UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



5961 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



California. Heavy freight charges on bulky 

 commodities, however, have encouraged the 

 production of special crops of small bulk ; so in 

 Oregon some of the best lands are occupied by 

 hop yards, and in all parts of the Pacific slope 

 outside the level valleys the farmers have 

 largely turned their attention to fruit. In the 

 total value of its fruit crop, California now 

 ranks next to New York, producing not only 

 temperate zone fruits, such as peaches, apples 

 and plums, but also grapes, raisins and such 

 tropical fruits as oranges, almonds and figs. 

 \ut growing has also become a distinct indus- 

 try-, while the date palm has been successively 

 introduced into the desert region of Southeast- 

 ern California and Arizona. This tree requires 

 an average temperature of 70, with at least 

 one month of 80. 



The drier the air the better the date palm 

 thrives, but the roots must have ample mois- 

 ture ; it is thus most at home in the desert oasis. 



The principal orange district is in Southern 

 California especially in the seaward slope of the 

 coast ran~e, where the mountains run east 

 and west. This has become one of the greatest 

 orange-producing districts in the world. 



Just above the head of the Gulf of California 

 is a low-lying region called the Imperial Valley. 

 This was at one time a part of the Gulf, but 

 was cut off from it by the sediment deposited 

 by the Colorado River and then filled up with 

 layers of the same sediment, though part of 

 it, known as the Salton Sea (which see), is still 

 considerably below sea level. This district can 

 be irrigated readily from the Colorado River 

 and resembles Egypt closely, both in climate 

 and soil. It seems l.kely, therefore, that it can 

 be made a great producer of Egyptian cotton, 

 which is of better quality than the ordinary cot- 

 ton grown in the south. (See EGYPT, subhead 

 Agriculture.) This district also offers many 

 other opportunities for irrigation agriculture. 



Development of Manufacturing Industries 



Manufactures were originally, as the word 

 implies, made by hand, and for the most part 

 in the homes of the people. During the co- 

 lonial period in the English colonies, clothing 

 was spun and woven at home, and most of the 

 industries were carried on either in the home or 

 in small shops in the immediate neighborhood. 

 This condition lasted after the Revolutionary 

 War down to the War of 1812. During the 

 latter war the blockade of the American coast 

 by the British, together with the Embargo Act, 

 seriously diminished American shipping on the 

 ocean, and it also greatly increased the cost of 

 manufactured goods imported into the country, 

 e two conditions led to the rapid develop- 

 ment of establishments using power machinery 

 rather than hand tools, and this movement was 

 further stimulated after the close of the 

 War of Secession by high taxes on imported 

 goods (see PROTECTION). 



At first, water power was chiefly employed, 

 and for this reason the new factories were built 

 along the rivers where such power was imme- 

 diately available. Since the rivers in New Eng- 

 land descend from considerable elevations and 

 go through various lakes which tend to render 

 flow fairly steady, and also because the 

 people there were very en the early 



factories were largely built in that section of 



country. As time went on, however, .M- 

 began to be more extensively used, until tin- 

 power furnished by steam far exceeded that 



derived from water. With the use of steam, it 

 became advantageous to build factories either 

 near the coal fields or where coal could be de- 

 livered from the mines* very cheaply, as along 

 the sea coast. Steam thus gave rise to a new 

 class of manufacturing towns. Since coal was 

 abundant in Pennsylvania and farther south, 

 but was lacking in New England, the use of 

 steam greatly stimulated the development of 

 manufactures in the states along the Middle 

 Atlantic coast. 



Since about 1900 two new factors have en- 

 tered the problem. On the one band, elec- 

 tricity is being more and more used to drive 

 machinery; this is partly derived from water 

 power and partly from steam engines. Com- 

 pared with the old water wheels, it has the ad- 

 vantage that the electric current may be gen- 

 erated in the mountains and carried by wire 

 down to the plains for use at central factories; 

 or the current may be generated at one huge 

 ::il power plant and then distributed to a 

 large number of different factories (see KEOKUK 

 DAM). It is also possible to run part of a fac- 

 tory by 1 1 without using enough power 

 to run the whole of the machine: hesc 

 reasons factories are growing up rapidly in 

 districts where cl< i- rived from v. 

 power is readily available; for example, around 

 Niagara Falls. 



ccond new factor in the power problem 

 is the gas engine. This is familiar in the auto- 



