Source book for the economic geography of North America

Front matter

LIBRARY

Connecticut Agricultural College

yoh- Laii-i

Preface

There has been a notable increase in recent years in the number of universities and colleges which offer instruction in geography, and especially in the numbers of students who elect courses in the subject. As a result, instructors have been confronted by the difficult problem of providing source materials for the use of their students. At the University of Chicago this problem has been especially critical in the course on the "Economic Geography of North America." Source materials in this field are scattered widely through government reports, magazines, and other publications, of which it has been impossible to provide a sufficient number of copies to meet the needs of large groups of students. Furthermore, much of the original literature is unrelated to a geographic discussion, so that it is impracticable to refer beginning students to it. It is hoped that this book will furnish material for an introductory study of the geography of North America and that it will effectively introduce students to the literature of the subject.

At the University of Chicago the course on the "Economic Geography of North America" is the third of three units which comprise the first year's work in geography. The preceding units are "Elements of Geography," which is an analysis of the elements of the physical environment in their relation to life, and " Economic and Commercial Geography," which is organized on a commodity basis. As given here, the course on North America is organized on a regional basis and serves as an introduction to regional geography. It is followed by courses on the other major regions of the world. Pedagogically, it is intended that this course constitute a transition from the earlier courses in which much use is made of a text to later courses without texts, in which the lecture method is employed more or less extensively.

As the limitations imposed by a small volume made it impossible to reproduce most of the articles in full, it is hoped that instructors using the book will consult the original sources and, when practicable, refer their students to them. All the material included in the book

VI PREFACE

has been tested repeatedly in class use as it advanced from "reading lists" through mimeograph and preprint editions to its present form.

While an attempt has been made to include material which constitutes a fairly comprehensive survey of the more important parts of the continent, it will be apparent at once that the book should be supplemented by wall maps and other illustrative material. Among the more useful maps are J. Paul Goode's Physical and Pohtical Wall Maps of North America and the United States (Rand McNally & Co., 1914, 1915), V. C. Finch's Industrial Series of Wall Maps of the United States (A. J. Nystrom & Co., 1920), and Philips' Comparative Wall Atlas of North America (George Philips & Son, Ltd., Denoyer- Geppert Co., Agents).

Many of the selections included are intended to serve as a basis for a geographic discussion, rather than as a geographic discussion. In other words, much of the material as it stands is not strictly geographic in character, having been written for a variety of purposes, and it therefore remains for the instructor to make it function geographically. The book does not, then, constitute a course in the "Economic Geography of North America," but furnishes some of the material required by such a course.

I am under heavy obligations to the many authors and publishers who generously permitted the use of their articles, or of excerpts from them. Their names appear from page to page. Special acknowledgments are made to the American Geographical Society, the Editor of the Journal of Geography, the Department of Trade and Commerce and the Commission of Conservation of Canada, the United States Geological Survey, the Office of Farm Management of the United States Department of Agriculture, and to Professor R. H. Whitbeck of the University of Wisconsin. In the preparation of the volume, I am indebted to Miss Alice Foster, Assistant Professor-Elect in Mount Holyoke College, Dr. Helen M. Strong, Assistant Professor of Geography in the University of Missouri, and my colleague. Dr. Robert S. Piatt, for assistance in the selection and organization of material and for testing it with their students. I am especially indebted to Miss Foster for her article on the "Geographic Regions of Mexico," and for her adaptation or translation of a number of

articles by Spanish writers. ^ ^ ^

^ ^ Chas. C. Colby

University of Chicago August, 192 i

Table Of Contents

PAGE

The Point of View xiii

Chapter I. Regional Concepts of Canada

1. Size, Position, and Boundaries as Environmental Factors in Canada. W. L. Grant i

2. Agricultural Regions of Canada. Wyatl Malcolm ... 5

3. Land and Water Area of Canada by Provinces and Territories. Canada Year Book 10

4. Types of Climate in Canada. R. F. Stupart .... 10

5. Mineral Resources of the Major Physiographic Provinces

of Canada. G. A. Young j5

6. Population of Canada by Provinces and Territories in the Census Years 187 1 to 191 1. Canada Year Book. ... 26

Chapter II. Resources and Industries of Canada

1. Farm Lands in Canada. Canada Year Book 27

2. Area, Yield, and Value of Principal Field Crops in Canada, Average 1910-1913. Canada Year Book .... . 28

3. Number of Farm Live Stock by Provinces in 1919. Canada

Year Book -q

4. Production and Value of Creamery Butter and Factory Cheese in Canada by Provinces in 191 7. Canada Year Book ^Q

5. The Distribution of Cattle in Canada. Charles C. Colby . 30

6. Products of the Forests of Canada in 1918. Canada Year Book ,2

7. The Mineral Products of Canada. Canada Year Book . . 2tZ

8. Water Powers of Canada, J. B. Challies 34

9. Manufactures of Canada. Canada Year Book .... 38

10. Total Value of Fisheries by Provinces in the Fiscal Years 1913-1917. Canada Year Book . ^g

11. Canadian Railway Development. John J. O'Neill. . . 40

12. Steam Railway Mileage by Provinces, 1911-1917. Canada

Year Book .^

Chapter III. Maritime Canada and Newfoundland

1. The Appalachian Region. G.A.Young 44

2. The Province of Prince Edward Island. Watson Griffin . 46

3. Agriculture in New Brunswick. Watson Griffin .... 49

4. Bay of Fundy Tides. Canada Year Book 50

vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

5. Forest Resources of Maritime Canada. Charles C. Colby . 50

6. The Apple Industry in Nova Scotia. Natural Resources Intelligence Branch 51

7. Sea-Fisheries of Eastern Canada. J. J. Cowie .... 53

8. Marketing Sea Fish in Canada. Allan Donnell ... 58

9. The Relation of Coal to Industry and Commerce in Nova Scotia. Watson Griffin 60

10. Manufacturing in Nova Scotia. Natural Resources InteUigence Branch 63

11. A Geographical Study of Nova Scotia. R. H. Whitheck . 64

Chapter IV. The St. Lawrence Lowlands

1. Divisions of the St. Lawrence Lowlands. G. A. Young . . 72

2. The Province of Quebec. Watson Griffin 73

3. The Isolation of the Lower St. Lawrence Valley. Roderick Peattie 76

4. French Canada. E. M. Sail 82

5. The Province of Ontario. Watson Griffin 86

6. The St. Lawrence Waterway. Watson Griffin .... 89

Chapter V. The Laurentian Upland

1. Some Responses to Physical Environment in the Laurentian Plateau. A.W.G. Wilson 92

2. The Clay Belt of Northern Ontario and Quebec. John A, Dresser 94

3. The Winnipeg, a Typical River of the Laurentian Upland.

Leo G. Denis 97

Chapter VT. The Prairie Provinces

1. The Western Plains of Canada. Watson Griffin. ... 99

2. Topography of the Interior Plain of Canada. G. A. Young 104

3. Forests of the Prairie Provinces. F. H. Kitto .... 105

4. Relation of Water Resources to Agricultural Development

in Southeastern Alberta. Leo G. Denis and T. B. Challies 107

5. The Wheat Crop of Saskatchewan. F. H. Kitto . . . 11 1

6. Routes by Which Canadian Grain Is Shipped from Lake Superior Ports to the Atlantic Sea-Board 113

Chapter VIL Pacific Canada— The Canadian Cordillera

1. Forest Regions of British Columbia. R. E. Benedict . . 120

2. Water-Power Possibilities of British Columbia. Arthur V. White 123

3. Puget Sound-Fraser River Salmon Industry. John Pease Babcock ■ 125

4. Western Canada and the Pacific. Walter S. Tower . . 129

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IX

151 161 167 170 172

Chapter VIII. The United States

1. The Land and Its Use. Benton MacKaye 142

2. Conditions Affecting the UtiHzation of the Land in the United States. 0. E. Baker and H. M. Strong ....

3. Original and Present Forests of the United States . . .

4. Developed and Potential Water-Power in the United States

5. Mineral Production in the United States by States . . .

6. Manufacturing Industries of the United States ....

Chapter IX. Northeastern United States

1. Topography and Underlying Rock in New England. M. L. Fuller i^g

2. Farm Problems in Northeastern United States .... 181

3. The Relation of Environment to the Textile and Paper Industries in Massachusetts. Malcolm Keir 186

4. Geographic Influences in the Development of New York State. R. H. Whitbeck

S- Geographic Influences in the Development of the Manu facturing Industry of the Mohawk Valley. George B Roorback

6. The Relative Importance of the New York City Metropolitan District. Census of Manufacturers 204

7. The Relation of the Port of New York to the Foreign Commerce of the United States 205

8. The Significance of the Position of New Jersey. R. H. Whitbeck 205

9. The Northern Appalachian Coal Field. David White, M. R. Campbell, and R. M. Easel tine 210

Chapter X. Southeastern United States

r. Soils of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains. Milton Whitney

2. The Chesapeake Bay Section of the Coastal Plain

3. Soils of the Piedmont Plateau. Milton Whitney.

4. Geographic Divisions of Virginia. G. T. Surface.

5. The Cotton Belt. O. C. Stine and 0. E. Baker .

6. The Black Belt of Alabama. Herdm^n F. Cleland

7. Mississippi- Yazoo Flood Plain. E. N. Lowe . .

8. The Southern Long-Leaf Pine Belt. F. V. Emerson

9. Geographic Divisions of Tennessee. L. C. Glenn .

Chapter XL Interior United States

I . The Great Central Plain of North America.

221 225 228 236

A. E. Parkins

The Relation of Rehef, Soil, and Drainage to Agriculture in Ohio. /. L. Falconer .

X TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

3. Agriculture in Wisconsin. R. E. Whitbeck 264

4. Aspects of the Physical Environment in a Typical Section

of the Corn Belt. H. E. Simpson ... .... 267

5. Some Geographic Influences of the Lake Superior Iron Ores. George J. Miller . 269

6. Factors in the Establishment of the Cattle Markets. H. W. Mumford and L. D. Hall . . 278

7. The Economic Problem of the Ozark Highland. Carl O. Sauer 281

8. Agriculture of South Dakota. S. S. Visher 294

9. Relation of Physical Environment to the Agricultural Industries of the Great Plains. T. D. Rice, J. A. Warren 296

Chapter XII. Western United States

1. The Relation of Water Resources to Economic Activities in

the West. Samuel T. Dana 303

2. The Desert Region of the United States. 0. E. Meinzer . 310

3. Semi-arid Highlands of the Southwest. A. M. McOmie, G. F. Freeman, Alfred J. McClatchie and J. Eliot Coil, and

F. W. Wilson 311

4. The Butte Mining District. Walter H. Weed .... 320

5. Water Resources of California. Andrew H. Palmer. . . 324

6. The Valley of California. /. W. Nelson, J. E. Guernsey,

L. C. Holmes, E. C. Eckmann, and A. T. Strahorn ... 332

7. Forest Resources and the Limiber Industry in the Pacific States 2,2)^

Chapter XIII. The Principal Geographic Divisions of Mexico. Alice Foster

1. The Sierra Madre Occidental 344

2. The Sonoran Desert 347

3. The Central Plateau 348

4. The Sierra Madre Oriental 349

5. The Northern Basins (The Chihuahua Semi-Desert) . . 350

6. The Northern Gulf Coastal Plain 351

7. The Eastern Tierra Caliente 351

8. The Western Tierra Caliente 353

9. The Sierra Del Sur 353

10. The Highland of Chiapas 354

Chapter XIV. Aspects of Mexican Geography

1. Lower Cahfornia (Sonoran Desert). W. C. Burdett . . . 356

2. The Economic Significance of the Colorado Delta (Soaoran Desert) 359

TABLE OF CONTENTS xi

PAGE

3. The States of Sinaloa and Nayarit (Sonoran Desert). W. E. Chapman 363

4. Geographic Conditions Affecting Land Tenure and Revolutions in Mexico (Northern Basins). Leon Dominion . 367

5. The Mexican Cattle Ranges (Northern Basins). H. W. Mumford and L. D. Hall 370

6. The State of Coahuila (Northern Basins) 371

7. A Mexican Hacienda (Northern Basins). J.E.Kirkwood . 374

8. The Corn Crop of Mexico. V. C. Finch and O. E. Baker . 383

9. Mexico as a Source of Hides and Skins. E. F. Feely . . 383

10. Cotton Textile Industry of Mexico (Central Plateau and Sierra Madre Oriental). E. F. Feely 385

11. The Petroleum Industry in Mexico (Northern Gulf Coastal Plain). V. R. Garfias 388

12. The Peninsula of Yucatan (Eastern Tierra Cahente). Ellsworth Huntington 393

13. Forest Products of the Humid Tropical Lowlands of Mexico (Eastern Tierra Cahente). Alice Foster 400

14. Animal Industries of Southern Mexico. Alice Foster . . 402

15. The Relation of Geographic Conditions to the Development of the Mexican Railroad System. Victor M. Braschi . 403

16. The^ Mexican Railways 405

17. The Foreign Trade of Mexico 409

Chapter XV. Resources and Industries of Alaska

1. Population of Alaska 412

2. Physiographic Provinces of Alaska. Alfred H . Brooks . . 412

3. Climatic Provinces of Alaska 415

4. The Future of Alaska Mining. Alfred H. Brooks . . . 416

5. Possible Agricultural Development in Alaska. Levi Clj,uhhuck ■■ 430

6. Forest Resources of Alaska. R. S. Kellogg 441

7. Alaskan Fishing and Fur Industries. Ward L. Bowers and Others 445

8. The Transportation Problem 449

9. Commerce of Alaska 452

Map of Alaska inside back cover

Index 455

THE POINT OF VIEW

The materials in this book constitute a basis for an introductory survey of the economic geography of North America. In order that they be used effectively it is essential that the point of view which governed their selection be understood. The thesis fundamental to this point of view is that

Geography is The Relation of Natural Environment-^ to <-Human Activities

Economic Social Political Activities Activities Activities

As the title of this book suggests, the present survey of North America is concerned primarily with the first part of this general field, namely, the relation of the natural environment to economic activities. It is apparent that if attention is to be focused on such relationships, a knowledge of the component elements of the natural environment of the several regions of the continent and of the outstanding economic activities of these regions is essential. It is in supplying this knowledge that the material in this book and other relevant material functions. It furnishes the basis of fact essential in obtaining for each part of the continent (i) regional concept, x, of the natural environment, (2) regional concept, y, of the economic activities, and (3) of establishing the relation of x to y.

An interpretation of economic activities in terms of the natural environment, although based on concrete facts and statistics, is such an abstract and complicated problem that considerable geographic training is requisite to its solution. Unless this training be sufficiently extensive to enable the student to visualize the problem so clearly that a definite point of view is insured, the survey is liable to degenerate into a cyclopedic enumeration of features of the natural environment on the one hand and of industrial and commercial statistics on the other. Such training includes (i) a working knowledge of the elements of the natural environment (elements of geography) and

XIV THE POINT OF VIEW

(2) their relation to the production of, trade in, and utilization of the major commodities on which the industries and commerce of a region are based. These types of geographic training are so significant to the present point of view that each must be stated concretely.

The elements of the natural environment are named in various ways by geographers but practically all agree on some combination of the following items:

Elements of the Natural Environment

1. Position 7. Minerals

2. Area 8. The oceans

3. Climate 9. The coasts

4. Relief 10. Native vegetation

5. Soil II. Native animal life

6. Waters of the lands

As listed here, the first nine of these elements commonly are classed as the elements of the physical environment. Certain of them, such as climate and soil, exert a profound influence on the distribution and nature of plant and animal life so that such life is, in one sense, as truly a response to physical environment as is human life. However, the forests and other native vegetation and insect and other animal life affect economic activities so definitely that, in this survey, they are thought of as conditioning factors and are classed with the elements of the physical environment. The entire group is viewed as the elements of the natural environment.

A thorough technical knowledge of these elements is essential to all significant geographic work. They are the alphabet of the geographer. Certainly without a knowledge of such geographic fundamentals as types of climate, relief, soil, etc., and their influence on himaan activities, it is futile to attempt either to gain a regional concept of the natural environment or to interpret the economic activities in terms of this environment. The student must be familiar with such typical geographic relationships as (i) the economic adjustments occasioned by the different types of climate, (2) the contrast of agricultural opportunities in plains and mountain regions, (3) the relation of drainage and underground water to rural and municipal water supplies, and (4) the character of coasts and their effect on ports and ship-

THE POINT OF VIEW

XV ping. Once a knowledge of the elements of the natural environment is attained it is possible to understand the way in which, in any region, certain of these elements are combined into an environmental complex or unit, the recognition of which constitutes the first phase of a regional survey.

The second type of geographic training essential to a survey of the economic geography of a region is illustrated typically by such concrete relationships as that of:

or of

Climate 1 Relief I Soil Drainage J

Coking coal Iron ore Limestone to the to the

'Production of wheat, com, or cotton

[Manufacture

of iron i and steel

This phase of geographic training also is concerned with an analysis of the major steps in the utilization of a commodity, as for instance:

The relation of B C

Climate Relief Soil Drainage

or of

Climate Relief Soil Drainage to to

The production]

of [ to

wheat J

The production]

of \ to

cotton J fFlour \ milling

Cotton manufacturing to

Manufacture of specialized food products

^^ f Clothing \ industry

It is obvious that B is more concretely related to A than are C or D. This does not mean that A is unrelated to C or D but suggests that the approach to an interpretation of the relation of A to C or D is through an investigation of the relation of A to B. In such analyses it must be remembered that between steps A, B, C, and D there lies the item of transportation likewise influenced by geographic conditions and which, therefore, is an integral part of the analysis of a commodity sequence. The production and various phases of the utilization of some commodities occurs in one region. Other commodities xvi THE POINT OF VIEW

are produced in certain regions, manufactured in other regions and marketed in still others. In such cases, a commodity becomes an important item in world-commerce and the interpretation of its performance a complicated matter. The regions participating in this commerce are interrelated by their interest in this commodity and as a result conditions in a distant region may affect notably the economic activities surrounding the commodity in the region under consideration.

An interpretation of the industries growing out of the production and utilization of the principal commodities of commerce leads logically to an analysis and interpretation of the complex of industries established in a particular region. The number and scope of these industries varies greatly from region to region, depending upon the variety and extent of the resources of the region and the stage of development which it has attained. In a given region the industries may be based on the utilization of a single resource or on a number of resources. In general the complexity of the industrial structure of a region increases with the number of its resources which are being utilized. In some regions the products of such basic industries as farming, mining, or lumbering constitute the raw materials for other industries and, in turn, their products may be the basic materials for still other industries. In such regions, the various'economic activities are so interrelated and interwoven that an industrial or economic structure of great complexity results. A survey of the industrial complex (economic activities) of the several regions of North America constitutes the second phase of the present problem.

The third and central phase of this problem is to establish, for each region, the relation of the environmental complex to the industrial complex or, as originally stated, of natural environment to economic activities. In North America, as in the other continents, the difficulty of accomplishing this part of the problem varies greatly from region to region. In some regions the natural environment is so inauspicious to human occupation that industries practically are non-existent. In others, economic activities center about the production of a single commodity, while in still others, the resources of the natural environment are so varied and abundant that the resultant economic activities are correspondingly diversified and extensive. The Arctic Plain of Canada, the Prairie Plain of Canada, and the

THE POINT OF VIEW xvii

Ohio section of the Interior Plain of the United States are illustrations of such varying degrees of complexity.

In the Arctic Plain of Canada the handicap imposed by the Arctic climate restricts the economic activities of the few widely spaced groups of primitive people who inhabit this broad, low, level, coastal plain to hunting and the sustenance phase of the fishing industry.

Economic activities on the Prairie Plain of Canada center about the production of wheat (see pp. 111-12). At the present stage of development this plain — broad, level, relatively low, fertile, well drained, lacustrine or glacial, semi-arid or humid continental with short summers — produces a huge surplus of wheat which is distributed to consuming regions in the United States and Northwest Europe.

The Ohio section of the Interior Plain of the United States presents a striking contrast to the foregoing regions. This plain — centrally located, broad, low, level, fertile, well drained, glacial, humid continental, originally forested, underlain with horizontally bedded sedimentary rocks bearing petroleum and contiguous to high-grade coal — constitutes a natural environment so favorable to hunian occupation that the economic activities are exceedingly varied and the problem of interpreting these activities in terms of the natural environment correspondingly complicated.

In carrying forward this investigation one of the problems is the selection of the regions for discussion. In this connection it must be realized that economic geography from a regional basis is in a pioneer stage of development and therefore much material essential to such a survey is not now available, and that the recognition of the center of interest in the several regions of the continent is more important than the delineation of their boundaries.^ The material in this book is grouped into divisions which in a broad way correspond

^ Obviously a direct relation maintains between the industrial development in a region and the density of its population. Consequently a. map of the density of population suggests the more important regions. The following maps will be of assistance in this connection: (i) Population of North America, Philips Comparative Wall Atlas of North America; (2) Atlas of Canada, Department of the Interior of Canada, maps 27, 28, 29, 30; (3) Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1914, plate 15; (4) S. W. Cushing, "The Distribution of Population in Mexico," Geographical Review, April, 192 1, map opposite p. 232; Mark Jefferson, "The Anthropology of North America," Bulletin of American Geographical Society, March, 19 13, Fig. II.

xviii THE POINT OF VIEW

to the larger geographic regions of the continent. The divisions made, however, only approximate the true geographic regions because the statistics on which much of the present survey must be based are available only by political divisions. It is hoped, however, that this material and other relevant material now available furnish the essentials for a discussion which will give the student a more precise knowledge of the geographic regions of the continent. If this be true, it should insure a regional concept of the relation of natural environment to economic activities which should be of assistance not only in further geographic work but also in investigations and interpretations of economic activities beyond the scope of geography.