Farming
Our debt to the German farmer is great, for he made the wilderness blossom in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri. To Minnesota and surrounding states came the Swedes, Norwegians, and Finns with their advanced cooperative methods and the Danes with their dairy methods.... Sturdy Czechs farmed Nebraska and Iowa. The Swiss in Wisconsin helped us to become the greatest cheesemakers in the world. The Russians brought us important seed varieties of wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, sunflowers, and millet.
Finns and French-Canadians in the lumber camps of Maine and Washington have made it possible for us to produce more than 24 million board feet of lumber in one year.... Portuguese are prominent in the New England fisheries as are the Finns on the Pacific Coast.... The Greeks have developed a flourishing sponge industry in Florida.... Italians are engaged in the marble quarries of Vermont and on truck farms of New Jersey and California.
Transcriber’s Note: Click image for larger version.
LEADING SOURCES OF IMMIGRATION FROM 1820-1938
Pulling Together—The American Way
America is made up of the cultural strains of many countries. The mere knowledge of this matchless wealth is an inspiration to anyone who knows it.—Allen H. Eaton.