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Modern Business Geography
GENERAL CONDITIONS OF FARMING IN THE UNITED STATES
The position of the United States as a farming country. Although
in proportion to its population the United States has fewer farmers
than many other countries, it is the leading farming country of the
world. No other country grows such large crops of corn, cotton,
tobacco, and wheat, and none has a greater variety of products. The
United States excels Russia in the production of oats. It grows about
four fifths of the world’s corn crop, three fifths of the cotton, one third
of the tobacco, one fourth of the oats, and one fifth of the wheat.
Why the United States leads in farming. The leadership of the
United States in farming is due to many causes: (1) the great size of
the country; (2) its favorable climate; (3) the energy of the farmers;
’4) the intelligence and inventiveness of the American people; (5) the
freshness of the soil; and (6) the transportation facilities for market-
ing the crops. In addition to these another cause may be mentioned :
7) the aid. given by the government.
It must not be inferred that the United States is ahead of all other
countries in every condition enumerated above. Russia, including
Siberia, far exceeds it in size; France has a better climate; Holland
has farmers who are equally energetic and intelligent; England has
better roads and more convenient railroads; Australia has equally
good soil ; and Germany has given more governmental assistance to the
farmers. It is doubtful, however, whether any other one country
has so happy a combination of these fortunate conditions as the
United States.
SIZE OF THE COUNTRY
The leadership of the United States in farming rests to a large extent
upon its size (Fig. 16). If it were not for its great size, the United
States could not count its annual crop of corn, of wheat, and of oats
in billions of bushels, of hay in scores of millions of tons, of tobacco
in hundreds of millions of pounds, and of cotton in millions of bales.
Other equal areas in Europe, India, and China do indeed produce
much larger crops than the United States, because they have many
more people ; but no other region gets so much advantage from mere
size. Europe is divided into many countries, which is a great hin-
drance to commerce and hence to production; while in India and
China transportation is not so well developed as in the United
States.
Extent of the tillable area. It is true that not all of our country
can be used for farming. Some large areas. such as most of the Great