Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/451

LEFT GREAT BRITAIN 387 GREAT BRITAIN Orkney, Scilly and other groups of small islands; area, 120,979 square miles; capital, London; pop. (1911) 45,370,530; (1919 est.) 45,267,000. Topography. — The N. of the island of Great Britain is mountainous, the re- gion N. of the Clyde being known as the Highlands. This is divided into two sections by the hollow of Glenmore, S. of which are Ben Nevis (4,406 feet) and Ben Macdhui (4,296 feet), the highest mountains of the islands. S. of the High- lands and separated from them by the plain of the Forth and Clyde are the Southern Highlands and the Cheviot Hills on the border between Scotland and England. Running S. through Eng- land are the Cumberland and Cambrian ranges terminating beyond the Peak of Derby. The Cambrian range extends into Wales with its highest peak, Mount Snowdon (3,571 feet). The surface of the remainder of England consists of undulating hills. In Ireland the most marked feature is the expanse of bogs which stretches over its interior. This flatness of the interior is caused by the fact that most of the mountain masses attain their greatest elevation near the coast and rapidly decline as they recede from it. Carn Tual, in the S. W., the culminating point of the island, is 3,404 feet high. With the exception of the Clyde and Severn, the rivers of the W. part of Great Britain are of little im- portance. These two rivers run through valleys parallel to the coast. There are several important rivers entering the sea on the E. coast. The most important river in England, if not in the world, commercially, is the Thames, 215 miles long. Other notable streams in the E. are the Spey, Don, Tay, Dee, Forth, Tweed, Tyne, Ouse, and Trent. The rivers of Ireland have winding courses and with the exception of the Shann>> (225 miles) are unimportant. The lakes of the British Isles are distinguished for beauty rather than size; the largest, but among the least interesting, is Lough Neagh, in the N. of Ireland. While both Great Britain and Ireland are pro- vided with numerous streams, which are either themselves navigable or act as the feeders of canals, the coasts, with a development of over 3,000 miles, supply a number of excellent harbors invaluable to the commerce of the country. Geology. — The surface of Great Brit- ain exhibits deposits of nearly all geo- logical periods. The Palaeozoic strata covers nearly one -third the entire area, the oldest rocks being the granites and gneisses of the Hebrides. Cambrian deposits exist in the sandstones, slate and grit stones of Scotland, England and Wales, the Silurian in the Cambrian Mountains and in Wales, and the De- vonian, in Devonshire and Central Scot- land. The Carboniferous series occupies a belt extending from the Bristol Channel to the Cheviot Hills, thence into Scot- land, with 14 distinct coal fields. Per- mian deposits of magnesium limestone, red sand, tin and marble exist in Dur- ham, Devon, and Cornwall. Triassic measures, including beds of rock salt, may be traced as a ribbon from Hartle- pool in the N. to the mouth of the Exe in the S. In the S. E. are many Creta- ceous rocks rich in fossils, with chalk hills from Flamborough Head in York- shire to Hants, then toward the British Channel, forming the well-known cliffs of Dover. Tertiary formations are found along the S. coast, consisting of clays, marls, and ferruginous sands. Granites, syenite, basalt and other erup- tive rocks, are found in Devon, Corn- wall, the N. of Scotland, and on the Irish coast. Agriculture. — The total amount of arable land in Great Britain in 1918 was 21,221,000 acres. There were planted in 1919 in corn, 10,093,243 acres, in green crops (vegetables), 3,- 894,590 acres; in flax, 115,039 acres; in hops, 16,780 acres; and in small fruit, 84,632 acres. The land lying fallow was 658,443 acres. The land planted to clover and other grasses is about 5,000,- 000 acres, and the permanent pasture land amounts to about 25,000,000 acres. There were in 1919 1,914,933 horses, 12,491,427 cattle, 25,119,220 sheep, and 2,925,093 pigs. In England and Wales the Board of Agriculture makes grants for the supervision of vocational educa- tion, of scientific research, and agricul- ture. There are eight Development Commissioners appointed to advise the treasurer in the administration of a national fund for the development of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and sim- ilar resources of the United Kingdom. In 1918 there were imported 57,947,610 cwt. of wheat. Of this 24,757,610 CR-t. were from the United States and 15,- 968.700 cwt. from Canada. There were in 1918, in England and Wales, 420,126 farms; in Scotland, 75,982; and in Ire- land, 572,574. The greater number of farms were from 5 to 50 acres in extent. Fisheries. — Fishing is one of the most important industries of the United Kingdom. In 1918 the fish, excluding shell fish taken, amounted to 431,351 tons, valued at $21,019,000. The value of the shell fish was $543,082. The total num- ber of fishing boats is about 25,000, with a tonnage of about 400,000. Over 100.- 000 persons are employed in the fishing industry. In 1919 there were imported