The World's Chief Products.—It is most extraordinary to see how large a part of the articles that enter into the world's commerce come from countries where cyclonic storms prevail. This is true of food and raw materials as well as of manufactured goods. Here is a table of 37 of the most important products aside from manufactures. The approximate value of the new material produced each year is given in the table, but it must be understood that this is only a rough estimate, since figures are not available for all parts of the world and prices vary constantly. Nevertheless the figures give a good idea of the relative importance of different products, and of their enormous production. For wood and millet, however, no data are available even for an estimate, but they have been given places that indicate their probable importance.
In the table of the world's chief products two stars have been added to each product which comes mainly from cyclonic regions; and one to those derived in about equal measure from cyclonic and non-cyclonic regions. Notice that of the 23 products with a value of a billion dollars or more ilsr year 11 come mainly from cyclonic regions, namely, wheat, potatoes, dairy products, oats, rye, barley, swine, coal, iron, hay, and horses. Eight others corn, sheep, poultry, cattle, sugar, wood, hides, wool, and copper, come partly from such regions. This leaves only three. rice, millet, and cotton, which are not produced in vast quantities in the cyclonic regions. How poor the non-cyclonic regions seem with only three great products of their own and part of ,„ nine others, although they occupy nine-tenths of the land area of the globe. Contrast this with the 11 great products of the cyclonic regions, to which must be added part of eight others and practically all of the world's machinery, textile products, and other manufac tures. Although the cyclonic regions include only about a tenth of all the lands and two-fifths of all the world's people, their products are worth three times as much as those of all the rest of the world. In other words, each individual in the cyclonic regions produces at least five or six times as much as the average individual in the other parts of the world.
The great supremacy of the cyclonic regions is due primarily to the inherited ability of the people and to the stimulating climate, as explained in a previous chapter. It is also due in part to three other causes: (1) a climate more favorable than any other to crops which are highly nourishing and can be kept a long time; (2) climate and vegetation favorable to the most valuable of all domestic animals; and (3) great supplies of coal and iron which are easily available.
Food Products of Cyclonic Regions: Wheat.—In order to gain a clear idea of the conditions which make cyclonic regions so favorable to the production of food, let us examine some of the chief food prod ucts and study their distribution as shown on maps. Most people recognize that wheat is the most valuable of all food-stuffs, but not till wheat became scarce during the Great War did the world realize how much we lean on this staff of life. Then England, France, Italy, and other countries besought the United States to send wheat, more wheat, and still more wheat. For a time it was more valuable than guns and ammunition; it was the one thing that could not by any pos sibility be spared if the war for self-government was to be fought to a finish. So the United States had to limit its own consumption, and pay bounties to the farmers to enable them to raise larger quantities of this most valuable of food products.
The great value of wheat lies in the fact that (1) it is highly nutritious, so that even if people have no other food they can live on it a long time. In this respect it is much superior to rice, its nearest rival in importance. (2) It is economically produced. From seed time until it is barreled up as flour all the processes can be performed by machinery. (3) Wheat can be kept a long time either in the form of the whole grain or flour. In this it is far superior to corn, which would otherwise have an advantage because the yield per acre is so large.
Let us now turn to Fig. 104 and see how the production of wheat is related to the cyclonic areas.
Although western Europe is one of the most densely populated parts of the world, it is also the greatest center of wheat production. The cyclonic area of the United States and Canada comes second, and that of central Argentina holds high rank. Subtropical and monsoon countries, especially the Mediterranean lands, and northern India produce a good deal, but their production is not a sixth as great as that of the cyclonic regions. In equatorial regions the warm moist climate forbids the growth of wheat. Even in the northern cyclonic regions large areas produce only a little because they are too moist in summer or else too snowy in winter. Wheat wants a region with cool winters, and plenty of moisture in the fall and spring, but not too much in summer. It is naturally a product of subtropical regions, where its bearded wild ancestor is still known. Nevertheless through the ingenuity of man it has now become mainly a product of the re gions of cyclonic storms. Contrast its distribution with that of rice, Fig. 95, which is a typical product of tropical and especially monsoon regions.