)l.\ ■rir,i\: ';'•:■ /o; ^H^j^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^-^ Courtesy M. K. & T. Ky. AMKkRA LliADS THE WORLD IN COTTON INDUSTRIAL — COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES By L. C. RUSMISEL Principal High School of Commerce Omaha, Nebraska THE A. N. PALMER COMPANY New York Boston Chicago Cedar Rapids 191-1: .'^n.^fiQ Copyright, 1914, BY The a. N. Palmer Company. HC PREFACE This book is not a technical treatise upon the indus- tries discussed, but simply an attempt to describe, in a clear and simple way, some of the every-day features, as well as some of the unusual things, that belong to these industries. I have attempted to keep constantly in view the human elements of the stories. At the same time, the leading thought has been to emphasize the importance of these activities, as carried on in the United States. The student is free to investigate their existence in other countries should he desire to do so. The nations that control the world are those which lead industrially, for this is an industrial age. Perhaps ninety per cent, (^f our pu])ils will enter some form of industrial life, as the whole world is united by a net- work of commerce and industry. The study of the great industries is the surest way to obtain a practical knowl- edge of any country. Commercial Geography is a study of the centralization of industry, and has become one of the most essential branches in our schools. The most valuable stenographer is not simply the most speedy shorthand writer, but the one who can, by reason of her general knowledge, make the most intelli- gent and accurate transcript with reasonable speed. The best-salaried accountant is not alone the finest penman or most rapid calculator, but the one who is most familiar with the sources of supply, process of manufacture, and cost of the common commodities with which he has to reckon. Likewise, the most successful business man is not the narrow-minded tradesman, but the broad-gauged, calculating man of affairs, whose knowledge of the world's great industries gives him power to cope with the problems of business life. viii Preface "'J'lic teacher cannot teach that -cchich he does not kiioiv; and he has not tamjht until the pupil has learned." The teacher of commercial science must be able to inspire the class to investigation. These studies are simply used as types, and the earnest student will investi- gate others after the manner suggested here. It has not been my puri)ose to define a narrow method, or to ])re- scribe anv fixed number of topics, ])ut rather to encourage varietv and originality upon the part of both teacher and student. I have had the greatest success with the topical or laboratorv plan; and these chapters were written to fill a demand from teachers all o\er the countr}- for con- cise, condensed information, not found m the ordinary text-book, which may be used in the school-room and illustrated bv the use of process exhibits. These may be iibtained from maimfacturing concerns and from other sources. Most of the information given in this book has been gathered by personal visits to the mines, mills, fields, forests, and centers of industry mentioned. The value of visits of inspection cann(~)t be over-estimated. Experience will evolve new methods, but my pur- pose has been to inspire a Ijeginning and encourage the student to look beyond. I am under ol)ligalions to ihe following tirm^ for assistance, gi\en by reading parts of the manuscript and for many valuable suggestions: The Union I'acilic Rail- road, Omaha, Xeb. ; The Cunard Steamship Company, Xew York; 'I'he Chicago I'.oard of Trade; The I'erkey and (lay I'Tn-niture Company, (irand Rapids, Michigan; 'I'he .\tlas Portland Cement Compan\, .\'ew "S'ork ; The Strathmnre i'aper Company, Mittineague, Mass.; The International Harvester Company, Service Department. Chicago. 111.; Swift and Company, Chicago; Mr. K. W . Moore of Kirkendall Shoe Mfg. Company, Omaha, Neb.; 'I'he Pittsburgh Steamship Company. Cleveland, ()liio; Preface ix The American Smelting & Refining- Company, Omaha, Neb.; The Rookwood Potteries, Cincinnati, Ohio; Wash- burn-Crosby Milling Company, Minneapolis, Minn. ; Corticelli Silk Alills, Florence, Mass. ; Belding Bros. Silk Co., Belding, Mich. ; Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, Calumet, Mich. ; The United States Steel Corporation ; and many individuals who have shown me courtesies when visiting the mills, mines, factories and other in- dustrial institutions. L. C. R. CONTENTS CHAriKK PAGE I. The Evolution of the Railway i IT. The Evolution of the Steamboat lo III. The Commerce of Our Inland Seas 19 IV. Four Great Canals 28 V. Watering the \\'aste Places 36 VI. The Farming Industry 46 VII. The Corn Crop 55 VIIT. The Wheat Industry 64 IX. Rice, the Royal Cereal 75 X. The Grain Market 82 XI. The Production and Manufacturing of Sugar Qi XII. Coffee, Tea and Cocoa 99 XIII. Cotton is King 108 XIV. Sheep and Wool HQ XV. Silk— "The Gold of Textiles" 129 XVI. The Lumber Industry I39 XVII. Furniture from Forest to Fireside 148 XVIII. Portland Cement and Concrete Construction 158 XIX. The History and Manufacture of Paper 166 XX. Printing and Allied Industries 1/5 XXI. Dairy Products. !. 1S4 XXII. A Trip Through Packing Town I94 XXIII. The Leather Industry and Shoe Manufacture 204 XXIV. The Salmon Canning Industry 212 XXV. Iron and Steel 221 XXVI. The Coal Supply 232 XXVII. Petroleum and Its Products 241 XXVIII. Gold From Mine to :Mint 251 XXIX. A Model Copper Mine 261 XXX. Pottery and Clay- Working Industries 270 XXXI. Conservation 278 XXXII. Reference Books for Research Work 287 XXXIII. Index 288 CHAPTER I THE EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY Transportation and Commerce.— When studying any industry it is very necessary to become familiar with the lines of transportation connecting the points between which the commodity in question is shipped. Transpor- tation and commerce are so intimately related that the student must become familiar with the leading systems of traffic; he must acquire an interest in tracing ship- ments and become proficient in estimating the cost of trips to various parts of the country. In the business world distances are measured for most purposes of com- merce in hours, not in miles. The more thrilling stories of human progress are in- timately bound up in the problem of commerce and transportation. It was a commercial problem that fur- nished a motive for Columbus in his search for a new route to the Indies. The sea was ever the great highway of commerce for the ancients. But finally the invention of steam and electric motive power with their application to the railways worked a wonderful transformation. The problem of rapid transportation was solved. We are nearer by hours to the remote parts of the earth today than we were to some of our own cities a few decades ago. Wonderful indeed have been the changes made during the past fifty years ! Our food comes to our tables from distant places today almost as fresh as if it grew in our own gardens. Our parents remember when it cost fifteen dollars to haul a barrel of flour across the Alleghany mountains. Our grandmothers found it necessary to weave their cloth, and make the clothing, for I 2 Industrial-Commerciai. Geography the whole family, instead of buying the garments as we do today. Once it took two days to go by stagecoach from New York to Philadelphia, and a whole week from New York to Boston. Six weeks or more were required to cross the Atlantic. Half the world was in jjractical ignorance as to the doings of the other half. In what way can you account for the wonderful development of this country during the past hundred years? Value of the Railroads. — The railroads of this coun- try are largeh^ responsible for this great development, TJlli FORERUNNER OF THE RAILROAD for they are inseparably connected with every conunercial cnter])rise. Wherever there was anything to haul they built to it. No obstacle was too great for them to over- come. What do the railroads bring to our doors? How do they help us dispose of our surplus products? Why do tlicy stand for prosperity and ])]cnl\? in what ways are their i)rosi)erity and that of the community they serve related? In what way has Stephenson's great dis- covery done more to bring mankind together than any OF THE United States 3 other one discovery in the histor}^ of the world? Closely related to railroad development has been the evolution of the steel industry, which has made possible the great changes that have taken place in the construction of tracks, bridges, and the modern train. Railroad equip- ment with mammoth engines weighing two hundred and fifty tons, pulling entire trains of all-steel freight cars, or luxuriously ecjuipped steel passenger coaches tell a story of wonderful progress. A Story of Growth. — In 183 1 the first railroad was operated in America. Then the entire equipment of Courtesy N. i'. Central Lines THE FIRST TRAIN IN AMERICA what is now the great New York Central System con- sisted of the primitive locomotive, "DeWitt Clinton," and three very small passenger cars, old Concord coaches made over. The total length of the line was then seven- teen miles and the speed of the train fourteen miles per hour! Today this one system maintains and operates over twelve thousand miles of track, hundreds of the most elaborately equipped passenger trains, made up from an equipment of over four thousand coaches and fifty-nine hundred locomotives. It uses over one hun- 4 Industrial-Commercial Geography dred and seventy-five thousand freight cars, carrying in one year une hundred and five million tons of freight. Contrast this with the time when the railroad di- rectors elected "train captains," as the conductors were called, and when they passed resolutions that no credit be given for railroad passage. Yet, further back than this, in the history of American railroads, the engineer collected the fares and the fireman handled the baggage and freight. Also, imagine the consternation of an early president of one of the leading lines of today, when, having" only two engines, he was forced to sell one to a rival road in order to obtain money with which to pay his taxes. The Evolution of System. — In the early days com- panies were organized to build railways without regard to the trend of the traffic, and the result was that the East was covered by small roads, each operated inde- pendently. To make matters worse each company had its own idea as to the size of cars, and the "gauge" was from three to six feet, making transfer of cars impossible. At transfer points the passenger must look after his own baggage and buy a new ticket. To accommodate local interests the schedules w'ere generally such that the passengers must wait over night before resuming their journey. The whole system was so unsatisfactory that many companies became bankrupt. Then Commodore Vandcrbih. who at that time owned large ficets of ves- sels, began to buy up the lines, consolidate them and ])ut them on standard gauge. This action was fiercely op- posed, as it ruined the hotel and transfer business for trains to run throui^^h the towns, but this opposition gave way tti progress, and one of the w'orld's greatest systems was founded. How Communication Assists Civilization. — The civ- ih/ation of today differs from that of jKist decades, prin- cipally on account of tiie changes that have been wrought by more rapid travel and communication. The states OF THE United States 5 west of the Rocky Mountains could hardly have become an important integral part of this nation but for the railroads. It might be interesting to note, briefly, the enormous expense connected with the construction of the Union Paciflc, the pioneer railroad of the West. Owing to the scarcity of timber in the territory through which the line was built, it was necessary to ship ties from the East, and the cost laid down at Omaha was $2.50 per tie. AMiat is the average cost of railroad ties? Courtesy N. Y. Central Lines MODERN ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE Mention of the vast saving in the transportation of postal matter will at least l)e interesting. In one year alone (1854) the Government paid $80,000 for monthly mail stage from the Missouri River to Stockton, Cali- fornia, and the receipts for postage during that year were only $1,255. The letter postage rate was ten cents per half ounce. The railroad companies build for the future, knowing 6 Industrial-Commercial Geography that the traffic will eventually warrant the expenditure. They set the pace and the country builds to it. In this way railroads do for civilization what individuals and communities could never do for themselves. Our fields and mines, our forests and factories, owe their develop- ment to the coming- of railroads. Competition and Skill. — These conditions have not come without much competition, by which the most powerful lines have absorbed the weaker ones. The fight Till-: Courtesy Burlington Route .IXIKIKS OF TliAVEL for industrial progress has been a very fierce one. People have different views upon the value of consolidation, just as they did in earlier days. Such combinations, however, are likely to continue so long as the industrial situation makes them possible. The world has witnessed great feats of engineering skill during recent years, which makes us wonder what is yet to come. Perhaps, within a decade, we may go by train direct from New York to South .\nicrica, or, OF THE United States 7 via Alaska, across the Bering- Sea, to China and across Asia to Europe. This does not seem so wonderful when we think of a few things that have been accomplished in America. Already we have a railroad over the sea, for of the 128 miles between Homes;^ad ^and Key West, Florida, 75 miles are over water. At one place there is a steel and concrete viaduct seven miles long, the entire track being- thirty-three feet above low tide water mark. Many miles of the track arc built of re-enforced concrete arches, varying from fifteen to fifty feet in width, l)uilt ^smmmmm^MM^w^ihW<-£'' IL_. .___ :>..^ .._ . Courtesy Florida East Coast Ry. A RAILROAD RUNS TO KEY WEST to last for centuries. This brings the Florida East Coast Railroad within ninety miles of Cuba. To save forty-four miles and avoid some steep grades, in a race across the continent, Harriman built the Great Salt Lake cut-ofl-", a trestle over sixty miles long across Great Salt Fake. It is one of the most wonderful and courageous engineering feats of modern times and cost ten million dollars, but it saves the Union Pacific a million dollars a year in operating expenses. 8 Industrial-Commercial Geography IMany other feats performed in building American railways are equally wonderful. In the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas, the cleft between the rocks is too narrow for both road and river, so the railway bridge is swung from steel girders, from which the walls rise almost per- pendicularly for three thousand feet. The Moffat road is demonstrating what has always been considered the im- possible, by building an air-line between Denver and Salt Lake. The first seventy-five miles of this railroad cost $100,000 per mile. It runs through thirty-two tunnels, yet it is a standard gauge road with easy grades. Only recently the Pennsylvania System has accomplished the task of tunneling under the Hudson River, and laying double tracks within immense steel tubes under the river and into the very heart of New^ York City. Electricity as Motive Power. — Other wonders may be accomplished l)y tlic use of electricity as motive power. The first electric car to be operated in the United States was installed in 1886. The progress of electric railroads has been \ery ra])i(l. City after city made use, in rapid succession, of the trollcv service, for the jjcoplc did !i l ha\e to be persuaded to forsake the horse-car and the steam "dummy." Then came the interurban, and now the most populous sections of the country are netted with trolley lines. In many Eastern sections, they have l)een the means of reducing rates for passenger and freight traffic and the scrxice is first-class. All roads now use electric locomotives for service in long tunnels and in cities where there are ordinances against the smoke nuisance. The New "S'ork Central and l'enns\ hania systems, as well as t)thcr lines, use them for indling all trains within the city limits. The gasoline motor car is very practical for service on >liort lines and for suburban traffic. The latest mod- els arc practically dust-proof and run with almost the ease of the automobile. OF THE United States 9 The easy and cheap transportation of commercial products afforded by the rapid growth of railroads has greatly increased the exchange of products. Why, then, has the evolution of the railroads been a great factor in the eniirnidus development of this country? FOR RESEARCH 1. What railroads enter the city where you live? \A'liat are their principal terminal points? Obtain fold- ers and study the maps showing these lines and con- necting lines. 2. What is a pool? A dift'erential ? A\^hat is the purpose of the Interstate Commerce Commission? What State Officials attend to the interests of the people in their dealings with the railroads? 3. What would be the advantage of Government ownership over corporate control? 4. What is the right of cuiiiiciit domain? What do the people get in return for the bestowal of this right? 5. How may a shipper know that he is not paying more than the established freight rates? What is a re- bate? Are rebates legal? 6. What are the advantages of electric locomo- tives over those propelled by steam? 7. What is the comparative maintenance cost of automobiles, automobile trucks and carriages pulled by horses? 8. What precautions are taken by the railroads to prevent accidents? In case of lawsuits, what courts have jurisdiction? 9. Why should not the freight rate for hauling crated furniture and iron ore be the same per ton? 10. Mow are railroads factors in the location of towns and cities? 11. Obtain folders and other printed matter at the local ticket office and learn the principal terminal points of various lines. lo Industrial-Commercial GEOGRArHV CHAPTER TI THE EVOLUTION OF THE STEAMBOAT Commerce Promotes Progress. — A hundred vears or more ago, each section ol' this country was ])racticallv self-sustaining-. Each locality grew its own foodstuffs and manufactured its own clothing. There was not much necessity ior transportation facilities of any kind. But such life was detrimental to the progress of civilization. Commerce increases intelligence, and under the condi- tions that formerly prevailed there was little of the present-day enlightenment that comes with the exchange of products as well as of ideas. The Need of Transportation. — As the natural re- sources of this country began to be exploited there grew up a demand for means of transportation, the first being ox-carts, pack-horses and boats of various kinds. Our early manufacturer found it necessary to look to others for his food and clothing as well as for the materials needed in his business. In a like manner countries must look to each other for what they cannot i)roduce, each selling to the others that of which they have an al)undance. In tliis way transportation has become a necessity, just as important as any other industry, for without it lousiness on a large scale could not exist. Ilie whole world looks to the L'm'ted States for cotton, meat, wheat and steel, to Australia for wool and to the Orient for tea. .\t the ])resent time about ninety thousand saihng xc'^^els and forty thousand steamships are in commission u])on the high seas, effecting this exchange among nations. How the Ocean Is Used. — 'I1ic ocean is the common highway of rdl countries. Our international commerce is carried on upon it, and established ocean routes l)e- tween all important countries and scajjctrts have been in OF THE United States ii existence for centuries. Formerly sailing- vessels were used exclusively, and they yet occupy an important place, there being approximately three times as many sailing vessels in commission as there are steamships ; however, the largest vessels all belong to the latter class. Slow freight, or that which is imperishable, can be transported upon sailing vessels at the lowest possible cost, as the boats are cheaper in construction, re(|uire no machinery, and can be manned with smaller crews. The Development of the Steamboat. — In 1807 Robert Fulton's Clcnnont, the first practical steamboat ever built, ran up the Hudson River. The world looked upon it as a pretty toy and had no conception of what it meant, l)ut it made possible mighty things. The hull of the Clcruioiif was one hundred and forty feet long, sixteen feet wide and seven feet deep. As there were no shops in this country, the engine was l)uilt in Fngland. The boiler was made of copper plates so poorly put together that leaks were frequent, and they were stopped with melted lead. The fire box was made of masonry. As Fulton stood in the crowd which was assembled to see the Clcnnont attempt to steam away on her first trip, he was jeered and hooted as a lunatic. And this was only a little o\er a hundred years ago! But the Clcrnionf was a money-maker from the very beginning and Fidton soon became a monopolist. Suc- ceeding improvements were made in the details rather than in the principles of the machinery. Steam naviga- tion quickly asserted itself, new ideas were rapidly de- veloped, and such craft soon ceased to be a novelty. The Clcnnont, driven by a four horse-power engine, attained a speed of al)out seven miles per hour. The cylinders were twenty-two to twenty-four inches in diameter. Today they run as high as one hundred and twenty-four inches in diameter. Instead of four horse- power, the engines of the Olympic and Impcrator of today develop eighty thousand horse-power. 12 Industrial-Commercial Geography The First Ocean Steamers. — It was a long step from the traffic on inland waters to the navigation of the ocean. The Savaiiiiah, a vessel equipped with both sails and engines, is generally conceded to l)e the first steamship to cross the ocean; the tri]) l)cing made in iHkj, however, steam was used on this tri]) ( nly wlien there was no wind. The Royal U'iUiam. a Canadian hoat. was the first Courtesy Lunar d S.S. Co. \ $7,000,000 ST1-:A.\LS11 1 I' to cross the ocean entircl\ nnder sieani power, wliirli she did in 18,^3. Tlic A'cyi// U'illldiii was considtTcd a perfect type of boat to be duplicated for decades, but how soon l>rogress upset these ideals. She was one hundred and seventy-six feet long, twt'nty-ninc \vv[ fonr inches Ijcam and seventeen feet nine inches deei). She was a side- OF THE United States 13 wheeler and required twenty-five days to make the trip across the Atlantic. Alxuit the 3'ear 1840 inventors began to experiment with a screw propeller as a substitute for the cumber- some, expensive and inefficient paddle-wheel of that day. In 1839 such a ship had been built in England, and had proven a success, and now a larger vessel with an iron hull, the Great Britain, was constructed and met every requirement, until she was grounded after three years' service. But navigators were skeptical about the use of iron vessels, which they thought would destroy the usefulness of the compass. The disposition of iron to foul so rapidly was another objection; however, the in- troduction and use of the floating compass and anti- fouling compositions for painting the hulls soon remedied these defects, and with the construction of direct-acting engines the screw propeller became a great success. The greatest improvements in ocean service are due, perhaps, to the development of the engines. The com- pound engine and multiple expansion engine have been followed by the triple expansion engine, and this great mechanism seems now to be rapidly giving way to the turbine engine, which gives greater power and occupies less space. Iron hulls have been displaced by those of steel, the screw propeller has been supplanted by twin, triple and quadruple propellers and many other improve- ments that a century ago would have been thought im- possible. Modern Ocean Liners. — One of the greatest ships in the world today is the Imperator of the Hamburg- American Line. This monster is nine hundred feet long, ninety feet wide and has nine decks above the water line. It registers 50,000 tons, with a displacement of 70,000 tons, and has a speed of twenty-five knots per hour. The Lusitania has established the w^orld's record for speed, crossing the Atlantic in a trifle over four and 14 Industrial-Commercial Geography one-half days, and no one knows when this record may be broken. Such vessels are greater than some of the big-gest things in the world. Two of them are as long as the Brooklyn bridge. One of them is longer than the Auditoriimi Hotel and Annex of Chicago, the largest hotel in the world. ^ 'W',1 ai L-r-i - II •; -1 fL. 'MlMk^li:: •"r-j- ■■m 1 - ._ — 'iff. y\ ril \if\ J ^ ^ E£l^ •j-y- •- ev V i?x i V{h'MtnMi\'Tv'^n fresh water, is an ideal one. One may board a steamer at r.uf- falo, cross Lake Erie to Cleveland, spend a day of pleas- ure there, take u]^ the journey again by 1)oat and go to l^elrdil, in many \\a\s the most remarkable cit\ on the continent, sail u]) the ri\er and Lake TTuron, then thnnigh the canal at the ".'^iki," go on thr(iugli Lai\e .*>nperi(ir to pictui-es(|uc huhilh. Tlieii rctui'n b\ \\a\ o|' Lake Micli- igan to Chicago, the t'ood market of the world, and con- tinue the journey all the way by bo.it to the starting point at r.iilTalii, al"t(.'r liaxiiig >aiK'(l iii(ir(,' niik'N than would be covered in crossing the ocean, and tor one- thirfl ol the expense. All of the acconnno on board are in e\'er\ wav eciual to those of the ocean liner. OF THE United States 23 The "Soo" Canal. — The commerce of the lakes may be viewed at its best at the locks of the Sault Ste. Marie (Rapids of St. Alary's ) or "Soo" Canal, the greatest throat of commerce nn eartli. Suez, the ungated high- way to nations that were old l)efore the dawn of history, cannot claim a traffic equal to one-fifth of it. Here may be seen a great wonder of the world which has been wrought by human hands. The combined tonnage of New York, Li\erpool and Hamburg w'ould not equal that Pohl Printing Co., Detroit, Mich. CGMPARATINE LENGTH OF LAKE FREIGHTER AND NATIONAL CAPITOL which passes through this canal during the eight months it is possible for vessels to operate. On the average a great steamer passes through the locks every fifteen minutes, night and day. Only fifty years have elapsed since the opening of the first canal at Sault Ste. Marie. Then wise Americans considered the expenditure as extravagant and visionary beyond words. The discovery of ore on the shore of Lake Superior was the principal factor which led to its establishment. Learned engineers decided that a lock three hundred and fifty feet long w^ould accommodate 24 Industrial-Commercial Geography the largest vessels ever possible to navigate those waters. In 1870 it was torn out and two others built, the longest five hundred and fifteen feet long, but these soon became inadequate and in 1896 the Poe Lock was completed, at a cost of five million dollars. It is eight hundred feet long and is one of the greatest artificial chambers in the world, originally intended to accommodate four vessels at once, yet today it accommodates only one. The smaller vessels are accommodated by the Weitzel Lock, \vhich was built beside the Poe Lock, and also bv the TlI Courtesy D. & C. SS. Line T.ARCKST STF..\^rnO.\T O!-- Till'. LAKES (."anadian Lock on the other side of the river. The I'ed- eral Government has allowed its ocean merchant marine to languish and die, but it has spent over fifty million dollars in deepening channels and building canals be- tween the Great Lakes. To comprehend this great industry best, watch one of these great vessels steam from the canal into the cradline basin of masonry. In length, nine of her would measure a mile, the length of the canal. She is loaded with ten thousand tons of ore, which was poured into her hold OF THE United States 25 at the Duluth docks like a dusty avalanche, and the steel mills at Pittsburgh are anxious for this great cargo which is waiting to be lowered, with the ship that contains it, twenty-two feet to the water level below. A few men ]nish levers that set engines to work and the massive gate closes behind the vessel. Powerful pumps begin their toil and the vessel commences to drop, foot by foot, until, in a few minutes, she rides out into the channel on the other side. All day long, and through the night, on the average one hundred and fifty of these great cargo- carriers are raised and lowered every day, with no more hurry than the operation of an elevator in an office l)uilding. Once through the lock, the steamer moves on her course to her distant dock, there to be unloaded by an- other handful of men, who manipulate machines which set to work the strength of thousands of men, focused in steam and electric power. On a magnificent scale, invention and organization have worked to reduce the cost of the product of the mine, the farm and forest. Not more than fifty men are required to handle ten thousand tons of ore through all its stages of transportation. Forty years ago the freight rate from Marquette to Ohio ports was from three to six dollars per ton. Today it averages seventy-five cents per ton from any of the Lake Superior ports. The Great Lakes. — A few condensed facts regard- ing the Great Lakes may be interesting. Altogether they have an area of one hundred thousand square miles. The eight states that l:)order them contain more than one- third of the population of North America. There are over fifteen hundred vessels on the lakes and approxi- mately one million people are employed in the traffic. Three millions of tons of coal are consumed by these steamers each year, the sailing vessels being practically obsolete. The fisheries of the Great Lakes are the most valu- 26 iNDUSTRTAT-CoMMF.RriAL GEOGRAPHY able in the world. Last year (1913) there passed through the "Soo" Canal: 57,895,145 tons of freight of all classes; 40,014,978 tons of iron ore; 127,212 tons of copper; 9,940,- 026 tons of coal; 113,253,561 bushels of wheat; 47,512,863 bushels of other grains and 7,088,865 barrels of Hour. A cargo of coi)per ingots wortli $1,020,000 and a cargo (if flax worth $504,000 were the most valuable single shipments. The Heet of the United States Steel Corporation, numl)ering tio vessels, the largest commer- cial navy on the lakes, can move 648,000 tons per trip, equal to a loaded train 120 miles long. The lakes mean more to the American people than do all the oceans. FOR RESEARCH 1. What relation exists between the Great Lakes and the Iron. Coal and Wheal Industries? 2. Why is a canal being constructed from i'ilts- burgh to Lake F.rie? 3. What is the principle of a \<^ck canal? Make a diagram illustrating it. 4. Discuss the difference between side-wheel steam- ships and screw-propellers. Iloth metliods are used by the largest steamships on the ( Ireal Lakes. Wliv? 5. WluMi dues the season for lake na\igatii>n ojien and close? W hat risks does a boat run l)y sailing after the season has officially closed? 6. Does the Xa\y Departmenl ha\e an\ boats on the Great Lakes? Why? 7. W here nw train ferries o])eratcd upon the lakes? 8. What has the National Government done to safeguard traftnr on the Great Lakes? What are the principal re(|uirenieuls exacted by the conditions of a steamship license? OF THE United States 27 9. For what are these hike ])(>rts noted? Duluth? Fort WilHam? Ashland? Superior? Two Harbors? Milwaukee? Houghton? Chicago? Detroit? Cleve- land? Buffalo? 10. Write one hundred words covering the principal features of the "Soo" Canal. 11. What great industries are made possible at Sault Ste. Marie on account of the water power? 28 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER IV FOUR GREAT CANALS Kver since the earth has l^een iiihal)ited, man has been busy making over its face to suit his varying re- quirements. Mountains which have stood in his way have been tunneled m- removed, rivers bridged and oceans joined by artiiicial waterways. All of this has been done in the interest of commerce. Even where the immediate motive has been military advantage the im- pelling cause has been the consideration of profitable trade. One hundred and fifty years before the Christian era there was a primiti\e canal across the Isthmus of Suez. In China canals have existed from the earliest ages, and Egypt was intersected with them. However, the world's canals of ante-railroad days and the vast ship canals of the present, are very different undL-rtakings. From the old Erie Canal to the Panama represents a whole era of the world's commercial history. The Erie Canal, connecting the Great Eakes with the Hudson Rixer, was ci)nii)lcted in iS-'5 at a cost of sixty-two million dollars. It is ^C)^ miles long and was the greatest industrial cntcrjirisc of its day. Water transportation o\cr this route has been, from the earliest days, the key to the commerce of the Northwest, as it brought to the port of Xcw York the i)roducts of the irreat central t-ranarw As this canal antedates railwav transportation in this country it was of immense value in its earlier days, but later it failed to secure the business it should have on account of railroad compclition and also frdUi the fact that it was not large enough to accommo- date the Ixiat^- that traverse the Great Lakes, thus all of its freight had to be transferred to smaller boats. OF THE United States 29 Grain, iron ore, lumber and coal comprise 90 per cent. of the freight of the lakes, and as the time element is not important in the transportation of these commodities they can be satisfactorily handled by water at a lower cost, where facilities are suitable. This has induced the New York Legislature to authorize the expenditure of enough money to enlarge the old Erie Canal sufficiently to accommodate a i,ooo-ton barge and it is expected that, upon completion, its business will be largely revived. The St. Mary's Falls Canal, The "Soo."— The great- est artery of commerce in the world is the canal which connects Lakes Superior and Huron, although it is scarcely a mile in length. The total tonnage passing THE route of the ERIE CANAL through this canal during the open season of less than eight months is greater than tjie combined tonnage of coastwise clearances of England, France and Germany. There is nothing like it in the world. Its commerce, consisting principally of iron ore, lumber, grain and coal, is more than five times as great as that of the Suez Canal. It is five times as great as that of the foreign tonnage of New York harbor and greater than the combined ton- nage of Liverpool, London and Hamburg. There are two locks there. The Wcitscl Lock is five hundred and fifteen feet long, and eighty feet wide, nar- rowing to sixty feet at the gates. It has a depth of thirty- nine and one-half feet. The lift of the lock is eighteen feet. 30 Industrial-Commercial Geography The l\>c Lock is eight hundred feet long, uniformly one hundred feet wide and twenty-one feet deep, with a lift of eighteen feet. It was built to accommodate four vessels at one time; l)y the time it was finished in 1896 it could take onl}- two, and today one of the largest ore carriers will almost fill it. Its total cost was five million dollars. It is the largest single artificial cliamber in the world. This canal is owned and operated l)y the United States Government. The service is free. A smaller canal is operated by the Canadian Government on the north side of the St. Alary's River. THE SAUr/r STE. -NLXUll-: -'SOO" -CAXAL The Suez Canal. — The great Suez Canal, as it stands today, was buih by the I'rcnch (ioxcrnmcnt. It connects the Red Sea with ihe Mediterranean. It was completed in iSfx; and is onr hundred miles long, i'i which sc\fnt\'- -six miles is actual canal and twenty-four miles is canal- ized lakes. As enlarged in iS*/) it is over three hundred feet wide at the top, one hundred and twenty-five feet at the bottom with a niininnnu depth of twcntv-seven feet ten inches. W hile it-- total cost was $120,000,000, during the past ten years the receipts from sliiiiping ])assing throuuh it hax'e been abont twice this amount. The OF THE United States 31 greatest difficulty experienced while building it was the interference of the I'.ritish (lOvernmcnt, Avhich c\"entiiallv assumed cimtrol ui it. About thirteen hours are recjuired to pass through the canal by ordinary steamer. As it is well lighted, it is in use l)y night as well as by dav. The opening of the Suez Canal was a severe blow to the waning commercial ini])ortance of the city of Alex- andria, which for centuries had enjoyed the overland trade between Europe and the h^ast Indies. While it is open to all the world, in time of war neither the canal or its terminals can be made a base of operations l^y any nation. It is in the trade with India, China and Australia that the Suez Canal is chicti}- \aluable. It saves 5,500 miles in the voyage between London and Ijombay and 4,100 miles l)etween London and Mong-Kong. Sailing vessels and steamers trading \vith New Zealand hnd it more economical to save tolls ])y making the longer voy- age around the Cape of Good Hope and returning by way of Cape Horn. About 4,000 ships annually pass through this canal, with a tonnage of about 10,000,000 tons, or about the same as that of New York Harbor. The building of the canal was a triumph of organization which up to that time had no parallel in engineering his- tory. At times as many as 30,000 laborers were employed and sanitary and medical services, schools, boarding- houses, banks, asylums and other adjuncts of a perma- nent community had to be provided by the construction company, as is the case at the i)rescnt time in the Lanama Canal Zone. The Panama Canal. — It has been the peculiar fate of I'^rench foreign canal building, as in French cohuiizing, that much of what has been done by the l<"rench has gone to benefit other nations. For example, New France long ago became a part of the British FZmpire. The Suez Canal is now largely owned and administered by the 32 Industrial-Commercial Geography British and the beginnings made by the French at Pana- ma have been continned by the United States. While the most ingenious machinery known was used in the construction of the Suez Canal, the same machinery, perfected by years of experience, was found utterly worthless at Panama on account of changed conditions in tiie soil. For four hundred years everybody interested in iiilA-. ■ ■ V^ r- r,- . >-"K. '»| ,^^ vm':&c^-^K.^ ^-,'.-- u^.. I't St rvnir ? !. ■ ...... iS •■ r, (. ./ !,- .1 I, : Vacsuiontv It. ^TvkTuf I. THE TAN AM A CANAL ZONE commerce has dreamed of the day when ships can pass from tlie Atlantic to the Pacific without making the long journey around South America, and this the I""rench at- tempted to do l)\- digging a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, but after seven years' trial they gave uj) the project, afterwards selling their rights to the United States Ciovcrnment. wliirh l)egan (jperations in 1004, cotnplcling the work in i<)i |. I "he i)rojcct was similar to OF THE United States 33 that ()f the Suez enterprise in many ways. Forty thou- sand men were constantly employed, for the care of whom the Government had to provide by building houses, schools and hospitals. The total cost has been very close to $400,000,000. The canal is fifty miles long and it requires thirteen hours for a vessel to pass through it. It is a lock canal with dams and embankments as well as excavations. On the Athintic side the sea level entrance channel is seven te^*^?:^^ I'OLKS AT COLON— PACIFIC TKUMINUS, PANAMA CANAL miles lung and fi\e hundred feet wide up to the (iatun lock. .\t Gatun an eighty-foot lake level is ol)tained by a great dam. Vessels pass from sea level to lake level by a series of three adjoining locks, each with a lift of tw^enty-eight feet. The lake has an area of 164 scjuare miles, and on the Pacific side, thirty-two miles away, is confined by a smaller dam at which there is a lift with duplicate locks, letting vessels down into a smaller lake that is fifty-five feet above the level of the Pacific. At the other end of this lake are the Mirafiores locks, where, by two lifts by duplicate locks, vessels will reach sea- level on the Pacific side. Here is l)eing constructed one f the largest and most completely equipped harbors in () the world. 34 Industrial-Commercial Geography Commercial Importance of the Panama Canal. — One of our swiftest steamers would require over a month to make the trip from New^ York to San Francisco by going- around Cape Horn. By igoing- throug-h the Panama Canal the trip can be made in twelve days, or less. Of course, the completion of the canal should mean cheaper freights and the effect upon the people of this country should be very marked. To the South, New Orleans and Galveston will be near enough to become ports of the greatest importance, as they are the natural outlets for the Mississippi valley, the greatest agricul- tural region in the world. Therefore, the cereals, sugar, cotton, turpentine, lumber, and machinery, stoves and other manufactured articles of the North will pass through these ports and the canal to the South American and Asiatic markets. The South American countries want our machinery, iron and steel, and many other things which, before the construction of the canal, they could only obtain after having them shipped across this continent by rail to California ports. An all-water route will so cheapen these articles that the sale will be immensely greater. Again, the South American countries are rich in resources yet practically undeveloped. The nation that gets in closest touch with them will secure that trade and profit by their rise in commercial importance. It is possible that this country may become the leading market of the world for hides and leather, tin, nitrates, cocoa, vanilla, rubber and many other things which now^ pass through some other country to which we ])ay tribute. It may be comi)Utcd that the sailing distance from New York to almost any Oriental port wdll be reduced by half, which slioiild mean a great saving in anything w-e have to buy fnun there, and a greater demand for what we have to sell to them. When vessels have only half as far to travel they can make twice as many trips and OF THE United States 35 more j^rofit for their owners. Conse([ueiitly when they bring more of their foreign products to us at a cheaper price, they will also carry away our steel rails and l)uild- ing iron, engines, harvesters, canned foods and manu- factured articles. So we will buy more cheaply from them and sell them greater quantities, for a ship that brings a load must carry something back in return. FOR RESEARCH 1. How were boats propelled through canals before the use of steam jxiwer was applied? 2. Does the United States own the Panama Canal zone? How is it ccmtrolled? 3. Why was the W'elland Canal constructed? The Chicago Sanitary canal? 4. What canal connects the North Sea with the IJaltic? \\'hat is its pur])(ise? Where is the Manchester Ship Canal? 5. Make a diagram illustrating the location of the Suez Canal, showing how it changed the commerce of the world. Illustrate on this map the route taken by Vasco da Gama in 1497. 6. How could the famous trip of the Battleship Oregon, during the Spanish-American ^^''ar, have been shortened had the Panama Canal been in existence at that time?' Illustrate. 7. What ad\antages will the I^inama Canal give California and ntlier Western States? 8. How does the United States compare with other I countries, in respect to the niunber of canals and im- I portance of its canal system? 9. What canal is used by boats to get around Niagara Falls? Is it upon the American or Canadian side? 36 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER V WATERING THE WASTE PLACES *?>. We hear a great deal about the natural resources of this country, which we generally think of as being tim- ber, iron, coal, gold, silver, stone and petroleum. How- ever, the greatest of all natural resources is water, for, U. S. Rctiaiiuiih n .^rr.icc THE "GREAT AMERICAN DESERT" without it in abundance, all the other resources would amount to nothing; famine would take the place of plenty and all our prosperity would vanish. In order to make the water supply absolutely certain, all countries have always resorted to irrigation. The Value of Irrigation. — Hie rainless lands that cradled the human race were made ])roductive by irri- gation. Over four thousand years ago the vast region dominated by the liabylonian kings was a network of reservoirs, canals and laterals. The skill and science OF THE United States 0/ displayed in the building of ditches, dams and reservoirs, and in the use and distribution of water, causes the mod- ern irrigator to marvel and gather wisdom. Irrigation was in use when recorded history began. Trace agriculture to its source, and 3'ou will find it began in an irrigation ditch. Irrigation demands and develops the highest degree of intelligence, for it re- quires labor, calculation and genius. If we read the his- tory of the mighty and mysterious ruins that litter the L\ S. Rccla nation Service U. S. RECLAMATIOX I'KO.IKCTS ]jaths uf the early world empires, we find that all were located in arid lands. The restored and re-built canal in Egypt, which cost England two and one-half million dollars, will water four million acres. English capital has irrigated twenty-six million acres in India, and has saved millions of people from starvation ; however, the beneficiaries are paying a tax of thirty per cent, upon the investment. The richest part of Italy is her three million acres of irrigated land. 38 Industrial-Commercial Geography Irrigation is not new in the Western Hemisphere. Cortez found it prevaihng- in Mexico and Central Amer- ica, and Pizarro was amazed at tlie massive work on the reservoirs and canals in Peru. The long tunnels, which carried rivers under mountains to distant fertile valleys, amazed him most. Arizona and New Mexico are gridironed with the tracks of ancient irrigation canals, unused for centuries. Their cliffs are honev- combed with rock-drilled and built habitations of a vanished race. r>ut a few scattered thousands now exist where millions may have flourished by the arts of irri- gation. In California, about one hundred and forty years ago, the Franciscan friars induced the Indians to l)uild irrigation ditches leading to their many missions. The first modern scientific irrigation project in North x\merica was done bv the Mormons about forty years ago. The next cooperative system was at Greeley, Colorado, and tlie success of these experiments led to many similar ventures. The certainty of results incited great interest and activity, and a new agricultural age began. The fruits, the wonderful crops, and the hunger for homes, have captured the imagination of the Amer- ican people. The United States Government has been awakened to the importance of irrigation, and millions are being given to build reservoirs and conserve our water supply. While many of these ventures seem great, they are not so when com])arc(l w itli the work of the ancients. The Imperial Canal 400 nu'Ics long and 400 feet wide. Over three hundi-ed iniUion gallons of mountain water were brought into Rome by acjucducts e\'ery day dur- ing the years of its greatness. The irrigated lands of ancient Peru yielded enough cacli harvest to feed the ])eo])le for se\en years. I'erliaps. some da\', America will produce a genius who will make ever}- part of the land bloom with fertility. Should he come tomorrow he OF THE United States 39 would tap the Missouri Ri\er and bring its floods across the States of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Texas. The Reclamation Act. — On Ji^inc 17, 1902, the Recla- mation Act l)ecame a law. Under its provisions, "all moneys received from the disposal of public lands in sixteen AVestcrn states, except five per cent, reserved for educational and other purposes, are set aside as a Courtesy Northern Pac. Ry. MAIN CANAL— LOWER YELLOWSTONE PROJECT special fund to be used for the construction and mainte- nance of irrigation w^orks for the storage, diversion and development of waters for the reclamation of arid lands in these states." The lands so reclaimed are sul)ject to homestead entry, and there is absolutely no charge for the land itself, except the usual filing fees. However, the settler must pay the government, in not more than ten annual install- ments, without interest, his proportion according to the 40 Industrial-Commercial Geography number of acres he owns, of the anniunt expended in reclaiming this land. Another law, called the "Carey Act," had been passed in 1894, which donated one million acres, in each of the arid states, to the states themselves, to be re- claimed by the states or through private corporations. The states protect the rights of the settlers, and act as a court of last resort in case of controversy between the settlers and water companies. A\'hen the major portion C oil) i A L ) l..^-i n l'a^\ A'v. 250 BUSHELS OF POTATOES PER ACRE (if the land irrigated under a canal system is sold, the management of the system passes to the settlers. After the last payment nn the water is made, the settlers ha\"e to pay only enough to keep the canal in repair and pro- vide for its operating e.\])enses. The Rio Grande Project. — One of the greatest of these (ioxernmenl canals is the Rio Grande project, by which 180,000 acres of land in Texas, New Mexico and OF THE United States 41 Mexico will be reached. Mexico will be furnished free water, to settle the claim of that country for taking- the water from the Rio Grande. This project will approxi- mately cost nine million dollars. The lands lie on both sides of the Rio Grande for a hundred miles north of El Paso, and for many miles south of that city. In Colorado the (iunnisim River, one of the largest streams in the state, was diverted from its course, throut-h a six- Coiirtcsy So. I'ac. Ry. TEN TONS OF GRAPES FROM ONE VINE mile tunnel under the mountains, and turned into the fertile Uncompahgre Valley, comprising over a hundred thousand acres. For all time to come the waters of this river will leave the granite-bound channel they have followed for ages and bring prosperity and fertility to the ])eo])le on the other side of the mountains. The water rights in this valley cost the settlers, ap- 42 Industrial-Commercial Geography proximately, $35.00 per acre, the only restriction being that the lands must be held by bona-fide resident set- tlers. This land cannot be held by non-residents, or rented. The Huntley, Montana, i)roject accommodates six hundred farms of fort}' acres each. In this section the large holdings, under jM-ivate ownershi]:), are under con- tract to be sub-divided and sold to actual settlers. All unallotted government farms are open to homestead en- try. These are thrown open in units and are ready for settlement as soon as the units are made ready. The beginning of this project is in the \*alley of the Yel- lowstone River, about twelve miles below Billings, Montana. The Lower Yellowstone prr>iect covers 67,000 acres of land in Eastern IMontana and Western North Dakota. This region is i)articularly productive and the country is undergoing a rapid change. The great Shoshone dam, in the l'>ig Horn Basin, Wyoming, is 325 feet high, and creates a great storage reservoir in the valley above for the flood waters of the river. About a quarter of a million acres of land is sup- plied with water from this reservoir. During the spring and early summer the melting snows of the mountains swell the volume of these mountain streams to large pro- portions, while in the late summer the long-continued droughts shrink their A-olume to that of small streams. On account of this irregularity of flow it was found nec- essary to i)ro\idc means for the storage of the waters of the s])ring and early smnmer. yVnother great dam constructed for this purpose is the l'athrin(k'r. in the North I'latte project. It is 215 feet high and 225 feet long and has capacity for enough water to supply 125,000 acres. Other great projects that have been constructed are the Carson-Truckee in Nevada, the Fayette-Boise in Idaho, the Klamath in Oregon, the Salt l\i\er in Arizona and others, twentv-six in all. It OF THE United States 43 is one of the most beneficent works ever carried ctu l)v any government fur its people. Fertility of Reclaimed Land.- Most of the land that is being- reclaimed has wonderful fertility, when suffi- ciently su])plied with moisture, ft is possible to support a family from one acre, by intensi\'e culti\ation in fruits and vegetables. In most sections five acres is enough and ten acres is all that one family can take care of properly. Fruit growing has become one of our great- est industries, especially in our irrigated sections, and what was formerlv the "Great American Desert" has become valuable to the extreme, land selling anywhere from fifty dollars to two thousand dollars per acre. Better Methods of Farming Needed. — The great need of additions to the tillable area of the United States is forci1)ly shown when we consider the rapid increase of our population — practically one million emigrants enter this country everv year — in addition to the natural in- crease of our jiopulation. The (piestion of homes for future generations is of great impitrtance. There will ne\er be any more land in the countr}- than there is now, and, as the number of inhabitants increases, the propor- tionate increased value of the land is evident. Forty years ago the Mississi])i)i Valley was spoken of as "out West," and the Missouri A\alley was the frontier. Now the entire countrv has been settled and developed to the Pacific coast. In a very few years there will not be a tillable farm in the ])ul)lic domain, outside of the recla- mation area. The situation is being relieved by the in- troduction of new and better methods of farming. Dry Panning has made productive large regions in the middle West that were formerly regarded as of little or no value. During the i^ast ten years over 160.000,000 acres of ])ublic lands have been taken up, l)ut, real home- makers have settled upon only a small proportion of this vast area. However, the day ()f the large farm is rapidly 44 Industrial-Commercial Geography Hearing its close. The farm containing- a quarter of a section, or more, carelessly cultivated, comparatively, recjuiring- ceaseless work and yielding a proportionately small return per acre, cannot hold its own against the satisfaction and ample rewards of the smaller farm. Irrigation Means Stability. — Where irrigation pre- vails there is certainty, abundance and \'ariety of prod- ucts. Unfavorable seasons do not exist, as water may be procured at will and the growth of the products is at the command of the farmer. The marvelous yields from irrigated lands at first seemed incredible, yet the Mormons in Utah created wealth of more than half a billion dollars from a desert of alkali and sage brush, almost before we knew what they were doing. An enor- mous advantage over farmers in the humid states will soon be enjoyed l)y the dweller in the one-time desert, when the great water powers there are completely har- nessed and utilized for his needs. It is entirely probable that in a few years the farmers there will do all of their heavy work with electricity, and their wives will have all of their Ijurdens greatly lightened by the same force. It is very ])robable that in the West will be developed the most nearly perfect farm conditions in the whole country. The irrigation farmer will become a inamifac- tiirer o{ farm ])r(i(hK-ts. Results of Irrigation in America. — The great Amer- ican desert is vanishing from the maj) as if bv magic. nVelve million acres of this barren tract lia\ e ahx'ady been subdued by means of irrigation and agriculture, and are producing bountiftd and assinxd harvests every year. A quarter of a inillidu families are residing u])iiii farms and as many more have found homes and occupations in the cities. Towns and \illages lia\e s])rung up in the midst I'f this modern agricultural area. Ilundreds of thousands of people in the cities and towns of the East have invested in these lands and are getting them ready OF THE United States 45 for occupancy. These people look forward to a future spent in wholesome and pleasant lal)or tilling the soil. Great dams have been constructed to impound the floods, and. through seventy thousand miles of canals and ditches, the life-giving water has been turned upon the dusty desert. The streams have also been harnessed for power and an area of manufacturing is dawning in which all of the raw products of the farm, the forests and the mines will be prepared for the markets of the world. FOR RESEARCH 1. What is meant by intensive farming? 2. Explain how it is possible for a family to live from the proceeds of very small farms. 3. Land in irrigated valleys often sells for a tlmu- sand dollars or more an acre, yet there is frequently more profit from farming such land than from much less ex- pensive land depending upon rainfall. Discuss reasons. 4. Does the position of a state affect its rainfall and temperature? 5. What part of the United States was affected by the prehistoric glaciers? 6. Sketch a map of the United States showing the glacial areas. The irrigated areas. 7. Where are the Everglades? Can they be suc- cessfully reclaimed? In some parts of the country mil- lions of feet of tiling are used by the farmers. Discuss its value. 8. Is there a possibility that the supply of water for irrigation will ever be exhausted? 9. Why are the Mississippi, the Missouri and other rivers much more shallow during the summer months than formerly? 46 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER VI THE FARMING INDUSTRY There are about twehe million people engaged in agriculture in the United States, notwithstanding the heavy demands made by the cities for workers for the many other industries. Agriculture is the most nearly fundamental of all industries, and, in point of the number of people engaged in it, is the chief industry of this coun- try. Its importance may be better understood by con- sidering that agricultural products constitute eighty per cent, of all our exports. The ten leading products of our fields recjuire a farming area larger than all the British Isles and France combined. The Relation of Farming to Location. — The Amer- ican farmer occupies a uni([uc position, as his status is en- tirely ditferent from that of any other in the world. I'arniing, like other industries, may be either a business or a mere occupation. Every year it is becoming, more and more, one of the most highly s])ecialized industries. Those who contemplate entering this occupation should first determine what particular crop Avill thrive best in the locality under consideration. AVe have cotton in the South, corn in the middle West, wheat in the North Central States and fruit in the West and Southwest. Sugar beets, staple vegetables and other products repre- sent a wide range of territory aud the products of the market garden are most profitable in the vicinity of large cities. Scientific Farming. —The farmer todav must be something of a chemist and a botanist, at least to the extent of understanding the re(|uirenients of the soil in his locality, lie must know what necessary elements are OF THE United States 47 48 Industrial-Commercial Geography lacking and how to supply them with artificial means. He must have a good general idea as to drainage, in order to obtain the best advantage from his land and he must understand what elements of its food a plant derives from the atmosphere. It is a simple thing to know that grapes grow best on a hillside, where they get the advantage of the sun's rays a greater part of the day, and this is particularly true of melons and other fruits. A few such facts, understood and applied some years ago, would have rendered manv an abandoned farm profitable. Education and Its Relation to Agriculture. — In the same manner, the dairyman should understand the chem- istry and bacteriology of milk, together with the kind of feed best calculated to produce good butter and cheese cpialities. He should also have a good understanding of the points that mark good cattle and know how to treat their common disorders, in order to raise them success- fully. This is the day of the educated farmer, and great strides have been made during the past decade, in every state, to provide the proper kind of training along this line. Among the greatest educational institutions of the land are the agricultural colleges of such states as Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota, while many other institutions of renown, such as Cornell University, and the state universities of Michigan, A\'is- consin, Missouri, Nebraska and many other states pro- vide exceptional training along this line. At the agricultural colleges the courses are very thorough and their completion leads to the degree of Bachelor of Agriculture, yet there are shorter courses where, by intensive study, one may take training along any j^articular line. These courses are sometimes given during the winter months, when there is little work upon the farms, or they may be taken at some other time of the year during a lull in tlie work. Thousands of farm- ers take courses every year in seed selection, stock judging, jilant spraying, motor engineering, and other OF THE United States 49 branches. The farmer is thus brought to reahze that his farm is something Hke the factory, or some other great business institution, for the production of necessities or hixuries for the public, which may be made to yield the highest profits if handled in an intelligent and well- informed manner. Courtesy Swift & Co. THE FARM'S GREATEST SOURCE OF REVENUE Agricultural Experiment Stations. — ^Nearly every State conducts an experiment station in connection with its school of agriculture. Here several hundred acres are kept under constant intelligent cultivation, both in raising all kinds of vegetable crops, and in pasturing and feeding domestic live stock, horses, cattle, sheep and 50 Industrial-Commercial Geography hogs. Every suggested experiment is here thoroughly tried and all improvements are made public, that the farmers mav profit by them. Farm Machinery and Its Relation to Food Pro- duction. — At the beginning of the past century only three per cent, of the inhabitants of this country lived in cities, the remainder lived in small towns and on the farms, and were dependent upon agriculture for subsistence. There was little manufacturing, as almost everything, except the products of the soil, was imported. At that time there was not enough wheat raised in this country for bread, and it was feared that the food supply would not keep pace with the increasing population. The limit of food production with the sickle had l)cen reached. However, immediately following the invention of the reaper, the number of bushels per acre began to increase, as well as the size of the farms, as much more grain could be handled by machine than by hand labor. From the ninety-seven per cent, of people on the farms in iSoo, the number has gradually decreased, until now there are only about thirty-six per cent, of our population left to work the farms. There has been a constant flow of young men from the farm to the city, yet the farms of today produce, with only one-third of the labor, enough to feed the entire population and ex- \n)vt one hundred million dollars worth of products per year. There has l^een no such achievement elsewhere in the history of the world. Much, of course, is due to the fertile soil of our great i)lains and valleys, much to the government which has given security to property, and much to the great railroads that have transported the products across the continent. Much more is due, how- ever, to our great number of inventors, who have recog- nized the necessity nf improved methods on the farm, and who lia\c provided the farmers with tools and im- plements, that have enabled them to produce more OF THE United States 51 cheap!}' than any other nation in the world. In no other country could be harvested so expeditiously, eighty million acres of corn, forty million acres of wheat, thirty million acres of oats, twenty million acres of cot- ton and fifty million acres of grass, every year. Consider for a moment how it would seem to at- tempt to harvest eighty million acres of wheat with the sickle and thresh it with a flail! How absurd it would be to attempt to gin ten million bales of cotton by hand ! Cuiirtcsy Swifl & Co. PROGRESSIN'F. F.\R^[ERS RAISE FINE CATTLE While the cotton crop gives employment to more capital and labor than any other one product of the farm, yet the area planted in cotton is only one-fourth that planted in c(irn, and miw we are picking cotton by machinery and a new era has opened. The plow, seeder, planter and cultixator have pro- duced areas of the small grains that it would be im- possible to harvest without the self-binder. The crooked 52 Industrial-Commercial Geography stick — the plow for centuries — merely scratched the surface of the ground. Our inventors have so fashioned the plow that the soil is completely turned over. The operator now rides, and in place of one furrow he turns over two or more, and the latest wonder is as many as twenty gang plows pulled by a traction engine ! Har- rows from eight to thirty feet in width follow the plow- ing and prepare the soil perfectly for the seed. The im- provements in planters and drills have not added so much to the area as they have to the quality of the planting. Cotton can stand in the field for three months after it ripens and corn can be picked after the snow falls, but wheat and other small grains must be har- vested when ripe. The reaper is, therefore, the fore- runner of civilization. Increasing Value of Farms. — It seems hardly pos- sible that, within the last fifty years, the total value of the farms of the United States has increased twenty-five- fold, l)ut such is the case. The Great American Desert has been made over, by irrigation, into the most pro- ductive region imaginable. A million people pour int(^ this country every year, in addition to the natural in- crease 1)y a like number. This all means that the farms must gradually become smaller and the farming more intensive, as is the case in foreign countries having a congested population. The education of our farmers will enable them to produce greater yields per acre with corresj)ondingly greater returns. harms in the United States are operated by three classes of peo])le : owners, cash tenants and share ten- ants. About sixt}' ])er rrnt of the farms are operated b\- the lirst class, and this nmnber is gradually increas- ing. In some sections of the country tlie land is owned b} large syndicates, who oj)erate ui)on an elaborate scale. OF THE United States 53 This is particularly true in those sections adapted for the growing of wheat and cutton. Tenant farmers are of two classes: those who were formerly farm owners and have taken a step downward and those who were formerly farm laborers and have taken a step upward, ^^'e often hear it said that it is impossible for a young man to begin with nothing and become the possessor of a good farm clear from incum- brances. Yet, during the past decade the number of farms worked by their owners has increased twenty per cent. There are great opportunities for the farm hand who is industrious and economical. Of all classes of help the farm laborer is the most difficult to find and retain. Such labor is so scarce in some states that it is necessary to import men, who are usually novices, to do the work. This is particularly true in the wheat belt. In the West and Northwest the ma- jority of the laborers are Chinese and Japanese and in the South many negroes are employed. In many states the farm hands are almost as well off as their employers. Alachinery has reduced their drudgery to the minimum, while their wages have steadily advanced. Opportunity for the Farmer. — The freedom from restraint, the feeling of eciuality and knowledge of op- portunity, which lies before every farmer, should be an inspiration, and spur ever}' one to eft'orts such as have wrought the marvelous progress in farming, wdiich has been made during the past century. The field lay open to all at the beginning, but it was only the American farmer who found out, accepted and successfully used new methods, new implements and machines, thereby in- creasing manv times his power of production and en- abling him to compete in the markets of the world against cheap labor. At the same time he is the best fed and best dressed farmer in the world and has every opportunity for culture and relinement. 54 Industrial-Commercial Geography FOR RESEARCH 1. What is a homestead? A timber claim? 2. May hind yet l)e taken by homestead or timber claim ? Who is entitled to the right ? 3. I low are forest reserves or Indian lands thrown open to settlement? What is the cost of entry? 4. What is a patent? A quit-claim deed? War- ranty deed? Deed of trust? Obtain samples of each and study provisions. 5. What effect does climate have upon determin- ing what crops are suitable for each section? 6. Why is New England better adapted for manu- facturing than farming? What can you say of the farms there? 7. Why is farming, in general, not carried on upon a large scale near the cities? 8. New York has gradually changed from a farm- ing state to a dairying state. Why? 9. What is meant by crop rotation? ^^dly is it practised? How is it ])ossible to raise cotton in the South and wheat in the Middle A\"est, year after year, with no decrease in the yield? TO. What have the Agricultural Colleges, the De- partment of Agriculture and the great implement com- panit-s (lone toward increasing the yield of the farms and the education of the farmers? i[. Obtain Farmers' T'ulletins from tlie Depart- ment of Agriculture and from the Agrirultiu-al depart- lucnt of vour own state. OF THE United States 55 CHAPTER VII THE CORN CROP Corn was the name formerly applied by the people of every land to their leading grain. Alaize, or Indian corn, was first found in America, and now furnishes food for a larger part of the human race than any other grain except rice. It is the most valuable crop grown on American soil. While this country gave it to the world and taught all people how to use it for bread, as well as for many other things, we still produce over four-fifths of the world's crop, amounting to over two billion bush- els per year, which is grown upon over 90,000,000 acres of ground. The Corn Crop. — The most striking facts in the history of the world's agriculture are given in a recent report of the Secretary of Agriculture. In this report the value of the corn crop is given as $1,720,000,000 — enough to pay for the clothing and personal adornment of all the people in this country. The gold and silver coins and bullion of the United States are not of greater value. This wonderful crop has grown uj) from the soil and out of the air in 120 days — enough value to build two of the greatest battleships on eartii every day! One cannot realize how much corn this is. Loaded in freight cars it would make a train that would reach around the earth. It has given the states of the corn belt most of their wealth and helped to establish most of their industries. Wonderful as this may seem, the average yield per acre is only about twenty-six bushels. What will it be when we produce fifty bushels per acre? 56 Industrial-Commercial Geography Corn Products. — As a breadstuff corn is second only to wheat, and its consumption for this purpose is rap- idly increasing. But this is only one of many uses. So extensively does it enter into our daily life that we encounter a great many things that impress us with the importance of this regal grain. The hominy mills con- sume great quantities of corn and many of the leading breakfast foods are made from it. Corn oil is almost indispensable in the manufacture of the better grades •WUKN THE l-ROST IS ON THE PUNKIN AN' THE FODDER'S IN THE SHOCK" of soap, and it is also used as a substitute for oli\e oil, and even a substitute for ni1)bcr has been made from it. iMost of the starches upon the market are pure cnvu products. I*"our-fifths of the syrups used in America are made from corn, and most candies contain corn syrup or glucose as a basis. The coloring of most of the cluth about the household was ])ri il)al)l\- dune tlirs^ational Corn Show been held and of what state haxe the prize winners generally been residents? 12. What are the characteristics of a good ear of corn ? 64 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER VIII THE WHEAT INDUSTRY AX'heat occupiL-s the highest place among food plants. Its origin is older than civilization, being spoken of as "corn" in olden times. It was the favorite srain •'"1 Luurtesy Rock Island Lines A FIELD OF SHOCKED WHEAT of the old Egyptians and to this day the Valley of the Xile still furnishes a wealth of wheat to its crowded ])opuhitinn. The t'ountrio most noted fur its ])ri iduotimi are: the United States, South Anu'rica. Russia, l-"rance and India, the United States being the foremost, as the invention and ust' of impro\n'd maciiiner\ in this coun- try has been responsihU' for an incn a-^i'd ])ro(hu-tion that is unparalleled. OF THE United States 65 The Production of Wheat. — There was a time when our methods were as crude as they arc yet in some parts of Mexico, Russia and other foreign countries, for, one hundred years ago we could not raise enough wheat for our own use, while at that time 97 per cent, of our popu- lation lived on the farm. Today about 36 per cent, of our people are farmers and they raise over 700,000,000 bushels per year, ent)ugh to provide one and one-half loaves per day, for every inhabitant of the land, for a year. The cultivation of wheat is unlike that of most crops, for, after seeding, there is little work to be done until harvest time. The plowing is done in the early fall, and winter wheat is sown at once, the fields becoming green before the snow falls. Where the winters are severe the wheat is sown early in the spring. Wheat grows best in cool weather, with occasional rains, and ripens best in cool, cloudy weather, but, during harvest time every hour of sunshine is cause for gratitude. Formerly, all work was done by the use of horse power, but the trac- tion engine is rajndly being utilized. The perfection of the gasoline engine has been the crowning step in the history of power development. By the old method, the ground was plowed with a single plow, the wheat sown broadcast and harrowed in. Today the press drill is in almost universal use. It drops the grain in rows four inches apart and insures an even stand. There are many ^•arieties of wheat, each adapted to some ])articular locality. The duram and macaroni varieties will grow in arid regions where no other variety will thrive ; then there are the bald, bearded, hard, soft, white and red, each occupying its particular sphere. The wheat plant branches very extensively, an average of five hundred grains as the ])roduct of a single grain being a moderate estimate. Harvesting Wheat. — The ])rimiti\e method of har- vesting was with the knife, a handful at a time, care 66 Industrial-Commercial Geography being- taken not to lose a sint^ie head; then the sickle came into use, as it wouhl cut a larger amount with greater ease. This method was never used in this coun- try, except on small farms for gathering fallen grain, but it was the only implement known in foreign lands for centuries. The scythe took the place of the sickle, as it would cut a still larger amount, and, by adding several wooden fingers above the blade, we were given the cradle, which gave the wheat industry a new impetus, as Courtesy International Harvester Co. REAPING WITH SICKLES L\ ALGIERS it would out a wide swath and keep the straws straight at the same time; but this has also been abandoned, except in hilly countries where the ground is too steep for wheeled machinery. A man walked behind the cradle and bound the wheat into sheaves by hand, another set OF THE United States 67 the sheaves into shocks, breaking two sheaves in such a manner as to form a roof for the shocks. The Self-binder and Reaper. — W ithin the memory of men still li^•in^■ the reaper was invented. This ma- chine was first demonstrated by Cyrus McCormick, on a \'irL;inia farm, in 1831. 1liis machinr not only cut the c .iiti Icsy I nicy national Harvcslcr Co. REAPING WITH CRADLES, PENNSYLVANIA grain easily, but it encouraged the farmers to grow larger crops. When the self-binding attachment was added in 1870, a wonderful change took place. It is claimed that this invention mo\"ed cix'ilization westward at the rate of thirty miles per year, as more ground was needed, that the farmer could have larger fields to harvest. x\s farm machinery was improved, our agricultural empire ex- 68 Industrial-Commercial Geography panded, until it embraced what is now the greatest wheat district in the world. It is a great sight to visit a bonanza farm while har- vesting is at its height. In the earl\- morning, while the dew glistens upon the grain, the harvesters move into the cutting line until there may be forty of them fringing the waving field f<»r a quarter of a mile. The reels whirl like great wings, and a swath of grain six feet wide goes down at every turn, the whole line of machines leaving a trail of sheaves. Each machine cuts twentv acres per McCOR.MrCK'S Courtesy International Hariester Co. [RST II.\R\ESTER day, eight hundred acres for all I I^irtune hangs in the balance of the waving wheat, for it is the on.lv crop in its chosen section. That is why the armv of harvesters are at work at break of day, and sometimes the harvest moon si hers the scene as the binders rattle throughout the entire night. In llie southern part of the wheat belt the header has bt'en u^ed almost exclusi\el\'. This machine reaps the grain much moi\' ra])idly than the binder, it being cut about ti\e inclu's below the heads, as the machine' is pushed ahead of the horses through the grain. An au- OF THE United States 69 tomatic carrier elevates it into a lari^e barge, and, as soon as one is filled another takes its place. Some of these machines cut an area as much as twenty feet wide, but it is not ])ractical where there is enough rain to en- danger the wheat in the shock, as it will not turn water like bound grain. The Combined Harvester and Thresher. — In Cali- fornia and other parts of the West we may see the mod- ern giant of the harvest field, the combined harvester and thresher. This machine heads the wheat, threshes it, sacks the wheat and ties the straw into bundles! About thirty horses are required to pull one of these machines, very frequently traction engines are used. These ma- chines are only practical in the West, for, on account of the long dry season, the wheat may be allowed to stand until entirely ripe, and the ground also becomes suffi- ciently hardened to bear the great weight of the machine. Western wheat is always sold in the sack, and, after harvest, thousands of bushels are frequently stacked at the railroad stations awaiting shipment. Our growing relations with Oriental countries have created a great market for wheat. Methods of Threshing Wheat. — The oldest method of threshing grain was to tramj) it out with horses or other animals, h^or centuries it was pounded out upon a threshing fioor with the flail, and when the heads were all shelled, the straw was raked ofl:', the grain and chafif were then elevated and allowed to drop through the air, the wind blowing the chaff away. A hand-operated fan- ning mill afterwards took the place of this process. Threshing is now the picturesque coloring feature of the harvesting. A machine and outfit costs about $3,000, and it travels about, from farm to farm, threshing for a certain price per bushel. In the center of the field the long, red thresher stands, and a hundred feet away, linked by a broad belt, quivers the traction engine. A loaded 70 Tndustrtat.-Commerctal Geography wagon stands by each side of the machine, meanwhile two men pitch the sheaves upon the self-feeder of the hungry chattering thing. The steel arms greedily thresh it back and forth and the chaff and straw are blown through the long metal self-stacker. Down a spout into a wagon-box pour the sun-fiecked kernels of wheat, which is hauled to the farmer's bins, where he holds it until the market suits, or it may be hauled at once to the elevator, many of whicli may be found along the railroads traversino' the wheat belt. Cuurtcsy 1 ntcriialioiuil H ari'cstcr Co. COMBINED HARVESTER-THRESHER After the wheat is graded and weighed it is elevated to the bins, to be later ship])e(l in freight cars from this primary market to a terminal market. One of the greatest of these markets is l)ulutli, Minnesota. Some of the ele\ators there Imld two niillinn l)ushels and from them the grain is shi])ped by steamer through the Great Lakes to Chicago, lUiffalo. Xew Niir]< ( u^ siime Idreign countr\'. However, niil]i(ins of bushels of wheat lie in the farmers' bins and in the local elexators. hUrlnnes OF Till:: LImted States 71 and destinies of men are tied up in it. At Chicago, the h'ood Market of the World, in the Board of I'rade huikhng-, the dealers, every day, buy and sell millions of bushels of wheat that they never see, and make fortunes for people they never know. The Milling Industry. — Wheat was first ground into ilour between two stones. The early colonists har- nessed the wind and made it give motion to the wheels which ground the grain. The old Dutch windmill was a common sight in this country until a decade ago, when it entirely gave way to the tide of progress. Upon the shores of swift-running streams the early settlers also built mills, using the water as power. To these mills the peo])le came for many miles, l)ut these are also silenced now by greater ones. The center of the milling industry was hrst at Wilmington, Delaware, later at Bal- tiiuore, ]\ld., then at Rochester, N. Y., and finally Min- neapolis became the greatest flour-milling center in the entire w^orld. There are, altogether, 25,000 flour mills in the United States, most of them being near the fields or at terminal markets. A Flour-Producing Center. — At Minneapolis the power is obtained from ."^t. Anthony's Falls for the greater part of the year. It is an inspiration to view the world's greatest granary. ^Alongside the mammoth steel elevators the cars shuttle back and forth, automatic shovels scoop the grain from them, and empty it into hoppers, from wdiich it is lifted to the top of the great elevators by an endless chain of buckets. Two hundred thousand bushels of wheat pass through these mills every working day of the year, issuing forth eighty thousand barrels of flour. Day after day this flood of wheat rushes into Minneapolis, 90,000,000 l)ushels a year, a torrent mightier than Niagara! Making Flour.— In the first mills in this country the grain was crushed between two large circular stones ^2 Industrial-Commercial Geography called burr-stones. Rut the hard wheat of the North dulled the corrugated surface of these stones so quickly that they became useless. Then the process of grinding between steel rolls was introduced from Hungary, and this, wath the invention of the middlings purifier, has revolutionized the milling industry quite as much as the harvester revolutionized the wheat industry. There are over one hundred and fifty separations made in handling the stock from the time the wheat enters the mill until the Hour is ready for the market. Milling flour is not like grinding colTee. After the grain is washed and thoroughly cleaned, it is passed into steel heaters, which toughen the outer covering of the grain and prevent its breaking into particles and entering the flour. The rollers crush the grain, passing it through six reductions in the first series, each reducing it a little finer. It is then passed through the bolting machinery where the middlings are separated, the residue being sent on to another set of rollers, which crush it more finely, then back through a finer bolting cloth, this process being repeated six times. The middlings are then passed through tlic purifier which extracts the germs. They are then mixed with the bran for feed, the remaining part of the middlings being then finally ground into flour. The whole process is one of purification. PVom the time the cars are unloaded by automatic shovels, the wheat, middlings, and flour are elevated and conveyed in all directions by automatic machinery, without the direct intervention of man. And the finest flour Ave pro- duce in this country goes, — not abroad, l)ut into our own Immes, to helj) ])ro(lucc a l)ctter succeeding gen- eration. 'Jlie harvester has been called tlie l^arometcr of civ- ilization, as it is not fnund where slavery and barbarism exist. The only place where there is no call fur it is in those countries where the luxury of the cities is built u])on the plunder of nien and wiinien who work in the OF THE United States 73 fields. The harvester has made a greater advance in Russia in recent years than in any other country. More business is now being done in that country than was done in the whole world ten years ago. In many parts of Russia today farming is done under the most approved methods, where, a generation ago, the wooden plow, the sickle and the flail were the only implements used. Wheat-Producing Countries. — Argentina stands in the front rank as a wheat producing country today, although the crop has only received marked attention there for about twenty years. It is now the South American Minnesota, (jnly eleven times larger. Two million dollars' worth of harvesters annually go to Australia, and along almost any of the historic roadways of the world may be seen American machinery. "On the Road to Mandalay," along the Appian \\'ay, and on the trail that marks the flight of Napoleon from Moscow, will be found these indispensable machines. They are cutting wheat on the battlefields of Austerlitz, Sedan and W^aterloo ! In Mexico, in the very shadow of Popocatepetl, we find American harvesters. Mules carry them over the Andes, and the wheelbarrow takes them into Central China. They are for sale in the holy cities of Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca ! The Sphinx may yet look across yellow fields where the American binder is clickmg cheerfully ! Like the advance of the Boers into the Transvaal and the Japanese into Korea, there has been an advance uf three hundred thousand American farmers into Western Canada, and they are upbuilding a civilization which assures us that this part of North America will be the wheat land of tomorrow, one of the greatest in the world. The American har\ester is much more than a handy device for cutting grain, it is a national emblem which makes democracy possible. 74 iNDUSTRIAL-CoMMEECrAL GEOGRAPHY FOR RESEARCH 1. Make an outline map showing the ''wheat belt" of the United States. Make another, showing the leading wheat-producing countries. 2. What are the principal railroads traversing the greatest wheat-producing areas? Where do tliev take the grain? Trace a car of wlieat from Central Kansas to Chicago. From Aberdeen, S. 1)., to Minneapolis. 3. When d(jes wheat ripen in the Southern ])art of tlie "wheat l)elt'"? In Kansas? Nel)raska? South Dakota? North Dakota and Minnesota? In Canada? 4. Name two great railroads in Canada. What are their principal terminals? 5. When is wheat from Argentina placed upon the market? From Australia? From Russia? From what do the Russian people make most of their bread? 6. Why is the yield, per acre, of wheat from two to three times greater in Europe than in the United States? 7. Ijetween what parallels of latitude are the great- est wheat countries of the world situated? A\'hy? 8. Why is wheat a valuable grain for food? Make a list of its principal uses. 9. To what countries do we sell our surplus crop? Trace a shipment of wheat from P)Ucnos Ayres to Lon- dcni. From New ^'ork to Calcutta. TO. What is a disc harrow? A gang plow? F^rom what is l)inding twine made? W'here is it obtained? 11. Why is wheat usuall\- s^ld in l)ulk? 12. W'diere are oats, rye and barley grown and how do they compare with wheat as articles of food and from a commercial standpoint? OF THE United States 75 CHAPTER IX RICE, THE ROYAL CEREAL Rice is not only the most important of all the cereals, l)nt it is by far the most important of all food products. It is almost the exxlusive diet of 5% of the human race. In addition to beinij;' the most extensively used and most widely distributed of the world's foods, it produces more muscular energy and physical endur- ance than any other food. It is the chief diet of the wonderful Japanese soldiery, whose strength compels the admiratioL and wonder of the world. It is eaten almost exclusi\ely by the coolies of India and China, those human machines who can carr>' all dav, rmder a European. a load that would stagger an American or The Food Value of Rice. — The main reason for the superiority of rice over all other forms of food is its ready digestibility, plain l)oiled rice being assimilated in one hour, while the other cereals, legumes and meats, and most vegetables, recjuire from three and one-half tcj five hours. Rice thus enables a man to economize fully 75% "f the time and energy expended in the digestion of ordinary food, setting it free to be used in his daily vocation. Where Rice Is Grown. — Rice is a cereal of the grass family. It is an annual, reaching two to five feet in height at maturity. It is indigenous in certain parts of India and tropical Australia. So far as is known it was the first cereal used by man. The Arvans carried it with them in their migrator}- marches from the cradle of the human race. It was introduced into China about 3000 76 Industrial-Commercial Geography B. C, and was grown in the X'alley of the Euphrates 500 B. C. The Arabs took it to Spain, and, sustained by its marvelous nourishment, planted their victorious banner everywhere. It was introduced into Italy in 1468. Sir William Berkeley first cultivated it in A'irginia in 1647. Today it is grown as the staple article of food by the millions of India, Siam, China, Japan and Africa. In the Medi- terranean countries and in the tropical and semi-tropical L-ourtcsy Mo. Pac. Rx. RICE PUMP IN ACTION AND IMPROVISED RESEK\()n< regions of North and South America it is cultivated as a principal means of sul)sistencc. It was introduced into Louisiana soon after the C'ixil War. and. at the present time, the lowlands along the Mississip])i and Gulf Coast are practically gi\en o\er to its culture. In more recent years it has been carried to Siiuth Carolina, .\rkansas and Texas and has become one of the most profitable croj^s in those states. OF THE United States "jy Rice Culture in the United States. — 1 he advantages of the rice grower in this country, over others, are many. One is freedom from tax, for, in Japan, there is an eight- dollar per acre expense for fertilizer. In India there is a $4.80 tax, per acre. There is no reason why the United States should not grow and mill all of its own rice and become an exporter. The American grower uses the im- proved methods and modern implements of the northern wheat fields: the gang plow, the self-binder and steam thresher, together with a boundless supply of water from the most modern and economical machinery. He is ex- empt from a large part of the labeu" expense, so propor- tionately great under Oriental methods. The number of acres that can l^e grown under the ( )riental system, by one man, is, in Jaj^an one-half (jf an acre, in China one- half to two and one-half acres. In this coiuitry one man can successfullv care for 160 acres of the grain. Rice Culture in Japan. — In ( )riental countries the processes of cultivation and liarACSting are yet carried on by the primitive methods of anti(|uity. In Japan, the plow is almost unknown. The soil is dug up ami worked over with a mattock: sometimes a crude harrow is used for puherizing. A horse or an (»x may l)e occasir)nally used, but most of the lal)or is by hand. The rice is sown in beds, which are watered and carefully tended until the plants are from six to ten inches high, Avhen they are taken up and set in rows, a plant at a time, the fields having been prepared and flooded with two or three inches of water. When mature the rice is cut with a sickle, bound in small sheaves, and tied to poles for drying. Threshing and winnowing are done mostly by hand. In every mountain \illage in Jai)an may be found rice mills operated by one-man power, pounding the grain with a stone or wooden pestle, and a one-woman ])ower at a crude fanning mill cleans the grain of the hulls. Contrast this with our modern rice mill which is an automaton of complicated machinery, into which the 78 Industrial-Commercial Geography rough grain passes and finally appears, ready for market, graded, sacked and weighed, at the rate of 20,000 to 200,000 pounds per day. Rice Farming. — Rice, in the field or in the sheaf, somewhat resembles oats. h'rum ten to one hundred straws grow from a single seed and a single head con- tains from one hundred to four hundred grains. It is a water i)lant, but it does not grow in swamps. The rice farm must l)e high and smooth, though not necessarily Courtesy Cotton Belt Route A FIELD OF RICE— LOUISIANA absolutely lc\el. It nuist be well drained or susceptil)le of perfect drainage. A shallow soil with clay sub-soil is also very desirable, in order that the water may l)e held at an even dei^th o\er the entire field. A\'hen the land is not perfectly level the field is sub-divided into "cuts" or smaller fields of from ten to twenty-five acres each, and vnch field is then leveled so that the water may stand at al)out the same de])th o\er each cut. Around OF THE United States 79 each cut, levees are 1)uilt to hold a supply of water when needed. The levee lines are usually staked out to give a fall of from three to five inches from levee to levee. The work of constructing- levees is generally done after the seed is sown, and recjuires little time. Water is not used until the rice is six or eight inches high. In some sections the A\ater supply is obtained from the streams, thnmgh canals, hut in most cases the farmer operates his own well and pum])iug plant. Sometimes pumping- companies water many farms from one plant and charge the farn-icr one-fifth of the crop for water. A well, fitted with an eight-inch centrifugal pump, will throw a stream of water sufficient for a 160-acre field. Soil Culture For Rice. — In preparing the soil for planting rice the same methods are followed as for wheat or oats. The ground is plowed with an ordinary sulky or gang plow and pulverized with a disc harrow. The seed is then drilled with a press drill. About one-third of a barrel of rice seed is rccjuired to plant an acre. The sowing time is from March to May — the earlier the bet- ter. When the rice stalk is from six to eight inches high the water is turned on and kept at a depth of from four to six inches for sixty or seventy days. Some farmers think it best to drain their fields for a few hours, perhaps for a day, about four times during the growing season. This gives the sun a chance to warm the roots and per- mits of a supply of fresh water over the entire field. When the rice is headed out, and the golden tint begins to supplant the green in the stem and blade, har- vest time is near at hand. The flood gates are thrown open and the field is thoroughly drained. The beautiful golden grain is then harvested with self-binders and shocked and stacked exactly like wheat and oats. 1lie threshing is done in the same manner, but that machine leaves the "grain in the hull" called "paddy" and is sim- ilar to threshed oats. 8o Industrial-Commercial Geography The rice is now sacked and sent to the rice mill, where, by a special milling- process, the hull is removed and the pearly grain made ready for table use. 'i'his last process is unnecessary, but the American rice-buying public is guided almost entirely by looks when making retail ])urchases. The rice is put through a ])()lishing process and coated with ]:)araffine and talcum j^owder. Chemical analysis shows that it therel)y loses eleven per cent, in proteids and sixty-five per cent, in fat. If Amer- ican users could learn what the Orientals have known Courtesy Cotton Belt Route CUTTING RICE WITH SELF-BINDERS for centuries, that the best rice does not glisten but has a dull, ])owdered appearance, then the first stej) would ha\e been taken toward the rational use, in this countrv, of one of the greatest of all foods. The area suscei)til)le of actual cultixation in rice in the United States is a])pro.\imatcly 1,250,000 acres. The present area in culti\ atif m, 450,000 acres, jiroduces about one-half of the amount of rice we consume. ( )ur rate of consinn])tion is iucreasiug 20,000,000 ])ounds ])er \-ear, vvhitdi would indicate that it will be se\'eral \ears before we pro(luce euough rice to supply e\en otn- home de- OF THE UnITKD StATES 8 I mand. The industry has assumed greatest proportions in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and other Southern states. FOR RESEARCH 1. Wliy is intensi\"e farming' so extensively prac- tised in japan and China? 2. What are the principal differences in the methods used in planting and cultivating rice in this country and in Oriental countries? ^^5^^(^^^ ;,^t:.:-^..., -..JH^.. Conrtcsv Mo. Pac. Rv. THRESHING RICE 3. Why are the lowlands of the Southern states particularly adapted to the growing of rice? 4. W'ould American methods be practical in China and Japan? Is there any possibility that they will ever be adopted ? 5. What effort has been made to introduce Amer- ican harvesting machinery into these countries? 6. Obtain samples of head rice, oats, barley, rye and wheat and compare them. Which of these thresh out clean and wdiich retain the husk like rice? 7. What is paddy? How is it treated in Oriental CI lUiUries? 8. ^\'hat is the \alue of rice as a foodstuff? 9. On a map of the world, locate the principal rice- producing countries. 82 InDUSTRIAL-CoM MERCIAL GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER X THE GRAIN MARKET The outlet for the farmer's surplus grain is found chiefly through the grain dealer, who operates an ele- vator, and who represents what is commonly known as the local market. This market is operated upon grain Courtesy International Harz-estcr Co. THRESHING WHEAT WITH FLAILS cjuutations from the Board of Trade of the City of Chi- cago. The statement is frc(|uently made that the specu- lative market has much to do in regulating- values. While it may be that this market docs influence values, in a way, the most potent factnr in determining values is the law of Supply and Jh'iiuind. Many attempts ha\c been made to oxerthrow the power of this law, but, even though artificial values have l)eeu made and maintained for a time, prices have always sought the old level. It is, therefore, very essential for the ])roducer to have an OF THI-: United States 83 intelligent knowledge of crop statistics and understand some of the reasonably reliable methods for determining values in this remarkable branch of commerce, which has grown to such gigantic proportions that scarcely any one can fully comprehend them. The chief grain crops of this country fix rates of interest, determine, largely, rates of transportation, meas- ure the extent of credits gi\en l:)y merchants and bankers and place a proper value upon all kinds of collateral. Chicago is the great central market, the grain clearing- house of the world. Behind the manipulations of the market of this city are the grain crops of the entire ^^^^^^iiflii_!^ our surplus farm crops. ( )f course sales are identitied with the speculative market, but in this, as in all other lines of l)usiness, it is very difficult to draw the line between legitimate business risks and speculation. The fact that men take advantage of these forms of trading is evidence of its similarity to most other forms of business, and it must be ex])ected that it may be abused. "Bucket-shop- ])ing"' is a form of alleged trading that is purely a gam- bling proposition. Such transactions are simply bets that the market will fluctuate one way or the other, and the bets are placed in the hands of scalpers who pretend to register them by telegraph upon Board of Tra'de quotations. The keepers undertake to execute their deals, charging a commission of 25 per cent., wdiich must be paid, no matter which w^ay the market fluctuates. It is well for the uninitiated to remember that the Board of Trade does not buy, neither does it sell, nor make the price, for either buyer or seller, upon any commodity whatever. It simply maintains an exchange hall and enacts a code of rules go\erning the action of its members. The indii'ithnil members, trading upon the ex- change, fix all prices. In addition to the "cash" market for grain and pro- visions the Board ])ro\ides a market for "future deliv- ery" of all such ])ro(lucts. The grain dealer bases his prices to the producer upon market ([notations, allowing for his profit and the freight. Suppose he buys 5,000 ])ushels of wheat to-day; he will then wire his commis- sion merchant to sell, upon the Board, 5,000 bushels, wdiich he is buying. He may advise selling for "im- mediate shipment" which allows him three business days in which to deliver the wheat upon the Chicago market. "Quick shipment" allows him live business days, "prompt shipment" allows; him ten business days. Should the wheat be damp or not fit for shipment he may sell for 86 Industrial-Com mercial Geography "June" delivery, store the wheat until then, when the order may be filled. The Board, therefore, affords him a market for his wheat that is ready to sell, and, like- wise, provides a market af oiicc for grain that it is more desirable to hold until June, July or some other months. This plan also eliminates the risk that would otherwise be encountered while the grain is in transit, and affords a market for the buyer as soon as he purchases from the farmer. Therefore, "cash" trades and "futures" are ■nil': i'diirtcsy Chicai/o Bd. of Tnuic 'IT," CMIKACO— WORLD'S CKEATEST MARKF/I' closely identified with our e\ery-day markets. Instead of "futures" proving a spcculatix'c form of trading for the grain dealer, it is just the oi)pt)sitc, he sells futures to avoid speculating" on the market. A large percentag'e of the wheat sohl b}- tlie farmers goes direct to the mills. These arc located in ahnosi every town and city, the greatest mills in ilir world, and the cenlvr of the milling imlu>lr\ bring at Minneapolis. These nulls arc u>uall\ on iln' ni;ivkct for wlu'.-it, and a OF THE United States 87 supply sufficient to run them throughout the year neces- sitates a large investment during the summer months. They do not need all of the wheat at once, but they must take it when the farmers are ready to sell, or it will go to the grain dealer. In self-defense, we will suppose a miller buys 50,000 bushels of wheat and pays for it. He can grind but 500 bushels per day, l)ut he feels that he must buy and save the freight that he would have to stand, should the wheat be shipped away and back again. If the price is 80C. it costs him $40,000. If the market should decline two cents per bushel the miller's loss would be $1,000. In order to protect himself against a declining- market he sells "futures" upon the Chicago Board of Trade to the extent of 50,000 bushels. "Future" trading is always dune in lots of 5,000 bushels which facilitates trading. He, therefore, sells ten "lots" of wheat for delivery any month in the future he may select. The $1,000 loss that he might sustain on the wheat that he holds is "hedged" by the gain he would make on the "futures" that he has sold. The "future" market is nearly always in sympathy with the "cash" market. Should the future market ad- vance 2c., the miller would profit $1,000 on the cash wheat that he holds, but he would lose the same amount on the "future" that he his sold. If he has ground part of the wheat into flour that is unsold, the protection ex- ists, just the same, as the quotations on wheat and flour are always sympathetic. Instead of the miller speculat- ing upon the Board of Trade, he has simply insured himself against the fluctuations of the market. Selling "futures" may be likened to the dairyman's contract to supply milk during" the entire year, his tickets corresponding to the grain dealer's warehouse receipts. Neither can have the entire quantity on hand at any one time, and the purchaser would not know what to do with it if he had it, but each will secure the quantity needed frum time to time to fill the contract. 88 Industrial-Commercial Geography A^'isitors watching operations in the "Pit" at Chicago usually fail to detect definite business transactions amid such turmoil, but the trader sees the fierce determina- tion of the "bulls" to sell at the highest price or of the "bears" to buy at the lowest. Speech is not onlv im- possible, but an attempt to speak is useless, although the brokers produce the ceaseless din by calling out their bids as loudly as possible. The sign trading of the "pit" is \ery simple. \\"hen a buyer signals that he will take Photograph by L. C. Rusinisci "THE CONSUMER" "50 wheat at 90," he means 50,000 bushels of wheat at 90c. The seller, in rei)ly, holds his right hand with the index finger extended horizontally which means that he wants (joysc The buyer signals back "^." The two traders note the transaction on their cards, and, after leaving the pit. meet and check the operation. The clenched fist represents the ])rice in e\en cents, each finger representing one-eighth up to live-eighths. The extended hand with the fingers close together means three-fourths, and the thuml), only, sij^nals seven-eighths. OF THK Umtki) States 89 The whole hand displayed vertically means 25,000 bushels, eaeh finger counting 5,000 bushels. During' business hours the excitement is intense, es- pecially when some speculator is trying to "corner" the market. At such a time, should you enter the main hall of the hLxchange lluilding, the situation will seem tragic in the extreme, the noise is deafening, and you will a])- ])reciate the descri])tion b}' I' rank Xorris, in his book, "Idle I 'it," which is a very interesting bit of liction. "What do we know of that other existence of these men of the "p'^' ^vhich the}- ])ass through while trading is at its best? The gentle-mannered fellow, clear-minded, clean-handed, of the breakfast or dinner table was one man, the other, whf) and what was he? Down there in the dust and din of Chicago's great business district raged the liattle of the Pit, and therein he was being transformed, case-hardened, supremely selfish, asking no (|uarler; no, nor giving any. Fouled with the clutchings and grapplings of the attack, besmirched with the elbow- ings of associates and allies, he set his feet towards con- quest, and mingled with the marchings of an army that surged forever forward and back; now in merciless as- sault, beating the fallen enemy under foot, now in re- pulse, eiiuall}- merciless, tram])ling down the auxiliaries of the day before, in a panic dash for safety, always sel- fish, always pitiless." While this great drama of busi- ness may not a])])eal to all in exactly the same light, it is clear that the "I'it" is no place for sentiment and the shrewdest are the most successful. FOR RESEARCH 1. How has Chicago become the center of the grain trade in this country? 2. What are the current prices of wheat, C(jrn, oats, and barle_\- today ? 3. What is meant by: No. i red? A corner? "Hulls" and "iJears"? ITitures? Margin? A ticker? 90 Industrial-Commercial Geography 4. How is membership on the Chicago Board of Trade regulated? A\'hat other products arc sold there besides grains? 5. What is a "bucket shop"? Describe its opera- tions. Is such trading legal? 6. Describe a Avarehouse receipt? What is its value at a bank? 7. lias any one ever "cornered" the grain market? Describe some recent attempts. 8. \\'hich is worth the most upon the market, hard wheat or soft wheat, of the same grade? 9. How does the grain market affect the live stock market? 10. \\ hat circumstances might cause a flurry in the grain market? How is it influenced by the encroach- ment of insect pests, rust, dry or wet seasons? II. What is meant b}- l)uying "shorts"? 12. Write the Secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade for any information you may desire. OF THE United .States 91 CHAPTER XI THE PRODUCTION AND MANU- FACTURE OF SUGAR The history of the sugar industry is one of the most interesting chapters in the development of our resources. For centuries sugar was regarded as a luxury, but it is Courtesy M., K. & T. Ry. Co. A FIELD OF SUGAR CANE now considered a necessity. The Jesuits first introduced sugar into Louisiana in 175 r, but it was not until 1795, when Etienne de llore de\'eloped an improved method of extraction, that it became a merchantable article. In those days tlie mills were driven by horse or cattle power, but dc Bore's success attracted additional capital to be used in de\'eloping' the new industry. Steam mills were introduced, and from that time the progress of the in- dustry was rapid. Cuba and the West India islands are better adapted for the growing of sugar cane than any 92 Industrial-Commercial Geography oUier part of the world. Each year the United States consumes about 3,643,000 tons of sugar. Of this amount about 390,000 tons come from the Louisiana and Texas cane fields, 500,000 tons from American Ijeet sugar fields, 700,000 tons from our island possessions, and the balance from Cuba and foreign countries. Consumption of Sugar. — The general consumption of sugar in the United States grows faster than that of any other product, doubling about every twenty years. ( )n the average, every man, woman and child uses, in some form, eighty-two pounds of sugar per year, which is a greater consumption, per capita, than in any other coun- try except England. Planting Sugar. — The ground is prepared for plant- ing sugar cane as for any other product, and the cuttings (sections of the stalk containing a joint) are planted in rows about six feet apart. As it is a perennial plant it does not require frequent planting, some of the fields yielding well for from five to fifteen years. The stalks grow from three to twehe feet high and o\-er an inch in diameter, long slender lea\es growing profusely from the bamboo-like joints. The ripening season is in the early spring and the mills run night and day to care for all the croji Ijefore the rainy season interferes. Harvesting Sugar. — The cane is cut close to the top of the ground with a machete and hauled to the mills in large carts drawn by oxen. There it is placed in a great trough, in the bottom of which is an endless chain which carries it thrcnigh the crusher, and the juice falls into the receivers below. The crushed cane is called bagarjo and is dried for fuel. From the receiving tanks the green juice runs into vats called defecators, where it is heated by steam from the engine. Tlii-- first heating causes a dark scum to rise to the to]), wlicre it is skimmed off. .After passing through a series of these defecators, the juice enters a train of caldrons — deep copper \als well OF THE United States 93 heated. When the juice, which is now syrup, reaches the last caldron it l)ecomes crystallized, and runs into smaller pans called coolers. It now looks vcvv lirown, almost black, and is called raw sugar. Jt is ne.xt put into hogsheads, in the ends of which are several round holes. These hogsheads are stood on end over citpper receivers, which catch all the drippings. These drippings are the molasses of c- of geography by locating the areas of pro- duction in all parts of the world, considering the con- Court csy So. Pacific Ry. Co. SUGAR REFINERY— CALIFORNIA ditions existing there and facilities necessary to deliver the prcjduct to the door of the consumer. FOR RESEARCH I. AA'liat parts of the United States are best adapted for beet sugar production? Vor the production of sugar cane? Tint these sections upon an outline map. Also shade the sections where maple sugar is produced. 98 Industrial-Commercial Geography 2. Contrast conditions existing upon sugar plan- tations in this country and in Cuba and the Philippines. 3. The most important refineries are at Brooklyn, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, New Or- leans and San Francisco. Give reasons for their location. Indicate their location upon your map and draw lines to represent the railroad or steamship lines used to trans- port the raw product. 4. The average consumption of sugar, per capita, in this country is about seventy-five pounds. How much would ninety million people use in a year? AAHiat would it be worth at five cents per pound? 5. A\'hy do the prices of sugar and tin plate rise and fall together? At what season of the year are they highest? Why? 6. What efifect has the introduction of the sugar beet into this country had ui)on tlie sugar market? Of what country is the sugar beet a native? AMiat is its general appearance? 7. Obtain specimens of gramdated and lirown sugars, of dififerent grades, and examine them under a magnifying glass? \\'h\- can one merchant sell more ])i)iin(ls of granulated sugar for a dollar than another? 8. Learn the difference Ijctween hard and soft maple trees? When is maple syrup or sugar made? Why has ihc price of these ])roducts advanced within recent years? 9. How does corn sugar or syrup compare in (piality with that obtained from sugar cane or the beet? What railroad line would carry a shipment of corn s}rup from Chicago to a candy factory at Cincinnati? TO. What railroad lines would carry a shipment of beet sugar from Garden City, Kansas, to Butte, ^Montana? A shipment of cane sugar from New Orleans to Chicago? OF TTTR United States 99 CHAPTER XII COFFEE, TEA AND COCOA Wliilc the coffee plant does not grow in the United States, and its production is not a North American in- dustry, our people are the greatest coft'ee drinkers in the world, annually importing more than one billion pounds, or an average of over eleven pounds per capita. Ger- many is our nearest rival, using six pounds per capita, while the people of the British Empire each use less than one pound, as they are the greatest users of tea in the world. In Australia the per-capita consumption of tea is eight pounds, while in Great Britain and Can- ada the average is over six pounds. All beverages derived from plants owe their popu- larity to their stimulating effects. In coff'ee this prin- ciple is called caifcin, in tea it is called taiiiiiii. The coffee plant is probably a native of Abyssinia, and its culture was confined to Arabia until about the eighteenth century, when it was introduced into the Dutch East Indies. It is now cultivated in all tropical countries, chief among these being Africa, Madagascar, Ceylon, India, Brazil, Venezuela, Central America, the West Indies and Mexico. The coft'ee of commerce is the seed of a berry grown u])()n a small tree. In its native state the tree may be- come forty feet high, but the groves are generally pruned down to about eight feet in height, for convenience in picking. The trees arc usually planted in rows, about eight feet apart, in each direction. The most famous coffees have always come frnm Mocha, Java and Suma- tra, although about half of all the coft'ee used in the world comes from South America. lOO Industrial-Commercial Geography The trees begin to bear when three or four years old, and at seven they are in full bearin"-, each tree yielding- from three to four pounds. The tree has a profusion of dark green leaves, the fruit, or berry, being much like our cherry, in appearance. The berries, when ripe, are dark red in color, the pulp consisting of five different parts covering the two beans, or seeds, which lie within, face to face. If there is only one bean it is Courtesy Gcriitan-Atncrican Coffee Co. COl'FKK ■VWV.V. IN lil'.AKIXi; round, and is called a ■'peal)frry."' Miicha coffees are peaberries. Kinds of Coffee. — In I'ra/il tln' ])ickiiig season l)e- gins in ^April or May. and continues until September. In Java the ])icking begins in January, and continues lor three or four moiUhs. Tlu- dirfercnt \arieties deri\e tluir names from the countries whert' tlu'\' are grown, or OF THE United States lOI from the ports from which they are shipped. Brazilian coffees are commercially known as Rio, as they are shipped from Rio de Janeiro. Most Venezuelan coffees are called Maracaibo, although there are many varieties. Most of the East Indian product is known as Jdva, whether it came from the Island of Java or not, and like that shipped from Central America is known as Costa Rica. Coffee improves with age, and it was formerly the custom of the Government to keep the better grades in -'-.h^- . ...^ Courtesy Gerinan-Aincrican Coffee Co. coffee roasters in operation storage for years in Java, which gives us the term "(31d Government Ja\a." This plan is seldom practised at the present time. Preparing Coffee for Market. — After the berries are picked they are prepared for the market by "pulping." One way is to dry the berries and then remove the pulp in a huller. \\y the other method the skin and pulp are removed by being macerated and washed, after which the beans are dried in the sun. The former method is the I02 Industriat-Commercial Geography oldest and most used. After the pulp is removed the cofifee is sacked and placed upon the market, good, bad and indifferent, all together. At the coft'ee plants in this country the beans are first passed through a grader, which separates them as to size. The rarest and most ex- pensive coffees are sorted by hand on the plantation, but little of these grades ever reaches this country. Their sale is usually controlled by the governments of the countries where grown. The most essential process in the production of a cup of coffee is the roasting. The best coffee, poorly roasted, is not as good as the poorest well roasted. This is done in large revolving ovens, the grains being con- tinually in motion, and this process requires the atten- tion of an expert. At the proper moment these ovens are emptied into larger pans, with perforated bottoms, and cooled almost instantly by suction, which is an es- sential point, otherwise the flavor might be ruined. Most of the coffee in the market is blended by mixing, scientifically, several kinds, to produce different flavors. Coffee does not retain its flavor long after roasting, un- less kept in air-tight receptacles. While many of the finer grades of coffee are handled through the London market, Hamburg is the world's central market for high-grade coffees, most of the prod- uct of all of the districts passing tlirdugh the hands of the German brokers. The choicest grades are sold to the European trade, which pays a much higher price than the New York market. Tea. — Tea is the cheapest bexerage known, costing only one cent for five cups, at fifty cents per pound. Tea is the only beverage guaranteed to be pure by the Gov- ernment, as the law excludes all adulterated teas. Tlie tea jilant is a perennial, but onl}^ the tender, green leaves are picked. The great tea districts of the world arc- in (liina. Japan, India and Ceylon. The two general \arieties upon the market are called green and OF THE United States lO- black. Green teas are i;n)\vn, ])rincipally, in the North- ern part of China, and their chief market is Shanghai. They are known as: Gunpowders, Imperials, Young- Hysons, and Hysons, according- to the shape the leaves take in the process of firing. They may all come from the same plant. The flavors differ radically, according to the districts from which they come. Preparing Tea for Market. — When the leaves be- come wilted, after |)icking, they are rolled by hand into little Ijalls and dried rai)idl_\' over ovens, coloring mat- Coiiytcsy Hnijibiiyg-A iiicr. Line A JAPANESE TEA I'ARTV ter sometimes being supplied to give them a handsome appearance. The greatest consumption of green teas in this country is in the Middle States or Mississippi Valley. The most popular teas in England, the greatest tea- drinking country in the world, are what are known as black teas. The four leading varieties are : Congous, Indias, Ceylons and Oolongs. The first three of these are fermented teas. These are first exposed to the air, after picking, until fermentation takes place, which 104 Industrial-Commercial Geography causes them to have, after firing, a malty, heavy flavor. There are over seven hundred tea estates in India, and the same number in Ceylon, the product of each having a peculiar flavor, or "bouquet." All of these flavors are readily recognized by experts. To these, add the thou- sands of varieties from China and Japan, and imagine the task of the taster, whose expert training enables him to pass judgment upon any of them. Many of these men are able to name any tea, and tell from what lo- cality it came, by tasting it. Tea is successfully grown in South Carolina, Texas and other Southern States. It is not probable, however, that the industry will ever assume proportions worthy of much notice, in this country, as the cost of labor for picking and curing is so high, comparatively, that we can never compete with Oriental countries. ' Cocoa and Chocolate. — Chocolate and cocoa differ from tea and coffee as beverages, from the fact that they are not merely stimulants, but foods as well, as they con- tain a large per cent, of vegetable oil. The cacao tree is a tropical product, being found in South America, the West India Islands and Central America. The trees produce best when grown under the shade of other trees. The seeds of the tree are enclosed in pods, measuring from eight to twelve inches in length and half as much in diameter. Each of these pods are tilled with closely packed beans or seeds, about three dozen in number. The natives pick the pods from the trees by use of long poles, with hooked knives on the end, and, after gath- ering them from the ground, the pods are broken open and the seeds removed. These must then be dried on platforms arranged for the purpose. Like the tea and coffee plants, the cacao tree is an evergreen. The cocoa beans are ])]ace(l iii)()n the market in their raw state. At the mills they arc scientifically roasted, and, when thoroughly pulverized, form the chocolate of commerce. If, before grinding, cocoa is desired, the OF THE United States 105 beans are subjected to qrcat pressure, by which about half of their weis;ht is removed as cocoa oil or butter, largely used as a cosmetic and for other purposes. Then the solid substance remaining-, when ground into powder, is called cocoa. The difference, therefore, between chocolate and cocoa, as beverages, is that the latter con- tains much less of the oil. Courtesy Walter Baker Co. COCOA I'OUS AND LEAVES Chocolate and cocoa were first manufactured in this country in 1765, near Dorchester, Massachusetts. Like all other articles of commerce, chocolate and cocoa are sometimes adulterated by the addition of other sub- stances, or by the use of inferior beans, ground hulls or other ingredients. io6 Industrial-Commercial Geography Where Cocoa Comes From. — The greatest part of the cocoa product comes from Ecuador, Guayaquil be- ing the world's chief market; however, the finest product comes from \ enezuela and Brazil. Spain, Portugal and France are the chief consumers, the per-capita use in Spain being about six times as great as in any other coun- try. The United States annually consumes about sixty- five million pounds of cocoa, princi])ally in the manu- facture of confectionery. Coffee, tea and cocoa, are all wholesome drinks, and cannot harm any one when proi)erly prepared and used in moderation. However, too little study and care is generally given to this simple process, and, oftentimes, as much courage is rec|uired to partake of one's favorite beverage, as was possessed by the first man who ate an oyster ! FOR RESEARCH 1. Trace the route of a cargo of coffee from Rio de Janeiro to New York. From the City of Mexico, over- land, to Chicago. 2. Obtain samples of dried coffee berries, coffee in the parchment, also some specimens of Mocha, Java, Sumatra, Rio, Maracaibo, and Liberian coft'ees for ex- aminations. What differences can you detect? 3. Why were strong efforts made to discourage the use of coffee when it was first introduced? 4. ^\'hat can ynu learn of the efforts made to close the coffee-houses in London, Constanlin()[)le and other cities? 5. Read the history of the tea-houses of London and other cities. W hy has tea-drinking al\va\-s been popular with the h-nglish? OF THE UnITKD StATES 1 O/ 6. Trace a shipment of tea from Hong- Kong" to London, by water. How would the same be shipped I'ia the United States? Why is the latter route more economical ? /. Obtain samples of several varieties of both green and black teas. Moisten and unroll the leaves and note the difference. If possible, visit a wholesale grocery house, where you may test the leading varieties of coffee and tea in the cup. 8. What are some of the suljstitutes for tea and coffee? Where is mate tea grown? (). On a map of the world, locate the Russian "cara- van" route to luirope. W'herc may tea shipped by this route reach the I'rans-Siberian Railway? This is a \er_\' expensive method of shipping tea to Europe. Why is it used? io8 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XIII COTTON IS KING "The rose has a thousand lovers, because Of her delicate grace and perfume, But lovers, for sturdier reasons, give Their hearts to the Cotton bloom. It grows in a dazzling, ample land, Of measureless breadth and room — And the wealth of the splendid tropical sun Dowers this Cotton bloom. ■HH^^^^^VpH^^^p^- '^C, tSBHnI >;«r*- E^'^l yS 9. Courtesy Mo. Pac. Ry. Co. PICKING COTTON BY HAND And Capital keeps his eyes on the field, \\ bile he hears the hum of the loom. And his anxious visage glows and pales At the nod of the Cotton bloom." • — Hovv.xKD W'eeden. The cotton plant is a small slirul), from two to four feet in height, with very extensive brandies. The leaves are a dark f^reen and the blossoms are pale yellow at first but ttirn pur])le when fidly developed. In their ])lace _i4row the tiny bolls whicli develop until the size of a small egi;" and wliicli, when ripe, open into several com- partments which hold the seed and lint. OF THE United States log Cotton Planting. — Cotton is planted about the first of March in the southern belt of the United States, and as late as April 20th farther north. F^lowini;" should begin as soon as possible in the Spring, in order to have a perfect seed-JK-d. The day of the small cotton j)lanter is practically past ; occasionally a negro "mammy," with her primitixe methods, plows a few acres to support an indolent husband, l)ut modern machinery has in\aded the South and farming is there receiving as much attention C "in u .y\ /■ / ;ji t' System ••WEIGH ING UP" COTTON AT SUNDOWN as in the northern states. The ground is being restored to its full capacity by the use of fertilizer and crop rota- tion, and the results are all that could be expected. A good day's work was one acre, when cotton was planted with a hoe, but now with a mule and a planter a man can plant six times as much. W'c do not have a machine that will drop the linty seed with any degree of regularity, which necessitates dropping it entirely too thick, and when the stand is safe, the extra plants are chopped out with a hoe. no Industrial-Commercial Gkocrathy When the tender plants are about four inches high they are ready for the first ])l()\ving'. Idie old-time single shovel-plow has been superseded by a cultivator which takes care of both sides of a row at the same time, making three furrows on each side. This process is repeated about as often as corn is cultivated farther north. At first cotton grows slowly, as it is a tender plant. It re- quires a long growing season aiifl a frost, later than .April Courtesy Campbell Cotton Picker Co. THE CAMPBELL COTTON PICKER first or earlier than November first, is likeh' to be dis- astrous. A well-distributed rainfall is essential during the growing season and a long dry season is desirable while the crop is ripening. The Cotton Belt. — Cotton is grown to some extent in many tropical countries, but eleven of our southern states furnish over three-fourths of the world's supply, and, perhaps, will always ccjutinue to do so. However, OF THE United States iii we allow other nations to rob us of a great part of the profit, for we do not lead in cotton manufacturing". The use of cotton is as old as history, for it was grown upon a small scale in the earliest known settle- ments. Egypt and India cultivated cotton long before this country was settled. Cotton is the most indis- pensable plant in the vegetable kingdom, because it has no substitute. The proceeds from one year's crop will more than bu}- all others, combined. All the gold that has been mined for tlie ]:>ast five years would scarcely pay for the cotton which the South sent abroad last year, and much more would be required to purchase the for- eign-made goods that are annually returned to us. The Use of Cotton Universal. — You arose this morn- ing from a cotton bed, stepped upon a cotton rug, dressed in cotton, raised a cotton window-shade, used soap made from cotton oil, and dried your face upon a cotton towel. You ate biscuits shortened with cotton oil, and your steak was fattened upon cotton-seed. Your olive oil possibly was first shipped to Italy, then returned with a title. Your butter may have been largely a cotton product. The South was so much impoverished by the Civil War, and so many changes took place, that the cotton industry was for a time paralyzed. The planters began again by leasing out their land to negroes, requiring them to plant cotton only. The merchants would sell these tenants' supplies, taking a lien upon their crops as se- curity. Usually, when the crop was gathered and settle- ment was made with the merchant and landlord, the tenant was in debt sufficiently to insure his farming the land for several years in succession. It was a common expression upon the plantations at that time : "Naught's a naught — figger's a figger. All for the white man, none for the nigger." But these methods seldom exist at the present time ; many of the negroes have become land owners them- selves, and the large plantations have been divided into 112 Industrial-Commercial Geography smaller farms, and such fields as are now grown, as the result of practical farming, would astonish the planters of ante-bellum days. The public has always pictured the negro, the mule and the cotton field together, and most books show these "Cotton-tots" laboring with the fleecy staple. It may surprise many to know that hundreds of thousands of white people raise cotton without the help of the negroes at all, and thousands rif others only call them in during Courtesy Continental Gin Co. A MODERN COTTON {;iN HOUSE the busy season. Cotton i)ickcrs pick by weight, receiv- ing about fifty cents per hundred pounds. Each worker has a pile at the end of the field and these ])iles are weighed at sundown and each i)ickcr is ])aid in money. They will not wait until the end of the week, and the end of the inoiitli is out of the question. The negroes pick in baskets, which they push ahead of them on the ground, while the white jjickers use long sacks thrown around the shoulders. OF THE United States 113 Tlie picking season begins about the first of August and lasts from ninety to one hundred days. The average yield is about half a bale per acre, while under good conditions as much as three bales have been grown on one acre. The problem oi the cotton planter, like that of the grain farmer farther north, is to increase the pro- duction. This is being accomplished by better plowing, better fertilizing, better seed selection, and better culti- vation. Most of our cotton crop is picked today just as it was gathered a thousand years ago, although every other crop has some labor-saving machine for harvesting. Fifty years were required to perfect the wheat harvester, but that was simple on account of the nature of the crop. The cotton picker must be able to pick the open bolls, at whatever height thev may grow, and it must distin- guish betw^een ripe and unripe bolls, for the crop does not all ripen at the same time, and the field must be gone over three or lour times at intervals of, perhaps, three weeks. The great hope (^f the country has been that some machine may be invented that will lessen the cost of picking, and it seems that the hope has been realized. The Campbell Cotton Picker was first demonstrated before the pulilic in 1910. It resembles a large motor- truck and, as it dri^•cs thrcjugh the field, picks the open bolls by suction, seemingly being able to distinguish be- tween the ripe and unripe bolls. This machine will do the work of lhirt\- men and it is expected that it will revo- lutionize the industry. Preparing Cotton for Shipment. — I'otton gins are located at almost e\er}- railroad station throughout the cotton belt. The planters haul their cotton to these in an open wagon-box. Suction tubes unload the wagons (|uickl}- and. in a short time, the l)ales are ready to be loaded and hauled l)ack to ihe farm or to market. Whitney's gin has been much improved, yet remains the same in ])rinciple. It consists of a series of fme- 114 Industrial-Commercial Geography toothed circular saws, a1)(Uit three-fourths of an incli apart, revolving- through slits in a steel table. The teeth pull the cotton through the slits and the seed is carried off the other way. It would lake a man two years to pick enough cotton by hand to make a bale, while a gin will turn out fifty or more bales in a day. Bales are cared for just as we care for wheat and corn in the North — held until the market suits, or piled at the railroad sta- tions until they can be hauled away. Cotton is usually sold through an agent, called a factor. His commission is usually one dollar per bale. A square bale is usually about three by three by four feet in size, and weighs four Courtesy Continental Gin Co. ENTIRE TRAIN-LOAD OF COTTON liundred pounds. A\'hen cotton is to be shipped any great distance it is usually compressed into cylindrical bales, eighteen inches in diameter and four feet long. In either case they are covered with burla]) and secured ])y iron bands. The Use of the Cotton Seed. — For a hundred years the greatest waste ever known to any industry resulted from not using the cotton seed. At the time of the Civil W'dr laws were in effect retiuiring gins tcj be built over OF THE United States 115 water, that the seed might be washed away, or it must be I)uried or burned that it might not rot and become a nuisance. Now the seed is worth one-fifth as much as the cotton itself. It is even claimed that cotton would be a profitable crop if raised for the seed alone. Some planters haul the seed back to the farm, where it is valu- able as stock food or fertilizer, or it may be sold to the oil mills for about twenty dollars per ton. There it is converted into cotton-seed meal, oil and hulls. A ton of seed contains 900 pounds of hulls and 700 pounds of meal, which is one of the very best fat-producing foods on the market for cattle. A ton of seed also produces forty gallons of "summer yellow," which when refined may be manufactured into salad oil, cottolene, compound lard, soaps and oleomargarine. Cotton Shipping Centers. — Gah'eston and New Or- leans are the great cotton markets of this country and the total value of shipping from these ports ranks next to that of New York. Vessels from many foreign coun- tries receive cargoes there, which are distributed to every part of the world. Where modern methods of transpor- tation pause, primitive carriers take up the burden. Under the midnight sun, dogs draw sleds laden with cot- ton goods, and pack trains carry the product of European mills across the Andes. The yak carries a load into Thibet and the Chinese junk carries cotton garments to the interior tribes. The elephants of India and camels of Egypt carry goods made from American cotton. It is almost inconceivable that this enormous trafific is pushed by countries that cannot raise the raw supply, and America, which does furnish it and makes possible this greatest commercial invasion in the world, makes the least profit from the industry. The first cotton raised in this country was made into threads upon the old-fashioned spinning-wheel, but its monotonous, melanch( >\y roar is seldom heard now. Our grandmothers spun the thread, wove the cloth on hand ii6 Industrial-Commercial Geography looms and dyed it to suit their fancy, after which they made garments for the household. The cotton industry of the United States was early established in New England, where there were present two natural conditions, a moist climate and an abundant and cheap water power. At present artificial means are used to moisten the air and cheaper power can be found elsewhere. Cotton manufacturing- is, therefore, taking place nearer the cotton fields. North and South Carolina have recently come to the front as cotton manufacturing states. Why? After the Civil Wav the South began to give the manufacturing- part of the industry some encourage- ment and, in recent years, the number of mills has in- creased materially, as water power is as plentiful there as in Massachusetts. Atlanta is now called the "Fall River of the South." The planter has been greatly bene- fited by having a market nearer home and the people have been benefited by having employment throughout the year. Only about one-third of our cotton is manu- factured in this country. The Exporting of Cotton. — There was a time when American packets carried our goods around the world, l)ut they have almost vanished from the seas. Our domestic commerce is more than double that of all other nations, but foreign vessels carry almost all of our ex- ports. If our American cotton could be manufactured at American mills and carried in American vessels, it would be a rich heritage, indeed. A crop that is worth more than all others combined, a monopoly of the one great crop of the world, for which there is no substitute. It is to be hoped that our mainifacture of cotton goods may grow, until the hum of our spindles will be heard as far as those of Juigland, and we can then export cot- ton goods instead of cotton bales. OF THE United States 117 Henry W. Grady tuld the story very concisely when he said : "What a royal plant cotton is! The world waits in attendance upon its growth ; the showers that fall whispering upon its leaves are heard around the earth ; the sun that shines on it is tempered by the prayers of all the people ; the frost that chills it and the dew that descends from the stars are noted, and the trespass of a little green worm upon its leaf is inore to England than the advance of a Russian army upon her Asiatic outposts. It is gold from the instant it puts forth its tiny shoots. Its fiber is current in every bank, and when, loosing its fleeces to the sun, it floats a sunny banner that glori- fies the fields of the humble planter, and wrings a subsidy from every nation on earth." FOR RESEARCH 1. What position does Manchester, England, occupy in the cotton trade? 2. What is the greatest foe of the cotton planter? What steps have been taken by the States and Nation to exterminate this pest? A\"ith what success? 3. What efl^ect have Watt's steam engine, Ark- wright's spinning frame, Hargreaves' spinning jenney and Wliitney's cotton gin had upon the industry? 4. Why were m()st of the textile mills first Ijuilt in the New England States? 5. What is a spinning "jenney"? How many spin- dles are there u])on one? 6. 0])tain some cotton seed from the Department of Agriculture, or elsewhere, and grow some plants for examination. 7. What countries besides the United States grow cotton? How does it compare in quality with our product? ii8 Industrial-Commercial Geography 8. AMiat is raw cotton worth upon the market to- day? What is the price of unbleached musHn? Why are these prices higher than they were ten years ago? 9. Make a map of the "Cotton States of America," and locate the principal markets and manufacturing centers. 10. Trace a shipment of cotton from Mobile to Japan, via the Panama Canal. What steamship line would probably carry the shipment? 11. AMiat line might carry cotton from Galveston to Manchester, England? Through what canal would it pass? 12. What laws have been enacted relating to child labor in the mills of this country? W^iy are they neces- sary? OF THE United States 119 CHAPTER XIV SHEEP AND WOOL Wool is the most important animal fiber we have, and it is the most valuable product of the sheep. It is finer than hair and its surface is covered with many overlapping projections which give it its felting property, and in this respect it dififers from any other fiber. Among the textile industries wool manufacturing is second onlv to that of cotton. The greatest wool market in this country is Boston. l)ut the center of manufacture is Philadelphia, while Lawrence, Mass., and Providence, R. I., are of next ini- l)ortance. In point of production the United States stands fourth, producing about eleven per cent, of the world's wool supply, but this order is reversed from a manufacturing standpoint, as we lead all nations by weaving twenty-six per cent, of the world's su])ply ; a striking contrast when compared with our manufacture of cotton cloth. Sheep Raising — Leading Countries. — The finest and softest wool is grown in arid plateau regions. The fibers are finer than silk, and the goods made from them are softer. The chief producing countries ' are Australia, Argentina, Russia, United States. Asia, New Zealand and Great Britain, although some sheep are produced in every civilized country. In the United States, while sheep are raised with profit in every state, the business is carried on upon the greatest scale in Cr)lorado, Mon- tana, Utah, A\'\(ming and Idaho, where there are vast areas of native grass which the herders appropriate to their use free of charge. In those states it is a rare I20 Industrial-Commercial Geography thing- for a ranchman to ever feed his sheep anything except the native grass. Varieties of Sheep. — There are many varieties of sheep, each particularly adapted to the locality where it is grown. There are the long- wool sheep, such as the Lincolns, Leicesters and Cotswolds which produce a Photograph by L. C. Rusiniscl A FLOCK OF TIIOKOT'CITr.RFDS coarse wool sometimes twenty inches long. The Shrop- shires, Downes, and Horned Dorsets are medinm-wooled sheep wlidse fibers are shdrter and finer, but most im- portant of all are the Aarious breeds of Merinos. The wool of these sheep is beautiful]}- \va\-}- and crim|)ed. The finest wool sometimes has thirty crimps to the incli, OF THE United States 121 and, it is claimed, that one pound may be spun into a thread one hundred miles loni^'. The Mission wools of California, and those used by the Navajo Indians in the manufacture of their beautiful blankets, are the product of Merino sheep. The coarsest wools are nearly straight and are untitted for general use, however, each is indis- pensable for some certain use. The rug wools grown in Persia, Turkey, and Asia vary in fineness, and, because they do not felt readily, they are the best in the world for rug stock. The "iMle" or surface of the rug remains elastic and stands upright. Courtesy American Woolen Co. OPENING AND SORTING THE BALES even after a hundred years of wear. This quality is due more to climatic conditions and food than to the species of sheep. In fact, any variety of sheep will produce a different quality of wool when removed from its natural environment. The great care given the sheep by the expert rug makers must alst) be considered. It is claimed that the Turks and Persians comb the sheep every day in order to keep the wool straight. In Russia, Asia Minor, China and Spain the sheep have undergone no im- provement and produce the longest and coarsest comlnng wools, which are used in carpet weaving. 122 IXDUSTRIAI -Com MERCIAL GEOGRAPHY The Carpet Industry. — The carpet industry forms one of the most important branches of wool manufacture in this country, due principally to several American in- ventions, the chief one being the adaptation of the power loam to the weaving of ingrain carpets, a power loom for the weaving of Jacquard Brussels and Wilton carpets and several machines for weaving Tapestry Brussels and Axminster carpets. The Preparation of Wool. — The wool of the sheep, as it grows, is saturated with a natural grease or oil Courtesy A. F. S. F. liy. Co. PRIMITIVE METHOD— NAVAJO RUG MAKER which causes it to shed water and prevents it from felting on the sheep's back. Wlirn the wool is sheared it does not tall apart like bunclics of hair, but holds together and each llcece is tied in a bundle separateh'. When the fleeces are opened at the mills they are spread out and sorted into many varieties or grades of wool, according to fineness and length of fiber. Each variety is then washed in hot sfiapsuds to remove the grease and dirt. '1 he grease is saved and refined into lanolin, used by OF THE United States 123 manufacturing chemists as a base. Sometimes the grease is manufactured into soap for use in washing more wool. When converting" the wool into yarn it must be carded by being passed through a machine which picks it to pieces and untangles the fibers, after which they are spun into threads by the "jenney" or "mule" and passed on to the loom room. If not more than three colors are desired the weaving is done on "Dobby" looms, but where any variety of colors and patterns of intricate design are desired the wonderful Jacquard loom does the work. This machine works from a perforated pattern resem- Coiirtcsy M., K. & T. Ry. Co. IN A MODERN WOOLEN MIEL bling, somewhat, the perforated music of the player- piano. In the manufacture of felt the wool is neither si)un nor woven, Init is simply tangled and pressed. Sheep Herding. — Sheep herds range in size from one thousand to one hundred thousand sheep, and are "run" or grazed in flocks ranging from one thousand to thirty-five hundred head. The lack of initiative spirit in sheep makes it possible for one man and a Collie dog to handle this number easilv, where fences and folds and 124 Industrial-Commercial Geography pasture limits are unknown. The small herds are gen- erally owned by the men who eare for them, the larger ones by companies that employ herders. A man starting in the business must first make sure of his watering places, as sheep must have water every three or four days during summer, unless there is heavy dew, in which case they can get along a week. In winter they will eat snow, wdiich enal:)]es the herder to pasture them over a wider range. The herder makes his home in the sheep wagon, wdiich is fitted up with a bunk, cooking utensils and a supply of provisions. This wagon he moves about from place to place as the pasture is exhausted. Sheep eat the grass into the very earth and it is at least two years before the same territory can be pastured over again. If a man prospers, and his herd increases, he may, in a few years, leave his wagon and make his home in a ranch house and later in a town residence. But many of the herders, often with their families, have followed their flocks in wagons for years. In the Northwest people catch the "sheep fever" just as they formerly caught the "gold fever" and many have made great fortunes, although it is estimated that about twenty per cent. fail. The large drovers may have as many as twenty herders, each with his three thousand sheep. These men get forty dollars per month and "keep." Every two or three weeks the camj) mover, who does nothing else, comes along and takes the herder's wagon to the top of another ridge where the forage is good, re-stocks the w^agon with sup]:)lies, and passes on to the next herder. No one ever molests supplies in a herder's wagon — it is one of the small confidences in humankind which survives in the West, and it is never betrayed. In summer the herder nuist rise early to get his sheep out before the dew is gone, in winter he must do likewise, because the days are short and the sheep need OF THE United States 125 all the feed the}- can <;et. Sliee]) are entire!}^ dependent upon the herder. They will not stir from the bedding ground until he rousts them out, or do anything for their own w^elfare unless drixen !)\- him. W hen they do act upon their own volition it is generally to their own de- struction. The herder's dogs are remarkably intelligent and well trained. One of them will do as much work with a herd of sheep as ten men could do. iliey will spread the C i'li ricsv A iiiL-ncn II 1 i A TACOUARD LOOM cii Co. Hock, turn the sheep, or bunch them, following the herd- er's orders so long as they can see or hear him. At evening the herd is ])rought l)ack near the wagon and bedded against a hillside, choosing the location with regard to the wind, which must blow over them and not against them, or they will stampede. AA'hen they lie down and become (|uiet the herder may go to his wagon, cook his supper and "turn in." In winter the sheep must be fed "against" the wind, for if they were started out 126 Industrial-Commercial Geography with it they would never come back. If the great prairie has not yielded enough feed for them they must return at night and wait for another day, to again tussle with wind and snow and hunger until starvation relieves them or spring comes. The rougher the weather the more essential it is that the sheep be driven out early, for there is nothing else for them but the dry grass which they snip when it is often thirty-live degrees below zero. And little better off is the herder than his sheep, for there he exists, day after day, never seeing a human being except the cam]) mover. Many of them become inveterate readers, but the illiterate ones do not have this consolation even, and they frequently lose their minds. In Australia laws have been enacted rec|uiring herd- ers to be sent out in pairs, thus relieving the terrible strain upon their minds. A\dien a man cannot read, and there is no one to whom he may talk, his "thought reel"" gets to whirling so rapidly that it muddles his brain. It is noticeable that most men \\ ho have been sheep herders on the great plains of the Northwest draw the upper lip back from the teeth, exposing them, rabbit fashion. This is a confirmed habit, perhaps due to the strong white light upon the vast stretches of prairie. Sheep Shearing. — Sheep shearing is to the wool in- dustr}- what harvesting is to wheat. Professional shear- ers start in Mexico early in the spring and work north, getting about four months work each year and making abotit ten dollars a day. They are i)aid about nine cents ])er head fur their work. The compressed air clii)i)er has practically supplanted the old hand shears. The sheep, strip])ed of their wodl. are unable to stand much cold, and great care must be taken not to shear too early. One man at Caspar, Wyoming, sheared to(T early and lost 2,400 sheep in one night, in a blizzard. The shearer draws a sheep out of the ])en, scpuits OF THE United States 127 it on its haunches, clasps it with his knees, and begins to cut away the fleece at the point of the shoulder. In from two to five minutes his work is done and the fleece rolls to the floor. He ties this in a bundle and tosses it aside to make room for another. TIk' fleeces are placed in long Ijurlap sacks and tram])ed down until each sack weighs three hundred pounds. In the East sheep are washed liefore shearing but this is not the custom in the AVest. Fleeces are cut from milliDns of sheep every year far from any railroad. The long sacks are placed upon wagons and hauled to the nearest station. It is no unusual thing to see a train of four or five wagons hauling perhaps twenty thousand dollars worth of wool to the market. The flocks are mostly ewes, the wethers being mar- keted while lambs. Xot counting the lambs she yields, each ewe, during her useful period, delivers t(T the owner an average of eight dollars worth of wool. It has not cost anything to feed her on the range. Then, when these old ewes become what are called "bad risks" they are shipped to stations near Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha or St. Joseph where they are known as "feeders," and specu- lators Ijuy them, fatten them on hay and grain and sell them to the packing houses, after which they become lamb chops. • ^ FOR RESEARCH 1. What states produce the most sheep? Tint these states upon an outline map of the United States. 2. Trace a shi])ment of wool from Caspar, Wy- oming, to I5oston, naming the railroads over which it would ])ass. Where would changes be made and to what roads? 3. A\'hat natural features make Australia and Ar- gentina the greatest wool-])ro(lucing countries? Trace a shipment of wool from I'ucnos Ay res to Manchester, England. T*"rom Mel])ourne to T'\a]l River, Mass. 128 Industrial-Commercial Geography 4. What is cashmere? Alpaca?" Angora? Long sta])le? Sliort staple? What is a s|)inning jenney? 5. Obtain specimens of as man}- kinds of woolen goods as possible and note the difference. How can von distinguish all-wool goods from part cotton? What is shoddy? 6. in the grazing country, wh}- is there a continual conflict between cattle and shee]) owners? 7. What is the chief industry of New Zealand? (S. Why is London the largest wool market in the world ? 9. If ]x:)ssible, visit a woolen mill and trace the wool from the time the sacks are oi)ened until the cloth is ready for the market. \'isit a packing house and note the different methods of preparing mutton for different markets. OF THE United States 129 CHAPTER XV SILK— "THE GOLD OF TEXTILES" Silk Culture. — Vnr nearly thirty centuries silk cul- ture was one of China's cherished secrets. During the greater part of this time caraxans ])loddecl across the con- Loiirtcsy Cortu-cUi Silk Milts SILK-WORM AT WORK tinent to Persia, loaded witli their precious bales. The Persian traders sold the silk to Syria, Egypt and Greece. So well did the Chinese guard their secret that the origin pf silk was not known to the W^estern world until the 130 Industrial-Commercial Geography middle of the sixth century. It is said that two monks smuggled a few eggs to Constantinople in their pilgrim's staffs, and from these all the silkworms in the Western world are descended. Three hundred years before that a descendant of a Chinese Emperor fled to Japan, carrying a few of the precious eggs with him, with which he paid for protection from his pursuers. The Moors brought the silkworm to Spain in the tenth century, and from there the industry was soon extended to Greece and Italy, and to France about three hundred years later. Silk is the gold of textiles. In ancient times kings and emperors have weighed their treasures of silk with their gems and precious metals. Only within the past twenty years has American skill perfected the weaving of silk by power-looms, and revolutionized and cheap- ened the processes of manufacture, until silk fabrics are within the reach of all. Manufacture of Silk. — Silk is one of the most sen- siti\e of the great barometers of trade, as it is the first to be affected by financial disturbances. The prosperity of nations may be judged l)y their consumption of silk. The United States is the greatest consumer of raw silk in the world. About half of the silk used in this country is manufactured here, and there is very little exported. Our annual purchases of raw silk from France, and other countries, amounts to about forty million dollars. There is more raw silk sold annually in New York City tlian is biiuglit by France, whii'h ciiuntr\- led in this industry until recently. The annual ])roduct of ciur looms is about one liundred and fifty million dollars and we spend, alto- getliei', for silk goods, as much as we spend for education. The breeding and management of silk worms, called sericulture, has never been successful in this country, although it has been tried many times, dating back to the first attempt in the X'irginia Culnny in 1OJ4. These efforts have failed f<>r the reason that the cost of labor OF THE United States 131 for producing reeled silk in Europe is from eight to twenty-five cents a day, and in Asia as low as two cents a day, a competition that we will never be able to meet. It is a unique product, its raw material being produced by the cheapest labor in the world, and the finished product being the most costly merchandise. Centers of the Silk Industry in America. — The manu- facture of silk goods in this country has grown to such an extent during the past forty years, that the raw silk supply has increased two and one-half times. The first Courtesy Bclding Bros. Silk Mills GATHERING THE COCOONS mill in this country was built at Mansfield, Conn., in 1810, and it is still standing, a little building fifteen by twenty feet in size, built over a swift-running stream. There are now about seven hundred silk mills in the United States, employing over one hundred thousand operatives. In this industry New Jersey leads, Pennsylvania stands second and New York third. The greatest silk city in this country is Paterson, N. J., there being over three hundred mills there, with a product of over thirty million dollars per year. n2 IxDUSTRIAL-CoMMERt lAL CiKOGRArHV ij The Silkworm. — The silkworm is cultivated princi- pally in China, Japan, India and the Mediterranean coun- tries of Europe. China exports about thirty million pounds of raw silk every year, which is almost double the amount sold by Japan. There are four stages in the development of the silk- worm — the eg-gs, the larva, the chrysalis and the moth, the span of its life being only about fifty days. One moth will lay about four hundred eggs, and forty thou- sand of them will weigh an uunce ! The eggs may be hatched by heat at any time— they may be kept in a warm dry place almost indefinitely. When the worm is hatched it is black in color and scarcely an eighth of an inch long. It has four moulting seasons, at which times the old skin breaks at the nose, and the worm wriggles and twists until it entirely emerges from it. As it grows older and larger the silkworm becomes lighter in color until it is almost white. Each change gives the worm an insatiable hunger and it feeds ravenously upon the leaves of the mulberry tree, which are picked and placed upon trays daily. Several thousand of the worms eating make a noise like the pattering of rain. In about forty days the worm is full grown and ready to begin spinning its cocoon. It climbs up from the feed- ing tray to the branches above it in search of a suitable twig upon which to l)egin its s])inning. It loses its appe- tite and shrinks nearly an inch in length. Then it tlirows out silken guy lines to secure the cocoon in its place and graduallv wraps itself in a much closer covering, an oval ball the size of a ])igeon's egg, which is called a cocoon. The silken threads come from two senii-tluid glands near the head which unite within a small orifice l)elow the mouth, from which the silk issues in a glutinous state, the two threads appearing as one. The motion of the worm's head is very rai)id and from nine to twelve inches of silk tlow in a minute. The thread is not wound around the cocoon but is laid in short figure-eight loops, so that OF THF, United States U5 when the cocoon is nnwonnd several yards of silk may be taken off without turning- it. The worm makes seventy- five elliptical motions of its head per minute, or about three hundred thousand in the construction of a cocoon, which it makes in about fixe (la3'S. As soon as the worm is in its chrysalis state, the cocoons, except those required for breeding, are collected and stifled in a steam-heater. If the moths were allowed to emerge they would break so many threads that the cocoons would be ruined for reeling. In the best cocoons Cuiii-lcsy Bcldiiig Bros. Silk Mills REELING THE SILK INTO SKEINS the silk thread will measure about 1200 feet in length. The outer loose layer is known as "floss," which is made into spun silk, no cft'ort being made to use the continuous thread, but it is woven like cotton or wool. The thread in the core of the cocoon is so fine that it is unfit for manufacture, therefore several are unwound at the same time. In Japan and China this is usually done by hand, although in many places machinery is coming into use. The cocoons are first placed in hot water, which softens the gum so the required number 134 Industrial-Commercial Geography of threads may be picked out, and they are run through a guide on a reel, hardening again into a single thread. The finest sizes reeled run 491,000 yards, or 297 miles, to the pound, although the average thread runs about 150,000 yards to the pound. .Vfter drying, the skeins are tied up in packages of five and ])ut into a tough, water-proof cover. From twenty-eight to thirty- two of these packages are then tied witli ropes, wrapped Courtesy CorticcUi Silk Mills WIXDINO rilUKAD ON Sl'OOLS with oiled pajjcr, then coxercd with matting and hound for shipment, in which form it reaches this country for manufacture. The Process of Silk Manufacture. — The silk mill of today is the result of one of the greatest industrial de- velopments in this couiury. There are seven sei)arate division^ in the maiiul'aetnre of sil]< : throwing, dyeing in the skein, winding, weaving, dyeing in the piece, printing OF THE United States 135 and finishing". The raw silk is too fine for ordinary use and it is the throwster's task to wind, clean, dcmlile- twist, rewind and reel it into more substantial yarn. He converts it into singles, tram or organzine according to the purpose for which it is to be used. Before reeling, the threads must be stretched, which evens them and gives firmness and uniformity of size. Singles, tram, organzine, sewing silk and machine twist are then trans- ferred to a reel and made into skeins for dyeing. Courtesy Bc'ding Bros. Silk Mills WEAVING SILK CLOTH They are now boiled in soapsuds to free them of the remaining gum and to give them lustre. This process removes about one-fourth of the original weight. Next it is put into the dye vat. w^here the adulteration or "weighting" is done, if at all. Proper dyeing adds about ten per cent, to the weight, but, by dipping again and again in the heavy metallic dyes, as much as seventy- five per cent, in weight may be added. Any silk, if heavily loaded, will break easily, an experience which every purchaser has had. After the silk is dyed it is known as "soft silk." 136 Industrial-Commercial Geography 'I'lien it is ready to be wound in skeins or on s])(,)ols fi)r the market, or ready for weaving into broad goods. Kx'er}^ woven fabric consists of a warp and a woof or filling. There are two systems of threads, the former running lengthwise and the latter crosswise, under and over alternately, this interlacing being called the weave. The three foundation weaves are called tafifeta, serge and satin. The finest grade of velvet is made by looping the warp thread over fine wires, which give, by their size, the desired length of pile. When a few inches of web is woven the weaver stops and cuts the fine loops w itli a knife. Other grades are made by the use of the power loom. -Ml goods requiring more than three colors, or those demanding intricacy of design, are woven by the Jac- quard loom, an improvement or addition to the ordinary "Dobby" loom, consisting of a set of strings, one for each of the warj) tlireads, suspended from the top. The pattern is cut in cards, resembling the music for a player- piano, this being engaged by the strings, so that any desired efl:'ect or design may be obtained. This machine has been so changed by American invention that little of the original loom, except the idea, remains, 'i'hc really efficient power loom dates back only about twenty years. In the past ten years more progress has l)ecn made in imjjroved mill machinery than in the thirty pre- ceding. The modern power loom of today is equipped with mechanical devices that work automatically to save time, material and labor. Substitutes for Silk. — Many attempts have been made to find a sul)stitute for silk. Cotton thread, inider various names, is used in infitation of silk, but vegetable fiber becomes worthless when afifected by dampness. Silk, however, i^ in it'^ clcnu-nl when wet, being (irig- inally an animal ])r()duct. In 1S74 a silk mill was de- stroyed by the breaking of a dam in Massachusetts and sewing silk was scattered for miles below. This has been OF THE United States 137 frequently pldwed up l)y fanners since and found t^ Iia\e retained its orig'inal strength. Silk Thread. — In addition to the manufacture of silk cloth the silk thread industry has assumed great pro- portions in this country, many of the mills about Florence, Massachusetts, confining their operations to this one branch of the industry alone, manufacturing, in addition to the ordinary spool silk, machine twist, crochet silk, knitting silk, lace silk, floss, embroidery silk and many others. Various Uses of Silk. — The electrician uses silk thread for insulating wires; it is car1)onized and used for filaments for the incandescent lights. The surgeon uses it for sewing incisions, also for adhesive plasters; the dentist to clean between the teeth; the l)ookl)inder to tie fancy booklets and cards, and for the binding itself, and the fisherman uses it to snell his hook. Silk, which for centuries was considered a luxury, has become so cheap that it is now a necessity. FOR RESEARCH 1. If we cannot compete with foreign countries in the production of silk, w'hy can we surpass them in its manufacture? 2. Upon an outline map of the world, color the countries noted for silk production, also indicate those countries leading in its manufacture. 3. Trace a shipment of raw^ silk from Hong Kong to Paterson, N. J. What steamship and railroad lines w^ould perhaps carry it and where would transfers be made? 4. What tests can you apply to determine the (pial- itv of silk? 138 Industrial-Commercial Geography 5. Gather some mulberry lea\'es in the fall, then obtain from the Department of Agriculture some silk- worm eggs in January and practically illustrate silk culture. 6. How does the Government encourage silk manu- facture? 7. Examine and discuss specimens of cocoons, raw silk, gros-grain cloth, tussar silk, pongee, satin and velvets. 8. What position in the silk trade do the cities of Shanghai, Canton and Yokohama occupy? 9. \\ hat is mercerized silk? OF THE United States 139 CHAPTER XVI THE LUMBER INDUSTRY llie ]nml)er l)usiness occupies fourth place among- the great industries of this country. Few of us fully realize its ^■astness. It exceeds in ^'alue the producti^jn Courtesy Gt. Northern Ry. Co. TIMIJEK KEOION OF THE NORTHWEST (if irou, c(ial, i)etn ileum, gold, sih'er. copper and other metals, added tn the tutal value of the entire wheat crop of the 1^'nited States. The hnnher business is more highly de\eloped in this country than in any other ])art of the world. Lumber Regions cf the United States. — Although there are forests in every state, there are four distinct districts of this countrv which produce the lumber of 140 Industrial-Commercial Geography commerce — the Northeastern, comprising the Xew Eng- land States, Xew York and Pennsylvania ; the Northern, comprising the States of Wisconsin, Michigan and Min- nesota; the Southern, including Virginia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Miss- issippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri; and the Pacific, including California. (3reg(in and AVash- ington. The Southern district, up to the present time, has held first place, as here is the home of the long-leaf yellow Courtesy Gt. Northern Ry. Co. A FOREST OF MAMMOTH OREGON FIR pine, that peerless American tree, the product of which may soon be practicall}- exhausted if the ])resent slaughter continues. In this belt are located half of the sawmills of llic Cnilcd States, employing about half of the labor engaged in hnnbering. The largest market for yellow pine lumber is Pensacola, Fla., closely ft)llowed by Mobile. Ala., Gulf])ort and I'ascagoula, Miss., and Sabine Pass, Texas. This lumber is shipped to all parts of the ci\ili/e(l world, yet t hrrc-fourths of the supply is used in this countrw OF THE United States 141 The leading lumber district of the future will cer- tainly be the Pacific, as the supply from the Northern and Northeastern districts is practically exhausted and that of the Southern cannot last long". Authorities claim that ten years will exhaust the sui)])ly at the present rate of consumption. The Northern district has been the great source from which we have been getting our supply of white pine, the sawmills at ^linneapolis, at one time, ranking among the greatest in this country, Courtesy So. Pacific Ry. Co. \VA\\'0NA— GIAXT RF.DWOOD but now the forests are practically exterminated and few of the mills are running. The many varieties of conifers — hard ])ine, hemlock, hr and spruce are found in jjrofusion in all the timjjer regions, but produce grades of lumber inferior to the white pine ; however, they are rapidly coming into use as the only available substitutes. ^- The forests of the Pacific region, at i^resent the heaxiest of the world, consist almost entirely of conifers, red fir, S])ruce, hemlock, yellow pine and the giant red- wood. In the Northern part of this region one-third of 142 Industrial-Commercial Geography the territory is covered by forests of fir. These trees sometimes attain a height of two hundred and fifty feet and many are as much as fifteen feet in (Hameter. The trunks are so clear and straiglit that they are in demand the world over 1)y ship-builders, who use them for masts. A staft' of this wood supports the British flag' over Windsor Castle, and another upholds the Japanese ban- ner over the Mikado's palace at Tokio. The masts and spars of the great fleets of Great Britain and Germany were shipped from Oregon and AVashington. This wood rivals ])ine in lightness and oak in strength. The most wonderful trees in the world arc the giant Secjuoia, or redwood, of California. h^ortunately. the Government has protected the choicest specimens, from the ravages of the lumberman, by including them in Xational Parks. Tlie tallest of these measures almost foui- hundred feet, and the largest diameter is forty feet. Xo man knows how old these trees are, but they are, without doubt, the largest and oldest li\ing things in the world. Some are estimated to be eight thousand \e;'.rs old. When Moses was found floating among tlie bul- rushes, some of these trees had l)ark a foot thick. One of them fell, a thousand years or so ago, and it is huge enough for .a coach and six to driNc upon the greater j^art of its length. Another was some time damaged by fire, and a road, which is wide enough for two stages to ])ass within its trunk, has been built through it. The wood is light and red and makes e.Kcellent shingles and siding, which, on account of the scarcity ot pine, is rai)idly coming into use. The place of white pine for interior linivhing has been largely taken by the hardwoods, oak, bircli, nia])le. beech, hickory, sycamore and a^li, found to some extent in almost cverv state ])ro(lucing lumber. Memphis, Tennessee, is the largest hardwood market in the world, and San Francisco has also a large domestic and foreign OF THE United States 143 trade in this class of woods. The finest furniture is made exchisively of hard woods. "J'he methiids used in a logging camp are very inter- esting and instructi\e. They vary according to local conditions, but, in the main, they are the same in all the districts. The ])rincii)al stages are the felling, by use of axes or "cross-cut"" saws, the sawing of the trees into logs of the desired length, and the transporting of these logs from the forests to the sawmills. Only a few Courtesy E. D. Luhaitgh. Chicagu, Ills. A LOAD OF WISCONSIN LOGS— -12,000 FT. years ago water was the only means used for such trans- portation, but, under ])revailing methods, railroads are built directly into the timber districts. Formerly the loading upon cars was done by the use of oxen or horses, but in the modern camp this slow, pictures<|ue system has l)een superseded by loading machines, wdiich are, in reality, "donkey-engines" in box cars, which operate reels, wound with steel cables from one-half to one inch 144 Inj)ustrial-Commercial Geography thick, and from five Iiundrcd to twent^-fivc hundred feet l(ing-. The cable is fastened to the log and it is drawn quickly to the track, another cable, swung from a large crane, catches the log and lifts it into place upon the car. In the Northwest the logs are sometimes "skidded" in ditches or "tlumes" from the interior camps to the mills. One of these tlumes, in California, is over sixty miles long, and from one week's end to another the lum- ber goes sliding down this flume, crossing deep gulches, and skirting the sides of the canyon until it reaches the market. Coiirlcsy Long-Bell Lhr. Co. A RETAIL LUMllKk \.\K\) In the Xorthwesl region, the rafting liusiness has at- tained inunense proportions, as this is the cheapest method for conveying the logs to .San l'"raneisco. In still water, adjacent to the rivers, an inmiense "cradle" is built ol heavy timbers between rows of piling, which allows the raft to rise and fall with the water. The logs are now- lifted, one at a time, into iho "cradle" b\ a derrick. When the log.s are all in place they are >ecinelv fastened with OF THE United States 145 heavy chains, seventy-five or one hmnh'ed tons of which are sometimes used for one raft. Many of these rafts are frequently towed from the mouth of the Columbia River to San Francisco. One raft, which recently made this trip, the result of a season's work in the fir forests, was over seven hundred feet long, fifty-five feet wide and drew twenty-three feet of water. The majority of the large sawmills arc built beside some body of Avater, in order to Ije able to handle the logs easily and with a minimum cost, to provide a place for storing a reserAe supply and. frequently, that the sawed lumber may be shipped cheaply. A large sawmill in operation is a fascinating part of the industr}'. There is the shriek of the saw, as it revolves with lightning speed through what was recently a monarch of the forest. Then, there is the clashing of chains, the roar of the machinery, as the log carriage moves back and forth, and onward moves the lum1:)er, first to the kilns, then to the ])lanning mills and later to the markets of the world. In one year enough yellow ])ine lumber alone is sawed, which if sawed into boards one inch thick and one foot wide, would, placed end to end, reach from the earth to the moon eight times. Three-fourths of this lumber would build a house large enough to accommodate all the men, women and children in this country, giving each a room containing sixteen square feet of space. The men of the lumljer camps are usually Scandi- navians, although many French Canadians are found in the Northern camps. Tn the South many negroes are employed in the mills, but they do not w^ork well in the forests. Forest Conservation. — Russia leads the world in the planting of forests, the L'nit-jd States in their wholesale destruction. Recent action on the part of the (rovern- ment, toward conservation of timber tracts, is a step in the right direction. It is to be hoped that future ad- 146 Industrial-Commercial Geography ministrations will take further action to prevent ruthless and unnecessary destruction of timber. In other coun- tries a number of young trees must be planted to replace each one cut. Here this requirement is not only ignored, but, through carelessness, what were recently virgin tracts of timber land are often blackened, desolate, bar- ren, swept yearly by forest fires, producing nothing but scrub oak and stunted field-j^ines. There is not enough standing timl)er left in some places to hold the melting snows until late in the season, allowing them to melt gradually and distribute the water supply. Consequently we have great floods early in the spring and droughts in the summer, the rich soil is washed into the rivers and on to the sea. All these disasters occur because our people do not realize what a valuable heritage we have. The attention of every one should be directed toward the National Forestry Department, which can solve this great economic problem if given proper support b} the people. FOR RESEARCH 1. What l)enefits are derived from forests besides their use for lumber and fuel? 2. What cities are great luml)er markets? 3. \\'hat countries supply boxwood? Rosewood? Sandalwood? Ebony? Cinchona? Mahogany? Circassian walnut? 4. How does the I'nilcd States Government protect f( ) rests ? 5. Make a list of soft-wood trees, also one of hard- woods. How many of these do you know .^ How nian\- grow in your own state? 6. In what way has inm c ir steel taken the place of lumber? In the manufacture i>\ what article has lumber taken the place of rags? OF THE United States 147 7. Indicate the lumber regions of the United States on an outhne map, showing also the principal markets. A\'hat railroads haul the lumber to the markets? 8. In what way is lumber of value to the railroads? To the tanner? To the paper maker? 9. For what use is yellow pine best suited? White pine? Redwood? Cedar? Spruce? Oak? Maple? 10. A\'hat is a timber reserve? A timber claim? How does the Government encourage the planting of trees? Do the individual states assist in this manner? 11. From what kind of trees are turpentine and pitch obtained? h^rom what lumber district is the great- est amount obtained? 148 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XVII FURNITURE-FROM FOREST TO FIRESIDE There is as much deception practised in the manu- facture of furniture as there is in the manufacture of clothing-, and every one should know some of the points of excellence in order to purchase intelligently. The center of the furniture industry of this country, and per- haps of the world, is Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this delightful Northern city, any amount of time may be profital)ly spent, visiting one or more of the great fac- tories and studying the processes of manufacture. So famous has the Grand Rapids furniture become that buy- ers from all over the world come there to make their selections. For their convenience there are three im- mense buildings used exclusively for the display of sam- ples, over a million dollars worth in each of them. This is in addition to the display rooms maintained by each of the factories located there, in fact there are several factories whose display rooms contain samples of their own maimfacture thai will run over the half-million dollar mark in value. l'"actories from all oxer the coun- try constantly keep their samples on (lis]i]ay in the gen- eral display buildings, and find it a ])rotitable investment on account of the prestige gaint'd by being rc])resented at "furniture head(|uarters." Good ftiniifiirc strongly a]jpeals ted scjuare supi)orts, beliexing that a rect- OF THE United States 155 angular back demanded a rectaus^ular base. On the same theory he always combined curved supports with curved models. He worked princi])ally in mahogany, but wielded other colored woods as the painter wields his pigments. His decorations consisted almost entirely of marcjuetry and inlay, although a lightly carved leaf was sometimes countenanced. Jle met the fate of many men who have attempted to do a thing too well, but his furniture will, perhaps, live forever. His untiring and hopeful labors gave to the world one of the most beau- tiful styles of furniture ever designed. Chippendale was another famous English designer; however, he was an adapter of styles rather than an originator. His mure solid designs, with cabriole legs and claw-and-ball feet and divided splat back were taken from the Dutch, and the straight square heavy legs from the Gothic style. His most beautiful creations, with backs ornamented with exquisitely carved ribbons and lovers' knots, and the car\cd cabriole leg, were from the French ; while a later design, used ])rincipally in chairs, with an interlaced strap work back, was from the Chinese. Once seen, this beautiful design will always l)e readily recognized. The styles of the William and Mary period occupy a uni(|ue place among English designs, ^^'ith the ac- cession of William, Dutch artisans flocked to England and the intermingling of designs worked many changes in the handicraft of that country. The tendency seemed to be toward the prtjduction of more graceful and lighter furniture. The fundamental principles in these designs were of the underb racing, turned uprights, and other vigorous, straightforward designs to portray the char- acteristics of the period. Furniture of the T'lemish and Italian Renaissance is distinguished first by the abundance of hand-carving. Heads and grotesque masks were introduced, but always with marked elTect. The Dutch excelled in marquetry 156 Industrial-Commercial Geography and the Italians in boldness of design. In the great Grand Rapids factories there are men who work as pa- tiently and as skilfully, while carving- a design, as any master ever worked upon the canvas. Time is never an item to be considered, as the designs of the old masters must be reproduced with ecjual skill. One dining-room set in a Grand Rapids display room represents a year's work of one man. Only four sets were made, one was sold in New York, one in Philadelphia and another in Chicago, the fourth will probably go to St. Louis. The set w^as priced at five thousand dollars. It is one of the most solid and stable designs ever constructed. There are other designs galore, but a study of these principal productions will prove very interesting, aside from the standpoint of commercial importance. In our homes en\'ironment plays an important part, and a spirit of harmony and good cheer should emanate from fur- nishings and decoration. American organization has greatly cheapened the cost of furniture, and the inxention and use of miulcrn machinery has also pla^'ed an im- portant i)art. FOR RESEARCH 1. What is veneered furniture? Why is furniture made from ex]X'nsi\'e woods u>ually xeneered? 2. Can you distinguish ihe difference between veneered and solid furniture? What is grained furni- ture? 3. Name the greatest furniture markets in this Country.-' What woods are used most in tlie manufacture of pianos? In the making of chairs and tables? 4. \\ hat is inlaid furniture? W hat woods are gen- erally used in its manufacture? W hy is (|uarter-sawed wood more valuable than straight-sawed? OF THE United States 157 5. Obtain specimens of woods of various kinds which are finished in different manners. Why are some articles of furniture varnished several times, while others are simply stained and rubbed? 6. If possi])le, ^•isit a furniture factor}' and follow the wood from the dry-kiln to the show-room. 7. Visit a manual training department and inspect the work. Learn how wood is prepared, how joinings are made and finish applied. 8. \\'hy does a highly polished, varnished article fre(|uently "check"? How can this be prevented? 9. A\'hat is the most expensive wood used in the lufacture of fui for black walnut? manufacture of furniture? Where is the greatest market 158 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XVIIl PORTLAND CEMENT AND CON- CRETE CONSTRUCTION During- the past few years the ])rice of htmber has advanced so rapidly that a substitute for its use has be- come imperative. It is gratifying to know that such a substitute has been found which affords the added fea- tures uf moderate cost and durability. /\t the same time this comparatively new material possesses all the ad- vantages of lumber in the line of beautiful designs which may be constructed from it, as many unique and pleasing effects may be obtained. Portland Cement is an in\'ention of modern times, liaxing come into universal use only within the past twenty-five years, or less. Concrete made from a natural cement was used for construction purposes by the ancient Romans, who secured good results from a mixture of slaked lime, volcanic dust and crushed stone. W hile this material was crude, in comparison with that in use to- day, it ])roduced an artificial stone which has stood the test of time for nearly two thousand years. Many of tlie works in Rome are in perfect state of preservation today. Concrete construction, of similar natiux, done in ])rehistoric times, has also ])een unearthed in the arid lands of tile western ]Kirl of the United States. In 1824 |(ise])h As])(lin. of Leeds. England, secured a patent for the manufacture of Portland Cement, which he so nanuMl on acciiunt of its resemblance, in color, to a ])i)pular linu'^time (|uarri(.'(l on the Island of Portland. Manufacture was at once begun, but ])rogress was \'erv slow until about iX^^o, when its success was in- OF THE United States 159 sured, commercially, by the adoption of improved meth- ods of manufacture and general recognition of its merits as a building material. The manufacture of Portland Cement was early begun by the Germans and the French, who, by reason of their more scientific efiforts, greatly improved the quality of the finished ]jr()duct, as well as the i)rocesses of mamifacture. The process was first brought to the United States in 1872, but it did not come into general use for nearh' twentv vears. Courtesy Atlas I'urtland Cement Co. CONCRETE FENCE POSTS Portland Cement is manufactured from a mixture of two materials — one of them supplying the lime, for which limestone, or the softer material, chalk, is used — and clay, which is supplied by a soft clay or often a hardened clay, such as shale rock. The exact proportions of this mixture must be determined by chemical tests, or the finished material will be unsatisfactory. The materials are crushed separately, mixed in the proper quantities and then ground to a \'ery fine powder. 'Jdiis 160 Ixi)USTRIAI-C()MMKRCIAL GEOGRAPHY powder is then fed into long- rotary kilns, which are iron tubes about six feet to twelve feet in diameter, and from one hundred to two hundred fifty feet long, lined with fire brick. Powdered coal is used for burning this powder and is injected into the kilns l)y an air blast. A tem- perature of about three thousand degrees Fahrenheit is obtained in this manner; greater heat than is used in melting iron, and the hue, carefully i)roportioned powder is fused to a clinker, resembling lava. This clinker is cooled, crushed and ground again into a still finer powder, ready to be placed in storage for shipment. Cement is manufactured in many parts of the United States; Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa and California perhaps being in the lead, yet the materials are so common that immense plants are being estab- lished at new locations every year. The abundance of good sand, in most places, and low freight rates on the same, and crushed stone or Hint, greatly cheapens the process of concrete construction. Concrete, or artificial stone, is made by mixing a coarse aa:eregate of broken rock, or, clean coarse cinder with clean sand and Portland Cement, using enough water to make a mushy mixture. The cement and water cause the mixture to begin to stififen in half an horn-, and in from ten to twenty-four hours it becomes hard enough to resist an impression. In a month's time the mass becomes a solid stone. It will harden under water in the same manner, which nia] from their territory, and P>ritish Columbia will doubtless follow their lead in a very short time. .Xewfoundland has also passed law^s of a similar nature and it is possible that the entire Dominion of C"anada mav do the same. This will Ol TiiK United States 169 particularly affect the ncwspa])crs and ]nil)lishers of cheap literature, tor the}- cannot \ery well raise the price, as the tendency is down instead of up. The rise in price of raw materials in other lines has often been an excuse for douI)lini.^-, and e\en trebling", the price of the finished article, but ii will be difficult for the publisher to do this, as an advance in price generally reduces the circulation. Paper Making. — The princi[)les uf paper making are very little understood, especially outside of the Northern timber regions. In ^Visconsin, the Michigan Peninsula, Courtesy Pa[^cr Trade Journal ROLL CALENDER MACHINE Northern Minnesota, along the Canadian line and in parts of New England, the pulp mill is a very common sight. While about two-thirds of the wMJod supply is spruce, others may be used successfully. These are principally poplar, hemlock, pine antl tir. Wood pulp cannot be produced successfully wdth steam or other expensive power, therefore in the timl)er regions there are generally pulp mills wherever there is water power. One of the greatest on the continent is at Sault Ste. Marie, on the Canadian side, where a great water-power canal has been constructed. The manufacturers resort to an ingenious 170 Industrial-Commercial Geography trick to evade the duty on a finished product l)y arrang- ing the rollers so that frequent holes are punched in the large sheets, and they come across as raw material. Jn the yards of many mills these sheets of pulp may be seen, stacked like boards in a lumber yard. A piece of wood consists of fiber and binding ma- terial, and to manufacture pulp it is necessary to separate Courtesy Paper Trade Journal PLATER— FOR ITXISHLXG HEA\V COATED PAPERS them, as the fiber is to be used and the latter discarded. Three processes are used, but the great bulk of the pulp used in pa])er making is produced by the mechanical process. The highest grade papers are produced by an acid process, while other grades are made by the use of alkali. The Sulphite Process. — Pul]) for the high-grade pa- pers, manufactured by the sulphite ])rocess, where acids OF THE United States 171 are used for separating the materials, costs twice as much as that produced l)y mechanical processes, or about thirty dollars per ton. This is used principally in the manufacture of books and other hiiih-i^rade ])rintin!^-. I'y the mechanical process, the bark is first removed from the sticks of wood and they are then ground into splinters, by being ])ressed bv hydraulic force against a gigantic grindstone. W^ater constantly plays upon this stone, to prevent the \\(iod from becoming overheated and also to carry oiT the ground particles to the drying room, where it is drained to a paste-like consistency, rolled be- tween hot rollers, which dry it thoroughly and it is then ready for shipment to the paper mill. In making svdphite pulp the wood is "rossed," — or the bark is removed, — then cut into very fine chips and finall}' placed in a ma- chine called a "digester," where the mass is cooked for from eight to twehe hours in sul])hurous acid, under great ])ressure. It is then taken out and the refuse re- moved. The chips must be very short, otherwise the digesting agent will not follow the fiber. Practically the same process is followed when caustic soda is used. The drying process is the same as that used when the pulp is obtained by mechanical method. Making High-Grade Papers. — The very highest grade papers, the linens and bonds, used for fine station- ery and books, are made from the trimmings obtained from shirt and garment factories. C)ther grades are made from various kinds of cotton and linen rags. When the bales are opened at the mills, and most of these are lo- cated in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, they are placed in the "thresher," and the dust is car- ried off by suction tubes. From the thresher they are taken to the sorting room, where all foreign material, such as buttons, buckles, hooks and eyes, etc., are re- moved by women known as sorters, and from this room they go under a roll, having blades on its surface, \vhich cuts them into small pieces. 1-2 Industrial-Commercial Geography The next machine is called a duster, which gives the rags such a chastening with its spiked teeth that it loosens the last vestige of dirt and lint, it all being re- moved finally by passing into a sieve-like concern w^here alternate suction and blowing removes all dust. The rags next pass into the cooker, and are boiled and tuml)led and tossed again and atiain. This mass is Courtesy Paper Trade Journal SHEKT CAr.F.XnRR MACHIXK then passed to a w^ashing machine, where it is cut and strained, luni and washed, until pure white, and the water that runs through it is clear and sparkling. Next the ])ulp goes to the drainer and then to the beater, which manipulates and mixes it with bluing, which bleaches it whiter still. Next comes the sizing, the changing of what is now blotting paper into those OF THE United States 173 grades adapted for printing- and writing purposes. This operation is followed, in quick succession, by a number of others, which transform it into finished paper. The principal machine used during the processes is called the Fourdrinier machine, through which the pulp passes to an endless belt of fine wire cloth. Straps of rubber determine the width of the paper and as this passes along, all the water drains out. The paper then passes over a unicjue machine which produces the water- mark or other characteristics of any peculiar nature. Passing through felt rolls, which remove the last vestige of water, it then passes between the calendering rolls which give it its finished appearance, and it is ready for the market, after being cut to the desired size and boxed or rolled. Any vegetable fiber can be manufactured into paper oi some quality. Straw, hemp, jute and sisal, a sort of grass, have been used and it is ho|)ed that a successful process may be discovered for utilizing the cotton stalk. FOR RESEARCH 1. W here is wood pulp manufactured'-' Where are most of the ])aper mills in this country'"' Why are the mills located there? 2. ( )btain samples of: news, book, cover, linen, ledger, bond, tissue, wrapping and other papers and learn from what material each was made. 3. W^hat is ])archment? Vellum? How is card- board made? From what material is paper-box stock made? For what is rice paper used? 4. W^hy is paper making a great industry at Sault Ste. Marie? W^hat peculiarity in manufacture enables the manufacturers to sell their raw stock to mills in the United States free of duty? 174 Industrial-Commercial Geography 5. What is a linotype? What effect did its inven- tion have upon the printing- industry? 6. Why were early books printed by hand and illuminated? 7. Visit a newspaper office and study the process of printing. 8. Obtain samples of as many kinds of paper as possible and determine from what each was made. Esti- mate the probable cost of each, per pound. OF THE United States 175 CHAPTER XX PRINTING AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES The Printing Press. — One of the most wonderful developments of modern times has been the evolution of the printing" press. Within the memory of many I)rinters now in active duty the old Washington hand- press was almost in universal use, and now it has almost entirely gi\en way to the great rotary web printing machines, which, a cjuarter of a century ago, it was thought would never be used outside of the largest cities. This remarkable mechanical achievement has been forced upon the publishers, that they may keep pace with a never-satisfied news-reading public. Types of Presses. — The Washington hand-press had answered for many, many years, and, during the time of Franklin's career, and later, it answered every purpose. Compare it today with the great Hoe sextuple machine which will print in colors on paper in rolls, paste, fold and stack 48,000 newspapers in an hour. Large news- papers also use the great octuple rotaries, the greatest triumph of the printing age, which will print as many as 194,000 papers in one color, per hour. Such a machine requires an 80-horse-power electric motor to start it in motion, and in ten hours will run more than a thousand miles of white ]~)a]~)er through its flying machinery. Color Printing. — Even more remarkable is the devel- opment of the perfecting press, for the very finest work in type and cuts. WHiile these machines work as rapidly as if they were printing newspapers, their work is of the 176 Industrial-Commercial Geography highest quality. A machine is now able to print, in the colors of nature, as the evolution of the processes oi illustration has kept pace with other improvements. In the days of the Washington press all illustrations were carved by hand from blocks of wood or steel, or litho- graphed from stone. Aside from being expensive proc- esses, they were altogether too slow, as it required many hours — sometimes days — to produce a single printing- plate. This would not at all be in harmony with our modern idea, where we expect to see an important event pictured in the daily paper a few hours after it transpires. Photo-engraving was introduced first in 1875 and to- day is the most perfect method for reproducing pictures of any kind. The object, or picture, is photographed through a glass screen of extreme fineness upon a nega- tive, and the film is then removed and placed upon a sensitized plate of highly polished copper. This plate is then passed through a chemical process whereby the shadows of the picture are burned in upon the plate, which is then mounted ready for printing. Fine-screened cuts, with perfect press work, give results fully equal to photographs. The zinc-etching process is virtually the same. Pen and ink or line drawings, in perfectly black ink, are required and there is no screen. This is the simplest method of making printing plates, l)ut photo- graphs, or wash drawings, or paintings cannot l)c re])ro- duced in this way. Color printing is done from half- tone plates. Stereotyping has been in use since 1861 and tliere has been no change in tlie process. It is a method tor duplicating ty])c form>, by taking a papier-mache im- pression, placing the same in a casting box, after which melted stereotype metal is poured in and the plate is then trimmed and used as required, thus saving tlu- wear upon type and cuts. Where a great man}' im])ressions are re(|uired, or for the duplication of fine half-tone OF THE United States 177 plates, electrotyping- is used. A wax mold is made from the cut or type and suspended in a bath which holds copper in solution. I'.y an electric current the copper is depositetl u])on the wax and when this becomes of the proper thickness it is backed with base metal and is ready for printing. THE KIND BEN FRANKLIN USED Lithographing is still largely used for certain classes of work, ]3rincipally show bills and posters and fine sta- tionery. The design is traced upon a rare stone, obtained |jrincipally from Austria, the printing ink adhering only to the traced lines. Steel engraving and copper plate work is used where a raised effect is desired, in the repro- duction of fine lettering or script, these being the most expensive of the engraving and printing processes. 178 Industrial-Commercial Geography Type-setting Machines. — In the old days all type was set, laboriously, by hand in a printer's "stick." Now even the smallest villages often possess modern type- setting machines of some kind. Chief among these is the Mergenthaler linotype. As the name implies, the machine does not set movable type, but casts a line-o'- type, through the use of about 1500 brass molds or matrices. It is operated by one person, the keyboard resembling that of a typewriter. Touching a letter upon Courtesy M crgcnthalcr Linotyl^c Co. TIIK LIXOTVIM-: the keyboard releases a corresponding matrix and when a line has been set, molten metal is released which casts, automatically, the solid printing line of type. The amount of copy that may be set b}' an expert linotyi)e operatr)r in an lionr is almost un1)elievable, 14,000 ems hax'ing been set dnring tliis time, altlnuigh the average speed is perhaps about 4,000 ems. The Lanston Monotype produces single types, cast OF THE United States 179 in the order of their use. Two machines are used, how- ever, one bein,<^' a perforating device, operated by a key- board, and the other a casting machine. There are sev- eral other machines which set and distribute movable type, all of which are more or less in use for certain kinds of work, l)ut the machine of the newspaper world is the linotype. After using, the type is melted and cast over again. The Publishing Business. — Publishers are some- times mere followers of tlie local or national trend of thought, but the aim of the true publisher should be to lead the minds of the people into higher channels and develop a taste for what is pure in literature. The great- est readers and book-buyers in the world are the people of the United States. Where there is illiteracy there can be no demand for reading matter. The chief book mar- kets of this country are New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. As the centers of population move west- ward, new book markets are created, and it is only a matter of time until Kansas City, .St. Louis and other western cities will rank with those of the East. The public spends annually about forty million dollars for fiction and general reading matter, and a like amount for school and library books. Modern fiction is, in the main, short-lived. At the public libraries, one-third of the new books published any particular year are not called for u];i)n the same date the following year. One-third of all new books live only one or two years, while the great majority of them become dead stock in six or seven years. The discovery of the art of making paper from wood pulp has contributed much toward cheapening news- papers, but lias done a great damage to the quality of books, as the fabric of the average book today is not as good as it was fifty years ago, when the paper was made of cotton and linen rags. Newspaper may be bought for al)out three cents per pound, but a good grade of book paper costs from twelve to fifteen cents per pound, while i8o Industrial-Commercial Geography the best hand-made papers cost as much as sixty cents per pound. The cheap magazine has seized upon the attention of the public. In 1890 most magazines sold at twenty- five cents per copy. The reduction of "Munsey's," the first to drop to ten cents, increased the circulation of that periodical to such an extent that the presses had to be stopped from printing the first edition to permit the printing of the next month's issue. Others quickly fol- lowed this drop in price, which was raised to fifteen cents ten years later, on account of a general advance in the cost of labor and material. The circulation of some of the leading magazines has far exceeded the two and one- half million mark per month. Today we have magazines representing every trade and industry, and they form a most important adjunct to the press of the country. The newspaper press of today is a most colossal insti- tution, as its ramifications are limitless. Every class of people is interested in it, as the present tone is more educational and less oracular than formerly. No outside force can now hold a great newspaper in its power and the business is progressing so rapidly that no one can foresee its possibilities. In New York City over two and one-half million newspapers are sold every day, but, great as is this circulation, the receipts from sales pay only about one-third of the expenses of a great newspaper. The first thought of the publisher is to keep the cost of the white paper used for each copy down to what he gets for the printed paper, the profits are all to come from advertising. Some of the great newspapers receive as high as an average of fifty thousand dollars per week for advertising space. The Sunday issue is the great money-maker, as there are sometimes as many as ninety pages, and a correspondingly large part is advertising, worth about seventy-five dollars per column. The great- est item of expense is, of course, the gathering together of the news. An important occurrence is reported with OF THE United States i8i b=^ Si o m "O t.' O ° U lU 5 — T3 -C 5 < 1- 4.J 1^1 a ^ Tl->" < •3-n " ° l—i ^ tfi ^ w b X O CO a? W ^ ii rt .g■ ^ ^ s J ('^ S •" tic ""^ .— o 4j m tJ ., •- 3 ^.^ ^ This is a double w ■b. It is possible for t • n. The product is del sted and trimmed. B ri be obtained. .;:; n; ct i82 Industrial-Commercial Geography the same disregard for space, whether it happened in the antipodes or around the corner. All of the news from foreign countries, as well as the larger portion of that within our own borders, is reported by telegraph. The cost of transmission is lessened, somewhat, by the or- ganization of syndicates, but rivalry is so intense that the greatest papers obtain exclusive reports at whatever cost is necessary to get the news. The newspapers in smaller cities and towns obtain syndicate matter, and that already used by the original purchasers, through associations which distribute patent insides, stereotype plates, and electrotypes, which is an enormous industry in itself. Almost all of the weekly newspapers are served this way. The advent of the telephone, rural free delivery of mail and other forces, has tended to increase the circulation of daily newspapers. The press of the twentieth century is one of the greatest powers of the earth, whether that power be used for good or evil. It is also certain that the taste of the people of any country is reflected in the literature they prefer. FOR RESEARCH 1. How many people are engaged in the printing, and allied trades, in your city? 2. Obtain specimens of both metal and wi k k1 type. Why is it notched on the side? 3. Why is most printing not done from type, direct? 4. Visit a printing office and obtain samples of linotype work. If possible secure an etching, wood cut, electrotype, stereotype, half-tone, lithograph, steel die and copper plate, and samples of printing fn^n each. 5. Visit a newspaper office and follow the processes of gathering news, preparing it for the linotype, assem- OF THE United States 183 hling the forms, preparing for the press and distribution of the papers. 6. Where do local newspapers secure their white paper? What railroad lines transport it? 7. Name three factors which have been coml)ined to give us the cheap newspaper, book, and magazine. 8. If there is a paper mill or Ijindery in your city, obtain as much information as possible regarding these phases of industry. 9. ^^'hat is a job press? A cylinder press? Which is generally used for printing magazines and books? 1 84 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXI DAIRY PRODUCTS Tt has not been long' since the products of the dairy were principally confined to those made by the women on the farms. In those davs the utensils w^ere as crude I Courtesy A. F. S. F. Ry. Co. A WESTERN HERD as the methods used, yet prices were only al)oul liall what ihey are todaw I low many of us ha\e e\er thought what an immense su])])!}- ol these ])]oducts is necessary to feed nearly a hundred million people in this country. Nineteen pounds ])er capita, average, are con- sumed yearly by every person in the United States. Before the present system was inaugurated the sup- ])ly for the market was very irregular, as the cows were I)rincipally "natives." with occasionally a few good dairy OF THE United States 185 cattle. TIk' milk was set in shallow earthen vessels, for the cream to rise, and a simple dash-churn was used in the process of making Ijutter. The first improvement was the use of spring- houses, wdiere the vessels holding the milk were set in cool flowing w^ater, and it was very common to churn all the milk. This practice is still fol- lowed in Some of the Southern states. The butter was usually i)acked in large firkins and sent to market once or twice a year, as we did not have railroads then as we have toda}', to make the markets accessible. Under those conditions the quality of the product was not at all satisfactory. Milk Stations. — About fifty years ago the cooperative ])lan was inaugurated, which was the beginning of our ])resent factory system. .\ number of farmers would bring their milk to a central station e\'ery day, wdiere the butter and cheese was made by a skilled operator. At the ]:)resent time there are over twelve thousand of these stations. This system has so far taken the place of home dairying that in many states the cheese-vat and farm churn are as rare as the spinning wheel and hand loom. Under this arrangement the farmers are joint own- ers, and all \vho contribute milk are entitled to their pro rata share of the returns. In the early da3'S of the in- dustry the milk was placed in long shallow pans for the cream to rise. The first im])ro\ement was the installation of deep settling vats below the floor level, through which cool water flowed from springs near by, and the milk was set in them, in cans, for the cream to form. The cans were about the size of the ordinary milk can of today. Machinery Used in Dairying. — The greatest step in advance was the introduction tif mechanical cream sepa- rators to take ])lace of the gravity system. These machines separate the milk from the cream by centrif- ugal force, and this ])rt)cess can l)e accom])Iishe(l imme- i86 Industrial-Com mercial Geography diately after milking. The cream can be churned at once, but it is usually cooled, and then warmed slowly, to ripen it for churning. The milk can be used at once on the farm, for feeding to the young animals. The mechanical process is very efficient and very little butter-fat is lost. Separators are made in various sizes for farm use and they may be operated by an}- kind of power, thus entirely removing the drudgery of Initter-making from the farm. In some localities the farmers haul the milk to the cream- ^^■^Hi^M ^^^H'-v "^ ^^Vr IHI ^Kyl^^H '^^^1 { «i i / H Courtesy Mo. State University EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, WORLD'S CHAMPION HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN ery, and it is separated there, and the skimmed milk may be taken back to the farms. In other places there are skimming stations at convenient points, equipped with power separators, to which the milk is hauled from the near-by farms, and from these stations the cream is shipped to the creamery. There it is sterilized and a "starter" added, after which it is ripened and churned, the butter worked, salted and packed for the market. The centrifugal cream separator is a marvel to those who have not seen it. The warm milk is placed in a large OF THE United States 187 bowl abo\e the machine, from which it flows into a strong steel bowl in an iron frame. This bowl is then made to revolve at a rate of from fifteen hundred to twenty-five thousand times per minute, and, from two projecting tubes, the cream and skimmed milk flow in continuous streams. Cream of any desired thickness or quality may be obtained by regulating the machine. Very few farm- ers who keep cows feel that they can afiford to be with- out one of these useful machines, as they have been per- fected and popularized to the stage where they are com- paratively inexpensive. Courtesy International Harvester Co. SILO AND DAIRY BARN The first creameries paid for milk or cream by the gallon, but this has been changed by the introduction of the Babcock test, through the use of which it is paid for in proportion to the amount of butter-fat it contains. These machines are a simple and accurate substitute for a chemical test, and the percentage of fat may be very quickly determined. In advancing the economics of dairying this invention is second only to the cream sepa- rator. 1 88 Industrial-Commercial Geography Butter Making. — There is still much more butter made on the farms than in the creameries, although the spring house is no longer found and the churn is not now an adjunct of the dark corner beside the open fireplace. The markets are controlled by creamery butter, that from the farm making little impression upon the trade, as most of it is consumed there. /I he average quality of Courtesy 1 ntcrnatiinuil Harvester Co. CKKAM SI-:rARAI 1)1^ butter has im])r()ved very materially since the advent d modern methods. While a large amount of poor butter is still made, collected at country stores and renovated at creameries, many states have passed laws re(|uiring the ])ro(luct to l)c idrnlilKMl for the benefit of the con- sumer. The Tnited States ( io\eruniciU also has very stringent laws along this line. OF THE United States 189 The Manufacture of Cheese lias also been trans- ferred from the reahn ui domestic arts to that of manu- facture, r^arm-made cheese is a very rare article and is seldom foniul on the market. T'^iftv vears aiio one hun- dred million ])ounds of cheese were made annually, all of it in farm dairies. Now over three hundred million ])ounds are made annually, all of it in factories. The first factory was established at Oneida. Xew "S^ork, in 185 1, and there are now nearly four thousand, Xew York and Wisconsin maintainin;;- three-fourths of the number. The progressive farmer keeps only the finest cattle in his herd, Jerseys, Holsteins, Guernseys, or other choice varieties, for they are the easiest to feed and the milk is of a nmch higher (|uality. Much more care must be taken with the milk intended for cheese than with that used for butter. It is usually delivered at the factory very early in the morning, where it is carefully inspected before being accepted, after which it is ])assed to the receiving vats, each holding about five thousand ])ounds ot milk. The temperature is raised by heating- a jacket of water, surrounding the vat, by steam. The next step is to test it for the suitable condition for adding the rennet. This being determined, enough rennet is added to coagulate the casein in about thirty mimites. Next, after cutting the mass into small cubes, the "curd agi- tator" is attached to the vat and the contents stirred bv steam for several hours, until the ciu'd will string one- fourth of an inch, when the whey is drawn oiT. The residue is then manipulated to remove the sur])lus moisture, salted, ground, placed in hoops, j^ressed and stored in the curing-room, where it remains for several weeks to ripen, after which it is branded and placed upon the market. Nine-tenths of all the cheese made in this country is of the standard familiar variety, made to imi- tate the I'^nglish Cheddar ; however, new varieties are increasing". \Ve do not use cheese as they do in Kurope, 190 Industrial-Commercial Geography our per capita amount not exceeding" three and one-half pounds. The Condensed Milk Industry was started in this country about the same time as the factory system for making butter and clieese. Tlie semi-liquid form is in general use, and the industry lias become very extensive. Condensed milk is prepared in fifteen different states, although New York and Illinois contain over half of the factories. Courtesy International Harvester Co. A FARM DAIRY The principle of condensing milk is to reduce it, in a vacuum, at a temperature of about one hundred and thirty degrees, Fahrenheit. The very essential point is that the milk should be from healthy cows, handled in a cleanly manner and free from taints of any kind. One of the greatest of these factories has invented a process for combining the condensed milk with the extracts of malted barley and wheat, and reducing the product to a powder form, in which it keeps indefinitely in any climate. This i)roduct has a world-wide sale. OF THE United States 191 The Milking Machine.- — It is not a very delightful task to milk a number of cows, especially during the winter time, but this obstacle is being removed by the invention of the milking machine, a devise which accom- modates two cows at a time, and is operated by the vacuum |)rocess, a gasoline engine furnisliing the motive power. The discriminating public has caused the pr(jducts of the dairy to become an illustrated story of the whole process or manufacture, a veritable picture gallery of men, cows and sum )undings, a condensed narrative of praise or blame for all wlm ha\'e been interested in their making. Most essential of all, perhaps, is that the cows themselves shall be high-grade animals, whether pedi- greed or not. Efficiency Dairying. — The utmost measure of the dairyman's success is the largest (juantity of products, produced at least cost, and sold at the highest price. This means, first, that the cows must be well fed. The farm should produce all that is needed, in order to reduce the cost to a minimum. In all Northern states there are at least two crops that are essential, corn and clover. Of these corn will produce a greater amount of feed per acre than any other crop, if wisely grown. Since the advent of the silo few dairymen attempt to get along without them, for by their use green feed may be kept in succulent and palatable condition for a year or more. Silage is a safe feed and is prol)ably the cheapest source of starch, sugar and similar com])oun(ls that the dairy- man possesses. With the silage, the economical dairyman will feed clover hay, for it is one crop that affords a large yield of forage and, at the same time, leaves the ground in better shape than before growling it. Experiments have shown that in the roots of medium red clover, yielding a ton and a half of dry hay to the acre, there was as 192 Industrial-Commercial Geography much plant food as in perhaps eight or more tons of ordinary fertiHzer. Alfalfa is a comparatively new feed that is finding- rapid favor as a dairy food, as it is claimed that cows fed upon it will produce more milk than from any other food. The leaves are very rich in protein and the cho])- ped stems are nearly as palatable as wheat bran. Con- sequently, alfalfa may largely take the place of the grain ration, and as three or more crops may be grown from the same ground in one season, it is a very cheap feed. Corn, alone, is not a desirable food for dairy cattle, and fodder, hay, straw, sorghum and the whole list of forage crops are deficient in protein when compared with alfalfa. The housing of dairy cattle has undergone as radical a change as has any other phase of the business. We no longer find the cow^s huddled together in open, dark and unclean barns. Xow we ha\e them in barns with hmg rows of stalls, with concrete floors and perfect drainage and ventilation. Cleanliness begins in the stable, and should continue through the entire history of the milk. FOR RESEARCH 1. A\'hy is there not much dairying on the ])lains? 2. What is a refrigerator car? A refrigerator ship? 3. A\'hat qualities are necessary in good dairy cat- tle? How is dairy stock judged? Obtain a chart from the nearest agricultural college and ])ecome familiar with the value of the points considered. 4. Make an outline map showing the areas best suited for the ])ro(luction of dairy i-attle. What is the relative location of these secti(jns, as compared witli the areas of ])roduction of licef cattle? 5. What is a dual-purpose cow? Xanie some varieties. OF THE United States 193 6. In what places did the fullowing Ijreeds of dairy cattle originate: Jerseys, Holstein-Friesians, Gtiernseys, Ayrshires, Dutch lielted, Shorthdrns, lirown Swiss? Locate these countries upon a map of the world. 7. Why is Xew York a great dairy state? \'er- uKint? Illinois? \\'isconsin? Missouri? Ohio? In- diana? 8. Alissduri Chief Josephine produced 21,698 pounds of milk in eight months. Compute the approximate value of this milk and the hutter it would make. 9. \Miy has Elgin, Illinois, become a great market for butter and cheese? How does the market there regulate the market in all tributary territory? TO. What is oleomargarine? Butterine? Cotto- lene? What laws are in force, relating to the use of these products? II. What railroads supply Chicago with dairy products? New York? Boston? Kansas City? Cleve- land? Minneapolis and St. Paul?" New Orleans? Cin- cinnati ? 194 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXII A TRIP THROUGH PACKING TOWN The modern packing plant is one of our national institutions. It represents American ingenuity, energy and resourcefulness. In the brief period of a third of a Courtesy Swift & Co. ENTRANCE— CHICAGO STOCK YARDS century it has been developed to its present efficiency. The value of live stock in the United States exceeds that of the fields, forests and mines combined; consequently, meat packing represents the greatest value in investment and production among the food industries, and very properly may be classed as a manufacturing industry. Consolidation and Its Effects. — The great growth of this industry can be attributed to the rapid settlement of the Western country, and its exploitation by the great OF THE United States 195 railway systems. The development of the processes of preparing meat for the market has been as wonderful as the story of cotton or iron. The present large establish- ments are the direct result of growth and expansion. Instead of a small butcher, in each locality, supplying the local market through limited facilities, we now have great abattoirs, handling thousands of cattle, sheep and hogs per day. Such expansion has brought about conditions which would have been practically impossible, had the industry remained in its original state. The principal Courtesy Swift &■ Co. BUYERS SELECTING CATTLE results secured have been the sanitary care of the prod- uct, and utilization of every portion of the animal, thus entirely eliminating waste. Although the present prices seem high, we can hardly estimate the cost of meat were it prepared now under the old conditions. Present prices are the result of conditions which may be changed, if we study the matter from the proper standpoint. Cost of Meats. — The prosperity of the American people has caused them to become fixed in their habits 196 Industrial-Commercial Geography of extravagance with regard to their choice of beef cuts. A live animal weighing over 1,000 pounds will produce about 550 pounds of beef. Of these 550 pounds, about 144 pounds can be sold over the counter as tenderloin and sirloin steaks and rib roasts. Most of us wish these choice cuts, although no more nutritious than the re- mainder of the beef, — chuck, brisket, Hank, or round, which equal in food value the finest roast, but they re- quire more care to prepare and more time to cook. Courtesy Siuift & Co. ANTE-MORTEM INSPECTION If i1k' Anu'rican housewife would give a little more time to the study of the cooking and serving of the many inviting and palatable dishes that can be made from the cheaper cuts, she would at once affect the law of sup])ly and demand for rib roasts and ])orterli()Use, and the retail price> ( 't the>e aristocratic cuts would fiirthwith decline. I he I'.uropean h(jusewife has learned tins economic law, but it is not necessary at this time to discuss the eco- OF THI-: United States 197 nomic side of this topic, further than to state that the great packers have shown, by the care practised through every process, that no laws could enforce greater efforts toward cleanliness. Statistical information is easily avail- able. Meat Packing Centers. — Deing a western business, its great market and base of supplies naturally centers in Chicago, but the tendency is to get near the corn belt, as Courtesy Swift &■ Co. IXAl. U. S. INSPECTION is shown l)y the development of the business in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Omaha. St. Paul, .Sioux City and In- dianapolis. A trip through one of these plants affords one of the most interesting and instructive lessons im- aginal)le. Here the cattle, sheep and hogs, come in by the train-loads, from all parts of the middle West, and they are soon unloaded into the feeding pens to rest after their journey. Among these pens, from morning until the close of the market, buyers on horseback are carefully examining 198 Industrial-Commercial Geography the stock and making purchases. Even while the visitor is admiring" the various breeds, among them Aberdeen- Angus, Galloway, Durham and Hereford cattle, Merino and Leicestershire sheep and Poland-China, Jersey Red and Berkshire hogs, the United States Government In- spectors are busy at work looking for outward evidence of the unfitness of animals for food. It is within reach of any one living near the packing centers to see how thoroughly all this work is done. Courtesy Swift &• Co. MUTTON COOLER At the Beef House. — Following the cattle up a long- walk to the top of the "beef house" we see them quickly dispatched by the most humane and hygienic methods. Here is a perfect beehive of industry, for every man has some special task to perform. Some are l)usy removing llu- hides, others arr dressing and wasliing the iiuge beeves, others cutting and rt'nio\ing certain ])aiis, as the beeves pass each workman b}- means of ;in oxerhead trolley. The inspectors are ever present and vigilant, and, as the nuat ])asses them, it is weighed and passed on into the cooling rooms, the entire process having taken only thirty-five minutes for each beef. OF THE United States 199 In this great room, containing row after row of beeves, perhaps three thousand sides at a time, the meat is kept at a temperature of thirty-eight degrees for sev- eral days, and is then ready for the refrigerator car, where it is ingeniously loaded without ever coming in contact with the outside air. Now it is sent in special trains speeding to all parts of this country, as well as to every part of the civilized world. Many of these cars go di- rectly to the Atlantic seaboard, where the beef is loaded Courtesy Szvijt c7 to. beef cooler into refrigerator ships, to be delivered a week or so later to the markets of Great Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa or some other section of the earth. What a wonderful les- son in Geography one may learn, by tracing these ship- ments from the ranch to the retailer! How Invention Has Helped. — The business never could have assumed its present proportions but for the in- vention, first of the stationary refrigerator, which en- abled the packers to keep their products in storage, and of the refrigerator car in 1871, in which the meat could be shipped from the plants near the source of supply, to 200 Industrial-Commercial Geography the consumer in other parts of the country, and allow- ing" the manufacture of what was formerly waste into by-products at once, rather than to transport the live animals long distances. The process of preparing mut- ton is very similar to that of beef, except that they are sent practically whole to the coolers, and are shipped in that form instead of being cut up. The slaughter and dressing require about 26 minutes for each animal. Pork Packing. — The complete dressing of a hog re- quires only about twenty minutes. 1 lundreds of men are employed in each plant, each being assigned some spe- cial duty, including killing, scraping, taking out the leaf fat, dividing, trimming and scrubbing with hot water. As in the other buildings, the process begins on the top floor, and down story after story, room after room, go these fat porkers, on their way to the dry-room, which may have a capacity of from tive thousand to twenty thousand animals. For four hours they remain here, to allow the excess moisture to lea\'e the meat l)ef(jre going to the refrigerator room, where they are chilled for two days, and then sent to the chopping rooms. There the workmen dexterously cut ofif the hams, shoulders, sides, and special cuts required by various markets. The meats intended to be smoked are first cured in a sweet pickle of sugar, salt and water, or in dry salt, the weight of the meat determining the period, which will a\erage forty days. Now, in the smoke-house, o\er slow-lnirning fires of hickory wood, they are smoked for from thirty to fortv-eight hcnirs. In another room men are busy brand- ing the hams and bacon with red-hot irons, for each piece must bear the stani]) of (|uality. Next they are wrapi)ed in parchment ])a])er, by deft-fingered girls, and are ready for the market. Handling the By-Products. — While the .iniount of >ales of packing-house ])rii(luets anumnts to a "kings ransom" each year, the profit is coniparati\ ely small. about three cents on each dollar of sales, from the dressed OF THE United States 201 meat and the many by-products. As we approach the sausag'e-room, whicli is pervaded by the smell of spices, we note the presence of many white-aproned men and women dexterously cutting; the pork trimmings into de- licious sausai^e. 'J^he summer sausages are packed by hand, the others are forced by machines into hygienically clean casings of diflerent sizes, and quickly passed to the drying rooms, llic rehning of lard is an interesting sight, for here the pork trimmings are rendered into this product. 'Jlie animal fat is first steamed in huge kettles, where it is melted and purified, until run into the last kettle, after a final filtering. After being properly cooled it is run into another kettle, where it is gradually cooled in great revolving cylinders, filled with ice-water, from which it is carried through pipes to the pails and tierces. All fat not utilized for any other purpose finds its way to the soap factory. In a series of great kettles the fats are boiled, after which the substance is pumped into revolving crushers, where perfumes are added and the whole thoroughly cooled, after which it is automatically cut into cakes, of various shapes and sizes. After leaving the beef house we seem to be in a model creamery, for the odor of milk and butter is detected, but it is the butterine factory. This product is made by churning together oleo, neutral, milk and cream. Oleo oil is made from beef suet, and neutral from leaf fat, both coming from Government-inspected animals. All the mixing is done in sterilized vessels, and, as in all de- partments, cleanliness is the w^atchword. After mixing the constituents in ])r()])er ])roportions, they are churned in jacketed vats, containing- milk and cream, and turned int(j a runway containing ice and filtered water, where it turns into golden globules. The butterine is then "worked" like butter, salted, moulded into prints of vari- ous shapes, wrapped in i)archment ]:)aper and packed for the market. There are so manv thiups to see about one (jf these 202 Industrial-Commercial Geography plants that we may spend the greater part of the day- visiting the many departments. Students of agriculture visit the fertilizer plant, in which the process of convert- ing animal matter, such as blood, bone and tankage, into products for vitalizing the soil is studied, and this opens up a topic which is the very foundation of agriculture, for the substance taken from the earth must be returned in some form or other. Here are also manufactured the animal foods. At the wool house thousands of sheep pelts are dressed every day, the wool being pulled from the skins and washed and baled, while the skins are sent to the tanner. The hoofs are made into fertilizer, glue, buttons and other articles. The bones are boiled to secure all the glue, after which they are sold to the sugar factories to be made into bone black, for filtering and bleaching sugar, or they may be made into other products. The bristles from the hogs are even carefully preserved, and used in saddle factories and in plastering, and the beef hides go to the tanneries. In fact, everything is utilized for something: every drop of blood and even the teeth are converted into a marketable j)roduct. Had we the space we might also go into the details of the manufacture of many pharmaceutical prepara- tions, from parts of the animals, which would interest the students of science as well as those of commerce and in- dustry. The making of extract of beef, with the de- scription of the enormous vacuum pans, and white-capped girls packing the precious essense into little jars and bottles, might be instructive, but this is nothing com- pared with the A'aluable medicines made from various glands. L'ndcr this head comes the manufacture of the digestive ferments, such as ])epsin and ])ancreatin. It is eh'iiiiied that the meal industry is the founchition of perhaps twenty lesser inchisirjes, and day after (hi\-, week after week, month after month, the slaughter goes on, over eleven milh'on cattle, funrleen milbMU sheep, iiud twenty-five million hogs every year! OF THE United States 203 FOR RESEARCH 1. Name, in order, the states, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, across which the Great Plains extend. 2. Make a map showing the location of the packing centers. From these cities trace railroad lines connecting them with the sections producing the most live-stock. 3. Why arc more mules raised in Missouri than in any other state? From what states do we get the largest number of beef cattle? The largest number of hogs? The most sheep ? 4. Why are the packing plants located where they are? 5. Why have American meats sometimes been barred from lun-(i])ean markets? What other countries ri\al the United States in the production of cattle and hogs f(ir the market? 6. What re(|uirenients arc made of shippers of live stock? Now arc cattle herded on the plains? Get all the information possible in regard to life on a cattle ranch. How do cattle from the plains compare with those shipped from the farms? 7. How do beef cattle dififer from dairy cattle? A\'hy are some sheep sold for mutton while others are kept on the ranch for their wool? What is a wool-pul- lery ? 8. Where are the principal tanneries located? What cities are great leather markets? Where are the greatest shoe factories located? Why? 9. At what price, per hundred, are beef cattle, sheep and hogs selling today? How does the corn market af- fect the live-stock market? 10. ]f possible, visit a packing house, a cattle ranch, a shoe factory or a tanner}/. 204 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXIII THE LEATHER INDUSTRY AND SHOE MANUFACTURE The Tanning Industry is one of the very few in which American manufacturers, while paying higher wages, are able to compete successfully with foreign factories, operated by cheap lalxir. This is possible on account of our greatly im])r(ived methods of tanning and manufacture with which foreign countries have been unable to compete. The skins of the ox, cow and horse are used in the soles o£ shoes, for harness and belting, the skins of the calf in shoe-uppers and l)ook covers and tliat of the sheep and goats in whips, ajjrons, cushions and gloves. Tlie skin of the hog is used for tra\eling bags and saddles and the skin of the dog furnishes us half the gloves wc wear. Our tanneries also handle the skins of the elephant, rhi- noceros, walrus, shark, deer, alligator, hippopotamus, buffalo, kangaroo, and other animals, and thus thousands of men are given employment to supply tlie demand. Over sixty thousand men arc employed in tlic tanneries of the United States. Centers of the Leather Industry. — The principal centers of the leather industry in this country are: Phila- delphia, ]\Iilwaukee, Newark, A\'ibuington, Chicago, and Peabody, Mass., and they are important in tlie order named. Some idea of the magnitude of the industry may be had from tlie fat-t that last year over 110,000,000 hides were tanned inln leather, \alued at cess, in brief, con- sists of the immersion of the "green" hide for an ex- tended period, in a solution of tannin, tlie process requir- ing fr()m two to seven months. After tanninu' comes the WllKX ONE .MAX MADE SHOES processes of currying, splitting and retanning. for the purpose of bringing the leather to the desired state of perfection, for it must be pliable and elastic and, in most cases, have a handsome finish. Black leathers are im- mersed in a solution of logwood, after which the}- are finished in embossed, smooth or pebbled leather, as desired. Uses For the By-Products.-— There is very little waste in the leather industry, as all cuttings or scraps are used for some purpose. They may be pressed into deco- rati\e floor cloth, or reduced to a pul|) and pressed into shoe heels or inner soles, for use in the cheaper grades of shoes. Scraps and skins may be used in making glue, 2o6 Industrial-Commercial Geography the hair for padding- or cheap blankets and cloth, or in plastering. In this industry absolutely nothing goes to waste. Boots and Shoes. — The manufacture of boots and shoes ranks first in the important uses of leather, for in Courtesy United Shoe Mach. Co. GOODVEAK WELT AND TURN SHOE MACHINE the expansion of all of our material resources, and in the history of our commercial development, there is no in- stance of so great an advance in prcxluctive capacity as that of the manufacture of shoes. This is one of the most ancient of human handi- crafts, and its development has been accomplished with- OF THE United States 207 in the last fifty years. Many people now actively en- gaged in business life can remember when all the pieces from which a shoe is made were sewn together, slowly, by hand. In those days the old-time cobbler, with his bench and apron, lapstone and hammer, awl and wax- end, was to be found in every hamlet. Some of us have watched him at work, without realizing that we were gazing upon tools and methods which had hardly changed since the dawn of history. Shoe-Making Machinery. — We have now seen the ancient ways give place to a marvelous system of machines, which turn out hundreds of shoes in the time required for the old-fashioned shoemaker to finish a pair. We may discover the secret of this transformation by going back fifty years to the invention of the sewing machine, and, afterwards, the \Ye\t system of machinery, invented by Charles Goodyear, a son of the man who gave the world the use of rubber. Of all the jjroducts of American ingenuity there is none which is more the child of machinery than is the modern shoe. Textiles are woven or spun on looms or spindles, but which have little diversity of design ; the parts of watches are made and assembled by machines as delicate as themselves, but no more delicate or intri- cate than those devised for fashioning the shoe, and nothing like the infinite variety. The path of the devel- opment of this system is strewn with lost fortunes and shattered hopes, and lighted by fine examples of business courage. Every operation in the manufacture of shoes has yielded to invention. Besides the welting and stitching machines, there are machines for pulling the leather over the last, thus developing the shoe's finest lines; machines for cutting the soles and uppers ; for shaping, compress- ing and nailing heels ; for attaching soles to uppers ; for rounding, buffing and polishing the soles; for trimming and setting the edges of the soles; for performing in- 208 Industri AT -Commercial Geography I. Lasl. J. l'|'|i<.r. .!. Insole. 4. Lasted shoe. 5. Welt iiaitially se\ve( 6. Welt .sewed. 7. Outsole. 8. Ready for stitching. g. Sole stitched. iri. Heel in place. it. Ready finishing. OF THE United States 209 numcral)Ie npcrations. all essential tn perfectit ni in cuni- fort, durability and style. In the early days, as new maehines were invented, conii)anies were orj^anized to manufacture them, until there were many small concerns, some of them barely existing'. Every manufacturer had to deal with many of them, and as there was always difificultv in securing one machine or another, the business was unstable. In 1899 the majority of these concerns were consolidated. The gathering- of these companies into a single organization wrought an instant change. Uniform methods now pre- vail, any kind of machine can be secured on short notice, either by purchase or under the royalty plan, which is the most common. Machines are rented to the manu- facturers and kept in perfect condition, and also replaced when worn or out-of-date. The greatest factory for the manufacture of machinery is located at Beverl}-. Mass. It employs nearly four thousand people, ships twenty thousand machines a year, and replaces fifteen million parts. This company does business in every part of the ci\ilized world, and its sales value in the United States represents forty million dollars annually. The genius who brought about the standardization of modern shoe-making devices, and who is enthroned today as the machinery king of Xew England, is Sidney \y. AX'inslow, the son of a huiul)le shoemaker, who worked with his father at the bench, at Lynn, Mass. The capital of the shoe kingdom is Boston, with the outlying princi])alities of Lynn, Brockton, Haverhill and several other cities. There are also great factories at Xew York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago and many other cities. There are over nineteen hundred independent factories, em])loying over two hundred thousand people, and mak- ing, a])[)ro.\imately, 250,000,000 pairs of shoes every year. Export of American Made Shoes. — Since the con- solidation of the various machinery com])anies, ten }-ears ago^ the commercial rating of the shoe manufactures of 2IO Industrial-Commercial Geography the United States has doubled. In proportion to the amount of capital employed the value of the product ex- ceeds that of any other industry. The foreign demand for American shoes has practicall}^ been created since that time, as a dozen years ago the export of boots and shoes from the United States was insignificant. During the past ten years there has been an advance of 531% LIP OF INSOLt OUTSOLE ■■■CHANNCU V- CORK FILLING LIP OF INSOLE STITCH UNITINO INSOLE UPPCR AND wUti SECTION GOODYEAR WELT SHOE in the value of exports, those for 1913 amounting to v$200,ooo,ooo. American shoes can now be boueht in every capital in Europe, and they are rapidly replacing European makes in the centers of fashion. This condi- tion is due largely to the fact that the royalty system of leasing machines has relieved the manufacturer of carry- OF THE United States 211 ing a large investment, and has given him freedom to ex- tend his vision over the world-wide field of trade. Manufacturers in the United States have not suf- fered by the sale of machinery abroad. The system of machinery has also been a boon to labor. Wages in shoe factories are higher today than ever before and the conditions under which the laborers are employed are radically changed. Safety, comfort, and cleanliness in factories have supplanted dirt, danger and inconvenience. Strikes are infrequent, and the relations between em- ployer and employed were never before so cordial as they are at the present time. Shoes today are the only article of general wear made in the United States on an absolutely free-trade basis, as there is no duty on shoes whatever, and the duty (in hides was removed several years ago. FOR RESEARCH 1. Why does leather have such a wide field of use- fulness? 2. When did the tanning of leather assume com- mercial importance in this country? 3. What do you know of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, the Northwest Fur Company and similar organi- zations? 4. W^rite two hundred words descriptive of the fur industry in the United States. 5. What is "patent" leather? Raw hide? Split leather? Parchment? Levant Morocco? 6. If possible visit a tanning and a shoe factory and follow the process of manufacture from start to finish. 7. From the United Shoe Machinery Company, Boston, Mass., secure literature describing the Goodyear Welt process of manufacturing shoes and be able to recite upon the efi'ect this invention has had upon the industry. 212 Industkiai.-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXIV THE SALMON CANNING INDUSTRY One of the great industries of this country is the canning and preservation of food in hermetically sealed packages. The principal articles canned in the United States are : Tomatoes, corn, milk, oysters, corned beef, salmon, sardines, peaches, pears, beans, apples, and peas, — and they are relatively important in the order named. The canneries are intimately connected with several other industries; to the lumber industry, by annually using over thirty million packing" boxes, to the tin plate industry by using two million boxes of tin plate, to the ])rinting industry by using over two hundred and fifty million labels. Nearly half a million people are annually employed in the canning industry, directly or indirectly. The can- neries are of vast advantage to the farmers, as they use such enormous quantities of their products, thus chang- ing" the relation of many foods to the seasons. What was formerly used in only one season may now be used thriiughout the year. Salmon Canning Centers. — Perhaps the most inter- esting branch of this industry is the catching" and canning" of salmon, the most important of the fisheries. The i)rin- cipal salmon canneries are k)cated in Washington and Oregon, — in the Puget Sound country, across the Cana- (lian border in the \icinit\- of V^ancouxer, and in Alaska. The largest salmon canneries in the world are at I'.elling- liani and P.laine, Washington. Of all edible tish, the salmon is certainly king. From a piscatorial standp(jint it carries the honor of being chief OF TH1-, United States 21 provider for its country, and it needs not to be pampered, propagated or protected, it "just grows," — no one knows just where, — and, yearly, at tlie psychological moment, obligingly swims up to its finish, at the very door of the cannery. Five z'arictics of salmon are taken in these waters. Of these the "Spring" or "Chinook" is the largest and most plentiful, attaining a weight of from twenty to one hundred pounds, but its pale, whitish color is not desired. Cuiirtcsy O. W. Ry. & Nav. Co. l-ISH WHEEL— COLUMBIA RI\'ER The principal market, London, is conservative, and the tradition of the fathers is that the meat must l)e deep pink. Luckily, the nimble and plentiful "Sockeye" sal- mon meets this demand, its flesh being firm, toothsome and of orthodox hue. A less desirable but e(|ually plenti- ful variety is called the "Idump-back." The Fishing Fleet. — Fancy a fleet of some two thou- sand smacks, with crimson and tawny and silver sails, manned by Japs, Tlreeks, Siwashes, Scandinavians and 214 Industrial-Commercial Geography Britons, drifting lazily seaward towards the orange-red sun, dropping' behind the snow-veiled parapet of the magnificent Olympics. So still is the ensuing twilight that you can hear the polyglot jargon of this flotsam and jetsam of the nations, as boat hails boat, and prophets proclaim the outlook for the night's catch. Then, with the heaving flood-tide, from the far, cold depths of the sea, comes the racing, leaping, shimmering, tumbling mass of salmon making for home, goaded by Nature's primeval instinct of propagation. One school may be a mile long, and the "run" will continue for several days. However, there is need for haste, for the packing season, for each variet}^ is only six weeks long, and every boat must do its utmost. The "Springs" come first, followed Ijy the "Sockeyes" for a season of ecpial duration, the "Hump-backs" com- pleting the season in the early fall. In the morning the catch is deposited upon the cannery wharves, and the packing begins. Lest the enormous kill should, in time, decrease the supply, six hatcheries are now maintained, and millions of young salmon are annually distributed in these waters, to take the place of their predecessors. Fish Traps. — As the canneries will no longer buy speared fish, they are caught chiefly in traps and gill nets. The trap is a mystifying arrangement of piling, wire netting and ropes. A row of piles, sometimes over a luindred feet in length, are set from ten to fifteen feet ai)art, starting from the shore and running diagonally from the incoming tide to deep water. The wire netting is secured to these posts and hekl down by stones or other weights. This is called the "lead," and, according to law, must not be over 2,500 feet long. The law also regulates the mesh of the wire and nets used. At the outer end of tbis "lead" is the "pot" in dec]) water, hut not (lec])cr than sixty-five feet at low tide. Flanging the mouth of the pot are short rows of ])iles, strung with netting in such a way that when the OF THE United States 215 schools of lish strike the lead, and follow it to deep water, they are turned toward the mouth of the "funnel" of the pot by the flanges, called "hearts." The pot is suspended on piles like a huge dip-net forty feet scjuare. The funnel is a hole about ten feet in diameter, so ar- ranged that when fish are once in they are almost cer- tain to remain until the trap is full, when they are turned into an extra yard of netting called a "spiller," and are loaded into scows to be taken to the canneries. This operation is a wonderful sight, particularly so when there are from twenty to seventy thousand salmon in the pot. It is estimated that the fish ha\'e Init one chance in ten thousand to escape, when once within the trap ! A floating- trap has been patented recently, and promises to be very successful, as the cost is only about one-third as much as the dri\en ones. Aiiotlicv mcfliod, carried on in a smaller scale, is called reef or bar fishing. One end (if the web is fastened on the shore, and the other end is given to a man in a gasoline-driven boat, who runs out and around the school of fish, playing out the web as he goes. The web has large iron rings in the lower edge, and a rope runs through these. When the fish are surrounded, the ends of the rope are drawn up and the "purse" of salmon is pulled ashore. These webs are usually 1,500 feet long, 125 feet deep and cost $700. Along the Columbia, and other rivers of the North- west, the fish wheel is a common sight, purse seining being forbidden by law. In most of these rivers the waters become literally alive with the silvery "Chinook" and, as they flow towards the sea, their current revolves the huge framework, upon each arm of which is swung a basket of wire netting. The fish hug the shore Avhile going up-stream, jumping over obstacles along the way, and in attempting to jump over the wheel are caught and thrown into a larger net often by the hundreds. There 2l6 Industrial-Commercial Geography are single days when one salmon wheel will take out over tive hundred dollars worth of fish. Competition is as great in the fish-canning business as in any other, and most of the canneries keep bu}ers in the "field," going from boat to boat and buying all they can get. Some of these boats will carry in twenty thousand fish to the cannery. Upon arrival they are un- loaded in a uniciue manner. As they must not be speared or cut. each of the unloading crew uses an implement Conyl,-sy O. II'. Ry. & Xai: Co. SALMON CANNERY— BELLINGHAM, WASH. which consists of a single steel prong, or hook, set in the end of a five-foot handle. This prong is dexterously caught in the gills of the fish and the}- are unloaded, one at a time. Preparing the Fish. — Until recent years all of the canning companies contracted with a "Hoss" Chinaman at San Francisco, to send the re(iuired number of "Chinks" to do the work, as they were found lo be more faithful workers than white men. OF THE United States 21' However, this plan has been lari[;ely su])erseded l)y the use of a machine called the "Irnn <"hink,"" A\hieh does the work more rapidl\- and much l)etter, — almost without waste. The fish are fed into it as corn is fed into a sheller, and it cuts off the head, tail and tins, scrapes i'C must be smelted in a blast furnace. 'I'his nianmioth ttn'iiace resembles a lamp chiniiKw in shape and is con- structed of steel and hnc'(l with a water jacket of fire- OF THE United States 229 l)rick or some other substance that will protect it from the great heat. It is charged from the top, with alter- nate layers of ore, limestone and coke, while at the bot- tom is introduced a strong current of air. The chemical reactions which take place, when the currents formed by the mixing of hot gases and solid substances meet, result in the production of molten cast iron, which, when drawn ofif and moulded into bricks called "pigs," is ready for the converters. The Bessemer Process. — The most noted method used in the manufacture of steel is the Bessemer process. This consists in charging molten pig iron into a jug- shaped steel vessel called a converter, and forcing a blast of air through it until the silicon, manganese and carbon are burned out, and then restoring a small portion of the manganese and carbon by adding some form of re- carburizing material. The converter is so mounted that it can be rotated from a vertical to a horizontal position. The molten pig iron is charged into it when horizontal, then, when raised to its vertical position, the blast, which maintains a pressure of from twenty-five to thirty pounds per square inch, is automatically turned on from the bottom. The blowing continues from five to eight minutes, when the converter is turned to a horizontal position again and the re-carlnn-izing material added, and the charge is then ready for casting into ingots. The open-hearth process is also used extensively in the manufacture of steel, and consists in exposing the ])ig iron to the direct action of a greater volume of flame than is possible in the Bessemer process. This is accom- plished in what is called a regenerative gas furnace, and the product is very much like that obtained by any other process. PittsbitrgJi is known the world over as the "Smoky City," for, over the valley where it is located, has hung, since the birth of the industry, a great mass of fumous clouds, and under them the great converters paint the 230 Industrial-Commercial Geography skies of the night with a Hving fire. All along the river the black stacks of the furnaces direct a pyrotechnic dis- play without parallel. The scene is beautiful beyond description and interesting as it is spectacular. A Rolling Mill. — To manufacture from iron and steel, special machinery has been invented to conform to the great weight. Pneumatic trip-hammers were called for and rollers large enough to press out a fifty- ton piece of armor plate or shafting. In many of the mills the motive power is electricity, by use of which one man may turn a switch, causing a great crane to pick up a ten-ton ingot and lift it into a car, which is to haul it to the rolling mill, with apparently as nnich ease as the man turned on the switch. At the rolling mill, auto- matic tables ])ull and push the mass back and forth, between the rollers and under the trip-hammers, until reduced to the desired shape. Next, giant shears, oper- ated by hydraulic pressure, cut and trim a two-inch sheet as easily as a seamstress cuts cloth. If we were to use no iron we should be obliged to return to very jjrimitixe ways of life. We need only to think of the many articles in daily use to understand how mucli the iron and steel industry means to us. We could not dispense \\itli iron in the construction of our houses, and farming could not be done without the many labor-saving implements made from iron and steel. The railroad traffic of to-da\' would be impossible without iron and steel for the rails, engines and cars. The wooden boats ha\e been largely displaced by \essels of steel, and steel framework is the support of all large buildings. Large, strong and lasting bridges are ])os- sible because steel enters almost cntircl\' into their con- struction. I ri iU ]■> the niiist usclul and inipiirtant ot all metals. OF THE United States 231 FOR RESEARCH 1. Make a map of the Great Lakes, locate the iron ranges, and trace a shipment of ore to the steel mills. Indicate the location of these mills upon the map. 2. Why is it more economical to shi]) the ore to the coal than it would be to ship the coal to the ore? 3. Distinguish between: Pig iron, malleable iron and steel. A\'hat is the difference between forged steel and Bessemer steel? A\'hich is used for cutlery? AMiich for armor plate? 4. What changes in farming would take place if iron and steel were not to be obtained? AMiat changes about the household? 5. Why is a canal being constructed from Lake Erie to the vicinity of Pittsburgh? Name the principal cities connected with the iron and steel industry. 6. What substances, manufactured l:)y the use of iron, are used for clothing, food or other purposes? 7. Obtain specimens of brown hematite, red hema- tite, magnetite, carbonate and pyrites and note the color and character of each. Which \-ariety is found in the greatest (juantities? 8. AAdiat has made this country the leading nation in the manufacture of iron and steel? What men have been largely responsible for the development of the in- dustry ? 9. A\ here are the greatest shipyards in this coun- try? llie greatest locomotive works? The greatest stove manufacturing plants? The greatest lake ship- yards ? 10. How does the production of iron and steel in this country compare with that of other countries? Name the other countries in order of their importance. 11. Andrew Carnegie characterized a skyscraper as "A bridge stood on end." What comparison can you make concerning the construction of each? 232 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXVI THE COAL SUPPLY The action of Ex-])resident Roosevelt in withdraw- ing- from sale and entry over seventy million acres of land, which are underlaid with coal deposits, and the reversal of this order bv the succeedins; administration, ■J'll- COAL KKdIONS OF TllK IXITED STATES. J lie black areas are anthracite and bituminous; the shaded areas are lignite. was largely responsible fur the wholesale discussion of the conservation movement. It became a question of national importance. 11tc mo\ enu'iit toward this con- servation was probably i)ronipted by the fact that ex- perts claim that, at the present rate of consumption, all the anthracite coal in this country will be exhausted in fifty years, and the bituminous suppl\- in twice that lime. The German government long ago bought back- all of Its coal lands and the mines of that country are OF THE United States 2W ^00 operated under its control. The Canadian Gox'ernment has done likewise. The advantages obtained by proper mining- methods will be apparent, when it is understood that it has always been the custom in this country, — and the custom still prevails, — to mine only the princi])al vein in a locality; this mine afterwards caves in and the settling of the ground ruins all other veins for future use, a method as wasteful as that of the lumbermen who cut only the choicest trees, allowing the growing supply to be broken down and burned in the forest. Pciiiisyh'aiiia is the greatest coal-mining state in the Union, having a monopoly of the anthracite-bearing area, the onlv other sections being in Colorado and New Mexico. 7'lic lufinniiiDiis areas are scattered widely over the United States, the most productive sections being in the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Montana. These states comprise a coal-producing area five times as great as that of all Western Europe combined. The distinction between the two principal kinds of coal is that the anthracite contains 84 per cent, or more, of lixed carbon, and very little ash, sulphur and moisture, while bituminous coal contains only from 50 to 75 per cent, of fixed carbon, the remainder being waste matter. Anthracite coal is a staple, the price of which fluctu- ates very little and varies only in proportion to the dis- tance it is hauled to the retail market. There is no com- ])etition at present in the coal trade; eighty-three i)er cent, of all the hard coal in the United States, and ninety-eight per cent, of the entire coal output of the country is controlled by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Co., which owns sixty-three per cent, of the coal lands. This road practically controls the coal busi- ness of seven other roads, doing business in Pennsyl- vania. By owning" the coal lands and mines, hauling 234 Industrial-Commercial Geography all the coal and eliminating' the middleman, the roads make three profits grow where only one grew before ! It is a noticeable fact that all dealers charge the same prices for the same grades of coal in the principal cities. It is claimed that they are under contract with the pro- ducers to maintain a certain price or forfeit their future supply. Coal Production. — The earliest record of anthracite coal production in the United States was in 1814, when i oiirtcsy Cit. Xortlinii l\y. t COAL OCrCRol'I'IXC— W "^■OMIXG twenly-two tons were mined in PennsyKania. It is said that it was sold to the owner of an iron furnace, who became disgusted with his bargain w Iicn it apparently refused t^ burn, and kft hi^ i)ost to find llie man who had defrauded him. Upon giving up his search and re- turning to his furnace he found llie doors nielled off! In Missouri rind Iowa the mining of bilumiiuius coal began about iS|o and coal was lirst disco\ered in tlie West, in what is ncnv the State of Washington, in 1852. OF THE United States 235 Over four hundred million tons of coal are mined in this country every year, giving employment to over six hundred thousand men and boys. .\ coal-mining" town is different from any other mining town, from the fact that the supply is not exhausted so frequently, the great shafts and drifts running deeper into the earth year after year. The coal miner becomes a hxture, working many years in the same mine, the l)o}'s following in the foot- steps of their fathers, becoming old in the same town, where their own sons will i)erhaps follow them in the same business. At the age of eight or ten the boys are sent to the breakers to pick the slate from the coal, at fifteen they l:)ecome laborers about the mine, later, after having acquired skill they become miner's helpers and afterwards full-Hedged miners. Then, as age comes on, or when the}- become cri]:)pled in the mines, they begin the backward trip, first as miner's helpers, then mine laborers, and finally breaker boys, at the same wages thev received when eight years old. Mines in this country may be divided into two gen- eral classes, the horizontal, where the shaft is tunneled into the mountains, and shaft mining, where shafts must be sunk perpendicularly until the vein of coal is found. Over the shafts are buildings for housing the machinery for hoisting and lowering the men and coal. The deepest shaft in America is at W'ilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is 1,060 feet deep, 12x52 feet in diameter and has five compartments. The subterranean passages of a coal mine are laid out with the utmost jn-ecision. rivaling the most regu- larly planned streets of a city. The main thoroughfare is generally seven or eight feet high and twice as \vide, with doul)le tracks for the passage of the coal cars. At right angles the side-streets are tunneled from both sides, forming the workrooms of the miners. 236 Industrial-Commercial Geography The inodcni coal mine possesses a mechanical equip- ment of no mean proi^ortions. First there must be a fanning- system for ventilation, then there arc sanitation, draining- and electric lighting systems, telephones, elec- tric conveyors, and a fire department of which many an incorporated city would be i)rou the elevators. Mechanical drills pound out tlic holes for the cartridges of black jiowder. ^ As the coal comes from the mines, it is in all varieties of sizes and sha]-)es, and must go iuimediately to the breakers, where it is Hrst dumped onto a screen n-iade of bars six inches ;i]);irl. The coal passes through these OF THE United States 237 spaces, then goes over lower bars with three and one- half inch spaces, the coal passing- over both of these be- ing handpicked to remove the impurities. From the bars the lump coal passes to a series of rolls for a tirst breaking down, and thence,* after picking, to the second rolls, which crush it into "broken" size and under. The transportation of coal, from the place of mining" to all parts of the country, for final use, is a business of great magnitude. In its accomplishment there is brought into play not only the executive genius of the heads of the great railroad and steamship companies, but also the inventive talent of the engineers who have devised labor- saving and speed-increasing- a]ipliances. Six thousand tons of coal -were loaded ).ipon a steamer in six hours recently, and it can be unloaded in about the same time. Coal is transported by water at a comparatively low price, the Great Lakes rate being about thirty cents a ton, per thousand miles, and some of the large boats will carry 8,000 tons. Railroad cars, loaded with forty tons, arc lifted l)odil_\- liy great cranes and their con- tents dumped into the vessels. From l^ittsburgh to New Orleans the rate is about fifty cents a ton, the coal be- ing loaded upon barges, and several of them are fastened together in the form of a raft and floated down the rivers. Some of the principal distributing points are, in order of their importance, — Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Bufifalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Duluth, Superior, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Boston and Mil- waukee. Coal a Great National Asset. — The transfer of com- mercial and industrial supremacy from Great Britain to the United States has been coincident with this na- tion's passing of the former as a producer of coal. As machinery plays its increasing role in the workshops of production, the nation which possesses the largest supply of coal will dictate the economic policy of the world. This country not only possesses the greatest 238 IXDUSTRIAL-COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY coal areas, but. by the employment of the newest labor- saving devices in the mines, obtains its product at a price greatly below that of any other country. Alaskan Coal Fields. — As coal is the material energy of industrv, the manufacturing advantage which the L'nited States possesses, in its comparatively cheap supply, will influence enormousl}- the future commercial development of the world. It is e\ en probable, on ac- COMPRESSED AIR MACHINE DRILL AT WORK IN A COAL MINE count of the rapid exhaustion of the European mines, that this country will eventually control the coal markets of Euro])e, as il has, for man}' years, the market for cereals, but the ])riccs will never be an}- lower unless the business is regulated 1)} legislative enactment. I'he only chance we ha\e had to decrease the price of coal by increasing the supply, la}- in the development of our coal fields in Alaska, but that chance seems to have about ])assed from us, although, perhaps, no fields in the world equal those in richness. There are billions of dollars worth of coal there, in veins rising with the hills, very near the surface and sometimes actually exposed. OF THE United States 239 The coal ma)- be easily mined, it is not far from the sea, and railroads can be built to tidewater over prac- tically le\el ground, liiit, unless quick action is taken, this will soon all pass into the hands of a monopoly which will ('utrixal the one now controlling the supply and we will ha\e to buy l)ack, at a high price, the coal that is reall}- our own! The most satisfactory plan would be for the Gov- ernment to own the mines, and lease them to the mining- companies under a definite contract, allowing them a reasonable profit. FOR RESEARCH 1. Obtain specimens of as many \arieties of coal as possible. From what localities were they oljtained? 2. What are the peculiarities of lignite coal? Where is it obtained? \\ hat is cannel coal? For what is it used? What is peat? 3. What is a coaling station? How do ships re- ceive their coal? 4. How is coke obtained? A\'hy is it used instead of coal in the manufacture of iron and steel? What are the principal by-products of coal? 5. A\diat ^■ariety of coal is used in the manufacture of illuminating gas? A\'hat is a "fat" coal? 6. Make an outline map, showing the areas of coal production. Wliat other countries produce great (juan- tities of coal ? 7. Locate, upon your outline map. the coal-carrying railroads and indicate the location of the principal markets. 8. A\diy is coal cheaper at Duluth than at Omaha? Trace a trainload of coal from Scranton, I'ennsyhania, to Wichita, Kansas. What railroad lines would be used? 240 Industrial-Commercial Geography 9. What is meant by long ton? Short ton? Ts there an ordinance in yonr city governing weights and measures? 10. Why do we sometimes find the prints of leaves and ferns, upon pieces of coal? Examine a piece of coal under a strong magnifying glass. I 1. What effect has the use of coal had u])on ci\il- ization? W hv is wood l)urne(l in some localities instead of coal? 12. Discuss the relati\e \alue of different grades of soft coal, hard coal and coke as fuel in your o\\ n home. 13. What is ])eat? In Nebraska and other W estern states there are large deposits. For what used? OF THE United States 241 CHAPTER XXVI I PETROLEUM AND ITS PRODUCTS Crude pcfrolcimi is the most valuable li(juid on earth, next to water. Great reservoirs of it underlie many of the states and it is found in almost all countries. It is usually found in the vicinity of coal fields and is the product of a continuous distillation which transpires in the formation of coal, a process which has been in prog- ress for countless ages. In its crude state it is a heavy liquid, varying in color from a dark greenish tint to steel gray. American Oil Lights the World. — The product from American fields is carried where\er a wheel rolls or a camel's foot can be ])lanted. Across the Desert of Sahara the caravans go laden with astral oil. It burns before altars in India and in many heathen lands the nati\'es sat in darkness until the oil merchant came. In the most remote parts of China a case of kerosene is a familiar sight to men who have never heard of America. It has dispelled gloom in the huts of the Arctic explor- ers and brings cheer to the herder's dug-out in Australia and South America. American Oil Beds. — As early as 1819 petroleum was disco\ered in Kentucky. Salt wells were abandoned as useless on account of the presence of a dark oil floating on the surface of the brine. Similar experiences were encountered in Pennsyh'ania, and no use was made of the oil, until an enterprising Yankee bottled it and sold it as a "cure-all" for sprains and almost every other ail- ment. Woolen blankets were spread over the oil, which floated on the surface of the water, and when fully satu- 242 Industrial-Commerc JAL Geography rated with the oil they were wrung- dry and the process repeatecL The first oil well drilled for the purpose of obtaining' oil was sunk l^y Edwan Drake near Titusville, Penn., in 1859. The venture was successful and others followed in quick succession, as soon as methods for re- hning and using the nil came into use. The center of the oil industry has alwa^'s been at Pittsburgh, and it is through its oil trade that Western Pennsyhania is best known throughout the Avorld. The district includes eight refineries and has supplied in one Courtesy M. K. I'r 7'. Ry. Co. oil. Wl'.I.LS— EASTERN KANSAS vcar as high as thirt\"-fi\'e million barrels; howc\'cr. this (|uantit\' has rcccnlly ])ccn exceeded by C 'ali loniia. with a i)i'i iductii m (if ii\er sixt\' million barrels in (me \ear. Th(.' Calil'orma oil boom ])egan in iSyj. when a well was drilK'd in the suburbs of f.os Angeles. .'Scores of wells ha\e since been sunk llu'i'e and in iither ]);irt> (il the state, and the enornioU'^ \ ield has been the result. ( )i] is kiuL; in ( ali I'l iriiia t(Kla\', for ten tlion^-and derricks ui)liold its throne. It was worth thirty nnllion dollars to the state last year, exclusi\e of increased land \alues. OF THE United States 243 I'his far exceeded the entire gold 1 nitintt of the state and surpassed, 1)y three niilHons, the \alue of all citrus fruits placed ui)()n the market. Rich California Oil Wells. — The richest strike in the history of oil was the Lakeview gusher, near Bakers- field, California, as it has produced more oil than the agg"i'e§ate of all the greatest gushers ever known in the wnrld. Man}- have produced more at the start than the daily output of the Lakeview, but none of these kept up the performance much longer than a month. When two and one-half months had passed the Lakeview had produced two and one-half million barrels of oil, and the tfow had increased to sixty-one thousand barrels a dav. The Texas oil field, at Beaumont, is noted fur its enormous yield, as four of its greatest gushers alone pro- duce twice as much oil as all of the wells in Pennsyl- \ania. If the California and Texas oil were of the same grade as that produced in the Eastern and Kansas- Oklahoma regions, the sudden uncovering of such a sup- ])ly would paralyze the oil industry. However, the Cali- fornia and Texas oils are of a much heavier grade than that produced in the Eastern regions. They have an asphalt instead of a paraffine base, and refining gives only twenty per cent, of illuminating oil as against seventy per cent, from ihe older fields. The heavy residuum of the Southern and Western oils, after refining, furnishes a fuel of e\'en greater heat-])roducing pijwer than coal, and it is in this field that its future lies. It is already successfull}- used on the loconiotix'es of the Western lines of the Santa Ee and Southern Pacific Railroads and gives perfect satisfaction, as it is cheaper than coal and pro- duces no smoke or dust. Sprinkled along the right-of- way it kills the weeds, prevents dust and preserves the ties. It is burned successfully in stoves, furnaces, fac- tories and on steamships, and roads sprinkled with it be- come almost e(|ual to those co\ered with asphalt. A well is sunk for oil in \erv much the same manner 244 InDUSTRIAL-CcIMMF.RC TAL Gkoc.raphy Courtesy M. K. & T. Ry. Co. A "tiUSllKU"— OKLAHOMA OF THE United States 245 that we drill for water, except that the operation is upon a larger scale. When the well has reached the oil-bearing strata, at a depth of from eight hundred to fifteen hun- dred feet, a torpedo, containing from one to twenty-tive gallons of nitro-glycerine, is carefully lowered to the bot- tom and discharged by dropping an iron weight upon it. The operation is called "shooting" the well, the ex- plosion suddenly driving away the oil and creating a chamber into which it soon returns, and then forces its way to the surface with more or less violence. In one Texas well the flow came with such force that the derrick was demolished and several hundred feet of iron pipe, four inches in diameter, weighing upwards of six tons, was thrown a distance of about three hundred feet in the air. The oil geyser afterwards settled down to a steady flow, rising to a height of one hundred and fifty feet, falling in a spray. The oil came out of this well at the rate of fifty thousand barrels a day, and it was nine days before the well could be capped and the waste stopped. United States Oil Production. — \\'hen the first well was drilled in Pennsylvania the entire output of petro- leum was only eighty-four thousand gallons a vear. To- dav the United States alone produces over six billion gallons per year. The entire history of the industry reads like a romance. It seems almost incredible that it was first regarded as worthless, then sold in small bottles as a medicine, until a process for refining was discovered and the kerosene of commerce made its appeararice. While the new oil was superior to whale oil, lard oil or tallow candles, which had been used for illuminating up to this time, it was not wholly satisfactory on account of its liability to explode from heat. P.ut chemists found the cause of the trouble to be naphtha, which they then found a way to remove. in the earlier days the residuum after refining was discarded as worthless, but this was afterwards discov- 246 Industrial-Commercial Geography ered to contain many valuable substances. At present over two hundrecl different chemicals and other prepa- rations are made from it. The by-products are as valuable, if not more valuable, than the rehned oil itself. They include gasoline, rhigo- lene, benzine, naphtha, paraffine, lubricating oils, petro- latum, roofing pitch, coke, aniline dyes and a large num- ber of medical preparations. Paraffine is used exten- sively in making chewing gum, waterproof paper, candles, for covering fruit and jelly jars and countless other pur- poses. Twelve million pounds of petrolatum, the basis Lourtcsy M. K. t'r f. Ry. Co. OIL REMXllkV— TEXAS of vaseline, are produced annually by the Standard ( )il Company alone. Lul)ricaling oils, adapted to all Isinds of machinery, are manufactured annually by this com- pany to the amount of four million barrels. l'"i-i'ni the Western oil as])]ia]tnm is derixed, which is used in the manufacture of paxin^ l)lotd<->, r(»ofing. insulaling and waterprooling materials and for road oil. The cake residuum furnishes the carbon jioints used in arc lamps, and then there are pharmaceutical i)reparations almost without nundier. The utilization of these various by- OF THE United States 247 products has required the greatest speciaHzation of methods, the constant encouragement of invention and an immense amount of capital. Oil Refineries. — Most of the refineries are located near great bodies of water. The product of the Penn- sylvania region is refined at New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Buffalo and Cleveland. That from the Kansas-Oklahoma field is refined at Independence, Mo., and Chicago ; that from the Texas field at Galveston, and the product of the California region at Los Angeles and San Francisco. At first the oil was conveyed in casks, but that was soon found to be too expensive, and the tank car and pipe line were devised, for use on land, and the tank ship soon appeared upon lake and ocean. The first pipe line, laid in 1862, was four miles in length. At the present time there are nearly one hundred thousand miles of pipe line, most of it being the property of the Standard Oil Company, carrying the oil from the wells to the refineries and markets. This pipe would reach around the earth almost four times ! The company also owns over ten thousand tank cars, enough for a train reaching from New York to Philadelphia — also an enor- mous fleet of one hundred and twenty steamers and sail- ing vessels, which transports petroleum and its products to the far corners of the earth. Export of Crude Oil. — Most of the crude oil which is exported goes to France and S])ain, where it is treated in local refineries, the duty on refined oil to these coun- tries being alnKjst prohibitive. For the C)riental trade the oil is shipped in cases of five gallons each, two cans strapped together being called a "case." Five cargo steamers are devoted to this trade on the Pacific, while twelve more steamers attend to the coast trade. The largest tank-ships contain about two million, five hundred thousand gallons, and so powerful are the pumps by which they are controlled that such a cargo can be taken on board or delivered in six hours. 248 Industrial-Commercial Geography The hull of the ship is (li^'icled into nianv air-tinht CKinpartments, which are kept hermetically sealed from port to port, as a precaution against fire. Occasionally these ships take fire, as a result of leaks, and can only be saved by sinking them. As the compartments are water-tight there is nt) loss of oil in those remaining intact, but the cost of raising the vessel to the surface is enormous. The Siaiidard Oil Company, organized in 1882, is the most conspicuous of the world's oil refineries. It is our largest American exporter and is the greatest and most powerful organization in the world, excepting the United States Steel Corporation, ft has an authorized capital of $110,000,000. but this does not represent all of its cai)i- talization. It owms property in every ci\'ilized country, controls twenty-six plants, and is the largest employer of labor in the world. Seventy thousand jieople are required to carry on the extensive operation of this company, the occu])ations represented include nearly all of the trades in which men are engaged. Among them are one thou- sand boiler and tank makers, and fifteen hundred shi]) builders. Thirteen thousand men are engaged in oper- ating the l)i])e lines — eight thousand li\e hundred in ]:)roducing, ])urchasing and measuring the oil, twent\' thousand in refining and handling it, twehe thousand in distributing and marketing in this country, and twelve thousand in the foreign trade, also twelve hundred in the general administration of afifairs. The ]K'rtect organization of this conipan\- makes it possible for it to sell oil in luiropean countries, with as extensi\'e tlelds as oin"s, if it were not kept out by a high tariff. Persia, Bulgaria, I'lUrma, Cexltm, Un^sia, Australia and ])arts of Sontli America ha\e ininieuse un- developed liehU, but indixidual effort largeh' ])re\ails there and the fields are unde\elope(l. fhe Russian oil fields are as extensi\o as ours, yet the largest corporation there in the ' lil business has a capitali/atii mi i it 1 me inillii mi OF THE United States 249 dollars. Tn Italy, S])a!n and Egypt wells are yet drilled by hand, and the pnmps are operated in the same way. ddic use of the "grasshopper connection-rod,'' which pumps a dozen or more wells by one engine, was re- cently ]:)rohibited in I'urkey because each would throw forty men out of work! It seems that for many years to come the United States will furnish oil to the greater part of the world. Idie Standard ( )il Company is an organization intensely American. Much of its success has come from its selection of men. as it has searched the ci\'ilized world for talent and skill. E\en the elevator boys in the general offices are selected with an idea to their dexelopment. FOR RESEARCH 1. Obtain as many petroleiun ])roducts as possible for study. 2. Indicate the ]irincipal oil regions on an outline niaj). Show how these areas are connected with the cities where refineries are located. 3. A\'hv has the ]:)etroleum industry grown so rap- idly? 4. AMiat other country rivals the United States in the ])ro(luction of ])etr()leum? Why has the industry not acKanced there as rapidly as in this country? 5. Discuss the influence of petroleum and its ju-od- ucts u])on our social and economic life. What effect has it hatl upon the industrial arts? 6. WHiat is the connection between the petroleum industr}- and the supply of natural gas? \Miy are these products the most economical and satisfactory fuel for use in the manufacture of glass? 250 Industrial-Commercial Geography 7. Whale oil, pitch, tallow, paraffine, kerosene, gas and electricity have each been used in turn for the pur- pose of illumination. Discuss the relative value of each. 8. Obtain the pr()]:)er medium for burning a portion of each of the lirst six and experiment with the same. 9. How has the petroleum industry influenced the manufacture of automobiles and gasoline tractors? 10. \\'hy are prices of petroleum products higher now than they were several years ago when refining had not reached its present state of perfection? '1 OF THE United States 251 CHAPTER XXVIII GOLD— FROM MINE TO MINT The great financial panic of 1857, the greatest in the history of this countr}-, rendered the National treasury, as well as the greatest commercial and industrial enter- prises, practically bankrupt. At that time we were min- ing some gold in Georgia, North Carolina and California, but all of our silver was obtained from Mexico. The Civil War was about to begin at the ver}^ moment, when, in 1859, two of the greatest discoveries in the history of this country were made, that of oil in Pennsylvania and of gold in Colorado. In less than ninety days over twenty thousand men spread over the territory tributary to Clear Creek, Colorado, where they washed great quantities of gold from the banks and beds of the streams. Millions were taken then, and hundreds of millions have since been extracted, fn nn the quartz veins that rib the moun- tain sides, from wliich the gold originally found in the valleys was eroded by the storms and tempests of the ages. Such, in brief, Avas the ince])tion of civilization in the Rocky Mountains. Science Aiding Mining. — This has become the age of metals. The evolution has Ijeen great. The mining over- seer has given way to the mining engineer, who makes accessible the material for our progress. In the early days the world did not need so much ore as at the present time, and a sufficient amount was easily accessible. Now, scientific means are required to reach the treasure and l)ring it to the surface. This is done by the use of the most modern appliances for securing and delivering the ore at the mills and refineries. The largest mine in the world today, the Homestake, at Lead, South Dakota, 252 Industrial-Commercial Geography which in thirty years has produced almost one hundred niilHon dollars" worth of !;old, would be valueless had not the mininu' eni>ineer ft)un(l a way to handle its vast product of low-grade ore. The miner is the one individual who refuses to recog- nize the im]:)ossil)le. Tie is always willing to sto]) any- where, under any circumstances, to talk about mines, and he is always hopeful, joyous and l)Uoyant. Xo matter if he never made a dollar from a mine in his life, he is alwavs certain that he will "strike it rich" soon. Luuitcsy Li-'ic. ::iciillicni A'v. L o. A PROSPECTOR'S CABIN AND :\riXE Placer Gold Mining. — The first discoN erics were called "placer" gold: nugget> or grains washe(l to the surface. The most ])rimitive utensil used by the early miners was the pan. which they partially Idled with dirt thought to contain gohl, then Idled it to the rim with water, causing the sand to si'llle to ihr Ixittiiui ;is the pan was gently rocked, after which the water and nnul were poured off, lea\-ing the p;irticles nl gi'ld alone rc- m;iining in a spoonful "i s;nid. Alter the pan c-anie the OF THE United States 253 rocker, l)y tlie use of which more dirt could l)e treated witli the same (i])erati(in. This was followed by the sluice-box or trench, a wooden ditch, with rirne-l)ars or blocks set across the bottom. A stream of water is di- verted from its course t]irc)Ui;h this sluice and the dirt is thrown in with shovels. As it w^ashes over the ob- structions at the bottom, the gold, being heavier, is caught in the cre\ices and the refuse is carried away by the water. When the water is shut off the gold is gath- ered from betw^een the blocks. Hydraulic Mining. — d"he most elaborate of all the means of working placers is the hydraulic monitor. By this method a stream is dammed, somewdiere above the working, and the water carried down through great pipes, usually twenty-two inches in diameter. This water is delivered into an iron monitor, wdiich directs a stream against the bank of earth to be washed, through a nozzle from six to nine inches in diameter, with a rending power that is terrihc, tearing down the very mountain-side. This graxel is washed through sluices and the metal re- covered as in the other processes, and the miner must then search below^ the surface. The first ])rocess of underground mining is called "])locking out," l)y which the dirt and stone surrounding the ore is removed, exposing the ore to view. The side- walls are hea\'ily timliered, to prevent their falling in, and the miners l:>egin drilling with great air-pressure drills to prepare for the charge of pow^der wdiich will "shoot"" out the ore. This ore is then hauled in a tram- car to the main shaft, wdiere it is elevated to the surface. As the particles of gold are usualh' found in \eins of stone, it is not accessible until these are crushed, and this is done by the use (^f a stani]), which resembles a tri])- hammer, and the\' are usuallv arranged in groups of five, Some mills using as manv as a thousand stamps. They w^eigh about five hundred pounds each, and rise and fall about fifteen inches every second, crushing the lumps of ^54 Industrial-Commercial Geography quartz and releasing- the small particles of gold, making it resemble i)lacer gold. Water is run into this crushed stone and the mixture is expelled through a screen over a copper apron, which has been amalgamated. As gold has a great affinity for (luicksilver, this amalgam coat readily absorbs the particles of gold, after wliicli it is scra])e(l off the copper plate and the mercury removed by lical in a retort, leaving the residue, which is gold. F^~~ Z ''/?**vL . '. Courtesy Colo. Southern liy. Co. WHERE GOLD WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN COLORADO Smelting Ore. — Some classes of ore will not respond to this jjrocess, and must be smelted, by being ])laced in a mammoth furnace, with layers of coke, lime and ore, each in the jndper proportion, or the mass, when melted, will clog the furnace. The heat required is intense, neces- sitating the use of water jackets or fire-clay lining, around the furnaces to ])revent tlicir melting along with the ore. After the charge has been nielUMJ, tlie sul])]iur l)unit out and carried in I'unu's, the nu'tals. being heavier, n<>w sink to the bottom and are drawn off and sent t" tlie relinerv. where the gold and silver are separated frinn the "base" OF THE United States 255 or predominant metal. If this is lead, the mass is called "bullion" ; if it is copper it is called "matte." It may be interesting to know that since the fires were first lighted, under the furnaces of the first smelter, in 1868, the smelter has been in constant operation night and day ever since. The principal smelters are at Denver, Lead- ville, and Cripple Creek, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona, and refineries are located at Omaha, Neb., Chicago, 111., and Perth Amboy, N. J. Ores are usually spoken of as "free-milling" or "re- fractory." When the refractory ores are not smelted they are treated by the cyanide process, which consists in first running the ore through crushers, which reduce it fine enough to run through a 20-mesh screen. This is then taken by automatic carriers to large iron tanks, A weak solution of cyanide of potassium is held in other tanks higher up, and is turned in from the bottom of the ore tank. The solution percolates up through the ore until the top is covered to a depth of one or two inches, and is allowed to stand from forty to seventy-two hours, by which time all of the gold is dissolved and held in solution by the cyanide. The solution is then drawn oft' from the bottom, and, as it comes out of the ore tank, runs through a box of fine zinc shavings. This contact causes an in- stant precipitation of all the gold carried, and it drops to the bottom of the box. After the first solution is drawn ofif the tanks are filled with clear water, which, passing through the boxes containing zinc shavings, saves all the gold that may remain in the sand, the process being called "washing out." The zinc shavings and gold are now taken to the retort room, where the zinc is eliminated by heat, and the gold molded into bars or "bricks." These bricks are larger than building l)ricks, and are about twice as heavy as the same amount of lead, lliey are worth from fi\e to seven thousand dollars each. In treating the ores during the early history of the industry, the amount of metal lost by ignorance of proper 256 Industrial-Commercial Geography means nearly equaled the anKumt saved. The smelter reduced this loss materially, but this was unsatisfactory, until pushed to the present state of ])erfection. To the elexen hundred and forty-seven millions of dollars, which have been produced from Colorado mines, slmuld be added twenty to thirty per cent, that has been wasted in the dumps or the mines, the tailings from mills that spread along some of the streams for miles, and the slag piles at the smelters. A portion of these losses are now being recovered bv working over this refuse, and good profits are often realized. 4 V ■^. Courtesy Colo. Soiitlicrn Ry. Co. HYDRAULIC MINING Electric Dredging. — The greatest mar\el of UK^dern mim'ng is the electric dredge. This monster was invented l)\ a genius who dng a hole in a dump of refuse from an I lid mine, and l)uilt a barge, u])on which he placed powerful ])uni]i> and dredging ap])aratus. 'Mien he ran in enouc-h water in llnat the barge, and the macliiiierv began eating into the earth, bringing up great (juantities of dirt and gi-.-i\H'l. This i^ dnnipt'd upon the barge and washed through nnnierous screens, the refuse filling u]) the lake at the rear, as the machine and water work forward. Amalgam plates cnlifct the gold si > elTectually OF THE United States '^S7 that less than one-tenth of one per cent, is lost. If a ton of dirt contains only ten cents worth of L;'okl, it is a i)aving' operation. Cripple Creek. — The richest six miles on earth is the Cripple Creek district. Here, away down in the i^ranite's deep embrace, is the treasnre for wliich human beings, all over the earth, are toiling, dying, selling their souls and bodies. The most famous mines there are the Inde- pendence, which transformed \V. S. Stratton from a poor prosjoector to a multi-millionaire, and which he after- Coiiilcsv Co'.o. Soullicyn R\. Co. A SMELTER— LE.\D\'ILLE, COLORADO wards sold for ten millions more. Another of his mines, the Portland, has jjaid oxer eight millions in dividends, and there are countless others dotting every hill. But this gold is far beyond the simple appliances of the old- time miner, as enormous capital is now recpiired to |)ene- trate the great depths. If one has a sufficient amount of courage — and life insurance — he may step into an iron cage, with the per- mission of the Su])erintendent, and drop with lightning- speed, down, say a thousand feet, there getting into an 258 TNDrSTRTAT.-COArMERCTAL GEnCRAPTIY electric tram whicli moves out horizdiUally with equal velocity. The trolley wire flashes a few^ feet overhead, and a stream of water trickles along the track. It is not advisable to reach uj) — and down — at the same time ! If this is a real mine — not one exploited to catch visitors — for a working- mine does not solicit visitors, the trip is one of rare attractiveness. The descent to the depths, where the men are working, reveals the great pneumatic drill, operated by six men, wdiich penetrates the cpiartz vein sufificiently for a charge of dynamite to be planted, the explosion of which makes the mountain quiver. Then great quantities of the ore are loaded upon the ore-cars and taken to the surface, to be shipped to the smelters or stani]) mills. The Colorado Silver Mines. — The highest average grades of silver ores are produced about Georgetown and Silver Plume, Colorado. Those at the latter place alone have produced fifty millions in silver. Here, as in almost every other district, the moimtains are literally covered with mines. The records at Georgetown show that nearly 23,000 claims have been recorded there, and about 1,300 have obtained United States Patents. There are also many rich siher mines at Leadville. After seeing the ore mined, it should be followed to the smelter, or stamp mills, to witness further evidence of the amotuit of capital, scientific effort and labor re- (|uire(l to linisli the ])rocess. Those who visit Colorado will be able to follow all of these ste])s without great difficulty, finally visiting the United States Mint at I )ciiver, where may l)e seen the most wondcrtul trans- formation, the icduction of great bars of precious metal into Odin of all di'noniinations. The (liscoxeries of gold, in all ]:)arts of the world, have furni-^lu'd stories of endui-ancc and daring that have never been e(|ualled. No matter how forbidding the pros- pect has been, men have risked their lives, and exi)eri- enced e\-crv form of misery and danger for the yellow OF THE United States 259 metal, which they expected to bring- them an equal por- tion of happiness. " "Tis gold Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up Their deer to stand o' the stealer; and 'tis gold Which makes the true man kill'd and saves the thief; Nay, sometimes hangs both thief and true man : What Can it not do, and undo?" Shakespeare : Cymbeline. FOR RESEARCH 1. Where are the United States Mints located? W hy do coins contain alloy? 2. ^^'hen was gold discovered in the Yukon Dis- trict? Locate this district upon a map of North America and trace a shipment of ore from Dawson City to Seattle, naming the bodies of water and railroad lines that would be used. 3. Where is Leadville? How did it derive its name? Locate Tucson, Lead and Deadwood. 4. In what other countries are gold and silver ob- tained? A\niere do we obtain quicksilver? For what is it used in addition to its use in the reduction of gold from the ore? 5. Australia, the Transvaal, Guinea, California, Venezuela, Alaska, Colorado, and the Black Hills, have each at some time, stood in the front rank in the pro- duction of gold. What is their relative rank to-day? 6. For what purposes are gold and silver used? What is the fiat value of an ounce of gold? Of an ounce of siher? AVhat ratio is this? 7. Where was the "Comst(^ck Lode"? Ls the mine in operation to-day? What can you learn about the Sutro tunnel? Where is Goldfield? Carson City? Virginia City? 26o Industriai-Commkrcial Geography 8. Where are the smelters and refineries located? Who owns them? 9. Describe the underi^round workings of a mine. If possible, obtain s])ecimens of gold and silver ore for examination. 10. Trace a shipment of ore from Cripple Creek, Colo., to the smelter at Denver, thence follow the bullion to Perth Amboy, N. J., where it may be refined. What railroads might carry the shipment? 11. How does a miner "stake" his claim? Wdiat are his riehts? W^hat is a "lead" of ore? How far mav it be followed? \\'hat is a drift? A vein? OF THE United States 261 CHAPTER XXIX A MODEL COPPER MINE For niany centuries the chase after gold stirred the hearts of adventurous men, while the baser metals have Ijeen sought and found in a more prosaic fashion. Yet copper and iron ha\e done more to make this country great than all the gold that was ever mined. About fifty years ago copper was the lure that led men to explore a wilderness in the upper peninsula of Michigan and reveal a magnificent storehouse of treas- ure on the shores of Lake Superior. Prior to that time that region was considered a hopeless wilderness, fit onl_\' for Indians, fur traders and trappers. It had been known for nian_\- }ears that the region was rich in min- erals, the Jesuits having found copper there, and the Indians mined it in a crude fashion. Put e\en these were not the pioneer miners, for there is ample evidence that some prehistoric race discovered and operated them without the aid of a promotion syndicate or an issue of watered stock. While many people, representing several nations, passed these rich deposits by, in their search for west- ern homes, a young American geologist, Douglas Hough- ton, awoke his countrymen to the realization of these riches. In 1841 he submitted a report to the state gov- ernment of Michigan, and there immediately began a rush of treasure-seekers into a country that was then more inaccessible than any miifing camp of today. Eng- land had long held a monopoly of copper production of the world, as this was long before the discovery of the great deposits in Montana, which have yielded fabulous wealth for the copper kings of Putte, Anaconda and Plelena. 262 Industrial-Commercial Geography The Lake Superior Copper region has never become notorious by a war of greed such as has made the Western copper mines a by-word for political trickery and corruption. Its history is a clean story of American commercial success and the development' of the mines is typified in the record of the famous Calumet and Hecla. Copper has become such a king among metals, since I'LUNOiNc; a mill under Tin; surface the beginning of the age of electricity, that it adds over six hundred million dollars to the wealth of the world every year, and its reign has probably onl\ begun. While the Calumet and ilecla property has never gained any spectacular notoriety, its i)roh min- ers lead in numbers and there are lri->h, Scotch, Welsh, oi- THE United States 265 German. Hanish, Scandinavian, Im ilicniians. Austrians and many others, but this polyj^lot community is so hiw- abiding- that there is no municipal police force in the district. The towns are incorporated and controlled by the company and are under the supervision of a few con- stables and watchmen, employed by the company, which also maintains a metropolitan fire department and a municipal theatre which cost a hundred thousand dollars. The company has solved the immigration problem by treating its employees as human being's. It owns about twehe hundred dwelling houses which are rented to employees at a cost of 6 per cent, on the investment From an ctchuuj MUCH Tl.MP.ER IS USED IN MINES and maintenance. Over a thousand of the miners have purchased similar hduses on small payments. The coni- ])any has built abtnit thirty churches and sold them to the congregations, and maintains eight school houses, where twenty-five nationalities are fused in one great melting pot to become American citizens. There are also fine libraries, club houses with gym- nasiums, bath rooms, bowling alleys, etc., furnished in the same way. A fine hospital with a full corps of physicians and nurses is always ready to attend the call 266 Industrial-Commercial Geography of any miner who needs such assistance. There is a miners benefit fund, founded by the company, which pays death and disabibty benefits. Each miner pays fifty cents per month toward this fund, and the company donates a sum ecjual to the amount thus contributed. At the Red Jacket shaft is the most powerful hoist- ing machinery in the world, huge engines of eight thou- sand horse power which reel and unreel a mile and a quarter of wire cable. They hoist ten-ton cars of ore from the bottom to the surface in ninety seconds ! This is the deepest mining shaft in the world, and it is claimed the efifect of the earth's revolution may be detected here, as it is impossible to drop anything to the bottom of the shaft, all such substances having always caught on the west side of the wall. These mines are the greatest fire risk in the world. They are protected from fire by a water-main and under- ground telephone system, pumping stations and electric alarm systems. In 1890 this system was thoroughly tested, but the fire had gained fearful headway. The burning area was shut ofif by closing a system of fire- proof doors, the surface opening was sealed by covering it with earth, yet the fire raged for three weeks. Such fires elsewhere have burned for years, as there is more timber in those vast labyrinths under the earth than in all the buildings of a pretentious cit>". Visitors are not admitted unless personally endorsed by the manager, as there have been fires that were thought to have been of incendiary origin, and the company will not risk such piratical methods of curtailing the supply of copper. A Typical Copper Smelter. — A trip to the copper country should end with a trip to the smelter, near Houghton, where the dull urc may be seen transformed into something beautiful. The long ore trains come trailing o\er tlu' hills from the stamp mills, which have ground the ore into a powder that looks like coarse brown sugar. From the cars it is dumped into elevated OF THE United States 267 bins, which shoot it over to the great furnaces, whose heat is twenty-three hundred degrees. Here it is purified as it melts, and the refiner dumps cordwood into the glowing caldron and blows air through the mass to clear away the dross. At the proper time a gate is opened and thelicjuid copper flow^s out like a dazzling stream of gold. \Mth a wonderful play of colored flames the liquid travels on to the ingot molds, which are set around the edge of a great wheel. LOADING COPPER INGOTS ON STEAMER On the hub of the wheel sits a man who rides his chariot of fire with amazing skill and indifiference to his incandescent surroundings. On the outer rim of the wheel another man ])ries the ingots loose, pure com- mercial copper, made while you wait, each ingot weigh- ing forty-six pounds and worth six dollars in the metal market. They are dumped into running w^ater, to cool them, and then shot down an incline onto a platform, w^here two men pile them onto cars carrying 30,000 pounds each. A queer little locomotive pulls a train of these cars, carrying $4,500 worth of copper, which has been trans- 268 Industrial-Commercial Geography formed from the ore to its present state in a few min- utes. Only half a dozen men have been eno-as:ed in this last process, yet in a day they will turn out two hun- dred thousand pounds of copper ingots, which are worth thirty thousand dollars. The daily charge of two hun- dred thousand pounds is smelted in five or six hours. It is a most fascinating- mining exhibit, without noise, dirt or discomfort. The Michigan copper miner earns from sixty to seventy-five dollars per month, with work the year around, with which he is enabled to have a home, pay his bills and educate his children, and he is the average immig-rant at that. The dift'erence is in his environment. His employers believe there is something more due him than the right to live and toil. They give him a chance to live like a man, and when he looks around and sees a thousand homes owned by miners who have begun just as he is beginning, he is inspired to do the same. Is it any wonder then that there are few labor troubles in Calumet? The miners say they are satisfied with their wages and conditions and prefer to work the whole year around. \\ hile the profits of this great mine are so dazzling and enviable, nobody will begrudge them so long as these communities of mining folk, up among the woods and fields of JNIichigan, are being made good Ameri- cans, through the efforts of the company, by dealing" out fair play and honest ajipreciation of the bonds be- tween capital and labor. FOR RESEARCH 1. W hy is copper one of our most useful nulals? For what is it used? 2. Locate the Rocky .Mountain region, the Lake .'^u])eri()r region, the .Andean region, the Iberian region and the Llartz Mountain region. In what ctnintries arc each of these regions situated? OF THE UnI'IICD StATES 269 3. \\'hat city is the hea(l(|uarters of the ^reat cop- per-niininjj;' companies of this country r 4. AMiv has the price of copper decreased materially during- the past few years? 5. How do the mines in Montana and Arizona com- pare \vith the Michigan mines, in amount of cop])er produced ? 6. W hat was the cause of the "Copper War" in Moniana? AA'hat men have been most prominent in the development of the industry in this state? 7. A\'hat metal is mixed with copper to form brass? A\'hat is that metal used for? 8. AMiat is the extent of our export trade in cop- per? To what country is most of our surplus sold? 9. Trace a shipment of copper from Butte, Mon- tana, ])}■ rail to Baltimore, Maryland, thence across the ocean to the Xetherlands. Trace another shipment from Phoenix, Arizona, b\' rail to San Pedro, California, and thence across the ocean to Hamburg'. 10. AA'hat effect do the fumes from the cop]ier smelters have upon vegetation? Upon animal life in streams of water? 11. What is copper "matte"? How is copperas, or \'itriol, ol)tained? For what is it used? 270 Industrial-Commercial Geogkai'iiy '/ CHAPTER XXX POTTERY AND CLAY-WORKING INDUSTRIES The word '"pottery," in its widest sense, includes all objects made of clay, molded into form while in a moist, plastic state, and then hardened by fire. Clay is the most widely spread and abundant of all mineral sub- stances and exists in many forms, the white kaolin clays, used in the manufacture of porcelain, being the purest. The making- of pottery depends upon the chemical changes that take place when the clay is heated in the fire. The art of making pottery is one of the most extreme antiquity, being known and practised by all knuwn pre- historic races. The Egyptians and the Greeks have long been famous for their pottery and porcelain. The high- est grade was originated in China, copied by the Japa- nese, and later by European countries. The wares of Germany, England and h>ance have long led those of all the world as to (|uality. One of the most famhade the states most noted for the niann L'lclnre iil piittery prixlucts. OF THE UXITED StATES 277 4. How is the glaze produced on chinaware and other products? 5. How much time is recjuired for a merchant to order and receive a shipment of ware from England and France? What is the duty on china? How is the im- porter protected against breakage? C\ Write the Rookwood Potteries, Cincinnati. Ohio, for illustrated printed matter describing" fine pottery. 7. Have you ever seen a genuine piece of Indian Pottery? Describe it. 8. Trace a shipment of pottery from Limoges, France, to your own city, naming steamship and railroad lines that would probably carr}' it. 9. Have you a piece of "Haviland" in your home? If so, examine the trade-mark on the bottom and de- termine whether or not vou have the genuine "Haviland & Co., Limoges." 10. ^^^ly is good china pottery expensive? Name the elements that enter into its production, in order of imptjrtance. 11. AMiat kind of fuel is used in firing clay prod- ucts? ?78 Industrial-Commercial Geography CHAPTER XXXI CONSERVATION The word "conservation" is used in connection with the popular crusade, the object of which is to insure the use of our natural resources wisely and judiciously — for the benefit of the whole people, and not merely for the profit of the few. Courtesy Sail Pedro Route CONSER\ATIOX OF WATKR I\ (Al^II-ORNlA ]L\S TRANSFORMED A DKSKKT The past few years have witnessed the establish- ment of well-defined movements, which are making rapid headway toward having many of their principles put into practical effect. The conservationists advocate practical and definite measures for the prompt and vig- orous development of our natural resources and for their fullest utilization in the interest of all, without waste and without monopoly. The field of conservation is vcrv broad. It embraces the OF Tiiii L'.\"ni:ii States 279 forests, the waters, the lands and the minerals of the country, Alaska and our island possessions. The relation of all these factors to the health of the American people is embraced, and so also is our wild life — animal, bird and fisheries. While seeking to preserve all these various sources of health and wealth, the conservationists have specialized in some subjects which have already been brought prominently before the public. This has been particularly apparent in connection with the utilization of the water power of the country. This movement has been in progress for a number of years. It is a matter of the utmost importance that the rights and interests of the people should be amply pro- tected, in connection with all federal or state grants or franchises, and the efforts of the supporters of this move- ment have helped to bring the matter prominently before the people. Through legislation which has recently led to the establishment of the Appalachian Forest Reserve, and other similar actions of our law^-making bodies, prac- tical benefits are already being realized. Forest Fire Protection. — The prevention and control of forest fires is another means of conserving our natural resources wdiich is receiving much attention, but certainly not more than it deserves, when we stop to consider what appalling destruction of life and property results from every extensive forest fire. The remedy proposed is bet- ter patrol systems and equipment for fire fighting, com- bined wath more stringent regulations. Better results will also be secured through the cooperation of national and state governments on the one hand and the private corporations and individual owners on the other. Pure Water. — Another subject of great concern is the prevention of the pollution of the rivers and streams of the country in order that better and purer water may be had for domestic and industrial use. Another is for the protection and improvement of navigable rivers by 28o Industrial-Commercial Geography forest conservation on their watersheds, throusrh the purchase or control by the nation, of the necessary land, in cooperation with state and private action to the same end. Equally important is the preparation of a compre- hensive plan for inland waterway improvement, extend- ing to all the uses of the waters and covering all sections of the country. Extent of the Public Domain. — Originally our public domain amounted to, approximately, 1,400,000,000 acres. wiLvr iKKi(;Ariox has done Of this nearly all that is adapted io agriculture, and the greater part of our mineral wealth, outside of Alaska, has been disposed of, over 7,000,000 acres in all. Of this vast domain corporati(-)ns and indixiduals have acquired 571.- 000,000 acres, only 115,000,000 acres of which liave been settled upon by homesteaders. The railroads and other corporations ha\-e had bestowed upon them, l^y con- gressional grants, directly, and also through state grants, 190,000,000 acres of land, as much as the combined area OF THE United States 281 of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri and Iowa. There has also been sold by the government, at merely- nominal prices, 182,000,000 acres. A leading statistician claims that had the policy of leasing, which was aban- doned in 1845, been continued, and applied to our coal, iron and copper lands, and lands containing precious metals, with suitable provision for control, the revenue from that source alone would to-day be sufficient to de- fray all the expenses of the national government. Regulation of Timber Lands. — A project that re- quires legislative action is the public regulation of timber cutting on all forest lands whose conservation is essential to the general welfare, no matter whether the land be government property or privately owmed ; the taxation of the timber crop of the country on the basis of yield, sepa- rate from the land on which it grows ; and the su]:)port and extension of practical forestry by whatever means may be decided upon as most practical. Another plan seeks the conservation and control of the unappropriated public grazing lands by the government in the interest of the stockmen, but subject at all times to homestead entry by bona-fide settlers. Safeguarding Human Life. — Along with these spe- cific aims are purposes, in a general way, to diminish sickness, prevent accidents, preserve the fertility of the soil in order that the future food supply of the people may be protected, enforce stringent fish and game laws and, finally, to prolong our coal, oil and natural gas supply by reducing the waste in mining, incidentally bringing about a better safeguarding of human life in and about the mines. A Look Ahead.— It is estimated that, by the middle of the present century, our population will be one hun- dred and fifty million people. Therefore, we should realize our responsibility to the coming generations, as in wasting our resources to-day we are committing a great 282 Industrial-Commercial Geography X H ^ i oj^ OF THE United States 283 wrong". It is contended that the waste of tmr mineral resources alone, at the present time, amounts to nearly three hundred million dollars per year, aside from the hundreds of lives that, under present conditions, are lost annually in mine accidents, such as would not be toler- ated in European mines. In natural gas alone — the most perfect known fuel — it is estimated that there is a daily waste sufficient to supply all the large cities in the coun- try, while in the case of coal the mine waste averages half the amount saved. Of course this indicates a great improvement in mining methods, for in the early days of the industry in the United States two or three times as much coal was abandoned in the mines as was taken out and used. Fire Protection, — The need of better fire protection has long been an urgent one, as our direct and indirect losses from fire reach the appalling total of nearly half the value of the new l^uildings erected in this country. The experts claim that if we did as well as European countries in guarding against fire we could reduce our losses four-fifths, and thus save a million dollars a day. The Problem of Increasing Production. — Our farm- ers, also, might with advantage Ijccome converts to con- servation, for they average only half as many l)ushels of wheat per acre as they do in (iermany or England, where soil fertility must be maintained by scientific methods. During the past few years there has been much progress along this line, prompted by the activity of the agricultural colleges toward educating the farmers in seed selection and breeding, the study of soils and proper cultivation, yet, with the most fertile soil in the world, we should produce more bushels to the acre than any other country. TJic "abandoned farm" is another evil of our system which conservation will aim to correct, just as it will try to repair the damage done to the country at large bv the virtual extermination of many valuable species 284 INDUSTRIAL-Co^[MERCIAL GEOGRAPHY of wild birds, game and fur-l)caring animals, such as the buffalo,- — a tragedy that has almost been duplicated in this generation in the case of the precious fur seals, though their salvation may yet be secured through the efforts of an international conference recently held at \\ ashington. The Use and Abuse of Forests. — Another argument in favor of conservation is the fact that there is taken from our forests every year, not counting the loss by fire, three and one-half times as much timber as is grown in the same period. And, further, we consume, per capita, ten times as much timber as do the people of France, who are famous for their foresight, thrift and good judgment. In all other countries there are laws requiring lumbermen to plant a certain number of trees in place of everyone cut down, and they are also required to prevent all unnecessary waste by felling trees where they will not injure others and clear up all waste, thereby preventing fires, yet we have no provisions of that kind in our laws. Conservation of Health. — Probably very few people, who have not looked into the subject carefully, realize that one of the objects of the conservation movement is to wage war against the great white plague. Experts declare that in the case of the half million consumptives in this country, fully three-fourths of the loss of life may be prevented by teaching the people the proper use of fresh air and sunshine! It is claimed that by reducing the loss of life from this and other preventable diseases the average length of life in this country would be in- creased more than fifteen years ! Proper supervision of the water supply would practically stamp out the dread disease of typhoid ! As a means to the end of lengthening and strength- ening life the conservators urge home, school and factory hygiene, the restricting of labor by women and OF THE United States 285 children and tlie improvement of the ])u1)1ic iTcalth service, municii)al, state and national. Public Knowledge of Conditions Necessary. — Taxes are increasing, the cost of living is rapidly going higher. There is dissatisfaction in the ranks of the laboring men who as yet have not discovered the real cause or remedy. It is time that we hear the alarm cry of conservation of all of our resources. Legislation will do nothing to check the lack of development or destruction of our re- sources, unless the people are trained to look after their interests and demand what is due them. The Duty of the Schools. — A million people are pouring into this country every year, in addition to our natural increase. There may be room for all, so long as those in front move forward, but we have reached the end of our domains and the West will eventually be as crowded as the East. \\^ithin the next quarter of a century every tillable acre of land must produce twice what it now produces, and this can be done only through scientific farming, which must be taught in the schools. Vocational Guidance. — Our public schools need the touch of conservation, in order that the great majority who do not attend college or enter the professions may be better fitted to battle wnth the problems of life. Con- servation is a principle that may be well applied wherever there is need of ecouoiiiy or demand for greater results. A'ocational guidance under the direction of the schools will ultimately help many a student to find his proper place in the great industrial world. A proper knowledge of what the world needs will hcl]) advance the efficiency of the race. 286 Industrial-Commercial Geography FOR RESEARCH 1. What was the immediate cause of the Con- servation movement? 2. How often does the Conservation Congress meet? AVho may become members of this organization? 3. Locate the "Timber Reserves" of the United States. Where are the National Parks? What is in- cluded in each that should be preserved for the people? 4. What laws have been enacted by all states rela- tive to the preservation of fish and game? What is the law in your state? 5. In what way do the provisions of the Pure Food Law harmonize with the conservation movement? 6. What is a forest "ranger"? How many are in the employ of the Government? How efifective is their work? 7. What concerted action has been taken toward increasing the yield of all field crops? With what suc- cesses ? 8. W^hat is the connection between the Reclama- tion service and Conservation? How can the proper direction of the Forest service benefit both? 9. What have the leading cities done toward estab- lishing vocational schools? Why should trades be taught at public expense? 10. Why should the Government assume control of Niagara Falls? In what other places should National reserves be established? OF THE United States 287 REFERENCE BOOKS FOR RESEARCH WORK Romance of Steel H. N. Casson Practical Agriculture J. W. Wilkinson From Cotton Field to Cotton Mill. Holland Thompson Coal and Coal Mines Homer Greene Romance of the Reaper H. N. Casson Story of the Mine C. H. Shinn Workers of the Nation Gilson Willets Corn Bowman and Crossley Our Inland Seas J. C. Mills Cotton Burkett and Poe When Railroads Were New C. F. Carter The Modern Railroad Edw. Hungerford The Strategy of Great Railroads. . . F. H. Spearman The Book of Wheat P. T. Dondlinger Soil Fertility and Permanent Agri- culture C. G. Hopkins Elements of Transportation E. R. Johnson Economic History of U. S E. L. Bogart Industrial History of U. S Katherine Coman History of Commerce Clive Day Our Inland Seas J. C. Wills Industrial Chemistry Rogers and Aubert Searchlights of American Industries. J. C. Mills Industrial Evolution of the U. S...C. D. Wright Year-Books Dept. of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletins Dept. of Agriculture Consular Reports Dept. of Commerce and Lalior Ocean and Inland \\'ater Trans- portation E. R. Johnson Principles of Industrial Management. J. C. Duncan Industrial Evolution of U. S C. D. Wright World's Commercial Products Freeman and Cliandler Shelter and Clothing Kinnej' and Cooley INDEX PAGE Agriculture 49 Alaska 238 Alfalfa , 192 Anthracite Coal 233, 234 Babcock Test 187 Bessemer Process 225, 229 Bituminous Coal 233 Boots 206 Brick Kiln 271 Butter Alaking- 188 California, Oil Fields of 243 Canal, The "Soo" 23 " The Erie 28 " Tlie Panama 31. 34 The Suez 30 Canals, Four Great 28 The St. Alary's Falls 29 Canning 212 Carpets. The Making of 122 Cement 158, 1 59 Cereals . . 75 Cheese 189 Chocolate 104 Clay. Products of 270, 274 Coal, Supply of, in the U. S 232 Anthracite 2^\t„ 234 " Bituminous 2;^^ " in Alaska 238 Mining of 235, 236 a National Asset 237 Production of • 234 Transportation of ^^j Coffee 99 " Kinds of TOO " Preparation of lOl 290 Index PAGE Cocoa 104, 106 Color Printing I7S Colorado, Silver ]\Iines of 258 Gold Mines of 251.258 Columbia River 215 Commerce no Communication , 49 Competition 6 Concrete 160, 164 Conservation 278, 286 Copper 261 Mining of 262, 263 " Smelting of 266, 267 " Shipping of 267 Corn 55 " Products of 56, 57 " Grov^ing Sections for , 58 " Soil Preparation for 59 " Canning of 60 Marketing of 62 Cotton 108 " Planting of 109 " Where Grown no " Preparation of 113 " Uses of Seed n4 " Shipping Centers of n5, 1 16 Cripple Creek 257 Crude Petroleum 241 Dairy Products 184 Dairying, Alachinery Used in 185 Dredging, Electric .• 256 Education 48 Electricity 8 Farms, Abandoned 283 " Increasing Value of 52 Farmer, Opportunity for the 53 Farming, Better Methods of 43 Dry 43 'J1ie Industry of 46 Scientific 46 " Machinerv for 50j 5i Index 291 PAGE Fire, Protection from 283 Flour, Producing Centers of 71 " Making of 71, 72 Forests, Conservation of 145, 146 Furniture 148 " Kinds of 148, 156 " Designs of 150 " Making of 152 Gold 251 " Mining of 251, 256 Grain 82, 89 Great Lakes 25 Guidance, Vocational 285 Health, Conservation of 284 Indian Pottery 271, 272 Iron, Importance of , 221 Iron Ore 221 " ^Mining of , 222 " Shipping Routes of 222 " Kinds of 228 Irrigation, Importance of 36, Z7 " Results of 44 Kentucky 241 Kiln, Brick 271 Lake Superior T. ... . 224 Lake Superior, Copper Regions of 261,262 Lakes, Transportation Facilities of 20 " Shipment on 21 " Freighters on the Great 22 " Passenger Service on the 22 Leather 204 " Tanning of 204, 205 " Trade Centers of 204 " Uses of 205, 206 Life, Safeguarding of 281 Liners, Modern Ocean , 13 Linotype 1/9 Lithographing I77 292 Index PAGE Lock, The Weitzel .- 29 The Poe 30 Lumber 139 " Regions of the U. S 139, 142 Lumbering 143, 144 Manganese Iron 224 Meat Packing 194, 195 " " Centers of 197 Meat, Inspection of 198 Meats, Cost of 195, 196 " Cooling of 199 ^lesabi Range 223 Michigan, Copper ]\Iines of 261 Milk Stations 185 " Separators 186 ]\Iilking Machine 191 Mines, Coal 235, 236 " Gold 251,253 Mining, Hydraulic 253 Placer 252 Newspaper Press 180, 18 o Ocean, The 10 Ore, Shipping of 226, 228 " Alining of .221, 228 Oil 241 " Centers of 242 " Production of 245 " By-products of 246 " Refining of 246, 247 " Exporting of 247 Paper 166 Where Produced 166 " Supply of 167 " Making of ' 70, 173 Pennsylvania 233 Petroleum 241 Photo-engraving > 176 Pittsburgh 229 Pork. Packing of 200 " I iandling of 200, 201 Index 293 PAGE Pottery 270, 274 " Making of .♦ 270 " Indian 271, 272 " Rookwood 274, 275 " Porcelain 270 Printing Press 175 Pu1)lic Domain, Extent of 280 Railroads 2 " Value of 2 " Growth of 3, 4 Reclamation Projects. Map of 2>7 Reclamation, The Act of 39 " Other Projects of 40, 42 Rice , 75 " Food Value of 75 " Where Grown 75, yy Rice Farming 78, 80 Rolling Mill 230 Rookwood Pottery 274 Salmon 212 Canning of 212 " Varieties of 213 Fishing for 213, 215 Schools. The Duty of 285 Sheep 119 Varieties of 120 Heiding of 123. 125 " Shearing of 126. 127 Silage 191 Silk, The Culture of 129 " Manufacture of 130, 136 " Centers of Industry 131 " Thread 137 Silkworm 132. I33 Shoes ^06 Silver 25« Smelting 254 Standard Oil Co 248,249 Steamboats 10, 11, 12 Steel 221, 226 Stereotyping 1/6 Stock Yards I94 294 Index PAGE Sugar • -91, 9^ Tea 102, 103 Texas, Oil Fields of 243 Timber 281 Transportation .1, 10 Typesetting Machines 1/8 Vocational Guidance ^ 285 Waste Places 36 Water 279 Wells, Oil 242, 245 Wheat 64, 73 Wool 1 19, 122 Wood Pulp 168. 169 L> UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. T^^ ,f CV? £5. s^. 0y N LOAN DESK APR Z2 u A.M, F,M. 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