Commercial Geography Part 27

=Argentina and the Plate River Countries.=--These states are situated in a lat.i.tude corresponding to that of the United States. The entire area from the coast to the slopes of the Andes is a vast prairie-region. As a result of position, climate, and surface the agricultural industries are the same as in the United States--grazing and wheat-growing.

Cattle-growing is the chief employment, and the cost per head of rearing stock is practically nothing. For want of better means of transportation the s.h.i.+pments of live beef are not very heavy; the quality of the beef is poor, and until recently there have been no adequate facilities for getting it to market.[66] A small amount of refrigerator beef and a large amount of jerked beef are exported, however. Near the markets, there are large plants in which the hides, horns, tallow, and meat are utilized--the last being converted to the famous "beef extract," which finds a market all over the world.

The sheep industry is on a much better business basis. Both the wool and the mutton have been improved by cross-breeding with good stock. As a result the trade in mutton and wool has increased by leaps and bounds; and nearly three million sheep carca.s.ses are landed at the other ports of Brazil, at Cuba, and at various European states. The wool is bought mainly by Germany and France, but the United States is a heavy purchaser. The quality of the fibre, formerly very poor, year by year is improving.

Wheat, the staple product, is grown mainly within a radius of four hundred miles around the mouth of Plate River. The area of cultivation is increasing as the facilities for transportation are extended and, little by little, is encroaching on the grazing lands. The wheat industry is carried on very largely by German and Italian colonists.

Flax, grown for the seed, is a very large export crop. Maize, partly for export and partly for home consumption, is also grown.

The timber resources, chiefly in Paraguay and the Gran Chaco, are very great, but for want of means of transportation the timber-trade cannot successfully compete with that of Central America and Mexico. Workable gold and silver ores are abundant along the Andean cordillera; gold, silver, and copper are exported to Europe. A poor quality of lignite occurs in several provinces, but there are no available mines yielding coal suitable for making steam. There are petroleum wells near Mendoza.

Most of the manufactures pertain to the preparation of cattle products, although a considerable amount of coa.r.s.e textiles are made in the larger cities from the native cotton and wool. Hats, paper (made from gra.s.s), and leather goods are also made. In general, all manufactures are hampered by the difficulties of getting good fuel at a low price.

Transportation is carried on along Plate River and the lower parts of its tributaries. The railway has become the chief factor in the carriage of commodities, however, and the railways of Argentina have been developed on the plans of North American roads. About twelve thousand miles are in actual operation, one of which is a transcontinental line, about completed between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. Electric railways have become very popular, and the mileage is rapidly increasing.

The import trade, consisting of textile goods, machinery, steel, and petroleum, is carried on with Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium (mainly transit trade), the United States, and Italy. The compet.i.tion between the European states for this trade is very strong, and not a little has been acquired at the expense of the United States, whose trade has not materially increased.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AREA OF THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF MATe]

_Buenos Aires_ is the financial centre of this part of South America.

Among its industries is the largest meat-refrigerating plant in the world. The harbor at _La Plata_ is excellent and has drawn a considerable part of the foreign trade from Buenos Aires. _Rosario_, _Cordoba_, _Santa Fe_, and _Parana_ are the markets of extensive farming regions. _Mendoza_ is the focal point of the mining interests.

=Paraguay= has a large forest area, but for want of means of transportation it is without value. Even the railway companies find it cheaper to buy their ties in the United States and Australia, rather than to procure them in Paraguay. In spite of the extent of good land, the wheat and much of the bread-stuffs are purchased from Argentina.

Tobacco and mate are the only export crops, and they have but little value. The Parana and Paraguay Rivers are the only commercial outlet of the state.

=Uruguay.=--Owing to its foreign population Uruguay is becoming a rich country. The native cattle have been improved by cross-breeding with European stock, and the state has become one of the foremost cattle and sheep ranges of the world. The value of animal products is not far from forty million dollars yearly. These go mainly to Europe, and so also does the wheat-crop.

France and Argentina purchase most of the exports and Great Britain supplies most of the textiles and machinery imported. The trade of the United States is about one-fourth that of Great Britain. _Montevideo_ is the chief market and port. At _Fray Bentos_ is one of the largest plants in the world for the manufacture of cattle products.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What kind of commerce has led to the establishment of the various ports along the Spanish Main?

What advantages has the American fruit-s.h.i.+pper, trading at South American ports, over his European compet.i.tor?

What is meant by "horse lat.i.tudes," and what was the origin of the name?

In what way may the opening of an interoceanic ca.n.a.l affect the coffee-trade of Brazil?--the nitrate trade of Chile?

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

From the Abstract of Statistics find the exports of the United States to each of these countries.

From the Statesman's Year-Book compare the trade of the United States in each of these countries with that of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy.

If possible, obtain specimens of the following: Crude rubber, pampas gra.s.s, Brazil nuts (in pod), and raw coffee of several grades for comparison with Java and Mocha coffees.

CHAPTER XXV

EUROPE--GREAT BRITAIN AND GERMANY

Almost all the commercial activity of Europe is south of the parallel and west of the meridian of St. Petersburg. Most of the great industries are controlled by Germanic and Latin peoples, and among these Great Britain and Germany stand first.

=Great Britain and Ireland.=--The United Kingdom, or Great Britain and Ireland, are commonly known as the British Isles. The British Empire consists of the United Kingdom and its colonial possessions; it includes also a large number of islands occupied as coaling stations and for strategic purposes. All told, the empire embraces about one-seventh of the land area of the world and about one-fourth its population.

The wonderful power and great commercial development is due not only to conditions of geographic environment but also to the intelligence of a people who have adjusted themselves to those conditions. The insular position of the United Kingdom has given it natural protection, and for more than eight hundred years there has been no successful invasion by a foreign power. Its commercial position is both natural and artificial.

It has utilized the markets to the east and south, and has founded great countries which it supplies with manufactured products.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BRITISH EMPIRE]

The position of the kingdom with respect to climate is fortunate. The movement of the Gulf Stream on the American coast carries a large volume of water into the lat.i.tude of the prevailing westerly winds, and these in turn carry warm water to every part of the coast of the islands. As a result, the harbors of the latter are never obstructed by ice; those of the Labrador coast, situated in the same lat.i.tude, are blocked nearly half the year.

The high lat.i.tude of the islands is an advantage so far as the production of food-stuffs is concerned. The summer days in the lat.i.tude of Liverpool are very nearly eighteen hours in length, and this fact together with the mild winters, adds very largely to the food-producing power of the islands.

The highlands afford considerable grazing. Great care is taken in improving the stock, both of cattle and sheep. In the north the cattle are bred mainly as meat producers; in the south for dairy products.

Durham, Alderney, and Jersey stock are exported to both Americas for breeding purposes. The sheep of the highlands produce the heavy, coa.r.s.e wool of which the well known "cheviot" and "frieze" textiles are made.

Elsewhere they are bred for mutton, of which the "South Down" variety is an example.

The lowland regions yield grain abundantly where cultivated. The average yield per acre is about double that of the United States, and is surpa.s.sed by that of Denmark only. Both Ireland and England are famous for fine dairy products. These are becoming the chief resource of the former country, which is practically without the coal necessary for extensive manufacture. The fis.h.i.+ng-grounds form an important food resource.

The cultivated lands do not supply the food needed for consumption. The grain-crop lasts scarcely three months; the meat-crop but little longer.

Bread-stuffs from the United States and India, and meats from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand make up the shortage. The annual import of food-stuffs amounts to more than fifty dollars per capita.

The growing of wool and flax for cloth-making became an industry of great importance just after the accession of Henry VII. With the advent of peace, it became possible to manufacture into cloth the fibres that before had been sent for that purpose to Flanders. The utilization of the coal and the iron ore years afterward brought about an economic revolution that was intensified by the invention of the steam-engine and the power-loom.

These quickly brought the country into the foremost rank as a manufacturing centre. Moreover, they also demanded the foreign markets that have made the country a maritime power as well--for an insular country must also have the s.h.i.+ps with which to carry its merchandise to its markets.

The development of the manufactures, therefore, is inseparably connected with that of the mineral and metal industries. From very early times the metal deposits of the country have been a source of power. Copper and tin were used by the aboriginal Britons long before Caesar's reconnaissance of the islands, and it is not unlikely that the Bronze Period was the natural development that resulted from the discovery of these metals.

Coal occurs in various fields that extend from the River Clyde to the River Severn. The annual output of these mines at the close of the century was about two hundred and twenty-five million tons. In the past century the inroads upon the visible supply were so great that the output in the near future will be considerably lessened. Not far from one-sixth of the output is sold to consumers in Russia and the Mediterranean countries, but a growing sentiment to forbid any sale of coal to foreign buyers is taking shape.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRITISH ISLES]

Iron ores are fairly abundant, but the hemat.i.te required for the best Bessemer steel is limited to the region about Manchester and Birmingham.

The shortage of this ore has become so apparent within recent years that Great Britain has become a heavy purchaser of ores in foreign markets.

The coal in the Clyde basin is employed mainly in the manufacture of railway iron, steams.h.i.+p material, and rolling stock. The manufacture of Bessemer steel is gradually moving to the vicinity of South Wales, at the ports of which foreign pig-iron can be most cheaply landed. In west-central England the several coal-fields form a single centre of manufacture, where are located some of the largest woollen and cotton mills in Europe. It also includes the plants for the manufacture of machinery, cutlery, and pottery.

The import trade of Great Britain consists mainly of food-stuffs and raw materials.[67] Of the latter, cotton is by far the most important. Most of it comes from the United States, but the Nile delta, Brazil, the Dekkan of India, the Iran plateau, and the Piura Valley of Peru send portions, each region having fibre of specific qualities designed for specific uses. The native wool clip forms only a small part of the amount used in manufacture. The remainder, more than three million pounds, comes from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The supply of flax is small, and 100,000 tons are imported to meet the wants of the mills. The greater part is purchased in Russia, but the finer quality is imported from Belgium. Jute is purchased from India and manufactured into burlap and rugs.

But little available standing timber remains, and lumber must, therefore, be imported. The pine is purchased mainly in Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the United States. A considerable amount of wood-pulp is imported from Canada for paper-making. Mahogany for ornamental manufactures is obtained from Africa and British Honduras. Oak, and the woods for interior finish, are purchased largely from Canada and the United States.