AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



505 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



and its rye by Germany alone. Until 1915 

 the wheat yield was always greater than that 

 of Canada; more than two-thirds was grown 

 in Hungary, but Austria lod its partner in 

 oats and rye. Next to Russia, Hungary was 

 also the best tobacco country of Europe, and 

 Austria was exceeded by no nation in the world 

 except Germany and Russia in the production 

 of sugar beets. In fact, Austria-Hungary's 

 exports of sugar in normal times was equalled 

 by none of the cane-sugar countries except 

 Cuba and the Dutch East Indies. Its pro- 

 duction of potatoes was nearly twice that of the 

 I'mud State-. Vine culture, too, was extensive, 

 the mountain slopes furnishing excellent sites, 

 and Austria-Hungary was one of the important 

 wine-producing countries of Europe. 



In the plains of old Hungary and among the 

 highlands of the Alps are extensive grassy 

 stretches which afford fine grazing land; but 

 though stock-breeding had been brought to a 

 high state of perfection the monarchy had no 

 more than enough cattle to satisfy its own 

 demands. Austrian horses were far-famed, and 

 were surpassed by those of few other localities ; 

 this is in part accounted for by the fact that 

 the government took great interest in the breed- 

 ing of horses that it might have perfect mounts 

 for its cavalry. 



Other Natural Resources. Forestry. Much 

 of the mountain country which does not lend 

 itself to agriculture is yet extremely valuable 

 because of its forests. Government bureaus 

 exercised strict supervision of all forests on 

 public lands, to prevent wasteful cutting. 

 About 25,000,000 acres were forested in Austria, 

 and a nearly equal amount in Hungary. 



HQ. The monarchy was one of the rich- 

 est of European countries in minerals, and 

 possessed mines which were worked in the days 

 of the Romans and still yield good returns. 

 Coal, including lignite, is the most important 

 mineral product ; only the United States, Great 

 Britain and Germany excel in this commodity. 

 over 50,000,000 tons of coal and several times 

 as much lignite being n r, With- 



out this coal supply it would have been diffi- 

 cult for Austria-Hungary to have become tin 

 important m.mui'.irtMiinu <-<'iuitry into winch it 

 developed. Iron, lead ami zinc, silver, quick-: 



iplute. and k'old are also obtained in 

 largo quantities, and the salt mines of the Car- 

 pathians have been noted for centuries. So 

 liable are these rock salt beds that the 

 rnment. In Id them as one of its most profit- 

 able monopolies. Precious stones of various 



kinds, as garnet, opal, ruby, amethyst, topaz and 

 sapphire, add to the richness of the output. 



Manufactures and Commerce. Austria-Hun- 

 gary as a whole was an important manufactur- 

 ing country, but the industries were by no means 

 distributed evenly among the provinces, Aus- 

 tria possessing far more than did Hungary. 

 This proved a bond of union between the 

 two monarchies, for Austria needed Hungary's 

 wheat, and Hungary needed Austria's manu- 

 factured products. The iron and steel and the 

 textile industries were the most important of 

 all, and were not only conducted on a large 

 scale but with the most modern methods. As 

 the monarchy raised no cotton, large imports 

 from India and the United States were neces- 

 sary, but the raw materials for the making of 

 silk, woolen and linen goods were produced at 

 home. Hungary manufactured much flour, 

 while Austria produced most of the great ex- 

 ports of beet sugar mentioned above. For 

 centuries the Bohemians have been famed 

 for their skill in glass-making, and their art- 

 ware is to be found in any American store 

 which deals in such products. Porcelain of 

 the very finest kind is also produced in Bo- 

 hemia. 



Ringed in by mountains and possessing less 

 than 1,000 miles of coast line, Austria-Hungary 

 had decided obstacles to overcome in devel- 

 oping a foreign commerce. That these were 

 being more and more perfectly surmounted 

 is shown by the steady growth in the values 

 of imports and exports, until stopped by the 

 War of the Nations in 1914. They nearly 

 doubled in the ten years ending in 1913, each 

 being then over half a billion dollars a year. 

 Until the beginning of the twentieth century 

 trade between Austria-Hungary and the United 

 States was inconsiderable, but since 1900, ex- 

 cluding the period during the great war na: 

 exports from tin- fiuted States to Austria- 

 Hungary increased threefold and trade in the 

 opposite direction doubled. Austria needed 

 cln. 'fly cotton and machinery, while it sent to 

 the United States beet sugar, glass, pottery, 

 and jewelry. Before the declaration of war 

 made such commerce illegal, Canada's exports 

 to Austria-Hungary were rapidly mount MIL*. 

 having increased sixfold from 1910 to 1914, 

 while imports had remained practically station- 

 ary. 



Transportation. By Water. Austria-Hun- 

 gary was remarkably fortunate in its rivers, 

 which afforded waterways penetrating to many 

 parts of the monarchy. For upwards of 800 



