Commercial Geography Part 19

=Herring, Alewives, and Sardine.=--The herring is a much smaller fish than the cod, and, commercially, is much less important. They school in about the same waters as the cod, but are caught at a different season, gill-nets being usually employed. Practically no distinction is made between full-grown herring and alewives of the same size. The fish are usually cured by smoking, pickling, or salting, and in this form are either exported or sold in interior markets.

The true sardine is found in lat.i.tudes a little farther south than the schooling-grounds of the cod. The most important fisheries are along the coasts of the Latin states of Europe. Sardine fis.h.i.+ng is a great industry all along the New England coast of the United States, but the "sardines" marketed from this region are young herring. Indeed, nearly all sorts of small fry are sold in boxes bearing spurious French labels.

=Salmon.=--Most of the salmon are caught in the rivers flowing into the North Pacific Ocean. The fish are caught in traps and weirs at the time of the spring run, when they ascend the river to sp.a.w.n. The rivers are frequently so congested with the salmon that thousands of tons are caught in a single stream during the run.

The salmon canneries of the Columbia River are very extensive establishments, but in the past few years they have been surpa.s.sed by the Alaskan fisheries, which produce not far from fifty million pounds each year. The dressed fish is cooked by steam, canned, and exported to all parts of the world. The growth and development of the industry has also made an enormous demand on the tin mines of the world. Canned salmon is the largest fish export of the United States. There are extensive salmon-fisheries in Norway, j.a.pan, and Russia.

=Other Fish.=--_Mackerel_ and _haddock_ are caught near the sh.o.r.es of the North Atlantic. Most of the mackerel-catch is pickled in brine and sold in small kegs known as "kits." The _menhaden_-catch of the North Atlantic is converted into fertilizer. The _halibut_ is a large fish that is rarely preserved. The area in which it is caught is about the same as that of the cod. _Shad_ are usually caught when ascending the rivers of the middle Atlantic coast. In the United States, Chesapeake, Delaware, and New York Bays yield the chief supply. The _bluefish_ and _barracuda_ are warm-water fish. The market for fresh fish has been greatly enlarged by the use of refrigerator-cars.

The _sturgeon_ is captured mainly in the rivers and lakes of the temperate zone. Those of the Black Sea sometimes attain a weight of 2,000 pounds. The flesh is of less importance than the eggs, of which caviare is made. Russian caviare is sold all over Europe and America, and not a small part of the product is made in Maine. The caviare made from the roe of the Delaware River sturgeon is exported to Germany. The _tunny_ is confined to Mediterranean waters.

The _anchovy_ is caught on the coast of Europe; most of the product is preserved, or made into the well-known "anchovy sauce." The _beche-de-mere_, or "sea cuc.u.mber," is a product of Australasian and Malaysian waters. Almost the whole catch is purchased by the Chinese, and it is exported to all countries having a Chinese population.

=Oysters and Lobsters.=--The oyster is among the foremost sea products of the United States in value. The oyster thrives best in moderately warm and sheltered waters. The coves and estuaries along the middle Atlantic coast produce the best in the world. Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound yield the greater part of the output. In the latter waters elaborate methods of propagation are carried out, and the yearly crop is increasing both in quality and quant.i.ty. The output of the Chesapeake beds has decreased materially; that of the Long Island Sound beds has increased.

Oysters are plentiful along the Pacific coast of the United States and also in European coast-waters, but they are inferior in size and quality. The use of refrigerator-cars and vessels has extended the trade to the extent that fresh oysters are s.h.i.+pped to points 2,000 miles inland; they are also exported to Europe. Baltimore is the chief oyster-market.

The consumption of the lobster has been so great that the catch of the New England coast has decreased about one-half in the past fifty years, and the United States is now an importer. Most of the import, amounting to about one million dollars yearly, comes from Canada. The so-called lobsters of the Pacific coast of the United States are not lobsters, but crayfish.

=Fish Hatcheries.=--The demand for fish has grown so great in past years that in many countries the waters, especially the lakes and rivers, are restocked. The eggs are hatched and the young fry are fed until they are large enough to take care of themselves. The chief hatchery and laboratory of the United States Fish Commission is at Woods Holl, Ma.s.s.

As many as 860,000,000 eggs, small fry, and adult fish have been distributed in a single year. The State of New York has also a similar department for restocking its waters.

=Sponge.=--This substance is practically the skeleton of a low order of animal, growing at the bottom of the sea. The sponge is cut from the place of attachment, and the gelatinous matter is washed away after putrefaction. The chief sponge-fisheries are in the neighborhood of Florida and the Bahama Islands.

=Seal.=--The fur-seal is an amphibian, found only in cold waters. A few pelts are obtained along the Greenland coast, but the chief sealing-grounds of the world have been at the Pribilof Islands, in Bering Sea. The pelts of the young males only are taken. The rookeries of the Pribilof Islands have been so nearly exhausted, that the killing season has been suspended for a term of years. Much illicit seal-catching is still going on, however.

The skins are taken to London, via San Francisco, where the fur is dyed a rich brown color; London is the chief market for dyed pelts; San Francisco for raw pelts; and New York, Paris, and St. Petersburg for garments. The pelts of the sea-otter are obtained mainly in the North Pacific Ocean.

=Other Furs.=--The furs employed in the finest garments are in part the pelts of land animals living in polar regions. The sable, stone-marten, otter, beaver, and red fox are the most valuable. The Persian lamb, however, is not a polar animal. The Russian Empire and Canada are the chief sources of supply. The Hudson Bay Company, with head-quarters at Fort Garry, near Winnipeg, controls most of the fur-trade of North America; the Russian furs are marketed mainly at Lower Novgorod.

Leipzig, Germany, is also an important fur-market.

Enormous quant.i.ties of rabbit-skins from Australia and nutria from Argentina are imported into the United States and Europe for the manufacture of the felt of which hats are made. The amount of this substance may be realized when one considers that not far from two hundred million people in the two countries wear felt hats.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Note an instance in which the search for deep-sea fis.h.i.+ng-grounds has resulted in the discovery of unknown lands.

Why are not whale products as essential now as a century ago?

What international complications have arisen between the United States and Great Britain concerning the cod-fisheries?--the seal-catch?

[Ill.u.s.tration: NORTH AMERICA]

CHAPTER XVII

THE UNITED STATES--THE SEAPORTS AND THE ATLANTIC COAST-PLAIN

The United States of America together with the possessions included within the domain of the Republic comprise an area somewhat greater than that of Europe.

With respect to lat.i.tude, the position of the main body of the United States is extremely fortunate. Practically all its area is situated in the warmer half of the temperate zone. Only a small part lies beyond the northern limit of the corn belt; wheat, oats, and barley are cultivated successfully throughout four-fifths of its extent in lat.i.tude; gra.s.s, and therefore cattle and sheep are grown in nearly every part. Coal, iron, copper, gold, and silver, the minerals and metals which give to a nation its greatest material power, exist in abundance, and the successful working of these deposits have placed the country upon a very high commercial plane.

Topographically the United States may be divided into the following regions:

The Atlantic Coast-Plain, The Appalachian Ranges and the New England Plateau, The Basin of the Great Lakes, The Northern Mississippi Valley Region, The Southern Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast, The Arid Plains, The Plateau Region, The Pacific Coast Lowlands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A 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 is very 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 sh.o.r.e.

The most important port of entry in these harbors is _New 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 pa.s.ses 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 Ca.n.a.l was opened between the Great Lakes and tide-water. The completion of the ca.n.a.l 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 pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.senger and freight steams.h.i.+ps 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 of _New York_ is 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOSTON HARBOR]

_Boston_ has been one of the leading ports of the United States for considerably more than a century. It ranks second among the ports of the United States. Regular lines of transit connect it with the princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.sing 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. Steams.h.i.+ps 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 steams.h.i.+ps, and refined sugar. The carpet-weaving and the s.h.i.+p-building plants are among the largest 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.

_Baltimore_ is 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 s.h.i.+pped.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHARLESTON 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.