Physical and commercial geography; a study of certain controlling conditions of commerce

Front matter

Class —Ji^sX^

Gopyiight^I^

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Preface

From the time when they are first offered to the child for study, the facts of production and trade have been Hsted rather than interpreted. The books which have dealt with these matters have been prevailingly of a statistical nature, and the study of what they have had to give has too often reduced itself to a mere mnemonic exercise. And yet there are behind the facts of trade, as behind all facts, certain principles about which they can be grouped, and which serve to lend them life and meaning ; and it is interpretation rather than arbitrary memorizing which is of educational importance. It is the reference to principles which tends to fix knowledge in the mind in a vital way ; the principles form the nucleus about which a command of data can be extended.

The interpretation of the facts of trade calls for the inclusion of principles of many kinds. The popular persuasion that trade is a thing to be manipulated through laws, regulations, and the like has in it undoubtedly a considerable show of truth ; but it is certainly the most superficial and least scientific view of the matter. Again, it is true enough that other social factors, in addition to the political, have entered largely into the controlling of trade, and so must not be neglected in the interpretation of its data. But the complexity of these social influences is so great that it is difficult to make an educational beginning with them. Nor are they the only factors that exercise a determinative influence upon exchange ; there are controls in physical nature that are more concrete and simple of apprehension, and which have been, and still are, of great ultimate importance in the molding of trade, and, indeed, of human affairs in general. These, for want of a better and comprehensive term, might be called the environmental (or geographical) factors ; they cover man's and society's relations with the whole natural environment.

In writing the present book the authors have been actuated by the desire to cover this series of relations — a series which, we are convinced, has received too little of systematic attention. Many books iv PREFACE

dealing historically or scientifically with man and human society seem to us to have taken a partial, though perfectly natural, view of their subject when they have emphasized what the political or industrial organization has done for man, to the virtual exclusion of the influences of natural environment. That such a point of view was inevitable lies in the tendency of man to keep his eye fixed upon his own prowess and achievements rather than upon the limitations within which he must live and move all his days. It is not so much that the influences of natural environment are denied, as that they are ignored, or referred, at least, to the crude and distant past. Most intelligent persons would doubtless grant at once the great majority of the contentions which we shall set forth. Hence it is the trend of the chapters which are to follow, the collocation of many things accepted and some not so familiar, the attempt in our chosen way to infuse orderliness and sequence into the chaotic data and statistics of trade, which constitute the new departure in our treatm^ent. We are not aware, at least, of any treatise in the English language which seeks systematically to bring together for the student the natural environment, the man, and the man's works.

Among the works of man we virtually confine ourselves to exchange, and to such extensions into the general field of societal life as are called for in the development of that topic. Strictly speaking, we present a medley of facts and conclusions which belong in part to physical geography, in part to anthropology, and in part to industrial history. We have fixed our attention upon trade rather than upon the societal organization as a whole, both because the interpretation of commercial data was that with which we started, and because we believe that in the content and streams of trade there appears, as it were, a sort of epitome of human doings in the struggle for existence — what men produce and what they want, in this place and in that. The simplest and primary organization in this struggle for existence is that of industry, involving the exchange of the products of industry ; and we do not wish to go systematically beyond that in the present instance. Having in view, then, the influence of physical environment upon the most fundamental and material of human activities, we think that the study of the currents of exchange, involving, as that must, the consideration of the prime economic functions of production, consumption, and distribution, sets us in the midst of the issues upon which we hope to throw light.

PREFACE V

For these reasons we have called this book " Physical and Commercial Geography." If there were some word meaning " science of environment," it might well have appeared on the title-page ; but we have retained the better-known terms largely because of the very fact that they are more familiar, thinking it more profitable to try to introduce a more scientific character into what already exists than to seek the academic isolation of a new and unfamiliar term. Especially is the term "' commercial geography " somewhat altered in our usage : it is widened to include something more than description ; and it may seem to be narrowed in that no attempt has been made to secure an encyclopedic array of commercial data. We have consistently treated of types, and have renounced detail where multiplication of instances threatened perspective. For instance, in Part III, while retaining the old division by countries, we do not attempt to assemble exhaustive lists of the products of each country ; under the basic political division — the only one yet practicable — our treatment is topical, a short monograph upon each preeminent article of commerce occurring under the general politico-geographical section which leads in the production or use of the article in question.

In the attempt systematically to correlate various phases of the natural and social sciences we can scarcely hope to have made more than a beginning. When more facts and relations shall have been collected by the natural scientists on the one side, and the social scientists on the other, it will be easier to construct a more consistent and orderly network of interrelationships. The chapters of this book will admit of much amplification in the class room before the contentions which we sustain, and their many corollaries, can be conceived in their full perspective. But we venture to believe that the instances needed to amplify (or to correct) our general "contentions will meet the instructor, as they have met us in our years of teaching along the lines here laid down, at every turn. ,

When used as a college text, the course to which this book would correspond we conceive to be one linking together the natural and social sciences, and providing a fundamental set of ideas and principles touching human life-conditions that should be of use to one who might later pursue the study of the ngturaL Ici^nceSj the social sciences, or histor}'. For these same reasons we hope that what we have to present may prove to be of value to the general reader. As a text-book, however, besides adhering to arrangement and perspective vi PREFACE

rather than to the development of detail, and besides leaving large latitude to the teacher, the present volume aims to attain certain pedagogical ends. The pages are spread with cross references in the hope that the teacher may profit by our own practice of keeping constantly before the student what he has already studied in other connections. It is assumed that the student or reader who uses this book has at hand some standard atlas of physical, historical, and political maps, and that these maps are used as an essential part of the study. We strongly recommend also exercises involving map construction, map location, and the use of inexpensive outline maps for representation of data regarding topographic and climatic details, distribution of products, of industries, and of man.

The triple authorship, corresponding practically to the three Parts of this book, expresses graphically our belief that the facts and principles involved in a study of the environmental relations of man require contributions from both the natural and the social sciences, and are best presented by a combination of workers from these two fields. Therefore while each author is directly responsible for the presentation of material from his particular field, the outline and general character of treatment is the joint work of the three authors. General editorial supervision has been exercised by the author of Part II.

Thanks are due to Dr. Bowman and Dr. Huntington for suggestions and for corrections made upon the proofs. And we remember with gratitude and affection the helpful interest in our ideas and work displayed by the late Professor Edward G. Bourne. For permission to reproduce illustrations, in modified form, we express our sense of obligation to Professors Tarr and Dryer, the National Geographic Magazine, and the United States Geological Survey. The leading sources followed have been referred to here and there ; but we have not sought to equip with full bibliographical apparatus a book which deals so largely with information easily accessible in unworked form. It is hardly necessary to say that we have made consistent use of the valuable publications of the several government departments, both of this country and of Canada — the Weather Bureau, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Geological Survey, Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Agriculture, and so on.

THE AUTHORS New Haven, Connecticut

Contents

Chapter Pages PART I. THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

I. Ocean, Coast Line, and Harbor 3-33

n. Topography — Physiography of the United States . 34-65

Part II. Relation Of Man To Natural Conditions

VII. Human Adaptation. Environmental Influences:

Climate 126-142

VIII. Environmental Influences: Flora and Fauna, etc. 143-161

IX. Environmental Influences: Topography, Water, etc. 162-179

X. Distribution OF the Agents of Trade 180-191

XL Nature OF Trade. Its Routes and Stations . . . 192-211

XII. Antecedents of Modern Trade 212-222

XIII. Trade and the Advancement of Civilization . . . 223-231

XIV. Trade Manipulation. Summary of Part II ... . 232-248

PART HI. GEOGRAPHY OF TRADE

THE UNITED STATES

XV. Vegetable Products 252-280,

XVI. Animal Products 281-295

XVII. Mineral Products 296-310

XVIII. Manufactures^ 311-321

XIX. Transportation 322-338

XXI. Foreign Possessions 344-350

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

XXII. The British Isles 35^-372

XXIII. The Dominion of Canada 373-383

XXIV. Australasia 384-394

XXV. India 395-403

XXVI. South Africa 404-409

THE GERMAN EMPIRE

XXVII. Germany. 410-421

XXVIII. Miscellaneous Products 422-435

APPENDIX (Tables I-XXIII) 437-443 vii

LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES

Figure Pace

1. Mouth OF THE Mersey AND Port OF Liverpool 13

2. Map of Provincetown Harbor 22

3. New York Harbor 24

4. San Francisco Harbor . . 25

5. Galveston Harbor 26

6. New Orleans Harbor 28

7. Ireland Island Harbor, Bermuda 29

8. San Pedro Harbor 30

9. Delta of the Rhone 31

10. Harbors OF THE Connecticut Coast 32,33

ir. Delta OF THE Hwang-ho 42

1 2. Relief Map of the Lower Colorado 43

13. Distribution of Population in Utah 47

14. Length of Growing Season in the United States 60

1 5. Physiographic Provinces of the United States 62

1 6. Types of Rainfall in the United States 63

17. Influence of Topography ON Temperature loi

18. Relation of Topography to Rainfall 106

19. Zones of Temperature 108

20. Isolation of Africa 176

21. Trade Areas and Routes 196

22. Trade between Zones (schematic) 219

23. Production of Corn in the United States, 1S50-1900 . . . 257

24. Cotton-Producing Areas of the United States 267

25. Production of Iron Ore, Pig Iron, and Steel in the United

26. Development of the World's Gold Production since 1493 . . 301

Plate I. Mediterranean Colonization

Plate II. Colonial Possessions, Sixteenth to Nineteenth Century Plate III. Territories of Great Britain, the United States, and Germany

PHYSICAL AND COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY

PART I THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER I OCEAN AND COAST LINE General Relations

1. Introductory. From the standpoint of human history the sea is a vast desert occup3dng seventyrtwQ per cent of the earth's surface, practically uninhabited, impossible of settlement, to be traversed with risk, to be guarded against with care, — a desert whose dangers are unconquerable by savage man and offset only in part by the inventions of civilized races (cf. §§ 139, 192). Its waters rest in a vast sunken depression, variable in depth and extremely irregular in outline. It is a continuous water body which appears now in broad, open stretches, now minutely interlaced with the projecting land masses. Superficially, it is separated into the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Southern oceans ; the Indian and Arctic oceans are examples on a large scale of the bays, gulfs, and sounds which extend inland from the open sea.

The distances across these oceans are greater than is generally realized. From MorQccoLto Jlojid^„ j s a distance of 36po„mile.s, and the steamer route from New York to Liverpxx)! is 3000 miles, A ship carrying freight from Southampton to Cape Town must travel 6185 miles, and the usual steamer route from New York to Buenos Ayres is one fourth of the circumference of the globe. In the Pacific the distances are even more impressive : on the equator it is 10,000 miles across this ocean, and on the Tropic of Cancer 8500 miles ; it is 4212 miles from SarLFranciscp to . Yokohama, and in going from Vancouver to Hongkong the Pacific mail steamers must cover 6500 miles. Even Japan is 500 miles distant from China, and Madagascar

250 miles from the African mainland. Is it, then, any wonder that the distribution of plants and animals and the migration of man from continent to continent has been so retarded throughout the thousands of years of human history, and that each isolated land mass has developed its own race types and institutions ?

The Pacific and Atlantic have played different parts in humxin progress, have controlled the efforts of mankind each in its own peculiar way. The reason for the different responses to these two oceanic environments is readily understood when their coast lines and bordering lands are compared. The Atlantic has 55,000 miles of coast line, — more than the Pacific and Indian oceans combined. Its shores are indented, furnish abundant harbor sites, and in places its waters are inextricably intermingled with the land. Furthermore, the lands of the world slope toward the Atlantic, and the great rivers of the world drain into this ocean. With an area of 35,000,000 square miles, the Atlantic furnishes an outlet for 19,000,000 square miles of land drainage, a ratio of approximately 2 to i, while the Pacific, 70,000,000 square miles in area, receives drainage from only 8,660,000 square miles, a ratio of 8 to i . Thus it appears, when viewed from a commercial standpoint, that the Pacific is a vast sheet of water separating continents whose interiors are inaccessible. The Atlantic, on the other hand, is relatively narrow, with near-lying continents and a large and easily accessible back country (cf. § 163).

2. Ocean floor. These salt waters, whose surface extent is so vast, extend also to great depths, making a liquid body inconceivably large in amount. Its average depth is over 2^ miles (11,500 feet) and its deepest depression approximates _6!. miles, a depth exceeding, the height of the loftiest Himalayas.^ Near shore the basins are shallow and the continents are fringed by zones of water 10 to 200 miles wide, with a depth of less than 100 fathoms. The British Isles are on such a continental shelf, and parts of the North Sea are less than 100 feet in depth, with scarcely water enough to submerge the ordinary church steeple. This fringe of shallow water determines the shore line, and slight elevations and depressions of the sea bottom or of coastal lands produce marked effects on the shore. The amount of ocean water, though vast, is limited, and if the floor of the Pacific were to sink 1 000 feet, the sea level throughout the world would drop 500 feet. Even a change of 50 feet, such as has occurred many

1 Nero Deep, between Midway and Guam islands, attains a depth of 31.614 feet. It was discovered by Admiral Bradford, in 1901, during the survey for a cable line from San Francisco to Manila.

times in recent geological history, would ruin the world's harbors and require the relocation of docks, breakwaters, and lighthouses.

If the waters were removed from this oceanic depression, a surface of lowlands, plateaus, plains, and ridges, covered with unconsolidated organic and inorganic sediments, would be revealed. The great diversity of topography, the remarkable variety of cliff and mountain and canyon which characterizes the scenery of the land, would, however, be lacking, for the prevailing characteristic of submarine landscape is monotony. If the ocean bed became the earth's lowlands, the present continents would become largely uninhabitable, and an ascent from the Atlantic bed to New York would involve scaling summits clothed in Alpine snow. Filling the oceanic depression with water has diminished heights by half, has lessened extremes of climate, and has bound the lands together by a common oceanic highway, much easier to traverse than an uninhabited land area of equal size. '^ 3. Ocean and climate. The temperature of ocean water below 500 f athoms is uniformly cold , and at. 2000 Jathoms nearly reaches the freezing point ; but the warmth of the surface varies with the latitude,, position of winds, etc., and constitutes one of the controlling factors of commerce (cf. §§ 113, 142 ff.). The surface temperature in the tropics is 80°, in the arctics 28°. The daily temperature range is less than 2°, the annual range for any one place is rarely over 20°, and only in abnormal positions — areas where cold and warm currents come into contact — does the range exceed 50°. Such regions are prevailingly foggy and constitute storm centers, as off Newfoundland, Cape of Good Hope, parts of Argentina, and northern Japan. As a regulator of climate the ocean is invaluable. It is heated slowly and cools slowly ; its currents bring cold water toward the equator and carry warm water toward the poles. It tends to keep the air of uniform composition by absorbing and restoring atmospheric gases. Its surface allows the development of a regular wind system, and its vapors supply the land with rain (§§ loi ff., 120 ff.). It is a barrier to plants and animals and savage man, and, though a highway for civilized man, it must be used understandingly. The quickest sailing voyage from England to New Zealand is around Cape of Good Hope, but from New Zealand to England the voyage is around Cape Horn, and the shortest course from Cape Town to Melbourne is impracticable (cf. §§ 189-190).

Movements of Ocean Water — Waves

4. Introductory. With all the ocean's vastness of depth and expanse, its conquest by man would be relatively easy if the waters were only quiet. Any type of boat could then sail the ocean, and all coast lines would furnish available havens. The sea, however, is constantly in motion at the surface and in its depths, and no particle of water is even for an instant still. Orean waters_aje_disturbed_by_gravity, by the attraction of the moon and sun, by winds, and by changes of temperature, and though some of the resulting movements are regular and predictable, — seasonal, annual, daily, — others are entirely unknown in time and extent and place. Even at times of calm the waters are seen to be in motion, and rollers from some distant storm disturb the surface. At St. Helena it is often unsafe for boats to land even in fair weather on account of surf generated by storms of the North Atlantic thousands of miles away. Thejworld's coast is under the control of the sea.. Man has learned to escape its most violent outbursts by systems of protective works, but its power has not been overcome. In order to understand the relation existing between the sea and man, it is necessary to consider briefly those manifestations which have direct bearing on trade and human settlement. The chief activities of the sea with which man is concerned are recognized as waves, tides, and currents. 1/ 5. Wave motion. The nature of waves is difficult to realize. Looking seaward, crests appear to be moving rapidly toward the shore, and it seems as if floating particles must be brought swiftly to the land.

A ship appears helpless in the path of waves large enough to submerge it and with a speed sufficient to hurl it against the shore. A little experience, however, demonstrates the fact that the water forming waves does not move forward by an amount equal to the lengths of the waves, and that ships or other floating objects merely rise and fall as the waves pass beneath them. The crest and trough change places; the form moves, but no flood of water is directed toward the shore. It is a "transference of form, not of substance." Close examination shows that the particles of water move in orbits ; each individual particle starts forward, rises, retreats, and falls, completing its orbit during the passage of a single wave. A somewhat similar movement is seen in a field of standing grain over which the wind is blowing. The stalks crowd together, bend down, and return to their former position, causing a wave motion on the surface, but no real change of position. The fact that the wave form progresses while the water remains practically stationary makes it possible to navigate the seas, for if the apparent speed of waves were an actual transference of water, no ship could live, even in fair weather. Even as it is, ships are so constructed that their natural period of swing is longer than that of any wave which they are likely to meet. Otherwise, the roll of the ship would steadily increase, causing it to capsize. In times of storms, when the waves follow each other in rapid succession, even the most carefully constructed ships roll excessively. A case is recorded from the North Sea where waves only 60 feet in length and 5 to 6 feet in height caused a 2000-ton steamer to roll at an angle of 30° to 40°.

6. Size, speed, and force of waves. Scoresbyi recorded waves in the Southern Ocean a half mile in length with a period of 23 seconds, and Ross measured one 1920 feet long. The largest wave recorded in the North Atlantic had a length of 2750 feet, a height of 48 feet, and a period of 23 seconds. In general, waves in fair weather on an open sea are from 5 to 10 feet high, 50 to 100 feet long, traveling at the rate of 10 to 20 miles an hour, — about the speed of a slow freight train. Ordinary storm waves are 15 to 25 feet high, 400 to 600 feet long, and travel 35 to 40 miles an hour. Hurricane waves, with a height of 30 to 40 feet, a length of 500 to 1 500 feet, sometimes attain a speed of over 60 miles an hour. Waves of such size, however, occur only in the open ocean away from the coast. For safety and comfort a ship should be longer than the longest wave it is likely to encounter, and the small boats constructed for navigation of bays and sounds could not be recommended for transatlantic service. In fact, the modern ship is about twice the length of the average wave along its path.

The destruction wrought by waves is dependent upon their size and the concentration of their attack. Ordinary waves possess great strength, but in time of storm these ridges of water exert power surpassing most other natural forces. Thousands of tons of water, armed with fragments of rock, are repeatedly hurled against the mainland. It is the force of a gigantic waterfall, increased by the absence of a cushion of water upon which to drop.

Unfortunately, harbor works cannot be designed to meet the ordinary waves, but must be constructed to withstand the strongest wave likely to occur. The average force of waves measured on the English

1 The height of a wave is measured from trough to crest, its length from crest to crest. The period of a wave is the time elapsing between the passage of successive crests or troughs.

coast has been found to be 6ii pounds per square foot in the summer months and 2080 pounds per square foot in the winter months. On November 20, 1827, a pressure of 6000 pounds (3 tons) per square foot was measured and a mass of rock 42 tons in weight was found to have been moved 5 feet. Measurements in the North Sea showed that a wave 20 feet high struck a blow of 1.23 tons per square foot. The force of storm waves on the breakwater at Cherbourg varies from 2.67 to 3.5 tons per square foot, and in one case 200 blocks of concrete weighing 4 tons each were lifted by the waves and thrown over the top of an embankment. Blocks of 12 tons' weight were turned upside down, and at Bilbao, in 1894, a block weighing 1700 tons was dragged from its place and dropped into the water. The bearing of these facts on the selection of harbors, plans for protective works, designs of ships, and the selection of routes is obvious.

7, Range of wave work. In the construction of piers, breakwaters, and buildings, the dredging of channels and the locating of sea walls, it is essential to know the vertical range of wave work, its power below the normal sea level, and the extent of its sweep above that point. The depth of water affected by waves is never great, and, in general, may be said to equal the height of the wave. The highest storm wave known would scarcely stir the finest sand at a depth of 100 fathoms, and breakwaters built of loose stones are found to be practically unaffected beyond a depth of 1 5 feet below low tide.

The presence of tides on a coast line gives the waves greater range, enabling them to strike blows higher on the shore and also to reach lower levels. Beaches and sea walls ordinarily beyond the reach of waves are thus brought within the danger zone. Stormy coasts with high tides therefore furnish conditions for the maximum wave work and involve the greatest expense for harbor construction. The importance of this tidal aid is well shown in the case of Galveston. This city, lying on a low barrier beach (§ 24), was ordinarily out of the reach of the destructive power of the small waves of the Gulf of Mexico. But when the water was raised by winds and tides the city was no longer safe. Galveston was destroyed by a wave only 4 feet high,^ but one which came with great force at a time when the water had been raised by on-shore currents and the incoming tide.^

^ Monthly Weather Review, September, 1900.

2 The Galveston hurricane, September, 1900, was one of the severest storms that ever occurred in the United States. Property to the value of $30,000,000 was destroyed and 6000 people lost their lives. To prevent the recurrence of this disaster Galveston has constructed, at an enormous expense, a great sea wall 17 feet in height and has raised the entire city between 8 and 12 feet.

8. Seaquakes. The most destructive waves which visit the shore Hne are caused by the dislocation of parts of the earth's surface by seaquakes, which are identical in origin and effect with the earthquakes of the land.^ As observed from shore, the water during a seaquake withdraws from the land, then returns with great speed as a wall 10, 20, or even 40 feet in height, carrying everything before it, — a process which may be several times repeated before the water finally subsides. The western coast of South America is particularly liable to be visited by these seaquake waves. Harbors at Pisco, Arica, Tacna, Iquique, and Pisagua have been repeatedly subject to destructive seaquakes of great power. In 1868, and again in 1877, northern Chile and southern Peru were visited by waves of the greatest intensity, particularly in the neighborhood of Arica, where most of the structures in the city were thrown down and ships were washed inland as if they were chips. A seaquake in the North Pacific, in June, 1896, produced waves 10 to 50 feet high on the northern Japan coast, laying waste 175 miles of coast line and causing great destruction to buildings and cultivated lands. Ships were crushed or carried away and 27,000 people lost their lives.

j/^9. Wave-made currents. Wind waves may advance parallel with the shore, and the water thrown upon the land will then be removed by the undertow. If, however, the waves strike the land obliquely, there is developed a shore current by which the water is carried along the coast line. Rarely does the wave front coincide with the coast line, and shore currents are therefore present on all the continental borders. This is particularly true in regions of prevailing winds, which give a definite trend or " set " to the waters along the shore.^

Wave-made shore currents may be sufficiently developed to appear as definite streams of water, and, in such cases, they have molded the coast line in a characteristic manner. Their presence is indicated by the wreckage of ships, which rarely comes directly to the shore, but drifts along the coast in a definite direction. Wreckage from Fire Island is occasionally picked up as far westward as Manhattan Beach, and material is carried northward along almost the whole extent of New Jersey.