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The National Geographic Magazine 



and Vladivostok. In 1903 the situation 

 changed still further, and foreign im- 

 ports now enter through Niuchwang, 

 Dalny, and Port Arthur via Tientsin, 

 Chin Wang Tao, and thence by rail 

 over the Chinese railway recently com- 

 pleted to the River Liao at Shin Min 

 Tun ; also by the Russian railway from 

 Vladivostok and Siberia and Russia. 

 Another important route has been 

 opened into Manchuria from the sea up 

 the Amur River and thence up the Sun- 

 gari River by large river steamers to 

 Kirin. 



There are no records telling the origin 

 of the goods imported. American goods 

 reach here in many ways. Some come 

 from Hongkong and Canton, large quan- 

 tities from Shanghai, and some from 

 Japan, while much American cotton is 

 manufactured into yarn and goods in 

 Japan and then shipped to this place. 



NATURAL WEALTH OF MANCHURIA 



The year 1903 was the best that Man- 

 churia has ever known as to its produc- 

 tion. Crops were unusually good, and 

 prices were also good. Both Manchuria 

 and Mongolia are marvelously rich, and, 

 under a good government, with trans- 

 portation provided and its timber and 

 mineral wealth developed and added to 

 its agricultural resources, Manchuria 

 will prove one of the greatest markets 

 for United States goods, as well as a 

 splendid field for the investment of 

 United States capital. In 1894 and 

 1895 it was the field of war between 

 China and Japan; in 1900 it was the 

 district of the Boxer movements that 



were so destructive, and now again, in 

 1904, it is the theater of war between 

 Russia and Japan. 



Notwithstanding all these wars, the 

 country continues to grow in product- 

 iveness and commerce. Its people are 

 largely industrious, frugal, and capable, 

 and need only an enterprising, substan- 

 tial, and honest government to insure 

 them great prosperity. 



Manchuria is not yet thickly popu- 

 lated, and farms are mostly in large 

 tracts of 100 and 200 acres, and even 

 more. The great commercial develop- 

 ment has come as a result of its agricul- 

 tural development and the settlement of 

 the country by agricultural people from 

 other parts of China. 



Although the country is extreme^ 

 rich in minerals, including coal, iron, 

 copper, silver, gold, and other kinds, 

 these have only been worked in a small 

 and crude way by the natives. When 

 the mineral wealth is developed and 

 worked by modern methods in a manner 

 fitting its economic possibilities, Man- 

 churia will prove to be one of the richest 

 sections of Asia. 



It has the happy combination of a 

 splendid variety and vast quantities of 

 minerals, valuable forests, great agri- 

 cultural wealth, and an industrious, 

 capable people, whose labor is, perhaps, 

 the best in the world for its cost. In 

 addition, it has good waterways and 

 easy grades and a country in which rail- 

 way construction and operation is very 

 economical. All of these advantages 

 are combined with a healthy, invigorat- 

 ing climate, where crops never fail. 



THE RED ANT VERSUS THE BOLL WEEVIL 



A MIGHTY interesting and effi- 

 cient little insect, a red ant, 

 worth perhaps a quarter of a 

 billion dollars annually to our country, 

 has been discovered among the Indian 



cotton fields of Guatemala by O. F. 

 Cook, of the Department of Agriculture. 

 It is believed when introduced into our 

 Southern States the ant will save us 

 millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, 



