Part 32 (1/2)

The chief possessions of the Ottoman Empire are Asia Minor, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Arabia.

=Greece.=--Greece is a rugged peninsula, no part of which is more than forty miles from the sea. The country is without resources in the way of coal, timber, or available capital. Its former commercial position, in ancient times, was due largely to the silver-mines near Ergasteria, and subsequently to the gold-mines of eastern Macedonia; these, however, are no longer productive.

There is but little land suitable for farming, and not far from one-half the bread-stuffs must be imported. Much of the timber has been destroyed, and this has resulted in a deterioration not only of the water-power, but of the cultivable lands as well. The railway lines are short and their business is local; there are practically no trunk line connections with the great centres of commerce.

The harbors and the natural position of the country are its best remaining resources. The Greeks are born sailors, and the country is in the pathway of European and Asian commerce. Most of the grain-trade between the Black and Mediterranean Seas is controlled by Greek merchants, and the Greeks are everywhere in evidence in the carrying trade of the Mediterranean. The construction of the Corinthian ca.n.a.l has also given Greek commerce a material impetus.

The chief exports are Corinthian grapes--commonly known as ”currants”--fruit, and iron ore from Ergasteria. Great Britain, France, and Belgium are the chief buyers of the fruit-crop. The exports scarcely pay for the American cotton, Russian wheat, and the timber products that are purchased abroad. There has been a material growth in the manufacture of cotton, woollens, and silk in the past few years, much of the work being done in households. _Athens_ is the capital and largest city. _The Piraeus_ and _Patras_ are the chief ports.

=Servia= and =Montenegro= are stock-growing countries. The former has suffered greatly from misgovernment and the waste of its resources.

Wine-cask stock and cattle are sold to Austria, which has five-sixths of its trade. _Belgrade_ is its metropolis. Tobacco and live-stock are exported from Montenegro to Austria.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

On a good map of central Europe trace an all-water route from the mouth of the Danube to the ports of the lower Rhine and the North Sea; what connection have the cities of Ratisbon and Lemberg with this route?

How do the forests of these states affect the wine industry of Germany?

From the Statesman's Year-Book find the amount and movement of the exports and imports of these countries.

From the Abstract of Statistics find the volume of trade of these countries with the United States.

FOR COLLATERAL REFERENCE

Great Ca.n.a.ls of the World--p. 4089.

A good map of central Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUSSIAN EMPIRE]

CHAPTER XXIX

EUROPE-ASIA--THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

The great plain of Eurasia, which borders about half the circuit of the Arctic Ocean, is undivided by topographic barriers or boundaries. It is physically a unit.

=Russia.=--Russia comprises more than one-half the area of Europe; the Russian Empire embraces about one-half of Europe and Asia combined, and const.i.tutes more than one-seventh of the land surface of the earth. East and west, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, the distance is about six thousand miles. It has a similar position with respect to southern Europe and China as has Canada to the United States.

In lat.i.tude the country is unfortunately situated. North of the lat.i.tude of St. Petersburg the climate is too cold to grow bread-stuffs; a large part of the country is, therefore, unproductive. The central belt is forest-covered; the southern part, or ”black earth” belt, comprises the greater part of the productive lands, and this region is the chief granary of Europe.

Russia is an agricultural country. Maize and rye grown for home consumption, and wheat for export, are the chief products. Flax is a leading export product, and the Russian crop const.i.tutes about four-fifths of the world's supply. Lands too remote from markets for grain-growing produce cattle and sheep, which are grown mainly for their hides and tallow. The wool of the Don is a very coa.r.s.e textile that is much used in the manufacture of American carpets; that of the arid plateaus of the southern country is a fine rug wool.

Agriculture in Russia is on a much lower plane than in western Europe.

Most of the land is owned in large estates. Individual farming is rare, land tillage being usually a community affair. A village community rents or purchases a tract of land, and the latter is allotted to the families composing it, a part of the land being reserved for pasturage. The business is transacted by ”elders,” or trustees, who exercise a general management and supervision over the ”mir,” or community.

The methods of farming are not the best, and an acre of land produces scarcely one-third as much as the same area is made to yield in other states. The farming cla.s.s, or peasantry, was in a condition of serfdom until within a few years. Poverty unfits them to compete with farmers of western Europe; moreover, the laws of land owners.h.i.+p and tenure also serve to discourage farming.

The metal and mineral resources are very great. Iron ore is abundant, and the yearly output of both is greatly increasing. There are extensive deposits in southern Russia, in the Ural Mountains, and in Poland. Coal of good quality is plentiful, and coal mining is encouraged by a heavy tariff on the foreign coal that enters regions where the home product is available. The most productive coal-fields are those of the lower Don River and of Poland.