Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/448

* SPAIN. 384 SPAIN. figs, grow in abundance; the southern provinces also raise maize and rice; and Spain is the chief saffron-producing country in tlie world. Fauna. The reiniiauts ni the forests still har- bor wolves, lynxes, wildcats, foxes, and even wild goats. The bear is now rare. Deer, hares, and other game abound, and wild boars of great size and strength are hunted, in the oak forests. Geology and Mineral Resovrces. The table- land is a very ancient and much altered block of the earth's crust, chiefly composed of ArehiEan and Paleozoic rocks, for the most part of Cam- brian, Silurian, and Devonian formation. (Jn the north and south margins of the tal)leland two younger land masses were upheaved into lofty bordering ranges, the Pyrenean-Cantabrian on the north, and the Andalusian on the south. The Pyrenees are an example of a yoiuig folded mountain system built up of parallel belts usual- ly in a nortliwest and southeast direction. The crust folds of the Andalusian system have a low outer zone of folded ilesozoic and Tertiaiy strata and a lofty inner girdle, in which the Arclucan and Paleozoic rocks rise high above the Jlediter- ranean. Spain had the reputation till the discovery of America of being the richest metal- producing country in the world. It is the most metalliferous land of Europe, not except- ing the Ural mining district. The rapid develop- ment of mining has been impeded by insufficient fuel and defective means of communication ; but the chief reason for the inferior condition of the mining industries is found in the lack of enter- prise and skill among the Spaniards. Foreign capital and energy have brotight about most of the development in recent years, and the greater part of the ore is exported to foreign countries in its raw state. The rich iron ore and the cop- per ore go to England and Germany, and Span- ish gold and silver ores are melted at Freiberg in Saxon.v. The great iron fields of North Spain have been chiefly tributary to Great Britain, whose iron-makers have imported from first to last about 100,000.000 tons of this ore. chiefly through the port of Bilbao. It is especially de- sired in Great Britain and Germany because it is hematite of the best steel grade. These mines along the Bay of Biscay are now nearly exhausted, but iron of excellent quality is also found in con- siderable quantities in Andalusia, the Sierra Mo- rena, and Leon. In 100.3 a fresh source of oxide of iron ore, discovered 85 miles from Malaga, be- gan to enter into commerce. Nearly every province contains coal measures, the resources of the country being estimated at 13.000.000,000 tons. Coal "is worked chiefly in Asturias, Leon, and Lgrida, but the amount mined is comparatively small and the railroads, even in the coal-producing provinces, burn English coal. The qtiicksilver mines of Al- maden are the richest in the world. Spain pro- duces more lead than any other country of Eu- rope, and lead-mining in recent years has given row life to Granada, most of it being obtained from the mines of the Alpujarras (q.v. ) and those of Linares in .Taen. Copper is found in in- exhaustible quantities on the Rio Tinto, in South- ern Spain, where mines have been worked by British and German capital since 1873. The ore is also mined in Murcia. Oviedo, Jaen. and Za- mora. Salt is chiefly obtained by evaporation of sea water at Cadiz, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, thotigh Catalonia and New Castile abound in rock salt. Among the other important minerals are sulphur, soda, saltpetre, alum, graphite, and potter's clay. Jlineral springs are numerous, the best known being the theruml sul- phur springs of Mombuy. in Catalonia. In I'JOl there were in Spain 2291 productive mines em- ploying 87,409 workmen. The output of raw minerals in the same .vear was valued at $20,- 960,328. The quantities and values of the more important minerals produced in 1901 (the peseta being valued at 14.28 cents) were as follows: CBnOE MINERALS Iron Coal Copper Lead Silver-lead.. Q'licksilver. Zinc Mangauese. Salt Tons 1,000 pesetas 7,906.517 40,833 2.556.591 28,932 2,(!72.365 45,756 174,326 13.666 207.188 33,578 28,367 6,200 119,708 4.029 60.235 1.008 345.090 3,000 Agriculture, Live Stock, and Fisheries. Spain's largest interests are agricultural, over half the ])eople living by farming, which supplies about two-thirds of the exports. In general the husbandry of Spain is of an antiquated charac- ter. Farm methods and implements are primitive, and the special disadvantages are that much of the land is owned bv the nobilit.v in large hold- ings, the taxes are high, and communications poor. Four-fifths of the area is classed as produc- tive : 33.8 per cent, is devoted to general agri- culture and gardening. 3.7 to vinevards, 1.6 to olive-growing, 10.7 to nattu'al grasses, and 20.8 to fruit. Pasturage is abundant, even the great plains of the dry tableland lu-ins covered in sum- mer with aromatic heritage on which sheep thrive, while in winter the flocks are driven <lown to the lower districts, especially to Estremadura. Al- though about 250,000 of the holdings are in large estates, the subdivision of the soil has been rap- idly advancing in recent years. As in all coun- tries in which winter rains prevail, irrigation, as stated above, is necessar.v during the rainless months. Artificial watering in a wide belt along the Mediterranean coast transformed a great area into a region of remarkable fertilitv. These lands are called huertas or gardens. All avail- able fertilizers, including street sweepings, are used, with the result that no land in the world is more productive than the huertas. Here are produced southern fruits, vegetables, sugar cane, maize, and other crops requiring abundant moisture. Only about nine per cent, of the coun- try, however, is artificially irrigated. The Gov- ernment in 1900 took steps to enlarge the agricultural area by the construction of reser- voirs and irrigation canals. The plans adopted for the irrigation system cannot fully be carried out for many years. Lands now irrigated in the valleys of the Ebro and Tagus are yielding twelve times as much fruit as the dry lands. The most profusely watered and the best cul- tivated region is Valencia, where three or four crops are harvested every year. The level parts of Catalonia, Murcia. and Andalusia are also very fertile, while Asturias and Galicia, though less productive, are carefully cultivated. A