HOME AND WORLD SERIES

HOW WE ARE FED

A GEOGRAPHICAL READER
BY

JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN, Ed.B., S.B.

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.
1912

All rights reserved

Copyright, 1903,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up, electrotyped, and published June, 1903. Reprinted
January, June, August, 1904: July, 1905; January, 1906;
August, December, 1907; September, 1909; August, 1910;
August, 1911; June, 1912.

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U. S. A.

PREFACE

In the ordinary course of events, most individuals take some part in the manifold industries which engage the mind and the hand of man, by which alone our present-day civilization can be maintained. These great world activities touch the daily life of every member of society, whether child or adult, worker or idler.

A chain of mutual dependence, too often unrecognized, binds together the members of the human family, whether they belong to the same community or dwell on opposite sides of the earth. The links of this chain are made up of the articles which constitute our daily food, our clothing, homes, fuel, light, our means of communication and transportation, and only by continuous coöperation are they kept together.

The highest motive in education is to present the conditions which will lead to the most complete living; to build up the best possible members of society; to develop character. An individual who does not understand the life of which he finds himself a part, cannot be in full sympathy with its conditions and hence cannot be of the most service to himself or to others. Only to the extent that education and life follow the same general course, can each be truly successful. Far too little is done in our schools to acquaint children with their relations to the great industrial and social organization of which they are members. Even grown persons have, as a rule, a very indefinite knowledge of these relations.

It is a recognized principle that our knowledge of geography has its foundation in our knowledge of the home. The natural connecting link between the immediate surroundings and the outside world is the present daily life of the home. Through the industries seen in the community, the commodities in general use, and the history of their creation and supply, the pupil acquires an insight into the life about him as well as into that of other parts of the world. He also realizes the great truth that the world and its people are in intimate touch with him. In this way he is led back and forth along the routes which civilization has followed in its progress, which it also follows to-day, as mankind clasp hands across oceans and continents. Thus the remote and abstract become immediate and concrete. Facts are seen in a setting of reason, and a logical and interesting basis for the study of physical, climatic, and human conditions is furnished.

This study begins with the commodities in constant use and finally encompasses the whole world, but always with the home as the base of operations. It will create a knowledge of the interdependence of individuals, communities, and nations, and a genuine respect for the work of the hands and for the worker. The importance of this respect is not likely to be overestimated. Without it a true democracy cannot long exist.

Reading should not only serve for the acquisition and the expression of the thought contained in the printed page; it should, in addition, stimulate to new thought—to independent power in reasoning. On this account questions are inserted which the pupil is left to answer. These are suggestive of a much larger number, which should be worked out by the teacher. Too many of the questions found in books do not "stimulate thought" or "independent power in reasoning." They are purely informatory and not at all formative.

No attempt has been made to treat every article of food. Those in most general use, as well as those which will best serve to develop a knowledge of geographical conditions and of man's relation to man, have been chosen.

A given industry is pursued in somewhat different ways in different places. It has not been thought wise to describe each modification in these pages. For example, the method of handling wheat in California is different from that employed in Minnesota. The value of the work will be increased if the teacher will bring out these points.

All places mentioned should he definitely located, both as to position on the map or globe and with reference to the home. When developed from the standpoint of direct, personal interest, a knowledge of the location of places as well as of other facts mentioned is most likely to be retained.

The illustrations used have been very carefully selected for their teaching value. They give a clearness to mental pictures which can be derived only through observation of that which the illustrations symbolize. Much experience in the use of geographical illustrations has shown that pupils need to be directed in their examination of them. To secure the best results they must be made the centers of thought-developing questions.

Thanks are due the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company of Minneapolis, the Swift Packing Company of Chicago, the Walter Baker Company of Dorchester, the United Fruit Company of New Orleans, and Dr. Charles U. Shepard of Pinehurst Plantation, for the excellent illustrations furnished by them.

JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN.

State Normal School,
Los Angeles, March, 1903.

CONTENTS

HOW WE ARE FED

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

Long, long ago people did not live as we do to-day. Their homes were very different from ours, for they were made of the skins of wild animals, of the limbs and bark of trees, or of tall grasses. There were no stoves, chairs, tables, or beds in their houses. Instead of lamps, gas, or electricity, a fire on the dirt floor or in front of the house, furnished the light.

The clothing of these people was as simple as their homes. It was made of skins and furs in cold countries and in warm countries of braided grasses and the fibers of certain plants. You may be sure that tailors and dressmakers were not consulted as to the latest styles, for the styles did not change and there were neither tailors nor dressmakers to talk to. Each family made its own clothing, and there was not a sewing machine to be found.

How would you like to use a bone for a needle? Sometimes, instead of sharpened bones, long thorns were used. The sinews of the deer, or of some other animal, usually furnished the thread.

When the people were in need of food, they went into the forest and gathered roots, nuts, and fruits. Wild animals were killed by means of such weapons as bows and arrows and spears, and fish were caught in the lakes and streams.

The food was not cooked as ours is; for, as I have told you, there were no stoves. Sometimes the meat was broiled over the fire, sometimes baked in a hole filled with ashes and coals, but it was often eaten raw. It was not easy to have a variety of food, and there were times when it was very difficult to obtain anything. When food was abundant, the people feasted, and when it was scarce, they were often hungry. How would you like to wait for your breakfast while your father went to the woods or to the river in search of something to eat?

When the meals were prepared, they were not neatly served as yours are, but each person took his portion and sat on the ground while he ate it.

Fig. 1.—Indians at Dinner.

All of this seems very strange to you, I know. If you live in the city, you are accustomed to seeing the butcher, the baker, the milkman, and the grocer call every day. There are stores where people can buy whatever they want to eat, drink, or wear. You wonder how any one could live in such a way as I have described, but there are people who live in this fashion to-day, although you have never seen any of them. They are uncivilized. Where do you think they are to be found? When people live in this way, it takes most of their time to provide themselves with the things that are necessary to life. They have little opportunity to improve their ways of living and of thinking.

Civilized people divide their work. Some provide food, some make clothing, some build houses, and some furnish fuel. Each one does his or her part. In this way, you see, they learn to do their work better and better, because each gives much time and thought to one kind of work. This plan gives each one time to study and to learn something about the world and its people. Think how much better our homes, our clothing, and our food are, than are those of uncivilized people, and how many other advantages we have.

Fig. 2.—White People at Dinner.

It is only possible to live as we do, when each one works for others as well as for himself. If any one fails to do his part, the rest must suffer until some one is found to take his place. It is to prepare yourself to do your part in some useful work for others, that you are going to school day by day. You do not now know just what that work is to be, but I want you to remember that all honest work is noble. It is not so important what work you do, as it is that you should do your work well. No matter what your work may be, you can carry sunshine in your face and helpfulness in your heart. If you do this, you will be known and loved. Hard work, coarse clothes, and lack of money can never hide these things, neither will the finest of clothing cover a selfish or untruthful nature.

Let us look at this dinner table loaded with good things to eat and drink. There are bread, butter, meat, vegetables, milk, tea, fruits, and other things. You see at once that many persons must have worked to provide this food, for only a small part of the work was done in the kitchen. If these things could but speak, they might tell you stories as wonderful as fairy tales. They have been gathered here from the fertile plains of the West, from the sunny South, from Brazil, from the islands of the Pacific Ocean, from far-off China, and even from the waters of the sea.

THE STORY OF A LOAF OF BREAD

In the dark granary of a farmer's barn in North Dakota once lived a modest family of grains of wheat. The bright, warm days of the summer time, during which they had been placed in this dark room, soon grew shorter and cooler. The swallows, whose mud nests were in the rafters overhead, told the wheat brothers that winter was coming, and then flew away to the balmy southland.

Soon biting winds and blinding snow came sweeping over the level land. Sometimes the farmhouse was almost hidden under the drifts, and the farmer had to shovel out a path to the barn, so that he could feed the horses and cattle. By and by the days grew warmer, the snow disappeared, and the birds returned one by one. The farmer and his men got out their plows and harrows, and prepared the soil for the seeds soon to be planted.

The wheat was now shoveled into sacks and taken to the fields. Here it was placed in great machines drawn by horses, which scattered it evenly over the land and at the same time covered it with soft soil. The men whistled and sang as they worked, and blackbirds, bluebirds, and larks flew back and forth, singing and searching for bugs and worms, as well as for the shining kernels of wheat.

The wheat was not content to remain underground, but kept trying to push itself out into the world. One night there came a warm shower, and the next morning what looked like tiny, green blades of grass appeared all over the field.

All through the spring and summer the wheat kept growing, and finally there appeared at the ends of the stalks clusters of kernels, just like those which the farmer had planted. Some of these kernels had produced families of twenty or thirty. These clusters are called heads.

Fig. 3.—Harvesting Wheat in Southern California.

As the south wind passed over the field it brought the wheat messages from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and other states, telling of relatives who were already turning golden in the summer sunshine. One day some of the kernels thought they heard a voice from California. Do you think they did?

The grain in some of the fields was called winter wheat. This was because the grain had been sown the autumn before, and had remained in the ground all winter, covered by a blanket of snow. Why was it sown in the fall? The wheat of which I am telling you was called by the farmer spring wheat.

Soon machines, each drawn by several horses, appeared. They cut the waving grain, and bound it up in bundles called sheaves. These were set up in double rows to dry, and afterward put into another machine which separated the kernels from the stalks, which were now called straw. This work the farmer calls threshing. See if you can find out how this used to be done.

After threshing, the wheat was put into sacks and taken to the nearest railroad station. Freight cars then carried it across the level prairies to the beautiful city of Minneapolis, built beside the Falls of Saint Anthony. What river is this city on? Of what use are the falls?

There are tall buildings called elevators here in which the wheat was stored for a time. Before being put into the elevators it was examined and graded. As there was wheat from many farms it could not be kept separate, so each farmer was told how much he had, and how it graded.

Fig. 4.—Threshing Wheat in Southern California.

Some time after this the wheat was taken to one of the great mills to be ground into flour. The largest of these mills manufactures about fifteen thousand barrels of flour every day. This is the largest flour mill in the world.

When the kernels reached the mill, they were put into machines called separators, to be separated from all companions such as grass seed, mustard seed, and wild buckwheat. They were then placed in an iron box in which brushes were revolving rapidly, and were scoured to free them from fuzz and dirt. Those that were very dirty were washed.

Fig. 5.—The Flour Mills in Minneapolis.

Fig. 6.—The Largest Flour Mill in the World.

The kernels were steamed, in order that the coating, called bran, might not break into small pieces. This is called tempering. The kernels now thought that their trials were over, but they were mistaken. Soon they found themselves being crushed between rollers. After they came out they were sifted, and then run between other rollers. This was repeated six times, and each time the flour was a little finer, for the rollers were closer together. The flour was then run through tubes of flannel. These took out whatever dust it contained. It was then ground still finer. The flour was then put into sacks or barrels, which were marked for shipment to other parts of the country.

Only the wheat intended for the very best grade of flour is treated as carefully as this was.

What industry does the use of barrels bring in?

Fig. 7.—Grinding Wheat.

From the mills the flour was sent to many parts of the land to supply stores, bakeries, hotels, and homes. Some of it found its way to the bakery near your home. The bakers, in their clean suits of white, weighed the flour which they were going to use, and then added a certain amount of water to it. Some yeast and salt were added also. This mixture they called dough. You have seen your mother mix or knead dough, I am sure. The bakers did not do the kneading with their hands, but by means of machinery made for this purpose.

Fig. 8.—Bolting Flour.

When the dough had been thoroughly kneaded it was left to rise. It is the yeast that causes the rising. This makes the bread light and spongy. It was then cut into loaves and placed in the oven. The ovens in the bakery are very much larger than those in your kitchen stove, for many loaves are baked at once. When a nice shade of brown appeared on the loaves, the bakers took them out of the oven by means of long shovels. Soon the delivery wagons came and were loaded with the fresh bread to be delivered to stores and homes. This loaf was just left at the door and is still warm.

So, you see, a loaf of bread has quite a history. I have told you the life story of this one from the time of its grandparents, who were raised on the plains of North Dakota. Would it not be interesting to see each of the people who have had something to do with its production, and to make the journey which the wheat and the flour made? You can do both in your thoughts.

HOW OUR MEAT IS SUPPLIED

Ramon lived in a plain, one-story house, built in the shade of some cottonwood trees that fringed each side of a small river in the eastern part of Colorado. A wide veranda extended entirely around the house, but there were very few flowers and no lawn. I am afraid you would not think it a very pleasant place for a home.

Not far from the ranch house, as it was called, were the barn and the corrals. A corral is a yard with a strong, high fence about it, in which cattle or horses may be placed. On the bottom land beside the stream, there was a corn and an alfalfa patch, besides one containing some potatoes and garden vegetables.

During most of the year the stream was quite shallow, and flowed quietly over its bed, but when heavy rains occurred it rose rapidly, spreading over much of the bottom land and carrying so much clay with it that it was almost the color of coffee.

Except along the river, not a tree was in sight from Ramon's home, and it was many miles to the nearest house. For hundreds of miles both north and south, there stretched a vast plain. Little was to be seen but sand, grass, and sagebrush. I had almost forgotten the prairie dogs, which scamper across the plain or sit up straight and motionless on a little mound of sand beside their burrows. They watch you closely, not moving unless they regard you as a dangerous creature, when, quick as a flash, they disappear.

The rainfall is very slight in this part of the country, being less than twenty inches a year. On this account there is little attention paid to farming, but instead, the settlers own great herds of cattle as well as many horses. Ramon's father is one of the cattlemen of Colorado. He owns more than ten thousand head of cattle, and some of the cattlemen own twice that number. Of course such great herds of cattle must have much land to graze on. Some of the land is owned by the government and any one may use it. Everywhere fences are far apart. These great pastures are called ranges.

Ramon's life is not much like yours. His home is far from schools, churches, stores, or railroads. He seldom sees strangers, but he enjoys long rides on his own pony, Prince. Sometimes he goes with his father and at other times he takes a gallop with one of the "cowboys" who herd the cattle.

The "cowboys" almost live in the saddle. They are out in all kinds of weather and are not boys at all, but strong, hardy men. They wear broad-brimmed hats, and carry long ropes called lassos or lariats, with which they catch the cattle.

Where there are so many herds they sometimes get mixed up. On this account each cattleman marks or brands his animals. These brands may be the initial letter of the owner's name, or they may be in the form of a horseshoe, a cross, a circle, or a crescent.

Each spring and fall the cowboys gather the cattle together. This is called "rounding up" the cattle. They are then counted and the calves born since the last "round up" are branded. In the fall, in addition to this work, animals are selected for the market. Why is the fall a better time for this than the spring?

Fig. 9.—Branding Cattle.—Point to the Lariats.

The cowboys, mounted upon their swift, strong ponies, single out the animals that have never been branded, and swinging their lassos over their heads, they throw them with such skill that the loop settles over the head or about the leg of the one wanted. As soon as the rope tightens, the pony braces its forefeet firmly and the animal is finally thrown to the ground. It is then branded with a hot iron and allowed to go. Ramon used to feel very sorry for them until his father explained that it hurt them very little, for only the skin was burned.

Sometimes the cattle selected to be sold, are not quite fat enough for the market. They are then taken farther east into the corn belt and fed for a time.

When they are shipped directly from the range to the market, they are driven to the nearest railroad and put into yards beside the track. They are then made to walk up an incline with high railings ending at the open doors of a cattle car. The animals are arranged so that the first faces one side of the car, the second the other, and so on. This is done so that the cattle cannot hook one another, and also that they may be fed and watered on the way from a long iron trough which is fastened to each side of the car.

The great cattle markets of the United States are Omaha, Kansas City, and Chicago. Find these cities.

One day when Ramon was about fourteen years old, his father told him that he was going to take a train load of cattle to Chicago and that he might go with him. It was a happy time for Ramon, you may be sure, for he was very anxious to see some of the wonderful sights his father had told him about.

At last the day when they were to start on their journey arrived. The afternoon before, the cowboys had driven the cattle to the railroad so as to load them early in the morning. Soon after breakfast Ramon kissed his mother and his little sister good-by, and he and his father rode off across the level plain.

Finding the cattle already loaded in the cars, Ramon and his father were soon seated in the caboose, rolling over the miles of railroad which connected them with Chicago. Whenever the train stopped for a few minutes, they took a long stick and went from car to car making the cattle that had lain down get up, so that they might not be injured by the others.

When bedtime came, they made their beds on the benches along each side of the caboose, which are covered with cushions. As they had brought blankets with them, they were fairly comfortable.

Ramon did not sleep very soundly the first night. The engine shrieked from time to time, and the car rocked and jolted so that he was afraid of falling from his bed.

The next day they reached a part of the country where great cornfields waved in the breeze. The leaves had already turned brown, and golden ears of grain peeped out from the ends of the husks. There were stubble fields, too, where wheat and oats had been harvested.

Fig. 10.—Bird's Eye View of Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

The country became more thickly settled as they went on, and the towns were nearer together. Streams were more common, and grass and timber more abundant. The young traveler wondered why this was so. Can you tell?

Early in the morning of the fourth day the train reached Chicago. After much switching and backing the cars were run into the Union Stock Yards, and the cattle were unloaded.

Ramon was thoroughly bewildered by what he saw and heard. Men were shouting and cracking whips; others were riding up and down the alleys that separate the yards; dogs were barking and turning the animals this way and that, and gates were swinging back and forth.

The cattle were weighed and examined to see if they had any disease, and were then placed in charge of a commission merchant to be sold. Buyers come to the yards and bargain with these commission merchants. When an unusually large number of cattle come in, the prices are likely to fall; when few arrive, the prices rise.

When the cattle had been yarded, Ramon's father said that they would go and have breakfast. In the afternoon they visited the "yards," and the slaughter and packing houses. The "yards" cover about a square mile of territory. They are divided into countless pens or small yards, containing sheds, feeding racks, and watering troughs.

Ramon asked how many cattle were unloaded in these yards daily. His father handed him a copy of the Chicago Live Stock World, and at the top of the first column he read that on the day previous there had been received 18,500 cattle, 35,000 hogs, and 18,000 sheep. He was told that sometimes the receipts are much larger than this and sometimes not so large.

Fig. 11.—Dressing Beef.

They followed the bodies of the cattle from the slaughterhouses where they are dressed, into the cooling rooms. These are simply great refrigerators. Wagons come to the cooling rooms and haul loads of the meat to butcher shops, hotels, and depots. Within a few hours it finds its way to smaller cities and towns in all directions. A great deal of meat is shipped even to Europe. Why does not Europe produce its own meat?

Fig. 12.—Cooling Beef.

When the meat has thoroughly hardened in the cooling rooms, it is sent to the curing rooms, where it is cut up and packed. Each person here does his particular work from morning until night.

Ramon learned, to his surprise, that every part of the animal is used. Hair, hide, horns, hoofs, teeth, bones, and even blood, are made use of.

Fig. 13.—Splitting Backbone of Hogs.

Most of the hogs which enter the great meat-packing cities are raised in the corn belt.

The sheep need much pasturage, and so the largest flocks are found in the Western and Southwestern states. A single herder may take care of several thousand sheep. His faithful companions and helpers are intelligent shepherd dogs. After a great flock of sheep has fed on an area, hardly a green thing is left. The people in the part of the West where there is little rainfall, object to the pasturing of sheep around the head waters of streams, because when the vegetation is removed the water runs off too quickly.

Fig. 14.—Curing Pork in Salt.

In the evening our friends watched the men, women, and children march out of the "yards." They were told that not less than thirty-five thousand persons were employed in the various establishments. There is but one city in Colorado which contains so many people.

Fig. 15.—Chopping Sausage Meat.

As they sat at breakfast next morning, Ramon wondered how many of the people of Chicago were eating steaks from cattle which he had seen on his father's ranch. The thought was a new one to him. His trip had shown him that the cattlemen who lived and worked on those far-away plains were doing their part in supplying people all over our country with meat. Their lonely life, with all of its disadvantages, now had a new meaning for him, and he went back to his Western home content with it, yet very glad to have had this glimpse of another side of life.

Fig. 16.—Packing Poultry.

MARKET GARDENING

Think of the immense quantities of fruits and vegetables that are used daily on the tables of a great city such as New York or Chicago. As we travel up and down the streets of any great city, we see rows of buildings, sometimes built in solid blocks and sometimes a little distance apart. Some have trees and small lawns in front of them; others are without even this touch of nature. Nowhere, except in the outskirts, do we find gardens.

These people depend upon others to furnish them with their vegetable food.

Now let us make some excursions into the region surrounding one of these cities. For miles and miles we see on every hand truck farms or market gardens. The main business of those who live in these districts is to furnish food for the people of the city, so that the latter may devote their time to their various occupations.

We see growing potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, beans, peas, squashes, turnips, onions, sweet corn, celery, melons, and many other things. Usually all of these will be found in one garden, but sometimes the farmer raises only a few kinds, or perhaps but one.

Market gardening is very common in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, and in other densely populated countries. Therefore we often find people who have come from these countries to America engaged in this business. Chinese gardeners are seldom seen in the East, but on the Pacific coast they raise most of the vegetables used in the cities and towns.

In the early spring, before the ground is warm enough to make seeds grow, the gardener starts his plants in "hotbeds." These are long wooden boxes, or frames, without bottoms, covered with glass. They are usually placed on the south side of some building or high fence. The glass covers allow the warm sunshine to enter the "beds" freely, but they prevent the rapid escape of the heat. You see now why they are called "hotbeds." They are like small greenhouses.

A little later in the spring the fields are thoroughly cultivated and the plants transplanted. Of course only the vegetables desired for the early market are started in this way. What advantage is there in having the vegetables ready for the market very early in the season?

Vegetable farming is not easy work, although it is a pleasure to see things grow day by day as you care for them, and as nature supplies her sunshine and her rain. The fields must be cultivated almost constantly, to keep the soil loose, as well as to remove the weeds. Much of the weeding has to be done by hand, which is tedious work.

We want our vegetables fresh every morning; and as the truck farms are at some distance from the city, the farmer must load up his wagon the night before. Of course much produce is sent to the cities on trains, but where farmers live near enough to deliver it themselves, their crops are more profitable to them. Why?

Fig. 17.—A Market Scene.

Everything is put in readiness before dark; and while others are still in bed, the farmer mounts his wagon to start toward the sleeping city. I have often ridden ten or fifteen miles on such a load before the stars faded away.

It is a novel experience. At first the night seems strangely still, but soon you are able to distinguish many voices coming from various places. The frogs croak from the ponds by the roadside; crickets and locusts send their shrill notes from grass and tree; a night owl startles you by his dismal hoot; the lamps of the fireflies gleam, then disappear only to shine out again a little farther on.

At last a faint glow appears in the eastern sky, which grows brighter and brighter until the shining face of the sun is pushed above the horizon. Do you not think such a ride would be more enjoyable than a street car ride?

In the cities there are market places where produce from the country is taken. In Chicago there is a very busy street where much of the buying and selling is done. Study the picture carefully. Here the buyers from hotels, restaurants, and stores, as well as the men who wish to peddle the produce from house to house, go for their daily supplies. There are also commission merchants whose stores are on this street. They sell the produce for those who ship it to the city by train.

We go to the stores and get what we want each day, or the peddlers bring it to the door. You see how necessary it is to have special workers to supply us with the different kinds of food. We consider it very important that we should have vegetables and fruits fresh daily. The work of supplying us with this food is very important. Remember that those who till the soil are entitled to as great respect as are those who do not work with their hands. Contact with nature makes men and women better, and many of the noblest souls that the world has known have lived in the country and plowed, planted, and harvested the products of the soil.

Market Scene. Chicago.

Market Scene. New York.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Uncle Ben lives on a dairy farm in the western part of New York State. It is a beautiful rolling country with cultivated fields, woodland, and pastures, and here and there a sparkling stream winding its way through the lowlands. The farmhouses are large and well built, and are surrounded by grand old maple, beech, and elm trees. Most of the barns are painted red with white trimmings.

There are many dairy farms in the neighborhood. Some of the farmers send their milk to the towns to be used directly, some sell it to creameries, and some to cheese factories.

Last summer I spent my vacation on Uncle Ben's farm, and Cousin Frank and I had happy times, you may be sure.

Every day, just before sundown, we went to the pasture for the cows. There were about twenty-five of them, and they always seemed perfectly contented after the long day of feasting on rich grass and clover.

After we drove them into the barnyard Uncle Ben helped us fasten them in their stanchions in the barn. Then the men brought the bright pails and cans to begin milking. Cousin Frank and I always helped, although he can milk much faster than I. Some of the cows gave but two or three quarts, while others gave as many gallons.

We strained the milk into cans holding eight gallons each, and put them into tanks of water to cool. After milking was finished we turned the cattle into the barnyard for the night.

In the morning we commenced milking about sunrise. After breakfast the cans were loaded into a spring wagon and Uncle Ben drove to the depot. Here they were put on the "milk train," which took them to the city.

Many other people sent milk on this same train. It was sent to bakeries, to hotels and restaurants, and to milkmen, who delivered it from house to house. Usually the milkmen put the milk into pint or quart bottles for people who like to have it in that form. Uncle Ben told us that much of the milk that is sent to New York City is bottled before it is sent. The bottling is done by machinery. He also told us that, because of the great importance of having pure milk, there are, in all cities, inspectors who carefully examine the milk and report to the Board of Health. The cows also are inspected, and if any are sick, they are usually killed.

Each evening some one drove to the depot again to get empty cans which the milk train had brought home. These were always carefully washed in hot water before being used again.

BUTTER MAKING

One day, after I had been on the farm about a week, Uncle Ben took Frank and me to the creamery. A creamery is a place where the milk and cream are separated and butter is made.

We found several wagonloads of milk being unloaded. The milk was weighed as it was received, for it is sold by weight.

The milk was then strained into a large galvanized iron tub, from which a pipe carried it into a circular machine called the separator. The separator revolves rapidly, throwing the milk, which is heavier than the cream, to the outer edge, where it passes through small holes into a compartment by itself. The cream rises along the center and passes through another set of openings into a special compartment. A pipe carries it to a large vat, while another pipe conveys the milk to large tanks.

Uncle Ben told me that when people make their own butter, they must wait for the cream to rise on the milk. The cream is then skimmed off, and the milk is called skimmed milk. Although the milk in the creamery is not skimmed, the same name is used for it.

I asked if the skimmed milk was used for anything. Uncle Ben gave me a cupful of it to taste. It was very good. He then told me that the separator takes out only the part needed in making butter, leaving all of the sugar. I did not know before that milk contains sugar.

The farmers take home loads of this milk to feed it to their hogs. For each hundred pounds of milk delivered, they get back seventy-five pounds of skimmed milk, besides the pay for their cream.

The creamery man told me that he made from four to six pounds of butter from one hundred pounds of milk.

The cream remains in the large vat about twenty-four hours before it is churned. The churn, as you see by the picture, is a great barrel made to revolve by machinery. It takes from thirty-five minutes to one hour to churn. The man told me that I might look at the book in which he kept the record of the churning. I saw that he made from two hundred fifty to six hundred pounds of butter at a churning. He said that some churns would produce more than one thousand pounds at a churning.

Not all of the cream is made into butter. There is left in the bottom of the churn a liquid called buttermilk. This is drawn off, and the butter is washed and worked before being taken out of the churn. The working is done by means of paddles in the churn. It continues for six or eight minutes and squeezes the liquid out of the butter.

While the butter is being worked, it is salted. Some of the butter is unsalted, but most of it is salted. When butter is made in the home, it must be churned by hand. Only a few pounds at a time can be made in this way.

When the butter was taken out of the churn, the men packed it solidly in wooden boxes about two feet square and four inches deep. The bottom of each box consisted of strips as wide as a square of butter. These were held together by a clamp, and the sides were hooked to the bottom and to one another. When the butter is to be cut into squares, these sides are removed and zinc ones take their places. In these there are slits running from top to bottom. Through these slits a wire saw is run, and so the butter is quickly cut into one or two pound squares. The butter is then wrapped in fancy papers upon which the name of the butter or of the creamery is stamped.

A Separator.

A Churn.

Of course some of the butter is packed in wooden tubs and shipped in that form. This butter is a little cheaper than that put up in squares.

CHEESE

I was so much pleased with my visit to the creamery, that Uncle Ben promised to show me how cheese is made. So one morning just after breakfast he, Cousin Frank, and I started out. After a pleasant ride of about five miles we reached the factory.

The first process here was the same as that at the creamery. After the milk was weighed it was run into great zinc-lined vats. There were four of these in the factory, each of which held about five thousand pounds.

Uncle Ben explained that the milk must curdle before cheese can be made. In order to make it curdle quickly, a little less than a pound of a substance called rennet was put into each vat.

A man worked at each vat with a long wooden rake, stirring the milk constantly. I saw a glass tube standing in the milk and asked what it was. Uncle Ben told me to look at it closely. I saw that it was a thermometer, and that it registered eighty degrees. A little while after I looked again, when it showed a temperature of ninety degrees. The milk is kept warm, so as to help it to curdle quickly.

In about an hour I could see the curd very plainly, but the men kept on stirring and cutting it. Presently one of them carried a piece of the curd to a table. He heated a small iron rod and touched it with the curd. When he pulled the curd away, little threads were drawn out to the length of half an inch or more. This he called the "acid test," which showed that the curd was in the right condition to be made into cheese.

Of course only a part of the milk had turned into curd; the rest was whey, that was drawn off and run into tanks. Each man who had delivered one hundred pounds of milk was given a check for seventy-five pounds of the whey. It is fed to hogs. About two hours from the time that the milk was put into the vats, the whey was drawn off.

One of the men now took a long knife and cut the curd into oblong cakes. These he frequently lifted and turned over. After continuing this for about twenty minutes, the pieces of curd were put into a small mill, placed on a board over the vat, and the curd was chopped into strips from one to six inches long and from one-half an inch to an inch thick. Salt was scattered over the mass by one man, while another pitched it about with a three-pronged wooden fork. The man told me that he used three pounds of salt to each thousand pounds of milk.

Next, a piece of cloth was placed on a board about sixteen inches square. Two circular metal frames or bands, about six inches high, were fitted one within the other and placed on the cloth. The frame was filled with curd, covered by a cloth, and another set placed on top of it until there were five. They were then put on a table directly under a block which was fastened to a screw. By turning the screw the block was pressed against the top board, and so each frame of curd was pressed. I saw the whey running out as the squeezing went on. The superintendent told us that the curd would be left in the press until the next day.

We were then taken into the room where the cheese "ripens." Here we saw large racks reaching nearly to the ceiling, filled with double rows of cheeses. The smallest ones weighed but three pounds, while the largest weighed fifty pounds. It may take but a few days and it may take many months to "ripen" a cheese. It depends upon the flavor wanted. The man said that in England "strong" cheese is generally liked, while in our country "mild" cheese is preferred.

I asked how much cheese five thousand pounds of milk would make, and was told that it would make between four and five hundred pounds.

On the way home Uncle Ben told us that although our country is a great dairy country, we import certain kinds of cheese from Europe. He told us how the Swiss people pasture their cattle on the steep mountain sides, and that in every little mountain valley cheese is made, some of which finds its way over the mountains and across the sea to the United States.

THE FISHING INDUSTRY

Have you ever stood by the side of a stream and watched the fish dart from one shadow of overhanging rock into another, or swim lazily at the bottom of some deep pool? How gracefully they move and turn! How like water jewels they flash as the sunlight falls upon them!

Most streams and lakes, like the ocean, contain fish. So we have fresh-water and salt-water fish. There are a few bodies of water so full of salt that fish cannot live in them. Do you know of any such bodies of water?

Most of the fish used as food come from the ocean. In this, and in most other countries, there are many men who do nothing but fish, in order that other people may be supplied with this sort of food. They do not depend upon hook and line alone, but use nets also.

Nets are great sacks made of cord, knotted or woven together in such a way as to leave spaces or meshes. These meshes are not big enough to allow large fish to escape. Sometimes the fishermen go out in rowboats some distance from shore and then throw the net into the water. Corks or floats keep the upper edge of the net near the surface, while weights hold the lower edge on the bottom. Ropes are fastened to each end, and so it is drawn toward the shore. How the fishermen wish that they could see to the bottom of the restless water and know what their harvest is to be! When the boats have almost reached the shore, horses are sometimes driven into the water and hitched to the ropes. At last the net is dragged out upon the sands and the uncertainty is past.

Fig. 18.—Drying Nets.

Look! Within the folds of the net is a countless number of fishes, each jumping, squirming, wriggling, trying to get back to its ocean home. They are of many sizes, shapes, and colors. Those not good for food, together with the smallest ones, are thrown back into the water.

Sometimes a net called a "dip-net" is dropped from a fishing schooner and drawn about a "school" of fish. I have seen many barrels of fish brought up at one time in this way.

The fishermen keep a close watch for the appearance of these "schools," you may be sure. Whales and dolphins pursue them, and gulls and cormorants circle overhead, for they, too, are fishers. Their appearance helps the men to tell where the "schools" are. There is a great rush for the fishing grounds when they are sighted. The white-sailed schooners skim over the waters almost like a flock of birds.

Fig. 19.—A Fishing Schooner.

Large quantities of fish are caught by a method called trawl fishing. This may be carried on miles from the shore. How do you suppose it is done? To a very long and strong line, many shorter ones, each with a hook at the end, are attached. These lines, to which large buoys are fastened, are left in the water for several hours, and then fishermen in flat-bottomed boats called dories row out from the schooner and examine them. The lines are then reset and the fish taken to the schooner to be dressed. This is a common method of catching codfish, which is carried on during summer and winter alike. Storms and fogs are likely to occur while the men are out in their little boats, making their work full of danger as well as of hardship.

Fig. 20.—Splitting Codfish.

Many of the fish are packed in ice and sold fresh, while others are cured on the boats or on shore. Some of the fishing schooners carry great quantities of salt when they start out on a trip. The fish are dressed and packed in this. Sometimes they are packed in brine, and along the shores of some countries they are strung on poles to dry.

Codfish are dried in great quantities along the New England coast by placing them on frames made of strips of wood and raised a little above the wharf, so that the air can circulate freely. When the skin and bones are removed and the flesh cut into strips, it is called "shredded" codfish.

The principal food-fish are the cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, shad, salmon, sardines, and whitefish. Whitefish are caught in the Great Lakes. To this list the lobster may be added, although it is not a fish.

A common method of catching lobsters is to sink a box made of lath to the bottom, where they crawl about on the rocks. A fish head is placed in the box for bait. The lobsters crawl in and are likely to remain until the box is examined.

Fig. 21.—Drying Codfish.

Lobster steamers, fitted up with tanks containing salt water, run from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to Boston and New York. Here those not wanted are placed on cars containing similar tanks and sent to interior cities. In this way fresh lobsters are served thousands of miles from where they were caught.

A lobster that would cost us from twenty-five to seventy-five cents brings the fisherman not more than ten cents.

Along our New England coast there are many towns engaged extensively in fishing. Portland, Gloucester, Boston, and Provincetown are among the number. Gloucester is the most important fishing town in the United States. From it fishing schooners go as far as Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, and even to the coast of Ireland. There are also important fisheries on the Pacific coast, from San Francisco to Alaska. Here the salmon are taken in great numbers. They weigh from twenty to one hundred pounds. The fish are canned and shipped to all parts of the country. Besides being caught in nets and traps and on lines many are caught in "fish wheels." These are fastened to the stern of a boat and revolve in the water. The fish are caught in pockets and dropped in the boat as the wheel brings them up over it.

There are very extensive fisheries along the shores of the British Isles and on the western coast of Europe. Fishing is the chief industry in the towns along the coast of Norway. The air is full of the odor of fish, while drying fish, nets, and boats are everywhere in sight.

Although the supply of fish in the ocean is very great, it is diminishing, especially near the shore. Most countries now pay considerable attention to the raising of both fresh and salt water fishes, and they have passed laws regulating fishing. Eggs are hatched in great hatcheries, from which the young fish are taken where they are most needed.

The great ocean is free to all to sail over or fish in at will. There is a narrow strip along the shore three miles wide, which belongs to the country which it borders. The men of other countries are not allowed to fish there.

The fisherman is a brave and sturdy man. His life is full of danger. He battles constantly with the winds and the waves. Fogs may hide the sharp rocks which seem to wait for a chance to destroy his little vessel. Sometimes icebergs or great ocean steamers sink his boat and he is never seen again.

When storms are raging and night has settled over sea and land, and angry waves are dashing themselves into foam against the shore, the mothers, wives, and children look anxiously from their cottage windows toward the sea, and pray that their loved ones may return to them in safety.

OYSTER FARMING

It sounds strange to speak of farming in the ocean, but there are many and large oyster farms all along our coast. Some of these farms are covered by water all of the time and some are uncovered when the tide is low. Oyster farms are far more profitable than are those upon which corn and wheat are raised.

This is a new industry in our country because civilized people have not lived here very long, but it is a very old one in some parts of the world. As long ago as the seventh century a Roman knight raised oysters for the market, and it is said that the business made him very wealthy.

You will understand better about the cultivation of oysters, if I tell you first how they live and grow in their natural homes.

Except during the first few days of their lives, oysters are prisoners. They cannot move about freely from place to place as fishes and most animals can, but they are attached to rocks, to the shells of their dead relatives, and to other objects. How, then, do you suppose they get their food? They grow in immense numbers, and they crowd one another more than people do in the tenement houses in our great cities. In fact most of them are soon crowded out, and they die, leaving room for the rest to grow upon their empty homes. In this way the oyster beds spread out.

These oyster beds are not found in very deep water, but rather along the shore, generally near the mouth of some river. As I have told you, they often live where they are uncovered when the tide goes out. You can see from this that it is not very difficult to gather oysters, so that, partly on this account, man has used them for food for ages.

When the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of New England, they found that the Indians used oysters very commonly. All along the coast were great heaps of the shells. At the very first Thanksgiving dinner given in America, oysters were served.

Oysters used to be so plentiful on these natural beds that they were very cheap. In some places where the winter weather was cold enough to freeze the water along the shore, people cut holes in the ice and gathered them by means of long-handled rakes.

In a single year an oyster will produce more than a million young ones. Just think of it! If all of this family grew up, they would fill a room fourteen feet in each dimension.

These young oysters are very small. They are called "spat." Most of them are drifted away by waves and currents, or devoured by larger sea animals. The few that escape soon attach themselves to some object, so getting a chance to begin the battle of life.

If oysters are caught at all times of the year it does not give them a chance to produce their young, and this, as well as catching the young ones themselves, has destroyed many of the natural beds. In order to keep up the supply of this food men commenced oyster farming. You see how our daily needs and desires lead to the establishment of great industries.

The oyster farmer prepares his farm in various ways. He places clean oyster shells, stones, trays, bundles of sticks, and other things on the bottom, so that the oysters may find something to which to attach themselves. Then he places the young oysters or "spat" on these objects. When trays are used, several are placed one upon another and bound together by means of a chain. These trays are taken up from time to time in order to gather the oysters that are ready for market.

Stones are sometimes piled on the bottom and the "spat" are placed in the crevices between them. Often stakes are planted in a somewhat circular form. Cords are attached to the stakes, to which bundles of sticks are fastened in such a way as to keep them a little above the bottom. Young oysters attach themselves to these sticks, which may be drawn up when the proper time comes.

Shells are used more commonly than other things. They are taken from the restaurants and hotels to the farms in boat loads, to be scattered over the bottom.

The young oysters grow at very different rates. In two years they may grow to be six inches in length, or it may take several years to reach that size. They grow more rapidly on the artificial beds, and are better in quality also. The starfish is one of the greatest enemies of the oyster, large numbers of which it destroys every year.

During the fishing season the oyster men go to the beds in their boats and scoop the oysters up from the bottom. This is called dredging. The scoops with their loads of oysters are drawn to the deck of the boat by machinery. Sometimes the oysters are gathered by means of long tongs.

As the oysters are usually in clusters, these have to be broken up. For this purpose a sort of a hammer known as a culling iron is used. The oysters are broken apart and sorted. Sometimes the oyster man makes three grades and sometimes four.

Oysters are not the only things drawn up in the dredge. Starfish, lobsters, and various kinds of fishes are gathered in. The starfish are killed and the rest thrown back.

The oysters are heaped up in great piles on the deck of the boat. Sacks and barrels are filled with them, and many car loads are shipped daily from the cities near the fishing grounds. Chesapeake Bay is the center of the oyster industry in our country. Find it. There are oyster beds, however, all along both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.

Great quantities of oysters are canned near where they are caught. Getting them out of their shells is not an easy matter. For this purpose a knife is used. This work is called in the South "shucking oysters." Canning oysters is an important industry in the city of Baltimore. Have you ever seen cans of oysters that came from there?

A RICE FIELD

When you do not feel quite satisfied with your breakfast, dinner, or supper, and think that there should be a greater variety of food on the table, just come with me and we will visit some of the boys and girls of far-away China. What do you suppose their chief article of food is? Rice. Rice in the morning, rice at noon, and rice at night. Rice from the beginning to the end of the year. In the poorer families a bit of dried fish and some vegetables are usually eaten with it. Those who can afford such things have bits of preserved ginger, mushrooms, and barley cakes with the rice. Of course the rich people have other things to eat, but most of the people of China are poor.

In the fertile portions of China the people live very close together. Gardens take the place of farms. Workmen often receive no more than ten cents a day. On this account they cannot afford the variety of food that we have, but must be content with whatever is cheap and nourishing for their labor. If the rice crop were to fail, the Chinese would suffer. You will see how important this food is to them, when I tell you that they are forbidden by law to sell rice to other countries.

Perhaps you are wondering where the rice that we use in this country comes from. Rice is grown in great quantities in Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Ceylon, India, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, and in our Gulf states.

Rice is the chief food of one half the people of the world. Although we raise large quantities, we produce only about one half of what we use. It is a kind of grain which will not thrive on the fertile Western prairies where corn, oats, and wheat grow. It needs a warm climate and a great deal of water. For this reason the rice fields are found on the marshy lands near the coast, and by the banks of rivers, where they can be easily flooded. Some rice is raised on the uplands, but not so successfully as on the lowlands.

Canals are dug from the streams through the farms, and from these smaller ditches branch off so as to reach all parts. They are so arranged that the farmer can turn the water on or off whenever he wishes. On some of the farms, wells furnish the water to the canals.

Fig. 22.—A Rice Field.—Observe the Canal.

In the Gulf states the fields are plowed in the winter, and the rice is sown between the first of April and the middle of May. Sometimes the seed is sown broadcast, as wheat is, and sometimes it is planted in regular drills or trenches about twelve inches apart.

The Japanese sow the seed in gardens, and when the plants are eight or ten inches high, they are pulled up and transplanted to the fields. The men work right in the water, for the fields are flooded at the time.

In our country the farmer floods the field as soon as the seeds are planted, allowing the water to remain five or six days. When the young blade of rice is a few inches high, the field is again flooded. After the second leaf appears on the stalk, the water is turned on and left for twenty or thirty days. After the land dries the crop is hoed. The fields are irrigated from time to time, until about eight days before the harvest, which generally occurs in August.

When full grown, the stalks are from one to six feet in height, with long, slender leaves. The kernels grow much as those of wheat and oats do.

On account of the fields being so wet, rice, in most countries, is cut by hand. In China and Japan small curved sickles are used, and the grain is bound up in very small bundles. In Louisiana and some other parts of the South, regular harvesters are used. They have very broad wheels. Why?

After the grain has been bound into bundles, these are set up in double rows to dry. This is called shocking the rice. The grain is then put through a thrashing machine, to separate it from the straw.

Fig. 23.—Harvesting Rice.

Rice kernels are covered by a husk. Before the husk is removed the grain is often called paddy rice. Removing the hulls or husks is called hulling. The hulling machine is a long tube into one end of which the rice is poured. Within the tube are ribs which revolve rapidly. As the kernels pass between these the hulls are taken off.

If you were passing through a Chinese village, you might hear sounds like those produced when a man pounds with a mallet on a great piece of timber. On searching for the sounds, you would find that they came from the rice mill. The mill consists of a portion of a log hollowed out and placed upright. In the hollow a quantity of rice is held. A piece of timber, fastened to a pivot, extends in a horizontal position with one end over the mill. To this end another timber is fastened in an upright position. A Chinaman gets on to the end of the long timber which is farthest from the mill. This raises the end with the upright. He then jumps off and the upright falls, striking upon the rice. In this way the hulls are worn off.

After hulling, the grain is carefully screened, in order to remove the hulls, the broken and very small kernels, and the rice flour. This latter makes good cattle food.

Perhaps you have noticed that rice kernels have a bluish appearance. This is not natural, but is the result of polishing. The polishing removes much of the best part of the grain, but the rice sells for a higher price simply on account of its appearance.

The polishing machine is cylindrical or drum-like in shape. Moosehide or sheepskin is tacked to the cylinder. It is made to revolve rapidly, so that the kernels are polished as they pass over the skin. After being polished the kernels are run through screens and sorted. The rice is then put up in barrels or sacks and shipped.

HOW SUGAR IS MADE

Fig. 24.—Sowing Sugar Seed.

This picture represents one of the beginnings of the great industry of sugar making. The small objects which you see in the trenches are pieces of sugar cane. These "cuttings," as they are called, are covered with soil. They soon sprout, and from them grow the tall, waving fields of cane, which resemble cornfields. The canes are taller than cornstalks, however. How high do you think those shown in the picture are?

In about ten months after planting the cane is ready to cut. In the Southern states this work usually begins about the middle of October.

Fig. 25.—Cutting Sugar Cane.

The canes are jointed, as cornstalks are, and the spongy substance between the joints is filled with a sweet juice. It is from this juice or sap that cane sugar is made. I have seen children chew pieces of the cane, and enjoy it as you do candy; for this use it is sometimes sold in stores in the South.

Fig. 26.—Loading Cars with Sugar Cane.

After the canes are cut they are hauled to the mill or sugarhouse on wagons. On the large plantations tram cars sometimes run right into the fields.

At the mill the canes are run between heavy rollers, which squeeze out the sap. Sometimes as many as seventy-five pounds of sap are obtained from one hundred pounds of cane. The crushed stalks are used in the mill for fuel, and the ashes are returned to the land to fertilize it.

When the juice is first pressed out, it is not at all clear in color. It is then placed in great vats or kettles and heated. This heating causes the water which is in the sap to evaporate, and it also brings some of the impurities to the top, where they are skimmed off. When the evaporating has been finished, there are two products, molasses and brown sugar.

The sugar must next be refined. For this purpose it is usually sent to cities outside of the sugar belt. There are great refineries in New Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and other cities.