A HARBOR—NEW YORK BAY, AT THE BATTERYA HARBOR—NEW YORK BAY, AT THE BATTERY
The topographic and climatic features of these various regions have had a great influence not only on the political history of the country, but their effect has been even greater in determining its industrial development. They have resulted in the establishment of the various industries, each in the locality best adapted to it, instead of their diffusion without respect to the necessary conditions of environment.
The foregoing regions are also approximately areas of fundamental industries. Thus, the New England plateau supplies the rest of the United States with light manufactures, such as cotton textiles, woollen clothing, hats, shoes, cutlery, books, writing-paper, household metal wares, etc., but sells the excess abroad. The middle and southern Appalachians, with the coal which forms their chief resource, supply the rest of the country with structural steel, from ores obtained in the lake regions, and sell the excess to foreign countries.
The northern Mississippi Valley grows nearly one-fourth of the world's wheat-crop. The wheat of this region and the Pacific coast lowlands supplies the country with bread-stuffs, and exports the excess to western Europe. The Gulf states, which produce three-fourths of the world's cotton-crop, supply the whole country and about one-half the rest of the world besides with cotton textiles. The grazing regions produce an excess of meat for export; the western highlands furnish the gold and silver necessary to carry on the enormous commerce.
In the last twenty years the imports of merchandise per capita varied but little from $11.50; the exports per capita varied from about $12 to more than $18.
The Atlantic Coast-Plain and the Seaports.—Throughout most of its extent the Atlantic seaboard of the United States is bordered by a low coast-plain. Along the northeastern coast of the United States the coast-plain isvery narrow; south of New York Bay it has a width in some places of more than two hundred miles.
The existence of this plain has had a marked effect on the commercial development of the country. The sinking or "drowning" of the northern part of it has made an exceedingly indented coast. The drowned valleys, enclosed by ridges and headlands, form the best of harbors, and nearly all of them are northeast of New York Bay. South of New York Bay good harbors are comparatively few. For the greater part they occur only when old, buried river-channels permit approach to the shore.
The most important port of entry in these harbors isNew York, and it derives its importance from two factors. It has a very capacious harbor, into which vessels drawing as much as thirty-five feet may enter; its situation at the lower end of a series of valleys and passes makes it almost a dead level route from the Mississippi to the Atlantic seaboard. The importance of New York as the commercial gateway between European ports and the food-producing region of the American continent began when the Erie Canal was opened between the Great Lakes and tide-water. The completion of the canal for the first time opened the rich farming lands of the interior to European markets. Probably a greater tonnage of freight is carried yearly over this route than over any other channel of trade in the world.
Not far from two-thirds of the foreign commerce of the country passes through the port of New York. The water-front of the city has an aggregate length of about three hundred miles, of which one-third is available for anchorage. The docks and piers, including those of Jersey City and Hoboken, aggregate about ninety miles in frontage.
About sixteen thousand sea-going craft enter and clear yearly, and an average of nearly twenty large passengerand freight steamships arrive and clear daily, about one-half of them being foreign. The latter receive their cargoes from about three thousand freight-cars that are daily switched into the various freight-yards, a large part of which is through freight from the west.
The port of entry ofNew Yorkis a centre of population of about four million, and although there are the industries usually found in great communities, the greater business enterprises practically reduce themselves to export, import, and exchange. For this reason New York City is the financial, as well as the commercial centre of the continent. Most of the great industrial corporations of the country have their head offices in the city. These are financed by more than one hundred banks, together with a clearing-house whose yearly business amounted in 1902 to considerably more than seventy billions of dollars.[50]
BOSTON HARBORBOSTON HARBOR
Bostonhas been one of the leading ports of the UnitedStates for considerably more than a century. It ranks second among the ports of the United States. Regular lines of transit connect it with the principal ports of Great Britain and Canada. The coast trade is also very heavy. Boston is the financial and commercial centre of New England; the cotton, woollen, and leather goods passing through the port find their way to nearly every inhabited part of the world. The city controls a considerable export trade of food-stuffs from the upper Mississippi Valley. The vessels entering and clearing at Boston indicate a movement of about four million five hundred thousand tons, about one-fourth that of New York. The clearing-house exchanges average about six billion dollars yearly.
Philadelphia, on account of its distance inland, is not fortunately situated for ocean commerce. Steamships of deep draught reach their docks at the lower end of the city under their own steam, but sailing-craft pay heavy towage fees. There are regular lines to Liverpool, Antwerp, West Indian ports, Baltimore, and Boston. Philadelphia is the centre of the anthracite coal trade, and this is the chief factor of its domestic trade. The imports of fruit from the West Indies, carpet-wool from Europe, and raw sugar from the West Indies, form the greater part of its foreign business. The manufactures are mainly carpets and rugs, locomotives and iron steamships, and refined sugar. The carpet-weaving and the ship-building plants are among thelargest in the world. The ocean movement of freight is more than three million five hundred thousand tons yearly. The business of the clearing-house in 1902 aggregated nearly six billion dollars.
Baltimoreis likewise handicapped by its distance inland. Sailing-vessels, however, require only a short towage, the docks being scarcely a dozen miles from Chesapeake Bay. The harbor is deep and capacious. The Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railway systems have made Baltimore an important railway centre. The completion of the Gould railway system to the Atlantic seaboard has made the city second to New York only in the export of corn, wheat, flour, and tobacco. The most noteworthy local industry is the oyster product, which is the greatest in the world. Nearly ten thousand people are employed, and during the busy season—from September to the end of April—about thirty carloads of oysters a day are shipped.
CHARLESTON HARBORCHARLESTON HARBOR
The yearly movement of marine freight, entering and clearing, aggregates about three million tons. In 1902 the clearing-house exchanges aggregated about two and one-quarter billion dollars.
Portland, Me., has good harbor facilities, but is distant from the great lines of traffic. Steamship lines, which in summer make Montreal a terminal point, occasionally make Portland their winter harbor.Newport News,Savannah,Charleston, andBrunswickare growing in importance as clearing ports for the cotton and produce from the region west of them.Norfolkobtains importance on account of the United States Navy-Yard; it is also the great peanut-market of the world.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What are the requisites of a good seaport?What is meant by the draught of a vessel?For what purposes are pilots?How are navigable channels marked and designated?From the Statistical Abstract find six or more of the leading exports from each of the following ports: New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the port nearest which you live.
What are the requisites of a good seaport?
What is meant by the draught of a vessel?
For what purposes are pilots?
How are navigable channels marked and designated?
From the Statistical Abstract find six or more of the leading exports from each of the following ports: New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the port nearest which you live.
FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE
Statistical Abstract of the United States.Statesman's Year-Book.Industrial Evolution of the United States—Chapter II.
Statistical Abstract of the United States.
Statesman's Year-Book.
Industrial Evolution of the United States—Chapter II.
The manufacturing regions of the United States, which connect the country with the rest of the world, include mainly the New England plateau and the Appalachian ranges.
The New England Plateau.—This region embraces the New England States and practically includes all the eastern part of New York and northern New Jersey. The abruptly sloping surface affords a great wealth of water-power, and the region is one of the most important centres of light manufacture in the world. This industry resulted very largely from the conditions imposed by the War of 1812 and its consequent non-intercourse acts.
The interruption of foreign commerce not only cut off the importation of manufactured commodities, but also made idle the capital employed. Manufacturing enterprises started in various parts of the United States, but they prospered in this region for three reasons—an abundance of power, plenty of capital, and business experience. Steam-power is largely supplanting water-power in the manufacturing enterprises, and in many instances the establishments have been moved to tide-water in order to get their coal at the lowest rates of transportation.
Chief among the manufactures are cotton textiles, the yearly output of which is about three hundred million dollars. About nine-tenths of the cotton goods made are consumed at home. Of the remainder, China purchases one-half. Great Britain and Canada take one-fourth, the SouthAmerican and Central American states purchase most of the remaining output. The great improvement of spinning and weaving machinery has enabled the cotton manufacturer to export his wares to about every country in the world.
Boots, shoes, and other leather goods are also important manufactures. The invention of improved machinery for making shoes has revolutionized the industry to the extent that a pair of stylish shoes may be purchased anywhere in the United States for about half the price charged in 1880. Another result is the enormous importation of hides from South American countries and Mexico.
The New England plateau is also the centre of a large number of manufactures that require a high degree of mechanical skill and intellectual training, such as small fire-arms, machinery, watches and clocks, jewelry, machine-tools, etc. The location of such industries depends but little upon climate, topography, or the cost of transportation; it is wholly a question of an educated and trained people. This region is likely to lose a considerable part of its manufactures of cotton textiles, inasmuch as the industry is gradually moving to the cotton-growing region. The manufactures requiring training and skill, however, are likely to remain in the region where they have grown up.
Lawrence,Lowell,Manchester, andNashua—all on the Merrimac River;Lewiston,Waterville,Augusta,Woonsocket, andAdams—each situated at falls or rapids—are great centres of cotton manufacture. Fall River has an abundance of water-power, and at the same time is situated on tide-water. Having the advantage of good power and cheap transportation, it has probably the greatest output of cotton textiles of any city in the world. Textile establishments have also grown up in the cities and towns of the Mohawk Valley, being attracted by the excellent facilities for transportation and also by the availablewater-power.Lynn,Brockton,Haverhill,Marlboro, andWorcesterare centres of boot and shoe manufacture; they turn out about two-thirds of the product of the United States.
BridgeportandNew Havenhave very large plants for the manufacture of fire-arms and fixed ammunition;WaterburyandAnsoniafor watches, clocks, and brass goods;Meridenfor silverware, andWalthamfor watches.Worcester,Hartford,North Adams,Fitchburg, andProvidencehave each a great variety of manufactures. The foreign commerce of these manufacturing centres is carried on mainly throughBoston.New Haven,New Bedford,Providence,Salem,Gloucester, andNew Londoncontrol each a very large local commerce.
South of New York Bay the Atlantic coast-plain attains an average width of nearly two hundred miles. The pine forests of this plain yield lumber, tar, pitch, and turpentine. The productive lands are valuable chiefly for their output of dairy stuffs, fruit, and "garden truck," which find a ready market in the larger cities. In order to encourage this industry, the railways make special rates for dairy products, fruit, and vegetables, and afford quick transit for such freight.
Manufacturing industries are rapidly taking shape in this part of the United States. Along the line where the coast-plain proper joins the foot-hills of the Appalachian ranges, the rivers reach the lower levels by rapids or falls. The estuaries into which they flow are usually navigable for river-craft. The manufacturer thus has the double advantage of water-power and low transportation. The opening of the southern Appalachian coal-mines has also greatly encouraged manufacture in this region.Richmond,Columbia,Milledgeville,Augusta, andColumbusare thus situated. Their manufactures are very largely connected with the cotton-crop.
The domestic commerce of the Atlantic seaboard of the United States is probably larger than that of any other similar region in the world. It is considerably larger than the "round-the-island" trade of Great Britain. Much of this trade is carried by steam-vessels, but the three-masted schooner is everywhere in evidence, and these craft carry a very large part of the coal that is moved by water. This trade is restricted to vessels flying the American flag.
The Appalachian Region.—The middle and southern Appalachian region has become the most important centre of iron and steel manufacture in the world. This great development has resulted from several causes, the chief being the existence of coal and unlimited quantities of iron ore on the one hand, and unusual facilities for cheap transportation on the other. There are practically three areas of steel manufacture—one along the Ohio River and its tributaries in western Pennsylvania; another is situated along the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan; the third includes the Birmingham district in the southern Appalachians.
The steel-making plants of the Ohio River are located with reference to the transportation of their products, and therefore are built usually alongside the river. The coal or coke is commonly shipped in barges of light draught; the manufactured products are carried by rail. The greater part of the ore is brought from the Lake Superior region. It is shipped at a very small cost from the ore quarries to the lake-shore, and by rail from the lake-shore to the manufacturing plant. In order to avoid heavy grades the ore railways are also built along the river-valleys.
STEEL MANUFACTURE—ERECTING SHOP OF THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, PHILADELPHIASTEEL MANUFACTURE—ERECTING SHOP OF THE BALDWIN LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, PHILADELPHIA
Some of the various steel-making plants are equipped for the manufacture of building or "structural" steel, others for rails and railway equipments, still others for tin-plate, or for wire, or for tool steel. In a few mills armor-plate and ordinary plate for steel vessels form the exclusive product. The diversity of the product has led to the organization of great corporations, each of which controls half-a-dozen or more plants, the transportation lines necessary to carry the product, the ore quarries, and the fuel-mines.
The wonderful development of the steel industry in the United States is due to the use of labor-saving machinery, and to the superb organization. The wages paid for labor are higher than those paid in European steel-making centres; the cost of living is not materially greater. The price of steel rails, which in 1880 was forty-eight dollars per ton, in 1900 was about twenty dollars per ton.
Pittsburg, together withHomestead,Carnegie,McKeesport,Duquesne, andBraddock, is the chief steel-making centre of the Ohio River Valley. There are also large plants atNew Castle,Sharon,Scranton,Johnstown,Bellaire,Youngstown,Mingo Junction, andWheeling. The steel-plant and rolling-mills atSouth Bethlehemare designed especially for the manufacture of the heavy ordnance used in the army and navy. Nearly all the cities and towns of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and eastern Ohio carry on manufacturing enterprises that depend on coal mining and steel manufacture. The great and diversified manufactures of Philadelphia are due to its fortunate situation at tide-water, near the coal-mines. Cheap fuel and water transportation have made it one of the great industrial centres of the world.
The anthracite coal of this region is used wholly for fuel and steam-making; it is shipped partly by water from Philadelphia, but mainly in specially constructed cars to the various points of consumption. The soft coal is used also for fuel and steam-making, but a large part of theproduct is converted into coke and used in the steel-plants.
The petroleum of this region is a leading export of the country, the states of western Europe being the chief purchasers. Of agricultural products, hay, dairy products, and tobacco are the only ones of importance. Natural gas is used both as a fuel and in manufactures.
The lake-shore centre of steel manufacture depends largely on the low cost of transporting the iron ore, which in part is offset by the increased cost of coal. The low cost of shipping the manufactured product over nearly level trunk lines is a very substantial gain.South Chicago,Toledo,Sandusky,Lorain,Cleveland,Ashtabula,Conneaut,Erie, andBuffaloare centres of steel manufacture or ore shipment, because they are situated on this great trade-route or line of least resistance.
The coal-mines and iron-making plants of the southern Appalachians have a considerable area. The chief manufacturing centres areBirmingham,Richmond,Roanoke, andChattanooga. A considerable part of the Virginia ores find their way to the Ohio River steel-mills. Open-hearth steel is an important manufacture in Birmingham. A large part of the ores smelted in the southern Appalachian region are made into foundry iron.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What are the advantages and the disadvantages of manufacturing cotton textiles in the New England States?Why have the mining of ore and the manufacture of steel become generally unprofitable in the New England States?What causes have brought about the lowering of the prices of cotton textiles during the past fifty years?—of shoes?What makes the manufacture of artificial ice a precarious business north of the latitude of Philadelphia?What are the advantages and the disadvantages arising from the location of a manufacturing industry at a seaport?What is the design of a protective tariff? What are its advantages and disadvantages?Why are most of the great steel-making plants so remote from the mines of iron ore used in making steel?
What are the advantages and the disadvantages of manufacturing cotton textiles in the New England States?
Why have the mining of ore and the manufacture of steel become generally unprofitable in the New England States?
What causes have brought about the lowering of the prices of cotton textiles during the past fifty years?—of shoes?
What makes the manufacture of artificial ice a precarious business north of the latitude of Philadelphia?
What are the advantages and the disadvantages arising from the location of a manufacturing industry at a seaport?
What is the design of a protective tariff? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
Why are most of the great steel-making plants so remote from the mines of iron ore used in making steel?
FOR COLLATERAL READING
Industrial Evolution of the United States—Chapters III-V.Mineral Resources of the United States.Outlines of Political Science—Chapters VIII-X.
Industrial Evolution of the United States—Chapters III-V.
Mineral Resources of the United States.
Outlines of Political Science—Chapters VIII-X.
The principal agricultural region of the United States extends from the Appalachian ranges to the Rocky Mountains. A certain amount of bread-stuffs, meat, and dairy products are grown in nearly every part of the country for local use, but the grain, meat, and cotton of this region are designed for export, and are therefore factors in the world's commerce. The basin of the Great Lakes connects the Mississippi Valley with the Atlantic seaboard.
The Basin of the Great Lakes.—This region includes not only the Great Lakes and the area drained by the streams flowing into them, but also a considerable region surrounding that commercially is tributary to the traffic passing over the lakes. This basin itself is a part of a trade-route destined very shortly to become one of the greatest highways of traffic in the world.
The lakes afford a navigable water-way which, measured due east and west, aggregates nearly six hundred miles. This route is interrupted at Niagara Falls and at St. Mary's Falls, between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. On the Canadian side, Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence connect Lake Erie with tide-water. In the United States the Erie Canal connects the lake with the Hudson River and New York Bay.
From the head of Lake Superior railway routes of minimum grades—the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific[51]—cross the continent to Puget Sound, the best harborapproach to the Pacific coast of the American continent. The harbors of Puget Sound, moreover, are materially nearer the great Asian ports than any other port of the United States. The level margins of these lakes are roadbeds for many miles of railway track; in many instances the railways are built on the tops of terraces that once were shores of the lakes.
DULUTHDULUTH
Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, became commercially important when the St. Mary's Falls Canal was completed. Much of the tremendous tonnage of freight passing through the canal is assembled at this place. The freight shipped consists mainly of farm products collected from an area reaching as far west as the Rocky Mountains. There is also a considerable shipment of iron ores obtained near by.Buffalo, at the lower end of Lake Erie, owes its activity to the trade in lumber, grain, and other farm products that come from Western lake-ports. It is the eastern terminus of the lake-commerce and the western terminus of the Erie Canal.
Chicago, at the head of Lake Michigan, has a very heavy lake-trade. The mouth of Chicago River, the natural harbor of the city, has been improved by a system of basins and breakwaters. The river itself has been converted into a ship and drainage canal that is connected with the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. It is now an outlet instead of a feeder to the lake, and the city built about old Fort Dearborn has become the greatest railway centre in the world.
GENERAL VIEW OF LOCKS AND CANAL, SAULT STE. MARIEGENERAL VIEW OF LOCKS AND CANAL, SAULT STE. MARIE
Milwaukeehas a situation in many ways resembling that of Chicago, its harbor being the mouth of Milwaukee River. Like Chicago, it owes its importance to its lake-trade.Detroit(withWindsor, Ont.) owes its growth partly to its strategic position on the strait connecting Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and partly for its position between the lakes. It is an important collecting and distributing point for lake-freights, and the chief centre of commerce with Canada. Several east-and-west trunk lines and local lines of railway have freight terminals in the city; it is also the centre of the most complete system of interurban electric railways in the world.Port Huron(withSarnia, Ont.) has a geographic position similar to that of Detroit, and is also an important lake-port. The St. Clair River is tunnelled at this point.Cleveland,Toledo,Sandusky, andEriecontribute very largely to the lake-trade.Grand Rapidsis the business centre of furniture manufacture of the United States.
The great iron-ore ranges about Lake Superior have had much to do with the growth of the local lake-trade. This has resulted in the establishment of a large number of shipping-ports near the head of the lakes, and also a number of receiving ports on the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. Some of the latter have become also great manufacturing centres of structural iron and steel.
Various centres of industry at a considerable distance from the Great Lakes are contributors to their trade. Thus, on account of the low rate for grain betweenChicagoandNew York City—about 5¼ cents per bushel—there are yearly very heavy shipments of the grain designed for Liverpool.St. PaulandMinneapolisare also collecting and distributing centres of lake-freights. A considerable part of the business of the lake-region is carried on by the Canadians, who have improved their resources for production and transportation to the utmost.
AURORA IRON MINES, IRONWOOD, MICHIGANCopyright, Detroit Photographic Co.AURORA IRON MINES, IRONWOOD, MICHIGAN
The Northern Mississippi Valley Region.—This region extends from the Appalachian ranges to the western limit of wheat and cotton growing. On the south it is limited by the cotton-growing region. Its boundaries are therefore climatic and commercial.
The surface is level; there is a rich, deep soil and an abundant rainfall. It has therefore become one of the foremost regions of the world in the production of corn, wheat, pork, dairy-stuffs, and general farm produce. The evolution of farming machinery is the direct result of topographic conditions. A level, fertile region naturally invites grain-farming on a large scale. This, in turn, must depend very largely on the ability of the farmer to plant and harvest his crops with the minimum of expense and time.
Hand-work in harvesting and planting has almost wholly given way to machine-work. Farming carried on under such conditions requires not only a considerable capital, but close business management as well. Some of the results have been very far-reaching. The machinery and other equipments require capital, and this in late years has been borrowed from Eastern capitalists. The prompt business methods of the money-lender brought about no little friction, and it is only within recent years that each adjusted himself to the requirements of the other.
The system of machine-farming to a great extent has prevented the subdivision of farms. As a rule, quarter and half sections represent the size of most of the farms, but tracts varying from five thousand to ten thousand acres are by no means uncommon. The chief drawback to this method in the case of wheat-farming, however, is the low yield per acre. The average yield per acre for the United States, a little more than twelve bushels, is scarcely half the average yield in Europe. Although the farmer has done much to reorganize his business methods, he has done but little to maintain the productivity of his land.
THE WHEAT INDUSTRY—HARVESTING WITH McCORMICK SELF-BINDING REAPERSTHE WHEAT INDUSTRY—HARVESTING WITH McCORMICK SELF-BINDING REAPERS
The cities and towns of this region are mainly receiving and collecting points for farm produce. Nearly every village is equipped with elevators and grain-handling machinery; the larger towns, as a rule, have stock-yards and the necessary facilities for cattle shipment; the large cities are usually centres of meat-packing. Most of the meat-packing is a necessity; for although cattle may be shipped alive and beef may be transported in refrigerator ships and cars, pork is not marketable unless pickled, salted, or smoked. The pork thus exported, aggregating about six hundred million pounds yearly, must be prepared, therefore, somewhere near the cornfields. Manufacturing enterprises are operated on a very large scale, but in the main their products are farm-machinery and the commodities required by a farming population.
Education in agriculture is provided for in nearly every State in the Union. The agricultural colleges in the States composing this group rank among the best in the world. In addition to the ordinary courses in such institutions, there are also many experiment stations for the study of economic plants, cattle diseases, and insect pests.
Chicagois the largest food-market in the world. The industries of the city are almost wholly connected with the commerce of grain, pork, meat, and other food-stuffs. For the transportation of these commodities about thirty great trunk lines enter the city and about twelve hundred passenger trains daily arrive and depart from its stations.
The freight terminals are connected by transfer and belt lines, which receive and distribute the cars passing between the eastern and the western roads. More than five hundred freight trains, aggregating about twenty thousand cars, arrive and depart daily.
St. Louisoriginally derived its importance as a river-port of the Mississippi, having been the connecting commercial link between the upper and the lower river. In recent years it has become the metropolis of the southern part of the food-producing region. In addition to the river-trade, still largely controlled at this point, it is the focus of more than twenty trunk lines of railway. Some of these, like the trunk lines of Chicago, handle freight exchanged between the East and West; but a large proportion are receiving and distributing roads for Southern freight.
AUTOMOTIVE POWER IN THE INDUSTRIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEYAUTOMOTIVE POWER IN THE INDUSTRIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
St. PaulandMinneapolisare the metropolis of the upper Mississippi. The former grew from a trading-post at the head of navigation; the latter gained its commercial prominence from the water-power at the falls of St. Anthony. The former has become the chief railway and distributing centre of the northern Mississippi Valley; the latter has the greatest flour-mills in the world, and an extensive lumber-trade. Both are situated on the trade-route between the United States and Asian ports, and distribute a part of the trade that comes from them.
The twoKansas Cities,[52]Omaha,South Omaha, andSioux Cityare stock-markets and meat-packing centres. The first two named are collecting and distributing points not only for the Mississippi Valley, but also for a considerable share of the Pacific Coast trade. Kansas City is also a transfer station for the cotton destined for China. From this place it is sent by way of Billings to Seattle, and thence shipped to China.
Cincinnatiis the metropolis of the Ohio Valley. Its situation on a bend of the river gives most excellent landing facilities; the easy grade from the bluff to the bottom-lands along the flood-plain of Mill Creek makes it accessible to the railways that enter the city. On account of low rates of transportation by river-barges, about three million tons of coal and one million tons of pig-iron and steel billetsare floated to the city to be manufactured into other steel products.Indianapolisis a great railway centre, where much of the freight passing between Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg is exchanged.Columbus(O.) is similarly situated as a railway and farming centre.
CATTLE AND DAIRY PRODUCTSCATTLE AND DAIRY PRODUCTS
Louisvilleis a market of the tobacco region, and has probably a larger business in this industry than any other city in the world.Davenport,Rock Island, andMolineform a single commercial centre, the last-named having the largest establishment for the manufacture of ploughs in the world.Dubuque,Burlington,Quincy, andMuscatineare river-ports, all having a considerable trade in the lumber that is carried down the river.
The Southern Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast.—This region receives a generous warmth and rainfall. Cotton is its staple product, and nearly all the industries are connected with the growth, shipment, and manufacture of the crop and its side products. The cotton, raw or manufactured, is sold in about every country in the world.
The commercial part of handling the cotton-crop begins within a very few weeks from the time of the first picking. The baled cotton is hauled by team from the plantation to the nearest market-town, an item sometimes greater than the entire freightage from the nearest seaport to Liverpool.
The season for export lasts from September until the middle of January, during which time brokers are visiting the smaller markets in order to buy it on commission. It is then shipped by rail or by river to the nearest general market, where it is sold to the foreign buyers and domestic manufacturers.
New Orleans, the metropolis of the South, has usually the heaviest export of cotton, amounting to about one billion pounds each year. Much of this is received by water from the various river-ports. The city is not only a river-port, but an important seaport as well, controlling a large part of the foreign commerce of the Gulf. Several trunk lines of railway enter the city, which is a receiving and distributing depot for both Atlantic and Pacific freights. A considerable part of the former are sent by ocean steamships from New York. An elaborate system of sewerage, well-paved streets, and a good water-supply—all recently put into operation—have made the city one of the most attractive in the United States.
Galvestonis destined to become a leading port for cotton export. It has the advantage of a fine harbor on the seaboard, and the disadvantage of a location so low that very heavy south winds flood the streets with water from the Gulf. The growth of the export trade is due chiefly to the increasing crop of Texas. Shipments from Galveston begin in September, the Texas crop being the first to mature.SavannahandNew Yorkrank next in their exports.PensacolaandBrunswickare also important points of export.Memphis,Vicksburg,Shreveport,Houston, andMontgomeryare important collecting stations for the cotton.
About one-third of the crop is retained for manufacture in the United States; one-third is purchased by Great Britain, one-sixth by Germany, and most of the remainder by France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. Of the manufactured cotton goods, the Chinese are the heaviest buyers, taking about half the entire export. Most of the Chinese purchase is landed at Shanghai.
In the main, the manufactures of this region closely concern the cotton industry. The increase in the manufacture of textile goods has been very great, and a large part of the cotton now manufactured in the New England States and abroad, in time will be made in the cities and towns of this section. In addition to the textile goods, cottonseed-oil is an important product. A part of this is used in the mechanical arts, but the refined oil is used mainly for domestic purposes. A considerable part of the latter is used to adulterate olive-oil, and in some instances is substituted for it. The refuse of the seed is made into fertilizer.
Atlantais one of the foremost cities in the South in the manufacture of cotton textiles and products. Commercially its situation resembles that of Indianapolis; it is a focal point of the chief trunk lines of railway in the South, and has the principal railway clearing-house. Like New Orleans, it is an educational centre and one of the foremost in the South.Macon,Dallas,Fort Worth, andSan Antonioare growing commercial centres.
The manufacture of cane-sugar has been an industry of Louisiana for more than a century. Since the advent of beet-sugar, however, it has been a somewhat precarious venture, and has depended for existence very largely upon tariff protection and bounties paid to the Americansugar-makers. Tobacco manufacture centres at Tampa and Key West. Cuban leaf is there converted into cigars.
Fruit culture is a great industry. Millions of melons and great quantities of pineapples, oranges, and small fruit form the early crop that is shipped North. The orange groves are mainly in Florida. The crop is exhausted about the time that California oranges are shipped East. A great deal of tropical fruit is brought from Mexican, Central American, and South American ports. This trade is controlled mainly atMobile, which is also a lumber-market.
The Arid Plains and the Grazing Region.—This region includes the high plains approximately west of the 2,000-foot contour of level, together with a part of the plateaus of the western highland region. It is essentially one of grazing. Formerly there was an attempt to make wheat-growing the chief industry, but on account of the limited rainfall not more than three crops out of five reached maturity.
The earlier cattle-growing was carried on in a somewhat primitive manner; the cattle herded on open lands, wandering from one range to another, wherever the grazing might be good. The ownership of the cattle was determined by the brand the animal bore,[53]and the herds were "rounded up" twice a year to be sorted; at the round-up the "mavericks," or unmarked calves and yearlings, were branded. In time the ranges became greatly overstocked; the winter losses by starvation were so heavy that a better system became imperative. "Rustling," or cattle-stealing, also became a factor in improving the methods of cattle-ranching. The cautious rustler would purchase a few head of cattle and add to the number by capturing stray mavericks.
A DESERT REGION—TOO DRY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD-STUFFSA DESERT REGION—TOO DRY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD-STUFFS
OPEN GRAZING RANGES, IN WESTERN HIGHLANDSOPEN GRAZING RANGES, IN WESTERN HIGHLANDS
Both the legitimate graziers and the rustlers at first were bitterly opposed to fencing the land. In time, however, the grazier was compelled to do this, and also to grow alfalfa for winter foddering. The great open ranges have therefore been broken up and fenced wholly or in part. The fencing, moreover, has kept a dozen or more of the largest wire-mills in the world turning out a product that is at once shipped West. As a rule, the top wire is set on insulators and used for telephone connection.[54]This method of cattle-growing has improved the business in every way. The cattle are better kept; the loss by winter killing is very small; the "long-horn" cattle have given place to the best breeds of "meaters," which are heavier, and mature more quickly.
ON A TEXAS CATTLE RANCHCopyright, 1901, by Detroit Photographic Co.ON A TEXAS CATTLE RANCH
The success of stock-growing in this region is largely a question of climate. The sparse rainfall permits the growth of several species of grass that retain nutrition and vitality after turning brown under the fierce summer heat. Ordinary turf-grass will not live in this region, nor will it retain its nutrition after turning brown if rain falls upon it. The native grass is not materially affected by a shower or two; it is fairly good fodder even when buried under the winter's snow. The existence of this industry, therefore, turns on a very delicate climatic balance.
Of the beef grown in the United States the export product is derived mainly from this region. Nearly four hundred thousand animals are shipped alive; about three hundred million pounds of fresh beef are shipped to the Atlantic seaboard in refrigerator-cars and then transferred to refrigerator-steamships. Two-thirds of the cattle and fresh beef exported are shipped from New York and Boston.
Upward of one hundred and fifty million pounds of canned and pickled beef are also exported. All but a very small part of this product is consumed in Great Britain, France, and Germany. The cattle are collected for transportation at various stations and sidings along the railways that traverse this region.Cheyenneis one of the largest cattle-markets in the world.
Wool has become a very valuable product, and the sheep grown in this region number about one-half the total in the United States. The growing of macaroni-wheat is extending to lands that fail to produce crops of ordinary wheat.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION