Iron was first worked by the colonists in the bogs of New England. Iron mining, however, did not become a great industry until the latter part of the last century. In that period the great iron "ranges" of Lake Superior were opened up. These are the largest deposits of iron ore in the world.
Carried to the smelters
Most of the ore lies in Minnesota. Here, far up in the northern woods, thousands of men are blasting or digging out the red and rusty ore. Huge steam shovels load a car in a few minutes, and in a short while a trainload of ore is on its way to Duluth or Superior. From there it is carried by steamer east, most likely to one of the Ohio towns on Lake Erie. Here much of the ore is again loaded into cars and hauled to the Pittsburgh region, there to be smelted.
Coal and iron support great industries
Pittsburgh has become the greatest iron and steel center of America. Enormous quantities of coal are mined here and used for smelting the iron ore that is shipped in. More people of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio make a living by mining coal and making steel and iron than anywhere else in America. Great blast furnaces melt the iron ore. Steel works turn out huge quantities of rail and sheet steel. Foundries make cast-iron products of all kinds. Vast shops are busily engaged in producing locomotives and machines of endless variety. Everywhere in this region are smoking chimneys and busy industrial plants, all supported by coal and iron. The southern states, Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee, also contain rich stores of coal and iron. These resources were little used during slavery days. Now, however, the southern states are digging coal for use in their great factories and cotton mills, or sending it abroad. Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the great coal and iron centers of the United States.
SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL
The Leading Facts. 1. The toilers in forest, mine, and factory contributed to the development of our land. 2. Cotton is grown in all the southern states and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 3. A valuable oil is made from the cotton seed. 4. The climate west of the Mississippi best suited to the raising of wheat. 5. The work of cultivating and harvesting is done by machines. 6. Wheat is sent to the flour mills, the largest of which are in Minneapolis. 7. Exports of wheat decreasing. 8. Texas and Iowa the leading cattle-raising states. 9. Cattle from the ranches are fed on corn in the corn states, principally Iowa and Illinois. 10. The refrigerator car permitted the shipment of meat to all the world. 11. Coal and iron mined in America worth many times more than the gold and silver. 12. Hard coal mined in Pennsylvania. 13. The Lake Superior iron ranges the greatest in the world. 14. Pittsburgh is the greatest iron and steel center of America.
Study Questions. 1. Describe the process of preparing cotton for the market. 2. What is done with the cotton seed? 3. What is the South preparing to do with the cotton crop? 4. Where is the wheat belt of America? 5. How is the wheat cultivated and harvested? 6. Describe the progress of the wheat from the field to its use as food. 7. What are the leading cattle-raising states? 8. Where and how are the herds fattened? 9. What was the effect of the invention of the refrigerator car? 10. How does the value of coal and iron mined in America compare with the gold and silver? 11. Where is anthracite or hard coal mined? 12. Where was iron first mined? 13. Where is the largest deposit in the world? 14. Where is the great iron and steel center of America? 15. Give a list of all the things you can think of that are made out of iron.
Suggested Readings. Industries: Fairbanks, The Western United States, 215-290; Brooks, The Story of Cotton; Shillig, The Four Wonders (Cotton, Wool, Linen, and Silk); Brooks, The Story of Corn.