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.