Geography
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Item An Evolution of Land Use in Kent County, Maryland(1953) Singleton, Carey B. Jr; Van Royen, William; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The object of this study is to determine the land use changes that have taken place in Kent County, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (See Fig. 1) with emphasis on recent land use changes. The principal objectives of this study will be to ascertain, analyze, and review the evolution of land utilization in Kent County. A major trend within the past ten years has been toward a decreasing number of farms and, at the same time, a decreasing number of people gainfully employed in agriculture. This trend has resulted in the displacement of agricultural earners by fa.rm machinery and farm consolidations. An increase in the average size of farms is due to "outsiders" - business men from out-of-state -- who have established themselves in the county by buying and combining principally waterfront property. Thus large estates are formed along with the restoration of Colonial homes. This type of land tenure has been bringing about utilization of the land in the form of large dairy and beef herds. Kent County has the smallest number of farms of all the counties in Maryland but it has the largest average farm size in the state. This is an area of predominantly large dairy farms with highly mechanized machinery and equipment. The major trend in the last 25 years has been from cash grain to livestock raising which has resulted from the growth of dairying. The pattern of field crops has also changed from cash grains to feed grains for the large dairy herds. This study has been accomplished through the use of field work historical data, tables, maps, and photographs. The assumption can be made that greater permanency and stability in land use may be assured by utilizing the land for what it is best suited to produce. In an agricultural county, such as Kent, the retention of the soil, maintenance of its fertility, and the productivity are fundamental and therefore, the outstanding problems of optimum land utilization in the county. Land use adjusted into a pattern set by man should be utilized according to its capabilities. Optimum production and use of the land may be obtained by utilizing it for purposes to which it is best adapted. This is essentially a geographical problem in the final analysis and is manifested by a myriad of socio-economic factors that compose the gamut of land use implications. The author's interest in this area emanates from a field course in Geography and a number of trips through parts of this county. Field work was accomplished during the spring and summer of 1952 and constitutes the primary source of data for this thesis. The initials of the author appear where compilation of maps and graphs have been drawn from research and field data. All photographs have been taken by the author during his field work in the county.Item The Chinese in Latin America, A Preliminary Geographical Survey with Special Reference to Cuba and Jamaica(1956) Chang, Ching Chieh; McBryde, F. Webster; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The present study concerns itself with the geographical origin, distribution, routes of migration and ports of embarkation of the Chinese in Latin America. It also purports to bring out the similarities and dissimilarities in their demographic composition, economic activities and some other aspects in different Latin American countries. The term "Latin America" is used to include all the European possessions in the area, and the term "Chinese" is used to include all those of Chinese parentage, but not those born to Chinese who intermarried with individuals of other races. Chinese immigration to Latin America on a large scale did not begin until the eighteen forties. Between 1847 and 1874, known as the coolie trade period, about one quarter of a million Chinese migrated to Latin America as "contract laborers". The great majority of them were "forced" immigrants, because they were kidnapped or decoyed by the coolie recruiters and did not migrate voluntarily. After 1874, Chinese immigration entered a new era. All the immigrants came voluntarily. But the good time of free Chinese immigration did not last very long. In or before the first quarter of the 20th century, most of the Latin American countries adopted laws to prohibit the entrance of Chinese. The Chinese immigrants were primarily from nine hsiens (or counties) in Kwangtung province immediately behind the port of Macao. Only those in Jamaica were not from this area, but exclusively from three hsiens in the same province north of Hongkong. At the present time, there are about 77 thousand Chinese in Latin America, and their distribution is highly localized. The localization of the geographical origin and the geographical distribution can be explained only in terms of the special type of Chinese emigration in general and the early history of the Chinese migration to Latin America in particular. Moreover, the Chinese are mainly concentrated in large cities. This is the result of their occupation. Almost all of them are engaged in commerce, and particularly in the grocery trade. Therefore, in places where their number is large, they are very influential in the grocery business. The Chinese population in almost all Latin American countries is characterized by two demographical anomalies: the great excess of males and the abnormally large number of old and middle-aged people. This is owing to the fact that, within the past one hundred years, the number of females among the immigrants has always been extremely small, and a large portion of the population still consists of immigrants who came in or before the nineteen twenties. Generally speaking, there has been no segregation against the Chinese along racial lines. Nevertheless, social contacts between Chinese and natives remain on a business basis and are purely ·functional. Racial consciousness still plays an important role among the Chinese, native-born as well as immigrants. Among the immigrants, it is also because most of them retain their Chinese nationality and want to go back to China eventually. Thus, in Latin America, the Chinese are not only racial minorities but also groups of aliens.