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diff --git a/38762.txt b/38762.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b22643e --- /dev/null +++ b/38762.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3953 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of How We are Fed, by James Franklin Chamberlain + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: How We are Fed + A Geographical Reader + +Author: James Franklin Chamberlain + +Release Date: February 5, 2012 [EBook #38762] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW WE ARE FED *** + + + + +Produced by Peter Vachuska, Fritz Ohrenschall, Chuck Greif, +Julia Neufeld and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + + + +[Illustration: Publisher's Mark] + + _HOME AND WORLD SERIES_ + + + HOW WE ARE FED + + A GEOGRAPHICAL READER + + BY + + JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN, ED.B., S.B. + DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL + LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA + + New York + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. + 1912 + + _All rights reserved_ + + COPYRIGHT, 1903, + BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + + Set up, electrotyped, and published June, 1903. Reprinted + January, June, August, 1904: July, 1905; January, 1906; + August, December, 1907; September, 1909; August, 1910; + August, 1911; June, 1912. + + + Norwood Press + J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. + Norwood, Mass., U. S. A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the ordinary course of events, most individuals take some part in the +manifold industries which engage the mind and the hand of man, by which +alone our present-day civilization can be maintained. These great world +activities touch the daily life of _every_ member of society, whether +child or adult, worker or idler. + +A chain of mutual dependence, too often unrecognized, binds together the +members of the human family, whether they belong to the same community +or dwell on opposite sides of the earth. The links of this chain are +made up of the articles which constitute our daily food, our clothing, +homes, fuel, light, our means of communication and transportation, and +only by continuous cooeperation are they kept together. + +The highest motive in education is to present the conditions which will +lead to the most complete living; to build up the best possible members +of society; to develop character. An individual who does not understand +the life of which he finds himself a part, cannot be in full sympathy +with its conditions and hence cannot be of the most service to himself +or to others. Only to the extent that education and life follow the same +general course, can each be truly successful. Far too little is done in +our schools to acquaint children with their relations to the great +industrial and social organization of which they are members. Even grown +persons have, as a rule, a very indefinite knowledge of these relations. + +It is a recognized principle that our knowledge of geography has its +foundation in our knowledge of the home. The natural connecting link +between the immediate surroundings and the outside world is the _present +daily life of the home_. Through the industries seen in the community, +the commodities in general use, and the history of their creation and +supply, the pupil acquires an insight into the life about him as well as +into that of other parts of the world. He also realizes the great truth +that the world and its people are in intimate touch with _him_. In this +way he is led back and forth along the routes which civilization has +followed in its progress, which it also follows to-day, as mankind clasp +hands across oceans and continents. Thus the remote and abstract become +immediate and concrete. Facts are seen in a setting of reason, and a +logical and interesting basis for the study of physical, climatic, and +human conditions is furnished. + +This study begins with the commodities in constant use and finally +encompasses the whole world, but always with the home as the base of +operations. It will create a knowledge of the interdependence of +individuals, communities, and nations, and a genuine respect for the +work of the hands and for the worker. The importance of this respect is +not likely to be overestimated. Without it a true democracy cannot long +exist. + +Reading should not only serve for the acquisition and the expression of +the thought contained in the printed page; it should, in addition, +stimulate to _new_ thought--to independent power in reasoning. On this +account questions are inserted which the pupil is left to answer. These +are suggestive of a much larger number, which should be worked out by +the teacher. Too many of the questions found in books do not "stimulate +thought" or "independent power in reasoning." They are purely +informatory and not at all formative. + +No attempt has been made to treat every article of food. Those in most +general use, as well as those which will best serve to develop a +knowledge of geographical conditions and of man's relation to man, have +been chosen. + +A given industry is pursued in somewhat different ways in different +places. It has not been thought wise to describe each modification in +these pages. For example, the method of handling wheat in California is +different from that employed in Minnesota. The value of the work will be +increased if the teacher will bring out these points. + +_All places mentioned should he definitely located_, both as to position +on the map or globe and with reference to the home. When developed from +the standpoint of direct, personal interest, a knowledge of the +location of places as well as of other facts mentioned is most likely to +be retained. + +The illustrations used have been very carefully selected for their +_teaching value_. They give a clearness to mental pictures which can be +derived only through observation of that which the illustrations +symbolize. Much experience in the use of geographical illustrations has +shown that pupils need to be directed in their examination of them. To +secure the best results they must be made the centers of +thought-developing questions. + +Thanks are due the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company of +Minneapolis, the Swift Packing Company of Chicago, the Walter Baker +Company of Dorchester, the United Fruit Company of New Orleans, and Dr. +Charles U. Shepard of Pinehurst Plantation, for the excellent +illustrations furnished by them. + + JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN. + +STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, + LOS ANGELES, March, 1903. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + THE PAST AND THE PRESENT 1 + + THE STORY OF A LOAF OF BREAD 7 + + HOW OUR MEAT IS SUPPLIED 18 + + MARKET GARDENING 32 + + DAIRY PRODUCTS 41 + + BUTTER MAKING 44 + + CHEESE 50 + + THE FISHING INDUSTRY 54 + + OYSTER FARMING 64 + + A RICE FIELD 70 + + HOW SUGAR IS MADE 77 + + BEET SUGAR 84 + + MAPLE SUGAR 87 + + WHERE SALT COMES FROM 91 + + MACARONI AND VERMICELLI 99 + + ON A COFFEE PLANTATION 104 + + THE TEA GARDENS OF CHINA 113 + + A CUP OF COCOA 120 + + A CRANBERRY BOG 131 + + THE COCOANUT ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC 139 + + A BUNCH OF BANANAS 146 + + HOW DATES GROW 155 + + THE ORANGE GROVES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 165 + + A VISIT TO A VINEYARD 174 + + NUTTING 184 + + A WALNUT VACATION 187 + + CHESTNUTS 193 + + A BAG OF PEANUTS 195 + + ASSORTED NUTS 201 + + A STRANGE CONVERSATION 206 + + + + +HOW WE ARE FED + + + + +THE PAST AND THE PRESENT + + +Long, long ago people did not live as we do to-day. Their homes were +very different from ours, for they were made of the skins of wild +animals, of the limbs and bark of trees, or of tall grasses. There were +no stoves, chairs, tables, or beds in their houses. Instead of lamps, +gas, or electricity, a fire on the dirt floor or in front of the house, +furnished the light. + +The clothing of these people was as simple as their homes. It was made +of skins and furs in cold countries and in warm countries of braided +grasses and the fibers of certain plants. You may be sure that tailors +and dressmakers were not consulted as to the latest styles, for the +styles did not change and there were neither tailors nor dressmakers to +talk to. Each family made its own clothing, and there was not a sewing +machine to be found. + +How would you like to use a bone for a needle? Sometimes, instead of +sharpened bones, long thorns were used. The sinews of the deer, or of +some other animal, usually furnished the thread. + +When the people were in need of food, they went into the forest and +gathered roots, nuts, and fruits. Wild animals were killed by means of +such weapons as bows and arrows and spears, and fish were caught in the +lakes and streams. + +The food was not cooked as ours is; for, as I have told you, there were +no stoves. Sometimes the meat was broiled over the fire, sometimes baked +in a hole filled with ashes and coals, but it was often eaten raw. It +was not easy to have a variety of food, and there were times when it was +very difficult to obtain anything. When food was abundant, the people +feasted, and when it was scarce, they were often hungry. How would you +like to wait for your breakfast while your father went to the woods or +to the river in search of something to eat? + +When the meals were prepared, they were not neatly served as yours are, +but each person took his portion and sat on the ground while he ate it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Indians at Dinner.] + +All of this seems very strange to you, I know. If you live in the city, +you are accustomed to seeing the butcher, the baker, the milkman, and +the grocer call every day. There are stores where people can buy +whatever they want to eat, drink, or wear. You wonder how any one could +live in such a way as I have described, but there _are_ people who live +in this fashion to-day, although you have never seen any of them. They +are _uncivilized_. Where do you think they are to be found? When people +live in this way, it takes most of their time to provide themselves with +the things that are necessary to life. They have little opportunity to +improve their ways of living and of thinking. + +Civilized people divide their work. Some provide food, some make +clothing, some build houses, and some furnish fuel. Each one does his or +her part. In this way, you see, they learn to do their work better and +better, because each gives much time and thought to one kind of work. +This plan gives each one time to study and to learn something about the +world and its people. Think how much better our homes, our clothing, and +our food are, than are those of uncivilized people, and how many other +advantages we have. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--White People at Dinner.] + +It is only possible to live as we do, when each one works for others as +well as for himself. If any one fails to do his part, the rest must +suffer until some one is found to take his place. It is to prepare +yourself to do _your part_ in some useful work for others, that you are +going to school day by day. You do not now know just what that work is +to be, but I want you to remember that _all_ honest work is noble. It is +not so important _what work_ you do, as it is that you should do your +work _well_. No matter what your work may be, you can carry sunshine in +your face and helpfulness in your heart. If you do this, you will be +known and loved. Hard work, coarse clothes, and lack of money can never +hide these things, neither will the finest of clothing cover a selfish +or untruthful nature. + +Let us look at this dinner table loaded with good things to eat and +drink. There are bread, butter, meat, vegetables, milk, tea, fruits, and +other things. You see at once that many persons must have worked to +provide this food, for only a small part of the work was done in the +kitchen. If these things could but speak, they might tell you stories as +wonderful as fairy tales. They have been gathered here from the fertile +plains of the West, from the sunny South, from Brazil, from the islands +of the Pacific Ocean, from far-off China, and even from the waters of +the sea. + + + + +THE STORY OF A LOAF OF BREAD + + +In the dark granary of a farmer's barn in North Dakota once lived a +modest family of grains of wheat. The bright, warm days of the summer +time, during which they had been placed in this dark room, soon grew +shorter and cooler. The swallows, whose mud nests were in the rafters +overhead, told the wheat brothers that winter was coming, and then flew +away to the balmy southland. + +Soon biting winds and blinding snow came sweeping over the level land. +Sometimes the farmhouse was almost hidden under the drifts, and the +farmer had to shovel out a path to the barn, so that he could feed the +horses and cattle. By and by the days grew warmer, the snow disappeared, +and the birds returned one by one. The farmer and his men got out their +plows and harrows, and prepared the soil for the seeds soon to be +planted. + +The wheat was now shoveled into sacks and taken to the fields. Here it +was placed in great machines drawn by horses, which scattered it evenly +over the land and at the same time covered it with soft soil. The men +whistled and sang as they worked, and blackbirds, bluebirds, and larks +flew back and forth, singing and searching for bugs and worms, as well +as for the shining kernels of wheat. + +The wheat was not content to remain underground, but kept trying to push +itself out into the world. One night there came a warm shower, and the +next morning what looked like tiny, green blades of grass appeared all +over the field. + +All through the spring and summer the wheat kept growing, and finally +there appeared at the ends of the stalks clusters of kernels, just like +those which the farmer had planted. Some of these kernels had produced +families of twenty or thirty. These clusters are called _heads_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Harvesting Wheat in Southern California.] + +As the south wind passed over the field it brought the wheat messages +from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and other states, telling of +relatives who were already turning golden in the summer sunshine. One +day some of the kernels thought they heard a voice from California. Do +you think they did? + +The grain in some of the fields was called _winter wheat_. This was +because the grain had been sown the autumn before, and had remained in +the ground all winter, covered by a blanket of snow. Why was it sown in +the fall? The wheat of which I am telling you was called by the farmer +_spring wheat_. + +Soon machines, each drawn by several horses, appeared. They cut the +waving grain, and bound it up in bundles called _sheaves_. These were +set up in double rows to dry, and afterward put into another machine +which separated the kernels from the stalks, which were now called +_straw_. This work the farmer calls _threshing_. See if you can find out +how this used to be done. + +After threshing, the wheat was put into sacks and taken to the nearest +railroad station. Freight cars then carried it across the level prairies +to the beautiful city of Minneapolis, built beside the Falls of Saint +Anthony. What river is this city on? Of what use are the falls? + +There are tall buildings called _elevators_ here in which the wheat was +stored for a time. Before being put into the elevators it was examined +and _graded_. As there was wheat from many farms it could not be kept +separate, so each farmer was told how much he had, and how it graded. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Threshing Wheat in Southern California.] + +Some time after this the wheat was taken to one of the great mills to be +ground into flour. The largest of these mills manufactures about +fifteen thousand barrels of flour every day. This is the largest flour +mill in the world. + +When the kernels reached the mill, they were put into machines called +_separators_, to be separated from all companions such as grass seed, +mustard seed, and wild buckwheat. They were then placed in an iron box +in which brushes were revolving rapidly, and were _scoured_ to free them +from fuzz and dirt. Those that were very dirty were washed. + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--The Flour Mills in Minneapolis.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 6.--The Largest Flour Mill in the World.] + +The kernels were _steamed_, in order that the coating, called _bran_, +might not break into small pieces. This is called _tempering_. The +kernels now thought that their trials were over, but they were mistaken. +Soon they found themselves being _crushed_ between rollers. After they +came out they were _sifted_, and then run between other rollers. This +was repeated six times, and each time the flour was a little finer, for +the rollers were closer together. The flour was then run through tubes +of flannel. These took out whatever dust it contained. It was then +ground still finer. The flour was then put into sacks or barrels, which +were marked for shipment to other parts of the country. + +Only the wheat intended for the very best grade of flour is treated as +carefully as this was. + +What industry does the use of barrels bring in? + +[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Grinding Wheat.] + +From the mills the flour was sent to many parts of the land to supply +stores, bakeries, hotels, and homes. Some of it found its way to the +bakery near your home. The bakers, in their clean suits of white, +weighed the flour which they were going to use, and then added a +certain amount of water to it. Some yeast and salt were added also. This +mixture they called _dough_. You have seen your mother mix or _knead_ +dough, I am sure. The bakers did not do the kneading with their hands, +but by means of machinery made for this purpose. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Bolting Flour.] + +When the dough had been thoroughly kneaded it was left to _rise_. It is +the yeast that causes the rising. This makes the bread light and spongy. +It was then cut into loaves and placed in the oven. The ovens in the +bakery are very much larger than those in your kitchen stove, for many +loaves are baked at once. When a nice shade of brown appeared on the +loaves, the bakers took them out of the oven by means of long shovels. +Soon the delivery wagons came and were loaded with the fresh bread to be +delivered to stores and homes. This loaf was just left at the door and +is still warm. + +So, you see, a loaf of bread has quite a history. I have told you the +life story of this one from the time of its grandparents, who were +raised on the plains of North Dakota. Would it not be interesting to see +each of the people who have had something to do with its production, and +to make the journey which the wheat and the flour made? You can do both +in your thoughts. + + + + +HOW OUR MEAT IS SUPPLIED + + +Ramon lived in a plain, one-story house, built in the shade of some +cottonwood trees that fringed each side of a small river in the eastern +part of Colorado. A wide veranda extended entirely around the house, but +there were very few flowers and no lawn. I am afraid you would not think +it a very pleasant place for a home. + +Not far from the _ranch house_, as it was called, were the barn and the +_corrals_. A corral is a yard with a strong, high fence about it, in +which cattle or horses may be placed. On the bottom land beside the +stream, there was a corn and an alfalfa patch, besides one containing +some potatoes and garden vegetables. + +During most of the year the stream was quite shallow, and flowed quietly +over its bed, but when heavy rains occurred it rose rapidly, spreading +over much of the bottom land and carrying so much clay with it that it +was almost the color of coffee. + +Except along the river, not a tree was in sight from Ramon's home, and +it was many miles to the nearest house. For hundreds of miles both north +and south, there stretched a vast plain. Little was to be seen but sand, +grass, and sagebrush. I had almost forgotten the prairie dogs, which +scamper across the plain or sit up straight and motionless on a little +mound of sand beside their burrows. They watch you closely, not moving +unless they regard you as a dangerous creature, when, quick as a flash, +they disappear. + +The rainfall is very slight in this part of the country, being less than +twenty inches a year. On this account there is little attention paid to +farming, but instead, the settlers own great herds of cattle as well as +many horses. Ramon's father is one of the _cattlemen_ of Colorado. He +owns more than ten thousand head of cattle, and some of the cattlemen +own twice that number. Of course such great herds of cattle must have +much land to graze on. Some of the land is owned by the government and +any one may use it. Everywhere fences are far apart. These great +pastures are called _ranges_. + +Ramon's life is not much like yours. His home is far from schools, +churches, stores, or railroads. He seldom sees strangers, but he enjoys +long rides on his own pony, _Prince_. Sometimes he goes with his father +and at other times he takes a gallop with one of the "cowboys" who herd +the cattle. + +The "cowboys" almost live in the saddle. They are out in all kinds of +weather and are not boys at all, but strong, hardy men. They wear +broad-brimmed hats, and carry long ropes called lassos or _lariats_, +with which they catch the cattle. + +Where there are so many herds they sometimes get mixed up. On this +account each cattleman marks or _brands_ his animals. These brands may +be the initial letter of the owner's name, or they may be in the form of +a horseshoe, a cross, a circle, or a crescent. + +Each spring and fall the cowboys gather the cattle together. This is +called "rounding up" the cattle. They are then counted and the calves +born since the last "round up" are branded. In the fall, in addition to +this work, animals are selected for the market. Why is the fall a better +time for this than the spring? + +[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Branding Cattle.--Point to the Lariats.] + +The cowboys, mounted upon their swift, strong ponies, single out the +animals that have never been branded, and swinging their lassos over +their heads, they throw them with such skill that the loop settles over +the head or about the leg of the one wanted. As soon as the rope +tightens, the pony braces its forefeet firmly and the animal is finally +thrown to the ground. It is then branded with a hot iron and allowed to +go. Ramon used to feel very sorry for them until his father explained +that it hurt them very little, for only the skin was burned. + +Sometimes the cattle selected to be sold, are not quite fat enough for +the market. They are then taken farther east into the _corn belt_ and +fed for a time. + +When they are shipped directly from the range to the market, they are +driven to the nearest railroad and put into yards beside the track. They +are then made to walk up an incline with high railings ending at the +open doors of a cattle car. The animals are arranged so that the first +faces one side of the car, the second the other, and so on. This is done +so that the cattle cannot hook one another, and also that they may be +fed and watered on the way from a long iron trough which is fastened to +each side of the car. + +The great cattle markets of the United States are Omaha, Kansas City, +and Chicago. Find these cities. + +One day when Ramon was about fourteen years old, his father told him +that he was going to take a train load of cattle to Chicago and that he +might go with him. It was a happy time for Ramon, you may be sure, for +he was very anxious to see some of the wonderful sights his father had +told him about. + +At last the day when they were to start on their journey arrived. The +afternoon before, the cowboys had driven the cattle to the railroad so +as to load them early in the morning. Soon after breakfast Ramon kissed +his mother and his little sister good-by, and he and his father rode off +across the level plain. + +Finding the cattle already loaded in the cars, Ramon and his father were +soon seated in the _caboose_, rolling over the miles of railroad which +connected them with Chicago. Whenever the train stopped for a few +minutes, they took a long stick and went from car to car making the +cattle that had lain down get up, so that they might not be injured by +the others. + +When bedtime came, they made their beds on the benches along each side +of the caboose, which are covered with cushions. As they had brought +blankets with them, they were fairly comfortable. + +Ramon did not sleep very soundly the first night. The engine shrieked +from time to time, and the car rocked and jolted so that he was afraid +of falling from his bed. + +The next day they reached a part of the country where great cornfields +waved in the breeze. The leaves had already turned brown, and golden +ears of grain peeped out from the ends of the husks. There were stubble +fields, too, where wheat and oats had been harvested. + +[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Bird's Eye View of Union Stock Yards, Chicago.] + +The country became more thickly settled as they went on, and the towns +were nearer together. Streams were more common, and grass and timber +more abundant. The young traveler wondered why this was so. Can you +tell? + +Early in the morning of the fourth day the train reached Chicago. After +much switching and backing the cars were run into the Union Stock Yards, +and the cattle were unloaded. + +Ramon was thoroughly bewildered by what he saw and heard. Men were +shouting and cracking whips; others were riding up and down the alleys +that separate the yards; dogs were barking and turning the animals this +way and that, and gates were swinging back and forth. + +The cattle were weighed and examined to see if they had any disease, and +were then placed in charge of a _commission merchant_ to be sold. Buyers +come to the yards and bargain with these commission merchants. When an +unusually large number of cattle come in, the prices are likely to fall; +when few arrive, the prices rise. + +When the cattle had been yarded, Ramon's father said that they would go +and have breakfast. In the afternoon they visited the "yards," and the +slaughter and packing houses. The "yards" cover about a square mile of +territory. They are divided into countless pens or small yards, +containing sheds, feeding racks, and watering troughs. + +Ramon asked how many cattle were unloaded in these yards daily. His +father handed him a copy of the _Chicago Live Stock World_, and at the +top of the first column he read that on the day previous there had been +received 18,500 cattle, 35,000 hogs, and 18,000 sheep. He was told that +sometimes the receipts are much larger than this and sometimes not so +large. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Dressing Beef.] + +They followed the bodies of the cattle from the slaughterhouses where +they are dressed, into the cooling rooms. These are simply great +refrigerators. Wagons come to the cooling rooms and haul loads of the +meat to butcher shops, hotels, and depots. Within a few hours it finds +its way to smaller cities and towns in all directions. A great deal of +meat is shipped even to Europe. Why does not Europe produce its own +meat? + +[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Cooling Beef.] + +When the meat has thoroughly hardened in the cooling rooms, it is sent +to the curing rooms, where it is cut up and packed. Each person here +does his particular work from morning until night. + +Ramon learned, to his surprise, that every part of the animal is used. +Hair, hide, horns, hoofs, teeth, bones, and even blood, are made use of. + +[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Splitting Backbone of Hogs.] + +Most of the hogs which enter the great meat-packing cities are raised in +the corn belt. + +The sheep need much pasturage, and so the largest flocks are found in +the Western and Southwestern states. A single herder may take care of +several thousand sheep. His faithful companions and helpers are +intelligent shepherd dogs. After a great flock of sheep has fed on an +area, hardly a green thing is left. The people in the part of the West +where there is little rainfall, object to the pasturing of sheep around +the head waters of streams, because when the vegetation is removed the +water runs off too quickly. + +[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Curing Pork in Salt.] + +In the evening our friends watched the men, women, and children march +out of the "yards." They were told that not less than thirty-five +thousand persons were employed in the various establishments. There is +but one city in Colorado which contains so many people. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Chopping Sausage Meat.] + +As they sat at breakfast next morning, Ramon wondered how many of the +people of Chicago were eating steaks from cattle which he had seen on +his father's ranch. The thought was a new one to him. His trip had shown +him that the cattlemen who lived and worked on those far-away plains +were doing their part in supplying people all over our country with +meat. Their lonely life, with all of its disadvantages, now had a new +meaning for him, and he went back to his Western home content with it, +yet very glad to have had this glimpse of another side of life. + +[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Packing Poultry.] + + + + +MARKET GARDENING + + +Think of the immense quantities of fruits and vegetables that are used +daily on the tables of a great city such as New York or Chicago. As we +travel up and down the streets of any great city, we see rows of +buildings, sometimes built in solid blocks and sometimes a little +distance apart. Some have trees and small lawns in front of them; others +are without even this touch of nature. Nowhere, except in the outskirts, +do we find gardens. + +_These people depend upon others to furnish them with their vegetable +food._ + +Now let us make some excursions into the region surrounding one of these +cities. For miles and miles we see on every hand _truck farms_ or +_market gardens_. The main business of those who live in these districts +is to furnish food for the people of the city, so that the latter may +devote their time to their various occupations. + +We see growing potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, beans, peas, squashes, +turnips, onions, sweet corn, celery, melons, and many other things. +Usually all of these will be found in one garden, but sometimes the +farmer raises only a few kinds, or perhaps but one. + +Market gardening is very common in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, and +in other densely populated countries. Therefore we often find people who +have come from these countries to America engaged in this business. +Chinese gardeners are seldom seen in the East, but on the Pacific coast +they raise most of the vegetables used in the cities and towns. + +In the early spring, before the ground is warm enough to make seeds +grow, the gardener starts his plants in "hotbeds." These are long wooden +boxes, or frames, without bottoms, covered with glass. They are usually +placed on the south side of some building or high fence. The glass +covers allow the warm sunshine to enter the "beds" freely, but they +prevent the rapid escape of the heat. You see now why they are called +"hotbeds." They are like small greenhouses. + +A little later in the spring the fields are thoroughly cultivated and +the plants transplanted. Of course only the vegetables desired for the +early market are started in this way. What advantage is there in having +the vegetables ready for the market very early in the season? + +Vegetable farming is not easy work, although it is a pleasure to see +things grow day by day as you care for them, and as nature supplies her +sunshine and her rain. The fields must be cultivated almost constantly, +to keep the soil loose, as well as to remove the weeds. Much of the +weeding has to be done by hand, which is tedious work. + +We want our vegetables fresh every morning; and as the truck farms are +at some distance from the city, the farmer must load up his wagon the +night before. Of course much produce is sent to the cities on trains, +but where farmers live near enough to deliver it themselves, their crops +are more profitable to them. Why? + +[Illustration: FIG. 17.--A Market Scene.] + +Everything is put in readiness before dark; and while others are still +in bed, the farmer mounts his wagon to start toward the sleeping city. I +have often ridden ten or fifteen miles on such a load before the stars +faded away. + +It is a novel experience. At first the night seems strangely still, but +soon you are able to distinguish many voices coming from various places. +The frogs croak from the ponds by the roadside; crickets and locusts +send their shrill notes from grass and tree; a night owl startles you by +his dismal hoot; the lamps of the fireflies gleam, then disappear only +to shine out again a little farther on. + +At last a faint glow appears in the eastern sky, which grows brighter +and brighter until the shining face of the sun is pushed above the +horizon. Do you not think such a ride would be more enjoyable than a +street car ride? + +In the cities there are market places where produce from the country is +taken. In Chicago there is a very busy street where much of the buying +and selling is done. Study the picture carefully. Here the buyers from +hotels, restaurants, and stores, as well as the men who wish to peddle +the produce from house to house, go for their daily supplies. There are +also commission merchants whose stores are on this street. They sell the +produce for those who ship it to the city by train. + +We go to the stores and get what we want each day, or the peddlers bring +it to the door. You see how necessary it is to have special workers to +supply us with the different kinds of food. We consider it very +important that we should have vegetables and fruits fresh daily. The +work of supplying us with this food is very important. Remember that +those who till the soil are entitled to as great respect as are those +who do not work with their hands. Contact with nature makes men and +women better, and many of the noblest souls that the world has known +have lived in the country and plowed, planted, and harvested the +products of the soil. + +[Illustration: Market Scene. Chicago.] + +[Illustration: Market Scene. New York.] + + + + +DAIRY PRODUCTS + + +Uncle Ben lives on a dairy farm in the western part of New York State. +It is a beautiful _rolling_ country with cultivated fields, woodland, +and pastures, and here and there a sparkling stream winding its way +through the lowlands. The farmhouses are large and well built, and are +surrounded by grand old maple, beech, and elm trees. Most of the barns +are painted red with white trimmings. + +There are many dairy farms in the neighborhood. Some of the farmers send +their milk to the towns to be used directly, some sell it to creameries, +and some to cheese factories. + +Last summer I spent my vacation on Uncle Ben's farm, and Cousin Frank +and I had happy times, you may be sure. + +Every day, just before sundown, we went to the pasture for the cows. +There were about twenty-five of them, and they always seemed perfectly +contented after the long day of feasting on rich grass and clover. + +After we drove them into the barnyard Uncle Ben helped us fasten them in +their _stanchions_ in the barn. Then the men brought the bright pails +and cans to begin milking. Cousin Frank and I always helped, although he +can milk much faster than I. Some of the cows gave but two or three +quarts, while others gave as many gallons. + +We strained the milk into cans holding eight gallons each, and put them +into tanks of water to cool. After milking was finished we turned the +cattle into the barnyard for the night. + +In the morning we commenced milking about sunrise. After breakfast the +cans were loaded into a spring wagon and Uncle Ben drove to the depot. +Here they were put on the "milk train," which took them to the city. + +Many other people sent milk on this same train. It was sent to bakeries, +to hotels and restaurants, and to milkmen, who delivered it from house +to house. Usually the milkmen put the milk into pint or quart bottles +for people who like to have it in that form. Uncle Ben told us that +much of the milk that is sent to New York City is bottled before it is +sent. The bottling is done by machinery. He also told us that, because +of the great importance of having pure milk, there are, in all cities, +inspectors who carefully examine the milk and report to the Board of +Health. The cows also are inspected, and if any are sick, they are +usually killed. + +Each evening some one drove to the depot again to get empty cans which +the milk train had brought home. These were always carefully washed in +hot water before being used again. + + + + +BUTTER MAKING + + +One day, after I had been on the farm about a week, Uncle Ben took Frank +and me to the _creamery_. A creamery is a place where the milk and cream +are separated and butter is made. + +We found several wagonloads of milk being unloaded. The milk was weighed +as it was received, for it is sold by weight. + +The milk was then strained into a large galvanized iron tub, from which +a pipe carried it into a circular machine called the _separator_. The +separator revolves rapidly, throwing the milk, which is heavier than the +cream, to the outer edge, where it passes through small holes into a +compartment by itself. The cream rises along the center and passes +through another set of openings into a special compartment. A pipe +carries it to a large vat, while another pipe conveys the milk to large +tanks. + +Uncle Ben told me that when people make their own butter, they must wait +for the cream to _rise_ on the milk. The cream is then skimmed off, and +the milk is called _skimmed milk_. Although the milk in the creamery is +not skimmed, the same name is used for it. + +I asked if the skimmed milk was used for anything. Uncle Ben gave me a +cupful of it to taste. It was very good. He then told me that the +separator takes out only the part needed in making butter, leaving all +of the sugar. I did not know before that milk contains sugar. + +The farmers take home loads of this milk to feed it to their hogs. For +each hundred pounds of milk delivered, they get back seventy-five pounds +of skimmed milk, besides the pay for their cream. + +The creamery man told me that he made from four to six pounds of butter +from one hundred pounds of milk. + +The cream remains in the large vat about twenty-four hours before it is +churned. The churn, as you see by the picture, is a great barrel made +to revolve by machinery. It takes from thirty-five minutes to one hour +to churn. The man told me that I might look at the book in which he kept +the record of the churning. I saw that he made from two hundred fifty to +six hundred pounds of butter at a churning. He said that some churns +would produce more than one thousand pounds at a churning. + +Not all of the cream is made into butter. There is left in the bottom of +the churn a liquid called _buttermilk_. This is drawn off, and the +butter is washed and _worked_ before being taken out of the churn. The +working is done by means of paddles in the churn. It continues for six +or eight minutes and squeezes the liquid out of the butter. + +While the butter is being worked, it is salted. Some of the butter is +unsalted, but most of it is salted. When butter is made in the home, it +must be churned by hand. Only a few pounds at a time can be made in this +way. + +When the butter was taken out of the churn, the men packed it solidly in +wooden boxes about two feet square and four inches deep. The bottom +of each box consisted of strips as wide as a _square_ of butter. These +were held together by a clamp, and the sides were hooked to the bottom +and to one another. When the butter is to be cut into squares, these +sides are removed and zinc ones take their places. In these there are +slits running from top to bottom. Through these slits a wire saw is run, +and so the butter is quickly cut into one or two pound squares. The +butter is then wrapped in fancy papers upon which the name of the butter +or of the creamery is stamped. + +[Illustration: A Separator.] + +[Illustration: A Churn.] + +Of course some of the butter is packed in wooden tubs and shipped in +that form. This butter is a little cheaper than that put up in squares. + + + + +CHEESE + + +I was so much pleased with my visit to the creamery, that Uncle Ben +promised to show me how cheese is made. So one morning just after +breakfast he, Cousin Frank, and I started out. After a pleasant ride of +about five miles we reached the factory. + +The first process here was the same as that at the creamery. After the +milk was weighed it was run into great zinc-lined vats. There were four +of these in the factory, each of which held about five thousand pounds. + +Uncle Ben explained that the milk must _curdle_ before cheese can be +made. In order to make it curdle quickly, a little less than a pound of +a substance called _rennet_ was put into each vat. + +A man worked at each vat with a long wooden rake, stirring the milk +constantly. I saw a glass tube standing in the milk and asked what it +was. Uncle Ben told me to look at it closely. I saw that it was a +thermometer, and that it registered eighty degrees. A little while after +I looked again, when it showed a temperature of ninety degrees. The milk +is kept warm, so as to help it to curdle quickly. + +In about an hour I could see the curd very plainly, but the men kept on +stirring and cutting it. Presently one of them carried a piece of the +curd to a table. He heated a small iron rod and touched it with the +curd. When he pulled the curd away, little threads were drawn out to the +length of half an inch or more. This he called the "acid test," which +showed that the curd was in the right condition to be made into cheese. + +Of course only a part of the milk had turned into curd; the rest was +_whey_, that was drawn off and run into tanks. Each man who had +delivered one hundred pounds of milk was given a check for seventy-five +pounds of the whey. It is fed to hogs. About two hours from the time +that the milk was put into the vats, the whey was drawn off. + +One of the men now took a long knife and cut the curd into oblong cakes. +These he frequently lifted and turned over. After continuing this for +about twenty minutes, the pieces of curd were put into a small mill, +placed on a board over the vat, and the curd was chopped into strips +from one to six inches long and from one-half an inch to an inch thick. +Salt was scattered over the mass by one man, while another pitched it +about with a three-pronged wooden fork. The man told me that he used +three pounds of salt to each thousand pounds of milk. + +Next, a piece of cloth was placed on a board about sixteen inches +square. Two circular metal frames or bands, about six inches high, were +fitted one within the other and placed on the cloth. The frame was +filled with curd, covered by a cloth, and another set placed on top of +it until there were five. They were then put on a table directly under a +block which was fastened to a screw. By turning the screw the block was +pressed against the top board, and so each frame of curd was pressed. I +saw the whey running out as the squeezing went on. The superintendent +told us that the curd would be left in the press until the next day. + +We were then taken into the room where the cheese "ripens." Here we saw +large racks reaching nearly to the ceiling, filled with double rows of +cheeses. The smallest ones weighed but three pounds, while the largest +weighed fifty pounds. It may take but a few days and it may take many +months to "ripen" a cheese. It depends upon the flavor wanted. The man +said that in England "strong" cheese is generally liked, while in our +country "mild" cheese is preferred. + +I asked how much cheese five thousand pounds of milk would make, and was +told that it would make between four and five hundred pounds. + +On the way home Uncle Ben told us that although our country is a great +dairy country, we import certain kinds of cheese from Europe. He told us +how the Swiss people pasture their cattle on the steep mountain sides, +and that in every little mountain valley cheese is made, some of which +finds its way over the mountains and across the sea to the United +States. + + + + +THE FISHING INDUSTRY + + +Have you ever stood by the side of a stream and watched the fish dart +from one shadow of overhanging rock into another, or swim lazily at the +bottom of some deep pool? How gracefully they move and turn! How like +water jewels they flash as the sunlight falls upon them! + +Most streams and lakes, like the ocean, contain fish. So we have +fresh-water and salt-water fish. There are a few bodies of water so full +of salt that fish cannot live in them. Do you know of any such bodies of +water? + +Most of the fish used as food come from the ocean. In this, and in most +other countries, there are many men who do nothing but fish, in order +that other people may be supplied with this sort of food. They do not +depend upon hook and line alone, but use nets also. + +Nets are great sacks made of cord, knotted or woven together in such a +way as to leave spaces or _meshes_. These meshes are not big enough to +allow large fish to escape. Sometimes the fishermen go out in rowboats +some distance from shore and then throw the net into the water. Corks or +floats keep the upper edge of the net near the surface, while weights +hold the lower edge on the bottom. Ropes are fastened to each end, and +so it is drawn toward the shore. How the fishermen wish that they could +see to the bottom of the restless water and know what their harvest is +to be! When the boats have almost reached the shore, horses are +sometimes driven into the water and hitched to the ropes. At last the +net is dragged out upon the sands and the uncertainty is past. + +[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Drying Nets.] + +Look! Within the folds of the net is a countless number of fishes, each +jumping, squirming, wriggling, trying to get back to its ocean home. +They are of many sizes, shapes, and colors. Those not good for food, +together with the smallest ones, are thrown back into the water. + +Sometimes a net called a "dip-net" is dropped from a fishing schooner +and drawn about a "school" of fish. I have seen many barrels of fish +brought up at one time in this way. + +The fishermen keep a close watch for the appearance of these "schools," +you may be sure. Whales and dolphins pursue them, and gulls and +cormorants circle overhead, for they, too, are fishers. Their +appearance helps the men to tell where the "schools" are. There is a +great rush for the fishing grounds when they are sighted. The +white-sailed schooners skim over the waters almost like a flock of +birds. + +[Illustration: FIG. 19.--A Fishing Schooner.] + +Large quantities of fish are caught by a method called _trawl fishing_. +This may be carried on miles from the shore. How do you suppose it is +done? To a very long and strong line, many shorter ones, each with a +hook at the end, are attached. These lines, to which large buoys are +fastened, are left in the water for several hours, and then fishermen in +flat-bottomed boats called _dories_ row out from the schooner and +examine them. The lines are then reset and the fish taken to the +schooner to be dressed. This is a common method of catching codfish, +which is carried on during summer and winter alike. Storms and fogs are +likely to occur while the men are out in their little boats, making +their work full of danger as well as of hardship. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Splitting Codfish.] + +Many of the fish are packed in ice and sold fresh, while others are +cured on the boats or on shore. Some of the fishing schooners carry +great quantities of salt when they start out on a trip. The fish are +dressed and packed in this. Sometimes they are packed in brine, and +along the shores of some countries they are strung on poles to dry. + +Codfish are dried in great quantities along the New England coast by +placing them on frames made of strips of wood and raised a little above +the wharf, so that the air can circulate freely. When the skin and bones +are removed and the flesh cut into strips, it is called "shredded" +codfish. + +The principal food-fish are the cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, shad, +salmon, sardines, and whitefish. Whitefish are caught in the Great +Lakes. To this list the lobster may be added, although it is not a fish. + +A common method of catching lobsters is to sink a box made of lath to +the bottom, where they crawl about on the rocks. A fish head is placed +in the box for bait. The lobsters crawl in and are likely to remain +until the box is examined. + +[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Drying Codfish.] + +Lobster steamers, fitted up with tanks containing salt water, run from +Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to Boston and New York. Here those not +wanted are placed on cars containing similar tanks and sent to interior +cities. In this way fresh lobsters are served thousands of miles from +where they were caught. + +A lobster that would cost us from twenty-five to seventy-five cents +brings the fisherman not more than ten cents. + +Along our New England coast there are many towns engaged extensively in +fishing. Portland, Gloucester, Boston, and Provincetown are among the +number. Gloucester is the most important fishing town in the United +States. From it fishing schooners go as far as Newfoundland, Greenland, +Iceland, and even to the coast of Ireland. There are also important +fisheries on the Pacific coast, from San Francisco to Alaska. Here the +salmon are taken in great numbers. They weigh from twenty to one hundred +pounds. The fish are canned and shipped to all parts of the country. +Besides being caught in nets and traps and on lines many are caught in +"fish wheels." These are fastened to the stern of a boat and revolve in +the water. The fish are caught in pockets and dropped in the boat as the +wheel brings them up over it. + +There are very extensive fisheries along the shores of the British Isles +and on the western coast of Europe. Fishing is the chief industry in +the towns along the coast of Norway. The air is full of the odor of +fish, while drying fish, nets, and boats are everywhere in sight. + +Although the supply of fish in the ocean is very great, it is +diminishing, especially near the shore. Most countries now pay +considerable attention to the raising of both fresh and salt water +fishes, and they have passed laws regulating fishing. Eggs are hatched +in great _hatcheries_, from which the young fish are taken where they +are most needed. + +The great ocean is free to all to sail over or fish in at will. There is +a narrow strip along the shore three miles wide, which belongs to the +country which it borders. The men of other countries are not allowed to +fish there. + +The fisherman is a brave and sturdy man. His life is full of danger. He +battles constantly with the winds and the waves. Fogs may hide the sharp +rocks which seem to wait for a chance to destroy his little vessel. +Sometimes icebergs or great ocean steamers sink his boat and he is never +seen again. + +When storms are raging and night has settled over sea and land, and +angry waves are dashing themselves into foam against the shore, the +mothers, wives, and children look anxiously from their cottage windows +toward the sea, and pray that their loved ones may return to them in +safety. + + + + +OYSTER FARMING + + +It sounds strange to speak of farming in the ocean, but there are many +and large oyster farms all along our coast. Some of these farms are +covered by water all of the time and some are uncovered when the tide is +low. Oyster farms are far more profitable than are those upon which corn +and wheat are raised. + +This is a new industry in our country because civilized people have not +lived here very long, but it is a very old one in some parts of the +world. As long ago as the seventh century a Roman knight raised oysters +for the market, and it is said that the business made him very wealthy. + +You will understand better about the cultivation of oysters, if I tell +you first how they live and grow in their natural homes. + +Except during the first few days of their lives, oysters are prisoners. +They cannot move about freely from place to place as fishes and most +animals can, but they are attached to rocks, to the shells of their dead +relatives, and to other objects. How, then, do you suppose they get +their food? They grow in immense numbers, and they crowd one another +more than people do in the tenement houses in our great cities. In fact +most of them are soon crowded out, and they die, leaving room for the +rest to grow upon their empty homes. In this way the oyster beds spread +out. + +These oyster beds are not found in very deep water, but rather along the +shore, generally near the mouth of some river. As I have told you, they +often live where they are uncovered when the tide goes out. You can see +from this that it is not very difficult to gather oysters, so that, +partly on this account, man has used them for food for ages. + +When the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of New England, they found +that the Indians used oysters very commonly. All along the coast were +great heaps of the shells. At the very first Thanksgiving dinner given +in America, oysters were served. + +Oysters used to be so plentiful on these natural beds that they were +very cheap. In some places where the winter weather was cold enough to +freeze the water along the shore, people cut holes in the ice and +gathered them by means of long-handled rakes. + +In a single year an oyster will produce more than a million young ones. +Just think of it! If all of this family grew up, they would fill a room +fourteen feet in each dimension. + +These young oysters are _very_ small. They are called "spat." Most of +them are drifted away by waves and currents, or devoured by larger sea +animals. The few that escape soon attach themselves to some object, so +getting a chance to begin the battle of life. + +If oysters are caught at all times of the year it does not give them a +chance to produce their young, and this, as well as catching the young +ones themselves, has destroyed many of the natural beds. In order to +keep up the supply of this food men commenced oyster farming. You see +how our daily needs and desires lead to the establishment of great +industries. + +The oyster farmer prepares his farm in various ways. He places clean +oyster shells, stones, trays, bundles of sticks, and other things on the +bottom, so that the oysters may find something to which to attach +themselves. Then he places the young oysters or "spat" on these objects. +When trays are used, several are placed one upon another and bound +together by means of a chain. These trays are taken up from time to time +in order to gather the oysters that are ready for market. + +Stones are sometimes piled on the bottom and the "spat" are placed in +the crevices between them. Often stakes are planted in a somewhat +circular form. Cords are attached to the stakes, to which bundles of +sticks are fastened in such a way as to keep them a little above the +bottom. Young oysters attach themselves to these sticks, which may be +drawn up when the proper time comes. + +Shells are used more commonly than other things. They are taken from the +restaurants and hotels to the farms in boat loads, to be scattered over +the bottom. + +The young oysters grow at very different rates. In two years they may +grow to be six inches in length, or it may take several years to reach +that size. They grow more rapidly on the artificial beds, and are better +in quality also. The starfish is one of the greatest enemies of the +oyster, large numbers of which it destroys every year. + +During the fishing season the oyster men go to the beds in their boats +and scoop the oysters up from the bottom. This is called dredging. The +scoops with their loads of oysters are drawn to the deck of the boat by +machinery. Sometimes the oysters are gathered by means of long tongs. + +As the oysters are usually in clusters, these have to be broken up. For +this purpose a sort of a hammer known as a _culling iron_ is used. The +oysters are broken apart and sorted. Sometimes the oyster man makes +three grades and sometimes four. + +Oysters are not the only things drawn up in the dredge. Starfish, +lobsters, and various kinds of fishes are gathered in. The starfish are +killed and the rest thrown back. + +The oysters are heaped up in great piles on the deck of the boat. Sacks +and barrels are filled with them, and many car loads are shipped daily +from the cities near the fishing grounds. Chesapeake Bay is the center +of the oyster industry in our country. Find it. There are oyster beds, +however, all along both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. + +Great quantities of oysters are canned near where they are caught. +Getting them out of their shells is not an easy matter. For this purpose +a knife is used. This work is called in the South "shucking oysters." +Canning oysters is an important industry in the city of Baltimore. Have +you ever seen cans of oysters that came from there? + + + + +A RICE FIELD + + +When you do not feel quite satisfied with your breakfast, dinner, or +supper, and think that there should be a greater variety of food on the +table, just come with me and we will visit some of the boys and girls of +far-away China. What do you suppose _their_ chief article of food is? +Rice. Rice in the morning, rice at noon, and rice at night. Rice from +the beginning to the end of the year. In the poorer families a bit of +dried fish and some vegetables are usually eaten with it. Those who can +afford such things have bits of preserved ginger, mushrooms, and barley +cakes with the rice. Of course the rich people have other things to eat, +but most of the people of China are poor. + +In the fertile portions of China the people live very close together. +Gardens take the place of farms. Workmen often receive no more than ten +cents a day. On this account they cannot afford the variety of food +that we have, but must be content with whatever is cheap and nourishing +for their labor. If the rice crop were to fail, the Chinese would +suffer. You will see how important this food is to them, when I tell you +that they are forbidden by law to sell rice to other countries. + +Perhaps you are wondering where the rice that we use in this country +comes from. Rice is grown in great quantities in Japan, Corea, +Indo-China, Ceylon, India, the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands, and in +our Gulf states. + +Rice is the chief food of one half the people of the world. Although we +raise large quantities, we produce only about one half of what we use. +It is a kind of grain which will not thrive on the fertile Western +prairies where corn, oats, and wheat grow. It needs a warm climate and a +great deal of water. For this reason the rice fields are found on the +marshy lands near the coast, and by the banks of rivers, where they can +be easily flooded. Some rice is raised on the uplands, but not so +successfully as on the lowlands. + +Canals are dug from the streams through the farms, and from these +smaller ditches branch off so as to reach all parts. They are so +arranged that the farmer can turn the water on or off whenever he +wishes. On some of the farms, wells furnish the water to the canals. + +[Illustration: FIG. 22.--A Rice Field.--Observe the Canal.] + +In the Gulf states the fields are plowed in the winter, and the rice is +sown between the first of April and the middle of May. Sometimes the +seed is sown broadcast, as wheat is, and sometimes it is planted in +regular drills or trenches about twelve inches apart. + +The Japanese sow the seed in gardens, and when the plants are eight or +ten inches high, they are pulled up and transplanted to the fields. The +men work right in the water, for the fields are flooded at the time. + +In our country the farmer floods the field as soon as the seeds are +planted, allowing the water to remain five or six days. When the young +blade of rice is a few inches high, the field is again flooded. After +the second leaf appears on the stalk, the water is turned on and left +for twenty or thirty days. After the land dries the crop is hoed. The +fields are irrigated from time to time, until about eight days before +the harvest, which generally occurs in August. + +When full grown, the stalks are from one to six feet in height, with +long, slender leaves. The kernels grow much as those of wheat and oats +do. + +On account of the fields being so wet, rice, in most countries, is cut +by hand. In China and Japan small curved sickles are used, and the +grain is bound up in very small bundles. In Louisiana and some other +parts of the South, regular harvesters are used. They have very broad +wheels. Why? + +After the grain has been bound into bundles, these are set up in double +rows to dry. This is called _shocking_ the rice. The grain is then put +through a thrashing machine, to separate it from the straw. + +[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Harvesting Rice.] + +Rice kernels are covered by a husk. Before the husk is removed the grain +is often called _paddy rice_. Removing the hulls or husks is called +_hulling_. The hulling machine is a long tube into one end of which the +rice is poured. Within the tube are ribs which revolve rapidly. As the +kernels pass between these the hulls are taken off. + +If you were passing through a Chinese village, you might hear sounds +like those produced when a man pounds with a mallet on a great piece of +timber. On searching for the sounds, you would find that they came from +the rice mill. The mill consists of a portion of a log hollowed out and +placed upright. In the hollow a quantity of rice is held. A piece of +timber, fastened to a pivot, extends in a horizontal position with one +end over the mill. To this end another timber is fastened in an upright +position. A Chinaman gets on to the end of the long timber which is +farthest from the mill. This raises the end with the upright. He then +jumps off and the upright falls, striking upon the rice. In this way the +hulls are worn off. + +After hulling, the grain is carefully screened, in order to remove the +hulls, the broken and very small kernels, and the _rice flour_. This +latter makes good cattle food. + +Perhaps you have noticed that rice kernels have a bluish appearance. +This is not natural, but is the result of polishing. The polishing +removes much of the best part of the grain, but the rice sells for a +higher price simply on account of its appearance. + +The polishing machine is cylindrical or drum-like in shape. Moosehide or +sheepskin is tacked to the cylinder. It is made to revolve rapidly, so +that the kernels are polished as they pass over the skin. After being +polished the kernels are run through screens and sorted. The rice is +then put up in barrels or sacks and shipped. + + + + +HOW SUGAR IS MADE + + +[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Sowing Sugar Seed.] + +This picture represents one of the beginnings of the great industry of +sugar making. The small objects which you see in the trenches are pieces +of sugar cane. These "cuttings," as they are called, are covered with +soil. They soon sprout, and from them grow the tall, waving fields of +cane, which resemble cornfields. The canes are taller than cornstalks, +however. How high do you think those shown in the picture are? + +In about ten months after planting the cane is ready to cut. In the +Southern states this work usually begins about the middle of October. + +[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Cutting Sugar Cane.] + +The canes are jointed, as cornstalks are, and the spongy substance +between the joints is filled with a sweet juice. It is from this juice +or sap that cane sugar is made. I have seen children chew pieces of the +cane, and enjoy it as you do candy; for this use it is sometimes sold in +stores in the South. + +[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Loading Cars with Sugar Cane.] + +After the canes are cut they are hauled to the mill or sugarhouse on +wagons. On the large plantations _tram cars_ sometimes run right into +the fields. + +At the mill the canes are run between heavy rollers, which squeeze out +the sap. Sometimes as many as seventy-five pounds of sap are obtained +from one hundred pounds of cane. The crushed stalks are used in the mill +for fuel, and the ashes are returned to the land to fertilize it. + +When the juice is first pressed out, it is not at all clear in color. It +is then placed in great vats or kettles and heated. This heating causes +the water which is in the sap to evaporate, and it also brings some of +the impurities to the top, where they are skimmed off. When the +evaporating has been finished, there are two products, molasses and +brown sugar. + +The sugar must next be refined. For this purpose it is usually sent to +cities outside of the sugar belt. There are great refineries in New +Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and other cities. + +When the _raw sugar_, as it is called, reaches the refinery, which is +generally a tall building, it is taken to the top story and dissolved in +hot water. It then passes through bags which act as _filters_, and +through a great cylinder which contains burned bones, known as +_bone-black_. You remember that I told you that the bones of the cattle +were saved. This is one of the uses to which they are put. When the +liquid comes out of this bone filter it is a perfectly clear sirup, +which is then crystallized. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27.--A Sugar Mill.] + +You know that we buy refined sugar in three forms: granulated sugar, +loaf sugar, and pulverized sugar. When granulated sugar is wanted, the +crystals are placed in a great drum, which revolves until they are +thoroughly dried in the right form. To make loaf sugar, the crystals are +pressed into molds, then dried, and cut into the size desired. In +powdered sugar they are simply ground to a powdered condition. + +Think how much labor is required to produce sugar, and yet you can buy +it for five cents a pound. + +There are great fields of sugar cane in the Gulf states, in Cuba, in the +Hawaiian Islands, in the East Indies, in India, and in other warm, moist +parts of the world. We buy a great deal of sugar from Cuba, and from the +Hawaiian Islands. To what city do you think the sugar from the Hawaiian +Islands is sent? + + + + +BEET SUGAR + + +Although the cane fields of the moist, hot countries yield great +quantities of sugar, there are other sources from which this useful +product comes. In the year 1747 a German scientist discovered that sugar +can be made from beets, and now about two thirds of our supply come from +these plants. + +The sugar beet is not just like the plant of the same name which we +raise for table use. It is white, and sometimes weighs as much as ten or +fifteen pounds. Beets do not need so much water nor so much heat as +sugar cane, so they can be raised in Germany, France, Austria, Russia, +and other countries, as well as in California, Utah, and Nebraska, in +our own land. + +In some parts of California there are fields of beets stretching for +miles. The seeds are planted in rows, which, after the plants have come +up, are thinned. In four or five months from the time the seeds are +planted, the beets are ready to harvest. + +On most of the large _ranches_ the beets are dug by machinery. Men then +move back and forth in the fields, cutting off the leaves and a little +of the upper part of the beet, for this contains too much mineral matter +to be of value in making sugar. The workmen use large knives, and they +walk on their knees. + +The beets are now taken to the factory in wagons, or, if it is far away, +they are sent on trains. When the loads of beets reach the factory, they +are weighed. The teamsters then drive up an inclined plane to a plank +roadway. There are generally several of these. On each side of the road +or platform are deep V-shaped trenches with wooden sides, in which +streams of water run. When the wagon has reached the right spot, the +platform upon which it rests is raised in a slanting position, and the +beets fall into the trench. + +A basket full of beets is taken from each load and tested, to see how +much sugar they contain, for this determines the price to be paid. + +The stream of water in the trench carries the beets along, just as they +would be carried in a brook. This, you see, is a quick and easy way of +washing them. + +The streams of water carry the beets into the factory, where they are +cut up into strips by machinery. The juice is then washed out in vats +containing warm water, and is boiled down in great tanks. The raw sugar +is refined much as the cane sugar is. After the sugar has been dried, it +is run through spouts into sacks held open to catch it as it comes out. +One hundred pounds are put into each sack. One workman sews the sacks up +and another wheels them to the wareroom. Train loads are carried away to +be distributed in the parts of our country that do not produce sugar. + + + + +MAPLE SUGAR + + +You would enjoy helping to make some maple sugar, I am sure, so let us +make a trip to the woods of Vermont or New York, where maple sugar is +made from the sap of the sugar-maple tree. + +You will need your cap and mittens, as the sugar season is the early +spring, when there is yet snow on the ground. Besides, some of the work +is done at night, and you will not wish to miss that. + +The owner of the "sugar bush" bores holes into the trees a short +distance from the ground, into which he slips small spouts, called +"spiles." + +[Illustration: FIG. 28.--Tapping a Tree.] + +This is called _tapping_ the trees. Underneath the spout a pail is +placed. During the day the sap trickles out and runs into the pail. +During the colder hours of the night the sap flows slowly, if at all. +Sometimes it is so cold that little sap runs for two or three days at a +time. + +[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Oxen hauling Sap.] + +The sap is collected in barrels and drawn on sleds to the camp or place +where it is to be boiled down. This is done in great pans called +_evaporators_, which may be five or six feet wide, and fifteen feet +long. They are divided into sections, and these are connected by means +of little openings. + +The sap flows into one end of the evaporator and follows a zigzag path +through the different sections. By flowing slowly over so large a +surface, evaporation goes on rapidly and the sap is changed to sirup by +the time it has finished its journey. + +The sirup is put up in cans, or boiled down into sugar, which is molded +into small cakes, and brings a high price. + +[Illustration: FIG. 30.--Sap-yoke and Pails for gathering Sap.] + +"Sugaring off," as the boiling down of the sap is called, is quite an +event. Often a number of people will be invited to go to the sugarhouse +and take part in the operation. + +Before the modern evaporator came into use "sugaring off" always +occurred at night. This was necessary, because during the day the sap +buckets had to be attended to. The young people would sing songs, tell +stories, and eat sugar. + +Some of the "sugar bushes" contain but a few trees and some contain one +or two thousand or even more. A tree will yield from one to six pounds +of sugar during a season. + +Our country produces great quantities of sugar every year, but we use so +much that we have to buy much more than we manufacture at home. It was +not always in such common use, however, because people in olden times +did not understand how to make it cheaply. + +Long, long ago sugar was used only as a medicine. Don't you wish that +all medicine to-day was as good as sugar? About seven hundred years ago +an Italian nobleman died and left to his relatives, among other things, +_six pounds of sugar_. His will caused considerable comment among the +people, who said that no one family should be allowed to have so much +sugar in its possession. + + + + +WHERE SALT COMES FROM + + +The Arab, journeying over the yellow sands, riding upon the back of his +faithful "ship of the desert," often looks longingly for some sign of +water to cool his parched lips. The sailor may ride upon the beautiful +blue waters of the ocean in his white-winged ship; but although there is +nothing but water to greet his eyes, he cannot drink it, for it is +bitter to the taste. + +If you were to place a quantity of ocean water over a fire and evaporate +it, there would remain a white substance. This is common salt. You see +that it is as necessary to provide fresh water when one wishes to cross +the ocean, as it is if one is going to cross the desert. + +Most streams and lakes contain _fresh_ water, so you will wonder why the +waters of the ocean are briny. The rocks and soil of the earth contain +salt, and the streams wash it from the land. Each one carries so little +that we do not notice it, but they have worked so steadily and so long, +that they have carried a great amount to the sea. None of it can escape, +so the ocean gets more and more briny. + +No healthy person would ever think of eating salt alone as a food, and +yet our food would taste very unsatisfactory without it. Farmers supply +their cattle and horses with salt, and wild animals search for it in the +forests, and lick it from the soil with their tongues. + +Salt is so important to us that I want to tell you about some of the +ways in which men obtain it. + +Sometimes sea water is placed in great vats and evaporated. This leaves +the salt, which is then refined. You know that the sun's heat causes the +waters of a shallow pond to evaporate during warm weather. Shallow +basins are often scooped out along the coast, and the waters which fill +them are then shut off from the larger body. In time the water +evaporates, and the salt, which has formed in thin layers, is +collected. + +I said that most lakes are fresh-water bodies. There are some, however, +that are _very_ salty. Great Salt Lake is one of these. Streams flow +into it, but none flows out. If you were to bathe in the waters of this +lake, you would find that your body would not sink. + +I have seen great piles of glistening salt along the shore of Great Salt +Lake which had been obtained by evaporation. A railroad runs beside the +lake, and the salt is loaded upon the cars to be hauled away. When the +people first settled in Utah, they used to drive to the lake in wagons +to get a supply of salt. + +Although the ocean and a few lakes contain immense quantities of this +useful article, we get most of our supply from other sources. + +In the western part of New York State, at some distance below the +surface of the earth, there is a thick layer of salt. Wells are drilled +down to this; water is pumped into them, and then pumped out again as +brine. This brine is evaporated in large pans made of iron, two quarts +of brine yielding about a pound of salt. + +In China salt has been obtained in this way for hundreds and even +thousands of years. Though they had little machinery to work with in +those days, yet by patient, steady effort, they drilled wells two +thousand and even three thousand feet in depth. From twenty-five to +forty years were required to drill some of these wells. Those who +commenced them knew that they were not likely to enjoy the fruits of +their labor and that others must get the benefit of what they did. What +does this show about these people? What benefits are you receiving from +what others have done? + +Salt is also mined as coal and iron are. This is called _rock salt_. It +is obtained in Germany, Poland, Austria, India, the United States, and +in many other countries. + +One of the most interesting salt fields of the world is in the +southeastern part of California. It is on the Colorado Desert, near the +Colorado River. This was once a part of the ocean floor and the rocks +contain much salt. Water seeping through the earth dissolves the salt +and brings it to the surface at this place. What happens to the water? + +[Illustration: FIG. 31.--Harvesting Salt, Salton, California. Is there +any Water in this Field?] + +[Illustration: FIG. 32.--Loading Cars with Salt. Salton, California.] + +This salt field covers an area of about one thousand acres, to a depth +of from one to eight inches. You can see by the picture that it looks +more like a field of snow and ice than one of salt. The bright sunlight +is reflected from its surface with such power that it hurts one's eyes. + +A great plow drawn by a steam engine moves over this dazzling field, +and throws the salt up in furrows. It is then piled up, loaded on to +cars, and taken to sheds, where it is purified. Indians and Japanese do +most of the work. + +In order to purify the brines they are boiled in iron pans and treated +in various ways to make them fit for table use. When evaporation is +rapid, the salt crystals are quite small, but slower evaporation +produces larger ones. Rock salt is dissolved in water and then +evaporated. To get the finest of salt, the crystals must be ground. When +salt is to be used for other purposes than to season food, not so much +pains are taken. Name other uses of salt. + +In olden times, when salt was not so easily obtained as it is to-day, it +was regarded in some countries as a luxury. This seems strange, does it +not? At one time the Chinese made it into little cakes, stamped the +image of the emperor upon it, and used it as money. In Arabia those who +together ate food which had been salted, believed that this established +a special bond of friendship between them. This led to the old saying, +"There is salt between us." + + + + +MACARONI AND VERMICELLI + + +Have you ever wondered as you have looked at the hollow sticks of +macaroni in the stores or as you have eaten them at the table, how they +were made in that way, and what they were made of? + +In Italy macaroni is a very important article of food, and its use is +rapidly increasing in our own country. For a long time it was not made +outside of Italy, where the city of Genoa was the center of the +industry. Locate this city. Do you know what great man was born there? +Now macaroni and vermicelli are made in other countries. There are a few +factories in the United States, but most of what we use still comes from +Italy. + +In making these foods only the best hard wheat is used. + +After grinding the wheat, the bran is taken out and the flour is placed +in a large wooden tub. Water is added, and the two are mixed by hand +for a few minutes. In this tub a marble wheel about five feet in +diameter and eighteen inches in thickness is fastened in an upright +position. This wheel weighs about a ton. + +After the flour and water have been mixed, the wheel is set in motion by +machinery, and it slowly circles around in the tub, pressing the dough +under it. + +A man keeps walking in front of the wheel, moving the dough from the +edges of the tub and placing it directly in the path of it. This work of +pressing the flour into a paste continues for a little more than half an +hour. + +The wheel is then stopped and the paste, which is quite stiff, is cut +into cakes about a foot square and from one to three inches in +thickness. + +These are put into an iron cylinder heated by steam. In the bottom of +the cylinder is a copper plate filled with holes having the centers +filled. A cover fitted to a great screw which turns by machinery is +placed on top. This slowly, but steadily, presses the paste downward. +It is thus forced through these openings, and of course comes out in the +form of round, hollow pipes. + +[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Drying Macaroni in Italy.] + +As these pipes issue from the cylinder, they are straightened out on a +wooden tray or platform, and with a large, sharp knife cut into lengths +of about three feet. They are then taken to a drying room and spread on +wire frames covered with oiled paper. Here they are left for about five +days, after which they are placed in boxes and are ready to ship. + +The only difference between macaroni and vermicelli is that the pipes +of vermicelli are very small and are not hollow. + +When vermicelli is wanted, two plates are placed on the bottom of the +press. The under one is of iron and contains holes about one inch in +diameter. The upper one is of copper and contains _groups_ of very small +openings. There are sometimes eighty of these openings in a group. When +the plates are screwed together, the groups of small holes are directly +above the larger openings. + +As the paste is pressed, it passes through the little holes and then +issues from the larger ones; this keeps each little group of pipes +somewhat apart from the others. + +Saffron is added to the paste to color it, and the great golden mass is +quite a pretty sight as it steadily lengthens. + +The workman cuts off six or seven feet of it at a time; and holding it +above his head with one hand, he shakes it out with the other, as one +might shake the folds of a piece of silk. The pipes tangle up very +little. They are cut into lengths of about eighteen inches. + +It is then taken to the drying room and spread out on the trays just as +the macaroni is. A handful of the vermicelli is taken at a time, and by +a peculiar twist of the arm it is placed on the paper in a form +something like that of the letter _n_. After drying for five days it is +packed and shipped. + + + + +ON A COFFEE PLANTATION + + +Juan and Lupe live in a beautiful valley where palm and banana trees +wave their broad leaves in the breeze. It is never cold there, so that +many kinds of plants and flowers grow out of doors which we do not see +in our country except in greenhouses. On clear days they can see lofty +mountains far to the westward, which sometimes wear caps of white. + +Juan is fourteen years old and Lupe is twelve. Their skin is much darker +than yours, and they have bright black eyes and black hair. Their father +owns a great coffee plantation in Brazil, not far from the city of Rio +Janeiro. + +There are many men, women, and children employed on the plantation, and +Juan and Lupe enjoy roaming about from place to place and watching them +at their work. + +In the nursery they see men planting the coffee seeds in the rich soil. +There are some plants that have just come up, and some that are ready +to transplant. They are set out in rows, six or eight feet apart each +way, and sometimes more. + +[Illustration: FIG. 34.--A Coffee Nursery.] + +The trees would grow much taller than those you see in the picture, if +they were not kept pruned. Do you know why they are prevented from +growing tall? Whenever you look at a coffee plantation, you see the dark +green foliage of the tree, which is an evergreen. Lupe is very fond of +the blossoms. They are clear white and very fragrant. + +A tree will yield a small amount the second year after planting, but it +will not produce a full crop for five or more years. Two pounds is a +good average crop for a tree. + +[Illustration: FIG. 35.--Picking Coffee.] + +The children like to watch the pickers as they go from tree to tree. +Many of them are about their own age. Some carry a sack slung over the +shoulders, and others carry baskets or pails. The _berries_ must be +picked by hand, for they do not all ripen at once. They are dark +scarlet in color and look a little like cranberries. A good picker +gathers about three bushels in a day. The pickers are given a check +every time they fill a basket. Sometimes Juan tends to this work, and he +enjoys it very much. At the end of each week the pickers are paid +according to the number of checks they have. + +[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Coffee Berries.] + +Within the berry are two kernels or seeds, with their flat sides +together. These are called "coffee beans." It is these beans from which +the drink is made. + +The picking is but a small part of the work of preparing coffee for the +market. The first operation is removing the pulp. This used to be done +by tramping on the berries, but now it is done in a better way. + +The berries are thrown into a large tank filled with water, which +carries them through a pipe to the pulping machine. This machine removes +the pulp and separates the beans. + +Next the beans are carried to a second tank, where they remain for about +twenty-four hours, to wash off a sticky substance which covers the shell +of the bean. + +If you have ever put beans or peas into a basin of water, you have +noticed that nearly all of them sink, while a few float. These latter +are the poor ones. This is the way in which the good and bad coffee +beans are separated. A pipe carries off the seeds that float on the +surface of the water. + +The beans are dried on cement floors upon which they are spread. This +drying takes a long time. Before sunset each day the coffee must be +carried under shelter, for the dew injures it. While they are drying, +the workmen stir them. Sometimes artificial heat is used, but this is +expensive. Juan's father has a watchman whose duty it is to guard the +coffee at night, for it is very valuable. + +Each bean is covered by a strong shell, or hull, which has to be +removed. The soaking has loosened this, and so it comes off easier than +it otherwise would. Juan and Lupe often watch the wheels of the huller +as they turn, moved by patient oxen. + +There are two wheels set upright over a circular box, into which the +coffee is put. As it passes between the wheels and the bottom of the +box, the hulls are removed. Underneath the hull is a thin skin, which is +also taken off. + +In some countries people want the coffee dyed or colored. A bluish color +is given to it by coating the wheels of the hulling machine with lead. + +The hulls are separated from the beans in a winnowing machine, and the +coffee is then sorted. Often this is done by hand. The beans are spread +out on a table, and girls and boys, and sometimes grown persons, sort +it into several grades. + +[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Sorting and sacking Coffee.] + +Juan's father has this work done by machinery. The coffee is put into a +cylinder, in the bottom of which there are holes of different sizes by +which it is graded. + +The last process is to sack the coffee and send it by railroad to Rio +Janeiro. Of course it is neither roasted nor ground until it reaches its +destination. + +We do not produce coffee in our country, but we are the greatest coffee +drinkers in the world. A large part of our supply comes from Brazil. +Trace the course of the ship from Rio Janeiro to New York. Juan has +often done this, and his father has promised to take him with him +sometime, when he goes with a cargo of coffee. + +You naturally think that coffee of different names must come from +different countries, or at least from different trees. This is not +always the case. Several brands may come from the same tree. The name +depends partly upon the size and the general appearance of the beans. + +Coffee is a native of the far East, but it has gradually been +transplanted to other countries, until it is now very extensively used. +Brazil, Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, the Hawaiian Islands, +Java, Ceylon, and Arabia are coffee-raising countries. + +In 1551 coffee found its way to the city of Constantinople; in 1652 it +had reached London; and in 1720 it was planted in the West Indies. You +see it worked its way westward rather slowly. + +Several hundred years ago, coffee was very expensive, so that only the +rich could afford to use it. Instead of drinking it at home, people went +to "coffeehouses," where it was served. To these "coffeehouses" men +brought whatever news they had heard and told it to one another. In this +way these places served about the same purpose that newspapers do now. + + + + +THE TEA GARDENS OF CHINA + + +At the bottom of the teapot you will find some leaves. Spread one of +them out carefully. You can see that it was once long and slender, a +little like willow leaves. It may have grown in some garden in far-away +China, for we get a great deal of tea from that country. + +I have told you how close together the people live on the fertile plains +of eastern China. There is so little room that many live on boats on the +rivers and in the harbors. On this account their farms are not so large +as ours. + +The tea trees in the gardens are about five or six feet high. If they +were allowed to, they would reach a height of twenty-five feet; but they +are kept trimmed for the same reasons that the coffee trees are pruned. + +The trees are raised from seeds, and are generally planted on land which +slopes toward the south. What advantage is this? + +In about three years after planting, the first crop of leaves can be +gathered. In China they are usually gathered four times each year, and +the trees continue to yield for twenty-five or thirty years. + +When the leaves are picked, they are full of sap or juice, and so have +to be dried. The drying is usually done on trays made of bamboo. While +they are drying, they are rubbed and rolled between the palms of the +hands, so that they may dry more quickly and evenly. + +Next the leaves are placed, a few at a time, in iron pans over a +charcoal fire. They are left in these but a short time, for they are +hot. This process is called "firing." Sometimes the leaves are "fired" +but once, and sometimes twice. + +The tea is then spread out, and broken bits of stems are removed. Some +of the tea growers place the tea in baskets which are suspended over +slow fires, for drying. + +If you were to look into some of the _tea-hongs_ or houses where tea is +cured and packed, you would find the tea dried in a very curious +fashion. + +[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Picking Tea. "Pinehurst," South Carolina.] + +In one of the rooms you would see several Chinamen rolling and tossing +balls about with their bare feet. The balls are about the size of +footballs and are partly filled with tea. Although it looks like play, +it is hard work. As the balls are tossed about, the tea leaves are given +their rounded or twisted appearance. From time to time the workers stop +and tie the bags up more closely at the neck. This method is used in +making _gunpowder tea_. + +Black and green teas are not different varieties, but are produced by +different methods of handling. + +In the great tea-hongs there are professional _tasters_,--that is, men +who do nothing but sip tea from small cups, so as to grade it and fix +its value. This is considered a very particular line of work and +requires an educated taste. + +The ocean atmosphere has a bad effect on tea, so that the very finest +grades are seldom sent across the sea. When tea is to be shipped by +water, it is placed in boxes lined with a sort of sheet lead. This +protects the tea greatly. Most of the tea sent to the United States +lands at San Francisco. Why? How does it get to other parts of our +country? + +Great quantities of tea are pressed into the form of bricks and sent +over mountains and across deserts into Russia. + +This is called "brick tea." The Russians are great tea drinkers, and +whenever any one calls in Russia, tea is served. They call their teapot +a _samovar_. + +Better tea is obtained from Ceylon and India than from China. In these +countries Europeans have charge of most of the tea farms, and they have +carefully studied the cultivation and handling of tea. + +There is a little tea raised in our own country in the state of South +Carolina. It is very fine in quality and people are willing to pay a +high price for it. Some of it has been sold for five dollars a pound. + +When tea was first brought into Europe, it was regarded as a great +luxury, just as coffee was. People paid as much as fifty dollars a pound +for it. It is said that some of the tea raised to-day for the royal +family of China, is worth a hundred dollars a pound. + +Many people in this country do not enjoy a cup of tea unless they have +milk and sugar in it. The Chinese do not use either in their tea. In +Russia it is quite common to draw the tea through a lump of sugar held +between the teeth. + +You know that tea parties are very common. The most celebrated tea party +ever held was called the "Boston Tea Party." See what you can find out +about it. + + + + +A CUP OF COCOA + + +On the eighteenth day of June, in the year 1771, this notice appeared in +the _Essex Gazette_ of Massachusetts:-- + + "AMOS TRASK, + + At his House a little below the Bell-Tavern in + + DANVERS, + + Makes and sells Chocolate, + + which he will warrant to be good, and takes Cocoa to grind. Those + who may please to favor him with their Custom may depend upon being + well served, and at a very cheap Rate." + +This seems to have been the first notice of the manufacture and sale of +cocoa and chocolate in our country. What is peculiar about the notice? + +In those days the raw product was brought to Massachusetts by the +Gloucester fishermen. They obtained it in the West Indies in exchange +for fish and other things which they took there. + +When the Spanish soldier, Cortez, conquered Mexico in 1519, he found +that the people of that country were very fond of a drink which they +called "chocolatl." It was served to their ruler, Montezuma, in a cup of +gold. When the Spaniards went home, they of course introduced the drink +into their own country. For a long time it was very expensive and was +not commonly used outside of Spain, for the Spaniards kept the secret of +its preparation. + +Cocoa and chocolate are products of the seeds of a tree called the cacao +tree. It is a tropical tree and grows in both the Old and the New World. + +Although the cacao tree grows wild, it is also cultivated in orchards +much like fruit orchards which you have seen. The trees are seldom more +than twenty feet high, but they are rather inclined to spread out. They +require some shade, and so other trees are often planted between the +rows to shade them. The trees begin to bear when five or six years old, +and continue to yield for forty years. There are generally two chief +harvests each year, but the fruit is ripening all of the time. + +The blossoms, which grow in clusters, are small and pink or yellow in +color. They grow directly from the branches or the trunk of the tree. + +[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Cocoa Pods and Leaves. + +(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +In about four months after the tree has blossomed, you will find dark +yellow or brown pods hanging from it. These look a little like ripe +cucumbers, but they are more pointed at one end and are grooved or +fluted. These pods are from six inches to a foot or more in length, with +a rather thick, tough rind. + +[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Native Cocoa Pickers. Ceylon. (Permission of +WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +How do you think the pods are gathered? They are cut off by men carrying +long poles, sometimes of bamboo, to the ends of which knives are +fastened. Only the ripe pods are cut off and collected in a heap under +the tree. They are left in these heaps for about twenty-four hours, +when they are cut open and the seeds are gathered in baskets. + +The seeds are called "beans." There are five rows of them, about the +size of almonds, within the pink pulp of the fruit. When fresh they are +white, but when dried they are brown. If you taste one, you will find it +bitter. + +You have often seen on packages of chocolate, as well as on the cans of +breakfast cocoa, the picture of a young woman carrying some chocolate +upon a tray. It is the picture of a beautiful girl who once served +chocolate in the old city of Vienna. Her name was Anette Baldauff, and +she married a rich count and "lived happily ever after." It is said that +a painting of her hangs upon the walls of the great art gallery in +Dresden. Point out the cities I have mentioned. + +The seeds are carried from the orchard to the sheds, where they are +prepared for market. Here they go through a process of fermentation or +"sweating." For this purpose they are placed in a covered box, or they +may even be covered with earth. This is called "claying." Now the seeds +must be dried. They are spread out on platforms, raised a little above +the ground, so that the air can circulate underneath. You notice that +the roofs do not cover them just now, for their only purpose is to keep +off the dew and the rain. They are fastened to frames which have wheels +under them. During the day they are not used, but at night they are +rolled over the cocoa. + +[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Drying Cocoa Seed. Ceylon. + +(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +The cocoa is stirred by workmen using long shovels or rakes, so that it +may dry quickly and evenly. Once a day the beans are shoveled into heaps +and the workmen tread upon them with their bare feet, as you see. This +is called "dancing the cocoa." + +After the seeds have dried for about two weeks they are nearly the color +of red bricks. They are put up for shipment in canvas sacks holding one +hundred and fifty pounds each. The name of the plantation is usually +stamped upon the outside. Guayaquil exports more cocoa than any other +city. Find it. A great deal comes from the island of Trinidad, and from +the northern part of South America. + +When the "beans" have reached their destination, they must be cleaned, +to rid them of dust and dirt collected on the way. They are then placed +in a great revolving cylinder and roasted. You remember that when coffee +is roasted it brings out a pleasant odor called its _aroma_. The same is +true of cocoa. The roasting also helps to loosen a shell which surrounds +the seed. The shell is next removed and the "beans" are then crushed. + +The Mexicans used to crush the seeds on a large stone, hollowed out on +top. This they called a "matate." + +[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Grinding Cocoa. + +(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +The crushing is now done by machinery. The broken bits of the cocoa are +called "cocoa nibs." When the cocoa is ground to a powder, it is put +into strong bags and pressed. This pressure removes a part of an oily +substance known as "cocoa butter." Remember, then, that cocoa is the +meal or flour made from the crushed seeds from which some of the oil has +been removed. Chocolate differs from cocoa in that none of this oil is +removed in making it. + +[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Moulding Cocoa. + +(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +You have often seen the words "sweet chocolate" on the labels. This is +made by adding a quantity of pulverized sugar to the "plain" or "bitter" +chocolate. Sometimes vanilla beans are added. + +[Illustration: FIG. 44.--Cooling Cocoa. + +(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)] + +The pasty mass known as chocolate must be molded. When the proper amount +has been placed in each of several metal molds which rest on a table, +they are made to rock or shake, and this causes the chocolate to assume +the right shape. The molds are then taken to the cooling room, where +they are placed on frames, one above another, in long rows. Girls and +women wrap the cakes of chocolate in the wrappers specially prepared for +them, after which they are packed in boxes ready for shipment. + +At Dorchester, Massachusetts, on the Neponset River, is situated the +largest establishment for the manufacture of cocoa and chocolate in +America. It is interesting to know that on the very spot where these +great mills now stand, was built, in 1765, the first one of the kind in +this country. + + + + +A CRANBERRY BOG + + + WAREHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, Dec. 10, 1901. + +DEAR FRANK: How surprised you will be to learn that I am now a country +boy. We left Boston early last spring, and came out here to go into the +business of cranberry raising. It seemed very strange at first to travel +along country roads, or through woods and fields, instead of upon the +cement walks of our city streets, but we all think the country +delightful. + +A cranberry farm is a marsh or a bog, so you will see that the vines +need a great deal of water. There are both wild and cultivated bogs. +Those that are cultivated are provided with a system of ditches, so that +they can be flooded from time to time. It is a good deal like irrigation +in Southern California, I suppose. We flood the bogs to prevent the +berries from freezing, as well as to furnish the vines with water. I +will tell you more about that by and by. + +Father wanted a larger bog than the one he first bought, so, soon after +we came, he got another small piece of marsh land which joins it on the +west, and started vines on it. + +You know that willows, rosebushes, grapevines, and many other plants +will grow from _cuttings_. It is the same with cranberry vines. The +lower end of each cutting is pressed into the soil, and it soon begins +to grow. They are set in rows about fourteen inches apart. One of our +neighbors, who was starting a bog at the same time, cut the vines into +pieces an inch or two long, and scattered them over the ground. He then +harrowed them in. The vines multiply just as strawberry plants do, by +putting out _runners_. + +They tell us that our new bog will produce a crop in three years. Do you +have to wait that long for a crop of oranges? + +By the middle of June our bog was in full blossom. The flowers are quite +small and their color is a little like that of the flesh. I read an +interesting thing about them the other day. It seems that the berries +used to be called "craneberries," because people thought that the +blossoms, just before they opened fully, "resembled the neck, head, and +bill of a crane." By dropping the _e_, we got the present name. + +[Illustration: FIG. 45.--A Cranberry Bog. Showing the Young Vines.] + +During our harvest time, which lasted from the middle of September to +the last of October, we were very busy. We did not commence to go to +school until the berries were picked. You see, frost may occur and spoil +the crop, so that everybody works as fast as possible until the harvest +is over. Father had about twenty pickers some of the time, besides our +own family. + +[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Cranberry Pickers at Work. Notice how the Bog +is divided into Rows by Means of Cords.] + +When we were ready to begin picking, father took some twine and +stretched it back and forth across the bog, fastening it to small +stakes. This divided the field into rows. Each picker was given a row, +and he was not allowed to change until it was finished. + +At first it seemed great fun to get down on the ground and strip off the +bright berries, but when one does this day after day it gets pretty +tiresome. It must be easy to pick oranges, because you can stand up +while you work. + +Father paid the pickers twelve cents a pail. It takes about three +pailfuls to make a bushel. I averaged about one dollar and a half each +day. I bought a suit of clothes and all of my books for the year, and +have considerable money left. Some of the pickers who were quite small +did not earn very much. Do you recognize Jennie? She worked a part of +every day. + +Twice during the picking season there was a sharp frost, but we saved +the crop. + +The government sends out a Weather Map every day. Our teacher gets one, +and there is one tacked up in the post office every morning. These maps +tell what kind of weather to expect, and father watches them closely. +When he saw that frost was likely to occur, he and the men opened the +gates which hold back the water, in order to flood the part of the bog +where we had not picked. The vines were buried nearly two feet beneath +the surface of the water. Father says the water cools so slowly that its +temperature is much above that of the surface of the ground or the air +near it, so the berries do not get frost-bitten. Soon after sunrise the +water was drawn off, and the next day the bog was dry enough for the +pickers to work. + +[Illustration: Fig. 47.--A Young Worker. Notice how the Berries are +picked.] + +I wonder if the Weather Bureau is of any use to farmers in California. I +know that the sailors watch for the flags which tell when storms are +coming, that they may not go to sea if a violent storm is expected. +Father says very many lives and much property are saved every year in +this way. + +[Illustration: FIG. 48.--Winnowing and Barreling Cranberries.] + +I have not told you what we do with the cranberries after they are +picked. Of course we cannot help gathering some leaves and twigs with +the berries, and these must be taken out. For this purpose the berries +are put into a winnowing machine. I will send you a picture of one. As +the man turns the crank, wooden fans within turn rapidly, blowing out +the leaves, twigs, and dirt. The berries drop through a screen and run +out of a spout into a barrel, as you see. We then put them into crates +or barrels for sale. Father tells me that cranberries are shipped from +our country to Europe, because those raised here are much better than +the European berries. + +There are great quantities of cranberries raised in this part of +Massachusetts. I have been reading lately that they are produced in New +Jersey, on Long Island, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, and +some other sections. From what I have read, I guess they are not raised +in Southern California. Wouldn't it seem strange if you were to eat +berries raised on our bog, three thousand miles away? + +Now I want you to tell me about the orange groves of Southern +California, for none of us have ever seen an orange growing. + +I wish you all a very "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year." + + Your loving friend, + + WILL. + + + + +THE COCOANUT ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC + + +Imagine yourself on a great ocean steamship, gliding over the blue water +of the Pacific Ocean toward the Samoan Islands. Among the first things +that you will see as you near the shores of these islands will be tall, +slender, graceful trees, rising without a branch to a height of thirty +to eighty feet. At the top is a sort of crown, composed of long, +drooping leaves. These beautiful trees lean out over the water and toss +their leaves in the strong and steady breeze from the ocean. They seem +to nod a friendly greeting to you as you approach, and to wave a loving +farewell to you as you sail away. These trees are the cocoanut palms. +They grow on all of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, in the +West Indies, and along the shores of most warm countries, but never far +from the sea. + +When the cocoanut falls into the water, it is rocked and tossed by the +waves and drifted about by the currents, but it is safe within its +shell, for the salt water cannot penetrate this. When it finally comes +to rest upon some strange shore, it is ready to give to the world +another cocoanut palm, if the climate is like that from which it sailed. +In this way nature has helped the trees to become widely distributed. + +There are cocoanut plantations as well as wild groves of the trees. When +a plantation is to be established, the planter selects the ripest nuts +and dries them for several weeks. They are then planted, and by and by a +little palm springs from the small end of the nut and the roots from the +large end. When the young trees are from six months to two years old, +they are transplanted in rows thirty or forty feet apart. They begin to +bear nuts in about five years, but they do not yield a full crop for +fifteen or twenty years. Do you think that a poor man could afford to go +into the business of cocoanut raising? + +[Illustration: FIG. 49.--A Cocoanut Grove.] + +As you see in the picture, cocoanuts grow in clusters. You notice +also that they grow close to the stem instead of at the ends of the +branches. They do not all ripen at once, but nuts may be picked at +almost any time. A tree will produce from fifty to one hundred nuts each +year. If you were to go into an apple, a peach, or a cherry orchard, you +could easily pick the ripe fruit. Gathering cocoanuts is quite a +different matter, however. Let us observe this shiny-skinned Samoan boy +and see how he picks them. He fastens a short piece of rope in the form +of a loop to each foot. Letting one of the loops catch on a rough place +on the bark of the tree he places the hollow of his foot against it, +clasps the trunk with his hands, and raises himself a little. Then the +other loop is fastened a little higher up, and he raises himself again. +In this way he finally reaches the nuts. With a knife he cuts off the +ripe ones, which fall to the ground and are then piled up. They are then +placed in baskets which are hung from a pole and carried on the +shoulders of two men or are loaded on to donkeys and taken to the shed. + +The ripe cocoanut is a valuable article of food just as it is picked +from the tree. It contains also a milk which is a nourishing drink. Most +of the cocoanut sent to other countries, however, is in a form known as +_copra_. + +At the shed the hard shell, which covers the meat, is split open by +means of an ax. The meat is removed with a knife and is then spread out +on mats to dry. This dried cocoanut is copra. + +The inhabitants of these cocoanut islands live in a much more simple +style than we do, and the cocoanut tree supplies many of the things that +they use daily. + +Let us examine the home of a native Samoan. The frame and posts of the +house are made of the slender trunks of the cocoanut palm, while the +roof is covered with its leaves instead of with shingles. The cups, +bowls, dippers, and many other household utensils are made of the +shells. If a whole shell is wanted, the "eyes" are pushed in, the milk +is used, and ants are allowed to eat the meat. These make excellent +water bottles. Baskets, curtains, and twine, are made from the fiber of +the leaves, and the bark is used for fuel. + +From the copra an oil is pressed which is used in the manufacture of +soap. It makes a perfectly white soap that will float on the water. It +is also used to furnish light, and the people rub it on their bodies to +prevent sunburn. The sap of the tree is made into sugar, vinegar, and a +liquor. + +While in our country the cocoanut is important chiefly to bakers and +confectioners, in these far-away islands it is the most useful of +plants, and one of the chief articles of food. Would you not like to +visit the cocoanut islands and learn more of their interesting people? + + + + +A BUNCH OF BANANAS + + +Every day, as you walk along the streets you see great bunches of +bananas hanging in front of fruit and grocery stores. You find them at +the corner fruit stand, and peddlers carry them from house to house. + +Although bananas are so common now and so cheap that all can afford to +eat them, this was not so when your grandparents were children. In those +days the fruit was regarded as quite a luxury, for there were few people +engaged in carrying it from its tropical home to the cities of our +country. Now many small but swift ships, called "fruiters," carry on +this business. They get their cargoes of fruit in the West Indies or +Central America, and within a week after sailing they are unloading at +New Orleans, Baltimore, New York, or Boston. If the number of bananas +which reach our country each year were equally distributed, each person +would receive twenty-five. + +[Illustration: FIG. 50.--A Banana Tree.] + +Let us get aboard that wonderful train upon which all may travel free of +cost, which runs equally well upon land and water. We step off right in +the center of a banana plantation on the island of Jamaica. + +Yes, these are banana trees all about you. See how long and broad the +leaves are and how gracefully they droop! Some of them are ten or +fifteen feet long; almost as long as the trees are tall. The trees, you +see, are simply stalks from which the leaves unroll. Here you can see +some just starting out. They are rolls of bright green, pointing upward, +each starting from the center of the stalk. No, the leaves were not torn +in that way by the pickers. The wind sometimes whips them into ribbons, +for they are very tender. + +These stalks growing from the base of the main stem are called "suckers" +here; in Costa Rica they are called "bits." You remember that there are +no seeds in bananas. It is these "suckers" that are planted when a +farmer wants to start a plantation. They are set out when two or three +feet high and within a year they bear fruit. What did I tell you about +the length of time required for the cocoanut to bear? + +It is but four years since the trees in this plantation were single +"suckers," standing about fifteen feet apart. Now there are several +stalks grouped about each parent plant, and the beautiful leaves, +touching overhead, form shaded aisles of green. + +[Illustration: FIG. 51.--A Banana Plantation.] + +Of course a great number of "suckers" are not allowed to grow together. +Keeping these cut down is called "cleaning the plantation." + +Now let us examine the fruit on this tree beside us. You see that the +great cluster or bunch is made up of smaller bunches. These are called +"hands," and each banana is spoken of as a "finger." Let us count the +"hands" in this bunch. This is an unusually large one, for it contains +thirteen. Nine "hands" make a _full bunch_. As you see, there are from +ten to twenty "fingers" in a "hand." Buyers will seldom take bunches of +less than six "hands." + +Here come the fruit cutters to help get a cargo for the "fruiter" we saw +at anchor. + +Yes, the bananas are green, I know, and they are always green when +gathered. They will ripen in the storehouses when they reach the United +States. + +No, it is not a waste to cut down the stalks, for they die after bearing +their fruit, and the smaller stalks about them will soon yield. Some of +these stalks, you see, have but one bunch and some have two or three. +How odd the bunches look with the "fingers" all pointing upward! + +The banana leaves which the men are wrapping about the bunches are to +protect the fruit. It bruises very easily and great quantities are lost +on this account. They are not always wrapped, however. + +When the fruit reaches the vessel, it is carefully inspected; and if not +in just the right condition, it is refused. The bunches which are +accepted, are taken into the hold of the ship and packed closely +together. The planter receives for these from ten to thirty-five cents a +bunch. Just think of buying eight or nine dozen of bananas for ten +cents! + +[Illustration: FIG. 52.--Loading a Small Boat with Bananas to be taken +to the "Fruiter" in the Harbor.] + +The men will not stop work until the ship is loaded. It may take +twenty-four hours, and it may take twice that long, for a "fruiter" will +carry from fifteen to twenty thousand bunches of fruit. + +In some parts of Central America, where there are no harbors, the +planters float the fruit down the streams in canoes. The vessels anchor +at some distance from the shore, and the bananas are taken out in boats +called _dories_. They are hoisted up to the deck of the ship by means of +pulleys, and then packed in the hold. The thousands of bunches which are +bruised in handling are thrown into the sea. + +While the northern ports get most of their supply of bananas from the +West Indies, the Pacific coast states are supplied from Central America. +The "fruiters" unload at New Orleans into trains, which carry the fruit +to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other places. Banana trains also run +from New Orleans to St. Louis, Chicago, and other parts of the country. + +The fruit ships have great pipes or ventilators, which carry the cool, +fresh air from the sea down into the hold. Sometimes when they reach +port it is so cold that the bananas cannot be taken out for a few days. +Wagons are loaded with the fruit at the wharves, and it is taken to +warehouses where it gradually turns yellow. I am sure you have seen +loads of the green fruit on the streets. + +[Illustration: FIG. 53.--A "Fruiter" taking a Cargo of Bananas.] + +When the wholesale merchant sells the fruit, he often incloses each +bunch in the rough material of which gunny sacks are made, and then puts +a light, circular frame, made of strips of wood, over it. This, you see, +protects the bananas. The grocer or fruit man takes hold of the frame +without danger of mashing the fruit, lifts the bunch, and hangs it upon +a hook. The frame and sacking are then removed. + +Bananas grow in the tropical parts of Asia and Africa and on many of the +islands of the Pacific Ocean. They are also raised in Florida, and they +ripen in sheltered places in Southern California. + +You have seen both yellow and red bananas. The red ones usually bring +the higher price, but they do not keep well and are not so extensively +raised as the yellow ones. + +The banana is an important article of food. It is much more nourishing +than potatoes or even good, white bread. A flour or meal can be made +from the fruit by drying it and then grinding. + + + + +HOW DATES GROW + + +Three thousand years before the shepherds followed the star to the +manger at Bethlehem, the beautiful date palm was cultivated beside the +banks of the Euphrates and the Nile rivers. The date was the bread of +the people who lived in these fertile valleys, and it is an important +article of food in northern Africa, Arabia, and Persia to-day. + +Look at a map of northern Africa, and you will see that the great Sahara +covers a large part of it. Here and there across the drifting sands wind +caravan routes, traveled by camels ridden by strangely dressed men. +These routes lead to beautiful garden spots called _oases_. Here are +wells and springs, with little streams flowing in the shade of fig, date +palm, and other trees. The people who dwell within these groves beside +the cooling waters look out upon the desert as the inhabitants of an +island might look upon the boundless sea. Find some of these oases and +learn why they are fertile. The people who live in these oases depend +upon dates for their living. The dreary journey from the coast to the +interior is made to procure quantities of this fruit, which are wanted +by the outside world. + +If you were to make a journey in a desert country, you would find that +you could not carry such articles of food as you would have if you +remained at home. The sunshine beats down fiercely, the springs and +wells are far apart, and the patient animals must not be overloaded. The +chief article of food carried is the date. A mass is packed together +until it is so hard that pieces are chopped off with a hatchet when they +are wanted. + +Like the cocoanut palm, the date palm rises to a great height, sometimes +fifty or sixty feet, without branches. It ends in a crown of beautiful +feathery leaves which droop downward. These leaves may be ten or fifteen +feet long. Many of them stand edgewise. Unlike most trees, the trunk +does not steadily increase in size, and you can tell nothing as to +the age of the tree by its diameter. + +[Illustration: FIG. 54.--Date Palms loaded with Ripe Fruit, Biskra, +Algeria. (Year Book U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1900.)] + +In its wild state many shoots spring from the base of the tree. These +may grow as high as the parent stalk, so that in time a jungle or +thicket is formed. + +The flowers, which are clear white, grow in clusters. There are from six +to twenty of these clusters on a tree, each of which produces a bunch of +dates. The female tree bears the fruit. The blossoms are pollinated both +by the wind and by man. + +There are from ten to fifteen pounds of dates in a bunch. A tree will +average from one hundred to two hundred pounds each year, although trees +have been known to yield six hundred pounds. The trees yield when from +four to eight years old, and continue to bear for a century. + +The dates, green at first, later in the year a yellowish brown, are, +when ripe, amber or black in color. + +The trees require a very dry, hot climate, but moist soil. Long, long +ago, this saying was common among the Arabs, "The date palm, the queen +of trees, must have her feet in running water and her head in the +burning sky." + +Although there are lovely date palm trees on the grounds of many +California homes, few of them bear fruit. The temperature must average +from eighty to ninety degrees for a considerable time in the summer, in +order to mature it. What is the average summer temperature in your +locality? + +If an ordinary tree is frost-bitten, it recovers and soon puts out a new +growth; but if the crown of the date palm be frozen, the tree dies. + +When the Moors went to Spain, in the eleventh century, they introduced +this valuable tree which the mission fathers several hundred years later +brought to Mexico and to Southern California. + +How would you like to try to climb a date palm tree? Although they look +so smooth and are without branches, the natives of the desert climb them +without any help whatever. The trunk is always somewhat rough, and this +makes it possible to ascend them. + +[Illustration: FIG. 55.--Date Palm Trees.] + +Not all of the dates in a bunch ripen at once, so they are usually +picked by hand and only the ripe ones selected. Sometimes, however, the +bunches are cut off. Some dates contain so much sap that the bunches +must be hung up to allow it to drain off before they can be shipped. +This sap is called _date honey_, and is saved. They are sent to the +coast towns in bags or boxes called _frails_. Where dates are to be sold +in small quantities, they are repacked in the small boxes such as you +have seen. + +You know that dates are very sweet, and it is no wonder that they are, +for they contain from fifty-five to sixty per cent of sugar. + +The trees are often tapped, and the sap which flows out is made into +sugar. Vinegar and a liquor called _arrack_ are also made from it. The +leaves of the tree are made into bags and mats; from the stones a drink +is made which takes the place of coffee. From the leafstalks baskets are +made, while the trunk furnishes material for houses and for fences. + +If the dates could speak, they could tell us many wonderful stories of +the far East, of the river boats on the Nile, of the drifting sands +which come so close to the river's banks, of the caravans creeping over +the desert toward the green oases and then fading out of sight, bearing +loads of this food to the countries where it is not produced. + + + + +THE ORANGE GROVES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA + + + PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, Jan. 4, 1902. + +DEAR FRIEND WILL: I was very glad to receive your letter, and much +surprised to know that you are living on a farm. I am glad that you +described the raising of cranberries, for I did not know much about it +before. When I told my teacher about getting the letter, she asked me to +read it in the geography class and to show the pictures. I asked our +grocery-man where he gets his cranberries, and found that some of them +came from Wareham. + +You are having cold weather now, I know. Is the skating good? I have not +seen ice as thick as window glass since we came to California, except +that delivered by the iceman. Just now there is a beautiful covering of +snow on the mountains a few miles north and east of town. Just think of +picking roses and callas with snow in plain sight! The snow never +remains more than a day or two on these mountains. + +Soon after we came to Pasadena, father bought an orange grove of +twenty-five acres. We are picking the fruit now. People began to pick +oranges several weeks ago, and the work will continue all winter. + +Orange trees are planted about twenty feet apart, but the groves do not +look as apple orchards do in the East, for no grass is allowed to grow +in them. + +The best orange section is east of here, near Redlands and Riverside, +but some good fruit is raised near Pasadena also. + +Father keeps our trees pruned down rather low, so that it is easier to +pick the oranges than it would be if they were allowed to grow very +tall. + +Orange raising is like cranberry growing in one way--the land must be +irrigated in each case. Here the water is piped from the mountain +streams and from tunnels. We form basins about ten feet square around +each tree and fill them with water. Most of our irrigating is done +during the summer, as the winter is our rainy season. _You_ would not +call it a very rainy time. Our average is about twenty inches for the +whole year. + +The trees in our grove have been set out about six years, and they are +bearing nicely now. Orange trees begin to bear when they are four years +old; so, you see, we have to wait a little longer for a crop than you do +for a crop of cranberries. It costs a good deal to start an orange +grove. Trees cost from one dollar to one and one-half dollars each at +the nurseries. A few years ago they sold for twenty cents each. + +I wish that you could see the trees when they are in full blossom, and +also when they are loaded with the golden fruit. I am going to put some +orange blossoms into the envelope, but I am afraid they will not reach +you in very good condition. They are very fragrant, and you can smell +their perfume some distance from a tree in blossom. + +To-day we picked about two hundred and fifty boxes of oranges. We always +speak of _picking_ them, although they are not picked, but cut. You +see, if they were picked off, the part where the stem pulled off would +soon begin to decay. + +We take a wagon load of fruit boxes, and, while father drives slowly +between the rows of trees, I throw them off. + +[Illustration: FIG. 56.--Picking Oranges in California.] + +Each picker carries a sack slung over one shoulder, and as fast as he +cuts off an orange, he drops it into the sack. The sacks are emptied +into the boxes, and these are loaded on to the wagon. Father pays five +cents a box for picking, and a good picker will gather about forty boxes +in a day. + +We sell most of our oranges to fruit companies. These companies pack and +ship the fruit. At the packing houses the oranges are placed in tubs of +water and scrubbed with small brushes. Many women, girls, and boys work +at this. The washing is to take off dirt, and also _scale_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 57.--Grading and Packing Oranges.] + +After the oranges are washed, they are placed in a sort of trough which +is highest at the end near the tub. They roll down this trough to the +_grader_. This is a machine so arranged that the oranges pass through +different openings according to their size, and come out sorted. + +In the warehouse close by they are wrapped and packed. Chinamen often do +this work. Each orange is wrapped in a separate piece of paper, which +has the brand of the company stamped upon it. It is then packed firmly +in a box. A certain number of oranges of each grade fill a box, +ninety-six of the largest grade, and about two hundred of the smallest. +Those which are too small, as well as the imperfect oranges, are +rejected. These are called _culls_. Sometimes these are sold for a low +price, and sometimes they are thrown away by wagon loads. + +After the boxes are filled, they are placed in special fruit cars and +hurried to St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Boston, and other cities. + +Yes, the Weather Bureau is of great help to fruit growers. Of course we +have very little winter here, but oranges will not endure much cold. The +mercury falls below the freezing point but a few times each season. On +New Year's Day the temperature here was fifty-eight degrees. I looked up +the Boston temperature for the same day and found that it was only four +degrees above zero. When the Bureau predicts a sharp freeze, the farmers +build small fires in their orchards, or turn on a good deal of water. +The fires are built in small wire baskets. They make a smudge instead of +a flame. The people in the raisin districts watch the weather reports +pretty closely, for rain injures the drying grapes. + +Growers have to _spray_ or _fumigate_ the trees to destroy the scale +that I spoke of which is a great enemy of the orange, to kill the +insects, and to wash off dirt. This is sometimes done by putting a great +piece of canvas over the tree, forming a sort of tent which prevents the +fumes from escaping. It was found that the ladybugs would eat the scale +and so they were brought into California from the East. They do a great +deal of good, but still we have to spray the trees. + +Orange trees are raised from the seed, and the trees produced in this +way are called _seedlings_. By _budding_, a fruit much better than the +oranges grown on the seedling tree has been produced. There were five +acres of seedlings in our grove, and father budded the trees. He cut +off the limbs rather close to the trunk of the tree. Then he slipped +buds from _navel_ trees into cuts made through the bark in the end of +each limb left on the tree. He then wound cord tightly about the limb +and put on some wax. After a time a new growth started out where these +buds were placed. These new branches will bear much improved fruit. + +We have a very fine variety of oranges called Washington Navels. Trees +of this variety were obtained by our government from Brazil. Two of +these were brought to Riverside, a town about seventy-five miles east of +Pasadena, and planted on a ranch belonging to a Mr. Tibbits. They did +well, and all of the trees of this variety in Southern California were +obtained from these two through budding. These trees are still living. + +California and Florida are the two important orange-growing states of +our country. Father says the industry is much older in Florida than in +our state. Florida growers can ship their fruit to market much cheaper +than we can. It costs us ninety cents for each box. + +Mexico, the West Indies, Italy, southern France, and Spain are also +orange producers. These countries have the advantage of cheap labor, +father says. + +I wish that you could visit us. We would have fine times, I am sure. + +The next time I write I will tell you about some of the other fruits +raised in California. + + Your sincere friend, + FRANK. + + + + +A VISIT TO A VINEYARD + + + PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, Oct. 1, 1902. + +DEAR FRIEND WILL: Last week father went to Fresno, which is about three +hundred miles northwest of here, in the San Joaquin valley. He took me +with him, and we visited some of the great vineyards and raisin-packing +establishments near and in that city. + +Raisins are simply dried grapes. Although there are many countries where +grapes grow, there are few where raisins are made. Dew, fog, and rain +injure the fruit, so that the San Joaquin valley, with its dry, hot +atmosphere, is well adapted to this industry. + +There are a great many different kinds of grapes but only the green +variety is used in making raisins. The raisin grapes are called +_muscats_. If the grapes are left on the vines long enough, they become +raisins. I have picked some pretty good raisins from the vines. Of +course by being spread out, they dry quicker and more evenly. + +The sugar that you find on and in the raisins is not put there by the +people who dry the grapes. It comes from the juice of the grape. + +Grapevines grow from both roots and cuttings. Of course cuttings are the +cheaper. Often they may be had for the asking. Many think that it is +better to set out rooted vines than cuttings. + +They are planted in rows from six feet apart to twelve or fifteen feet. +During the first year the young vines will grow several feet. In the +fall, when the flow of the sap has been checked by frost, the vines are +pruned. A vineyard in California looks quite different from one in the +East. During the winter it is simply so many rows of stumps several +inches in thickness and one or two feet high. During the summer the +branches grow from these stumps and produce their beautiful clusters of +grapes, only to be cut off in the fall or winter. + +The trimmings are generally burned in the vineyard at the same time that +they are cut off. A sort of furnace made of sheet iron is fastened +between two wheels and drawn by horses up and down between the rows. A +man pitches the cuttings into it, and they burn as it moves along. + +In the early summer men go through the vineyards sprinkling a coating of +sulphur on the vines. This is to prevent mildew, which damages the fruit +very much. + +During the last half of August and September the grapes are picked. +Sometimes the harvest continues into October. Most of the grapes had +been gathered when we visited the vineyards. + +When the juice of the grapes is one fourth sugar, they are ready to +pick. The grower generally tells the condition by the taste and color of +the fruit, although there are instruments for determining the amount of +sugar. + +Like oranges, grapes are cut from the vines and not picked. We saw great +companies of Chinamen going through the vineyards cutting off the +beautiful clusters. These they placed on shallow, wooden trays to dry. +In a week or two, when the upper side of the clusters is pretty well +dried, the grapes are turned. We saw the workmen place an empty tray, +upside down, over the filled one. Then, holding the two together, they +turned them over, and the grapes dropped into the tray that had been +placed on top. + +[Illustration: FIG. 58.--Picking Grapes.--Notice the Mountains in the +Background.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 59.--Drying Raisin Grapes.] + +During this drying time the people watch the reports of the Weather +Bureau. In some places flags are displayed when rain is expected. As a +rule the grape season is over before the rains begin. + +When the grapes are taken from the trays, they are placed in boxes +holding about one hundred pounds each. These are called _sweat boxes_. +Here the driest grapes absorb some of the moisture from the others, and +the mass becomes more uniform. + +[Illustration: FIG. 60.--A Vineyard after being Pruned.] + +After the drying process has been finished, the stems are rather +brittle. To make them softer and easier to handle, the grapes are next +placed in a cool room and left there for a time. + +After visiting some of the vineyards, we drove to one of the great +packing establishments in Fresno. These packing houses are nearly always +in the cities and towns, because there help can be easily obtained. The +packing house that we visited employs four hundred people, mostly girls +and women. + +The raisins are first placed on wooden or metal frames the size of a +raisin box. These are called _forms_, and the packers are paid according +to the number of forms filled. When these are filled, the raisins are +carefully transferred to the boxes. + +A box of raisins weighs twenty pounds, but there are half boxes and +quarter boxes put up also. A paper is placed on the bottom of each box, +and over the raisins another is placed. On top of this there is a fancy +paper on which the name of the packer is stamped. + +In most establishments there are three grades of raisins, Imperial +Clusters, London Layers, and the loose and imperfect stems. + +Sometimes a second crop of grapes is gathered a little later in the +fall. Of course these do not dry so well because the days are shorter, +it is cooler, and rains sometimes occur. On this account they are dipped +in lye and then rinsed in water. The lye cracks the skin, and so the +juice evaporates more quickly. These are called Valencia raisins. There +is not a very good market for these, so that people do not dip them so +commonly now as they used to. + +We saw the machine where the raisins are _stemmed_. They pass from a +hopper into a space between two woven-wire cylinders. The inner one +revolves within the other. In this way the raisins are broken from the +stems. They are then run through a fanning mill which cleans them, and +they are finally graded by passing through screens having openings of +different sizes. + +Most of the seedless raisins are made from seedless grapes, but there +are machines for removing the seeds from the grapes which contain them. + +The superintendent of the packing house said that nearly all of the +raisins that we import come from Spain, and that they are exported +chiefly from the city of Malaga. + +The purple and other _wine grapes_ are taken to the wineries and sold by +the ton, to be made into wine. + +There are many other things that I should like to write about, but my +letter is a pretty long one now, so I will close. + + Your loving friend, + FRANK. + + + + +NUTTING + + +Have you ever gone into the woods on a beautiful autumn day? The bright, +warm sunshine floods the earth where the trees are far apart and sifts +down through the branches. All nature seems to invite you to lie down +under a tree and dream. It was on such a day that Rip Van Winkle fell +into his long sleep. + +How pretty the trees look in their fall suits of yellow, crimson, red, +and brown! What a rustling is made as your feet tread the carpet of +leaves! + +The breezes pass among the branches and whisper a message to the +bright-colored leaves. They understand and obey. Singly, in groups, and +in showers, they silently float downward. By night and by day they fall, +but soon this carpet will be changed for one of white. + +Listen! The leaves are not the only things that are falling. You can +hear the _thump_, _thump_ of nuts as they drop from their lofty perches +in the walnut and hickory-nut trees. + +Sit down quietly on that log and you will soon see the busy nut +gatherers. With their tails curled over their backs, they race up and +down the trees, or spring from branch to branch, carrying their precious +burdens to their homes in the hollows of trunk or limb. Now one sits up +straight, holding a nut between his paws, and turning it slowly as he +cracks and eats it. If he sees you, he whisks out of sight, or scolds +you from a safe place far above the ground. + +When the winter winds are whistling through the leafless trees, and +snows are drifting over the ground, these little nut gatherers feast to +their hearts' content. + +The squirrels do not gather all of the nuts. Children and grown people +enjoy nutting. When there are not enough nuts on the ground, the men and +boys climb the trees to shake them off. Then everybody hunts among the +leaves for the treasures. + +Some of the most important nuts are walnuts, hickory nuts, hazelnuts, +almonds, chestnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, and peanuts. + +Many of the hickory nuts fall out of their coverings bright and clean. +Walnuts generally have to be _shucked_, and the juice stains the hands +almost black. + +As hazelnuts grow on bushes, they can be easily picked. They usually +drop out of their burs after there have been a few frosts. + +Many nuts are gathered in the woods, but in some places the trees are +cultivated just as fruit trees are. + +We usually eat nuts between meals, or as a dessert. They are not simply +dainties, but are very valuable articles of food. In some countries the +poor people depend upon them for food. + +In almost any city of our country are to be found the nuts that I have +mentioned, with perhaps several other kinds. These have come from +different states, some from Canada, some from Brazil, and some from +Spain. + +I am sure you will enjoy gathering nuts of different kinds, so let us +set out on a nutting expedition. + + + + +A WALNUT VACATION + + +How would you like to have your school close for two weeks, so that you +could gather walnuts? Every year many of the boys and girls of Southern +California are given a vacation just for this purpose. It is called the +"walnut vacation," and occurs in the month of October. + +These children do not take their baskets and go off to the woods where +they can romp and play, watch the squirrels, and gather beautiful autumn +leaves. They gather nuts from the trees which their parents own, for in +Southern California there are many walnut ranches or groves. You see the +vacation means a vacation for work instead of for play. + +Walnut trees are set out in rows just as apple trees are, but their +roots and branches extend to such a distance from the trunks that they +need to be about twice as far apart. + +The walnut harvest, which begins about the first of October, is a busy +time. Men, women, boys, and girls may be seen in the groves, shaking the +nuts from the trees, picking them up, and putting them into sacks. + +[Illustration: FIG. 61.--A Walnut Grove.] + +The men shake the trees, and there is a shower of nuts to the earth. Do +not go under the branches now unless you want to be pelted. A single +tree has been known to yield three hundred pounds of nuts in a season. + +When the trees have been given a good shaking, there are still some nuts +clinging to the branches. These are obtained by shaking the limbs +separately, by means of long poles, to the ends of which wire hooks are +fastened. As all of the nuts do not ripen at the same time, the trees +are sometimes gone over two or three times. + +Now the boys, girls, and women go to work filling pails and baskets and +emptying them into sacks, for they can do this work as well as men. + +Usually the nuts drop out of their covering or _shuck_ when they strike +the ground; but if they do not, the _shuck_ must be removed. Sometimes +the covering is cut off. If you handle the nuts with your bare hands, +they will be stained almost black, and you will have to let the color +wear off. + +The days are bright and warm, and this sort of nutting becomes rather +tiresome before sundown. The work must be done and the vacation is not a +very long one, so each does his part cheerfully. + +When the nuts have been gathered, they are taken to the shed or place +where they are to be washed. Here they are poured into a large wire +cylinder which revolves in a tank filled with water. The machine is +turned by a horse walking round and round, and it both washes and grades +the nuts. The smaller ones pass through the meshes in the wire and are +called _second grade_. The larger ones are known as _first grade_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 62.--Washing, Drying, and Sacking Walnuts.] + +When the walnuts come out of the washer, they are spread out on shallow, +wooden trays to dry. Sometimes several thousand trays may be seen on +one ranch. They are loaded on to a small car and pushed to the part of +the field where they are wanted. + +If there is no foggy or cloudy weather, they will dry in about five +days, but if there is, it may take ten. + +After the nuts are thoroughly dried, the trays are placed on the car and +pushed to the _bleacher_. This is a large box made of tarred paper. It +is placed over the trays, and a quantity of sulphur is burned in it. +This is simply to whiten the shells, for they sell for a higher price +when they are bleached. Sometimes the nuts are whitened by dipping them +into a liquid preparation. + +The nuts are now sacked and marked, ready to ship. Soon after the boys +and girls have finished their "walnut vacation," the nuts are on their +way to the eastern part of the United States. + +Most of the walnuts raised in California have soft shells. Some have +such thin shells that they are called "paper shells." The walnuts that +grow in the woods of Indiana, Illinois, and other states have hard +shells. They are dark in color and are called _black walnuts_. The trees +are quite valuable, as the wood is used in making furniture. + + + + +CHESTNUTS + + +Let us go on a chestnutting expedition to the southern part of France. +We can gather the nuts in many of the states of our own country, but the +trip to a strange land will be enjoyed by all. + +The chestnut trees, many of which are very old, spread their branches to +great distances. The nuts, as you see, are inclosed in a _bur_ or coat +which covers the shell. There are generally two nuts in each bur. + +When _you_ eat chestnuts, you eat them as a sort of dainty, not as a +regular article of food. This is not the case in the home of Jean, the +boy who is helping his father fill those sacks. In his home, as in many +homes in southern Europe, the nuts form one of the chief articles of +daily food. + +In the winter Jean sells the freshly roasted nuts on a street corner in +the city of Lyons. He gets a good many pennies each noon from workmen +and poor people generally, who use them for their midday meal. He sells +ten nuts for a penny. + +This is not the only way in which they are eaten. Jean's mother boils +them with celery and mashes them as we do potatoes. The nuts are also +ground into a flour from which bread is made. They are often used in the +dressing for fowls. + +Confectioners use great quantities of chestnuts. In Lyons there are +establishments where as many as two hundred persons are employed in +preparing them. + +The nuts are first peeled, and then boiled in clear water, which removes +the thin coating next the kernel. They are then placed in a sirup +flavored with Mexican vanilla, in which they remain for about three +days. After draining, they are coated with vanilla or chocolate and +packed in attractive boxes. In this form they are worth forty-five or +fifty cents a pound. + + + + +A BAG OF PEANUTS + + +Last summer Harry's parents took him with them on a visit to Virginia. +Harry has always lived in New York City, and the country life of the +South was very interesting to him. + +They visited friends who live on a beautiful _plantation_, as the farms +in the South are called. A driveway lined with grand old trees leads +through the flower-studded lawn up to the retired manor house, whose +wide verandas completely circle it round. + +Beyond the house are the stables where work horses, driving horses, and +saddle horses are kept; and beyond these is the pretty little boathouse, +standing on the bank of a small river that winds its way through the +plantation. + +The morning after Harry arrived, his friend Bert asked him if he would +like to go across the river to see the men harvest peanuts. + +Now whenever Harry had wanted peanuts, he had always gone to a stand +and bought a sack. He had never thought about where they came from. He +had heard of shaking nuts from trees, so he supposed that they were +going to the woods. + +He was therefore much surprised when Bert took him to a field across the +river where men were plowing vines from the ground. + +"Do peanuts grow in the ground?" he asked. + +"Why, of course they do," answered Bert. + +"I thought that nuts grew on trees," said Harry. + +"Father says that the peanut is not a _real_ nut," replied his friend. +"He says they should be called _ground nuts_ or _ground peas_." He +pulled up one of the vines, and the boys threw themselves down under a +tree to examine it. + +When the small clods of soil clinging to the roots of the plant had been +removed, Harry saw a number of pods which he recognized as peanuts. + +Opening one of the pods, Bert took out the kernels. + +"These," said he, "are the _seeds_, and they are planted much as other +seeds are. + +"Before they are planted the shell must be removed, but we have to be +careful not to break the thin skin that covers the kernel. If that be +broken, the seed will not grow. + +"The kernels are planted about one foot apart, in rows that are, as you +see, about three feet apart. Sometimes they are planted by hand and +sometimes by machinery." + +"I wonder if peanuts are raised in the country around New York," said +Harry. + +"No, I think not," replied Bert, "for they are very easily killed by +frost. Great quantities are raised in North Carolina and in Tennessee. +Father says that the negroes of western Africa raised them long, long +before they were known in the United States. He says that they are a +very important article of food there, and that whole villages take part +in the planting and harvesting. + +"After the vines blossom," continued Bert, "a very strange thing +happens." + +"What is it?" asked Harry. + +"The flower stalks bend downward and push themselves right into the +soil, and on these the pods develop. If the stalks do not enter the +earth within a few hours after the flowers fall, they die." + +Harry now watched the plowing. The plows were drawn up and down the rows +and ran directly under the vines, lifting them out of the soil. After +they had been plowed out about two hours, men took them upon pitchforks +and piled them up. Harry noticed that some of the piles were covered +with corn fodder, and asked why this was. Bert told him that it was to +keep out the rain. + +"What happens to the nuts after the vines have been piled up?" said +Harry. + +"They remain in the piles fifteen or twenty days, and are then spread +out on the ground or hauled to the barn, where the nuts are picked off," +answered Bert. "Sometimes they are picked by hand and sometimes by +machinery. Let us go to the lower field; we have an earlier variety +there, and the nuts are being picked now." + +They found men, women, and children picking the pods one by one and +dropping them into baskets. These were emptied into sacks. Harry tried +to lift one of these, and was surprised to find it so heavy. Bert told +him that it weighed about one hundred pounds. + +"Do you burn the vines after the nuts are picked?" asked Harry. + +"No," said Bert, "they are fed to the cattle. We call the vines _peanut +hay_." + +Bert explained that his father sold the sacks of nuts to the factory, +where they were cleaned and sorted. + +The next day the boys went to town and visited the peanut factory. + +The nuts were first put through a machine which removed the dirt. They +were then polished and sorted into four grades. The poorest grade is +used in making peanut candy. The nuts were then sacked, and were ready +to be shipped to the North. + +Harry learned that an oil is made from the nuts which is used as olive +oil is used, and also that peanut butter is produced from them. He +found that many men were employed on plantations all through Virginia +and other states of the South, in raising the peanuts that are sold on +the streets of every city and town in our country. + + + + +ASSORTED NUTS + + +After the Thanksgiving dinner had been eaten, the nuts were passed, and +the children asked Uncle John to tell them something about a few of +them. + +"All right," said he. "You pick out the ones that you want to know +about." + +Frank handed him an almond. + +"This nut," said Uncle John, "came from sunny Spain. It grew not far +from the blue Mediterranean. Almonds are raised in most parts of +southern Europe and in the northern part of Africa. Ages ago they grew +in the Holy Land, and are mentioned in the Bible." + +"Do almonds grow in any part of our country?" asked Helen. + +"I think they grow in California," said Frank. + +"You are right," said Uncle John. "There are many almond orchards in the +southern part of the state. + +"An almond tree in full bloom is a beautiful sight. The blossoms are +white, tinted with pink, and as they appear before the leaves do, there +is nothing to hide them." + +[Illustration: FIG. 63.--Almond Trees in Full Bloom.] + +"Does the nut have a covering?" inquired Mary. + +"Yes," replied Uncle John. "When the nut is ripe, the shuck opens +gradually, and sometimes the nuts fall out. + +"When people have large orchards, they spread pieces of canvas under +the trees and then shake them or beat them by means of long poles. + +"The nuts that do not fall out of the shucks are obtained by opening the +shuck with a knife. The nuts are then dried, and are ready for market." + +As soon as Uncle John had finished, Mary handed him a hazelnut. "Please +tell about this one," said she. + +"I have often gone hazel nutting when I was a boy," said her uncle. +"Hazelnuts grow on bushes in thickets. They are six or eight feet high +and very slender. Baskets are sometimes made of them, and I have often +used them for arrows. + +"Sometimes the nuts grow singly, and sometimes in groups of two or +three. A bur covers the nut, which sticks very closely until it is ripe. +Then the nuts often fall out. + +"After I had gathered the hazelnuts, I used to spread them out on the +roof of the wood house to dry." + +"Nuts that look just like these are called filberts," said Helen. + +"Filberts are cultivated hazelnuts," replied Uncle John; "they are +larger than the wild ones." + +"I would like to know how this nut grows," said Helen, handing her uncle +a black nut shaped like a triangular prism. + +"This," said Uncle John, "came from Brazil, and is called a Brazil nut. +Do you know where Brazil is?" + +"It is in the northeastern part of South America," replied Helen. + +"The great Amazon River is in Brazil, and it flows through tropical +forests," said Mary. + +"Much of our coffee comes from Brazil," said Frank. + +Uncle John then told the children that Brazil nuts come from the +northern part of Brazil and from the Orinoco valley. + +Helen asked if they grow as walnuts and hickory nuts do. + +"No," answered her uncle, "they grow inside of a great case or shell. +There are from eighteen to twenty-five in one shell, which is nearly as +large as a man's head." + +"How are the nuts got out of the shells?" asked Mary. + +"When they fall, men break them open and take out the nuts," replied +Uncle John. "Most of them are sent down the Amazon to the city of Para +and from there shipped to the United States and other countries." + +None of the children knew where Para is situated, so they all went to +the library to look at the atlas. After they had located it, Uncle John +told them of his visit to the city and of the wonderful things which he +saw on a steamboat trip up the Amazon River. + + + + +A STRANGE CONVERSATION + + +One evening after I had been reading for some time, I went to the +kitchen to get a drink of water. That part of the house was dark and +quiet, and as I stepped through the doorway, I heard low, musical +voices, apparently in the pantry. I was very much surprised, you may be +sure, and I kept perfectly still, and listened. + +"Yes," said a voice, which I could barely hear, "I am a long way from +home indeed, and sometimes it makes me quite lonely when I think of it." + +"Tell us about your home, and how you lived," said another low voice. + +"Well," began the first speaker, "my name is _Pepper_. With twenty-five +or thirty brothers and sisters I grew in a cluster on a vine. We were +but a small part of the family, for there were similar clusters all over +our vine. We were about as large as peas, and grew somewhat after the +fashion of currants. + +"All about were other vines to which friends and relatives were +attached. Pepper vines are always anxious to get to the top, and so some +of these vines climbed trees and some twined themselves about poles, +which men had set in the ground for this purpose. Our vine was three or +four years old when we appeared on it." + +"How long did you live on the vine?" asked a voice that I had not heard +before. + +"Only a few months," replied Pepper. "You see, we had to make room for +another set of berries. Two sets appear each year for twenty years or +more. + +"Under the influence of the tropical sunshine and the warm rains we grew +day by day, and we were as happy as the butterflies and birds about us. +By and by we began to turn red. All of this time a _hull_ or coat was +forming on the outside of our bodies. + +"Before we became entirely red, workmen came to the field, and, by +rubbing us between their hands, separated us from the stems to which we +lovingly clung. + +"After having been picked, I was, with many others, placed upon a mat to +dry. These mats were all about us, each covered with berries. After +being thoroughly dried we were put into a mill and ground, and I became +what I am now, _Black Pepper_." + +"Are there other kinds of pepper?" asked some one. + +"Oh, yes," said Pepper, "there is _White Pepper_, and _Red_, or _Cayenne +Pepper_. Some of my friends were made into White Pepper. They were +soaked in limewater for about two weeks, and this, of course, softened +and wrinkled their hulls which had always fitted so nicely. This was bad +enough, but it was not the worst." + +"What happened next?" said several voices. + +"They were then," continued Pepper, "trodden under the bare feet of +dark-skinned men, and this rubbed off their hulls completely. After this +they were ground as we had been. + +"Cayenne Pepper is not a member of our family at all, although it has +the same name. I have looked up its genealogy, and I find that it +received its name from the city of Cayenne, in French Guiana, near which +it grows. It is in the form of bell-shaped pods, and grows on low, bushy +plants instead of vines. + +"The pods are green at first, but red when ripe. No doubt you have seen +strings of them hanging in the grocery store when you were on the +shelves. People sometimes use the pods as they are, but usually they are +dried, ground, mixed with yeast, and baked into flat cakes like +crackers. When these cakes are ground, Red, or Cayenne Pepper, is +produced. It is put up in little boxes just as we are. + +"Pepper used to be regarded as a great luxury," the speaker went on. +"Until the eighteenth century the Portuguese handled almost all of it. +It was not uncommon for rents to be paid with pepper. If any of you have +read ancient history, you know that when Alaric took Rome he demanded, +among other things, one thousand pounds of pepper as a ransom. + +"My home was in the East Indies," said Pepper, "but there are members +of our family living in the Philippines, India, Mexico, the West Indies, +and other tropical countries." + +"Your story is a very interesting one," said a voice, "and now, if you +care to hear it, I will tell something of my life." + +"Yes, do tell us," said several at once. + +"Very well, I will follow the example of our friend Pepper and introduce +myself at once. I am known as Ginger. I have relatives living in China, +in India, and in the western part of Africa, but I came from the West +Indies. The Ginger family is not like that of Pepper; it has no lofty +notions." + +Pepper seemed a little inclined to get angry, so Ginger hastened to say: +"I mean that our vines do not climb trees or poles, but run along the +ground. I was a _root_ and not a _fruit_." + +"When I was about a year old I, with countless friends, was dug from the +ground. We were cut from the vines and put into vats of scalding water." + +"That was _dreadful_," said Pepper. + +"We were treated in that way to prevent us from _sprouting_," continued +Ginger. "After being taken out of the water, we were thoroughly dried +and then ground. We were then put up in cans and boxes and sold as +_Black Ginger_. Others were scraped before being ground, and they were +then called _White Ginger_. + +"We were placed on board a great ship and finally landed at New York. +After remaining in a large store there for some time, I was brought to +the corner grocery, and so I found my way to this shelf. + +"I am gradually wasting away, and I shall not last a great while longer. +In my tropical home I seemed to be of no use to anybody, while now I am +called for frequently by the cook, and my services seem to be +appreciated, so I am happy." + +"To be of some real use in this world is the greatest joy of life," +remarked a strange voice. + +There was silence for a moment, and then Ginger said "May we not hear +from you, friend?" + +"Your stories almost make me believe that I am still in the land of my +birth," was the reply. + +There was a peculiar little rattle about the voice, which I recognized +at once as belonging to Cinnamon. + +"For several years I was rocked to and fro by gentle tropic breezes or +lashed about by storms. From my perch I could see beautiful flowers, +bright insects, and even serpents in the thicket at my feet. Birds of +brilliant plumage often perched upon me. My home was on the island of +Ceylon. + +"It is often said that where there is much bark there is no bite. In my +own case that is not so." + +"I do not understand," said Ginger. + +"Why," said Cinnamon, laughing, "I am _all_ bark, and I have +considerable bite, as those who have tasted me know. + +"I was taken from one of the smaller limbs of a cinnamon tree. I was +slipped within a larger piece of bark, for we each rolled up when +stripped from the limbs. A still larger piece was slipped over us and so +on until quite a bundle had been formed. Some were quite short, and some +were three feet in length." + + + + + STORIES OF CALIFORNIA + + BY + + ELLA M. SEXTON + + _With many illustrations_ + + Cloth 16mo $1.00 net + +"As a concise and interesting history of California, it deserves a place +in our schools and libraries, so that every child may read +it."--_Pacific Churchman._ + +"This volume comprises some excellent contributions to history, as it +certainly comprises some notable contributions to romance. The little +book is one which will appeal, therefore, to readers old and young. +Several of the stories explain in some degree the remarkable physical +characteristics of California, but the writer's chief aim has been to +unfold to children and their parents the life of bygone days."--_The +Outlook._ + + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK + BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO ATLANTA + + + + + Tarr and McMurry's Geographies + + A New Series of Geographies in Two, Three, or Five Volumes + + By RALPH S. TARR, B.S., F.G.S.A. + CORNELL UNIVERSITY + + AND + + FRANK M. McMURRY, Ph.D. + TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY + + TWO BOOK SERIES + +Introductory Geography 60 cents +Complete Geography $1.00 + + THE THREE BOOK SERIES + +FIRST BOOK (4th and 5th years) Home Geography and the Earth + as a Whole 60 cents +SECOND BOOK (6th year) North America 75 cents +THIRD BOOK (7th year) Europe and Other Continents 75 cents + + THE FIVE BOOK SERIES + +FIRST PART (4th year) Home Geography 40 cents +SECOND PART (5th year) The Earth as a Whole 40 cents +THIRD PART (6th year) North America 75 cents +FOURTH PART (7th year) Europe, South America, etc. 50 cents +FIFTH PART (8th year) Asia and Africa, with Review of + North America (with State Supplement) 50 cents + Without Supplement 40 cents + +Home Geography, Greater New York Edition 50 cents net +Teachers' Manual of Method in Geography. + By CHARLES A. MCMURRY 40 cents net + +To meet the requirements of some courses of study, the section from the +Third Book, treating of South America, is bound up with the Second Book, +thus bringing North America and South America together in one volume. + +The following Supplementary Volumes have also been prepared, and may be +had separately or bound together with the Third Book of the Three Book +Series, or the Fifth Part of the Five Book Series: + + SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUMES + +New York State 30 cents Kansas 30 cents +The New England States 30 cents Virginia 30 cents +Utah 40 cents Pennsylvania 30 cents +California 30 cents Tennessee 30 cents +Ohio 30 cents Louisiana 30 cents +Illinois 30 cents Texas 35 cents +New Jersey 30 cents + +When ordering, be careful to specify the Book or Part and the Series +desired, and whether with or without the State Supplement. + + + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK + BOSTON CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO + + + Tarr and McMurry's Geographies + + COMMENTS + +=North Plainfield, N.J.=--"I think it the best Geography that I have +seen."--H. 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