Most of Europe, you remember, is too cool or dry to grow its own corn. In place of corn, the farmers of these countries grow oats, barley, and beets for their cattle. These beets are almost as big as your head. (Fig. 328.) It takes a lot of work to grow beets, but great fields of them are grown for the cows and sheep of Europe to eat.
88. Pigs and the sheep and cows of Europe are often fed on beets instead of on corn, many of the pigs there are fed on potatoes. Pigs and potatoes are often grown in the same places. The potatoes are of a large, coarse variety, and are raised especially for the pigs and cows. For this reason Germany grows several times as many potatoes as does the United States. Russia is another country that grows many potatoes.
89. Pigs and nuts.—When we studied corn (Sec. 64) we found that corn does not grow where there is little rain. Southern Europe is too dry for corn to grow as well as it does in the United States. These countries of Southern Europe—Spain, Italy and Greece—are also too dry for potatoes to grow well. These countries do not have as many pigs as the Germans and Belgians have. You can hardly guess what food fattens the pigs of South Europe. Often it is chestnuts and acorns. These are the foods of the wild hog in his forest home. Jt is a common sight in Spain, Portugal, or Serbia to see the swineherd watching his drove of fat pigs out under the trees while they gather the crop and fatten themselves. In France and Italy, after the people have picked up the best of the chestnuts for their own use, the pigs gather what are left: But with all their strange ways of feeding pigs and cattle, the people of Western Europe have been unable to supply themselves with enough meat. For many years, the United States, South America, and Australia have helped supply them. Every
week we send to them from Chicago and Kansas City and from other cities, carloads of pork, beef, ham, and bacon. All this brings much money to the farmers and city people of the North Central States. Thus we see that this North Central section of our country supplies both bread (Sec. 80) and meat, not only to America, but also to countries across the sea. In return, almost every country in the world sends back something which is needed there.
90. Countries where meat is scarce.— Can you guess why the people of Italy eat Jess meat than the people of Illinois? And why the people of China eat less meat than the people of Italy? It is because the people of Illinois have farms of a hundred acres or more, while the farmers in Italy have but ten or fifteen acres, and the Chinese have only one or two acres in their little farms. Yet each one of the little farms in Italy and China must be made to support a family. Now, the Chinese farmer cannot raise enough crops on his tiny bit of ground to feed himself, his family, and also a number of pigs and cattle; so he does not keep many pigs and cattle. He raises rice, corn, beans, potatoes, and vegetables for his family, keeps a few ducks and chickens, and often has only one pig to eat up scraps that people do not eat. So the Chinese do not have much meat to eat. You see, then, that the meat industry is not as important in their country as it is in the North Central States. The Chinese farmer does not have any tractor.
Often he does not even have a horse to pull his plow. Instead, he must dig up his little farm with a spade. He cannot pro duce enough to get high wages. Do you see why many Chinese want to come to AmeriCa to live, and why so many Italians come to America?