692. Copper.—Copper is a metal which has long been prized as one of the components of brass, and which has been still more highly valued since the development of electrical industry has increased the field of its use. Until after the middle of the century, however, the United States had to rely upon foreign countries, chiefly Chile, for most of its supply, and the importance of copper as an article of export dates from recent times. The opening of the mines of the Lake Superior region, the richest copper mines of the world, enabled the country by 1860 to supply the demand for this metal from native sources, and the later development, including new sources of supply in Arizona and Montana, has furnished since 1880 a large surplus for sale abroad. The copper mines of Michigan, which reach a depth of nearly a mile, are said to be the best examples in the world of skilful and economical mining, and improved processes of reduction have made available copper ores which formerly would not pay the working.
693. Petroleum.—Even in colonial times the presence of mineral oil in the country was known by the film which collected on the surface of certain springs, and which took fire when a light was applied to it. A well of oil which spouted fifty feet was discovered on the bank of the Cumberland River in 1830, but, as stated in a book published in 1853, “it was found to be useful only medicinally, and is bottled and exported for that purpose.” The interest in this new product, which seemed to offer possibilities beyond its use as a proprietary medicine, led to the organization in 1854 of a “Rock Oil Company”; and the first oil well was driven near Titusville, Pa., four years later. Soon after 1860 the export of oil to foreign countries began, with little idea that the trade thus started was to become one of the great features of American foreign commerce. Mineral oil was in 1913 one of the leading exports of the country, and would take a still larger place in the exports as given at the beginning of this chapter if various by-products, such as paraffin, were included in the figures.
694. Development of the oil industry.—The chief obstacle to the development of the oil trade in its early years was the difficulty of transportation. The extension of the railroad system after 1860 furnished the means of bringing the oil to market with profit, and in recent times the transportation and manufacture of oil products have been developed to wonderfully high efficiency. Tank cars have given place to pipe lines; refineries have been extended and perfected, that the reduction of the crude oil might be carried on with the greatest economy and with full utilization of all by-products; and the market for oil products at home and abroad has been enlarged by a great reduction of prices.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
1. Chart the figures, as previously suggested, for comparison with earlier conditions.
2. What other parts of the world come nearest to the Mississippi Valley in quality and quantity of agricultural land? How do they compare in the character of the people, and the facilities for transportation?
3. History of farm machinery. [Quaintance in Pub. Amer. Econ. Assoc., 1904, vol. 5, pp. 799-809; Census, 1900, 10: 341-377; Depew, chap. 50 by Fowler.]
4. Effect of improved farm machinery on production. [Quaintance, pp. 810-826.]
5. Agricultural progress, 1850-1900. [U. S. Census, 1900, 5: xvi-xxxv.]
6. Cultivation of wheat in the U.S. [Edgar, Story, chaps. 7, 8.]