How the Cyclonic Regions Compare with the Rest of the World in Producing Raw Materials.—In the table of world products, the chief raw materials, as distinguished from foodstuffs and fuels, are as _ follows: (1) cotton; (2) iron; (3) wood; (4) hides; (5) wool; (6) cop per; (7) rubber; (8) silk; (9) lead; (10) zinc; (11) tin. These materials fall into two great classes: (a) five mineral products the occurrence of which has nothing to do with climate, and which are as likely to occur in one zone as another; (b) six plant or animal products which can be raised only in certain regions determined by climate. Let us see where each class comes from and where it is used.
Where the Metals are Mined and Used.—Among the five most useful metals, four, namely, iron, copper, lead, and zinc, are so widely distributed that each climatic zone appears to have an abundant supply stored away among its mountains. Yet look at Figs. 53 to 58 and see where the world's supply comes from. All are produced overwhelmingly in cyclonic regions. Iron, the ores of which are by far the most universally distributed over the earth's surface, is the one produced most exclusively in cyclonic regions. The extraordinary leadership of the cyclonic regions is vividly brought out by compar ing Fig. 53, showing where iron ores are known to exist in large quan tities, with Fig. 54 showing where iron is actually mined.
Tin alone among the five most useful metals occurs almost wholly in one climatic zone, for it is produced mainly in Malaysia and Bolivia. Most of the tin, however, is now mined by European methods, and practically all of the product is shipped to cyclonic regions. With most of the other metals, as well as with non-metallic mineral products like brickclay, similar conditions prevail. If the distribu tion of the ores is limited, as in the case of gold, silver, and mercury, the mines in other regions are usually run by people from the cyclonic areas. If the minerals are widely distributed in all zones, as are aluminum ores, pottery clays, and roadbuilding stones, they are exploited pre-eminently in the cyclonic areas. Because of their greater energy the people of cyclonic regions not only have developed their own mineral resources with almost reckless rapidity, but have reached out and procured for their own use the best of all that occurs elsewhere.
Where the Vegetable and Animal Raw Materials are Produced and Used.—The six most useful non-metallic raw materials, as we have seen, are cotton, wood, hides, wool, rubber, and silk. Unlike the metals, these cannot possibly be produced in most parts of the world. Cotton is a product of monsoon and subtropical climates. Good wood is common in four of the world's main regions of climate and vegetation, namely the equatorial rain forest, the tropical jungle, the deciduous forest, and the coniferous forest. A scattered supply, moreover, is found in tropical scrub, in savannas, in subtropical dry forests, and in the irrigated parts of deserts. Nevertheless far the best kinds of wood for ordinary use are the larger conifers especially the pines, which are both easily worked and durable. These grow best on the southern borders of the great coniferous forests and in scattered areas on mountains or in special soils farther south. Hence they are largely a cyclonic product. North of the cyclonic regions the coniferous forest is relatively stunted and is valuable chiefly for pulp wood for paper.
Wool and hides both come from animals which naturally live in the grasslands of the prairies, steppes, and savannas, and hence are adapted to many climatic regions. Rubber is the only genuinely tropical article on our list, while silk, like cotton, belongs naturally to monsoon and subtropical climates. Thus no one of the six most useful non-metallic raw materials is primarily a product of cyclonic regions, but wood, wool, and hides can be produced there as well as anywhere. As a matter of fact, however, they are produced in those regions far in excess of all other regions. How true this is may be seen from Figs. 96 and 91, since wool and hides naturally come from the places where sheep and cattle are most numerous. The same is true of silk, the other animal product on our list. We think of it as a product of warm regions, but the vast bulk of the world's silk supply comes from two cyclonic regions, Japan and northern Italy. The people of these cyclonic regions have taken silk worms, just as others have taken cattle and sheep, and have developed types that thrive in climates somewhat cooler or moister than those where the animals originally lived.