Description: A map of Southwestern Europe as of 1898 AD. The map includes an insert of the city of Paris and the vicinity. "Belgium is the most densely populated country of Europe. The greater part is a low, fertile plain, much like Holland. Agriculture is here the chief occupation. Rye, wheat, flax, beets, and beans are raised, yet nearly half the food mush be imported...The uplands of the Spanish peninsula are too dry for agriculture, which is confined to the moister seaward slopes and to the deep river valleys, where irrigation is possible. Only about one fourth of the land is cultivated. Some grain is raised, chiefly wheat, barley and corn, but not enough for home consumption. The grape, however, is extensively cultivated, as well as onions, garlic, tomatoes, peas and beans. There are forests or cork oak, and groves of the best olives, and the mulberry, almond, orange, fig, and peanut are grown...A large part of the land [of Italy] is cultivated by the aid of irrigation, and half the people are engaged in agriculture. Much wheat and corn are grown, and in the Po valley some rice, but grain must also be imported. Vineyards are numerous and extensive, and thousands of mulberry trees are cultivated, for Italy is one of the greatest wine- and silk-producing countries in the world. One the slopes of the Apennines are chestnut and olive trees, and figs, lemons, oranges, and citrons are largely raised." — Redway, 1898.
Source: Jacques W. Redway and Russell Hinman, Natural Advanced Geography (New York, NY: American Book Company , 1898) 131
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. |
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