16 
Modern Business Geography 
Many other New England cities are located where they can take 
advantage of the cheap power furnished by the numerous waterfalls 
and rapids due to the uneven surface of New England. The huge 
ice-sheet that swept over this region thousands of years ago filled 
many of the old river channels, and after it melted away the rivers 
had to seek new channels. Thus glaciation — that is, the work of 
the ice-sheet — has given rise to many waterfalls. 
These waterfalls are all the more helpful to industries because 
above many of them are lakes, natural reservoirs that keep the volume 
of water in the river nearly constant from season to season. Conse- 
quently the amount of water power varies only a little, which is a 
great convenience for factories. We have to thank the ancient ice- 
sheet for these lakes of New England as well as for the falls, be- 
cause they, too, result from the uneven surface of the land left by 
the ice. 
Why the clear water of lakes is valuable to the cotton industry. 
Lakes not only steady the volume of the rivers; they also filter their 
waters. A river may be filled with muddy sediment as it enters a 
lake, but as it flows out it is clear as crystal; this is because all the 
mud has been deposited in the bed of the quiet lake. Hence the 
process of bleaching, which requires a great amount of clean water, 
can easily be carried on in New England. In the unglaciated region 
south of northern Pennsylvania and the Ohio River, the rivers are 
exceedingly muddy, and have no lakes to filter them. Accordingly, 
when cloth is made in the South, it is usually carried to New 
England to be bleached. 
The advantage of good harbors to the cotton manufacturer. In 
addition to its supply of water for power and for bleaching, Fall River 
possesses a harbor that can accommodate ocean steamships. This 
means that it has good transportation facilities, which give it decided 
advantages in manufacturing. By means of the cheapest kind of 
transportation, the factories can receive not only raw cotton but 
coal for fuel to supplement water power, and also such raw materials 
as lumber and cement for building. They can also use the cheapest 
means of transportation. to ship away their finished products. 
Many other cotton cities in New England are located either on or 
near good harbors, for harbors are numerous in this region. This is 
because the coast has been submerged ; the ocean has flowed over the 
edge of the land so that the lower parts of the river valleys have been 
drowned, thus being converted into bays. Water power and good 
harbors favor the manufacturing of other products as well as cotton.