Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/194

* GKEAT BRITAIN. 168 GREAT BRITAIN. of much greater importance than coal and iron. It is a matter of tradition that centuries before the Christian Era the Phteniiian merchants visited EngUmd and traded in the products of the tin-mines of t'urnwall. Whether this be true or not. it is certain that the Cornish mines have been worked from a very early period. During the early part of the Middle Ages, down to the time wli'en the tin-mines of Bolicmia and Saxony were discovered, England supplied almost all the tin that was used throughout Christendom. Sir Walter Ralegh's famous report of 160.3 on the state of trade and commerce mentions tin and lead as the chief minerals produced. In the Itoman period the mining of lead was carried on so extensively that it was limited by law. Cop- jier and silver were also mined. The revenue from the Devonshire tin and lead mines paid the ex- l:enses of the French wars of the fourteenth cen- tury. But these minerals were mined with diffi- culty. !>'i<i the great modern improvements in transportation have made it more economic in many cases to import the ore. thus tending to check the home production. English clays have always been used in the making of pottery, and used ex-tensively after the introduction of the im- proved methods by the Dutch and Huguenot im- migrants. The combined annual output of cop- per, tin. salt, and other minor minerals was estimated at the beginning of the century at .$.5,000,000 in value; in 1840, at about .$15,000,- 000: and at about the same figure forty years later; the total value is not materially dif- ferent at present. The country's abundant sup- ply of useful stone has always been drawn u])on, and there has been a very rapid increase in its utilization in recent years. In 1900 the value of the sandstone quanied was estimated at $7,- 930,22.5; the granite at $6,193,735; the limestone at $6,501,570; and slate and slab at $7,641,680, Fisheries, The natural resources of Great Britain include very profitable fisheries. The herring fisheries off the Norfolk coast have al- ways been important, and were until the seven- teenth century largely in the hands of the Dutch, But as the Government fostered the fishing in- dusti-y. the Dutch were supplanted, and to-day Great Britain is only equaled by the United States in the value of its annual catch, Tho product of the catch (exclusive of salmon and shellfish) increased from £6,333,000 in 1890, to £9,215,000 in 1900, Of the latter amount, £6,- 610.000 was accredited to the English and Welsh coasts, £2,325.000 to the Scotch coasts, and £279,- 000 to the Irish coasts. The haddock fishery is the most important of the English fisheries, and the berring of the Scotch, The total product of each for the United Kingdom exceeds £2,000,000 annually. Great Yarmouth is the principal centre for the herring fisheries. The North Sea fisher- ies yield shellfish, mackerel, and codfish. Sardine fishing is of some importance in Cornwall and Devonshire, Ovster fisheries are widely dis- tributed along the coasts. In 1899 24,798 boats were registered as engaged in fishing, giving em- ployment to 109,015 men, but there was also a large number of small craft not registered. In recent years the general tendency toward centrali- zation has been very evident in the fishing indus- try, and the fishing population has centred large- ly in a few important points, chiefly Yarmouth, Cirimsby, Hull, and Peterhead, The product is mainly sent to the London fish market, which is the largest in the world. Agriculture and Stock-Baisixg, Estimated upon the basis of the number of people employed, agriculture is, relative to other industries in England, less than halt as important as in any of the other great nations. The country now is far from producing the amount of food it requires. This fact is generally viewed with alarm when the possible exigencies of war are considered, and makes the question of food pro- vision of preeminent importance. Political sig- nificance attaches to the situation in that it is claimed that with Government protection, as in the Continental States ( i.e, a system of import duties or of bounties), the agriculturists would reclaim soil now unprofitable, and greatly in- crease the degree of independence for the islands. In regard to natural facilities for agriculture. Great Britain is somewliat less fortunate than the rival nations on the Continent, Not only is its actual area mucli less, but a smaller proportion of it is adaptable to cultivation, and even that is, on the whole, of only moderate natural fertility. The climatic conditions, tem- perature, and rainfall are, however, generally favorable, though the summers are too cool for the growing of corn. It is only since the great increase in population beginning in the latter part of the eighteenth century, that the agri- culture of Great Britain has failed to meet the food requirements of the people. It was formerly an exporter of food products and in its earlier history agriculture was almost its only indus- try. In harmony with the economic ideas then current, the Go'ernnieiit protected the industry with almost prohibitive import duties. The re- peal of the corn laws in 1846 opened the markets to the competition of the world, and British agricultural interests, though prosperous for a time, are now helping to pay the price of national prosperity. The bringing under cultivation of the fertile virgin soils of other countries, and the con- stantly cheapening rates of transportation, have subjected Great Britain to an increasingly severe competition, and, as in the New England States, have forced a material modification in its agricul- tural methods. This is most marked in the de- crease during the last half-centuiy in the pro- duction of grain, particularly wheat, and the in- crease in market gardening and the pastoral industries, notably dairying. There has been a revival in the production of wheat since 1895, in which year the acreage reached the minimum of 1,417,000 acres. Coincident with this cliange have been the decrease in the arable and the in- crease in the pasture land. The American will be impressed by the striking disproportion between the staple crops in Great Britain as compared with tho.se of his own country; for the raising of barley, oats, and root crops is necessary to take the place which corn fills in the United States. The extensive brewing interests create a demand for hops, which are growii on a large scale in Kent and Sussex, but the competition of the American product has robbed the English producer of his profits. The large population creates a demand for fruit and garden products, the production of which is consequently of great and increasing importance, particularly in the .southeast, the Severn Valley, and generally in the vicinity of the large cities. The distribution of crops varies