Norwich bulletin., 1916-05-11
Switzerland.

Switzerland, without a mile of sea- coast and with almost no coal or iron, is one of the leading industrial na- tions and has large commerce.
 One-ha1f of this mountainous land lies above the zone of agriculture, pro- ducing very little except grass lands on the mountain sides. below the snow and ice where many thousands of cattle graze in summer. But between the Jura mountains on the north and the Alps on the south is wide, hilly, well-watered plain. Here is where most of the people live on their farms or in towns and cities, in which the hum of mills is always heard.
 The southern slopes of many hills and mountains, catching the warmest rays of the sun, are planted vineyards and orchards. There are no naviga- ble rivers. Both are unsurpassed and passenger and freight rates by water or rail are very cheap.
 Only about six-tenths of the coun- l try is titled.
 Switzerland buys from Hungary. Russia and the United States nearly | three times as much wheat and twice as much rye as she produces. Apples, pears and cherries are a larger source | of profit than grain. Wine culture is l a very profitable industry but the Swiss import much more wine than l they make.
 ] The wide spreading hay and pas | ture lands make animal raising much more important than tillage.
 The Swiss are as famous for cheese as the Danes are for butter. In the spring tens of thousands of cows are driven up to the highland pastures among the mountains and are kept there all summer, tended by. herders who milk the cows and make the cheese and butter.
 Though Switzerland has over 2,000,- 900 cattle about 50,000 fat beeves are l imported for food every summer when the mountains are filled with tourists.
 The largest imports in fact, are grain, cattle and other food supplies The country is almost destitute of mineral resources except rock salt and building stone. A very little iron and anthracite are mined
 The really great industry of the country is manufacturing. Though Switzerland has no steam coal, the mountain torrents supply water power which drives most of the machinery It is a long distance to seaport. Zu- rich Berne and St. Gallern are the largest manufacturing cities. The textiles and metal industries are most , important.
 Swiss cotton cloths are made in St Gallern and the neighboring cantons . Machinery, watches, clocks and jew.
 elry are the most notable features o1
 the metal industries.
 The gold and silver which Switzer-
 land imports for her watch and jew
 elry industries sometimes surpass 1T value the large quantities of coal tha 5 she purchases.
 t A large amount of manufacturing i g carried on at the homes of the oper 1 ators, such as some kind of silk ant 8 embroidering products, straw plating s and much of the clock and watchmak e ing.
 The neighbors of Switzerland fgur, 8 most largely in her foreign trade. r Germany, France, Austria, Hungar. = and Italy buy most of her export man I ufactures. Next to food raw silk com ing from Italy and the Orient, is tn e largest import. Nearly a third of tn t entire purchases are coal, coke, iron e sugar and other foodstuffs, conin' e from Germany.
 Wheat, cotton and petroleum ar h about two-thirds of the value of i'm o ports from the United States. Genoa Il Marseilles and the German ports al
 share in forwarding the goods we sen to Switzerland.
 JOHN B. PURCELL.