Part 30 (2/2)

They enter France through the Mont Cenis tunnel; they reach Switzerland and Germany by way of St Gotthard Pass; they cross the Austrian border through Brenner Pass

_Rome_, the capital, is a political rather than an industrial centre

_Milan_, the Chicago of the kingdoreat railway centre It is also the market for raw silk _Genoa_, the principal port, is the one at which most of the trade of the United States is landed _Naples_ monopolizes most of the horn_ is faoods A considerable part of the grain harvested in the Po Valley is stored for shi+pment at _Venice_--not in elevators, but in pits _Paler centre of Sicily

Most of the sulphur is shi+pped fro-points for the Suez Canal route

=Spain and Portugal=--The surface of these states is too rugged and the cliricultural development Less than half the area is under cultivation; nevertheless, they are faricultural products--merino wool, wine, and fruit The merino wool of the Iberian peninsula has no equal for fine dress goods; it is i woollen rown, but not enough for home needs

The fruit industry is an ies, li these products is the bitter orange, from which the famous liqueur curacao, a Dutch manufacture, is made The heavy, sweet port wine, now famous the world over, was first al

Malaga raisins are sold in nearly every part of England and America The olive is more extensively cultivated than in any other state, but both the fruit and the oil arethe place of butter Raw silk is grown for export to France

Although a larger part of the peninsula must depend on the American and Scandinavian forests for lumber, there is one tree product that is in demand wherever bottles are used--namely, cork The cork is prepared from the bark of a tree (_Quercus suber_) corows freely in the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa

[Illustration: SPAIN AND PORTUGAL]

Metals and minerals of economic use are abundant Iron ore is sold to Great Britain, France, and Germany Since the Spanish-American War, however, there have been extensive develop the coal and the ore which before that time had been sold to other countries

The undeveloped coal and iron resources are very great, and ure in the payment of a national debt that is near the li a period of industrial prosperity

The most available metal resource is quicksilver Of this metal the mines in Al of these overned for many years ahead when Spain was at ith her rebellious colonies

Both Spain and Portugal are poorly equipped with anization, and freight rates are excessive Not a little of the transportation still depends on the ox-cart and the pack-train The n commerce is carried almost wholly in British or French bottoms The imports are mainly cotton, coal, lumber, and food-stuffs--these in spite of the fact that every one save luht be produced at home

Wine and fruit products, iron ore, and quicksilver are leading exports

Of these the United States purchases wine and raisins for horee work for the trade with Mexico Spain has a considerable trade in cotton goods with her colonies, the Canary Islands, and the African provinces of Rio de Oro and Adrar

Portugal likewise supplies her foreign possessions--Goa (India), Macao (China), and the Cape Verde and Azores Islands--with houese trade, however, is with Great Britain and Brazil

_Madrid_ is the capital of Spain _Barcelona_ is the chief coena_, and _Malaga_, are all ports of fruit and wine trade _Oporto_ has been made famous for the port wine that bears its name Probably not one per cent of the port now used, however, coa

=Switzerland=--This state is situated in the heart of the highest Alps

The southeastern half is above the altitude in which food-stuffs can be produced, and probably no other inhabited country has a greater proportion of its area above the limits of perpetual snow A considerable area of theThe valley-lands of the lake-region produce a lih for the sparse population

Politically, Switzerland is a republic, having the position of a ”buffer” state between Gerary

Racially, the state is divided a Italians, French, and Germans; as a matter of fact, however, the old Helvetian spirit, which not even Caesar could destroy, is still a great factor in doives the Swiss a very positive nationality

The agricultural interests of the state are developed to their utmost; two-thirds of the bread-stuffs, however, are purchased from the United States, the plains of Boherapes, and other fruit are cultivated in every possible place, and as these can be delivered to any part of western and central Europe within a day, the fruit industry is a profitable one

Cattle are bred for dairy purposes, but those for beef ary and Italy selling the needed supply

Goats are raised for their hides, and the latter are converted into Morocco leather Of the dairy products, cheese is in many respects the most important; Gruyere cheese is exported to nearly every country On account of the long distance from populous centres milk cannot be transported; much of it is, therefore, condensed, and in that form exported

A peculiar feature of the dairy industry is the fact that it is constantly in to pasture in the lowlands as soon as the snow melts, and as fast as the snow line recedes up the mountains the cattle follow The milk is converted into butter and cheese wherever the herds rass below thee