7. Commerce.-The Middle Atlantic States are the principal commercial section of the Union.

The chief routes of the vast domestic commerce of this group of states are Hudson River, the Erie Canal, the New York, Lake Erie, and Western, and the New York Central and Hudson River Railroads, in New York; Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pennsylvania; the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Maryland; and the New Jersey Central Railroad in New Jersey.

Into these few channels are gathered the extensive coasting trade and the immense system of railway and river lines of the West and South.

The three great bays and the excellent harbors of the Atlantic coast, the navigable rivers, and the easy access to Europe and to the rich Valley of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, give remarkable advantages both for foreign and domestic commerce. The Hudson is navigable to Troy, the Delaware to Trenton, and the Potomac to Georgetown.

8. New York.- New York, "the Empire State," is the first in the Union in population, wealth, and com

merce.

Its population in 1890 was more than a million greater than that of New England, and equal to that of the whole western half

Brooklyn, the fourth city of the United States, is closely connected with New York by the largest suspension bridge in the world and by many short ferries. The two really constitute one great city.

There are also many other manufacturing and residential towns connected with New York by rivers and railroads. So numerous are these towns that the total number of inhabitants within a circle of thirty miles' radius around New York is not less than 3,000,000; the population of the city itself being over 1,500,000. Among other important places are Buffalo, on Lake Erie, the third city of the state, and Albany, the capital, are important depots of grains and other produce; Buffalo also supplies a large lake trade with anthracite coal from Pennsylvania. Rochester, the fourth city, has fine water-power. Syracuse is noted for its salt-works; Troy, Utica, Auburn, Cohoes, and Oswego for water-power and manufactures. The village of West Point, beautifully situated on the Hudson, is the seat of the United States Military Academy.

9. New Jersey.-New Jersey, lying between the great cities of New York and Philadelphia, is largely engaged in market-gardening and fruit-raising.

Newark, on the Passaic River; Jersey City, a suburb of

New York; Paterson, at the Passaic Falls; and Trenton, the capital, are extensively engaged in manufacturing.

10. Pennsylvania.-Pennsylvania, "the Keystone State," is remarkable as the chief mining state in the Union. It produces nearly all of the petroleum, about two thirds of the coal, and much of the iron, mined in the United States.

The coal of this state, with that of Maryland, supplies domestic fuel and the steam-power of vessels, locomotives, and factories for a large part of the United States. The abundance of fuel and iron shapes the industries of its leading cities.

Philadelphia is the second city of the United States in manufactures, third in population, and the fourth in foreign commerce.

It also has an extensive domestic commerce, and is the greatest coal depot in America. It is noted for its Fairmount Park, its well-supplied markets, and its abundance of cheap and comfortable dwellings: it is sometimes called the "City of Homes." Its most famous public building is the State House, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted, July 4, 1776.

Pittsburgh, the second city of the state, is the chief centre of the iron

interest, and is one of the greatest petroleum markets in the world. It has a large trade with the Mississippi Valley in bituminous coal, glass, iron, and machinery. Allegheny is the third city in the state.

COAL MINE.

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of iron ships, and for its manufacture of gunpowder and a great variety of other articles. Dover is the capital.

12. Maryland.-Maryland is noted for its mild climate, and for its production of tobacco, coal, and iron.

The peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic is the great peach-growing district of the United States. Baltimore is the fifth city of the United States in foreign commerce and the seventh in population.

It has an extensive trade in tobacco, canned fruit, and oysters. It is the terminus of a trunk railway, the Baltimore and Ohio, which connects it with St. Louis, and with Chicago and other lake-ports. Annapolis, the capital, is the seat of the Naval School of the United States.

13. District of Columbia.-The District of Columbia, situated on the Potomac, has an area of seventy square miles. It contains Washington, the capital of the United States.

Questions (I.)-1. What is the area of this group?-2. What is the character of its surface? Why? Name the principal mountain ranges.-3. What is the character of its climate?-4. What are the agricultural products? What is said of the breadstuffs? - 5. What and where are the chief minerals?-6. What is said of the manufactures? Of the natural advantages for manufacturing?-7. What is said of the commerce? Name the principal routes. What is said of them?-8. For what is the State of New York remarkable? The City of New York? What is said of Brooklyn and the suspension bridge? For what is Buffalo noted? Albany? Rochester? West Point? What cities are noted for water-power and manufactures?-9. What are the chief occupations in New Jersey? What cities are engaged in manufacturing? Which is the largest city? The capital?-10. For what is Pennsylvania noted? What is said of its mineral products? For what is Philadelphia noted? For what

is

Pittsburgh noted? Which is the third city in the state? Which are the coal

towns? What city is the capital?-11. What is the comparative size of Delaware? For what is it noted? Wilmington? What city is the capital?-12. For what is

Maryland noted? What is said of the peninsula? Baltimore? Annapolis ?-13.

What is the area of the District of Columbia? What city does it contain?

(II.) 2. In what belt do the mountains lie? With what are they covered? Where are the lowlands?-7. What are the commercial advantages of this section?

11. Delaware.-Delaware is the smallest state in the Union except Rhode Island, and is noted for its fruit trade. Wilmington, the chief city, is noted for the construction

said of the population? Of the common-school system? Of the Falls of Niagara? For what is New York City noted? What is said of its population? Of the manufacturing and residential towns ?-10. Of the coal of Pennsylvania? What determines the industries of the leading cities? What is said of Philadelphia? For what is it noted? What is it sometimes called? What is its most famous public building?-11. What is said of the trade of Baltimore? Of what great railway is it the terminus?

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XLIX.

ATLANTIC STATES: SOUTHERN DIVISION.

1. Area. The area of the four northern states of this group is about equal to that of the eleven Atlantic States north of the Potomac. Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi.

2. Surface. The surface consists of several belts of country parallel to the coast:

First. The most western belt contains the Blue Ridge and the Unaka or Smoky Mountains, with the high val leys between.

This elevated district is mostly covered with forests of deciduous trees-oak, hickory, chestnut, maple, etc. It has an abundance of water-power, coal, and iron, but is yet undeveloped. Second. East of the mountain belt lies a broad strip of fertile country. It produces tobacco in the north and cotton in the south.

Third. Farther to the east is a low sandy belt, called the "Pine Barrens," covered with forests. It supplies lumber, tar, pitch, and turpentine.

It extends nearly to the Mississippi on the west, and may be traced towards the north through New Jersey and Long Island. Fourth. The low, unhealthy coast region contains a chain of great swamps, extending from the Dismal Swamp of Virginia to the Everglades of Florida, and along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. In some parts

of this belt rice is extensively cultivated. It also contains forests of live-oak, which is valuable for ship-building.

3. Climate. The summers are long and hot. The winters are mild in the mountains and in the north; in the southern part there can hardly be said to be any winter. The moist winds of the Atlantic and of the Gulf of Mexico give to Georgia and the Gulf States the largest rain-fall known in any part of the United States excepting Puget Sound and Alaska.

The production of cotton, the great staple of the South, and one of the chief exports of the United States, is dependent upon the frequent summer showers.

4. Occupation and productions.- Agriculture is the leading occupation. The principal products are wheat, corn, sweet potatoes, and tobacco in the north; rice and cotton in the south.

5. Virginia.-Virginia, "the Old Dominion," is the second state in the production of tobacco, and has a large trade in garden vegetables, Southern agricultural staples, and in oysters from the Chesapeake Bay.

The country between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany Mountains is called the Great Valley of Virginia, and is one of the most fertile districts in the United States.

Richmond, at the falls of the James, is the capital and chief manufacturing and railroad centre. It is the largest city in this group of states, and has an extensive trade in iron manufactures and tobacco.

Norfolk, the second city of the state, and a leading cotton port, has the best harbor in the United States south of the Potomac.

6. North Carolina. North Carolina," the Old North State," produces a large amount of tobacco and cotton.

Wilmington, the largest city, exports turpentine, tar, pitch, rosin, lumber, rice, and cotton. Raleigh is the capital.

7. South Carolina.-South Carolina, "the Palmetto

State," produces more rice than any other state.

Charleston, the largest city, is an important cotton port. Columbia is the capital.