In] 
39 
Modern Business Geography 
A great variety of crops due to variety of climate. The size of the 
United States gives it another advantage besides that of an enor- 
mous total yield; for its great extent causes it to have a variety of 
climates, and this wide range of climates makes possible a great vari- 
ety of products. They range from the semi-tropical fruits of Florida 
and California to the hardy grains of the cold temperate regions, 
and from the dates and ostrich feathers of our desert oases in the 
southwest to crops like potatoes, that require abundant rainfall. 
CHARACTER OF THE FARMING POPULATION 
Another cause of the leadership of the United States in farming 
is the energy of the people. A large part of the country, especially 
the northern sections, possesses a climate that keeps people ener- 
getic. Only for a month or two is the winter cold benumbing, or the 
summer heat depressing. The invigorating character of the climate 
is due in part to the storms that cross the country with the prevailing 
westerly winds. They bring changes in temperature from day to day 
that spur the workers to vigorous exertion. People in no occupation 
feel the energy thus given by the climate more than farmers. 
In addition to this, the people who settled the United States 
brought with them an inheritance of energy and intelligence. They 
had this inheritance partly, but by no means wholly, because they 
came from western Europe, a region that also has a stimulating 
climate. Had these same people migrated to tropical lands their 
vigor might gradually have diminished. 
How the farmer’s energy is utilized. The vigor of the American 
shows itself not so much in the number of hours of labor as in the 
speed with which he works and the quickness with which his mind 
turns from one thing to another. During the busy season the farm- 
ers in oriental countries from the Near East in Turkey to the Far 
East in China, and even in tropical countries, often begin their work 
as soon as it is light and end it only when darkness comes. But the 
Oriental works slowly, and when he has finished one piece of work he 
often sits down to rest and think it over before beginning another. 
The American does not merely work quickly: he wastes little time in 
going from one thing to another; he is competent to use complex 
machinery ; and he is usually ambitious. The tropical farmer, on 
the other hand, is usually content if he raises just enough to feed 
and clothe his family, and he often ‘seems averse to the use of ma- 
chinery. If favorable weather gives him a double crop, he sometimes