xxil INTBODUOTIOM 



the art of commen tro^s hand \ n hand with geography. 

 Not far from our borders is the wonderful and interesting 

 West Indian region, which is already a fair field of trade, 

 and which, present events indicate, will be a better one in 

 coming years. American industrial methods may be ap- 

 plied to this region, and it is an opportune moment to 

 make a scientific presentation of its conditions and possi- 

 bilities. 



It is a difficult task to convey a correct impression of the 

 natural and economic conditions of the tropical American 

 countries and their inhabitants. Too often these are 

 judged by the standards of our own surroundings and 

 customs, which are those of an entirely different environ- 

 ment. The configuration of the lands, geological struc- 

 ture, climate, and products of the soil upon all of which 

 culture depends are so different from those of our own 

 country that we are confronted at the outset with a lack 

 of suitable bases for comparison. The peoples and coun- 

 tries of the American Mediterranean cannot be classified 

 together as social or geographic units. Nowhere in the 

 world are so many extremes of natural conditions, popu- 

 lation, and government to be found. As elsewhere, cli- 

 mate, configuration, and fertility of soil are there the first 

 considerations that influence productivity, while political 

 organization has also largely conditioned the degree of 

 civilization. Neighboring localities present great con- 

 trasts. Here are lands which have grown up through the 

 agency of the coral-reef builders, eminences piled high by 

 vast volcanic extrusions, high plateaus, and mountain 

 ridges of the lifted and folded sediments of the ocean's 

 floor, each of which, with modifications of altitude and 

 climate, produces a soil differing from the others in agri- 

 cultural and economic possibilities. The reef-veneered 

 Barbados, the volcanic areas of Central America, the 

 Windward Islands, and the high, arid plateau of Mexico, 

 respectively, are types of these contrasting lands, and the 

 Great Antilles are peculiar combinations of all. 



