The Swiss mountaineer often lives in a wooden house called a ehalet. (Fig. 400.) It has a rather flat roof, on which the snow will lie and serve as a blanket to keep the house warm.
497. Two examples of Swiss many parts of the United States we have lost hun dreds of thousands of acres of good land, which might have made thousands of farms, because rushing water has cut 'gullies and carried the good soil away (Fig. 82). The same thing was sure to happen in mountainous Switzerland, and because the people of that little country could not afford to have land wasted, they prevented that kind of trouble. They found that in some locations goats in pasturing clipped the grass so close that the soil was washed away, but that cows did not eat grass so close.
Laws were then passed reducing the number of goats and increasing the number of cows that might feed on certain pastures. Thus the grass cover was protected and the soil was kept from washing away (Fig. 4001. This is a good example of the conservation of resources. Swiss thrift and care are also shown by the bee industry. There is not land enough to raise many sugar beets, but a substitute is found in honey, which bees make from the fir tree. Many thousands of hives of bees are kept, and less sugar must be bought.
498. Manufactures.—Switzerland has no coal of her own, but now that steamboats can come up the Rhine to Basel, coal is brought from the coal fields along the Ruhr and the Saar, branches of the Rhine. (Sec. 448.) Little coal is needed in Switzer land except for heating purposes, because the Swiss have harnessed the Alpine waterfalls, turned their power into electricity, and car ried the electricity to most of the towns and cities. In many localities electric power is in every house, and much manufacturing is done in the homes of the people with the aid of motor-driven machinery.
Switzerland is not a land of many cities, but Berne, the capital, Geneva, on Lake Geneva, Lucerne, on beautiful Lake Lucerne, and Zurich, the largest city, are all neat and thriv ing centers of manufacture, trade, and travel.
As Switzerland has no raw materials other than milk, stone, salt mines, and wood, her industries must make valuable things from small amounts of raw material. This is
well shown in the heavy export of ribbons made from Japanese silk; of lace made from American cotton; of fine machinery made of imported iron and copper; and of milk chocolate made of cocoa beans from along the equator and milk from herds on her own mountain pastures. The best example of all is found in the Swiss watch, of which Geneva is a great manufacturing center. A jeweler can establish his reputation if he can say that he was trained in Switzerland.
499. The tourist industry.— Beautiful scenery attracts many travelers to Switzer land. People like to see quaint villages with trim gardens and neat fields, and cozy chalets on the green mountainsides. They like to hear the musical chimes of the churches, and the tinkling of the cowbells on the distant pasture. The white flash of the waterfall pleases the eye, and the murmur of the waters lulls to sleep. The smooth surface of clear lakes reflects the mountains like a mirror.
There is charm in the green forest and in the distant, white snow field. The steep and dangerous snow-clad peak dares those who like to do hard things.
Expert Swiss guides will show the way.
Switzerland has the best location in the world to tempt many travelers. It is near the middle of Europe.
(Fig. 394.) It is on the road for travelers going from densely populated northwest Europe to Italy, to enjoy the charm of warm winter sunshine.
There are railway tickets that are sold cheaply, and which will permit travelers to ride for weeks, as much as they please, on any railroad in Switzerland. The Swiss people make trav elers comfortable by providing good food, good beds, good roads, and delightful foot paths.
The climate also attracts. The summer is cool, pleasant, and refreshing. Switzerland advertises her winter sports of coasting, snowshoeing, skiing, skating, and ice games. Swiss weather can be freezing and at the same time comfortable, for the surrounding mountai9 walls keep off the cold winds.