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.