixture is fermented. The chief use of hops is in beer- making, and this crop is grown largely in Europe and America. Germany is the largest producer of beer, Great Britain second, and the United States third. Spirits are di- luted alcohol derived by distillation from fermented liquors. They are used as a beverage or medicine, and have special flavors, according to the origin of the alcohol. Thus brandy is distilled from wine, whisky from various grains, as corn and rye, and rtim from the juice of the sugar cane and molasses. Non-alcoholic beverages contain caffeine, to which they owe much of their stimulating quality. The infusion of the roasted coffee bean (Fig. 4G) is one of the most widely used beverages in Xorth America and north Europe. Over three fifths of the world's crop come from Brazil. In the United States nearly 10 pounds per capita are annually consumed. Brazil supplies about three fourths of the coffee imports of the United States (p. 75). The business of roasting the bean and distributing the commodity over the country is very large. Tea (Fig. 46) is the dried leaf of the hardy, evergreen tea bush. The various qualities are the result of differences in the size of the leaf, the season of picking, and the method of preparing and mixing; thus the differ- ences between black teas, preferred in Great Britain, and green teas, preferred in the United States, are the result of different methods of treating the leaf. The United King- dom, which is the largest tea-drinking nation, buys nearly half of all export teas, its stipply coming mainly from Assam, Bengal, and Ceylon. Japan produces green tea for the most part, and the crop is largely exported to the United States, which also buys much tea from Formosa 72 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and China (p. 75). The cacao tree (Fig. 46) grows chief- ly in tropical America, and Ecuador is the largest source of supply. Its most imj)ortant product is chocolate, made from the large nutritive seeds, which are roasted, crushed, and flavored ; the decoction cocoa, a wholesome and nutri- tious beverage, is valued in many lands. Nearly all the cacao imported into the United States is the crude product, and it is manufactured here into chocolate and cocoa. Tobacco is grown in the temperate and torrid zones (Fig. 35). The many gradations in its quality are due to differences in climate and soil. The so-called Havana to- bacco of Cuba, for example, is famous for its aroma and is used only for cigars ; the mild tobacco of north and cen- tral Europe is best adapted for the pipe ; the fine, bright leaf of Sumatra is largely used as wrappers for Western- made cigars ; European Turkey and Anatolia grow a yellow leaf with a peculiar aroma, used in the best qualities of Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes ; Mexico and Brazil raise excellent tobacco, and India is the second largest produ- cer. Most cigars and the best cigarettes are made by hand, but less expensive ciga- rettes, as well as chew- ing and smoking tobacco and snuff, are manufac- tured by highly perfect- ed machinery. The United States is the largest tobacco grower (Fig. 47). It is grown in many States, from south- ern Wisconsin, which pro- duces a large crop, to Lou- isiana, which raises the famous perique. The largest tobacco area, about 600 miles long and 400 broad, extends from Kentucky to Marjdand, and from central Ohio to Xorth Carolina. Most of the ex- FiG. 47.— Tobacco in the United States. THE UNITED STATES 73 port manufacturing tobaccos (chewing, smoking, and snuff tobaccos) are raised in this area ; but most of the leaf used for making domestic cigars is grown in the more northern States. Cigarettes, chewing and smoking tobaccos and snulf are manufactured in large factories, the great centers of the industry being Richmond, Petersburg, and Lynch- burg, Va., Wheeling, W. Va., and Durham, N. C. Eich- mond, in the heart of the rich tobacco district, with easy access by water and rail to the coast, is the chief tobacco city of the country, and exports three fifths of the manu- factured tobacco sent to foreign markets. Cigars are made in thousands of factories, large and small, scattered all over the country. Much Havana leaf is imported, and though its manufacture is widely distributed, the largest center of its use is Key West, Fla., where native Cubans make Key West cigars under climatic conditions most nearly ap- proaching those of Cuba. The prevailing humidity and warmth in Cuba promote not only the growing but also the manufacturing of tobacco. Few cigars are exported, but a large amount of unmanufactured leaf is sold in Europe and Canada (p. 75), and important quantities of tobacco manufactures are sent to British Australasia, north Europe, Japan, and China. Owing to the extensive importation of Havana leaf and cigars, Cuban and Sumatran leaf, and Egyp- tian cigarettes, the tobacco exports are smaller than the imports. Hay is one of the largest products of the country. Its value is equal to that of the wheat, or four fifths that of the corn crop. It is most important in the cattle-raising States of the corn belt and California, and in the dairying States of New York and Pennsylvania. Some baled hay is sent to the United Kingdom and other countries. CHAPTEE IX THE UNITED STATHS-iContinued) Animal Food Products and the Trade in them; ALSO THE Horse, Whales, Sponges, and Furs Domestic animals are raised for food in largest numbers where land is cheap and pastui'e abundant. Cheai) pasturage therefore largely determines the sources of meat supply. Land is costly and animal-raising expensive where popula- tion is dense and industries well developed; such regions therefore depend for much of their animal food upon dis- tant lands. Thus the chief sources of supply for a large part of Europe are America and Australia. But it would not be worth while to carry meat far from the cheap pas- tures if it could not be kept from spoiling. Without means of preserving meat the vast areas of grazing lands in the interior of the continents would have no importance in the fresh meat trade. The world's meat trade has been greatly extended by pro- cesses for preserving flesh. It is practicable by means of these expedients to send meat to markets that are thou- sands of miles away. Meat is preserved either by refriger- ation, canning, salting, pickling, smoking, or sun-drying. The resulting conditions are unfavorable to the life of the minute organisms that cause putrefaction. Meat has been refrigerated since 1875, by freezing or chilling in the ice chambers of storage houses or on cars or on shipboard ; or by allowing compressed air to expand in the meat rooms, the air being thus reduced in temperature to any desired degree. Slaughtered beeves are sent from the United 76 THE UNITED STATES Y7 States to Europe iu chilled rooms, freezing not being necessary on the Atlantic voyage, though essential in cross- ing the tropics from South America and Australia. Cattle are raised in the United States chiefly for food. In India, on the other hand, they are raised more for draft purposes and hides than for food ; and hides and tallow are the main products of the industry iu parts of south Eussia, South Africa, and Argentina. The abundance of herbage and grains and the healthful climate provide most favor- able conditions for cattle-raising in the United States, where the herds are almost wholly free from diseases. The result is that the United States raises twice as many cattle as any other country except India, and nearly all of them are fatted for slaughter or kept for the dairy industry. Oxen for draft purposes have greatly declined in number. Fig. 48. The main sources of beef cattle are the corn belt and range states (Fig. 48). A farm of IGO acres in the corn belt will supply enough forage and grain to send to market 78 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY several times as many fat cattle as can be raised on the same area in the range or ranch states of the Great Plains, which, however, have an abundance of nourishing grasses, when not overstocked, to produce healthy and superior beeves. About 1860, settlers along the streams began to turn their stock out to graze on the subarid plains with such profit- able results that large companies were formed to raise millions of cattle. The poorly watered plains thus became a source of national wealth. Great areas were stocked with the longhorn Texas cattle of Spanish origin, but better animals were finally introduced, to the great improvement of range cattle. Most of the live beef cattle sent to market are fattened in the corn belt or Eastern states. Many are shipped to the large towns of the country and to Europe. The United Kingdom buys most of the live cattle exports (p. 90). Before 1875 her entire foreign supply of live cattle came from Holland, Germany, and other European countries ; but the United States noAv furnishes nearly three fourths, and Canada and Argentina the remainder. Live animals sent to Europe require good food, care, and comfort on shipboard, or they do not arrive in good condition. Very few live hogs are exported, and not many sheep, except to the United Kingdom (p. 90). A large part of the dressed beef comes from the range states. The cattle are shipped to the mammoth slaughter- ing establishments of the West (Fig. 48), and the meat is forwarded in refrigerated cars to many hundreds of towns and cities, where it is placed in cold storage and thence dis- tributed to consumers. In this way, for example, 150,000 summer boarders in the Catskill Mountains have an abun- dant supply of fresh beef. The export trade in refrigerated beef is nearly two thirds as large as the live beef export trade, and the United Kingdom buys nearly all of it. Beef canning began on a large scale in 1879, upon the perfecting of a sure method of hermetically sealing tins ; but the THE OLD WAT. THE NEW WAY. BUTTEE MAKING. THE UNITED STATES 79 canned beef and salt or pickled beef trades (beef packing) have largely declined with the growth of the refrigerated beef, industry. Most of the dairy products are consumed at home (Fig. 48). The shorthorn and other of the best milking breeds of Europe have been largely imported to improve our dairy stock. Since 1860 a great impetus has been given to dairy- ing (1) by the establishment of cheese and butter factories, which make superior and more uniform products ; and (2) by the invention of the centrifugal machine for separating cream from milk, which reduced the cost of butter-making. The greatest production of butter and cheese is in the dairy states of the West (Fig. 48), where the direct consumption of milk is not so large as in the Eastern states, as the density of population is smaller. Most of the factories, therefore, are in the West. Exports have declined in recent years, owing to former shipments of inferior products and partly to the vast development of dairying in Canada, which is the largest cheese exporter in the world. The ex- port of butter, once confined to neighboring countries, has, tbrough refrigeration, become world-wide, but our country has not yet given sufficient attention to this trade to com- mand an important part of it. Denmark exports three times as much butter and cheese as the United States sends abroad. A large quantity of the finest cheeses of Europe are imported, most of them from Switzerland, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. The milk yield is about 83 gallons a year j9er capita^ and a considerable part of it is sold direct to the consumer, the largest trade lieing in the Eastern states. Oleomargarine, a substitute for butter, prepared from various animal fats, is an increasing nKinufacture, and is also exported to some extent. It may be sold only under its own name. Animal tallow is the solid fat of ruminant animals, commercially florived almost wholly from oxen and sheep. The best quality is used for candles and otber 80 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY grades for soap-making, leather-dressing, lubricants, etc. Nearly all the export tallow of the United States goes to Europe, the United Kingdom taking more than a third of it (p. 91). About one third of the swine in the world are raised in the United States (Fig. 29). Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Eussia are the next largest producers, but their combined product is less than that of this country. More than one third of the corn crop is turned into hog products (Fig. 49). Hogs are the staple' otf the meat-packing industry, which Fig. 49. is associated at the slaughtering centers with the killing, dressing, and shipping of cattle and sheep; but as beef- packing has declined (p. 79), the industry chiefly relates to hogs. Chicago, Kansas City, and Omaha are the largest centers for the slaughter of cattle, sheep, and hogs, and the packing of hog products, because they are most con- veniently situated to receive cattle and sheep from the ranges, and cattle, hogs, and sheep from thousands of farms THE UNITED STATES gl in the upper Mississippi Valley. They control the meat trade of the country, though a great many smaller cities slaughter for local consumption. The preparation of the meat for market is largely assisted by machinery at a great saving of time, labor, and expense. As the hogs are killed, one set of men prepare the animals for the chill rooms at the rate of twenty a minute. Eefrigeration has made the packing season twelve months long, and summer-cured meat does not differ materially from that killed in winter. Little goes to waste. Hair is sold for mixing mortar, bones are carbonized and sold to sugar refiners or turned into a fertilizer ; sinews are used for glue, small bones for knife handles, and intestines for sausage casings. Sausages are made in most cities and towns, pork and beef mixed being the chief ingredients. Europe buys most of the fresh pork, lard, ham, and bacon exported, and the United Kingdom is in each case the largest consumer (p. 91). Lard, hog fat expressed irom the tissues containing it, is among the largest exports of hog products. North America chiefly the West Indies, buys most of the salt and pickled pork sent out of the country. Sheep are raised in the United States more for wool than mutton (Fig. 29). The value of the sheep sold for food and pelt is about one half that of the wool jiroduced. Wool growing is most important in the Eastern ^nd central states. It is also a large industry on the plains, where sheep have partly supplanted cattle. They graze so closely as to leave no feed for cattle, and this fact occasions many conflicts between cattle and sheep interests. Several million sheep are slaughtered every year at the packing centers West and East, and the dressed mutton, distributed in refrigerating cars, is practically all consumed at home. The horse is bred chiefly for farm work and other traction (Fig. 29). It was brought to America by the early explorers, and has been much improved by admixture witli Euro])ean draft breeds, as the Clydesdale, Percheron, and Norman. 6 82 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The trotting horse or roadster and the thoroughbred, evolved for racing by long and careful breeding, are raised on many stock farms. Horses, till 1894, were exported to Europe almost solely for breeding and the race track, but there has since been a growing export of draft horses to European cities, Great Britain buying about one half and Germany one sixth of the shipments (p. 90). The breeding and use of mules are mostly confined to the Southern and some Western states. War in foreign countries stimulates the export of mules. Thus the Spanish Government be- came for a time the largest buyer of mules after the Cuban revolt of 1895. Horsehide makes good leather, and is used for razor strops, shoe uppers, and gloves. The supply is chiefly from American cities. Horsehair is used in up- holstery; carcasses are turned into fertilizers. Horse meat has been sold in Paris since 1870 at half the price of beef, and there is a small consumption in Belgium and Gerinany. Mare's milk is used as food in inner Asia by Mongolians and other nomad peoples. Kumiss, fermented mare's milk, is a common beverage in the same regions and is imported into Western countries. Poultry and eggs figure largely in international trade. The United Kingdom buys, in about twenty countries, 40 per cent, or 1,500,000,000 a year, of the eggs consumed. Eussia, the largest exporter of eggs, sold 1,475,000,000 in 1896, of which one fifth was sent to the United Kingdom. Japan produces few eggs, but imports many from China, where they are very cheap. The business of fattening chickens for the British market is of great value in north- ern France and Canada. Eggs are exported from the United States in important but variable quantities. The "home supply of jDOultry and eggs suffices for domestic uses, though many fowls for breeding are imported. The fishing industries are mainly near the coasts of the cooler northern seas (p. 91). Here the cod, herring, shad, sal- mon, and other varieties swarm in great numbers to spawn THE UNITED STATES 83 in shallow sea waters or in estuaries and rivers ; edible fish are also found in nearly all salt and fresh waters having suitable temperature and food resources. Each nation, by international agreement, reserves for its own fishermen all fishing rights in the sea within three miles of its coasts ; outside of this limit the sea fisheries are open to the world. Cured fish, preserved by drying, salting, or smoking, has the advantage of small bulk and highly nutritive qualities, but the demand for fresh fish is also constant. Fresh fish had formerly to be sold as soon as it reached market or it be- came worthless. This waste has been stopped by refriger- ation. The largest sea fisheries are those of the Atlantic coasts of the United States, with the neighboring coasts of Canada and Newfoundland (Fig. 50) and those of western Europe (Fig. 51). The cod is commercially the most important of fishes (p. 92). XcTv^foundland, Canada, and Xorway export great quantities of it, salted, to many lands, and particularly to the Roman Catholic countries of southern Europe and Latin America. Its liver yields a valued medicinal oil. The largest cod fisheries are on the Grand Banks of New- foundland, whose shallow waters abound with food for cod (Figs. 50 and 51). Thousands of fishermen from New- foundland, Canada, the United States, and France ply their vocation in small sailing vessels on the foggy banks, catch- ing the fish by hand lines, cleaning and salting them at once and drying them in the sun on platforms after the return to port. They are sold chiefly in this form, but a small part of the salted output is shredded after removing the bones, packed in small boxes and sold as boneless cod. There are also inshore cod fisheries near the British American and United States coasts, those along our New England shores supplying most of the fresh cod in the home markets; but the inshore fisheries are declining in importance. Glouces- ter, the largest fishing port of the United States, supplies a large part of the salted cod found in every grocery store of 84 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the country ; practically all the cod entering onr ports is consumed at home. Canned salmon is sent to all parts of the world. The salmon is caught in seines and traps in the rivers which it Fig. 50. — The shad (herring family), one of the best American food fishes, is found from Florida to the St. Lawrenoe, and caught in stake nets and seines in many rivers which it ascends in the spring to spawn. The shad fisheries of Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are the most valuable, yielding nearly half the product. The Delaware estuary, and the Hudson. Connecticut, and Kennebec are important shad rivers. Alewives enter many rivers from Maine to Florida, are very cheap, and the greater part are salted or smoked. The highly-prized bluefish is scat- tered widely through the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Tndian Oceans, but its chief commercial importance is along the Atlantic coast of the United States. The halibut, a very large fish, is caught with lines on either side of the Atlantic, but mainly on the Grand Banks in winter and near Greenland and Iceland. The menhaden is used very little for food, but a large quantity of oil and fish guano is produced from it in factories built for the industry. ascends to spawn. The largest salmon fisheries are in the Columbia and other rivers of the northwest coast of the THE UNITED STATES 85 SEA FISHERIES OF TVEST EUROPE Fig. 51. United States, including Alaska, and in the Fraser and other rivers of British Columbia. Most of it is cooked and fanned, though it is also refrigerated and delivered fresh in the Eastern markets. The canning industry in Alaska, 86 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the largest in the world, extends to Bering Sea, is steadily growing, and in twenty years over 600,000,000 pounds of salmon were canned there. The fish is also largely caught in British, Xorway, Eussian and Japan waters. The herring is caught in close-meshed nets on the north- west shores of Europe and the coast of Xorth America from Maine to Labrador (Figs. 50 and 51). Most of the Norway and British product is sent salted to the Continent. In America the herring is smoked, pickled, or salted ; and the industry is large on the Maine coast, whence the cured fish are sent in boxes or barrels to Boston, Xew York, and Xorfolk for distribution. Small herrings, called "sar- dines," are packed in oil.after the manner of the true sar- dine, one of the most important food fishes of south and southwest Europe. Our sardines are cheaper than the im- ported article, which formerly came wholly from France. Three quarters of them are now from the Maine herring fisheries. The mackerel is found in great shoals on the coast of eastern North America and northwestern Europe (Figs. 50 and 51). Most of the Xew England catch is salted, but in Europe it is usually eaten fresh. Spanish mackerel is procured from the warmer waters of both sides of the Atlantic and is highly esteemed. The Great Lakes fisheries are west of Buffalo. Lake Ontario is no longer a factor. The whitefish is most valued, and two thirds of the catch is whitefish, the so- called herring trout, and sturgeon from which American caviare is made. Caviare is the prepared and salted roe of several species of sturgeons. Its manufacture is a large industry on the Caspian and Black Seas. The streams and small lakes of the country also yield an abundance of trout, pickerel, and other varieties. Most of our fishery products are consumed at home. Nearly every coast town is a fish market; and though Billingsgate, London, is the largest fish market in the world, no foreign market offers so great a variety as New THE UNITED STATES 87 York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, which receive and distribute salt and fresh water fish from all the coasts and the Great Lakes. Canned salmon is the largest fish export of the country, and many sardines from the Maine canneries are sent to the West Indies and South America. Mackerel, sardines, and herrings are the imports of most importance, but the country supplies most of its fish food. The oyster is the most important shell food. Shellfish thrive best in warm waters and in the north temperate zone ; are most abundant in quiet, shallow estuaries or bays, like those in which the oyster thrives along our Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Virginia, and to a smaller extent along the Gulf coast. These oysters are the best and largest in the world. As the natural supply does not keep pace with the growing demand, millions of young oysters are transplanted to private beds con- trolled by companies, and in this way oyster culture is being extended on the Atlantic and introduced on the California and Oregon coasts. Small steamers and sail boats anchor over the beds and take the oysters with " tongs," or dredges, from depths of ten to twenty-five feet, where they lie on the bottom, fattening on the food that the tides bring to them. The Chesapeake and Long Island beds are the largest sources of supply, and the yield of this country is about five sixths of the world's oyster product (p. 92). In the nine months of the season, begin- ning in September, oysters are sent fresh to most of the markets. Though oyster canning has been largely super- seded by refrigeration, many cove oysters of the South- ern states are still canned in Baltimore and elsewhere and distributed to the smaller interior towns. The increasing exports are shipped between September and April, and Great Britain buys about 3,000 barrels a week in the season. The lobster, caught in baited wicker traps from Labra- dor to Delaware, and also along the northwest European and Mediterranean coasts, is sent to market alive or canned. 88 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY New England waters having been largely depleted, most of our canned lobster now comes from Canada and New- foundland. At low tide many men and boys dig clams that biiry themselves in the mud flats along the Xew Eng- land and Long Island coasts. The sperm and right whale are most important in the whale fisheries. The sperm whale supplies the best grade of whale oil, and is usually caught in the warmer parts of the oceans. Sp ermaceti , a pure white mass from which sperm candles and ointments are made, is derived from the head cavities of the sperm whale. The blubber of the right or Greenland whale yields train oil, but the main in- centive for still hunting this scarce animal is whalebone, the horny fringe attached to its upper Jaw, Avorth about $3.50 a pound. It is caught in the Arctic Ocean near Bering Strait and west of Greenland by a few San Francisco and Dundee whalers. Large fortunes were once made in whaling, but the industry is now small, owing to the scarcity of whales, the introduction of mineral oils, and substitutes for whalebone such as steel, celluloid, and rubber. The sponge of commerce is the fibrous framework re- maining after the fleshy part of the aquatic organism from which it is derived has been washed away. Most sponges, and those of the best quality, come from a depth of 150 to 200 feet in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, along the coasts from Ceuta, Morocco, to Trieste, Austria. In deep water they are procured by diving. In the shallow waters of Florida and the Bahamas sponges are torn from the bottom by three-pronged forks. The Florida fishery has an area of 3,000 square miles, with Key West as the largest center of the trade. The product is sent in bales to Xew York whole- salers. The finest furs are obtained in the subpolar and polar regions. In those cold latitudes Xature provides animals with the thickest coverings. Canada, Russia, and Siberia are the largest sources of the most valuable furs. In Canada THE UNITED STATES 89 and Russia the supply is decreasing, while in Siberia the catch of sable, otter, red fox, and other furs and skins has increased, which means that Siberia is now the least hunted of the great fur fields. About 1,000,000 skins of the Siberian gray squirrel, taken every year, supply most of the squirrel fur used in lining cloaks. Australia and Xew Zealand export enormous numbers of rabbit skins. The muskrat, skunk, raccoon, mink, opossum, marten, sea otter, and various foxes and bears are now the largest source of American furs and skins. Persian lamb skins are much used for ladies' jackets, and there is a constant demand for the Russian and Hud- son Bay sable. Several kinds of monkey skins, together with the skins of lions, tigers, and other large carnivora, are the contributions of subtropical and tropical countries. The seal fur has long been the most useful and popular of furs. The Alaskan fur seal fisheries, on the Pribylof Islands, is the largest source of supply, though now greatly depleted. The males are killed near the breeding grounds. The skins are then salted, dried, baled, and shipped to San Francisco and thence to London, where the long hairs are plucked, the fur is dyed, and is then ready for the market. As the manufacture is mainly carried on in England, much of the profits of these seal fisheries go to that country. Furs are collected for sale to manufacturers at several great centers. London is the largest fur auction market ; Leipzig holds spring and autumn fairs, when German wares are exchanged for the skins of Russia, Austria, and Turkey, the advantage of this market being its convenient position in respect of the sources of supply ; the great Russian mar- ket is at the Xizhni Novgorod fair, where manufacturers buy the furs of north Russia and Siberia. Fur garments are more in demand in east than in west Europe, where the climate is milder. Fur is well adapted for felting, and nine tenths of the felt hats worn in the United States are made from the fur I .JO COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY of tlie rabbit and hare ; the nutria of Argentina, beaver, muskrat, raccoon, and otter are also used. The fur manufacturers of the United States turn out superior products to the value of about 120,000,000 a year. More than half of the business is centered in Xew York city. The long, cold winters of Minnesota stimulate con- siderable manufactures there. Large quantities of un- dressed furs, which are on the free list, are imported for manufacture in this country, more than half the supply coming from the United Kingdom and Germany ; and those countries, with France, send most of the fur manufactures. STATISTICS FOR THE UNITED STATES 1870. 1891. 1899. Value of beeves and beef products exported (in million dollars) 6.2 65.9 70.3 1850. 1872. 1880. 1890. 1894. Hogs packed in millions 1.7 5.9 12 17.7 16 Average Annual Value of Animals exported in Five Years, 1894-1898 Catth TO Srs.P-cent. To S^.l Per cent. United Kingdom... 33.1 95.84 I France 0.2 .75 Canada 0.3 .99 1 Total exports ... 34 . 5 100.00 Horses United Kingdom . . 1.7 48.83 I Germany 0.6 16.20 Canada 0.6 18.19 1 Total exports .. . 3.5 100.00 Sheep United Kingdom . . 1.6 85.97 | Total exports .. . 1.8 100.00 Average Annual Value of Animal Products exported in Five Years, 1894-1898 Butter TO d^'S. Per cent. To T^. Per cent. United Kingdom . . 1.6 56.76 { Germany 0.1 5.37 Canada 0.2 7.55 1 Total exports. . . 2.8 100.00 THE UNITED STATES 91 Cheese To S'^rs. Per cent. To United Kingdom ... 3.9 79 . 06 | British West Indies . 08 1 . 58 Canada 0.8 16.29 | Total exports .. . 4.99 100.00 Million u„, „„„. dollars. Per cent. Hides and Skins other than Furs Canada 0.9 36.88 I France 0.9 20.08 Germany 0.6 25.36 | Total exports .. . 2.4 100.00 Canned Beef United Kingdom .. . 3.2 65.53 I France 0.2 5.08 Germany 0.5 9.55 | Total exports .. . 4.9 100.00 Fresh Beef United Kingdom... 19.5 99.81 | Total exports .. . 19.6 100.00 Salted or Pickled Beef United Kingdom. . . 1.6 49.55 I British West Indies 0.2 6.71 Germany 0.3 10.64 1 Total exports .. . 3.4 100.00 United Kingdom ... 0.9 France 0.4 Netherlands 0.3 Talloiv 36.34 14.57 12.02 Germany 0.3 11.55 Italy 0.08 3.24 Total exports ... 2.5 100.00 United Kingdom ... 30 . 1 Belgium 2.2 Germany 1.5 Bacon 79.22 Brazil 1.2 3.27 5.94 Netherlands 0.8 2.08 3 . 96 Total exports ... 38 . 100 . 00 United Kingdom . Belgium Hams 11.0 80.55 I Cuba 0.9 6.31 I Total exports 0.4 3.18 13.7 100.00 Lard United Kingdom ... 13.0 Germany 9.0 Netherlands 3.1 Belgium 2.2 36.32 ! 25 33 8 56 6 Uh France 2.0 5.39 Cuba 1.9 5.39 Brazil 1.0 2.74 Total exports . . . 35.9 100.00 92 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Annual Yield of Fisheries (in Million Dollars) United States 43 United Kingdom. . 32 Japan 26 Russia 22 France 21 Canada 19 Norway 8 Newfoundland.. 6.6 Portugal 3.4 Spain 2.5 Sweden 2.3 Holland 2.2 Italy 1.2 Annual Value of the Cod Catch (in Million Dollars) Newfound- r.„„„,,„ United p-anpp ^ireat Norway and tt„ii„„^ xnfal land. t-anada. gtateg_ !> ranee. Bntain. Sweden. iioiiana. lotai. 5.0 3.8 2.7 2.6 1.5 0.3 17.7 Annual Value of the Oyster Fisheries (in Million Dollars) United States. 30 Great Britain. 3 France. 2 Other countries. 1 CHAPTER X THE UNITE3D STATES-^Contimied) Vegetable axd Aximal Fibers— Oils from the Seed OF Fiber Plants Cotton, wool, silk, and flax provide clothing for the larger part of mankind. Most of the cloths worn or used are made of cotton or wool. All these fibers compete with one another in trade. An unusual consumption of one fiber affects trade in the others, but the competition is mainly between cotton and wool and cotton and flax. Cotton is the white, soft fiber that surrounds the seeds of the cotton plant (Fig. 35). It is easily and cheaply grown UNITED STATES INDIA CENTRAL & EAST ASIA EGYPT MEXICO TURKEY & PERSIA BRAZIL (export) OTHER COUNTRIES ) 1 1 1 1 1 1 i lono M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2000 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 3000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 J_L 4000 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ")000 J — -^ ■— - — — ^^M^aa - - — — — ^^ ^^ la ' Fkj , I 1 I 52.— WorldV 'iibroken line rokcn line sli profliictioTi of cotton, in shows average yield for fi )\VH yiclil ill WOr>. million •e year.'!, poii 18U0 nds '94 in tropical and, best of all, in warm temperate climates. The plant requires a long, hot summer and abundant rain- fall. On account of its cheapness and other advantages, 93 04 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY cotton has won the first place among textile staples. Civil- ized nations now use for clothing five times as much cotton as was used in the first half of the nineteenth century, and nearly half the people of the world are supplied with cot- ton goods made by modern machinery (Fig. 52). Though widely cultivated in America, Africa, and Asia, only a few lands send raw cotton to the great manufacturing coun- tries. About three fourths of the raw cotton is raised in the United States (Fig. 53). It is the great product of the cotton belt in the southeastern part of the country. UPLAND CROP OF 1898. IN MILLtON BALES. TOTAL CROP 8.48 Fig. .5.3.— Cotton in the United States. Xegroes are most numerous in the cotton states because the larger part of the African slaves brought to the Union were imported to work in the cotton fields. The value of the crop is exceeded only by that of wheat and maize, and in some years it is worth more than the wheat cro^.. The varieties of cotton best known in the world's markets THE UNITED STATES 95 are (1) our long staple sea-island cotton, grown on the islands and coasts, particularly between Charleston and Savannah, and used for thread, laces, and fine cambrics ; and (2) the shorter staple, upland cotton, grown in the in- terior of the cotton belt. A large part of the machine- made cotton fabrics of all countries are manufactured from this upland cotton, which is known abroad as Ameri- can upland, or simply American cotton. Its price in Liverpool, the largest foreign market for it, regulates the price of cotton throughout the world. The northeast coast of Brazil sends to Europe much cotton of longer staple than American upland. Other raw cottons are used in America and westej|i Europe only for special purposes, as Egyptian cotton, wim long, fine fiber, for thread, fine yarns, underwear, and hosiery ; and the rough Peruvian cotton, mixed with wool, in the manufacture of underwear, hosiery, and cloths. The cotton of India is too shart to equal American cotton for spinning fine yarns. Cotton is taken from the field to the cotton gin, the great invention of Eli Whitney (1793), which stimulated cotton raising by doing away with the slow and costly hand process of freeing the fiber from the seed. It is then packed in bales, the average weight of which is 430 pounds, and forwarded to market towns, most of them in the in- terior (Fig. 53), where brokers sell it on commission to the agents of home and foreign buyers. Cotton bought for export is sent at once to the seaports, where the wharves are filled with cotton bales from September to January. Galveston begins to move cotton first because its supply comes from the Texas fields, where the season is early, but in October the crop pours into New Orleans, Savannah, and other ports by thousands of bales a day. Cotton for New England and Canadian mills is sent by land and sea in about equal parts. As cotton mills are rapidly increasing in the southern states, l.ooo ono or mm-p bales a year are retained . here for manuf ;• C)(5 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Liverpool and Manchester, the largest European cotton markets, buy one half of oar export raw cotton. Bremen is the mosl> important of. the Continental markets, but Havre, Genoa, and Trieste also do a large trade (p. 105). Raw cotton is admitted free of duty in England, Germany, and France, but is dutiable in Russia and Italy. One third of the home cotton crop is made into fabrics in the United States. Cotton spinning and weaving— great household industries for centuries— were mainly transferred to factories about the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury (1) by the invention of the "spinning mule," enabling one operator to attend to hundreds of spindles; (2) the power loom, which abolished hand weaving; and (3) the application of steam to manufacturing. A loom in- troduced since 1890 feves half the labor cost of weaving. Most of these great inventions for making cotton fabrics \^re later introduced into wool manufactures. The prices of cotton and woolen fabrics have been declining for thirty years, owing to improved labor-saving machinery and to the'declinain the price of wool. ' In spinning, the thread or yarn is made by drawing out and twisting the fiber. One operator often attends two machines, ^ach of which is spinning many threads. Tiie yarn is then taken to the loom for weaving. The threads extending lengthwise of the piece are called the warp, and those across it, the woof. The woof threads are woven into the warp by means of shuttles, which are driven rapidly back and forth between the warp threads. Coarse and medium cotton fabrics are in largest demand in the domestic market. These goods, therefore, such as calico, sheetings, shirtings, gingham, and cotton flannel, are the largest product of American cotton mills. The Xew England states, with Massachusetts leading, are the largest center of cotton spinning and weaving (Fig. 53), and their mills consume about one ^ '^ of the total crop. Many large towns were built up England by THE UNITED STATES 97 cotton industry, nearly all of them on streams, whose water power was utilized, as Lowell, Lawrence, Manchester, and Nashua on the Merrimac ; Lewiston on the Androscoggin ; Augusta and Waterville on the Kennebec ; Biddeford on the Saco ; Fall Eiver on the river of that name ; and AVoon- socket on the Blackstone ; but many cotton mills now use steam exclusively. Coal, cotton, and other supplies may be taken to Fall Eiver, New Bedford, Providence, and other 'mill centers on or near Narragansett Bay at less cost than to points in the interior, and these advantages have made Fall Eiver the largest center of the cotton in- dustry". The Southern states trebled the capacity of their cotton mills in the last decade of the nineteenth century. About 300 mills are situated near or in the cotton fields, mainly along the fall line (p. 54), from Virginia to Alabama, but many also are in towns nearer the sea. They have the ad- vantage of raw cotton at their doors, cheap fuel and labor, and find home markets for practically all their calico and other cotton products. Many knitting and woolen mills scattered among the cotton factories supply hosiery, un- derwear, woolen blankets, cloths, and carpets. Goods for which Southern merchants formerly went to New York are now sold to them from the local mills, and Southern cotton fabrics, as well as raw cotton, are shipped direct from the South to China and Japan. The export trade in cotton fabrics (p. 105) is constantly growing, but is still small in comparison with that of the United Kingdom, which sells to foreign lands eight to ten times the value of cotton goods that the United States ex- ports. About one half of all the raw cotton exports of the world are sent to the British Isles, because that country has had the longest and largest development in cotton man- ufactures. China, the largest buyer of American cotton cloths, takes nearly half of our exports, most of them going to Shanghai for distribution in the Yangtse valley and the 98 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY northeast provinces. About one half of the manufactured cotton imports are laces, edgings, and embroideries. The price of wool since 1860 has declined in all markets. This is due to the vast increase in the number of sheep in Australasia, South Africa, and Argentina, where pasturage is very cheap, and winter feeding is rarely required, and also on the free grazing lands of our western plains (Fig. 29). The world's wool clip has increased 150 per cent. CONTINENTAL EUROPE AUSTRALASIA RIVER PLATE UNITED STATES UNITED KINGDOM CAPE OF GOOD HOPE OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 54. — World's production of wool, in million pounds. The unbroken line shows the crop of 1880. The broken line shows the crop of 1898. since 1875. The consequent reduced price of wool and the diminished cost of manufacturing processes have greatly cheapened woolen fabrics (Fig. 54). The United States, originating a wool fiber that is mainly Spanish merino, has long been noted for strong staple fabrics, for which this material is well adapted. More than three fourths of the sheep in the country are pure or mixed merino. The merino, originating in Spain from a cross of African and native stock, is noted for the fineness and length of its wool. American flocks supply few superfine wools, and these qualities are mainly imported. As the domestic wool clip is not sufficient for the needs of manu- facturers, who work up 350,000,000 to 500,000,000 pounds a year, about one fifth of the quantity consumed is im- ported. Xo manufacturing countries produce the amount of wool they need, and their deficiency is mainly supplied The united states 99 by Australia, Xew Zealand, Argentina, and Soutli Africa. The larger part of the wools brought into the United States are made into carpets, the United Kingdom and China supplying half of the carpet wools, while Australia, the United Kingdom, and Argentina send nearly all of the imported cloth wools. Boston is the largest wool market, because it is the most convenient center of distribution to the mill towns of Xew England.* / Xew England and the Middle states are the largest. - centers of woolen industries, Xew England operating one half, and Pennsylvania, X^ew York, and X^ew Jersey one third of the total woolen machinery. Some towns have special advantages for woolen mills, as Philadelphia, where the Schuylkill river water is peculiarly adapted for woolen manufacturing, f "\ American woolen factories form four groups according to the nature of their products: woolen, worsted, carpet, and felting mills. Some mills also make a specialty of dyeing and finishing woolens. The largest products of the woolen mills are cloths for men's suitings, a great part of which are purchased by makers of " ready-made " clothing, and * Tlie wool or hair of Angora and Cashmere goats, the alpaca, vicufia, and camel are also used in wool manufactures. South Africa exports a great deal of mohair, the long, fine, silky wool of the Angora goat, now extensively raised in Cape Colony. Most of the material from which the famous Cashmere shawls are made is the downy cover- ing next the skin of the Cashmere goat. The soft, elastic wool of the alpaca, domesticated on the Andean plateaxis, gave rise to the large al[)aca cloth industry. The vieuila is not domesticated, and its wool, though highly prized, is in small supply. Camel's hair, mixed with other yarns, is used in making shawls, carpets, and some other fabrics. f There are very many woolen mills, lint the largest centers — in order of importance — are Philadelpliia. Lawrence, IVIass., Providence, R. T.. TjowcII. Mass.. New York city. ^Manchester, N. II.. Camden. N. J., and Chester, Pa. Philadelphia is the chief woolen center of the United States. j[,,0 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY drt'sa goods for women's wear. Most of these goods are of iiu'diuni quality, but many compare favorably with the best foreign goods ; the high cost of labor in American mills, however, counts more against the production of the finest grades of woolen and other textiles than of the cheaper grades because of the extra care, skill, and labor required in finishing them. American flannels and blankets are unsurpassed, and practically fill the home demand. The worsted mills produce merinos, serges, and other stuff goods, hosiery, and knit goods. The United States makes more machine-made knit goods than all other nations combined. Americans wear far more of them than any other people ; Cohoes, jST. Y., is the largest center of their manufacture. Cotton, wool, and silk, either separately or mixed, are used in these manufactures. The carpet mills have made the United States the greatest carpet-manufacturing nation, no other country producing so large a quantity and variety. The quality is excelled only by the handloom products of Oriental coun- tries. Philadelphia's carpet product is. greater than that of all the rest of the country combined, but Lowell, Hart- ford, New York city, Yonkers, N. Y., and some other cities are conspicuous in these manufactures. Most of the fac- tories produce ingrains, but the more expensive varieties are made in large quantities, and the annual product, worth $50,000,000, nearly fills the home demand. Felt mills turn out felted wool, a material produced by matting wool through the application of heat, moisture, and pressure, and used for floor coverings, hats, and some other purposes. Both the production and importation are now small, because hatmakers have found fur better suited for felting (p. 89). The woolen products of America have not yet won an important place in foreign trade. They are nearly all con- sumed at home ; and there are purchasers also, in spite of heavy duties, for about 110,000,000 worth a year of British, THE UNITED STATES 101 French, and German cloths for men's wear, and dress goods for women and childreii. The silk of commerce is derived from the cocoon of the Chinese silkworm. It is the only caterpillar reared for its silk. The cocoons of several wild species in India and Mongolia yield tussar silk, which is imported into Europe. The Chinese silkworm feeds for forty days, between the time it is hatched and the time it spins its cocoon, upon mulberry or osage orange leaves. It is then busy from three to five days spinning its cocoon, when the larva is killed by heating the cocoon. The light yellow raw silk is reeled and sent to market in skeins. Just as the animal spun it, except that the gum that binds all the threads together is softened by immersing the cocoon in hot water, and then, in reeling, several of the very fine threads, passing through the fingers of the- operator, are united into one by this gummy substance. About a thousand perfect cocoons yield a pound of raw silk. There is no cheap raw silk. It must fulfill required conditions as to weight and strength of fiber or it is not accepted. Spun silk, however, an inferior quality, is obtained from damaged cocoons, or the outer covering of the cocoon, and is spun like other fibers, while raw silk is not spun. Raw silk is prepared for manufac- ture by boiling, to extract the gum and other extraneous matter, and " throwing," a series of operations by which the too delicate fiber is twisted and doubled into a more substantial thread, called thrown silk, when it is ready for the loom. Other operations require tlie dyer, printer, and finisher. China and Japan are the largest sources of raw silk, but sericulture is an industry of many countries, and is highly developed in Italy and France (Fig. 55), Eaw silk miglit be extensively produced in the United States if wages were not high, but home-grown silk could scarcely compete, for example, with Italy's product, where girls are hired to reel raw silk at 1 cent an hour. China sells large quantities of l,,o COMMEECIAL GEOGRAPHY silkAvorm eggs to European growers. The United States consumes about one third of the world's supply of raw silk (p. 106). The United States is the largest manufacturer of silk goods. Since 1860 it has- built up an industry that supplies its people with five sixths of the silks they use. Most of ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 CHINA ^ export) JAPAN (export) ITALY FRANCE ANATOLIA ^ SYRIA ^ INDIA (export) — CAUCASUS « OTHER COUNTRIES ^^ H Fig. 55.— Kaw-silk production in 1899, in million pounds. the mills are in Xew Jersey, ^ew York, and Pennsylvania (p. 106), but the industry is pursued in nineteen states. About half the product is in broad goods, a quarter in rib- bons, and most of the remainder in sewing silks. Pater- son, N. J., " the Lyons of America," and the greatest cen- ter of the industry, has the largest ribbon mill in the world. The silk manufactures amount (1901) to nearly $150,000,000 a year, and practically all are consumed in the country. The import of manufactured silks is only about one sixth of the home manufactures (p. 106). Most of them are the best products of Lyons, Krefeld, Zurich, and Japan. Flax is grown for its fiber and seed. The best fiber is produced in southern Belgium, while Russia surpasses all other countries in the quantity raised. It is grown in the United States mainly for its seed (linseed). /^'Kearly all the fine flax goods used, such as laces and liriens, are im- ported from Europe. THE UNITED STATES 103 A number of other fibers are important in commerce. Hemp, mostly grown in Europe and India, is widely used for rope and sail cloth. The " garden hemp " of Italy is the finest, Russian hemp, the strongest and, for most pur- poses, the best. Hennequin and Manila hemp have largely supplanted hemp in the United States. The so-called Manila hemp, derived from a species of the banana, thrives only in the Philippines. It yields a strong, coarse fiber, the best and cheapest material for cordage and sail cloths. The United States and Great Britain buy most of it. Hennequin, or sisal hemp, is the only large export product of Yucatan. About 70,000 tons are sent to the United States every year for cotton sacking. Jute, grown almost entirely in the delta region of the Ganges, has a glossy coarse fiber that mixes well with silk, and takes a bright and permanent coloring. It is used for gunny bags— in which many commodities are transported — for carpets, and recently in curtains, and even plushes and velvets. Raw jute and its products are sent to the United States in large quantities. Dundee, Scotland, is the chief seat of jute manufactures, and nearly all the jute that India raises is exported raw or manufactured. Esparto (alfa in Algeria), a grass growing spontaneously in Spain and Algeria, is sent to Scotland and England for paper- making, and Sj)ain turns the fiber into rope, baskets, and matting. Ramie, or China grass, of the nettle family, is grown largely in China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago for coarse fabrics and cordage. Xew Zealand flax or phor- mium is another fiber used for paper, cordage, and fabrics.* * The oil seeds of several fiber plants give rise to large industries. Cotton-seed oil is a substitute for butter or lard in cookery, or for olive and some other oils. More than $15,000,000 are annually paid to South- ern planters for their cotton seed, which is sent to mills that express the oil. New Orleans is the largest center of the industry. The resi- due, after the oil is expressed, is the oil cake and oil-cake meal of commerce, used as cattle feed or n fertilizer. About a fourth of these 104 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Paper is made from vegetable fibers. The fibers, reduced to i)ulp, nuit together when freed from the water used in the pulping process. Linen and cotton rags, wood, straw, paper waste, and esparto are the fibers used. AVood pulp is the largest source of paper stock where great forests of spruce or poplar exist, as in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Printing, writing, and wrapping papers are the most important kinds, but paper is made into a great variety of articles, such as boxes and wall paper, and is moulded from the pulp into building materials, pails, and car wheels. The chief paper producers are the United States, Germany, and Great Britain. The United States is the largest producer of paper. The enormous consumption in the country is due mainly to the great number and size of newspaper and other periodical publications. Fifty paper mills, most of them in Xew York, 'New England, Wisconsin, and Oregon, near sources of wood-j^ulp sujiply, make 3,000 tons of news paper a day. Nearly all the news paper is made of wood pulp, and an area half as large as Khode Island is stripped of I timber every year to supply the paper mills. Massachu- manufactures more than half of the writing and other -^r grades of paper, mostly made of linen and muslin Holyoke, Mass., is the largest center of the industry. publishing of books and pei'iodicals is centered, to a " extent, in Xew York city, Boston, Philadelphia, and ■ ago. 'his country exports more than twice as much paper and its manufactures as it imjjorts. Great Britain is the largest buyer of our news, book, and writing papers. This three products is shipped to Europe. Linseed oil, the oil of flaxseed, is the kirgest ingredient of paints, and is used in the manufacture of oil cloth and printer's iidv. Most of the product in the United States is controlled liyone company. All of the domestic linseed is consumed at home, and in some years large quantities are imported. Hemp-seed oil is also used in making soaps, paints, and varnishes, THE UNITED STATES 105 country, and all the leading European producers of paper, except Great Britain, Eussia, and Spain, export more paper than they import. World's Cotton Statistics Mean Annual Factory Cotton Consumption {in Million Tons) 1831--40. 185]-'60. 1871-'80. 1891-'94. United Kingdom 1.59 0.79 0.37 3.85 2.45 1.45 5.63 4.27 2.74 7 09 Other Europe United States 8.52 5.52 Cotton Spindles (in 3Iillions) 1893 Great Britain 45.2 European continent. . 26.8 1897. 1893. 1897. 44.9 United States ... 15.6 17.3 30.3 India ... 3.5 4.0 United States Cotton Statistics Average Value of Raw Cotton Exports from the United States in Five Years (1894-98) Million dollars. Per cent. United Kingdom . 107.5 50.40 Germany 44.9 21.05 France 23.2 10.88 Italy 10.3 4.86 Spain 8.3 3.92 Belgium 4.2 1.98 Million dollars Russia, European . Canada Japan Mexico Netherlands Per cent. 3.8 1.86 . 3.1 1.50 . 2.4 1.16 . 1.5 .74 . 0.9 .43 All countries 213.4 100.00 Value of Cotton Manufacttires {in Million Dollars) ia50. I860. 1870. 1880. 1890. 61.8 115.7 177.5 192.0 267.9 Value of Cotton Fabrics exported in 1899 (in Million Dollars) To China 9.8 British North America . . 2.7 Other Asia and Oceania. . 1.2 United Kingdom 0.9 To Mexico 0.9 Cuba and Porto Rico 0.7 Central American States. 0.7 All countries 23.5 106 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY United States Wool Statistics Value of United States Wool Manufactures {in Million Dollars) 1850. 49.6 1860. 80.7 1870. 217.6 1880. 1890. 267.2 337.7 Value of Imported Wool Mamifadures {in Million Dollars) 1898. 1899. Dress goods 6.9 5.5 Cloths 3.8 4.5 Carpets, 2.0 2.2 Clothing 0.8 0.9 Knit fabrics 0.6 0.5 All manufactures . . 15.2 14.6 United States Silk Statistics Value of Raw Silk imported {in 31illion Dollars) 1898. 1899. I 1898. 1899. From Japan 12.5 20.9 From Italy 7.1 9.3 China 4.5 10.8 | All countries . 26.5 42.7 Distribution of Silk Mills in, 1898 New Jersey. New York. Pennsylvania. Other States. Total. 257 228 172 204 861 Value of United States Silk Manufact ures {in Million Dollars) 1850. I860. 1870. 1880. 1890. 1.8 6.6 12.2 41 87.3 Value of Imported Silk Manufactures {in Million Dollars) 1898. 1899. I 1898. 1899. From France 10.6 12.2 From Japan 2.7 3.2 Germany 4.6 4.9, United Kingdom 2.7 2.5 Switzerland... 3.8 3.9 1 All countries . 25.2 27.8 CHAPTEE XI THE UNITED STATIiS-(Continued) Wood Crops, the Commodities they yield, AXD the Trade in them The foremost wood-producing countries are the United States, Canada, and Russia. Most of the wood supplies are derived from the great forest areas of the north temperate zone which girdle the land surface between the arctic cir- cle and the 30th parallel (pine and leaf trees, Fig. 4). The wood crops of two countries in this forest zone, the United States and Canada, give employment to more persons than any other industry except agriculture ; and the lumber, furniture, and other kinds of business depending upon the wood crops employ more capital and produce a larger value of products in these countries than any other manufactur- ing industry. We have only to look about us, in our homes or outside of them, to realize that a large proportion of the conveniences of life are, wholly or in part, made from for- est products. The largest element in the timber trade is the soft and hard pines, which are most important for lumber and gen- eral building purposes. Observe the pine areas in Fig. 4. The white pine is the most useful timber of the north tem- perate zone. The greater part of the wooden buildings in the United States are made of white pine lumber. Much lumber for building purposes is also made from tlie s[)ruces ; and the bark of the hemlock spruce is used in tanning leather. Hard woods are less employed for lumber tlum 107 IQg COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY soft woods, but they are extensively used for the woodwork of machinery, house trimmings, floors, furniture, ship fit- tings, and ornamental purposes.* A crop of timber takes about a century to mature, and like any other crop, needs care. The forests have largely dimin- ished because their resources have been utilized for ages, with no care to replant the denuded lands. Thus the neces- sity has arisen for forestry methods by which timber lands are systematically replanted and tree culture extended. In most European countries and in India forest management is under government control, and laws provide that replant- ing must immediately follow cutting. Over 8,000,000 young forest trees were set out in 1896 in denuded districts of Switzerland. In America the ravages of fire have, in twenty years, inflicted $800,000,000 of damage upon the timber lands. Overcutting has largely exhausted the white-pine supply, and this great staple of the lumber trade will entirely disappear unless the pine lands are replanted. The Federal Government and several states of the Union are now apply- ing forestry methods, so that future generations may benefit by forest wealth. Lumber is the largest product of the forests. As it is very heavy and bulky in proportion to value, it requires cheap freight rates to carry it profitably to the markets. This is the main reason why the pine and spruce lumber of our Pacific coast has scarcely reached the Central and Eastern - * The walnut, maple, oak, chestnut, beech, and hickory are charac- teristic hard woods of North America and Europe. Ebony, a black n wood from Ceylon, Madagascar, and India, is very hard, takes a high polish, and is used in fine furniture. Teak, the finest wood of India and Indo-China, lasts for many centuries. The white ants of tropical lands do not attack this timber as they do many others, and so it is used for building in hot» climates. It is also employed for the woodwork of war ships, as projectiles do not splinter it. The bamboo of South Asia, the mahogany of tropical America, the kauri pine of New Zealand, and the now widely distributed eucalyptus of Australia are also among the im- "■ portant timbers. THE UNITED STATES 109 states by rail, though it is sent thousands of miles by sea to foreign markets. The fact that our largest lumber in- dustries are near the splendid highway of the Great Lakes cheapens the price of this commodity. The United States is the largest producer of lumber (p. 114). The greater part of the country yields more or less LU31BER \ Import, fn Ontario W ViV ^^^ Laryest Prvductton, ^^I«'portant # Largt:8t Lumber mar 115 Fig. 56.— Since 1865 the pineries of Michigan. Wisconsin, and Minnesota have fur- nished most of the white pine, which supplies a quarter of the total lumber out- put. White pine has made Chicago, with its nnequaled water and rail facilities for receiving and distributing lumber from these pine states, the largest lumber market in the world. Spruce is obtained in many places along the northern bor- der, but .Maine. New Hampshire, and the Adirondacks supply most of it, both for lumber and wood pulp. Boston. Albany, and New York city being nearest to the main sources of supply, are naturally the largest spruce lumber markets. Jilemlock lumber and bark come from southern New York and northern Penn- sylvania, and near the forests are many tanneries that use the bark in tanning leather. The Southern i)ines are a large source of lumber. The most inii)ortant varieties are the yellow or (ieorgia pine and the short-leaf or loblolly (North Caro- lina and Virginia pine), which supjjly Soul hern and many Northern markets. Southern sawmills are scattered from Texas to Virginia, and New Orleans is a large market for Southern lumber. The spruces, cedar, and redwood of the Pa- cific coast furnish one tenth of the lumber.' The Douglas fir of the Northwest supplies a large part of the world's demand for ship masts and spars, aiul is widely used for bridges. The hard woods contribute nearly a quarter of the lumber sup- plies. The main sources of hard wood are now south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, with St. Louis and Memphis as the largest markets. IIQ COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY jilniiulant supplies (Fig. 56). The lumber taken from our . forests every year, if all used for house building, would build several million houses ; but lumber is also used for a great many other purposes. The large snowfall in the northern pine forests helps to cheapen lumber making, because it gives easy haulage from the logging camps. The timber is cut in these camps in winter, hauled on sleds over the snow to the banks of streams, and floated in great log drives in the spring, to the hundreds of sawmills where the lumber is manufactured. Improved saws and other machinery have vastly increased the facility with which timber is turned into lumber. Steamboats, rafts, and railroads carry the product from the sawmills to the large lumber markets, where it is distributed to the smaller towns. The United States consumes more timber and lumber than any other country, and is the largest buyer from other lands. About a fourth of its imports are mahogany and otlier cabinet woods, admitted free of duty, and coming almost wholly from tropical America. The cheap production uf lumber and wood pulp in Canada enables that country, in spite of the duty, to sell large quantities to the United States. Tonawanda, on the Xiagara Eiver and Erie Canal, and Oswego on Lake Ontario, are the most important points for the receipt of Canadian lumber. Canada and tropical America supply nearly all our imported forestry products. The country exports more lumber than it imports (p. 114). Many populous countries are deficient in timber, which is profitably exported by sea for thousands of milr-. Europe is the largest buyer. While Germany's home sup- ply of lumber is nearly sufficient, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium use much more wood than they produce, and supply their deficiencies by imports from the large forest countries near them — Russia, Xorway. Sweden, and Austria-Hungary, and also from Canada and the United States (p. 114). Latin America has few saw- mills, and few soft woods that compare favorably with our D si Pi o y. k— t Si a C^ f- w « ^ n L) x J i THE UNITED STATES HI --pines. These southern countries therefore sujaply a larger market for our lumber than for most other commodities of the country. The soft lumber of the Pacific coast is sent in large quantities from San Francisco and Puget Sound ports to Australia, China, Japan, and South Africa. Furniture valued at about $80,000,000 is annually manu- factured in the United States. The largest cities, such as Xew York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, are the chief centers of the industry, but some small cities, as Grand Eapids, Saginaw, and Muskegon, Mich., are exceptions to this rule. In these cities the superiority of the timber resources near at hand for furniture making gave rise to very large indus- tries. Only Xew York, Chicago, and Philadelphia produce more furniture than Grand Eapids ; and buyers from all over the country attend the semi-annual sales in that city. Nearly 1,500 furniture factories are distributed through the country, the larger part of them, as in the Southern states from Memphis, Tenn., to Montgomery, Ala., near the forests that supply the lumber. Large quantities of the finer grades of foreign furniture were formerly imported, while home factories supplied the cheaper lines ; but the best qualities of furniture are now made at home, and prices being low, the exports are much larger than the imports. Various gums and resins are obtained from trees. Tar, turpentine, and resin (commonly called rosin) are known ;«s naval stores, and are mainly supplied by the pine forests ^. of North and South Carolina and Georgia ; smaller quanti- ties are produced in Russia and Scandinavia. Tar, a thick, ^;black fluid, distilled from the wood by heat, is used for calking ship decks and sides, and in preparing the rope •rigging of vessels. Turpentine, an oily, resinous «ibstance secreted by the wood or bark, is obtained by tapping the tree and collecting the outflow (crude turpentine), the dis- tilled product of which (spirits of turpentine) is manu- factured at Wilmington, Xewbcrn, and Beaufort. X. C, and other towns near sources of supply. Turpentine is used in 112 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the preparation of varnishes and paints, and to some extent in pharmacy. Rosin, the residue left after distilling the turpentine, is used in varnishes, yellow soaps, etc. Practi- cally no naval stores are imported into the United States, but this country sends large quantities of crude turpentine and spirits of turpentine to Europe, and of rosin to Europe and Australasia (p. 114).* Many trees and vines yield india rubber or caoutchouc. The sources of supply are tropical countries in South and Central America, West and Central Africa, and British India. Rubber was not utilized till 1770, when artists in England began to employ it to erase pencil marks, from which fact it derived its name. When rubber fabrics were first manufactured the rubber melted in summer and cracked in winter. Then Charles Goodyear discovered the secret of vulcanized rubber or the application of sulphur and heat to make raw rubber an article of practical utility. This established the rubber industries on a prosperous basis about the middle of the nineteenth century. The United States spends $30,000,000 a year for crude rubber and increases its value to $80,000,000 by turning it into many articles. More than half the rubber shipped from the Amazon basin, which supplies two thirds of the world's product, is bought by the United States (p. 115). Europe takes the remainder. A third of the crude rubber is made into shoes and boots. The United States manu- factures six times as many rubber shoes and boots as the whole of Europe, for the reason that everybody in this country wears " rubbers," while their use in Europe is con- * Other gums and resins, mainly produced in southern Asia, are im- ported to the value of over |5,000.000 a year, such as gum arable and gum tragacanth for mucilage, camphor for medicinal uses, copal and damar for varnishes, gambler for tanning leather, and shellac, from which the best sealing wax is made, a secretion caused by the lac insect on the branches of trees in India and other tropical countries. Shellac has the leading place among the imported gums. i THE UNITED STATES 113 fined to persons of means. Many other articles are made of rubber, as bicycle tires, belting, blankets, combs, and but- tons. The manufactures are mainly confined to Massachu- setts, Khode Island, and Connecticut. Xearly all the out- put is consumed at home, and manufactured imports are very small. Gutta-percha is the hardened, milky juice of a large tree thriving mainly in Java, Borneo, and Sumatra. The tree is cut down to obtain the juice. No satisfactory substitute for gutta-percha has been found for coating submarine cables. The demand is now greater than the supply, as the resources of Sumatra and Borneo are nearly exhausted. The imports into this country are comparatively small. Some trees and other plants yield dyestuffs. These color- ing materials are now obtained artificially from a product of coal-tar (p. 119), and the natural dyes, therefore, are of less importance than formerly.* The cinchona tree yields quinine (Peruvian bark). It is highly valued for its curative effects in malarial fevers. Though a native of the Andean regions of northern South America, particularly Peru and Ecuador, it has been planted largely in Ceylon, Java, and India, whence the greater part of the drug is now derived. The imports into the United States are valued at about 11,000,000 a year. * Logwood, from the West Indies, is most used for dyeing wool and woolen goods and in the manufacture of ink. The indigo plant of In- dia and Central America yields a very valuable blue dye, and the im- ports exceed those of all other dyestuffs together. It is also artificially produced from benzene, derived from coal tar. Madder, cultivated in southern Asia. Europe, and the United States, is used for dyeing cloth red. Quercitron, a yellow dye from the bark of a variety of the oak, is employed in calico printing. Fustic, or yellow wood, from tropical America is employed in wool dyeing. The red Brazil wood is imported from Central and South America, and the more valued camwood comes from West Africa. Cochineal, an animal dyestuff, derived from an insect which is V)rnshed from tlie cactus in Mexico, Central America, and Peru, is used to jiroduce scarlet and other red tints. 114 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The cork tree flourishes in Spain and Portugal. Manii- factured cork being dutiable, most of the cork used for bottling in the United States is prepared in the country, from imported cork wood or bark. Forest Areas in Chief Counteies (in Million Square Miles) Canada 1.2 Sweden 0.07 United States. . . 0.8 Germany 0.05 Russia 0.6 Austria-Hungary 0.04 Finland 0.09 France 0.04 Xorway 0.03 Spain 0.02(f) Italy 0.02 STATISTICS FOR THE UNITED STATES Lumber Production in 1890 (in Billion Feet) White pine 12.0 Spruce and fir .5.0 Hemlock 4.0 Long-leaf pine 4.0 Short-leaf pine 3.0 Loblolly pine 3.0 Cyprus 0.5 Redwood 0.5 All other conifers 1.0 Oak 3.0 All other hard woods 7.0 Total 43TO Sources of Lumber Supply in 1890 (in Billion Feet) New England and North At- I Southern States 13 lantic States 6 Central States 5 Lake region 13 Pacific States 4 Miscellaneous 2 Lumber Exports (in Million Dollars) 1899. 3.8 1.1 0.5 1.4 Argentina 1.0 To United Kingdom Germany France British North America 1899. To Mexico 1.0 Cuba 0.9 Brazil 0.5 All countries 17.0 Exports of Spirits of Turpentine {is Million Dollars) 1899. To United Kingdom 3.4 Germany 1.0 Other Europe 2.2 British North America ... 0.3 To Australasia 0.2 Argentina 0.1 All countries 7.6 THE UNITED STATES 115 Imports of Crude Rubber (in Million Dollars) ' 1898. 1899. ^'rom Brazil United Kingdom Germany Other Europe Other South America 13.3 6.5 0.8 3.5 0.7 0.6 0.2 25.9 18.4 6.8 1.1 5.3 1.0 Central America East Indies 0.8 0.3 All countries 34.2 CHAPTEE XII THE UNITED STATES -(Continued) Coal, Petroleum, Iron Ore, Tix, axd their Products Minerals are not accessible more than a mile below the earth's surface. Eapidly increasing heat as depth is attained confines mining to the upper rocks. But the natural forces that uplift many rock strata bring mineral commod- ities within reach that were once inaccessible. Eain and other denuding agencies also wear away rocks till mineral wealth is exposed on the slopes of mountains and hills. Minerals are likely, therefore, to be mined first on the wind- ward sides of mountains ; as, for example, the gold washed into valleys on the west side of the Sierra Xevadas, and tin on the west side of the mountains in the Malay Peninsula. Mineral commodities are obtained by quarrying if the works are open and visible at the surface, as is usually the case with building stone and much iron ore ; or by mining if it is necessary to dig into the earth and bring the product to the surface through sliafts. Coal and its product, coke, are the best fael for iron-ore smelting. This fact gives coal its largest economic value, as iron is the most important material used in manufactur- ing. Wherever coal and iron ore may be cheaply brouglit together, the tall chimneys of many factories are seen. Coal is derived from vegetation transformed by heat and pressure into a black or brownish substance occurring in beds or layers. Its varieties are broadly subdivided into hard coal or anthracite, used mainly for domestic purposes; 116 THE UNITED STATES 117 soft or bituminous coal, the great fuel for steam and coke making ; and lignite, which is least valuable as fuel. Coal is very widely distributed over the earth (Fig. (j). The value of mineral products in the United States is usual- ly more than twice that of the wheat crop. Coal is the most valuable mineral commodity of the country (Fig. 57). The Fig. 57. — Coal underlies more than one sixth of the surface of this country. Bitumi- nous coal is taken from seven ^reat flelds: (1) The Appalachian field, extending over ilOO miles from New York to Alahama. supplies nearly two thirds of the total; (2) the Central field, in Illinois. Indiana, and Kentucky, siijiplies nearly one sixth; (3) the Western field, west of the Mississippi, supplies about one ninth; (4) the Rocky Mountain, (.5) Pacific coast. (0) Northern (in central Michigan i. and (7) Tri- assic fields (in the Richmond basin, Virginia, and along the Deep and Dan rivers in North Carolina) supply the remainder. The map also shows the anthracite area in the valleys of the Susquehanna. Lehigh, and Schuylkill rivers, covering only 480 square miles in eastern Pennsylvania. country mines about one third of the world's coal supply, and in 1809 superseded the United Kingdom as the largest producer (Fig. 58). One reason why the United States can sell its iron and steel products abroad is l)eeauso coal, used in making iron and steel, is so cheaply mined and trans- ported. Machines for mining bituminous coal diminish the 118 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY cost and double the production per miner. The average price for hand mining is 50 cents a ton. In the Appalach- ian field many streams flow in deeply eroded canons, ex- posing bituminous coal seams and thus facilitating mining. In the anthracite field, however, deep shafts must usually UNITED STATES (l899) GREAT BRITAIN (l899) GERMANY (l898) FRANCE (l898) AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (1897; BELGIUM Cl898) RUSSIA (1897) CANADA (1898) JAPAN (l896) INDIA (189?) NEW SOUTH WALES (l898) SPAIN (l863) TRANSVAAL (^S9^') NEW ZEALAND (l897) OTHER COUNTRIES I I 1 1 I I 1 1 Fig. 58.— Annual coal production by countries, in million short tons. ' be sunk to reach the coal beds. On many streams the coal is carried very cheaply on barges to the manufacturing towns, thus supplying power for manufacturing at minimum rates. Most parts of the country buy bituminous coal from neighboring fields, but anthracite, being almost wholly de- rived from Pennsylvania, is an important article of com- merce as far west as the Missouri river. Xew York city and neighboring shipping points in Xew Jersey form the largest coal market in the world except London. Large quantities are sold to steamships. The trade with other countries is small (p. 127) as coal is so heavy and bulky in THE UNITED STATES II9 proportion to value that it does not pay to sell it in far dis- tant countries except in years of scarcity and high prices abroad, as in 1899, when Europe bought considerable Amer- ican coal. Coke is the chief fuel in the metallurgy of iron and steel. It is superior to coal for blast-furnace use, as it gives greater heat and contains little sulphur or other substances harmful in iron smelting. It is produced by heating certain kinds of bituminous coal in ovens from which air is almost wholly excluded. The Connellsville region, forty miles from Pittsburg, produces more coke than any other district in the world. In the southern and central Appalachians are other large centers of coke production. Coke is the fuel used in making nine tenths of United States pig iron ; three fourths of this coke comes from the Connellsville district. Coal gas produced from bituminous coal is used for illumination, heating, and cooking. Among the by-products is coal tar, from which benzene is derived ; from chemical combinations with benzene come the numerous cheap ani- line dyes which have largely supplanted animal and vege- table colors in dyeing and calico printing. Xatural gas, often found where petroleum is obtained, is an illuminant and fuel. It is utilized mainly in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, the western fields sup- plying the largest quantity. The supply, very abundant at first, falls off after a time. Petroleum is an illuminant and liquid fuel. The name means rock oil. It is a natural, oily substance, widely dis- tributed in the rocks of many parts of the world (Fig. 7), and usually obtained by boring till the oil reservoir is reached. The United States (Fig. 59) produces a little less crude petroleum than Russia (p. 127), but a much greater quantity of refined oil, the illuminant kerosene, which is the chief product of petroleum. Our kerosene goes to most countries of the world, and has a wider sale than any other of our exports. Tank steamers loaded at American refin- 12i» COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY eries pump oil into reservoirs at Bombay, from which the kerosene is, in turn, pumped into tank cars which carry it to all parts of India. Our kerosene is distributed in the same way in many countries. Oil in bulk, formerly excluded from the Suez Canal because explosions or fires were feared, is now freely permitted to pass. Kussian kerosene is the Fig. 59.— The production of crude petroleum in this country in 1898 was .53.000.000 barrels. Ohio led, and onlj' six per cent of rhe total product was outside of the Appalachian and northern Ohio-Indiana fields. The production is decreasing in these fields and increasing in other states. Large discoveries were made in southern Texas in 1901. The industry began in 18.59 at Titusville. Pa. (Fig. 60). and the oil was refined in scores of small refineries around Pittsburg and Oil City. Thousands of miles of pipe lines were then laid from the wells to the seaboard and Great Lakes: refineries were built near New York. Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and near Buffalo and Cleveland. The oil is now pumped directly from the wells to the refineries, whence thousands of tank cars move the manu- factured product to the home markets; scores of steamships and sailing-vessels carry oil in bulk or in barrels and cases all over the world. The pipe lines made a saving of over one half in the cost of transport. Economies in production and manufacture have also helped to reduce the price to a very low figure. largest competitor, but even in Eussia much American kero- sene is used. Considerable of our crude oil is refined abroad, particularly in France. THE UNITED STATES 121 The most important of tlie two hundred by-products of petroleum are lubricating oils, which have largely super- seded animal and vege- table oils throughout the world ; gasoline, used in making an inflammable gas ; and the ointment vaseline. Iron is the most wide- ly distributed and useful of metals (Fig. 7). Iron gives a red or yellow col- or to many soils and to some rivers, as the Con- go. Water, percolating through the upper rocks, dissolves the tiny parti- cles of iron. The iron which the water trans- ports is deposited in many places, and thus beds or veins of iron ore are formed. Some of these beds or veins are deep beneath the surface and others are near the surface, so that the ore may be shoveled out of open pits, as in a part of the Lake Superior iron-ore district. As iron is found pure only in Greenland, it must be extracted from its ores by smelting. The iron tlius pro- cured still contains impurities which aflFect its quality and availability for different purposes. Certain proportions of carbon or sulphur in the metal, for example, render it unsuitable for steel making ; impurities may make iron unmalleable or too brittle for many purposes. The most valuable ores are compounds of iron and oxygen, as magnetite, the purest form of iron, or hematite, the best for steel making. The products that result from smelting Fig. 60. 122 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY these different ores form the various kinds of iron in the market.* The United States produces one third of the world's iron (Fig. 61). While twenty -four states and territories UNITED STATES GREAT BRITAIN FRANCE BELGIUM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 61.— Pig-iron production by countries, in in million tons. contribute to the iron-ore output, the five iron-ore districts of Lake Superior supply about two thirds of all the ore mined, and the southern Appalachian region, between Mary- land and Birmingham, Ala., most of the remainder. The cost of iron ore was reduced one third, in the ten years end- ing in 1898, by machinery, which cheapened the cost of min- ing, handling, and transportation. Thus much of the Lake Superior ores (Fig. 62) is shoveled from open pits by steam shovels, which dump the ore into railroad cars, the output of each shovel per day being 1,500 to 2,000 tons, costing from 10 to 50 cents a ton to mine. The cost of under- ground mining has been reduced to $1 or less a ton. The ore is carried on the cars to the neighboring shipping ports on Lakes Superior and Michigan. It is dumped * Because iron is a commodity largely used in nearly all industrial enterprises the material condition of a nation is gauged to a great ex- tent Vjy the amount of iron and steel it consumes. The United States and Great Britain, consuming annually about 300 pounds of iron and steel per capita, lead the world. In 1885 the world's consumption was 32 pounds per capita; in South America, 13.5 pounds; Egypt, 7.55; India, 3.4, THE UNITED STATES 123 into bunkers at the docks, and when the doors are opened slides down chutes into the hatches of the ore ships, many of which carry 6,000 tons of ore. Over 3,000 tons are Fig. 62.— At the close of 1898 the Marquette Range had produced 52,000,000 tons of iron ore, more than one third of the total product of the five Lake Superior iron- ore ranges since mining began in that region. Observe the proximity of the mines to water transportation and the railroads connecting them with the shipping ports. Most of the ores adapted for steel making come from these mines. The most important shipping ports are Duluth, Two Harbors, Ashland, Marquette, and Escanaba, which usually ship over 2.000,000 tons each per annum. Observe the Copper Range, which is the second largest source of copper in the country. loaded in fifty-five minutes. The unloading at the ore- receiving ports (Fig. 63) is very expeditious. Machinery is beginning to supplant hand labor in filling the buckets for landing. Freights, both by lake and rail, are usually very cheap> thus neutralizing the disadvantage of the long distance between the mines and the coke required to smelt the ore. The ore is carried to the coke because it is more convenient and cheaper to build and operate blast fur- naces and rolling mills near the great markets for iron and steel. In the Birmingham, Ala., district, iron ore and the coke- making coal and limestone needed for iron smelting are in juxtaposition (Fig. 64), and thus the co.st of iron making is much reduced. The iroji ore from Lake Superior and 1 1^4 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the Southern states supplies about nine tenths of the pig iron. Very little iron and steel are imported into the United States. The great advantages this country possesses for cheap mining and manufacturing enable it to supply not only home manufacturers with practically all the iron and steel IBOX ORE SHIPPIXG BOUTES SCALE OF MILES Fig. 63. — The map shows the routes through the lakes from the shipping to the receiv- ing ports. As most of the ore is sent to smelters in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, the receiving ports on the south shore of Lake Erie are of largest importance. A railroad between Conneaut and Pittsburg carries nothing tnit iron ore. Lake Michigan ports, mainly South Chicago and Milwaukee, also re- ceive large quantities of ore. The distance from the mines to Pittsburg, where the larger part of the ore is used, is nearly 1.000 miles; but so economically are all operations conducted that Lake Superior ores are often mined and sold on cars at Lake Erie ports for $2 to $.3..50 a ton. The map also indicates the iron-ore and pig-iron output of the chief producing states. they need, but also to export them in increasing quantities. As most of the iron and steel are made in the East, where it is convenient to bring the iron, coal, and limestone together, so also most of the commodities made of iron and steel arc THE UNITED STATES 125 1-2345 manufactured in the same region near the largest sources of metal supply. The manufacture of iron and steel prod- ucts and the trade in them are treated in Chapter XIV. About two thirds of the Lake Superior ore is smelted at or near Pittsburg, the greatest center of the iron and steel industries ; and most of the remain- der in the iron- smelting districts of Ohio, notably in the Mahoning Valley, in the She- nango Valley of Pennsylvania, and at South Chicago. The blast furnace in which iron ore is smelted is built as high as one hundred feet or more. It is fed at the top of the shaft with ore, coke, and limestone while a hot blast is driven through the mixture by engines. One and two thirds tons of ore, less than a ton of coke, and a half ton of limestone are used to produce a ton of pig iron. The lime- stone, melting in the intense heat of the furnace, helps the fusion of the ore and forms a paste with the slag or earthy matter that has been separated from the metal. The mol- ten iron, being heaviest, drops through the mass of lime- stone and slag to the bottom of the furnace, where it runs off into molds and hardens into pig iron. The best situa- tions for blast furnaces are, of cour^, where ore, coke, and limestone may most conveniently be brought to them. Fig. 04. — Biriniiigliani, Ala., built on the site of a for- mer cotton field, is the largest center of iron and coal mining, blast furnaces, and rolling mills in the South, because it has at its doors large supplies of coal, iron ore, and limestone. Steel works were opened at Ensley in 1899 ; but few of the ores are Bessemer or steel-making ores ; Birmingham ores are used mainly for the manufacture of foundry iron. ;^26 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Some commodities, such as stoves, are made simply of pig iron melted (cast iron) and run into molds giving it the desired shape. Cast iron is brittle, and a hard blow breaks it; but when pig iron is melted and the molten mass is raked to drive out most of the carbon, the resulting prod- uct is wrought or malleable iron, which is rolled out in roll- ing mills into bars, sheets, and other forms used by manu- facturers. \Yrought iron is now of less importance than formerly, as steel has taken its place in many manufac- tures. Steel is harder, stronger, and more durable than iron, and therefore more useful ; and as its cost per ton is less than one sixth its cost in 1858, it has supplanted iron for very many purposes (Fig. 65). Steel-making was very ex- ) 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 1 1 1 1 1 UNITED STATES GERMANY AND FRANCE ■ BELGIUM .. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY _ RUSSIA AND FINLAND , OTHER COUNTRIES — " Fig. 65. —Steel production by countries, in 1898, in million tons. pensive till the late Henry Bessemer, about 1860, proved the success of his method of converting pig iron into steel and revolutionized the iron industry. Bessemer and later inventors devised methods for cheaply burning out most of the carbon in pig iron till the metal becomes steel. As much as five per cent carbon is often present in pig iron, while steel rails usually contain less than one half per cent. Steel has taken the place of iron for nearly all structural purposes, as in ships, boilers, the framework of buildings, and for rails, wire nails, hoops, tin plates, and many other articles. . ■"'ki m ■^•' /T. ^ '~' a ^ t« ii a ^ THE UNITED STATES 12Y Tin is one of the most sparsely distributed metals (Figs. 7 and 66). It is a bright, soft metal, used in many alloys to produce bronzes, britannia metal, and pewter, but its chief use is in coating sheet iron or sheet steel to make tin plate, from which the many utensils known as tinware are made. Since 1891 the United States has made most of its STRAITS SETTLEMENTS BANKA AND BILLITON ENGLAND BOLIVIA TASMANIA OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 66.— Tin production by countries, in 1897, in thousand metric tons. tin plate. It is sold for about one fifth less than the price formerly paid for imported tin-plate. Practically all the product of more than three hundred tin-plate mills in the country is consumed at home. The imports of tin amount to about $8,000,000 a year. FOREIGN COAL TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES Bituminous Coal Imports (in Million Dollars) 1899. 1899. From British North America. . 3 All countries 3.j Coal Exports (in Million Dollars) 1899. To Briti-sh North America . . 12.5 Mexico 1.4 1899. To Cuba 0.6 All countries 15.7 Production of Pktroleu.m in 1898 (in Million Barrels) Russia GO . 5 United States (1899) 57.0 Austria-Hungary (1897) 3.2 Sumatra (refined) 1.2 Canada 0.8 liumania 0.8 Germany 0.2 India (1897) 0.5 •Java 0.5 / 128 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY United States Exports of Mineral Oil (in Million Dollars) * 1899. To United Kiiigddin 13.2 Germany 8.3 France 1.4 Other Europe 16.0 Japan 3.5 China 2.3 East Indies (Britisli) 1.4 British Australasia 2.6 To Brazil 1.6 Other Asia and Oceania . 1.6 Hong-Kong 1.6 Africa 1.5 Argentina 1.2 British North America. . 0.9 Ail countries 59 . 4 Iron Ore mined in 1898 in the United States (in Million Tons) Lake Superior 14.0 Southern states ... 5.0 Other states 1.6 Total 20.6 Pig-Iron Production in the United States (in Million Tons) 1810. 1864. 1886. 1898. 0.05 1 5 11.8 * Kerosene is about six sevenths of the total, and lubricating oils are most of the remainder. Nearly forty per cent of the kerosene pro- duced was exported to foreign markets. CHAPTEE XIII THE UNITED STATES~{Continued) Precious Metals, Other Metals and Minerals, AND THE Trade in them Copper is, next to silver, the best conductor of heat and electricity. The United States produces more than half of the world's copper supply (Figs. 6 and 67). It is found 1 < 1 1 1 50 100 150 200 1 1 . 1 T 1 , , , , 1 , , , , 1 , 1 1 1 UNITED STATES SPAIN AND PORTUGAL CHILE ..I.. JAPAN — i— GERMANY *« AUSTRALASIA _ MEXICO i^ CANADA m, RUSSIA . OTHER COUNTRIES , Fig. 67 —Copper production in 1898, in thousand long tons. pure, as in the Keweenaw peninsula. Lake Superior (Fig. G2), which long supplied all the copper mined in the United States, and is still one of the largest sources of the metal in the world. The pure copper of Lake Superior is distributed through the rocks in sheets or fine particles; this rock is raised to the surface, much of it from great depths, and crushed to get the metal. Most copper, how- ever, is found in the form of ores, as in Montana and Arizona. The mines near Butte and Anaconda, in south- y 129 130 COxMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY west Montana, are now the largest sources of copper. All copper ores are difficult to reduce, but such improvements liave been made in American processes that the United States now smelts not only its own ores, but also many for- eign ores, the resulting copper being shipped back to its owners. The furnaces that smelt the ores of Montana and Arizona often treat over 400 tons of ore a day. As copper is a fine conductor of electricity and is cheaper than silver, it is the most useful metal in the elec- trical industries. The new use of electricity to transmit power has greatly increased the demand for the metal. This country uses a large amount of copper in making wire for electrical purposes. A great deal of the metal is also used in sheathing ships and making coins and brass, one of the most useful of alloys. All European countries have to import copper, and the United Kingdom, France, and Ger- many, in particular, are very large buyers of our copper in- gots, bars, and plates ready for manufacturing. Europe takes nearly all the copper we have to sell, which is some- times half of the output (p. 137). Brass, next to iron, is the most important metal used in the arts. A large part of the copper output is alloyed with zinc to produce brass, whose acceptable color and the ease with which it is worked make it desirable for fittings in buildings, tubes, machine trimmings, musical instruments, and other purposes. Most of the rolling mills that pro- duce sheet 'brass ready for manufacturing are in the Xauga- tuck valley of northwest Connecticut; the factories that make copper wire or turn sheet brass into many prod- ucts are scattered widely over the Xorthern states from Boston to Chicago. The value of their manufactures is about $40,000,000 a year. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, is used for bells, statuary, screw propellers, and other purposes. Gold is one of the few metals that is often found pure. Most of it, however, is alloyed with other metals, chiefly THE UNITED STATES 131 silver. It occurs in veins, in quartz and other rocks, and is obtained by crushing and smelting the rock (quartz min- ing). A great deal of gold freed from the rock by water, heat, cold, and other disintegrating influences is mixed with gravel and sand in the beds of streams or on the sea- SOUTH AFRICAN REP. UNITED STATES AUSTRALASIA (? COLS.) RUSSIA CANADA MEXICO INDIA OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 68. — Gold production by coun- tries in 1898, in million dollars. shore, and is obtained by washing (placer mining). The world's production, rapidly increasing in recent years, is nearly 1300,000,000 a year (Figs. 6 and 08). The United States was long foremost in gold production, but in 1898 the South African Eepublic attained the first place. Nearly COLORADO CALIFORNIA SOUTH DAKOTA MONTANA NEVADA I I I I I I I Fig. 69.— United States gold pro- duction in 1898, in million dol- lars. all the gold mined in this country comes from Western states and territories including, Alaska (Fig. 09). The beauty and value of gold make it highly prized for ornamentation. About a fifth of the product, therefore, is annually consumed in the arts, France occupying the first place in this use of the metal, followed by the United 132^ COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Kingdom and the United States (p. 138). As the metal is too soft to be used pure, it is alloyed with silver or cop- per. The quantity of alloy added to gold in jewelry is from 12 to over 50 per cent. Pure gold is called 24 carats fine. When there are equal parts of gold and alloy the mixture is 12 carats fine. Most of the gold output is coined. It is the standard money of many nations. Its great advantage as money is that usually it can not be obtained without great labor, and that it fluctuates little in value. The average output per miner does not often exceed $6 to 112 a week, and, count- ing wages and cost of machinery, a dollar is believed to be expended for each dollar's worth of gold produced. Many mines are very profitable, but we hear little of the large sums expended in unprofitable mining. Silver is found in ores combined with lead, sulphur, or other elements (Fig. 6). All civilized nations use it for small coins, and it is the monetary standard in many coun- tries. Silver also is very largely used in the arts (p. 138). Its price has been declining for thirty years (p. 138). Because the value of gold is nearly constant, while that of UNITED STATES MEXICO AUSTRALASIA GERMANY BOLIVIA SPAIN OTHER COUNTRIES Fig. 70.— Silver production by countries in 1898, in million dollars. silver is subject to fluctuations, gold is a more reliable standard of values. Our Western states and territories, to which silver mining in this country is confined, make the United States first in silver production (Figs. 70 and 71). THE UNITED STATES ;I33 All large trading countries send gold or silver coin or bullion to foreign lands to settle trade balances. Thus the imports of coin and bullion in the United States exceed 1 1 1 1 ,,,,!,«,,,,¥ ARIZONA OTHER STATES AND TERRITORIES Fig. ri —United States silver production in 1808, in million dollars. the exports partly because this country sells more com- modities to many foreign lands than it buys from them. Manufactures of jewelry and other wares made of gold and silver are large industries in the United States. They are mainly situated in the East. Providence, R. I., leads in the production of jewelry. Some Western cities, as Chicago, Cincinnati, and San Francisco, have become prominent in gold and silver products. The watches made in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Xew Jersey have cut off most of the imports from Switzerland. Silver plating, a larger industry than jewelry manufacture, is mainly cen- tered in Connecticut. Electro-metallurgy has greatly re- duced the cost of plating, so that plated ware is now within the reach of a larger public than formerly. The export of gold and silver manufactures is small, but in prosperous times the imports are very large, most of the jewelry coming from France. The diamond is, except the finest rubies, the most costly of precious stones. South Africa and Brazil are now the only sources of diamonds (Fig. 7). Xearly all the world's supply since 1807 has been received from the Kimberley mines, Cape Colony, where the yearly output is sold in March to London buyers, who sell most of the rough stones to Belgian and Amsterdam cutters. Several million dollars -1^34 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY worth of uncut diamonds are imported into this country every year. The value of the cut diamond imports is about twice that of the rough stones, which are on the free list. The black diamond, mined only in Brazil, is used in diamond drills and for other abrasive purposes.* Zinc is a hard metal, most used in making brass and coat- ing iron (galvanized iron) and copper for protective purposes. The largest source of home supply is in the Galena-Joplin district of Kansas and Missouri, which furnishes about half the output (p. 138). When zinc is subjected to intense heat a powder, called zinc white, is produced, which is used as a basis for paints. The country imports a small quan- tity of zinc to supplement its home supplies.f Aluminium forms about one fifteenth of the crust of the earth. The difficulty of extracting it from its various com- pounds made it too costly for general use until recent years. The price has been reduced from $8 a pound in * Among other precious stones is the ruby, of which Burmah is the main source of supply. The only turquoise mines on a large scale are near Nishapur, Persia. Emeralds are found in the Ural Moun- tains, in South America, and in some other regions. This country im- ports nearly all the precious stones in the jewelry trade. Most of the turquoise, tourmaline, sapphire, and opals mined here find their way into mineral cabinets. f Salt is produced in most parts of the world (p. 138). It is used as a condiment, as a preservative of foods and hides, and in the man- ufacture of soda, glass, and other articles. On the coasts of warm countries sea water is evaporated in shallow tanks under the sun's rays, and in colder countries artificial heat is used to produce sea salt. In many regions brine springs are tapped by boring, the brine is artifi- cially evaporated, and most of the product is known as common salt. Mines in Austria-Hungary, England, and some other lands yield masses of solid or rock salt. The United States produces sea salt from lagoons in Massachusetts and California, and rock salt in several states ; but most of the product of this country is common salt obtained from brine wells (p. 138). As salt is so widely distributed it is not an article of large international commerce. This country neither imports nor exports important quantities. The united states 135 1888 to 35 cents a pound, and the strength, malleability, and lightness of this silver-white metal has led to its use for many purposes. It is replacing copper to some extent as an electrical conductor, and is used in many articles in the place of wood, iron, brass, and zinc. This country produces half of the world's output and exports a small amount of the metal and its manufactures. Sulphur is found mainly in volcanic regions. Most of the supply comes from Sicily and South Italy. Refined sul- phur is the brimstone of commerce. It is used in the manufacture of gunpowder, in medicine, and for vulcan- izing rubber. One of its most important uses is in the production of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol, the most im- portant of all chemicals. Sulphuric acid is an essential agent in the manufacture of many of the most common and useful articles, such as glass, aniline colors, phos- phorus, from which matches are made, and kerosene. Few materials more largely enhance the comfort and luxury of life than sulphuric acid. Sulphur is mined in Utah, Ne- vada, and Louisiana, but the total product is comparatively small (p. 138) and the imports from Italy (duty free) are con- sequently large. Lead enters largely into the trade of the United States. It is a very soft metal, used for roofing, water pipes, and other purposes, and is produced most largely in the silver-mining regions of the United States, where it is combined with sil- ver ores. This country and the United Kingdom consume four sevenths of the world's supply, our imports coming almost wholly from Mexico ; Spain, the second largest pro- ducer, sends nearly all her product to England. The most important preparation of tlio metal is white lead, used as a basis for colors, and thus a valnal)le ingredient in paints. White lead is manufactured in many of our larger cities.* * Pewter is an alloy of tin and lead, used in cheap table ware. Mercury or quicksilver is used in extraclirig gold and in the maiiufac- 130 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Phosphate rock is used as a fertilizer. Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee produce 1,000,000 tons a year, half of the world's supply. A third of the product, mostly from Florida, is shipped to Europe, Germany being the largest buyer. Xitrate of soda, largely imported from Chile to Europe as a fertilizer, is used to much less extent in the United States. Limestone, granite, sandstone, and slate are the most use- ful varieties of stone. Stone quarrying is one of the large industries of this country. Limestone is quarried in most parts of the United States, and its varieties are used for ture of looking glasses, thermometers, and a few other articles. The quicksilver mines of California supply the home demand, and a consid- erable quantity is exported (p. 138). Manganese, closely resembling iron, is valued as an alloy in the production of some kinds of steel. The Southern states mine one fifth of the manganese used, and Russia, Brazil, Cuba, and some other countries send about $600,000 worth a year. Nickel is alloyed with other metals in making small coins, with copper to produce German silver, and with steel in the manufacture of armor plate. New Caledonia produces more than half of the world's supply and Canada most of the remainder. The nickel used in the United States comes from the Sudbury mines in Canada. Cobalt, mined in New Caledonia, Australia, and Germany, is used in the arts, chiefly in the form of an oxide, to produce a vivid blue color that is not affected by atmospheric changes, and is employed in painting, printing bank bills, and decorating glass and porcelain. Much of the ore, car- ried as ballast to London by ships laden with wool from Australia, is smelted in Europe and this country. Graphite, or plumbago, a form of carbon used for lead pencils and other purposes, is mainly derived from Ceylon, which supplies this country with most of its imports. The smaller domestic supply comes chiefly from Ticonderoga. X. Y. Factories in Xew York and Jersey City turn out nearly 1.000.000 lead pencils a day. They are sold all over the world and supply most of the home demand. Platinum is specially valuable for chemical ap- paratus, because it is not injured by acids. The mines in the Ural Mountains supply only about 12,000 pounds a year, which is nearly the total output. Under these circumstances the mineral is very costly. This country paid $170 a pound for all it imported in 1897. Saltpeter, one of the ingredients of gunpowder, comes mainly from northern India. THE UNITED STATES 137 many purposes, such as structural materials, a flux for smelting iron, lead and copper ores, and the making of lime and cement. Marhle, produced mainly in Vermont, is used for monuments and building material. The Jsew England states produce more than half of the granite which is used for buildings, bridge work, and other struc- tural purposes. Most of the sandstone, including the brown stone much used in Eastern cities for house fronts, is quarried in Ohio, Xew York, Pennsylvania, and Connec- ticut. The only American stone that is exported to any considerable extent is slate, used mainly for roofing pur- poses, and produced in largest quantities in the Xorth At- lantic states. Clay products are among the largest mineral industries. Over 8,000 establishments making brick, sewer pipe, drain tile, stone ware, and other articles are scattered through every part of the Union, and the value of their output, surpassed only by the value of coal and iron, amounted in 1898 to over $58,000,000. The clay known as kaolin is used in paper making to give weight and a good surface for printing, and also in the manufacture of china ware. The largest pottery manufactures are at Trenton, X. J., and at East Liverpool, Ohio ; these markets regulate the prices in this country for china clays. Thirty factories in Trenton make both white and decorated wares. Our china products have scarcely begun to seek foreign markets, and a large amount of foreign stone and china ware is still imported. United States Copper Output in 1898 (in Thousand Long Tons) Montana. Michigan. Arizona. California. Colorado. Total. 97 70 49.5 9.5 5 239 United States Exports of Copper in 1899 (in Million Dollars) United Kingdom. France. Germany. Other Europe. Total. 8.3 9.7 8.3 14.7 41.3 1804. 1871. 1890. Price of copper per pound in cents 55 25 17 12S COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Annual Consumption of Gold in the Arts (in Thousand Pounds Avoirdupois) United United Ger- Switzer- .^„. Rii««in Belgrium and Austria- France. Kingdom. States, many. land. ^^^^^- Russia. Holland. Hungary 35.2 34.1 30.8 29.0 18.9 11.0 9.0 6.8 6.2 Annual Consumption of Silver in the Arts (in Thousand Pounds Avoirdupois) United States. Germany. France. England. Russia. 555 330 330 308 209 1871. 1881. 1891. 1896. 1898. Average value of bar silver per ounce in dollars (gold) 1.32 1.13 0.98 0.67 0.59 Zinc Production in 1897 (in Thousand Metric Tons) Germany. Belgium. United States. France. Total. 151 116 104 24 468 Salt Production in 1897 (in Million Short Tons) Ss. Kyn^g^ol. R»-- «™j-- France. India. Spain, ^us^^^a^ Total. 2.2 2.1 1.7 1.3 1.1 1 0.6 0.6 11.2 United States Salt Production in 1898 (in Million Barrels) New York. Michigan. Kansas. Ohio. CaUfornia. Total. 6.8 5.3 1.9 0.7 0.7 17.6 Sulphur Production in 1897 (in Thousand Metric Tons) Italy. Japan. Spain. United States (1898). 497 12.5 3.5 3.7 Quicksilver Production in 1898 (in Metric Tons) Spain. United States. Austria. Mexico. Russia. Total. 1,681 1,058 494 353 362 3.948 \ x; - CHAPTER XIV THE UNITED STATES iContiniied) )lSTEIBUTION OF MANUFACTURES — COXDITIOXS THAT FAVOR Manufacturing Development — Machixery, Leather, Boots and Shoes, Clothing, Glass, etc. The United States holds the first place as a manufacturing lation. In the last years of the nineteenth century the )rodnction of manufactures in the United States was learly double that of the United Kingdom. About nine enths of the country's manufactures are consumed at lome, and yet a vast quantity of foreign manufactures is ,lso imported. The value of the home market has been nuch enhanced by the fact that the people of the United >tates spend more per capita for necessaries and luxuries ban any other nation (p. 147). Large manufacturing levelopment indicates the greatest material prosperity, as he percentage of profit is much greater on manufactures han on raw substances. The French, for examjile, turn ■aw materials from other lands into many tasteful and )leasing articles, and make a much larger profit on tlieni ihan on unmanufactured substances. Various causes influence the distribution of manufacturing, ^ills and factories are usually found wlierevcr raw iiiate- •ial and good markets are easily accessible ; tlie flour indus- ry, for instance, has steadily moved westward to the (J rent liakes and to the Mississippi Valley, till its great center 8 now Minneapolis, on the threshold of the hard-wheat •egion. 139 140 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The early manufactures of America, such as hand spin- ning, weaving, hlacksmithing, ship and house building, develojjed along the seacoast where the colonists had their homes. The people planted settlements inland along waterways, built towns on the banks of the Erie Canal, fringed the lake shores with their^homes, and finally spread railroads and telegraphs over the land. These lines of penetration became the pathways along which manufactur- ing industries advanced. Water power played a very important part in distribut- ing manufactures before steam was used. It gave indus- trial pre-eminence to Xew England, and made manufactur- ing towns of Trenton, Philadeljihia, Eichmond, Columbia, Augusta, and many other places. A great future is open- ing to water power in the electrical transmission of its motive force. Thus water power eighty miles from Los Angeles is now utilized in that city. Only a small part of the country's vast water power is as yet used. Some industries are situated near others that use most of their product. Thus the chemical industries of the United States are situated, to a large extent, near the tex- tile manufacturing centers, dyeing and bleaching works, oil refineries, fertilizer factories, etc., that are the main markets for their jiroducts. The principal industrial regions, on the whole, are those that are most thickly populated (Fig. 31). Manufacturing is therefore most prominent in the northeast, the states of Xew York, Pennsylvania, Xew Jersey, and Xew England producing more than half the manufactures of the country. Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana follow. The Southern states and those beyond the ^lississippi are also developing many industries. With their advantages in the cheapness of labor and fuel, the Southern states have, in the last few years, invested 81,000,000,000 in facto- ries and machinery. Their cotton, iron, and steel indus- tries have been greatly developed. THE UNITED STATES 141 As population grows the variety of manufactures increases. Twenty-five years ago the manufactures of the Western states were mainly for hard usage and everyday utility, but Western factories now serve the refinements and luxuries as well as the utilities of life. In 1875 piano-making was limited to Xew York, Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, but in 1894 Chicago had taken the third place in the num- ber of pianos produced, and BufEalo, Rochester, Cincinnati, and other interior cities were prominent in this line. In 1860 no AVesteru city manufactured jewelry to any extent, but in 1894 San Francisco held the fifth, Cincinnati the seventh, and Chicago the eighth place in these manufac- tures. Three of the eight large watch-manufacturing com- panies are in Illinois. The conditions that have favored manufacturing devel- opment in the United States are (1) abundance of raw ma- terial and fuel, (2) enormous capital, (3) great inventive talent, which has devised a large variety of labor-saving machinery and applied scientific discoveries to many pro- cesses of manufacture, (4) the intrinsic value of the prod- ucts and the promptness with which orders are filled, and (5) a protective system that has fostered many industries by excluding quantities of foreign commodities. Other fac- tors also, such as the reduced cost of many raw materials, the decreased rate of interest on money, and low freight rates have helped the United States manitfacturers to compete with the products of cheap labor in foreign markets. Iron and steel articles are made most largely in the States that produce the most pig iron. .Nearly all the structural , shapes of steel used for bridges, frames for buildings, etc., come from Pennsylvania. That state also produces more than one half of all the rolled iron and steel, while Alle- ghany County, Pa., in which Pittsburg is situated, makes more than one fourth of all the product, such as rails, iron and steel plates for cut nails, spikes, and wire rods. These 142 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY products are made in rolling mills, where the metal, usu- ally heated, is passed through rollers that give it either its final shape or the form required for purposes of further manufacture. A large variety of articles, as stove parts, etc., are made in foundries by pouring molten cast iron or steel into molds. Foundries and shops for making machinery are widely scattered over the Northern states. Philadelphia, Chicago, and Xew York city lead in supplying foundry products and machinery ; Pittsburg, Providence, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Buffalo, Worcester, Mass., and Erie, Pa., are also conspicuous for these industries. American nails, wire, saws, tools, locks, hinges, and many other articles are sent all over the world. Imports of hardware, except cutlery, have nearly ceased, owing to the excellence and cheapness of the domestic products. Among the great iron and steel industries is the manufac- ture of locomotives. Twelve large plants in Philadelphia, Patersou, X. J., Schenectady and Dunkirk, X. Y., Pitts- burg, Providence, Eichmond, Scranton, Pa., and Man- chester, X. H., have a capacity of 3,000 engines a year. As the average life of a machine is twenty years, and the aver- age annual domestic demand does not much exceed 1,800 engines, there is opportunity to fill foreign orders. Amer- ican locomotives are now sold in the United Kingdom, Siberia, Sweden, France, and some other countries. The trade is growing every year, and in 1898 about one fourth of these manufactures was sold abroad. The value of machines produced in the United States is about $400,000,000 a year. X'o other nation has so far supplanted hand labor by machinery as the United States. In the manufacture of machinery two distinct features, perfected in America, are (1) the production of inter- changeable parts applied to a large number of products, such as sewing machines, bicycles, firearms, watches, and others ; and (2) automatic machines which take the mate- THE UNITED STATES 143 rial aud, without manipulation, turn out the finished article, such as twine, yarn, pins, pens, and many other products or j^arts of them. About one fourth, of the value of all the machinery pro- duced is in agricultural machinery and implements (p. 147). Seeders, steam and other plows, self-binding reapers, mow- ers, farm windmills, ditchers, and many other machines are manufactured extensively in the Mississippi Valley, the lake region, and western Xew York, where the farming in- terests are largest. Agricultural machinery exports have almost wholly developed since 1865, and are still rapidly growing. The leading countries of Europe, Argentina, Canada, and British Australasia take nearly all the exjiorts, over two thirds of which are mowers and reapers, with plows and cultivators as the next largest items (p. 147). American sewing machines compete successfully in all the world's markets. About 8,000 patents were issued in the United States between 1842 and 1898 on sewing machines alone. More than thirty companies are engaged in this industry, and American manufactories have even been established in foreign lands. Tlie value of the exported product is between 13,000,000 and $4,000,000 a year. Shipbuilding, after the civil war, languished, and the United States depended upon other nations for its ocean carriage. But the cheapening of iron and steel and the excellence of American steel ship plates, marine boilers and engines, all of which are bought to some extent by foreign shipbuilders, have heljied to revive the home industry. Armor plate, not made in this country before 1800, is now supplied to many war ships. The largest shi2)building plants are at Philadelphia, Sparrow's Point, Md., Richmond, San Francisco, Newport Xews, and Bath, Me. The first Ameri- can steel sailing ship was built at Bath in 1898. Other large manufactures are car building, including ordinary passenger, sleeping, freight, and refrigerator cars for railroad lines and cars for street service. 144 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The cooperage industry has an annual production worth about $40,000,000. Barrels used for flour and sugar are of elm ; casks are usually made of oak. The fact that these articles are easily handled makes them very popular both in America and in Europe for the transport of many prod- ucts. The staves are made at lumber mills, and shipped to cooper shops all over the country. Staves and heads worth several million dollars are annually sent to foreign countries. ^ None of the chief leather-producing countries has enough raw material at home to supply the demand. Europe imports about 18,000,000 pounds a year of raAV hides from South America, India, Australia, and other countries in addition to its own large supplies and the quantities of finished leather it buys from the United States. This country's imports of hides have nearly doubled in five years (p. 147), as the millions of cattle killed in the United States supjDly only a part of the hides required by the leather trade. Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil are the largest sources of foreign hides, but a great many come from Europe and Mexico. The method of tanning by the use of chromium compounds, discovered in 1856, and applied in Philadel- phia, soon made that city the largest leather manufactory in the world. The United States leads the world in the production of leather footwear. About two thirds of the boots and shoes made in this country come from the Xew England states. Custom-made boots and shoes are produced all over the country, but most of the product is factory made, and the output is valued at over |!2 60,000,000 a year. Xew York, Eochester, and other cities in Xew York state, Philadel- phia, and Chicago are prominent in this in.dustry. Cincin- nati and St. Louis turn out great qi;antities of women".- shoes, but Lynn, Brockton, and Haverhill, in eastern Mas- sachusetts, are the leaders, and Massachusetts has over half the factories and turns out more than half the product THE UNITED STATES 145 (p. 148). Machinery has revolutionized the industry. Ma- chines have replaced the lapstone and the hammer. They split and cut leather into strips for sole leather, do the sewing and pegging, make the heels, and save hand labor in other ways. One man sews the soles of 600 to 600 pairs of shoes in a day. American shoe factories can produce in eight or ten months a year's supply for the home mar- ket. Boston handles nearly all the New England goods, and is the largest market in the country. Boot and shoe exports have been small for many years, considering the enormous production. This was due to the rise in the price of materials, to the large home de- mand, and to the failure of manufacturers to adapt their styles to the wants of countries which import footwear. The United Kingdom exports far more boots and shoes than the United States, most of them going to her colo- nies. In the past few years there has been renewed inter- est in the export trade, which is now rapidly growing (p. 148). The production of ready-made clothing for men and boys is valued at about $400,000,000 a year. The quality of ready-made clothing has greatly improved, and as a result much less than one third of the clothing worn by men in the United States is custom made. The manufacture is Avidely distributed in all the larger cities, Xew York being the greatest center, followed by Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, Boston, Baltimore, and Rochester. The ready- made clothing factories work up the enormous outi)ut of the domestic cloth mills, while most of the imported cloths are consumed in the custom trade. Imports of cotton, wool, and silk clothing, including knit goods, are less than 15,000,000 a year. Canning is an enormous industry. The value of the food stuffs thus prepared in the United States is about $80,000,000 a year. Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas — all large corn states — divide corn canning with Maine, New York, and Maryland. 10 140 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Peach canning is mainly confined to the large peach-grow- ing sections of Maryland, Xew York, Delaware, and Michi- gan. Salmon is canned only on the Pacific coast, with Alaska as the chief source of supply. Most of the milk canneries are in the dairy states of Xew York, Ohio, and Illinois. The large and small fruits, with tomatoes, beans, peas, and i^umj^kins, are extensively canned ; also corned beef, at the large slaughtering centers, and sardines and lobsters on the Maine coast. The variety of canned goods is constantly increasing, and now includes soups, minced meat, brown bread, and other articles. The exports of canned fruit, meats, and vegetables are large. The production of glass in the United States is about $50,000,000 a year (p. 148). Xearly every part of the country has sand adapted for glassmaking, and the in- dustry is carried on in about twenty-five states, but Penn- sylvania produces two fifths of the entire output, and Indiana, Xew York, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia are the next largest producers. Connecticut is the great clockmaking state. There are large factories in Xew Haven, "Waterbury, Thomaston, An- sonia, Bristol, Winsted, and Forestville, in that state, and also in Xew York city and Boston. There are perhaps not more than thirty clock companies in the country, but they supply the demand and export about $1,000,000 worth a year. The imports, confined chiefly to French clocks, are about one third the exjDorts. In the enumeration of the manufactures in this and previous chapters it has not been possible even to mention many important industries. The aim has been to include a suflEiciently large number to give an idea of the enor- mous development and variety of industrial activities in the United States. THE UNITED STATES 147 Growth of Maxufacturing ix the United States (IX Million Dollars) Year. Capital. Wages. Raw material. 1850.... 533 237 555 1880. . . . . . 2.780 948 3.397 1890. . . . . . 6,524 2,383 5,159 Gross Net product. product.* 1,019 464 5,370 1,973 9,370 4,211 Nu.MBER OF Persons employed in Manufacturixg (in Thousands) 1880. 2,739 1850, 957 I860. 1,311 1870. 2,055 1890. 4,712 Chief Manufactures Lumber 587 Meat industries . . 562 Flour 514 Clothing 485 Iron and steel. . . . 431 3Iachine shops . . 412 Carpentering .... 281 Printing 275 Cottons 268 Boots and shoes. . 260 Tobacco 210 IX 1890 (Gross Produc Cars 204 Masonry 191 Malt liquors 183 Leather 180 Woolens 134 Bakeries 128 Sugar refining. . . 123 Wagons, etc 115 Furniture 112 Distilled liquors . 104 t IX Million Dollars) Silk 87 Kerosene 85 Farm implements . 81 Worsted goods.... 79 Paper 74 Hosiery, knit goods 67 Dairy products. ... 61 Chemicals 59 Blacksraithing, etc. 54 Carpets 49 Exports of Agricultural Implements in 1899 (in Million Dollars) To Ger- United Other Argen- British British All France, many. Kingdom. Europe. tina. N. America. Australasia, countries. 18 1.7 1.4 3.7 2.0 1.8 0.9 13.6 Imports of Raw Hides and Skins (in ^Million Dollars) 1895. 1898. 1899. 26 40 51 Exports of Sole Leather in 1899 (in Million Dollars) United Kingdom. Germany. Other Europe. Japan. ^l\\^^,^e';''."' All countries. 5.4 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.3 6.8 * The net product is the value less the cost of raw material, U6 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Product of Leading Boot and Shoe Centers ix 1890 Lynn 25.8 Brockton 16.0 Haverhill 14.9 Chicago 7.0 (in Million Dollars) Philadelphia .... 6.8 Rochester 6.4 Marlboro, Mass.. 5.3 New York 5.3 Cincinnati 5.0 St. Louis 4.0 Worcester, Mass. . ;^.5 San Francisco ... 3.3 Boston Boot and Shoe Shipments to the West and South (in Million Dollars) 1870. 1.2 1890. 3.5 1892. 3.7 1865. 2.0 Exports of Boots and Shoes (in Million Dollars) 1898. 1.9 1876. 0.4 1890. 0.7 1894. 0.8 1899. 3.7 Glass Product in 1900 (in Million Dollars) Flint. 30 AVindow. 10 Green and black. Plate. 7 CHAPTER XV THE UNITED STATES iContinued) Freight Rates — Rivers — Riyer Ports— The Great Lakes — The " Soo " Canal — Lake Ports — Canals — Railroads — Coasting Trade — Xearby Foreign Sea Trade — Deep-Sea Trade — Seaports Freight rates in the United States have declined continu- ously for thirty years. One reason why the United States can send agricultural and meat products 1,200 miles to the seacoast and sell them to food-buying nations in competi- tion with countries like Russia, Argentina, and the Austra- lian colonies, whose export supplies are raised not far from the sea, is that its inland transportation is enormously de- veloped and freight charges are the lowest in the world, except some long distance ocean freights. The average rates per ton mile (the price per ton for a mile of carriage) on the trunk railroads have declined from about two cents to six mills, and on two of them to 3.6 mills. The average rates on the Kew York canals have declined from 6.5 mills per ton mile to 1.9 mills ; the present average canal rates are one third that of most railroads. The average cost • on the Great Lakes is about six tenths mill per ton mile. The cost on the largest ocean freighters averages about a half mill per ton mile. The United States carefully fosters its rivers (Fig. 73). Both Federal and state Governments assiduously en- deavor to increase their efficiency for commerce. The River and Harbor bill is introduced in Congress every year 149 THE UNITED STATES 151 to provide funds for the improvement of navigation, and the expenditure is very large. The Mississippi and its tributaries supply about two thirds of the river navigation, or more than 9,000 miles. On the Pacific coast the Columbia is navigable for 500 miles, the Willamette for 125 miles, the Sacramento for 150 miles, and its branch, the San Joaquin, for 100 miles. The Hudson, which floats large ocean shijjs 100 miles from its mouth, has a freight tonnage of over 18,000,000 tons a year. The Delaware carries over 13,000,000 tons a year, mainly ocean freight. The Ohio and its tributaries carry over 15,000,000 tons a year, mainly coal, grain, lumber, and the iron and steel and other products of the mills and pot- teries on their banks. About the same amount of freight is carried on the Mississippi. In 1890 11,000,000 passen- gers were carried on the rivers of the Mississippi system, and on many rivers, notably the Hudson, the passenger traffic is a large element in the total transportation.* * St. Louis, the largest river port in the country, is the commercial center of the Mississippi Valley and commands more of the Mexican trade than any other city. Cincinnati is the chief port of the Ohio Valley. Pig iron, steel, coal, and lumber are transported by river at very cheap rates to its many factories. The situation of Pittsburg at the junction of the two rivers which foi-m the Ohio, together with the development of coal, iron, and natural gas industries, gave the city its manufacturing and commercial importance. Louisville, on the Ohio, with fine facilities for receiving raw materials, has large iron pipe, wagon, flour, leather, tobacco, and other industries. The proximity of Kansas City to large stock- and grain-raising regions has made it, next to Chicago, the greatest live stock market in the world. Shuigli- tering and meat packing are its main industries, and its Southern trade is very important. St. Paul became a city because it is at the head of navigation on the Mississippi. It is a large railroad, jobbing, and manufacturing center. The Falls of St. Anthony made ]\Iinneapolis known as a flour- and lumber-making town before it contained 500 houses. Its flour, wood-working, and machinery industries have had phenomenal development. Memphis, at tlie hcail of navigation for the larger vessels on tlio Mississippi, is the chief commeniul point between 152 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The Great Lakes are the most important feature of internal navigation. They provide, with the " Soo " and Canadian canals at the rapids in the St. Mary's Eiver, the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, and the AVelland Canal, an unbroken stretch of navigation from Duluth to the foot of Lake Ontario, over 1,000 miles. The freight movement on the lakes is the largest feature of internal water transporta- tion, because the heads of the lake system (Lakes Superior and Michigan) are near the largest sources of iron ore, copper, including that from Montana, wheat, flour, and lumber. For these reasons the ton mileage on the lakes is equal to nearly forty per cent of that of all the railroads in the country. Some of the largest lake vessels carry 250,- 000 bushels of wheat at a load. More than five times as many vessels pass through the Soo and Canadian ca- nals (Fig. 73) every year as through the Suez Canal. Superior and Duluth are the main points of con- centration and distribution of the Lake Superior traf- fic. Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, and Buffalo are the main points of concentration and distribution on the other lakes. Superior has large coal dorks and ship yards and many manufacturing interests, mainly flour and lumber. It is near Duluth, whose business interests are similar, and both cities ship large quantities of wheat, flour, sheep, wool, hides, copper and iron ores. They are the Fig. 73. — The Soo and Canadian canals. The Soo Canal carries nine tenths of the freight and most of the passenger busi- ness ; its freight tonnage in 1899 (over 25,000,000 tons) was more than three times that of 1889. St. Louis and New Orleans. Vicksburg is a large cotton market and manufactures much cotton-seed oil. Omaha is the commercial dis- tributing point for a wide area and the third largest packing center. THE LTXITED STATES I53 gateways through whirli many of the products of Mon- tana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and northern Wisconsin reach the consuming and manufacturing centers. Chicago has water communications through the lakes, the Erie Canal, and the St. Lawrence Eiver with the Atlantic, by canal and the Illinois River with the Mississippi system, and is joined by rail to all important points on the sea- board and all the large commercial centers of the interior. These advantages have made it the second city in popula- tion in the country, the largest distributor of grain and meat products, the largest slaughtering and meat-packing center in the world, the first of lumber markets, and a pro- ducer of great quantities of clothing, furniture, leather goods, steel rails, and many other articles. After Chicago, Duluth, and Superior, Milwaukee is the largest shipper of grain, one of the largest producers of malt liquors, and has important pork-packing, flour, railroad car, leather, iron and steel, and other manufacturing interests. It sells a great deal of the fine cream-colored brick known as Milwau- kee brick, made of clay that abounds in some parts of Wis- consin. Detroit is a center of lake trade and of commerce with Canada. Its tobacco, iron, copper-smelting, and other industries are very important. Cleveland is the chief lake port of Ohio. It builds many iron and steel vessels, and has extensive induitrial development. Buffalo, the western ter- minus of the Erie Canal, is the grea^ eastern terminus of the lake trade, except that which passes through the W^elland Canal. It is naturally, therefore, a focal point for railroads competing with lake vessels and canal boats for lieavy freight and especially for the grain and lumber trade. Rail- roads from all the large northeast seaports and from the large markets of the west converge at Buffalo. It has large manufactures and is one of the most rapidly growing cities in tlie country. The usefulness of canals has largely declined with the growth of railroads. Tlie Erie Canal, opened in, 1S;.*5, was ir.-i COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY lojig the most important means of communication between the Atlantic seaboard and the developing regions around the Great Lakes. It gave Xew York city its supremacy as a seaport and as a distributing point for the interior. The most important articles of freight are grain, lumber, coal, ores, iron, and salt, general merchandise being only a small item. The canal now carries only a small part of the grain that reaches New York, for heavy steel rails and powerful locomotives enable one engine to haul large cars carrying 40,000 to 50,000 bushels in one train. About 1,300,000 freight cars and 26,000 passenger cars are running on the railroads of the United States. Their net earnings a year are between $350,000,000 and $390,000,000. The railroad mileage (p. 44) is greater than that of the whole of Europe and more than a third of the mileage of the world (Figs. 74 and 75). For many years railroads f 50 100 150 1 , , , 1 , , , . 1 , 1 , , 1 . 1 200 1 1 1 1 1 250 300 350 400 , , 1 , 1 ■ 1 1 > , 1 , 1 , 1 1 . 1 , B^ EARTH'S CIRCUMFERENCE ■ ^^ ■■ 1 ■■ mm DISTANCE OF THE MOON FROM THE E 1840 ■ 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1893 Fig. 74. — Growth of the world's railroads, in thousand miles. 50 iOO li 1830 1860 1870 1890 1896 J I L J \ L Fig. 7^.— Growth of railroads in the United States, in thousand miles. THE UNITED STATES 155 (Fig. 76) were constantly extending into virgin regions westward, and were the most potent influence in promoting rapid settlement and development. The Federal Govern- ment gave large grants of land to compaiiies building roads to the Pacific Ocean across hundreds of miles of sparsely settled territory. These lines, the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, the Union and Central Pacific, the South- ern Pacific, with their eastern connections, form continu- ous and roughly parallel highways from the Atlantic to tlie Pacific. All important ports on either ocean have com- paratively direct rail connections with the other ocean, and all the great inland commercial centers, as Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and others, have not only lines form- ing the direct routes between them and both oceans, but also connections that give them rail communication with practically all the ports of the country. The east and west lines have been most important, be- cause they lead to the seaports having the largest coastwise and foreign sea trade, also because they pass through the chief manufacturing centers where the population is most dense and the demand for food supplies and raw materials for the factories is greatest. But the recent large develop- ment of southern manufacturing and of the ocean trade of southern ports is constantly increasing the importance of the north and south lines. Such routes as the coast line from New York to Jacksonville, jSTew York through Atlanta to New Orleans, Cleveland through Louisville to New Orleans, Chicago through Cairo to New Orleans, St. Louis to (Jalves- ton, and others are great factors in the country's business. The development of New Orleans, Galveston, Mobile, and other southern ports tends to reduce export freight rates. Li 1899 the rate of export grain from the Missouri River was the lowest ever known, and was due to tlie competition of the roads leading to the G ulf with those leading to eastern ports. A great many freight and passenger cars are transferred at junction points from one line to another, so that passen- THE UNITED STATES 157 gers and freight pass over the lines of different companies with the same facilities as though the roads belonged to one company. At Buffalo, Boston, Atlanta, Louisville, and some other junction points, railroad clearing houses are maintained for the settlement of accounts between the rail- roads ; by balancing debits and credits a great many trans- actions are settled without exchanging cash. The coasting trade of the United States is the largest in the world. It is about twice as large as the coasting trade of Great Britain. It includes seagoing steamships plying from Xew York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore to Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, Xew Or- leans, Galveston, and other ports, the large passenger steamers of Long Island Sound, and many sailing vessels and fishing craft. Many steam and sailing vessels are engaged in the Pacific coast trade between San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Puget Sound ports. The vessel ton- nage engaged on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts is more than 2,600,000 tons, about five times as much as that of the Pacific coast, twice as much as that of the Great Lakes, and ten times as much as that of the rivers, exclusive, however, of river barges. As the coasting trade is strictly reserved by law to vessels under the American flag, the only compe- tition to which the United States shipping engaged in it is subjected is that of the railroads. An important part of the foreign ocean trade of the L^nited States is with British North America, the West Indies, and Latin American ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Half of this trade is carried in American vessels, and steamers often make from thirty to fifty trips a year. The deep-sea trade embraces more than four fifths of all the foreign exports and imports by sea. As nearly all voy- ages in this trade exceed :i,000 miles, one vessel can make only a small number of trips a year. The best record between America and Europe is held by the steamer St. 158 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Louis, which has cleared from New York to Southampton fifteen times in one year. In 1899 only 8 j)er cent, of the vast volume of the United States deep-sea commerce was carried in American shij^s. One of the greatest needs of the United States is a large ocean-carrying merchant marine. In the fiscal year 1898-"99 the country paid to foreign companies $169,000,000 for freightage, $28,000,000 for passenger fares, and $17,000,000 for marine insurance. Because the country in that year sold over $600,000,000 more goods to foreign lands than it bought from them, some writers called this sum the balance of trade in favor of the United States. The correct bal- ance, however, was to be found only by deducting from the excess of exports $214,000,000 paid for foreign transporta- tion and insurance. A small class of fast steamships, driven by very power- ful engines, sacrifice freight room to passenger accommo- dations, though much freight is carried. Most of the passenger and freight boats are smaller and slower. Some of the regular lines have recently introduced very large freighters with proportionately small or no passenger accom- modations. They sail from Xew York to Bremen, Ham- burg, Southampton, Liverpool, and London, and are driving tramp steamers off the regular routes. Tramp steamers which take cargoes where they can get them, entering ports mainly south of Xew York, are becoming more and more con- fined to ports that regular lines do not reach. Sailing ves- sels have a small part in the trade. Clipper ships, famous for quick runs, still ply on the Cape Horn route to San Fran- cisco, and to some extent between Pacific ports and Europe. Xew York, the second largest city in the world, is the port of most of the regular steamship lines between Europe and the United States. It is the outlet for over one third of all the domestic exports, and receives a larger proportion of imports. Breadstuffs, provisions, cotton, and petroleum form about one half of its exports. Most of the coffee, dry THE UNITED STATES I59 goods, crude rubber, precious stones, furs, wine, and tin plate, about half of the sugar, raw silk, leather, and leather goods, and a third of the wool bought in foreign lands are imported through Xew York. As the city has 353 miles of water front, half of which may be improved for the use of shipping, and as the piers of Jersey City and Hoboken, in Xew Jersey, are practically a part of the port of Xew York, its 90 miles of pier line, already surpassing all other ports, may be largely extended. The foreign movement of the port, or the capacity of vessels in the foreign trade entering or leaving it, is about 15,000,000 tons a year, or more than three times the tonnage of Boston, its nearest competitor. About fifty steamers in the foreign trade leave the port every week, half of which sail under the British and one eighth under the American flags, the remainder being mostly German, French, Scandinavian, Belgian, Dutch, and Italian vessels. Xew Y'ork is the financial center of the country, and the enormous extent of its business interests may be largely gauged by the exchange of bank checks through the clear- ing house, which in 1898 amounted to an average of nearly ^140,000,000 on every business day. United States seaports usually develop industries in proportion to their population, and Xew York is the greatest manufacturing center of the country. Boston, with 4,000,000 tons foreign movement, is the second of the four great world ports on the Atlantic coast, surpassing Philadelphia and Baltimore in the extent of its commerce. It has regular connections with Liverpool, London, Hull, Glasgow, and some other European points, does a large coasting trade with Canada and the Southern states, and is a large cotton and leather and the largest wool market. It does much export and import trade for X"ew England, and exports many western food products. Philadelphia, with over 3,000,000 tons foreign move- ment, has regular lines of steamships to Liverpool and IQQ COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Antwerp, the West Indies, and also in the coasting trade. The Delaware is deep enough to carry vessels to the port at low tide. A great deal of raw sngar is brought from the AVest Indies for the refineries, wool for the carpet factories, and iron ore for Pennsylvania works. Baltimore, with over 3,000,000 tons foreign movement, 140 nautical miles from the sea, is nearer the Mississippi Valley than is New York, is in close touch with it by rail, and attracts most of the commerce of Chesapeake Bay on account of its superior position, both with reference to navigation and the products of the bay. It is the center of the largest source of oysters in the world, and one of the leading fruit regions of the couni>ry. It is the second port in the export of maize, flour, and tobacco, and is surpassed only by Xew York and Boston in the exjjorts of wheat. It is the most southern port shipping live cattle. Xew Orleans, with over 2,800,000 tons foreign movement, 107 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi Eiver, receives four fifths of the products which enter the city by rail, river, and canal from the interior ; one tenth are brought by coasting vessels and one tenth by foreign vessels. Xew Orleans is the first cotton- shipping port in the world. About one half the export cotton goes to England, one fifth to France, one seventh to Germany, and Eussia, Italy, Spain, and Belgium are also purchasers. Cotton-seed oil, grain, flour, and tobacco are also important exports. The larger part of the exports of San Francisco, with over 2,000,000 tons foreign movement, are sent to Europe, and the larger part of the imports are derived from Asia and the Hawaiian Islands. The tonnage entering the port is about equally distributed between the foreign and the coast trades. Wheat, lumber, flour, canned salmon, cotton goods, preserved fruits, machinery, etc., are the chief ex- ports. It is a latge sugar market, for it receives nearly all the raw sugar of Hawaii, and its convenient situation in respect to the Asian markets makes it the largest importer THE UNITED STATES K;! of teas and raw silk except Xew York. Rice, tobacco, and opium are also large imports from Asia, coffee from Central America, and coal is brought from Australia, Washington, and British Columbia. San Francisco is one of the few ports in which the trans-ocean traffic by sailing vessels is proportionately quite large. This trade is mainly with England. Eegular steamship lines connect the port with Panama and Mexican ports, Honolulu, Yokohama, Hong- Kong, Auckland, and Sydney ; and coasting vessels supple- ment the railroads in the trade between other Pacific ports of the country and San Francisco, which is the central dis- tributing point for the Pacific coast states. Percentages of Exports from United States Ports Year. New York. Boston. Philadelphia. Baltimore. New Orleans. Galveston. 1868. . 46.0 4.46 3.07 3.62 15.22 1.53 1888.. 44.6 8.11 4.14 6.62 11.66 2.26 1899.. 37.4 10.43 5.05 8.90 6.39 7.17 11 CHAPTEE XVI THE UNITED STATES {Continued) General Facts of Commerce — The Trade OP THIS Country The value of trade between all countries of the world in- creased three fourths in thirty years (1867-97). There are many reasons why commerce is rajjidly growing in Yolume (p. 166). One is that the world's population, now esti- mated at 1,500,000,000, is constantly increasing. The whole population of Europe at the time of Augustus Caesar is be- lieved to have been only 50,000,000, about half the present population of European Eussia. With constantly growing numbers the standard of living and comfort among civilized peoples has greatly advanced, and their needs have multi- plied. It is much easier and cheaper now to procure com- modities, by reason of the great development of transport facilities and the consequent reduction in freight rates. Machinery has enlarged the capacity for production, re- duced its cost, and thus cheapened commodities so that many articles which were once luxuries enjoyed only by the few are noAV found in nearly every home. In years of financial distress or large crop failure the value of the world's exchange of commodities is reduced for a while, but the growth of business is not long retarded. The domestic or internal trade of any country is larger than its foreign trade. If our neighbor the grocer gives us just as good advantages as his rival in business a mile away he will probably secure our trade. This is the case also in 162 THE UNITED STATES 163 the larger affairs of commei'ce. The United States pro- duces most of the commodities of all kinds that it needs ; and because the home products are good and cheap, and the markets are at our doors, we need to send thousands of miles for com2)aratively few of the things we buy. Our own commodities carried from one part of the country to another for sale at home are worth about $28,000,000,000 a year, which is thirteen times the value of our entire foreign trade. The citizens of this country buy $-iO worth of home products for every dollar they expend for foreign commod- ities. The foreign trade of the United States, therefore, is of small importance in comparison with its home commerce. The same rule applies in all other great trading nations. The value of the internal trade of the United States in pro- portion to population is greater, however, than that of any other country, because Americans spend more for food, clothing, rent, and many comforts of life than any other people. The wealth of the United States, estimated at $82,000,000,000, is equal to the combined wealth of Eussia, Italy, and Spain, is double that of Germany, nearly double that of France, and a fourth larger than that of the United Kingdom. Thus the purchasing power of the people is in striking contrast, for example, with that of the inhabitants of British India, the masses of whose population are very poor. Europe is the center of the largest volume of ingoing and outgoing commerce. It commands about three fourths of the world's trade (p. 100). An important feature of Europe's trade is that its imports are invariably greater than its exports. In this respect it differs from the other continents, excepting Africa. The reason is that Europe needs to import such enormous quantities of food for its dense population, and of raw materials for its vast indus- tries, and so much of its products are consumed at home that the value of its sales to foreign lands is less than that of its purchases from them. Trade flows from places where 164 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY there is an abundant supjily of any commodity to those wliere there is scarcity and a demand ; thus wheat, meat, and cotton are constantly moving across the Atlantic, from America to Europe, and many other supplies pour into European ports from all parts of the world. On the other hand, America, with the United States as its chief factor, and Asia have long sold to other continents a larger volume of commodities than they have purchased from them ; Australia is beginning to do so, but Africa im- ports more than it exports, largely because the foreign com- modities required by the pioneers who are developing that continent still have an excessive value in proportion to African exjjorts. Europe is the center of the largest volume of outgoing commerce, because its manufactures have had centuries of development, and a demand has been created for them in all parts of the world. It is important to create foreign markets for manufactured goods. Those nations tlirive best in trade whose foreign commerce includes a large proportion of manufactures. The percentage of profit on manufactures is much larger than on food stuffs and the raw materials of which goods are made. Raw materials are more readily marketed, and it costs more time and money to develop trade in manufac- tured commodities ; but when this trade is once built up, it is not only more profitable than the trade in raw materials, but is less vulnerable to competition and other influences. Thus the export trade in farm products thrives or languishes according to the climatic conditions both in selling and buying countries. If the sun and rain help the American farmer to gather unusually large crops in any season, the sale of farm products to food-buying countries may be much larger than usual, provided the farmers of those countries have had a poor crop year. These conditions existed in 1898, when the United States exports of breadstuffs were one fourth larger than in 1897, THE UNITED STATES 165 If a country has an agricultural product which is rea- sonably constant in cjuantity, and of which it possesses a practical monopoly, there is not likely to be large fluctua- tions in the sales at home or abroad. This is the case with cotton in the United States and Havana tobacco in Cuba. Nearly a third of the exports from the United States are manufactures (1900). Ten years ago four fifths of the ex- ports were agricultural products ; but machinery and im- proved manufacturing processes enabled this country, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, to compete with the older industrial nations of Europe in the sale of manu- factures. Though this country still pays high wages to la- bor, many of its manufactures are sold as cheap or cheaper than European products, because machinery and skill in using it have increased the productive capacity of American workmen. Taking the producing capacity of the average British workman at 1, that of the Swiss or German work- man is estimated at 1|, and of the American workman at 2^. Superior producing power is thus a vital factor in making this country a great trading nation. The largest markets for American manufactures are in the leading in- dustrial countries, showing that many American products compete with European wares in their own home markets. The foreign trade of the United States is over $2,000,000,- 000 a year. Commodities worth about 8G40,00U come into or pass out of the country on every work day of the year. Two thirds of these commodities are exported from the country, for it sells to foreigners a great deal more than it buys from them (p. 1G7). Xearly one half of the imports are raw materials for our mills and factories, or materials that are partly prepared for manufacturing. A large part of the imports also are such food stulTs as sugar, coffee, and tea, which we produce only in limited quantities if at all. Only a small part of the imports, therefore, consist of lux- uries and general merchandise, and Europe su])plies most of them. The growth of the country as a manufacturing 10() COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY nation is further shown by the fact that the imports from countries which supply chiefly manufactures are decreasing, while they are increasing from countries such as Japan, Argentina, and Brazil that furnish raw materials. World's Commerce (in Million Dollars) Year. Imports. Exports. Totals. 1880 8.565 8.220 9.500 9.545 10.284 7.390 7.203 8.156 8.342 8.900 15 . 955 1885 15.423 1890 17.656 1895 17.887 1897 19.184 World's Commerce by Continents (in Million Dollars) Europe America. 1882. (Imports 6.426 '/E.xports 5.067 (Imports 1,400 '/Exports 1,529 Asia (Imports 603 ( Exports 771 Australia ^^""P^'^' ^28 } Exports 264 Africa 3l'"P«^ts 226 ) Exports 167 Annual Trade of the United States (in Million Dollars) 1891--95. 1871-75. 1881-"85. Imports 578 667 Exports 486 774 872 1891. 1897. 6,783 7,169 5,123 5,415 1,479 1,500 1,671 1.894 773 924 884 962 359 264 335 290 237 425 227 339 ON Dollars) 1898. 1899. 616 799 1,210 1,275 Chief Articles of United States Exports in 1898 (IN Million Dollars) Breadstufifs 318 Cotton 233 Meat and dairy products 175 Iron and manufactures 83 Oils, mineral 53 Animals 41 Lumber and manufactures Copper and manufactures. Tobacco, unmanufactured. Leather and manufactures Cotton goods All other exports 39 35 24 22 20 419 'the united states ]fi u United Kingdom 534 Germany 153 Fi-ance 94 British North America . 79 Netherlands 03 Belgium 47 Italy 23 Other Europe 47 West Indies 20 Mexico 20 Japan 20 Ex- Im- ports, ports. 109 Distribution of United States Commerce in 1898 (in Million Dollars) Ex- Im- ports, ports. Africa 17 7 British Australasia 10 6 Brazil 13 02 China 10 20 Other Asia 14 47 Argentina 6 6 Venezuela 3 8 Other South America. .. 11 17 Central American states. 5 7 Other North America... 2 0.8 Hawaiian Islands 6 17 20 33 32 19 25 Growth of Export Trade in Manufactures (Percentage of Total Exports) 1890. 17 1895. 23 24 1899. 28 1900. 31 CHAPTEE XVII UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA PoKTO Eico — The Terkitory of Hawaii — Guam — TuTuiLA — The Philippine Islands— Cuba Porto Rico is a land of smaU farmers. Four fifths of the population live in the rural districts. The island (Fig. 77), ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898, is about three times as large as Ehode Island. With nearly 1,000,000 in- habitants, it surpasses in density of population all the states, except Ehode Island and Massachusetts. The density of population is more than seven times that of Cuba. The main reasons are that Porto Eico is the most healthful island of the Antilles, and that when it was a colony of Spain that country encouraged settlement by allotting lands gratis, and by exempting colonists from direct taxa- tion. There are alluvial plains near the coasts, but nine tenths of the island is volcanic mountains and limestone foothills. The higher mountains, extending through the center, east and west, condense the moisture-laden trade winds, with the result that the northern part of the island has an abundant rainfall ; the southern part is irrigated in the dry periods. Elvers in the north therefore better serve transportation purposes than in the south ; more of the larger coffee and sugar plantations are in the north, whose ports have therefore the larger commercial movement. The Creoles, Spanish descendants of the better class, live in the towns and control business. The other classes 168 UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 169 are the Gibaros, or white peasantry, the negroes, number- ing only about 50,000, and the Mestizos, or mixed white and black races. Cattle on the hills cost almost nothing to keep. Fruit farms on the lower slopes and in the valleys predominate, but maize, mountain rice, as well as much coffee and to- Jj»*« Road, San Juan to Ponce Fig. -Porto Rico. Playa. accommodating vessels of 25 feet draught, is the port of Ponce, and the best sea- port, but San Juan has the larger commercial movement. It is difficult for ships to enter the narrow harbor of San Juan when a norther blows, San Juan is the capital and largest city. Ponce, the second city, is a busy trading and shipping point. Mayaguez, the third city, is second only to San Juan in coflfee exports, and receives a third of the flour sent to the island. Aguadilla prepares coffee for export and makes rum from molasses. Arecibo is merely an open roadstead, but the Rio Grande makes it a center for receiving and distributing commodities. Fajardo and Arroyo export raw sugar and molasses. Industries, confined mainly to these ports and the inland towns of San German and Naguabo, include the prep- aration of sugar and coffee for market, and the manufacture of tobacco, choco- late (at Mayaguez), soap, matches, brooms, rum, straw hats, and petroleum re- fining (at San .luan). bacco, and other common food crops are raised on small farms. The larger sugar and cotton plantations are mainly on the narrow alluvial plains. The coffee estates are high up on the hills where the crop grows be.st. The finest to- bacco districts are in the mountain region of the interior, and the choicest leaf is grown along the road from Ponce to San Juan, in Ponce and Cuayama provinces. Building and cabinet timbers and dycwoods grow mainly in tlie higher parts of the island. Tlie mineral resources are not 170 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY large. Salt is obtained by eraporating brine at Cabo Rojo, rjuanica, and Coamo, which supply the island. Magnetic iron, near Juncos, is the most valuable mineral resource yet discovered. Gypsum, near Ponce and Juan a Diaz, is im- portant in a land where much plaster is used for stucco, and fertilizers are needed. Most roads are mere paths, but the United States Gov- ernment is remedying this defect. A fine macadam road extends from Ponce to San Juan, and several sections of the railroad, which is to skirt the entire coast, are in operation. Nearly all the important commercial towns are seaports (Fig. 77). By means of the navigable rivers goods are sent from the coast towns and jiroducts taken to them in canoes and flatboats propelled by poling. The agricultural staples being coffee, sugar, tobacco, and fruit, it is obvious that the densely peopled island needs to import large food supplies. Xearly half the im- ports ($10,000,000) is food — mainly rice from the other West Indies, cured fish from Canada, and meat, lard, and flour from the United States. As manufactures are re- stricted, nearly half the imports are cotton cloths, shoes, fancy goods, and household articles, purchased mainly in England, Germany, and the United States. Coal is a con- siderable import, as the island has no coal mines. The ex- ports nearly equal the imports in value, and coffee and raw sugar are the staples of this trade. In 1895 coffee comprised about 60 and sugar 28 per cent of the exports, with tobacco and honey next in importance. A great deal of tobacco is sent to Cuba for manufacture into cigars ; practically all the sugar and molasses and a small part of the coffee come to the United States. The Hawaiian Islands are at the crossroads of trade in the central Pacific. They form a territory of the United States, annexed in 1898, and include eight inhabited islands (Fig. 78). Though the area is nearly twice that of Porto Rico, the population is only about one ninth as large. The group UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 171 is far from all other lands, but its position at the meeting point of trade routes in the central Pacific (Fig. 1) gives it great advantages in frequent and regular steam communi- cations with America, Asia, and Australia. The ship canal ^ NIIllAl>/(! CRATTrkS, iUCWR. COEFEE o c Wuianae Sp! HAWAIIAN ISLANDS ""'^kAOAlIC 1 .0- is^ iV 160 LoDsitude ISO West 158 from 157 Grecnvtich 158 Fig. 78.— Honolulu is an important way station between Anistrnlia and Asia on one Bide and America on the other, being connected by regular .•steamship lines with the three continent.s (Fig. 1). Steamers and sailing vessels ply between Hono- lulu and other island ports, carrying merchandise to the islands and bringing their sugar and other export products to the capital for shipment. Hilo. on Hawaii, is the second port in importance. All the islands have one or more little ports, but none except Honolulu has direct steam communications with America or foreign lands. Kalaupapa and Kalawao, near it, are the leper settlements on Molokai. between the Atlantic and the Pacific will give the islands still larger participation in the world's trade. The islands are conspicuous for higli volcanic moun- tains and fertile plains and valleys. Hawaii has about two thirds of the total area ; but Oahu, which is as large as the Society group, is the most populous and by far the most important commercially, for it attracts settlers and ocean trade on account of the superiority and central position in the group of Honolulu harbor. Maui corresponds in size with the Marquesas group, and tlie island of Hawaii is 172 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY nearly as large as all the other island groups of Polynesia. Thus both the position and size of the group give it a far greater importance than that of any other islands in Poly- nesia. The climate, which is healthful and agreeable, is about ten degrees cooler than any other land in the same lati- tude, owing to the northeast trade winds, which refresh and strengthen animal and plant life. Great quantities of rain fall on the windward side of the mountains, and much less on the leeward side ; but most parts of the islands usually have all the rain required by the crops. Sheep and cattle graze on the mountain sloj^es, and large sugar and rice plantations are on the fertile lower lands. The inhabitants (154,001 in 1900) live mainly along the coast. About one fourth are native Hawaiians, who are rapidly decreasing. About three sevenths are Chinese and Japanese. There are 11,000 Portuguese. The Americans, British, and other European elements are rapidly increas- ing. They control the planting and commercial interests, which are mainly in the hands of settlers from the United States and their descendants. Raw cane sugar is the staple product, the territory be- ing the third largest producer of this commodity (Fig. 45). About 300,000 tons of sugar are produced every year. Xearly all the money not needed in business goes into sugar planting. The plantations are owned by stock companies, and both rich and poor buy the stock, which is nearly all held in the islands. Any cause that lowers the price of sugar makes every one poorer. Rice and bananas are the next largest crops. Coffee planting is still a young industry. Much attention is given to tropical fruits, and the breeding of domestic animals. Continuous cropping, without alter- nation of crops, makes fertilizers necessary, and about 10,000 tons a year are prepared in the islands, in addition to large imports from the United States and Europe. All lumber is imported from the United States, fir, spruce, and UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 173 cedar coming from PugeL Sound, and redwood, oak, ash, and hickory from California. Wearing apparel, dry goods, and tobacco manufactures are large imi:>orts. Bagging is brought from India, coal from Australia, and cement, crockery, tin plate, and some other articles from Europe. About 74 per cent of the imports in 1898 came from the United States, and 11 per cent from Great Britain. Raw sugar is the only export of large importance, comprising over nineteen twentieths of the total. It is sent mainly to California refineries. Honolulu, the capital of the territory, contains one fourth of the population, and is the chief seaport and com- mercial center (Fig. 78). The islands have long been as closely bound to the United States by business relations as Algeria is to France. Xine tenths of the total trade is with the United States, which being only about 2,000 miles from Honolulu, offers reduced freight rates, and therefore cheaper commodities. A reciprocity treaty with the United States gave a great impetus to the development of the isl- ands. Manufactures are the largest imports ; machinery is the largest item. The iron works at Honolulu turn out much sugar machinery, but all farm implements, small locomo- tives for the sugar estate railroads, other rolling stock, liardware, and many other articles are bought in the United States, as are the large imports of groceries and provisions. Guam is the largest island in the Ladrones (Fig. 30). This island was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1808. Its area is about 390 square miles. It produces copra for ex- port, and will be a coaling and cable station. Tutuila has one of the best harbors in the Pacific. It is a volcanic island in tlie Sainoau group, containing less than GO square miles, and came into the possession of the United States in 1899. Pago-Pago, its fine landlocked harbor, is useful as a coaling station, and likely to become a port of call for steamers. Cojira is the largest export pro.duct. 174 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The Philippines are the largest island group of the Malay Archipelago (Fig. TO). Luzou is the fourteenth in size and Miuilauao the sixteenth among the large islands of the Fio. 79. UNITED STATES COLO -VIES AND CUBA 175 world. The group is nearly as large as the New England states, Xew York, and New Jersey. If its northern edge were placed upon the north point of Scotland, its southern edge would touch the toe of Italy. Volcanic mountain ranges are the predominant topo- graphic feature. Most of the valleys are narrow, but where the land widens between the mountains, as in central and northern Luzon and Mindanao, there are comparatively broad, well-watered plains. These plains and the valleys are tillable, but not more than a third of the surface is adapted for agriculture. The climate is tropical, the tem- perature ranging between GO'' and 100^ F. Being an in- sular climate, the night breezes usually afford some relief from the heat of the days. The population, mostly Malayan, is densest in Luzon and the Visayas, or central islands. It is least dense south of the 10th parallel, where the smallest progress has been made. Most of the trade with foreign countries is as yet confined to the islands north of the 10th parallel. The capacity of the people for advancement has been demonstrated. They are closely related by race and char- acter to the Javanese who, under the Dutch regime^ have made their islands one vast garden. The white residents, about 25,000, are Spanish, American, British, and Ger- man. The external trade, except with Spain, has been stimulated chiefly by British, American, and German mer- chants. About 50,000 Chinese in the seaports and other towns engage in many trades, and the wealthier have an important share in the retail, wholesale, and banking busi- nesses. The great agricultural resources are mostly undevel- oped. The methods of tillage are so crude and so much good land is unoccupied that the production may be in- creased over tenfold. The coast lands, plains, and valleys, from north Luzon to south Xegros, produce large quanti- ties of Manila hemp (p. 103), raw sugar, tobacco, cocoanuts, 176 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and copra. These are the chief articles of export. Manila hemp, which is in great demand, comprises about one third of the exports. The islands have a monopoly of the cul- ture, and the development of hemp raising is one of the brightest prospects. The United States and Great Britain take nearly all the crop. Eaw cane sugar is over one fifth of the exports, but is coarse and brings a low price (com- pare Cuba, p. 179). The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Spain buy most of it. The best tobacco is raised in the wide valley of the Cagayan, in north Luzon, and is shipped to Manila, from Aparri, for manufacture into cigars and cheroots. It holds the place in eastern com- merce that Havana tobacco does in western trade. Most tobacco raised south of Manila is not so fine, and much of it is shipped in leaf to Spain. The cocoa palm attains perfection ; large quantities of copra, the dried kernel of the cocoanut, are sent to Marseilles for soap making. Two crops of rice, the staple food, are raised annually, but the enormous product does not meet the demand and large quantities are imported, mainly from Cochin China. Coffee, pepper, and cotton are raised, but are not yet commercially important. ^S^early all tropical fruits are gr-own. The for- ests are among the finest in the world, growing many of the finest cabinet and dyewoods, as yet little utilized. Minerals are widely distributed (Fig. 79), but this source of wealth is hot yet developed. Manufactures have little development except at Manila, where cigar making is the largest indus- try, and sugar refining, distilling, cotton spinning, and a few other enterprises are established. By far the most important seaports are Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu. Most of the sugar exports from Manila are produced in Luzon, while those of the central islands are shipped largely from Cebu. Manila Bay is one of the finest harbors in the world ; the port occupies a central position between the Asian coasts and the Malay Archipelago, and is destined to be, like Hong-Kong and Singapore, a great ^~ .^«£ei CUTTING FLAX. HARVESTING ilKMP. THE FIBER INDUSTRY. UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 177 collecting and distributing point for the trade of those regions. Telegraph and cable lines to connect all the islands and interior points with the coasts are being built. Tho main ports are connected by cable with Hong-Kong and thus with the world's cable system (Fig. 6). Manila has regular steam connections with Hong-Kong, Singapore, Yokohama, and Australia, and a monthly service to Liver- pool via Barcelona. While the United States has long bought a fourth or more of Philippine exports, its share in the imports has been insignificant, but its new relations with the island are expected to develop a large import trade. The principal imports are cotton cloths, hardware, and machinery. Kus- sian kerosene has thus far competed with the American, article. About two thirds of the total over-sea trade is exports. Cuba is the largest fertile island in America (Fig. 80). About one half of the total area of the West Indies is em- braced in it. Few lands have greater natural commercial advantages. Its coasts, indented to a remarkable degree, provide many excellent harbors. The island does not at- tain great elevation. Its three natural divisions are (1) the western mountains (Sierra de los Organos), on whose southern slopes the best tobacco is raised ; (3) the fertile central plains, interspersed with hills, Avhere most of the sugar cane is grown, giving also pasturage in times of peace to over 8,000,000 cattle ; and (3) the higher eastern moun- tains, with intervening valleys and plateaus, where agricul- ture is most diversified, but the total product is least im- portant. The climate is hotter than that of Porto Rico, liiit for a tropical country it is favorable for the white races, largely because the island is well drained by many streams, except in the Zapata swamp region. More than half the population arc luitive whites of Spanish origin. Many Spanish immigrants live in the 13 178 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY cities and engage in commerce. About one half of the people are negroes or mixed races. Agricul- ture is the main pursuit. Most of the labor in the tobacco fields is white, while that in the sugar-cane fields is black, and not always in ade- quate supply. The staple crops are cane su- gar and tobacco. On the success of these crops de- pends the prosper- ity of the island. Cuba is the largest cane-growing country in normal times, when it produces fifty per cent more raw su- gar than Java, its nearest competi- tor. The pre-em- inence of the isl- and is due to three factors: (1) The fertility of its soil, which produces UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 179 seven crops Avith one planting and without fertilizers ; (2) the use of all modern inventions for improving and cheap- ening the product ; (3) the proximity of the United States, by far the largest cane-sugar market in the world. The best macliinery and methods enable Cuba, Java, and the Hawaiian Islands to produce the best cane sugar (Fig. 45). In Cuba large sugarhouses, equipped with expensive ma- chinery, work the cane of one or more plantations brought to them by light railroads ; the best labor-saving inventions are used for cultivating the cane and for extracting and crystallizing the juices. Sugar and molasses are tliiis pro- duced so cheaply that the crop is profitable, though in the other West Indies the decline in prices has crippled the industry; but much of the sugar plant was destroyed dur- ing the Avar. Tobacco in Cuba is a more stable crop, because its suc- cess depends solely upon the amount of the harvest. It is not affected by competition, because Cuban tobacco, par- ticularly that of the Vuelta Abajo region in the west, has a distinctive aroma that establishes a demand at good prices and places it in a class by itself. The crop is not large, that of the United States, for example, being seven and of Austria-Hungary five times as great. Large quantities of baled leaf are exported mainly to the United States from Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, and Santiago. Xearly two thirds of the entire crop is exported, including nearly 200,- 000,000 cigars a year. CoflEee, once an export crop, has declined under compe- tition with Brazil and Java, but its use has extended and the home supply is supplemented by imports from Porto Rico and elsewhere. The cacao tree thrives best on the eastern uplands where most of the cocoa is produced. Co- coanuts and bananas, raised best in the east, are exported from Gibara and Baracoa. The export timber is cedar for making cigar boxes, and mahogany, both from the forested mountains of the east. Manganese from the southeast is 130 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY exported to Pennsylvania steel works, and prime iron ore for steel making is shipped from Daiquiri to the United States and Europe. Development is retarded by inadequate means of inland transportation. Railroads connect the sugar and tobacco lands of the west with the seaports, and some inland towns of the east with the coasts. Roads are very poor. The Journey from Santiago to Havana is made by sea, for the two largest cities are not connected by rail. Havana, the only large city of the West Indies, has a large part of the Cuban sea trade, including one fifth of the sugar and all the " Havana tobacco " exports. San- tiago, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Matanzas, and smaller ports handle the exports of regions immediately tributary to them, and import provisions and manufactured goods. Cuba's largest trade relations are naturally with its neighbor, the United States. In the four years before the insurrection of 1895 the trade of Cuba with the United States averaged $92,000,000 a year, nearly three times the island's trade with Spain, and eight times its trade with Great Britain, France, and Belgium together. The United States not only buys most of the exports, but also supplies most of the food stuffs that are Cuba's main imports. While sugar and tobacco are the main export staples, honey, wax, hides, and rum are minor exports. From 1891 to 1894 Cuba sold to the United States commodities worth about four times as much as her purchases from this coun- try, Spain supplying Cuba with most of her imports. In 1899 the United States sold products to Cuba worth five sixths as much as its purchases from the island. The largest imports are flour, mainly from the United States, as Cuba raises no cereals, and rice from Europe and the other West Indies. Cuba is the chief customer of the United States in Latin America for enormous quantities of lard, hams, and bacon. Being a Roman Catholic coun- try, a great deal of salt fish is purchased, mainly from Brit- UNITED STATES COLONIES AND CUBA 181 ish America. Producing no coal, the coast towns buy it in large quantities from the United States and Great Britain. Potatoes and maize are other large imports. Cattle are used for draught purposes, fresh beef, dairying, and hides, but domestic beef is not cured, and jerked beef is a large import from South America. Xo textiles are pro- duced, but the imports are small in comparison with the food imports. Builders' hardware, railroad materials, kero- sene, and lumber are other large imports. Annual Trade of Hawah (in Million Dollars) 1891-'95. Imports 5.8 Exports 9.3 1897. 1898. 1899. 8.8 11.6 19.0 16.0 17.3 22.6 CHAPTER XVIII CANADA AND NE"WFOUNDIiANB Canada, the most important colony of Great Britain, is very favorably situated for commerce. With the ocean on three sides, and the Great Lakes on its southern border, the markets of Europe, the United States, and the Orient are very accessible. The Atlantic ports are nearer to north European markets than those of the United States. Thus Montreal, though far inland, is 300 miles nearer to Liver- pool than Xew York, owing to the smaller circumference of the earth's surface in the more northern latitude. All the Gulf of St. Lawrence ports, however, are closed by ice in winter. Montreal's sea traffic during the ice months is through Halifax, X. S., and Portland, Me., with which it is connected by rail. Sydney, Cape Breton, is closed by drift ice for three months ; Halifax, Yarmouth, and Louisburg, in Xova Scotia, and St. John, in Xew Brunswick, are open the year round. Hudson Bay is open four months a year, including the month after the wheat harvest. A railroad may be built from the wheat lands of the central prairies to one of the good harbors at the mouths of the Churchill or Xelson rivers (Fig. 81), thus making a short summer route for grain from Winnipeg to Liverpool. The ports of Victoria, Vancouver, and Xew West- minster, on the Pacific coast, are outlets to the markets of the Orient and Australasia. The northern coast is of no value for commerce on account of the climate, but on the southern border the traffic of the Great Lakes 182 CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 183 tlirough Toron- to, Kingston, Hamilton, and other jiorts is very large. The settled areas comprise forest, plain, and mountain regions (Fig. 81). Forests once covered the entire east- ern half, but millions of acres, cleared of trees, are now devoted to care- ful tillage and extensive graz- ing, so that the chief products of eastern Can- ada are farm crops, fruit, live stock, cheese, butter, timber, and the fish caught along the coast. The prairies and plains extend through the central region from Manitoba to British Co- 184 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY lumbia. ^N'owhere else in Canada can wheat be grown so cheaply as on the prairie lands of Manitoba and in the val- leys of the Qu'Appelle and Saskatchewan ; in the drier regions of southern Assiniboia and Alberta cattle, horses, and sheep are raised on many ranches, and dairying is becoming important. British Columbia is the mountain region. The river valleys and deltas of the southern part are rich farming lands, where cereals and fruits are raised. The widespread forests supply many sawmills, chiefly with conifers, and the fisheries are an important source of wealth, but gold, silver, and coal are the most important resources of this region. The barren lands, extending from northwest Labra- dor nearly to the Mackenzie River, and the frozen Arctic regions have little value except for their minerals. Abun- dant evidence of gold, silver, copper, iron, coal, and other minerals has been found in the barren lands, which will be a subarctic mining province when transportation is sup- plied. The climate is continental (p. 7). It is a land of cold winters and warm summers. East of the Rocky Mountains snow covers the ground from three to five months, but the growing season is long and warm enough to mature crops, and make Canada a great farming country. Even though the winter at Montreal is as cold as at St. Peters- burg, the summer is as warm as in northern Spain. The long summer days ripen maize, which is a staple crop in Ontario and Quebec, though it can not be grown in Eng- land. The lakes and rivers are always full, showing that there is abundant rainfall. The moisture is excessive on the mild Pacific coast, but the Rocky Mountains arrest the rain-bearing winds from the Pacific, so that there are dry belts east of British Columbia. Southern Assiniboia is the driest part of Canada. In the great ranching region of southern Alberta irrigation by means of unf-ailing streams fed by mountain snows has developed agriculture. CANADA AND NEWPODNDLAND 185 Agriculture is the chief industry. Seven tenths of the people are farmers. One fourth of the country is capa- ble of tillage, but more than half of the arable lands will not be utilized for a long time, because they lack popu- lation and means of transportation. Thus the fine wheat lands of western Athabasca, to which the warm chinook winds bring a moderate climate, are a reserve source of wealtli to be used when more accessible regions are fully occuijied. Wheat and flour are the largest food export (p. 194). On- tario and Quebec long produced most of the wheat, but the present center of its cultivation is the prairies of Mani- toba, whose black, loamy soil rests upon a substratum of clay, which keeps the moisture derived from heavy snows within reach of the plant. About half the wheat is grown on these prairies. The export grain is sent by rail and lake routes to Montreal, which ships most of the wheat, maize, and oats sent out of Canada. Fort William, near Port Arthur, on Lake Superior, and Owen Sound, on Georgian Bay (Lake Huron), are the gateways for the ship- ment of the western grain crop ; and, as it is handled chiefly at these ports and in Montreal, very large elevators have been built at these towns. Most of the wheat and flour exports go to the United Kingdom. A great deal of United States wheat goes down the St. Lawrence on the way to Europe, but few breadstuffs are sent into Canada for con- sumption there. Maize and oats are large export crops in the eastern provinces. Oats, barley, and rye, being hardier tlian wheat, thrive north of the wheat belt on the central prairies us well as in Ontario and Qiiebec. The southeastern part of Ontario, nearly surrounded by the Great Lakes, is the garden of Canada, The south- ern counties produce the clioicest fruits, including grapes for wine and table use. More than one third of tlie apples imported by trhe United Kingdom come from tlie orchards of Ontario and Nova Scotia. ISG COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Animal industries are mainly centered in the eastern prov- inces. As Manitoba has grown in wheat production, the farmers of Ontario and the maritime provinces have turned their attention more largely to dairying, wool, and the rais- ing of horses, cattle, and sheep for the British market. Canada supplies about one third of the horses imported into British cities for omnibus, cab, and other traction. Live cattle sent to Great Britain for slaughter are worth about five times as much per annum as the exports of horses (p. 194) ; but Canada has as yet only a small part in the dressed-beef trade, which is so large a feature of ex- ports in the United States, Argentina, and Australasia. While Ontario is the largest cattle grower, the ranches of Alberta, watered by streams from the Eocky Mountains and covered with bunch and buifalo grasses that are nutri- tious, even when sear and yellow in wdnter, are raising thousands of cattle for export or for sale to the new min- ing towns in British Columbia. The export of dressed poultry in cold storage is a growing industry. Thousands of chickens and turkeys from Canada are kept irozen in British cities for weeks before they are consumed. Canada is the largest exporter of cheese in the world (p. 194). Cheese making is carried on mainly in Ontario. Four-fifths of the product of nearly 3,000 factories is sent to Great Britain. These factories have so high a reputa- tion for prime, uniform products, that the United King- dom takes half of its cheese imports from Canada. Cana- dian butter also brings a high price in British markets. The fisheries are among the largest in the world (p. 92). About 70,000 men are employed in them. The most valu- able are those of tlie Atlantic coast. The Labrador current brings to the shallow waters of the coasts and banks billions of algae, that are the food of the cod, mackerel, shad, had- dock, and halibut (Fig. 50). As hundreds of vessels sail from France, the United States, and other countries to share this sea wealth, Canada maintains a fleet of cruisers CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 187 to enforce observance of the three-mile limit and other fishing regulations (p. 83). The lobster fisheries along the coast of Canada and Newfoundland are the most produc- tive in the world. The catch of Xova Scotia, over one fourth of the total product, is mainly Cod, lobsters, and her- ring. Xew Brunswick, the next largest producer, catches more herring than all the rest of Canada and sells most of the product in the United States. On account of our tariff on fish-food preparations the Xew Brunswick herring- are sent to Eastport, Me., where nearly forty factories can them as sardines (p. 86). British Columbia contributes almost one fourth of the fishery products, nearly all salmon, a small species (best for canning) with firm flesh and rich red color. It spawns chiefly in remote lakes near the headwaters of the prin- cipal rivers. It is canned in large quantities on these rivers, and most extensively on the Fraser River. A dif- ferent species of salmon, caught in streams tributary to the St. Lawrence, is identical with the salmon of British rivers. As the lakes and rivers abound in fish, the inland fish- eries are very productive as well as those of the sea. The fisheries of the Great Lakes, consisting mainly of white- fish, trout, herring, sturgeon, bass, and pickerel, chiefly carried on in Lake Huron, yield about one twelfth of the entire product. The total value of the fisheries is about $20,000,000 a year, half of which is exported, mainly cod, salmon, lobster, and herring. Great Britain and the United States buy three fourths of the exports, but canned salmon is sent to many countries, and large quantities of cured cod to Roman Catholic lands and, most of all, to the West Indies. The Atlantic coast fisheries have the advantage of easier access to the British, Xew York, and Boston markets, and also to ice supplies, which are essential in tlie shipment of fresh fish; but the pursuit of lialibut, cod, and herring 183 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY along the Pacific coast is greatly facilitated by the com- paratively smooth water there. Canada is one of the largest producers of furs (p. 88). This business, excepting sealskins, is monopolized by the Hudson Bay Company, with headquarters at Winnipeg. The hunters and trappers of the company, many of them Indians, are scattered all over the northern forests and waste lands. Edmonton is the chief center for the dis- patch of hunting and trapping parties. The furs and skins, baled at Winnipeg, are most of them sent up the Eed River into the United States for export.* Pelagic seal- ing (killing seal at sea while on their way to or from their breeding grounds) was long carried on by British Colum- bian sealers with great profit. In this way 44,086 skins were taken in 1894. As the industry threatened the exter- mination of the fur seal, pelagic sealing was prohibited by the United States and Great Britain. Canada has a larger forest area than any other lumber-pro- ducing country (p. 114). The subarctic forest belt, 200 to 300 miles wide, stretching across the continent from Lab- rador to Alaska, contains enormous quantities of spruce and poplar adapted for wood pulp. This forest belt can not be utilized till railroads reach it. In the east, the sub- arctic forest merges into the region of pines, spruce, poplar, and hardwoods that make Ontario, Quebec, and Xew Brunswick the largest sources of lumber and pulp wood in the country. Xew Brunswick, whose most valuable woods are pine, hemlock, and maple, is more completely a lumber province than any other, but the largest lumber product comes from Ontario. Ottawa, drawing its supplies of red and white *The chief product in 1894 was: Beaver, 46.779; otter. 7.455; mink, 51,163; marten. 108.997: lynx, 12,81.3 (78,555 in 1888); bear. 9.173; musk rat. 648,687. The yield has been decreasing owing to reckless hunting. The otter, yielding one of the most valuable of furs, is nearly exterminated. CANADA AXD NEWFOUNDLAND 189 pine from the regions west, north, and east of it, is the greatest center of lumber manufactories. Millions of logs, floated down the Ottawa and other rivers, are turned into lumber in the sawmills at Chaudiere Falls, near the city. The product is sent by river and canal to Montreal, or by rail to the Great Lakes. Deseronto, on Lake Ontario, is the second largest center of lumber making in the province. Oak, maple, elm, and other hardwoods are important in the lumber output of Quebec, and the city of Quebec is the largest center of the lumber trade in that province. Hem- lock forests and cattle growing on widespread pasture lands have made leather tanning an important industry at Quebec and Fredericton, X. B. The paper mills of ^'ew York and Maine draw considerable supplies of wood pulp and pulp wood from the spruce-growing provinces. The coniferous forests of British Columbia are of vast extent. Eighty-five per cent of the output from the mills is Douglas fir, a tough, strong timber well suited for masts and building purposes. Canada exports three fifths of her forest products. Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Xew Brunswick send the larger part of their lumber exports to the United Kingdom, but nearly all the exports of Ontario cross the Great Lakes into the United States. Xo other countries buy important quantities. Gold is the largest mineral product. Canada has become fifth among the gold-producing countries since 1897, owing to the large mining development on the Yukon and in British Columbia (Fig. G8). The placer-gold yield of the Klondike (Yukon) increased from $2,500,000 in 1897 to $16,000,000 in 1899, when it produced three fourths of Canada's output. The British Columbia fields are largely grouped along the Fraser and Colum1)ia Rivers, particularly in the Cariboo district of the north and the Kootenai sec- tion of the southeast. Gold mining has also come into prominence near Lake of the ^^'oods in West Ontario and 190 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY in Nova Scotia. A great deal of gold bullion is exported to the United States and Great Britain. Coal is the second largest mineral product. The value of the output in 1899 was over $9,000,000 (Fig. 57). Coal outcrops (bituminous) are found along the shores both of the Atlantic and Pacific, and coal measures underlie large areas of the interior plains ; but mining is carried on only where transportation is at hand, as at Xanaimo and Comox, on Vancouver Island, and on the Queen Charlotte Islands, these British Columbia mines supplying nearly half the output ; and at Lethbridge, in Alberta, reached by a branch road from the Canadian Pacific, coal from which is exported to mining centers in Montana. The Xova Scotia fields along the north side of the peninsula, and those on Cape Breton Island, near Sydney, produce excellent steam coal, which is of great advantage to the shipping. Anthracite of good quality has been found in Alberta, near the Rocky Mountains, and in the Queen Charlotte Islands. The presence of easily mined iron ore in Xova Scotia, at Belle Isle, X. F., and in some coast districts of Quebec, near abundant supplies of coal and limestone, is developing iron industries at Xew Glasgow, Truro, and Londonderry, X. S., Sydney, C. B., and some other points (Fig. 81). The government pays a bounty on every ton of pig iron produced. Xearly half the world's supply of nickel comes from the Sudbury district in Ontario (p. 136). A sufficient quan- tity has been located there to supply the world for a cen- tury at the present rate of production. The largest copper deposits are in the neighborhood of Sudbury ; rich copper ores, have long been mined near Algoma, on the north- east shores of Lake Huron. Xative copper, such as has been so profitably mined in the Keweenaw Peninsula (p. 129), is found along the Canadian shores of Lake Supe- rior and also in various parts of British Columbia. The mines among the gold fields of Rossland (Fig. 81) pro- CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND 191 duce three fourths of all the copper mined in Canada, making British Columbia the largest exporter. The larg- est development of Canada's vast mineral resources will be in the future. Ontario and Quebec are foremost in manufactures. Al- though Canada is mainly a producer of raw materials, manufactures have made large progress in the past twenty-five years, protected as they are by high tariff duties. Industries suffer to some extent (1) from the fact that the United States pays higher wages and thus attracts many of the best workmen, and (2) because the populac^ tion is still too small to make a large home demand. Still Canada exports many articles, as agricultural imple- ments, cheap cottons, woolens and clothing, leather, shoes, cutlery, beer, refined sugar, and, most of all, lumber and other forest products. Nearly all manufactures are grow- ing, except the building of Avooden ships — once a great in- dustry in Xew Brunswick — which has declined with the in- troduction of iron and steel for shij) building. Only the coarser kinds of textiles are made. Most of the manufac- tures exported go to the United States, Newfoundland, and the West Indies ; but Great Britain is the largest market for Canadian leather.* Commerce is promoted by a great inland waterway. From the Strait of Belle Isle, where steamers from the At- lantic enter the coastal waters, the distance to the head of navigation in Lake Superior is 3,384 miles. The Gulf, St. Lawrence and other rivers, and the lakes afford an almost unbroken waterway. Canada has expended 180,000,000 in * The largest center of manufaftures is Montreal, which produces refined sugar, leather and rubber goods, textiles, steel and ironwares, cigars, and many other articles. Quebec, near the largest leather-tan- ning districts, makes boots and shoes. Ottawa is prei^mincnt for lum- ber. Kingston has cotton and woolen mills, and locomotive and car works. Toronto, Hamilton, and Windsor (opposite Detroit) are also large manufacturing centers. 192 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY constructing and improving canals along the St. Lawrence, where rapids impede navigation. Vessels drawing four- teen feet may now travel from Chicago or Duluth to Eu- ropean ports ; but larger vessels on the Great Lakes take cargoes to the foot of Lake Erie, at the Welland Canal, where they are transferred to canal boats for Montreal, meeting ocean steamers at that point. The Saskatche- wan, flowing to Hudson Bay, and the Mackenzie, empty- ing into the Arctic Ocean, afford 4,000 miles of navigable waterways in the far interior of the country. The Riche- lieu Canal to Lake Champlain f»om Montreal opens a water route to the Hudson River. Steamship lines con- nect Montreal with Liverpool, Belfast, Aberdeen, and New- castle.* A network of railroads connects Canada with the United States at many points. The Canadian Pacific rail- road, completed in 1885, is the most direct route among American transcontinental lines for the trade between Europe and the Orient. Lines of Pacific steamers sail from Vancouver to Japan, China, and Australia. Most of Canada's trade is with Great Britain and the United States (p. 193). Her trade with each country is nearly the same in amount, but very different in kind. We do not require many of Canada's raw materials, while the United Kingdom is a great market for them. Logs and lumber are the largest export to this country ; metals, coal, fish, and furs are also important. On the other hand, the United States manufactures a great many commodities that Canada needs. It pays her merchants to buy them in spite of a preferential tariff in favor of Great Britain, by Avhich the duties on British goods are one third less than those on imports from other countries. Thus Canada pur- chases many more commodities, mainly manufactures, from * About 7,000 sailing vessels and steamers, with a uet tonnage of over 700,000 tons, are owned in Canada, CANADA AND NEWFOUNDLAND I93 the United States than from Great Britain ; and sells many more commodities, mainly food stuUs, to Great Britain than to the United States. Canada buys from the United States nearly twice the value of the goods she sells to this country. She sells to Great Britain about three times the value of goods she buys from her. Newfoundland is a British colony distinct from Canada. Tlie basis of its industrial support is catching and curing fish. There is much good farming land in the west of the island and also in the valleys, but the surrounding sea is so rich in fish and seals that agriculture is neglected. Most of the population engage in cod, herring, and lobster fisheries or in killing the hair seal for its oil and skin, of which leather is made. Besides cured fish, the people produce cod-liver oil, glue from fisli skins, and fertilizers from fish offal. Dried codfish, sent to the West Indies and the southern countries of Europe and America, is half the exports. Lobster canning also is a large industry. The imports, chiefly food and clothing, come from Can- ada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. St. John's, the capital, on a fine landlocked harbor, is wholly devoted to the fishing trade. STATISTICS FOR CANADA Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1871-'75. 1881-"85. 1891-'95. 1898. Exports 82.5 96.0 113.5 164.1 Imports 117.5 116.5 122.0 1^50.7 Trade with Leauixo Countries in lb98 (in Million Dollars) Ex- lin- jMjrts. ports. Germuny 1.8 5.6 France. 1.0 3.9 (!hiiia iiiid .lai)aii 2.3 r.cljriiiin 1.3 Ex- Im- ports, ports. Great Britain 105.0 32.5 United Stales 45. 7 78. 7 West Indies 3.0 1.2 Newfoundland 1.5 .... South America .... 0.8 .... 13 194 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Leading Imports and Exports in 1898 (in Million Dollars) Jmjmrts Iron iind steel and manufac- tures 16.4 Coal and coke Woolens Sugar Cottons Tea and coffee Silk and manufactures Raw wool 9.4 8.0 5.6 5.0 2.7 2.6 1.9 Total 130.7 Exjwrts Wood and manufactures. . . 27.7 Wheat and flour 22. 7 Cheese 17.5 Fish Cattle Gold and other minerals. . Coal Leather and manufactures 10.7 8.7 11.1 3.3 1.6 Total 164.1 Average Annual Trade of Newfoundland (in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1890-'95. I 1881-"83. 1890-'95. Exports 7.8 6.7 | Imports 8.1 7.0 CHAPTER XIX THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND The position of the TJnited Kingdom gives it exceptional advantages for foreign trade (Fig. 1). Lociited ut the cen- ter of the northern or hind hemisphere, within easy reach of the densely peopled conntries of continental Europe and with good markets on all sides, it is splendidly situated for the conflict between the great commercial nations for supremacy. As it lies far north, the sunlight needed for crops continues up to seventeen hours a day in the chief growing months ; while the persistent Avesterly winds blow- ing over a warm sea (anti-trades, Fig. 8) give the kingdom a temperate climate with abundant moisture. The United States and Canada, separated from it by the narrow part of the Atlantic, are its largest sources of food supply, and among the best markets for its manufactures. Wliile the kingdom has only about 40,000,000 inhabitants, the British empire comprises nearly one fourth of the world's popu- lation, England's vast colonial possessions being of great advantage in ])roni()ting tr;ide (])]i. oO, 31). England has the advantage of the equable sea climate (p. 7). This is most favorable for all its industries. The western highlands have a marked eifect upon the climate, for they condense a large part of tlie vapor that tlie wet anti-trades bring to the land, so that the average rainfall at Plymouth in the west is forty inches while at London in tlie east is twenty-four inches a year ; but although the high- 195 19C) COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY lands receive the larger amount of rainfall, that of the plain suffices for all industrial purposes. Across the plain impor- tant rivers flow gently eastward toward continental Europe with currents so slow that they are easily navigated and do not clog their estuaries with sand hars. These rivers, which have thus given rise to the great ports of the east coast, carry a large amount of commerce. The highlands of the west of England produce the larger part of the manufactures ; the level southeastern part of the country is the great agricultural tract. The higher lands are in the north and west, and the lower lands in the east and south. The sterile Scottish Highlands are the least pro- ductive areas, the poor soil and cold climate rendering agri- culture almost impossible ; many sheejD, however, graze in the valleys where the scanty population lives ; here, too, large forest districts are maintained as game preserves by men of wealth. The fertile Lowlands of Scotland, with their fields of oats and root crops, and a rich supply of coal yielded by their carboniferous strata, have attained large manufacturing importance. The highlands of west England, extending south of the Scottish Lowlands from near Berwick on the east coast to the English ChanueLat Exeter (Fig. 82), yield tin, iron, slate, lead, and copper, and most of the coal and salt. The larger part of the numufac- tures, except in the Leeds and Birmingham districts, are produced near the sea among these highlands. The whole of England east of the highlands — that is, the entire east and south of England — is a plain quite uniform in surface except where diversified by low chalk or limestone hills, a region of rich grass, wheat, and barley. Ireland has highlands grouped along the coast, yielding granite, copj)er and other minerals ; and a large central plain, with rich grasses, many lakes, and bogs that yield peat used for fuel. The plain is a region of grazing and root crops, particularly the jiotato, upon which the Irish rely so largely for food that the failure of the crop in 1846 GREAT BRITAIN AXD IRELAND 197 Fig. 82.— The railroad system radiates from London in all directions to other ports or indiii^trial centers ; these in turn are centers of smaller systems of radiating lines ; so that the country is covered with a network of railroad.-, all lar^'c towns being connected with all the others hy one or more lines. resulted in severe famine. The country is so poor in coal that its main reliance is a^ricultuve and .'ion. Oats flourish better in the eool. moist regions of the west and north. Pastures and root crops for stock raising cover large areas. Hops for beer "making are grown mainly in the south of p:ngland. Compare Fig. H5 with Fig. Wi to trace the relations between the distribution of the manufacturing industries and of the coal fields. 202 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the home industry is constantly decreasing (Fig. 85). The imports have grown 70 per cent, in a quarter of a century. Three fifths of the import wheat and flour come from the United States, a third of it as flour ; one fifth comes from Russia, and one thirteenth from Canada. Oats holds the first place in acreage, but is also largely imported from the United States, Eussia, and Canada. ^laize, which is also of large importance in animal feeding, does not mature in the country, hence the entire supjjly is imported from our corn belt, mainly through Xew York and Xew Orleans. Of barley, a flourishing crop is supplied to the breweries and distilleries of Burton, Strathmore, and other regions, but large quantities are imported from Russia, Anatolia, and the United States. Rice is brought from Burma and Bengal. Domestic animals supply only a part of the demand for meat and dairy products. ]\Iany millions of dollars are expended every year in the purchase of foreign meat, which is brought in alive, or in the form of dressed carcasses, or as preserved meat. The richest meadows are in Ireland and west England, where rainfall is largest ; so the most cattle, in proportion to area, are found in these regions, though they are widely distributed, being least numerous in Scot- land. In Ireland, where there are comparatively few large towns, more attention is paid to exporting butter to Eng- land than to selling milk, while England sells more and more milk and draws larger and larger supplies of butter, mainly from Denmark, but also from Holland, France, and even from Australia and Canada. English cheeses are among the finest in the world, but many are im- ported (p. 186). Breeds of large^' cattle, raised ever}'- where for beef, are stall-fed for the market. Live cattle and beef products come mainly frOm the United States, Canada, and Argentina. Sheep are raised most exten- sively in the drier east, the country being noted both for the variety of excellent wools, and also for the superior mutton which it produces. Frozen mutton, selling at a GREAT BRITAIN AXD IRELAND 203 loTrer price than the home-grown article, is imported in enormous quantities from Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. Hogs, raised all over the country, are also in insufficient supi3ly, and hams and bacon, from this coun- try and to some extent from Denmark, are very important food supplies. The country is the largest importer of poultry and eggs in the world.* Many European countries send ponltry, even Italy contributing chickens and turkeys, while important supplies come from Canada. Many fishery products are exported and few are imported (Fig.85). Over 100,000 men are engaged in the fishing indus- tries, fish being the only food product yielded by the country in adequate snpply. The sea fisheries are more valuable than those of any other country except the United States (p. 92). They extend all aronnd the coasts and throughout the North Sea (Fig. 51). All the coast towns are fishing ports, but some of them are specially important (Fig. 82), as Hull, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Grimsby, and Harwich on the east coast, and D artmou th on the south coast, from which fleets of sail and steam trawlers and other fishing vessels are sent. Many of these vessels have tanks in which the fish are kept alive till the vessels return, or the fish are transferred to fast vessels which take them to port, whence tliey are distributed by special trains to all the large cities. Haddock, cod, herring, and mackerel are most important ; trawlers have developed a large market for the sole, flounder, and other flat fish. The cod is sought on the Dogger Bank in winter and on the east side of the North Sea in summer ; not a few Bntish vessels also visit the cod- fishing grounds of Iceland. Herring is the great staple of the Scottish fisheries, but in winter the herring fislieries extend as far south as the English Channel, where also * In 1899, 1,920,000,000 eggs were imported. Most of the siipi)ly comes from Russia. Many Danish eggs, exported tlu-ough eo-ojicrative societies, are marked on the shell with a stamp so tliat the persons supplying them may be identified if the article is inferior. 204 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY mackerel fisliing is very important. The English fisheries being nearer to the great markets than those of Scotland are much more valuable in the home trade. The herring is the great fish of exjiort, about 110,000,000 worth a year being pickled and sent to the Greek and Koman Catholic countries of Europe. The home supply of all kinds is so abundant that the imports are small, except canned and frozen salmon, and lobsters from Canada ; oysters from the United States' and France ; sardines from France and Portugal, and anchovies from Italy and Norway. Flax and wool are the only fibers produced in the country. The cultivation of llax is mainly confined to the north of Ireland, supplying much of the material for the large linen industries of that island ; the home supply, however, is quite inadequate, and about 80,000 tons a year are imported from the Baltic countries, chiefly Eussia, and 20,000 tons of a finer quality from the south of Belgium (p. 102). A great deal of wool is grown, but much more is manufac- tured, nearly .350,000,000 pounds being imported every year to supply the deficiency. The main import is from tlie downs of Australia, the Canterbury plains of Xew Zealand, and the semiarid plains of Cape Colony. South African wool is less in demand, because the manufacturer has to pay the cost of cleaning ; for this reason, also, little wool is imported from Argentina. Altliough the country does not raise enough wool for her own needs, large quantities are sold to other lands. Cotton, hemp, jute, silk, and some other fibers are all of foreign origin. Great Britain consumes nearly two fifth.s of the world's supply of raw cotton, most of which comes from the United States (p. 105). The delta of the Xile also sends much Egyptian cotton from Alexandria, the Deccan of India from Bombay, Cyprus and Anatolia from Smyrna ; and Brazil, shipping from Eio de Janeiro and Pernambuco, also sends important supplies. Cotton is the largest im- port except breadstuffs. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 205 With the growth of the cotton and woolen industries silk manufactures have declined in imjiortance. The silk mills, however, annually work up about $10,000,000 worth of raw and thrown silk, imported mainly from France, China, and India. Jute, shipped from Calcutta to the amount of about 350,000 tons, supplies the factories of Dundee, Scotland, and the neighboring towns, which nearly monopolize the industry. Hemp is brought from Eussia and Germany, and a great deal of cordage is made in towns all round the coasts, where the shipping is the largest purchaser. Nearly all the timber is imported. The native hardwoods have been so far depleted as to count for little in the lumber supply.* The timber imports are exceeded in value only by the breadstuffs, meat, cotton, and wool. Pine and other building lumber are mainly imported from Xorway, Sweden, Eussia, Canada, and the United States ; Germany and Amer- ica supply oak, walnut, and maple. Mahogany, mainly from Africa and British Honduras, is the largest import of fur- niture woods. A great deal of oak for wagons is imported, and expensive rosewood and other tropical hardwoods for cabinet purposes. Canada and Scandinavia send large quantities of wood pulp for paper making. '" Coal, iron ore, and limestone occur near together. These essentials for producing iron and driving machinery made the kingdom a great manufacturing nation. The country mines all kinds of coal, sells about one sixth of the output to other countries, and uses the rest for manufacturing and domestic purposes. Each coal field has special lines of manufactures closely associated with it (Fig. 80). Iron ore is turned into jiig iron from south Scotland to south Wales, the largest center of the trade being the Cleveland district * ]\IullialI pivcs llie value of the timber .'inniuilly foiismiied in Europe, as .fOf) 1, 250,000 ; Unitetl States, $-'587,000,000. This aulliority says that j^old and timber are almost the only articles that have not declined in value in the past fifteen years. 206 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY (Durham-Xorthumberland coal field), which produces 3,000,- 000 tons of pig iron and 1,250,000 tons of steel a year. The second largest source of pig iron lies mainly between the Cumberland and Lan- cashire coal fields, and Fig. 86.— The Clyde coal field (1) is the center of the largest shipbuilding in the world, of locomotives, machinery, and all kinds of iron work, and of textile raaniifactures. Coal is exported to St. Petersburg, the Mediterranean, and the facto- ries of Belfast and north Ire- land ; (2) much of the coal is used to smelt iron ore in Fur- ness and to supj)ly north Ire- land ; (3) large quantities are shipped to London and to many parts of the world, and also used in the great iron in- dustries of Newcastle, Sunder- land, and other cities ; (4) very little exported, as nearly all is consumed in the textile, ma- chinery, and chemical works of south Lancashire, or sold to steamers sailing from Liver- pool and Manchester ; (.5) sup- plies the woolen district of Leeds and Bradford, the iron works of Sheflield, the lace, underwear, and hosiery facto- ries of Nottingham, and the surplus is sent to London ; (6) supplies fuel for the great cen- ter of iron manufactures in the Birmingham region, steam power for the pottery district, and sends much coal to London ; (7) smelts many ores, including some that are imported, as copper from Chile, and red hematite (steel-making ore) from Spain ; also exports coal through Cardiff to all parts of the world ; (8) supplies the west of England woolen-manufacturing centers. is the only important center of the superior hematite ores, which are the best for steel making. The iron region, in the Staffordshire coal field, received the name of the Black Country owing to the numerous forges and puddling fur- jy^ ^W^ RKTTTSW I ^ BRITISH COALFIELDS GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 207 naces in many towns before steel superseded wrought iron. British ore is not so rich in iron as that of our Lake Supe- rior mines or those of Spain and Sweden, and the supply has so far diminished that large quantities are now imported, mainly the black iron ore from Sweden and the hematite of Spain. Most of these large imports are smelted in south Wales, the chief seat of the Bessemer steel industry. The growing expense of iron mining, the need for large imports, of "ore, and high freight charges in Great Britain are among the reasons why United States pig iron and steel have recently been sold in British markets in com- petition with the home products. The tin mines of Corn- wall and Devon are the largest European sources of this metal (Fig. 66), but larger imports from the Malay peninsula are also required. Little copper is pro- duced, but large quantities are imported from the United States, Australia, and Chile for the elec- trical industries. Enormous quan- tities of gold, silver, lead, zinc, mercury, and other metals and mineralsare imported. The coun- try abounds in limestone, sand- stone, granite, and other building stones, slate for roofing, clay for brick making, and China clay (de- cayed granites) which is sent to the Staffordshire potteries (Fig. 87). Cotton spinning and weaving are the largest industries (Fig. 88). More than half of the en- tire exports consist of cotton, woolen, and other textiles. About 5,000,000 persons depend for their livelihood upon tjiesc industries. They are centered mainly in Lancashire, where the moist climate is peculiarly adapted for spinning. Fir;. 87.— Tlic lic-!i(lvv!iter!< of Mic Trent are known as the dis- trict of the potteries. The shaded areas show the loca- tion of the clays from which most of the china ware that England exports in large quan- tities is made. Much clay is also sent from other parts of the country. 208 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY South Scotland produces chiefly cotton thread at the Pais- ley works. Cotton yarn and cloth are sent to all parts of the world, but chiefly to the warmer countries where light- er weights are in demand, the value of the exports being more than that of the total woolen, iron, and steel exports. The cotton cloth these mills sell to other countries every year would extend ten times between the earth and the moon. About two thirds of the woolen products are consumed at home (Fig. 88). Large quantities of fine English woolen and worsted goods, flannels, and blankets are sent to the Fig. 88. — Cotton and woolen distkicts. Manchester is the great cotton market and distributing center, but manufactnres very little. The larger part of the cotton textile districts are in south Lancashire. Spinning cotton yarn engages many thousands of operatives in Oldham. Black- burn. Bolton. Preston. Burnley, Rochdale, and Stockport. The largest weaving centers are Preston and Burnley, on the north of the Lancashire coal field, the finer goods being made at Preston and coarser fabrics at Burnley. The machinery nsed in the cotton mills is made on the Lancashire coal field at Oldham. Rochdale. Bury, and Manchester. Leeds and Bradford are the main centers of the woolen trade, and with the large towns near them make most of the woolen fabrics. The industry is largely specialized. Leeds and Huddersfield produce broadcloth ; Halifax, flannel, rugs, and carpets : Bradford, alpaca, mohair, and woolen damasks. Woolen machinery is made at Bradford. Leeds and Barnsley are larsre producers of linen, drawing their fiber from the flax fields of Yorkshire and Russia. Coventry. Macclesfield, and other towns south of the cotton and woolen districts are the most important centers of silk weaving. Liverpool and Manches- ter, with its ship canal (p. 43>. are the ports of the cotton and woolen districts. cooler parts of the world, mainly north Europe, Xorth America, Australia, and Argentina. Our high tariff on im- ported woolens has reduced the trade with the United States. A great deal of Scottish wool is made into cheviots and GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 209 tweeds. Kidderminster and Wilton are famous for carpets and Leicester for hosiery.* Metal working is, after textiles, the most important indus- try. Great Britain is conspicuous for tlie quantity, excel- lence, and cheapness of its metal manufactures, but in recent years it has suffered from American and German competition, not a few iron and steel products from the United States being now sold even in British markets. The main center of iron and steel manufactures is in south Staffordshire, where all kinds of metal goods are turned out, from the railroad iron of the Birmingham district to the hardware of many small towns. On the Yorkshire-Derby- shire coal field the iron industries center around Sheffield, famous for its cutlery and tools ; here all forms of iron and steel, including machinery, are produced. Leeds, on the north edge of this coal field, also produces many iron goods. The great works on the Durham-Xorthumherland coal field produce railroad plants, guns, and other articles. About 1,000,000 tons of pig iron are exported every year. Railroad material, from rails to locomotives, is sent to many countries. Tin plate, a large_product of south Wales, has lost much importance in the export trade owing to the develoj)- ment of the industry in the United States (p. 127). The export of metals and their manufactures to all j^arts of the world is nearly one fourth the total exports. No other country builds so many ships, in some years more than 1,000,000 tons of ships, mostly steam vessels, being launched from the great shipyards at Belfast and on the rivers Clyde, Wear, Tees, and Tyne. Many foreign orders for ships are filled in British yards. f * About half the exports of the fine linen floods of Belfast, Leeds, and other centers are sent to the United States. Tlie exports of silk poods are much smaller than the imports, manufactured silks being the only textile for which Great Britain is dependent to a large extent upon other countries. The exports of jute piece goods from Dundee and Gl.ns£jow is large. f Among other important manufactures are the chemical indus- 14 210 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Railroads are the chief means of internal transport (Fig. 82). " Excellent wagon roads connect the farms with rail- road stations. Though there are many canals and most of the rivers have been canalized, the carriage of freight by inland waterways is not so prevalent as in Belgium, Ger- many, and France. Besides the artificial ship canal to Manchester (p. 43), the lower parts of the Thames, Clyde, and Tyne may be regarded as great ship canals leading to ports some distance inland. They are kept deep enough to permit the passage of the largest vessels. The coast trade between the various ports is very important. A large part of the world's trade is carried in British ves- sels (p. 48). The country is connected by steamships with all the important ports of other lands. The tonnage in the foreign trade entering and clearing at British ports every year is about 90,000,000 tons, of which only one ninth is sailing vessels. Seven out of every ten vessels entering the ports fly the British flag. Her pre-eminence on the sea adds much to the wealth of Great Britain, for it enables her to be a large freight and passenger carrier for other lands, and most of all for the United States. Three fifths of the British ocean trade, according to value, centers in London and Liverpool, where many docks have been built to accom- modate sea commerce (Fig. 89). tries, producing aniline dyes, sulphuric acid, glass, soap, and other articles. The leather industries employ nearly 500,000 persons. Shoe- making is a great industry in Staffordshire, Leicestershire, and London. The country-imports large quantities of leather and hides; leather and its manufactures, particularly boots, shoes, and saddlery, are sent abroad in large quantities. The manufacture of paper, with its prin- cipal centers in Maidstone, Manchester, and Bath, is noted for the quantity and quality of the product, but the demand is so great that much more paper is imported than exported. Beer is brewed most largely in London, Edinburgh. Dublin, and at Burton-on-Trent. whose neighboring hop fields and suitable water has made it celebrated for its product, which is exported to many parts of the world. Scotland and Ireland produce most of the whisky. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 211 Most of the imports are foodstuffs and materials for manu- facture ; most of the exports are manufactures. One half of the British imports come from the colonies and the United States. Britons have become so dependent upon other people for foodstuffs that more than one third of all they buy abroad is food. In 1899 they spent r foreign food, raw materials, and manufactures I5G.76 jc^er capifa,whic\i more per head of the pop- lation than the United States, France, and Germany spent ether. The cotton, foodstuffs, and other things this country sells to Great Brit- ain are one fourth of her total pur- chases. No other countries are so closely bound to- gether by the mag- nitude of their commercial rela- tions. Enghuid has a large trade in goods imported for re-exportation — a very })rofita])le business for ship- owners. Great Britain has a larger part in the world's trade than any other nation. It is the greatest market for food supplies and raw man- ufacturing materials sold by other countries. It is the largest source of manufactured commodities bought by other countries. Its bills for food and raw materials are Fig. 89. — Most of the London docks surround water basins connected by channels with tlie Thames. In- coming vessels are moored at tlie import doclvs on which their cargoes are unloaded ; they then receive cari,'oes from the export docl<8 on the other side of them. Trains and trucks move down the middle of the docks, unloading e.xjxirt freight on one side of the tracks and loading w ith imports on tlie other. 212 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY constantly increasing, and it must pay for its enormous purchases with the products of its mills. Because most of the things it buys are the necessities of life (food) and the necessities of industries (raw materials) it is a free-trade country, less than a score of articles being subject to duties. The trade of the United States with Great Brit- ain is larger than with all the rest of the world, being 57 per cent of our total foreign commerce ; 33 per cent of Great Britain's foreign trade is with this country. Great Britain long held the highest rank among indus- trial nations. It is now surpassed, in value of manufac- tures produced, only by the United States. The United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and France acquired great industrial ascendancy after steam power was applied to manufacturing, because they mined most of the coal and iron, controlled good and cheap labor, and were most favorably situated in respect of large capital and facilities for transportation and commerce. The United States, having acquired similar advantages, now competes with the older industrial centers in the purchase of raw mate- rials and the value of its industrial products. STATISTICS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM Mean Annual Value, 1896-'98, of Leading Imports (in Million Dollars) Grain and flour 265.4 Cotton, raw 171.0 Wool 121.4 Dead meat 136.8 Sugar, raw and refined .... 85.9 Butter and margarine 91 .0 Wood and timber 108. 9 Silk manufactures 83 . 7 Flax, hemp, and jute 45.3 Tea 52.3 Wool manufactures and yarn 57. 3 Animals (for food) 53.7 Oils 40.7 Chemicals, dyestuffs, etc.. . . 30.4 Seeds 30.8 Fruits and hops 36.5 Eggs 21.7 Coffee 18.1 Tobacco 20.5 Currants and raisins 9.5 Leather, dressed hides, etc.. . 38.4 Wine 31.7 Cheese 26.3 Copper ore and manufactures 29.6 Iron ore and manufactures. . 53.6 Lead 10.7 Tin 8.8 Zinc and manufactures 8.7 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 213 Mean Annual Value, 1896-'98, of Leading Exports of Home Produce (in Million Dollars) Cotton manufactures 330.4 Woolen and worsted manu- factures 105 . 1 Linen manufactures 28.5 Jute manufactures 12.9 Apparel and haberdasliery. . 32.3 Iron and steel 118.7 Hardware and cutlery 10.4 Copper 13.1 Machinery 86 . 1 Coal, etc." 83.2 Chemicals 42.2 Foreign Trade in 1898 (in Million Dollars) * United States. France India Im- ports. 630.3 257. 137.3 Ex- ports. 73.6 68.5 148.6 Australasia 144.3 105.6 Germany 142.7 112.6 Holland 142.7 43.1 Belgium 107.7 44.0 British North America 103.8 30.8 Russia 97.5 46.1 South and East Africa 30 . 9 62 . 3 Spain 65.9 14.2 Denmark 58.5 16.7 Sweden 48.7 20.0 Argentina 38.9 27.9 Egypt 44.3 22.1 Turkey 24.4 30.6 Brazil 23.0 31.0 Italy 16.7 28.2 Norway 24.9 12.2 Im- Ex- ports. ports. China 13.3 5.8 25.2 Japan 24.6 Portugal 17.2 7.6 Chile 18.2 12.9 5.7 8.5 Rumania 6.7 Austria-Hungary. . 8.4 Greece 7.2 2.0 5.7 Java 9.6 Peru 7.7 4.0 Philippine Islands. 7.5 1.0 Mexico 1.3 5.9 8.8 Central America . . 2.8 Ecuador 1.3 1.6 Total British pos- sessions 497.2 417.1 Total foreign countries 1,854.7 749.7 Grand total. . 2,351.91,166.8 The monetary standard is gold, with the pound sterling (value $4.8Gf) as the unit of coinage. Mo^t weights and measures as in the United States. Cwt. (hundredweight) = 113 pounds; quartern 8.253 bushels; quarter (coal in London)=36 bushels; stone=14 pounds. * These tables give special trade only. Special trade is tlie import of articles for home consumption and exports of native raw or manu- factured [iroducts. General trade includes the total trade, or in other words, both the special and the forwarding trade. Most statistics in tills book are of the special trade. CHAPTEE XX GERMANY No other country is in such close touch with so many great commercial nations. Germany is the most central country of Europe, adjoining Eussia on the east, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland on the south, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands on the west, and Denmark on the north, while the British markets are accessible by a day's journey from German ports on the N^orth Sea. The soutl^ern half is highland, and the northern half low plain, the country sloping toward the north. In the extreme south are the Alps and the high plateaus of the Alpine foreland, witli the least genial climate and tlie smallest variety of vegetation. Between the Danube and south Prussia are the Central High Plains, the most fertile part of Germany except the Ehine and some other valleys. Xearly all of Prussia, half of the empire, is a sandy plain made highly productive only by the most scientific agriculture. The continental climate prevails in the east, where the average temperature, therefore, is considerably lower tlian in the west. The westerly winds from the Atlantic (Fig. 8) give western Germany a mild climate in winter, while un- broken frost prevails in the east. South Germany derives no climatic advantage from its more southerly position on account of its high elevation. The rainfall is everywhere abundant. The North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts extend for 1,200 miles (Fig. 90). The coast waters are shallow, and tliere are few harbors except at the mouths of rivers or some dis- 214 GERMANY 215 tance inland, where the river currents have worn deep channels. Hamburg is the third largest port in the world (Fig. 91), being surpassed only by London and Xew York. With a movement of 14,000,000 tons a year, it is the lead- FiG. 90.— The Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula (Weichsel), all with large pea- ports at or near their mouths, carry on steamboilts an enomjous amount of com- merce derived not only from their valleys, but also from many canalized tributa- ries and canals. The most western and the largest commerce carrier is the Rhine, which neither begins nor ends in Germany. Observe that the parts of these rivers navigable for large boats extend entirely across the empire or far into it. The North Sea ports are open all the year round, but the Baltic jiorts are frozen over in winter : Llibeck and Stettin, however, are kept open by ice breakers. C'u.v- haven is the outport of Hamburg and Bremerhaven of Bremen. Kiel and Wil- helmshaven are naval ports. The population is most dense on the coal and iron fields, where industries are most active, and in the fertile Rhine valley, which is crowded with manufacturing towns. It is least den.se in the low-lying agricul- tural and stock-raising regions of Prussia and in some of the mountain districts. ing port of continental Europe. At high tide the largest vessels ascend the Elbe sixty miles to tlie port, where freight is transferred from steamsliips to Elbe boats that carry it nearly to Prague in Bohemia (Fig. 90). Ham- burg handles nearly one half of the exterior commerce. 21 r> COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Bremen, fifty miles up the Weser, is the nearest port to the Atlantic, but on account of the shallow approach much of its business is done at Bremerhaven. Hamburg and Bremen gained their sujjremacy on account of their position in front of the peninsula of Jutland, Avhich, before the building of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal (Fig. 25), intercepted entrance Fig. 91.— Tue fkee port of Hamburg. Two thousand five htiiulred acres of land and water in the harbor form the free port. Free ports serve in part the same purpose that our bonded warehouses do. Goods may be sent to bonded warehouses and forwarded later in bond to their destina- tion in a foreign country without paying duties. In the same way goods sent to the free ports of Germany and Denmark do not come under the supervision of the customs laws. But if they are taken from the fr-ee port for consumption in the country to which the free port belongs, they must pay duties. The free ports are Hamburg. Bremen. Cu.xhaven, and Danzig iu Germany, and Copenhagen in Den- mark. Hamburg's navigation and the industrial activity of its suburb, Altona, are closely reluted. into the Baltic and made these river ports the natural place for unloading merchandise consigned to German ports from all parts of the world. Stettin, on the Oder, the nearest port to Berlin, has good water communications nearly to the Austrian frontier.* * Danzig and Konigsberg are large outlets for the cereals of north- east Prussia, and import much tea from Russia. Liibeck receives a great deal of petroleum from Russia, lumber and grain from Russia GERMANY 2lY German rivers and canals have large economic importance (Fig. 90). The length of waterways in France is greater than in Germany, bufa double the tonnage is transported by boat in the latter country. At many points along the rivers and canals, manufactured products of neighboring mills are shipped to sea ports, and large quantities of for- eign goods are distributed through the interior by river vessels and canal boats. The fleets of the Elbe and the rivers and canals tributary to it, for instance, nourish both Hamburg commerce and the interior industries. Xearly one half of the Elbe traffic toward Hamburg is sugar. Heavy wooden boats have been replaced on the canals by steel lighters of large tonnage and small draught. All the large rivers are connected with one another, and also with the water systems of France, Belgium, and the jSTeth- erlands, by canals, so that freight on tlie Vistula, for ex- ample, may be carried by internal waterways to Paris, Antwerp, and Eotterdam. The Danube has through trade with Xorth Germany by means of the Ludwig Canal, con- necting it with the Main-Rhine. Less than half of the population live on the farms. Sev- enty years ago four fifths of the inhabitants were farmers. UNPRODUCTIVE.^ ARABLE LAND 48.4 HAY AND PASTURE 20.3 FOREST 25. 7 Pig. 92. — Subdivisions op the soil in Germany. Few countries so fully utilize the resources of the soil as Germany. The small area of unproductive lands is mainly marsh and the highest elevations. but Germany has become more a manufacturing than an agricultural country. All avaihible land is used for tillage and pasture (Fig. 92), but, like Great Britain, the country and Scandinavia, and sends inaniifacluros to tlie same countries. Stet- tin hrinf^s in large quantities of t,n-ain and timber from north Russia, ami herring from the north Euro|)ean fi.sheries. Its largest export is sugar. 218 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY can not raise tlie foodstuffs required. 'The best soil and climate for farming purposes are in the Rhine valley. Rye, the most important grain, because so large a part of the people eat rye bread, and potatoes, the largest food resource of the peasantry, are grown all over the sandy plain. Ger- many raises more potatoes than any other country, and has ■■^-y'' ''^^i.J^"\: I ^.1 Wine to?^ Tobacco mm Hops ^^^^'Flax SCALE OF MILES Fig. 93. a small surplus for export. The rye harvest is twice as large as the wheat crop ; most of the wheat and barley are raised on the highlands of the southwest. Oats is a very large crop in most parts of the empire. The warm, sunny climate of the southwest is particularly favorable for wine, hops, and tobacco * (Fig. 93). One eighth of the bread- * The light wines of the Rhine and Moselle, which flows into the Rhine at Koblenz, are celebrated, but the exports are small compared with the imports, chiefly from Prance. Tobacco growing is important, but the country, consuming about four pounds per capita a year, im- GERMANY 219 stuffs is imported, Russia supplying most of the rye, while Eussia, Rumania, and Argentina compete with the United States in furnishing wheat and flour. Over $50,000,000 a year is expended for these supplies. About one fourth of the world's sugar is German beet sugar (Fig. 94). The sugar beet is the largest industrial staple of the empire. The industry is encouraged by sugar boun- ties. As the Germans are small consumers (using only one third as much sugar per ccqnta as the people of Great Britain and the United States) more than half the crop, refined or raw, is exported. A considerable amount of the raw product is refined in the United States. The sugar beet and potato are sold largely to distillers in the north- east of Germany for the manufacture of spirits. Pasturage is scattered all over the country (Fig. 94). Only Russia has a larger number of cattle. Large quanti- ties of dairy products are exported. As a moist climate and wet soil favor the growth of grass, cattle and horse raising is the leading industry in Schleswig-Holstein and on the marshy lands of the North Sea coast. The high plains of the southwest also are rich in meadows, and raise fine cattle. The best saddle horses come from northeast Prussia ; the industry is specially encouraged by the Gov- ernment on account of its need for cavalry horses. Sheep have greatly decreased (nearly 0,000,000 in ten years) owing to the decline in the price of wool and the conversion of pastures into plowed lands to raise food for the rapidly growing industrial towns.* Very large wool imports (about ports from the Unitpd States far more thaii it raises. Tlie liops of Bavaria, of superior quality, have |;^iven Bavariau heer its lii;,di repute. Flax and hemp are large imports from Russia, as the home supply for linen and cordage is insufficient. * The finest wool raised in Saxony and Silesia is manufactured in the mills at Chemnitz, Gorlitz, Breslau, and other wool centers. Jjarge flocks are now found only DISTRIAL KM.IO>. S'^AUE OF M LES 10 lo 51 Predominating Mi till Induat Predominating Textile Induniriea Chief Centra of Coat Mining. 7^|30^ Fig. 95.— At Essen are the Krupp iron and steel works, the largest in the world, employing over 40,000 men and producing cast steel, railroad iron, cannon, and many other articles. Many of the towns on this map hw\'e now ten times their population of fifty years ago, owing to the concentration in them of metal indus- tries. Renisclieid and Solingen are renowned for side arms and cutlery. Iserlohn is famous for its needle factories ; many other towns have their special products. Dortmund is a great shipping point for coal. Duisburg is the shipping point for coal on Rhine boats. The double city of Barmen-Elberfeld, known as " the Gennan Manchester," is one of the largest cotton-manufacturing centers of Europe. The region between Krefeld and Neuss is the center of the Gennan silk and ribbon industry, and Kre- feld has properly been called "the German Lyons"; its trade has recently lan- guished owing to the decline of exports to the United States. cities, are sold in many countries. Russia is the largest buyer of German machines. Textile products are second in importance. Fibers are imported in large quantities, and, next to (ireat Britain, Germany is our best customer for raw cotton, which is tlie leading textile product. Cotton is distributed from Rhine / 224 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY boats to spinning and weaving centers along the river from Elberfeld, Cologne, and Diisseldorf (Rhineland-Westpha- lia, Fig. 95) to Miilhansen (Alsace, Fig. 96), the great cot- NORTH SEA H U N G A R T BAItBOADS IS GERMAM 1: 13,500,000 SCALE OF MILES Fig. 96.— Berlin is the center of the fine railroad system, which extends to the most remote parts of the empire. Freight is carried at cheap rates, and thus the rail" roads have had a large part in industrial development. The three classes of rail- roads are (1) the imperial railroads, such as those of Alsace-Lorraine, owned and managed by the imperial government : (2) the state railroads, controlled by Pnis- sia. Saxony, Bavaria, aiid other states ; and (3) private railroads, owned by incor- porated companies like those of the United States and Great Britain. The state roads are most important, and those of Prussia include about one half of the mileage of the empire. ton center of south Germany. The third cotton group is in Saxony (Fig. 94), with Chemnitz and Zwickau as the most active centers. German cottons are exported all over the world, with Central and South America as the largest purchasers. The woolen mills are mainly centered at Chemnitz, Liegnitz, and Gurlitz, near the fine wools of Saxony and GERMANY 225 Silesia, aud at Aix-la-Chapelle in the Rhine province, which receives a great deal of foreign wool. Chemnitz is famous for its hosiery, underwear, and sliawls ; while the output of woolens is not so valuable as that of cottons, the exports are larger. All the great trading nations, as well as the Rio de la Plata countries, are large purchasers. Bielefeld, in west Prussia, and Ilirschberg, in Silesia, are the most important centers of the linen industry. The silk industry is mostly confined to the Krefeld district (Fig. 95). Much jute is imported from Bengal for manufacture into various fabrics. Germany ranks next to Great Britain in shipbuilding. Its ocean vessels visit all points of the world, and carry most of the German trade (p. 48). The shipyards at Stet- tin, Hamburg, Danzig, and Kiel turn out many vessels, some of them among the largest and swiftest afloat, though twenty-five years ago the country depended chiefly upon British shipyards for its merchant marine.* [^ Railroads are numerous and freights are cheap (Fig. 96). Railroad and water transportation sujiplement, instead of rivaling, one another. Witliout this splendid development * Chemical industries have their higliest development in Germany ; hirge quantities of aniline dyes and otlier chomicid pix'parations are exported, most of them to the United States. The inaking of leather and leather goods employs 600,000 [)ersons ; there are large imports of hides from America and India. Germany strikingly illustrates the fact that the location of indus- tries is determined to a great extent by the proximity of the raw prod- ucts rcfjuired. Thus distilleries are most numerous near the rye and potato fields of north Germany ; beer brewing, an enormous industry, is most important in the hop and l)arley lands of Bavaria; lumber, wood carving, and wooden toy making, among the forests of tlie south ; cheese making, in south Bavaria, Scthleswig-IIolstcin and along the lower rthinc, rich in cattle; potteries, near the clay deposits at I\Ieiss(!n, where "Dresden ware" is produced; al.s(j in the Thuringian Wakl, and other places; and glass works, in the mountain I'egions of Bavaria and at the foot of the Iliesengebirge in Silesia. 15 2-^0 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY of highways the present industrial success could not have been achieved. Tlie main and branch railroads are most numerous in the iron and textile regions of Ehineland- Westphalia, Saxony, and Silesia. The great cities are the meeting points of lines coming from all directions.* Germany exports manufactured articles and imports food and raw materials. Its foreign trade is over $2,000,000,000 a year, about the same as that of the United States. Its largest trade is with the United Kingdom ; the United States holds the second place, followed by Austria-Hun- gary, Russia, and France. No machinery is bought unless it is better in quality or cheaper in price than can be pro- duced at home ; thus the imports of metal goods and machinery are comparatively small as compared with ex- * Berlin, the capital, tlie largest city and the center of inland com- merce, is engaged in all branches of industry, and is one of the leading money markets of the world ; Elbing is the most eastern manufacturing city of large impiortanec ; Poscn has distilling and brewing interests and machine sho])s; at IJreslau the industrial products of the west are exchanged for the raw products of the east ; Dresden, with manifold industries, is especially noted for artistic furniture, metal products, nuichinery, and jiaper; Leipzig, one of the largest commercial cities, is the center of the book and fur trades ; Magdeburg, Brunswick, and Hanover, in the largest sugar-beet region, are the chief centers of sugar refining, and have large textile and other interests; Kassel is a large trading point, where the railroads from the North Sea ports meet tliose from Dresden and southwest Germany ; Frankfort on the Main is one of the chief money centers of Europe; Nuremberg, at the convergence of several valleys, is a railroad center of south Gernuxny and the chief manufacturing city of Bavaria; Munich, leading the country in beer production, is the largest grain market in the south ; Augsburg has cotton mills, and is, after Munich, the chief commercial center of Bavaria: Stuttgart has large numufactiires.and is the main center of south German trade; Strassbiirg has iron, machinery, and leather maiuifaetures; Mannheim, at the head of steamer navigation on the Rhine, im[)orts grain and cotton from America, coal from the lower Rhine, and exports south German products; Cologne, the chief Rliinc city, the central point of Rhine navigation, is famous for the manu- facture of eau de Cologne. I GERMANY 227 ports. The total exports arc about three fourths as large as the imports. The commodities it buys from the United States are worth over twice as much as those it sells to this country. It takes from our cotton states every year 140,000,000 worth of raw cotton, and also purchases enor- mous quantities of maize, wlieat, oats, meats, copper, petro- leum, lumber, and oil cake. The trade policy is that of protection. The Zollverein (Customs League) applying to Germany and Luxemburg, covers the whole empire except the free ports. Germany has become a great commercial country since the war with France in 1870-71. One eli'ect of that struggle was to consolidate the rival German states into an empire, resulting in a fusion not only of political but also of economic interests. The new nation has advanced with wonderful rapidity in industrial development and in sea- carrying capacity, rivaling all other traders, in every market, by the excellence and cheapness of its manufactures. STATISTICS FOR GERMANY Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1872-75. 1881-"85. ISOl-'OS. I'M). Imports 985.0 785.0 1,064.5 J,;J88.8 Exports 623.5 790.0 800.5 1,084.3 Trade with Principal Countries, 1899 (in Million Dcm.lars) E.\- Im- E.X- ports. ports, ports. 89.8 I'.fl-^imn 58.5 49.3 203.(5 NethL'rlaiids 48. ;J 77.9 110.9 Italy 46.8 37.6 104.0 Argentina . 46.3 13.4 51.7 Switzerland 41.9 67.7 Im- ports. I ■ lilted Stales 215.9 Great |{ritain 184.9 Aiislria-llinii^ary. . . 17;i.8 Russisi 107.0 l^^rance and Ali^^cu'i; 73.1 Gold standard, with tlie mark (value 2;31t cents) as the unit of ('oiuage. Metric weights and measures. CHAPTER XXI FRANCE France fronts both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean (Fig. 1). The large ports of Enghmd are only a few hours' sail from the northern shores of the country; the Xorth Sea gives speedy access to all north Europe ; the Atlantic "routes to South American and African ports are shorter than those of England, Germany, and the Netherlands; and the Mediterranean gives superior facilities for trade with north Africa, the Levant, and all Eastern countries. Only Spain, among European lands, shares with France the advantage of being bordered by two great commercial seas. Half the country is lowland and half is highland. A line, 530 miles long, drawn from Bayonne in the southwest to the Ardeimes in the northeast (Fig. 97) roughly divides the rolling plains west of it, which are less than GOO feet above sea level, from the highlands to the east; Most of the mineral and metal industries are in the highlands ; most of the general manufactures are scattered over the plain. Tlie climate is temperate, the warm, moist winds from the west bringing abundant rain. There are few good harbors. A large part of the coast line is un})roken l)y important inlets ; most of the harbors, therefore, are river ports like Havre, Eouen, Xantes, and Bordeaux, or artificial harbors like Cherbourg, which, by costly breakwaters, has been made one of the finest arti- ficial harbors in the world. The most important harbors are Marseilles, Havre, Bordeaux, and Dunkirk. 228 230 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPnY Marseilles is the leading port (Fig. 97). With a move- ment of 8,000,000 tons :i year, it controls the French trade with Mediterranean countries and the Orient, is the inlet for the grain of the Black Sea and Algeria, and, as the port of Lyons, receives raw silk from the far East. Xo other port rivals Marseilles in the quantities of olive, palm, ground nut, cotton seed, and other vegetable oils or oil- seeds brought in ; it is also one of the largest coffee mar- kets of tlie world. The commerce of Marseilles naturally shapes tlie city's leading industries, such as soap and oil factories, flour mills, and sugar refineries. Havre, at the mouth of the Seine, is the second port. It is strictly a forwarding port, in other words, nearly all it receives is sent inland or to sea, very little being retained, as the city produces little except machinery and sliips. Raw products have the first place in its imports (Fig. 97) ; as the port of Paris and of the great manufacturing dis- tricts of the north, its exports include many articles of novelty and luxury, as well as wares for ordinary use. Its movement is 4,000,000 tons ; its most important traffic, out- side of European ports, being with America.* France is less favored with navigable waters than Ger- many. The Seine is the most important river (Fig. 98). It is navigable by river boats beyond Paris. The Loire and Gironde are subject to great variation in level; the lower * Bordeaux, on tlie Gironde, has tlio disadvantage of a shallow- approach. It is the chief wine port, being near the red-wine district ot Bordeaux, which supplies more exports than any other region. Dun- kirk (uioveracnt 1,800,000 tons) is favorably situated for bringing in raw materials for the great manufacturing towns of the north ; its imjiorls are eight times as large as its exports. Rouen formerly depended upon Havre as its port, but the deepening of the Seine has made the city important for grain, cotton, and other imports. Nantes and St. Nazairo are ports of less importa,nce. Cette imports wine to mix wit li Frencii vintages. Clierbourg and Brest are n.aval stations. Calais, Boulogne, and Dieppe trader with North Sea ports, but are mainly im])orlant in the passenger trade witii England. FRANC R 231 Rhone is scarcely navigable, though the Saone and Donbs, its upper tributaries, carry much commerce. Nevertheless the coal, lumber, agricultural products, and other heavy C. f*^ FRANCE !nt<^rior Navigation ^flead of Itiver Naidgrttum Uajoane s > \J^" NarlwiimJ Fn;. 98.— ( )bscrvi; tlie canals connecting caslorn and western river systems, tluis pro- viding water higliways across France to Relgiiim and Germany ; tlic watiTways from St. Male and Brest to the Loire and from the (Jiroiule to lli<' Meiliterranean. freight carried on the rivers and canals amount to inauy million toiis a year. Half the coal used in Paris is brouglit by Avatcr ; the water carriage to and from that city exfceds the tonnage of Marseilles. A quarter of Franco's internal trade is carried on the waterways. Agriculture is the greatest industry (Fig. 00). II. ill' of the ;>0,()()(),()00 inhabitants earn their living on farms. 'J'lu'r(^ are as many farms in France as in the United (States (over 232 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY 5,000,000), and, as France is smaller than Texas, the farms are small, averaging only fifteen to seventeen acres each.* ARABLE LAND 52.4 HAY AND PASTURE 11.3 FOREST IS. 3 UNPRODUCTIVE Fig. 90.— Subilivi.sions of the soil in France. As the people prefer wheat bread, the consumption of rye per capita is far less than in Germany and Enssia.f Bread and cheap wine are the food and drink of the masses^ meat being too expensive for daily use. The result is that grain fields cover one fourth of France, and wheat is worth more than all the other cereals together (Fig. 100). Though France is one of the largest wheat-growing countries (Fig. 3G), the demand exceeds the supply; about 33,000,000 bushels are purchased every year from America and Russia. Little flour is ini2)orted, as mills grind wheat in many cities. J Oats is the second most important cereal. Rye and barley are raised on the 2:)oorer soils of the coast and among the highlands ; maize, requiring more heat than wheat, grows only in the soi;th. All cereals are imported in large quantities ; little is exported except wheat flour and alimen- tary pastes. The sugar beet is the most important industrial plant (Fig. 100). It is grown exclusively on the rich plains of * The land is also divided among small owners in other countries of Europe, except in Great Britain, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Russia, where large estates predominate. f In 1860 rye Viread was the staple food of the peasantry, who soon after began to discard rye for wheat. The wheat-eaters of the world were estimated at 371.000,000 in 1871 and 516,000,000 in 1898. Every great railroad opened adds to the number of wheat-eaters. X The manufacture from wheat flour of alimentary pastes, such as macaroni, vermicelli, etc.. which oi-iginated in Italy, is now a constantly glowing industry also in France, Germany, Switzerland, and some other countries. The French output is about 170,000,000 pounds per year. FRANCE 233 the extreme north, where about 500 factories, working night and day, make the raw sngar that is sent to the refineries of Paris, Lille, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Havre (Fig. 44). Many small distilleries on farms also use the beet in the production of alcohol. A great deal of sugar is exported, particularly to the United Kingdom. Tobacco (Fig. 100) is raised in but twenty-five depart- ments, as the Government forbids its cultivation in all dis- H-Uoraea C-CallU Ug-Hoga ulli'i- / SLSA -p T . P JSu &ujar beet K'K, "1 "!' ^^^ TT tncco I Ills, v .e^ ^^ a '4 *^ Fig. 100/— Agriculture and animal raising. tricts which fall below a certain quantity. The Ciovorn- ment has a monopoly of the production, manufacture, and sale of tobacco, oVer $60,000,000 being annually added to the state revenue^ from this source.* * Tlifi result isTRTtt-tabaoco is nowliero so expensive as in France; ,ill coiiiitries of nortli Europe largely exceed France in per capi/a con- sunijition. The Government nlso nionoiuilizes llie niainifncture and sale of matches, which yield a profit to the state of over $5,000,000 a year. 234 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Hops, grown chiefly in the north and east, supply the brewing industry, which is most active there. Flax and hemp cover a large area, but the imports from Belgium and Russia are large. Among vegetables, the potato is most valuable, the crop being about half as large as that of Germany. France is the greatest wine-growing country (Fig. 101). Wine is the national beverage (p. 69) ; over 1,700,000,000 Fig. 101.— Wine and pishehies. Till' shaded nrcnn are the wine-growing regions. The le.ading fislicry ports are sliown l)y dots of various sizes, according to relative inii)ortanco. gallons were produced in 1000. The climate and soil gave France supremacy in this industry till the phylloxera (]882-'92) ravaged the vines and reduced the crop below that of Italy. By graftitig upon stock imported from America, France has overcome this terrible pest and re- suuicd the first place in production. Wine is imported FRANCE 235 from south European countries and Algeria to mix with the cheap wines of France. The exports are mainly cham- pagne and the red and white wines of other districts, the two greatest centers of export wines being Champagne and Bordeaux. Exports and imports are each about $50,000,- 000 a year. Exports are sent to all north European coun- tries, America, and the Orient. England, which produces no wine, is by far the largest foreign consumer of cliam- pagne. Enormous quantities of cider in the northwest and beer in the northeast are also manufactured ; Charente is the great brandy-producing district. Cattle breeding is the most important animal industry (Fig. 100). Cattle graze in grassy meadows all over the great plain, the industry being particularly active near large markets for beef and dairy products. The northwest produces the best butter, sending large quantities to Lon- don and Paris. Normandy is at the head of cheese mak- ing ; Camembert and Noufcliatel, among Normandy's cheeses, are well known in foreign markets, also Brie, a product of the northeast. The famous Roquefort, made in south France of ewes' milk, is cured in deep rock collars by methods handed down through many generations. Breton, Percheron, and Flemish horses are well-known draft varieties. Nearly all tlie horses are rais'ed north of the Cironde, while mule-raising is a large industry hv- tween the Loire and the Pyrenees. Sheep (Fig. 100) producing superior wool and other breeds highly esteemed for mutton have decreased, owing largely to the widening of plowed lands at the expense of pasturage ; as a result, great quantities of wool are imported from the Rio de la Plata countries and Australia to mix with home wools. The best donicstic i]])or is reserved for tlie finest [jrodiu^ts of I'^rciieh looms. Compared with otlier leading iiatious of Euro])e, France has small exten\al trade in animals ;ind their products, except in the import ol" r.iw wdol and silk and 23r) COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the export of their manufactures and of poultry and eggs. Enormous quantities of eggs are sent abroad, mainly to England. France has high rank among flshiii^ countries (p. 0-2). This is due mainly to the extent of the cod fisheries and the assiduous cultivation of the oyster. Fig. 101 shows the nature of the sea fisheries and the leading fishing ports. The Atlantic fisheries are chiefly north of the mouth of the Gironde ; numerous oyster beds are planted in the Bay of Biscay and east of St. Malo in the English Channel. French oysters, inferior to the American prod- uct, are eaten in France only on the half shell. Canned .sardines are sent all over the world; fish, too, are eaten extensively in the country, which, being Roman Catholic, abstains from flesh many days in the year, requiring a large and constant supply of fish. French rivers, wliich had be- come almost destitute of fish, have been stocked with much American fry. Erance is deficient in building timbers. Wood is the principal fuel for domestic purposes, but there is not enough of the kinds of timber required for buildings and furniture ; ever-increasing quantities of lumber from north Europe and of cabinet woods from the tropics are im- ported. France is one of the large producers of coal (Ilg. 58). Her production, however, both of coal and iron is small compared with that of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. A third of the coal used is imported from England, Belgium, and Germany. Three fifths of the home supply is taken from the French-Belgian field in the extreme north (Fig. 97). The sheep districts of the north- east and the wool imported at Dunkirk make this region — from Eoubaix, near Lille, to Eeims — the great center of the woolen industry. Here also are large iron and machinery industries, but the iron must be brought to the coal from Belgium, Luxenibxirg, Germany, and Spain. The second FRANCE 237 largest sources of coal are the areas around Le Creuzot and St. Etienne, the only regions in France where coal and iron are found together. Many smaller coal mines in the west and center nourish the industries around them. The richest deposits of iron are near the German frontier, south of the Ardennes. Particularly around Chavigny and neighboring Nancy nine tenths of the iron ore produced in France is raised. Most of the iron and steel is made in the regions around Lille, Nancy, and Le Creuzot (Figs. 61 and G5). St. Etienne is noted for its superior steel. The cost of transport being high, manufacturers who are compelled to bring coal from a distance are at a disadvantage. The richest salt mines (rock salt) are near Nancy ; two thirds of the salt is obtained, however, from salt marshes along the flat coasts from the Loire to the Gironde and from Cet^e_to Marseilles. France excels in the quality of her manufactures. In quantity she is far surpassed by the United States, (ireat- Britain, and Germany. While factories and sliops are scat-^ tered all over the country, the principal industrial centers- are situated in the north, in tlio southeast and in the. Paris district (Fig. 07). The most numerous iron and steel works are on the rich coal field of the north (Fig. 07). Fives and other suburbs of Lille produce locomotives and much machinery. Most of the cast and wrought iron and steel are produced at Fives- Lille, around Nancy, and at Lc Creuzot, the latter being the seat of the largest metallurgic industries of Franco, rivaling Essen in Germany and Seraing in Belgium. A large part of the rails and locomotives used on French rail- roads and numy cannon come from its rolling mills, shops, and foundries. Maj'seilles' great importance in iron and steel working is due to the ease with which she gets coal by water from St. Etienne and iron ore from Algeria and Sardinia. The cast iron aud steel of Bordeaux and otluT towns in the southwest are made nuiinly fr(nn Spanish ore. 238 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Few metal goods are imported ; the exports are not one third as great as those of woolens or silks.* Textiles employing over 1,000,000 persons have the first place. They are mainly found near the coal fields or sources of raw material, and the most distinctive of them is the silk industry. Silkworm culture, carried on since the fourteenth century in southern France where the mulberry thrives, is now chiefly confined to the Ehone valley ; it has greatly declined, owing to the silkworm disease and the competition of raw silk from China, Japan, Italy, and Turkey, so that French silk mills now import nine tenths of the raw silk they consume. 5 Lyons is the greatest silk market and the largest producer of silk broad goods in Europe (Fig. 97), but numy other cities are noted for silk products — as St. Etienne for ribbons, Avignon, near the Rhone delta, for light fabrics. Tours, for hosiery, and Paris, for gauzes and tulles. France once controlled the world's silk markets, but in recent years the large develop- ment of the industry in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain has offered such serious competition that French exports have declined. * Leather working is a great industry, esjieciuUy wlicre tlie most cattle are raised. All the large cities have immense shoe factories, turning out $100,000,000 worth of shoes every year, many of the finest kinds. About a sixth of the output is exported to the Orient and South America. Goat skins sent from north Africa and the Levant are turned into morocco leather ; kid and other gloves, among the best made, are sent everywhere ; perfumery, made chiefly in Paiis and its environs, is widely demanded ; the manufacture of glassware is a not- able industry, and the cut glass of Baccarat is known in all markets. France is distinguished for the good taste, elegance, and finish of her goldsmitliery, bronzes, and other artistic work, but other nations are trying, not without considerable success, to compete with her in this field. Paris is a center of goldsmithery and diamond cutting; the art pottery made at Sevres, near Paris, excels in design and decoration; a large part of the finest porcehiin of France is sold abroad, Tjiinoges. for example, sending to the United States two thirds of its best china ware. FRANCE 230 The largest cotton-manufacturing city is Eonen, in the ]S,'ormandy cotton group ; the next most important region is in the north, with Lille and the neighboring cities of Koubaix and Tourcoing as the principal centers. The eastern group, a little northwest of Lyons, is third in importance. Less than one per cent of the output is exported, most of the exports going to the French colonies. Two thirds of the raw cotton comes from the United States through Havre, and the balance from Egypt, India, Tur- key, and Brazil, mainly through Marseilles. The finest of wool fibers have long been produced by crossing French sheep with the Spanisli merino. France, however, produces scarcely a fourth of tlie wool she manu- factures. The great center of the industry is in the north, where Eoubaix, Tourcoing, and other towns near Lille make one third of the woolen cloths (Fig. 97). Paris, Eeims, and Lyons make shawls. France spins most of her woolen yarns, while Germany imports large quanti- ties for her mills. Woolens are usually the largest of all exports, French woolen cloths everywhere holding their own against competition. Linen is made chiefly at Lille, Eoubaix, and in numy other towns of the north where it is most convenient to import flax from Belgium and Eussia. The expoj-ts are small. Nearly 300,000 persons are emi)loye(l in various cities making laces which are famous in all markets. Point d'Aleuyon is the only Frenc^h lace worked exclusively with tlie needle. Railroads doing the most business converge at Paris. Tliis city, which is both the capital ami the luiart of France, leads the country in comiuerce and politics, and influences the whole world in matters of taste, luxury, and fashion. Eailroads having the largest traffic are those from the chief seaports to the capital, bringing Paris into toucli with steamship lines plying from Marscilh'S to Me- diterranean ports, Australia, and the Orient; I'rojii l>or- 240 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY deaux to AVest Africa and South America ; from St. Nazaire to Vera Cruz and Colon ; from Havre to Xew York and New Orleans ; and from all ports to other European coun- tries.* The merchant marine is the smallest among the four leading nations (p. 48), carrying only a third of the deep- sea trade. Vessels unloading large cargoes at French ports sometimes find it difficult to get full return loads. The principal imports are food and raw materials ; the largest exports are manufactured articles. France imports a great deal more than she exports. Most of her foreign purchases are hulky and heavy commodities, such as coal from England, lumber from Scandinavia, and cereals from the United States. Most of her foreign sales weigh little and are so high in price that they do not compete with plainer goods of the same varieties ; among these goods are fine and costly textiles and innumerable novelties and artistic products known in the trade as articles de Paris. The agricultural specialties — wine, sugar, and cheese — greatly swell the exports. Great Britain has the first place in the foreign trade, but the imports from the United States, mainly cotton, cereals, petroleum, and meats, almost equal in value the coal, metals, foodstuffs, and manufac- tures which France buys from Great Britain. France sells little more to the United States than she does to Algeria, because, first, we now make at home many things formerly purchased in French markets ; and second, the high tariff which this country imposes on silk and woolen goods and * An enormous amount of foreign merchandise, worth over $150,- 000,000 a year, is carried across France on its way to other countries. Most of this freight originates, according to value, in Switzerhmd, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, England, and Sjmin, in the order named. Most of it is destined, according to value, for England, the United States, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, and Italy. It is very profitable for any nation to be a large freight carrier for other coun- tries. BELGIUM 243 imported from the United States and other wheat coun- tries. The sugar beet grows in quantities to allow a large export of sugar. Flax of a supt-rior (|nality is grown in the Valley of the Lys, whose waters, free from lime salts, are 244 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY particularly valuable for retting. Hemp and colza are largely grown in Flanders. Colza is rape, which is raised for its oily seed. Oats is a large croj) in the Ardennes hills, and barley, hay, and pasturage thrive in the low ARABLE LAND 49.1 . . _ HAY AND PASTURE 26 FOREST 16.6 tNPRODuC- Fig. 103. — Subdivisions op the soil in Belgium. Wheat fields occapy a quarter of the arable lands. coastal belt. The potato is almost as much used for food as wheat, and in no part of Europe is larger sj^ace given near the great cities to market gardening and to the rais- ing of flowers. Herds are pastured in most jxirts of the country, the best grazing regions for cattle being in the Campine, a sandy region now restored to fertility by irrigation. Here the finest butter in Belgium is made. Sheep thrive best in the drier eastern and southeastern purt of the country, where, though there are only about 400,000 of them, wool manufactures are most developed. Poultry is raised throughout Belgium, and large quanti- ties of eggs and young fowls are exported to England and to the cities of northern France. Flanders and Brabant (the pi'ovince of which Brussels is the capital) are famous for horses. They make a specialty of breeding fine draft horses, mostly Flemish and Norman, which sell at high prices. Liege is the principal horse market, and the Mon- day sales are often attended by buyers from most of the countries of Europe. Still the imports of horses are larger than the exports, chiefly on account of the importation from England of horses for slaughter, Belgium being one of the countries in which considerable horse meat is eaten. Some thousands of draft horses are usually sent to Belgium every year from the United States. Agriculture is of subordinate importance as compared with mining and manufacturing (Fig. 104). Belgium's mineral BELGIUM 245 resources have made her a large industrial country. Over 20,000,000 tons of coal a year are mined in the rich fields that stretch across the country from France to Germany. About three fourths of the coal is consumed at home, and the rest is exported mainly to France, Avhere it sells at about one fourth higher prices than in Belgium. Fortu- nately, iron is also found in the coal fields of the Meuse Eiver, especially around Xamur and Liege ; but the produc- tion — about 1,000,000 tons a year — is insufficient for the industries of the country. About twice as much iron as Belgium produces is annually imjiorted, most of it from the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. Xear Moresnet, on the eastern edge of Belgium, are some of the richest zinc mines in Europe, yielding annually about 90,000 tons, a great deal of which is exported. Con- siderable quantities of copper and lead are produced near Verviers and Liege. Limestone, sandstone, and slate quar- ries, in the central and southeastern part of the country, yield abundant supplies of building stone, lime, marble, and roofing slate. Belgium produces about 1,000,000 tons of pig iron a year and 600,000 tons of steel, holding the fourth place in Europe as a ^oroducer, after Great Britain, Ger- many, and France. Belgium is pre-eminently a manufacturing country (Fig. 104). It is not only one of the most important, but also one of the oldest industrial states. It has the advantage as an industrial nation of great mineral resources, dense population, skilled labor, and large capital. More than 1,000,000 people, employing the best machinery, are en- gaged in manufacturing pursuits, and a very large part of their product is intended for export. Belgium produces more manufactured goods per cajji/a than any other nation of continental Euroi)e. The metal industries, which are based on tlie produc- lion of coal, iron, steel, lead, and zinc, are of tlie first importance. The principal centers of these industries are 246 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Charleroi, Kamur, and Verviers. Liege, in the center of the mining district of east Belgium, is one of the great manu- facturing cities of the country. It has long heen famous for its firearms, turning out cannon and about 1,000,000 small arms a year, which are sold all over the world. Machinery, glass, and chemicals are also large products of Liege and the neighboring city of Seraing. About one fifth of the entire jiopulation of the country is employed in mining and the working of metals and fibers. The skill and aptitude the workmen have acquired, together with abundance of coal at the doors of the fac- tories, have enabled the Belgians to compote with Great Britain and Germany in marketing industrial products that are both excellent and cheap. Belgium makes most of her own machinery, selling other countries three times as much as is bought from them. Machinery and tools for the working of metals are large products of Charleroi, Mons, and Liege. Ghent makes spinning and weaving machinery ; Dinant is noted for tin and copper wares. All kinds of railroad materials are made in large establishments at Brussels, Liege, Seraing, and Verviers. Liege, Xamur, and Charleroi are pre-eminent for nails and other hardware. The porcelain and glass Avorks are along the coal belt from Jemmapes, with its large crockery industries, to Liege. Belgium, in proportion to population, makes twice as much woolen cloth as France produces. The people of Flanders, in the middle ages, were the greatest woolen-cloth makers in Europe ; but the woolen industries have been transferred to Verviers, Dolhain, Limburg, and the surrounding coun- try, where it is most convenient to collect the home sup- plies of wool. Linen and cotton have largely superseded woolen fabrics in northwestern Belgium. Large supplies of cotton are shipped up the Schelde Kiver to Ghent, which is the chief city of cotton production, though Courtrai and Tournai BELGIUM 247 are also important centers. Belgium makes the finest of cottons, and also, like England and Germany, turns out large quantities of cheap goods for the Congo and other African markets. Ghent holds the first rank in the spin- ning and weaving of flax, and Belgian artisans excel also in the production of fine linens. Brussels, Courtrai, and Bruges are also large linen producers. Mechlin has con- tributed more than any other city to make Belgium famous for its laces, over 150,000 girls and women making lace here and in other towns. Beer is the national beverage ; breweries are therefore numerous, the product of Louvain being particularly es- teemed. Antwerp is the great center of distilleries which employ cereals, beets, and the potato in tlie manufacture of alcoholic liquors. Belgium makes all its sugar, and exports large quantities. Sugar mills are scattered over the coun- try from Hainault to Antwerp, a large part of the product being refined in Antwerp, as it is most conveniently sliipj^ed from that city. Seven eighths of the sea trade passes through the port of Antwerp. At flood tide tlie largest vessels may ascend the Schelde to its wharves. Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges are interior ports, which are being transformed into maritime ports by the deepening of the canal and river from Brus- sels, the Terneuzen canal from Ghent, and tlio canal from Bruges to Zeebrugge on tbo North Sea near Ostend. Bel- gium has practically no mcrcbant marine, British, Dutch, and American steamers making millions of dollars in the Antwerp trade. A network of canals and railroads covers tbe flat coun- try, which, with its sea connections, affords Belgium marked advantages for trade with tbe surrounding countries. A large system of interior navigation has been developed, tlie canals serving not only for freiglit boats, but also to drain the lowlands and to irrigate tbe Oampiue. Tbe Mouse has been canalized as far as the German frontier, and ilie 248 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Scliekle is navigable above Ghent by raeans of locks. Situ- ated between great commercial nations, Belgium does a great forwarding business. In 1898 commodities worth 170,000,000 entered the country on their way to Germany, Switzerland, and other continental countries, and $05,000,- 000 worth of goods passed through Belgium on the way to Great Britain and the United States. Belgium buys foodstuffs and raw materials and sells man- iifactured products. The forest area is inadequate for the production of the lumber required, and consequently the imports are large. Building lumber is one of the most important articles in the Belgian import trade. Sweden and Xorway supply the greater part of it, followed closely by Russia, (Jermany, France, and the United States. The largest imports are cereals, fibers, timber, and chem- icals. A large part of the grain, cotton, and animal })rod- ucts consumed come from America. The leading imports from the United States are wheat, maize, cotton, meats, refined petroleum, drugs, unmanufactured tobacco, and oil cake. Belgium's largest export and import trade is with the neighboring countries — France, Great Britain, and Hol- land, except that tlie imports from the United States are usually larger than from any other country except France. The manufacture of fine furiiiture for export, particularly church furniture, is an important industry of GlienJ>^ The chief exports are yarn, coal, cloths, machinery, iron and steel, raw and refined sugar, glass, zinc, and mineral sub- stances. The United States liuys from Belgium less than half as much as she sells to her, the most important pur- chases being firearms, cement, raw wool, india rubber (from the Congo), glass, and raw beet sugar. Belgium supplies the world Avith most of its ivory, as the Congo Free State, of which the king of the Belgians is sovereign, is the largest source of supply ; Antwerp is the leading ivory market. Manufactures and mining have made Belgium one of the richest countries in Europe. It can consume only a BELGIUM 249 part of its manufactures ; as the prosperity of the country depends upon large foreign markets for its surplus, its merchants have in recent years pushed its trade in fofeign lands with much energy. The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg is a neutral area between Belgium and Germany. It has very rich deposits of iroji and exports much ore to Germany, Belgium, and France. Most of the inhabitants are farmers, vineyards being par- ticularly numerous. The chief industries are iron working and glove manufactures. As a member of the ZoUverein, Luxemburg's trade statistics are included with those of Germany. STATISTICS FOR BELGIUM Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) msi-'sn. Imports o02 . Exports 260.0 Population (1898), 6,009,732. Gold standard, with the franc as tiie Metric weights and measures. 1891-'95. 1899. 326.5 4;J6.2 277.0 ;J7G.2 unit of coinage. CHAPTER XXIII THE NETHERLANDS The Dutch are a trading and cattle-raising nation. They are the best example of a people who have become wealthy by trade, though their manufactux'ing industries are very small. Large colonial jiossessions have widened their field of activity, which is restricted at home, and supplied them with much material for the exercise of their mercantile talents. The Netherlands are the lowest and flattest country in Europe. (The name means " low country " ; it is also called Ilollund, Woodland, the name of the principal province.) About three sevenths of the surface, the land nearest the sea, is at or below the level of the sea. The reclamation of this land is one of the great achievements of human energy. Dikes fifty to sixty feet high have been reared along the coast to keep out the sea, the banks of the rivers have been raised to keep the waters in tlie channels, marshes have been drained, and drifting sands successfully fought. The latest enterprise is to build a dike across the entrance to the Zuider Zee (South Sea) to transform it into a fertile plain. The flat surface and numerous waterways facilitate com- merce. Transport of goods is exceedingly easy, because (1) the country is covered with a network of canals, which serve the triple purpose of affording navigable highways, draining the land, and taking the place of fences around many fields ; (2) the rivers are international and provide 250 THE NETHERLANDS 251 cheap carriage, on the Maas (Meuse in Belgium and France) across Belgium, and on the Rhine to southern Germany ; and (3) the level lands make railroad building easy, though many bridges are required. Smooth brick wagon roads cover the country, where, a century ago, there was not a rod of good highway. The winds, unimpeded by highlands, are a source of power. In no country is wind energy so largely utilized as in the Netherlands, many of the reclaimed areas being kept dry by pumps operated by windmills, which are also used to supply power for various industries. The east winds tend to make the winters severe, but, on the whole, the climate is agreeable. Agriculture thrives best in the reclaimed lands and on alluvial soils formed by the rivers. The best soils, there- fore, are near the sea or in the soutli. Much of the country is too sandy for the best tillage, but cereals are raised in the east (Fig. 103), where great rivers enter the country; the reclaimed lands and polders on and near the coast have abundant rainfall, with a rich growth of grass, making them a zone of pastures, where great numbers of cattle and horses are raised, and dairying is a large industry. The polilers — low, inland tracts, protected by dikes from the waters that formerly made them unhealthful marshes — extend through the Netherlands and Belgium, and are among the best lands in both countries (Fig. 105). Beet sugar, rye, and vegetables are the chief agricultural : products. Tlie country ranks sixth in tlie prodiictiou of beet sugar, raised in the richer lauds of the river valleys (Fig. 44). Only a small part of the people eat "black" lyr bread, preferring a mixture of rye and wheat; much American wheat supplements the home supply. The rais- ing of vegetables and flowers for the home and British markets are large industries, Haarlem being the center of the trade in flowers. But tlie most important resource of the Dutch farmer is cattle, which were formerly sent alive 252 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY in grccat numbers to England (p. 78). In proportion to area, the Netherlands have twice as many cattle as France. Butter is a large export to England; Edam cheese (Fig. 27), a sj)ecialty of the region east of the Zuider Zee, made in a few factories and in many hundreds of farmhouses, is found in most cheese markets of the world. As many as 200,000 Edam cheeses are sometimes in the market at Alk- maar (Fig. 102). Several millions of sheep graze in the meager pastures of tlie south and northeast. The fisheries are important (Fig. 102 and p. 91). The oyster and herring are taken in large quantities ; the oyster thrives in the alluvial mud brought down by the rivers, and is protected from the waves of the North Sea by the many islands along the coast. Dutch fishermen are also active in the cod and other Xorth Sea and Iceland fisheries ; many herring and anchovies (not the real anchovy of more south- ern seas, but sprats) are packed. Timber and building materials are lacking. There are no large forests ; the country is one of the principal buyers of lumber in the world, purchasing most of it from Eussia and Scandinavia, but pitch pine from the United States. Coal and iron come mainly down the Rhine from Germany. If it were not for cheap ocean freights the Xetherlands could use no stone for structural purposes, for it has no home supply. Manufactures are not numerous (Fig. 101). Most of the elements for large industrial development are lacking. Coal and iron are brought to Amsterdam and The Hague from England and Germany for the construction of rail- road material, ships, and hardware. Most of the industries are connected with the transformation of agricultural products, as liqueurs (cura9ao), made from the orange peel grown in the Dutch island of that name and also in Spain ; the famous Holland gin, distilled from rye at Schiedam and Rotterdam ; manufactured tobacco and cigars, from home-grown or East Indies leaf at Amsterdam and Utrecht : THE NETHERLANDS 253 and oil, from imported oilseeds at Delft. A few towns, indicated in Fig. 104, produce woolen, cotton, and linen THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM AXD LUXEMBUUG Industries and Coiiimoree ^ -■'•^* ir^"*"^"' "--"'V- ,\,i/".<>i ^ y^ \ -\ """Els ircae of mast int^nmvcinduBtrws f^ I Ttu Ilelgian-Frmch coal Jicld textiles. Diamond cuttiiii:;, once a great industry in Am- sterdam, iiauded down througi) generations of Jewish cut^ 254 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPnY ters, is declining, owing to the competition of Antwerp, Piiris, and London. Brick and tile, indispensable in a country without stone, are made in abundance ; Delft still produces the glazed earthenware that long ago made the town famous. Before England rose to industrial greatness Holland was pre-eminent in cloth manufactures and shipbuilding. The decline of the Dutch in political power, as well as their poverty in useful minerals, has caused industrial decline and pushed commerce and cattle-raising to the front. The chief trade is in the import and re-export of colonial products. The Dutch East Indies, extending from Sumatra to New Guinea, are more than sixty times as large as the mother country and have seven times the population. They send four fifths of their sugar, tea, coffee, quinine, indigo, dyewoods, spices, gums, tin, and tobacco to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Some of these commodities are largely en- hanced in value by manufacture in the Xetherlands, Java raw sugar, for example, being refined at Amsterdam, Java ' and Sumatra tobacco made into cigars, and quinine pre- pared for the market. These colonial products are sold by Dutch merchants in many lands. On the other hand, the colonies buy from the mother country great quantities of cottons and other manufactures made at home or imported for them. Excepting Europe, the colonies are the best customers of the Netherlands. Most exports of home products go to neighboring countries. They consist mainly of butter, cheese, meat, and oleomar- garine, England, Germany, and Belgium being the largest buyers. Exports of colonial products have a wider mar- ket; the United States buys Sumatra tobacco, chocolate, coffee, sugar, and South African diamonds cut and polished in Amsterdam. Most imports for home consumption come from neighboring countries and the United States. The United States, send- ing wheat, flour, maize, rye, leaf tobacco, tallow, bacon. THE NETHERLANDS 255 lard, petroleum, and lumber, contributes about one eigbth of the imports; Germany, Great Britain, Russia, and Bel- gium supply nearly all the other imports, chiefly manufac- tures, coal, timber, and metals. Most of the home trade, as distinguished from colonial trade, is with these European countries. Large profit is derived from the forwarding trade. Both Rotterdam and Amsterdam receive great quantities of com- modities from all the Rhine ports of Germany for shipment abroad. A great deal of American cotton and cereals go to these ports on the way to Germany. Steamboats ply between Rotterdam and South Germany, connecting there with the canal system leading to Marseilles. Tank steamers carrying American petroleum distribute it among scores of German towns ; nearly all the Spanish and Swedish iron ore used at Essen is carried from Rotterdam up the Rhine. Other Rotterdam steamers ply to east ]-5elgian towns on the Meuse ; the Sud-Guillaume Canal connects the rivers of Holland with the river and canal system of west Belgium ; til us Rotterdam is brought by waterways into close touch with Germany and Belgium. Amsterdam's connection by river and canal with the Rhine enables that city to take a hirg(; though inferior part in the transit trade. Switzer- land, without ports, and Austria-Hungary, with only two, send to the Netherlands numy industrial products, by water and rail, for shipment to other lands. Rotterdam and Amsterdam are the only important ports (Fig. 104). They handle nine tenths of the sea trade, fully three fourths of which pertains to Rotterdam, whoso trade has advanced by leaps and bounds since improvements in navigation in the lower Maas made Rotterdam wharves accessible to the largest vessels. The enormous trade of Rotterdam Ijy ocean and inland water routes gives that port a total movement of 10.000,000 tons a year, which is double the movement of Marseilles. The North Holland ship canal (Fig. 27), opened in 1877, admits vessels of the largest 250 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY draft to Amsterdam. All canals and rivers are free to foreign as well as Dutch vessels, as the people do not place the slightest impediment in the way of commerce. It is a free-trade country, duties being levied on a few articles only for purposes of revenue. There is no coasting trade, as inland water routes are preferred. The Dutch merchant marine being small, a little over half of the sea trade is carried under the British flag ; but regular lines of Dutch steamships connect Rotterdam and Amsterdam with New York, the West Indies, Atlantic ports of South America, and the East Indies. The railroads are of more importance for international than for internal commerce, the trade from one town to another being mostly carried by water. Railroads carry practically all the freight that England sends into Central Europe. Flushing on the Schelde, and Hook of Holland, near Rotterdam, are railroad ports on the main routes between England and Germany. The merchant, the carrier, and the farmer are the leading factors in business. The foreign trade is twice as large as thut of Belgium, though the latter country has more people ARABLE LAND 27.7 HAY AND PASTURE 34. 7 UNPRODUCTIVE 30. T Fig. 105. — Subdivisions of the soil in the Netherlands. and highly developed industries. Though the Dutch, in their low lands, lack some of the most important sources of wealth, their position at the mouth of the Rhine, their vast colonial empire, and their indomitable energy have made them a great commercial nation. STATISTICS FOR THE NETHERLANDS Average Annual Trade (i\ Million Dollars) ISSS-'Se. lS02-"06. Imports 448.5 G02.5 Exports 342.5 490.0 THE NETHERLANDS 257 Trade wixn Leading Countries, 1899 (in Million Dollars) Belgium Im- ports. .. 82.7 Ex- ports. 64.0 0.7 17.7 140.1 Prussia Russia Im- ports. .. 56.1 .. 82.3 Ex- ports. 324.1 Brazil .. 8.4 3.3 British India. . . . France .. 18.3 8.8 Spain Java United States. . . .. 16.4 .. 116.2 .. 78.7 1.3 27.3 Great Britain. . . .. 111.3 14.4 Population (1897), 4,928,658. Gold standard, with the florin (valued at 40 1 cents) as the unit of coinage. Metric weights and measures. 17 CHAPTEE XXIV SCANDINAVIA The Kingdom of Sweden and Norway occupies the largest peninsula of Europe. Each has its own local government, but both acknowledge one king. The kingdom of Den- mark is a part of the great, low plain of north Europe. The Danes and Norwegians speak practically the same tongue and both understand the older Swedish form of their closely related languages. Sweden and Norway stand on a high plateau. The west- ern mountain ranges have a nuirked effect upon clinuite and commerce, for as the west coast receives the warm, moist Atlantic winds, its fifty ports, scattered among tlie fiords, are open the year round. The mountains that shield them from the icy east winds of winter also deprive the eastern plain of the genial influence of the Atlantic. The west, therefore, has the sea climate and the east tlie conti- nental climate (p. 7). All the east ports are closed by ice from three to five months. All farms, except strips of grain land in Norway fiords, are in the domain of the continental climate. Being in the latitude of Labrador, the growing season is short ; the winter is long and cold ; the rigorous climate and limited fertility prevent the cultivation of a large area (Figs. 106 and 107). Half of the Swedes and a fourth of the Norwegians are farmers. Tlie largest and most productive area of farm lands (Fig. 108) is in Gothland, where grain returns as much to the acre as in England ; but although there is this 358 SCANDINAVIA 259 fertility in tlie southern part of Sweden, the kingdom im- ports every year, mainly from the Baltic countries, about 12,000 tons more breadstulfs than it produces, including a little wheat from the United States. The suffar beet ARABLE LAND 8.2 !|^ FOREST 44.2 UNPRODUCTIVE 43.6 FiQ. lot). — Subdivisions of the soil in Sweden. thrives in the extreme south, but the sugar output is not equal to the demand. Dairy products are important exports. The Swedes raise grain and butter for ex2)ort, but the Norwegians are forced to import considerable quantities. The kingdom formerly imported much butter, but since 1870 the herds have S" li I FOREST 24.0 UNPRODUCTIVE 71.1 Fig. 107.— Sulidivi.sions of tlie soil in Norway. greatly increased, and millions of pounds are now exported every year from Sweden to Circat Britain and other coun- tries. Norway has cnly one third of the cattle, but the poorer pastures of Norway give adequate grazing for the larger part of the sheep; much wool, however, is imported for the Miills of Sweden. The fisheries are very important in both countries (p. 1)3 and Fig. 108). Three fourths of the catch is taken by Nor- wegian fisliermen along the Norway coast, where cod, her- ring, mackerel, and the so-caHed anchovy, a variety of lierring, are caught in vast numbers among the (|uieter waters in the lee of the islands. Snlnion abound in the fiords and rivers of both countries. All the ports of Nor- way are fishing ports, but the greatest fishing center is the Lofoten islands, whore 40,000 men and 7,000 small vessels are engaged in March, the ])usiest season of the year. Most of the cod and herring catch is cured on the islands, sent to the ports by steamer, and four fiftlis of it exported to the 260 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY large fish-eating countries of Europe. From 10,000 to 20,- 000 barrels of mackerel are packed every year. Lumber and timber are the largest articles of trade (Fig. 108). Sweden has 5,000 saw mills, run by water power. SCANDINATIA Agriculture and Fisheries SCALE, 1: 22,000,000 100 200 Fig. 108. — The largest mining intwests are in the north, the forest industries are in the middle regions, and agriculture and stock raising are mainly confined to the area south of the sixtieth parallel. The fisheries extend along the entire coasts. Some thousands of Lapps or Finns live in Lapland ; a jiart of them snbsist by fishing (Sea Lapps), while the reindeer supplies food, drink, and clothing to the remainder (Reindeer Lapps). and, because its markets are very convenient to importing countries of north Europe, is the largest lumber and tim- ber exporting country in the world. The Xorway pines and spruces, convenient to Christiauia and other shipping SCANDINAVIA 2f;i points, have been depleted in many places ; the more northern forests in Sweden are now the larger source of lumber (p. 114), Lumber, timber, and naval stores, which are sent as far away as Australia, are nearly half the total exports of the kingdom. Iron ore is the largest source of mineral wealth (Fig. 109). About 1,000,000 tons are mined every year near Gefle, Falun, Danneniora, and other points, the largest supply coming from Gellivare, 130 miles north of the arctic circle. The most northern railroad in the world carries the Gellivare ore to the port of Lulea. As Baltic ports are closed in winter, a railroad is being built (1901) from Gellivare to Ofoten fiord, northwest Xorway, so that the ore may be delivered at all seasons to steel works in Great Britain and Germany. Magnetite and manganese ores for steel making abound ; Swedish ores are beginning to rival those of Spain in British and German markets. Rich silver, copper, and zinc mines are worked at j^laces indicated in Fig. 109. Goteborg is the most active port (Fig. 109). It is more conveniently situated than Stockholm for trade with all Xorth Sea and many Baltic ports, and is therefore the largest center of imports, many of which are carried in summer by the river and canal route, 180 miles long, through Lakes Wener and Wetter to Stockholm (Fig. 109). It exports a great deal of lumber, wood pulp, grain, and fish. Stockholm, the capital, is the chief commercial center, and receives most of the wlieat and flour imports, many imports through other ports being sent to Stockliolm for distribution.* * Norrkoping, sonth of Stockholm, important in sea trade, is also 11i(! leadinf^indiistriiil town ; Maliiu'J and IIelsiii<^l)nrij:fXiiort iariio quan- tilios of cereals. The oliief exports of Clirisliunia, t lie capital of Nor- way, are lumber, destined for many parts of the worlil, and fisli ; a preat deal of ice also is sent to England. The neighboring towns of Fredrikstad and Drammen are also timber ports. Bergen has the largest fish exports in the country, and receives much merchandise. 202 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Inland waterways afford water power, but little naviga- tion. Commerce is active, however, both on the southern hikes and on tlie river, hike, and canal route between Gote- borg and Stockholm. Eailroads are cheaply built, because of the small cost of land, lumber, and iron. Uninter- rupted rail communications extend between Gellivare in the north and Malmo in the south, over 1,200 miles, or farther than from Boston to Chicago (Fig. 109). Most manufactures come from foreign lands. The king- dom lacks coal, dense population, and capital required for large manufacturing development. Industries, however, are growing.* Sea enterprise is a large interest in Norway. Its people are a race of sailors ; in proportion to population they have the largest merchant marine in the world (p. 48). Having comparatively small commerce of their own, tlieir ships and crews take part in the trade of many other nations. Xot a few of them are engaged in the fruit trade between the United States and Central America. The Xorwegians buy from other nations much more than they sell to them ; but from the apparent balance of trade against them must be Troiidhjeni, tlie starting point of stcimcrs to the North Cape, is visited every year by thousands of tourists, who go by rail to this port to em- bark for tlie Land of the Midnight Sun. * Wood is used to reduce iron ores at Danneniora, Norrkoping, Eskilstuna, Motala, and a few other places in the Stockholm district, where home-made steel is employed in the manufacture of machinery, tools, hardware, and other articles. Tlie first Scandinavian locomotive was built in 1893. The most important industries are derived from wood, including a great deal of cheap furjiiture and wood pulp. Ship- building is active at Stockholm, Gefle, and Goteborg. Matclimaking is a large industry, many tons of matches being sent to all parts of the world. Woolen and cotton factories at Stockholm, Norrko{)ing, Gote- borg, and elsewhere are far from filling the demand. Linen spinning and weaving, a house occupation, more nearly meet the textile require- ments. Canning salmon is important at Bergen, Stavanger. and other centers. Breweries and distilleries are numerous ; tanning leather is important in a country which raises so many cattle. Kill. 109.— The most. inii)ortaiit Swedish railroad connects Stockholm and tiolcliorf,', the l<'ading ports. A number of branches north and soutli of the main line pro- vide th(' more poi)iilous |)art of the country with adecpiate transportation. The most important of these l)raiiches connect the cai)ital witli Christiania on tlie north and MalniO on the south. Trondhjcm (Kii;. V.i). a fiord port that never freezes, lias Ix-come the winter i)ort of Slockliolin since the railroad across the peninsula was Ijuilt. Observe the short l)r.'iiicli lines from the nortliern railroad, which carry timber, naval stores, and iron and copper ores to small sliipi)ini,' i>ortH on the (iulf of I'.othnia. The most important of these ports is Gelle, the center of the Swedish forest industries. 20:5 204 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHy deducted all the money they earn in carrying foreign freight (p. 158). The kingdom has only a few commodities to sell ; it needs to buy many things. The abundant product of its forests, fisheries, iron and zinc mines, dairies, and oat fields is sold abroad. It must buy coal, cotton, coffee, salt, and fruits, which it does not produce. To supplement the meager home production it requires large imports of textiles, raw wool, machinery, railroad iron,»feog products, and many other things. Nearly everything it buys comes from coun- tries bordering on the Baltic and Xorth Seas, the only lands with which ib has direct steam communications; nearly all it sells goes to those countries. The United States has such commodities as the kingdom sells much nearer at hand, and therefore imports from it only about $3,000,000 worth of goods a year. It sells to Sweden and Xorway cot- ton, wheat, provisions, tools, machinery, fertilizers, locomo- tives, and leather goods worth four times as much as its imports. Denmark, after the Netherlands, is the lowest country in Europe. Nearly surrounded by water, the moist sea climate prevails in summer ; but the climate is distinctly conti- nental in winter, when the winds from Siberia sweep over the frozen Baltic, which is only one fourth as salt as the ocean and freezes more easily. The western half, the Jut- land peninsula, is continental, with fine pastures and also many peat bogs and sand wastes that form the unproduc- tive area (Fig. 110). The eastern half is insular; it is the ARABLE LAND 42.5 HAY AND PASTURE 28.2 |2 UNPRODUCTIVE 24.7 Fio. 110.— Subdivisions of Uie soil in Denmark. more valuable part of the kingdom, because it is more fer- tile, with fine waterways between the low, flat islands, mak- ing communications easy. All the harbors are Baltic ports, which freeze in winter. SCANDINAVIA 26f Denmark is a dairying and agricultural country (Fig. 108). Xo laud lias achieved more remarkable progress iij these industries. Most of the farms, containing only fivG to twenty-five acres, are owned by the peasantry, who, by scientific agriculture, have made the naturally sandy soil« very fertile. Though large crops of cereals are raised,' breadstuffs are imported ; with about half the laud in oats, "^ hay, pasture, and root crops, which serve as provender for , great numbers of horses, milch cows, and sheep, all the ' breadstuffs required can not be raised. Dairy products are the largest exports. In proportion to size, Denmark has more cattle than any other country in Europe. Farmers ^. are required to produce milk, butter, and cheese under strict sanitary conditions, the cows being examined every ^ month. Most of the milk is sent to over 1,000 steam butter •• factories, managed by an association to which nearly all the farmers belong, whose aim is to produce the very best butter and place it in foreign markets. This system has resulted in an enormous increase in butter production. Great Britain, the largest purchaser, buys over $33,000,000 worth every year. Other countries, especially tropical lands, buy it packed in air-tight boxes. Close attention is paid to the various demands of the markets, the butter sent to England, for instance, being light in color and salted but little, while that sent to Central America is yel- low and very salt. Numerous beef cattle are sent to foreign markets, though the meat trade is growing at the expense of live shipments, owing to British and German laws against live-stock im- ports. Horses, in high repute for cavalry and draft pur- poses, are a large export. Considerable wool is exported, l)ut most is used in local mills. Agricultural societies con- trol the enormous shipments of eggs, the mem])ers agree- ing, under penalty of a fine, to deliver none but fresh-laid eggs (p. 203). ''J'ho fisheries swell the country's ex})orts considerably. 200 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The timber supply is insufficient. The Danes, like the Dutch, liave sacrificed their forests to increase the acreage of farms and pastures. Norway and Sweden supply most of the lumber. White oak (duty free) is imported from the United States.* Industrial development is restricted by lack of coal or water power. Manufactures are only for local consump- tion. The most important branches depend for material upon agricultural products, as flour mills, beet-sugar works, distilleries, and breweries. Copenhagen and Odense make farm machinery ; Copenhagen builds ships, and has large leather, machinery, and other industries. East Jutland towns have cloth and paper mills. Copenhagen, the capital, is the only large port. It is the only harbor that can be entered by large vessels. Standing at the entrance to the Baltic, it is a distributing point for Baltic trade. A great deal of freight is sent to Copenha- gen to be forwarded on smaller vessels to Sweden, Russia, and other Baltic ports. To facilitate this growing trade a free port was established in 1894 (Fig. 91). Steamship lines connect this port with north Europe, New York, and Bang- kok, Siam. Aarhuus, the largest town in Jutland, and Aal- borg, the commercial center of the north, are outlets for grain, cattle, and butter. Imports are larger than exports. The foreign trade lias been trebled since 1806, when dairying began to be impor- tant. Coal, textiles, timber, machinery, breadstuffs, and animal foods are the largest imports. Butter, eggs, meat, and live animals are almost tlie sole exports. Most of the trade is with north Europe and the United States. Large quantities of maize, wheat, oil cake, cotton, and an impor- * No minerals of importance are proiluced except chalk, celebrated for its purity, which is used in lime burnini;:. glass, cement, putty, wall paper, and other manufactures. It is exported in large quantities to all Baltic countries. SCANDINAVIA 267 tant amount of manufactures are imported from the United States.* STATISTICS FOR SCANDINAVIA Average Annual Trade of Sweden (in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891-'95. 1898. Imports 88.5 97.5 122.0 Exports 67.5 88.5 92.4 Average Annual Trade of Norway (in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891-'9.5. 1899. Imports 40.5 59.5 83. 2t Exports 28.5 35.0 42.7 Average Annual Trade of Denmark (in Million Dollars) 1881-''85. 1891-'9r.. 1899. Imports 70.0 94.0 lOfi.Ot Kxports 50.0 70.5 72.0 Population: Sweden (1898), 5,002,918; Norway (189G), 2,111,500; Denmark (1890), 2,299,5(54. The monetary standard in the Scandinavian countries is gold, with the crown (2Gf cents) as the unit of coinage ; the metric system is authorized ; old weights and measures that are still used are nearly the same as those of tlie United States. * Many sheep are raised on the Faroe Ishinds, one of tlic Danish colonies; wool and leathers from the innnmerable birds are the chief exports. Iceland i)roduces little bnt fish, cattle, and sheep, which arc exported in large quantities. Nearly all the commodities consumed, not derived from these animals, are imported. Purs, hides, eiderdown, and seal oil are the exports of ()i'eenlan~/Fnedrichshafen Pontarlier*— ^ ''^ g ., \VThun r^ ^iothkreuz Sar>jansp Linththal Altorf Chur VH ^ ' TumruX Airolo ,^ jr ? 'V.J3eUi Doino J'OsSbla\>:J ihlj^ Jfiy RAILROAD CONNECTrONS ~.^ ,'fA^ t\;/r\ SCALE, i:J I -IF S/fc ^X*^ . SCALE 01 ....^^^ I T A L^ Y m j'fjjp ,j>J^Como o lu 20 ] 30 40 50 SWITZEKLAXD'S — •" Fig. 113.— Five railroads crossing the Jura Mountains connect with through lines to the Atlantic and North Sea ports of Franco, Belgium, Germany, and the Neth- erlands. The route from France to Austria through Basel and Zurich passes through the Arlberg tunnel, six and a half miles long ; the greatest international route passes via Basel and Luzern through the St. Gotthard tunnel, nine and a quarter miles long, to Milan and Genoa ; the Simplon tunnel, to be twelve and a half miles long, now building (1901), will give Paris the most direct communica- tion with Milan, the largest center of Italian trade. Observe the routes from all the frontiers leading to the ports and commercial centers of the surrounding countries. Geneva, standing at the point where the Rhone River leaves Lake Geneva, is a distributing and forwarding city ; the convergence of railroads at Basel make it a very important commercial center and forwarding point ; Zurich is the largest, most beautiful, and industrially active city. silver mines, the quantities of precious metals imported for coinage and for jewelry and other manufacturing purposes sometimes surpass in value the large supplies of coal pur- chased abroad. Germany sells to Switzerland coal, coke, raw and manufactured iron, sugar and otlier foodstuffs, machinery, books, and many other supplies in such euor- SWITZERLAND 275 mous quantities that nearly a third of the total imports come from that country. Raw cotton, wheat, and petro- leum comprise about two thirds of the value of imports from the United States. Nearly all the exports are manufactures. Silk goods head the list ; after them come cotton yarns, cotton cloths, which are sent wherever there is a demand for the finer grades of white and colored cottons and prints ; books, engravings, embroideries, watches, and watch movements ; machinery, much of it for sjDinning and weaving ; milch cows, cheese, and condensed milk. I3utter, wood carvings, and straw wares have a subordinate part in the exjjorts. Cotton embroideries, the largest export to the United States, are worth more than double the raw cotton that Switzerland buys in this country. Silk goods, cheese, aniline dyes, and watches are also important exports to the United States. Switzerland's great advantages are water power, excellent manufactures, near-by markets in which to purchase raw and sell manufactured products, and extensive communications with seaports. These advantages serve to counterbalance distance from the sea, poverty in coal and iron, and inade- quate liome supplies of food. The Alpine scenery also is a money-making resource that goes far towards supplying food and manufacturing materials that must be purchased from other countries. Scenery is a large source of wealth. Millions of tourists visit Switzerland to enjoy its incomparable mountain land- scapes, waterfalls, and glaciers. It was estimated that in 1898 they left $38,000,000 in the country. Most of the tourists come in excursion parties from Western and Cen- tral Europe. They remain only a short time, but tlieir numbers are so large that the aggregate expenditure is enormous. However, as Switzerland imports nearly all the supplies it sells to tourists, a great deal of the money received is paid out. 270 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY STATISTICS FOR SWITZERLAND Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1885-'86. 1891-"9G. Iinpoils 149.0 189.5 Exports 134.0 140.0 1899. 224.4 153.6 Share of Other Countries in the Trade, 1899 (Percentages) Im- Ex- ports, ports. Germany 29.70 24.95 Austria- 11 ungtiry .. 6.59 5.71 France 18.43 12.10 Italy 16.46 5.27 Great Britain 4.85 20.85 Im- Ex- ports, ports. Africa 1.53 .80 Asia 3.65 3.84 United States 5.32 11.52 Australia 87 .41 Population (1899), 3,144,741. Tlie monetary standard is gold and silver, with the franc as the unit of coinage. Metric weights and measures. CHAPTEE XXVI AUSTRIA-HUNGARY No other large European nation has such a mixture of races as Austria-Hungary. The Germans are the largest element ; many languages are spoken, the predominant tongues being German in Austria, and Magyar in Hungary. Political antagonism, growing out of racial differences, sometimes disturbs business. Strife, in recent years, between the Czech and German nationalities in Bohemia, the most industrial province, has resulted, for example, in the re- fusal of many Czechs to trade witli German merchants or to buy German goods. Mountains and highlands wall in most of the empire, and inclose the great low plain of Hungary. The Galician low- land, however, borders Eussia ; and on the southwest there are 465 miles of coasts washed by the Adriatic. Sharp contrasts in topography help to produce wide variations in climate, arctic conditions prevailing on the highest moun- tains, Atlantic influences, which penetrate even to the Tyrol valleys, modifying summer heat and winter cold in the west. The flat pusztas, or plains of Hungary, have the continental climate, with extremely hot summers and severe winters; the Adriatic provinces of Istria and Dalmatia have the mild winters and dry summers of other Mediter- ranean lands. Only the Alps have large rainfall ; the plains of Hungary are liable to droughts ; therefore the quantity of wheat produced varies enormously. River valleys, mountain passes, and the short seacoast give easy access to other lands. In favorable stages df tlm 277 278 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY water the Elbe is navigable from above Prague, in Bohemia, to Hamburg (Fig. 90). The valleys of the Morava and Oder rivers open a passage from Vienna to German Silesia (the Moravian Gate, p. 23). The Semmering pass and tunnel, southwest of Vienna, are the gateway through the mountains to Trieste, Venice, and Genoa. Vessels ascend the Danube into Germany, and the improvement in navi- gation at the Iron Gate, on the lower Danube, has opened a waterway from Vienna to all the Black Sea countries. A railroad over the Brenner Pass leads north into Germany and south into Italy ; not far away is the Arlberg tunnel, through which Austrian trains reach Paris, Geneva, and Marseilles (Fig. 118). The Danube Eiver system affords great facilities for inland navigation (Fig. 118). The conspicuous service which the Danube renders is to connect southeastern with central Europe. Alhough the second largest river of Europe, it is inferior to the Ehine for transportation, be- cause its outlet is on an inland sea far from great inter- national centers of trade. The empire is pre-eminently agricultural. Three fifths of the entire area is devoted to field crops, pasturage, and hay (Fig. 114), and more than two thirds of the people till y-WINE 1.1 UNPRODUCTIVE ARABLE LAND 38.8 HAY AND GRAZING 23.9 FOREST 30.3 Fig. 114.— Subdivisions of the soil in Austria-Hungary. Practically all the land is utilized except the snow mountains, marshes along the Hungarian rivers, and the barren Karst. a limestone cave district back of Trieste, denuded of its timber and hence stripped of its soil by floods. the soil or raise stock. Owing, however, to high freight rates and the competition of other grain-raising countries, which has reduced the price of grain, more and more of the population are abandoning agriculture for industries and commerce. Xearly all the arable lands in Austria are now cultivated, but millions of acres on the wide, flat plains AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 270 of Hungary still serve only for pasturage (Fig. 115), and the yield of cereals per acre is far less than in western Euroj)e. Wheat is raised in most parts of the empire, but thrives best in the alluvial lands of Hungary, which are enriched by the floods of the Danube and its tributaries, making the c — ■) 1__ 45 '^ Vf.KKlLTLRK IN AlSTlUArHlXGARV SCALE, 1 114,500,000 SCALE OF MILES 50 100 150 200 ^m Largest Forest Regi Fig. 115. plain one of the great granaries of the world (Fig. 36). More than enough wheat is raised for homo consumption, and in good crop years a large quantity is exported to other Euro- pean countries. The empire leads Europe in the manufac- ture of flour, Budapest being the largest milling center, Avhile mills are scattered all over the wheat-growing districts, mainly in Hungary and Bohemia. The best mechanical inventions are used in the mills ; wheat is classified for milling in seven grades, the uniformity of whose product contributes largely to the success of Hungarian flour, which brings a high price abroad. 2S0 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Eye is raised in the cooler mountain districts ; rye flour is the chief import of breadstuffs, selling readily, because large numbers of the working classes are too poor to eat wheat. Maize, a large crop in the south, thriving even in the Tyrol, is augmented by imports from the United States and Eumania. Enormous crops of oats are grown in the north of Austria and in Hungary. Flax and hemp are, however, losing ground, on account of Eussia's superiority in these fibers.* Wine culture is one of the large resources (Fig. 115). It is distributed through the southern half of the empire, Hungary, whose wines are among the most esteemed in the world, making nearly half the output. Tokay is the best known Hungarian wine and the leading export, the Govern- ment encouraging the industry by maintaining schools of instruction in grape-growing and wine-making. Much Italian wine has been imported since the phylloxera ravaged the vines; imports still exceed the exports. A fourth of the area is in pastures. More horses are raised than in any part of Europe except in Eussia. Great * The empire is one of the large tobacco-raising countries, Hun- gary producing nearly half the crop. Tobacco, salt, and gunpowder are Government monopolies, their importation, except by the state, being prohibited. Bohemia and some other regions make a great deal more beet sugar (Fig. 44) than the country can consume ; sugar is the largest export, England taking four fifths of the foreign sales ; the state pays a bounty of sixty to ninety cents for every 220 pounds pro- duced. Bohemia supj)lies four fifths of the hop crop. Brewery inter- ests in all countries import more or less Bohemian malt or hops, whose superior quality is due to peculiarly favorable soil, climate, and methods of cultivation. Beer production has increased in the past half century about sevenfold, the most famous products coming from Bohemia and Vienna. Pilsen and Vienna beers are sent all over the world. Great crops of potatoes are raised, Austria producing far more than Hungary. Fruit raising is a large industry, the apple and pear thriving in the north ; Hungary produces prunes, from which brandy is made ; llie southern provinces make olive oil and raise the fig, the olive, citrus fruits, and the almond nut. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 281 herds of Huugarian horses graze on the treeless^ grassy steppes. Hungary is also famous for fine mules. Hungary and Galicia raise the most stall-fed cattle for market, many of which are sold in Switzerland ; Alpine cattle, fed in the high pastures, as in Switzerland, are kept for dairying. Sheep have declined with the large importations of Aus- tralian and South American wool. Poultry raising has enormous extent in the dry, limestone areas. Two billion eggs a year are exported to other European lands. Forests are a large source of wealth (Fig. 115). Most of the wood products are now derived from the Carpathian forests and Bohemia (p. 114). A great deal of lumber and staves for making wine and beer casks are sent to France, Italy, and Germany. The mineral wealth is large (Fig. IIG). Mining is not developed in proportion to the great mineral resources. The coal production, half of which is taken from the rich Bohemian mines, is not quite equal to the demand ; tlie next largest sources of coal are Moravia to the north and Styria to the south of the Vienna industrial district (Fig. 58). Iron ores are specially pure in Styria and Carinthia around Gratz and Eisenerz, where there is a mountain of pure iron ore ; unfortunately, the best ores are nearer sup- plies of lignite than of coal, the fine Styrian ores being worked only with charcoal, while the poorer ores around Steyr are fused with coal. Manufactures are of subordinate importance (l^'ig. IKJ). The reasons are the slow introduction of new macliinery, high freight rates, heavy taxes on manufactures, the situation of industrial centers remote from the ocean, and race ani- mosities. As the largest industrial development is in the nortliwest and north, the greatest density of population is naturally there (Fig. 117), wbile agriculture predominates in the east and commerce in the maritime provinces; but metal, macliine, leatlior, and otlier industries are growing in Hungary. Textiles are most largely grouped on tlie north- 282 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY ern coal field at Reichenberg, Pilsen, Briinn, Troppau, and other towns. These manufactures, though most important of all, do not make enough cottons for the home demand. IMHSTRIES A>D ,.^, MINERAL PRODICTS OF AISTRIA-HINGARY Fig. 116. — The lead mines of Bleibnrt; are the richest in Europe. The quicksilver mines at Idria are surpassed in Europe only by the Spanish mines at Almaden (p. 138). The empire excels all other European countries in salt resources, though not in the quantity produced (p. 138t. The most remarkable development is in the mines of Wieliczka-Bochnia, in Galicia, where the mass of rock salt is 300 miles long and 1,200 feet thick. Thirty miles of galleries have been dug into this mass, and mining villages stand far below the surface. Petroleum is produced in Galicia. but so much cheap Russian kerosene is imjiorted that small use is made of the local oil resources. The map shows the distribution of gold, silver, and copper, none of which is very important. Enormous quantities of grain and other freight are carried on the Theiss, Dravc, and Save, tributaries of the Danube. Kcw canals are being dug (1901) between the Theise and Danube and the Drave and Save to sliorten the distance by water to Budapest and Vienna. The woolen mills export cloths, but import large quantities of worsted yarns. Large carpet manufactures and the silk industry have their principal seat in Vienna. The metal industries are centered mainly at Steyr, Gratz, and Klagen- A USTRIA-HUNGAR Y 283 flirt, ilachinery, tools, and railroad materials are large products of Vienna, Gratz, Prague, and Brimn. The famous Bohemian glass is made near forests that supply fuel, pot- ash, the silica and "coloring metals," which give it dis- tinctive qualities, the mountain regions of northwest Bo- hemia having half the glass factories of the empire, with the largest centers at Pilsen and Eger. The leather in- dustry is most highly developed in Vienna, Prague, and Fig. 117. — Density of population in Austria-IIungart. The most populous area is the district around Vienna, where tlie largest metal-work- ing and general manufacturing interests of the empire are centered. The ])oi)ula- tion is also very dense farther north, in Bohemia and Moravia, where agriculture is subordinate and most of the poi)ulation worli in the factories and sliops. The Galician plain is more densely peo|)led than that of Hungary because farming and stoclc-raising are supplemented tliere to a greater extent by mining and manu- facturing. the Tyrol. It includes large glove manufactures. Sheep and lambskins come mainly from Hungary ; goatskins from tlie Biilkans and Mediterranean countries. Austrian gloves are among the large exports.* * Vienna, I'rague, and Bu(lai)f'st arc noted for fine cabinet work and wood-turning ; Austrian bent furniture and wooden toy.s are large 284 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Railroads are less developed than in most European coun- tries (Fig. 118). The railroad mileage is only a third as large as tliat of France, All railroads converge upon Vienna and Budapest ; four fifths of the ocean freight is trans- PiG. 118. — Vienna, the central point of trade between the upper and lower Danube and between east Germany and the Adriatic, is the greatest commercial and indus- trial city of the empire. Budapest, in the heart of the country and at the lowest place on the Danube where the river might be easily bridged, is the gateway of Hungarian trade. Prague lies on both sides of the navigable Moldau-Elbe. at the natural meeting point of all trade routes in Bohemia, and is therefore the col- lecting and distributing point for the coal, textile, glass, hardware, and other manufacturing interests of that region. Lemberg and Cracow are the centers of Galician industries and trade relating mainly to grain, cattle, salt, and petroleum. At Pressburg is the largest dynamite factory in Europe. ported by the rail routes, because the rivers do not lead to the seaports. Commerce with the Levant takes Danube exports ; a great deal of paper is made in the Vienna manufacturing district ; the largest distilling interests are in Gulicia and Hungary ; the cordial maraschino is a product of Dalmatia (Adriatic coast). Aus- tria excels in the manufacture of musical instruments, carriages, and many branches of hardware ; the chemicals produced do not fill the home demand ; many wooden vessels for the fisheries and rivers are built in the .shipyards of Vienna, Trieste, Pola, and Zara. Compare Fig. 116 with 117 to note the relations between the distribution of indus- tries and density of population. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 2S5 steamers to the Black Sea. International routes through the Balkans lead from Belgrade to Constantinople and Salonica on the ^Egean Sea. The merchant marine is one of the smallest in Europe (p. 48), most of the sea trade being through Trieste, the port of Austria, and Fiume, the port of Hungary. Trieste, the largest seaport, is the head- quarters of the Austrian Lloyd, a maritime company, whose steamers ply chiefly to Oriental countries and Mediterra- nean ports. Two lines make regular sailings to the United States. Fiume is the outlet for a great deal of the wheat of Hungary. Cattaro (Fig. 110) is a better harbor than either Trieste or Fiume, but its situation is not convenient for trade. English and Italian vessels take an important part in the carrying trade, and the ports of northwest Eu- rope receive and dispatch considerable of the foreign com- merce. Cotton and wool fibers, yarn, and cloth are the largest imports. Coffee, coal, metals, and machinery arc also large purchases. Germany is the largest purchaser of exj^orts. Inlying cereals and machinery. The trade with Germany tends, however, to diminish, as Germany can buy meat products and grain to equal advantage from America and Russia. The trade with Eussia is somewhat restricted by the fact that both countries are large producers of cereals, cattle, and timber. A])out four sevenths of the foreign pur- chases are raw or partly manufactured materials, and the 1)alance is manufactures. Cotton, maize, hog products, and pig iron are the largest imports from the United States, but Egypt supplies two tliirds of the cotton. Sugar, timber, cattle, wheat, leather goods, eggs, coal, and glass are the largest exports. Italy depends cliieily upon Austria for its coal sui)ply. In the nuirkets of ibe Levant, Austria-Hungary disputes the first place with Eng- land. She supplies Servia and Rumania with a large part of their imi)orts, and controls the foreign tnide of Bulga- ria. Slie buys from tlie United States about five times the 286 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY value of the commodities she sells here. The chief exports to this country are glassware, gloves, sugar, porcelain and pottery, musical instruments, and beer. Austria-Himgary is a land of transition from industrial west Europe to agricultural east Europe. The internal trade illustrates this fact, most of the manufactures being derived from the west of the empire, and foodstuffs and timber from the east. When more coal is mined and the volume of manufactures is greater the country will not draw so largely as at present upon supplies from Germany and other sources. The empire is tlie only large European state that has no possessions outside of Europe.* Average Annual Tkade of Austria-Hungary (in Million Dollars) 1876-'80. Imports 234.0 Exports 273.0 Imports from Leading Countries in 1899 (General Commerce, in Million Dollars) + 880-'85. 1891-"95. 1809. 257.5 277.0 321.1 302.0 321.0 372.3 Germany. England. United States. Italy. France. Switzerland 121.5 30.0 25.3 24.2 11.2 11.2 Exports to Leading Countries in 1899 (General Commerce, in Million Dollars) Germany. England. Italy. Switzerland. France. United States. 199.5 33.5 29.1 14.4 12.1 6.5 * Bosnia and Herzegovina, nominally belonging to Turkey, but, occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary since 1878, have made much progress under the new regime, which has built good highways and narrow-gauge railroads and begun the development of coal mining and manufactures. The trade is with Austria-Hungary, the exports being mainly oak timber, plums, and cattle. f General commerce = gross imports or exports. Special com- merce = imports for home consumption or exports of native produce and manufactures. The statistics in this book usually relate to special qoramerce, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 287 Population, with Bosnia and Herzegovina (1898), 46,- 335,687. The standard coinage is the crown, based on the gokl standard and worth about 20^ cents. Twenty-crown gokl 2)iece = 14.06. Metric systems of weights and measures are legal, but the old standards are often employed. CHAPTEE XXVII^ ITALY Nature made Italy an agricultural and commercial coun- try. Its industries can not rank with those of great manu- facturing nations, because it has no coal, but it is fitted, like China, to support a great farming population, because it produces all the various crops of Europe, and many of those of tropical lands, under a climate so genial that two or three harvests may be gathered every year. Its position also adapts it for large sea trade, because it is part of the shortest route from west and central Europe to the Levant and eastern countries. The ports of no other land can communicate so easily with the coasts washed by the Med- iterranean and the Atlantic and Indian oceans. On the land side it has close and quick connections with the rest of Europe. Though separated from the northern lands by the Alps, they are not a barrier to Italy's commerce ; four lines of railroad cross the mountains ; another will be added upon the completion of the Simplon tunnel (Fig. 113). Most of the important towns are seaports. As Italy has the sea on three sides and is in the center of the most impor- tant inland sea in the world, it is natural that many of the inhabitants should be sailors, and the coast towns important in sea trade. The chief harbors are Genoa, Naples, Venice, Leghorn, Messina, and Palermo (Fig. 119). Enormous sums have been expended in improving these and other harbors. All the ports receive heavier and bulkier freight than they ship, because they bring in grain, coal, iron, timber, and other heavy commodities, while they ship olive oil, wine, straw goods, fruits, and other things of larger value, in pro- ITALY MOST IMPORTANT RAILROADS ASD SEAPORTS. ® Chief Sea2)orts • Other Seaports Fig. 119.— Genoa is the harbor nearest to Switzerland and southeas^t (Jerinany ma the St. Gotthard tunnel; itesliorn. the port of Florence, suffers from proximity to Genoa; the wines of tne nortli and Carrara siiai:l)le are amonLT its shipments. Piombmo receives-the iron ore of Elba island. >Iost of the tral alimentary pastes. Maize, raised everywhere, is a particularly large ITALY 293 Flax and hemp are large crops in the north, consider- able hemp being exported. Excellent cotton is raised in the south and in Sicily, but the mills depend chiefly upon foreign supplies. Tobacco, a Government monopoly, is not grown in sufficient quantity, and much tobacco is imported from the United States. Wine, olives, and citrus fruits are the staples of agricul- tural trade (Fig. 120). The uniform warmth and dry weather needed by the vine is found in most parts of Italy, hence the grape is cultivated everywhere, Italy being the second largest producer of wine (p. 69). The proportion of wine lands to the total area is greater in Italy than in France. The quality has much improved in recent years, and the exports are very large, Chianti, grown near Florence, Asti in the northwest, and the Marsala wines of Sicily being among the largest sales abroad. Olive oil * is surpassed in the foreign trade only by raw silk. The olive grows every- where south of Florence ; the best oil, from Lucca and other places near the north limit of cultivation, is first in United States markets, but the middle and south of the peninsula supply the largest quantities. The orange and lemon trees number over 17,000,000. f crop in the north ; polenta (Indian corn mush or hasty pudding) is the basis of food for the peasantry ; the basin of the Po produces more rice than any other part of Europe ; other cereals are of less importance ; tlie climate is very favorable for vegetables, which are mucli more im- portant as food than meat ; as many poor persons subsist almost wholly on boiled chestnuts, the chestnut is the most important forest tree of Italy. There are many chestnut plantations. * The olive tree is one of the most important products of j\Iediter- ranean lands, its original home. The tree lives for six or seven cen- turies, and is grown most largely in Italy, south France, Spain, Turkey, and Syria. The oil frequently replaces butter, and is preferred for salads in all parts of the world. In making olive oil the olives are pressed as in a cider mill, eigiit and one half pounds of olives being required for a quart of oil. The pickled fruit is a table delicacy. t Citrus f?-uits come from a small genus of trees of the orange family, including the orange, lemon, lime, and others. Oranges and 294 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The demand for lumber and timber is not covered by the home production. In the Po basin and in Sicily large forests have been recklessly destroyed. Animal raising is of inferior importance. It is mainly developed in the north. Cattle in large numbers graze on the rich grass of the Po valley. Some of the cheeses of the Lombardy plain are widely known and figure in the exports. Tlie army is not able to obtain all the horses it needs in the home markets, the breeding of donkeys and mules, particularly in the peninsula, being a larger industry. The best wool is grown in the mountain pastures of the Abruzzi (middle of the peninsula) and in Sicily, but only half the wool manufactured is supplied by the sheep farmers. As in all mountainous countries of Europe, thousands of goats are raised mainly for kidskins and morocco leather. In comparison with northern j)eoples, the Italians eat very little flesh. Enormous quantities of fish, however, are consumed in this Roman Catholic country ; nearly 80,000 men are employed in the fisheries all around the coasts (Fig. 120), but, as they are not able to supply the demand, a great deal of canned cod, pickled herring, and other fish is imported. The coral * and sponge fisheries are also impor- tant (p. 88). Poultry is raised everywhere, being next to mutton the preferred animal food; the export of eggs is very large. Nearly 600,000 persons are engaged in raising the silk- worm. It is the most important branch of rural industry lemons are imported into northern countries fi'om Mediterranean lands^ Portugal, and the Azores, but most of all from Sicily. Orange culture in California and Florida and the duty on oranges aiul lemons have reduced Sicily's American trade. Limes come chiefly from the West Indies. * The red coral of commerce is obtained in the Mediterranean off the coast of Africa and the west coast of Italy. The price varies accord- ing to color. The finest rose-pink in large pieces is valued at ^400 cr more an ounce. The common article brings $1 to $1..50 an ounce. ITALY 295 and the source of Itcaly's largest exports. Climate and soil are admirably adapted for the mulberry and silkworm. Italy holds the first rank in Europe and the third in the world (after China and Japan) in the production of raw silk (Fig. 55). Lombardy, Piedmont, and Venetia (Fig. 123) produce more than three fourths of the entire crop, and Lombardy alone two fifths, but it is raised to some extent throughout Italy, Piedmont producing the best quality. Most raw silk is sent to Milan, which is the prin- cipal market. All European and most American manufac- turers buy a great deal of Italian raw silk, which is exported through Genoa or over the international railroads. There is little mineral wealth. Though there is no coal, a few hundred thousand tons of lignite mined every year supplement the coal imported from Cardiff and Austria. Elba and Sardinia have excellent iron ore, which is not yet fully utilized. Boracic acid, of importance in the manufac- ture of borax, is found native in the lagoons of Tuscany. Salt is obtained by evaporating sea water or mining rock salt. Of Carrara marble (Fig. 119), which for many cen- turies has been preferred by sculptors to any other marble, over 100,000 tons are produced every year, 4,500 men work- ing in the quarries and about 1,000 men sawing and polish- ing the marble. Italian copper is smelted both at home and at Swansea, England; the distribution of other min- erals is shown in Fig. 120. Thirty thousand persons are engaged in mining sulphur. The exports amount to nearly 500,000 tons a year, of which the United States purchases about one third. Sicily, the largest producer in tbe world (p. 138), mines most of it. Manufactures are growing (Fig. 123). These industries, however, owing partly to lack of capital, coal, and continu- .ous water power, are still inferior to those of the great industrial states. AYhile there is an important foreign demand for a few articles, such as Venetian glass, Milan cutlery, straw goods, and coral jewelry, the imports of 296 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY manufactures are more valuable than the exports. The industries are mainly confined to the north. The leading branch is silk goods, centered largely in Lombardy (Milan and Como), Piedmont, and Venetia; Florence, Xaples, and / . , ,>-^ A i •».. R^;v^ ConsiderabU " /r-C\^ n /\< / ^«'»«« ■• I ■• ^/ i Cliii; i .;!, ^— . ■-. , I AUSTRIA- \ ■ f .' \ ■' V^' V i r . i J . „ „ \ INDUSTRIES OF NORTH ITALY SCALE 1 ; 1.U0,000 10 20 30 40 50 I 1 L i."v. METAL AND MECHk-. INDUSTRIES, BORIC A' i' " ' ''-^'.^Z.,^^-^ ] Fig. 123. Palermo are also represented. Woolen cloths are produced in increasing quantities, so that Italy is importing less than formerly. Imports of raw cotton increased thirteenfold between 1871 and 1898. Cotton from British India was formerly preferred, but, being adapted only for coarser fabrics, American and Egyptian cottons are now chiefly used. Exports of cotton cloth, mainly to Argentina, Brazil, and Turkey, now exceed the imports.* * The hemp fields give abundant material for the large cordage manufactures. Until after 1888. Italy bought most of her iron and steel from England, Germany, and France ; but large establishments in the towns around Genoa and elsewhere now produce a great deal of finished steel, and make locomotives, rails, and machinery. Shipyards ITALY 29T The imports are food supplies, fuel, raw materials, and manufactures ; the exports are chiefly agricultural. Grain is the largest import, followed by raw cotton, wool and woolen manufactures, timber, iron, and steel. Raw silk and silk goods are about a third of the entire exports, while olive oil, wine, straw goods, hemp, fruits, eggs, coral manu- factures, and sulphur are very important. Observe be- low the predominance in 1899 of imports from Great Britain (mainly coal, iron, textiles, and machinery) ; also the predominance of exports to the great silk-manufactur- ing countries of Europe. Among the articles that Italy sells to the United States are sulphur, olive oil, marble, and wine. Cotton, tobacco, wheat, copper, and farm machinery are among the large purchases from this country. STATISTICS FOR ITALY^ Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1871-75. 1881-"a5. 1890--94. 1899. Imports 263.0 297.0 260.0 290.7 Exports 241.0 249.0 212.5 276.2 Imports from Leading Countries, 1899 (in Million Dollars) Grpat T>„«„:„ rjHrrmiiv United Austria- Fr„npp Switzer- Rf.ip.:„n, Britain, ^^s^^^- i^erniaiij. gt^tes. Hungary. France. j^^^^j Belgium. 60 39 37 34 32 31 12 7 Exports to Leading Countries, 1899 (in Million Dollars) Switzer- Oerminv France Austria- Great United Bele-inm Russia land. Germany, trance. Hungary. Britain. States. Belgium. Kussia. 49 48 40 31 30 24 5 3 Population, 1899, 31,856,675. The coinage, weights, and measures are those of France, the names being changed to Italian equivalents. at Sestri, near Genoa, Venice, and Spezia make men-of-war and mer- cliant vessels. Metals and machinery are still imported in large quan- tities. Italy excels in various artistic products, such as the mosaics of Florence, Venice, and Rome, the glassware of Venice, made from the silica of neighboring Murano, and the porcelain and jewelry manufac- tured at Naples and other cities. CHAPTEE XXVIII SPAIN AND PORTUGAL The influence of the natural features of the Iberian Pen- insula is to retard rather than to promote commerce. The peninsula, however, is more favorably situated for trade with Central and South America and West Africa than any- other country of Europe. Though nearly surrounded by sea, the height of the plateau, which is surmounted by mountain ranges, gives most of it a continental instead of a sea climate. The mountains keep the larger part of the rainfall from reaching the interior, which is therefore very dry. On the Mediterranean coasts the rain falls mainly after the growing season ; irrigation is therefore the basis of the largest agriculture. The mountains make road-building difficult ; the rivers are too small and swift to be navigable except for short distances; the peninsula, therefore, has inadequate means of communication, which is to the detri- ment of all kinds of business. The Pyrenees are a wall of exclusion, for there are no jjasses across them like those of the Alps which lead from Austria, Switzerland, and France into Italy. Eailroads pass around the ocean ends of tlie Pyrenees, but the detour is i?iconvmient, and most of the freight is carried by sea. Spain's largest interests are agricultural (Fig. 124). Over half the people 1 \ * by agriculture, which supplies more than half of the ext»orts. The specia disadvantages of the farmer are that most ( f the land is in u ^e holdings owned by the nobility, farm methods and im]_ nts are primi- tive, taxes high, and communications j jr. The special 298 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 209 advantage is that irrigation works, begun by the Moors, and extended and fostered by Government to the present time, are among the most extensive in the world. Irriga- tion, in a wide belt along most of the Mediterranean front, Fig. 124. has helped to transform a large area into a region of re- markable fertility, well wortliy of the name huertas or gar- dens. Eock is blasted and powdered to form soil, street sweepings and other fertilizers are used, and as a result no land in the world is more productive. These irrigated lands produce southern fruits, vegetables, sug ^ jane, nuiize, and other crops requiring jubundant moisture The dry lands o'.rthe interior are o luch greaier . a- tent. Depending., imost wholly upon rauifall, a lurge ) -.rt of them are untillei t. However, wheat and other cereais grow on them. The wheat crop does not always meet tlie Ji'\'ds , . COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY . ' lio local markets, and then imports are considerable. A ■V il. region around Yalladolid (Fig. 124) is called the gran- . r, '"t' Castile; rice thrives on swampy lands bordering the ( ; iilf of Valencia ; barley is grown for cattle food, and rye is tlie s aif of life in the moist northwest ; oats are little grown. Wine is the largest export. In 1891 it was nearly a third t iwe total exports. The grape thrives nearly everywhere ; iio ' >uic quality of some of the vintages has caused them U) I . highly valued for medicinal as well as for table use; many ordinary wines, poorly made and selling at a pittance, a^-c c )nsamed by the peasantry (p. 69). The wines of Jerez i,^ !(• -y), of Malaga, and Alicante (Fig. 124) are particularly lonumied. England and the United States take a large par^ of the exports. '}■'. uits are a large export. They are the most profitable I ro|, )f the huertas. Oranges and lemons are a great prod- uct a ong the Gulf of Valencia and in the Balearic Islands. The ])eel of the bigarade, the bitter orange, is sent to Hol- :!;id 'or the manufacture of cura(;ao.* Olives and olive oil ■iT(> 'nly less important than oranges in foreign trade. h^ ;: produces more olive oil than any other country, and 1 ■ mes most of the product. The olive is grown nearly ■ . 1; w^here, but mainly iij the southern provinces. Spau- ■= -lUves for table use come largely from Seville. Most of ■ U" o'A is supplied from Cordoba; a great deal is refined in ' lar'.-e, much of the home product being poorly made. L-j] ■■irto, an important export to England, grows on the ' V 'a ads of the southeast (p. 103). Tobacco, a Government 'opoly, is imported, though it is also raised in the - imal industries are less important. Xo animal prod- : -gure to a very large extent in foreign sales; on the he common form eura9oa is due to a blunder in spelling the 'f the island Curasao on an early map. The spelling curagao I. liqueur is fully authorized, and is used by the Schie- i; anufacturers. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 301 other hand, wooleu and silk goods, codfish, and live animals are large imports. The climate is so dry that few pastoral areas have a luxuriant growth of grass. Only in the north- west, where rain from the Atlantic is abundant, are cattle raised in large numbers, some being sent to British mar- kets. The animals used in the cruel national sport of bull- fighting are reared in the southern mountains. Fine horses, originally of Arab stock, are also raised in the south ; but, as in all Mediterranean countries, mules and donkeys are more numerous. In proportion to population, Spain raises more sheep than any other country of Europe ; they graze on the drier pastures of the plateau. The famous fine wool merinos that did so much to improve the wool crop of the world have been largely replaced by coarse wool breeds. The wool product does not suffice for home needs. Hogs are most numerous in the oak forests of the west (Fig. 124). The climate is highly suitable for silkworm culture, but the industry is now only one tenth as large as a half cen- tury ago. Raw-silk culture is mainly confined to the re- gions along the Gulf of Valencia. Five sixths of the silk is sold in France, from whence large quantities of silk goods are imported. The fisheries are important, but do not be- gin to supply the demand. Cork is a large export (Fig. 124). It is derived from the bark of a species of oak thriving mainly in Spain, Portugal, and Algeria. The bark, removed without injuring the tree, is used as stoppers for glass bottles, and in life-preservers and lifeboats (p. 114). As most of the country is treeless, the wood imports from Scandinavia, and of staves for wine casks, from the United States, are large. The mineral resources in the mountains of the north and south are very great. Foreign capital carries on most of the mining, which has not as yet produced great industrial development (Fig. 124). The southern mountains are among the largest producers of copper and quicksilver in the world (Fig. G7 and p. 138) ; they yield also great quan- 302 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY tities of silver and lead. The superior iron ore of the north coast is sent from Bay of Biscay ports by thousands of tons to Great Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium ; but Spain does not figure very largely in pig iron and steel manufac- tures. Although the northern and southern mountains con- tain vast quantities of coal, the commodity is imported for home industries. The main use of metals is to sell them to foreign countries; the shipments are therefore very im- portant. Manufactures do not supply the demand. The purchasing power of the masses of the people is very small ; it is therefore cheaper to import goods than to establish expen- sive plants to supply the home need. The largest center of manufactures is Barcelona and the surrounding region, where the textile industries have important development. Large quantities of Spanish cottons and linens were sold in the colonies of Spain before she lost them. The manufac- ture of iron and machinery is important in the iron dis- tricts of the north coast. Flour and oil mills are numer- ous. One company has a concession from the Government to manufacture and sell all the tobacco ; 50,000 families are supported on the wages it disburses. The factories deijeud, to a large extent, upon American tobacco. Silver and gold manufactures, glass, china ware, and chocolate are specialties of Madrid and a few other cities. Spain is poor in railroads. Freight rates are high, trains are slow, and the most productive regions are still destitute of rapid and cheap communications with the ports and interior cities (p. 45). Spain takes so small a part in international trade that the merchant marine is inferior, the shipping being almost all under the British or French flags.* * The most important port and most active industrial and com- mercial city is Barcelona. The coal fields north of it supply the local industries and shipping. Valencia, on the gulf of that name, exports SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 303 The value of the exports is nearly equal to that of the imports. The exports of wine, minerals, and fruits are very large. Imports are confined mainly to articles of necessity, such as cotton, coal, food, textiles,' lumber, and machinery. One third of the foreign trade is with France, Great Britain being the next largest buyer and seller. Spain's foreign trade is only half that of Belgium and a third that of the Netherlands. Portugal's foreign trade is only one fourth as large as that of Spain. The soil is poor, about one half of the area being unproductive. The largest industries are agriculture and fisheries. The development of textile industries at Lisbon and Oporto for the home and colonial trade is somewhat important. Wine is the great export staple, comprising more than a third of the foreign sales. The best known wine is port, which is manufactured and shipped at Oporto. Cork, copper, fish, and southern fruits are also important shipments. Colonial goods* are the largest imports except grain. STATISTICS FOR SPAIN Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1881- '85. Imports 156.0 Exporls 188 . 8 Population (1897), 17,7415,976. The unit of coinage is the peseta, equal in value to the franc. Metric system of weights and measures. fruits, and has silk industries in connection with the adjacent supply of raw silk. Malaga exports the famous Malaga grape and wines, and zinc and lead ores. Cadiz depends upon commerce, l)ut its trade is declin- ing. Sanlander and P>ilI)ao, on the north coast, ship iron ore from the iicighltoring mines. jMadrid has more [)olilieal than Industrial or com- mci'clMl importance. * In many commercial statistics the imports from European colo- nies in the tropics, such as sugar, spices, rice, and coffee, are grouped under the head colonial goods. 1890-'94. 1899. 175.0 149.8 160.4 116.0 304 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY ' STATISTICS FOR PORTUGAL Average Annual Trade (ix Million Dollars) 1881-85. Imports 40.2 Exports 25 .5 Population (1890), 4,660,095. Gold standard ; unit of coinage is the milreis, worth $1.08. Metric system of weights and measures. 391--95. 1899. 44.3 54.7 38.1 31.1 CHAPTEE XXIX RUSSIA IN EUROPE The Russian empire embraces over one sixth of the land surface of the earth. It is nearly three times as large as the United States, exclusive of Alaska. Russia in Europe in- cludes more than one half the area of Europe, and its pop- ulation is nearly equal to that of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. tJogether. Extending farther south than the northern plains of Italy and penetrating the arctic zone, Eussia has much variety of climate. Vineyards thrive in the Crimea, and frozen swamps skirt the north coast (Fig. 125). The win- ters are colder and the summers hotter than in western Eu- rope in the same latitudes. [ Xo mountain ranges obstruct the cold north winds which sweep southward to the Black Sea. The only mountains are on or near the soutli and west borders of Eussia, the Caucasus range with its con- tinuation, the Jaila Mountains, in the Crimea, and the Ural Mountains, the longest range in Europe. The whole of Eussia between these border mountains and the Baltic and Arctic Seas is a low plain, 300 to 600 feet above sea level, but rising in a few areas to 1,000 feet. One of these higher areas, of which the Valdai Hills are a part, is the center from which radiate most of the largest riA^ers,.the Volga, Dnieper, Don, AVostern Dvina, and Xiemen. Russia is thinly populated. This is due to its far uort li- crn position and the predominance of agriouUure ovt ' iirf.>. O 1' (inc ci"!!!]! (if ilir iKMiiil" 1i^■^' iir '' ■ Vn't COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY towns, but the growth of industries is increasing the urban popuUition. Two thirds live in Poland, the Moscow indus- trial district, and the black-earth lands (Fig. 127), where the 125— Snow covers the ground at Odessa eighty days, at Moscow one hundred md twenty days, and on the Siberian border near the Antic Ocean over two uindred and twenty days. The average rainfall i.-; not over 20 inches a year, vhich. though far less than in western Europe, is usually sufficient to insure good ■rops. Very dry seasons result in crop failure and famine. Stand for labor encourages the greatest density of popula- 1. There are many racial elements speaking many lan- iges, Poles, Finns, Turco-Tartars, and Jews, but most of \ RUSSIA m EUROPE 307 the people are Eussians. The peasantry are inferior in edu- cation and enterprise to those in countries west of them. The Government strives to develop manufacturing and make Russia industrially independent. It protects home industries by a high tariff, averaging 35 per cent of the value of imports, charging the Ministry of Manufactures and Trades with the supervision of industry and commerce, supports ninety agricultural schools and many experimental farms, and appoints special agents to seek foreign markets for Eussian products. The duty on coal at Black Sea ports is four times that at Baltic ports, because coal sent to the Black Sea competes with south Eussian coal, which in north Eussia is dearer on account of freightage. Agriculture is the leading industry (Fig. 126). Yet, owing to the poverty and ignorance of most of the peasantry, inferior farm machinery, frosts, and severe periods of drought, HAY AND ARABLE LAND 26.2 PASTURE 16.9 FOREST 33.8 UNPRODUCTIVE 1D. 1 Fig. 126. — Siibdivisious of the soil in Kussia. agriculture is not highly developed. English farmers raise from two to four times as much grain to the acre as Eus- sian farmers. Still, Eussia produces about two thirds of the oats and half the rye of Europe, more barley than any other European state, is surjiassed only by the United States in its wheat crop, and raises more flax and hemp than any other country in the world (Fig. 127). Maize is grown in the southwest. In good seasons Eussia exjiorts 95,000,000 bushels of wheat, ranking after the United States as a seller of this cereal, supplying three fourths of the export wheat of Europe, and selling most of it in west and south Europe. Eye is the leading breadstuff for home consumption, and the quantity raised is more than double that of wlieat. Oats, barley, and rye are largely raised north of the chief wheat area. Eico, raised in 'IVaiis-fiiucasia, is shi]){)ed all over Eussia, through Volga and lJla(;k Sea ports. Flax has 308 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY the largest acreage of any crop, and supplies nearly four fifths of the flax fiber in the world. Hemp has a much smaller acreage. More than 1,000,000 acres are giyen to sugar-beet cul- ture. The home product supplies a surplus for export, Eussia being the chief source of sugar for all the Black Sea territory and Persia.* Russia has the third place in the extent of its forest area (p. 114). The home demand for lumber and fuel is enor-^ mous, as most buildings are of wood and as wood fuel is largely used in manufactures and in the reduction of ores. The lumber industry is active near streams, that float logs to the mills and the product to market, and flourishes far north in the Xorthern Dvina basin and east of it. Lumber and timber exports, worth about $25,000,000 a j'ear, are sur- passed in value only by the wheat shipments. Other prod- ucts of the forests are resin, tar, potash, turpentine, and wood pulp ; the forests, too, are the source of the most of Russia's diminishing fur trade. More farm animals are raised than in any other country of Europe (Fig. 127). Stock raising, which is not so promi- nent in the black earth lands, flourishes in the southern steppe regions, where there are enormous herds of cattle, horses, sheep, and, in the southeast, camels. About half the horses of the continent are raised in Russia ; it far sur- passes all the other countries in cattle and sheep, and is inferior only to Germany in the number of hogs. Large quantities of hides, leather, hair, and bristles are exported. Meat and milk are the main object of cattle raising in the United States and western Europe, but in Russia dairy * Russia ranks after Germany and Austria-Hungaiy in tobacco culture, producing 100,000,000 pounds a 3-ear. The potato croj) is large, and is used both as food and in the distillation of brandy. Viticulture has made much progress in the southwest, and the best red wines now compare favorably with good French wines and are cheaper. The first exports went to Great Britain in 1897. RUSSIA jpj [anufaetures J^ / 11(1 ri-,lieries.<^ ^ / Forests FoTCBtB and TUlage E-- " - ' -i Predominant Ayricult C^ industrial A Fig. 127.— The ve;;etation may be divided into five areas : (1) The tnndra (treeless land), on the arctic coast, growing reindeer moss, lichens, and stnnted shrubs ; (2) the forest, south of the tnndra, covering more than a third of the country, extending over the whole north and part of the central regions ; (3) the farm lands, where most of the root, trrain, and fiber crops an; grown, stretching in a wide zone south of tin- forests. (This agricultural zone or black-earth region, covered to various de))tlis with a dark, rich, vegetable humus, is Kussia's greatest source of wealth, as it is the great wheat-growing region.) (4) The fertile steppes of the southwest and south, where millions of cattle, sheep, and horses graze; (5) the sterile or salt steppes of the southeast, unfertile on accoimt of very small precipitation, inhabited only by nomads. 309 310 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY products are of secondary imjoortance, hides and tallow being the chief interest.* Minerals are very abundant (Fig. 128). About 95 per cent of the world's supply of platinum comes from the west side of the Uruls (p. 136). Most minerals, including metals, are consumed in the home industries, the exports being partly raw materials and partly manufactured articles. Russia supplies four fifths of all the coal and pig iron used in the country, and nearly all the steel. The best coal, anthracite, is obtained in south Russia, near the Donetz River, and these mines and those in Poland yield two thirds of the output. Iron ore is mined most largely in the Urals and south Russia. The production of iron is restricted by the inadequate supply of coal, and the fact that most of the wood (charcoal) within easy reach of the smelters has been consumed. For this reason Russia has to import much iron and its manufactures. The metal and machinery industries are thus embarrassed. The only regions where coal and iron in juxtaposition are largely mined are south Russia and Poland. The iron product of the Urals and south Russia is about equal, and iron is mined in the Kama basin and the lake region of Finland, where the ore is of good quality and cheaply produced, f In 1887-'97 Russia tripled her production of iron and steel. Their inferior quality, due to primitive methods, is being remedied by improved processes. Most of the smelt- ers are in the Urals and near the southern coal and iron districts, and the metal is worked chiefly in South Russia, * In few other countries are fish so important, the demand being largely augmented by numerous fast days. The whale and cod fisheries along the Murman coast are now being developed (Fig. 127). f The Urals yield gold, silver, and copper. Mercury is produced in Ekaterinoslav, and zinc is a product of Poland. The rich beds of rock salt in the Donetz basin yield a fourth of the total supply, the Crimea being also a large producer, and an important quantity being obtained from salt wells and saline lakes. Fio. 128. — The rivers, navit,'ablc nlmogt to their sources and easily connected by canals, provide continuous higluvays from the Baltic to the Caspian Seas. They carry enormous commerce, and are the cliief and cheapest means of communica- tion. The Russian rivers have natural disadvantages : they are closed by ice in the lon<,' winters ; all excejit the arctic tributaries terminate in inland seas ; defi- cient rainfall impedes navi^'ation in some southt^rn rivers, most notably the Don ; the great value of the Dnieper, IJiig, and Dniester as commercial hi;;li\v»ys is im))aired. though not destroyed, by rajjids where these etreaiiis cross the narrow granite bell of southwest Russia. ;!ii gl2 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Moscow, and the St. Petersburg district (Fig. 127). The railroads are supplied with home-made rails. Machinery manufactures are in the central and particu- larly the southern industrial regions and St. Petersburg. About 200 factories supply agricultural machines and im- plements. As the product is not equal in quality to im- ported goods and as the supply is not equal to the demand, the heavy duty on most agricultural machinery has been removed till 190.3 to encourage imports. Russia has become nearly independent of foreign manufac- tures (Fig. 127). Within forty years large industries have been developed by means of modern machinery and the fac- tory system. The majority of workers, however, still toil in their village homes, as their fathers did, making many products in the long winters : fabrics of linen, wool, cotton, and silk, leather, wood and metal work, cutlery, agricultural implements, pottery, etc. Combining their small capital, many are buying machinery and increasing their output. There are more than 100,000 of these small factories and workshoj)s, and about 24,000 factories are situated in the large centers of poi)ulation. About 2,300,000 people are employed in the village and large factories. Industries that do not supply the home demand are chiefly paper manufactures, glass, china ware, and chemical products. Moscow is the greatest industrial center, for, being the rail- road center of Eussia, with forests on the north and coal on the south, it is most conveniently placed for receiving raw material and distributing products.* * Warsaw is, next to Moscow, the most important inland city (Fig. 128). At the center of steam navigation on the Vistula, it is the third largest city of the empire, the point of convergence of trade routes between Russia and western Europe. Lodz (Fig. 127), near the Polish coal fields, produces seven eighths of all the cotton cloth made in Po- land and one tenth of the cotton yarn spun in Russia. Its single street, six miles long, is lined with many factories. Vilna, on the railroad be- tween St. Petersburg and Warsaw, is an industrial town ; Kief is the RUSSIA IN EUROPE 313 The chief centers of the textile industries (cotton, silk, woolen, and linen goods) are the Moscow industrial region, St. Petersburg, and the neighborhood of the central and Polish coal fields. Russia produces fine qualities of prints, silks, velvets, and woolen goods. Cotton manufacturing has excluded all except the finer foreign fabrics, and is increasing the export of home fabrics to Asia, but can not compete in the markets of central and west Europe. Russia occupies the third place in cotton spinning, after Great Britain and the United States. One third of the raw cotton comes from Russian territory and two thirds from the United States. The cotton goods are worth two thirds of the total value of textiles, and give em- ployment to nearly 1,000,000 adults and children. The Moscow district leads in wool spinning and weav- ing, and St. Petersburg, Tver, Lodz, Warsaw, and Kharkof are the other centers. The silk industry, concentrated almost wholly in the Moscow district, consumes over $6,000,- 000 worth of raw silk and yarn a year, bought in Italy, China, and Persia. Linen manufacture is largely carried on in the central governments, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Jaroslav being the chief centers.* largest center of sugar refining ; Kharkof does $20,000,000 of busi- ness at the annual January fair ; Saratof is one of the tobacco grow- ing and manufacturing centers; Kazan is occupied with tanning, dis- tilling, and the manufacture of " Russia leather," linen, and candles ; Tula, famous for cutlery and samovars, is the scat of the Government small-arms factory ; Orenburg is a caravan terminus ; Tver is the head of steam navigation on the Volga ; Poltava is noted for its wool and horse fair; Smolensk is a large commercial center; Perm has large gun works; and Rylnnsk is the center of grain forwarding by water to St. Petersburg. * The distillery industry is very large, the average consumption of spirits being about two gallons per capita a year. Esthonia, south of the Gulf of Finland, is the greatest center of production. The larger shipbuilding yards are at Sebastopol, Odessa, and Nicolacff. Flour mills are most numerous in the black earth region and the southern 314- COMMERCIAL GEOGRAJPHY The great fairs of Russia are a feature of its internal com- merce. The most famous of these is held in August at xsizhni-Novgorod. The several hundred thousand persons from European and Asiatic Eussia who attend do an annual business of 135,000,000. All kinds of Russian merchandise, iron manufactures from Siberia, cotton from central Asia, silks and silverware from Persia, Bokhara, and Tashkent, and turquoises from Persia are sold. Large fairs are also held at Kharkof, Poltava, and Kief; but the importance of these great markets is declining, because cheap travel makes it easy for merchants to buy in the towns where goods are made and kept in large stock. Cheap freight rates both by land and water prevail. The rivers and canals are of larger importance than rail- roads in internal commerce (Fig. 128). There are 46,000 miles of navigation, more than half of it floating steam- boats ; 67 per cent of river freight is carried on the Volga and Xeva systems. Short and cheaply constructed canals between the rivers greatly extend navigation.* Hundreds of freight boats from the Volga and Northern Dvina reach St. Petersburg every year. As the cart roads are very poor, the winter season, when sledging is universal, is best for land haulage. Three fifths of the railroad mileage is operated by the Government (Fig. 129). Trunk lines connect the extremi- ports. Russia is unsurpassed in the excellence of her leatlier products, but does not now monopolize the manufacture of " Russia leather." There are 400 sugar refineries in the Kief and Kharkof governments and Poland. Soap and candles are important manufactures. * The longest river and canal routes are : 1. Caspian Sea and Arctic Ocean : (a) Volga-Kama and Vicheg- da-Northern Dvina ; (b) Volga-Sheksna and Sukona- Northern Dvina. 2. Caspian Sea and Baltic : (a) Volga-Sheksna-Belo Ozero and Svir- Ladoga-Neva ; (b) Volga-Mologa and Ladoga-Neva ; (c) Volga and Msta-Ladoga-Neva. 3. Black Sea and Baltic : (a) Dnieper-Bercsina and Western Dvina; {b) Dnieper-Pripet and Vistula; (c) Dnieper-Pripet and Niemen. RUSSIA IN EUROPE 315 ties of the empire, or are being built. Foreign trade by land is thus carried on with central and west Europe and the Asiatic countries to the east and southeast. RUSSIA K^j ^^i:::''"^Tcri<^ o'^-'" Chief Railroads ') SCALE OF MILES j ^Vysy*^ ^ ^^y^ pa^^U^lnoyii The exports amount to nearly one million dollars a day and the imports to about three fourths or more of that amount. Over one half of the exports are cereals and flour. Other leading articles in the order of their importance are flux and hemp fi})ers, timber, and wooden goods, oil grains (lin- seed and grass seeds), dairy produce and eggs, naphtha, 310 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and sugar. Manufactured goods are mostly consumed in the country or sent to Asiatic Kussia, Persia, Anatolia, and China. The leading imports are materials for manufacture, cotton, raw metals, wool and woolen yarn, leather, hides and skins, chemicals, dyestulis, and coal, besides machin- ery, tea, wine and spirits, and textiles of the finer grades. The largest business is done with Germany and the United Kingdom, Germany supplying a third and the United King- dom a fifth of all Russia buys in other lands, and Germany purchasing a quarter of what Russia sells abroad. Great Britain is by far the largest purchaser of cereals, and Rus- sia depends upon that country and Switzerland for cotton- manufacturing machinery. The imports of machinery from the United States are important ; the exports to the United States are very small, chiefly manganese ore and licorice root. The chief seaports are on the Baltic and Black Seas (Fig. 128). Russia, however, does not control the channels con- necting them with the Atlantic. They are blocked by ice, except Odessa, Sebastopol, and Hango, from two to five months, but ice-breakers are now lessening this obstruction. The Black Sea ports are the main outlets for agricultural produce. The sea trade with south Europe and Asia is chiefly through Black Sea ports; with north and central Europe and the United States through the Baltic ports.* * Odessa is the main outlet foi- the agricultural products of south- west and south-central Russia. Flour mills, sugar refineries, breweries, and machine factories give the city large industrial importance. Other Black Sea ports are Nicolaeff, chief station of naval construction, a point of grain shipment and of petroleum distribution inland ; Kher- son, with exports of cereals, timber, and liides ; Sebastopol, now a naval station closed to trade : Berdiansk and Mariupol, grain ports of the Sea of Azof; Taganrog, exporting grain, and connected by rail with the Donetz coal fields : and Rostof, exporting grain, wool, and cloth, with large fisheries interests and manufactures of farm machinery. St. Petersburg, though remote from the largest mining and agricul- tural regions, is a great trade center. The exports are valued at only . RUSSIA IN EUROPE 317 STATISTICS FOR RUSSIA Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 188I-'85. 1891-'95. 1899. Imports 275.0 234.5 806.1 Exports 290.0 314.0 309.8 Imports from Leading Countries, 1899 (in Million Dollars) (erraany. England, grates, ^"stria. France. Belgium. China. Holland. Italy. 119.0 66.6 23.5 15.9 14.6 9.2 7.0 5.9 4.7 Exports to Leading Countries, 1899 (in Million Dollars) lermany. England. France. Holland. Italy. Austria. Belgium. Turkey. F'"*^^'' 84.2 66.2 30.8 25.1 14.3 13.7 12.1 6.3 2.5 The unit of coinage is the silver rouble, worth nomi- nally 77 cents ; average value, about 50 cents. The unit of measurement is the arshine (28 inches) ; that of weight is the pood (36 pounds avoirdupois), divided into 40 pounds. one third to one half as much as those from Odessa, but the imports are about twice as much. The imports, chiefly food, raw materials, and articles of luxury, are mostly consumed locally. Grain and timber are the largest exports. At Riga oats, rye, and lumber head the exports, and coal is imported from England for its textile and machinery industries. Reval leads all the ports in the shipment of spirituous liquors. It is free from ice five weeks longer than other Baltic ports. Helsiiigfors is the center of the Finnish import trade. Vil)org exports lumber and Abo has shipbuilding works. Hango (Fig. 129), ico free, is iniporlant in the winter trade between St. Petersburg and Stockholm. Archangel, on the White Sea, is closed by ice nearly seven months. It exports hemp, flax, oats, and the forest products to northwest Europe and the United States. Astrakhan is the shipping port on the Caspian for the Persian trade. Its chief industries are sturgeon and other fishing, and caviare manufacture. CHAPTER XXX THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ASIATIC TURKEY Important trade routes between the Occident and the Orient pass through the Balkan peninsula (Fig. 130). In this re- spect it resembles Italy and contrasts strongly with Spain (pp. 388, 298). Eailroads from Constantinople near the Black Sea, from Varna and Burgas on the Black Sea, and from Salonica and Dedeagatsch on the iEgean Sea connect with all the commercial centers of the west ; thus the pen- insula is a bridge between Asia and western Europe. It is a very mountainous land, sloping to plains and lowlands in the eastern half, so that it has been said to look toward the east. The northern part has the continental climate ; sub- tropical conditions prevail on the southern coasts. The great diversity of peoples and creeds, resulting in religious and political strife, kept most of the peninsula, till re- cently, outside the field of international trade. Agricul- ture is almost the sole occupation. The Danube affords, with the Ehine, Main, and Ludwig canal, an unbroken water way between the Xorth and Black Seas. A commission appointed by the powers, whose duty is to prevent violation of the Danube's neutrality and to keep the river navigable, has absolute control of the lower Danube. Sulina is the Black Sea port at the mouth of the middle branch, the only outlet in the delta which large ves- sels can enter. The river. is usually closed by ice in Janu- ary and February. Rumania is one of the three large granaries of Europe. Lying between the Carpathians and the Danube, the king- 318 THE BALKAN STATES SC*LE I. tj. 000, 000 M lUU Fio. IW. 319 320 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY dom is mostly plain, with a warm, rich soil, the western extension of the black-earth region of Eussia (Fig. 127). The inhabitants are mainly farmers, but agriculture is still backward, for the peasantry were serfs till 1866, and have made progress slowly. Cereals are the great product of the plain, maize being the largest crop, as in the United States, followed by wheat, which is now prepared for market by steam threshing machines. Most of the wheat may be ex- ported, as maize is the staple food. Grain is three fourths of the exports, most of it being shipped to Great Britain, Belgium, and Germany by water from Galatz, the Danube port above the delta for ocean vessels. The vine is grown along the sunny foothills of the Carpathians ; stock raising is large, but animals have not yet become very important in foreign trade. Eock salt, largely exported, and petroleum from the Carpathians are the only mineral products. Bu- charest, in the center -: 'u-. plain, is the chief trading point ; Galatz, OP ^' is the great grain port ; Cou- stansa (Kustx-n^g ships cattle from the Dobruja plateau. Attempts to establish large industries have failed owing to lack of coal, capital, and skilled labor; but flour mills, dis- til Vries (pror^ccmg whisky from maize and brandy from plums), saw mills, shoe and clothing factories, and tobacco ijv-;jdfactures (a state monopoly) are considerable indus- tries. Home weaving and other household industries sup- ply the primitive wants of the people. All fine articles are imported, the imports, mainly textiles, metal wares, and colonial goods, coming most largely from Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Great Britain; few of these imports are from the United States. There is small trade with neigh- boring Eussia, for neither state has much to sell that the other needs.* * The effect of the poor crop years of 1897-'98 upon Rumania's trade in 1899 (p. 326) illustrates the vicissitudes to which the commerce of a purely agricultural country is exposed. THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ASIATIC TURKEY 321 Swine and hog products are the chief exports of Servia. Hogs feed in every valley on acorns and beech nuts, oak and beech trees covering most of this mountainous king- dom. The river valleys are very fertile, and large crops of maize and wheat are raised. The ravages of phylloxera reduced the wine crop till wine is now an import. Bel- grade, the capital, splendidly situated at the confluence of the Danube and the Save, is the chief trading point betAveen Vienna and Budapest on one side and Constantinople and Salonica on the other. Here most of the business of the country is done, and the few important industries, carpet, cotton, and silk weaving, are carried on. The international railroad passes through Belgrade, follows the fertile valley of the Morava Eiver, and branches at the little city of Xish, one line going southeast to Sofia and Constantinople and the other south to Salonica; the transit freight trade is therefore important. Most of the manufactures, spinning and weaving, are carried on in the homes. As Servia has ample water and rail communications with Austria-Hun- gary, its commerce is largely controlled by that empire, which buys five sixths of the hogs, cattle, and other agricul- tural products and supplies five eighths of the metals, textiles, and other imported manufactures. Great Britain and Germany have the larger part of the remaining trade.* The southern half of Bulgaria is its most fertile and pros- perous part. Ricli plains abound there, while tlie northern half is more mountainous. In the center is the famous Valley of Roses, whence the world derives a part of its most delicate perfumery, more than half of the attar of roses coming from this valley. f * Considerable of the Balkan trade, credited to Austria-Hungary in statistical tables, merely passes in transit through that empire to or from Germany. f Attar of roses is the oil distilled from the petals of the damask rose, 1,000 pounds of leaves making a pound of oil. The rose flf)ur- ishes in the sandy soil around Kazanlik, which is the center of the 21 322 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Cereals, most of all wheat and maize, occupy two thirds of the tilled lands ; large areas are given to tobacco, fruit, and wine. The people have the taste and talent for manu- factures, hut their wretched condition, when under the Turkish regime, prevented large development. They sur- pass the Servians in manufactures, their leather and shoe goods, woolen textiles, and carpets being noteworthy. Most of them, however, are coarse, and they are consumed solely in the home trade. Sofia, the capital, joined by rail to western Europe and Constantinople, has a large trade ; Eustchuk is the Danube port, with a railroad to Varna, the Black Sea port of north Bulgaria ; Burgas, the port of south Bulgaria, is joined by rail to the international railroad, which follows the rich valley of the Maritza across Bulgaria. All the chief towns have increased in population from four to tenfold since Bulgaria, which includes Eastern Rumelia, became autono- mous in 1878. Its former deplorable state illustrates the paralyzing effects of despotic rule upon industry and com- merce. Grain, textiles, live cattle, hides, and perfumeries, the leading exports, are sent chiefly to England, Turkey, Germany, France, and Belgium. The imports, mainly tex- tiles and yarn, colonial goods, metals, and metal wares, come chiefly from the same countries.* The principality of Montenegro has no railroads or indus- tries and little agriculture. This mountainous, limestone region, a part of the Karst (Fig. 114), affords poor pastur- age and only small areas of arable land. Stock raising and fishing are the chief piirsuits. Nearly everything except food is imported ; animals and their products are the sole industry. About $500,000 worth of oil is exported every year in addi- tion to supplies from Persia, Turkey, and other eastern countries. The oil being very expensive is likely to be adulterated. Rose water is water tinctured with attar of roses by distillation. * Observe the effect upon Bulgarian trade in 1899 of two successive poor harvests (p. 327). THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ASIATIC TUKKEY 323 exports. The very small trade is with Austria-Hungary and Great Britain. Cetinje, the capital, is connected with the Austro-Hungarian port of Cattaro by a good road. Greece has neither coal, wood, water power, nor capital to encourage the development of large enterprises. The coun- try has many deep gulfs, providing excellent harbors. The Greeks are naturally, therefore, a seafaring people, carry- ing a large part of the trade of the eastern Mediterranean. In their mountainous country they enjoy a genial climate, but rain falls chiefly in winter, which prevents large agri- culture. There are other influences that tend to keep the country poor ; it is so sparsely populated that workmen are hard to obtain, many foreigners finding employment in mining and railroad construction. There are almost no roads except mule tracks ; the few railroads do not supply adequate transportation. Traffic is therefore mainly by vessels along the coasts. The Corinth Canal (Fig. 26) is a great convenience to home and foreign shipping. Grain, currants, the vine, and olives are the stajales of agriculture, which is the chief resource, though only one sixth of the land is cultivated. The valleys and islands have small farms planted with vegetables, vines, and orange, lemon, and olive trees. The wide northern plains of Thessaly and other plains and valleys produce fine crops of grain. The soil is excellent, but water is the problem of tillage. It is often found near the surface, and is supplied to the crops from wells worked by crude machinery ; all the fruit crops are irrigated. The supply of grain is so inadequate that two thirds of the wheat consumed is imported from llussia, Eumania, and Turkey. As most of the animals are sheep and goats, butter is a large import. Most of the raw silk produced in the south is exported to France for manufacture. Mills in Piraeus and Athens make cotton cloth ; coopers supply wine casks ; ships are built on the little island of Syra. Machine shops at Piraeus build engines that are run by British coal ; soap making is important ; women in tlicir 324 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY homes weave cloth and carpets ; thousands of men make metal and leather goods in their small shops. These house industries are well developed and supply the poorer classes with most of their needs.* As the kingdom does not produce sufficient grain, tim- ber, cloth, yarn, metals, and general manufactures, these articles, together with coal and colonial goods, are the largest imports. Currants, wine, olives, tobacco, and fruits are the only agricultural products of importance in the export trade, currants f being about half the total exports of Greece. Lead and zinc ores and sponges are other im- portant sales abroad. Bad government in European Turkey has helped to cover its fertile plains with more weeds than grain or grass. This is the only non-Christian country in Europe. Many mil- lions of Christians, however, live in Turkey. The Moham- medans comprise scarcely one half of the population. J Foreigners in Turkey live under the laws of their respective countries, which are administered by the consuls (p. 30). The soil is fertile, but agriculture, though the mainstay of the people, is in a most backward condition. The op- * Athens, the political and intellectual capital, is also, with its port and suburb Piraeus, the industrial and commercial center of the king- dom. Pirseus is the most important port. Patras is the port for cur- rant shipments. Hermupolis on Syra Island, in the middle of the ^gean, is a coaling station and large trading point. f The currant is a small, seedless grape, cultivated and dried in southwestern Greece and some of the islands, principally Zante, and used in cakes and puddings. I The Turks never assimilated the peoples whom they conquered. Millions of Slavs and Greeks in Turkey have never adopted Islam nor learned the Turkish language. The failure of the Turks to identify the conquered races with them is the chief cause of the disintegration of their European empire. In the nineteenth century Turkey lost Greece, Servia, Rumania, and Montenegro ; it still has nominal suze- rainty over Bulgaria, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Crete, without any power, however, to interfere in their government. THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ASIATIC TURKEY 325 pression of the Christians, ruinous taxation, and lack of roads have stifled energy. Turkey is a leading market for foreign foods and manu- factures. One third of the imports are foodstuffs and arti- cles of luxury. Turkey once commanded European mar- kets in morocco leather, carpets, and silk textiles, but it no longer competes with foreign products ; even most of the fezes, the emblem of Turkish nationality, are made in Austria and other countries. Constantinople and Salonica have a few cotton, wool, and silk mills, but textiles are still the largest imports. House industries are carried on in a primitive way. The Turks have little part in the trade of their coun- try, most of the foreign trade being in the hands of Eng- lish, French, and Belgian merchants. Armenians chiefly, and also Greek and Spanish Jews, are the merchants and bankers, yet only in Constantinople are modern banking and credit systems a part of business facilities. * The grain, fruits, raw silk, tobacco, wine, perfumery, hides, and other articles that Turkey sells abroad pay for about one half of the textiles, sugar, coffee, coal, petroleum, iron, etc., which the country purchases. There are no trade statistics. The estimated jDopulation is 5,800, 000. f * Constantinople (Fig. 9), built around its magnificent harbor, the Golden Horn, stands at the meeting point of the East and West and commands the trade between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In any other hands than those of the Turks it would become one of the greatest ports in the world; as it is, the movement is about 11,000.000 tons a year, three fifths of which is under the British flag. Salonica is the port of western Turkey, and on the most direct route, via the inter- national railroad, between west Europe and Greece. The Jews, three fifths of its population, are very active in commerce. Dedeagatseh, near the mouth of the Maritza River, exports Bulgarian wheat. Adri- anople, the most important interior town, manufactures attar of roses, silks, and carpets. I Asiatic Turkey is growing in iinporfance with the extension of railroads. Smyrna, the most important city of Anatolia (.Asia Minor), 891-'95. 1899. 79.0 64.3 59.5 28.7 1891-'95. 1899. 7.5 8.9 9.5 12.7 326 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY STATISTICS FOR THE BALKAN PENINSULA Rumania Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. Imports 58 . 5 Exports 44.0 Imports from Leading Countries. 1S99 (in llillion Dollars) Austria-Hungary. Germany. Great Britain. France. Italy. Turkey. Belgium. 18.4 17.5 11.5 4.3 3.1 2.5 2.0 Population (1899), 5,612,520. Servia Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1884-'88. Imports 8.0 Exports , 7.5 Population (1899), 2,413,694. is, next to Constantinople, the leading port of the Levant. Like Con- stantinople it is connected by rail with the far interior of Anatolia, and is the outlet for many of its exports. Chief among the manufactures are the famous Smyrna rugs and carpets made by thousands of families in the interior villages. The men color the wool with which the women and girls make fine and lasting products. Angora is the native home of the species of goat whose hair (mohair) is exported from Constantinople. The exports include the acorn cups of the Valonia oak sent from the Levant for dyeing and tanning. Beirut, the chief port of Syria, has a railroad to Damascus, the largest city ; a railroad also extends from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Syria exports wheat and wool and imports textiles and iron goods. Many small arti- cles are made to sell to thousands of pilgrims. Most of the people are farmers. In Mesopotamia all land transport is by mule or camel. Bag- dad caravans trading with Persia and the Black Sea : all manufactures are for home consumption ; cereals and dates are the largest exports, the dates being sent all over the world from Basra, at the head of the Per- sian Gulf, where there is steam communication with India and England. The annual pilgrimages to Mecca, the burial place of Mohammed, give a season of great activity to Jedda, its port, where the trade in supplies is also very active. Hodeida, on the Red Sea, exports a part of the coffee of Yemen known as Mocha from the town on the coast that formerly ex- ported this famous coffee bean. Mocha coffee is also shipped from Aden. 1891-'95. 1899. 16.5 11.7 15.5 10.4 THE BALKAN PENINSULA AND ASIATIC TURKEY 327 Bulgaria Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1880-'84. Imports 9.5 Exports 8.0 Population (1893), 3,309,810. Greece Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1879-'83. 1891-'95. 1899. Imports 24.5 22.5 25. G Exports 13.5 17.0 18.9 Population (1896), 2,433,806. CHAPTER XXXI MEXICO Most of Mexico stands on a high plateau. Temperate and even frigid influences prevail in the elevated interior, though tropical heat covers the low coast lands. Alti- tude has therefore larger effect than latitude upon busi- ness. ^Nearly all the plants found between the equator arid the arctic circle grow in Mexico ; the hot land * along the narrow coast is a region of cotton, henequen, mahogany, logwood, and tropical fruits (Fig. 131). Above the coastal zone, from 3,000 to 6,000 feet in elevation'^, are the " tem- jjerate lands," corresponding to southern Italy in vegetable products, a zone of subtropical plants, such as the cactus, on which the cochineal insect feeds (p. 113), besides maize, beans, and other food plants, and tobacco. Above 6,000 feet, on the plateau proper, are the " cool lands," bordered by mountain ranges, a region of wide, natural pastures, and of wheat, barley, apples, and many other products of the cooler latitudes, with deep valleys here and there where cot- ton and other subtropical products are grown. Most of the inhabitants live in this central region, where agriculture and mining are chiefly carried on. The extreme north has four seasons in the year, but south of latitude 28° the sea- sons are divided into the wet, from May till October, and the dry, from October till May. The structure of the land and the resulting climate * The oppressive heat in the liarbor of La Paz, Lower California, led Cortez to name that region California — Hot Furnace. 328 MEXICO 329 present some impediments to industry and trade. Thus the mountain ranges bordering the plateau prevent wet winds from reaching the interior, so that most agriculture is carried on only with the aid of irrigation. As irrigation J Ca«te\ Saltillo oDuranptf-x iS^ Lui3 l\to San Bla=Wv\^f q \ Cotton Coffee flV Tobacco I ^- ' Henequen CD Limit of Wheat ^~Z^ Chief ilaize Growing SCALE OF MILES 100 200 300 400 500 Fig. 131.— Agriculture in Mexico. is costly, there are fewer small farms in proportion to popu- lation than in the United States ; north of the city of Mexico there are vast unimproved areas almost uninhabited, because capital and engineering skill have not yet led water from the mountains to fit the rich soil for tillage. Com- merce must depend entirely upon the railroads, as none of the rivers is available for navigation. Access to the ports is difficult on account of the great differences in elevation.* The harbors on the Gulf coast are naturally poor (Fig. 132). XdY'A Cruz is merely an o\)vn roiulsiead, altliougli large sums have been spent to make tliat port and Tam- * Trains from "Vera Cruz climb 8,000 feet to reach the city of Mexico. 330 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY pico available for the needs of commerce. The best ports are on the Pacific coast, where they do not front the great Fitr. 133.— On the Atlantic coast Matamoras is a frontier town with a poor harbor (Bagdad), admitting only small vessels. Tampico accommodates steamers draw- ing 24 feet ; as it is a railroad center, much of the foreign trade, particularly im- ports, pass through the city. Vera Cruz js the most important port of Mexico, but is unhealthful ; most exports are shipped from this port, which has regular connections with New York, New Orleans, Havana, and St. Nazaire, France ; the movement is about 700,000 tons a year. Coatzacoalcos is a small port at the north end of the Tehuantepec isthmus railroad. Carmen is a shipping point for mahogany and dyewoods ; and Campeche for logwood. Progreso is the port of the industrial and trading town of Merida ; most of the henequen of Yucatan is shipped from Sisal, northwest of Merida. On the Pacific coast, La Paz^Jbe chief town of Lower California, exports fruit. Guaymas.ji_thriving town with a good harbor, connected by rail with the Southern Pacific Railroad, exports metals and hides and imports mining supplies. Altata is the port of Culiacan, a supply sta- tion for the silver mines. Mazatlan, with a shallow harbor and no protection against the west wind, exports metals and wood and imports manufactures. San Bias, with a fair harbor, is the busiest port between ^Mazatlan and Acapulco. Manzanillo is the port of the coffee, sugar, and cotton plantations on the plains of Coifma. Acapuljiff, one of the finest harbors in the world, a coaling point for steamers, has as yet but little trade. Salina Cruz is the southern terminus of the railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Much of the commerce between . Mexico and the United States passes through the railroad towns on the northern frontier, mainly Ciudad Juarez and Ciudad Porflrio Diaz. MEXICO 331 world market ; but as they are shut off by mountains from the most populous and busiest parts of the country they have only a small share in the trade. Most of the agricultural products are consumed at home (Fig. 131). The wheat raised on the high table-land is somewhat inferior to that of the United States both in quality and quantity per acre. Maize and beans, produced in enormous quantities, are the staple food of the people.,, All the cotton raised is spun in the mills ; the best quality of fiber is grown in the neighborhood of Afapulco. One of the great exports is henequen (sisal fiber), used for sacking, cordage, and binder's twine (p. 103). The sales to the United States are making Yucatan one of the wealthiest states in Mexico. Superior vanilla, raised on plantations mainly in the state of Vera Cruz, is also a large export. The banana thrives everywhere on the lower mountain slopes, and the home trade is a source of much profit. Oranges, lemons, tobacco, coffee, cacao, rubber, and other southern products are very successful, but have not entered largely into the world's trade. One of the important plants is maguey, the American aloe, from which pulque, the na- tional alcoholic beverage, is made. Considering the vast extent of fertile lands in Mexico, the republic is as yet utilizing only a small part of her agricultural resources in foreign trade. Animal raising is growing in importance. It is still, how- ever, in the early stages of development. Many large es- tates or haciendas on the plateau are devoted to raising cattle, mostly of the long-liorned Mexican type, tbough tlie stock is being improved by importations from the United States. Hides and live cattle are exported to this country. Dairy farming is profitable near the large cities, where milk and butter sell at high prices. The wool crop is coarse and inferior, so that liome mills import much wool of finer grades, while well-to-do Mexicans wear imported woolen cloths. The horses are small, but hardy and spirited. The 332 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY coast waters teem with fish ; beds of pearl oysters in the Gulf of California supply a lucrative industry.* Forests have been recklessly wasted. Many mountain slopes have been denuded of their timber to supply the mines. Much lumber is imported mainly from the Pacific coast of the United States. Mexico in return sells large quantities of mahogany and dyewoods to other countries. V Metals are the largest resource (Fig. 133). Mexico is 07ie of the ri^i^st mining countries in the world (Figs. 68, 70). t More tliln half the silver has been produced on the plateau in the three districts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi. The Beta Madre lode of Guanajuato alone produced $252,000,000 between 1556 and 1803. ' Lead associated with silver is a large product. Gold is found for the most part not on the plateau, but on the slopes facing the Pacific, and ajjparently in greatest abundance near the United States border, though it exists throughout the mountains. Gold mining is still in its infancy in most of these regions. Iron ore of fine quality is in inexhaustible supply. Fig. 133 shows the iron areas that are attracting most attention. Coal is found in various parts of the coun- try, but comparatively little is yet mined. Mexican petro- leum is refined at Tuxpan on the Gulf of Mexico. Pure sulphur from the crater of Mount Popocatepetl is exported from Puebla. Copper, mercury, and tin are also important * Pearls are obtained chiefly from the pearl oyster, which is in largest supply in the Persian Gulf (Bahrein Islands), the Gulf of Cali- fornia, the Sulu Archipelago, and off the west coast of Ceylon and the north coast of Australia. The product is not only pearls, but also pearl or oyster shell (mother-of-pearl), which ranges in price from $300 to $900 a ton. The oysters are taken from a depth of 120 feet, with the aid of the diving dress, though most are gathered from depths of 40 to 50 feet. f The total production of Mexican gold and silver mines between 1521 and 1875 is estimated at $3,614,000,000. The capitalized value of Mexican mines is about $375,000,000. There are 1,700 mines, of which 1,300 are silver and gold, employing 102,000 men. 0^ MEXICO 333 products. As the precious metals, chiefly silver, are the larger part of the total exports, many steamers loaded with merchandise for Mexico can not secure return loads and consequently visit United States ports for cargoes. SCALE OF MILES 6 ito 200 300 400 500 Fio. 133.— Mining in Mexico. Many towns are supply stations for the mining centers. Chiliuahua was founded over three hundred years ago in a rich silver-mining district. Dnrango. renowned for its rich silver group, has cotton and woolen mills' and distilleries, owned mostly by Germans. Guanajuato smelts the silver ores of the Beta Madre mines, which yield about $5,000,000 silver a year. Zacatecas, famous for its silver mines, has potteries and cigar manufactures. San Luis Potosi (Fig. 132). a railroad-junc- tion point west of Tampico, has become one of the largest cities through its mines and its trade in cattle, hides, and tallow. Mexico, as well as all Latin America, is poor in industries. The products of these countries are chiefly raw materials ; most industrial products, particularly articles of luxury and fine quality, are imported. The lack of political stability has had an important influence in preventing industrial advancement. Mexico, Argentina, and Chile have made the largest progress, Mexico in particular extending her manufactures to many branches, so that Nie imports are 334 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY decreasing. More than 100 cotton mills consume all the home cotton, import from Texas half the cotton they spin, and supply most of the needs of the country. Over twenty woolen mills make a variety of coarse fabrics. About 3,000 sugar mills supply the local demand. Paper, porce- lain, soap, beer brewing, chocolate, glass, and drugs are among the other industries. Railroads reach all the principal cities and the commercial and mining centers (Fig. 132). Connections are made at several points with the United States lines, so that the city of Mexico is now easily reached from all parts of this coun- try. The capital city is the center of the wholesale trade, much of which is in the hands of German merchants and bankers. Nearly all the industries of the country are repre- sented in its numerous shops and factories.* The exports are larger than the imports. The greater part of the exports are precious metals ; the other impor- tant products sold abroad are henequen, coffee, cattle, to- bacco, tropical woods, hides, lead, copper, and vanilla. The principal imports are linen, woolen and cotton fabrics, hard- ware, and machinery. Half of the imports are purchased from the United States ; England, France, and Germany supplying most of the remainder. STATISTICS FOR MEXICO Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars, Gold) 1881-'85. 1891-'95. Fiscal year 1899-1900. Imports 30.8 38.0 61.3 Exports 34.1 37.5 75.0 * Guadalajara, one of the largest cities, is famous for its potteries, and has cloth and other factories. Chilpancingo, south of the city of Mexico, is the center of a rich grain-raising district. Oaxaca, one of the garden spots of Mexico, has tobacco and chocolate works. Monte- rey is a railroad junction and the largest town of northern Mexico. Aguasealientes has hot springs and woolen mills; its fair in December distributes much merchandise through the interior. Puebla, one of the largest cities, has many industries. MEXICO 335 Principal Exports, 1899-1900 (in Million Dollars, Gold) Minerals. Vegetable products. Animal products. Manufactures. 42.0 25.4 5.3 1.4 Silver is the monetary standard, with the dollar (value in 1896, 53^ cents) as the unit of coinage. The metric 33^8- tem is legal, but the libra (1.01 pounds), the quintal (101.6 pounds), and the vara (33 inches) are commonly used. CHAPTER XXXII CENTRAL AMERICA Most Central Americans live on the Pacific slope. Their large towns and plantations occupy a long and narrow zone parallel with the Pacific shores and not very far from them. The western ports have most of the trade ; civilization, in fact, has mainly developed in the west, while the Atlantic slope is largely wild and unoccupied. These facts are ex- plained by the physical conditions : the hot lowlands of the east receive the tremendous rainfall brought by the moist trade winds ; heat and rain produce almost impassable virgin forests, inhabited only by scattered bands of Indians (pp. 4, 5) ; the forests are rich in hardwoods and rubber, but too unhealthful to be the home of white men. In the west, however, rise mountain ranges and jjlains among them, protected by mountains from excessive rainfall and having a cooler climate as a result of their elevation. As the Pacific coast has a comparatively moderate rainfall the conditions favorable to planting and other industries are found along that coast and on the plateaus among the mountains.* India rubber, mahogany, rosewood, dyewoods, cacao, and bananas grow on the hot lands to an elevation of 2,000 feet ; coffee plantations are scattered over the temperate lands from 2,000 to 6,000 feet ; most of the grain and * The average rainfall at'Greytown, on the Atlantic coast of Nica- ragua, is 297 inches a year, while on the plateau at Granada, among the mountains, it is 65 inches. 336 CENTRAL AMERICA 337 northern vegetables are raised in the cool lands above 6,000 feet. Thus Central America, though wholly within the tropics, is enabled by its great diversity of surface to raise the characteristic products of every climate. As the main water divide is near the Pacific, the rivers on the Atlantic slope have the longer and gentler course, some of them being navigable for a considerable distance. Eailroads have been built from some of the ports to the uplands where coffee is grown. Among the commercial disadvan- tages are the poor common roads, traversed by two-wheeled ox carts, the earthquakes which sometimes inflict great damage, the poverty of the masses, the small development of manufacturing, and the internal political disturbances. Guatemala is the most important of the five republics ; it sells more to foreign lands and buys more from them than any other state (Fig. 134). With a very narrow frontage on the Atlantic, most of the country is an elevated plateau. Cof- fee, the most important crop, grown mostly on large plan-, tations by well-to-do planters, thrives from the Pacific to the center around Coban. Maize and black beans, the staff of life throughout Central America, grow everywhere. The crops indicated in Fig. 134 supply most needs except tex- tiles and flour. All the sugar is consumed at home, the rum distilleries using much of it. The cotton fields and the high, dry sheep pastures supply fibers for the spinners and weavers who ply their trades in the towns. Cattle on the plateaus yield hides for export. Many minerals await development, but mining is in its infancy, the most impor- tant being placer-gold washing in the south, supplying metal for a small quantity of home-made gold ornaments. Straw, wooden and earthen wares, tobacco, and leather are other industries. The largest river, the Motagua, is navigable at high water for 100 miles ; a railroad is building up its valley to Guatemala, the capital, which is already connected by rail with the Pacific ports of San Jose, the leading port, and 32 338 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Champerico, which are merely roadsteads. Much of the rubber, bananas, and other resources are still unavailable for lack of transport.* Guatemala loads in the exports of coffee. This com- modity is the largest item in Central American shipments. No other Guatemalan export is of much importance, though * The Atlantic ports, Livingston and Puerto Barrios, and the two Pacific ports ship large quantities of coffee ; Guatemala, standing high and sheltered from the trade winds, is the largest city in Central America and the center of the Guatemalan trade ; Quezaltenango, built of lava blocks quarried at the foot of a volcano, makes woolen and cotton cloth ; Coban, in the center of one of the most fertile and healthful districts, is a busy trading place, and sends coffee to Living- ston for export. CENTRAL AMERICA 339 considerable quantities of bananas, hides, rubber, mahogany, and cedar are sold abroad. About an eighth of the coffee comes to the United States and the remainder is sent to Europe, Germany being the largest buyer. Cotton goods, hardware, flour, and wine are the largest imports. Great Britain and Germany having the largest part in the import trade.* Honduras, though rich in resources, has little commercial development. The country ha.-: a large Atlantic and very small Pacific frontage. Its large extent and sparse popula- tion make it difficult to secure sufficient labor. Fully half of the land, lacking population and transport, is still a vir- gin waste, f The agricultural products scarcely met the local demand until recent years, when it was found that bananas, cocoa- nuts, and other fruit might profitably be exported from the Bay Islands and the north coast to the United States. A single schooner was in this trade in 1883, while to-day sev- eral steamers carry a large amount of fruit to the United States every year. The success of the fruit trade has stim- ulated the opening of coffee and other plantations. Many hides and cattle are exported. The Atlantic forests abound with fine timber, Honduras mahogany being especially famous. The country is rich in gold and silver, which are the leading exports ; X cattle, fruits, timber, cacao, tobacco, * The imports from the leading countries in 1899 were valued at |2,094,fXX», the L'nited States sending $l,106,0f)0; exports |8.:J70,000, the United States taking $1.106,f//J. Population (1897;, 1.535.0:^2. f It takes a mule train three weeks to travel V>etween Puerto Cortez on the Atlantic and the Pacific port of Aroapala, a distance which might easily be covered in half a day if the projected railroad between those ports were built. Mahogany, sarsaparilla, and hides are carried by mules from the upper Patuca River to Trujillo for shipment. X Amapaia, one of the best natural harbors on the Pacific coast, is nearest the mines, and metals are therefore among the largest exports. The Atlantic ports, Trujillo, CeiVja, and Puerto Cortez, have connec- tions with the Uoited States. Ceiba is engaged chiefly in the fruit trade. 340 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and cofEee are other important exports. The imports in- clude cotton goods and hardware, almost the entire trade being with the United States. * British Honduras, covered with forests, exports chiefly their products. Mahogany, logwood, and other timber is felled in the interior and floated down the rivers, the quan- tity available for export depending on the amount of water in the streams to float the log drives. Bananas and cocoa- nuts are also sent to the United States. Most of the tim- ber goes to Great Britain, and the fruit to New Orleans. England and the United States divide the imports, f Salvador is the smallest country in America. Fronting wholly on the Pacific coast, practically all of it is available for settlement ; it is therefore more densely peopled than any of the other republics. The products distinguishing it from the other countries are balsam of Peru, valued in medicine, J and indigo, once the largest export, but now surpassed by coffee, which i§ three fifths of the value of the total sales abroad. Salvador has the largest coffee export except Guatemala. There are hundreds of sugar planta- tions. Cattle, horses, and mules are imported from Hon- duras, as stock raising does not fill the demand. The min- ing industry is unimportant, though some silver is exported. San Salvador, the capital, is the center of trade. Santa Ana, next in size, owes its prosperity to coffee and sugar planting. San Miguel is a trading center. San Vincente has fairs at which many commodities are exchanged. Most of the exports are shipped through La Libertad and Aca- Tegucigalpa, the capital and largest town, is in the gold and silver region ; Comayagua is a cattle-raising center; Jutigalpa is noted for its placer-gold diggings. * The foreign trade (estimated) in 1898 was : Exports, $1,900,000 ; imports, $1,300,000. Population (1898), about 400,000. t Population (1898), 34,747. J Balsam of Peru was so called because the Spaniards used to carry it to Callao, Peru, for shipment to Spain. It grows on the coast plain between La, Libertad and Acajutla, CENTRAL AMERICA 341 jutla, though La Union, on the Gulf of Fonseca, has the best harbor. Coffee, indigo, sugar, tobacco, and silver are the principal exports ; textiles, hardware, flour, and firearms are the chief imports. About half the imports come from England ; the United States, Germany, and France follow- ing; the exports to these countries are about two thirds of the total trade.* Nicaragua's resources are but little developed. The east is covered with great forests. Civilization, centered on the Pacific coast, does not extend more than 100 miles inland. Coffee, the principal product, is grown around Leon, Granada, and Managua, where nearly the whole product is raised. Large areas near the east coast are adapted for the banana, but the only plantations are along the Rama (Blue- fields) Eiver, which alone provides a highway to the sea, the river being navigable by steamers for 65 miles. The forest wealth is little developed. Wild-rubber plants, how- ever, have been so recklessly destroyed that the exportation of rubber, except from plantations, has been prohibited till 1907. Many cattle graze on the northwest plateau, and hides are an important export. Greytown and Bluefields are the Atlantic ports, but Grey town is no longer accessible for large vessels. Corinto and San Juan del Sur are the Pacific coast ports, most of the trade passing tlirough"Corinto, which jsjaetter protected and is connected by rail with the large interior towns, Granada, Masaya, Managua, Leon, and Chinandega. As the settled part of the country is almost inaccessible from the Atlantic coast, the trade passes between Corinto and the Isthmus of Panama, f * The exports to the United States in 1899 were estinmted at $1,- 284,000; imports from tlie United States (from our Treasury returns), $634,600. Population (1884), 803,534. + Fig. 134 indicates the route of the proposed canal : By canal from Greytown to the San Juan River ; the river to Lake Nicaragua ; canal from the lake to Brito (p. 44). 342 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The principal exports are coffee, gums, hides, timber, bananas, and cattle. The United States takes about half of the exports, followed by Great Britain, Germany, and France. Most of the imports, textiles, hardware, flour, and other articles, come from the United States and England.* Costa Rica excels in the quality of its coffee. It brings a high price in foreign markets. ^S^early a third of the popu- lation live on the dry side of the mountains, where the largest coffee plantations are scattered for 50 miles around San Jose, the capital. f Cattle thrive on the uplands, though not enough meat is produced for home consump- tion. Puerto Limon, the ^Atlantic port, is connected with San Jose by rail. The Pacific port is Punta Arenas. Cof- fee is about half the exports, a third of the crop going to England; then come bananas, hides, cedar, gold, rubber, and tortoise-shell. The imports are hardware and general manufactures, the United States leading in this trade. J * Estimated exports in 1899, $3,250,000 ; imports, ^2,000,000. Population (1895), 380,000. f When the coffee berry is ripe in December all the men, women, and children available pick the crop. The berries are washed, then dried in the sun and taken to factories, where the crop is prepared by modern machinery for market. Most of the coffee is bought by agents of foreign firms several months before the harvest. If. Costa Rica's export trade in 1899 was estimated at $4,900.000 ; imports, $4,136,000. Population (1894), 253,040. Complete commercial statistics for Central America are not available. Silver is the monetary standard in all the republics, with the peso or dollar (value about 49 cents) as the unit of coinage. CHAPTEE XXXIII VENEZUELA, THE GUIANAS, AND BRAZIL The Atlantic slope of South America is of much greater commercial importance than the Pacific slope (Fig. 23). It includes most of the continent ; it has the best harbors ; its rivers provide nearly all the interior navigation ; the products of its forests, grazing lands, and farms are much more valuable than the commodities of the Pacific slope. Venezuela has vast resources and small population. Lack- ing sufficient labor, its plantations are poorly tilled ; large, fertile areas are unoccupied ; the donkey and mule are the sole means of carrying merchandise between the coast rail- roads and the people of the far interior. As more inhab- itants are needed, Venezuela offers special inducements to foreign immigration (p. 36). The republic has hot, temperate, and cool zones accord- ing to elevation, each having its characteristic products. In the northwest are lowlands (Fig. 135), very liot and unheal thful, producing much cacao. South and east of the lowlands are high mountain ranges, skirting the sea from Valencia to Caracas, with plantations in the valleys where nearly all the agriculture is centered. The inhab- itants live chiefly among these mountains, where the cli- mate is comparatively healthful. The llanos, or great plains, extending south of the mountains, though hot and malarious, provide grazing for millions of cattle. The high plains south of the Orinoco are also unheal thful, and yield little except forest products and gold. 343 344 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Coffee is the main staple of wealth. Caracas, Valencia, and other important towns are in the midst of the largest coffee * districts. Xine tenths of the crop, which averages 55,000 tons, is shipped to Europe and the United States. VENEZUELA, THE GriAXAS Fig. 1.35. Cacao, produced in the torrid lowland and the lowest parts of the valleys, is the second largest agricultural export, seven eighths of the crop being sold abroad. These industries are embarrassed by the frequent revolu- tions which restrict the investment of capital in plant- ing, f The importation of sugar is prohibited by law, with the result that all the coarse brown sugar, the only * The bush grows in the shade of trees to avert the blasting effects of the sun. When ready for market the coffee is sent on donkeys and mules to the chief commercial centers, where it is purchased by foreign agents and forwarded by rail to the northern seaports. f The British minister to one of the South American republics long had in his office two water colors, one showing a coffee plantation at 8 A. M., everybody happy and work in full progress, the other show- ing the same plantation at 5 p. m., with dead and wounded men on all sides. VENEZUELA, THE GUI ANAS, AND BRAZIL 345 quality produced, is sold in the country at> high prices. Tobacco is insufficient for home consumption. Havana cigars are an important import, as domestic cigars are not well made. Cattle raising is next in importance to agriculture. The llanos (Fig. 135), nearly as large as Texas, are covered with rich grasses that would feed many millions of cattle, but civil wars have interfered severely with the industry. The cattle are mostly long-horned, small-bodied animals, which are driven in great numbers to the mountain towns for beef, but are worth little for export except for hides.* Among the forest products are rubber, tropical woods, and tonka beans, f which yield considerable exports. Gold is the only mineral of importance exported. It comes chiefly from El Callao district in Yuruari (Fig. 135), where the placer diggings have been nearly worked out, and quartz crushing has not yet been developed. Later discoveries of gold nearer to Ciudad Bolivar, on the Orinoco, and else- where bid fair to keep up the exports. | Manufacturing is only for the most common needs. Thus soap made from cocoanut oil and candles from imported stearin are important, because high duties give the local products a monopoly in cheap grades. Matches, straw goods, rum, feather flowers, cheap hats, shoes, and sole leather are other articles prodiiced. Practically no manu- factures are exported, but they comprise most of the imports. * Some cattle, driven south to the Orinoco, are shipped to Cuba and Porto Rico. \ The tonka bean, which is used for perfuiiiinp purposes, is the seed of a tall tree growing in Venezuela and the Guianas. X Much copper has been exported from Aroa through the port of Tucacas, but the output is now small. Coal mined near Barcelona is used to some extent by shipping, but more is imported from Cardiff. Marble of a superior quality is quarried near Puerto C'abello. The pearl fisheries at Margarita island are again becoming important (1901). 346 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The commercial centers among the mountains are connected by rail with their ports (Fig. 135). A railroad Hue, passing through the heart of the best agricultural regions, unites Caracas, the capital and center of the largest trade, with Valencia. A number of steamship lines ply between the northern ports and the United States and Europe.* The annual value of imports is the barometer of Venezuelan prosperity. The reason is because all breadstuffs, cottons, woolens, kerosene, and many other articles of every-day use are obtained from abroad. If there is a serious falling off in imports of these essentials of comfort the country is not prosperous. The United States sends flour, lard, kerosene, hardware, and cotton textiles, all of which pay heavy duties in Venezuela, while Venezuelan coffee, cacao, and skins are ad- mitted free into this country. The imports from the United States head the list in value, England coming next with cottons, woolens, and general manufactures, then Germany with cutlery and various wares, followed by France with silks and fancy goods, and Spain and Cuba with wines and * La Guaira, the port of Caracas, is an open roadstead turned into a good harbor by breakwaters ; it handles a fourth of the imports and most of the cacao exports. Puerto Cabello, the best harbor, is the port for the large region of which Valencia is the business center. Mara- caibo can not be reached by the largest vessels, but has the advantage of navigation on Lake Maracaibo, making a rich region tributary to it, so that it sends out the larger part of the coffee shipments. San Cris- tobal, Valera, and La Ceiba are shipping points for coffee and cacao exported through Maracaibo. The market for imports at Maracaibo is the region east and south of the lake. Tucacas is the port for the fruit- ful high plain of which Barquisimeto is the thriving trade center. The small foreign trade of Barcelona passes through its port, Guanta. The port of the south is Ciudad Bolivar, on the Orinoco, which, with its Meta tributary, is navigable from the interior of Colombia to the ocean and through a northern branch of the delta to the channel separating Trinidad from the mainland. Ciudad Bolivar ships rubber and Barran- cas exports cattle. The Orinoco region has very little development. Nutrias and San Fernando are collecting points for cattle. The cacao industry is particularly thriving around Maturin. VENEZUELA, THE GUIANAS, AND BRAZIL 347 tobacco. The chief exports are coffee, cacao, hides, and gold. The most important industries in the Guianas have been the growing and manufacture of cane sugar and its by-prod- ucts, rum and molasses. The lessening value of cane sugar caused great depression in these colonies, commercial disas- ter following dependence on this one crop. The people of British Guiana were turning (1900) many of the old sugar plantations into rice and tobacco fields, giving also much attention to cacao. Sugar has been largely replaced in Dutch Guiana by cacao and coffee. British and Dutch Guiana are alike in physical features, climate, and products. The low, marshy coastal plain, fertile, hot, and unhealthf ul, is devoted to planting. Cultivation is confined almost wholly to this narrow strip, and most of the inhabitants live there. Behind the plantations is a sandy zone, once the margin of the ocean when the present coastal plain was under the sea ; then beyond the sandy zone is a rough, hilly country covered with forests and yielding considerable gold.* Georgetown (Demerara) and N^ew Amsterdam, the chief towns of British Guiana, owe their importance to the palmy days of the sugar trade. The Demerara railroad was the first in South America. Bartica is an outfitting place for the gold diggings. Most of the laborers are East Indian coolies. The principal business interests are in the hands of British colonists. The imports include manufactures, coal, flour, dried meat, wine, and butter. About half the imports come from Great Britain and more than a fourth from the United States. Sugar, gold, rum, india rubber (balata), rice, and molasses are sent mostly to Great Britain and the United States, each having nearly half the trade, f * The gold yield of British Guiana in 1891 was $1,900,000, and in 1897 $2,300,000. The gold exports of Dutch Guiana in 1895 were $070,000. f Paramaribo, at the mouth of the Surinam river, is the commercial center of Dutch Guiana. The products and exports are indicated in Fig. 135. Nearly tlu; entire trade is with the Netherlands. French 348 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Brazil is the largest producer of coffee and rubber in the world. Coffee is the most important crop of the highlands, which cover half of the country betAveen the sea and the basin of the Amazon river. Eubber is the most important product of the lowlands, which comprise half of the country in the Amazon plain (Fig. 136). The lowlands, lying under the equator, deluged by trade-wind rains, covered by dense tropical forests, are hot and unhealthful, and have few inhabitants (pp. 4, 6). The inland part of the high- lands is dry and steppe-like in character and sparsely populated, while the coastal zone is a region of planta- tions, fairly well tilled, and in the most favored districts well populated; here are all the most important cities. Brazil, nearly as large as the United States, is wholly in the tropical and subtropical zones, except the extreme south- ern states, which enjoy a temperate climate. The negroes, now free but originally brought from Africa as slaves to till the plantations, are most numerous in the tropical states; the whites, mainly Brazilians (Portuguese) and many German and Italian immigrants, are most numerous in the uplands of Minas Geraes, the states of Eio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and the fertile and temperate states of the south. Coffee is the great staple of the export trade (pp. 71,75). It contributes more to the commercial importance of Brazil than all the other agricultural products. Most of the rail- roads were built, primarily, to carry coffee to the seaports. It made Eio de Janeiro the commercial center of Brazil and the second largest city in South America. Coffee can be grown anywhere from the Amazon to Sao Paulo, but nearly all the production is centered in the states of Eio de Janeiro Guiana is less developed than the other colonies, there being compara- tively few plantations. It differs from them also in having compara- tively high coast lands and in including phosphates from the islands among the exports. The harbor of Cayenne is adapted only for small vessels. The trade is chiefly with France. J i. 130.— Rio de Janeiro, the largest city, has a fine harbor, and is the political, commercial, and industrial center. Santos is the largest coffce-shippins; port. Porto Alegre is the port of the German colonies in South Brazil. Campos is one of the most important towns in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Victoria, the chief town of Espirito Santo, exports considerable coffee. Bahia, with one of the best harbors, exports coffee, tobacco, and timber. The state of Sergipe is particularly rich in costly woods exported from Aracaju. Sugar is shipped from Maceio. Pernambnco, one of the finest harbors of the land, exports chiefly sugar and coffee. Natal is the small port of Rio Grande do Norte. Ceara is the outlet for the sugar and cotton of the fertile state of that name. Maranhao is one of the most prominent of the smaller i)orts in the coast trade. Para ships nearly all the rubber. As no railroads connect these ports, the coast traffic from one ])ort to another is important, A great deal of the cotton of the north, for exam|)le, goes to the southern factories by sea. Observe the short railroads extending from the ports to the plantation districts. The Amazon affords larger interior navigation than any other river system in the world. "Ocean vessels ascend the river to Iquitos in Peru. Observe the con- fluence of waterways at Manaos, 1,000 milc^s up the Amazon, that have made it a large trading center. It is the depot for all the rubber collected in the u))i)er val- ley. River steamers ply between Cu3'aba in Matto Grosso and Buenos Aires. 349 350 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY and Sao Paulo. In Sao Paulo about 1,000,000,000 plants are in cultivation, this state contributing the larger supply (Fig. 136), Most of the crop is shipped from Eio de Janeiro and Santos, the port of Sao Paulo.* Cotton, raised mainly in the northeastern states (Fig. 52 and p. 95), is not so important in foreign trade as formerly, but is still a considerable export to Europe. Most of the crop is consumed in the home factories. Sugar, formerly very important for 1,800 miles along the east coast, has declined on account of low prices. It supplies the home demand, and much is exported through Pernambuco. The tobacco of Bahia and Minas Geraes supplies all the leaf needed for cigars and cigarettes and a large surplus for ex- port. Many thousands of cattle raised most extensively on the campos of the south are slaughtered every year ; the meat is dried in the sun, some of it being exported to Cuba, but far larger quantities and many beef cattle are imported from Argentina and Uruguay ; hides, hair, horns, and bones (in the form of bone ash, used as a fertilizer) are sent to Europe and the United States. As dairying is neglected, foreign butter has a good market. Swine are fattened in large numbers in the south, but much lard and pork is sent from the United States, f * Brazilian coffee is particularly rich in caffeine. In the cooler climate, where it is grown, the shrub does not need the protection of shade trees as in Venezuela. Some of the coffee estates embrace as much as 50,000 acres, giving employment to thousands of laborers; they are equipped with the best machinery, and branch railroads run to the doors of the factories that prepare the crop for market. The berries are picked from May till September, graded in seven qualities.and shipped in sacks, each containing 132 pounds. In good years the crop amounts to over 11,000,000 sacks. The industry has suffered in late years from reduced prices, due to overproduction. About nine tenths of the crop is exported to the United States, Europe, South Africa, and the Plata river countries. f Animal products to the value of several million dollars are an- nually exported, VENEZUELA, THE GUIANAS, AND BRAZIL 35I Rubber is second only to coffee in the exports (p. 113). Several qualities are derived from various rubber trees growing throughout the Amazon basin. The trees are tapped and the coagulated sap (crude rubber) is taken to collecting points, and from time to time carried by boats to Manaos, Para, and other markets. The quality known as Para rubber brings a higher price than any other ; the price of the crude rubber is fixed in foreign markets, chiefly in New York and London, the quotations being cabled to Para, which is the shipping point for nearly all the rubber,* for the guidance of purchasing agents there. Among other forest products are Brazil nuts, the largest supplies coming from the Eio Negro. f Mineral products are very small, though gold and dia- mond mining are carried on to some extent, chiefly in Minas Geraes. The diamond industry was nearly ruined by the discovery of the South African diggings (p. 133); the gems are of the finest quality, and the output (about $350,000 a year) is cut at Diamantina and the neighboring villages. Manioc, black beans, and rice are the chief articles of food. J Yams, maize, sweet potatoes, bananas, and arrowroot are also important food resources ; very little food is imported * As the supply of wild rubber bids fair to become exhausted in time, increased attention is being given to the cultivation of caout- chouc. Rubber grown on plantations is likely to be the chief source of supply. Over 20,000 tons of crude rubber are exported from Para every year. f Brazil derives its name from the Brazil tree, which yields a dye- ing material. The Brazil nut derives its name from that of the coun- try. \ The standard dish on Brazilian tables is a mixture of manioc flour, black beans, and rice, with bacon or jerked beef imported from -La Plata countries. The root of the manioc plant is widely cultivated in tropical America and Africa, where it is the chief food of millions of people. Tapioca, a large export to northern countries, is prcjiared from manioc starch. 352 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY for the poorer classes, but a great deal for the more pros- perous part of the whites. Eice thrives on the lowlands, but large quantities are imported. The cereals of the tem- perate zone are little cultivated, though wheat thrives in the south. Most of the wheat and flour consumed is imported. Though agriculture has been considerably extended in recent years, Brazil still has less land in tillage, in proportion to area, than almost any other country. The methods of cultivation are very primitive except on the large plantations, but the neglected fields yield abundant food for the peasantry. Manufactures have only meager development. Nothing else could be expected in a land where coal and iron are in small supply. Still some iron is smelted. Over 100 cotton factories work up most of the Brazil cotton ; in all well- settled regions there are sawmills, brick yards, tanneries, and other establishments, which supply most of the primary necessities, such as furniture, coarse cottons and woolens, hats, leather, matches, candles, and some machinery.* The imports are mainly foodstuffs, coal, machinery, and articles desired by the vsrell-to-do classes. The exports are confined mainly to a few products of the plantations and the forests. Among the food products most largely imported are flour, cattle, jerked beef, rice, codfish, lard, butter, wines, and spirits. Cottons, woolens, iron, machinery, and coal are large purchases, most of them coming from England. Most of the hog products, half of the flour, and all the kerosene come from the United States. Coffee, rubber, tobacco, hides, and cacao are the leading exports. Fifteen, steamship lines connect Brazil with Europe and North America. Over thirty foreign mail-carrying steamers visit the various ports every month. * Very high duties, amounting in some instances to more than the vahie of the goods, are imposed. If it were not for this protection, it would be impossible to carry on the textile industries. Agricultural machinery and implements are lightly taxed, but the imports are small. VENEZUELA, THE GUIANAS, AND BRAZIL 353 STATISTICS FOR VENEZUELA, THE GUIANAS, AND BRAZIL* Venezuela Imjiorts to Venezuela from Leading Countries {in 3Iillion Dollars) 1898. 1899. I 1898. 1899. United States 2.7 2.6 Great Britain 2.2 2.4 France 0.4 0.6 Germany 1.0 0.9 Spain 0.3 Exports from Venezuela to Leading Countries {in Jlillion Dollars) 1898. 1899. Germany 2.4 2.2 Spain 0.3 1898. 1899. United States 6.6 5.6 Great Britain 0.2 0.2 France 7.1 7.6 The total exports are over $20,000,000 a year. Population (1891), 2,323,527. The monetary standard is gold and silver, Avith the boli- var (19^ cents, gold) as the unit of coinage. The Guianas Average Annual Trade of British Guiana {in 3Iillion Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891-'95. 1899. Imports 9.5 8.5 6.3 Exports 13.0 11.0 9.2 Population (1898), 280,870. Annual Trade of Dutch Guiana {in Jlillion Dollars) 1895. 1899. Imports 2.3 2.4 E.xports 2 1 2.2 Population (1897), 79,800. Annwd Trade of Frendi Guiana {in 3Iillion Dollars) 1805. 1809. Imports 2.:} Trade with j 2.0 Exports 1.9 France. (0.06 Population (1895), 22,714. * Commercial statistics of Venezuela and Brazil are incomplete, and partly estimated. 23 354 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Brazil Average Annual Trade {in 3Iillion Dollars) 1881-"85. 1891-'95. 1899. Imports 106.7 150.0 105.3 Exports 116.0 177.5 124.7 Trade tvith Leading Countries, 1899 {in Million Dollars) Imports Exports from Brazil, to Brazil. France 26.4 20.3 Spain 0.4 0.4 Belgium 2.1 10.0 Imports Exports from Brazil, to Brazil. United States. .. . 59.5 11.4 Great Britain 19.2 26.4 Germany 23.6 11.3 Population (1890), 14,332,530. Gold is the monetary standard, with the milreis (541 cents) as the unit of coinage ; but the actual circulating medium is mostly inconvertible paper, together with nickel and bronze coins. Metric weights and measures. V CHAPTER XXXIY PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE Paraguay has rich but undeveloped resources (Fig. 137). It is a plain surmouuted by low mountain ranges, mostly covered with great forests, with wide, open spaces interven- ing that provide fine pastures and fertile farming lands. The climate is healthful and, tliough warm, is not oppres- sive. The disadvantages are sparsity of population, very poor interior communications, and lack of capital.* Though an interior country, Paraguay has as yet no rail connections with the sea. The Paraguay and Parana rivers, however, provide sea communications, all the interior com- merce being carried on these rivers ; above their junction the Parana is navigable only for 250 miles to Encarnacion. Large steamboats ply between Asuncion, the capital, and Montevideo and Buenos Aires, but their high freight rates are a commercial disadvantage. Yerba mat6 is the most important export (Fig. 46). As it is cheaper than tea, its use as a beverage is constantly growing. The exports in 1896 were 5,000 tons, and in 1898 over 7,000 tons.f * To encourage immigration the Government pays the passage of immigrants from Buenos Aires, gives them land, and loans them im- plements and money without interest. The immigration, however, is very small. + Yerha mate (the mate herb, also railed Paiaguay tea) is a shrub growing wild in the forests and in neighboring~districts of Brazil ; it is also cultivated on a few plantations, whose ))rodiict is said to be supe- rior. The leaves, rich in caffeine, are withered, rolled, and sorted, about half the crop being consumed at home and the remairuler sent in bags 355 356 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Hides are the second largest export. They are practically the only animal j)roduct sent out of the country except live cattle, shipped to the jerked-beef establishments of the south, and a little sole leather. Few small countries are as rich as Paraguay in valuable woods. But with a market at their doors, the Paraguayans are unable to meet more than a part of the demand from Argentina and Uruguay for railroad ties, building timber, and cabinet woods. It is so difficult to deliver timber at the rivers for shipment that Argentina finds it cheaper to buy most of its woods in Xorth America and Europe.* Few agricultural products are exported. Oranges and pineapples are the most important exports of the orchards and tilled lands, which are mostly along the banks of the rivers for convenience of transport. Oranges are so plenti- ful that hogs are fattened on them. Manioc and maize are the food staples ; sugar cane, ramie fiber (p. 103), and coffee are grown for home consumption. All* the soap is made from cacao oil. Cotton thrives, but little is grown, cotton textiles from England and Germany being the largest im- port. Much tobacco is sent to Argentina, where it is mixed with Cuban and other leaf and made into cigars and cigar- ettes. All the wheat comes from Argentina ; the poor, how- ever, can not afford to eat it. to Argentina, Uruguay, and other South American countries, where it is sold chiefly to the country people, who regard it as an excellent sub- stitute for tea and coffee. As the decoction is sweeter than tea, it is drunk with little or no sugar ; it is stimulating and to some extent a substitute for food. * In 1896 the Great Southern R. R. of Argentina purchased & large quantity of ties in Australia, because Paraguay had no facilities for turning out the supply required in the stipulated time. In many ways Paraguay suffers from lack of good roads. Oranges, after jolting for days in bullock carts, are hardly worth exporting when they reach the shipping points. When the small rivers are very low a considerable part of the mate crop can not be delivered at the Paraguay and Parana rivers for shipment. CHILE, A K(J i:\TINA, PARA(;i AV AXD URUGUAY SCALE 1 ; 23,000,000 Flo. 137. 357 358 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY There are few manufactures. Spirits are distilled from sugar-cane juice; and brick, earthenware, leather tanning, furniture and cigar making are industries in Asuncion and a few towns. About half the imports come from England. As all the peojjle dress in cotton fabrics, these textiles are the prin- cipal foreign purchases, followed by wine and rice. Yerba mate, hides, timber, tobacco, and oranges, in this order, are the important exports.* TTruguay's wealth depends upon its pastoral industries and agriculture. Its surface is an undulating, grassy plain, in- tersected by low mountain ranges. The climate is temper- ate and healthful, the soil is fertile, and the rainfall abun- dant. Bounded on three sides by the sea and the naviga- ble La Plata and Uruguay rivers, it has a very favorable position for trade. Its disadvantages are civil wars, which have greatly retarded development, and a sparse popula- tion, with the resulting inadequacy of labor. Most of the land is held in lai'ge estates. Grazing is the largest industry (Fig. 137). f The cattle, resembling our Texan cattle, but smaller, have been much improved since 1885 by the introduction of Durham, Hol- stein, and other breeds. The rich district around Paysandu produces the best beef cattle, this town and Montevideo being great slaughtering centers. About 800,000 cattle are killed annually with little wastQ, horns and bone ash being * The foreign trade is incliuled in the statistics of the Rio de la Plata countries (Argentina and Urnguay). Thus, while we send hardware, kerosene, and canvas to Paraguay, and buy hides and essences, our treasury returns show little or no trade. Approximate statistics of the total foreign commerce are obtained from the returns of the Paraguay custom houses. f Jlulhall (1894) estimates the annual value of the animal products at $37,500,000 ; farm products, !?12.500.000. There are 7,000 cattle and 19,450 sheep for every 1,000 of the puiiulation, a larger proportion than in any other country in the world. PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 359 exported and refuse turned into fertilizers. Four fifths of the cattle are used in making " tasajo," jerked beef,* which is exported to Brazil, west South America, Cuba, and Porto Eico. About 150,000 cattle are slaughtered every year at Fray Bentos for the manufacture of meat extracts. Corned beef and salted and canned beef tongues are sent to Eu- rope ; exjiorts of refrigerated beef and mutton are becom- ing important. The export of wool, which has more than doubled since 1880, is the largest item in the sales to foreign lands. It is sent to the cotton-spinning countries of Europe and to the United States. Wheat and wheat flour comprise most of the agricultural exports. Wheat is sent to Europe and flour to Brazil, which buys more flour from Argentina and Uruguay than from any other countries. Most of the cereals and other farm products, however, are consumed at home, but the tend- ency is to plow more land in order to increase the produc- tion. Except in years when the locust plague is severe, Uruguay is a wheat-exporting country. Flax, raised for linseed, is an important exjiort crop. The vine is grown successfully in the northwestern jiart of the rei^ublic. Navigation on the Uruguay is interrupted by cataracts at Salto, but much of the trade centering at Montevideo is carried on Uruguay river steamers. The chief towns of the interior are also joined by rail with Montevideo (move- ment 6,000,000 tons), which is connected with the United States and the chief countries of Europe by steamship lines.f * The flesh is cut into pieces, salted, and pressed under stones to extract the juices, then hung on wooden railings under the hot sun till it becomes thoroughly dried. Different markets require different rjuali- ties ; thus the fatter jerked beef is sent to Brazil and the leaner to the West Indies. Jerked beef is the only cheap form of beef that may be kept for a long time in tropical markets without deterioration. f Though Montevideo is the second largest port of the Rio de la Plata 360 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Most of the imports are food, hardware, machinery, and textiles; seven eighths of the exports are animal products. Though leather and other industries are increasing, most ^f the manufactures are imported. As agriculture lags far behind the animal industries, the home markets are sup- plied with large quantities of foreign foodstuffs ; but the sales of animal products are so large that the total exports usually exceed the imports. The mineral resources of the north are little utilized ; coal from Cardiff is one of the large imports. Duties on imports are very high. The pampas of Argentina are its greatest source of wealth. These low, grassy, nearly level, treeless plains extend from the Eio de la Plata north to the luxuriant forests of Gran Chaco, west to the foothills of the Cordilleras at San Juan and Mendoza, and south through Patagonia ; their mo- notony is here and there relieved by low mountains or groups of hills, but in most parts the pampas stretch away apparently as level as the sea. The rivers of the north, the Paraguay, Parana, Uruguay, and Pilcomayo, which reach the sea through the La Plata, and the smaller rivers of the south, have for ages been bringing earth from the moun- tains to build up these plains. The part of the pampas near- est to the Uruguay and Parana rivers between Buenos Aires and the 30th parallel, and extending to the vicinity of Mercedes and Cordoba in the west, is the great zone of agri- culture, where pastures have been largely turned into farm- lands and great crops of wheat, flax, and maize are raised. Although the plow is still encroaching upon the grass lands, they continue to make the largest contribution to the wealth of the country, about 25,000,000 cattle and 75,000- 000 sheep feeding on the rich natural grasses. countries, the harbor is shallow, and freight is carried between the shore and the shipping on lighters. Maldonado is a small port. San Jose is the largest interior town, all the country settlements being cen- ters of the cattle and sheep trade. PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 361 The northern part of the republic is hot, the southern part is frigid, but the central portion where flocks, herds, and farms abound, has a temperate climate. The rainfall is small, but usually sufficient in the growing season. Animal industries are most important. Argentina is one of the largest sources of export wool, the clip amounting to over 450,000,000 pounds a year (Fig. 54). Buenos Aires is in the great wool market. When shearing time comes there are scarcely cars enough to move the wool crop to that port. The wool is sent to Europe unwashed, the owners asserting that it crosses the ocean better in that condition. They prefer to sell it at a lower rate and allow European buyers to scour it.* Two thirds of the crop goes to Erance, Belgium, and Germany. Both wool and mutton are being improved by the introduction of superior European breeds. Four fifths of the sheep graze on the pampas of Buenos Aires province. Argentina is a great center of the frozen -meat trade. Sheep and cattle were formerly raised almost entirely for wool, hides, and tallow. The meat was thrown away.f It was not till 1882 that great factories were built for freez- ing mutton and beef so that it might be carried across the tropics to the European markets. Frozen mutton is by far the largest branch of the meat industry. About 200,000 dressed sheep are exported every month in refrigerated chambers. | The largest frozen-meat plant in the world is at Buenos Aires. Frozen beef is a much smaller branch of the industry. Jerked beef is produced on a large scale in the factories, * In Australia, on the other hand, wool is scoured in large estab- lishments at Sydney and other places of shipment. + A large amount of meat is still thrown away, the republic produc- ing about 750,000 tons of meat a year more than it can consume. X Sheep cost about iii;2 apiece, weigh dressed from thirt y pounds (lamb) to seventy pounds (mutton), and cost 1 to 2 cents a pound freightage to London, where the retail price is ten or more cents a pound. 362 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY most of which are situated on the banks of the La Plata and the Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay rivers. Vessels load with jerked beef at the wharves of the factories and take it direct to Brazil, Cuba, and local distribl^ting points. Live-stock exports are increasing. Exports of live cattle were a failure till the native breeds had_J)een much im- proved by foreign admixture. Cattle and sheep are trans- ferred from large yards at Buenos Aires to steamships, where they are placed in open pens on deck, the weather being too hot across the tropics to confine them in closed pens. About 150,000 cattle and 500,000 sheep are sent alive to Europe every year. Increased facilities for live ship- ments (1901) are expected to augment this business. Dairying has been introduced since 1895. Wheat is the staple of agriculture. It is grown on the pampas mainly north of Buenos Aires and east of Cordoba, where there are many comparatively small farms tilled to a large extent by Italian and German colonists. In 1880 wheat and fiour were still imported, but wheat culture has since made large strides, over 5,000,000 acres being devoted to it. Locusts, droughts, and floods are likely to diminish the crop, but as several times the area now in wheat is adapted for it, the republic is destined to be one of the greatest exporting countries. The average distance of wheat haul- age to the river ports is not over 150 miles (p. 61). Freight rates to Europe are, however, higher than from this country to Europe.* Argentine wheat is as yet inferior in grading * Wheat, wool, and cattle freight rates to Europe are affected by the quantities of coal imported into Argentina. As the country ex- ports bulky and heavy articles and imports mainly manufactures, it is difficult for ships from Europe to get full cargoes for Argentina unless the demand for coal there provides abundant freight. When the demand for coal is large, freight rates for Rio Plata products fall ; when it is small, rates for Argentine exports advance. Our wool tariff has cut off the former large imports of Argentine wool into this coun- try, while at the same time we are selling larger quantities of manu- PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 363 and cleanliness to that of the United States, and therefore brings a smaller price. Linseed is the next largest agricultural export, going to England, Belgium, and France, flax being grown almost entirely for the seed. Linseed oil is produced by Argentine mills. Maize is a large export to Europe, though much is eaten at home or consumed by the local distilleries. French settlers in San Juan and Mendoza provinces produce wine among the foothills of the Cordilleras, all the product being sold in the country. Special trains are run daily in the season to carrry fresh fruit from Mendoza to the Buenos Aires market. The timber resources of the Gran Chaco are very large, but are little utilized, for they are far from the transporta- tion routes thus far developed. More Paraguayan or other imported woods are used, but considerable of the home timber, suitable for cabinet work, reaches Buenos Aires, where manufactures of furniture and carriages are large industries. Some woods.,are sent to Europe, but Argentine timber is so far from tidewater that the cost of freightage is much greater than that of the hardwoods of Central America and parts of Brazil. Gold, silver, and cepper are exported to Germany, Eng- land, France, Belgium, and Italy ; but, although there are rich mineral resources along" the Cordilleras, they have been little developed. Argentina has no coal, unless the discoveries on the Bermejo and in Patagonia are im- portant, which is still doubtful. Large importations are necessary for railroad and manufacturing purposes. Manufactures are not greatly developed. They pertain most of all to the preparation of meat, hides, and agri- factures to that country. Vessels loaded here with merchandise find it difficult to get return cargoes, as we do not want cattle, sheep, wheat, or maize, and buy less wool than formerly ; they, therefore, put into Brazil ports for coffee, rubber, and other articles to complete tiieir return cargoes. 364 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY cultural products, such as flour and sugar. Since 1890, however, numerous textile mills, aided by a high protective tariff, have been opened, and now supply nearly all the common woolens and cottons. More than 30,000,000 home- made sacks are sold to the farmers every year for sacking their grain. Leather goods made of hides cured in the country are a large product. Structural iron is made, but most machinery is imported. Hats, paper, and beer are also large manufactures. Buenos Aires is the greatest manufacturing and commercial center.* Textile manufactures are the largest imports. They are chiefly the better grades of cotton goods, followed by wool * Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and largest city of South America, controls two thirds of the foreign trade, and has magnificent stone docks, the approach to which is poor, owing to the continual deposi- tion of silt in the river bed fronting them. La Plata has a better harbor, and therefore attracts considerable shipping. Rosario, the second largest city, is a river seaport, accessible to vessels drawing 16" feet ; it ships a great deal of wheat, meats, and hides direct to foreign countries. Parana is a center of Italian farming communities. The prosperity of Santa Fe, connected by rail with the Parana, is also due to the flourish- ing agriculture around it by foreign settlers. The. building and repair- ing docks for steamers on the Paraguay and Pai'ana are at Corrientes. Jujuy and Salta, at the northern termini of the railroads, do a large transit trade with Bolivia and Chile by mule and llama trains. Tucu- man, in the midst of a lai"ge, fertile plain, manufactures a great deal of sugar and rum, and employs several thousand Europeans in its mills. Catamarca and Rioja export oranges and other fruits. San Juan is a center of trade for the mining districts. Mendoza is the chief station on the overland route between Bufenos Aires and Chile, and sends all its wine and fruit to Buenos Aires. San Luis is a center of vineyards and orchards nourished by irrigation. Cordoba is the center of a rich farming region made productive by irrigation. Mercedes is surrounded by rich lucerne meadows (alfalfa), a forage plant which is an important export to Brazil. Bahia Blanca has a good harbor, is an outlet for sheep and cattle products, and has direct steamship connections with Europe; the surrounding vineyards produce the excellent Chocoli wine. Rawson is the town of the agricultural Scotch colony on the Chubut river. PARAGUAY, UEUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 3G5 and silk fabrics. Next come raw iron for the foundries and machine shops and a large variety of iron and steel manu- factures. Crockery, foodstuffs, beverages, and lumber are also very large imports. Most of the hardware and ma- chinery comes from the United States. Wool, meats, live stock, and hides are half the total exports. Wheat, maize, and timber comprise most of the remaining sales abroad. The leading exports to the United States are wool, hides, and skins. Railroads extend in all directions from Buenos Aires and have been most important in developing the country. The flat pampas are very favorable for railroad building. The map indicates the unfinished part of the railroad across the continent from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. This line and that to Jujuy are the longest and most important railroads. Buenos Aires is connected by steamships with many imj)or- tant ports of Europe and America. Business pursuits in Chile are sharply differentiated by vari- eties of climate. The southeast trade winds blowing off the west and leeward coast of South America (Fig. 8) leave the narrow coast strip practically rainless from southern Ecua- dor to middle Chile (Fig. 3). Xorth Chile thus has little rain, and agriculture is possible only where streams from the mountains permit irrigation. The great resource of the north being minerals, mining is almost the sole industry. Between Santiago and Yaldivia the winds often blow from the sea, bringing sufficient rain for tillage, though irrigation is necessary in many places. The middle zone is thus a region of cattle, wheat, and fruit. Enormous quantities of food are sent from this favored region to the barren north, where thousands of men are working in the nitrate fields and mining camps ; thus climate has a great influence upon trade movement from one part of Chile to another. South of Valdivia the westerly winds or " Eoaring Forties" (Fig. 8) bring excessive rainfall, favorable to forest growth, and here lumbering and fishing are the main occupations. 366 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Nitrate of soda is the largest resource.* It is obtained along the north coast of Chile, some distance inland. As found, it has the appearance of rock salt ; it is crushed and treated at the mines to exclude foreign substances, and car- ried from the diggings on short railroads to the nitrate ports. It is widely spread on the fields of Germany and France, is used to a lesser extent in Great Britain and Bel- gium, and about one tenth of the output is sold in this coun- try. Kitrate, exported from Chile for seventy years, is now in larger demand than ever, and comprises three fifths of the total exports, over 1,000,000 tons a year being sold. If north Chile had abundant rainfall this valuable resource would probably have been dissipated and agriculture would have taken its place. Copper (Fig. 67) is the largest metal export, followed by silver and gold. A great deal of copper ore is smelted in the country. The mining industries are mainly in the north, except coal, of which there is a large field along the southern coast, the Arauco railroad supplying transporta- tion. It is of rather inferior quality, and though exj)orted to other Pacific coast states, a much larger quantity is imported. Wheal is the leading agricultural product. In early years Chile supplied California and Australia with wheat, and it still has a considerable quantity to sell to Peru and Ecua- dor. All the cereals of the temperate zone are raised on the rich central plain, besides tobacco, apples and other fruits, and walnuts. Wine is an important product of the south, particularly in the district around Concepcion, some being exported. Two native woods and Oregon pine sup- ply the demand for lumber. Manufactures have considerable development. Industries * Cubic niter or Chile saltpeter is known in commerce simply as nitrate. It is used in the manufacture of chemicals, but is far more extensively utilized as a fertilizer, being exported to Europe iu enor- mous quantities to be sold to the farmers. PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 367 are most important in the Department of Valparaiso, where there were, in 1899, 457 factories and mills employ- ing 15,000 hands. They include gas works, sugar refiner- ies, wagon works, tanneries, and breweries, using imported machinery, or that made in the country from imported iron. Locomotives, boilers, structural iron, and railroad cars are among the products of the country. Iron mines exist, but are not developed, the coal not being of coking quality. Textiles are large imports. The British, German, Swiss, and other immigrants have had a stimulating effect upon the growtli of industries.* The second South American railroad was built in Chile. There being little interior navigation, railroads are of great importance. The state line from Valparaiso to Concepcion is the principal road ; others extend from the ports to the mining or agricultural regions. The fertile plain is cov- ered with a network of passable highways. Steamers ply in the coast trade ; Valparaiso f has regular steamship con- nections with Panama, Liverpool, and Hamburg. * The people, isolated by their mountains and the sea, are conserva- tive and not very progressive. Their resources are largely undeveloped. Foreign capital works their nitrate beds and builds their railroads. f Valparaiso is the most important port on the Pacific coast of South America. It receives nine tenths of the Chilean imports and sends out a third of the exports. Santiago, the capital, is in the gar- den region of the country, on the edge of a fertile plain irrigated by canals from the Maipo River. Talca, finely situated in a fertile plain, is a trade center connecting with the port of Constitucion, which has some foreign commerce. Chilian is a large cattle market. Tome is the best harbor in the Bay of Concepcion. Concepcion is the trading center for all the region as far south as the Imperial River. Its port is Talcahnano, which has a dry dock. The Biobio is the largest river in Chile, and is navigable for some distance. Arauco and Lebu are ports for coal shipments. Valdivia, exporting liidos, lumber, cattle, and lager beer, has been developed largely through the enterprise of the German colonists in South Chile. Puerlo Montt, at the south end of the great central plain of (!liile. is another Gorman center. North of Valparaiso, Lu Serena exports copper through the port of Cotpiiiubo. 368 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The largest imports are textiles, sugar, coal, cattle, iron, and tea. The largest exports are nitrate, copper, silver, wheat, iodine, and sole leather. Trade with the United States is by way of the Isthmus of Panama or Magellan Straits. STATISTICS FOR PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE Paraguay Annual Trade (in JliUion Dollars) 1896. Imports 2.5 Exports 2.3 Population (1895), 502,000. Uruguay Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1892-'96. 1897. Imports 22.0 21.2 Exports 30.0 31.7 Exports to Leading Countries, 1899 {in Million Dollars) France. Belgium. England. Germany. United States. 5.0 5.3 2.9 2.8 1.0 Imports from Leading Countries, 1899 {in Million Dollars) England. France. Germany. Italy. Spain. United States. Belgium. 6.8 2.6 2.3 2.3 1.9 1.9 l.-l Population (1897), 840,735. 1898. 1899. 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 Caldera is the port of the mining town of Copiapo ; the railroad con- necting them is the oldest on the Pacific coast. Taltal, the most south- ern of the nitrate ports, is connected by rail with the diggings nearest to it, Antofagasta is the largest center of the silver trade and the out- let for most of Bolivia's wool and metals brought to the sea by rail. Arica was formerly the port of Bolivia, and still commands a part of its trade. Iquique. the largest of the nitrate port?, brings its drinking water by an aqueduct from the Andes. On the Strait of Magellan is Punta Arenas, a calling station for all vessels passing through the Straits, PARAGUAY, URUGUAY, ARGENTINA, AND CHILE 3G9 Argentina Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891-'95. 1900. Imports 76.5 99.0 113.4 Exports 66.0 107.5 154.6 Exports to Leading Countries, 1900 {in Million Dollars) Eugland. Germany. France. Belgium. United States. Brazil. Italy. 23.9 20.1 19.0 18.0 6.9 6.3 4.3 Imports from Leading Countries, 1900 {in Million Dollars) England. Germany. Italy. United States. France. Belgium. Brazil. 38.7 16.6 15.0 13.4 10.9 8.4 3.7 Population (1899), 4,568,593. Gold and silver are the monetary standards, with the gold peso (value 96^ cents) as the unit of coinage. Metric weights and measures. Chile Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891-'95 1899 Imports 43.8 62.2 38.8* Exports 53.5 58.0 59.5 Population (1895), 3,314,000, Metric weights and meas- ures, but the Spanish standards are still used to some extent. * Diminution of imports due to partial failure of the grain crop, reducing the purchasing power, and to currency fluctuations, discour- aging imports (p. 35). 24 CHAPTER XXXV COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVIA The fertile lands of Colombia would support twenty times as many people as live on them. The volume of commerce is small in comparison with the natural wealth, and trade is difficult from lack of good interior communications. Most of the people live in the highlands, though more than half of Colombia is uninhabited (Fig. 23). The climate, determining the distribution of population, is similar to that of Venezuela — hot and malarious in the coast lowlands, cooler and healthful in the highlands. Most of the coastal population live at the seaports. The differing surface features give variety to the products (Fig. 138). In the north are plains, giving good pasturage for cattle, while large coffee plantations cover the hill slopes of Santander. Among the parallel Andes ranges are high plains where wheat, tobacco, and other crops are grown. East of the mountains in the north are selvas or forests where rubber abounds. South of the selvas extend the open prairie lands of the llanos, where many cattle feed on the rich herbage. South of the llanos is another region of selvas and rubber. The Isthmus of Panama is of little value to Colombia's commerce. Its railroad, owned by foreigners, is merely a means of transport for the commerce (duty free) of other nations. There are three natural means of penetration. The Atrato Eiver is navigable almost to its source near Lloro, but its low valley is insalubrious, and settlements are few. The Cauca is navigable in its lower part, and the whole val- 370 COLOMBIA, ECUADOR A5D PERU. ) 70 • ait V Fk;. m. 371 372 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY ley is a highway frequented by mule trains ; it is one of the most populous regions. The Magdalena, into which the Cauca empties, is navigable with difficulty for 600 miles to a little below Honda, and is the route to Bogota, the cap- ital.* The journey from Barranquilla to Bogota requires twelve or fourteen days. All the highland plains are reached from the Cauca valley or the Magdalena only by tedious and expensive Journeys on the mule paths. Freight must be specially packed for mule carriage. Agriculture yields little but coffee and tobacco for export. Most farm products are raised for home consumption. Fine wheat grows on the mountain plains, but it is cheaper to import flour for the coast population than to carry wheat to the coast. Coffee, the staple export, is shipped by the Magdalena to Barranquilla or eastward from Santander to Maracaibo ; most of it is sent to Europe. Sugar and rum, from sugar cane, and tobacco supply the local demand ; tobacco is grown in the interior, but being very valuable in proportion to weight, it can bear the cost of transportation, and thus is an export article ; cacao, being raised near the sea, is easily sent to the ports. Hides and cattle are considerable exports. The llanos might easily become one of the greatest sources of leather ; some jerked beef is jjrepared, and many towns are suj^plied with fresh beef from the herds on the high plains. Sheep are raised for mutton and wool. Rubber is the most important forest product. It is mainly gathered in the southern forests ; the increased price is. stimulating the industry. Ivory nuts, copaiba, balsam of tolu, and dyewoods are also exported, f * A railroad is projected and partly built to connect Honda with Bogota. Meanwhile the cost of freightage between the two towns is about $5 a mule load (250 pounds). f The ivory nut (vegetable ivory) is the seed of a tropical American palm, very hard and white, resembling ivory and used as a substitute for it. Copaiba and tolu are balsams used in medical practice. COLOMBIA, ECUADOR. PERU, AND BOLIVIA 373 Silver, gold, and minerals are exported. All the moun- tain provinces are rich in minerals, and are said to have yielded 8300,000,000 in precious metals during the Spanish occupancy ; but mining has greatly declined in recent years. The emerald mines of Muzo, 75 miles from Bogota, have supplied stones for all the world's markets.* Pearls are obtained in Panama Bay. Manufactures are little developed. The abundance of iron and coal in the south has led to the manufacture of pig and wrought iron, rails, and other articles at Bogota for local use. Other industries in the larger towns include soap and candles, straw hats, tobacco products, tanneries, shoe factories, breweries, and distilleries. Most of the sole leather is made at Barranquilla f and turned into boots and shoes, but the imports from Europe are large. Many other articles, more or less crude, are made for home use. The principal imports are foodstuffs, textiles, and iron and steel goods. Though the population is a third larger tlian * Emerald mining was entirely suspended during the latest revolu- tion (1900). f Barranquilla, having the best port on the coast (Sabanilla) and on the navigable Magdalena, is naturally the leading commercial town, commanding the larger part of the sea trade ; large vessels can not en- ter the Magdalena, and freight is transferred to and from Sabanilla by lighters. Cartagena, once the leading port, has declined owing to the silting of its harbor. Colon and Panama are merely way stations for the traffic across the isthmus. Buenaventura, the only important har- bor, except Panama, on the Pacific coast, is a gateway for the agricul- tural communities of the upper Cauca valley. Bogota, the most beau- tiful city of South America, stands at an elevation of over 8,000 feet above the sea, in the midst of a great, fertile plain, which made this large, isolated city possible. Medellin, the second largest citj', is in a fertile valley, where large crops and many cattle are raised, and is a center of gold mining. Sonson has rich pastures and is an important trade center. In favorable seasons steamers can ascend the Orinoco and Meta rivers from the Atlantic to Cabugaro, 160 miles from Bogota. The gold, tobacco, and cacao exports of Bucarananga gave it impor- tance, but these industries have declined. 374 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY that of Venezuela the imports are much smaller ; it is so difficult for the people in the highlands, without good com- munications, to establish trade relations with foreign coun- tries that they do without many articles that Venezuela buys. The exports, coffee, hides, gold, silver, tobacco, and other articles, are those that can best be delivered at the ports, or whose value makes it profitable to do so in spite of costly carriage. The United States receives a fourth of the exports and sends a fourth of the imports. The repub- lic has steamship connections with the United States, Eng- land, Germany, and France, British vessels carrying more than half the trade. Ecuador has many of the vegetable products of all latitudes (p. 6). The western lowlands have tropical forests, a large variety of useful tropical plants, and light, thin-walled houses. On the central highlands are villages of stone and adobe surrounded by fields of wheat, barley, potatoes, and lucerne, above which tower the snow-capped peaks of the Andes. The eastern lowlands are a region of forests, with resources in rubber and gold. The country is thus able to produce many commodities that the world buys, but very few of them are sent to foreign markets. The roads in the interior are merely mule tracks. Xo wheat is brought down to the coast towns, which depend upon foreign flour for their bread. The region east of the Gulf of Guayaquil and the basin of the Eio Guayas, north of the gulf, are the best tilled and most fertile districts. Ecuador is the largest source of cacao (p. 72). It is the principal wealth of the country. The plantations send the product to Guayaquil by river steamboat or railroad, most of it being exported, though considerable is consumed in the local chocolate factories. Cacao is three fourths or more of the total exports.* * Coffee is of superior quality, and is second in importance among the exports. The sugar, manufactured from sugar cane, tobacco, COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVIA 375 Animal raising is largely confined to cattle to supply the home demand for beef. Hides are sent chiefly to the United States. The high price of rubber, the most im- portant among the forest products, is stimulating collectors to work this new field. Much vegetable ivory is obtained nearer the sea. Little attention is paid to the mineral industries, though gold is washed from the gravel in the extreme north and extracted from the ore at Zaruma in the southwest. The copper and petroleum resources have not been developed. The making of so-called Panama hats is the industry best known in other lands. These hats, which derive their name merely from the fact that they are forwarded through Panama, are made by coast Indians from the fine straw of the toquilla. Many qualities are produced, the best hats bringing very high prices.* Most of the other industries are at Guayaquil. f As there are few manufactures, except the products of a small number of woolen and cotton mills, saw mills, chocohite works, soap factories, and breweries, the im.ports are mainly manufactures and foodstuffs. fruits, and other agricultural products are nearly all consumed at home. * The hats are plaited while the air is humid, between midnight and 7 A. M. The straw is carefully selected and divided into the requisite widths with the thumb nail. The plaiting begins at the apex of the crown and continues in circular form till the hat is finished. The work requires patience, fine sight, and special skill. Efforts to induce the Indians to make forms popular in foreign markets have not succeeded, Indians in north Peru also make hats of Ecuadorian straw and of the desired forms. •{• Guayaquil has the best harbor on tiie west coast of South America and handles nearly all the foreign trade of Ecuador; the only railroad extends from Guayaquil, sixty miles east on the way to Quito. IVlanta is one of a number of small harbors that export the products of the surrounding districts. Esnieraldas is the port nearest to Quito, but. as its entrance is obstructed by a' bar, the capital city depends upon Guayaquil. Quito has little industrial or commercial importance. 3Y6 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY One third of tlie exports go to France. That country and Spain are the largest purchasers of cacao, France con- suming enormous quantities of chocolate, and Spain esteem- ing cocoa as second only to wine as a beverage. The United States and England each buy about an eighth of the ex- ports. San Francisco and New York import large quan- tities of cacao, both for chocolate and cocoa. The United States contributes about a fourth of the imports, flour, lard, kerosene, lumber, and machinery being the chief items. Cotton and woolen textiles are the largest imports from Europe. Sugar and metals are the most important exports of Peru. The long, narrow strip between the mountains and the sea is a desert whose monotony is relieved only by the irrigated farms and plantations in the river valleys. The streams, fed by the melting snow of the Andes, flow west to the ocean, imparting life to their valleys, which are covered with sugar cane, cotton, and tobacco plantations. Behind the desert intersected by these zones of vegetation rise the barren heights of the Cordilleras, whose economic impor- tance is due to their vast stores of mineral wealth and the streams they send through the desert. On the east side of the mountains, sloping to the head streams of the Amazon, are dense forests, rich in rubber and cinchona ; * and fertile lowlands adapted for most cultural plants of the tropics. Sugar cane and cotton are the agricultural specialties. Sugar is the largest export. Cane is grown in the river val- leys along the entire coast. The fields being cheaply irri- gated, and the absence of rain permitting grinding for * Quinine, used for malarial diseases, is obtained from the bark of various trees of the genus cinchona. These trees, though native in South America, have been introduced into Java, India, and other trop- ical lands, from which large quantities of quinine are now obtained. The bark is known in commerce as Peruvian bark, most of the South American product coming from Peru and Bolivia. COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVIA 377 nine months in the year, sugar is produced at small cost. Five sixths of the crop is exported, Great Britain, the United States, and Chile being the largest buyers. Cotton, grown in north Peru, is next in importance. It is a long, staple fiber, * used in several foreign countries to mix with wool used in underwear and hosiery, the resulting fabrics being more durable and shrinking less. Coffee is also im- portant, but the plantations being on the Andes slopes, a week's journey by mule train from railroads, the industry is not expanding. As the cereals do not meet the demand, breadstuffs are largely imported. Coca leaves f and cocaine are sent to many countries. Cattle are bred for beef and hides which are mostly used in native leather work ; our country takes about one fourth of the surplus hides. Llamas and alpacas are valuable as beasts of burden and for their wool ; although, as the alpaca can be sheared only once in two years, the returns are not large. Iquitos, J which has direct steamship communica- tion with England, is the center of the rubber industry. Minerals are the second largest export. Silver mines are worked in many parts of Peru, the most important cen^^'^ ter being Cerro Pasco, north of the Oroya Railroad. Here also are immense copper deposits, from which Peru has re- cently begun to ship a great deal of ore. The industry is restricted by the necessity of carrying the ore 65 miles on the backs of llamas or mules to the railroad. * * The mean length of the best known cotton fibers is : Sea Island, 1.61 inches; Egyptian, 1.41; Peruvian, 1.3; Brazilian, 1.17; American Upland, 1.02; India, 0.89. f Coca must not be confounded with cacao. Tlie powerful drug cocaine is obtained from the leaves of the cultivated South American shrub, coca; the leaves are chewed by the Indians witii effects like those of opium. J Iquitos has been brought within twenty days of Lima by a good road from the terminus of the Oroya R. R. to Puerto Bermudcz, whence steam launches descend to Iquitos. * It is evident that when the extension of the railroad to Cerro 378 .COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Gold mining is diflBciilt, and the output is small. Pe- troleum, obtained in the north, near Payta, is used as fuel in factories and refined for domestic use. Its quality is not equal to the imported American kerosene, though the Peruvian oil is cheaper. A few cotton and woolen mills at Lima, Arequipa, and other towns consume part of the raw cotton and wool and have diminished the imports of the coarser fabrics. Callao has match, soap, and candle factories, and Lima makes beer and artificial ice ; boot-making is an industry in many towns. The " Panama hats " made by Indians near Payta and Piura are exported to the value of about $50,000 a year. With manufacturing industries so little developed the imports of textiles, hardware, and machinery are nat- urally large.* More than one third of the imports are bought in England. The largest imports are cotton and woolen goods, iron and its manufactures, and machinery. Grocery supplies are also a large item. Wheat is imported from Chile and the United States. We also sell to Peru lumber, railroad ties, agricultural and mining machinery, and a variety of other articles. About half the exports go to England; more Pasco is completed, copper mining will have much greater develop- ment. As both silver and copper ores are smelted, much silver and copper, as well as their ores, are exported. * Pig. 138 shows the ports, most of them small, through which the coasting business and the foreign trade of the republic is transacted. Most of them are connected by rail with the capitals of the provinces in which they are situated. The longest railroad lines are those from Chimbote to the mining regions in the heart of the Cordilleras, from Callao through Lima to the eastern slope of the mountains — one of the greatest achievements of railroad construction, and from i\lollendo to Lake Titicaca, on which steamboats ply, giving Bolivia an outlet through Peru. Puno, the port on Lake Titicaca, is one of the largest centers of silver mining. Most of the foreign trade is through the port of Callao (Fig. 15). Lima, the capital, is built of adobe or sun- dried bricks. 1 COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, AND BOLIVIA 379 than half of our large purchases from Peru are sugar, cot- ton, and goatskins. Bolivia is a great producer of silver, tin, and copper. These metals are the largest j)art of the exports. The western plateau, which, surmounted by Cordilleran ranges, is cold and healthful, contains most of this mineral wealth. Deep valleys, some thousands of feet below the general level, permit the cultivation of the cereals and other prod- ucts of the temperate zone in some places, and of semi- tropical products in others (Fig. 139). These valleys supply the foodstuffs, including fruits, required by the inhabitants. The transitions from cold to warm climates, due to differences of altitude on this plateau, are most abrupt.* The lower lands of the north and east are still largely unexplored, but the north is rich in rubber and the east in pasturage. SUver is the most abundant metal (Fig. 70). The ores in most of the mines are extremely rich. The output, how- ever, has recently fallen off on account of civil war and the partial flooding of the Huanchaca mines with hot water. Tin is found associated with silver in many places, and is the second largest export (Fig. 66). About 3,000 tons of copper are shipped to Europe every year, mostly from Mol- lendo. f With no seacoasts, Bolivia must send all exports through foreign lands. Many of the ores and metals are carried by mule or llama trains long distances to railroads, whose freights are very high. When the shipments reach the sea they are still many thousands of miles from markets ; few products less valuable than silver, tin, and copper could * A gentleman in La Paz may send a servant in the morning to the heights above to bring down a load of ice for tlic household, and an- other to the lower levels for pineajjples and other tropical fruits ; both will return at noon with their commodities. f Very little gold is mined. Bismuth, antimony, and borax are in large supply, but scarcely figure in the exports. 380 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Antof agast a^ _L Fig. 139. — Ohservp the two ontlots for Bolivia's products by rail (11 from Puno to Alollendo through Peru, and (3) from Oruro to Antofagasta through Chile; the third outlet is by pack trail to Jujuy, connecting there with the Argentine rail- roads (Fig. 137). At Lake Ascotan larse borax works are operated. In this region the vicuna, a wild, active animal of the Andes, is hunted for its wool, which is more valuable than that of the alpaca. Mining is confined to the moun- tainous part of the country. Indians carry great quantities of salt to the mining centers for the reduction of ores. The Huanc haca s ilver mines, the richest in Bolivia, supplied the money to build the~costly railroad to Antofagasta. The country is well populated between Huanchaca and Oruro, and the valley farm lands are well tilled. Oruro, Colquechaca. and Potosi are the centers of the great- est number of mines, Oruro being most important since the railroad reached it. Sucre, at the foot of the mountains, is a center for the cereals and other products' of the temperate zone. La Paz. the capital, is a busy commercial center. North of it are fertile valleys supplying tropical products. Still farther north is the for- est and rubber region of the Beni River in the Amazon basin. In the eastern lowlands of Santa Cruz province are vast estates and numerous cattle, which are almost valueless for lack of transportation. East of Oruro is the rich agricul- tural district of Cochabamba, lower lying and genial in climate. Tarija, in the south, is famous for its fertile soil and large crops. bear the high tax of such expensive transportation. The cost of marketing metals is, in fact, retarding the develop- ment of Bolivian mining industries. COLOMBIA, ECUADOR. PERU, AND BOLIVIA 3S1 Rubber follows the metals in export importance. The shipments from the Beiii region are estimated at 800 tons a year. A great deal of Bolivian rubber, however, is sent down the rivers to Para and classed as Brazilian rubber. A road has been built around the cataracts of the Madeira to facilitate carriage to the Atlantic. Agricultural products supply only home needs. A little coffee, cacao, and coca are sent to Chile, but the maize, wheat, barley, and other temj)erate or subtropical crops are barely suflBcient for the local demand. Beef is largely con- sumed, but many cattle are imported from Argentina. Bolivia does not figure directly as an importing and ex- porting country because it carries on all its foreign trade through Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. Statistics of the trade are only approximate. As the country is almost destitute of manufactures, ready-made clothing, cotton and woolen fabrics, and hardware are the leading imports. Our trade returns show almost no business with Bolivia, though, in fact, a considerable quantity of our commodities going to that country are classed as Chilean because consigned to a Chilean port. England and Germany have the larger part of the trade, and supply most of the capital and man- agement for the mining and other enterprises. STATISTICS FOR COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU, BOLIVIA Colombia Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) ]891-'95. 1898. Imports 12.0 11.0 Exports 17.0 19.3 Population (1884), 3,920,207. Ecuador Annual Trade {in Million Dollars, estimated) Imports 6.0 Exports 7.0 Exports in 1899 8.1 Population (estimated), 1,400,000. 382 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Peru Anmial Trade (i/i llillion Dollars)* 1898. 1899. Imports 8.1 8.3 Exports 12.7 13.5 Bolivia Annual Trade {in Million Dollars, estimated) Imports 10.0 Exports 12.5 Population (1893), 2,869,549. * These figures do not include Iquitos, which does over $2,000,000 foreign business a year through the Amazon. CHAPTEE XXXYI THE WEST INDIES AND BERMUDA The largest trade interests of the West Indies are with the TJnited States. It is the nearest and best market for the sugar, tobacco, cacao, and fruits, which are their chief prod- ucts. It is also the nearest and best source of supply for the flour and provisions which they must import. Xearly all the islands, even the smaller ones, have the advantage of regular and frequent steamship communications with the United States and Europe. While their commercial interests are closely identified with the United States, they are all politically attached to European countries, except Porto Eico (pp. 168-170), Cuba (pp. 177-181), and the negro republics, Santo Domingo and Haiti. The soil of the Ba- hamas is not rich, but in the other islands it is extremely fertile, producing a large variety of tropical products. The greatest disadvantage is the hurricanes, occurring usually in August or the fall months, which sometimes destroy much property. The decline in the price of cane sugar, in re- cent years, has depressed industry and trade to a deplorable extent. Coffee is the chief product of the republic of Haiti.* It is particiiTarly esteemed in France, which takes two thirds of the exports, very little coming to our market, as Brazilian coffee is cheaper and gives larger profit to importers. The *The republic occupies the western tJiirtl of the island of Haiti, which is nearly as large as South Carolina. The republic of Santo Domingo occupies the eastern two thirds. The inhabitants of Haiti are French-speaking negroes, while the negroes and half-l)reeds of Santo Domingo speak Sj)anish, 383 384 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY plantations on the mountain slopes produce so much cof- fee that the republic is sometimes next to the leading cof- fee countries in exports. Logwood and cacao are other im- portant sales abroad, most of the exports going to France, Germany, and England, The United States supplies more than half of the imports, and monopolizes the trade in breadstuffs, kerosene, and coarse cotton textiles. The country has very little development, even the coffee and cacao being left to nature after planting. The inland communications are so poor that many of the people prefer to go from one to another of the ports on the slow and un- comfortable coasting schooners. Port au Prince nearly monopolizes the foreign trade. Cape Haitien and Aux Cayes also having some importance. Sugar, tobacco, and cacao are the leading industries and exports of Santo Domingo. Much divi-divi * is also exported. Nearly all the exports come to the United States, which supplies more than half of the imports. Santo Domingo, the capital, on the south coast, and the still more important Puerto Plata on the north coast, are the chief ports. The British West Indies commercially far surpass the other European colonies. The Bahamas (Fig. 20) are the most northern ; their mild and agreeable climate makes ^Nassau, the largest town, a winter health resort. The United States has four fifths of the total trade, as the prox- imity of the islands, three steamers a month from New York and cheap freight rates, favor the closest trade rela- tions. The main support of the islands is collecting and shipping sponges (p. 88),* a business that brings to the is- lands nearly $500,000 a year. The fruit trade is the next largest source of income, millions of pineapples and oranges, besides guavas, mangoes, and grape-fruit, being exported * Divi-divi, a tropical American shrub valued for its pods, contain- ing tannin and gallic acid, is used to tan leather and dye cloth. f In August, 1899, several hundred of the sponge fishermen were drowned by the sinking of their vessels in a severe hurricane. THE WEST INDIES AND BERMUDA 385 to this country. The cultivation of henequen is also a growing industry. The largest imports, in order of impor- tance, are textiles, flour, canned goods, hardware, fresh and salt meats, lumber, sugar, and rice. Xearly half of the exports of Jamaica (Fig. 20) are fruit, chiefly bananas, most of which are owned and trans- ported by an American company that has large similar in- terests in some of the other islands. Sugar, rum, coffee, pimento, and Jamaica ginger * are other important exports. Cotton goods, codfish, flour, and rice are the largest im- ports. More than half the total trade is with the United States, even the imports from this country being larger than from England. The other British islands and the possessions of France, Denmark, and the Netherlands are in the Lesser Antilles, the island chain that develops a graceful curve between Porto Rico and South America. The outlying island of Barbados is the most important of the minor British pos- sessions. It is the largest sugar producer in the British West Indies. Nearly every available acre is in sugar,f with the result that the home-grown food supply, mostly sweet potatoes and yams, is not sufficient to feed one tenth of the dense population. Famine would ensue if food imports were discontinued for a month. The United States sup- plies all the food, except the little that Canada sends. Nearly everything that Barbados buys, except clothing, boots, and hats, comes from this country. The famous Muscovado (unrefined cane sugar) of Barbados is sent to the United States, which buys three fourths of it, and to * Pimento is the berry of an evergreen tree, more commonly called allspice or Jamaica pepper, used as a spice in cookery. The best Ja- maica ginger has the reputation of being uncqualed. Its cultivalinn, however, is decreasing, as it is a very exhausting crop. f The sugar factories, run by windmills, come to a stop if the wind is in any direction except from the northeast, for the mills are fixed to catch only the trade wind, 85 386 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY other British colonies, though it is being shut out from Great Britain by beet sugar. The harbor of Bridgetown, the port, is merely an open roadstead, Trinidad (Fig. 135), near the coast of Venezuela, is, next to Jamaica, the largest of the British West Indies. Sugar is its largest crop, though cacao is nearly as important. The distinctive product is asphalt * from the Brea or Pitch Lake. Sugar, cacao, and molasses are the chief exports. As the island does not produce all the food it needs, flour, plantains from Venezuela, and other foodstuffs, as well as textiles, spirits, and machinery, are large imports. The neighboring island of Tobago exports cotton, rum, cocoa- nuts, and tobacco. f The few small islands included in the French, Danish, and Dutch possessions have little trade except with the mother countries. Bermuda's chief commercial relations are with the United States. This group (Fig. 20), the most northern coral is- lands in the world, has an area of only nineteen and one half square miles. There are no manufactures or railroads, and the sole industry is agriculture ; trade is restricted to * The pitch lake of Trinidad is the most notable source of asphalt, which is used in several countries in street pavements, in roofing mate- rials, and for other purposes. About 100,000 tons a year are imported into the United States by the American company that leases the lake. The removal of this amount is equivalent to lowering the surface of the lake about six inches, the material taken away being replaced by semi- liquid pitch forced to the surface through many blowholes. The pitch, broken up for shipment into pieces weighing twenty to thirty pounds, is carried on cars and dumped directly into the hold of the vessels which bring it to this country. f The British West Indies also include quite a number of islands in the Leeward and "Windward islands, whose total trade is not more than half that of Barbados. They have suffered severely from the decline in the price of sugar. Some islands, exporting arrowroot as well as sugar, have thrived no better, as the markets have been overstocked with arrowroot, which is the starch from a tropical root esteemed as food for infants and invalids. THE WEST INDIES AND BERMUDA 387 the needs of about 20,000 inhabitants and 2,000 tourists, still the foreign commerce is about 82,500,000 a year. The United States takes practically all the exports, three fifths of which consists of onions, one fifth of potatoes, and most of the remainder of lily bulbs. Onions and lilies are often grown side by side in alternate patches. Bermuda's ad- vantage in onion and potato exports is that they reach our markets before our own crops come in, the earliest onions being ready for market before the end of the year. Two crops of potatoes are grown in the year, one harvested about Christmas and the other in March. Lily blooms are sent to Xew York as cut flowers for the Easter trade, but the large export is lily bulbs, which, when matured, are shipped to Xew York, where they are classified accord- ing to quality and sold to the hothouse trade to be planted under glass for the Eastern market. About three fifths of the imports are derived from this country. As Bermuda has no manufactures and very few animals, it needs large quantities of flour, meats, dairy products, textiles, and hard- ware. It buys from the United States and other countries over three times as much as it sells to them, much of the money spent in other lands coming back to the islands from the many tourists who go to Bermuda to enjoy the genial winter climate. St. George is a naval station ; Ham- ilton, the political and commercial center, has regular steamship connections with Xew York. A cable connects the islands with Halifax. STATISTICS FOR THE WEST INDIES AND BERMUDA British West Indies Leeward Windward Trinidad Bahamas. Jamaica. Islands. Islands. Barbados, and Tnlmgo. Population.. 53,256 727,636 127,723 136,483 200,000 200,000 Average Annual Imports {in Million Dollars) 1881-'85 1.0 7.5 2.3 2.0 5.4 12.8 1891-95 0.9 10.5 2.3 2.2 5.8 10.9 1899 1.6 8.0(1898)— — 5.0 12.3 388 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Average Annual Exports {in Million Dollars) 1881-'85 0.7 7.2 2.7 2.5 5.8 12.5 1891-'95 0.6 9.5 2.3 2.6 4.6 10.8 1899 0.8 7.0(1898)— — 4.2 12.6 Bermuda Trade in 1899 {in Million Dollars) Imports from the U. S 1.2 1 Exports to the U. S 0.57 Total imports 1.9|Total exports 0.61 Population (1898), 18,363. Trade of Haiti and Santo Domingo, 1899 {in Million Dollars) Haiti. Santo Domingo. Imports 3.9 1.0 Exports 12.7 5.8 Population: Haiti (1887), 960,000; Santo Domingo (1888), 504,000. CHAPTEE XXXVII RUSSIAN ASIA Siberia is Russia's reserve for its overflowing population, and a market for its manufactures. Steam commimications having been established by railroad and river between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, immigration has been pouring into Siberia at a rate unparalleled except in the history of the United States. The policy of the Czar's Government is rapidly to develop the whole of habitable Siberia, and to keep out all foreign manufactures that Russian shops and mills can supply.* The northern third of Siberia is of little value for com- merce. The region between the Arctic Ocean and the Polar Circle is a frost-bound waste, covered with arctic mosses and lichens (the tundra, Fig. 4), where nomad hunters and fishermen live, and the ivory of the extinct mammoth is dug from the ice or frozen soil. South of the tundra is a con- * In the four years ending in 1900 over 700,000 Russian peasants removed mostly to the farming districts of eastern Siberia, being trans- ported on the Siberian Railroad at a merely nominal rate and established on lands allotted to them. The Government abolished the Siberian exile system, building prisons for the confinement of convicts sent to that country, in order that criminals shall not menace the peace and property of honest immigrants. Free trade in Siberia was abandoned in 1900, the heavy duties levied in European Russia being now imposed at the Siberian ports and frontiers, in order that the empire itself may supply most of Siberia's needs. Foreign vessels have been forbidden to engage in trade between ports of the Russian empire, so tliat all sea commerce between Russian and Siberian ports may be carried in Rus- sian bottoms, 389 390 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY tinuous forest of conifers, extending from the Ob River to, far beyond the Lena, yielding lumber and abounding with animals in whose fur there is a large trade (pp. 88, 89).* In southern Siberia (Fig. 140) is the agricultural zone, stretching south to the Chinese frontier. The black-earth region of Russia is continued eastward in the southern part of Tobolsk province and through the middle of Tomsk province, making this portion of Siberia a rich agricultural district, where most of the colonists live. Good farm lands extend beyond the black-earth belt almost to Irkutsk. Domestic animals are raised, and wheat, rye, and oats are large crops in spite of the cold climate. Only a part of this fertile region is as yet under cultivation. The agricul- tural lands also include the regions watered by the Amur and the Ussuri in the extreme southeast, still sparsely pop- ulated, though recent immigration is mostly to that region. Though wheat thrives in the west, it is a poor crop in the wet Amur region. f Cattle for dairy products and beef are most numerous near the large towns. The mineral resources are very great. Two thirds of Rus- sia's contribution to the gold output (Fig. 68) comes from Siberia, though most of the mining is confined to washing placer gravels, little machinery having been introduced to work the extensive quartz veins. But the development even of gold mining is small in proportion to the resources. The silver output is comparatively small, and little atten- tion is as yet paid to other metals, though they are abun- * The forests are nearly iinpeuetraljle. The most experienced trap- pers do not venture far into them without marking the trees. f A great deal of grain from the western wheat lands is taken by boat down the Irtysh and up the Tura to Tiuraen, where it is forwarded by rail to Russia. It is also shipped east and west on the Trans-Sibe- rian railroad. Prince Krapotkin and other authoritative writers do not believe that Siberia will ever be a large wheat-exporting country, be- cause the mining regions, the middle Urals, and the Kirghiz Steppe will always depend upon Siberia for wheat, whose area of cultivation is restricted by climatic conditions. 392 COMMEBCIAL GEOGRAPHY dant, as well as lignite and coal to a smaller extent. The famous Alibert graphite mines, west of Irkutsk, are owned by a firm of German lead-pencil manufacturers. The industrial development is small. A large number of men are employed in cutting lumber in the great forests and transporting it by water to the chief towns on the river banks. General manufactures have also been estab- lished within a few years, chiefly at Tomsk, which leads in industrial occupations, and at Irkutsk. Most manu- factured articles are derived from Eussia. It is expected that, with the present rapid increase in population, Siberia will soon produce a larger quantity of the manufactures consumed. The rivers are very important in transportation. The season of navigation, however, is only about six months. The Ob and Irtysh are navigable almost to their sources, over 100 steamers and hundreds of barges plying on the Ob alone, while the Yenisei, Lena, and many affluents are im- portant highways. Canalized rivers and a canal connect the Ob and Yenisei, north of Tomsk, so that grain and other products of the Yenisei basin are carried by water to the Eussian frontier.* The Amur and other rivers of east Siberia have nearly 9,000 miles of navigation, a considerable number of large steamers plying on the Amur. There are no trade statistics. Most of the business is done with Eussia, and a considerable amount with China, though the country is merely a forwarding agent to and from Eussia for most of the Chinese trade. Vladivostok, has trade relations with west Europe, Japan, Corea, and our Pacific coast, east Siberia buying important quantities of our wheat, flour, building materials, farm implements, and iron and steel and their products. Siberian squirrel * The possibility of transshipping freight from the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei to steamships from the Atlantic has been demonstrated, but not the commercial practicability of this route through the ice- strewn Arctic Ocean. RUSSIAN ASIA 393 and other furs and skins are sent to all the fur markets. Siberia must be regarded as a country of vast resources, whose development on a large scale is only just beginning. Petroleum is the largest product of Caucasia (Fig. 141).* Nearly the entire population of the region around Baku is engaged in collecting petroleum from deep wells and refin- ing the product (p. 119). Much of the oil is used as fuel in factories, river steamers, and the locomotives of the Trans-Caspian railroad. Kerosene is sent to Batum for shipment to Russian or foreign markets, or shipped on the Caspian and distributed widely through Eussia by Volga and other river steamers. Among the other products of Trans-Caucasia are raw silk, a successful and growing industry, two thirds of the product being sent to the Moscow silk mills and the re- mainder consumed in the country or exported to Marseilles. A small part of Russia's cotton is grown in Caucasian val- leys, and considerable wine is produced on the mountain slopes. Manufactures are unimportant except in Tiflis, the chief commercial center and the largest city in Russian Asia, and Erivan (Fig. 128), which are noted for their tex- tiles, carpets, embroideries, and weapons. The Armenians are the best workmen, excelling particularly in metal work. Batum, the best harbor on the east coast of the Black Sea, exports petroleum, wheat, carpets, raw silk, and cocoons, and makes many thousands of wooden and tin cases in which to ship petroleum, though a great deal of it is for- warded in bulk. Cotton is the largest export from Russian Central Asia (Fig. 141). This great territory, from the Caspian Sea to India, annexed to Russia by conquest, is largely an arid desert, except in the eastern portion, witli beautiful oases interspersed among the wastes of sand where rivers supply * Russia incliules both North Jind Trans-Caufasia in its Asiatic ter- ritory. For the climate of Caucasia, see Fig. 125 ; agricultural prod- ucts, Fig. 127. 394 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY water for irrigation. It was brought into close commercial relations with Eussia only by the building of the Trans- Caspian railroad, which extends from Krasnovodsk on the Caspian to Tashkent, with a southern branch to Kushk.* Xearly 800,000,000 pounds of clean fiber cotton are now raised in Russian Central Asia every year, the larger por- tion in Ferghana, much of which is shipped to Eussia over the Trans-Caspian Eailroad. The larger part of the cotton is grown from the seed of American upland, which thrives in Ferghana and brings a better price than the Asiatic va- rieties. Khiva and Bokhara supply annually for home and Eussian demand about 330,000,000 pounds, the export Khivan cotton, a superior native variety, going by camel caravan to Orenburg ; considerable cotton is also grown in the Merv oasis ; the Trans-Caucasia cotton fields sometimes yield over 200,000,000 pounds a year. It will probably be long before the Eussian mills are wholly supplied with Eussian-grown cotton, as the Turkestan cotton area, while increasing, will be limited by the water supply for irriga- tion. An important part of the crop will always be required for the large local manufacture of cotton fabrics. Eussian Central Asia has exterior trade relations only with Eussia, Siberia, Persia, and, to a small extent, with India and Afghanistan, whose merchants bring some Brit- ish commodities into the markets. It is having remarkable development under the Eussian policy of extending railroad lines and irrigation works, which are greatly enlarging the areas of cultivation. ^ * The Trans-Caspian railroad was the first experiment in desert railroad building. Water was brought in conduits from the mountains for steam purposes, where rivers did not supply the need. The great diiSculty was to fix the drifting sands so that thev would not bury the track. The saxaoul shrub, finally planted in millions along the track, now keeps the sand from interfering with traffic, except in some places where board walls are erected or gangs of shovelers are stationed. i g s -5 5 t ■£ ■5 - S -^ - <«- ~ t- c '^ C -S « , S "K g- C S o ■5 « 2 •= S E -a o " «3 c .5 « « c ~ 2 ii fi g -s c S =* S S S t^ b fci s '5 c S — S^ S K b 5 = = ^ a; r-' ■" ■" •eg'* C3 C a; (2 "i -• := c O ^ -C 1 1 5 ^ - > X i 5 iz; _ S C tZ . 1= ^ « i2 S 5 "C -^ -r; ^- _• — •« ^ ? CJ C3 T' ■*- t; «*- -£ g O « ^ >, ■c >, CJ ^ R c A J2 ■- S .5 "3 h u ■■? « .= 2 < 5 ■= S g s * X »; ^ " aj O O J3 ^« t^^ '£ = (?:«'-/- ~ -^ = C g c - — 0/ t- ,— " ~ c c c ir -c "=• •£ >> § I, i S ti .ti .- ?t tc r? £ " g S^ § S -c 5 ^ § S ^ £ i c a i C X . O 'C 5 »^ •- a, 01 ■- "^ •S =3 = £ gl c" S ■^ "- = ^ = 5 ■? 5 'g E^ M.5 ^ .= C o a tl — '5 S ^ c (a S k "S r;: .2 o *- C Cj O 63 X CHAPTEE XXXVIII INDIA AND CEYLON India is a world in itself, half as large as the United States, with no land approach except through difficult moun- tain passes. It is reached easily only by sea. The great walls of the Himalayas on the north, the Suleiman moun- tains on the west, and the mountains of Burma on the east shut it off from the rest of Asia ; and the long seacoast affords but few good harbors for large vessels. It is there- fore fortunate that railroads connect all important points of the interior with the leading ports, so that products have comparatively easy access to the sea routes. India has two conspicuous surface features : (1) a great low plain at the foot of the Himalayas, extending east and west across the continental portion ; and (2) the highlands of Deccan,* covering the peninsula. Both the plain and the highlands, as a rule, have sufficient water for crops, with fertile, alluvial soil in the broad river valleys, and wide- spread areas of black soil in the highlands, the waste of plutonic rocks, rich in plant food. The density of popula- tion is determined not by temperature, but by the supply of water available for tillage (Fig. 142). The irrigation system, by means of channels filled from rivers, reservoirs, and wells, is the greatest in the world, extending over a fourth of the cultivated area, not only in regions of defi- cient rainfall, as the Indus plain, but also in districts where summer rains are ample but winter rains are deficient. All * Deccan means South Land. 396 rNHABtTANTS TO THE SQUARE MILE CUT] " to 60 iQ^j 50 ..100 100 .. SCO 20O .. 400 ■HX).. 800 \m 200 aoo 400 LON INDIA dJ DENSITY OF POPCLATION Fig. 142. — The prevailing winds are the southwest monsoon in summer and the north- east monsoon in winter; the moist southwest monsoon brings an enormous quan- tity of water vapor from the Indian Ocean, a part of which, condensed on the up- per slopes of the Western Ghats, gives the southwest coast abundant rain (Fig. .3). Millions of people inhabit that part of the coast line. This monsoon usually carries sufficient rain to the interior highlands, but meeting no great condensing medium till it reaches the northern mountains, most of its great burden of water is deposited on tlie southern slopes of the Himalayas, where it feeds the Ganges and Indus, and makes the Ganges valley one of the most fertile and populous parts of the world. The moisture-bearing clouds sweep northward across north- west India, parting with little water till they reach the mountains, and giving the vast low region comparatively little rainfall, so that if it were not for the irriga- tion which the rivers afford the Indus ba.'in would be as sparsely peopled as is the Thar or Indian Desert, which has no rivers and few wells available for irriga- tion. Observe the strip of more densely peopled country due to irrigation in the Indus basin. Sometimes the southwest monsoon does not continue long enough to give the plateau of the Deccan sufficient rain ; then crops fail and famine ensues, the famine areas occasionally extending as far north as Lahore. The drier north- east monsoon, crossing the wide Bay of B(mgal, collects some moisture that it deposits on the Eastern Ghats, which, with the irrigation afforded by the cast- flowing rivers, increases the capacity of the east coast to support a very dense population. 397 398 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY parts of India except the elevated mountain regions are very hot, so that crops grow the year round.* Nine tenths of the inhabitants of India are engaged in agriculture. Xo other part of the world depends so largely upon the fruits of the soil ; three fourths of the inhabit- ants, being Brahmanists, are restricted by their religious faith to an almost exclusively vegetable diet. They are thus deprived not only of a great food resource, but also of a large part of the profit that other peoples derive from the raising of domestic animals and the trade in them.f Foreign commerce is restricted by the poverty of the people. Most of the inhabitants live on very small hold- ings. Farmers are always poor if, as in India and China, the land is so minutely subdivided that one holding scarcely suffices for a bare subsistence. J Each farmer having little to sell, can buy little. For this reason, India, in which one sixth of the human race is gathered, has small foreign commerce considering its enormous population. The total foreign trade, though very large, is less than $3 a year per capita^ while Great Britain spends eighteen times as much pe7' capita for its chief imports alone (p. 211). In view, however, of the economic condition and small needs of the masses, the commerce of India is developing very rapidly.* * Twenty thousand miles of large and small distributaries in the Punjab (northwest India) alone, give fertility to 5,200,000 acres. f They use small, humped oxen (zebus) or black buffaloes to till the land, every farmer also having a cow to provide milk. The value of their cattle is lessened by the fact that they place no value on beef. Many thousands perisli in time of famine whose lives might be saved if they would kill their cattle for food. When the crops fail the Hindus have no other food resource. X It is for this reason that the laws of Sweden forbid the subdi- vision of farming lands into jiarcels that will not give comfortable sup- port to three persons. The wages paid to farm laborers in India is about $2 a month. * The intellectual life of the educated and professional classes is on a high plane. Native capitalists have supplied most of the money INDIA Areas of Wheat. Rice and Millet culture. •^ ^ I I I 1 I 100 200 300 400 500 I E S E R T ^S' < Jaldarabad p ^/^ Narsinghpur angalur^ 1 1 / ? J iXA^ ^ «^ .sh/ ^ A Y F ^ ^/Jlasulipatam & BE j Madras 2V G A L \ Mixed Tea & Coffee. \ Tea. \ Coffee. ] Opium. i Cotton. . Fig. 144. — Some thousands of Europeans live at Bangaltir, one of the most healthful places in south India and a center of the cotton trade. Ballaii is one of the chief military posts in British India. Goa, the port of the small Portuguese territory, is dangerous for shipping during the southwest monsoon. Nagpur is important in the cotton trade. Delhi is the first commercial city in the Upper Ganges basin, commanding the trade between the Indus and Ganges basins. Agra, second only to Delhi, is a large trading point. Lucknow, the fourth city in population, is in the center of a fertile region called the "Garden of India," :ind is important iu trade, as is also Faizabad. Lahore is the British center of administration for all the northwest provinces. 401 26 402 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY India is now the second largest grower (Fig. 52), extensive areas throughout the western two thirds of the country- being devoted to the crop. The black, basaltic soil north of Bombay is particularly adapted for the industry. Ex- ports of raw cotton are mainly sent to continental Europe for coarse sheet fabrics, and to Japan. Though the cheap Manchester cotton goods are imported in large quantities, the home industry is steadily growing, India having the advantage of cheaper raw material and labor. The great center of production is Bombay, which has 3,500,000 spin- dles and 25,000 looms. The mills, being near the great Chinese yarn market, send large quantities of cotton-yarn to be woven in the homes and factories of that country. Ahmedabad owes its chief importance to cotton mills. Jute grows better along the lower courses of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, which flows into its delta from the north, than in any other part of the world. Bengal is, therefore, the chief source of supply (p. 103). Nearly the whole crop was formerly exported to Dundee, but the growth of indus- tries has so stimulated the home manufactures that jute gunny bags and other products are now exported to the value of $20,000,000 a year, including practically all the jute, raw and manufactured. Silk culture is a considerable industry in the Punjab, Assam, and lower Bengal. The fiber is woven in Bengal after European processes, England and France taking nearly all of it. The famous Cashmere shawls, woven from the wool of the Cashmere goat, are made at Srinagar (Fig. 143), which is also the center of the tussar silk trade, the fiber being gathered in the jungles (p. 101). Flax raised only for seed (linseed) is the largest element in the exports of oil seeds. The poppy grown for opium (Fig. 144) is a large source of revenue, its manufacture being a Govern- ment monopoly, and Patna the great center of production. Xine tenths of it is exported to China, opium smoking being a prevailing vice in that empire. Indigo has been INDIA AND CEYLON 403 a great industry iu the Bengal province of Behar, but the synthetic production of this dyestulf in Germany is largely replacing vegetable indigo. Tobacco is grown in the river valleys, particularly near Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Bombay, and also in the south, the export of cheroots being large. Tea is one of the largest exports (Fig. 144). This hardy plant flourishes wild in Assam, where there are now tea plantations containing hundreds to thousands of acres. Machinery, instead of hand processes, as in China, is used to prepare the leaf for market. India supplies two thirds and Ceylon one third of the Indian teas, which have prac- tically supplanted China teas in the markets of England and the British colonies, and are invading the United States and many other markets that have depended upon China and Japan. Coifee from the slopes of the Western Ghats and Ceylon is also exported. In a country like India, densely peopled with farmers, there is little room for j)asturage except in regions too dry for agriculture ; for this reason cattle raising is most promi. nent in the lower part of the Indus plain, whence cattle are sent in large numbers to supply the demand for draft animals.* Modern manufactures are developing. India has been famous for ages for its native textiles, artistic metal work- ing, weapons, and other articles. Every village has its craftsmen of all sorts, and house industries are found every- where. But many modern branches of manufactures are now being introduced. Besides those already mentioned, tanneries, woolen mills, shipyards, iron foundries, and brew- eries are among the most important. The greater part of the beer produced is purchased by the Government for the soldiers. * Considerable coal and iron ore are produced, but most coal and structural iron are imported from Enf,dand. Bombuy, which Ims slii])- building among its industries, imports all its coal. 404 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The annual value of the export trade is about $360,000,000. This is in good crop years, when the wheat and cotton ex- ports are large. Raw cotton sent to Europe and Japan, cotton yarn going mostly to China, and cotton textiles popular in East Africa, are sold to the amount of $60,000,- 000. Hides and skins, oil seeds, and tea, each amount to about $30,000,000, raw and manufactured jute to about $45,000,000, and opium to more than $25,000,000. India being poor in modern metallurgy and general manufac- tures, these products are imported to the value of over $160,000,000. England has nearly three fourths of the im- port trade and over a fourth of the exports. The United States has a very small part in the import trade, but buys from India jute and its manufactures, hides and skins, indigo and tea, to the amount of $20,000,000 to $35,000,000 a year. Nearly half the rice raised in Burma is exported. Enor- mous quantities are jiroduced on the low-lying coasts and in flooded valleys. Teak thrives on the hillsides, and is also an important export. The world's chief supply of rubies, among the most valuable of all gems, comes from Burma. The Ira wad i, navigable for 200 miles, is a fine highway of commerce through the heart of the country between Man- dalay and Rangoon, the port in the delta. Burma is ad- ministered as a province of India, in whose trade statistics it is included. The island of Ceylon has a large trade in tea and graphite. It is a mountainous island, a little larger than AVest Vir- ginia, producing more graphite than any other country, about half of it coming to the United States. Its great tea plantations contribute nearly half of the total exports, graphite a fifth, copra and cinnamon being next in impor- tance.* 'No tropical plantation colony is more prosperous * Cinnamon is the aromatic inner baric of the cinnamon tree grown in Ceylon and Java, dried in the sun and used as a spice. INDIA AND CEYLON 405 than Ceylon. Xearly 500,000 immigrants from southern India work on its great tea, cacao, cinchona, coffee, spice, and cocoanut palm plantations. The island imports large quantities of rice, as the low flooded lands are inadequate to provide the amount required. Colombo, which com- mands nearly the entire exterior trade, has a fine artificial harbor. STATISTICS FOR INDIA AND CEYLON India Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) ]891-'96. 1899. Imports 263.0 293.3 Exports 347.5 874.1 Population (1891), 287,223,431. Silver is the monetary standard, with the rupee (worth 23-J cents in 1896) as the unit of coinage. The sum of 100,000 rupees is called a lac of rupees. Ceylon Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1891--95. 1899. Imports 33.8 37.3 Exports 30.8 37.3 Population (1898), 3,008,215. CHAPTEE XXXIX JAPAN The plains and valleys of Japan are the sources of its greatest wealth. It is a very mountainous country, parallel ranges running through the largest islands, with many spurs, some of them extending to the coasts. Most of the mountains are magnificently wooded to the summits ; the valleys between them and the wide, low plains along the coasts, or intervening between the ranges in the interior, are highly cultivated to the last acre. These valleys and plains fix the site of all the important towns, for the low- lands teem with industry, and nearly all the inhabitants live on them.* Surrounded by sea, whose breezes are laden with moisture, Japan has abundant rainfall and a more equable climate than the neighboring mainland ; but the icy winds of the winter monsoon bring plenty of snow, which naturally lies deepest and longest on the west side of the mountains. The high winter winds make naviga- tion dangerous along the west coast ; the typhoons of the summer monsoon sometimes inflict much damage on the east coast ; thus both coasts have periods of difficult navi- gation. * Japan is similar to Great Britain and Ireland in size and popu- lation. Fig. 145 shows the four largest islands which are the home of nearly all the inhabitants. Hondo is the largest, and, with the two southern islands, the most important part of the empire. Yezo is cold- est in winter, thinly populated, and cultivated only along the coast. There art about 500 other islands of a little importance, besides hun- dreds of islets. Japan is one of the great earthquake areas, appalling loss of life and property resulting from the severest shocks. 406 JAPAN 407 Silk, tea, and rice are the staples of agricultural exports. The mul- berry thrives in Hondo, to which silk culture is confined. Three fifths of the raw silk comes from the central area west of Tokio,.and one fifth from the northern area, which extends nearly to tlie north coast of the island These districts prodi the best quality, th( strong, firm fiber be- FiG. 145.— Twenty-two new ports were opened to foreign commerce in 1899. Yoko- hiinia, which has a spacious harbor, transacts more than half the external trade of the country. It is favored by the pro.xiniity of the greatest silk-growing dis- trict and of Tokio, the capital and most populous city in the empire, which has no harbor. Kobe is the second port in importance, one of the centers of the tea trade, and other commerce of central Japan. Near it are Osaka, the largest man- ■ ufacturing city of Japan, excelling chiefly in cotton spinning, and the ancient city of Hiogo. Kioto, noted for its distinetive .Japanese industries, sends a great deal of tea and raw silk to Kobe for Hhi|)ment. Nagasaki, with its shipyards, has the advantage of a neighboring coal field. The map shows a number of the new open ports on the west coast. Niigata is at the convergence of several roads to the sea and on a navigabh? river. The towns indicated in the northern silk area are old feudal cities, converted by railroads into progressive centers. Aomori, on one of the most beautiful bays in the world, is a fishing center, and forwards goods to a d from Yezo. 408 COMMERCIAL GEOGRA ""HY ing particularly desired by the manufacturing countries for ribbons and laces. The southern district, west of Kobe, supplies one fifth of the total output, which is second in quantity only to that of China (Fig, 55).* About half the raw silk is retained for the manufacture of the character- istic silk fabrics worn in the country and exported in large quantities. Tea gardens and plantations are scattered over large areas in the three southern islands, and Kiusiu is almost covered Avith them (Fig. 145). A peculiarity of Japanese agriculture is the large amount of fish caught oS the coasts, that is used to enrich the soil ; thus, thousands of tons of dried fish are packed around the roots of the tea- plant. Green tea is the main product, the finest qualities being packed in jars to retain the aroma. All the planta- tions are at a considerable distance from cities and villages, as smoke and other impurities in the air are believed to im- pair the delicacy of the tea. Three fourths of the exports are sent to the United States. Eice is grown everywhere in the lowlands, the rice plains of the west coast being rather more extensive, and more than half the crop coming from that side of the islands. Eice is the staple food of the inhabitants ; as Japanese rice is preferred in some markets to any other, a great deal is exported, and cheaper rice from other Asiatic countries is imported to meet the home demand. In some years the exports exceed the imports. Wheat and millet are also imported crops and large food resources. * When diseases half ruined European silkworm culture (1863-'69), Japan was the principal source from which healthy eggs were obtained. As this export absorbed the best Japanese cocoons, silk culture in Hondo greatly declined. Since 1870, however, the production of raw silk has steadily developed, and now exceeds 16,000.000 pounds a year. Yokohama is the great export market, about half the production being shipped from that port to Europe and the United States, the sales abroad of raw silk and its manufactures being n little less than half the total exports of the empire. f f^"li JAPAN 409 Cotton is grown in the south, but supplies only a small part of the fiber required in the growing cotton industries. The native staple is less than three fourths of an inch in length, which is one reason why comparatively little atten- tion is given to its culture. Japan makes most of its cotton fabrics, the imports of raw cotton being worth nearly four times as much as the cotton cloth imported. India sup- plies half the raw cotton, the United States one fourth, and other Asiatic countrfjL chiefly China, send the re- mainder. Considerable Texas cotton is now shipped from San Diego to Japan. The spinning wheel has been almost wholly displaced, since 1880, by spinning mills using ma- chinery. Yarn is the great product of the factories, while hand looms in the homes of thousands of artisans still turn most of the yarns into cloth. The Japanese peasantry thus make most of their wearing apparel from the yarns pro- duced in the home mills. The manufacture of woolen cloths, from wool imported mainly from Australia and China, is a new industry employing several factories. Animal raising has a subordinate place. This is the case in all countries where rice-growing is a leading industry. There are no donkeys, sheep, goats, or geese in Japan. Cattle are raised for the plow and carrying purposes, but not for meat ; milk, butter, and cheese have no part in commerce. A small breed of horses from Korea is raised to some ex- tent. The Japanese fisheries are among the most valuable in the world (p. 92). The Japanese consume, and export to China and other countries, large quantities of fish, car- rying on the industry both along their own coasts and on the neighboring shores of Asia, particularly near Korea. The extensive forests supply most of the timber re- quired, including kiyaki, a very hard wood used for sliip frames, and hinoki cypress, used in better-class buildings, furniture, and lacquer ware. Considerable Oregon pine and teak from India are im])ort('(l. Tlie sap of the laecjuer tree (Fig. 14G) yields a varnish that is applied to wooden or 410 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY metal articles. It is so hard that it is difficult to scratch it, and its polish is the most perfect known. Lacquer ware is one of the most characteristic products, and is a large export. Another tree yields vegetable wax, used in candlemaking and in coating paper garments to be worn in wet weather. It is important both in the domestic and foreign trade.* * Japan wax should not be confounded with China wax, which is i an insect product. 1 JAPAN 411 The camphor tree is cultivated in south Japan, that coun- try, and particularly the island Formosa being the largest sources of camphor.* Japan is poor in minerals (Fig. 145). Coal is mined principally in Yezo and Kiusiu, and considerable is ex- ported to Shanghai. The largest copper mines in Asia are at Ashio, copper being the only metal exported. As the iron produced falls far short of manufacturing needs, iron and steel and their products, including some pig iron from China, are large imports. Japan abounds with kaolin of superior quality, of which the famous earthen and porcelain wares are made, and which have a wide sale in foreign lands. The Japanese desire to make their own commodities. Readily assimilating Western ideas and processes, .they have begun the manufacture of many European and Amer- ican articles which were not even known in their country forty years ago.f Shipbuilding at Xagasaki is one of the most notable industries ; small ocean vessels are built in well-equipped yards ; there are facilities for the docking and repair of all classes of ships, from ironclad cruisers to coasting vessels. The growth of industrial pursuits has to some extent increased the exports and decreased the im- ports of manufactured articles. Japan, however, can not seriously compete with the West for the control of the Oriental markets so long as its manufactured products do not compare favorably with those made in Europe and * The camphor tree, related to the sassafras of the United States, is widely distributed. Camphor gum is used for liniments and other medical purposes; camphor oil is an ingredient in varnishes, oils, and paints. As the tree is cut down to obtain the crude gum, .Japanese law requires that a tree be set out for every one felled. f Besides textiles, they are making matches, saddlery, glassware, umbrellas, brushes, boots and shoes, mathematical and surgical imple- ments, patent medicines, clocks and watches, and other articles, many of which are as yet of inferior quality. So much labor has been diverted from agriculture to other industries, that food costs more, as much must be imported ; wages have consequently increased. 412 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY America. Labor is cheap, but, considering the quality and quantity of its product, it is not cheaper than in America or Europe (p. 34). * The foreign trade has increased fivefold in twenty years. France and the United States are the largest buyers of raw silk, the leading export. The raw silk and tea sent to the United States make this country the chief customer of Japan. China is the largest purchaser of sea food and matches. Other Asiatic countries buy large quantities of Japan's cotton goods. Most of the imported textiles, machinery, and iron goods come from Great Britain and Germany. The United States leads in sales of kerosene, sole leather, telephones, tobacco leaf, lumber, and some other articles. Great Britain buys from Japan only one fifth as much as the United States purchases, but her sales to that country considerably exceed those of the United States and India, her nearest competitors.! * Inland transportation has been greatly improved by the building of over 3,000 miles of railroads; the telegraph and postal services extend to all parts of the country. The Japanese own a large part of the merchant marine connecting their country with other lands, having their own regular steamship lines to our Pacific coast, Australia, Shang- hai, Korea, Vladivostok, and Bombay. The Government endeavors to stimulate marine enterprise by a system of subsidies and bounties to steamship lines. An extensive system of banking, regulated by the Government, has been developed throughout the country. f The island of Formosa became a Japanese possession after the war with China (1894-95). The mountains of the east side, inhabited by- savage aborigines, are still only partly explored. The alluvial and well- watered plains of the west are cultivated by Chinese immigrants, who raise large crops of tea, rice, and sugar cane. Nearly all of the For- mosa tea (Oolong and other varieties), regarded by many as the finest exported, is sent to the United States. Formosa, with a product of over 6,000,000 pounds of camphor a year, controls the world's trade in that commodity. The industry is now a monopoly of the Japanese Government, which maintains a large number of guards in the camphor forests to protect workmen from savage foes. Formosa lacks good har- bor accommodations, Tamsiii and Kelung, the northern ports, where JAPAN 413 STATISTICS FOR JAPAN Average Axnual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1881-^85. 1891-95. 1899. Imports 21.3 47 109.7 Exports 26.0 51 107.0 Value of Leading Imports, 1899 (in Million Dollars) Raw cotton. Sugar. Cotton textiles. Kerosene. Oil cake. Machinery. Rice. 31.0 8.7 6.2 4.0 3.4 2.6 3.0 Value of Leading Exports, 1899 (in Million Dollars) Cotton Silk r^^fr^^ tj,„„ rr„„ at„»„v,„„ tvt„».. Straw braid. Coffee. Rice. Tea. JIatches. Mats. 31.1 14.2 11.6 5.7 5.1 4.2 3.0 1.9 1.4 Population (1898), 46,026,406. Gold and silver are the monetary standards, with the silver yen (value about 53 cents) as the unit of coinage. English and metric measures are used in foreign trade. most of the commerce is centered, being inferior. Takao, in the south- west, is a better harbor. Anping also has considerable trade. CHAPTEE XL THE CHINESE EMPIRE China is the largest agricultural nation. All tillable lands are cultivated like gardens, the fruitful soil yielding abundant harvests ; but China is not able to sell food to other nations, and is compelled to buy some food from them. It is forbidden by law to export rice from the empire, be- cause sometimes it can not grow all the rice it needs. The natural riches are extraordinarily great, and yet the Chinese people, excelled by none in sobriety and tireless industry, are very poor. They are too closely crowded together on the lands they till. Though China proper is only half as large as the United States, it contains nearly as many peo- ple as the whole of Europe. If the whole population of the United States and 40,000,000 more were crowded into the state of Texas the density of population would be about equal to that of the low plains of China, where a third of the Chinese live. The struggle for existence is intense in a country so overcrowded.* The surface and climate are favorable to large production. An alluvial and highly fertile plain extends between the Pekin and the Yangtse-kiang in the east.f A longer but * The Blackburn Report to the British Government says : " The dreadful poverty of the masses is due to rapid increase of population wherevQr a district has been spared rebellion and famine for a few tens of years." Large numbers of Chinese emigrate to the Malay Peninsula and other Asiatic lands and have even crossed the ocean to earn a bet- ter living. f The ELoang River, " China's Sorrow," crosses this plain. Millions 414 THE CHINESE EMPIRE 415 narrower plain extends up the valley of the Yangtse and its tributary the Han far across central China. Nearly all the rest of China, two thirds of the Avhole, is mountainous, with great agricultural development in the valleys and even on the mountain slopes, which are terraced and tilled, par- ticularly north of the Yangtse River, to a height of 8,000 feet<_Being in the monsoon region, on the eastern edge of the greatest of land masses, it has in summer the warm, moist winds from the sea and in winter the icy winds from the northern plains ; in other words, the summer is very warm with abundant rainfall, and the winter is very cold, which conduces to the energy of the people. The climate is somewhat similar to that of the eastern half of the United States ; many of the deciduous trees and other forms of vegetation are identical in the two countries. The combi- nation of monsoon rains with summer heat makes it prac- ticable, however, to cultivate rice and other products of hot countries in north China, as well as wheat and other prod- ucts of the temperate zone. Raw silk is the greatest export commodity (Fig. 147). Nearly all the i3rovinces produce raw silk, but nine tenths of the output comes from the low plains of the lower Yangtse, the region west of Canton, and the far upper Yangtse. China is far the largest producer of silk (Fig. 55). Seven crops of cocoons are gathered between March and October, the mulberry plantations being tilled with the greatest care to produce enough leaves for the voracious worms. An important amount of wild silk (tussar, p. 101) is also collected, especially in the north, where the forests, on whose foliage the wild caterpillars feed, are most exten- sive. About half the raw silk is sent to Shanghai and Can- ton to be shipped to the United States and Europe. Many of the Chinese silk fabrics sold in Oriental and, to some of persons have been drowned in the terrible floods with which the Hoang sometimes covers portions of the plain. 416 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY extent, in "Western markets are made on hand looms in the homes of the operatives, Western machinery being employed O O )^" L Commodities namtd are most c/uxracteri«tie producta of reffums indicated Rice Silk Maize Tea \\\\-^^^ Pasture East 110 Fig. 147. in these manufactures only near Shanghai and Canton. The prosperous classes in China wear a great deal of silk, THE CHINESE EMPIRE 417 SO that about half the enormous crop is required for home consumption. Xanking and Hang-chau are specially promi- nent in silk weaving. Silk, raw and manufactured, is about half of the total exports. Tea is second among the exports. The quantity sent abroad is worth about half as much as the silk exports. Eussia is the largest purchaser, much of it being pressed into tablets and sent by camel caravans to Siberia, where it is forwarded to the Russian consumers. In January, 1899, over 19,000 sledges loaded with tea passed west through Tomsk. Most of the tablet tea is superior in quality, there being, however, a large market for inferior teas, which are compressed into bricks (brick tea) for land carriage and sent to Mongolia, Tibet, and Russia. Those teas which the Chinese regard as choicest are in limited supply, and sel- dom reach the foreign trade.* Silk and tea were the great instrumentalities in opening the doors of China to foreign trade. Silk fabrics were car- ried overland from China ages ago to the markets of East- ern Turkestan, merchants from the Mediterranean sending their agents to Central Asia to buy the precious products. Two trade routes were opened to supply India with silks, one overland from western China to the mouth of the Ganges, and the other southward from Bokhara to the mouth of the Indus; thus the Indian market became more valuable to the West, because China's silks might be bought there ; in the course of time the Chinese and the Western * The Chinese tea trade has greatly declined on account of the competition of the teas of India and Ceylon. Tea-i,n-owing in China is a garden culture, while the tea plantations of India and Ceylon arc sometimes thousands of acres in extent. These large jilantations per- mit the use of machinery in tea-curing, which in China is mainly a hand industry. Green teas are the larger part of China's tea exports, as they are preferred in Russia and the United States, the best custom- ers for them. Black teas are the larger |)art of the exports from India and Ceylon, going mainly to Gi'cat Britain and the British colonics. 27 418 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY merchants met and began to trade without the aid of mid- dlemen. The tea trade, later, had an even more rapid and powerful effect in bringing China into commercial re- lations with the Occident. The growing demand for tea in the West gradually encouraged the Chinese to raise more tea ; then they began to consume one and another foreign article which they took in exchange for their tea ; thus the way was opened for the advent of the missionary and the Western trader on the soil of China. Cotton is very important in the domestic and import trade. China produces one of the largest crops and con- sumes nearly all of it. The beautiful white fiber is no longer than the shortest American upland, which impairs its value in foreign markets, though Japan buys some of it. There are no cotton plantations, most of the fiber being raised on little patches of ground by every farmer in the cotton areas, which are most extensive along the lower Yangtse (Fig. 147). They sell very little of their crop, the women of their families spinning and weaving it, and selling the surplus cloth to their neighbors.* As the masses wear nothing but cotton and China grass (p. 103) even in the cold- est Avinter weather, enormous quantities of yarn and cloth must be imported. The yarns purchased from Japan, India, and England are sold far and wide among the women who make cloth in their homes, as well as to the cotton factories of Shanghai and Wuchang, where steam spinneries also add to the yarn supply. Cotton cloths are by far thQ largest imports, the United States having the lion's share of the north China trade through Shanghai, while England supplies most of the south China demand through Hong- kong. The woodlands have largely disappeared. This is to be expected in any country where every acre that will produce food is needed for that purpose. East China is nearly de- * The oil extracted from the seed is used as an illuminant. THE CHINESE EMPIRE 419 nuded, the best timber being in the north and west. A number of forest growths are of commercial importance; most of all the bamboo, thriving in south China as well as in all the warmer parts of Asia, from whose light, hard stem houses and bridges are built, and furniture, weapons, and many other articles are made ; cassia, a coarse variety of cinnamon ; the wax tree, a variety of oak whose wax, deposited by an insect, serves all the purposes of beeswax, the product being worth over $1,000,000 a year ; and the tallow tree, whose seeds are covered with a greasy sub- stance, used in making candles. Our Pacific coast lumber is a valued import in east China. Animal raising is not very important. This is the case in all Buddhistic countries ; the densely peopled parts of China, moreover, have little land to spare for pasturage. All the domestic animals are raised, including the camel, the freight carrier in Mongolia and Manchuria. Poultry are very numerous, supplying, with hogs and fisli, most of the animal food. Eggs are a large export to Japan. Chinese fisheries are among the leading industries and give employment to several million persons, the sea and river fisheries being of enormous value. Fisli hatcheries, com- paratively new "in the West, have been maintained in China for centuries. The mineral wealth is very great (Fig. 147). The coal fields are supposed to be the most extensive in the world ; those of the north (Shansi) are believed to exceed the coal districts of Pennsylvania in area. Though iron ores are closely associated with the coal, this rich district and many other mining regions will be undeveloped until railroads reach them. The cost of carriage from the coal mines of Ilunan makes it impracticable to sell coal at a profit if it must be carried more than twenty miles to the river boats that distribute it to towns on the Yangtse. The country a])ounds with superior cliiua clays, which are the basis of the renowned porcelain industries. Yet with all 420 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY this wealth mining is so little developed that China de- pends upon imports for most of its metals. The industrial development is very important. Judged by Western standards, the products are inferior, but on the whole they are honestly made, for hard service, and are the best manufactures of the Orient.* The Chinese employ little or no machinery and do not understand the advan- tages of division of labor (pp. 2, 3) ; each product is the work of a single artisan. Manual skill and lamentably cheap labor (ten to twenty cents a day) supply, to some extent, the advantages that machinery would give. The textiles woven in winter by the country people are most important, after which come metal, glass, china ware, bas- ket plaiting, and other industries. The Chinese excel in working copper and bronze, their wares and art objects in these metals being widely esteemed ; ivory, wood, and stone carvings, also justly renowned, have Canton as the center of production and trade. The iron works erected at Hankau on the Yangtse and at neighboring Hanyan turn out rifles and small cannon, but the products are inferior and costly, though the works, equipped with mod- ern machinery, are under expert foreign superintendence. The manufactures most imjjortant in exports are straw braid, which competes in Europe with Swiss and other braid, paper, fireworks,f matting, china and stone goods, fans, and bamboo articles. The cost of transportation largely affects foreign trade. The most important articles of export have high value in * The Japanese excel in beauty of finish and the attractive qualities of their wares, which, however, are not so lasting, as a rule, as those of the Chinese. The Japanese are superior in lacquer, enamel, and some other art works. f Most firecrackers are made in the honies of the persons who sell . them. The cheapest straw paper and powder are used, with better i paper for the wrappers. After forming the paper cylinders they are tied in bunches of 200 or 300, clay being spread over one end and THE CHINESE EMPIRE 421 proportion to weight and bulk. They originate chiefly near the sea or the Yangtsc and its largest tributaries* (Fig. 148). The average cost of transportation in most of China is two or three times as much as in countries pro- vided with railroads. Great Britain and her colonies control more than half of the trade. The British trade, however, is declining, owing largely to the decreasing purchases of Chinese tea and the growing sales of United States cotton goods in north China. Cotton cloth, opium, petroleum, hardware, and sugar are the largest imports ; raw and manufactured silk, tea, hides, paper, and china ware are the most important exports. Im- ports from the United States are mainly cotton goods, petroleum, flour, and lumber, the exports being tea, raw silk, and a few other articles. Manchuria is the most valuable part of the empire out- forced inside each cracker with a punch. The powder is then poured in at the other end, the fuse, Japanese paper made of the inner lining of the bamboo, is inserted, and the edge of the paper is turned in with an awl. Forty persons, each earning five to seven cents a day. can make 100.000 crackers a day. The exports, nearly $2,000,000 a year, come mostly to this country. They are only a small part of the output, as firecrackers are mainly consumed at home. * The great highways are the Yangtse River, navigable for large steamboats to Ichang, about 1,000 miles, and for smaller vessels through difficult rapids to Chung-king; and the Grand Canal from Hang-chau to Tientsin. Many of the earlier canals are now in ruins; the cost of transportation on many waterways is increased by rapids, as on the Han and other tributaries of the Yangtse and on tlic West (Si-kiang) of Canton. The great Hoang ho is too rapid and shallow to be utilized except in stretches; still, V:>y means of small boats, fiatboats, pole-men, and tow-men. an enormous amount of freight is moved on the water- ways (p. 39). The railroad mileage is still very small ; though many concessions to build railroads have been granted, their development is in the future. The very poor land routes consist of bidlock-cart roads, paths on which wheelbarrows are trundled, or human porters or pack animals are employed. In west China the cost of freight haulage is about 25 cents a ton per mile (compare p. 149). Fig. 148. — Foreign vessels are admitted to thirty-fonr treaty ports on the coasts and rivers, where foreigners are permitted to engage in business. The treaty ports having the largest foreign trade are Shanghai, near the Yangtse month (Fig. 16), the distributing and collecting point for the foreign trade of the Yangtse valley and north China, which receives and forwards a larger amount of commodities than all the other treaty ports together ; four fifths of all goods received here are dispatched to other parts of China or to foreicm i)orts; Tientsin, the second largest city in China, on the Pei-ho. the port of Pekin and the northern terminus of the Grand Canal : Hankau, at the junction of the Yangtse and Han Rivers, which has the largest river traffic in China, and is the greatest tea market : four miles of water front are constantly lined with iunks ; Canton, the largest Chinese city, the great seaport of south China ; 300.000 persons live in boats along the water front ; Niu-chnang (Newchwang*. the port of Manchuria, which is ice- bound for four months ; about half its imi)ort trade is with the United States, chiefly cotton goods ; Swatau. east of Canton, comes next, followed by Chifu, at the entrance to the Gulf of Pe-chili. which has an important trade in United States cottons. The eighth port in amount of business is Chung-king, on the upper Yangtse, the outlet for the rich province of Szechuen. first reached by a steamer in 1898 in spite of the rapids above Ichang. Chin-kiang owes its great importance as a port to the fact that it is the lowest point of the Yangtse where a large harbor is possible, and at the junction of the river and the Grand Canal. Amoy and Fu-chau are tea-shipping ports. Pekin, the capital, has little commercial but large political importance. 423 THE CHINESE EMPIRE *423 side of China proper.* It is a grassy j)lain, shut in on the east aud west l)y mouutain ranges and traversed by the hirge, navigable Snngari and Nonni rivers ; it raises the ce- reals and other crops of the north temperate zone. The largest extent of pasturage in the empire is in Manchuria and Mongolia, cattle, and particularly goats, being numer- ous in Manchuria. The exports sent into China, except along the northern border, consist of opium, beans, wheat, millet, ginseng,! and skins. Wheat and hay are sent into eastern Siberia along the northern border ; the Eussians also hold Manchurian lands under lease, and send their products north across the Amur. The branch railroad building from the Trans-Siberian line to Port Arthur (Fig. 140) crosses Manchuria, and Russian influence there is in- creasing. Wool is the chief product of Mongolia. Most of ]\Ion- golia is a dry plateau, which would be very fertile if it were well watered. Farming is confined to a strip along the Chinese border, but parts of the plains supply sufficient herbage for large numbers of goats, sheep, horses, and camels. XJrga (Fig. 140) is a large market for the sale of live stock from the plains, and of general merchandise brought from Pekin and Siberia. The great tea caravans from Pekin pass through Urga on the way to Siberia. Eastern Turkestan has trade with China, Russia, and India. The province is mostly a sandy waste interspersed with oases. The most valuable part of it is the extreme west, bordering on Russian Central Asia and India, where many streams give the greatest fertility to the bordering lands. Kashgar is the largest center of trade with Russian * More than half of the empire is embraced in the distant provinces Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, and Tibet. f Ginseng is an aromatic root highly esteemed for medicinal pur- poses in (^hina, though not regarded as important by Western physi- cians. China procures it from Manchuria, Korea, and to some extent from this country — Ohio, Minnesota, and West Virginia exporting it. 424 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Turkestan ; it sends to China much of its supplies of the highly prized jade.* Yarkand sends hides, skins, leather, and gold into India. Tibet is open to Europeans only at one town. This is due partly to the opposition of the Lamas, or Buddhist jjriests, who are afraid their religion would be subverted by the ad- mittance of Western peoples ; and also to the influence of China, which desires to monopolize the Tibetan trade. Tibet is the loftiest plateau in the world. f It is on a level with the highest peaks in the Alps. There are three very bad roads from Lhasa into China, on which the trade is carried by horse, mule, or yak caravans. China sends enormous quantities of very poor brick tea, and white and blue cotton goods, receiving in return gold, skins, and musk. J Considerable gold and wool also reach the markets of India and Eussia. Carpets, leather, and other articles required by the inhabitants are manufactured at Lhasa and elsewhere. Hongkong is the most important foreign possession in Ghina (Fig. 149). The port of Victoria on this little island, acquired by England in 1841, is one of the most important in the world, being surpassed only by two or three other ports in amount of commercial movement, the entry and clearance of vessels giving a tonnage of nearly 15,000,000 a year. Hongkong, open free to the commerce of all nations, is an entrepot for the merchandise of the Orient and the Occident. Enormous quantities of commodities from Asia * Jade (nephrite), a green stone, is regarded in China as sacred. The Chinese fashion it with great care into bracelets, thumb-rings, carved vases, and other articles. f Its average height is 13,000 feet, and in the north it attains as much as 15,000 feet. Since 1894 foreigners have been allowed to live at Yatung, near the frontier of India. X Musk is a substance obtained from the male musk-deer of Cen- tral Asia, used as a basis of perfumery and, to some extent, in medi- cine. THE CHINESE EMPIRE 425 30' iVr^ -^ss .V ^ r^ LINTIN 1^ V\«_ ^>..^/*^ /r,-iS.n the east coast. Being near the sea, it may easily he ciirricd to the other coasts which lack coal. Sydney has the great advantage of coal both to the north and south of it. The pearl flsheries of the north yield mother-of-pearl and some pearls. 441 442 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY capable of supplying the needs of the country. The tex- tile, metal, glass, and china industries are especially insig- nificant. Still, the predominant British population is am- bitious to develop on a large scale the manufacture of their abundant raw materials. In the neighborhood of the larger cities, accordingly, there are well-equipped establishments for making agricultural and other machinery, tanneries, soap and candle works, woolen, flour, and saw mills, brewer- ies, and sugar and brandy factories. Native skins and furs are manufactured also, and shipyards turn out an important tonnage of small vessels. Until manufactures have far greater expansion, however, the imports will continue to consist mainly of the industrial products of other coun- tries. Eailroads are rapidly developing (Fig. 152). Victoria, the smallest state, is more amply provided than any other, with lines traversing all parts of it. South Australia has far advanced the line that is to cross the continent from south to north. West Australia is pushing lines far out into the desert to the new gold fields. The disadvantage of the railroad system is that each colony adopted its own gauge, so that freight and passengers must still be trans- ferred to otlier trains at the frontiers of the states. Most exports are raw products, and most imports are manufactured commodities. Few countries have equaled Australia in rapid growth of foreign trade.* Most of the total trade is with the United Kingdom and the other two great manufacturing continents. The rest of the world consists of colonies which depend chiefly upon the mother countries and other lands for the larger part of their manufactures ; former colonies, now independent, which are not yet able to supply their need for manufac- tured commodities without large imports ; and regions inhabited by primitive races which still occupy a low plane of development. * The totar foreign trade of the colonies in 1825 was $2.500.000 ; 1851, 144,800,000; 1871, $345,500,000; 1897, $563,800,000. The trade of the Australian colonies with one another has always been counted as foreign trade. Fig. 153. — The east coast is more favorable for commerce than the others. It is pro- tooted for more than 1.000 miles by the Great Barrier Reef. It has the largest number of railroads, bringing the resources of the interior within easy reach of the ports. Cooktown, the most northern harbor on the east coast, is the outlet for m-iny rice and sugar plantations and the Palmer gold field. Cairns ships the large tin output of Ilerberton and many cargoes of bananas. Long linos of rail- road extend inland from Townsville'. Rockhampton, and Brisbane. Townsville monopolizes the gold trade of the famous Charters Towers and Ravonswood mines. The railroad from Rookhampton taps the large gold and cattle trade of central C^ueensland. Briibane commands the coal and wool trade of south Queens- land. Newcastle, the lartjest coal port in the southern hemisphere, depends upon the coal mines within a radius of 30 miles around it. Sydney, with over 100 miles of water front along its splendid bay, is the terminus (1901) of all steamship lines between Europe and Australia. The west half of the south coast has no harbor except Albany, a i)ort of call for steamers from Suez with freight for the west coast to l)e forwarded by rail. Port Pirie and Port Augusta are important harbors on Sponoor Gulf. Port Pirie is one of the largest wheat |)ort.i and a suijjily depot for the silver mines at Broken Hill and Silverton. Port Auirnsta is the outlet for the j)astoral regions west and the wheat lands northeast of it. Adelaide, the outlet of a fine agricultural region, has a harbor that may be entered by the largest vessels in any weather. Melbourne, the largest city of the Commonwealth, on the river Yarra, has a commodious har- bor : vessels of 8.000 ton- may ascend the Yarra to the heart of the city, which handles nine tenths of tho foreign trade of Victoria. Fremantle, tho most important port on the west coast, is connected with the eastern i)orts by coasting vessels, and with Perth, the capital of Western Aus- tralia, by river find rail. Geraldton is tho port of the rich Murchison gold field and of the large pastoral district to the oast, from whioli thousands of bales of wool are exported. The best north coast harbor is Port Darwin, the outlet of the neighboring gold and tin mines. Palmerston is important as tho terminus of the overland telegraph, and the starting point of one of the two cable lines to Java and F^urope. The overland railroad from Adelaide to Palmerston has nearly reached the center of the continent. 443 444 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY British colonies, the non-British imports in 1897 amounting to only about 15 per cent and the exports to 18 per cent. The trade with the United States and Germany, both of which have regular steamship communications with Aus- tralia, is growing rapidly. The most important exports are wool, hides and siiins, frozen and preserved meats, butter and cheese, gold and other metals, wheat and flour. The principal imports are textiles and other manufactures, tea, coffee, and sugar. The United States buys from Australia a great deal of wool, gums, hides and skins, copper, and con- siderable coal ; it sells to Australia petroleum, railroad cars, tobacco, hardware, machinery, leather goods, and other articles worth five times the amount of its purchases from that continent. STATISTICS FOR AUSTRALIA Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) ]881-'85. Imports 231.6 Exports 226.6 Population (1898), 3,789,559. British coinage, weights, and measures. 891-'95. 1899. 262.7 308.7 279.4 374.1 CHAPTEE XLIII NEW ZEALAND New Zealand is a striking example of successful coloniza- tion (Fig. 153). Somewhat smaller than Italy, and with a population of less than 800,000, it has over 11,000,000 acres of land under cultivation. Twenty million sheep supply European countries with wool and mutton, and 250 butter and cheese factories send their products 10,000 miles to market. Fine forests, rich coal fields, and gold mines also abound. The prosperous inhabitants sell every year over $50,000,000 of their products to other countries. The warm and constant westerly winds, "roaring for- ties," give the islands a mild and equable climate. As they deposit most of their moisture on the lofty mountains of the west coast there is not too much rainfall for sheep pasturage on the plains of the east, though sufficient for the best farming. The east side of New Zealand is most important for grazing, farming, and commerce ; the west side for forest industries. There are no important harbors on the moun- tainous west coast. The east coast has four fine harbors, two on each island, besides others of importance in the coasting trade. Port Chalmers, the harbor for large vessels of Dunedin, has both water and rail connections witli tliat city, which itself accommodates steamers of eigliteen feet draft. Dunedin, the outlet for the gold mines in the river valleys among the mountains, is a very busy city, whose woolen, machinery, and other manufactures have been stimulated by the coal on both sides of it. Lyttelton 445 446 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY (Fig. 18), the port of Christchurch, the second largest city, is a commodious and busy harbor, its prosperity being due to the fact that it stands on the rich Canterbury Plain, where the largest agriculture and sheep- growing are centered. This plain, about 160 miles long and 30 miles wide, has a compara- tively dense population, whose commercial in- terests are centered at Christchurch. . Besides the Can terbury Plain, there are other plains in both islands that widen the area of ^ ^° stock rais mg and agricul- ture. The chief ports of the North Island are Wellington, the capital of New Zea- land, having regular communications with Australia ; and Auckland, the largest city of the colony, which is a port of call for steamships in the American- Australian trade. Among the smaller ports Oamaru is important as an outlet for the wheat region, and Timaru for frozen meat. Fig. 153.— Now Zealand. NEW ZEALAND 447 Sheep-raising is the chief industry. Animals and their products are more than three fifths of the exports, wool is nearly two fifths, the business of freezing and exporting mutton and beef being also very large. Nearly all the by- products — bones and bone ash, hides, hair, hoofs, horns, and some of the leather — are exported, and the waste is con- verted into fertilizers. New Zealand mutton is regarded as the best that is sent to England. Cattle are of subor- dinate importance as compared with sheep, though some frozen beef, and enormous quantities of butter and cheese, of excellent quality, are exported. The dairy products are made in factories on the co-operative plan, as in Denmark, insuring an output of a high and uniform grade. Agriculture is next in importance. Wheat and oats are the principal crops, thriving best in the South Island, though also grown in the North Island. Wheat and flour are consid- erable exports. As all the pasture lands are sown with English grasses the sale of grass seeds to Australia yields a substan- tial income. Fine apples and peaches are among the fruits. One of the characteristic products is New Zealand flax, or phormium (p. 103), growing wild in the valley of the Waikato River, the exports varying according to the ex- tent of the marshes, due to the river's overflow, in which the plant grows. Another distinctive product of the North Island is the tall kauri pine, yielding not only fine timber, but also the kauri gum of commerce. The chief supplies of the gum which is used in making varnish (exported to the value of about 12,000,000 a year), come from the fossil stores dug from the soil in which kauri forests once grew, some of the masses of gum weighing 100 pounds each. Native barks are employed in the important tanning in- dustry, tanekaka bark being also exported to France for dyeing kid gloves. The other forest resources are very valuable, the colony manufacturing its own lumljcr. Coal and gold are the only important minerals. The situa- tion of the iiiine.s is shown in Fig. 15:}. Practically uU the 448 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY gold, to the amount of about 15,000,000 a year, is exported, most of it being found in proximity to the coal. The coal mined, about 800,000 tons annually, is not sufficient for home uses, and is supplemented by imports from Xew South Wales. Coal-mining is increasing, and may yet supply the local demand. The coal of the northwest part of South Island is shipped from Westport and Greymouth to other districts in the colony. The coal of the southeast is con- veniently situated for shipment by rail. Manufactures are growing. Industrial development is stimulated by the supply of good coal near at hand. Wool- scouring and meat-preserving give employment to many persons. Other industries supply wholly or in part the de- mand for boots and shoes, woolen goods, brick, tile, furni- ture, lumber, beer, flour, and foundry iron. The distillation of spirituous liquors is prohibited. Considerable machinery is made, Most manufactures are protected by a high tariff. Three fourths of the trade is with Great Britain; most of the remainder is with Australia, India, and Fiji. The trade with the United States is about one sixteenth of the total foreign commerce. The largest imports are clothing and textiles, iron and steel goods, paper and stationery, sugar, and spirits. The leading exports are wool, frozen meat, gold, butter and cheese, kauri gum, grain, flour, and tallow. STATISTICS FOR NEW ZEALAND Average Annual Trade (in Million Dollars) 1881-85. 1891--95. 18M. Imports 39.1 32.8 42.5 Exports 38.7 46.1 58.0 Population (1898), 791,717. British coinage, weights, and measures. CHAPTER XLIV OCEANIA The island groups of the Pacific have a growing trade with the rest of the world. Their commercial development, though still small, except in the territory of Hawaii (pp. 170-173), has been stimulated by the fact that they have all come under the dominion of various European powers and the United States, so that more white traders and planters are settling in them. They have tropical and some mineral products of much value in the world's markets, be- sides food plants of especial importance in the nourishment of the islanders.* * Observe the wide range (Fig. 35) around the world, on both sides of the equator, of the cocoanut palm. The lines bounding its habitat, north and south, are not extended across the continents, because this palm loves the sea and does not thrive far from it. It fringes all the tropical islands of the Pacific, where it is found in its greatest perfec- tion. The nut is a large part of the food of millions of people in the Ea?t Indies and the Pacific ; from it and other products of the tree they make tlieir dwellings, boats, mattresses, and fertilizers for their fields. The Tahiti and Marshall groups alone send about 1,000,000 nuts a year to San Francisco. Most of the imports are desiccated, shredded, and sold to bakers and confectioners. Copra is the meat of the cocoaimt, dried in the sun, and sent chiefly to Marseilles, but also to Liverpool, San Francisco, and other ports, where the oil is expressed and used in the manufacture of common and medium-grade soaps. About 8,000 nuts make a ton of copra. Breadfruit is the fruit of a tree of the nettle family, and a large article of food in the South Seas (Fig. 43). When roasted it has some similarity to fresh bread. Fig. 43 also shows the habitat of the sago palm and the banana. Sago is a farinaceous food prepared from the soft inner portion of the sago 29 449 450 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The largest island of Melanesia is New Guinea.* It is the second largest island in the world. Its development is only Just beginning. Europeans are working the alluvial gold deposits in British New Guinea ; the pearl and pearl- shell fisheries and beche-de-mer are also important in trade, which is mostly with Queensland and New South Wales, and amounts to about 1500,000 a year. German New Guinea (Kaiser Wilhelms Land) has cotton and tobacco plantations, opened by the German New Guinea Company, the product being sent to Bremen. Laborers are brought from Java and China to work these plantations, as the natives have not yet been induced to labor. A number of trading sta- tions on the coasts of Dutch New Guinea are visited by vessels to collect their stores of beche-de-mer, nutmegs, tortoise and pearl shell, and birds-of-paradise feathers. New Guinea is one of the least known parts of the world ; little use is yet made of its varied resources. New Caledonia, whose development is retarded by its being a French penal colony, is exceptionally rich in min- erals and metals. It is one of the largest sources of supply of nickel and cobalt. Coffee is also exported. Noumea, the capital, has a good harbor, and cable and steamship connections with the rest of the world (Figs. 1, 6). The New Hebrides (French) have a considerable trade in fish, copra, pearl and tortoise shell, beche-de-mer, and bananas, French and Australian syndicates controlling the business. The islands have long been an important source of native labor (kanakas) imported to Queensland for the sugar plantations. The Solomon islands (German in the north, British in the south) give great opportunity for the copra industry. palm, and is a staple article of diet in the hundreds of islands where it grows. It is used in countries that import it as a table delicacy "i' dessert. The banana is most largely used as food in tropical Afrira. where it is the main support of millions of people. * Refer to Fig. 20 for this chapter, unless otherwise directed. OCEANIA 451 British firms engaged in copra drying send their product in small vessels to central stations to await the arrival of a ship from Sydney. These islands are still little known. The Fiji Islands are the most thriving colony among the South Pacific groups. Sandalwood first attracted traders to the islands early in the last century. Eleven hundred miles from New Zealand and 2,000 from the coast of Aus- tralia, close trade relations are maintained with those countries. Sugar, copra, and fruit, chiefly bananas, are the most important export products. The sugar interests, largely in the hands of one company, extend over a number of the islands, and supply all the home demand and the greater part of the exports. Copra is next in importance. Bananas, among the finest in the world, are sent to New Zealand and Australian markets. Two to three crops of maize are annually harvested. The natives make good plantation hands, but the demand for labor exceeding the sujjply, many coolies from India have been brought into the country. Suva, the capital, and Levuka have good harbors, and are both commercially important. The ex- ports exceed the imports, which consist of cotton goods, machinery, hardware, and foodstufl's. The trade is almost entirely with the Australasian colonies and the United Kingdom.* The Samoan group is a German possession, excepting Tutuila and the little Manua islands, which belong to the United States (p. 173). German planters have long had the largest interests in the islands. There are no liabita- tions more than four miles from the coasts. Kanaka labor is imported from other islands, as the Samoans will not work on the plantations. Copra is the largest export, cacao, bananas, pineapples, and limes being also sold. Clotliing, provisions, and kerosene are the chief imports. The trade is chiefly with the Australasian colonies, Germany, the * Imports (1898), $1,200,000 ; exports, $2,420,000. 452 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY United States, and Great Britain. Apia, noted for its de- structive hurricanes, and Pago-Pago (U. S.) are the best harbors. The Friendly Islands (Tonga group), the last to be placed under the protection of a foreign power (British), are between Fiji and Samoa, and have a very small foreign trade. They sell most of their copra to Germany, and buy their cloth and foodstuffs in Xew Zealand. The Society Isla'nds (Tahiti), east of Samoa, belong to France, but nearly half of the total trade is with the United States, San Francisco being the nearest market in which to buy flour and textiles, and having frequent communications with the group. Copra, vanilla, and mother-of-pearl are the chief exports. The Marshall Islands export copra and cocoanuts, most of the business being in the hands of the Jaluit Company. The Caroline Islands, recently ceded with the Ladrones by Spain to Germany, are an extensive archipelago of small islands, with considerable trade in copra. This brief survey of the more important Pacific groups shows that their principal export is copra. The total trade of all of them is not equal to that of the Hawaiian group (p. 181), which has the advantage of a cooler climate and high civilization. The resources of these islands are very great, though as yet little use has been made of them. •' 1 Railroads completed " building " propoHcd Cape Town-Cairo R.R. Navigable Rivers " Ixikes Steamship Routes Camel Caravan Routes 50 100 «00 fiipp T< 30 Longitude 20 10 Co/ Good Fig. 154.— Africa, beins very regular in ontline. has few good harbors, and only one. Lorer abruptly to the coastal plain, the rivers are interrupted by rapids alons the edsres of the are an impediment to commerce. The only very important reaches of unbroken navigai therefore most essential to development. "Esypt. Tunis. Algeria, and South Africa ha\ from the coasts to the inland resions : also the route of the partly completed transcont.:' hara. connectintr the Sudan with the :Mediterranean : also the numerous larsre and sma has stations at many ports from Port Said to Cape Town. The west coast cable line ex jnez. of the first class. Most of the oontinfnt hcitii; a high table-land dosccndiiifr rather itean. so that none of them is easily navii;iil)le from the sen to the far interior. These facts 1 the sea are on the Nile and on the Niser and its Benue tributary to Yola. Kailroads are Ivaneed railroad systems. The; map shows many lines completed, in pro;;resB, or i)rojeeted, le from Cape Town to Alexandria. Observe the many camel-caravan routes across the Sa- vvhich are terminal or calliuK ports for many steamship lines. The east coast cable line 1 far south as S. Paolo de Loanda. All ihe towns on the map are important in domestic or CHAPTEE XLV EGYPT AND NORTH AFRICA The Nile gives life and commercial value to Egypt. Ex- cluding its enormous deserts, Egypt has an area only as large as Xew Hampshire, enriched by mud which the annual floods of the Xile spread over it. About 9,000,000 people are densely distributed over the Nile delta and the river banks, which in the summer season benefit by the floods. The White Nile (Fig. 154) swells their volume, but the Blue Xile and the iVtbara, north of it, bring the fertilizing silt from the mountains of Abyssinia.* Though tributary to Turkey, British influence — paramount in Egypt — has contributed much to its recent rapid progress. Three fifths of the population are farmers. Though the climate is warm, temperate as well as subtropical crops are raised. Cotton is the great export crop, being about three fourths of all the exports. A French botanist, in 1821, found a few plants growing wild in Cairo, with a long staple fiber, which he recognized as cotton of exceptionally fine quality. The result of this discovery was the develop- ment of cotton-planting, which was rapidly extended as manufacturing countries came to know the merits of the * A very large dam is building (1901) across the Nile, at Assuan, to impound a part of the flood waters that run to waste in the months of inundation. This surplus water will he reserved for the months of the low Xile (our winter months), and will then be turned into the irriga- tion canals ; thus the fields that may be irrigated the year round will be widely extended. 453 454 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY fiber. Most of it is raised in the delta, but the region south of Cairo also produces a considerable quantity. Prac- tically the entire crop, about one tenth as large as that of the United States (Fig. 52), is exported, finding a quick market, at good prices, in the United States (p. 95) and in the leading countries of Europe. Half of it is sold to England. Marseilles buys most of the cotton seed. Cereals and vegetables are nearly a fifth of the exports. Rice thrives in the delta ; wheat is a still larger crop, occu- pying a third of the delta and half of the farm lands south of it ; maize is also one of the large food crops. Much rice is imported, but surplus wheat and maize are sent . to Europe, as are beans, used in England as horse feed. Cane sugar is sent refined to the markets of the Levant, where it competes with other sugars. Tobacco is one of the largest agricultural imports. The cultivation of tobacco in Egypt was prohibited in 1890, because some manufac- turers of the famous Egyptian cigarettes were mixing in- ferior home tobacco with imported Turkish leaf, thereby imperiling the foreign trade — a source of large Government revenue through the export tax.* Egyptian onions have a prominent part in trade, going to the United States as well as to several European countries. Sheep and goats, supplying skins, are a source of wealth, but the imports of animal products are much larger than . the exports. As industries have small development, tex- i tiles (more than a fourth of the whole imports), hardware and machinery, glass, chemicals, and other manufactures are large imports. As Egypt has no timber, Scandinavia, Hungary, and other countries supply a large amount of lumber, and England sends coal. The magnitude of the * Most of the genuine " Egyptian " cigarettes in the export trade are made in Cairo by Grecian workmen, using Turkish tobacco and paper manufactured in Germany, Austria, or Italy. Many of the cigarettes consumed in the country are made of cheaper tobacco liy native workmen. EGYPT AND NORTH AFRICA 455 cotton exports, however, almost invariably turn the balance of trade in favor of Egypt. Our purchases of Egyptian cotton are worth two or three times as much as our sales to that country.* Tripoli has the largest caravan trade with the Sudan, Its coast line being nearer to the Sudan than any other part of the Mediterranean littoral, and wells being most numerous along the western desert routes, Tripoli has the best advantages for caravan trade. Several great caravans, numbering as many as 9,000 camels, cross the desert every year to Lake Chad and Timbuktu (Fig. 154), carrying tex- tiles from England, weapons, tools, and hardware from Germany, glassware from Italy, and sugar and many small articles from France. They return with ostrich feathers, ivory, gold dust, tanned hides, and some slaves — a traffic now prohibited, but surreptitiously carried on to some extent. Most of Tripoli is a sandy waste, interspersed with fertile oases, producing dates. The imports are manufactures, many of them purchased for barter in the Sudan and desert trade. The exports include commodities from the Sudan; esparto, the largest export, growing on the moorlands of the coast ; sponges, from the rich fisheries along the coast ; barley, the most important cereal ; madder, for dyeing ; henna leaves, used in cosmetic preparations ; eggs, sent in * Fig. 154 shows the most important railroad connection between the Suez Canal and the Nile. A network of railroads covers the delta. The Nile Railroad has been extended to Khartum, the capital of the Egyptian Sudan, ruined by the Mahdist tyranny. Khartum was for- merly the trade center between Cairo, Suakin, and the upper Nile regions. Its favorable position will again make the rebuilt city impor- tant in trade. Alexandria, the largest port and commercial city, has a movement of over 2.000,000 tons a year— about one fifth as much as passes through the Suez Canal. Cairo, the largest city in Africa, at the junction of the delta and the valley, is the political center, the seat of the tobacco industry, and derives large profit from the winter tourist traffic. Suakin is a Red Sea forwarding port, connected with the upper Nile by camel caravan. 456 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY large numbers to Malta ; and a few horses and cattle of the littoral. As the city of Tripoli has a fair harbor, the cara- van routes converge there. Turkish influences prevail, and Tripoli is far behind the neighboring countries. Algeria is the most important colony of France (Fig. 155). The political and business relations of the mother country with Algiers are very close, the colony's senators and depu- ties having an equal voice with those of France in parlia- ment, and over five sixths of the exterior trade being with France. It is pre-eminently an agricultural country and a prosperous colony, though it suffers from droughts and the lack of navigable rivers. Algeria is France's mainstay for all kinds of early vegetables, including enormous quan- tities of potatoes, which are carried on fast steamers to Marseilles. The green produce, leaving Algiers at noon, is unloaded at Marseilles in the afternoon of the next day, starts on the evening trains for Lyons and Paris, and is for sale in the Paris markets from 35 to 40 hours after leaving Africa. Tobacco is one of the most remunerative crops, France's imports from Hungary and other countries having been largely reduced since Algeria became a source of sup- ply. A part of the wheat and barley harvest is exported, the wheat being particularly rich in gluten, and therefore desired by makers of alimentary pastes. Flax succeeds well, but is a minor industry. Olives and oil seeds are large crops, very convenient to the Marseilles market, the largest buyer of these commodities. Algeria is one of the greatest wine producers, the vine thriving everywhere. France buys the large variety of wines exported, mixing them with French wines. Large cork forests supply much of the cork of commerce. Millions of sheep and goats find ample pasturage on the high pla- teaus of the south, and exports of wool and skins are large. Esparto is a great natural resource, to be had for the gath- ering. The oases on the edge of the Sahara, with their groves of date palms, watered from artesian wells, make C:.-7?. Gram and cuUivateJ tandJ. 3i ^ ^ Cnnil Sandy DeseH. „ --to^ Fig. 155. — Algeria and Tunis. Algeria.— Algiers, the capital and chief port, has a fine artificial harbor (Fig. 12), the fastest steamship connections with Marseilles, and exports more vegetables, to- bacco, flax, wine, and sheep than any other port. Its great commercial advan- tages are its central position on the coast and the shortest sea route to Mar- seilles. Oran. with two thirds as much foreign trade as Algiers, leads in ex- ports of esparto, tanning barks, and cereals. Philippevllle and Bona, in the east, with nearly as much trade together as that of Algiers, export half of the wool, fish, and fresh and dried fruits, and the larger part of the olive oil and cork wood. Mostaganem, near Oran, though an open roadstead, has considerable trade. Beni Saf is the port for the rich iron ores of the northwest. The Tell and littoral, the rich cultivated strip between the Atlas Mountains and the coast, are covered with agricultural villages, and yield the wheat, barley, tobacco, olives, grapes, and other fruits forming a large part of the wealth of the country. The Tell extends from ,50 to 1.50 miles inland. Only the finest forest areas are shown on this map; they are mainly on the slopes of the Atlas. The vast area included between broken lines shows the high drier regions, where esparto (alfa) grows wild. It is exported mainly to French paper mills and England, but would supply a large part of the paper stock of the world if wood pulp were not generally in nse. Sheep and goats in great numbers graze on the succulent herbs of this region, supplying the wool and skins that are important in the exports. On the edge of the desert, reached by the railroad at Biskra, are irrigated oases growing millions of date palms. Tunis.— The Tell, with its characteristic products, extends through the north part of Tunis. The French have cut a deep channel through the salt lake between Goletta and Tunis, the capital, making Tunis a maritime port. Bizerta is also an important port and a French naval station. Susa and Sfax, on the east coast, ex- port esparto and cork. A railroad has been built (1900) between Sfax and Gafsa to the rich phosi)hate beds extending into Algeria, making that region the largest source of phosphate, excepting our southeastern states. 457 458 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Algeria one of the leading exporters of dates.* Iron ore, found in the northwest, is sent to France ; extensive phos- phate beds in the southeast are as yet little developed. Algeria is tributary to France for nearly all its manu- factures. The Arabs make cloths, carpets, and jewelry that have considerable foreign sale. Along the coast and in the Tell are flour mills, oil refineries, factories for making alimentary pastes, sardine canneries, and cork-working establishments. As the colony lacks coal, it can not advan- tageously attempt the manufacture of many articles that may cheaply be procured from France. The exterior trade has been almost steadily increasing for many years, with the development of agriculture and stock-raising, under the French regime. The largest ex- ports are tobacco, cereals, esparto, wine, iron ore, cork, and vegetables. The most important imports are gen- eral manufactures, coal, and colonial products (coffee, tea, and spices). The United States has very little share in the trade. Tunis has made great progress under the French protector- ate. Twenty years ago, under the Turkish regime, life and property were insecure, there were no roads, and Tunis, the capital, could not be reached by ocean vessels. It is now safe to engage in enterprises and to accumulate property ; all towns are connected by roads ; railroads have been built. Tunis is a seaport, and agriculture, the largest inter- est, has developed. Physically, Tunis is a prolongation of Algeria to the east (Fig. 155). The soil of the Tell is rich, * The date (Fig. 43) is a very large product of North Africa, Arabia, and Persia, where it is a leading article of food. It is grown successfully in California. Biskra is the great market in Algeria, the fruit from several oases being sent there to be packed. Some varieties are sent to Europe and America for eating or sirups, and others are retained for the food supply of the Arabs. The export crop is purchased by whole- sale buyers at Biskra and shipped to Marseilles, where it is reinspected and repacked for the trade. EGYPT AND NORTH AFRICA 459 producing cereals, olive oil, and wine for export. The olive oil of the Tell and the dates of the oases are regarded as the best in the world. Esparto is gathered on the southern plateaus. The fisheries are particularly rich, and the yield of sponges is important. Carpet-weaving is the only con- siderable industry. Three fifths of the trade is with France and Algeria, England and Malta having an eighth of it and Italy a tenth. Commerce has little development in Morocco (Fig. 154). Its stagnant, poverty-stricken condition is due to mis- government from the time the Moors were expelled from Spain. Morocco is still steeped in barbarism, though it is nearer to Europe than any other part of Africa. With a fine climate, good soil, and great natural riches, it is gov- erned by an absolute sultan, its people are fanatical Mo- hammedans, and white men are not safe in most parts of the land. Very little European influence has been used to improve these conditions.* There are no railroads, no roads except mule and camel paths. Mining is absolutely pro- hibited. Tangier, Mogador, and a 'few smaller ports are open to foreign trade, which is very small in proportion to the extent and value of the country. The city of Morocco has caravan communications with Timbuktu on the Xiger, bringing from the Sudan ivory, gold dust, and ostrich feathers, besides large quantities of dates from an oasis . in the Tafilet district of the Sahara. The imports are cot- tons, silks, hardware, candles, and petroleum. The chief exports are beans, cattle, wool, goatskins, eggs, and wax. England sends about three fifths of the imports and takes a fourth of the exports. Petroleum is the American prod- N — — * Morocco is an illustration of the fact that political jealousy some- times retards commercial development. None of the preat European powers is willing that any of its rivals should pain political or commer- cial ascendency in Morocco. That country, therefore, has been let alone, while enterprises have been pushed, by uU means, in other lands. S91-'95. 1899. 45.0 56.6 G3.5 75.9 460 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY uct most used. Goatskins are the only considerable export to this country.* STATISTICS FOR NORTH AFRICA Egypt Average Annual Trade {in Ilillion Dollars) 1881-'85. Imports '. . 40.0 Exports 61.0 Population (Lower and Upper Egypt, 1897), 9,755,295. Gold is the monetary standard, with the pound (100 piasters, worth $4.94i^) as the unit of coinage. Metric weights and measures, but local denominations also em- ployed. Tripoli Imports. Exports. Trade in 1899 $1,873,100 |1.997,700 Population (estimated), 1,000,000. Algeria Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1881-'85. 1891--95. 1899. Imports 62.0 46.0 65.8 Exports 29.5 51.0 66.7 Population (J 896), 4,479,421. French coinage, weights, and measures. Tunis Average Annual Trade {in Million Dollars) 1896-'9r. 1898. Imports 9.2 10.3 Exports 7.1 8.5 Population (estimated), 1,500,000. * Gibraltar, at the entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlan- tic, and Malta, between Sicily and Africa, are military and naval sta- tions of Great Britain, maintained to secure the route through the Mediterranean to India, and important also as coaling stations. CHAPTEE XLVI TROPICAL AFRICA Underground waters give commercial value to the Sahara (Fig. 154). This greatest desert in the world, four fifths as large as the United States, is a barren waste simply because the drying winds from south Europe bring very little rain. The soil lacks no element of fertility save moisture. Only one river, the Nile, crosses the desert, which is turned into a garden along the great waterway. The Sahara, however, does not lack underground water courses ; wherever they come to light in natural depressions (wells), or are reached by boring, the surrounding lands are turned into oases ; date palms and cereals are raised, and thus food is pro- vided for thousands of persons. Without these oases the present desert traflic could not exist, nor could there be the commercial highways across the desert indicated in Fig. 154. The desert gradually merges in the fertile lands of the Sudan, across the northern half of which is a region of date palms and subtropical cereals (Fig. 156). This is a region of comparatively dense population, a mixture of Hamitic, Semitic, and Xegro peoples (Fig. 19), many of whom are clad in the cotton cloths which they manufacture or buy from the caravans and are also skilled in leather work and other industries. They have many horses and cattle, and important trade among themselves. They are now under British and French dominion. Though fanatical Moham- medans, they are yielding, particularly in the Lake Tchad 461 462 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY region, to Euroi3ean influence, and trade with them prom- ises to become important. South of this region is a broad belt, distinguished in Fig. 156 as a land of cotton, maize, and tropical millet. CoJ^cc, Tropical) Ccrcdla^ Baiiana Cation, Maize.iBns^al JlfiZZe* I I DaU Palm, Subtropical Cereal I I Olive, Fig, TVine, Wheat ^ \j Sieppea with Animal Haising r_ ^'^ Cereals, Wine, Truit I [ Tropical Bigldand Cultures, I I ( Wheat, Barley, Maize etc. ) ^=^^ Cereals of the Temperaie Zone, ^^ ^ ^^^ Wine ami Maize „ After Berghaus*8 Physical Atlas. Fig. 1.56. — Agriculture in Africa. Horses gradually disappear in this belt, and are not seen again till South Africa is reached. Cattle also disappear, except in East Africa. Cotton is nowhere an important crop in Africa except in Egypt, but its future possibilities are TROPICAL AFRICA 463 very great. This region, except along the west coast and the Niger and Nile rivers, is now less influenced by foreign commerce than almost any other part of Africa. Farther south is a large region of cocoanut palms near the sea ; of the oil palm, extending from the coast far into the interior ; of the baobab tree and the banana. This is the district, from the Gulf of Guinea to the Upper Congo, that produces most of the palm oil from the fruit of the oil palm, sent to Marseilles and other centers for the manufac- ture of soap and candles ; and palm kernels, from which the oil is expressed ; and also the groundnut (peanut, but richer in oil than our peanut), sent in large quantities to Europe, and valued chiefly for its oil. This also is a part of the habi- tat of the kola nut, exported for medical uses, a large arti- cle of commerce throughout tropical Africa, where its stimulating qualities are valued. From this area comes most of the African rubber, procured from various vines, which have been so ruthlessly destroyed by native col- lectors that they can scarcely be found within forty miles of the coast. The baobab tree, under whose bark is a fiber useful in paper-making, is the giant of African vegetation. The banana is a large article of food wherever it grows, but foreign markets have nearer sources of supply. South of the Congo is another large region of cotton, maize, and tropical millet, which is important in commerce along the Portuguese coast. Observe the great sheep-rais- ing steppes of South Africa ; the west coast area of aridity, in German Southwest Africa, where the winds from the In- dian Ocean have lost most of their moisture before they reach this region ; observe also the wheat and vine lands of South Africa. On the east side of the continent is a wide area where coffee, tropical cereals, and the banana are characteristic plants. At the south end of Lake Nyassa coffee, which brings a high price in the London market, is now raised. Near the coast is a narrow belt where the oil palm again 464 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY enters into trade. The northeastern projection of Africa, south of the Red Sea, has small part in commerce, except along the coasts. West of it are the highlands of Abyssinia and the plateau region south of them (tropical highland cultures), which promise to be of much future importance. In this region and a little east of it are large numbers of cattle, the main food of many of the people. The rude native hoe is the agricultural implement through- out tropical Africa. The type of tillage may be distinguished as hoe culture. Just as we speak of the garden culture of China, the agriculture of this country, and the planting industry in the Brazil coffee areas. The banana, yam, manioc, maize, poultry, and goat are the staple of food. Xearly all the vast territory is now held by European powers, who are trying to develop commerce. The climate nearly everywhere is very unhealthful. Human porterage is the only means of transportation in large regions. Only three states of tropical Africa are independent. Liberia (Fig, 154) is a negro republic, inhabited by over 20,000 colonists from this country and perhaps 1,000,000 natives. The colonists are farmers, living on the coast or along the rivers not far inland. Most of the country is covered with heavy forests, the products of which, together with palm oil and coffee of excellent quality, are the chief exports. Monrovia is the capital and chief seaport. The Congo Free State embraces the larger part of the Congo basin (Fig. 157), Over 1,000 white men in the serv- ice of the state, trading companies, and missionary socie- ties are scattered through the country. Boma is the capi- tal, and Banana, Boma, and Matadi are the ports. The chief export is rubber, the state being the largest source of African rubber. It is gathered by natives mainly in the upper Congo region, each village chief being compelled to supply a certain quantity. It is a misdemeanor to kill the rubber vines, the natives having been taught to tap them, so that the wound may heal and the plant produce again. TROPICAL AFRICA 465 The planting of vines is also compulsory. The second largest export is ivory. Most of the ivory now reaching the markets comes from this state, a large part of it being what is known as " dead ivory " ; in other words, tusks that were accumulating in the country long before the natives met the whites and learned that ivory had commercial SailroaU around tJte Jiapids > """^ — v^-_^ BaViifc'ala, ..^ ''"'■ Yakoma Ibemboa Uukt /Stanley <- ^^^ ( Falls Bena Kambacf mha \ -Y^oLuebo ^ 1 / Kwamoutiy^r'"Vo£.^^, Stanley -P^iM^olo / \Xx ^^^^"^atadi WambacTl ^f Marilime Port Fig. 157. — This map shows the Coiifro TJiviT and its tributaries only as far as they are navigable. Steamships from Antwerp and Rotterdam ascend the Congo 90 miles to Matadi at the foot of the rapids, which interrupt navigation to Stanley Pool, a distance of 23.5 miles. A railroad around the rapids connects Matadi with Dole, on Stanley Pool. This is the starting point for a fleet of over 100 steamboats which ascend the Congo and its affluents, the total navigation above Stanley Pool being about 7,000 miles. These steamboats carry supplies to the numerous sta- tions of the Congo Free State and the French Congo, and to the trading and mis- sionary j)osts that are scattered along the navigable water ways ; and bring down the stores of L'ppi^r Congo ivory, rubber, and palm oil that are transshipped to the cars at Dolo. The principal stations of the Congo State are shown. value. Palm nuts and palm oil, much of them gathered far up the Congo, are the only other exports of impor- tance. The imports are supplies for the stations and cot- ton textiles, beads, brass wire, and other articles for the natives.* * Throughout tropical Africa the sale of firearms or spirituous liquors is now restricted to regions in which the trade had long been established. " INIericani," cheap cotton cloth made in this country, is 30 466 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Abyssinia, a native kingdom, mostly 8,000 feet above the sea, is beginning to be of some importance in foreign trade. The chief commercial town is Harar, which is being con- nected by a railroad with the French port of Jibuti. Nearly all the imports are textiles, about half the entire purchases being American unbleached cottons. The chief exports are coffee, ivory, civet (an animal substance used as a perfume), gold, wax, and goatskins. To avoid repetition, it may be said that the exports of all the west coast colonies, from Senegal to the Congo, con- sist mostly of palm oil, palm kernels, groundnuts, kola nuts, copal (a resin used for varnishes), other gums, rubber, and a little coffee and ivory. The imports are cotton tissues, cutlery, and other articles, including firearms and spirits, where they are admitted. Among the more important colonies are Senegal (Fig. 154), the outlet of the French Sudan, with a fine harbor at Dakar, which is connected by rail with St. Louis, the capital. The Senegal River is navigable for 400 miles, and a railroad is building to connect the head of navigation with Bammako on the Xiger. Steamboats ply on that river from Bammako to below Timbuktu, but two stretches of rapids interrupt navigation in its lower course. Freetown, the capital of the British colony of Sierra Leone, has 138 inches of rain a year and is very unhealthful. It is being connected by rail- road with the interior. Grand Bassam is the chief trading center on the Ivory Coast (French), which produces a little gold. This metal is also found along the streams of Ash- ' anti (British), where profitable mining might be carried on if it were not for the trying climate. Accra is the most important town. Togoland (German) has a remarkable supply of the oil palm. Dahomey (French), having been very popular throughout tropical Africa, large quantities being sent j direct or through England and other countries having African posses- < sions. i TROPICAL AFRICA 467 freed from the evils of human sacrifices and slave-raiding, now has some legitimate trade with the mother country. Lagos is the finest British -colony on the coast, with a very large trade in palm oil. The population is dense for some distance inland. The town of Lagos is the chief commer- cial center of West Africa. The British Sudan (Xigeria) has its outlet by the Niger and its Benue tributary, and includes the leading commercial and manufacturing towns of the Sudan, as Sokoto, Kano, and Katsena. The Came- roons (German) is a very large colony, in which the Ger- mans are opening plantations of cacao, coffee, and tobacco, besides dealing in native products. The French Congo extends to the middle of the continent along the north bank of the Mobangi Eiver, but it has as yet only a fourth as much trade as the Congo Free State. Loango is the chief port. Brazzaville, the capital, at Stanley Pool, is the starting point of many steamers. The large colony of Angola has three important sea- ports, Loanda, Benguela, and Mossamedes. Loanda is the second largest commercial town on the west coast. The railroad now in operation to Ambaca is to be extended to Malanje. Rich plantations stretch along the railroad, the exports of vegetable oils, rubber, wax, cocoanuts, and coffee making Angola the most productive Portuguese colony. Practically all the trade, amounting to 12,000,000 exports and the same amount of imports a year, is with the mother country. German Southwest Africa is healthful, mostly arid, but with rich resources in copper and other metals, and with some advantages for grazing, and also for agriculture, where irrigation is possible. German colonists and Boer refugees from the Transvaal are settling in the most favorable districts. Portuguese East Africa has the best harbor of the con- tinent at Lorenzo Marquez in Delagoa Bay. It is con- nected by rail with Pretoria and Johannesburg, and does a very large transit business to and from the Transvaal. 468 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY A railroad extends from the port of Beira to Salisbury in the British possessions, giving a short outlet to the gold fields of Mashonaland. Quilimane and Mozambique are other important ports. Ocean vessels can enter the Chinde branch of the Zambesi delta, but rapids obstruct river navi- gation about 200 miles from the mouth of the river. The chief imports are cottons and spirits. British Central Africa is almost entirely undeveloped, but large progress has been made in the Central Africa Protectorate, where fine coffee plantations have been opened near the south end of Lake Xyassa, and rice, oats, and bar- ley thrive. Blantyre is a large town, with industrial schools where trades are taught to the natives. German East Africa extends from the Indian Ocean to Lake Tanganyika. Though in the early stages of develop- ment, the Germans have opened, a little inland, large plan- tations of coffee, cocoanut palms, vanilla, tobacco, rubber, and cacao, and have started from the coast at Tanga a railroad which will ultimately extend to the great lakes. Subsidies are granted to railroads and steamboats, and the Government is promoting enterprise in various directions. British East Africa is building a railroad from its chief port, Mombasa, to Victoria Xyanza. Steamboats ply on Victoria Nyanza, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Nyassa. The largest African island is Madagascar, a French pos- session. French cotton textiles are the chief imports, a preferential tariff in favor of France reducing the imports from other countries. The chief exports are rubber, wax, hides, gold, and vanilla. Mauritius and Reunion are French islands producing cane sugar. Zanzibar, on the island of that name, is the great trade center for east equatorial Africa, most of the exports being sent to that city for ship- ment ; imports are forwarded from Zanzibar by the inland caravan routes. The island, with the neighboring island of Pemba, supplies a large part of the cloves in the markets. TROPICAL AFRICA 459 St. Vincent, in the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, is a Portuguese coaling station ; the Madeira Islands (Portu- guese) export wine ; La Luz, in the Canaries, is a coaling station for steamers in the South African trade ; the Azores, far out in the Atlantic on the route from Xew York to Gibraltar, are visited by an average of a steamer a day to recoal. CHAPTEE XLYII TEMPERATE SOUTH AFRICA The elevation of South Africa above the sea has important effect upon its industries and commerce (Fig. 158). Most of the vast plateau, rising from 3,000 to over 5,000 feet above sea level, has a cooler climate than many other parts of the world similarly distant from the equator. Although Cape Town and Port Elizabeth are at the south end of Africa, they are nearer the equator than is Memphis, Tenn.; the region north of them, still nearer the equator, would not be adapted to become the home of millions of whites if the altitude did not provide comparatively temperate condi- tions.* More than half of South Africa is deficient in rainfall (Fig. 3). The effect of this condition upon density of popula- tion is shown in Fig. 22. The semi-arid area includes the entire western half of the country, which is dry, because South Africa depends for rain upon winds from the Indian Ocean, and the eastern coast lands and highlands receive the larger part of this precipitation as the winds move westward ; so that more than half of South Africa will never be adapted to support a dense white population, though it may develop large mining and stock-raising, and also agriculture where irrigation is possible. The eastern * Rio de Janeiro is a tropical city, but Johannesburg, in nearly the same latitude, enjoys a temperate climate. Many Englishmen, with their wives and children, are thriving on their stock and wheat farms near Salisbury, in southern Rhodesia, though they are seven degrees of latitude nearer the equator than the south end of Florida. 470 Fig. 158. — South Africa. None of the ports, except Lorenzo Marquez, is natiically a good harbor. Immense sums have been spent to make them fairly safe and convenient for shipping. Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, is at a corner of the country incon- veniently situated for the business of the interior. It is the leading port of South Africa only with respect to the export of gold and diamonds, which it nearly monopolizes. Excepting gold and diamonds, more of the things that South Africa sells to the rest of the world or buys from it pass through Port Elizabeth than through any other port. East London, on the Buffalo River, is not easy to reach in certain stages of the wind, but is the second wool port. Durban, the chief city of Natal, has a large landlocked harbor, but is too shallow for steam- ships of deep draught. It exports most of the wool of the Orange River Colony. British and German capital has built docks and warehouses at the Portuguese port of Lorenzo Marquez, which is a large forwarding port for trade to and from the Transvaal. All these ports are connected by rail with the principal points of development in the interior. Swakopmund, the port of German Southwest Africa, is near the better port of Walflsh Bay, which is a British possession. As a result of the war with the two Boer republics. Great Britain has added them to its colonial possessions under the names of the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal Colony. JohanneHburg, witli 100,000 inhabitants before the war in 1899, was then the largest city in South Africa. 471 4Y2 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY part, however, and also a narrow strip across the south end, are adapted for the cereals, fruits, and other vegetable products of temperate or subtropical climates. The east and south, therefore, provide the breadstufEs and wine ; the high, dry plains of the west, with an abundance of nutri- tious herbage in spite of the scanty rainfall, supply the larger part of the animal products. Because the opportuni- ties for grazing are larger than for farming, the exports of wool and hides are enormous, while imports of wheat and some other farm crops are considerable. Observe the distribution of the agricultural and grazing industries (Fig. 158). "Wheat is grown, northwest of Cape Town, only with the aid of irrigation ; but stretching across the south end of Africa is a strip of fine farming lands, where wheat, maize (known as mealies, a large food stajjle), and all the crops of the temperate zone are very successful. The best of wheat is also grown along the southern border of Orange Eiver Colony. East and northeast of Cape Town, on the northern slopes of the hills (p. 15), are thousands of acres of grapes. Cape Colony is becoming one of the large wine countries, millions of gallons being produced every year. Some of the wines are of high quality, but the industry, as a whole, has not yet received the intelligent development it needs. In February and March, when the grapes reach their great- est perfection, enormous quantities of clusters are carefully packed, placed in cool rooms on the steamers, and sent to Great Britain, where the fresh fruit, in the early spring, is much esteemed. Delicious peaches, nectarines, and plums are also sent fresh to the British spring markets almost before English fruits are in blossom. East of the vine region and north of the cereal belt is qiiite a large area peculiarly adapted for tobacco culture, so that South Africa produces much of the tobacco it con- sumes. East of the tobacco fields is a region of brush and scrub, known as the bush country, which has developed an TEMPERATE SOUTH AFRICA 4Y3 industry almost peculiar to South Africa — the raising of ostriches for their feathers. Ostrich culture is one of the large industries. Ostrich feathers are surpassed only by wool and the hair of the An- gora goat in the exports of animal products.* The busi- ness of domesticating and raising ostriches was experi- mental at the start, and has had many vicissitudes which induced the smaller growers to abandon it, the industry being now centered mainly in the hands of men of consid- erable capital. The most valuable feathers, plumes from the wings and tail, are sometimes worth as much as 1200 a 230und. Ordinary feathers are worth from |5 to 17 a pound. Wool-growing is the largest grazing industry. South Africa is one of the large wool-growing regions (Fig. 54), the product being usually known in the trade as Cape wool. North of the region of vines, tobacco, and ostriches stretch away the great high plains whose herbage is particularly relished by sheep. About 13,000,000 of them are feeding on the plains from the Great Karroo northward ; 4,000,000, before the recent war, were herding on the high, cool plains of the little Orange Free State. Only Australasia and the Eio de la Plata countries surpass South Africa in the quan- tity of wool exported. Both native and merino sheep are raised, the native predominating on the northwest grazing lands, while the merino is preferred in the Great Karroo, where the industry has its largest importance. The foreign sales are more than double the value of any other exported commodities, excepting gold and diamonds. Goats are much more numerous than cattle. Tlio most important in commerce is tlie Angora goat, which was brought to the Cape from Anatolia (Asia Minor) about the middle of the last century. The mohair (exports, about * About 1875 the statistics of Cape Colony said : " There are ten tame ostriches in this colony." There are now more than 250,000 birds on the ostrich farms of the Vjush country. The exports, steadily increas- ing in recent years, amounted in 1898 to 250,000 pounds of feathers. 474 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY $3,000,000 a year) has the reputation of surpassing that of Anatolia in fineness and softness of texture, though not equaling it in luster. The industry is mainly centered in the east of the Great Karroo around Graaf Eeinet. Most of the cattle are raised on the coast lands, which are too wet for sheep and goats, and in the middle veldt of the Transvaal, where the Boers, on their enormous farms, raise large herds. Much of the transport of South Africa is still dependent upon the slow ox wagon, the demand for oxen, therefore, being very large. Hides are among the important exports. Xatal is unique in two of its agricultural industries. It is the only colony producing sugar and tea. Cane sugar is its principal product, the output being about 20,000 tons. The tea industry, yielding 400,000 pounds in 1899, is rapidly growing ; the planters have high hopes of soon entering the foreign markets with good teas grown much nearer the great consuming countries than the present sources of supply. Indian coolie labor is employed on the sugar and tea plantations. Much of the sugar is exported, but South Africa is the market as yet for all the tea raised. Gold exceeds in value all the other exports together.* This is due to the wonderful development of gold mining in the Transvaal, and particularly on the Witwatersrand around Johannesburg (Fig. 158). The Witwatersrand (White Eiver Slope) is a slightly elevated ridge, the water parting between two river systems, about 125 miles in length and one mile to one and a half miles in width. The mines thus far opened extend about twenty-five miles along the rand. This small area, in 1898, produced more gold than any other country (Fig. 68). f * This statement is based upon normal conditions, not upon those imposed by war, which in 1900 reduced the gold output $65,000,000 be- low the figures of the previous year. f Some of the mines have been sunk to a depth of 2,500 feet, and experts say the ore may be profitably mined to a greater depth. The TEMPERATE SOUTH AFRICA 475 Diamonds are the second largest export (p. 133). Rough stones to the value of $20,000,000 to 125,000,000 are sent from the Kimberley mines every year. Xinety-eight per cent, of the diamonds of commerce come from the mines in and near Kimberley, several other profitable diggings in that region having been abandoned when the surpassing richness of the Kimberley mines was discovered. The large production threatening to overstock the market and reduce the price led (1887) to the consolidation of the four leading mining companies, which absorbed the smaller con- cerns till all the interests were consolidated under one man- agement. Xo more diamonds are mined than the market will take at a good price. London buyers attend the sale of rough stones at Kimberley in March every year. The fact that all dealers know the quantity of new diamonds that has gone into the trade, and that no further sales will occur for a year, tends to keep the market on a stable basis. The development of the gold fields of southern Rhodesia, which are said to cover an area of about 5,000 square miles, is not far advanced, but the early stages of the work give much promise for the future. The valuable copper mines near the west coast are made accessible by a railroad from Port Xolloth. Coal is the only other mineral worked to an important extent, mainly in Xatal ; the fact that large beds of iron ore are found near the Xatal coal is favorable for the future development of manufactures, which can scarcely be said to exist in South Africa at present, except in rela- tion to the products of the vineyards, farms, and pastures. Practically all the exports go to Great Britain. The gold, diamonds, wool, hides, mohair, wine, and ostrich feathers that South Africa sells reach other countries to a consider- work is entirely carried on by foreign capital. The Boer Government, through the taxes imposed upon the mining industry, became one of the richest governments in the world, in proportion to population. 476 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY able extent, but mainly through the channels of British com- merce. On the other hand, a great many commodities are purchased from various nations. In 1897 South Africa pur- chased from this country 116,000,000 worth of goods, includ- ing wheat and flour, machinery, agricultural implements, hardware, lumber, and naval stores. Nearly all the textiles come from England. As the country has very little timber, wood products of all kinds are imported. Foreign tobacco, largely from this country, supplements the home supplies. While hides are a leading export, leather, boots, and shoes are purchased in large quantities. South Africa has the raw materials and favorable climatic conditions for supply- ing a large part of its need for manufactured commodities. The fact that so little attention has been paid to this form of development is largely due to the comparative sparsity of the white population, which has been fully occupied with the work of opening up the natural resources of the country. ERRATA P. 103. — Henequen instead of henneqnin. Figs. 44 and 45. — The words '* in 1900," should be added to the titles. Fig. 138. — Barranquilla instead of Barranquila; Guayas R. instead of Guagas R.; the railroad from Buenaventura to the Cauea River, not being completed, should be shown by a broken line. Fig. 140. — The railroad from Nerchinsk to Vladivostock and Poi-t Arthur, not being completed, should be shown by broken lines. Fig. 155.— Beni Saf instead of Bent Saf. The spelling " Hongkong " should be uniformly used. INDEX Heavy type indicates special and not merely incidental reference to the subi'ect indexed. Aalborg, 266. Aarhuus, 266. Abruzzi, 294. Abyssinia, 464, 466. Abyssinia, mountains, 453. Acajutla, 340-341. Acapulco, 330, 331. Accra, 466. Adelaide, 438, 443. Aden, 326, 429. Adirondacks, 109. Adrianopol, 325. Adriatic, 88. Afghanistan, 429. Africa, map of railroads, navigable rivers, steamship and caravan routes, ports, and principal towns, opposite 453. Africa, South, 470-476. climate, 470. fruits, 472. ostricli raising, 473. wool-growing, 473-474. gold and diamonds, 474-475. map of agricultural distribution, 471. foreign commerce, 475-476. Africa, tropical, 461-469. oil palm and palm oil, 464, 465, 466, 467. India rubber, 463, 464-465, 466, 467, 468. ivory, 465, 466. map of agricultural distribution, 462. climate, 464. exports and imports, 466, 467, 468. Agra, 401. Aguadilla, 169. Aguascalicntes, 334. Ahmcdabad, 402, 403. Ai.v-la-Chapellc, 225. Akaroa haroor, map, 26. Alabama, 97. Alaska, 85-86, 89, 146, 188. Albany, N. Y., 23, 190. Albany, W. Australia, 443. Albemarle Sound, 25. Alberta, 184, 190. Alburv, 439. Alcohol, 69, 233. Alcoholic liquors, 69, 71, 247, 252. Alewives, 84 ; map showing distribu- tion of, 84. Alexandria, 455. map note. Fig. 154. Algeria, 230, 235, 237, 240, 456-458. dates, 456-458. vegetables, 456. foreign trade, 458. statistics, 460. Algiers, 456, 457. map of harbor, 24. Algoma, 190. Alibert graphite mines, 392. Alicante wine, 300. Alimentary pastes, 232, 456. Alkmaar, 252. Alleghany County, Pa., 141. Almaden, 282. Alpaca, map showing distribution of, 46, 377. Alpaca wool, 99, 377, 380. Alps. 16, 268, 289. tourists in, 16-17, 275. ' Alpine tunnels, 274 Alsace-Lorraine, 221, 222, 224. Altata, 330. Altitudes, diagram sliowing influence on temperature, 6. Aluminium, 134-135; in United States, 135. Amapala. 339. Amazon, river, 349, 376, 882. Amazon, basin, 348, 351, 380. Ambaea, 467. America, Central, 336-342. map, 338. America, South : contrast between Atlantic and I'a- citic slopes in, 343. Amoy, 14, 422. 477 478 COMxMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Amsterdam, 252, 254, 255-256. Amu Daria, 395. Amur, river, 300, 391, 392. Amur, region, 390. Anaconda, Mont., 129-130. Anatolia, 32.5-326, 473-474. Anchovies, maps showing distribution of, 85, 234. Ancona, 289. Andes, 370, 374, 380. Androscoggin, 97. Angola, 467. Angora, 326. Angora goat, 99, 326, 473-474. Aniline dyes, 119. Animals, domestic, 46-46, 76-78, 80- 82 ; map showing distribution of, 46. Animals, draft, 45-46 ; map showing distribution of, 46. Annam, 431, 432. Anping, 413. Ansonia, Conn., 146. Antarctic, 5. Anthracite, 116, 118 Antilles, Lesser, 385. Antimony, 380. Antofagasta, 368, 380. Antrim, 199. Antwerp, 222, 247, 254. Aomori, 407. Aparri, 176. Apia, 452. Appalachian regions, 54, 118, 119, 120, 122. Appalachians, 16. Apples, 69, 185, 280,447. Arabia, 326, 429, 458. Aracaju, 349. Arauco, 366, 367. Archangel, 317. Arctic Ocean : map showing drainage area of, 40. whale fisheries, 88. Ardennes, 242. Arecibo, 169. Arequipa, 378. Argentina, 333, 361-365. map, 357. wool industry, 361. meat industry, 361-362. wheat, 362-363. statistics, 369. Arizona, 129. Arlberg, tunnel, 274, 278. Armenia, 427. Arno, 292. Aroa, 345. Arrowroot, 351, 386. Arroyo, 169. Articles de Paris, 240, 391. Ascotan, Lake, 380. Ashanti, 466. Ashio, 411. Ashland, 123. Asia Minor. See Anatolia. Asia, Eussiau Central, 393-395. Askabad, 395. Asphalt, 386. Assam, 71, 402, 403. Assiniboia, 184. Asti wine, 293. Astrakhan, 317, 395. Asuncion, 355, 358. Assuan, 453. Atbara, river, 453. Atlas Mountains, 457. Athabasca, 185. Athens, 323, 324. Atlanta, 155, 157. Atlantic coastal plain, 54. Atlantic Ocean : drainage area of, map, 40. importance as a commercial high- way, 40. Atrato, river, 370. Attar of roses, 321-322, 325, 328. Auckland, 446. Augsburg, 226. Augusta, Ga., 140. Augusta, Me., 97. Australia, 435-444. sheep and wool, 435, 437-438. agricultural map, 435. droughts, 438. minerals, 440, 441. frozen meat, 438-439. foreign trade, 437, 442-444. statistics, 444. map of railroads and ports, 443. Austria-Hungary, 277-287. agriculture^ 278-280 ; map showing distribution of, 279. horse raising, 280-281. wine industry, 280. sugar production, 280. hops in Bohemia, 280. salt mining, 282. manufactures, 281-283 ; map showing centers of, 282. foreign commerce, 285-286 ; statis- tics, 286-287. maps, 282, 283, 284. Au.x Cayes, 384. Avignon, 238. Azof, Sea, 316. Azores, 469. Baccarat, cut glass of, 238. Basrdad, 326. Baffdad, Mexico, 330. Bahamas, 383, 384^385. INDEX 479 Bahamas, sponges, 88, 384. population, 387. Bahia, 349, 350. Bahia Blanca, 364. Bahrein Islands, 332, 428. Baku, 393, 395, 427. Balearic Islands, 300. Balkan Peninsula, 318-327. map of, 319. Ballarat, 441. Ballari, 401. Balsam of Peru, 340. Baltic ports, 215, 307, 316. Baltimore, 23, 68, 120, 141, 145, 160. Bamboo, 108, 419. Bammako, 466. Banana, 464. Bananas, 450 ; map showing distribu- tion of, 66. tropical Africa, 450, 463, 464. Honduras, 339. Hawaiian Islands, 172. Fiji Islands, 451. Jamaica, 385. Mexico, 331. Guatemala, 339. Nicaracrua, 341, 342. Costa Rica, 342. Australia. 439. Banda, island, 430. Bandar Abbas, 428. Bangalur, 401. Bangkok, 431. Ban'^or, 23. Banka, 433. Baobab tree, 463. Baracoa, 179. Barbados, 385-386. population, 387. Barberton, 471. Barcelona, Sj)ain, 302. Barcelona, V enezuela, 345. Barletta, 289. Barley, 65 ; diagram of world produc- tion, 64. Russia, 307. Germany, 65, 218, 225. Barmen-Elberfeld, 223. Barnslev, 208. Baroda,'403. Barquisimeto, 346. Barrancas, 346. Barranquilla, 372, 373. Bartica, 347. Basel, 272, 274. Basra, 320. Batavia, 434. Bath, England, 210. Bath, Me., 143. Batum. 393. Bavaria, 219, 221, 222, 224, 225. Bear, 89, 188. Beaufort, N. C, 111. Beaver, 89, 188. Beche-de-mer, 434, 450. Beech tree, 108, 220, 321. Beef, 76-81 ; extension of trade in, 76-77 : refrigeration and preserv- ing, 76-77, 78-79. United States, 77-81, 186 ; map show- ing centers of production and packing, 77 ; statistics of exports, 90-91. Uruguay, 358-359. Argentina, 186, 361-362. Australia, 186, 438-439. Denmark, 265 Beer, 71. Germanv, 71, 219, 225, 226. Great Britain, 71, 210. United States, 71. Belgium, 247. Austria-Hungary, 280. Beet sugar. See Sugar. Behar, 403. ~^ Beira, 468. Beirut, 326. Belfast, 199, 209. Belgium, 242-249. mineral resources, 244-245. flax and linen, 243, 246-247. metal industries, 245-246. sugar, 247. textiles and other industries, 246-247, 248. ivory, 248. canals and railroads, 247. foreign commerce, 248-249. statistics, 249. maps, 243, 253. Belgrade, 285, 321. Belle Isle, N. F., 190. Belle Isle, Strait of, 191. Bengal, 71, 399, 402, 403. Bengal, Bay of, 397, 400. Benguela, 467. Beni Eiver, 380. 381. Beni Saf, 457. Benue, river, 467. map note. Fig. 154. Benzene, 113. Berdiansk, 316. Bergen, 261, 262. Bering Sea, 86. Bering Strait, 88. Beriin, 223, 224, 226, 391 ; map show- ing comparative size of, 21. Bermejo, river, 363. Bermuda, 69, 386-387. statistics, 388. Bern, 271. Bessemer, Henry, 126. 480 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Beta Madre, 333. Beverages : alcoholic, 69-71. See Wine, Beer, Brandy, Whisky, Gin, Ruin, Vod- ka, Cider, Pulque, nonalcoholic, 69, 71-72. See Tea, Coifee, Cocoa, Chocolate, Yerba mate. Biddeford, 97. Bielefeld, 225. Bilbao, 303. Billingsgate, 86. Billiton, 433. Biobio Kiver, 367. Birds-of-paradise, 450. Birmingham, Ala., 122, 123, 125 ; map, 125. Birmingham district, England, 196, 206, 209. Biscay, Bay of, 236, 302. Biskra, 458. Bismuth, 379. Bizerta, 457. Black beans, 337, 351. Blackburn, 208. Black Country, 206-207. Black-earth regions, 309, 320, 390. Black Sea ports (Russia), 307,316,393. Blantyre, 468. Bleiburg, 282. Bluefields River (Rama), 341. Bluefields (town), 341. Bluetish, 84 : map showing distribution in United States, 84. Bogota, 372, 373. Bohemia, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 283, 284. Bokhara (city), 395. Bokhara (country), 314, 394, 395, 417. Bolivia, 379-381. extremes of temperature, 379. metals, 379, 380. rubber, 381. statistics, 382. Bolton, 208. Boma, 464. Bombay. 399, 400, 402, 403, 428. Bona, 457. Bora.x, 379, 380. Bordeaux, 228, 230, 233, 239-240. Bordeaux wine, 230, 235. Borneo, British, 434. Borneo, Dutch, 113, 433-434. Bosnia, 286, 324. Boston, 26, 44, 99, 104, 109, 130, 141, 145, 146, 157, 159. Bothnia, Gulf of, 263. Boulocrne, 2.30. Brabant, 244. Bradford, England, 206, 208. Brahmanists, 398 ; map showing dis- tribution of, 32. Brandy, 71, 235, 280. Brass, 130. Brazil, 348-352. coffee, 348-350. India rubber, 348, 351. diamonds, 133, 351. map, 349. steamship communications, 352. statistics, 354. Brazil nuts, 351. Brazil wood, 113, 351. Brazzaville, 467. Brea Lake, 386. Breadfruit tree, 449. map showing distribution of, 66. Bremen, 96, 216. Bremerhaven, 215, 216. Brenner Pass, 278. Breslau, 219, 226. Brest, 230. Bridgetown, Barbados, 386. Brie cheese, 235. Brindisi, 289. Brisbane, 443. Bristol, England, 198. Bristol coal field, map, 206. Bristol, Conn., 146. British Central Africa, 468. British Columbia, 184, 186, 187, 1--. 189, 190-191. British East Africa, 468. British Guiana, 347. map, 344. statistics, 353. British Isles. See United Kingdom. Britisli New Guinea, 450. British West Indies, 384r-386. Brito, 341. Brockton, Mtuss., 144. Broken Hill, 441. Bronze, 130. Brooklyn, 68. Bruges, 247. Brtmn, 282, 283. Brunswick, 226. Brussels, 246, 247. Bucarananga, 373. Bucharest, 320. Buckwheat, 65. Budapest, 279, 283. Buddhism, 32, 33. Buenaventura, 373. Buenos Aires, 349, 355, 361, 362, 364. 365. Buenos Aires, Province of, 360, 361. Buffalo, 141, 142, 152, 163, 157. BuffalcT River, 471. BuiT, river, 311. Bulgaria, 285, 321-322 ; map, 319. INDEX 481 Bulgaria, statistics, 327. Burgits, 318, 322. Burma, 134, 396, 400, 404, 431. Burnley, 208. Burton, 202. Burton-on-Trent, 210.. Bury, 208. Bushire, 428. Butte, Mont., 129-130. Butter, 79. Denmark, 79, 265. France, 235. Netherlands, 252. Sweden, 259. New Zealand, 445, 447. Australia, 439. United States, 79; map showing centers of production in, 77 ; sta- tistics of exports, 90 ; reasons for decline of exports, 79. Cabinet woods (for furniture, etc.), 108, 110, 176, 356, 363. Cabo Rojo, 170. Cabugaro, 373. iCacao, 72 ; map showing distribution ! of, 70. •■ Ecuador, 72, 374, 376. I Venezuela, 344, 346. Santo Domingo, 384. Honduras, 339-340. Trinidad, 386. Haiti, 384. Cadiz, 303. Cagavan, 176. Cairns, 439, 443. Cairo, Egypt. 4.53, 454. •;iiro, 111., 155. 'alais, 230. al.utta, 399, 430. 'aMera, 368. 'alirut, 399. JalUornia, 65, 68, 69, 71, 73, 87, 134, 173. Jalifornia, Lower, 8, 328, 330. California, Gulf of, 331. ?allao, 340, .378. map of liarl)or, 26. :;ambodia, 431, 432. Jamdcn, N. .J.. 99. iJamel's hair, 99. Darnels, 46, 99, 326, 419, 429. ^merrrt'jCTtrchT Darneroons, 467. Jampagna, 291. 3ampeche, 330. :amphor, 411, 412, 434. .'ampine, 244, 247. 3am pos, .'549. Camwood, 113. 3anada, 182-193. 31 Canada, wheat and Hour, 185. lumber, 107, 110, 188-189. cheese, 79, 186. fisheries, 83, 85-86, 186-188. furs, 88, 188. apples, 185. commerce, 192-193. statistics of trade, 193-194. map, 183. Canadian canal, 152 ; map, 152. Canals, ship, and maps of, 42-44. Canaries, 409. Canterbury Plain, 446. Canton, 415, 416, 420, 422. Caoutchouc. See India rubber. Cape Breton Island, 190. Cape Colony, 472-474. Cape Haitien, 384. Cape Town, 470, 471, 472. map note. Fig. 154. Cape Verde Islands, 469. Capital, its value in commerce, 33. Caracas, 343, 344, 346. Caravan routes and caravans in Asia, 391, 394, 424, 427, 428. in Africa, 453, 455, 459, 468. Cardiff; 198, 345, 360. Cariboo district, 189. Carinthia, 281. Carmen, 330. Carolina, North, 72. Carolina, South, 136. Carolinas, 54, 111. Carpathians, 281. 318, 320. Carrara marble, 2S9, 296. Cartagena, Colomliia, 373. Cashmere goat, 99. shawls, 99, 402. Caspian Sea, 393, 394, 395, 427. Cassia, 419. Castile, 300. Catamarca, 364. Catania, 289. Cattaro, 285, 323. Cattle, 77, 78: map showing distribu- tion of, 40. United States, 77-78 ; statistics of exports, 90. Russia, 308, 310. India, 77, 398, 403. ^ Germany, 219. Canada, 186. -Argentina, 77, 360, 361, 362. Uruguay, 358-359. Netherlands, 250, 251-252. Denmark, 265. Colom}>ia, .372. France, 235. Switzerland. 270-271. Cauca, river, .370, 372. Cauca, region, 370-372, 373. 482 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Caucasia, 393, 427. Caucasian Mountains, 305. Caviare, 86, 317. Cayenne, 348. Cayenne pepper, 430. Ceara, 349. Cebu, 176. Cedar, 339, 342. Ceiba, 339. Celebes, 433. Central Africa Protectorate, 468. Central America, 336-342 ; map, 338. See also Guatemala, Honduras, Sal- vador, Nicaragua, Costa Eica. Central High Tlains, Germany, 214. Cereals, 57-66 ; diagram of world pro- duction, 57. See also Wheat, Maize, Eye, Oats, Eice, Barley, Millet, Buckwheat, Mealies. Cerro Pa.sco, 377-378. Cetinje, 323. Cette,' 230. Ceuta, 88. Ceylon, 71, 108, 113, 136, 332, 404-405. Chad, Lake, 455. Chad, Lake, region of, 461-462. Chalk, 2G6. Champagne, region, 235. Champagne wine, 235. Champerico, 338. Champlain, Lake, 192. Charente, 235. Charleroi, 246. Charleston, S. C, 157. Charleville, 4-37. Charters Towers, 441, 443. Chaudiere Falls, 189. Chaux-de-Fonds, La, 272. Chavigny, 237. Cheese, 79. Canada, 79, 186. France, 235, 240. Switzerland, 270-271. The Netherlands, 252. Italy. 79, 294. New Zealand, 445, 447. United States, 79 ; map showing area of production in, 77 ; statistics of exports, 91. Chemnitz, 219, 22.3, 224, 225. (Chemulpo, 432. Cherburg, 228, 2.30. Chesapeake Bav, 84, 87, 160. Chester, Pa., 99. Chestnut tree, 108. Chestnuts, 293. Chianti wine, 293. Chicago, 24, 80-81, 104, 109, 111,1.33, 141, 142, 144, 145, 151, 152-153. Chifu, 422. Chihuahua, 333. Chile, 333, 365-368. nitrate of soda, 366. climate, 365. manufactures, 366-367. map, 357. statistics, 369. Chile saltpeter, 366. Chilian, 367. Chilpancingo, 334. Chimbote, 378. China, 414-426. agricultural predominance, 414. silk production, 101-102, 415-417. tea culture, 417-418. cotton, 418. mineral wealth, 419-420. industries, 420-421. firecrackers, 420^21. inland navigation, 39, 421 : map, 422. treaty ports, 422. map showing chief products of, 415, extreme density of population, 414. map showing railroads, 422. foreign commerce, 420-421. statistics, 425-426. China clay, 207. 419. China grass, 103, 418. China wax, 410, 419. Chinandega, .341. Chinde, 468. Chin-kiang, 422. Chocolate, 72, 374, 376. Chocoli wine, 364. Christcliurch, 26, 446. Christian religions, map showing dis- tribution of, 32. Christiania, 261, 263. Chubut, river, 364. Chung-king, 421, 422. Churdiill, river, 182. Cider, 235. Cinchona tree, 376, 405, 433. Cincinnati, 24, 151. Cinnamon, 404. Cities, causes determining location ofj 22-24. _ ._ ) map showing comparative size of large, 21. Citrus fruits, 293-294. Ciudad Bolivar, 345, -346. Ciudad Juarez. 330. Ciudad Porfirio Diaz, 330. Civet. 466. Civita Vecchia, 289. Cleveland, Ohio, 142. 152. 153. 155. Cleveland iron field, England, 198, 20.5-206, map of, 206. Climate, 4-9. influence on commerce, 4. influence on agriculture, 4-5. INDEX 483 Climate, tropical, 5. polar, 5-6. temperate, 6-7. sea, 7-9. continental, 7-9. rainfall, 7 ; map showing annual aiiii.junt of, 8. n-v^s, 430, 468. Oly.li', rivtr, 17, 25, 199, 209, 210. Clyde coal lield, with map, 206. Coal, 116-119 ; map showmg distribu- tion of, 12 ; diagram of world pro- duction, 118. United States, 117-119; maps show- intr mining centers in, 117, 125; statistics of foreign trade in, 127. Great Britain, 117, 205-206; map showing fields of, 206 ; statistics of exports, 213. China, 419. Germany, 221-222; mining centers, map, 223. France, 236-237. Austria-Hungary, 281. .Vustralia, 440-441. IJelgium, 245. Russia, 310. Coal gas, 119. Coal tar, 113, 119. Coamo, 170. I '< la^ts, promote or hinder trade, 18-19. I ' iiitzacoalcos, 330. It, 136, 450. i!i, 337,338. .1. 377. I —aine, 377. <'i''liabamba, 380. < -liiu China, 431-432. ! Ileal, 113, 328. a, 72, 376. I ' 'laiiut palm and nuts, 449. map ^li'nviniC distribution of, 58. i'ariti.' Ishuids, 449, 45'J. tropical Africa, 463, 467. Central America, 339, 340. Cod, 83-84; maps showing distribu- tion of, 84, 85; statistifes, 92. Newfouii.lland, 8.3, 193. Canada, 83, 186-188. United States, 82-84. France, 83, 236. Norway, 83, 259. Great Britain, 203. Cod-liver oil, 83, 193. offee, 71 ; map showing distribution of, 70. Brazil, 71, 348-350. Haiti, 383-384. Venezuela, 344. Colombia, 370, 372. Ecuador, 374. CoflFee, Central America, 337, 338-339, 340, 341, 342. tropical Africa, '463, 464, 466, 467, 468. X Turkey in Asia, 326. Java, 433. Mexico, 331. statistics of imports into United States, 75. Cohoes, N. Y., 100. Coke, 116,119. Colima, 330. Cologne, 224, 226. Colombia, 370-374. map, 371. emeralds, 373. sparsity of population, 370. Statistics, 381. Colombo, 405. Colon, 373. Colonies, 30-33. map showing distribution of, 31. conunercial advantages to mother countries, 33, 211, 239, 247, 254. Dutch colonial system, 433. Colquechaca, 380. Columbia, S. C, 140. Jrl^olumbia Kiver, 84, 151, 189. Colza, 244. Comayagua, 340. Commerce, defined, 2. conditions promoting, 4-26, 170-171, 177, 179, 182, 191-192, 195, 198, 214, 250, 256. impediments to, 14, 19-20, 29, 35, 36, 318, 322, 337, 344, 453. infltrence of governments on, 29-33, -^ 324. influence of religions on, 33. influence of density of population, 36-38. rapid growth of, 162. conditions which made Europe larg- est center of, 163-164." parallel between domestic and for- eign, 162-163. statistical table of, 166. map .showing distribution of. Fig. 1. Commercial geography, defined, 2-3 ; bases of, 1-3. Commonwealth of Australia, 437. Como, 296. Como.x, 190. Concepcion, 367. Conduits, 47, 394. Coiifjo Basin, 6-7, 464. Congo Free State, 24S, 464-465, 467. Contro, French, 465, 467. Cori!.") River, 465. Connecticut, 113, 1.30, 133, 137, 146. Connecticut, river, 84. 484 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Connellsville region, 119. Constance, Lake, 273. Constansa, 320. Constantinople, 318, 321, 325, 326. map showing comparative size of, 21. Coolitown, 443. Coolies, 347, 451, 474. Copaiba balsam, 372. Copenhagen, 216, 266. Copiapo, 368. Copper, 129-130; map showing dis- tribution of, 12 ; diagram of world production, 129. United States, 129-130 ; statistics of production and exports, 137 ; map of shipping ports, 123. Spain and Portugal, 301, 303. Peru, 377-378. Germany, 222. Mexico, 332. Japan, 411. Bolivia, 379. Kussia, 310. Australia, 441. Chile, 366. Copper Range, 123. Copra, 173, 176, 404, 449, 450, 451, 452. Coquimbo, 367. Coral, 294. Cordilleras, 15, 363, 376, 378, 379. Cordoba, Spain, 300. Cordoba, Argentina, 360, 362, 364. Corinth Canal, 43, 323. map, 43. Corinto, 341. Cork, 199. Cork tree and cork, 114, 301, 303, 456. Corn Belt, 61-63. Cornwall, 207. Corrientes, 364. Costa Kiea, 342 ; map, 338. Cotton, 93-96 ; diagram of world pro- duction, 93 ; statistics of world consumption, 105 ; ginning, 95 ; mean length, 377. United States, 55, 94-96 ; map show- ing distribution in, 94 ; statistics of exports, 105. India, 95. 239, 400-402. Russian Central Asia, 393-394. Peru, 377. Egypt, 95, 239. China, 418. Brazil, 95, 239, 350. Mexico, 331. imports into Great Britain, 97, 204 ; statistics, 212. imports into Germany, 223-224, 227. imports into Japan, 409. Cotton manufactures, 9.3-94, 96 ; statis- tics of spindles, 105. Cotton manufactures, Great Britain, 97, 207-208 ; map showing-centers of, 208 ; statistics of exports, 213. United States, 96-98 ; map showing areas of production and manufac- ture, 94 ; statistics, 105. Germany, 223-224. Russia, 313. Belgium, 247. India, 402. Cotton-oil cake and meal, 103-104, 248. Cotton-seed oil, 103, 230, 418. Courtrai, 246-247. Coventry, 208. Cowrie shells, 34. Cracow, 284. Crete, 324. Creuzot, Le, 237. Crimea, 305, 310. Crvolite, 267. Cuba, 177-181. advantages giving commercial im- portance to, 177, 178-179. tobacco, 72-73, 178, 179-180. cane sugar, 178-180. map, 178. Culiacan, 330. Cumberland coal liclds, with map, 206. Cura(,-ao, 300. Cura^-ao, liqueur, 252, 300. Currants, 324. Currents, ocean, influence on naviga- tion, 19-20. Cuxhaven, 215, 216. Cuyaba, 349. Dahomey, 466-467. Daiquiri, 180. Dairy products. See Milk, Butter, Cheese, Oleomargarine. Dakar, 466. Dakota, Korth, 42. Dakotas, 60. Dalmakia, 277, 284. Dalny,l391. Damasfius, 326. Danish West Indies, 386. Danneniora, 261, 262. Danube, 217. 278, 282, 284, 318, 321. Danzig, 23, 216, 225. Darling River, 437. Dates, 458. map showing distribution of, 66. Africa, 456-458, 459, 461. Asia, 326, 428. Deccan, 396, 397, 400. Dcdeagatsch, 318, 325. Delagoa Bay. 467-468. Delaware, 69. 87, 146. Delaware Bay, 25, 51. Delaware, river, 17, 84, 151, 160. INDEX 485 Delft, 253, 254. Delhi, 401. Demerara, 347. Denmark, 264-267. agriculture, 265. butter, 79, 265. foreign commerce. 266; statistics, 267. maps, 260, 263. colonies, Iceland, Greenland, Dan- ishAVest Indies, 267, 386. Deserlhto, 189. Detroit, 152, 153. Detroit River, 152. Devon, 207. Diamantina. 351. Diamond cutting, 238, 253-254. Diamonds, 133-134 ; map showing mining centers of, 13. Cape Colony, 475. Brazil, 133-134, 351. Dieppe, 230. Dinant, 246. Divi-divi, 384. Dnieper, river, 305, 311. Dnieper-Beresina system, 314. Dnieper-Pripet and Niemen system, 314. Dnieper-Pripet and Vistula system, 314. Dniester, river, 311. Dobruja, 320. Dog, as beast of burden, 45-46. Dogger Bank, 203./ Dolhain, 246. Dole, 465. / Don, river, 305/Sll. Donetz coal fields, 316. Donetz River, 310. Dongola, 29./ Donkey, 45, 46, 294, 301, 343. Dortmund, 233. Doubs, 231. / Dover, 198. Downs, 18, 204, 438. Drainage areas, map of, 40. Drammen, 261. Dnive, 282. Dresden, 226. Dublin, 190, 210. Duisburjc, ^23. Dulutli,\!3, 123, 152, 153, 192. Dundiig, 441. Dundee, 103, 205, 209. I)unedin, 44.5. Dunkirk, 228, 230, 236. Dunkirk, N. Y., 142. Duraiii^'o, 333. Durban, 4ri. Durliarii, N. C., 73. Durhaiii-Nortliumberland coal field, 206, 209 ; map, 206. Diisseldorf, 224. Dutch East Indies, 254, 433^34. Dutch Guiana, 347. map, 344. statistics, 353. Dutch New Guinea, 450. Dutch West Indies, 386. Dvina, Northern, 308, 314. Dvina, Western, 305. Dwarfs, African, 1, 2. Dyes, lis. Dyewoods, 113, 332, 336, 372. Eastern Rumelia, 322. East Liverpool, Ohio, 137 East London, 471. Eastport, Me., 187. Ebony, 108. Ecuador, 374-376. cacao, 72, 374. Panama hats, 375. map, 371. statistics, 381. Edam cheese, 252. Edible birds' nests, 434. Edinburgh, 210. Edmonton, 188. Eger, 283. Eggs, 82. Russia, 82, 315. Denmark, 203, 265. China, 419. France, 236. Austria-Hungary, 281. Belgium, 244. Italy, 294. imports into United Kingdom, 82, 203. Egypt, 453-455. irrigation, 453. cotton, 453-454. tobacco, 454. statistics, 460. Egyptian cigarettes, 454. Eisenerz, 281. Ekaterinoslaw, 310. Elba island, 289, 295. Elbe, river, 17, 43, 216, 217, 278. Elberfeld, 224. Elbing, 226. Electricity, transmit power, 47-48. Elephants, 45-46, 399 ; map showing distribution of, 46. Emeralds, 134, 373. Encarnaeion, 355. England : climate, 195-196. surface, 196. harbors, 18S. for irmi. coal, numufactures, etc., see United Kingdom. 486 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY English Channel, 236. Ensley, Ala., 125. Erie Canal, 45, 53, 110, 140, 153-154. Erie, Lake, 124 ; map of iron-ore ports on. 124. Erie, Fa., 142. Erivan, 393. Erzgebirge, 221-222. Escanaba, 123. Eskilstuna, 262. Eskimo, 5, 27 ; map showing distribu- tion of, 28. Esmeraldas, 375. Esparto, 103, 300, 455, 456, 457, 459. Espirito Santo, State, 349. Essen, 223, 237. Esthonia, 313. Eucalyptus, 108, 440. Euphrates, 17. Faizabad, 401. Fajarro, 109. Fall River, 97. Falun, 261. Faroe Islands, 267. Ferghana, 394, 395. Fertilizers : Phosphates, 136. Nitrate of soda, 136, 366. fish, 408. Fibers, 93-103. See also Cotton, Wool, Silk, Flax, Hemp, Jute, Espaito, llenequen, Manila Hemp, Kamie, Fhormium. Figs, 69. Fiji Islands, 451. Finland, 310. Firecrackers, 420-421. Fisheries, 82-88; statistics. 91. United States, 56, 83-88 ; map, 84. United Kingdom, 203-t!04; maps, 85, 201. Japan, 409. Kussia, 310, 317; map. 309. France, 236 ; maps, 85, 234. Canada, 83, 85, 186-188 ; map, 84 ; statistics of exports, 1 94. Newfoundland. 83, 193. China, 419. Norway and Sweden, 259-260. map showing sea fisheries of west Europe, 85. Fiume, 285. Fives-Lille, 237. Flanders, 18. 242, 244, 246. Flax, 102. Russia, 102, 204, 239, 307-308. Belgium, 102, 239, 242. Ireland, 204. Flora, map showincr distribution of, 10. Florence, 289, 291, 293, 296, 297. Florida, 54,' 69, 88, 136. Flushing, 256. Folkestone, 198. Fonseca, Gulf of, 341. Food products : vegetable, 57-72. ' animal, 76-88. importing countries, 163-164, 180, 200-203, 210-211, 217-219,220-221, 226, 232, 240, 242-243, 248, 258-259, 270, 271, 274. Forest products, 107-114. great importance of industry in, 107. See Lumber, Timber, Cabinet Woods, Rubber, Turpentine, Tar, Resin, Dyestuft's, Quinine, Cork, Wood Pulp. Forests, 107. map showing distribution of, 10. statistics giving areas in chief coun- tries, 114. Forestville, Conn., 146. Formosa, 71, 412-413. Fort William, 185. Forwarding trade : France, 240. The Netherlands, 255. Denmark, 266. Belgium, 248. Fox, 89. Franc, 241, 249, 276. France, 228-241. agriculture, 231-234. wine industry, 234-235. alimentary pastes, 232. sugar-beet industry, 232-233. fisheries, 236 ; map, 234. tobacco and match monopoly, 233. silk manufactures, 238. iron and steel industries, 236-237. porcelain, leather, and other manu- factures, 238-239. map showing distribution of indus- tries, 229. quality of manufactures, 2.37. ^ map of interior navitration, 231.. foreign commerce, 240-241. statistics, 241. colonies. See Algeria, Tunis, In- do-China, Guiana, West Indies, French Congo, Ivory Coast, Da- homey, Madagascar, Sudan, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Mauritius. Reunion. Senegal. Frankfort on the Main, 226. Eraser, river, 85. 187, 189. Fredericton, N. B., 189. Fredrikstad, 261. Free ports, 216, 266, 391, 429. ' Freetown, 466. Freiburg, 271. •i INDEX 487 Freights, 39, 41-42. effect of cheap rates, 41-42, 44-45, 149, 173, 200-202, 224, 225-226, 252. rates in China, 421. Fremautle, 443. French Congo, 465, 467. French Guiana, 347, 348. map, 344. statistics, 353. Friendly Islands, 452. Fruits, 68-69. Fuchau, 14, 422. Fur felt, 89-90. Furs, 88-90. Kussia, 88-89, 308. Canada, 88, 188. Siberia, 88-89. principal markets, 89. imports and manufactures in United States, 90. Fustic, 113. Gafsa, 457. Galatz, 320. Galena-Joplin, 134. Galieia, Austrian, 281, 282, 284. Galveston, 95, 155, 157. Ganges, 17, 36, 397. 417. Ganges, basin, 397, 400, 401. Garden of India, 401. Gas, natural, 119 ; map showing field of, 121. Gasoline, 121. Geelong, 438. Getie, 261, 262, 263. Gellivare, 261, 262. Geneva, 272, 273, 274. Geneva, Lake, 270, 273. Genoa, 96, 288, 289, 295, 296. Georgetown, 347. Georgia, 54, 111. Georgian Bay, 185. Geraldton, 443. German Ea.st Africa, 468. Germanic races, 27-29. German New Guinea, 450. German Southwest Africa, 463, 467. Germany, 214-227. inland navigation, 217, 225-226. sugar beet, 219. potato cultivation, 218. hops, 218-219. imports of foodstuff's, 217-219, 220- 221. minerals, 221-222. iron and steel manufactures, 222-223. Vjecr making, 71, 219, 225, 226. shipbuilding, 225. textiles, chemical, and other indus- tries, 223-225. potteries, 225. Germany, railroads, 224, 225-226. foreign commerce, 226-227. statistics, 227. colonies. See Samoa, Caroline Is- lands, Ladrones, Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Togoland, Came- roons, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa. Ghats, Eastern, 397. Ghats, Western, 397, 403. Ghent, 246, 247, 248. Gibara, 179. Gibraltar, 460. Gin, 252. Ginger, 385, 430. Ginseng, 423. Girgenti, 289. Gironde, 17, 230. Glasgow, 199, 209. Gloucester, Mass., 83. Glucose, 68. Goa, 401. Goats, 271, 294, 423, 429, 456. G^d, 130-132 ; dingram of world pro- duction, 131 ; map showing dis- tribution of, 12; statistics of con- sumption in arts, 138; coinage, 132. South Africa, 131, 474-475. United States, 131-132; diagram of production, 131 ; manufacture.s, 133. Australia, 440, 441. Russia, 310, 390, 391. Canada, 189-190. Mexico, 332. Golden Horn, 325. Golctta, 457. Goodyear, Charles, 112. Gorlitz, 219, 224. Goteborg, 261, 262, 263. Gothland, 258. Governments, influence on conmierce and industry, 29-30, 149-151, 286, 307, 324. 389, 394, 458. Graaf Reinet, 474. Granada, Nicaragua, 336, 341. Gran Chaeo, 360, 36.3. Grand Banks, 83. 84. Grand Bassam, 466. Grand Canal, China, 421, 422. Grand Rapids, Mich., 111. Granite, 136, 137. 207. Grape-fruit. 384-385. Grapes. 68, 280, 300, 439-440, 472. Graphite, 136. 392, 404. Grass areas. 18. See also Downs, Pam- pas. Llanos, Savannas, Great I'lains. Gratz, 281, 282, 283. Great Barrier Reef, 443. 488 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Great Britain and Ireland. See United Kingdom. Great Karroo, 473, 474. Great Lakes, 53, 56, 86, 139, 149, 182- 183, 185, 187, l«y. Great Plains, tl. S., 65, 78. Great Plateaus. U. S., 55. Great Valley. U. S., 55. Greece, 323-324. statistics, 327. Greenland, 121, 267. Greyniouth, 448. Greytown, 336, 341. Grimsby, 203. Gruyere cheese, 270. Guadalajara, 334. Guam, 173. • Guanajuato, 332, 333. Guanica, 170. Guanta, 346. Guatemala, 337-339. Guatemala, city, 337, 338. Guavas, 384, 385. Guayaina, 169. Guayaquil, 374. 375. Guayma.s, 330. Guianas, 347, 348. map, 344. statistics, 353. Guinea, Gulf of, 463. Gulf Stream, 9. Gums, 111-112,447, 466. Gutta-percha, 113, 430, 433, 434. Gympie, 441. Haarlem, 251. Haddock, 203. Hatrue, The, 252. Hainault, 247. Haiti, 383-384. statistics, 388. Halibut, 84, 186. Halifax, England, 208. Halifax. N. S., 182. Haiiiliuris:, 25, 158, 215, 216, 225; map of port, 216. Hamilton, Bermuda, 387. Hamilton, Ont., 183. Hamite races, 28. Han, river, 421. 422. HaniT-ehau, 417, 421. HaniTn, 316, 317. llankau, 23, 420, 422. Hanover, 226. H any an, 420. Harar, 466. Harbors, tvpes of, 24-26. Hare. 90. Hartford, 100. Hartlepool, 198. Harwich, 203. Harz Mountains, 220, 221, 222. Havana, 179, 180. Haverhill, Mass., 144. Havre, 23, 96, 228, 230, 233, 239, 240. Hawaii (town), 171-172. Hawaiian Islands, 170-173. advantageous situation, 171. cane sugar, 172-173. map, 171. trade stati.'tties, 181. Heathen people.s, 32. Helsingborg, 261. Ilelsingfors, 317. Hemp, 103, 293, 307. Hemp-seed oil, 104. Henequen, 103, 330, 331, 385. Herberton, 439, 441, 443. Hermupolis, 324. Herring, 86 : maps, 84, 85. Great Britain, 86, 203-204. Norway, 86, 259-260. Netherlands, 252. Canada, 187-188. Herzegovina, 286, 324. Hickorv, 108. Hides, 144. Argentina, 77, 144, 365. Russia, 308, 316. India, 77, 144. 404. Paraguaj', 356. Colombia, 372. Brazil, 144, 350. statistics of imports into United States, 147. Highlands, Scottish, 196. Hilo, 171. Himalayas, 15. 16, 396, 397. Hinoki cypress, 409. Hiogo, 407. Hirschberg, 225. Hoang-ho, 17, 36, 414-415, 421. Hoboken, 159. Hodeida, 326. Holland. See Netherlands. Hoi yoke, 104. Honda, 372. " Hondo, 406, 407, 408. Honduras, 339-340 ; map, 338. Honduras, British, 340. Hongkonsr, 44, 176-177, 418, 424-425, 430. 431, 432. Honolulu, 171, 173. Hook of Holland, 256. Hops, 71. Germany, 218-219; map showing distritiution of, 218. Great Britain, 210. Austria-IIunurarv, 280. Horse meat, 82^ 244. Horses, map showing distribution of, 46. INDEX 489 Horses, United [States, 81-82 ; statistics of exports, 90. Russia, 308. Germany, 219. France, 2i55. Belgium, 244. Denmark, 265. Austria- Hungary, 280-281. Canada, 186. Huanciiaca, 379, 380. Huddersfleld, 208. Hu.lson Bay, 182. Hudson River, 84, 151. Hughenden, 437. Hull, 198, 20-3. Humber, river, 198. Hunan, 419. Hungary: wheat and wheat flour, 279. wine industry, 280. horse raising, 280-281. See also Austria-Hungary. Huron, Lake, 187. Hydarabad, 399. Iceland, 267. Ichang, 421, 422. Idria, 282. Illinois, 56, 61, 119, 133, 140, 141, 145, 146. Imperial River, 367. India, 396-405. surface, 396-398. density of population, map, 397. irrigation, 396. agriculture, 398, 400-403 ; maps showing distribution of, 399, 401. textile industries, 402. house industries, 403. foreign trade, 398, 404. statistics, 405. India rubber, 112. Brazil, 348, 349, 351. tropical Africa, 463, 464-465, 466, 467, 468. Central America, 336, 338, 341, 342. Peru, 376. Bolivia, .380, 381. Colombia, 370, 372. Ecuador, 375. Indiana, 56, 61, 119, 140, 146. Indianapoli.s, 24 Indian Desert, 397. Indian Ocean, 20, 397. Indigo, 113, 340, 390, 402-403, 404. Indo-China, French. 431-432. See also Cochin-Cliina, Cambodia, Annam. Tonkin. Indo-Kuropeans, 27-29. Indus, 397. Indus, ba.Hin, 396, 397, 400, 401. Inland waterways, importance of, 17 152, 191-192, 217, 230-231, 247, 250-251. Iowa, 61, 145. Iquique, 368. Iquitos, 349, 377, 382. Irawadi, 404. Ireland, 196-197, 202. llax and linen industry, 204, 209. Eotatoes, 196-197. eer brewing, 210. commerce, 199. Irkutsk, 390, 391, 392. Iron, 121-126 ; map showing world distribution of, 13: diagram of world production, 122; world con- sumption per capita, 122. United States, 56, 121-126; maps of mining centers, 123, 125; maps of shipping and receiving ports, 123, 124; statistics, 128. Great Britain, 205-207, 209 ; value of exports, 213. Germany, 221-222. Luxemburg, 221, 222, 236, 249. Russia and Finland, 310. Sweden, 261. Spain, 302. Mexico, 332. Iron manufactures : United States, 141-143. Great Britain, 206, 209. Germany, 222-223; map showing centers of, 223. France, 236-237. Belgium, 245-246. Irrigation : India, 396-398, 400. Egypt, 453. Spain, 299. Italy, 291. United States, 50-51. Russian Central Asia, 393-394, 395. Mexico, 329. Australia, 440. Irtysh, river, 392. Iserlohn, 223. Islands, influence on commerce, 18. Ispahan. 428. Istria, 277. Italy, 288-297. seiljTnrts, 288-290 ; map. 289. agriculture. 28S, 292-293 ; map show- ing distribution of, 290. wine industry, 293. raw silk f)roduction, 294-295. marble quarries, 295. suljiliur, 295. foreign eonnnerce, 297. map showing density of jinjpulation, 291. 490 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Italy, manufactures, 295-297; map showing distribution of, 296. statistics, 297. Ivigtut, 267. Ivory, 248, 455, 465, 466. Ivory Coast, 466. Ivory nuts, 372, 375. Jacksonville, 155, 157. Jade, 424. Jatfa, 326. Jaila Mountains, 305. Jamaica, 385. population, 387. Japan, 406-413. agricultural products, 407-409 ; maps showing distribution of, 407, 410. lack of minerals, 411. porcelain wares, 411. growth of manufactures, 411-412. transportation, 412. foreign trade, 412. earthquakes, 406. statistics, 413. Japan wax, 410. Jaroslav, 313. Jarrah wood, 440. Java, 113, 179, 254, 433, 434. Jedda, 326. Jemmapes, 246. Jersey City, 68, 136, 159. Jerusalem, 326. Jews, 28. Jibuti, 466. Johannesburg, 24, 467, 471. Juanii Diaz, 170. Jujuy, 364, 365, 380. J uncos, 170. Jura Mountains, 268, 270, 271,272, 274. Jute, 103, 399, 402. Jutigalpa, 340. Jutland, 216, 264, 266. Kabul, 429. Kaiser VVilhelm Canal, 43, 216. Kaiser Wilhelms Land, 450. Kalaupapa, 171. Kalawao, 171. Kama, basin, 310. Kanakas labor, 450, 451. Kano, 467. Kansas, 60, 61, 134, 145. Kansas City, 80, 151, 155. Kaolin, 137, 411. Karachi, 399, 400. Karri wood, 440. Karst, 278, 322. Karun Eiver, 428. Kash^ar, 423. Kassel, 226. Katsena, 467. Kauri gum, 447. Kauri pine, 108, 447. Kazan, 24, 313. Kazanlik, 321-322. Kelung, 412. Kenia, Mount, 6. Kennebec, river, 84. Kentucky, 55, 72. Kerman, 428. Kerosene, 119. United States, 119-120 ; value of ex- ports, 128. Russia, 119, 120, 393. Keweenaw, 56, 129. Key West, Fla., 73, 88. Khaibar Pass, 399. Kharkof, 313, 314. Kharkof, province, 314. Khartum, 455. Kherson, 316. Khiva, 391, 394, 395. Kiakhta, 391. Kiao-chau Bay, 425. Kidderminster, 209. Kief, 312-313, 314. Kief, province, 314. Kiel, 215. Kiel Bay, 43. Kimberley, Cape Colony, 24, 133,475. Kimberley Di.striet, W. Australia, 441. Kingston, Ontario, 183. Kioto, 407. Kiusiu, 408, 411. Kiyaki wood, 409. Khiireufurt, 282. Klondike, 189. Kobe, 407, 408. Kokan, 395. Kola nuts, 463, 466. Konigsberg, 216. Konigslmtte, 222. Kootenai, 189. Korea, 432. Kostroma, 313. Krasnovodsk, 394, 395. Krasnoyarsk, 391. Krefeld, 102, 223. Krefeld, district, 225. Krui)p iron works, 223. Kumiss, 82. Kurgan, 391. Kushk, 394. La Celba, 346. La Guaira, 346. La Libertad, 340. La Luz, 469. La Paz, Bolivia. 379, 380- La Paz, Lower California, 328, 330. La Plata, river, 358, 360, 362. La Plata, town, 364. INDEX 491 La Union, 341. Labor, 33-34, 165, 412, 420. Labrador, 7, i', 86, 184, 188. Labrador current, 9. Lacquer tree, 409-410. Lacquer wares, 410. Ladoga-Neva system, 314. Lagos, 467. Lagos (town), 467. Lahore, 397, 401. Lancasliire, 207. Lancashire coal Held, with map, 206. Lapland, 260. Lapps, 260. Launceston, 441. Lawrence, Mass., 97, 99. Le Creuzot, 237. , Lead, 135, 245, 282. Leadville, 24. Lebu, 367. Leeds, 206, 208, 209. Leeward Islands, 386 ; population, 387. Leghorn, 288, 289. Leicester, 209. Leicestershire, 210. Leipzig, 89, 226. Ijemberg, 284. Lemons,' 293-294, 300. Lena, river, 390, 392. Leon, 341. Lesser Antilles, 385. Lethbridge, 190. Levant, 228, 238, 285, 288, 326. Levuka, 451. Lewiston, 97. Lhasa, 424. Liberia, 464. Lieata, 289. Liege, 244, 246. Liegnitz, 224. Lille, 233, 237, 239. Lily bulbs, 387. Lima, 377, 378. Limburg, 246. Limerick, 199. Limes, 293, 294. Lime.Ktone, 13«, 137, 190, 205, 207, 245, 271. Limoges, 238. Ljnga, 428. Linseed, 102, 104, 315, 359, 363, 402. Lisbon, .303. Lithgow, 440. I/itliowranhic stone, 222. Liverpool, 25, 96. 158, 182, 199, 208, 210. Livingston, 338. Llama, 45, 46, 377. Llanos, 18, 343, 345, 370. Lioro, 370. Loanda, 467. Loango, 467. Lobster, 87-88, 187, 193. Locle, Le, 272. Lodz, 312, 313. Lofoten islands, 259. Logrwood, 113, 340, 384. Loire, river, 230. Lombardy, 289, 290-291, 292, 294,295, 296. London, 14, 89, 118, 133, 136, 195, 198, 211, 254. map showing comparative-size of, 21. Londonderry, N. S., 190. Long Island, 87, 88. Long Island Sound, 157. Lontar, 434. Lorenzo Marqucz, 467, 471, and Fig. 154. Los Angeles, 140. Louisburg, N. S., 182. Louisiana, 65, 67, 72, 135. Louisville, 151, 155, 157. Lou vain, 247. Lowell, 24, 97, 99, 100. Lowestoft, 203' Lowlands, Scottish, 196. Liibeck, 215, 216-217. Lubricating oils, 121. Lucca, 293." Lucknow, 401. Ludwig Canal, 217, 318. Lumber, 107-111. United States, 1U9-111 ; map show- ing distribution of industry, 109 ; statistics, 114. - ' Canada, 107, 110, 188-1S9. Russia, 110, 308. Norway and Sweden. 110, 260-261. countries importing most, 110. Luxembura-, 221, 222, 245, 249; maps, 243, 253. Luzern, 274. Luzcrn, lake, 273. Luzon, 174-175. Lynchburg, Va., 73. Lynn, 144. Lvnx, 188. Lyons, 23, 102, 230, 238, 239, 456. Lys, Vallev of the, 243. Lyttelton, 445-446. map of harbor, 26. Maas, river, 251, 255. -Macao, 425. Macclesfield, 208. Maceio, 349. Mackay, 439. Mackenzie River, 184, 192. Mackerel, 86, 203-204, 259-260. nuips shfiwing distribution of, 84, 85. Madagascar, 108, 468. 492 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Madder, 113, 455. Madeira Islands, 469. Madeira, river, 381. Madras, 399. Madrid,;303. Mf^tlalena, river, 372, 373. Magdeburg, 226. Magellan, Strait of, 368. Maguey (American aloe), 331. Magyars, 27. Mahogany, 108, 110, 332, 339. Mahoning Valley, 125. Maidstone, 210. Maine, 25, 86, 109, 145, 146, 189. Main-Rhine, 217. Main, river, 318. Maipo Kiver, 367. Maize, 61-63 ; diagram of world pro- duction, 63 ; map showing distri- bution of, 62. United States, 55, 61-63 ; statistics of production and value of exports, 74. Central America, 337. Kumauia, 320. ■ Argentina, 363. Mexico, 331. Australia, 439. Africa, 454, 472. Makassar, 434. Malacca, Straits of, 430. Malaga, 303. Malanje, 467. Malayans, 27. Malay Archipelago, 174, 430. Malay Peninsula, 414, 429. Maldonado, 360. Malmo, 261, 262, 263. Malta, 456, 459, 460. Managua, 341. Manaos. 349, 351. Manchester, 96, 208, 210. Manchester Canal, 43. Manchester, N. 11., 97, 99, 142. Manchuria, 391, 419, 421-423. Mandalay, 404. Manganese, 136, 179. Mangoes, 384-385. Manila. 176. Manila Bay, 176-177. Manila hemp, 103, 175-176. Manioc plant, 351, 356, 464. Manitoba, 18.3-184, 185, 186. Mannlieim, 226. Manta, 375. Manufactures : causes influencing distribution of, 139-140, 225. importance of proximity of coal and iron, 116, 205, 212, 221. effect of lack of minerals, 252, 266. Manufactures : importance of foreign markets, 1G4- 165, 222, 249. conditions that gave manufacturing pre-eminence, 141, 212, 222, 225- 226, 245. countries having few, 440-442. impediments to, 281, 288. Manzanillo, 330. Maple, 108. Maple sugar, 68. Maracaibo, 346, 372. Maracaibo, Lake, 346. Maranhao, 349. Maraschino, 284. Marble, 137, 245, 295, 345. Maremma, 291. Maritza River, 325. Maritza, valley, 322. Mariupol, 316. Mark, 227. Marquesas, islands, 171 Marquette, 123. Marquette Range^ 123. Mai-sala, 289. Marsala wine, 293. Marseilles, 25, 176, 228, 230, 233, 237, 239, 428, 457. Marshall, islands, 449, 452. Marten, 89, 188. Maryland, 69, 140, 145-146. Masaya, 341. Mash'ad, 428. Mashonaland, 468. Maskat, 429.' Massachusetts, 96, 104, 113, 133, 134, 144. Massachusetts Bay, 51. Masulipatam, 399. Matadi, 464, 465. Matamoras, 330. Matto Grosso, 349. Maturin, 346. Maui, 171. Mauritius, 468. Mayaguez, 169. Mazatlan, 330. Mealies, 472. Mecca, 326. Mechlin, 247. Medellin, 373. Mediterranean, 88, 294; Fig. 154. Meissen, 225. Mekong River delta, 431. Melanesia, 450. Melbourne, 438, 440, 443. Memphis, Tenn., 109, 111, 151-152, 470. Menam, river, 431. Menain, valley, 431. Mendoza, province, 360, 363. Mendoza, town, 364. INDEX 493 Menhaden, 84. Mercedes, 360, 364. Merchant marine, statistics of, 48. United Kingdom, 210. Germany, 225. Norway, 262-264. Mericani cloth, 465-466. ~- — Merida, 330. Merrimac, river, 97. Mersey, river, 199. Merv oasis, 394, 395. Mesopotamia, 326. Messina, 288, 289. Meta, river, 346, 373. Meuse, river, 242, 245, 247. Mexico, 328-335. agriculture, 328, 331. agricultural map, 329. production of metals, 332-333. map showing mining centers, 333. map of railroads, 330. statistics, 334-335. Mexico, city, 334. Mexico, Gulf of, 53, 332. Michigan, 56, 109, 140, 146. Michigan, lake, 122, 124, 152. Milan, 274, 289, 291, 295, 296. Milford, 198-199. Milk, 79, 146, 202, 265, 270-271, 308. Millet, 400, 423. Milreis, 354. Milwaukee, 124, 152, 153. Minas Geraes, 348, 350-351. Mindanao, 174-175. Minerals, 116-138 ; maps showing dis- tribution" of, 12, 13. See Iron, Coal, Gold, Silver, Copper, Pe- troleum, Salt, Zinc, Lead, Alu- minium, Tin, Nickel, Manganese, Quicksilver, Sulphur, Phosphate, Platinum, Cobalt, Saltpeter, Graphite, Stone, Nitrate. Mink, 89, 188. Minneapolis, 24, 61, 139, 151. Minnesota, 18, 56, 60, 90, 109. Mississippi, river, 53, 151, 153. Mi.s.sissippi, valley, 55, 67, 81, 139, 143, 161. Mi.ssouri Kiver, 118, 155. Missouri, State, 61, 134, 146. . Mobangi River, 467. Mobile, 155. Mocha, 326. Mocha coffee, 326, 429. Mogador, 459. Mohanunedans, 32, 33, 324, 459, 461. Molasses, 68, 179, 347, 386. Moldau-Elbe, 284. MoUciido, 378, 379, 380. Molokai, 171. Moluccas, 434. Mombasa, 468. Monev, 34-35, 132, 133. Mongolia, 417, 419,423. Mongolians, 62. Monrovia, 464. Mons, 246. Monsoons, 20 , 397, 415 ^36; map, 20. Montana, 129, 152, 153, 190. • Montenegro, 322-323, 324. Monterey, Mexico, 334. Montevideo, 355, 359-360. Montgomery, Ala., 54, 111. Montreal, 182, 184, 185, 189, 191, 192. Moonta, 441. Morava, valley, 321. Moravia, 281, 283. Moravian Gate, 278. Morcsnet, 245. Morocco, 29, 30. 88, 459-460. Morocco Ctown), 459. Moscow, 24, 306, 312, 313, 391, 428. Moselle, river, 218, 221. Moselle wine, 218. Motala, 262. Mossamedes, 467. Mostaganem, 457. Motagua, river, 337. Mother-of-in-arl, 332, 4.50, 452, 434, 441. Mount Morgai], 441. Mountains, influence of, 15-17. Mozambique, 468. Mulberry, 101. 238, 295, 407, 415. Mules, 46, 82. 235, 281, 301, 326,339, 343, 364, 372, 374. Mulhausen, 223,224. Multan, 400. Munich, 226. Murano, 297. Murchison gold field, 44-3. Murghab, river, 395. Murman coast, 310. .Musccivado ( unrefined sugar), 385-386. Musk, 424. Muskegon, Mich., 111. Musk rat, 89, 90, 188. Mustard, 430. Mutton : United States, 81. Australia. 438. Argentina, 361, 438. New Zealand, 438. Great Britain, 202-203. Uruguay, 359. Muzo, 373. Mysore, 399. Nagasaki, 407, 411. Nagpur, 401. Naguabo, 169., Namur, 246. Nanaimo, 190. 494 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Nancy, 237. Nanking, 417. Nantes, 228, 230, 233. ~"~ — ~— Naples, 288, 289, 296, 297. Narragansett Bay, 97. Nashua, 97. Natal, 474, 475. Natal, Brazil, 349. Natural gas, 119 ; map showing field of, 121. Naugatuck, valley, 130. Nebraska, 55, 60, 61-63, 65. —Nelson, river, 182. Nerchinsk, 391. Netherlands, The, 250-257. cattle raising, 250, 251-252. cheese a£h butter, 252. transpojifation, 250-252, 255. lack ofbuilding material, 252, 254. tobacco manufactures, 252, 254. commerce, 254-256. statistics, 256-257. maps, 243, 253. colonies, 254. See also Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Banka, Billiton, Celebes, Moluccas (Lontar), Guiana, West Indies, New Guinea. Neuchatel, 272. Neuchatel, Lake, 273. Neufchatel cheese, 239. Neuss, 223. Neva, 314. Nevada, 135. New Amsterdam, 347. New Bedford, 97. New Brunswick, 187, 188, 189, 191. New Caledonia, 136. .;>^"ew England, 54, 96, 09, 104, 137, 140. "' New Gla.sgow, N. S., 190. New Guinea, 254, 450. New Hampshire, 109. New Haven, Conn., 146. New Hebrides, 450. New Jersey, 54, 99, 102, 118, 133, 140. New Margelan, 395. New Orieans, 25-26, 68. 95, 103, 155, 160. New South Wales, 4-37, 438, 439, 440, 441, 4.50. New Westminster, 182. New York, 100, 104, 111, 118, 136, 141, 142, 145, 146, 158-159 ; map show- ing comparative size of, 21. New York Bav, 25, 51. New York State, 73, 99. 102, 104, 137, 140, 14.3, 14.5-146. New Zealand, 445-448. sheep and wool, 445, 447. wheat, 447. minerals, 447^48. foreign commerce, 448. New Zealand, statistics, 448. map, 446. flax, 447. Newbern, N. C, 111. Newca.stle, England. 206. Newca.stle, New South Wales, 440, 443. Newfoundland, 193. fisheries, 83, 193 ; value of catch, 91, 92. statistics, 194. Newhaveri, l98. Newport News, 143. Niagara Kiver, 110. Nicaragua, 341-342 ; map, 338. rainfall, 336. Nicaragua Canal, 44, 341. Nicaragua, Lake, 341. Nickel, 136, 190, 450. Nicolaetf, 313. 316. Niemen, river, 305. Niger, river, 467, Fig. 154. Nigeria, 467. Niigata, 407. Nile, 17, 18, 36, 431, 453, 454, 461. Nile, Blue, 453. Nile, White, 453. Nish, 321. Nishapur, 134, 428. Nitrate, 136, 366. Niu-chuang, 422. Nizhni-Novgorod, 89, 314. Nonni, river, 423. Norfolk, 23. Normandy, 235. Norrkoping, 261, 262. North Cape, 262. North Holland Canal, 255-256 ; map of, 43. North Island, New Zealand, 447. Norway, 258-264. fisheries, 259-260. lumber, 260-261. merchant marine, 262-264. statistics, 267. maps, 260, 263. Nottingham, 206. Noumea, 450. Nova Scotia, 185, 187, 189, 190. Nuremberg, 221, 226. Nutmeg, 430, 434, 450. Nutria, 90. 346. Nyassa, Lake, 463, 468. Oak, 108. 220. Oamaru, 446. Oats, 63 ; diagram of world produc- tion, 64. United States, 63; value of exports, 75. Kussia, 307. INDEX 495 Oats, Germany, 218. France, 232. United Kingdom, 202. Austria-Hungary, 280. Oaxaea, 334. Ob River, 390, 392. Oceania, 449^52. See also Hawaiian Islands, Melane- sia, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands, Sa- moan Islands, Tonga Group, Ta- hiti, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Ladrones. Odense, 266. Oder, river, 215, 278. Odessa, 306, 313, 316. Ofoten Fiord, 201. Ohio, 55, 61, 69, 72, 120, 124, 125, 137, 140, 146. Ohio, river, 151. Oil cake, 103-104. Oil City, 120. Oil palm, 463, 466. Oil seeds, 103-104, 230, 456. Oils, lubricating, 121. Oldham, 208. Oleomargarine, 79. Olive oil, 293, 300, 459. Olives, 293, 300, 456. Omaha, 80, 152. Oman, 429. Omsk, 391. Onions, 69, 387, 454. Ontario, 119, 184, 186, 188-189, 191. Ontario, Lake, 86, 110, 152. Oolong tea, 412. Opals, 1.34. Opium, 399, 402, 421, 423, 425, 428. Oporto, 303. Opossum, 89. Oran, 457. Orange Free State, 473. Orange River Colony, 471, 472. Oranges, 293-294, 300, 356, 384-385. Oregon, 60, 87. IVA. Orenburg, 313, 391. Orinoco, river, 345, 346, 373. Oruro, 380. O.saka, 407. Ostrich feathers, 29, 455, 473, 475- 476. Oswego, 110. Ottawa, 188-189. Ottawa, river, 189. Otter, 89, 188. Overproduction, effect of, 33-34, 350. Owen Sound, 185. Ox, 45, 46. 474. Oysters, 87, 236, 252. value of fisheries, 92. map showing distribution of, 85. Pacific Islands. See Oceania. Pago-Pago, 173. Palermo, 2bS, 289, 296. Palm oil, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467. Palmer gold field, 443. Palmerston, 443. Pampas, 18, 360. Panama, 373. Panama Bay, 373. Pamuiia Canal, 44. Patiania hats, 375, 378. i'anaiiia, l.-thmus of, 341, 368, 370. Paper, 104-105. value of manufacture in United States, 147. Para, 349, 351, 381. Para rublaer, 351. I'araguay, 355-358. forest resources, 356. yerba mate, 355-356. map, 357. statistics, 368. Paraguay, river, 355, 356, 360, 362. Paramaribo, 347. Parana, province, 364. Parana, river, 355, 356, 360, 362. Parana (town), 364. Paris, 23, 233, 238, 239, 456. map showing comparative size of, 21. map of river valleys converging on, 23. Patagonia, 360, 363. Paterson, 102, 142. Patna, 402. Patras, 324. Peaches, 68-69, 447, 472. Peanuts, 463, 466. Pearis, 426-429, 441, 450. Peas, 159. Pe-chili, Gulf of, 19, 422. Pei-ho, 422. Pekin, 422, 423. map showing comparative size of, 21. Pemba island, 430, 468. Penang, 430. Pennsylvania, 73, 99. 102, 109, 118, 119, 124, 137, 140, 141, 146. Pepper, 430, 432, 433, 434. Perm, 313. Pernambuco, 349, 350. Persia, 427-429. rivalry for its trade, 427. attar of roses, 428. turquoise mines, 428. lack of transportation and capital, 427. Persian Gulf, 326, 332, 427, 428. Persian lamb, K9. Perth, Western A ustralia, 443. Peru, 37fi-.379. coca, 377. 496 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Peru, quinine, 376. minerals, 377, 378. cotton, 377. Panama hats, 378. map, 371. statistics, 382. Peshawar, 399. Petersburg, Va., 73. Petroleum, 119-121 ; map showing distribution of, 13; statistics of production, 127. Russia, 119, 393. United States, 119-120; maps show- ing areas of production in, 120, 121 ; value of exports, 128. Austria-Hungary, 282. Philadelphia, 23, 25-26, 68, 99, 100, 104, 111, 140, 141, 142, 14.3, 159-160. map showing comparative size of, 21. Philipi)eville, 457. Philippine Islands, 174-177. Phorniium, 447. Phosphates, 136, -548, 457, 458. Piedmont, 295, 296. Pilcoinavo, 360. Pilsun, 2S0, 282, 283. Pimento, 385. Pimlico Sound, 25. Pine, 107-108. See Lumber. Pineapples, 69, 356, 384-385. Piombino, 289. Pirseus, 323, 324. Pittsburg, 23, 124, 125, 141, 142, 151. Plains, advantages of, 17-18. Platinum, 136, 310. Plymouth, 195. Po River, 292. Po valley, 293, 294. Point d'Alen^on lace, 239. Pola, 284. Poland, 306, 310, 312, 313, 314. Polar Circle, 389. Poltava, 313, 314. Polynesians, 27. Ponce, 169, 170. Pontine Marshes, 291. Poplar, 104. Popocatepetl, Mount, 332. Poppy, 402, 428. Population, influence on commerce of density of, 36. Pork : United States, 80-81; map showing packing centers, 80; statistics of exports, 90-91. Germany, 220. Port Arthur, 391, 413. Port A ugusta, 443. Port au Prince, 384. Port Chalmers, 445. Port Darwin, 443. Port Elizabeth, 470, 471. Port Pirie, 441, 443. Port Said, 453. Port wine, 303. Portland, Me., 182. Portland, Oregon, 51, 157. Porto Alegre, 349. Porto Empedocle, 289. Porto Rico, 168-170; map, 169. Portugal, 303-304. wine, 303. cork, 301, 303. statistics, 304. colonies. See Angola, Portuguese East Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Madeira, Canaries, Azores. Portuguese East Africa, 467-468. Posen, 226. Posts, 47-48. Potato, 69. Germaiiv, 218. Ireland,'l9fi-197. Algeria, 456. Belgium, 244. Bermuda, 387. Austria-Hungary, 280. Russia, 308. use in the manufacture of spirits, 219, 225, 247. Potosi, 380. Poultry, 82. Belgium, 244. China, 419. Austria-Hungary, 281. Italy, 294. imports into United Kingdom, 186, 203. Prague, 215, 283, 284. Precious stones, 133-134. Pressburg, 284. Preston, 208. Pretoria, 467. Pribylof Islands, 89. Progreso, 330. Providence, R. I., 99, 133, 142. Prussia, railroads, 224. Puebla, 332, 334. Puerto Barrios, 338. Puerto Berniudez, 377. Puerto Cabello, 345, 346. Puerto Cortez, 339. Puerto Union, 342. Puerto Montt, 367. Puerto Plata, 384. Puget Sound, 51, 157, 173. Pulque, 331. Punjab, 398, 399, 400, 402. Puno, 378. Punta Arena.s, Chile, 368. Puiita Arenas, Costa Rica, 342. Pyrenees, 16, 298. INDEX 49Y Qu'Appelle vallev, 184. Quebec, city, 189," 191. Quebec, province, IS-i, 185, 188, 191. Queen Charlotte Islands, 190. Queensland, 43,"), 437, 438, 439, 441, 443, 400. Queenstown, 41. Quercitron, 113. Quezaltenango, 338. Quicksilver (mercury), 135-136 ; sta- tistics of production, 13s. Spain, 301. United States, 136. Austria- Hungary, 282. Mexico, 332, 333. Russia, 310. Quilimane, 468. Quinine, 113, 376, 433. Quito, 375. Rabbits, 89, 90. Raccoon, 89, 90. Races, classification of, 27. map showing distribution of, 28. Railroads, 44. map of important and projected, Fig. 1. Trans-Siberian, 44, 91. diagram showing growth of, 154. Rainfall, 7. map showing amount and distribu- tion of, 8. Raisins, 69, 439. Ralick Island, map of harbor, 26. Rama, river, 341. Ramie, 103, 356, 418. Hantfoon, 404. Rattan palm, 430. Ravens wood, 441, 443. Ruwson, 364. Red River, 188. Red Sea, 429. Refrigeration, its importance in ex- tending commerce, 42, 68, 76-77, 81, 83. Reich enberg, 282. Reims, 23C. Reindeer, 45, 46. Religions, influence on commerce, 33, map sliowing centers of prevailing. 32. Remscheid, 223. Resht, 427, 428. Resins, 111-112. Reunion, 468. Reval, 317. Rhine, province, 225, 226. Rhine, rivcirJIJJlS, 225, 278, 318. Rhine, valley, 214, 215, 218. Rhine wine,' 218. Rhine- Westplialia region, 222, 223, 226. 32 Rhine- Westphalia region, map show- ing distribution of industries in, 223. _ Rhodelsland, 104, 113. Rhodesia, 475. Rhone, river, 230-231. Rhone, valley, 238. Rice, 65 ; map showing distribution of, 66. India, 400. Burma, 400, 404. Siam, 431. Japan, 407, 408, 409. French Indo- China, 431-432. Hawaiian Islands, 172. China, 414, 415. Dutch East Indies, 433. Riclielieu Canal, 192. Richmond, Va., 25, 73, 143, 157. Riesengebirge, 225. Riga, 317. Rio de Janeiro, 348, 349, 350, 470. Rio de Janeiro, state, 348, 349. Rio de la Plata countries, 220, 225, 235, 350, 351, 359-360. Rio Grande, 169. Rio f Grande do Norte, 349. Rio Guayas, 374. Rio Ncirro, 351. Rioja, 364. Rivers, 17. map of most important navigable rivers. Fig. 1. Rochdale, 2087 Rochester, N. Y., 141, 144, 145. Kockhanipton, 443. Rocks, influence on human life, 14. Rocky Mountains, 17, 55, 60, 184. Romanic races, 27. Rome, 16, 292, 297. map showing comparative size, 21. Root crops, 69. Roquefort clieese, 235. Rosario, 364. Rossland, B. C, 190-191. Rostof, 316. Rotterdam, 217, 252, 254, 255, 256. Roubaix, 239. Rouble, 317. Rouen, 228, 230, 239. Rubies, 134, 404. Ruhr, river, 220. Ruhr coal field, 221, 222. Rum, 337, 345, 347, 364, 385. Rumania, 318-320, 324. statistics, 326. Rupee, 405. Russia, 305-317. agriculture, 307-308; map showing distribution of, 309. stock raising, 308-310. 498 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Kussia, lumber, 308. niiuerals, 310 ; map, 311. climatic map, SOtJ. black-earth region, 309. interior navigation, Sll, 314; map, 311. fairs, 314. domestic industries, 312. beet sugar and refineries, 308, 314. distilleries, 313. manufactures, 312-314. tea consumption, 417. foreign commerce, 315-317 ; statis- tics of, 317. map showing distribution of vegeta- tion, 319. map of railroads, 315. Russian Central Asia, 393-395. cotton, 393-394. irrigation, 393-394, 395. fruits, 395. animal raising, 395. map, 395. Rustchuk, 322. Itybinsk, 313. Kve, 63; diagram of world production, 04. Russia, 63, 307. Germany, 218. Austria-Hungary, 280. Saar, coal basin, 220. Sabanilla. 373. Sable, 89.' Sacramento, river, 151. Sacramento, valley, 55. Saginaw, Mich., 111. Sago palm, 449-450. map showini!- distribution of, 66. Sahara, 4*Jii', 45a36L Saigon, 432. Saint Anthony Falls, 151. Saint Bernard Pass, 273. Saint Clair river, 152. Saint Etienne, 237, 238. Saint Gallen, 271, 272. Saint George, 387. Saint Gottliard, 273. Saint Gotthard, tunnel, 274, 289. Saint John, 182. Saint John's, 193. Saint Lawrence River, 153, 185, 187, 191-192 Saint Lawrence, Gulf of, 182. 191. Saint Lawrence, river basin, 56. Saint Louis, 23, 142, 144. 161, 155. Saint Louis, Senegal, 466. Saint Malo, 236. Saint Mary's River, 152. Saint Naziiire, 230, 240. Saint Paul, 23. Saint Petersburg, 184, 312, 313, 314, 316-317. map showing comparative size of, 21. Saint Petersburg district, 312, 313, 389. Saint Vincent, 469. Saliua Cruz, 330. Salisbury, Rhodesia, 468, 470. Salmon, 84-86, 146. 187, 259, 262. Salonica, 318, 321, 325. Salt, 134; statistics of production, 138. Salta, 364. Salto, 359. Saltpeter, 136. Salvador, 340-341 ; map, 338. balsam of Peru, 340. Samarkand, 395. Samoa, 451-452. — San Bias, 330. San Cristobal, 346. San Diego, 51. San Fernando, 346. %^'rancisco, 68, 89, 133, 141, 143, 157, ^^60-161, 452. ""San German, 169. San Joaquin \' alley, 55. San Jose, Costa Rica, 342. San Jose, Guatemala, 337. San Jose, Uruguay, 360. San Juan, Argentina, 360, 364. San Juan, Porto Rico, 169, 170. San Juan, province, 363. San Juan River, 341. San Juan del Sur, 341. San Luis, 364. San Luis Potosi, 332, 333. San Miguel, 340. San Vincente, 340. Sandalwood, 451. Sandliurst, 441. Sandstone, 136, 137, 207, 245, 271. Sandy Hook, 41. Santa Ana, 340. Santa Cruz, Province, 380. Santa Fe, 364. Santander, Colombia, 370, 372. Santander, Spain, 303. Santiago, Chile, 365, 367. Santiago, Cuba, 179, 180. Santo Domingo, 383, 384. statistics, 388. Santo Domingo, town, 384. Santos, 349, 350. Sao Paulo, State, 348-350. Sao Paolo de Loaiida, Fig. 154. See Loanda. Saone. 231. Sapphires, 134. Saratof, 313. Sardines, 86, 187, 236, 458. map showing fisheries of, in western Europe, 85. INDEX 499 Sardinia, 295. Saskatcliewan, river, 17, 192. Saskatchewan, vallej', 184. Savannah, 95, 157. Savannas, 18. Save, river, 282, 321. Saxaoul plant, 394. Saxony, 219, 221-222, 224-225, 226. Scandinavia. See Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Scandinavian mountains, 15. Schelde, river, 242, 248. Schenectady, N. Y ., 142. Scliiedam, 252. Schleswig-Holstein, 219, 225. Scotland : Highlands and Lowlands of, 196. ports, 199. fisheries, 203-204. for minerals, manufactures, etc., see United Kingdom. Scranton, 24, 142. Seal, 89, 188. Sebastopol, 313, 316. Seine, river, 230. Semites, 28. Seniinering pass, 278. Senegal, 29, 466. Senegal, river, 466. SeouT, 432. Seraing, 237, 246. Serena, La, 367. Sergipe, State, 349. Servia, 321, 324 ; map, 319. statistics, 326. Sestri, 297. Seville, 300. Sevres, 238. Sfax, 4:i7. Siiad, 84. Shanghai, 97, 411, 415, 416, 418,422, 425. map of port, 26. Shaniftung, 425. Shansi, 419. Sheep : Australia, 435, 437-438. Artrt-ntina. 360, 361, 362. New Zealand, 445, 447. South Africa, 473. Russia, 308. Uniti;jl, 322. Soils, inlluence of, 11-14, 500 COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY Sokoto, 467. Solingen, 223. ISolnliofen, 222. Solomon Islands, 450-451. Sonson, 373. •Soo Canal, with map, 152. Sorghum, 68. South Africa, 470-476. See also ('ape Colony. Portuguese East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Transvaal, Orange River Colony, Rhodesia. South African Republic, 441. See also Transvaal. South Australia, 436. 440, 441, 442. South Chicago, 124, 125. South Island, New Zealand, 448. South Wales coal field, map, 206. Southampton, 158,198. Southern Coastal Plain, U. S., 54-55. Spain, 298-303. wine production, 300 ; map showing centers of, 299. fruits, 300. minerals, 301-302; map showing mining regions, 299. cork, 301. tobacco manufactures, 302. foreign trade, 303 ; statistics, 303. Sparrow's Point, Md., 143. Spencer Gulf, 443. Spermaceti, 88. Spezia, 297. Spices. 430, 434. Spirits, 69, 71, 219, 247, 313, 358. Sponges, 88, 294, 384, 455, 459. . Spruce, 104. 109. Squirrels, 89. Srinagar, 402. Staftbrdshire, 209, 210. Statlbrdshire coal field, with map, 206- 207. Stanley Pool, 465, 467. Stanthorpe, 441. Stavanger, 262. Steel, 126 ; diagram of world produc- tion, 126. United States, 124-125. Great Britain, 206-207. Germany, 222-223. France, 237-238. Russia, 310-312. Austria-Hungary, 126. Belgium, 245. Steel manufactures : United States, 141-143. Great Britain, 209. * Germany, 222-223. France, 237-2S8. Belgium, 245-246. Steppes, 18, 308, 309. Stettin, 215, 216. 217, 225. Steyr, 281, 282. Stockholm, 261, 262, 263. Stockport, 208. Stone, building, 136-137. Stones, precious, 133-134. Straits Settlements, 429-430. Strassburg, 226. Strathmore, 202. Strawberries, 68. Stretensk, 391. Sturgeon, 86, 187, 317. Stuttgart, 226. Styria, 2S1. Sucre, 380. Sudan, 34, 461-462, Fig. 154. Sudan, British, 467. Sudan, French, 466. Sudbury, 136, 190. Sud-Guillaume Canal, 255. Suez, 443. Suez Canal, 42, 44, 120, 152, 289, 399, 400. map of, 42. Sugar, 65-68. imports into United States. 68 ; value of, 75. Sugar beet, 65; map showing distribu- tion of culture, 62 : diagram of beet- sugar production, 67. Germany, 219. France, 232-233. .\ustria-Hungary, 280. Russia. 308, 314. Belgium, 243, 247. Netherlands, 251. Sugar cane, 65 ; map showing distribu- tion of, 62; tliagram of cane-sugar production, 67. .Java, 433. Cuba, 178. Hawaiian Islands, 172. British VVe.st Indies, 385, 386. Santo Domingo, 384. (Tuianas, 347. Brazil, 349, 350. Peru, 376-377. Mauritius and Reunion, 468. Australia, 439. Fiji Islands," 451. Sukona-Northern Dvina navigation, 314. Suleiman mountains, 396. Sulina, 318. Sulphur, 135, 295, 332; statistics of pro- duction, 138. Sulphuric acid, 135. Sulu ArchipelaffO, 332. Sumatra, 72, 113, 254, 433. Sunderland, 206. Sungari, river, 423. INDEX 501 Superior, citv, 61, 152-153. Superior, Lake, 122, 129, 152, 190, 191. Superior, Lake, iron district, 121-122; map of, 123. Susa, 457. Suva. 451. Svir-Ladoga-Neva navigation, 314. Swakopniund, 471. Swansea, 198, 295. Swatau, 422. Sweden, 258-264. lumber and timber, 110, 260-261. iron, 261. fisheries, 259-260. dairy products, 250. foreign commerce, 264; statistics, 267. laws on land subdivision, 398. maps, 260, 263. Swine, 80, 321. Switzerland, 268-276. manufactures, 271-273, 275. home industry, 272. cheese-making, 270-271. development of water power, 271, 275. railroad system, 273 ; map, 274. touri.sts, 275. foreign commerce, 273-275. st-atistics, 276. map showing distribution of indus- tries and agriculture, 26P. Sydney, 161, 361, 438, 439, 440, 441, 443, 451. Sydney, C. B., 182, 190. Syra, 323, 324. Syria, 326. Szechuen, 422. Tabriz, 427, 428. Tatilet, di.strict, 459. Tairanrog, 316. Tahiti, 449, 452. Takao. 413. Talca. 367. Talciihuano. .367. Talh.w, 77. 79-80. Tallow tree, 419. Taltal, 368. Tampico, 329-330, 333. Tamsui. 412-413. Tanekaka bark, 447. Tanganyika. Lake, 468. Tangier, 4."i;i. Tapioca, 351. Tar, coal, ll-'i. 119. Tar. wood. 111. Tarills, ettcet of, 30, 222, 362, 389, 468. Tari.ja, 380. TuBajo (jerked beef), 369. Tashkent, .314, .394, 395. Tasmania, 440, 441. Tea. 71. China, 417-418. India and Ceylon, 403-405, 417. Japan, 407, 408, 412. Java, 433. Natal. 474. caravans, 391. Teak wood, 108, 404, 431. Tees, river, 198, 209. Tegucigalpa, 340. Teheran, 428. Tehuantepec, 330. Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, 330. Telegraphs, 47-48. Telephones, 47. Tell, 457, 458-459. Temperature, 5, 6-7. Tennessee, 136. Terneuzen, canal, 247. Texas, 65, 95, 120. Thames, 198, 210. Thar, 397. Theiss, river, 282. Thessaly, 323. Thomaston, Conn., 146. Thuringia, 222. Thuringian Forest, 225. Tiber, river, 292. Tibet, 4, 417, 424. Ticondero^a, 136. Tientsin. 44, 421,422. Titlis, 393. TiiTi-is, 17. Tilbury, witli map of docks, 211. Tiniaru, 446. Timber, 107. 108; values of annual consumption in Europe and United States, 205. Argentina, 363. Paraguay, 356. importing countries, 110, 252, 454. See also Lumlier. Timbuktu, 24. 29, 455. 466. Time, standard of. 3.5-36. Tin, 127; map showing distribution of, 13; diatrrani of world produc- tion, 1 27. Straits Settlements, 429-430. Banka and Billiton, 433. Enirland. 207. Bolivia, 379. Tasmania, 440. 441. .Mexico, 332-3.33. Tin-plate industry : United States, 127. Knghm