Page:LA2-NSRW-4-0401.jpg



SWITZERLAND

1857

SWITZERLAND

used in making brushes, and the skins make a tough and flexible leather, used in the manufacture of saddles, trunks and other forms of leather goods. Much attention has been given to the breeding of swine with a view to improvement in respect to increased size, hardiness, early development, fattening qualities, flavor of the pork, etc. Among the popular breeds are the Berkshire, from the English county of Berks; the Poland-China, which was first bred in Ohio; the Chester Whites, an American strain of the Yorkshire; the Durocs or Jersey Reds, and the Tarn-worth. Pork-packing is one of the great branches of business in the United States, Its leading centers are Chicago, Kansas City and Omaha, in the order named. In the year ending on March i, 1907, the number of hogs packed and marketed was 30,978,-ooo; the total value of the hog-products exported from the United States in 1905-6 was $128,996,441, See STOCK-RAISING and STOCK-YARDS.

Switzerland, an inland country of central Europe and a federal republic. Its greatest length from east to west is 180 miles, its greatest width from north to south 130 miles, and its area 15,976 square miles. It lies between Austria on the east, France on the west, Germany on the north and Italy on the south.

Surface. Switzerland is the most mountainous country on the globe. Its principal chains are the Alps and the Jura. The Alps run from east to west along the southern or Italian frontier, and their windings and spurs fill more than half the country. The mean height of the highest chain is from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The Jura run northeast from the western corner of Switzerland, and are a series of parallel ridges shutting in long and narrow valleys; their mean height is not over 4,000 feet. In the angle between them and the Alps lies the plain of Switzerland, 1,400 feet above the sea and 100 miles long by 20 to 30 broad. East of this tableland is the Thur hill-country between Lakes Zurich and Constance. The Jura, the plain and the hill-country are the main divisions of northern Switzerland. The Alpine region is divided into the valleys drained by the Rhone; those drained by the Ticino; the Orisons, valleys drained by the branches of the Rhine and Danube; the Bernese Oberland, sloping toward the plain of Switzerland; and the Forest cantons, surrounding Lake Lucerne. Everywhere above 9,500 feet high the mountains are covered with everlasting snow, which descends along the hollows in glaciers to a much lower level, and in this way covers the higher parts of the country with a vast sea of ice. The lowest part of Switzerland is in the valley of the Rhine, between Constance and Basel and the banks of Lakes Zurich and Mag-giore.

Resources, Manufactures, Commerce. Good coal is not to be had, and the houses are mostly wooden, so that the forests, which cover one sixth of the surface, are very valuable. The trees, cut on the heights and trimmed of their' branches, are slid down the icy slopes to the valleys below and loaded on rafts. The chief business is that of the herdsmen and shepherds, who spend the summer with their cattle on the mountains, living in rude huts called chalets, and there the butter and cheese are made. The plain of Switzerland is a rich farming-region ; large quantities of .grapes are grown at Vaud and Neuchatel, and the orchards of the Thur country and Lake Constance furnish kirchwasser, the common drink. Out of every 100 square miles 30 are filled with rocks, glaciers and water; 17 with forests; n with plowed lands; 20 with meadows; and one with vineyards. The manufactures are chiefly confined to the northern cantons — silk in Zurich, Aargau, Glarus and Basel; cotton in Zurich, St. Gall, Appenzell, Aargau, Glarus and Neuchatel; watchmaking in Geneva and Neuchatel; straw plaiting in Aaargu and Lucerne. Though without a seaport, Switzerland's trade in proportion to population has long been greater than that of any European country, except England. The chief imports are wheat, salt, raw silk and cotton; the chief exports are cheese, condensed milks food-stuffs, charcoal, cattle, silks, cottons, watches and jewelry.

Government, Education, Communication. Each of the 25 cantons of Switzerland rules its home-affairs, in some of the cantons by means of a representative assembly, in others by the landesgemeinde or assembly of all the men in the canton. The federal legislature has two houses, the state council and the national council. The president, elected by the federal assembly for one year, has little power, being merely one of the federal council of seven, which is chosen for three years. Almost every head of a family has his plot of ground, and there are no great estates or powerful landowners. There is no standing army, but every citizen is obliged to serve as a soldier. Children are taught at school to bear arms, from the age of eight passing through annual exercises and reviews. In eighteen cantons German prevails; in five, French; in one Italian; and in one, Roumansch, a Latin dialect which lingers in the Grisons. Basel, Bern and Geneva are the centers of the Protestant part of Switzerland, while the Alpine region is almost wholly Catholic, Three years' schooling is required for every child, and in every district are primary and secondary schools. There are many higher and specialized schools that are largely attended; and universities at Basel, Bern, Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg.