320 The National Geographic Magazine 



that, barring sleep, it scarcely permits 

 of any other recreation, and for that 

 reason places of pleasure, if we except 

 large towns, are very rare. The fanati- 

 cal desire for work, of which I have just 

 spoken, begins in early youth, and 

 almost as young as the industries of the 

 country are the leaders of large enter- 

 prises, many of them mere boys. On the 

 other hand, there are few men who stop 

 work and retire to live on their incomes, 

 even when they have earned millions." 

 One other cause of our growth in 

 production — and it is the last one which 

 I shall suggest — is the greatness, the 

 physical greatness, of our country. 

 We do not realize, I think, how big we 

 have grown. We proudly compare the 

 growth of our manufacturing or exports 

 with that of the United Kingdom, for 

 example ; but we do not, apparently, 

 stop to consider that the area of Eng- 

 land is less than that of the State of 

 Kansas, and that of the entire United 

 Kingdom less than that of Kansas and 

 Nebraska combined. When we com- 

 pare our own conditions with those of 

 France, we forget that its area is less 

 than that of our two Territories of Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico combined. We 



look with complacency upon the figures 

 which compare our growth in manu- 

 factures, commerce, and population 

 with that of Germany, but overlook the 

 fact that all of the German Empire is 

 smaller than our single State of Texas. 

 The area of the Thirteen Colonies, as 

 defined by the Peace Treaty of 1783, 

 was equal to that of the present United 

 Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, 

 and Sweden, whose combined popula- 

 tion today is 143 millions. The area 

 added by the Louisiana Purchase is 

 greater than the present area of Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and 

 all of the Balkan States, with a com- 

 bined population of 145 millions. The 

 area added by the Florida Purchase is 

 more than that of the present Denmark, 

 Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzer- 

 land, whose population today is 18 mil- 

 lions. The combined area of the Texan, 

 Mexican, Oregon, and Alaskan addi- 

 tions is nearly equal to that of all Euro- 

 pean Russia, whose present population 

 is 106 millions. Thus, our present area, 

 including Alaska, may be said to prac- 

 tically equal that of all Europe, whose 

 population is in round terms 400 mil- 

 lions of people. 



THE INTRODUCTION OF THE MANGO 



TH E great popularity of the 

 mango among the natives of the 

 Tropics, who in most places pre- 

 fer the fruit to the orange or banana, 

 recently led the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture to study the mango with a 

 view of ascertaining whether it might 

 not be made as popular among the peo- 

 ple of the United States as the orange 

 and banana. Great quantities of man- 

 goes are grown in Porto Rico, and it 

 occurred to the Department that if the 

 fruit was such as would find favor 

 among the American people, a profit- 

 able industry might be started on the 



island in exporting mangoes to the 

 United States. Mr G. N. Collins, a 

 specialist of the Department, was dis- 

 patched to Porto Rico to investigate 

 the question. He found the mango 

 one of the most common fruits in the 

 island, and during the season when it 

 is ripe, May to August, eaten in larger 

 quantities than any others, with the 

 possible exception of the banana, which 

 is used more as a vegetable and cooked 

 in one form or other. Unfortunately, 

 most of the mangoes at present grown 

 in Porto Rico are, however, too fibrous 

 and coarse to ever become popular in 



