ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics Cornell University Cornell University Library S 441.D891 American farming and food. 3 1924 000 339 469 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000339469 AMERICAN FARMING AND FOOD LONDON : PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET AMERICAN FARMING AND FOOD BY FINLAY DUN AUTHOR OF 'landlords AND TENANTS IN IRELAND* 'VETERINARY MEDICINES, THEIR ACTIONS AND USES ' ETC. LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1881 A II rights reserved PREFACE. The present volume is the result of a visit to the United States in the autumn of 1 879. I then travelled through the wheat regions of the Red River, Manitoba, and the great Mississippi basin, examined crops and farming in Illinois, Minnesota, Dakota, Iowa and Kansas, and inspected some of the valuable herds and studs of Kentucky and other states. ! ! Wherever I went I found everyone courtipous, and ready to furnish information regarding the country and its wonderful and varied resources. Amongst many things new and notable to a stranger, I was particularly impressed with the sobriety, assiduity, adaptability, and energy of the people ; their appreciation of the advantages of education ; their ingenious application of labour-saving machinery ; and their progress in almost every department of industry. Farming in America does not, however, as yet, invariably receive the liberal and, skilful attention it deserves. It is frequently conducted in a rapid, nay even in a rude manner ; small labour and cost are expended in the production alike of grain crops and live stock; but a great deal of the land is deep, fertile, and easily worked, and even with indifferent management yields remunerative returns. vi Preface. The great grain crops and rapidly increasing herds and flocks more than suffice for home require- ments, and the United States now export annually about eighteen million quarters of wheat or one-third of their production, more than one-half of their hog products valued at 17,500,000/., about one-tenth of their beef and mutton representing 7,000,000/., besides butter and cheese estimated at 4,000,000/. Nor have these surplus supplies reached their maxi- mum, either in the States or in Canada. They will necessarily be largely augmented as settlement extends West and South, and capital and labour are more widely employed in agricultural development. Im- proved transport facilities will compensate for the longer distances over which agricultural produce will be carried. The preservation and refrigeration of perishable products, so generally and successfully adopted in America, notably economise and cheapen food, and are destined largely to add to the quantity and variety of edible produce forwarded from the New World to the Old. The greater part of these observations on American farming and food were communicated in 1879 ^"^ 1 880 in a series of letters to ' The Times.' By per- mission of the proprietor they have been revised, added to, and reproduced in book form. Estate Offices, 2 Portland Place, London, W. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGS I. Introductory i II. Statistics of American Farming . . . . ii III. Land, Land Laws, and Taxation . . .25 IV. Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers . . . 38 V. The Cheap Movement of Grain . . -52 VI. New York Meat Supplies 61 VII. Fruit and Vegetable Culture . . . .74 VIII. Farming in the New England States . . . 85 IX. Pennsylvania Farming 105 X. Agriculture in Ohio .127 XI. An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan . 145 XII. Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades . . . 160 XIII. The Red River 197 XIV. Manitoba . 222 XV. St. Paul, Minnesota 236 XVI. The Minneapolis Flour Trade . . . . 255 XVII. Lumbering and Prison Life .... 268 viii Contents. CHAPTER PAGfi XVIII. South-Western Minnesota .... 279 XIX. Prairie Farming in Minnesota . . . . 294 XX. Land and Crops in Southern Dakota . . 322 XXI. Land and Prospects in Iowa 332 XXII. Farming in Kansas .... • 35i XXIII. Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade . . 378 XXIV. Kentucky Agricultural Resources . . . 397 XXV. American Competition in Wheat and Meat . 421 INDEX 471 AMERICAN FARMING AND FOOD. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. The United States of America, including lakes and rivers, have an area of nearly four million square miles. They occupy fully thirty times the extent of the British Islands. They extend 1,300 miles from the 30th to the 49th degrees of north latitude. The sun occupies four hours in rising over the 3,000 miles of continent. The vast extent, diversified aspect, varied climate, and wide distribution of good, easily worked, level land, confer great capabilities for grow- ing food for man and beast. The physical geography of this continent has made admirable provision for agricultural and other industries. The great mountain ranges consisting mainly of granitic rocks, the early upheavals of the western world, are chiefly situated several hundred miles from the eastern and western sefiboards ; and, unlike those of the Old World, mostly run north and south. This configniratioji B 2 American Farming and Food. widely distributes the watery treasures distilled from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The great lakes and rivers, scattered throughout many regions, continually contribute their quota of moisture. In the moister localities between the oceans and the great mountains, fringing both sides of the continent, forests occur, equalising the distribution of rain and proving a ready source of wealth. On the prairies, plains, and plateaux a drier climate prevails, proving less favourable for the growth of trees. The mountain chains enclose vast basins, the site of ancient inland seas. The Green and Adirondack mountains, extending from the Canadian dominions running through New York State, and at a lower ele- vation sweeping westward over New Jersey and Penn- sylvania, approach the Alleghanies and enclose a basin which forty years ago comprised the chief cul- tivated portion of the United States. The great central or Mississippi basin is bounded on the north for nearly two thousand miles by the Laurentine mountains of Canada ; on the east by the Appala- chians, which include the Alleghanies and other ranges which proceed from the Dominion boundary, south- west, towards the Gulf of Mexico ; on the west by the Rocky Mountains which run from Alaska south to Mexico. This triangular basin, fifteen times larger than Great Britain and Ireland, once a huge inland sea dotted with islands which are now undulating hills and subordinate watersheds, is watered by the Missis- sippi, the Missouri, and other tributaries which wind their slow and tortuous way into the Mexican Gulf. Mineral Wealth. 3 Gradual denudation of these old mountain ranges, the spread of their debris over plain and valley, fre- quent upheavals of later stratified rocks, and the operation of ice-floats have secured the wide distribu- tion and intermixture of minerals, and produced great varieties of soil. No country is so abundantly and almost ubiquitously furnished with mineral wealth. From New York to the centre of Alabama, in scat- tered valleys amongst the foot hills of the Alleghanies, are anthracite deposits conveniently situated for the supply of New York, Baltimore, and eastern cities. On the western slopes of the Alleghanies are great fields of bituminous coal, often close to the surface and cheaply worked. Coal is found also in Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, and Kentucky ; indeed, M. Jules Marcou, in the text of his map of the United States, declares that the coal measures occur with short intervals, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Iron ores are tolerably plenti- ful ; deposits hitherto unknown are constantly being discovered. Preparations are in active progress for the extensive working of valuable ores in the eastern part of Kentucky. Building stones and clay for bricks are widely distributed. Colorado and New Mexico are rich in lead and silver. In minerals, as well as in the precious metals, the United States is very inde- pendent of other countries. American soils, the debris of varied geological formations, are most diverse. North of New York, throughout most of the New England States, granite, porphyry, and greenstone afford by their disintegration valuable plant food ; but along the coast the soil is 4 American Farming and Food. thin and poor, and cultivation is impeded by quantities of stones and large boulders. South from New York along the Atlantic shores as far as the confines of Florida, tertiary and quaternary deposits overlie for the most part cretaceous rocks. Often there is superimposed a deep friable diluvium, admirably adapted, as in New Jersey State and Delaware, for vegetable and fruit growing. In Kentucky, where the carboniferous measures and the blue limestone are in juxtaposition, the famous feeding Bluegrass speci- ally flourishes. The prairies of the Mississippi basin, a generation ago known as the Great Central Ameri- can Desert, the home of the wild herbivora and the Red Indians, are now fittingly styled the 'land of promise ' and of ' plenty.' Their northern zones are occupied with wheat, their southern with Indian corn. They largely consist of a friable loam reposing on beds of sand, gravel, or clay. They are generally fertile, unencumbered with trees or stones, easily turned over with a six-inch furrow, by a pair of light horses, are often two to four feet deep, are adapted for the growth of almost any description of crops, and without manure for ten or twelve years consecutively grow fair crops of wheat. Diversified physical conditions necessarily aft'ect the climate. The mountain ranges gather for several hundred miles the ocean-begotten clouds, are the scenes of violent, often sudden, tempests, and have a rainfall many times greater than the plains below. These great plains and prairies stretch far beyond the visible horizon, often have a slope of only two feet to Climate and Rainfall. 5 the mile ; their flat monotony at long intervals is diversified by river, lake, or ravine, and occasionally by belts of plantation. The weather on these vast levels usually maintains a somewhat unvarying uni- formity. Bountiful rains, which in a land of hill and dale continually drop fatness, are scarce. Mist and fog are almost unknown. During winter intense cold continues steadily for weeks or months, according to latitude or situation. The thermometer in Minnesota, Northern Dakota, and Nebraska often stands as low as — 20°. But the atmosphere is dry, the sun shines, and although all agricultural labour is arrested, the winter is described as pleasant and healthful. Stormy weather often occurs about the spring and autumn equinoxes. Thunderstorms sometimes disturb the even equilibrium of the season. Blinding blizzards of drifting snow sometimes darken the atmosphere for days, and render it dangerous to go even a few yards from home. The summer heat, once begun, is toler- ably continuous and intense. Days from July and March are not alternated, as they are apt to be in our more fickle climate. In Missouri and other Southern States, after a short winter, spring begins in February ; before May the temperature in the shade will reach 80° ; a few weeks later it will mark 100°. Even as far north as Winnipeg, sunstroke is not uncommon. Under the blaze of the burning sun the fresh greenery of early spring soon becomes dry and brown ; the bright verdure of English grass is sadly wanting. fables published by Mr. E. A. Schott thus record the temperatvu-e at various stations : — At West Point, Missing Page 8 American Farming and Food. Dairying is extensively pursued, especially in the Eastern States. In New York and Pennsylvania States alone are 2,374,600 milch cows, being rather more than the number returned in Great Britain. But, like other descriptions of farming, the dairy business is travelling west. Everywhere milk is more freely and frequently used than in England. Adults as well as children drink it at every meal. The best butter in New York is stated to be brought from Iowa. Creameries and cheese factories, first estab- lished in 1851, extend throughout Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, and butter is thence sent regularly 1,200 miles to New York and other eastern markets. It is . collected by the great transportation companies, who send their refrigerating cars to the western producer, furnish ice and all necessary attendance, and forward butter, as well as fruit and meat, in admirable con- dition to New York and other eastern markets at 50 to 80 cents, per cwt. for a transport of upwards of 1,000 miles. Nowhere are long distances made so light of, time economised, remote producers and consumers brought together, and the bountiful fruits of the earth so widely and cheaply distributed. Farmers in the Eastern States, like their brethren in Great Britain, for some years have suffered from Western competition. On cheap, easily tilled, virgin soils, wheat, live stock, and dairy produce are econo- mically raised and are conveyed eastward at low rates by railroad, lake, and river. The eastern farmer, with reason, complains that his western com- petitor has his produce forwarded 600 or 800 miles Development of Agricultural Wealth. 9 to market for about the same cost that he pays for delivery over 100 miles. Stimulated by abundance of cheap land and cheap transport, grain-growing, stock-raising, and feeding are all pushing west, where more scope, opportunity for individual enterprise, and profit are looked for. During long years there must still be room and to spare for all comers. Little more than one-tenth of the available food-producing area of the continent is yet occupied, and made the best of; of many fertile regions not one-twentieth is yet made profitable use of ; a great deal of what is cultivated is still worked very imperfectly. The wastes are, however, being peopled. Mechanics and men of science are year by year aiding to increase agricultural production, to render it more certain and cheap, to convert it into more convenient portable forms. Reduction or removal of the high duties at present imposed upon the necessaries and com- forts of life must occur during the next few years, and will greatly aid the American farmer. Americans have got thoroughly imbued with, and are profitably acting upon, Adam Smith's admirable precepts : — ' Wealth arising from the solid improvements of agriculture is most durable. No equal capital puts in motion a greater quantity of productive labour than that of the •farmer. Not only his servants, but his cattle become producers. Nature, too, labours along with man. Her work remains as a gain after deducting every- thing which can be regarded as the work of man.' Agriculture occupies nearly half the population of the States. No other American industry compares lo American Farming and Food. with it in extent of operations, rapidity of develop- ment, and increment to the national wealth. She feeds liberally about 48,000,000 of people at home ; she contributes fully four-fifths to the 165,000,000/. annual exports. She averts famine and high prices of food amongst the nations of the Old World. She has earned the ready money which especially during the last two years has become plentiful in America, which has given an impetus to all other industries, which has been the chief agent in maintaining ex- changes in favour of the States, and in rapidly re- ducing their great national debt. II CHAPTER II. STATISTICS OF AMERICAN FARMING. The statistics of American farming published annually by the Department of Agriculture at Wash- ington strikingly demonstrate the food-producing capabilities of the Western world. They point to - rapidly increasing production far exceeding the needs of her own people. They testify to surplus supplies of grain and meat available for several generations of the more thickly peopled countries of Europe. Diversity of climate and situation, as already stated, secure great diversity of production. Rice grows on the swampy river banks in Carolina and Georgia, on the old sugar lands of Louisiana, and yields annually about 90,000,000 lbs. Cane sugar, chiefly produced in Louisiana, on the Mississippi, beginning some 200 miles above and extending 60 miles below New Orleans, although not such an important in- dustry as formerly, occupies 150,000 acres and pro- duces annually about 208,570 hogsheads of sugar, being 13 per cent, of the total requirements of the States; and 13,524,000 gallons of molasses, together worth nearly three million pounds sterling. The 12 Statistics of American Farming. growth of Sorghum Saccharatum or amber cane sugar, which does not require the swampy situation or tropical heat necessary for the growth of cane sugar, is profitably extending in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, and promises to become a very impor- tant industry. Throughout the Southern States 12,500,000 acres are devoted to cotton, yielding a return of 40,000,000/. sterling, producing besides a valuable crop of cotton-seed, which is tena- ciously held by a Mississippi clique who decorticate and grind it, export a large amount of the oil especially to France, whilst a still larger propor- tion of the useful residual feeding cake comes to Great Britain. Half a million acres prodiice tobacco ; the cultivation is extending, and the yield annually exceeds 4,600,000/. Five million acres are occu- pied in fruit-growing, and probably half as much in the production of vegetables ; the fruit and vegetables together in a favourable season reach to half the value of the wheat. Of still greater dietetic and national importance are the grain crops and potatoes, which occupy about 105,000,000 acres. Wheat covers one-third the total area of the grain crops ; it represents three-fifths the acreage devoted to Indian corn : it exceeds by ten times the area of the wheat crops of the United Kingdom ; it is grown at an average cost of 40J. an acre ; one-third of the produce is now exported. Indian corn is the most extensively cultivated crop, is grown at 36^. an acre, is largely converted into Acreage of Wheat and Maize. 1 3 beef and bacon, and used for the making of whisky ; but only 7 per cent, of it is exported. Oats occupy 37 per cent, of the area of the British corn crops, but are only about 8 per cent, of those of the States ; in northerly regions, where live stock are much kept, they are more extensively grown ; 32 lbs. per bushel is the standard weight ; not one-hundredth part of the quantity grown is exported. Barley constitutes about one-fourth of British com crops, but in the States it does not reach one-sixtieth part ; one-third of the production is in California ; the samples generally are thin and shrivelled ; 48 lbs. is the usual standard weight per bushel, 50 lbs. is the weight in California ; for many purposes its place is taken by the more cheaply grown and productive Indian corn. Rye, most largely grown in New York and Pennsylvania, as at home, is occasionally cultivated as a spring fodder crop. It occupies 1,622,700 acres, or nearly the same area as barley or potatoes, affords 16 to 20 bushels an acre, and where well manured, besides produces about two tons of straw, which is now in good demand for paper making, sometimes realising 3/. per ton of 2,000 lb. Potatoes are produced at one third of the cost bestowed upon them in this country. I have seen a tolerable crop grown where the prairie sod is raised with a stocking axe, the potato set dropped in, and the turf turned down by the foot. The quality is generally excellent. Owing to summer drought, the crop of 1 879 generally was light ; the average of 14 Statistics of American Farming. the previous nine years is %?> bushels ; the heaviest yield recorded is no bushels in 1875. The supply varies from 2*5 to 3 '8 bushels for each unit of the population : 1,776,800 acres are devoted to its culti- vation ; fully one-seventh of the produce is grown in New York State ; taking a series of years the average price is 2s. ^d. per bushel. The value of the potatoes annually exported exceeds 100,000/. Swedes, man- gels, and other green crops, demanding more con- tinuous costly labour than is at present spared for American farming, are on a very restricted scale. They are more grown in the cooler, moister parts of Canada, where Indian corn cannot be so successfully raised. The hay crops have lately been extending ; they occupy nearly 27,000,000 acres; the area of 1878 was 20 per cent in excess of 1877 '• more than one-fourth of the total, 40,000,000 tons, is grown in the States of New York and Pennsylvania. More fodder is yearly needed for the increasing number of horses, mules, and cattle used in the larger cities. In the eastern older States much of it is cut from meadows laid down to grass, or from clovers planted in rotation. In the west it is taken from the natural prairies, plains, and parks. There it is still to be had almost fpr the cutting, is worth only \os. per ton, and I have seen flour-mills and thrashing-engines run with such rough prairie hay. The annual value of the grain, potatoes, and hay of the United States in 1878 reached 264,630,000/. It was still greater in 1879 and 1880. Adding Value of Grain Crops. 15 tobacco, cotton, and fruit, the agricultural produce makes a grand total of about 340,000,000/, or more than double the value of the corresponding produce of the United Kingdom. The subjoined summary from the Report of Mr. Charles Worthington, the able statistician of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, gives the acreage of the principal farm crops, and their produce and value in 1878. Detailed returns of later years are not yet published. The values given in dollars I have converted into pounds sterling, taking \s. 2d. as the value of the dollar : — Bushels, lb. or Tons Acreage Value in £, wheat, bushels Indieui com, ,, Rye Oats „ Barley ,, Buckwheat „ Potatoes ,, 420,122,400 1,388,218,750 25,842,790 413,578,560 42,245,630 12,246,820 124,126,650 32,108,560 51,585,000 1,622,700 13,176,500 1,780,400 673, 100 1,776,800 67,769,285 91,730,780 2,828,565 21,289,166 5,096,663 1,340,824 T5, 1 11,825 Total . Tobacco, lbs. . Hay, tons Cotton, bales 450 lbs. 2,426,381,600 392,546,700 39,608,296 ^,216,603 102,733,060 542,852 26,931,300 12,266,800 205,167,108 4,621,484 59,462,750 40,380,928 Grand total 142,474,010 309,632,270 The yield of most crops in the United States is considerably less than that of corresponding crops in the British Islands. No comparison can, of course, be made as to sugar, tobacco, cotton, and other plants of almost tropical climates. We have no crop so widely grown and so generally useful for man and i6 Statistics of American Farming. beast as Indian corn. We cannot compete in quantity and variety of fruit. On a given area we raise, however, double the amount of wheat, oats, barley, or potatoes, and in proportion to acreage our farms produce and feed much more than twice the amount of live stock. High rents, augmenting rates, and expensive labour enhance the cost of production in the old country. Droughts, locusts, Hessian fly, scourging cropping and imperfect cultivation are the farmer's chief enemies in the New World. The acreable value of the purely agricultural crops of America are small compared with those of Great Britain. They do not reach one-third the price which would remunerate the English farmer, but cheaply grown on cheap land they generally leave a margin of profit. Taking the official statistics for 1878 the principal crops in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and California are valued at about 4/. per acre. In New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and Michigan they range from 2/. \os. to 3/. In Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Wisconsin, they are about 2/. The crops of Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Kansas average from 30J. to 3 2 J. per acre. Taking the official statistics for nearly twenty years, the average wheat yield of the United States is little over 12 bushels an acre. The yield per acre of the last three years, exceeding former averages, are I3'9 bushels in 1877, 13-1 in 1878, 137 in 1879. The winter wheats in many States have been more productive than the spring. In Illinois and Indiana Yield and Crops. n and also in Minnesota, well-authenticated cases occur where 40 to 50 bushels per acre have been reaped. The British wheat yield ranges from 24 to 28 bushels. Without any considerable outlay, and despite drought and other conditions which cannot be controlled, American agricultural returns would be largely aug- mented by the more careful preparation and cultiva - tion of the soil," by the occasional use of portable manures and dung from the yards, by the more fre- quent recurrence of clover and other restorative crops grazed with sheep or pigs, and by the judicious selec- tion of seed suitable for the climate and locality. The official report of the Statistician to the De- partment of Agriculture furnishes the subjoined table, which exhibits the average acreable yield, the price per bushel, pound, or ton, and the cash value of the several farm products for 1878, which may be taken as a fair average of recent years : — Yield per Price per bush.. Value per acre lb. or ton. acre £ ^. d. £ s. d. Wheat, bushels . 131 033 227 Indian corn ,, 26-9 I 4| I 17 Rye iS-9 022 I 14 6 Oats ,, 3 1 '4 I oi I 12 I Barley „ 23-6 025 2 17 II Buckwheat ,, l8-2 2 2I 2 5I I 16 10 Potatoes „ 69-3 8 11 10 Tobacco, lbs. 723-1 2| 850 Hay, tons . 1-47 I 10 9 242 Cotton, lbs. . 191-4 004 3 3 8 The magnitude and growth of American agri- culture is strikingly illustrated by the numbers and 't 1 8 Statistics of American Farming. rapid increase of the animals of the farm. The Statistician of the Department at Washington gives the following estimate of their number and value in January 1879: — Numbers Value per head Total value Horses Mules .... Milk cows . Oxen and other cattle . Sheep .... Swine .... 10.938,700 1,713,100 11,826,400 21,408,100 38,123,800 34,766,100 I s- d. 18 4 II 13 6 464 3 4 2 3 8 7 13 3 119,451,000 20,000,000 53,560,000 68,708,000 16,464,000 23,044,000 118,776,200 301,227,000 All classes of farm animals are steadily increasing, not only in numbers, but very notably in usefulness and quality. Horses multiply at the rate of half a million annually. Careful selection and the use of stout English thoroughbreds, Percherons, and Clydes- dales is advancing the standard of excellence amongst the various breeds. Especially throughout Canada, New York State, and in Kentucky, English dealers obtain increasing numbers of stylish carriage horses. Very few hunters with good shoulders and manners are, however, to be met with ; cobs and hacks of the stamp to command a high price in this country are rare ; fast-trotting buggy teams are plentiful. The farm horses are lighter and cleaner limbed than those of Great Britain, and resemble the stoutest of the animals used by the omnibus companies. Upwards of 5, 000 horses and 4,000 mules are annually ex- ported. Enumeration of Herds and Flocks. 19 During recent years the milk cows have multiplied annually to the extent of more than half a million. Owing to the low prices made by dairy produce dur- ing 1878 and the first nine months of 1879, the number of milk cows has, however, been again re- duced. The Texans, rough, leggy, with imposing horns, descended from the Spanish cattle imported upwards of 300 years ago, the Cherokees and cattle of the western scrubs, are not bountiful milkers, do little more than rear their calves, but are improved both in dairy and feeding capabilities by crossing with better sorts. Shorthorn grades are generally preferred on account of their usefulness in the dairy and their sub- sequent value to the butcher. Dutch and Channel Islanders are common, especially in the Eastern States. The oxen and other cattle, enumerated in 1877 at less than 18,000,000, now exceed 22,000,000, and more careful selection and the use of well-bred sires are steadily determining more weight, quality, and earlier maturity. These rapidly multiplying herds are ever-increas- ing sources of national wealth. One-fourth of the oxen and one-seventh of the cows are probably slaughtered every year, yielding 7,000,000 carcases, averaging 600 lbs., and, at 3^. per pound, worth 7/. ioj-. each, making an aggregate value of 52,500,000/. The hides at },d. per pound, the fat at 2d., with other offal, may be moderately computed at 30J. per head, or 10,500,000/. Besides other slaughter-house products, all carefully utilised, such subordinate articles as neat's foot oil, and parings for glue, are estimated at 20 Statistics of American Farming. 2,000,000/. Rapidly although the exports of cattle from the United States have developed since they began in 1875, they are small compared with the enormous supplies. Allowing for live cattle deported through Canada, about 100,000 beasts are annually exported ; about the same number are exported dressed ; whilst more than another 100,000 are exported salted or canned. The live and carcase exports represent picked cattle, averaging, when • dressed, about 700 lbs. ; the preserved meats come from rougher animals weighing 400 lbs. to 500 lbs. dressed. The 300,000 cattle annually exported do not represent one twenty-third part of the total sup- plies. There still remain for home consumption 6,750,000 carcases, averaging 600 lbs. each, and re- presenting an annual allowance of 84 lbs , of beef for every unit of the 48,000,000 of the States. Adding to the beef, mutton, bacon, and pork, and allowing for live and dead meat exported, the available animal food of the United States amounts to 160 lbs. per head per annum. The corresponding British supplies from all sources amount to 98 lbs. Although consuming the largest proportionate amount of animal food of any people in the Old World, we are not so liberally supplied as the Americans. The milking cows of the United States, muster- ing 12,000,000, contribute dairy products worth 83,000,000/. annually, or a return of nearly 7/. per head. Increasing steadily year by year, in 1878 they made a bound of 30 per cent., with the effect of running down prices lower than they have been since Dairy Produce. 21 1861. The annual manufacture of butter reaches 1,000,000,000 lbs. A good deal of it is of inferior quality, the best is made in creameries, which are general throughout most States. Americans are great butter eaters, their consumption per capita is about 20 lbs. annually. Only 2 per cent, is exported. Cheese made on the farms and in the factories totals up 300,000,000 lbs. a year. It is generally of uniform and excellent quality. With abundance of other albuminoid food, Americans, however, use much less cheese than Englishmen ; their average annual con- sumption per capita is about 4 lbs., or two-thirds the English consumption. The export of cheese now reaches 40 per cent, of its" manufacture. Each unit of the American population consumes annually upwards of 100 quarts of milk, which is everywhere of excel- lent quality, and retailed at about half the price it brings in this country. Valuing the butter at 9^. per lb., the cheese at ^d. per lb., and the milk at \\d. per quart, the dairy industries of the United States represent annual earnings which amount to 83,000,000/. They are more than double the value of the cotton crop, two-sevenths more than the wheat, nearly one-third more than the hay, and only an eighth less than the Indian corn. Sheep increase at the rate of a million annually, and the Mexican and the Merinos, hitherto cultivated almost exclusively for wool, are being improved in weight and quality of mutton by admixture with Downs, Leicesters, and Longwools. Fortunately the system of crossing, which is enhancing the value of 22 Statistics of American Farming. the mutton, and extending the demand for it alike in America and Europe, is also adding to the value of the wool. Cross-bred wools, which are in such request for the coarser cloths in general use, find of late years more ready purchasers than the finer merinos which were formerly in such demand for al- pacas, or even than the long-stapled Cotswolds and Leicesters. From sheep the annual returns amount to 30,000,000 fleeces, averaging at least 4 lbs. worth I J. per pound, and representing a value of 6,000,000/. One-fourth of the United States flocks, or about 10,000,000, are slaughtered annually. Most of the sheep are two and three years old before they come to the butcher. At present they probably do not average more than 64 lbs. dressed, but at 3(f. per pound, or \6s. per carcase, this yields a total of 8,000,000/. Pigs increase in the ratio of 2,000,000 a year ; are chiefly of Berkshire, Yorkshire, or useful Poland-China sorts, and are quite as good and profitable as those at home. They are the most convenient and economical converters of bulky, unsaleable vegetable food into more concentrated saleable animal food. Cheaply reared on the pastures or in the woods, and finished off on Indian corn at \s. per bushel, although they sometimes fall to \\d. per pound gross weight, they pay their way. Multiplying rapidly and readily saleable at twelve to fifteen months, probably two- thirds of the total swine, or 23,000,000, are annually slaughtered. Their average weight in the great es- tablishments where three-fourths of the hogs of the Beef, Mtitton, Wool, and Pork. 23 country are killed and cured, is about 217 lbs. At 2d. per pound this represents i/. i6s. 2d. as the value of each hog, or an aggregate of 41,500,000/. ; 60 per cent, of the hog products are now exported. These facts and figures strikingly demonstrate the enormous mines of wealth which America has in her herds and flocks. Taking no cognisance of horses and mules, together worth 120,000,000/., the annual sales of cattle, sheep, and hogs, and their produce, es- timated at the above moderate values, may thus be summarised : — £ Cattle slaughtered, 7,000,000 at £"; los., car- cases averaging 600 lbs. at 31/. , . , 52,500,000 ,, Offal at 30J-. 10,500,000 Cows numbering 12,000,000, from which the dairy produce is estimated at . . . 83,000,000 Sheep slaughtered 10,000,000, averaging 64 lbs. each, at ^d. per lb. .... 8,000,000 Wool from 38,000,000 sheep, averaging 4 lbs. at i^. 6,000.000 Hogs, 23,000,000 slaughtered, averaging 217 lbs. at 2^. 41,500,000 ;^20i, 500,000 This great production can be maintained and in- creased. There is still abundance of unoccupied or partially occupied land. There are plenty of well- watered summer grazings oyer which the wild herbi- vora still roam. There are vast areas available for Indian corn and hay, requisite for winter-feeding and fattening. Capital will continue to be attracted to the business ; for although, during four years of in- dustrial depression, prices of farm produce had fallen, 24 Statistics of American Farming. cows and wool depreciating 25 per cent, and hogs 50 per cent., fair profits were nevertheless earned, and with extended industrial prosperity which set in during the autumn of 1879, prices and profits are again advancing. The farm animals of Great Britain, although greatly more numerous per acre, and worth more than double the value per head, are few compared with those of America. Our agricultural horses are within 2,000,000, or one-fifth, those of the States. Our milk cows are less than one-third ; our oxen and other cattle are about two-sevenths. With 32,000,000 of sheep we possess within 6,000,000 of the number of the American flocks, and with the extra weight of our sheep and their earlier maturity we annually produce a somewhat greater weight of mutton. In pigs, how- ever, we are far behind, figuring up only one-tenth of the American census. The farm animals of the United Kingdom represent about one-half the total value of those of the United States. 25 CHAPTER III. LAND, LAND LAWS, AND TAXATION. America has almost inexhaustible supplies of the raw material from which farm crops and live stock are produced. She has profusion of land, much of it fertile, much of it in a good climate, much of it requiring no expensive clearing or tedious prepara- tion to fit it for either arable or pastoral husbandry. In this closely peopled old country it is difficult to find a piece of ground without an owner, and whereon a man might squat undisturbed. On the American continent, however, there are still great tracts of un- surveyed land on which the enterprising pioneer may settle without so much as asking leave, and find, as in patriarchal times, food for himself, his herds, and flocks. Including Alaska, these unsurveyed lands now extend to 1,500,000 square miles. Of some eleven States and most of the territories considerable portions are as yet unappropriated. Less than half of California, not one-third of Oregon and Colorado, have hitherto been surveyed, disposed of, or settled. From the British possessions to Mexico, from th^ 26 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. Missouri river to the Pacific, lies a vast area of 1,000,000,000 acres of which not three percent, is yet occupied in farms.' Eastward of the Rocky Moun- tains are thousands of acres of fertile slopes, .sheltered valleys, and even of well-watered bottoms adapted for cattle or sheep, unclaimed and unappropriated. There are great tracts of uncultivated prairie in Minnesota, Iowa, Dakota, Nebraska, and other States and territories, which men and money at small expense are turning into fertile wheat and corn lands, or profitable pastures for cattle and sheep. The southern States lying between the Ohio river and the gulf, of Mexico, between Delaware and the Missouri, including a territory four times as large as France, ten times the size of Great Britain, also pre- sent a great area of unused and very partially used land. Not one-fourth is yet actually farmed ; not one-tenth is yet employed agriculturally ; more than half is in wild pasturage adapted for cattle and sheep, and capable of carrying more than ten times the numbers now kept. Excluding the thirteen original New England eastern States which are more fully culti- vated, it may be concluded that of the remaining area of five-sixths of the United States, not one-tenth part is at present appropriated, cultivated, or profitably made use of Over the Canadian frontier are likewise great tracts of useful, easily broken land awaiting settle- ment, and especially adapted for wheat. The ' United States Department of Agriculture ; Message from the President U.S.A. relating to sheep husbandry, January 1879, p. 12. Unexhausted Land Resources. 27 northern portion of the Red River valley, the alluvial flats and bluffs of the Assinaboine and North and South Saskatchawan which flow nearly 1,000 miles from the Rocky Mountains into Lake Winnipeg, are now attracting European farmers. Any of these great river valleys when devoted to wheat might alone produce supplies sufficient to make good the annual deficit of the United Kingdom ! With such vast tracts of unappropriated and un- used territory, no wonder that land in America is cheap. It is not as at-home a luxury, indulged in by those possessed of ample means, and who can afford to invest capital to pay about 2 per cent. The land property of Great Britain is in the hands of com- paratively few ; one-fourth of the area is held by 1,200 persons ; 600 members of the House of Peers hold rather more than one-fifth, and enjoy between one-tenth and one-eleventh of the total income de- rived from land.' There are many large estates in America, but the enormous area still leaves abund- ance for all who desire a piece of their own. In many of the Western States tradesmen, artisans, and domestic servants have an eighth or one-quarter section (160 acres) or even more land on which their savings are invested. Such purchases often pay very well, owing, however, rather to their steady apprecia- tion than to their yielding a large annual return. In this country a rise of i per cent, per annum was con- ' General View of British Agriculture, by James Caird, C.B., Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xiv. part iu Second Series. ■ ■, 28 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. sidered a fair advance during the good times, which extended from 1855 to 1874. In America, where most things move with quicker pace, a great deal of land judiciously bought and fairly well managed un- dergoes an annual appreciation of S to 10 per cent., and in some States well circumstanced for railroads and other means of communication, thousands of acres have recently doubled in value within five years. The acquisition of land does not as in this country involve a heavy expenditure of capital, for which a low rate of interest is obtained. Securing the fee simple, the American yeoman not only has his annual profit, but the steady unearned increment in value, resulting from extending settlement and augmented wealth. Excepting in some of the Southern States, still paralysed from the sad conflict of eighteen years ago between North and South, and notwithstanding ex- hausting cultivation, land steadily becomes more valuable. Alike in the Eastern, Middle, and Western States, farms are constantly changing hands. The possession of property so abundant and widespread as land is in America, naturally confers less consideration and homage than a good pile of ' the almighty dollars.' It secures fewer privi- leges and less social prestige than it does in the old country. The laws and customs relating to it very closely resemble those applying to personal pro- perty. The reform of our own land laws, which cannot long be deferred, must take this direction. The artificial, antiquated distinctions which have gradually grown in Great Britain between so-called Land Offices. 29 real and personal property must be entirely or greatly reduced. As might be expected in a new country, the land laws are simpler than those of England, and the acquisition and sale of land is more readily and cheaply effected. The title conferring the fee simple in the first instance comes from the National Govern- ment. At the general land office at Washington, and at district offices throughout the States and territories, are the survey maps and records of pro- perty, begun as early as 1785. The unoccupied lands have of late years been surveyed and set out in town- ships six miles square. Each of these is subsequently divided into thirty-six sections, each containing one square mile or 640 acres. These plots are arranged like thesquares on achessboard, the straight boundary lines running north and south and east and west. Stones, stakes, or other distinguishing marks, indicate the corners of the sections, which are all numbered. In the newer States two out of the thirty-six sections are reserved for elementary and other educational purposes. The sections are sometimes sub-divided into halves, quarters, and eighths. The public lands undisposed of and scattered widely throughout nine- teen States and eight territories belong to the United States Government, but Texas has reserved its own public lands. Railway companies, in con- sideration of their building lines of iron roads, have received large tracts generally in alternate mile sections, extending ten, and sometimes even twenty miles on each side of their line. Of these lands they 30 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. gradually dispose, giving the purchaser for the sale and transfer a brief ' warranting deed,' which passes through the local register office, is duly vouched, and the transaction recorded. Somewhat on the same system as obtains in Middlesex and Yorkshire, the details of every trans- action connected with the sale, settlement, or mortgage of land, are duly recorded at the district register office. In these official documents stand recorded the names of the ' grantors and grantees,' the description and number on the plan, and acreage of every parcel of land purchased, the price, nature and date of instru- ment, with its date of acknowledgment and filing. When a sale is made, the registrar gives a certificate that the title of the lands dealt with ' is correct as the same appears upon the original records.' The clerk of the district court affixes his signature and seal to an appended certificate, attesting that he has ex- amined the records and files and ' finds that there are no judgments therein against any of the within-named parties.' The county auditor further certifies whether or no taxes are due upon the land. In the absence of the deeds of conveyance, the records referring to any lot or parcel of land, as set forth in the books of the district register office, are held good evidence of ownership. Authenticated certificates of such records are procurable for a small fee. In the district office are also recorded all mortgages on land, and as they take precedence in order of their registration, no time is lost in their being officially entered. Very con- veniently in the same office is likewise kept the Entail and Primogeniture, 3 1 valuation of the whole of the landed estates of the district, made every five years, and in some cities revised at intervals of three years. These arrange- ments simplify and cheapen the purchase and sale of land. They obviate tedious and costly investigations of title or the drawing of voluminous deeds. Estates are sold and conveyed almost as easily and as promptly as bank or railway stocks. Powers of entail and settlement for one life and twenty- one years, as in England, are recognised by United States law, but are seldom acted upon, and Americans can scarcely believe that half the land of Great Britain is held by strict entail. The custom of primogeniture, so common in the disposal of British landed estates, is rarely adopted. When a widow survives-, after payment of legal charges, she is entitled during her lifetime to one-third of all real estate. In Kansas she claims one-half. After provision for the widow, the property of the father is generally equally distributed amongst the children. The property of an intestate landowner is divisible equally amongst his children or his next of kin. These laws and the custom which gradually moulds itself upon them interfere with the aggregation of large estates. The public lands, of which there are still thousands of acres unoccupied in the Western States and territories, are divided into two classes. Some are to be bought on cash payment of i dollar 25 cents per acre. Others, more conveniently situated, for double that amount. But 160 acres of these cheaper, or 80 acres of the dearer, may be acquired under the 32 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. Homestead Acts on still easier terms. Any citizen of the United States, or any one who declares his intention of becoming a citizen, over twenty-one years of age, whether male or female, who will settle upon and cultivate these lands during five years, on payment of fees or commissions, varying according to situation or extent acquired from 30J. to 90J., is entitled to a patent endowing him, his heirs and assigns, with the fee simple of the land. Cultivation for two years of five acres of forest trees under the Culture Acts of 1873-8, in most of the States, further entitles a settler, after three years and on payment of small office fees, to 80 acres of land. Ten acres of trees similarly cultivated secure a patent for 160 acres. Increasing advantage is being taken of those cheap, easy processes for the acquisition of land. The official records' testify that 5,260,111 acres have been acquired under the Homestead Acts in 1879, the largest amount ever taken up in any one year, and nearly double the area acquired in 1869. Under the Timber Acts 2,766,574 acres have been acquired in 1879, or more than five times the area thus obtained in 1875. Eight million acres thus entered upon partially cultivated and planted in one year strikingly illustrates the rapidity with which the Western world is being settled. Many of the grants would be lots of 40 to 80 acres, but even supposing all amounted to 160 acres, here would be 50,000 new farmers ' Ameiican Almanac for 1880. Valuatioti of Real and Personal Estate. 33 settled within twelve months. This continued ever- widening colonisation goes on every year, and this estimate takes no cognisance of the thousands of acres disposed of by railway companies, corporations, and private speculators, formerly void, but now being settled and brought into some sort of cultivation. Thousands thus going forth and cultivating the waste places of the earth augurs well for the future abund- ance and cheapness of food. The assessed value of the real estate of the United States as set forth in the return of the last census of 1870 was ;^9,9i4,78o,825. Personal estate is figured at ^4,204,205,907. The true value of the two forms of property is given at ^30,068,518,507. Since 1870, steadily recovering from the shock received from the civil war, the value of the land and personal property of the States is believed to have nearly doubled. The land scheme of the United States aims at multiplying freeholders and erecting homesteads, which it also generally protects from forced sale. By federal law no homestead can be seized for debts incurred previous to the obtaining of a patent for such homestead. In thirty-two out of thirty-eight States the homestead is protected against execution from all debt, excepting for taxes. This protection has frequently been abused ; it has proved a tempta- tion to the taking up of land by men who had no capital with which to cultivate it ; sometimes it un- fairly shields the debtor from payment of his just debts. Most States now wisely limit the exemption D 34 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. to a certain acreage, to enumerated articles, or to chattels of specified value. In Vermont the home- stead reserved must not exceed ^500, with growing crops, clothing, furniture, farm animals, and sundry- stores ; ^200 in teams, ^200 in professional library. In New York State the value of the homestead reserved from seizure may be ^1,000, with personal property, consisting of mechanics' tools to the value of $2^, furniture, instruments, library, &c. In Kentucky the exemption consists of land, with dwelling, to the value of ;^i,ooo, with furniture, clothing, and domestic animals valued at ^^loo. In California the fortunate debtor may reserve home- stead to the value of ^5,000, ;^200 of furniture, and a multitude of special articles. The house of the town debtor, sometimes with a quarter, and even half an acre of land, is exempted from seizure from debt. The husband cannot alienate the homestead without the consent, in writing, of his wife. So long as land belongs to the United States there are no land or house duties, no stamps, or Schedule A of the Income Tax, which, in the United Kingdom, together collect 8,500,000/. and constitute 12 per cent, of our total taxation. The general Federal Government of the United States is supported by heavy customs duties collected on an import of nearly 100,000,000/., and by internal revenue derived from spirits, fermented liquors, tobacco, banks and bankers, penalties and adhesive stamps. Spirits produce one-half, and tobacco one-third, of this General and Local Taxation. 35 excise. The revenue goes to meet the 20,000,000/. still required to pay annual interest on the National Debt, and maintain military and naval establishments, pensions, public works, the administration of justice, &c. The states and territories raise for their own use about 12,500,000/., which is chiefly expended on public works, bridges, and roads, administration of justice in county courts, maintenance of prisons, lunatic asylums, education, and bureau of agriculture. Of these local taxes about one-half is derived from real estate. Land and houses are rated not as with us on annual rental, but on value determined at intervals, generaily of five years. In different States, according to their necessities and the amount of their debt, the assessment varies considerably. It averages about one-half per cent In Texas and some States it is provided by statute that the taxes on real estate shall not exceed one-half per cent. In Illinois the rate s about 3«/. per acre. In Pennsylvania real estate is exempted from: all taxation. Land is taxed whether it is void or occupied, unless belonging to the United States Government or situated in Pennsylvania or other favoured districts. This somewhat discourages speculators holding land unprofitably idle waiting a rise. The revenue officers are prompt to take account of all improvements. The assessment made is the first lien on the land ; interest accrues when it is unpaid; it constitutes almost the only description of debt for which in many States a homestead can be sold. Tlie municipalities, 36 Land, Land Laws, and Taxation. besides paying their own city charges, unlike the Enghsh arrangement, usually also contribute their share to the country expenditure. Government, desirous tp favour small freeholders, exempts from taxation in many States land under 200 dollars. In some Western States encouragement is given to clothe the bare prairie with trees, by exempting for seven years payment of taxes on land of which one-fourth is planted with timber tree.Su More than half the local taxation is derived from personal estate. The assessment embraces horses and other live stock, steam engines, carriages of all sorts, implements and machinery, household furniture, in- cluding pianos, watches, clocks, jewellery, &c. A poll tax of I dollar is levied in some States. Pro- fessional men, merchants, and all manner of traders pay licence to practise their avocation. Railroad companies are generally charged one-half per cent, on the value of their property, and the same amount on their gross earnings. Boarding and eating-houses, as well as billiard-rooms and theatres, are taxed. Liquor merchants have usually to pay a graduated tax on sales. In some States stallions and jackasses contribute 10 dollars annually. Livery-stable keepers frequently are assessed at 1 5 dollars, and half a dollar for each stall. These licenses and taxes on personalty collect annually upwards of 6,000,000/. or one-half of the local assessment. The system has the recom- mendation of raising revenue from all sorts and con- ditions of men. Those who have most pay most. Professional men, traders, and those living on realised General and Local Taxation. ' 37 property (of whom, however, there are very few in America) are taxed according to their means. Local taxation is thus equitably spread over a wide area, and is drawn from every description of property. The farmer and the land are not so heavily mulcted as in Great Britain. The American agriculturist pays on an average about i per cent on the valuation of his land, plant, and personalty, which, presuming it to be valued at from 2/. los. to 5/. per acre, would place his local taxes at 6d. to \s. per acre. The adminis- tration of the taxes is much better managed than it was a few years ago. Instead of increasing, as in England, they are gradually being reduced. Univer- sal suffrage seems to keep down local expenses. In the West, owing to liberal grants of State lands, the cost of gratuitous education is minimised. 38 Landozvners, Farmers, and Labourers. CHAPTER IV. LANDOWNERS, FARMERS, AND LABOURERS. The United States census of 1870, out of a total population of 38,600,000 (which has now mounted to 48,000,000), represented 12,506,000 adults as engaged in various occupations, and of these 5,922,000 were employed in agriculture. The number must now exceed 7,000,000. Allowing to each bread-winner two non-workers, nearly half the population of the United States are directly concerned in agriculture. In the Trans-Mississippi States more than three- fourths of the people are engaged in agriculture. In the Southern States lying between the Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico two-thirds are occupied in rural pursuits.' Of the population of the -United Kingdom about one- fifth are interested in agriculture as landowners, tenant-farmers, and labourers. The United States statistics in my possession do not show, as those of Great Britain do, the relative numbers of the three great classes engaged in agriculture, but farmers own- ing the soil still outnumber the other agricultural ' Report of the Commissioners of Agriculture on Sheep Husbandry, January 1879. Agriculhire Employs a Fourth. 39 classes, and constitute more than half those engaged in agricultural industries. In Great Britain the farmers are six times as numerous as the landowners ; the labourers are greatly more numerous than both put together. No Domesday-book indicates the area of American estates ; some of them, however, measure hundreds of square miles. As in this country, a good deal of land is in the hands of nominal owners, who have obtained advances upon it, who have not the means or the wish to employ it to the best advantage, but often await a sufficient apprecia- tion to justify their partitioning it for sale. There are few old family estates. Almost all are for sale at a price. Land changes hands much more frequently than in England. Many elderly men now in the Western States began life onsmall New England farms, migrated to some of the Middle States, spent some years in improving property there, and, tempted by a remunerative price, sell and re-invest farther West. Numerous pioneers of colonisation push ahead of their fellows, acquire land cheaply, break up, cultivate, and after a few years sell out and move onwards with the sun. Of unoccupied, uncultivated land there must still be abundance for all comers for many years. In the enterprising States of Minnesota and Iowa, with ad- mirable railway facilities, within three or four miles of a station, prairie land, requiring no costly breaking, can be bought at 25J. an acre. In older States, such as Pennsylvania and Kentucky, which . have been occupied for a hundred years, farms are still 40 Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers. purchased at 5/. to 6/. per acre. Whilst in Virginia within fifty miles of Washington and in Georgia, and other Southern States, are many fine estates belong- ing to gentlemen whose fortunes were wrecked in the struggle between North and South, who are unable to find the means for improvements or for farming profitably, and who, untrammelled by entails or settlements, would gladly sell their property at low prices. By far the most numerous of the agricultural classes is the yeoman who cultivates his own land. So much is done by himself or his family that his hired labourers, who in this country are fully four times as numerous as the farmers, do not in America amount to half their number. With abundance of cheap land, easily worked and rising in value, labourers aspire to be farmers, and the farmers naturally prefer to own the land they till. This is especially the case in the West. In Minnesota and Kansas the moderate demand for land to let is evi- denced by the fact that school lands, and those of absentee proprietors abounding in prairie grass, and well watered, are let at the moderate figure of two cents, or even one cent per acre, and no restrictions are made as to cutting hay or removing the produce. In the Eastern and Middle States many farms are let on shares, the owner, for his land, house, and build- ings, usually receiving one-half of the grain grown. The tenant finds labour and seed, and besides his proportion of the grain, usually also earns a profit from his cattle and pigs. Many men of limited Small Capital Needful. 4 1 capital in this way make their first start in farming. On fruit and dairy farms a similar division of profits is often made between owner and occupier. It is the old principle, once common in this country, of pay- ment in kind. Considering the abundance of land, it appears rather paradoxical that American landlords, when they do get a tenant, manage to have as their share nearly half the produce, whilst the British land- lord has to be content with about one-fifth the gross yield of his land. Farms are let occasionally by agreement from year to year, or on improving leases, the tenant of unbroken land stipulating to bring so many acres into cultivation annually. Sometimes, as with fruit and vegetable farms, leases extend for ten years, or even for longer periods. Simple leases and deeds of agreement, usually remarkable for their directness and brevity, are generally procured for 4^. to 8j., whilst 2s. is the common charge for recording a lease or agreement. An indifferent tenant is not got rid of by a simple notice to quit. He must be served with a writ of ejectment. In most States distraint for rent is prohibited. The landlord has no hypothec or pre- ferential claim. In most States, as already remarked, personal goods, farm implements, tools, and live stock to a stipulated value, are protected from seizure for debt. The amount of capital employed in British agri- culture, inadequate although it often is to secure the fullest returns, is enormously in excess of that re- quired in ordinary farming throughout the States. 42 Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers. Agricultural land in England and Scotland in its natural condition, without any equipments, may still be taken to be worth about 30/. an acre. Farm-house, cottages, draining, roads, and fences cannot be fur- nished for less than 10/. an acre. The tenant's in- vestment for machinery, implements, horses, cattle, and sheep should reach 10/. This total of 50/. an acre is a very moderate estimate of the amount of capital invested by British landlords and tenants. It is, however, ten times the amount hitherto employed in farming in the Western Slates, or in many of more recently settled parts of Canada. Throughout the great Trans-Mississippi wheat-growing regions, where about one-half of the wheat of the continent is now raised, good land is still purchased at 25^. to 30J. an acre. In the great stock-raising regions west of the Missouri, south in Texas, or north towards and be- yond the Canadian boundary line, grazing lands are bought at 5^. to 1 5 j. an acre. House and buildings cost less than half the amount expended upon them at home. Great tracts of country are in little need of artificial drainage. Where frost for three months secures an adamant way of ice, and summer drought for a still longer period gives firm transit over meadow and prairie, expensive roads are little needed. The herd law, in force throughout many States, forbids cattle being turned out without a keeper, and dimi- nishes the need of fencing. These conditions ob- viously economise outlay. For 2/. an acre American farmers are generally supplied with the requisite buildings and permanent equipments which here cost Farmers Work Hard. 43 10/. On equally moderate terms the farmer possessed of the requisite ready money buys his lighter ma- chinery and implements, and his lower-priced live stock. Many settlers on 320 acres calculate under this category to start with \l. an acre. Even if double this sum is used, the total capital invested in the fee simple of the land, in its equipments, and in the farm stock„is but 5/. ioj., or little more than one- tenth the amount contributed by the British landlord and tenant in starting ordinary farming. On the • British investment of 50/., if 5 per cent, over head is to be earned, the first charge on each acre will be 50J. This estimate may, however, be considered figurative — at any rate, it is very rarely obtained. The land- lord, if satisfied with 3 per cent, on his investment of 40/., would claim i/. 45-. ; the tenant on his 10/., some- what precariously Invested in an uncertain vocation, should earn 7 per cent, or 14J. per acre, making a total for rent and interest on capital of il. i8j. per acre. Money, more valuable in a new country, must pay 10 per cent., and the American farmer's charge on his investment of 5/. \os. would accordingly be 1 1 J. an acre. This aspect of the land question accounts in great part for the low cost of agricultural products in America, and explains how wheat can be profitably grown, although it takes two acres to raise the amount obtained in England on one. With land so abundant and so cheap, and equipped and stocked at such moderate cost, farmers naturally prefer to own the soil they till. Farming, like most other businesses in America, 44 Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers. is done with energy and with a determination to over- take as much work as possible. Labour is largely aided and hastened by ingenious, light, easily worked machinery. The land is generally level, friable, and free from stones. But so much is often attempted, that it is seldom thoroughly done. As often happens at home, the farmer has frequently too large an area under cultivation far the capabilities of his capital, his horses, or his hand labour. He grudges especially the employment of costly helps. A good deal of American farming, accordingly,, lacks the polish, finish, and attention to details which distinguish the best British culture. Headlands, corners, inaccessible or indifferent portions of a field are seldom tilled. The returns of maize crops are thus minimised. Indian corn,, missing frequent timely stirring, yields only half as much as it might do. On imperfectly prepared land, insufficiently hoed and not ridged up, potatoes are often less than half a crop. In many States reiterated growth of wheat, without any resto- ration of the annually extracted plant food, has im- poverished many good soils. In the newer Western States, except amongst careful farmers, the bulk of the straw is wastefully burnt in heaps as it comes from the thrashing machines. Such treatment has gradually exhausted the fertility of much land throughout the Eastern and Middle States, and ob- servant farmers are generally adopting a wiser system, are not growing wheat so frequently or con- tinuously, are adopting some kind of recuperative ro- tation, are taking care of and applying the manure made, and are keeping more live stock. Good Labourers Wages Good. 45 managers are realising the truth of the Spanish proverb which declares that ' the hoof of the sheep is gold.' The severe winter and dry summer are un- favourable for the growth of weeds, and notwithstand- ing the small attention paid to hoeing, many farms are tolerably clean. Although the farmer is generally his own land- lord, he works fully as hard as any British tenant, and as hard and for fully longer hours than many British labourers. He employs fewer hired helps ; on all, excepting the largest occupations, the Boss and his household have their full share of the drudgery. The wife and daughters toil almost as hard as the father and boys. They usually do the milking and dairy work, and I have occasionally seen young women riding the sulky ploughs. The truth of the couplet is very generally illustrated : Man's work proceeds from sun to sun, But woman's work is never done. Labourers have good wages, especially during summer, and all food is cheap ; house accommodation is not, however, so good or so moderate as it now is in England, and there is often difficulty and uncer- tainty in procuring employment during winter. The average wages of ordinary farm men are $\, or about 4?. per day exclusive of board. Double that amount is given in harv.est. Owing to the boom of increased prosperity which bountiful harvests have secured for the States, during the past year wages both of farm labourers and of artisans were advanced, and as com- pared with several previous years that of 1 880 repre- 46 Landowners, Farmers, and Labotcrers. sents a rise of 7-25 per cent.' The summer wages range from #9'6o per month with board in South Carolina, to ^12-62 in Vermont, and $16 in the Mississippi Valley. Although becoming more uni- form than formerly, they are higher near towns than in purely rural districts. They are highest in Montana and the mineral districts. They are lowest in the Southern States, where there is on the whole less en- terprise and demand for labour, and where a freed negro population is numerous. On most large farms the hands are engaged from March i to November, earn 3/. \os. to 4/. a month, are housed in barracks or bothies, are well fed with meat thrice daily, and work twelve or thirteen hours. For unmarried men this arrangement answers well enough, but very few farms are provided with sufficient cottage accommodation for married men and families, and the wives and children have often to maintain a separate establish- ment in some neighbouring town or village. Artisans have generally good remuneration and plenty of work. Carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, shoeing smiths, wheelwrights, and machine makers, without board, can earn $2 to $1 per day. They are most in request and best paid in Colorado, Oregon, and other Western States, where they command ^3 to #4 daily. In northern latitudes, towards and beyond the Canadian frontier, during the long bitter winter, when the land is bound in the adamant grip of frost, no outdoor agricultural labour can be effected. The care ' Statistical Report, Department of Agriculture, 1880. Grain Crops suffer from Drought. 47 of the live stock is the only work of the farm. Not one-half of the regular summer labour is required. The want of sufficient work for the agricultural popu- lation during winter is ' a serious evil, leading to constant changes amongst the labourers, leaving some in enforced demoralising idleness, necessitating their migrating in quest of lumbering, pork-packing, or other such work, driving many into the towns, where their summer earnings melt away. When severe winter extends, as in Manitoba, for nearly six months, spring brings the necessity for extraordinary effort. In the north and north-west, the spring wheats, where used, have to be put in with all haste, often while the frost is slowly relaxing its hold of the deeper soil. Haymaking in such a dry climate cer- tainly causes less anxiety than under our dull, showery skies. Except where Indian corn is properly cultivated, there is little trouble or expense with hoeing. Wheat harvest again calls forth every effort. Under a blazing sun the ripened crop, unless promptly gathered, suffers great loss from shake. Drought is the untoward condition which more than anything else minimises American grain crops, and especially wheat. It accounts for the small shrivelled berry, but if not excessive, confers the thin skin and richness in albuminoids. Notwithstanding deep good soils, it is the chief factor in bringirig down theyield to 12 or 13 bushels an acre, or less than one- half the estimated acreable produce of Great Britain. We suffer from excess of rain and deficiency of sun- shine ; they have too little rain and too much sun- 48 Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers. shine. Drought in early spring sometimes interferes with regular germination or growth. Scorching weather as the grain is maturing sometimes shrivels it up, reducing in 1879 the yield of wheat in Kansas to II bushels, in Texas 'j\ bushels per acre. In various Southern States and in California irrigation is essential for arable cultivation. Locusts (jOaloptenus spretus) have frequently com- mitted great devastations. From their indigenous breeding districts in Montana, Wyoming, and part of Colorado, they have frequently extended in all direc- tions over other States, reaching throughout the Canadian dominions, proceeding north as far as Ohio and south into Kentucky. In swarms measured by hundreds of miles the hoppers have travelled, darken- ing the air, stopping railway trains, devouring every green blade, leaving fields, gardens, and orchards bare and blackened, as if they had been swept by fire. They are no new plague. There are records of their devastations in 1858. Their most serious recent widespread eruptions were in 1875 and 1876, and throughout many parts of Kansas in 1 877. Another insect pest which causes serious loss is the small Hessian fly {Cecydomia destructor), which deposits its eggs in the tender leaflet of the autumn wheat in September, or of the spring cereals in April. The mfiggots, hatched in five to ten days, live on the fresh juices of the plant, starve, shrivel, and kill it. Later generations of the fly attack the cereals even when they have shot to the second and third joints. Size of Farms. 49 Some of these serious drawbacks to American farming will doubtless be gradually abated. Planting, as pointed out, will increase and equalise the rainfall ; irrigation will be more widely used in drier regions ; thorough cultivation will extirpate insect pests, or limit their devastations ; growth of clover, green crops, and their consumption on the soil, will main- tain and increase fertility ; selection of better seed, more suitable for special localities, will ensure a more uniform and better yield. The farms of the United States as set forth by the official returns (no cognizance being taken of farms under three acres) averaged 190 acres in 1860, fell to 153 acres in 1870, and are still diminishing. They are under 100 acres in the New England States ; in Utah, with its irrigated gardens and tidy orchards, they only reach 30. acres ; the largest holdings are in California, where the acreage is set down at 482 acres, and where there are several arable farms of over 20,000 acres ; the cattle ranches of Texas present an average of 300 acres ; the cotton plantations of Georgia average 338 acres. The average acreage is greater than in the United Kingdom, where 70 per cent, of the farms are under 50 acres, and only twelve per cent, range from 50 to 100 acres. Alike in England and America an important practical question arises. What size of farm pays best > In proportion to the amount of capital invested, the arable farmers who in America are making the most money are undoubtedly the industrious owners of 80 to 160 acres. A great proportion of their work is E 50 Landowners, Farmers, and Labourers. done by themselves and their families ; their expenses are small ; their wheat has recently paid well ; they are generally diversifying their culture. With abun- dance of capital, the best of machinery, and system- atic intelligent supervision, the large arable farms in California, the Red River settlements, and elsewhere, have lately paid well. Hitherto, however, they are too dependent on wheat ; a good crop throughout Europe and America might seriously cut down their profits. Capitalists engaged in the great cattle ranches and sheep runs of Central and Western America are less liable to disastrous fluctuations of price. They have been rnaking handsome returns, often reaching 25 per cent, on judiciously expended capital, and there is no near prospect of diminution in their returns. The wheat production of the world now readily suffices to find bread for her population, but the meat supplies, especially for the Old World, are yet inadequate to the wants of the people, and there is still ample scope for the production of beef and bacon. American dairy farmers have not gene- rally done so well as the graziers or feeders. For a couple of years until September last good cheese has been selling at about 2d. per lb. ; the cheese factories of New York State have repeatedly reduced their price for the farmers' milk ; occasionally it has fallen to \d. per quart. As at home, those who sell milk or butter have done better than the cheese makers. Owing to the large amount of capital embarked in the business, and the higher price of labour in the Eastern and Middle States, unless the farmers have Freedom and Liberty of Action. 5 1 taken up market-gardening, fruit-growing, or other specialty, they are not generally so prosperous as their brethren out West. Western competition, with some reason, is said to affect them as seriously as it has done the British farmer. Nor has agriculture been particularly prosperous in the Southern States. The free negro has not yet settled down to steady industry. Although not paid much more than half the wages given for white labour in the North or West, work is virtually more costly, whilst markets are not so numerous or accessible. Compared with their British brethren, American farmers have certain other advantages. They are untrammelled by old-world restrictions. They can buy and sell land with as little expense and delay as if it were government or railway stocks. Their homestead or implements cannot be seized for ordi- nary debt. Excepting during close time, without licence or permission asked or given, they shoot and sport over their own and also over their neighbours' property. When land is let, the landlord does not dictate as to the mode of cropping or the sale of produce. There is no prejudice or clinging to anti- quated systems ; but a readiness to modify practice according to soil, climate, circumstances, or markets. Around the cities market gardens and orchards are rapidly multiplied, and dairy farming is prosecuted. This American adaptiveness is especially worthy of imitation in the present unremunerative condition of British agriculture. 5 2 The Cheap Movement oj Gram. CHAPTER V. THE CHEAP MOVEMENT OF GRAIN. A KEEN appreciation of novelty, a readiness to adopt improved processes, and the extensive application of machinery constitute important elements in the indus- trial successes of the United States of America. In the preparation of the soil, the harvesting of the crops and their transit by rail or water, these principles are strikingly illustrated. Time, labour, and consequently expense are hence economized. With a pair of smart horses, two acres are readily ploughed daily : the Western farmer, except when turning, mounts com- fortably seated on his sulky plough. Reapers have long been universal, and are now superseded by the combined reaper and binder. On the great Dal- rymple farm in the territory of Dakota 120 of these useful combined machines were at work last season. Portable steam machines thrash and clean the grain. In sacks, carried in light vans or waggons, it is delivered to the railway dep6t or to the canal or river barges. A handy crane usually hastens the unloading and emptying of the sacks. Grain delivered by the farmer even at remote western dep6ts is examined by the sworn inspector, is Cheap Transport. 53 generally winnowed by steam, water, or wind power as it passes into the bins of the elevator. It is weighed 60 lbs. to the bushel instead of 63 lbs. as is general in England: 480 lbs. constitutes the quarter. The inspector grades both the varieties as No. i, 2, 3, or 4 winter or spring. According to this official estimate, which is rarely questioned, the farmer is paid in con- formity with his bargain or in accordance with current price. The memorandum of the transaction received by the buyer constitutes an order for the delivery of so many quarters of the specified quality. Unless, however, under special arrangement, rot a particle of the same wheat to which the order actually referred is delivered to the buyer. The delivery note, especi- ally in speculative times, is sold and resold repeatedly. Each purchaser deposits a small percentage to pro- tect the vendor from loss in case of a drop in value. The ultimate buyer, although he does not receive the grain actually bought, has its equivalent of the stipu- lated grade set forth in his delivery order. Without this simple deferential system it would be impossible to con- duct the great grain business of the Western World. Nearly half the wheat grown in America now comes from the great Mississippi valley 1,000 miles west of New York, and from the vast alluvial prairies and plains which extend thence 500 miles, and away beyond the Missouri, embracing an area fifteen times as large as Great Britain. The handling and transport of the grain from this great region, as elsewhere in America, is cheaply and effectively managed. Lakes, rivers, canals and rail- 54 The Chfiap Movement of Grain. roads contribute ready and cheap transport. There are in the States 86,497 miles of iron roads ; they have doubled their mileage twice in ten years ; 4,721 miles were laid down in 1879. Over the great level western prairies they are built at the rate of 3,000/. per mile. The trucks or cars contain 400 to 500 bushels or 10 to 12 tons. The grain in bulk, and graded as described, does not require, to be kept in small separate lots ; the trucks travel full. The rail roads out west, where competition is small, charge, however, relatively high for transport. From St. Paul to Chicago, for example, a distance of 450 miles, the tariff is usually about Sj. 6d. for 480 lbs. From Kansas city (280 miles) to Saint Louis, the charge is about 4J. From grain centres such as Chicago, Cin- cinnati, or St. Louis, to the eastern seaboard, or to Great Britain, the cost of transport is, however, pro- portionally less. During the summer of 1879, owing to competition between the five railroads which run east from Chicago, thousands of quarters of grain were carried at 3^-. /^d. per quarter, and even lower rates were given to Philadelphia and Baltimore. A similar moderate charge forwarded the quarter of wheat to British ports. But these are exceptionally low rates, probably 50 to 70 per cent, below what may be re- garded as a fair standard during an average of years. Long distance charges are relatively sometimes abso- lutely lower than those for shorter distances. For other goods as well as for grain low rates are obtained.' ' New York Produce Exchange Report for 1879 and 1880 ; Messrs. Read and Pell's Report on American Agriculture. New York Grain Elevators. 55 From Chicago to New York, which, according to the route taken, varies from 800 to 900 miles, the cost of transport of a barrel of flour of 214 lbs. has ranged during the last five years from 50 to 80 cents (2s. 2d. to 3J. 4^?.) Pork, beef, and lard have varied from 42 to 57 cents per 100 lbs. Tinned meats in cases, fall- ing as low as 18 cents, for three years have had a steady maximum of 45 cents per 100 lbs. Fully one-third of the grain sent east is carried by water, over all or part of the route. The canal or river, barges stow about 1,000 quarters, and strings of twelve or sixteen, hawled by a steam-tug, are de- spatched at very cheap rates, over the great lakes or down the canals or rivers to the seaboard. From S. Louis 1,000 miles down the Mississippi to New Orleans, grain is often conveyed at the rate of ^d. per bushel. From Chicago viA Buffalo or Oswego to New York, a distance of 1,400 miles, the freight for 1878 was A,\d. per bushel ; that of 1879 is about ^d. per bushel. The average cost of transport of 480 lbs. of wheat during the last five years has been 35-. 5^. The transport of a quarter (448 lbs.) of Indian corn has been 3J, \d. Equally moderate rates are charged for the transit of grain from the interior to other ocean ports. By fixed or floating elevators it is transferred from the barges, and weighed by Fairbank's standard scales, as it is ' dumped' at the rate of 2,000 or 3,000 bushels an hour into the bins for storing, or into the hold of the vessel that carries it to Europe. Of the 1 5 2,000,000 bushels of grain and breadstuffs annually brought to New York, 44 per cent, is by water car? 56 The Cheap Movement of Grain. riage, and somewhat similar proportions are carried to the other Atlantic ports. Even in a country where everything is on a large scale, the grain traffic of the great railway companies, encouraged by these low rates, by numerous inter- secting local lines, and by facilities for movement, ' bulks tolerably big.' New York has 54 per cent, of her grain and breadstuffs by rail. Fully 3 1 per cent., or about 50,000,000 bushels, is annually forwarded by the New York Central and Hudson River rail ; 14^ per cent, by the Erie ; upwards of 9^ per cent, by the Pennsylvania. The two latter lines are erecting at their depdts at New Jersey City elevators to facilitate the movement of the grain. Four years ago the New York Central and Hudson River Company, fol- lowing the spirited example of Chicago, erected at their terminus at Fifty-ninth S|reet two gigantic warehouses with elevators, capable 'of storing 1,250,000 bushels, built on piles driven into the bed of the Hud- son, and commanding 25 ft. of water for the mooring and loading of vessels. Each of these buildings is about 300 ft. long, 100 ft. wide, and 150 ft. high ; and s® rapidly is business extending, that it is said a tJiird warehouse is required. Each building contains up- wards of 100 bins ; each bin is capable of holding 5,000 to 8,000 bushels. They are 12 ft. square, and 50 ft. to 5 5 ft. deep ; their walls are made of 6 in. battens, 2 in. thick, spiked together, and further strengthened by a few iron rods passing across the bin. These bins are filled by 20 large elevators, which can take up grain simultaneously from ten American Grain Warehouses, 57 trucks, unloaded on the ground floor within the building, or from barges, discharged from the wharfs on either side. An engine of 700-horse power drives the gigantic 4 ft. belt, 300 ft. long, which moves ]this unique machinery, the wheels, shafts, and working parts of which are conveniently fixed in the top stories of the building. • Wheat and Indian corn constitute the bulk of the grain received, and about half of it is on through bills for Europe. Most of the oats go for the home trade. The grain is chiefly collected 1,000 miles to 1,500 miles west ; the cars carry 400 to 500 bushels, or an average of 10 to 12 tons. The stuff is examined and graded on transit by qualified inspectors appointed by the State. Of the several grains there are about forty grades ; of spring wheat, for example, there are first, second, third, and fourth grades, and rejected. Unless distinctly stipulated for in the bills of lading, consignors' lots are not kept separate ; grain of the same grade is, how- ever, strictly kept by itself ; and indiscriminately from a bin of 6,000 bushels may be drawn the 1,000 bushels belonging to six small consignors. Separate bins re- served for small lots would entail much extra trouble and cost. Three hundred cars, containing 120,000 bushels, are sometimes unloaded daily. In lots of 8 or 10, they are run under the elevators and rapidly emptied in 1 2 or 15 minutes. Two men, with respirators to keep the dust out of their lungs, enter each truck armed with a shovel, which consists of a board or tray, about a yard square and without any handle. To 58 The Cheap Movement of Grain. each of these shovels is attached a rope, which passes over a roller, conveniently placed several yards above the truck and worked by steam, which winds up the rope until it pulls the shovel and all the grain before it towards the door of the car, where it falls into a receiver below. The roller then automatically re- verses its motion and unwinds the rope, thus enabling the workman to retire to the far corner of the car, when the roller again reverses, and the process is re- peated until the car is emptied. The ropes are so arranged, that while one of the men is guiding his loaded shovel forward, the other is retiring for another charge. From the receiver, the grain is raised to its destination by an endless band, provided with the ordinary tin buckets. By arrangement of shoots each elevator is in communication with twenty-six bins. If it is desired, the grain on its way to the bin, at a cost of \d. per quarter, can be run through one of the six win- nowing machines with which each building is provided. The perforated shakers keep back stones, straw, or other rubbish : the air blast drives out very light grain, chaff, and dust, which, by a pipe, is conveyed into the Hudson. Every parcel passing through the elevators is weighed automatically by Fairbank's scales, which accurately weigh a bushel or a lot of 10 to 145 tons. The charge made by the railway com- pany for this transference from car or barge to the bins and re-delivery to the vessels is one-half of a cent per bushel ; and this includes ten days' storage. Longer storage is charged at the rate of \d. per quarter for ten days or any part thereof. At any time the Fixed and Portable Elevators. 59 grain can be turned, not laboriously by men with shovels, but by machinery, from one bin into another ; and for less than \d. per quarter. Unsound stuff is charged extra rates. If grain is sacked and the sacks loaded on cars or barges, the charge is A^d. per quarter. Most of the grain within ten days is usually discharged from the bins into lighters for delivery to the steamers, or direct into the ship carrying it to Europe. Down shoots of about 12 in. in diameter the grain rushes through the hatches, and is firmly packed to prevent shifting. A steam-worked shovel, similar to that used for emptying the cars, might be here effectively employed. A handy vessel, with convenient hatches, is loaded with 60,000 to 80,000 bushels in eight hours. A steamer frequently receives on board in one day her freight of 90,000 bushels. Without the fixed railway elevators and their steam-floating prototypes it would be difficult to load up and export every week, as is often, done, from New York, upwards of 2,500,000 bushels of grain. With- out them it would have been hopeless to handle the unprecedentedly large export of 13,676,000 bushels which were despatched for Europe during July 1880. These ingenious useful appliances, so interesting to the mechanician and so considerably reducing the cost of the movement of grain, are not yet sufficiently used in Europe. In Great Britain the only public elevators are those in the grain docks at Liverpool. The handy floating elevators, costing about 6,000/,, so constantly employed at all the Amerieaji ports to 6o The Cheap Movement of Grain. transfer grain from the barges to the larger ocean-going vessels, are now likely to receive a fair trial in this country. An elevator built by the New York elevator construction company for Messrs. Edward Power & Co. has for twelve months been working successfully on the Thames. The adoption in this country of these American labour-saving machines has been retarded by many vessels bringing grain having besides other cargo on board, and hence discharging at docks remote from the grain warehouses. The general distribution of grain in sacks instead of loose, as it is in America, also limits the general use of elevators. The grain warehouses in many older ports are besides often placed too far from the wharfs to allow the grain being raised direct from the ships into the warehouses. At many of the newer ports, and where granaries have recently been erected, their convenient proximity to rail and water, and the introduction of elevators have most unaccountably been overlooked. The economy of such appliances is, however, very strikingly demonstrated in the tedious and expensive discharge of grain vessels at European ports. The vessel which had her cargo of 80,000 bushels put on board in bulk at New York in a single day, at her European destination is unloaded by tardy, costly hand labour ; every bushel is painstakingly weighed and sacked up, often carried ashore on men's shoulders, and ten or twelve days are sometimes occupied, entailing, besides expensive labour, an unnecessary outlay of at least 10/. daily for detention of the vessel. 6i CHAPTER VI. NEW YORK MEAT SUPPLIES. The sale, preservation, and distribution of animal food are somewhat differently managed in England and America. From American practices may cer- tainly be learned various useful lessons ; notably in the cheap transport alike of live cattle and of meat, in the sale of cattle, sheep, and pigs by weight, instead of by the guess system so generally prevalent in this country, in the use of convenient central abattoirs, in the adoption of cold storage chambers ; and in utili- sing every portion of offal. The marketing, slaugh- tering, and shipping arrangements at New York illustrate these, and perhaps other practical lessons. New York, with her million of population, attracts to her markets every week nearly 12,000 cattle for slaughter, 160 to 200 cows, about 30,000 sheep, 32,000 swine, besides variable numbers of calves and lambs. Twenty years ago New York, in twelve months, slaughtered 150,000 cattle, or about one- fourth of her present requirements. From Chicago, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, she further receives large consignments of dead meat, some of it for consump- tion, some of it for transmission to Great Britain. 62 New York Meat Supplies. The live-stock supplies are tolerably equally divided between the yards of the New York Central and Hudson River Company, at the foot of Seventy- Second Street, and those of the Stock Yard Company at New Jersey City, on the opposite side of the Hud- son, but readily reached from New York in fifteen minutes by the huge ferry boats, carrying buggies, coaches, loaded carts and vans, as well as passengers. The swine are assigned separate quarters, at Fortieth Street, New Jersey City. The commoner cattle, narrow, leggy, brindled or yellow, with enor- mous formidable horns, direct descendants of the Spanish stock imported into Mexico 350 years ago, come 2,000 miles from Texas and New Mexico, weigh alive 1,000 lbs. to 1,200 lbs., and yield 52 lbs. to 54 lbs of beef for every 100 lbs. of live weight. More compact and shapely, nearer the ground, and with less offal, are the steers from Colorado and Wyoming. Many lots, varying considerably in quality, are made up from Chicago, St. Louis, or Cincinnati. Improved by selection, and ' graded up ' by crossing with Short- horns and Herefords, but seldom reaching one-sixth of the whole, are consignments from Kentucky and Illinois, forwarded direct from the pastures, or in winter and spring from the yards where they have been fed, mainly on Indian corn and hay, averaging four years old, reaching 1,500 lbs. to 1,800 lbs. live weight, and yielding 56 to 60 per cent, of beef. As everywhere in America the beasts are sold, as they should be in this country, by weight, the beasts bought pass, as they from the pens are run on to one of The Cattle Trade, 63 Fairbank's ubiquitous weigh-bridges, where, inclosed within gates, their weight is recorded by a market official. These useful scales cost 70/. to 100/. Gene- rally the animals are disposed of by live weight, or on the hoof, as it is termed ; but at New York they are sold on the estimate of the carcase weight. In recent markets good and extra bullocks have sold at ^d. to 5| producing 70 bushels per acre, grown at much less cost than in Great Britain, and usually selling at \s. 6d. to 2s. per bushel ; 2,650,000 acres are mown for hay, and 19,000 acres are devoted to tobacco. The number of milk cows is figured at 828,400 ; the number of oxen and other cattle is the same ; the average price of cattle is 7/.; sheep exceed 1,500,000, and are valued at \2s. each; there are nearly 1,000,000 hogs, worth about 28j. each. The population of Pennsylvania being at present about 4,000,000, the State could annually supply each of her citizens with about 5^ bushels of Vegetable and Dairy Farms. log wheat, 1 1 bushels of Indian corn, 9 bushels of oats, with fully 2,\ bushels of potatoes : if all the tobacco were used at home, it would give 4J lbs, per capita ; the produce of the cows would represent a liberal daily allowance of nearly 2 quarts of milk ; while the other cattle and sheep would contribute nearly a pound of meat daily. For each unit of the popula- tion, the hogs would further supply nearly one-third of a pound of bacon or pork daily. Pennsylvania may therefore be regarded as producing more than she requires for her own support. Around Philadelphia the soil is a kindly working loam 1 5 to 20 inches deep, some of it 3 feet, generally on a clay subsoil interspersed with marl and limestone rock, requiring little drainage and that little being done with pipes or stones and at the depth of 2 to 4 feet. Vegetable farms are common, varying from 10 to 50 acres. Twenty or more different sorts of vege- tables in their seasons are raised, chiefly for the Philadelphia markets. These market-gardeners own the land, manure it liberally, keep it as clean as the best gardens at Hitchin or Evesham, pay 4^-. or 5j-. per day for the men they require, and about half that for the women ; but the day's work generally extends to 12 hours. Many farms of 70 to 200 acres are occupied in dairying. From some the milk is night and morning brought into the town and disposed of either directly to the customers or to the dealer who distributes it ; 3^. to i^. per quart is the winter price, 2d. to id. the summer. On other farms butter is the chief object, and some of the finest in America is no Pennsylvania Farming. produced here, the best bringing 20 cents per pound. Cheese is rarely made, except for household use. The successful butterman usuallj- has a spring- house of soHd stone built by the side of the stream. Several inches from the floor, on stone slabs, the shallow vessels, usually made of tin, are filled night and morning with the fresh milk ; the water turned on, flows constantly through the house, laving the milk vessels and keeping down the temperature. After twelve hours the milk is skimmed ; the cream is still kept in the ' spring-house ; ' churning is done twice a week ; scrupulous cleanliness is observed. The skim- milk is either sold in the town at half the price of the new milk, or is given to the calves or pigs. The cows are usually Channel Islanders or descended from such dams. Black-and-white Holsteiners are also used. As at home, the biggest and best show several crosses of shorthorn, and these not only milk the heaviest, but make afterwards the best carcass of beef. The cows are home-bred, or bought in, usually in the autumn, at 61. to 7/. Their winter food consists of corn, flax seed, a little unthrashed corn, hay, and a few roots. The summer fare is grass, with a small quantity of oats and maize. Most of the dairymen give the cows all they grow, excepting a small amount of the wheat and the produce of the orchard. The pigs are generally kept for home use, and with poultry, eggs, vegetables, and abundance of fruit, constitute the farmers' fare. Accounts are not kept, and it is a little difficult in a hurried visit in an utterly new country to ascertain correctly the amount of ex- pences and profits ; but, after paying for everything. Successful Suburban Farming. \\\ the dairyman seems to have a net profit of 2/. or 3/. per acre. I am assured by merchants and bankers in Philadelphia that within a radius of ten miles round the city there are plenty of dairymen who twenty-five years ago began with nothing, but have gradually acquired 80 to 100 acres, and, besides their land and stock, are now worth 2,000/. or 3,000/. In thus building up. comfortable homes and securing a competency, these farmers, many of them from Vermont, have been greatly helped by industrious and thrifty wives. In many of these homely households education and re- finement flourish along with laborious toil and careful saving. The young men as they grow up often migrate West, where a small capital acquires more land, where profits are larger, and there is a great margin for advance in the value of landed property. Mr. J. E. Kingsley, of the Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, besides other business, has within a mile of the city a farm of 950 acres, which is a good type of these milk farms. He has from 60 to 70 cows, which supply daily to the hotel 400 quarts of milk and cream, and admirable butter. The cows are mostly Channel Islanders and crosses with shorthorns. Ten or twelve heifer calves are reared to recruit the herd, making a total cattle stock of 85 to 95. The rich grass is the chief summer food. About 100 acres of grass are mowed, yielding two to three tons of hay, which is the principal winter dietary, the milk- ing cows besides receiving a ration of corn, meal, and bran night and morning. Besides the hay required for the cattle and 14 farm horses, about 100 tons is 1 1 2 Pennsylvania Farming. generally sold at an average of 4/. a ton. Thirty acres of Indian corn are grown, and are now being harvested, some being used green for the table, the bulk stacked for the winter food of the cattle, and yielding 1 50 bushels of corn in the cob, or 70 bushels of shelled corn. Twenty acres are devoted to millet, Hungarian grass, and sugar cane cut for summer foddering. A good deal of bran is used for feeding. Twenty acres are in potatoes and small vegetables used for the hotel. The land appears in too high condition satisfactorily to grow wheat. The 150 acres of pasture, consisting of clover and timothy, is allowed to remain down for four or five years, and when ploughed up is followed by maize. The farm is worked by eight or nine men, their average wages being 45'. a day ; 25/. a week pays all the labour bills, including the foreman and his wife, who look after the cows. Mr. Kingsley and most of his well-to-do neighbours make free use of the best machinery, such as mowing, tedding, and unloading machines. Even as recently as eight or ten years ago many of these farms were only worth 10/. and ill. an acre, but would now realise double that value. I was shown, three miles from the city, a useful dairy-farm of 80 acres, said to have been purchased ten years ago at 15/. an acre; it has since been well but not extra- vagantly managed, has paid its way, and is now re- garded as worth double its former purchase-money. Picked farms, within five miles of Philadelphia, thoroughly equipped with house and buildings, roads and fences, and much cleaner and in higher manurial Land free from Taxation. 113 condition than many are at present in England, may be bought at 30/. an acre. On such purchases money can be had to about half the value of the land at 5 to 6 per cent. Nor are investments limited in number or to a narrow area. For 50 miles, around Philadel- phia, in almost any direction, the land is an easily- worked fertile loam, adapted to any description of farming, well watered, and with reasonable prospect of a steady advance in value. Land in Pennsylvania rejoices in immunity from taxation. Personal property moderately valued pays at the rate of 30 cents per $100 ; laut the chief revenue is derived from taxing public corpora- tions, stocks, coal companies, foreign and insurance companies, banks, and from succession duties, licences, and a small income tax. The affairs of the State have been wisely and economically managed ; its moderate debt is diminishing. Its gratuitous public-school system works admirably, and shows its fruits in the general intelligence and knowledge of every class. Labourers, artisans, and small farmers met with in the cars and elsewhere exhibit more general information and readiness to converse and ex- change ideas than people of the same condition in the old country. The farmers show considerable versatility. Be- sides dairying, vegetables and fruit growing, and sometimes cultivating tobacco which is extending, many good managers address themselves to buy- ing half-fed or lean cattle at 3/. to 4/., feeding them in summer with grass, green oats, or other fodder, or I 114 Pennsylvania Farming. in winter with a little beet or turnips, and with corn and hay, and after four or six months realise double their first cost. Others buy sheep from Ohio, Canada, or elsewhere in the north at 15J. to 20s. and, feeding them in a similar manner and for about the same period as the bullocks, dispose of them at 20s. to 28j. Others obtain, usually from flocks which travel eastward from Ohio, common graded Merino ewes at 1 3 J. to 20s., place them with a southdown ram, dispose of the lambs in May and June at \6s. to 30J., secure about 5^-. for the fleece of the ewe which speedily follows the lamb, realise several shillings more than cost price, and, besides manure, thus earn a handsome, quickly turned profit. The farmer of this district has a good choice of markets. In Philadelphia beef brings about \od. per lb. ; choice mutton, 6d. ; veal, 2)d. to \od. ; and early lamb, upwards of \s. per lb. The stock-yards at Philadelphia, as in other American cities, are commodious, contiguous to the railroads, and well managed. Useful cattle are selling at 6 to 7 cents per lb. live weight, ordinary half-bred Merinos and western sheep bring 4 to S cents, but well- fed Downs are worth 6 cents'per lb. live weight. The stock-yard charges, including lairage and weighing, is \s. M. for cattle, and 2\d. for sheep and pigs. Hay is provided at \d. per lb. Philadelphia five years ago commenced the ex- port of dead meat to Europe, and Messrs. Martin, Fuller, and Co. are now extensive exporters both of live cattle and of dead meat. Live animals are sent during summer, dead meat is the chief winter trade. Meat Exports from Philadelphia. 115 They collect from the grazings of the far West, and from the feeding yards of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, good heavy cattle from 1,500 to 1,800 lbs. on the gross. The dead meat they consider pays for export better than live cattle, on which the transport charges are again increasing, 5/. per beast being now taken by the best shipping companies, and the heavy landing dues, especially at Southampton and Victoria Docks, London, being complained of as cutting seriously into profits. Their admirable premises at Philadelphia provide for the slaughter of Soo cattle and as many sheep daily ; cold storage chambers, kept at a tempe- perature of 36° to 38" Fahr., economically preserve the meat and the best of the offal whether for home use or for export. The ice usually costs \os. 6d. per. ton. The carcases for British markets hang in the cold chambers for about forty-eight hours ; in refrigerating cars, as yet not introduced in England, they are usually forwarded to New York ; 1,000 quarters sewn up in stout calico are sometimes despatched by one steamer. Allowing for all expenses, Messrs. Martin, Fuller, and Co. concur with other shippers in de- claring that ' a living profit ' is earned if the beef and mutton in this country make, 6d. per lb. Owing, however, to glutted markets, they have sometimes, even for a couple of weeks, an unsatisfactory return of less than 5, (15^.), and sold out, after four or five months, at a profit of Sj. or 6s. As at home, most of the best cattle and sheep are bred on the farm, and not quitted until disposed of to the butcher. Along the line of rail neat wooden station-houses are provided, and smart flower beds rival in taste and colour the pretty shows made at many English road- side stations. The familiar milk-tins are seen on many platforms ; deliveries of wheat are being busily made, although growers and dealers complain that the car- riage from their stations is so high that Mid-Pennsyl- vania competes disadvantageously with Chicago and the West, favoured as they are with cheap through rates. It is particularly gratifying to note bags of guano, phosphates, and other fertilizers, as well as lime, in the goods sheds ; while evidences of a re- storative system of farming also declare themselves 12 2 Pennsylvania Farming. in the carting out of yard-made manure by the bul- lock teams, and by small doses spread here and there. Neither straw nor stubble is now burnt in the State ; nor, as formerly, is the stream turned through the yards ruthlessly to get rid of the manure. Taking advantage of the fine autumn weather, ploughing is being pushed along ; the active horses, usually de- corated with nets, doing fully an acre and a half a day, with the ordinary short and rather ungainly, but good working plough of the country made with wood stilts and beam, but iron working parts. A good deal of wheat is up (September 20), and more is being sown by light nine-furrow pair-horse drills. The clovers look well, and in the pastures and elsewhere white clover springs naturally, feeding kindly on the debris of the lime and clay slate rocks. In gardens and fields tobacco is cultivated, the large clammy leaves being cut and dried first on wooden horses in the fields, and subsequently in sheds and warehouses. Passing Elizabeth Town, where many Germans are settled, and the wooden houses are mostly painted of a warm brown red, the country becomes more undu- lating ; the distant hills are well-timbered, and the larger enclosures and thinner limestone soil suggest recollections of the Gloucestershire hills. But soon, amid rugged hills, on which lie giant boulders, among the closely-growing timber, we reach the slow-running Susquehanna, winding through shallow lagoons, float- ing down quantities of timber, and driving numerous saw-mills. Approaching Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania and situated in the centre of the State, Mineral Wealth. 123 cultivation again improves ; several large and well- managed farms are passed. Some considerable herds of Jerseys are kept for the milk supply of the city, which has rolling mills and an extensive manufactory of railway passenger cars, turning out, it is said, four- teen daily. For 250 miles from Harrisburg to Pittsburg the country is generally wild, rugged, and mountainous. But although poor agriculturally, the country abounds in mineral wealth, mostly in coal and iron ore. On the eastern slopes the hard anthracite is found, and the soft bituminous is equally plentiful on the western slopes. Beginning the ascent of the eastern foot hills of the Alleghanies, the farming is confined to small scattered patches of cultivated land and some useful orchards. Amidst grand and varied mountain scenery for many miles the railroad winds along the beauti- fully-wooded banks of the Susquehanna, crossing and recrossing the river, which at several points is half-a- mile wide, plunging into darkly wooded ravines and running parallel with the road, canal, and river, for- cibly recalling the Vale of Llangollen. Again, among barer rounded hills, and valleys down which the burns dance, with picturesque white cottages relieving the solitude of ' mountain, wood, and stream,' the mind reverts to the Peebleshire scenery. Altoona, 327 miles from New York, is the resting- place for the night. It is a reproduction of Crewe or Swindon, with roaring forges and busy workshops ; for here the Pennsylvania Railroad Company have their chief factory for engines and carriages, and for 124 Pennsylvania Farming. repairs of rolling stock, and generally employ 3,000 men. Amidst mountains and woods, and at a high alti- tude, Altoona and its neighbourhood have not, how- ever, much agricultural interest. Oats are grown in preference to wheat ; maize is only produced of the smaller sweet sort cultivated for table use. There are not many catt'.e or sheep kept, but beef and mutton in the market here are bought at 4c/. per pound, spring chickens are is. each, eggs two a penny, and vege- tables and fruit varied, plentiful, and cheap, as they are almost everywhere throughout America. On the heights are settled numbers of the Donkers, who are allied to the Memonites, abhor war and litigation, and are thrifty, industrious people. From Altoona, with three powerful engines drag- ging eleven cars, we slowly creep up the steep moun- tain ascent, with the grand forest trees just beginning to assume their wondrous varied autumn tints of red and brown, pink and yellow, proceed around rocky ravines overhanging the valleys and river, sweep round the sharp curve of the horse-shoe bend, pass along the wild wooded heights for fully twenty miles, and drop down on Johnstown. Thirty years ago, before the railroad was made, this journey was under- taken in favourable weather by canal, the boats, placed on wheels, were laboriously dragged by horses up a timbered road, were returned to the water when the more level plateau was reached, and made the descent on the other side by tedious locks. The journey of 200 miles from Harrisburg to Pittsburg, Pittsburg, Centre of Coal and Iron Trades. 125 now accomplished in five hours, then occupied five days. Pittsburg lies on the western base, of the Alle- . ghanies, at the confluence of the AUeghani and the Monongahela rivers, which here unite to form' the Ohio. It is the great centre of the Pennsylvania coal, iron, steel, glass, and petroleum industries. It is in the midst of the bituminous coal fields. The veins, conveniently near the surface, sometimes broken and upheaved by subterranean force, occasionally lying ver- tically instead of horizontally, are about five feet thick, are often worked without shafts or lifts, being quarried as stones usually are in this country, and loaded at once on tram cars. It is very free from sulphur, is prized for smelting and making iron ; and a great deal is forwarded to New York and other eastern cities for household use. The purification and export of petroleum is one of the important trades of this part of Pennsylvania. The oil was struck in the Alleghanies as recently as 1859, and has since been a continuous increasing mine of wealth. Produced from the gradual decay of vegetable matters, it exudes from the black shales, or is found in subterranean chambers into which it has filtered. When these are tapped by the borer, the oil is forced to the surface, and sometimes thrown out in jets. The borings or wells are 1,000 to 1,300 feet deep. When a well fails or runs short, another is dug. The supply seems never failing, and the region over which it is found is measured by several hundred miles. Expensive pumps are unnecessary, and would scarcely 126 Pennsylvania Farming. pay, as the oil at the wells is worth only \d. per gallon. From its source along the Alleghanies it is carried by its own gravity in iron pipes, thirty or forty miles, to the various cities where it is purified and barrelled. Fifty-thousand barrels containing 45 gallons each are put up daily in the State of Pennsyl- vania alone. The largest proportion of this is done at Pittsburg by the Standard Oil Company, under the able presidency of Mr. J. D. Roekefiller. The extent of the operations of this company in illuminating and lubricating oils may be gathered from the fact that 40,000 tons of hoop iron are annually used for the barrels. Mr. R. G. Waring, one of the directors of this important corporation, informs me that three- fourths of the iron purchased in 1879 was bought by him in England. It was in Pittsburg that Horace Greely and sixteen determined and zealous spirits, upwards of twenty years ago, met and organised the Republican Party, inaugurated the first decided stand against slavery, and insisted that it should not be introduced into any of the new States. The citizens of Pittsburg pride themselves that on the eve of the great struggle between North and South, they first brought under notice of the Government the depleting of the arsenals of the North, and obtained orders for the interception of cannons and military stores which were being transferred to Southern depdts. 127 CHAPTER X. AGRICULTURE IN OHIO. Some of the Middle and Eastern States, settled for a hundred years, exhibit the aspect and methods of farming of the old country. In the contiguous States of Kentucky and Ohio are farms with house, build- ings, iields, stock and general arrangements of a familiar English type. Ohio has an area of 25,500,000 acres, it is about one-sixth less than New York and Pennsylvania, half the size of Kansas or Minnesota, about one-seventh the extent of Texas, about three-fourths that of England. Fifty years ago Ohio was largely covered with forests, a considerable amount of which has been cut down with much labour. Upwards of 5,000,000 acres are still, however, under wood, which with thinning and management might pay better than it does. Evidences of the ' forest primeval ' are still conspicuous in the old stumps standing several feet out of the ground in the pastures and even in many arable fields. A younger growth of plantation and scrub has risen in many localities, and even on lands which had been cleared and cultivated, which have been run out by exhaust- 1 28 Agriculture in Ohio. ing cropping, and allowed to revert to their natural wild state. According to the statistical returns more than one- third of the State, or about 9,000,000 acres, are in cultivation. About 6,000,000 acres are . in pasture. Three million acres are devoted to Indian corn ; nearly 2,000,000 acres each to wheat and hay, and 1,000,000 to oats. The yield of corn is stated at 35 bushels per acre, wheat at 15 to 18 bushels, oats at 36, hay at i\ ton per acre. Flax is not so common as it has been ; tobacco is on a more limited scale than in Pennsylvania ; sorghum extending in Minne- sota and Missouri is uncertain, on account of frosts. About 500,000 acres are in orchards, producing in a fair season 1 0,000,000 bushels of apples, 500,000 bushels of peaches, and 100,000 bushels of pears. About 10,000 acres are in vineyards, annually in- creasing at the rate of 10 per cent., producing 12,000,000 lbs. of grapes and 500,000 gallons of wine. Real estate in Ohio is assessed at ;^i,09i, 116,952, personal at ;^46 1, 460, 5 5 2.' The State taxes amount to 2'9 mills, per dollar. Besides State taxes there were levied in 1879 county taxes amounting to ^16,429,629, and town, school, and city taxes amount- ing to 1^15,398,441. To these levies not only the land contributes, but all manner of personal property, all implements, machinery, and furniture, the animals of the farm, and dogs. Taking all into account, the taxes in Ohio range from i^ to 2 per cent on the fair valuation of the farm. Supposing the land worth 10/. ' American Almanac, by A. R, Stopford, for 1880, p. 186. Game, Public Property. 129 an acre, and bearing, as it does at home, the bulk of the burdens, these would amount to 4J. an acre. As in the old world, taxes are amongst the farmer's grievances. It is complained that the railroads do not contribute their quota. They take 12 acres per mile, occupy in Ohio about 4,000 miles, and hence represent property to the value of ^1,500,000, which at present escapes taxation. Game, being public property, pays no rates. It is hunted or shot by any one. No proprietor forbids the sportsman ranging where he pleases. The only game laws are those preventing sporting during close time. Many farmers, especially near towns, would gladly have some enactments preventing the public, on Sundays as well as week days, tramping over their fields in pursuit of game, or fishing in their rivers or lakes, without so much as saying ' By your leave.' Englishmen in Ohio, as in many parts of the Continent, will find some inconvenience from ex- tremes of summer and winter temperature. The summer heat ranges from 70° to 75°: the winter from 28° to 34°. The rainfall at the capital Cincinnati, which lies low and attracts a good deal of moisture from the broad Ohio, on an average of twenty-five years, is 44'87 inches. At Cleveland on Lake Erie it is 37-6 inches. Draining and cultivation have removed the causes of malaria which some years ago was common. In a great Republican country, where it might be supposed that the interests of agriculture would be left to individual enterprise, it is satisfactory to find K T 30 Agriculture in Ohio. that almost every State paternally enacts for its benefit laws, some of which in an old country might be regarded as arbitrary and unduly interfering with the liberty of the subject. The General Assembly of Ohio has laws regulating the ancient industry which in America is the first and great source of wealth. A State board of agriculture was formed in 1846, with laws as to public exhibitions, or ' fairs,' as they are termed. At these shows, as at home, prizes are given for live stock, for implements, and for labour competitions, in which both farmers and their men frequently join. Arrangements are made for the collection of statistics, the management of county societies and clubs, the prevention of con- tagious diseases amongst animals, and the construc- tion of ditches, water courses, and drains. An Agricultural College is subsidised by the State, and does good work in disseminating information relating to the principles and practice of agriculture. A like technical teaching is also very generally given in the advanced schools in rural neighbourhoods. Good farm houses and buildings are met with of modern and convenient structure, often of stone or brick, the shedding usually of wood. Draining is done to the extent of 35,000 miles, and 1,000 miles of drains are stated to be put down every year.^ On clay subsoils, drains are made 3 feet deep an3 3 rods apart ; pipes have generally superseded stones and timber ; in Lorain county, 2-inch tiles cost $\o per 1,000 ; 3-inch, ,^15 ; 4- inch, $20 ; digging and laying ' Ohio Agricultural Report for 1877, p. 10. Fences. 131 are charged at 25 to 30 cents per rod : the total cost per acre varies from ^18 to $2"]. Farms vary in size in different parts of the State, but according to the official census average 1 1 1 acres. By far the greatest proportion of the occupiers are their own landlords.. With recent good harvests and improved trade the mortgages of former years have generally been extinguished,, more spirited and diversi- fied cultivation extends, and land is advancing in value. Around Rochester and Salem, in the Eastern portion of the State, good farms now cost 10/. an acre, and if sold valuation would besides be, made for house and buildings. In some localities farms are run on shares,, the landlord usually stipulating to have five- eighths of the land in grain, and to receive one-half of the grain produce. The herd law, which is general in Western States and territories,, and which compels the grazier to tend his animals, and keep them out of his neighbours' crops, is not recognised in Ohio, or other older States. The farms are fenced, and the fields divided by fences. In well-wooded districts where timber is still abun- dant, a six or eight rail, zig-zag or snake fence, is common ; the heavy roughJy split rail's are laid one over the other, and, although without posts, this zig- zag fence is strong and holds back both cattle and pigs. Elsewhere, the more familiar morticed posts and split rails are used. Oak or locust posts, six inches square, cost about id. each. Some locust posts put in top end down, in which position they are most lasting, were shown me in fair condition, K 2 132 Agriculture in Ohio. although they had been standing for thirty years. Spht rails are procurable at $\2 to $Uf per 1,000. Inch pine boards are often nailed to posts, as is done in Scotland, and such railing costs less, and lasts longer than the railing with morticed posts. In the cleared open country where timber is becoming scarce, wire, sometimes barbed, is used ; the posts are placed 32 feet apart, but such fencing is apt to flop in very hot weather, and contract and break when the tempera- ture falls, as it often does in winter, to 20° below zero. Thorn and osage, or wild orange, are extending ; both grow well, make capital fences, are sometimes allowed to run up 12 to 20 feet ; are sometimes splashed as in this .country, and kept tidily trimmed two or three times a year. Eastern Ohio, the earlier settled part of the State, has a steady, hardworking population, largely con- sisting of Quakers, formerly drawn from Maryland. It exhibits some good mixed farming, and is in con- venient proximity to markets. The better wheat crops of the last few years have infused more spirit amongst farmers. Land is more enquired for, and brings a better price. Useful farms five miles from any considerable town are to be bought ;at 5/. to 8/. an acre. During the last ten years neither the arable, nor pastoral products of this part of Ohio have sufficiently increased ; indeed, in some districts they have actually retrograded. An ,old Scottish settler remarks that ' the men farm as if they had only an annual instead of a permanent interest in their hold- ings.' A few farms are held by tenants, most are farmed by their owners. A few years ago many Cost of Wheat-growing. 133 were heavily mortgaged, the advances, often to half the value of the property, being made at 7 and 8 per cent. The recent better times have, however, gra- dually reduced these encumbrances. As is common elsewhere, many with means sufficient to farm 50 acres, profitlessly endeavour to farm 1 50 acres. It appears, however,, to be generally admitted that any man with capital, judgment, and industry should still be able to make a fair livelihood from farming. Wheat in Ohio is chiefly sown in autumn. It is got in during the latter part of September and early in October, and grows rapidly and vigorously. Generally it follows clover, roots,, or oats. Wheat- growing in Ohio and other mid States costs much more than on the cheap virgin soils of the West. Rent, or interest on capital, and rates are nearly three times what they are in Minnesota, Iowa, or Dakota. On lands long farmed manure is required, and at a moderate computation adds loj. an acre or 6d. a bushel to the cost. Ploughing is- rather more costly than farther West, reaping,, thrashing, and other charges are about the same. Subjoined is a statement of the average cost of an acre of wheat in Ohio :— £ - d- Rent or interest on capital of ;^io at lo per cent. .100 Rates and taxes 040 Ploughing . 080 Manure . . . . . . . . o 10 o Seed 060 Sowing and harrowing 030 Reaping and stacking o 10 o Thrashing 050 Delivering and incidentals 030 390 134 Agrictdture in Ohio. This is less than half the cost of wheat-growing in England, but it is nearly double the cost of produc- tion in the cheaper Western States. In growing wheat the yeomen of Ohio are almost as heavily handicapped as the farmers of Great Britain ; for several years eighteen bushels has been the yield in the best districts of Ohio ; grown at 3/. %s. an acre, if it is to pay expenses it must be sold at ^s. gd. a bushel. On the cheap, unmanured lands of Minnesota, eigh- teen bushels, which is a fair acreable yield, are ob- tained for 2I. 2s., and can hence be sold without loss at 2s. 4d. per bushel. This difference in the cost of production more than counterbalances the advantages the Ohio farmer possesses in nearness to markets and to the eastern ports. Besides in many parts of Ohio, wheat-growing is eminently uncertain. In eighteen years it is said that there have been only six full crops.' A few days' scorching drought when the grain is ripen- ing, or subsequent high winds and storms, seriously jeopardise results. The farmers of these middle States, like those of England, discovering that exten- sive wheat-growing is seldom profitable, are wisely bestowing more attention on the more certain Indian corn and the rearing and feeding of live stock. Indian corn is produced at less cost than wheat. With good cultivation more than double the number of bushels is obtained from an acrCi Where forty bushels are reaped the first cost will amount to is. 6d. to IS. gd. per bushel. It can generally be sold to ' Messrs. Read and Pell's Report : Agriculturist Interests Com- mission, p. 14. Farming Profits. 135 secure a small profit, but still more advantage results when, as is the practice with most good farmers, it is converted into beef or bacon. Half a bushel per day is the usual allowance for a three-year-old beast when first put up, but more is given as fattening advances. The 80 to 100 bushels sufficient for feeding a beast is expected, besides adding to the value of the manure, to make about 50 per cent, more in beef than it does when marketed as corn. The fodder, which is the equivalent of English hay and roots, is used alike for cattle, sheep, and pigs. In the yards for each beast two pigs are kept as scavengers. Ten pounds of corn make one pound of bacon. On clover and timothy grass the live stock, including pigs, are run from May until October, and from these Ohio pastures come a considerable number of the best bullocks which during the late summer and autumn months are landed at our ports. From the yards in winter are consigned many of the animals weighing 1,600 and 1,700 lbs., which are slaughtered at the eastern ports and sent to England. Dr. Black's farm at Pickaway is a good type of the management in the pleasant Scioto valley : 371 acres represent ,$15,000 of outlay in purchase and im- provements, or 8/. an acre : 150 acres are devoted to corn, rye, and clover, in rotation : 140 acres of cleared land grows Kentucky blue grass : 65 acres is in wood- land, furnishing, however, a good deal of herbage : 5 acres are in woodland producing no grass : build- ings and roads occupy 3 acres. The expenses range from 40J. to SOJ. an acre. In 1874 they were 713/. 1 36 Agriculture in Ohio. The receipts were ifyj^L, leaving a profit of 365/., or fully 12 per cent, upon the investment. In 1875 the expenses were 970/.t the receipts 1,467/. The profits 496/. or 16 per cent. In 1876, expenses carefully looked after were reduced to 634/. The receipts, owing, however, to the previous wet season and the consequent indifferent thriving of the stock, were only 760/. the profit of 1 26/. being little over 4 per cent, upon the outlay. The expenses of 1877 were 632/.; the receipts 1,069/. The profit 435/., or 14 per cent. 1878 and 1879 exhibit still more satisfactory re- sults, and the profits of Dr. Black's six years' farm- ing exceed 1 2 per cent, per annum ; which is nearly double the amount which most British agriculturists, even in the best of times, are able to obtain. Dairy farming is the chief industry of the clay and , shales of the Northern part of the State and of the Western reserve, occupying the chief portion of the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Geauga, with considerable portions of Portage, Summit, Medina, and Lorain. Although involving more trouble, if properly attended to, dairying is believed to pay better than feeding. Of the 1,624,286 cattle of all descriptions enumerated in Ohio on January i, 1880, nearly one-half Were returned as milk cows. As has happened in Cheshire, Buckinghamshire, and other parts of Great Britain, twenty years' dairying, with continuous disposal of the phosphate-containing milk and no adequate return of plant food, has, however, deteriorated the pastures and reduced the amount of clovers and fine grasses, which sprang spontaneously Dairy Farming. 137 and flourished for a time on the cleared forest land. Neglect of draining and allowing cattle and horses to stray over these heavy soils in wet weather, has further determined their deterioration. The productive capa- city of the pastures is stated to have been reduced one- third ; four acres instead of three are now required to maintain a cov/. An average farm of 100 acres gene- rally carries ten or twelve cows ; three or four heifer calves are reared annually to recruit the stock. The land is worked by a pair of horses. Fifty acres are re- quired for pasture, which, as a rule, receives no manure ; 2 1 acres may be devoted to timothy grass, which last^ three years, and hence necessitates 7 acres being sown down annually. Fully 21 acres will be ploughed every year, one-third being Indian corn manured, one- third oats, one-third wheat, for which some manure is often spared, and amongst which the timothy is sown. Eight acres will be occupied with garden, orchard, and buildings. Besides the yield of the seven acres of wheat there is little to sell excepting the dairy pro- duce, which reaches 4/. or 5/. per cow ; 800 to 1,000 quarts is the annual average yield of milk per cow. The cows are chiefly Shorthorn grades, a few have an infusion of Ayrshire, Guernsey, or Holstein. At the cheese factories and creameries the price paid for the milk rarely exceeds \\d. per quart, and the farmers who make their own butter and cheese presumedly do not realise any better price. Generally throughout America, in all the larger markets butter is now care- fully graJded ; the common qualities, unfortunately most abundant, sell tardily at gd. or \od., the best 138 Agriculture in Ohio. readily make \s. 6d. to is. %d., and in winter con- siderably more. The annual yield of butter in Ohio exceeds 50,000,000 lbs. ; that of cheese is 30,000,000 lbs. By more careful selection of cows of good milking families, by better feeding, and by draining and manuring the exhausted pastures, the yield of milk and the profits of the dairy may be considerably increased. Profits on cattle-feeding are being augmented by more careful breeding and handling. Well-selected animals with two or three crosses of Shorthorn or Hereford are easily fed at three years, whilst the com- moner, plainer, heavier-boned, restless natives do not come out until four or five. The better bred more shapely animals with one-fourth less food reach heavier weights, and realise i to 3 cents per pound on the hoof more than the commoners. To this more profitable standard the home-bred Ohio beasts are being steadily raised. Good Shorthorn herds throughout most States, annually distributing thou- sands of pure bred and graded bulls at prices varying from ,^50 to ;^300, are increasing the beef-producing capabilities of the great American herds. Ohio does not breed nearly all the cattle she re- quires to consume her heavy crops of corn. From Cincinnati and Chicago, railed thence 1,000 miles from the great western branches, are brought every autumn thousands of three- and four- year old bullocks. They are placed in large yards, 70 to 100 are usually seen together, but they agree tolerably amicably. They Cattle-feeding. 139 eat daily 10 lbs. to 20 lbs. of hay at 40J. per ton, as much corn cobs, and stalks as they can clear up, and 20 lbs. to 30 lbs. of corn or corn meal. A little bran at 30J. per ton is sometimes given ; salt is placed within reach, but roots are too scarce to be used. The beasts are weighed in during October at 1,100 lbs. to 1,300 lbs., and go out in spring at 1,600 lbs. to 1,800 lbs. Farmers who cannot buy bullocks frequently have their yards filled, and their hay and corn consumed by animals consigned to them hy their more prosper- ous neighbours. The cattle are weighed over to them on the stockyard steelyards, and they receive 2\d. to 3iar. for every pound of gross weight gained. Good beasts well managed are expected to make 4 lbs. daily addition to their live weight. Hogs are readily and cheaply reared, and fed chiefly on grass and clover ia summer and in winter in the yards amongst the cattle and finished off on corn. They would need to be inexpensively kept, for sometimes they realise very low figures. They fell during 1878 and the first nine months of 1879 to ^^3 and even to ;^2-So per 100 lbs. gross. In 1866 and 1867 they made ij. Their present value is about $i) per 100 lbs. live weight. Prices are sometimes lively ; following a sudden jump of sometimes $2 per 100 lbs. in the value of pork, live hogs will run up too fast for the buyers. Well posted by his smart paper, the seller is ever on the alert to benefit by any rise. In every exchange room and marketplace the latest quotations of the values of all agricultural commodities are posted and eagerly read and commented on, not only by merchants and 140 Agriculture in Ohio. farmers, but by drovers and errand boys. Through- out America, alike in town and country, the young idea is uncommonly precocious, and shows early aptitude for business. On January i, 1880, 1,974,868 hogs were enumerated in Ohio with the low average valuation of 15^. per head. Being taxed, however, according to their value, this iis returned as moderately as the conscience of the owner per- mits. Ohio packs annually upwards of 100,000 hogs, or 12-5 per cent, of the whole of the States. Of this amount Cincinnati does one-sixth. Like so many American cities, Cincinnati is a great and growing entrepdt for all descriptions of agricultural produce. During twelve months she now receives about 1,000,000 hogs, 250,000 cattle, and 600,000 sheep; The weight of the hogs slaughtered during five years averages 2 1 7 lbs., or about the general average of the States. They yield 37 lbs. of lard. Averaging 2\d, per lb., each fat hog accordingly realises a trifle under 60s. Hog cholera has occasionally done even more devastation than in England. During twelve months to April 1 877 it destroyed 1 5. per cent of the whole hog crop of the States. The mortality was double that in Missouri ; in Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Illinois it was 20 per cent. ; Ohio fortunately got off with a loss of 7 per cent. A somewhat analogous complaint has sometimes decimated the poultry yards. Ohio has long had a high reputation for sheepi With the exception of California arid Texas, her flocks are more numerous than those of any other Merino Sheep. 141 State. Steadily increasing, they numbered on January 1, 1880, 4,595,462. Until recently most of the best flocks were Merinos, cultivated exclusively for their fine lustrous wools. Thirty years ago many were largely crossed with Saxony sheep, contributing light, fine wools. Subsequently the fibre was shortened by infusion of Silesian blood. Latterly Spanish or American Merinos, often from Vermont, have been used, with the effect of adding to the weight both of carcase and of fleece. The ewes clip 5 lbs., the wethers 6 lbs. or 7 lbs. Some of the best managers have received for years 40 to 50 cents per lb. for their choice wool. The average price for ordinary clips is about \s. per lb. Many flock-masters still untidily shear the unwashed wool. Some of the best Merinos yield for one year's growth 3^ inches, and occasionally 3f inches, of wool. Some of Mr. Andrew M'Farland's sheep have produced wool, the fibre of which, equalling the best Saxony, was only I'l 250th of an inch in diameter. A heavier fleece and more mutton is now very generally aimed at and obtained by crossing the Merinos and Merino grades with English longwools and Oxford Downs. Many of these crosses at two years old dress 60 lbs. to 70 lbs., or are 10 lbs. to 15 lbs. heavier than the Merinos. As in the North-eastern States, some of the sheep in Ohio are housed during the severe winter months. This is neces- sary with Merinos kept in exposed situations. Such flocks in consequence suffer from'foot-rot. Extremes of heat and cold telling on a soniewhat delicate con- stitution occasionally produce scrofulous abscesses 142 Agriculture in Ohio. and tubercular diseases of the lungs, with anaemia, of which one form is popularly termed ' paper skin. Flock masters in Ohio, as in other States, are subject to a loss from which British breeders are exempt. Notwithstanding the tax upon 184,035 dogs, many- appear to roam in a semi-feral state, and kill annually 28,000 sheep, seriously injuring nearly 20,000 more. Official statistics indicate a further mortality amongst sheep to the extent of i '6 per annum ; the mortality amongst horses is r44, and amongst cattle i per cent, per annum. Texas fever has occasionally been introduced, usually amongst beasts from the Mexican Gulf States forwarded from Chicago. The mortality amongst the new comers has generally been serious. Dry food has proved the best remedy. In these cooler States the disease fortunately does originate and does not spread. Besides the sheep bred in Ohio, numbers are brought from the West and from Canada for feeding on grass and clover in summer, or corn and bran in winter. These sheep, chiefly Merino grades, in the fall cost two and a half to three dollars. Occasionally early lamb is reared, but, although dropped in January, chiefly house-fed, and disposed of in March, only ^d. or 6d. per lb. is said to be got for it — a price which can scarcely be remunerative. In autumn lamb weighing 30 lbs. to 35 lbs. per carcase is only worth 4(/. per lb., and veal 80 lbs. to 140 lbs. is selling at 2\d. to 3(/. Some of the most useful mutton-pro ducing sheep, having a look of the Cheviot, were said to be homebred and probably descended from imported Dullards Despised. 143 stock. The ordinary flocks are not winter-housed, and do not produce their lambs until April ; the earlier lambs are apt to suffer from cold and want of green food. The amount of roots grown appears insuffi- cient for successful sheep-breeding. Many of these Ohio sheep-farmers declare, however, that they get along ' considerably well.' They own the land they farm ; twenty or thirty years ago most of them began with a few dollars ; they have brought up families, and many are well-to-do ; some with buggy and pair of horses and a comfortable, well-built, nicely-appointed house, of much the same style as would be occupied by the 200-acre farmer at home. Throughout the State the number of labourers to the acreage is much smaller than at home ; a great deal more systematic hard work is done by the farmer himself and his family. Even the labourers work with a refreshing heartiness satisfactory to observe. No man worthy the name has time or inclination in America to idle or trifle. In all classes there is a vigorous determination to be up and doing ; even the rural labourer appears similarly inspired ; the idler and dullard is either drilled into better ways or thrown out of the running. Wages vary from 4^. to 6s. per day — the latter amount being given in busy seasons. Regular hands are engaged for the eight or twelve months at \2s. to \6s. a month, with lodgings and board. Many farm men during the winter months go off to the lumbering or timber business, which is a great interest in Upper Pennsylvania and Ohio. Pro- vision for education here, as elsewhere, is admirable ; 144 Provision for Education. school grants have been liberally made ; even in' the more thinly populated districts a school and good tuition is generally found within two miles of every house. This parochial teaching throughout America is gratuitous, but not compulsory. 145 CHAPTER XL AN AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION IN MICHIGAN. The Michigan Agricultural Society held their tenth annual exhibition during the week beginning Septem - ber 15, 1879, at Detroit, on the western banks of Lake Erie — fifty years ago a village with less than 2,000 inhabitants, now a thriving city with a population of 125,000. The show-yard is fully a mile out of town and covers 60 acres. In large, airy, well-lighted wooden buildings, many slated and permanently kept for the annual show, are collected attractions even more numerous than grace the Bath and West of England polyglot exhibitions — pictures by native artists, china, porcelain, carpets and rugs, with skins and furs, which are brought here in enormous, quanti- ties from Canada and the West, woollen and cotton goods, specimens of the artistic walnut and oak furni- ture for which South Bend is so celebrated, carriages and waggons, which figure prominently at all American county and State fairs, handsome nickel-plated stoves for heating rooms and corridors, and kitchen ranges wonderfully and economically fitted up by the Michi- gan Stove Company, who employ 1,300 men. Differ- ent counties of Michigan, which comprises 36,000,000 L 146 An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan. acres, and produced last year 31,000,000 bushels of wheat, contribute interesting specimens of their special agricultural, garden, and fruit produce. From Sagi- naw are forwarded specimens of the salt which, over an area of twenty-five miles, is found in abundant brine springs from 800 ft. to 1,500 ft. deep, is pumped up, evaporated in large hollow wooden vats heated with steam-pipes, and distributed widely throughout the country in bulk or in barrels at \s. ■^d. per five bushels, weighing 286 lbs. Two million barrels are thus an- nually disposed of Messrs. Pingree and Smith import into a large building some of their ingenious machinery for making boots and shoes, and have a dozen men and about the same number of women cutting out, sewing, firmly securing the soles with brass wire cut as a screw, and deftly finishing off some dozen varieties of boots and shoes. In this temporary factory within twenty minutes the measure of a lady's foot was taken and a handsome boot made and ready for use. This business has been established at Detroit thirteen years, employs 400 operatives, and turns out daily 1,500 pairs, which are chiefly sold in the South and West. Averse from crippling their customers, Messrs. Pingree and Smith wisely denounce the very absurd fashions of narrow toes and high heels. Butter, cheese, and vegetables occupy several sheds. The flower show is specially great in gladiolas and asters. The fruit exhibition is particularly worthy of commendation. Various local pomological societies and many private persons forward collections of six or eight different fruits, while numerous varieties of FruiL 147 common fruits are well illustarated.. From one single orchard, Mr. Bidwell, of Plymouth, sends 50 different sorts of apples, and avers that he has other 50 not here represented. On account of the excessive sum- mer drought, which scorched up the immature fruit, the Michigan apple crop is not so abundant or good as usual. The sorts most prized are the Baldwin, a ready cropper capital for household use ; the Red Canada, a superior keeper, a basket of i i'jZ produce being tabled in beautiful preservation ; the Golden Russet and Rhode Island Greening, for dessert ; the Wagner, for the western pioneers, as it begins to bear in three years. Another beautifulVariety much grown for autumn use is the Maiden Blush. Fifteen pence a bushel is the present value of the best apples here ; but by May Day they are usually worth double that price. Prime pears cost 8j. to io.f. a bushel ; those of the finest colour and quality come from the northern parts of the State ; the varieties most esteemed are the Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Duchesse d' Angoul^me, and the little Sheckels. The western shores of Erie pro- duce the finest peaches : Crawfords, early and late, and Old Majors being favourites. Grapes grow readily almost everywhere ; in Munroe tons are made into wine ; the lona are regarded the finest flavoured ; the Concord are hardy ; the Delaware are good, but small. Plums of thirty varieties are shown from many northern parts of the State. Tempting specimens of jellies and preserved and canned fruits adorn the tables, and this trade, as well as the consumption of fruit in the grow- ing towns, still encourages the planting of orchards 148 An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan. In every farmhouse fruit in its natural state and cooked is also in daily use ; cider, however, is not generally made ; but in seasons of .great superabund- ance large quantities 'of fruit are eaten by cattle and hogs. Along either side of two shafts, each 200 ft., are mowers, reapers, and self-binders, shown in motion. Although the Michigan Society this year awards no premiums for such implements, Walter A. Wood's, M'Cormick's, and other combined reapers and binders were daily exhibiting their capabilities surrounded by admiring crowds. A score of light portable engines, from four to fourteen-horse power, were at work.. Several were adapted for burning straw as fuel : most were suitable for wood fuel. The vertical construc- tion is adopted by several makers, who declare that by bracing up and supporting the boiler tubes they have succeeded in combining durability with lightness, handiness of setting, and low price. Among other objects are windmills and the wonderful combinations of levers, screws, and hydraulic presses constituting the house-raising machine which was so extensively used in lifting so many edifices in Chicago. American thrashing .machines are now generally made with win- nower and folding straw elevator all in one. A ser- viceable combination implement of this sort is turned out by Messrs. Aultman and Co., of Canton, Ohio, driven by an 8-horse engine, thrashing and cleaning 800 to 1,000 bushels of wheat in ten hours, delivering the straw 20 to 24 feet from the machine, and costing 90/. Ploughs from many factories are here, short in Machinery. I49 beam, mould board, and handles not extending 8^ to 9 feet in length, made to turn over a furrow usually about 6 inches deep by I2 or 15 inches wide, and costing, according to style and finish,, from 2/. to 3/. Ample margin of profit is obtained at these figures, for one extensive manufacturer informs me that machinery and subdivision of labour enabled him to turn out a superior article for less than, loj. The Gale ' Chilled Plough^' hailing from Albion, Michigan, of which 20,000 are said to be made annually, and which brought a gold medal from the Paris Exposi- tion, has one of its several varieties, with a beam of three wrought-iron rods-; by nuts screwed up or down on one or another of these rods more pitch or land is given ; the single wheel is not attached to the beam, but to the devise. Numerous light, durable horse-rakes are exhibited, weighing 200 lbs., several with wheels 4^ feet high, with seat for the driver, malleable steeled teeth, and costing 5/. The ' Farmer's Friend Grain Drill,' manufactured for 26 years at Day- ton, Ohio, appears to be largely used. It is made of various sizes, delivering from nine to fifteen rows ; is adapted for all descriptions of grain and grass seed, regulates and registers the amount of seed per acre, and has zigzag attachment so that half of the feed- hose can be thrown out of gear. This light and simple drill was awarded two medals at the Philadel- phia Centennial and one at the Paris Exposition. The same firm also make combined grain and ferti- liser drills, for which, however, there has been hitherto scarcely any demand in America. 150 Ak Agriculhiral Exhibition m Michigan. The live stock, although this year perhaps unwisely restricted to exhibitors living within the State, com- prises joo entries of horses, as many of cattle, 700 sheep, 200 pigs, and a good many pens of poultry — Cochins and Bramahs appearing most numerous — but none shown either here or in market in the plump good condition which characterises superior English poultry. Horses are classified under nine divisions, as thoroughbreds, horses of all work, roadsters, gentle- men's driving horses, road, waggon, draught horses, carriage and buggy horses, breeder's premiums for roadster and thoroughbred stallions, breeder's pre- mium for mares and geldings, and sweepstakes for stallion, with six of his own get, which brought for- ward half a dozen competitors. These classes are Subdivided as to age and sex; 600/. is oiifered in pre- miums. Several indifferent heavy draught animals are shown — a description of horse which in America stands in great need of improvement in style and shape, and which will be much amended by crossing with such useful, active Percherons as the five-year- old shown by Mr. Hiram Walker, of Detroit, winner of twenty-seven first prizes and a Paris gold medal, and just arrived in this country along with two grey and a black mare of the same breed. At present, in Detroit and other towns, the railroads, coalmasters, and manufacturers usually employ horses of the stamp seen in the London omnibuses, and demur to the economy of the slower, heavier-limbed sorts. Thoroughbred and roadster stallions were more numerous, and fully as good a muster as at an English Trotting Horses. 151 county show. In a class of seventeen, Mr. E. H. Lyon, of St. John's, stood first with a very strong, hand- some, 16 hands, dark bay, showing very level good action, and of Marquis and Messenger descent. Of hunters, cobs, and other riding classes there are none. The trotting horses, emphatically an American in- stitution, are, however, in great force, exhibited in pairs, in four-wheeled waggons weighing 60 lbs. to 100 lbs., or singly in racing sulkies of 50 lbs. to 75. lbs. In some competitions speed entirely determines the awards, and the prize winners, if ' good ones to go,' are sometimes ' rum ones to look at.' However, at Detroit the Judges sensibly took into consideration symmetry, style, soundness, and manners as well as speed. No Norfolk or other English horse comes up to these American trotters in speed. We may demur to a somewhat ungainly appearance and wide gait behind, but they lay themselves down to their work and tool along at an alarming rate. All the best run- ning strains come more or less directly from the grey thoroughbred Messenger imported from England in the close of last century. By careful selection and training speed steadily increases. In 1830 the maxi- mum pace was 2-50 ; for many years before Flora Temple's day 2'40 was the trainer's height of aspira- tion ; now six cracks have done their mile in 2 minutes i S seconds ; and Maud S. at Chicago covered the distance in 2 minutes lof seconds. The prevailing shortcoming of most American horses is the upright placing of the shoulder ; hence it is rare to see the long sweeping action which dis- 152 An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan. tinguishes a first-class English hunter or carriage horse. Judicious admixture with stout thorough- breds, or with the best English roadsters, might, however, improve the shoulder conformation, and impart more level, all-round action, without interfer- ing with the speed which in America is here so highly- desiderated. All the horses, even the stallions, are singularly tractable, are driven with snaffle bridles, both in the show-yard and the streets. Many are reined up with bearing bridles, sometimes passing over their heads and thence to the hook on the pad. Al- though often having hard mouths from hurried bad bitting, and requiring full 56 lbs. tension to steady them, they stand quietly hitched, or sometimes even loose, on the road or street, in a way that could scarcely be expected of high-couraged English horses in good condition. Double teams of carriage horses, owned, and driven by the exhibitors, brought nine excellent entries of well-matched nice steppers, several of them worth ^1,000. For a pair of strong, shapely, dark bay stallions, which did their mile over the heavy track, sodden with recent rain, within four minutes, ;^3,ooo was vainly offered. Several of the horses trotting singly, notwithstanding the heavy state of the course, covered the mile in 2 min. 30 sec. In Michigan, as well as in the neighbouring States, there are a considerable number of shorthorn herds. Mr. Curtis, of Hillsdale county, and Messrs. Avory and Murphy, of Port Huron, two of the oldest and most successful breeders, are not this year repre- sented, but will doubtless again compete when the Profitable Shorthorns. 153 lists are open to all comers. Mr. Brooks, of Brighton, Livingston county, has descendants of some of the shorthorns which his father upwards of thirty years ago selected from Mr. Tanquery's. For himself and the State Society twenty-five animals were bought in England, but several unfortunately died on the passage ; some of the remainder were unfortunate. To make some restitution Mr. Tanquery subsequently sent Mr. Brooks a young bull and two Gwynne heifers. Good bulls, bred in Kentucky, usually by Abe. Renick and Mr. Alexander, have kept up the successes of this early good beginning. Ten exhibitors of pedigree shorthorns have each half a score entries, and some smaller herds contri- bute lesser numbers. There were seventeen com- petitors for the prizes for three-year-old bulls. For the family group of a bull, cow, and three of her progeny, there were eleven competitors, a larger entry than would readily have been got together at any British show. The first premium and the third were awarded to Messrs. G. and T. Phelps, Webster, Washtenaw county, who make also a sweep of many of the class prizes, and stand in for the first place with their four-year-old bull, Duke of Hillsdale, by Duke of Wicken, bred by Lord Penryhn at Wicken- park, Bucks, England. The second prize bull, Mazurka Duke II., has more size and grandeur than his successful competitor, and is, after Mr. Alexander's 23rd Duke of Airdrie, a Bates tribe much esteemed both in England and America. Such facts testify to the determination and zeal of American agriculturists 154 An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan. to improve their cattle and emulate British stock- owners in producing profitable, early matured animals. Without exception, the breeders of these pedigree shorthorns are well satisfied with the busi- ness they are doing. There is a good and growing demand alike for young bulls and for heifers : fancy prices are not often got, but yearling bulls are readily sold at 25/. to 40/., and the pick bring more. These sires are distributed far and wide ; some are carried hundreds of miles west ; mated with the cattle of the district, they produce the so-called grades which, at the Michigan and other shows, and in the stock-yards, constitute an increasing proportion of really good cattle, and which in a moderately good herd, after two or three dips of the improved sort, are scarcely distinguishable from it. So great is the demand for good red or dark roan young bulls for the Western States, that many graded animals with only two or three crosses are saved. One informant tells me that he could sell ' cartloads ' if he had them ; that since he used good shorthorn sires he has never had any trouble to dispose of his stock. He never takes fhem to market ; the dealers hunt him up. He makes quite the top figure ; has cash down and no credit ; and is clearing out both bullocks and heifers fat at about two-and-a half years old, the bullocks averaging 1,300 lb. on the hoof, and worth 3^. cents to 5 cents per pound. The best of these cattle will dress 56 lbs. to 58 lbs. to the 100 lbs. live weight. Besides shorthorns and shorthorn grades, the Detroit meeting presents good specimens of Here- Dairy Cattle — Sheep. 155 fords, Holsteins, and Channel Islanders. The pure Herefords, although not making much pretension to milk, are useful, thriving beasts, chiefly descended from English-bred animals, or those brought from breeders of repute in New York State, or from Mr. F. W. Stone. Guelph, Ontario, long favourably known as an importer and breeder both of shorthorns and Herefords. The Holstein and Channel Island stocks, although very well adapted for dairy purposes, do not grow big enough or lay on beef quickly and kindly, nor do they appear to mix satisfactorily with the in- digenous sorts. Sheep at the Michigan show, as elsewhere in the States, are not so good as the cattle. The housing of the flock throughout the severe winter in Canada and various of the Northern States interferes with their well-doing, , Nowhere in America is mutton in such demand as beef ; in most markets it is 2d. per lb. lower. Sheep hitherto have been cultivated almost exclusively for their wool. Merinos and Merino grades are greatly in excess of all other breeds. In Ohio, Michigan, and other States, English sheep are, however, being tried, and at Detroit there are some good pens of Cotswolds, Leicesters, and Oxford Downs. As at home, the first crosses, produced by mating these improved sorts either with the indi genous breeds or with Merinos, are particularly good ; but it is difficult satisfactorily to proceed further. At the Michigan fair, as at other such exhibitions, official reports are prepared setting forth the weight and age of all the prize animals, their mode of feeding and 156 An Agricultural! Exhibition in Michigan. other particular records, which afford valuable infor- mation regarding the capabilities of different breeds and sorts of animals, and the economy of the several methods of feeding. In this district sheep-breeding is- carried on in conjunction with cattle-raising, and the growth of a limited amount of grain and fodder for winter feed and a little wheat for sale. Mr. E. J. Hardy, of Livingston county, who shows some of the best Merinos at this State fair, has a useful farm, which represents the general mode of proceeding among the better class of successful cultivators. He owns 580 acres, of which 160 acres are wood. His flock consists of 400 Merinos derived from Vermont, whence from time to time he obtains- fresh blood. Like many of his neighbours, he hails from New England. He has 200 breeding ewes ; they produce their first lamb when three years old. The lambs are dropped throughout April, sometimes as late as May ; unless housed, they could not stand the earlier spring cold ; 150 to 180 is the annual crop. Twins are not com- mon, and are not desired : one good lamb is declared better than two poor ones* The ewes continue breeding until they are seven or eight. Ewes and bucks for stock are readily sold at p/. to 5/. The fine fleece weighs 12 lbs. to 16 lbs. of unwashed wool — some of the rams have given 35 lbs. ; the price, now steadily advancing with other things, varies from \od. to 13^?. Along with the sheep Mr. Hardy at present runs four pedigree shorthorn cows and ten good grade cows, rears his calves well, and sells the two-and-a- Mr. Hardy s Farm, 157 half year bullocks, weighing 1,200 lbs. to 1,500 lbs. Fifty to 100 acres of wheat are grown. The yield varies from 20 to 30 bushels — this year it is 22 ; $\ per bushel is the average price obtained for it. Clover and timothy grass, sown with the wheat, remain down for three or four years, and are mown the first and some- times the second year. The grass is sometimes ploughed up early and a sort of fallow made. Indian corn is planted from the 12th to the 25th of May, as soon as risk of frost is over. One hundred bushels of corn in the cob are a fair return. Oats follow, drilled as early as possible in April, and producing 30 to 50 bushels. The farm is worked by himself, two sons, three men in winter, and five in summer, the helps receiving about i/. a week, with board and rations. Four or six horses, harnessed, of course, in pairs, do the ploughing, overtaking each team \\ to 2 acres a day. Mr. Hardy, with just pride, says he has worked for all he has. His land fifty years ago cost about ioj. an acre ; some has since been added at 61. ; but house and buildings have been put up, roads and fences made, and the farm is now worth 15/. an acre. The pigs generally are as good as can be seen at any English show, although not exhibited in such a state of helpless obesity. Berkshire are most popular, numbering 60 pens. Fisher Hobbs's Essex breed is also much appreciated. Suffolks and white Chesters contribute many good entries, while Poland Chinas, a less familiar breed, are distinguished by their black and white colour, somewhat scooped jowls, 158 An Agricultural Exhibition in Michigan. rather long fine noses, good frames, and lightness of offal. A few of the show-yard arrangements at Detroit, as at other such agricultural gatherings, appear capable of improvement. The want of catalogues renders it difficult to find what one wants, and leads to many things which one would gladly examine being overlooked. Entries being made up to the opening of the show, and animals and implements forwarded apparently with little or no notice, there is not time to prepare detailed catalogues. Another proceeding which seems inexpedient is the grouping together of each, person's exhibits, so that except when the objects are placed together for judging, it is difficult for the enquiring public to estimate the number of competitors or to gauge the relative merits of the implements or animals making up the class. The general exhibition arrangements at Detroit, as elsewhere in America, are, however, conducted with spirit and good effect. The presence of President Hayes, his wife. General Sherman, and Staff, added to the Mat of the proceedings. On the Thursday the President gave an address setting forth the progress made in this and other States. On Friday he drove and walked through the yard, spending several- hours examining the more interesting objects and chatting to many friends. Forty to fifty thousand people were on the ground daily, but so judicious were the arrangements of the active executive committee, that not a hitch or accident occurred. American agricultural shows present more variety and bustle Capital Show-yard A rrangements. \ 5 9 than corresponding exhibitions in the more sedate mother country. With a licence costing a few dollars, cheap jacks, itinerant doctors, acrobats, and jugglers have their stands and their circle of admirers. Private and other carriages by the score, traverse most of the wide avenues. Advertising, which is advanced almost to the position of one of the fine arts, is pushed in the most varied and telling manner, neatly got-up circulars being distributed by officers in all manner of costumes, as well as from carriages and balloons. A line of railway runs into and through the showyard for the delivery, unloading, and loading of implements and live stock. Such helps to the ready movement of heavy goods carried throughout the yard might have been of signal service at recent Royal shows. Booths, refreshment stalls, and vendors of fruit are ubiquitous and numerous, but not a drop of intoxicating liquor is sold in the yard. With their plates of beef and pork, their tea, coffee, fruit, and lemonade, visitors of all classes made, however, good cheer, and appeared most thoroughly to enjoy themselves. i6o CHAPTER XII. CHICAGO GRAIN AND CATTLE TRADES. Chicago illustrates well, the activity, enterprise, and progress of a young American city. Fifty years ago it was a fishing village, boasting of seventy inhabitants, on the swampy edge of Lake Michigan. It has twice been burned, and has twice risen bigger, busier, and more bumptious than ever. The capital of Illinois, the queen and metropolis of the West, the home of 500,000 people, the centre of a network of some six- teen railroads, she attracts the growing agricultural produce of the West, North, and South ; she draws her supplies of grain and live stock for 1,000 miles. By four great lines, as well as by lake and canal, she cheaply transports to the eastern seaboard, 900 miles distant, the varied produce she receives. Substantial and handsome public buildings have been erected ; fine wide streets with stone and brick buildings in varied styles of architecture have been symmetrically laid out ; two sumptuous parks have been enclosed, planted, and intersected with carriage roads, trotting tracks, and shady paths for foot-passengers. With screw jacks and hydraulic apparatus, the houses in some quarters have been raised many feet, and the Water Supply and Drainage. 1 6 1 levels of streets and their sanitary state improved- Planked footways are elevated two to four feet above the central roadways, which in Chicago, as in too many other American cities, are often uneven and worn, whilst in some of the second-rate streets no attempt has been made at storing or putting any founda- tion into the roads. Convenient tram cars run in most cf the principal thoroughfares. Two miles out from the lake shore the water supply of the city is drawn and distributed by two engines of i,ooo horse power. Admirable arrangements are made for the early discovery and putting out of fire. Besides the well-trained ofRcial brigade, there are squads of eifi- cient private firemen in connection with all the great establishments. The main pipes of most of the new buildings constitute one side of a ladder, which, al- though not at all conspicuous, is serviceable for rescue in case of fire ; but also appears to afford considerable facilities for burglarious entrance of the upstair pre- mises. With the adoption of our handy fire escapes, which do not seem to be used in America, these fixed ladders would be less needful. The sewage question is a most important one in America, as at home, and was for some years a puzzling problem here. By a great cutting of several hundred feet, extending for several miles, the streams which bore these polluted waters are made to run what was formerly uphill, and now discharge some miles distant into the Mississippi. These costly improvements, some of which have not always been judiciously or economically undertaken, led some years ago to a heavy floating debt, which M 1 62 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. has, however, been extinguished ; the bonded debt reduced to 1 3,000,000/. ; and the municipal expenses are met by a rate of about 3 per cent, on the valua- tion of property throughout the city. Considerable complaints, however, occur concerning the inequalities of the valuation lists, which, including real and per- sonal property, exhibit an aggregate of #117,970,035. Everybody in Chicago appears actively occupied, earnest in his work, and bent on making money. Gentlemen are at their business offices or in their s-tores by eight, and some of them earlier ; and with an hour, or often less time, for dinner, they work steadily on until six or seven. As elsewhere through- out America, telegraphs and telephones are in general and constant operation. One firm sometimes receives daily 500 messages, of which a considerable number are from Europe. There are in Chicago upwards of 1,000 subscribers to the Telephone Company. The labouring population is mostly steady and industrious. Lager beer is the chief drink. Although there is more dis- sipation than is good for the unfortunate victims, there is much less than in most cities of the like size in Great Britain ; and it will be a long time before half the artisan and labouring population, as in Chicago, live in their own houses. There is a large German population, eminently industrious, but decidedly Socialistic in their views, and so opposed to decent Sunday observance that they have gradually secured the opening, not only of museums and art galleries, but of concert halls, theatres, dancing saloons, and public-houses. Sunday afternoons and evenings in Produce Exchange. t6 o Chicago are accordingly the special seasons of most festive merry-making. They are sometimes also devoted to hard work. One Sunday evening, straying out of the Grand Pacific — one of the biggest, most sumptuous, convenient, and economical of hotels — I found several hundred men at work, taking up and relaying the wooden pavement of one of the principal streets. Operations had commenced at dusk on Saturday ; during the night the work progressed ad- mirably, under the cheering influence of an electric light at each end of the section under repair ; with relays of workmen toiling uninterruptedly, several hundred yards of new wood pavement, without hind- rance to business, were ready "on Monday morning. Although we might dispense with the Sunday labour, something of this promptitude of official action and consideration for public convenience would be very advantageous at home. The Produce Exchange at Chicago is one of the most stirring in the world. An immense amount of business, real and speculative, is effected ; hundreds of operators are ready to buy on forward delivery, wheat, corn, canned meats, mess pork, or anything which promises a rise. A wholesome arrangement insists, however, that each purchaser on forward delivery shall provide at his banker's a margin to meet any drop in the value of his purchase. Just outside the Mercantile Exchange is a large well-fre- quented saloon, thronged by a still more speculative crowd, where several auctioneers, throughout the long day and well into the night, proclaim and sell the 164 Chicago Grain and Catlle Trades. odds on English races, Manchester pedestrian com- petitions, Paris cock-fights, chess tournaments, and all manner of sport and gambling enterprises throughout the world. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to put down this wholesale public gambling. To do so would, however, consistently necessitate some sweep- ing alterations in the management of the Produce Exchange, which it might, at present, be difficult to arrange. The spirit of gambling, too rife throughout young America, is further displayed in the offices, found in Chicago and other cities, where a dollar or other small amount can be invested in wheat, lard, railway, or other stocks. On the chances of ' making a pile,' shop boys, artisans, and many women last autumn were going in for speculations of this sort. The general business of Chicago is great and rtipidly expanding. She received during 1879 about 1,333,333 tons of coal, valued at from \os. to 30J. per ton. The 1,469,878,991 feet of lumber, and 700,000,000 roofing shingles, about half of which are used in the city and suburbs, testify to the activity of the building operations. Nearly 50,000,000 lbs. of wool and upwards of 61,000,000 lbs. of hides are annually despatched. One and a half million barrels of salt are brought in for meat-preserving. Yearly there is now made up and sent off 1 10,000 packages of beef, 354,000 barrels of pork, 835,000,000 lbs. of cured meats, 250,000,000 lbs. of lard, 50,000,000 lbs. of butter. The grain business of Chicago reaches large di- mensions. She controls, buys, and sells yearly up- Enormous Grain Business. 165 wards of 4,000,000 barrels of flour, 4,000,000 quarters, of wheat, double that quantity of Indian corn, 2,500,000 quarters of oats, upwards of 1,500,000 quarters of barley, besides rye and buckwheat. Be- sides what is delivered by lake and canal, the rail- ways bring in annually about 250,000 car-loads of grain, each car averaging about 400 bushels. Of this great amount of grain nearly one-half is brought for- ward by two lines of railroad— the Chicago and North-Western, and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. It is graded by sworn officials, red, winter, and spring wheat being each divisible into three classes, and rejected ; a large proportion passes through the elevators and store-houses of the city ; a small amount is retained for home consumption ; about one-half is forwarded to the manufacturing and com- mercial Eastern cities, and for export by lake and canal ; the remainder is transported by rail, the Michigan, Central, and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern conveying the largest proportion. Compe- tition between the several railroads and the various water routes secures cheap transport from Chicago to the Atlantic seaports and to Europe, a fact which very materially affects the price of bread in Great Britain. During the last few years the transit charges have been very moderate ; 100 lbs. of grain have been for- warded 800 or 900 miles to the eastern seaboard for an average of is. ^d. by rail, and little more than half that amount by water in steam-tugged barges down lake and canal ; 100 lbs. of provisions are carried for IS. Sd. ; McCormack's reapers, manufactured here, t66 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. ploughs, and other machinery, are conveyed to New York or Boston at about \s. per lOO lbs. These charges doubled represent the usual cost of forwarding the goods on through bills of lading to the seaboard and across the Atlantic to British ports. During 1879 freights for grain from Chicago to Liverpool varied considerably ; in June they fell as low as 6s. per quarter, but in November and December were doubled. The freight of the large grain exports forwarded to Antwerp during the winter was about 1 2s. per quarter. The combination or 'pool' formed by the leading railway companies was inaugurated in June 1879, to secure more uniform rates, to discourage the special charges hitherto so commonly made in favour of large operators, certain sorts of traffic, and certain localities, and to prevent the ruinous competition which has frequently occurred between different lines. The railway interests in America are powerful, they are now well 'organised;' whilst the combination holds together, ruinously low tariffs such as have sometimes ruled will be impossible. But competition between rail and water routes, improved transit facilities, and the steadily expanding trade, render unlikely any material or permanent advance on the present moderate transport charges. Grain, as now, will pro- bably continue to be forwarded from Chicago to Liverpool or London at about \d. per lb., whilst goods in cases or otherwise will come at less than \d. per pound. The grain business of Chicago could not be over- taken with its present expedition and cheapness with- , Grain Elevators. 167 out the great elevators, of which there are now upwards of twenty, with a storage capacity of 17,000,000 bushels. The first grain elevators in America were built at Chicago eleven years ago by Messrs. J. and E. Buckingham ; the plans adopted have been tolerably closely adhered to ; and here, as well as elsewhere in America, they effect enormous saving in the handling of grain. They are generallly built on piles by the side of a lake, river, or canal, to enable barges, and even vessels of considerable ton- nage, to come alongside. They vary from 200 to 400 feet in length, 100 to 150 in breadth, and reach 1 50 feet in height. The ground floor is arranged for the reception, unloading, and loading of the railroad cars, in which the -grain is almost invariably carried loose. Outside is generally a wharf, against which the barges are brought up. The foundations and walls as high as the first story are of substantial masonry, but above this they are generally of timber, cased with slates. To lessen the risks of fire, and limit if possible its destructive effects, brick walls are Sometimes. carried up from the ground separating the building into sections. The interior of the building is mainly occupied with a series of bins, which in a large warehouse sometimes exceed 300; they are 10 to 15 feet square, 50 to 75 feet deep, hold 2,000 to 6,000 bushels, their walls are made of six-inch battens two inches thick, securely held together with nine-inch pins, strengthened by a rod of iron passing across them, with a little ladder in one corner for cleaning out, and hoppered 1 68 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. in the bottom, from which their contents are drawn. These bins can be put in connection with one or other of the ten or fifteen elevators which raise the grain from the cars, or with the shoots which dis- charge it into cars or barges. The elevation is effected by india-rubber belts, on which at intervals of 1 3 inches block tin buckets are fixed with strong flat- headed iron screw-bolts. The belts taking less power are preferred to the worms used in many English mills. From the cars the grain is shovelled into receivers through which the belt runs, and in ten to twelve minutes the load of 400 bushels is moved by one elevator. As it is passed along to the bin re- served for it, it is weighed automatically. In some warehouses the stuff, if desired, can also be winnowed. The discharge of grain is effected even more rapidly than its reception. From a shoot twelve or thirteen inches in calibre, the grain rushes into the cars or barges. Using several shoots simultaneously, 80,000 bushels can readily enough be shipped in a day. This amount of work, involving in a considerable con- cern the movement of several million bushels in a year, is effected with a minimum of labour and ex- pense. Engines of 300 to 400 horse power drive the machinery ; the- few hands employed adjust the ele- vators and shoots to the different bins to be filled or emptied, take the weights automatically registered, and credit or debit the amounts run in or out. Besides the earlier elevators put up by the Messrs. Buckingham, Messrs. Munger, Wheeler and Co. now have six at the depdts of the Chicago and North- Cheap Handling of Grain. 1 69 Western Railroad, and Messrs. Armour, Dole and Co. have four in connection with the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Lines. That built last summer is large and substantial, 425 feet longv 120 feet wide, 140 feet high. The stream beside which it is placed has been dredged so as to command 16 feet of water ; it contains 326 large and 72 smaller bins ; it has storage for 2,000,000 bushels ; it cost about 80,000/. On the double track 24 cars can be brought within the building, and, if need be, might be emptied simultaneously by the 24 ele- vators. There are 1 3 spouts by which cars can be loaded, and nine to fill the barges at the wharves. The charges for receiving the grain at these elevator warehouses, storing it for ten days, and delivering it again, is i;|^ cents, per bushel. For every additional ten days or part thereof the charge is \ cent. As a deterrent to the forwarding of indifferent stuff, it is charged at higher rates. If the grain when received is condemned by the inspector as unmerchantable the -^charge for the first ten days or part thereof is two cents., whilst for each additional five days or part thereof \ cent, is further added. Mr. Charles Randolph, the obliging Secretary of the Board of Trade, informs me that Chicago busi- ness is expanding in all departments. Specie pay- ments have increased confidence and circulated ready money. Better cultivation and more money spent on the farms are producing better returns. Land is ad- vancing in value ; the poorer farmers are getting out of debt ; those who have been hitherto paying their way are saving money. The cost of wheat- 1 70 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. growing in Illinois and adjoining States he gives as follows : — £. s. d. Rent of land worth ^i'S bearing interest at 6 per cent. 060 Taxes at 2 per cent. Ploughing and seeding Seed, i| to 2 bushels . Harvesting and stacking Thrashing and cleaning Delivery to railway station 020 070 060 O 10 o 056 2 ,0 1 18 6 The winter-sown variety in Illinois constitutes six- sevenths of the wheat grown, and with fair cultivation has recently reached 18 bushels an acre. This gives 2J. 2d. as the price per bushel or \6s. M. as the price per quarter. Where 25 bushels an acre are reaped the cost of production would be reduced to \2s. 6d. per quarter. Taking 13 bushels the recent general average of the whole of the .States as the acreable yield the price per quarter is advanced to 24J. Mr. Randolph sees no reason to suppose that the cost of wheat- growing will increase, nor does he believe, railroad pools notwithstanding, that transport charges will advance. Indeed, as the country becomes more closely peopled, freight charges, both by lake and railroad, will be reduced. Improvement of the lake and Canadian water routes would reduce transport charges to the seaboard. The exports of 1879 have been tolerably equally divided between the United Kingdom and the Continent of Europe. The Chicago stock-yards, four miles to the south- west of the city, are the largest and busiest in the The Stock-yards. I'ji world. They are owned by an enterprising company, were opened in 1865, and occupy 370 acres. They have convenient access from 13 different lines of railroad. They comprise nearly 500 open cattle yards, nearly 700 hog and sheep pens mostly covered, 300 chutes and pens, with houses and barns for the storage of hay and corn. There are 1 5 of Fairbank's scales, on each of which 50 tons of beasts can be weighed at a time. In this stirring live-stock centre are the business offices and premises of 200 firms, and immediately connected therewith are 26 packing houses, which slaughter about 2,000 cattle and 20,000 hogs daily. At the yard is published every day a well-conducted stockman's journal and market bulletin. There is a capital hotel with 350 rooms, built at a cost of 20,000/., endowed with a good garden and a dairy of 25 cows. The drovers, who receive Sj. to 8j. aday and are employed by the quarter, half, three quarters, or whole day, are capitally provided for, have a bright clean luncheon bar, ornamented with hanging baskets and great pots of flowers, and opening into courts beautified with shrubs and flowering plants. Three artesian wells furnish a capital supply of water. The annual receipts of live stock at this great centre during 1879 amounted to 1,210,732 cattle, 6,539,244 hogs, nearly 500,000 sheep, 10,000 horses ; represent- ing an aggregate value of 30jOOO,ooo/. sterling. The numbers of the stock have doubled since 1 872. With the exception of 8,176 cattle and 2,321 sheep, all these animals are delivered into the yards by rail. Nearly half the cattle and sheep received and one- 172 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. fourth of the hogs are forwarded east alive or dressed. In these stock-yards occur admirable opportunities of studying the diverse sorts and conditions of the bovine race. Belonging to Mr. Walker and Mr. Sharman and housed here, presumedly for instructive contrast with less improved specimens, were on the occasion of my visit September 1879, 16 fat three- year-old shorthorns, most of them weighing over 2,ooolbs., one very good two-year-old shorthorn, scaling i,8colbs., a five-year-old scaling 3,500 lbs., two grand massive Herefords, and several good Devons. Outside in yards, many of them 60 feet long and 20 wide, with provision for food and water, amongst the daily arrivals are lots of superior grades, showing the ameliorating effects of several crosses of well-selected Shorthorn or Hereford sires. Useful beasts are forwarded from Minnesota and Iowa, where some capital herds have been established. Strong-limbed tolerable-looking steers come from Montana, where the grass is good and the cattle grow big and strong, but appear to have a tendency to get too far from the ground and lack quality. Compact sires such as cCuld be picked from some well-bred herds in this country or in Kentucky should, however, remedy these shortcomings. Several good lots were pointed out from Oregon — not so large, but with more of the shapely form, levelness, and coat, distinguishing ordinary Yorkshire or Lincolnshire beasts. Some very serviceable lots were from Colorado, shapely animals, of fair quality with two or three Shorthorn Western Cattle. 173 or Hereford crosses, generally three years old, worth 3^ cents, per lb., live weight reaching i,cx)0 to 11,000 lbs. and dressing 56 lbs. to the 100 lbs. But here, as in other great Western markets, the large proportion, especially during summer and autumn, are Texans — rough, flat-ribbed, leggy, Spanish-looking subjects, narrow in the back, open in the loin, usually with immense horns, often of a yellow colour, weigh- ing alive, or ' on the hoof ' as it is termed, 900 to i,20olbs. The cattle are all branded permanently and deeply, the brand being made with a hot iron, when the animal is a calf, and sometimes repeated annually. Besides having the disadvantage of cruelly punishing, this branding deteriorates the hide. A handy suffi- ciently permanent mode of identifying animals stray- ing widely over plain and prairie is a desideratum. The bulk of the cattle are reared on the great plains of Texas, amidst the beautiful valleys of Colorado, in the parks and glades of Wyoming, or on Ihe western side of the Rockies in Oregon or Washington. By far the larger proportion of the summer and autumn supplies have journeyed over 1,000 miles, have pro- bably been driven some hundred miles to one of the stations on the Union or Northern Pacific railroad, and loaded seventeen to twenty in a car. In transit they are very well attended to, and are fed, watered, and rested three or four times. Their travelling expenses for 1,000 miles add about 30J. to the value of each beast. The stores in Chicago average id. to 2d. per lb. live weight. Thousands are purchased in 1 74 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. the autumn by the farmers in the Mid and Eastern States to be fed during winter, mainly on hay and Indian corn. These corn-fed beasts, ripe and well- matured, are forwarded to the winter and spring markets. Useful fat beasts, 900 to 1,500 lbs, at Chicago, vary from \\d. to 2\d. per lb. live weight, and produce according to their condition, from 50 to 60 lbs. of beef to every 100 lbs. of live weight. Sheep from Colorado, Montana, and even from the arable farms of adjacent States, show a great deal of Mexican and Merino blood, and realise about the same prices as the cattle. The cattle and sheep are generally classified as 'shipping or export,' and ' butchers ; ' the store cattle are described as ' stockers and feeders,' the lowest grades are ' through Texans,' • common natives,' and ' scrubs,' averaging 700 to 900 lbs. live weight. The hogs are very good, vary from 150 to 300 lbs. and range in value from \\d. to 2\d. per lb., and are classified under the several designa- tions of choice packing, good shipping, selected heavy, Philadelphias, light bacon, singers with culls, keps and graziers. All cattle, sheep, and hogs are sold by live weight ; from one to a score or more are run on to the Fairbank's scales ; the seller endeavours to secure their being first fed and watered. Officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are constantly in attendance to report upon and prevent cases of cruelty or neglect. As hay is procurable at 40J. per ton, and corn at \s. 6d. per bushel, the animals are fairly supplied with food. The stock-yard All Animals Sold by Weight. 175 charges are \s. per head for cattle and horses, and d^d. for hogs and sheep. The salesmen, of whom there are 100 connected with the stock-yards, charge \s. for commission on the beasts, and about 6d. on the sheep and hogs. Consigners are much more satisfactorily dealt with than they are at most British marts. Their memorandum of sale sets forth the exact live weight of the animals, the value paid, and the name and address of the purchaser. Store stock and even milk cows are all sold by weight ; the stores are generally one to two cents, per pound less than the butchers' beasts. Good grades, two to' three years old, are generally preferred for fattening. Both cattle and pigs have steadily improved, especially during the last ten years. The better selection of breeding stock, and their more judicious management, continue to bring from the great breeding regions of the West still increasing numbers of more shapely and economical animals. Too wide a margin often exists between the price that the farmer receives for his cattle and sheep and the prices that the beef and mutton are sold to the British public. Profits are sometimes swallowed up by unnecessary' multiplication of middlemen ; waste and expense are frequently incurred by slaughtering in inconvenient private killing houses ; from the want of cold storage chambers a great deal of meat during hot weather is spoiled, whilst much of the offal is also wasted or misapplied. Such losses injuriously affect alike producers and consumers. The American methods of slaughtering, storing, and distributing the meat and offal are generally preferable to our own. 176 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. At large public abattoirs, which are almost universal in all considerable cities, and which commend them- selves both from an economical and sanitary point of view, the slaughtering is effected rapidly and cheaply. Cold storage chambers ensure thorough cooling and preservation of the meat ; the whole of the offal is systematically made the best of The abattoirs and beef and pork packing establishments of Chicago exhibit in successful operation mechanical appliances, smartness, and systematic arrangement, much of which might be advantageously imitated in this country. At the Union Stock-yards Mr. Nelson Morris has a large establishment where upwards of a thousand cattle are killed and dressed daily. Carcases, sides, or quarters are distributed to the retail butchers of the city. The canning and packing establishments take 700 to 1 ,000 carcases daily. Three or four car-loads are despatched most days to Boston and other eastern cities. Every week about 700 carcases are forwarded to England, in winter in cloths, in summer in refrigerating cars and chambers ; and, so carefully cooled and managed is this Chicago slaughtered meat, that it is often eaten in London a fortnight later in as good condition as that killed only a day or two pre- viously in the metropolis itself For the diff"erent departments of the trade various animals are used : only the best pure breds or superior grades, weighing when hung up 700 to 750 lbs., are sent over the Atlantic. A proportion of these are also used by the home butcher. For the canning business four-year- Chicago Stock-yards. 177 old Texas and Colorado bullocks, weighing net 450 to 500 lbs., are chiefly used. The beasts at Nelson Morris vary according to quality, season, and supplies, from \\d. to 2d. per lb. live weight ; for every 100 lbs. of live weight they yield 52 to 60 lbs. of beef; the price per lb. of the carcases is thus about double that given for the live animal. Communicating with a great common yard is a series of ten pens into each of which a couple of bullocks are driven. From a platform overhead the operator dexterously drops his pole, armed with a steel blade, which severs the spinal chord just between the first and second cervical vertebrae ; the first thrust almost invariably takes effect ; the animal drops instantaneously dead. The quivering move- ments sometimes seen have been ignorantly supposed to evidence suffering, but are purely involuntary muscular movements. So soon as the victim drops he is fixed by the horns to a revolving chain passing along the floor, worked by an engine, set in motion by the movement of a lever, and dragging the carcase out of the slaughtering pen some twenty feet to the great shed, where he is dressed. The large vessels of the neck are cut to allow thorough bleed- ing ; the horns are promptly removed by a circular saw worked by the engine and set in motion as re- quired by a spring on the floor ; the skin is removed ; the trees are applied in the usual manner and the carcase strung up. Eighteen cattle are killed and dressed in fifteen minutes. Seventy-five are some- times turned into the cooling chambers in an hour. N 1 78 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. Without laborious lifting or any heavy manual labour, the carcases, from the sheds where they are dressed, are swung along on wheels running on stout iron rods overhead, and ranged in the cooling chamber. The tongues are forwarded to the packing houses for preserving ; the internal organs, carefully washed, are converted into sausages ; the tallow is assorted, the best of it, worth i\d. to /\d. per lb., goes for oleo- margarine ; the second qualities are used for soap and candle-making ; in eight large vats the heads, bones, and refuse are digested and made into manure ; the blood is preserved for the same purpose ; the hides are generally salted to ensure preservation, but here ag elsewhere there are loud complaints of the damage done by the deep rude branding. The workmen receive from %s. to 8^. daily. So promptly is every- thing done, so handy are the arrangements, so syste- matic the supervision, that the killing and dressing of each beast is profitably effected at less than \s. Several hundred sheep are killed and dressed towards evening, remain in the cool chambers throughout the night ; the carcases, even in hot weather, thus thoroughly cooled keep well, and are not liable to the green decay which is so liable to affect the deeper textures of our summer-killed, imperfectly cooled British meat. Messrs. Libby, McNeil, and Libby ^re the most extensive and successful of the Chicago beef-canning firms. They have been engaged in the business nearly six years, and for five years have sent their goods to British markets. They have large con^ Messrs. Libby, M'Neil, and Libby. 1 79 venient premises four stories high towards the south- west of Chicago, where the meat is received from the slaughter-houses, cooked, salted, canned and packed. The tins and boxes for its transport are made on the premises. In capacious cool cellars, where 20,000 packages can be stored, the temperature is maintained at 35° to 40° by iced brine constantly circulating throughout coils of galvanised pipes. Handy eleva- tors connect the several stories. The railway cars are brought to the sides and rear of the building. Fifteen hundred hands are employed ; the men re- ceive from Sj. to \os. a day ; the girls and women have 1 2 J. to \%s. a week ; everything is done by day work, but each department is under thorough super- vision and a full turn out of work is expected and got. The cans of two, four, seven, and fourteen pounds are made on the premises : 40,000 to 50,000 are turned out daily ; about one half being of the 2 lbs. size. The tin and also the lead for solder come from Great Britain. Twelve machines are at work cutting and blocking the tins. Ingenious devices are adopted in their rapid soldering. To secure economical pack- ing all the beef tins approach the square form. The two pound tins cost 3^ to 4 cents ; the 14 lbs., 1 1 to 1 2 cents ; the substantial deal cases in which four dozen 2 lbs. cans are packed cost 17 to 18 cents. Chiefly from Mr. Nelson Morris's slaughtering establishment are received during the busy summer and autumn months 9C0 carcases of beef daily. During 1878 and 1879 the carcase price varied from 3^ to 4 cents per lb. Like most other commodities; 1 80 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. it has during the last few months advanced in price. In the great hall, cooled as above described, the carcases are recfeived, cut up, and distributed for dif- ferent purposes. The hams pickled for thirty days and dried are worth jd. to \od. per lb., and are packed in barrels containing 220 lbs. The flanks, generally boned, are salted, sometimes smoked, are largely used in the lumbering and North-west States, and are usually sliced for cooking. Beef in brine is employed for ships' stores, keeps a few months, is worth ifd. to $(/. per lb. ; but is not a very satisfactory or increasing trade. The canning is the great and growing business ; 150 tons of beef go daily for this department ; all bone and gristle are removed ; 2 lbs. of beef in the carcase are required to yield i lb. of tinned meat ; a large proportion is put up as corned beef. It is partially cooked in baths of which eighty- two are usually in operation, each holding six barrels of beef In suitable pieces it is transferred to the tins, which are wheeled to another set of baths, in which they remain from two to seven hours ; and are gradually cooked without any loss of the natural juices or aroma. Air escapes through a puncture in the lid. Removed from the baths, three men are constantly occupied soldering this aperture in the tin. A scrubbing machine and several alkaline baths effectually cleanse the cans from grease, and econo- mise the labour of about 300 girls by whom the tins are papered and packed. Sample tins are taken daily into the test room and examination made for leakage or for evidences of faulty keeping. The Beef-packing. 1 8 1 business rapidly extends. For nearly a year Messrs. Libby, McNeil, and Libby have been unable to over- take their orders. The canned corned beef is in chief demand ; the 14 lbs. tins go for restaurants and public institutions, but the largest trade is in the 2 lbs. tins ; the beef is much preferred to the mutton, of which only a limited quantity is put up. Besides the articles mentioned, ox and pigs' tongues, ox tails and cheeks, are also canned ; turkeys and chickens care- fully boned are conveniently put up along with tongue ; minced collops in 2 lbs. tins are in growing favour in Scotland. A great quantity of capital soups are prepared, and are coming into general use not only amongst private families in England, but in many of the great restaurants and hotels. The tallow is carefully rendered and disposed of. The marrow from the bones is tinned, much of it coming to England, where it is used as a substitute for butter, and for pastry making. All the refuse is preserved for manure making. Although each pound of meat averages only 4^. to '^d., the weekly takings amount to about 15,000/. About one half the canned meats are sent to Europe on direct bills of lading, at a cost of less than one halfpenny per lb. for transport ; about one fourth of the total output is consumed in the United Kingdom. Besides other packing concerns the Wilson com- pany does a- large and growing business. They started in 1 874 ; their works now occupy seven acres in the west of the city ; they employ nearly a thousand people ; they preserve and put up daily the meat of 1 82 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. several hundred cattle ; in 1 879 they turned out 8,000,000 tons of meat. Chicago is the great metropolis of hog-packing. Two-thirds of the American hog-packing is done in the west : 70 per cent, is overtaken in the six cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukie, Louis- ville, and Indianapolis ; more than half are handled in Chicago, where, as already stated, nearly 7,000,000 hogs are annually concentrated and 5,000,000 are slaughtered. The business has quadrupled since 1872 ; it has doubled since 1875. More pigs are killed in twelve months in Chicago than in the whole of the United Kingdom. Owing, however, to the diminished hog crop of 1880, packing has been on a more moderate scale than in 1878 and 1879. Twenty-five firms are engaged in the trade, em- ploying about 20,000 hands. The three principal, disposing among them of 2,500,000 hogs annually, are Messrs. Armour and Co., the Anglo-American Packing and Provision Company, and the Chicago Packing and Provision Company. The hogs selected from western markets and from the adjacent stock yards where 60,000 are sometimes pitched in a morn- ing, are shapely, of good quality, well fed, but with more lean meat than distinguishes our pigs. They are Black Eerkshires and Essex, a white sort analo- gous to our middle breed, and a useful China hog with light offal. Four consecutive good corn crops have increased their numbers, improved their quality, and also lowered their price, which in 1879 ranged Hog-packmg. 183 from \\d. to 2\d. per pound fpr live hogs. They vary from 160 lbs. to 260 lbs. net weight ; the heavier are killed in winter. Hog-killing was wont to be chiefly confined to the winter months, but with ice and refrigerating chambers two-fifths is now done during the summer months from March ist to November ist. The packing business formerly consisted in pickling and putting up the meat in barrels ; now only 1 5 per cent, is dealt with in this way, the great trade is . in dry- salting, the bulk of the carcase and sugar-curing the hams. Science and skill are brought to bear on the several processes. Different cuts and modes of treatment are adopted to suit the taste of various markets. Quite recently Mr. Lorenzo Fagersten, of the Union Stock Yards, has been experimenting with boracic acid salts and especially with biborate of soda, which proves so serviceable as a tasteless anti- septic in the preservation of butter and other dairy produce. He finds that the hams, before being sewed up in calico, if moistened with the boracic solu- tion, or better still if dusted with the dry salt, travel without suffering so much from the green mould which is apt to affect them, whilst a drop of the solu- tion in the shank bone prevents fermentation and souring of the marrow. To do a big roaring business is the ambition of these western packers. Their success is demonstrated in their enormous output, which for the year ending March i, 1879, was valued at 14,700,000/.' ' Twenty-Second Annual Report of Tradeand Commerce of Chicago, by Charles Kandolph. 1 84. Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. The results of the winter packing for the six months to March i, 1879, was made up of the follow- ing products : — lbs. Middles of various cuts .... 235,000,000 Green, dry, and sweet pickled shoulders . 60,000,000 Backs and bellies 12,000,000 Singed bacon 1,115,125 Hams of various sorts .... 60,000,000 Barrels of pickled pork, 242, 232 averaging 200 lbs. 48,446,400 Barrels of pigs' tongues, 7,091 averaging 200 lbs 1,418,200 Barrels of hocks, 1,915 at 200 lbs. . . 383,000 Lard, 395,659 tierces containing 300 lbs. . 118,697,700 Grease, 9,683 packages varying from 300 to 500 lbs. each 3,873,200 Total products of winter packing . 540,933,625 This is, however, only, the winter produce. . The summer manufacture adds two-fifths to this amount. The grand annual total of Chicago's hog products approaches 900,000,000 lbs. More than 60 per cent, of it is exported to Europe ; nearly half the export goes to the United Kingdom. The shipments have recently increased at the rate of 20 to 30 per cent, per annum. The daily despatch averages eighty car- loads of twelve tons each. The general procedure in most of these great hog- packing establishments is much the same. To one of the largest and most flourishing, belonging to Messrs. Armour and Co., I paid two visits. Messrs. Armour handle i,ooo,oco hogs annually at Chicago, and have similar establishments at Messrs. Armour s Hog-pdcking Premises. 185 Milwaukie and at Kansas City, at each of which upwards of 400,000 are slaughtered and packed. From small beginnings in i860 their business has steadily increased ; within six years it has doubled. At the Chicago works at the stock-yards, 10,000 pigs are frequently killed daily in summer ; 20,000 con- stitute a full day's slaughtering in winter. Two thousand tons of meat are sometimes despatched in a single day from the railway sidings which are con- veniently brought into the premises. The works cover 14 acres ; the buildings are four stories high, and are being constantly added to. In convenient carpenter's, blacksmith's, and engineers' shops skilled artificers are employed in repairs, alterations, and ad- ditions. Throughout the works and to the city offices telegraphic and telephonic wires are laid. There are six lifts, and hydrants and fire hose are fitted at con- venient points on every story. A trained fire brigade is recruited from among the operatives, and a dozen well-drilled steady workmen always sleep on the works. The premises are insured for ^1,000,000, the annual premium on different parts of the works vary- ing from I to 1 1 per cent. Gasoline, prepared from oil stored in underground tanks, is used for the 700 lights requisite in the short but busy winter days. Two thousand men are employed in summer, and 3,500 in winter. Everything is done by day work, but all is so systematically and effectively arranged that no man can shirk his duty. Incompetence or idleness cannot be tolerated, for one man's trifling might stay the work of hundreds. The wages vary 1 86 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. from 6s. to 8j. per day of lo hours for ordinary- labourers ; but the butchers and skilled operatives, numbering about 500, including the men who cut up, attend to the salting, prepare the sausages, or other- wise exert special skill, energy, and care, earn \os. to 1 5 J. a day. Wages are higher in winter than in summer, and payments are regularly made every Wednesday. The raw material which keeps this great estab- lishment moving is conveniently found in the con- tiguous market, where 60,000 hogs are sometimes pitched in a morning, and on one occasion last summer the number ran up to 80,000. On one of Fairbank's standard scales, which will weigh 40 lbs. or 40 tons, the purchased pigs are duly weighed. They are se- lected for various markets and purposes from 6 to 18 months, ranging from i5olbs. to 250 lbs. The average weight of the summer pigs is 218 lbs., of the winter 246 lbs. Messrs. Armour have large pens and yards where their purchases are fed and watered until re- quired. No fasting is practised as in England. The grunter has his breakfast even if he is doomed before dinner time. On the afternoon of September 19, Berkshire and Essex hogs, varying from 250 lbs. to 300 lbs. live weight, were being driven along the ascent and over the ' Bridge of Sighs ' into the third story of the building in which the slaughtering is conducted. About a score are enclosed together in a catching pen. Around the victim's hind limb just above his dew-claw a piece of chain with a tolerably large ring Wholesale Hog-slaughtering. 187 at either end is passed. From a roller overhead is lowered a chain, terminating with a hook, which is deftly passed into the ring on the limb ; the long chain is steadily wound up by steam. When the pig's head is about five feet from the ground, another hook, suspended from a wheel, is fixed into the ring round the Hmb. This wheel ruils on a stout i^ inch iron rail, which is carried onwards through several large rooms for 100 yards, always at an incline, down which the pig is carried by its own gravity. The hog, astounded at being raised heels first from the ground, makes little resistance, and is swung over the wall of the catching pen. With one sweep of a sharp short knife the executioner severs the arteries and veins of the neck, occasionally penetrating to the heart itself. The blood flows through a grating into the premises below ; every half minute the foremost of a row of some six or eight, now perfectly dead, by the touch of a spring is unhooked and plunged into a vat of steam-heated water, where he remains for about three minutes, and where nine or ten are immersed together. Every thirty seconds, or oftener, at the lower end of the vat, a great, curved, rack-like gridiron lifts a smoking hog on to the table, along which passes an endless chain, by which, fastened by the nose, he is drawn among ingeniously conceived and accurately working spring scrapers, driven by steam, and in- vented by one of Messrs. Armour's chief engineers. On each of seven cylinders are placed forty-eight steel blades, and so exactly and effectually do they work that in ten seconds the hog emerges from the iS8 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. machine thoroughly denuded of hair. Any slight oversight is made good by handscrapers wielded by a couple of men on each side of the bench. Necessity, as usual, led to the discovery of this handy machine, which saves the labour of ten men. The scrapers, who were making #3 a day, struck. They thought that at any sacrifice they must be retained. They reckoned not that machinery could supersede their laborious manual service, which at other places I have seen done by eight or ten stalwart negroes, usually working stripped to the waist. Here, as everywhere throughout the works, perfect order and cleanliness obtain. Vulcanized indiarubber hose hang suspended over the table, and jets of water, as required, are directed over the carcass, removing any adhering hair, scurf, or dirt. Again the hog is raised, this time by the nose ; steam, as before, doing the lifting. Down the inclined rail he swings. Detained for a few seconds over a bench, he is disembowelled, each portion of his viscera being carefully separated, cleansed, and set aside for use. The lungs, heart, and liver are forwarded to the sausage department ; the stomach, cleansed, also follows, to be used as a bag in which to pack some of the sausage meat, of which more anon. The intestines, stripped of fat, are scalded and form cases for the sausages. From England there have recently been enquiries for fresh or carefully preserved livers which it is not generally known, are the chief ingredient in mushroom ketsup. Over the next table the head is cut off, and removed for the lard tanks ; the tongue, a dainty morsel pre- ■ Expeditious Treatment. 189 served in sweet pickle, is exported in barrels and sold wholesale in London at '^\d. to ii^\d. per lb, or nicely cooked is done up in tins disposed of at 9^. ; the ears are canned for home use. Still suspended from the iron rod, down a long passage, guided by a small boy with a long pole, and round a corner into a big cooling room swing along six hogs at a time. Here, to insure thorough cooling, they are cleft down on each side of the backbone, and again run along, still hanging from the ceiling, and arranged in battalions of several scores. The time taken to catch the hog, slaughter, cleanse, dress, and deliver him in this cool- ing chamber, is fifteen minutes. When two sets of executioners are employed double baths and two sets of scraping machines are at work, upwards of fifteen hogs are killed every minute and promptly and systematically subjected to the succeeding operations. In the lofty cooling room, at a temperature during autumn of about 40° F., the air kept in motion by overhanging punkahs and blowers, the hogs hang five or six hours. To hasten cooling they are then divided down the back, the two sides only held together at the neck, and are moved, still wheeled on the iron rails, dependent from the ceiling into the ice-chamber, which is 400 feet long and 200 feet wide, located in the middle of the building, and maintained at about 38° F. by a 20 foot stratum of ice stored overhead. In this chilly atmosphere, darkened to economise ice, with a boy stationed at every entrance to insure rapid closure of the doors, the hogs remain 1 90 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. about thirty hours. On the thoroughness of this cool- ing depends the success of the whole operation of summer hog-packing. Although in winter little ice is requisite, the summer demand absorbs 3,000 to 5,000 car-loads, each containing about 14 tons. Firm and dry, the carcass, still suspended on the labour-saving rails overhead, is run to the door of another long room, is separated into two sides, and now for the first time is moved by manual labour. By a strapping fellow each side is saized, carried a few yards to a solid bench, where, with a powerful chopper, with a blow that would astonish a Mame- luke, the ham is severed ; as accurately the shoulder and underlying ribs are cut off, leaving a rectangular side of bacon. A gentler blow separates the feet, which are canned, pickled, or passed into the lard tanks. These skilful swordsmen, who never maul, and cut to a hair's breadth, receive 14^-. a day in summer and \6s. in winter. The sides of bacon have the backbone partly or entirely removed ; the tender loin or fillet, being more difficult to cure, is taken out, and sells readily for immediate use. The sides of bacon, averaging about 56 lbs., are removed on trucks to the salting house, thoroughly rubbed with salt, the Canadian and Liverpool being pre- ferred, and a very little saltpetre. Each side takes up 2 lbs. to 3 lbs. of salt. In a dark, cool store-house these sides are piled to the number of 16 to 20, one on the top of the other. After the lapse of a week they are turned over and again rubbed. Occasionally they go out in twenty days ; but if intended for long Bacon and Hams sent to England, 191 keeping they require double that time. Every piece, as it passes from the salting-house, is examined, a tester thrust in to ascertain if any taint has acci- dentally been incurred. It is then washed, scraped, dried and packed. Large boxes, containing eight to ten sides of bacon, or 500 lbs., are almost daily being put up for European markets. Messrs. Armour have large contracts with the United States Government, and, at a push, 150 of these boxes can be put up in an hour. Even in this country of cheap lumber these boxes cost 56 cents, each. The bacon bought un- packed goes at nearly a cent less per lb. Of those sides of bacon and shoulders, which are treated in much the same way, Messrs. Armour turn out yearly upwards of 80,000,000 lbs. weight. So economical and systematic are the arrangements, and so carefully is the best made of everything, that the sides of bacon and shoulders can with profit be disposed of, even at the present enhanced price, at A^\d. to %d. per lb. In Liverpool and many other United Kingdom ports large quantities of this bacon are purchased, washed, nicely smoked, and disposed of at a handsome profit as ' Prime Wiltshire ' or ' First-rate Yorkshire.' In imitation of the British home-cured, singed bacon is now produced. The hog is swung from the .slaughtering pen on to a hearth, where it is singed among straw and wood shavings, and its pachyderm rendered more tender. The belly pieces from smaller hogs, pickled in great vats, constitute a growing trade. Of this pickled pork 40,000 casks, each containing 200 lbs. to 300 lbs., are put up.annually. These used to 192 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. go chiefly to the lumberers, the sugar and rice plan- tations, and the West India Islands, but now a great demand has grown in this country, in France, and in Belgium ; and of the carefully prepared New York bellies worth 54?. to s6j. per cwt, many tons are used in London, served up with Ostend rabbits. The hams are of especial interest, for a very large proportion come to England of sizes and cuts to suit various markets. They are sold under many aliases, and are recognisable in Bond Street and other fashionable London shops, where their Chicago origin is not conspicuously set forth. Messrs. Armour last year turned out upwards of 5,000,000 lbs. of hams. Their London house alone received during 1879 nearly 300,000 hams, averaging 12 lbs. to 14 lbs. each, and sold wholesale at about 6d. per lb. In a sweet pickle, made with salt, sugar, and saltpetre, the hams lie in vats for sixty to seventy days, and are changed over three times. After trimming and scraping some are hung for three days in the smok- ing-room, amidst empyreumatic, antiseptic vapours of maple sawdust, are sewed neatly in calico, stamped, and packed thirty to forty together in a box with a partition down the middle, to insure ven- tilation and lessen the risks of bruising. In summer for air they come in crates. The breakfast bacon — the light bellies from pigs six or eight months old, in handy, shapely pieces of 8 lbs. to 10 lbs. — is treated much in the same manner as the hams, and, when smoked, brushed, and cleaned, is transferred to a packing-room, where each piece is rolled tidily in Sausage-making. 193 gray paper and sewn in calico by men who manage the needle with cleverness that a seamstress might emulate. In this department I saw twenty men busy, but in winter 100 are often occupied. Each is expected to put up 200 to 250 parcels for his day's work ; the pay varies from 6s. to d>s. a day, but extra money is given for extra work or for extra hours. The breakfast bacon thus neatly sewn up for the American market is brushed over with a solution of chrome and riceflour to prevent access of flies ; but the British public naturally object to this coating of the yellow poisonous lead salt. The composition and manufacture of sausages are frequently a subject of suspicion and ridicule ; but the materials and making here are above all doubt. In five large vats the steam-driven mincers are con- stantly reducing to a fine pultaceous mass portions of meat, trimmings from the sides and hams, with the heart, liver, and internal parts. From the usual machines, 29,000 lbs. of sausages are generally put up daily, and are readily cleared off by the pork butchers, hotelkeepers, and others, at about 5 cents, per lb. Extra work is often required from this de- partment. Several descriptions of sausages are made — liver, blood, and pork, Frankfort, which is partly cooked and smoked, and keeps a week ; Bologna, prized in Germany ; ' the lion,' which is chiefly sent to France, and keeps a year. A new manufacture has recently been begun. The soft parts of the heads, cleansed and minced, are flavoured with salt, pepper, and spice, chiefly coriander seed, carefully o 1 94 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. cooked, canned in 2 lb. and 6 lb. tins ; are ready for immediate use, or will keep ten years, and are be- coming very popular under the names of collared head or brawn. The American hogs yield about 5,000,000 cwt. of lard. The summer killed average 34 lbs., the winter 37 lbs. Messrs. Armour, buying hogs above the average in condition, have a yield of fully 45 lbs, of lard from their summer and 54 lbs. from their winter hogs. In 50 tanks, heated by worms from ten boilers, the fat and other refuse, melted during ten to twelve hours, are drained off in different grades. The first quality, made from leaf and trimmings, is recog- nised as 'prime steam lard.' The intestines and refuse yield a lower quality, known as No. 2 lard, a large proportion of which goes to Europe. Some of the bristles are conserved for brushes and for the cobblers, but the bulk of the hair is sent to this country in bales of 5 cwt., and, mixed with horsehair, is used for stuffing railroad and other carriage cushions. It is now worth 14/. per ton. The blood, dried in revolving steam-heated cylinders, contains about 14 units of ammonia, and is sold for ^28 to ,^30 per ton to the sugar-refiners and manure manu- facturers. For this latter purpose enquiry is now made for 1,000 tons to be delivered in the Thames at 9/. \os. to 10/. per ton. The bones, after crushing and passing through the lard tanks, and the refuse from every department, are dried, pressed to get rid of grease and water, exposed for 15 minutes in a 25 foot steam-heated revolving cylinder, and constitute a Messrs. Armours Preserved Meats. 195 valuable fertiliser, containing 8 units of ammonia and 21 of phosphates, sold at $\6 per 2,000 lbs.,, and in growing demand among gardeners, nurserymen, and cotton planters. Whilst a big wholesale and export business is the main concern with Messrs. Armour and Co., it is pleasing to find attention paid to the wants of their numerous employes, their families and neighbours. Adjacent to the office is a large shop, where hog in countless forms is sold at little over prime cost, for which a few oxen are also killed, and where the daily takings sometimes reach 500^ As if this pork business were not enough for one concern, Messrs. Armour have recently been directing attention to beef, and are now putting up compressed beef which contains all the juices and is not hard or fibrous. In the Chicago office, Mr. Phil. Armour presides over the financial and business arrangements of this growing concern. Like some other Chicago mer- chants, he is usually at his office at 7 A.M., surrounded with correspondence, telegrams, and cabled price lists, while regularly every morning comes the statement of the London bank account of the previous afternoon. Telegrams from London, Liverpool, Belfast, Paris, Antwerp, and other parts of the world come in all day, often numbering several hundreds. Forty clerks are fully occupied in this representative Chicago pig- packing concern. Doing a big business, Mr. Armour rightly declares that he can work for a small profit. He says he has got rich by selling cheaply. He insists on ready-money transactions, and makes, 1 96 Chicago Grain and Cattle Trades. accordingly, no bad debts. To use his own expres- sion, his agents go with the goods in one hand, and get the money in the other. More than half their production is exported, and of this export more than half is taken by Great Britain. For sugar-cured hams and fancy goods England is their chief and increasing market. With through rates the produce is forwarded to United Kingdom ports at three-eighths of one penny per lb., and during the past two years tons have been sent at half that figure. Occasionally Mr. Armour has boldly obtained control of the bacon, pork, and hams of the West. During the summer of 1880 he has had on 'shows' and 'option' 40,000,000 lbs. of winter cut meats, and, squeezing the rising markets, is understood to have made 500,000/. by this big corner on pork. 197 CHAPTER XIII. THE RED RIVER. The Red River Valley, extending for 350 miles from Breckenridge to Winnipeg, is destined to be one of the great wheat-producing regions of America. Its southern extremity lies in the State of Minnesota ; it passes north through Dakota and Manitoba ; nearly one-third is within the Canadian Dominion. Narrow at first, it widens to nearly 100 miles. It is bounded on the east by a chain of hills, but on the west the rise is gradual, the second ridge is as fertile as the Savannah, and several valleys debouch into that of the Red River. In a former era of the world's history, this extensive basin was evidently a great inland lake, within which was deposited with great uniformity a bed of diluvium, now represented by 12 to 30 inches of black earth, rich in vegetable fibre, friable, and perfectly free from stones, reposing on 50 to 60 feet of soft soapy argillaceous deposit, containing vegetable dibris, while underlying this is a bed of gravel, amid which are small fragments of granite, porphyry, and limestone. These facts are disclosed by the wells which are sunk on many farms, and which generally supply a rather brackish water, apt 1 98 The Red River. to disagree with men and animals unused to it. This extensive tract of level prairie is occasionally inter- spersed, especially along the banks of the rivers and near the numerous lakes, with plantations and scrub ; more frequently it extends with unvarying monotony for miles. The yellow and red prairie grasses are relieved occasionally by a piece of stubble ; rarely is Indian corn attempted ; oats and barley are only grown for home use. At far intervals are seen simple log huts, a few small ricks, or heaps of straw which there has not yet been time to burn. The valley is traversed by the Red River which is navigable as far south as Fargo, and by the St. Paul and Pacific Rail- road section completed in 1878, running parallel with, and about 10 to 15 miles eastward of, the river. At Fort Abercrombie in the southern part of the valley the rainfall averages 16 inches, the temperature of the three summer months is7i° : the three months' winter average is only 8° ; the annual mean tempera- ture is 40*34°. At Fort Burford in Dakota, west of the Red River, at an elevation of 2,210 feet, the average rainfall for ten years from 1868 is 12-36 inches ; the heaviest rainfall, in 1872 and 1873, reached 20 inches. May and August appear to be the rainy months ; thrice during this decennial period the May rains have measured 4 inches; in 1873 they reached 660 inches and caused much flooding. In August 1875 and 1876 the August raihfall was respectively 3 and 3*95 inches.' The United States, although famous for great 1 U.S.A. Agricultural Reports for 1878, p. 550. The Biggest Wheat Farm in America. 199 undertakings, have not many large wheat-growing farms. Throughout the Eastern, Middle, and even the North- Western States the ordinary grain farmer seldom possesses more than 200 acres. But at Casselton, in Dakota Territory, in the valley of the Red River, is a striking exception — a farm of 75,000 acres held by Mr. Oliver Dalrymple. Four years ago this enormous farm was a portion of the far-reaching prairie wilderness. No evidences of human life were visible. Prairie fowls, snipe, jack rabbits, the prairie squirrel or gopher were the inhabitants ; while wild ducks and geese congregated in creeks or marshy spots. A few years previously buffaloes and badgers were common, and on many spots of the untilled prairie their whitened bones still lie scattered. Some of the directors of the Northern Pacific Railway had ac- quired these lands and wisely appointed Mr. Oliver Dalrymple their manager, with a half share in the concern. Mr. Dalrymple brought to his serious task a goodly experience, acquired in successfully farming 6,000 acres at Lake Elmo, near St. Paul, Minnesota. On Friday, September 26, 1879, the members of the Royal Commission, Messrs. Read and Pell, and a party under the guidance of Mr. James H. Drake, assistant manager of the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway Company, were most hospitably received by Mr. Dalrymple ; were driven for miles over this vast prairie farm ; examined its dark, friable, alluvial soil, perfectly free from stones, varying from 1 2 in. to 20 in. deep, resting upon an argillaceous stratum rich in vegetable remains ; gathered information as to the cost 200 The Red River. of wheat production, and speculated on the perma- nence of continuous wheat-growing. The arrange- ments of this great farm, are well considered and systematically and effectually carried out. Minor details receive more attention than on most farms of 100 acres ; time and labour are everywhere econo- mized. On one of the subdivisions of the property telephonic communication, at a cost of only ,^300, is established between the superintendent's office and those of his foremen ; and this rapid and direct system of control is being extended throughout the whole estate. Substantial and economical wooden buildings have been erected at suitable points, consisting of houses for superintendents, sleeping and dining rooms for the men, stables, granaries, and sheds for the storing of the numerous and valuable machinery and implements, with blacksmiths' and carpenters' shops. Handy to the several buildings, wells, varying from 50 ft. to 80 ft., have been dug into the sand and gravel bed which underlies the clay. On one farm avenues of trees are planted out. A bookkeeper and two clerks have constant occupation in keeping accounts, checking off stores, arranging the vouchers without which no payment is made, and attending to corre- spondence. Amid such modern equipments and good cultivation it is difficult to realise that this busy, profitable settlement was six years ago lonely, barren prairie. This Dalrymple property cost from 40 cents to $^ per acre. There are no federal taxes ; rates, mostly for school purposes, amount to 10 cents per acre. The Mr. Dalrymple s Big Wheat Farm. 201 estate is partitioned into divisions of 5,000 acres, each under the management of a divisional superintendent, who has under him two foremen, one of whom, on horse- back, accompanies his 15 or 20 teams to work, sees to the ploughing or drilling, observes and reports as to the behaviour of the men, the condition of the animals, and the efficiency of "the machinery. Each division has two or more sets of buildings, and in connection with the principal homestead of each farm are the quarters for the men — large wooden barrack rooms, comfortably warmed with stoves, where 50 men sleep in busy times two in a bed. Hard by are the kitchens, each with the capacity to provide forthe wants of 100 men, presided over by the cook and his mate, who, on requisition through the foreman, draw supplies from the stores — flour for bread, puddings, and cakes, beef which costs fresh fully 3^?. per pound, pork, bacon, cheese, and butter, tea and coffee, and other good things. But the stores, liberally provided with neces- saries and luxuries, including some of the best butter and coffee we ever tasted, wisely dispense neither beer ■ nor spirits. Three hot meals a day are provided : before 6 A.M., at noon, and at 7 P.M. ; meat, bread, puddings, cakes, tea and coffee are supplied without stint. All payments are made by the bookkeeper on vouchers signed by the foreman. Men can draw their money as they please. Some take it weekly ; a few spend it at the beer saloons at Casselton ; others, more provident, allow it to run on for weeks, or even for half a year. The rate of wages varies with the season. With board during the spring $\% ■&. month (i8j. a 202 The Red River. week) is given ; during harvest wages advance to ^2-25 a day ; during the thrashing season the rate is reduced to $2 ; during the autumn months the pay- is ^25 per month. No piecework is adopted, but so thorough is the superintendence that full work is obtained from both man and beast. There is no difficulty in obtaining extra hands, amongst whom are many Norwegians, Scandinavians and Germans. During harvest and thrashing, which is done in the field, as many as 600 men are frequently em- ployed. Even with this great accession of labourers,, work proceeds systematically and harmoniously. No rows occur ; brawling and fighting are extremely rare, but when they do occur it unfortunately is usually on Sunday. Dismissal for insubordination is scarcely known. Men injured or sick from causes beyond their own control are nursed and have medical at- tendance gratuitously. Extra men in harvest and during thrashing only receive pay for the hours they labour. So soon as frost prevents ploughing, the whole of the force on the farms are dismissed, with the exception of the divisional manager and about ten men, who each look after about 40 mules or horses, feed and water them, and turn them into a yard for a quarter of an hour's exercise night and morning. Hard as such wholesale dismissal would be in Great Britain, it is no hardship here, for these men readily find lumberwork in the forests. It is obviously an enormous boon thus to get rid of men whom the farmer cannot profitably employ during the five winter months. Many an English wheat grower would Improved Agricultural Implements. ■ 203 gladly practise this retrenchment and send most of his staff to other vocations during the short days and bad weather of mid-winter. Twenty thousand acres are already under cultiva- tion ; 5,000 acres are broken up annually. The un- cultivated portions are chiefly used in growing prairie hay and grazing the milch cows. During autumn four hundred mules or horses are daily engaged ploughing the stubbles, or back-setting or cross-cutting the land bt-oken up from prairie during the early summer months. The sod of ages is readily disintegrated ; the prairie grass, previously cut short by the mowing machine, is rotted. The stubbles are left of about the same length as they are in England ; but since the straw is burnt it would save expense, both in reaping and thrashing, to leave a longer stubble and burn this and any weeds among it before the ploughs went to work. In one field we come upon nine double-sulkey ploughs ; the ground being hard owing to a month's dry weather, four mules are allotted to each. The driver mounts comfortably, as on a reaping machine, guiding his four-in-hand with reins. Instead of a coulter, these pjoughs, made by John Deer, Illinois, and costing $60, have a cutting wheel. The working parts are of steel ; the shares are sharpened every third or fourth day. Each of the two ploughs turns a furrow I5in. wide by 5in. deep. In another field a dozen mule teams are similarly employed. Two and a half acres are at present turned over by each team daily ; but when the ground is softer fully three acres are overta:ken. The teams walk 17 to 20 miles daily, turn out at 6 A.M., are in the stable and fed for an hour 204 • The Red River. at noon, and have four to five hours' work in the after- noon. The fields are conveniently laid out in squares of 100 acres. Some are fenced with oak posts and two strands of barbed steel wire, which keeps back cattle and horses, but not sheep and pigs, and has the disadvantage of lacerating any animal coming forcibly Into contact with it. To prevent idly walking several miles to work, the teams going and returning invari- ably plough along the intervening fields, the twelve teams each time they go out or return contributing "a broad strip of nearly 30ft. of ploughing. The breaking up of the level prairie is neither tedious nor costly. No stones or tree roots cause breakage or delay. With the single hand ploughs and a pair of horses, or three abreast if the ground is very hard, a stout furrow, usually measuring 12 in. by 4 in., is turned. An acre and a half is easily overtaken in the May or June day of ten hours. Mr. Dalrymple estimates that the breaking up, allowing for wear and tear of plough and sharpening of the steel shares, which should last two seasons, costs him fully two and a half dollars. The stubble and cross-ploughing are computed to cost ^175. Even in this newly-settled country small farmers and others can be hired to do the ploughing, furnishing a man and pair of good horses at the cost of I2J. daily, and doing regularly their i^ acre in a workmanlike manner. Mr. Dalrymple and Mr. Button, one of his intelli- gent and able divisional superintendents, both prefer mules to horses on account of their hardiness, endur- ance, equable temperament, and freedom from disease; Mules Preferred to Horses. 205 With about an equal proportion of mules and horses they have in four years used up 16 horses, but the whole of the mules are still serviceable, excepting one, which was accidentally injured. The mules are bought chiefly at St. Louis, at five or six years old ; they are \6\ to 17 hands, weigh 1,100 lbs. to 1,200 lbs., are well broken, steady workers, good-tempered and quiet, and cost on an average ,^140 (28/.), while the transit of 1,000 miles from St. Louis home puts about i^io (40J.) more on their price. Mules and horses do not differ much in value, and are managed and fed alike. They are housed in good lofty stables, accom- modating about SO, standing in pairs in 9 ft. stalls. Racks and mangers are used as at home. They are tied by halters or head-stalls. The light harness, used indifferently for plough and wagon, costs $2'i, for each animal, and is expected to last ten years. The feeding, carefully attended to by the stable 'boss,' consists of 1 2 quarts daily of mixed home-grown oats and barley, and 1 5 lbs. to 20 lbs. of prairie hay. During winter the amount of corn is, of course, reduced, and this five months' rest and some days' lighter labour between seasons accounts for the good looks and con- dition of the teams and their standing satisfactorily at busy times 1 1 hours' work daily. Towards the end of March the working staff are again got together. The lumbering is finished up, and men are ready for farm work. A few of the hands of former seasons return. The gang foremen, selected for intelligence and promptitude, are ap- pointed. The whole of the land intended for crop 2o6 The Red River. has been ploughed in autumn ; the newly broken, as indicated, has had a second furrow, which keeps down weeds and insures more certainty of result. So soon as the frost has left the first six inches of soil, which is generally by April i, the seeding of the wheat commences. Scotch Fife, a good, hard, thin- skinned red variety, is used. The seed is selected from the newly broken- up land ; if any cockle or other weeds are observable, they are carefully winnowed out. No dressing or pickling is adopted. During autumn or winter, in 1 1 bushel lots, the seed for each acre is bagged up. Whenever the weather permits, seeding commences. The seed is distributed by broadcast machines, lOO being at work daily for three weeks. Two hundred sets of harrows complete the operation, two or three turns being required, and Mr. Dalrymple jocosely states that he orders it ' to be well done, and then give one turn more.' Four harrows, united by chains, work in a set, cover 20 feet., and are drawn by four mules. In each harrow are 72 round teeth; the set costs $\i^ to ,^15. Immediately after wheat seeding, the oats and barley grown for horse provender are put in. No horse or hand hoeing, no weeding, or any further expenses are incurred until harvest. Season- able showers usually occur during June and July ; heavy dews restore part of the moisture removed during the warm noontide. For four years the seasons have been propitious. The drought during July 1 879 occasioned, however, considerable apprehension. Prayers for rain were offered in the churches, while Automatic Self-binding Harvesters. 207 English farmers were imploring fine weather. Another week of scorching drought would have shrivelled up the soft, milky ears : but the much longed-for rain came seasonably. Drought is probably the chief cause of uncertainty in the American wheat yield. Hailstorms and tornados, abounding furthei south, are unknown here. No wire worm, weevil, or fly interfere with Mr. Dalrymple's crops ; mice and rats have not yet made their home in Dakota ; sparrows, larks, and rooks are equally rare. Grasshoppers did some injury in 1876, probably diminishing the yield by three bushels an acre; but Mr. Dalrymple considers that he is too far north to suffer much from the hoppers, and believes that they cannot do much damage on cultivated land, although why such marauders should spare the cultivated crops is not very evident. Harvest begins about August i, usually amid fine, settled Californian weather. About 300 extra men are engaged. One hundred and fifteen automatic self- binding harvesters are busily at work ; 100 of these are Walter Wood's, the remainder M'Cormick's. Both are reported to do their work admirably ; no objection is found to the wire binding. The grain is shocked, and cutting is overtaken in 12 days. No time or out- lay is expended in stacking. No barns or granaries are required in this dry climate. Trusting implicitly in fine weather the whole of the grain is thrashed from the field, indeed sometimes the wheat is not even shocked. Seventy-one steam thrashing machines made by the Buffalo Company, and costing ^^600, with thrasher, winnower, and straw elevator in one, are 2o8 The Red River. placed at convenient points throughout the fields. Ten wagons, each with a pair of horses or mules, bring up the shocks and carry off the thrashed corn in three bushel bags an average distance of two miles to the railway cars. A gang of 25 men keep wagons and thrashing machines steadily going, and deliver at the station 1,000 bushels of wheat daily. An expert on horseback superintends two or three harvesters or thrashers, keeps everything in good working order, promptly repairs any breakage, and thus loss of time is guarded against. Each day the thrasher and engine, which is partially self-propelling and costs ^800, is moved, so as to shorten haulage of the sheaves. Every busy day, 50 railway cars, each containing 400 bushels, are loaded, and stand ready for despatch, usually to Duluth, 254 miles distant, on the western corner of Lake Superior. The crops of 1879 and 1880 Mr. Dalrymple states to be much the same as those of former seasons. They average 1 5 to 20 bushels an acre of 60 lbs. to the bushel. The natural weight is 59 lbs. to the bushel. As usual the produce of the newly broken-up land is best. The quality is fully as good as that of 1878. When run once through the winnower at Duluth, it will be graded No. i hard. Mr. Dalrymple usually sells as fast as he can deliver, but in 1879, holding for the rise, he had for some weeks the chief portion of his crops warehoused at Duluth. The oats are re- ported to yield 50 bushels to the acre and 38 lbs. to the bushel ; last year 60 bushels were produced. The barley did not do particularly well in 1879; but Cost of Wheat Production. . 209 generally runs 40 bushels. On each farm a few pota- ■ toes, cabbages, swedes, and other vegetables are grown for home use and. for the cows which are kept to supply dairy produce ; but wheat-growing is the great business of this great farm. Now comes the important question of the cost of production. Mr. Dalrymple furnishes the following figures : — $ c. Land valued 3.\. $12 per acre, interest thereon at 6 per cent. ....... 7^ Taxes and rates .10 Buildings, machinery, and teams, valued at $'i-0, interest at 10 per cent. . . . . . 10 Ploughing . , . .....30 Seed I SO Harvesting and thrashing 3 o Total cost of growing an acre of v?heat . . 8 42 Mr. Dalrymple thus produces an acre of wheat for less than /8.50, or 35i-. 6d. per acre ; indeed, he asserts that hitherto the actual cost has not reached $^, except- ing in the case of the first year's crop, which the extra expenses of breaking and two ploughings advance to $1 1. For four years his acreable yield is said to have averaged 20 bushels. On the basis of this calculation the wheat would cost nearly 43 cents, or \s. \od. per bushel, or 14^. Zd. per quarter. On his own and other suitable wheat-growing farms, in favourable seasons, Mr. Dalrymple declares that the crop does not costmor aud with home- reared beef and bacon. Five miles from Winnipeg, at the Scotch colony of Kildonnan, founded forty years ago, are about 1,000 in- dustrious agriculturists occupied in mixed husbandry, few of them with more than 160 acres, but all prosperous and contented. The land, a few years since, exhausted by wheat-growing, has lately been better managed, and, although not clean, grows 25 bushels of wheat and double that amount of oats. The hard yellow corn preferred by the distillers is successfully produced. Potatoes do admirably in the friable loam, swedes and clover flourish. The annual rainfall, including melted snow, is about 25 inches. The highest summer tem- perature is 95", the lowest winter cold is — 40°, which proves sometimes rather trying, and the keen frost is apt provokingly to extend into April, preventing all 02 2 28 Manitoba. agricultural work. On April i8, 1880, some of my friends crossed the Red River on the ice and ten days more elapsed before ploughing or wheat-sowing could be begun. The severe prolonged winter is quickly followed by a short, hot Norwegian summer ; grain, fruit, and flowers, such as are familiar in England, flourish and come to perfection. At Selkirk, a rising town on the Canadian Pacific line, where it crosses the Red River, twelve miles north of Winnipeg, the railway cuttings are furnishing capital lime-stone rock and brick earth and shingle, all of which are being freely used for building pur- poses. North of Selkirk, which stands high, and descending towards the lake, the country is not of much agricultural value, being chiefly divided between wood and prairie swamp. H^re and around Shoal Lake, twenty miles farther north, many of the best farmers are young men from Ontario, who, although sorely tried by two wet seasons, are contented, gene- rally doing well, and not finding the long cold winter more trying than in their former home. Besides full crops of grain, turnips grow well, producing 700 bushels an acre, while 300 bushels of potatoes are produced often with the small trouble of cutting the prairie turf partially with a stock axe, introducing the potato set, and again firming down the turf with the foot. Eighty miles south of Winnipeg, on each side of the Red River, are the settlements of the Mennonites, German Quaker emigrants from Russia, which they leave in large numbers mainly to escape the conscription, so irreconcilable with their principles. In this Red The Asstniboine Valley. 229 River settlement 8,000 of these thrifty, industrious people are collected. They have not, however, been very fortunate in their location ; the land is sadly in want of draining; and their wheat yield has conse- quently dropped to 10 or 12 bushels. Wheat-growing is at present their principal occupation, but it would be well if they Were encouraged to multiply their re- sources. It can never answer to have all the eggs in one basket. A much richer country opens west of Winnipeg, extending along the northern bank of the Assiniboine, peopled chiefly by English and Scotch half-breeds, descendants of the pensioners sent out by the British Government in the days of the Hudson Bay Company. This race furnishes more industrious, painstaking far- mers than the French half-breeds, who show more of the restless wandering spirit of the Indian, who make good trappers and hunters, and who become more numerous about Bale St. Paul, so famous for its rich green, English-like pastures. Westward, to Portage la Prairie, 75 miles from Winnipeg, the country is a fine rolling prairie, the soil lighter, more kindly and pro- ductive than about Winnipeg. Good crops of wheat, oats, and barley are being harvested during the last week of September. The yield of wheat on the best farms reaches 35 bushels of 60 lbs. Barley, which is often put in as late as June, yields 35 to 40 bushels of 38 lbs. Oats cast 60 to 70 bushels of 34 lbs. Potatoes produce 300 to 400 bushels. A good deal of Hungarian millet is grown for fodder. Labourers with board get ^15 a month, and i^l"SO to ^3-50 is given, in, harvest. 230 Manitoba. Even thus far north are abundant records of crops destroyed by locusts, hatching early in May, becoming winged, taking flight, and beginning their destructive attacks in the end of June or early in July, and clear- ing every green crop before them. Great losses were thus sustained in 1874 and 1875. Land varies much in value; for some well-placed holdings near river frontage ^^20 an acre is asked, but similar land farther back from the river can still be got at one fourth that price. Taxes, chiefly for school purposes, range from 10 to 30 cents an acre. Messrs. Read and Pell in .their report mention, 'that a great portion of the land here is held by speculators and companies, and there is quite a rush of farmers' sons to the west to acquire land under homestead law and the right of pre-emp- tion to the further quantity of 160 acres. The result is that instead of all the land being developed in this neighbourhood, three-fourths will remain as prairie until the far west is settled. The singular mixture of dirt and discomfort in the dress of the farmers and in the house and surroundings was enough to astonish anyone who was assured of the good and affluent position of the owners.' The Lieutenant-Governor of the State, M. Cauchon, who, three years ago, came to Winnipeg from Quebec, is well satisfied with the condition and progress of this youngest province of the Dominion. Both the Governor and his son are extensive farmers- The town which has sprung up around Fort Garry, he informs me, contained only 700 inhabitants in 1 87 1, and has now ten times that population. Sales of Land and of Produce. 231 During the year ending October 31, 1876, 154,003 acres of land were disposed of at the Dominion Land Offices, at "Winnipeg. During the year ending October 31, 1878, 682,592 acres were granted, bringing the total area of lands disposed of in Manitoba to fully 2,000,000 acres. The province is gradually becoming self-supporting so far as concerns the chief necessaries of life, though imports of foreign goods are rather dim- inishing, and for the year to June 30, 1878, stand at #1,171,105 ; while the exports, steadily creeping up, are valued for the same period at #725,898. Bishop Tache, the Roman Catholic archbishop of this great domain, has resided for thirty-four years at St. Boniface. During many years a missionary amongst the Indians, he travelled much and gathered the valuable information set forth in his work ' Seventy- Years of Missions in the North-west of America.' His experience, discretion, and large-heartedness have gained him great influence, not only amongst the com- munity, where he has ruled as archbishop for twenty- seven years, but throughout the whole province and amongst his old friends the Indians. He has greatly helped to forward the cause of education, has several schools under his own special care, and was zealous in the establishment of the University of Manitoba, which represents the Episcopal College of St. John, the Roman Catholic College of St. Boniface, and the Presbyterian College of Manitoba. These bodies, wisely working in harmony, with other powers relating to education, grant degrees in arts, science, law, and medicine. 232 Manitoba. No one knows the country better than Archbishop Tache. He tells me that for growing wheat, oats, and barley an immense proportion of the land is as well adapted as any he knows in England, France, or Germany. What the country mainly wants, and is now gradually getting, is cheaper and more accessible communication by land and water. The Archbishop aptly illustrated the need of improved transport by the history of his cathedral bells, which some years ago came from London and were landed at Montreal. In their tedious transit by river, lake, and canal, they had to be transferred thirty-seven times. Unfortunately the belfry was shortly burnt ; the fragments of melted metal were, however, gathered up and forwarded to London, the bells were recast and again hang in St. Boniface tower, after being again subjected to thirty- seven portages on each of their journeys. Good national schools, supported by liberal land grants and where education is provided gratuitously, are rising throughout the province. The different nationalities agree very well. The Archbishop reports the Irish to be steady and very fair settlers, but the young Canadians frcm Maine and New Brunswick, accus- tomed to farmwork and inured to cold winters, consti- tute the best pioneers and farmers. The communistic Germans, who infest Chicago and are met with farther south, are not numerous here. The high price of coal, often bringing ^i 8 a short ton, his Grace justly observes, is a serious evil in the cold winter season ; but wood is cheap, and coal abounds on the Saskatchewan and Produces Wheat of Fine Quality. 233 also south-west on the Yellowstone, and will prove a great boon when worked and deported throughout the country. Mr. J. W. Taylor, United States' Consul at Win- nipeg during the last thirteen years, and with previous extensive experience in various parts of America, con- firms the generally entertained opinion that the quality of the wheat improves as the northern limit of its cul- tivation is approached, and declares that the spring wheats grown in Manitoba will always bring five to ten cents a bushel more than those raised 200 miles south. Minneapolis millers, anxious to secure wheat rich in gluten, he adds, are sending their buyers to Winnipeg, and in order to avoid the 20-cent duty levied on each bushel used in the States, are carrying it south in sealed wagons, grinding it in bonded mills, and exporting the patent flour to England. Lord Beaconsfield recently extolled the resources of this portion of the Canadian Dominion. The amount of good land awaiting cultivation is certainly enormous. The whole of the tenants of an English county might be translated to the Assiniboine Valley, and supplied with the same acreage which they farm at home without appreciably reducing its great tracts of fertile land. The inducements offered by the Canadian Government are sufficiently attrac- tive ; even the railway lands can be bought upon favourable terms. But prudent, thoughtful emigrants, as already hinted, with reason, find serious drawbacks in the want of cheap, convenient transit. Their pro- 2 34 Manitoba. duce cannot be profitably disposed of. Wheat is often ten cents a bushel lower on the Canadian side than lOO miles south in the States territory. Coals at Winnipeg and throughout the district cost, as above- mentioned, 1^18 a short ton. • Lumber for house build- ing and other work is one-third dearer than it is 300 miles farther south. All household requisites are high. Until these disadvantages are removed by increased and extended railway facilities, this desirable region of Canada cannot be peopled and developed as it should be. The enormous area of land both in Canada and the United States which, as I have endeavoured to show, is suitable for wheat-growing, its wide geographi- cal distribution, its varied conditions of climate, lessen materially the chances of widespread failure, and justi- fy the belief that for many long years no apprehension need be felt as to the abundance and cheapness of bread. Allowing for the exhaustion of land by con- tinuous wasteful wheat culture, the fresh virgin soils will still last for several generations. On this conti- nent, certainly not one-seventh of the land available for wheat-growing has yet been cultivated. Nor with the area of cultivation extending westwards will the cost of the wheat even when brought to Europe necessarily be increased. Cheap machinery and cheap transit will probably counterbalance this disadvantage. Cheap land and cheap transport are the two important factors which enable America profitably to make good the food deficiencies of European countries. Her capa- Enormous A rea for Wheat-growing. 2 3 « bility to continue, or, if necessary, to increase, her exports of breadstuff's is undoubted. She now ex- ports on an average one-third of the wheat, but only one- seventh of the maize, she grows. 236 CHAPTER XV. ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. St. Paul, the capital of the State of Minnesota, is one of the most charming and prosperous cities in America. Its terraces of handsome stone houses rise along the left bank and elevated bluffs of the Missis- sippi. From many a commanding position the undu- lating wooded country, the beautiful valleys, the grand sweeps of the great Father of Waters, present a magnificent, almost matchless panorama. Around St. Paul are many famous haunts of the Indians, who, with a spirit of poetry often seen in savage tribes, have a strong appreciation of the picturesque and beautiful. St. Paul repeats the story of many Western towns.- It has grown and developed with wonderful rapidity. In 1849 it had 30 inhabitants, now it has 50,000. Its aggregate annual trade is stated at ^44,000,000. It is the centre of a growing network of railways. Its elevated position and fine climate attract many visitors, especially from the relaxing warmer Southern States. Limestone rock of beauti- ful quality and of three shades of colour in grand blocks is readily got out of the cliffs and ridges on which the town is built, and, used alike for public lis Extending Business. 237 and private dwellings, gives a solidity and freshness which wooden or brick-built towns never possess. Villas as sumptuous and inviting as those around Kew or Richmond abound in the well-laid out avenues and extend into the suburbs. Concurrently with this material growth educa- tion and culture have been well provided for. Churches and handsome public schools, quite as im- posing as those of the London School Board, are numerous. But the cost of erection and maintenance fortunately come only in part out of the pockets of the ratepayers. One-eighteenth portion of the lands of the State has been set aside for educational pur- poses. The proceeds of lands sold are invested on bonds, and the interest divided amongst the public schools of the State in proportion to the number of their scholars. This endowment at present suffices to meet several "weeks' school expenses. The balance required is made up from the one mill tax, and from the direct tax on the property of the district. The increasing value of the school lands will however, by- and-by, reduce the proportion to be drawn from taxa- tion. Gratuitous education is given to every child ; more advanced culture is also provided. A State University was eight years ago inaugurated near Minneapolis, five miles from St. Paul, where the President, William W. Folwell, LL.D., and twenty professors and tutors, give gratuitous instruction in literature, art, and science to nearly 400 students of both sexes, and of ages varying from fifteen to twenty-one. There are special curriculums for arts. 238 St Paul, Minnesota. for agriculture, and for mechanical science. On the occasion of our afternoon visit, a lecture on elocution was being given, other students were at geometric drawing, another class were busy at chemical analyses and investigations in the well-equipped laboratory, while small children, apparently from some junior school, without hindrance, were sauntering in an orderly way through the natural history museum, rich in elks, moose deer, and other western fauna, and un- restrained by college don or janitor. Another lot of plainly clothed youngsters were strolling in the con- servatory and botanical museum, and evidently en- joying and making good use of their rights as citizens of the Great Republic. On Saturday, the chief market day, the wide streets of St. Paul are thronged with buggies and waggons often to the number of four hundred ; wheat, hay, vegetables, and other farm produce are brought in ; lumber, and stores are the homeward carriage. The teams are chiefly active horses of the stamp of a London light omnibus nag, and weighing 900 lbs. to 1,200 lbs. Some of the farmers have driven in twelve miles ; more distant visitors have usually arrived by rail. Factors collect and despatch from St. Paul large and increasing quantities of wheat. Besides home supplies 2,000,000 quarters annually pass through the elevators for transhipment. By one railway 1,000 cars of Indian corn are forwarded from Omaha via St. Paul to Duluth at the moderate cost of eight or ten cents a bushel, the cars loading back with lumber. A large number of cattle grazed and Minneapolis. 239 fed throughout the State are railed to Chicago and New York, and during the past ten days three special trains, each containing 400 to 500 compact, useful, well-fed beasts, have been unloaded, fed, watered, and rested in transit from Northern Wyoming or Montana, where, at a cost of £'>, or £a^, they are picked up, quietly driven, grazing by the way, to Mandon or Bismarck, there loaded and forwarded by the Northern Pacific to Chicago, a distance of upwards of 800 miles, at a cost of about $^2^, or I'^s. 6d. This is a comparatively new source of cattle for the eastern markets, and with the railway facilities is likely to be greatly developed. Driving north eight miles over beautiful undulating downs of light sand and limestone soil, grazed by useful dairy cattle, with varied view of water, wood, and hill, Minneapolis is reached, famous for its great water-power flour mills. Between the two cities, which it is said will in twenty years expand and merge into one, there is ample choice of drives : one by the Mississippi banks is specially fine, and another, 60 ft. to 90 ft. wide, where not already fringed with timber, is being planted as a boulevard, and laid out in park- like fashion with racing and driving tracks and broad walks for foot-passengers. Here, on a capital Rotten- row of the far west, numbers of horsemen and horse- women turn out in the fine autumn afternoon, and help to illustrate, as so much else does, that here in the centre of the American continent, where, within the memory of many inhabitants, Indians, elks, and buffalo roamed the wood and prairie, there have 240 S^. Paul, Minnesota. rapidly grown prosperity and culture undistinguish- able from that of many English towns dating from the Norman Conquest. The State of Minnesota comprises 53,459,840 acres : it approaches the size of New York and Pennsylvania together ; it has two-thirds the area of the British Islands. One-third is occupied with timber, which abounds in the north-east, where the country is hilly and rugged and the soil thin and poor, yet capable of growing good oak, elm, and pine. Another belt of timber extends from St. Paul towards the south-western portion of the State. There are 7,000 lakes, most containing fish, the shal- lower frequented by wild ducks and geese, their bright clear aspect fully justifying the title of ' Minnesota,' or ' the sky-tinted waters.' In a primeval state these waters have generally overspread this and 'adjacent States, and on the Lower Silurian in the eastern parts of the State, and on granite and porphyry in the west, have deposited beds of limestone and cretaceous clay on which are imposed a diluvium of one to four feet of fertile loam. On many elevated positions huge boulders of blue granite, gravel, and rocks of foreign material have been deposited by glaciers. The level prairie surfaces, often extending for a stretch of many miles in every direction, are interspersed with more rolling country, and are drier and cut up by fewer ' slews ' or guUeys than are met with in the Red River or Assiniboine valleys. These prairies are kept bare of trees by frequently recurring fires, which occasionally in spring, more frequently in autumn, Prairie Fires. 241 devour every green thing. When they gather force and are impelled by a steady breeze, they advance in a V-shaped form at the rate of a mile in three or four minutes, the flames towering fifty feet, and extend- ing two or three miles wide. These fires sometimes destroy houses, barns, and hay-ricks, sacrifice human lives, and leave on the blackened prairie the roasted car- cases of animals unable to escape from the devouring element. The prairie traveller, always provided with a box of matches, when he sees the conflagration ad- vancing, sets fire to the dry grass about him, and thus speedily clears a space on which he stands scatheless whilst the wall of flame turns aside. To protect homesteads, hay or corn ricks, or young trees from such danger, the land around for several yards is ploughed. Trees eight or ten years old stand the scorching. Rivers and lakes along their southern and eastern shores usually escape the fire, which travels with the prevailing north or north-westerly winds. These recurring fires get rid of coarse grass, continually furnish valuable plant food, and improve the herbage. The extreme winter cold is probably the chief disadvantage of life in Minnesota ; but although the thermometer sometimes falls as low as — 4odeg., the atmosphere is dry and clear, the sun shines, and if care is taken that the ears are not frosted and one can move briskly about, there is less discomfort than in damper Eastern climates with the temperature 60 deg. higher. Keen cutting winds occasionally drive across the prairies ; there is seldom much snow R 242 SL Paul, Minnesota. — more would be acceptable. The summer heat in the shade reaches go deg. ; 22 in. to 28 in. is the rain- fall reported in various seasons and localities. Farming in Minnesota is more diversified than in many other States, either to the north or south. As in Dakota and Manitoba, wheat is grown ; the spring varieties are almost invariably preferred ; the hard winter and sparse protection of snow prevent the successful planting of winter wheat. The ample crop of 1877 produced, according to the United States official returns, upwards of 33,000,000 bushels, or an average of i8'5 bushels a!n acre: but the scorching summer of 1878, and the dry spring of 1879 reduced the average of both these years. Although some successful managers secured 20 bushels per acre, a good many, unfortunately, had to content themselves with eight or ten. More generally satisfactory results were secured in 1880, and with the widening area of cultivation upwards of 42,000,000 bushels of wheat are now annually produced in Minnesota. Indian corn, although not so largely grown or so luxuriant as in Nebraska, Southern Iowa, or Missouri, thrives capitally and pays well. The State is credited with 17,000,000 bushels in 1878, which is an average of 30 bushels an acre. Still larger returns have been obtained from the extending cultivation of 1879 and 1880. Probably three-fourths of the corn-crop is wisely consumed at home in the feeding of cattle and hogs. Half a million acres are devoted to oats. The yield is officially stated at 33-5 bushels ; the produce does not, however, usually weigh over 32 lbs. Cattle-rearing and Feeding. 243 a bushel. The cultivation of barley is extending both for malting and for feeding. In many districts linseed is being tried, but although profitable use can be made of the seed, the fibre is not yet readily disposed of Sorghum is grown in many counties, and yields an abundance of rich syrup, producing readily crystallisable sugar. For the preparation and refining of this sugar a manufactory has been established at Farribault, 40 miles south of St. Paul. Potatoes and other vegetables grow well. Within the last few years cattle are being reared in increasing numbers, of improved quality, and with satisfactory profit. The chief difficulty and expense is providing a really useful bull. The cows run on the prairie or among the shaded shrubs. Water is abundant, and where lakes and streams are not accessible, a well of 20 ft. to 50 ft. reaches a good supply. No provision generally is made for roots or green crops to carry the stock over the winter ; but hay is cut and cocked at the costof ;^i-25 per ton, and is brought in for the stock as they require it in winter. In many districts hay well saved can be delivered to the farmers' stables at ;$2'S0 to ^'3 a ton of 2,000 lbs. As three tons of this useful blue-joint hay, and 3 lbs. or 4 lbs. of corn, worth one-halfpenny a pound, will keep in improving condition a two-year-old beast throughout the four or five months of winter, some estimate may be formed of the moderate cost of stock-rearing. The summer feeding entails even less trouble and expense. A lad at $6 or $% a month will take charge of 50 to 100 cattle on the prairie, 244 •^^- Paul, Minnesota. on one's own farm, or graze them over unoccupied Government school or other lands, where the only- fault of the grass is its luxuriant abundance, occasion- ally altogether concealing the stock grazing among it. For the privilege of such pasturage over the un- occupied lands of absentees rent is seldom asked or offered. One successful stock owner showed me, however, several Government sections which he rents for one cent an acre annually, and without any restric- tion as to mowing and carrying the hay on to his own land adjacent. Sheep as yet are not much cultivated, are generally more or less of the Merino character ; wool rather than mutton is 'Still desiderated ; the confinement of the stock during the long winter, and their restriction during that period to dry food, somewhat interfere with thriving. With cheap sheds, more yard room, a few roots or cabbages, which grow capitally, mixed with the hay and corn, and some attention to their feet, there is no reason why sheep should not answer well. Hogs are not so numerous as in the more purely corn-growing States of Iowa and Mis- souri, but are generally good. Indeed, I have not seen a thriftless bad pig since I landed in America. Horse breeding is receiving attention, and much need, for the horses are neither as big, shapely, nor as pro- fitable as they should be. The prosperity of Minnesota has been mainly fostered by the extensive and energetic development of her railways. The Mississippi, navigable for 90 miles above St. Paul, was originally the great highway. Extension of Railways. 245 and still proves useful for the moving of lumber and some heavy goods. In 1862 the State had but 10 miles of railway ; now she has 3,000 miles, and is laying down upwards of 300 miles annually. Through the level prairie, without any heavy cuttings or embankments, with only low wooden bridges, such lines are constructed and equipped at about 3,000/. a mile. The St. Paul and Sioux City and other enter- prising lines do not always wait for the march of population westward ; they obtain from the State a grant of every alternate section of one square mile or 640 acres for ten or twenty miles on each side of their approved line ; they push their railway into the new, scarcely inhabited, country. There are no heavy Parliamentary expenses, no litigation with captious owners objecting to severance of their estates, not even a sportsman puts in a plea for the disturbance of game. Within six or eight months a line of 50 miles is often surveyed, staked out, and built, the iron rails laid, station houses put up every ax or seven miles, and a steady fellow appointed, whose principal work for some time is in his garden. But as emi- grants follow along, the man's importance and income speedily increase. He has a small percentage on the business done ; he has something for showing the railway lands, which are soon picked up at prices varying from #4 to $i an acre. Those three or four miles back from the railway are obtainable at less money. In Minnesota, the Government lands have almost all been taken up under homestead, pre-emp- tion, or timber grants, and the various railway com- 246 5V. Paul, Minnesota. panics are hence the chief parties from whom good accessible lands can now be obtained. The price of land, as might be expected, varies considerably with its situation and other circumstances, beginning as low as $1 an acre. It is, however, steadily rising. Near railway stations, even 100 miles from St. Paul, a great deal bought or pre-empted at j^i or $2 an acre is now worth $10, and where buildings have been erected, trees and fences planted, and other im- provements made, even purely agricultural sections sell for 1^20 to $2^. Although a large proportion of the State has already been disposed of to settlers, speculators, and others, and although a considerable area is usefully occupied for grazing, not one-tenth has as yet been brought under cultivation, and of that cultivated portion certainly not one half receives the ploughing and other labour requisite to produce the best returns. The deep, good, easily worked soil which is so widely distributed in this State only needs more labour, capital, and steady industry to increase its production both of bread-stuffs and of meat. Market-gardening, which flourishes on the light, tiable loam around St. Paul, is pursued chiefly by ermans, who have recently been paying £^0 to ;^40 an acre, and generally cultivate five to ten acres. Some have advances to about half the value of their purchase, accommodation for which they have to pay 10 per cent. Most of the smaller farmers also grow the commoner vegetables for sale in St. Paul and Minneapolis, succeeding particularly well with potatoes, which produce 200 to 300 bushels an acre, and sell at Cheap Pasture for Cows. 247 about 25 cents per bushel, with cabbages, which bring 4 cents or 5 cents per head, and with onions, which fetch 35 cents per bushel. There is nothing special to note in the management of these vegetables. These • vegetable growers as yet are, however, the only farmers who appreciate the value of manure and find time to apply it. In the west it is still gene- rally regarded as a waste product, to be got out of the way as cheaply as possible. When it accumulates several feet high around the buildings, a stream is sometimes turned on to carry it away, or the hovel itself may be moved. If the manure is carted, it is generally to fill up some hole or make a road. Wheat straw sells at ^3 to $\ a ton in St. Paul, but a few miles out it is valueless and thousands of tons are annually burnt throughout the State. When the paper mills which are in contemplation in various districts are in full operation, straw may become of some value independently of its agricultural uses. Owing to the abundance of common lands and grazings in the woods or on unoccupied prairie land rent free or at nominal rates, many cows are kept in the neighbourhood of St. Paul. They are seen in herds often numbering 100, and are looked after, as the law insists, by a lad. Some are turned out with their calves at foot. Many are decorated with a bell hung round the neck. All are brought in and distri- buted to their owners at night. Milk sells at about \od. per gallon. Butter is of good quality, usually made rather salt, and worth is. to \s. \d. per lb. ; cheese is rarely made. All the considerable dairy 248 Si. Paul, Minnesota. folks have 'spring houses,' usually built of stone, situated on some stream or lake, sheltered by a few trees, with the water flowing through rude clay, stone, or iron tanks, in which the tins of milk are placed so soon as drawn from the cow. All these people are comfortable and well-to-do. Their common history is ' ten or twenty years ago they had nothing.' Now they own, often without encumbrance, their land and what it carries. Writing of corn and cattle, of land, its capabilities and its value, I cannot stay to describe this beautiful and varied country : the woodland drive.5 by the banks of the Mississippi ; the crystal bays of Minne- tonka Lake, on which four large steamers carry ex- cursionists ; the delicate, lace-like tracery of the Minnehaha Falls, or the grand commanding position of Fort Snelling, built in i8ig, 70 ft. above the meet- ing of the waters of the Minnesota and Mississippi, famous in many an Indian campaign, and now the chief United States fort of the North-west. Beyond this are wonderful upheavals of the displaced sand- stone and limestone rocks. At Mandota, hard by, General Sibley forty years ago built the first private residence in the country, having no white neighbours, excepting in the fort, for 300 miles. No one has been more intimately concerned in the progress of this State than General Sibley, who informs me that his love of wild sports brought him here in 1834. As head of a great fur-trading company, he travelled widely over the North-west, with a faithful white servant ; he lived much among the Indians, receiving Game Laws. 249 from them uniform kindness, often supplied with the best their slender resources could furnish. In his hunting expeditions he constantly encountered herds of moose and buffalo. With Indian troubles looming, he was rightly regarded the fittest man to command at Fort Snelling, and more recently he was elected the first Governor of Minnesota. Although the elk, buffalo, and other big game have retired before the advance of colonisation, there is still abundant sport in the woods and on the prairies, and from trains, from carriages, and when on foot, we have raised countless prairie chickens, grouse, quails, golden plovers, wild ducks and geese, great sand-hill cranes, weighing 20 lbs. and fat as tuikeys at Christ- mas, with rabbits and hares, the latter oddly termed Jack-rabbits. A sportsman desirous of striking into new but pleasant quarters for either shooting or fishing might do much worse than come to Minnesota. He can reach St. Paul within 15 days from London, and at a moderate cost of £2^. Solicitous to preserve good sport, Minnesota, in common with other States, has enacted game laws. There are no penalties against shooting or trapping on other people's land. The sportsman can shoot or fish where he lists. The small owner or tenant has himself to blame if any damage is sustained from game ; but a close time is rigidly prescribed, and infringement of its provisions is punished by fine or imprisonment. It is unlawful to kill or traffic in the subjoined descriptions of game, excepting during the following periods : — Woodcock, July 4 to November i ; pi-airie chicken, August 15 250 S^. Paul, Minnesota. to October i ; quail or partridge, September i to December i ; ruffled grouse or pheasant, .September I to December i ; aquatic fowl, September i to May 1 5 ; elk, deer, &c., November i to December 1 5 ; brook trout, April i to October i. Two farms visited in the neighbourhood of St. Paul afford some idea of the farming of the locality. Mr. Smith, of the Meadows, owns 300 acres three miles from town ; 140 acres were bought in 1867 at ^20 per acre, but subsequent and more recent ad- ditions have cost from ^25 to $\o an acre. The land is undulating, and was chiefly underwood and scrub, which has been grubbed at a cost of ,^20 an acre with ^5 for clearing off the timber and ^5 for the first ploughing. These items forcibly set forth the expenses of bringing woodland under thorough cultiva- tion. About $10 an acre was however realised by the sale of the wood. The farm is enclosed and conve- niently subdivided. Before it was enclosed 500 cattle occasionally strayed over it, devouring everything almost as closely as the locusts did in some districts in 1874 and 1875. Draining a few springy, wet places has been effected with 3 in. pipes placed 4 ft. deep. Eighty acres are still in wood, with a lake of ten acres, which it is proposed to drain. A stable and cattle .shed, with a barn overhead, has been built of stone and timber, 100 ft. long and 50 ft. wide, covered with wooden shingles, or thin slips of wood cut and put on like slates. The building, which is 48 ft. to the eaves, is divided into two stories ; the lower, eight feet high, partitioned the long way, allows four Mr. Smith, of the Meadows. 251 rows of cattle to be tied up. Accommodation is said to be provided for no animals; but such a number would necessitate close packing. The upper barn portion will store 200 tons of hay, with bran and meal, and through convenient hatches and shoots, and with very little manual labour, the horses and cattle below are fed. A well 20 ft. deep is sunk in the middle of the shed, and with pump and iron piping the water is conveniently distributed. A very nice, well-finished dwelling-house of wood, with ten rooms, has been erected at a cost of $2,o093)362 bushels; the shipments were 7,302,076 bushels, of which 2,715,909 bushels were exported to Europe, 4,359,081 bushels went east by rail, a large proportion of it for exportation ; the balance was dis- tributed locally. Great Britain proves St. Louis's best foreign customer. Besides receiving direct 324,912 bushels of wheat, she takes five-sixths of the flour, nearly all the cotton, canned meats and hams, lard, tallow, oil-cakes, and cotton- seed meal. England, on through bills of lading, has 353,505 barrels of flour; Scotland, 169,482 ; Ireland, 70,241. The flour, although estimated in barrels, is now mostly for- warded in sacks containing 140 lbs. The public railroad rates for 100 lbs. of grain for- warded from St. Louis to New York or Montreal, dis- tances of 1,100 to 1,200 miles, varied during 1879 from 23 to 46 cents ; indeed, during May, competition was so keen that freights were ' demoralised,' and flour was taken to New York at 8 cents per barrel, and grain at \2\ cents per 100 lbs. The terms to Phila- delphia and Baltimore are usually a little lower than those to New York. The Mississippi carries down a thousand miles to New Orleans at small cost, a great amount of cargo, which, now that the mouths are opened for the admission of larger vessels, will doubt- less still further increase. Several thousand tons of freight by this easy but roundabout route are carried between St. Louis and New York. Six million bushels of various sorts of grain, in large boats, were towed down the Mississippi in 1 879 ; and cc 386 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. but for the low state of the river in summer and autumn, the transport by water would have been greater. During the open January of 1880, 1,500,000 bushels of grain were forwarded to New Orleans, one tow taking, besides package freight, 270,000 bushels, and another 225,376 bushels. The charges to New Orleans for 1879 averaged 7 cents per bushel for corn, and \ cent per bushel more for wheat. Thus cheaply dropped down the Mississippi stream 3,000,000 bushels of wheat and 4,500,000 bushels of corn were collected and exported from New Orleans in 1879. France still maintaining her connection with her old colony, in 1879 and 1880 had about two-thirds of the wheat and one-third of the maize. The Mississippi and its great tributaries bring to St. Louis in rafts 131,482,871 feet of lumber, besides 40,000 logs, and quantities of roofing shingles, laths, and pickets. Nine-tenths of this timber is white pine from the Upper Mississippi, which also furnishes Cottonwood. The Lower Mississippi contributes yellow pine, ash, oak, poplar, and some walnut, which also grows well along the Lower Missouri. Like so many other commodities, after several years of de- pression, lumber has advanced in price, and is in great demand for building, as well as for railway, purposes. Coal, coming chiefly from Ohio and Kentucky, is mostly forwarded by rail, reaches 37,000,000 bushels annually, whilst 34,000,000 bushels of coke are also received. Good coal is usually worth 15J. to 20s. per ton of 2,000 lbs. St. Louis is the great cotton emporium of the in- Stockyards. 387 terior. Her lines of railroad, radiating into the great growing districts, bring in twenty times the cotton imported ten years ago : 400,000 bales, are now re- ceived annually. Three great companies have a com- pressing capacity of 6,000 bales a day, and covered storage for 206,000 bales. Three-fourths of the cotton is transported by the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad and brought chiefly from Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. Of the 104,150 bales shipped direct to Europe during twelve months to August 31, 1879, 98,598 went to Liverpool. To New York or eastern ports the freight is about 54 cents per 100 lbs. The average weight of the bales for 1878-79 was 484 lbs. The price of middling cotton has ranged from 9 to 13 cents. Several other important industries flourish at St. Louis. Three distilleries mash and distil 614,514 bushels of grain, produce 3-62 gallons of spirits per bushel, pay a duty of 90 cents per gallon, and have yielded 2,228,088 gallons of spirits, classified as ' Bourbon,' ' alcohol,' ' gin,' ' high wines,' and ' pure neutral or Cologne spirits.' A large amount of spirit is besides rectified and compounded, and a good deal must be consumed, for the United States excise officers make a return of 10,650,084 gallons of spirits of various sorts gauged during 1 879. St. Louis has two lots of stockyards both con- nected with the railroad, concentrating each week 8,000 to 10,000 pattle, 3,000 to 4,000 sheep, and 25,000 to 30,000 hogs. Three-fourths of the live stock come from the west and south, chiefly for- c c 2 388 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. warded by the St. Louis and San Francisco, the Missouri Pacific, the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern, and other lines entering Kansas and Texas. Upwards of 30,000 cattle, 66,000 sheep, and 5,023 horses and mules are yearly brought by boat, often several hundred miles down the Mississippi and Missouri. Freely using these inexpensive means of transport, comparatively few animals are now driven to market. The returns of these for 1879 comprise 11,500 cattle, 14,610 sheep, 9,511 pigs, and only 20 horses. About half the live stock pitched in St. Louis are forwarded north and east. The following are the number of animals received in the stockyards, and the numbers sent on during 1879 : — No. No. Des- Received patched Cattle 420,654 226,25s Sheep 182,648 88,083 Hogs 1,762,724 686,099 Horses and Mules . . . . 33,289 36,947 Numbers of mules collected by the principal breeders and brought up by road do not come into the stockyards, but are sold privately, and sent on mostly by rail, accounting for the number of horses and mules received being smaller than those de- spatched. The cattle in the St. Louis, as in other stock- yards, are very mixed. The Colorado and a few Oregon beasts have more compactness and quality than the Texans. A few superior three-year-old short- horns and Hereford reaching 1,600 lbs. to 1,700 lbs. are (October 1879) worth \\ to 4f cents per lb. gross Beef Canning Company. 389 or live weight. A good many Cherokee and other native nondescript cows in poor condition weighing 700 lbs. to 800 lbs. are selling at 2\ to 3 cents. Good cows near calving are, however, generally worth 5/. to 8/. The sheep, poor light Mexicans and Merinoes, weigh 80 lbs. to 85 lbs. gross, and are worth 2 to 2\ cents per lb. Good half-breds reaching 150 lbs., and dressing nearly 20 lbs. per quarter, are worth \\ cents per lb. live weight. Most of the pigs are useful. Although generally direct from grass or clover, or finished up with a few bushels of corn, they average 250 lbs. gross weight, and bring 3^ to 3| cents per lb. The winter-killed pigs are 20 to 30 lbs. heavier. From the Southern States are some big rough, flat-sided, unimproved specimens, showing a good deal of the tawny or black and brown feral colours, formidable jaws, and abundance of bristles. The packing for the year ending March ist, 1879, made away with 629,261 hogs. The products of pork and lard were 107,821,156 lbs. Connected with the National Stockyards are the well-arranged premises of the St. Louis Beef Canning Company, erected in 1876, occupying three acres, and costing with plant, machinery, &c., ;^200,ooo. The company employs i ,200 hands, the men receiving 4J. to \os. per day, the women and ^irls 2s. to 3 J. 6d. The busy period is during the summer and autumn months, while grass-fed beasts are abundant and cheap. During this period about 500 cattle are slaughtered daily, consisting chiefly of Texans, averag- ing 850 lbs. to 900 lbs. gross weight, costing (October 390 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. 1879) 2% cents per lb. live weight, producing about SS per cent, of dressed meat, which thus costs about 5 cents or 2\6.. per lb. As is generally the case throughout the continent, cold storage chambers, securing a temperature of about 36°, preserve the meat and the best of the offal. Considerable quan- tities of beef in a fresh state are furnished to the St. Louis butchers. Still larger amounts packed in galvanised iron drums are carried in the railway re- frigerator cars to various provincial cities, and even to New York. Tons of meat, carefully boiled or stewed, are put up in the familiar square tins containing i lb. to 14 lbs.; 100 tons are frequently prepared and packed in a day; tongues and poultry are also put up in a similar manner. The best of the fat is used for oleomargarine, and the other waste products, economi- cally, receive attention. Mr. Joy, the president of the company, informs me that he has no expectation of prices of cattle at St. Louis making much advance for many years : the beasts will continue to improve, he believes, as they recently have done, in quality. He anticipates no considerable increase in the cost of transport ; about \d. per lb. delivers his cases either in London or Paris ; and he can afford to fur- nish the retail merchant with i lb. of good meat, free of bone and without too much fat, at 6d. Both in England and France these canned meats are in increasing demand, especially in summer, when in a small house the kitchen fire becomes a nuisance. Mr. Whittaker's great pork packing establishment requires for its daily wants 3,000 to 5,000 hogs. They Successful Dairying. 391 are disposed of much in the same manner as in Chicago and Kansas. With a fine connection through- out the south, Mr. Whittaker has a good demand for his bacon, but sends most of his hams and lard to Europe. From her own packing establishments and what is brought to her markets, St. Louis annually exports about 220,000,000 lbs. of various hog pro- ducts, in 1879 comprising 7,500,000 lbs. of salted bacon and pork, 1,431,840 lbs. of hams, and 648,877 lbs. of lard exported direct to Europe. Of the ba- lance, 8.5,051 barrels of pork, 8,473,585 lbs. hams, 114,103,781 lbs. meats, and 19,05 2,000- lbs. lard went south for consumption ; while 4,136 barrels of pork, 12,212,094 lbs. hams, 21,581,432 lbs. of meats, and 19,048,785 lbs. lard were shipped to eastern markets.. Dairying in this part of Missouri appears tolerably prosperous. During 1879 and again in 1880 nearly 9 million lbs. of butter were sent into St. Louis, of which one-sixth part was forwarded east; 120,000 boxes of cheese, averaging 56 lbs., were marketed, of which nine-tenths were passed on. The short winter of ten weeks or three months minimises expenses. The cattle usually graze out until Christmas ; a field is left rough into which in fine weather the cows are turned almost daily. I am assured by several dairy- men that 200 to 300 lbs. of hay per cow is sufficient winter provision. Hay is worth from 40J. to 46J. per ton of 2,000 lbs. Besides hay and corn fodder, 4 or 5 lbs. of corn meal and i lb. of bran, costing 40 cents per 100 lbs., constitutes the winter dietary of cows in full milk. These Missouri dairymen tell me that the 392 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. average annual cost per cow does not exceed 6 cents per day, or less than 5^. per annum. Many of the dairy herds include Guernseys, Jerseys, and crosses between these and the native breeds. The relative merits of deep and shallow setting are anxiously canvassed ; deep setting is becoming most common. Every care is taken to keep down the temperature of the dairy. The milk is skimmed once after standing 24 or 36 hours ; 1 7 to 1 9 lbs. of milk are required to make i lb. of butter, 6 to 8 lbs. of butter per week are yielded by good cows for 36 to 40 weeks. Some of the best comes from the rolling limestone country south of St. Louis. For town use in eight-gallon tins, increas- ing quantities of milk ai-e brought night and morning, twenty to thirty miles by rail. The full can is con- veyed at one cent per mile, and returned empty free of cost ; 6d. to jd. per gallon is generally got for milk delivered in St. Louis. Careful managers of repute ob- tain 35 to 40 cents for their butter all the year round. St. Louis is one of the great mule markets of America. Like other descriptions of live stock, mules are bred in continually increasing numbers. The census returns have recently shown an augmentation of 100,000 a year. They now number two millions, or fully one-sixth of the number of horses. They are chiefly reared by small farmers in the States of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Mis- souri. Kentucky was wont to be the great mule- breeding State, but increasing attention having been given to horses and cattle, the mule business is pro- portionally restricted. They still, however, muster General Usefulness of Mules. 393 1 20,000 in Kentucky, but in Missouri they have risen to nearly 200,000* Mules, like horses, vary much in size and weight. Some are 17 hands high, strong and powerful as almost any horse, and when made up weigh 1,600 to 1,700 lbs. Others are as small as Shetland ponies^ Between these two extremes are all varieties of size and weight. The prevailing colours are brown, bay, and grey. A few blacks and chestnuts are met with, and occasional roans and piebalds. All are hardy and long-lived ; animals forty and fifty years old are frequently seen. They are very sure-footed ; not- withstanding hard and trying work, broken knees are much less comrtion than amongst horses ; lamenesses are also rare ; their legs and feet are very sound and strong. Many of the heavier draught mules will lift and move briskly away with a load of two tons. From properly selected parents many smart animals are reared, which carry themselves capitally, and which trot as well as most horses. At St. Louis we saw some very handsome mules well adapted for light harness work. One in a Sulky on the trotting track did her mile in 3 minutes 18 seconds, could keep up the pace for several miles, and so pleased our fellow-traveller Mr. Robert Cox of Gorgie, Edinburgh, that he bought her, and her good looks, docility, and paces are now much admired by Scotch connoisseurs. In temper and behaviour she shows more affinity to the horse than the ass. The total charges for her transport from St. Louis to Edinburgh were 15/. 394 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. In Great Britain mules are held in unjust con- tumely ; they are often stated to be obstinate, trea- cherous, and vicious. These aspersions on their character are unfounded. A few badly broken or cruelly treated become troublesome or vicious. The great majority are, however, as docile as any horses- or asses, and give no trouble either in the stable or at work. English stablemen and drivers have not, how- ever, yet got over their prejudices against mules. Brewers and others who have tried them find their men contemptuously grumble at 'them long-eared brutes.' The London and various tram-car com- panies who have used them, also complain that they cannot get their servants, either on the road or in the stable, to take the pride and pleasure in the mules that they do in horses. When disabled or unsuitable for continuous quick work, mules in Great Britain find few buyers. The horse cast from tram-car or omnibus work is worth lo/. to 15/. ; the mule which entered the stud at about the same price, although practically as serviceable as the cast horse, does not bring more than 5/., and is even despised at the knackers', who assert that his flesh does not boil properly or make attractive cat's-meat. So long as useful horses for tramway or omnibus work are pro- curable as they are at present at 35/. to 40/., the employment of mules for this work is not Hkely to extend in Great Britain. Messrs. Reilly and Wolford, of St. Louis, the largest mule dealers in the world, dispose of about 15,000 a year, and also sell about 6,000 horses. Breeding and Sales of Mules. 395 During the American war, in one year they turned over 25,000 mules ; they often forward 300 a week to the West Indies, and frequently send a few to Europe. They showed me nearly 1,000 mules of different de- scriptions, broken and unbroken, ranging from two years old and upwards. They assure me that they are safer to go about and handle than any untried horses ; and that although often yarded together in large numbers, they do not quarrel or injure each other as strange horses sometimes do. They exhibit much affection and strong gregarious habits, and always work better in pairs or several together. They are fond of horses, are often worked with them, and the strings or droves of mules, going from fair to fair, cheerfully follow a grey mare, usually decorated with a bell. They are more sensible and teachable than most horses, stand hardship better, and are more patient. Mr. Reilly corroborates the opinion of southern and many western farmers, that they are specially useful on account of their withstanding satisfactorily hot weather and the annoyance of flies. At the constant hard work of the tram-car companies, for which they are much used throughout the Mid, Southern, and Western States, they last longer than horses, some say double the time. Although they inherit the donkey's patient contentment with plain, coarse food, if they are to do good service they should get the same food as horses of the same weight and doing the same work. The farmers who use them so freely in Minnesota, Manitoba, and elsewhere, and the tram-car companies who run them in Chicago, Cincin- 396 Missouri Farming and St. Louis Trade. nati, and other cities, make no difference between the feeding and stabling of their mules and horses. The stud donkeys used in the best mule-breeding districts are tolerably carefully selected. A few are occasionally brought from Spain ; but many of the home-bred appear as good as any of the imported. Where big, stout mules are desired, an ass 16 hands high is used, with bold, rather big head, good loins, and great muscular limbs. Where a stud donkey has proved his capabilities satisfactorily, he is kept in service sometimes for twenty years. The service fee varies from 20s. to 60s. — a hundred mares is a full season's work. A few ' Jinneys ' are bred from the stallion horse and the ass, are rather finer about the head and ears, but are not otherwise distinguishable from the ordinary mule. The mules are dropped in April and May. They are generally suckled until July or August ; but the mother the while is often employed at light work. Their rearing no ways differs from that of the horse foal. Contrary to the usual opinion, they take quite as long as a horse in coming to maturity. A big mule should not be put to work until he is five ; many, however, are broken when three, and even when tv/o years old, when they are worth 12/. to 15/. They are sent to work and to market earlier than they used to be. Useful four- and five-year-old mules, 15^ to 16 hands high, and weighing about 1,000 lbs., are worth, in Kentucky or Missouri, 20/. to 22/. ; and stouter animals, adapted for heavier draught, are worth 5/. more. 397 CHAPTER XXIV. KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. In many parts of Kentucky the undulating surface, the old turf, the abundance of timber, the evidences of a hundred years of settlement with many comfortable farm homes and well-kept gardens, awaken recollec- tions of various southern English counties. This is the locality to suit middle-aged fairly well-to-do British agriculturists who cling to old world habits, who pine for familiar surroundings, who demand farms already set out and under cultivation, who demur to the breaking up of prairie, the building of houses and premises, and the rough work which falls to the lot of settlers out West. There is much diversity in the 18,000,000 acres which make up the State of Kentucky ; one-half of it is still estimated to be un- improved ; a wide area of the lower land is in timber ; in the bottoms are magnificent sycamore, oak, and walnut, often covered with luxuriant creepers. Wide breadths of the rich alluvium, exhausted by the growth of wheat and tobacco, with a few years' good manage- ment might be greatly improved. Throughout the extensive limestone regions the blue-grass flourishes, and grows and feeds admirably both cattle and sheep. 398 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. Thousands of bullocks — and they might be con- siderably multiplied — are fed on these rich grazings, make 400 lbs. to 500 lbs. in twelve months, reach at three years 1,500 lbs. to 1,600 lbs. live weight, are worth 4^ cents to 5 cents per lb., and produce 60 lbs. of beef for every 100 lbs. of live weight : the winter corn-fed beasts yield a still higher per-centage of beef. The cattle are chiefly shorthorns and shorthorn grades. Kentucky boasts of some of the most enterprising and successful American shorthorn breeders — of Mr. Abram Renick, who has moulded into their form of beauty the smart, shapely Roses of Sharon ; 'Mr. A. J. Alexander, of Woodburn, who has consistently ad- hered to Airdrie Duchesses, Barringtons, and other superior Bates sorts ; Messrs. Vanmeter and Hamilton, who own in this and other States upwards of 600 valuable shorthorn females ; Messrs. Thomas and Smith, who hold good Roses of Sharon and Marys ; Messrs. Bedford, who have successfully cultivated Bates families for forty years ; Colonel Sim, who keeps handsome serviceable Princesses ; Mr. Megibben of Fairview, who has Roses, Lady Bates, and other good strains ; and Mr. Warfield of Lexington, who owns a useful herd of mixed Bates and Booths. From such sources the ordinary cattle have been greatly impraved, and the proportion of thriftless ' scallowags ' is much smaller than in many other States. But enough home-bred stock is not reared to supply the wants of the graziers, and accordingly thousands of two- and three-year-old beasts are Dairying and Sheep-breeding. 399 brought from the south and west to be finished either , on the grass or in the yards. On the Kentucky dairy farms, which are numerous, especially near the towns, the hard-working occupiers make a fair livelihood. They usually own, or rent at about i6j. to 20J. an acre, from 100 acres to 1 50 acres ; ten to twelve cows are kept ; their calves are mostly reared : besides bringing up the calf, each cow earns annually about 6/. ; the milk is sold fresh at about ^d. per quart, or churned for butter, bringing \od. to \s. per lb. : not much cheese is made. Ten or twelve year- lings and the like number of two-year- olds are kept ; if of good quality and well reared, the latter reach 1,000 lbs. gross weight, and realise "jl. to 8/. Milch-cows are enumerated at 260,000 ; oxen and other cattle, valued for assessment at 3/. \os., number nearly half a million. Sheep-breeding has received a great deal of atten- tion in Kentucky. Mr. Robert Scott, of Frankfort, and other flockmasters, by careful selection of native ewes, mated chiefly with English Leicesters, Cotswolds and Oxford Downs, have established 'the improved Kentucky ' — a white-faced sheep brought to maturity in 18 to 20 months, readily reaching 22 lbs. a quarter, and with much of the appearance of the Border Leicester. Wide tracts of the upper lands in various parts of the State may still be bought at ^20 to $2,0 an acre, and appear well adapted for sheep-breed- ing. With a moderate valuation of 8.$-. 6d. each, sheep are recorded to number one million. Hogs worth nearly \os. each are enumerated at two millions. Kentucky may be called the Yorkshire of 400 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. America ; many of the larger farmers breed horses which are enumerated at 400,000, the mules, at 120,000: 9/. is their average value, moderately returned for assessment. Besides useful commoner horses, a large number are met with whose appearance attests crosses of superior English thorough-bred. From amongst these the agents of English dealers and job- masters make some of their most serviceable selections, and obtain for 25/. to 30/. five- or six-year-old animals, broken but not much used, with good style and quality, flat wearing legs, well adapted for carriage purposes, with a few which make hunters. The best of these Kentucky nags are undistinguishable from Irish or English horses, excepting that they are a trifle plainer in the setting on of the head, and have scarcely so much style or delicate chiselling about the muscles of the head and face. It costs about 2/. to forward them to New York ; the ocean freight is 9/. ; insurance, 6 per cent. The delays and diflSculties of landing at Liverpool are much complained of; and when the Milford Haven route is in full operation, it will command a large pro- portion of both the horse and cattle trades. With careful breaking in to the different mode of driving in England these Kentucky horses turn out well, and like those from Canada have more constitution and en- durance than the animals reared in the warmer South- ern States. The heavier horses bred after Clydesdale or Percheron sires are not generally so good as the lighter sorts. The American climate and soil, as well as the mode of work, appear unsuitable for the pon- derous cart-horse used in most parts of Great Britain. Blue yoint-Grass. 401 American waggons, vans, and lorries are much lighter than those used in England ; both man and horse accomplish their work at a smarter pace. The man in charge more generally drives than leads his team ; there is no anxiety, as is common at home, to curtail the quick walk into a crawl of two miles an hour ; return journeys with empty vehicles are overtaken at a fair trot. On American farms stubborn clays, steep hill-sides, rough stony places, which try the patience and courage of British farmers and their horses, are not cultivated ; the work is lighter and the pace smarter than in England. Hence the limited use of slow, ponderdus horses weighing 17 cwt. to 20 cwt, which jar their legs and feet if urged beyond a steady walk. As already indicated, a large area of Kentucky is in grass. The agricultural returns record that 300,000 acres are annually cut for hay. A good deal of the blue joint-grass is seeded for sale. A New York dealer informs me that in Paris, Ky., he has sometimes bought 10,000 bushels for distribution in other States, paying 50 cents, and sometimes 75 cents per bushel for extra clean lots. Indian corn is grown over two million acres, yielding an average of 25 bushels. Wheat, usually of the winter variety, and pro- ducing 10 bushels an acre, occupies a little over half a million acres ; 300,000 acres are devoted to oats, which thrive fairly, and produce 26 to 30 bushels an acre. Tobacco is one of the special features of Kentucky farming; it occupies 180,000 acres. Of the total .yield of 400,000,000 lbs. which the United States pro- D D 402 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. duce from 543,000 acres, Kentucky grows nearly one- third ; Virginia contributes about one-fifth ; about one- twelfth is raised in Maryland and Tennessee, and one- twentieth in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Missouri. The produce varies from 608 lbs. per acre, the average of careless cultivation in Tennessee, to 1,400 lbs. or 1,500 lbs., the result of better management in the less favourable climates of Connecticut and Massa- chusetts. The price per lb. varies from three to five cents in Indiana, and five cents in Kentucky and Ohio, to ten or eleven cents in Pennsylvania, Con- necticut, and New York States. This great diversity in yield and price, and the better return got in the northern States, where climatic conditions are scarcely so favourable, point to the need of more careful management throughout the great tobacco produc- ing areas. On impoverished, insufficiently manured land the gross feeding plant grows tardily. It is often inadequately attended to, it is apt to be riddled by worms, it is deteriorated by bad curing or careless packing. Hence the restricted acreable returns, the low price, the complaints that the business pays badly. It has been urged that production of late years has outstripped demand ; but, although markets are flooded with inferior qualities, there is no lack of appreciation of superior samples. The excise tax of 24 cents per lb. is complained of, but it probably does not very injuriously affect the grower who prospered previously to 1 867, with tobacco worth thirteen cents per lb., and the duty reaching 33 cents per lb. Lower prices during the last four years have somewhat re- stricted the growth of tobacco. From a fiscal as well Ctiliivation of Tobacco. 403 as a farmer's point of view it is, however, a most im- portant crop. It contributes annually nearly 8,000,000/. to the U.S.A. national exchequer. Fully two-thirds of the total growth is exported, worth generally up- wards of 5,000,000/. sterling. From official Reports and information gathered from successful growers, I condense the following in- structions regarding the successful cultivation of the manufacturing and shipping tobaccoes which consti- tute nine-tenths of that grown in the States. The good deep soil should be ploughed and subsoiled in autumn, and left exposed to the winter frost. In February or March a big dose of farm or town manure, amounting to 25 tons per acre, is spread on the plots and ploughed in three to four inches deep. With the bulkier farm manure, guano or other con- centrated fertilisers should be applied to foster the greedy feeding plant. Probably the more econo- mical plan is to reserve the artificials until the plants are dibbled. A subsequent ploughing is given in May to check weeds, and with drags or harrows the land is worked down to a fine tilth. A clumsy double-mould board plough is run deeply through the friable soil, throwing up lists or beds three or four feet deep. On these during June the tobacco plants, carefully reared on a seed plot, are set three to four feet apart. Frequent stirring with horse and hand hoes keeps the soil loose and free of weeds. A species of worm apt to prey on the leaves has to be sedulously guarded against by destroying the moth which produces it by surrounding the tobacco plant 404 Kentucky Agricultural Resotirces. with lamps or bonfires, by growing Datura stra- monium, of which the moth is fond, or by injecting into the flowers poisonous draughts of solution of cobalt. Any worms produced are removed by hand- picking, by sprinkling affected parts with diluted oil of turpentine, or sending amongst them a flock of turkeys. Syringing the affected plants with soft soap and diluted carbolic acid, as is done with fly-infected hops, should also be effectual. To allow the succu- lent plants air and light, the lower leaves are trimmed off, successful growers averring that eight or nine leaves are enough for each plant. Suckers are promptly removed. The flowering bud is also topped off. Towards the middle of September cutting com- mences ; green, unripe plants have to be left, as they spoil the sample : care must be had that the plant when cut not be scorched by too glaring a sun. Suspended over screens kept shaded, in sheds, some- times in specially constructed flues, the dark clammy leaf is deprived of its moisture. On tier poles in larger bulk, it more gradually dries, and is ready for striking and bulking. The final operation of sorting for market requires also care and judgment to keep together only identical qualities. Where such precautions are taken in the culti- vation and selection of plants, in securing the crop and sorting it, the present poor yield at small extra cost may be doubled, and the quality so much im- proved, as readily to realise twice the usual price. That this is perfectly attainable is demonstrated by the figures above given as to the yield and price Demand for Taxes. 405 obtained throughout various of the New England States. With judicious and spirited management, 2,500 lbs. per acre have been procured, and such returns amply repay the care and expense necessary to secure good crops of tobacco. Like many slave-holding States, Kentucky, for several years after the great war, was in an unsatis- factory condition ; capital was withdrawn from the land ; labour and improvements were paralysed ; many useful farms were uncultivated. Numbers of easy-going, extravagant owners, with large retinues of idle coloured retainers, were ruined. Agriculture and other business have recently, however, improved. Farmers generally are more prosperous ; they live comfortably, but, unless large holders of live stock, seldom make fortunes. Money is, however, becoming more plentiful ; extending railways and better mar- kets afford facilities for the disposal of produce. The real and personal property of the State is declared to be 1^318,037,875 ; about one-hundredth of this is owned by negroes. The State tax is 40 cents per ^100 for the white population, but, somewhat un- fairly, is 45 cents for the negro. The fullest amount of credit here is taken for taxes ; not many settle until the last day of grace, or until the publication of such a reminder as I found posted on the Town Hall and other public places at Paris : ^ Last Call for City Taxes. ' Having indulged the taxpayers of Paris so long as it is possible for me to do so, I will after this date 4c6 Kenhicky Agriciiltural Resources. proceed to l?vy and sell their property unless the same is paid immediately. This is fair warning to all, and I mean what I say most positively. (Signed) ' G. W. JUDY, Collector. ' Takis. Ky., Octoher i6.' With large choice both of white and coloured peo- ple labour is more abundant than in many other States, but it is not particularly good or economical. The freed labourer is becoming, however, more reliable and provident. When first the black people became their own masters they lazily contented themselves with a very small modicum of work ; they congregated in the towns, they gave themselves up to their favourite pastimes of music and dancing ; unable to make proper provision for housing and clothing, which had always been provided for them, many died of cold and privation during the sharp winter. The monthly wages are about 3/. without board, about 2/. with board ; carpenters, blacksmiths, and other such artisans earn js. to 8j. per day. Abram Renick, of Sharon, Clark County, Ky., has done a great deal to mould American shorthorns to their present good type, and confer on them kindly quality. He has been breeding and improving cattle since 1836, when he bought imported Illustrious of Crofton and CoUings blood from the Ohio importing company. A still more valuable purchase was made in 1 846 of the famous red cow Thames, and her calf Red Rose ; her mother, Lad}' of the Lake, was from Mr. T. Bates' Rose of Sharon, by Mr. A brant Renick of Sharon, 407 Stephenson's Belvedere, full of CoUings' Favourite strain. From this good source has grown the Rose of Sharon families, notable for their neat, well-chiselled heads, their shapely form and superior quality, de- servedly extending in favour throughout America, and first introduced to English breeders by the Earl of Dunmore. Mr. Renick has generally sixty to eighty shorthorn females, kept in a very plain, unpampered way. Fourth Duke of Geneva, bred by James O. Sheldon, has rendered valuable serx^ice ; Airdrie 3rd and another good level Rose of Sharon bull are now on duty. Here, as elsewhere, the bulls run- ning out daily in paddocks are remarkably healthy and active, are kindly treated and well looked after by black boys, and are particularly quiet and docile. The practical beef-making capabilities of these pedi- gree cattle were satisfactorily demonstrated in the goodly appearance of forty-seven three-year-old bullocks, home-bred or bought from near neighbours, beautifully made up on grass, ranging from 1,700 lbs. to 1,800 lbs. live weight, sold at 4^ cents per lb., and as handsome as could be found on any Leicestershire or Northamptonshire g^kzing. Mr. Renick believes that after charging rent, taxes, and expenses, his breeding and feeding cattle bring all round a profit of about $^ a year each. In brisk times, by the sale of a few young bulls or choice females, still better returns are obtained. Fond of all descriptions of good live stock, Mr. Renick has 160 capital Southdown ewes and a similar number of Kentucky ewes. The mutton brings about 4o8 Kentucky Agriculhiral Resotirces. S cents per lb. live weight, and the Southdown is always worth one cent more than the white-faced. Sharon further boasts of beautiful pure white goats, magnificent turkeys, black swans, and quaint-looking Indian poultry. Mr. B. F. Vanmeter is an admirable representative of a Kentucky stockman. Besides being interested with the Messrs. Hamilton in several large shorthorn herds, he farms at Syracuse upwards of i,ooo acres of undulating grass land, abundantly sheltered with handsome timber, well watered by streams and pools, with here and there some sulphur springs bubbling forth. The fields are divided by wild orange, occa- sionally by zigzag post and railing, or big stone walls. The farm buildings are chiefly stone and timj^er, many of them thatched. Maize is the principal grain crop, the straw and corn constituting the chief winter food for the stock. Upwards of lOO acres are annually worked by contract by some of Mr. Vanmeter's smaller neighbours, who plough, plant, cultivate, and harvest the maize, for which operations they receive about ,^5 an acre. With his own staff he grows another 150 acres of corn. The land is clean, and free from the prevailing ragweed which in many parts of Kentucky shows itself abundantly after the summer rains. All manure is taken care of, and applied to the corn and other crops. The yield of Indian corn averages 50 bushels, and hence costs about 6d. per ■ bushel. Mr. Vanmeter has bred shorthorns for many years ; he has now 200, and is increasing them annually. He Mr. Vanmeter of Syracuse. 409 has tried various strains, but prefers the Roses of Sharon, so successfully cultivated by his friend and neighbour Mr. Renick. Of this valuable sort he has nearly fifty good specimens, of wonderfully uniform type, well proportioned, near the ground, without coarseness, with shoulders well laid back, neat, rather narrow heads, and small, nicely turned horns. Length and stoutness of limb and activity, deside- rated in former days, when the fatted beast had to trudge 500 or even 1,000 miles to market, have given place to more symmetry, lightness of offal, early matu- rity, and quality. A large proportion of these favour- ite animals are good reds occasionally with a shade of the Hubback yellow, often with white Duchess mark- ings. The bulls, although not so grand and imposing as some of the more notable English shorthorn sires, leave big profitable stock. Mr. Vanmeter's yearling and two-year-old heifers compare favourably with those of the best English in size, style, shape, and uniformity ; the only important character in which they were deficient was the soft, mossy, curly coat which our cooler, moister climate encourages. Messrs. George and James C. Hamilton, of Mount Stirling, near Winchester, Ky., are amongst the most extensive shorthorn breeders in the States. They have 3,500 acres at Flat Creek, Bath County, with several tracks in Missouri and elsewhere. At Flat Creek they have now 250 shorthorn females of Rose of Sharon, Young Phyllis, Young Mary, Josephine, Kirklevington, Barrington, and other superior Bates sorts. Thev have used the Duchess bulls, 4th Duke 410 Kentucky Agricultural Resoitrces. of Geneva, 20th Duke of Airdrie, and have now several superior Rose of Sharon bulls. From their Kentucky and Missouri breeding farms the Messrs. Vanmeter and Hamilton turn out annually 300 bulls, disposing of them at from eight to eighteen months old, principally at the stock sales of Chicago and Kansas City, at an average of ^100 to ^^200. Even from their 600 cows they have been unable to supply the demand for good red and dark roan bulls. They recently had an order for 125 for the Panhandle country, whence hostile Indians are being driven out and enterprising settlers are pushing in. They forward numbers to the southern parts of Texas, to cross with the rough heavy-horned yellow Spaniards. Even amidst unfavourable scorching hot surroundings, with parching drought and summer scarcity both of food and water, which shorten their existence to two or three years, these superior shorthorns are steadily improving the narrow coarse Texans. Excepting bulls and feeding stock, Messrs. Van- meter and Hamilton's shorthorns are never housed. Throughout summer and winter they range the well- sheltered pastures. Calves are dropped at all seasons, but are not liked to arrive during the hot periods of June, July, and August. A few cows calving in winter are sheltered in yards ; the majority lie out day and night, the calves remaining with them for eight or nine months. During winter weather, which occurs in January and February, hay or corn fodder or corn in the sheaves is provided in the pastures, and may be necessary for some of the stock during stormy Mr. Alexander 0/ Woodburn. 411 weather in March, and before the grass shoots. Farming expenses are evidently considerably less than in England. Superior grazing farms in Kentucky are rented at $\ to ^5 an acre. The summer grazing of adult cows or bullocks is estimated to cost ,^1.50 per month ; for four winter months the expenses are doubled : the total cost of keeping a cow or two-year- old bullock would therefore be $2^, or nearly 5/. per annum. Mr. A. J. Alexander, Woodburn, near Lexington, Kentucky, is well known amongst horsemen and shorthorn breeders on both sides of the Atlantic. His property, extending to 2,000 acres, was bought towards the close of last century by his father, who emigrated from Airdrie, Scotland. The estate some twenty years ago came into possession of its present owner, who has greatly improved it. The soil is a useful, rather heavy loam on a limestone formation. Like other commodities, land in Kentucky has lately advanced in value. Some of the recent additions which Mr. Alexander has made to his estate have cost ^125 an acre. Ordinary farms in the neighbourhood range, however, from $^ to ;^8o. A compact property of no acres in this district, with a tolerable house, recently sold for $62 an acre. Another of 354 acres, with a particularly good house and premises, realised $"]?> an acre. Many useful farms, fairly equipped with house and buildings, are rented at $<, to $6 an acre, and let either by the year or on lease. Better times are advancing the value of land, both to rent and to sell. 4 1 2 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. In this part of Kentucky the valuation for taxation is taken at about two-thirds of the real value. The rate of 52 cents per dollar is charged alike on real and personal estate. The taxes on each reach a trifle over \ per cent, per annum. For assessment horses and mules are valued all round at $^0 ; cattle, accord- ing to age, at ;^io to $2^. Seen on a fine October day Woodburn is a charming place. It contrasts pleasantly with the bare and level prairies and plains of Western States. Houses, buildings, and surroundings have an old manorial appearance. The undulating country is beautifully timbered. The oaks, handsome as any in Worcestershire, are preserved in large numbers throughout the pastures for sheltering both live stock and grass. The fine old turf is fresh, green, and full of white clover, which thrives on the debris of the limestone subsoil. About 800 acres of arable land are divided as follow : — 200 acres of wheat, 300 acres of maize, 150 acres of barley, and the same area of clover. The wheat is autumn sown ; i^ bushels de- posited by a broad-caster suffices for seed ; but little horse or hand hoeing is attempted, or, indeed, is required; the yield varies from 20 to 25 bushels ; the cost of raising wheat ranges from 45^. to 50J. an acre. Indian corn follows, three to five seeds being dibbled near together in clumps, which are three to four feet from each other in every direction ; opportunity is thus given for hoeing in two directions ; such hoeing is repeated four or five times ; 40J. an acre covers the cost of growing the acre of Indian corn ; 50 bushels Southdown Sheep. 413 is the average yield. Barley and a few oats follow, but do not pay so well as corn or wheat. The barley casts 20 to 30 bushels. Amongst the barley, occa- sionally amongst the wheat, clover is sown, and is lightly grazed in autumn. Mown in early summer, a portion is generally allowed again to run up, and is saved for seed ; the bulk is grazed for three months, and ploughed for wheat. The arable land is clean, and in good manurial condition. The dung from the stables and yards is taken care of and applied. The fields are generally large, ranging from 20 to 100 acres, are divided by hedges of thorn and osage, or wild orange, sometimes by posts and rails; the posts being of split locust, which last 30 or 40 years, and the r^ils of black walnut or oak, which last half that period. The farm is worked by 25 mules, eight horses, and four oxen. The shorthorns, thorough- bred, and trotting horses, necessitate the employment of many more hands than are usually found on American farms. Ordinary labourers with board receive about $\2 a month ; most are engaged for the twelve months. A good flock of sheep is kept. On several hundred well-selected ewes of the country. South- down rams, sometimes direct from Jonas Webb or the Duke of Richmond, are used. A few score of early lambs are generally sent to New York in May, realising about ^3.50, which, although a very moderate return in the eyes of British flockmasters, pays for the ewe bought in during autumn, and leaves her and her fleece to meet expenses and profit. Two 414 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. dollars (8j. ^d.) is the usual cost of the ewe kept during twelve months. This pays for pasturage, a little hay required during winter, some rock salt, and the shepherds' wages, which generally reach ^16 a month. Mr. Alexander laid the foundation of his short- horns in 1853, with the valuable assistance of Mr. Strafford, buying from Towneley Duchess of Athol and 2nd Duke of Athol. Their descendants the Airdrie Duchesses are now the plums of the herd. But as ever will happen, mishaps affect some of the best. The splendidly bred 21st Duchess of Airdrie has twice slipped and is hopeless as a breeder, whilst loth Duchess of Oneida, from the New York Mills, is in the same thriftless case. Gwynnes, imported from Mr. Tanqueray's, have reproduced some admirable re- presentatives of this good old sort. There are several hardy good specimens of the J tribe. Several grand massive Barringtons have been added. Filligrees, tracing back to Mr. R. Booth's Fame, by Raspberry topped by Oxford and Duchess sires, contribute some shapely, useful cows. From Victoria, of the Cold Cream family, imported from Windsor, are some superior deeply milking Knightleys. Mazurkas are in great force, and have been introduced to the notice of English breeders by importations made by Mr. George Fox. The representatives of the Bell Bates tribe, and the Miss Wileys of Lord Spencer's and Mason's blood, are uniform, good, and shapely. Most of these imported families, bought at moderate prices, have paid well. Ignoring the line breeding on which most Woodburn Shorthorns. 4 1 5 Americans insist, Mr. Alexander, on most of his stock, whether Bates, Booth, or Knightley, has used Oxford, Airdrie, or other Bates-bred bulls. The cattle have the unmistakable style and character of English Bates tribes. They have bigger frames, longer necks, large and bolder heads, and more horn than many other Kentucky shorthorns. Their numbers, from time to time, have been reduced by sales, not only of bulls, but of females. About 50, including nearly a score of bulls, were thus disposed of in July 1879, making an average of about 100 guineas. The stud bulls, in descent and appearance, thoroughly satisfy an English connoisseur. The 37th Duke of Oneida, from the New York Mills great sale, is still active, level, deep, near the ground, with good touch. Bates grandeur and good head, but rather sprawling horns, which Americans do not like. Although ten years old, judicious feeding and exercise maintain his activity. The 26th Duke of Airdrie, and several younger scions of this famous tribe, showed much size and style. The smart lengthy 2nd Duke of Barrington, by 37th Duke of Oneida, dam Baroness 1 2th, by lOth Duke of Thorndale, is deservedly a great favourite with Mr. Alexander ; he has more than once refused 700 guineas for him, and has mated him with some of his Duchesses. Mr. Alex- ander for twelve months had been anxious to obtain a good Oxford bull from England, but demurred to subject any such purchase to the tedious and expen- sive quarantine imposed on cattle imported into the States. During the summer of 1880, he has, how- 4 1 6 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. ever, secured, from Bow Park, Toronto, a valuable young Oxford from the cow which the Hon. George Browne bought from Colonel Kingscote for 2,000 guineas. A herd thus well founded, judiciously- crossed and managed, has made its mark widely, and is confidently resorted to by the many breeders who raise pedigree or superior grade bulls for the great western and southern ranches. Besides about 70 shorthorns, Mr. Alexander has nearly 40 Jerseys and Jersey grades, and 60 to 80 superior shorthorn grades for feeding. The cattle are in the pastures for eight or nine months. Many of the younger of the grades are never housed, unless they happen to be fed off during winter, when, like the shorthorns, Jerseys, and any milkers, they are in yards or boxes from December until February ; or, if the weather is boisterous or unsettled, during part of March. The cattle sheds are built of stone, some are slated, others thatched, and all are much in the style of good English premises. The loose boxes for the bulls are large and convenient. Most of them communicate with yards into which the animals are turned out for exercise for an hour or two daily. Mr. Alexander, and his brother before him, have been very successful in breeding horses. At Wood- burn there are about 120 mares ; 75 to 80 of these are thoroughbreds, the remainder of superior trotting strains. Lexington, foaled in 1850, by imported Sarpedon, with a good deal of Arab blood a few generations back in his long, good pedigree, proved himself an invaluable thoroughbred. Few horses Valuable Thoroughbred Horses. 4 1 7 have left so many good ones. To the last the old horse was active and useful, and three years ago came to an untimely end in an unusual way. One of his molar teeth dropped out unnoticed, the socket be- came plugged up with foul fermenting food, which caused fatal irritation and fever. So favourably pre- possessed is Mr. Alexander with the Lexington strain that he has freely used several of his sons. Phaeton, a valuable horse, full of King Tom blood, was worthily following Lexington, but died recently from mismanagement. Australian, by West Australian, was also successfully used. Glen Athole, by Blair Athole, is now in service, a smart chestnut ; dam, Greta, by •Voltigeur, with Ithuriel, Bay JVliddleton, and Whisker standing next in the pedigree. Several of his pro- geny are doing remarkably well at the racing meet- ings which are now spreading throughout the States. From a bad cold which he caught during his voyage across the Atlantic he has lost his sight. In style and appearance, as well as in colour, he closely re- sembles old Blair Athole, lacks somewhat of his size and substance, and, like him, is taken in a trifle too much under the knee. Besides Glen Athole, Mr. Alexander is making tolerably free use of Tenbrook, by imported Phaeton, belonging to his neighbour, Mr. John Harper, and said to be the best thoroughbred sire in America. Most of the thoroughbred mares come from strains which have specially distinguished themselves, either in England or America. They are remark- able for style and quality, are shapely and well put E E 4 1 8 Kentucky Agricultural Resources. together, some of them look small, but most range from 15 to I Si hands. They live on the sheltered beautiful pasture for nine or ten months of the year, have a shed in the field, and some hay or corn during snow or severe winter weather, or are brought up to the yards to foal. The 75 thoroughbred mares are expected to produce annually 50 foals. The yearling? sold annually in June bring 50 to 250 guineas. Mr. Alexander is fond and proud of his trotting stud. For the stallions and horses in training he has capital healthy boxes, good exercise grounds, and a trotting track. Several of his stud horses are ad- mirable, alike in appearance and performance. His bay Belmont, foaled in 1864, is the sire of Nutwood, ■ Nil Desperandum, Dick Moore, and Wedgewood, all of whom have done their mile at or within 2 min. 24 sec. But aiming at the highest successes, Mr. Alexander must have several strings to his bow. In Harold, foaled in 1864, he has another horse of equal capability. By Rysdyks Hambletonian from En- chantress, by Old Abdallah, Harold has produced several horses that are already well known to fame. Chief among these is Childe Harold, bought by Mr. John Hendrie, of Glasgow, and winner of the Inter- national Handicap Stakes at Liverpool in 1878, and the still more notable Maud S., who, eclipsing all performers, has done her mile in 2 min. 11 sec. Maud S. was bought by Mr. Vanderbilt for 4,000 guineas. Mr. Alexander still has the smart grey mare Miss Russell, the dam of this trotting prodigy, and about 40 other picked specimens remarkable either for their Shorthorns, Horses, and Bourbon Whisky. 4L9 own performances on the track, or for near consan- guinity with illustrious winners. In no trotting stud are descent and performance, style and appearance, so carefully and systematically harmonised. Many of Mr. Alexander's mares have beautiful true all-round action ; some have heads which indicate Arabian blood ; all have strong loins and powerful quarters, sound good joints and short canon bones. In speed and smartness, many of our hacks and cobs would be great gainers if they had a cross with some of Mr. Alexander's game-trotting sorts. The Honourable Thomas J. Megibben, of Fairview, Cynthiana, is equally well known as a successful agri- culturist, a breeder of shorthorns and of horses, and a distiller of superior Bourbon whisky. He farms up- wards of 2,000 acres, grows 500 acres of wheat, secures an acreable average of 20 bushels ; plants 300 acres of Indian corn, of which the yield is about 40 bushels ; finds oats less certain than barley or rye. Some of his barley planted in autumn is ready early in June. The general harvest in Kentucky begins between June loth and 15th. His clover and grass he supplements with millet, which he finds useful both as green and dry forage for all animals. His shorthorns, collected during the last ten years, number upwards of 100 and include animals of the following superior Bates strains — Rose of Sharon, Princess, Gwynne, Lady Bates, Kirklevington and Craggs. Mr. Megibben began with 14th Duke of Airdrie followed by 2nd Duke of Oneida, and has more recently been using loth Earl of Oxford and E E 2 420 Kentucky Agriculiural Resources. 2nd Oxford Vinewood. His cattle are shapely, smart, and well managed, and at the public sales he has no difficulty in disposing of young bulls and surplus females. He has 50 good Southdowns, many of them imported, mated with a ram direct from Lord Walsingham, and 35 superior Cotswolds from Robert Game and Charles Barton. Keeping these breeds distinct, Mr. Megibben is desirous to compare their relative yield of mutton and wool with that of the ordinary Kentucky sheep, which constitute the bulk of his own and his neighbours' flocks. With much taste for horses, he has 200 thoroughbreds and trotting nags, and is building up an admirable stud. The capital requisite for these agricultural enter- prises has been mostly obtained from the successful manufacture of Bourbon whisky. The materials and mode of using them differ considerably. In many distilleries about 25 per cent, of barley is used ; nearly half of this is malted ; five to ten per cent, of rye is sometimes added ; the remainder of the mash is made up of yellow corn. The sour mash process, occupy- ing about seventy hours, is now generally preferred to the quicker sweet mash process. By the latter 56 lbs. of grain are stated to yield 3 gallons 3 quarts of spirit 10 over proof; the same weight of grain by the sour process produces 3 gallons of spirit. 421 CHAPTER XXV. AMERICAN COMPETITION IN WHEAT AND MEAT. American production of bread stuffs and animal food has of late years been increasing enormously. Agricultural enterprise has generally paid better in America than in Great Britain. The cheap Western lands with comparatively small labour and outlay have yielded profitable increase. The surplus pro- duce of the New World in ever-increasing abundance has been brought to feed the more thickly peopled portions of the Old World. Whilst consumers have been greatly benefited, British farmers, and especi- ally wheat growers, have been injuriously affected. They hai/e had unfavourable seasons and indifferent crops coupled with somewhat low prices. British agriculturists in accommodating themselves to the altered circumstances of production markets and prices will find it to their advantage to grasp the conditions under which American competitors are working, and at the risk of reiterating some of the facts already brought forward in these pages, I shall endeavour to describe the special features connected 42 2 American Competition. with the growth, handling, and transport of American grain and live stock. America produces about one-fourth of the wheat grown in the world. Her increased production has been unprecedentedly rapid , it has more than quadrupled in thirty years ; it has doubled since 1868 ; between 1876 and 1878 it made an advance of 28 per cent. The wheat yield of the United States, and its rapid increase, are well illustrated by the following official returns : — Bushels of wheat 1850 100,485,944 i860 173,104,924 1870 235,884,700 1880 445,000,000 The conditions which heretofore have encouraged this extended growth still remain in operation. The wheat area, although ten times that of the British Islands, is represented by the extent of the compara- tively small State of Alabama and does not yet reach one-fortieth of the cultivatable area of the States. Many years must elapse before the American limit of production is reached — before the great prairies, plains, and bluffs now uncultivated or only partially cultivated yield a fair return of golden grain. The tide of emigration and agricultural enterprise flowing steadily westward carries with it the growth of wheat. Until 1849 more than half the produce was confined to the New England and other Atlantic States ; 43 per cent, was grown in the Middle States ; only 5 per cent, in the trans-Mississippi States and Territories. At the rate of about nine miles a year the wheat Extension of Recuperative Farming. 423 growth has however gone west. In the Eastern States less than r S per cent, is now grown ; in the Middle States about 40 per cent. ; in the Western upwards of 45 per cent. The lower cost of production in the Western and Pacific States discourages wheat-growing in the older Eastern States and accelerates the western movement both of wheat and Indian corn. The great extent of cheap lands, the expansion of railroads and the util- ising of water traffic, enable the enterprising Western States to compete successfully in the growth of grain with the Middle and Eastern States. The New Eng- lander, like his cousin in old England, finds it cheaper to import than to grow his wheat. Both are com- pelled by Western competition to readjust expendi- ture and modify cultivation. Farmers of the Eastern States have hitherto believed that they could not afford the outlay of 20J. to 30J. an acre requisite to manure the exhausted soils and ensure full crops. Such recuperative treatment, with yard manure, with live stock, and with concentrated fertilisers is now becoming more general. Phosphates, blood, and other manures are in increasing demand. They are generally sold with guaranteed proportions of am- monia, phosphates, and potash. The gardeners and cotton planters have hitherto been their chief pur- chasers ; but agriculturists generally are becoming more impressed with the fact that plants, as well as animals, do not thrive without full supplies of their appropriate food. Wheat culture in the States is generally conducted 424 American Competition. on a cheaper rough-and-ready method than is prac- tised in Great Britain. Instead of costing as in England 7/. to 8/. an acre, over the vast regions of the Western States where, as stated, nearly half the wheat is grown, the total expenses are covered by 40J. or 42J. an acre. In some parts of Dakota in Mani- toba, and California the average cost of production is rather less. On the level treeless prairies and plains, without timber or stones laboriously to remove, cultivation can at once be commenced. The rough grass is generally burnt, the breaking up of the friable loam costs 8j-. to lOJ. an acre ; the sod disintegrates in two or three months, another furrow is back-set or cross ploughed for 5^. On all considerable farms sulky ploughs, on which the driver comfortably rides, are used, turning over a furrow 12 to 15 inches wide, and 4 to 6 inches deep, and overtaking two to three acres in a day of ten hours. When the ground is dry and hard, or an extra depth of furrow is required, three or four horses, mules, or oxen are used ; most of the ploughing is however done by a pair of draught animals. Twenty miles is the usual daily journey of horses or mules at farm work. In Wisconsin, Michi- gan, Ohio, Kentucky, and also in California, winter wheat is planted in October and November ; but in Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska the winter cold is great, there is seldom sufficient covering of snow to protect the plant, and spring wheat is accordingly preferred and put in as soon as the frost is out of the surface soil, which it generally is early in March. In Cheap Production of Wheat. 42^ Minnesota and Iowa the dry hard spring wheat is much used for making the superior patent flour rich in albuminoids. One and a half bushels is a fair seeding, deposited from a broad-caster which distri- butes the seed from six to twenty spouts, nine or ten inches apart. No hoeing or weeding is necessary ; the sharp winter and hot summer militate against weeds, and many farms, where after the first break- ing up only one ploughing and several harrowings are given annually, and wheat follows regularly year after year, are cleaner than the average of land has lately been in England. Scythes and sickles have long been superseded by reapers and now the automatic self-binder is in general use. It cuts down on an average 1 5 acres a day at a cost of about Js. an acre, including wages of men, charge for horses, wire or cord for binding, and interest on the 50/. — the cost of the machine. The cord binder is taking the place of the wire binder, reducing the cost of tying, preventing injury to the thrashing drum, re- moving the chance of the metal wire being swallowed and injuring the cattle, and saving all trouble of un- tying for thrashing, the cord-bound sheaves being forked on to the machine without cutting or untying. Extra hands are generally engaged for harvest, re- ceiving double wages or "js. to 8j. a day, sometimes with rations. On the great California farms a high-set reaper cuts and collects the dry ears and carries them to a thrasher in the field, where the grain is beaten out, winnowed, and sacked up for market. On some large 426 American Competition. farms the wheat is taken direct from the shock to the thrashing rnachine, and thence delivered to the rail- road or barge. Driven bj- eight- or ten-horse engines, often stoked with straw instead of coal, the thrashing machine usually turns out 40 to 50 quarters a day. As at home, the cost varies considerably, but may be set down at an average of 5j. Attached to almost all thrashers besides the winnowing machine is an elevator, which saves much labour in heaping the straw which at leisure is ruthlessly burned. Summarising these expenses of American wheat-growing, the cost of an acre may be set down as follows : £ s. d. Rent or Interest on Capital employed in purchase and equipment of the farm, say 3/. at 10 per cent. ........ 60 Taxes and rates ....... 10 Ploughing 60 Seed . 60 Sowing and harrowing ..... 20 Reaping and stacking ..... 10 o Thrashing S ° Delivery 20 Incidentals 20 ;^2 o o The dry climate of the United States minimises the wheat yield, which the official averages place at less than 13 bushels an acre. The seventeen years from 1863 to 1879 inclusive present an average of I2'2 ; in only five years did it exceed 13 ; the best of the series was 1877 when the average was I3'9 ; locusts in 1875 and 1876 reduced it respectively to .1 1 and 104. Notwithstanding this almost accidental reduction the average wheat yield of the last eight Wheat-growers' Profits. 427 years is the same as that of the preceding eight years. The general productiveness is fairly main- tained as evidenced by the averages of the older cul- tivated states being kept up. During 1880 Illinois produced 18 bushels and Ohio and Missouri 20 bushels. It nevertheless generally takes two acres in America to grow the wheat which England produces on one. More careful cultivation, better selection of seed, and extended planting of moisture-attracting, trees will probably, however, somewhat increase this small yield. The average value of the wheat crop of the States for sixteen years from 1863 to 1878 inclusive is ^i.20"3 or 4y. \od. per bushel. Only in three years has it fallen below 4^. Recent abundant crops brought down the average price of 1878 to ^s. 3^. Through- out the great wheat-growing zone the average value during the past seven years is about 3J. 6d. per bushel. Even with the low average yield of I2'2 bushels per acre this gives an acreable return of \2s. 8d. Two and eightpence is a small profit on an acre of wheat, but it is better than the heavy losses which English wheat-growers have so generally sus- tained during the last few years. In such states and on such farms where 16 bushels an acre have been reaped a profit of 14?. 6d. has been netted, or a return sufficient in two years to purchase the land. Farmers who produce, as some do, 20 bushels an acre, and who dispose of it at 3J. 6d. per bushel, realise in one year sufficient to buy the land on which the crop grows. No wonder wheat in America is affection- 428 American Competition. ately y-clept ' the poor man's friend ' and constitutes the staple crop of the first settlers. But the farmer who judiciously locates in a temperate region has a varied choice of other paying crops, as Indian corn, oats, clover, and sorghum saccharatum or amber cane, the cultivation of which is extending in south-western Minnesota and other states to the south, yields a capital sugar, a useful residual cattle and hog food, and a profit of fully 20s. an acre. Facility for the transport of the farm crops to market is an impoitant factor in the producer's pro- fits and an essential element in the price they are charged to the consumer. The most choice produc- tions are of small value if they cannot be readily marketed. In the remote West wheat and maize have not unfrequently been used as fuel, and fat bacon has been the cheapest and handiest article for lighting the fires on the Mississippi steam boats. In Manitoba, throughout parts of the Red River settle- ments, in Dakota and elsewhere, I met teams which had laboriously brought wheat for sale fifty and even seventy miles to rail or market. Farming under such conditions must be an unsatisfactory and un- profitable business. Unless for stock farming better buy at 25J. an acre a hundred acres five miles from a good railroad than accept the gift and be compelled to till a thousand acres fifty miles from rail or market. Railroads, however, now cover 100,000 miles throughout the States, are extending at the rate of 5 ,000 miles annually ; those in the West often costing for a single track less than 3,000/. a mile. River, lake, Increasing Transport Facilities. 429 and canal transport is being utilised and improved. Competition between different railroads and between railroads and water transit keep down transport charges, which, especially for long distances, are much lower than those of the Old World. Through the great lakes and rivers in barges, ten or a dozen of which are towed by one steam tug, the grain from the West is cheaply conveyed to the eastern markets, or direct to the ocean steamer which deports it to Europe. From Saint Louis down the Mississippi a thousand miles to New Orleans one steam tug will sometimes drag 270,000 bushels of grain. The grain is almost all carried loose ; the barges load 2,000 bushels and upwards ; the large railroad cars hold 400 to 500 bushels ; loaded east with grain, and other agricultural produce, they return west with lumber and stores. Grain is examined and graded in transit by quali- fied sworn inspectors. Of the several grains there are about forty grades. Spring wheat, for example, is distinguished as first, second, third, and fourth grades and rejected. Unless distinctly stipulated for in the bills of lading, consigners' lots are not kept separate ; grain of the same grade is however strictly kept apart ; and from the bin of 6,000 bushels of say No. 2 Spring wheat collected perhaps from many sources, at the railway elevator at Chicago or New York the con- signer, who three weeks previously had his two or three thousand bushels graded No. 2 Spring at St. Paul or Omaha; draws an equivalent of quantity and quality. Separate railway cars, barges, or bins reserved 430 American Competition. for small lots would involve much extra trouble and cost. Fixed or portable elevators cheaply and ex- peditiously transfer with a minimum of manual labour the loose grain from the cars or barges to the grain warehouses or to the ocean steamers. With shovels worked automatically by steam, two men empty the car of 400 bushels in twelve minutes. At the great railroad elevators 300 trucks containing 1 20,000 bushels are often unloaded in a day. As it passes through the elevators every parcel is weighed automatically, usually in ten ton lots, by Fairbank's scales. The elevator charges are a quarter of a cent per bushel, which includes ten days' storage and de- livery into trucks or barges. For a trifle extra, at most dep6ts, the grain can also be winnowed in its transference to or from the great bins. These ele- vators connected with all the warehouses, at an infini- tesimal cost, and without the tedious manual labour necessary at home, turn the grain and thus contribute to its soundness and condition. With these fixed elevators or with handy floating elevators the ocean- going vessels, provided with several convenient hatches, are readily loaded with 60,000 to 80,000 bushels in eight hours. With proper partition boards and about three layers of sacks on the top of the loose grain to keep it level when it sinks, these grain ships, pace Mr. Plimsol, do not shift their cargo. Unfortunately however grain, even when safely packed, cannot convert an unsea- worthy ship into a safe one. The economy, of the American handling of grain is notably illustrated Cheap Transport. 43 1 when it is compared with the tedious expensive dis- charging of the grain-laden ships arrived at European ports. Every bushel is painstakingly weighed, and sacked up, often carried ashore on mens' shoulders,, and the ship is detained ten or twelve days at a cost of at least 10/. a day. Such extra labour and cost increase the price of bread. British agriculturists and bread consumers whose every second loaf comes from America equally desire to know what it costs to bring the cheap wheat of the Western world to British ports. Most of it grows, as already stated, in a zone 500 to 1,500 miles east of the Atlantic seaboard. The carriage of the trans-Mississippi wheat along western lines, where there is small competition, is relatively costly ; but even in remoter districts a quarter of 480 lbs. is carried 200 to 300 miles for 2J. 6d. From the Heron Lake district on the St. Paul and Sioux City rail the through rates for a quarter of wheat despatched thence 650 miles to Chicago are under Sj. From St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, 480 lbs. of wheat are at present carried to Chicago for 4J. 6d. Thence east- ward keen " competition by various lines of railroad and by water secure still cheaper freights. The rail- roads have carried wheat from Chicago 800 miles to New York and Baltimore at \s. per quarter. During the past three years the rates have fluctuated from 2s. to 4J. By steam-tugged barges through lake and canal viA Oswego to New York the rates are little more than one half those by rail. The water transit extending .from June until November proves, as in 432 American Competition. other parts of America, a formidable competitor to the railways. During the last i6 years its cost has steadily diminished to the extent of 30 per cent. Cheaper working expenses, steam tugs, quick loading and unloading by elevators have reduced working charges, and dividends in consequence have not materially suffered. The adoption of new ap- pliances, the labour-saving elevators everywhere mul- tiplying, steel rails, enlarged traffic, and the economical management, resulting from a prolonged period of depression, will enable the American railroads pro- fitably to continue the moderate through rates which have so largely contributed to the cheap feeding of Europe. The ocean rates are equally moderate. Taking an average of the last five years, wheat is brought from New York to British ports at 5^. to 6s. a quarter ; it has been carried as low as %d. per cental. Barrels of flour weighing 214 lbs. are conveyed at an average charge of 3^. per steamer and 2s. 2,d. per sailing vessels. From Philadelphia and Montreal rates have fluctuated from 4s. to 9J. Provisions from most of the Atlantic ports are landed in Great Britain at 30.?. to 4.0s. a ton, whilst oil-cakes are quoted at the moderate figure of 20s. to 30^. Through rates to Europe from points remote from the seaboard are proportionately lower. Wheat and flour are transmitted from St. Paul to Liverpool at i6s. for 480 lbs. From Minneapolis, 1,200 miles west of the Atlantic, a barrel of flour is conveyed to Liverpool, Cardiff, or Glasgow for ys. or 8j. During five years from 1876 to 1880 the freight Cost of Wheat at British Ports. 433 of wheat despatched from Chicago, trans-shipped at New York, and landed at Liverpool, has averaged I2s. per quarter of 480 lbs. ('Agricultural Interest Commission : ' Appendix). From St. Louis by direct water route flour has been forwarded at Sj. per barrel. From the Pacific ports, which furnish about one-fifth of the American exports, rates are equally moderate ; from San Francisco to Liverpool or London, the through freight is frequently as low as 3 J. a quarter. These figures justify the conclusion that an average of i 5j. will freight a quarter of wheat from the great prairies and plains of central America over 1,200 miles of land and 3,000 miles of ocean to British ports. Here landing and other charges, amounting to 2s. or 2s. 6d. a quarter, are incurred. They include insur- ance, which averages i per cent., and has fluctuated from 6s. 8d. per cent, to 10 per cent., reached in a panic time after several grain-laden ships were lost. Three per cent, guaranteed for shortage more than covers any shrinking in quantity. In ships not entirely chartered for grain there is a primage of 5 per cent. Dock-dues take Set. or gd. per quarter ; brokerage is ^ per cent., and merchants' commission about the same. Wheat is sold in London subject to two months' discount at 5 per cent, for cash ; in Liverpool three months' discount is allowed for cash ; in other places only one month's discount is given. The total cost — freight, insurance, and other charges — on a quarter of American wheat landed at British ports, may thus be summarised : F F 434 American Competition. Cost of growing one quarter of wheat, 40^. an acre being paid for cultivation with a yield of 13 bushels 14 Freight to United Kingdom ports . . . 015 o Insurance, dock, and other charges . . .026 £,2 2 2 At this moderate cost of 42J. per quarter American wheat can be sold in Great Britain with profit tp growers, railway carriers, shippers, and all concerned. The cost of production is not likely to increase ; indeed, improved cultivation, by augmenting the small yield, will cheapen production. Nor with increasing competition are transport charges likely to be enhanced. British householders may hence confidently look for- ward to moderate prices for bread, and British farmers must prepare to make the best of increasing food im- ports, and grow produce which, unlike wheat, cannot be so cheaply forwarded from afar. They cannot compete with the cheap lands of America in produc- ing an article so readily grown and transported. They cannot afford to grow wheat at 42J. or even at 45J. a quarter, unless on the better class of soils where four quarters can be counted on, or where the straw can be sold at 4/. or 5/. an acre. There is still another important phase of this American bread question which demands considera- tion. Can the United States continue to maintain her large wheat exports of recent years ? Some high authorities have declared that her best lands are already ' played out,' and that expensive restorative farming is necessary to maintain wheat cultivation in Surplus Wheat for Export. 435 its present dimensions. Such forebodings, as we have endeavoured to show, are not supported by fact or probability. In the Red River Valley, in Minnesota, in Iowa, throughout California, Oregon, and in some other states and territories are great uncultivated or very partially cultivated tracts of easily worked fertile land where, if needful, wheat could be grown in plenty to supply the shortcoming of all Europe. The able statistician of the Agricultural Department at Wash- ington, in his official report for 1 879, declares that ' the eastern, north middle, and southern groups of states do not supply their home demand ; the south middle states have a small surplus ; the Ohio valley has a surplus of nearly half their crop, and the more western groups produce more than a threefold supply of the home demand.' In 1867 and 1868 the United States exported respectively li and 13 per cent, of her total wheat crop ; the exports have since steadily increased ; in 1 877 she was able to spare one- fourth ; whilst her more recent bountiful and extending crops; besides feeding her own population of forty-four millions, leaves for export more than one-third, or nearly 20 million quarters. Of these handsome sur- pluses the United Kingdom has' recently taken nearly one-half. In 1880 America contributed 9^ million quarters towards the total 14 million quarters required to meet the British wheat deficit of the year. The capacity of the United States to fill the vacuum of the Old World's wants becomes very apparent when the matter is viewed in another way : 5^ bushels of wheat is regarded as a fair annual allowance for each mdi- 436 American Competition. vidual in the United Kingdom. Americans, who use freely vegetables, fruit, and other grains, grow nearly 9 bushels per capita, and hence have about one-third more than they need. No other country so liberally provides for her own wants, and has so much to spare for her less fortunate friends. During recent years a great expansion has oc- curred in the exports of American wheat flour. Alike throughout Canada and the States, advantage has been taken of the valuable widely spread water power. New mills have been erected and filled with the most modern and effective machinery. Four million barrels of flour containing 198 lbs. were exported from the States in 1878, and the exports of 1879 were nearly a half more. In barrels and bags the United Kingdom received from the States 6,863,172 cwts. of wheat meal and flour in 1879, ^"d 6,908,352 cwts. in 1880, or nearly double the supply of 1878, and four times that of 1877. American millers say that they can grind and forward their flour to Europe at cheaper rates than it can be made here. They have the advantage of freights as moderate as those charged for the wheat. With su- perior machinery and" systematic management, doing a large turn over, and hence satisfied with smaller profits, the larger milling concerns, whether in Great Britain or America, are driving out the smaller millers, especially where they are unfavourably cir- cumstanced as to water or railroad facilities. But British millers well situated for transport or markets, unlike the British wheat-growers, do not seriously Increasing Herds and Flocks. 437 suffer from the keen American competition. They have the wheat of the world on terms quite as favour- able as the American miller, they use very similar machinery, are adopting modern labour-saving con- trivances, and manage besides to make four times the price for their bran and offal. American competition does not seriously interfere with the growth in Great Britain of any other grain than wheat. Barley does not much extend its area ; it occupies about 1,800,000 acres, it bulks fully five million quarters ; one-third is produced in California, where the yield averages 23 bushels, and the weight per bushel reaches 50 lbs. The barley generally met with elsewhere in the States is thin, steely, and not so well coloured as that usually grown at home ; 800,000 quarters are generally imported to the United Kingdom. Unless in the cooler regions of Canada oats are light ; they are mostly consumed at home ; not 15,000 quarters are exported to Great Britain. With their American confreres, British stock-owners participate in the benefits of the cheap growth of Indian corn, which now bulks annually 180,000,000 quarters, has more than tripled since 1863, yields on an average 27 bushels an acre, and is raised in the Western and Southern trans-Mississippi States at considerably less than \s. per buShel. It is mainly converted into beef, bacon, and whisky. Its export, although steadily growing, does not yet exceed 7 per cent, of the total growth. The cheap American lands which furnish diver- sified grain supplies also produce increasing numbers 438 American Competition. of cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses. The numbers produced exceed the home necessities. American stockmen have hitherto earned handsome returns: they "are generally prosecuting their business with much skill and energy. Without difficulty and in a comparatively short period, they can largely iflcrease their great herds and flocks. In the Eastern and Middle States, under a system of mixed husbandry, cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses are reared in much the same manner as they are in Great Britain ; but even in these older settlements production has not reached its Hmits. There is still a good deal of waste land and much more imperfectly cultivated. The great dairy State of New York totals one million and ahalf of milch-cows, the same numbers as are enumerated for Ireland and nearly as many as are returned for all England, and supplies milk, butter, and cheese for the neighbouring industrial population and for export'; 828,400 cows are similarly employed in Pennsylvania. Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa return upwards of 700,000 cows each, or together nearly as many as are enumerated in Great Britain. The official returns of the United States give a total of twelve million milch-cows. Of these, probably two millions are in Texas, Nebraska, Nevada, Colorado, and the other Territories where the exact numbers are at present unattainable. Twelve million cows in the favourable surroundings which obtain generally throughout America should soon multiply largely. At present the census further gives 22 million oxen and other cattle ; it exhibits an annual increase of Great Areas Still Unstocked. 439 one million ; it shows most growth throughout the vast cattle-breeding States and Territories along the banks and west of the Missouri, twenty years ago in undisturbed possession of bison, wapiti deer, and antelope. According to the official returns the average value of the cattle of the United States is only 3/. 5 J. The great cattle- and sheep-raising regions begin 1 50 miles west of Omaha, the starting-point of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1,400 miles west of the Atlantic. They extend west through Nebraska and Wyoming over the fertile Laramie plains to the Rocky Mountains, and a thousand miles on" towards the Pacific, through Utah, Oregon, and Washington Territories, where there is ample room for more than five times the live stock now raised. Starting from the warm shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the great American grazing grounds run 1,500 miles north, over the international boundary line into Canada. They include large portions of Texas, which musters 5J million of cattle ; Colorado, with 30 million acres adapted for the growth of grain, cattle, or sheep ; Wyoming, estimated to contain 55,000 square miles of grazing ; Montana, larger than the British Islands, and half of it understood to consist of fertile valleys and grass-covered plains, much of it unsurveyed and unoccupied. Throughout the well-watered river valleys and green plains of this enormous area cattle and sheep have extended irregularly and sparsely during the last twenty years, gradually displacing the wild herbivora. Since i860 it is stated that 15 440 AmeHcan Competition. million bison have been killed, and a proportionate number of deer and antelope. Over such a wide area the management is some- what diversified ; the herds vary from less than i,ooo to more than 50,000 head. They occupy the higher grounds in summer, the lower and more sheltered in winter. Everywhere they are reared and fed at a minimum of expense and trouble. The cattle are offshoots from another herd, or bought often as yearlings or two-year olds from Texas or Oregon, and are driven to any unoccupied valleys or plains, of which plenty still remain. On the principle that possession is nine points of the law, by threats, or occasionally by small payments, cattle masters al- ready in possession of desirable ranges warn off new comers. But the State or Territorial authorities are not consulted regarding the grazing of their lands. A promising locality is chosen, well watered, with some sheltered spots for winter, at a respect- ful distance from previous settlers. Huts, a few sheds, and corrals are run up. Each herdsman or shepherd receives $2.Z to $^2 per month, with lodg- ings and rations, and takes charge of about i,000 animals. The ordinary work consists in riding through plains, parks, and valleys, to see that food and water are sufficient, hunting up stragglers, and on some runs providing salt. The arduous work connected with the cattle ranche recurs twice a year, when masters and men, well mounted, ' round up ' for miles all the cattle they find, drive them into convenient natural gorges or Cattle Cheaply Reared. 441 corrals, brand the young ones and all that are un- marked, separate and forward strays from neighbour- ing ranches which are marked, and select animals for killing or sale. For the best managed runs, numbers of well-descended, usually pure-bred shorthorn or Hereford, bulls are purchased from Kentucky, the Middle or Eastern States, at prices varying from ^80 to 1^200. By selection of good sires and dams, by weeding out the narrow, thriftless scallowags, great improvement has of late years been made even among the Texan cattle. The natural grasses vary somewhat in different regions. In Texas, scorched with an almost tropical sun, they are bunched, dry, and often coarse ; in North- eastern Colorado a great deal of blue joint grass is met with ; in the cooler regions of Wyoming and Montana, whence some of the best cattle are now brought, there occurs a more uniform, English-like carpeting of mixed grasses, which start in April and soon attain a height of 12 or 18 inches. The animals are never housed ; the winter is seldom severe ; even in many parts of Montana the cold season is tempered by the warm Japan current which comes over the Rocky Mountains ; snow does not fall so heavily or lie so deeply as it does nearer the Atlantic. Except- ing in northerly localities or at high altitudes, little provision is made for winter feeding ; the luxuriant grass, uncropped, dries where it stands and leaves a natural, well-preserved, nutritive hay, from which the Cattle scrape the light covering of snow. During spring and summer, from Texas, through 442 American Competition. the Indian reservation, thousands of cattle are driven northwards ; the yearlings are sold at ^^7 or ^8 ; the two- and three- year-olds 2.\. $\2 to $\6; the cows reach as high as ;^20. From Oregon increasing numbers of com- pact and shapely beasts, many of them still three and four years old, and a better stamp than the Texans, are driven eastward over the Rocky Mountains and grazed for a year in Wyoming, N.E. Colorado, and Nebraska. The profits of a well-managed station are large, sometimes reaching 20 per cent, on the invested capital. Of rent and taxes there are none except the head-tax, which in various territories is 5 cents each for two- year-olds and 7 cents for three-year-olds and other cattle. Yearlings are untaxed. There is understood to be considerable latitude in making these returns, and there are no surveyors of taxes to institute imper- tinent inquiries. The money thus collected is chiefly employed in building and maintaining law courts and carrying out the administration of justice. The ex- penses of small herds of 1,000 head average $\.^0 annually for each beast, but for larger herds, number- ing 10,000 and upwards, they do not exceed $\. The losses from deaths, straying, and plundering by the Indians and unscrupulous neighbours, \which in many localities is the chief cause of loss, are stated to range from 2 to 4 per cent. In exceptionally severe win- ters such as that of 1880-81, when in many districts the snow lay thickly on park and plain for upwards of three months, the losses were greatly more serious. On many larger ranches the principal stockmen are allowed a percentage on profits,, Eastern capitalists Cheap Cattle Feeding. 443 are often shareholders in' these western ranches. To men of known steadiness and judgment desirous of extending their business the banks often grant ad- vances, frequently at the rate of 2 per cent, per month, and enterprises, even when thus weighted, earn, I am assured, good profits. During summer and autumn, from their western pastures, two-, three-, and even four-year-old cattle, generally in g'ood condition, some of them fat, are "steadily driven, grazing by the way, to some dep6t on the great trunk lines which pass eastward. At various stations along the Union and Northern Pacific Rail- roads 1,000 cattle are now loaded between June and the end of October. About 20 fill one of the covered cars. One or two stations make up a train which travels express, usually stopping every 12 or 15 hours for feeding and watering the animals, and allowing them 10 or 12 hours' rest. They are chiefly consigned to Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, or to Atlantic ports. On the ranches or at the Western Railway stations, the best are purchased at \\d. to 2d. per lb. live weight. As is general throughout America, cattle, sheep, and hogs, whether fat or stores, are bought by weight, usually alive, or on the hoof, as it is termed. At every farm, every market, and every loading depot are Fairbank's scales, on which one, twenty, or even forty animals can be weighed. The seller usually endeavours to have the weighing effected immediately after his animals have been fed and watered ; the buyer manoeuvres to scale them when just unloaded, hungry, and thirsty. 444 American Competition. Thousands of the best two- and three-year-old cattle from the western grazings are every autumn dis- tributed over the great Indian-corn regions of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri, where in large yards, containing 6o to lOO beasts — on corn costing about is. per bushel, on oats about the same value, with bran at 20s. and hay at \os. per ton — they are cheaply fed. Big bullocks, fairly started, eat half a bushel of grain daily. They are bought at 1,100 lbs, to 1,200 lbs. at about \\d. per lb. live weight ; pigs are* economically run in the yards along with the cattle, which go out fat in the later winter and spring months weighing 1,400 lbs. to 1,600 lbs., and bringing 2d. to 2\d. per lb. gross. Frequently the smaller farmer^ take in a yardful of cattle, feeding them on corn and hay, furnishing also some bran and salt, and receiving about \d. for every lb. of increased weight when in spring the stock are scaled out. Consigned to the eastern markets, these corn-fed cattle yield 56 lbs. to 60 lbs. of beef for every 100 lbs. of live weight. Such carcasses, usually weighing 700 lbs. to 800 lbs., to the number of about 6,000 are now forwarded every week to British markets. From June until November an important and rapidly-growing department of the cattle trade — the salting and canning business — is in active operation. From Texas, Colorado, and other States, thousands of three- and four-year-olds are forwarded to Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and New York. They cost \\d. to 2d. per lb. live weight, which reaches 800 lbs. to 1,200 lbs. They are sound and healthy al- Cheap Canned Meat^. 445 though sometimes rough and not over-encunibered with fat. In some of the larger establishments up- wards of 1,000 cattle are slaughtered daily, and care- fully and systematically disposed of The clean and careful manner in which the whole- some meat is handled and put up, justifies the belief that the prejudice with which American tinned meats are still sometimes regarded must speedily disappear. Careful, systematic arrangements are adopted to make the best of the so-called waste products, and the large scale on which slaughtering is conducted, and the con- centration of the abattoirs, enable this to be more eco- nomically and effectually done than in England, Cheap rail, lake, and ocean transit secures the trans- mission of these valuable concentrated meats from the American- manufactory to Great Britain at a cost of less than \d. per lb. Through agents in Europe the goods are placed very directly, and without repeated commissions, in the hands of the consumers. So great is now the demand for this concentrated nourish- ing food that during one week in the spring of 1880 in London alone 1 50,000 cases, each containing 84 lb. of beef, were disposed of at 37J. 6d. per case. When the Texas and coarser, commoner cattle of America are graded up, which, however, will obviously take some time to accomplish, it has been urged that the advanced prices obtained for superior cattle will interfere with the packing trade. Improved stock are, however, scarcely more costly than the commoner sorts to breed, and are certainly more cheaply and quickly reared and fed, and for many years large 446 American Compehhon. supplies of beef must continue to be available at much the same prices as are now current. The transit of the cattle from the great breed- ing and feeding regions to the Eastern markets or to Europe is very moderate. For example, from Cheyenne, in Western Nebraska, now a great centre, whence cattle are brought for several hundred miles, the railroad rate per head, 1,000 miles to Chicago, is 2%s. From Chicago, 900 miles to New York, the rate is \6s. Feeding and superintendence in transit including 2s. per head for commissions for selling in any of the large stockyards, is defrayed by %'s. Trans- porting these western beeves to Great Britain, their passage to Liverpool during 1879 cost 4/. The best companies during 1880 slightly raised their freights; 25 J. is besides expended for food and attendance during the voyage, insurance averages 6 per cent., and, with incidentals, brings up the cost to 30J. a head. Endeavouring to reduce these transport and other charges, some shippers have recourse to cheaper and less trustworthy vessels, and hence arise frequently recurring mishaps and losses! Some trust to in- efficient attendants, or sail with insufficient food supplies for their hungry cargo. The total charges of transport of a beast, say from North-eastern Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana, over 2,000 miles of land and 3,000 of ocean, and landing him in Great Britain, thus amount to 8/. or 10/. Presuming that he weighs 1,200 lbs., this will be about 2d. per lb. on his gross weight, or i^. on his carcass of beef. Will Store Stock be Brought to England? 447 Rates to London are a little higher than to Liver- pool ; during the last eighteen months, they have been 4/. los. Ocean steamers unfortunately have not water to land their cargoes either at Deptford or Thames Haven. Accordingly, lying off Gravesend their freight is trans-shipped into steamers specially constructed for the trade, and at a cost of 3J. per head the United States animals are transferred to the lairs at Deptford, where on landing they under- go veterinary inspection. They must be slaughtered within fourteen days of arrival. Their lairage during this or any less period is 5j. for each beast, 2s. for each calf, i.y. for each pig, gd. for each sheep. The charges for feeding per day are is. 6d. for each beast, ij. for each calf, 6d. for each pig, 2>d. for each sheep. The slaughtering charges are moderate ; including the use of hot water and appliances, they are, 2s. for beasts, is. for calves, 6d. for pigs, ^d. for sheep. Meat slaughtered at Deptford is thence carted to the Metropolitan Market at a cost of los. to 12s. 6d. per ton. Here as well as in connection with the slaughter- houses for home-grown stock, at the Metropolitan and other large markets cold storage chambers, which are so universal in Amerita, would secure better preser- vation of the meat. Canadian live stock, amongst which contagious disease has never been discovered when consigned to Loiidon, are sometimes carried in the ocean steamers direct to the Victoria Docks. More fre- quently, at Gravesend they are trans-shipped into the river steamers and landed at Thames Haven, in- 448 American Competition. spected, and may be forwarded alive to the Metro- politan or provincial markets. Imported Canadian store cattle and sheep have occasionally been pur- chased by British farmers, but even when well kept have seldom thriven or paid satisfactorily. This is not very encouraging to those who pro- pose, when the States show a clean bill of health, to import American store cattle to be finished off in England. The business has obvious drawbacks ; it would be irregular, the demand probably uncertain ; the cattle can only be brought over safely in the best of vessels and under careful, experienced supervision ; even if well selected, all would not take kindly to their altered dietary and management. The transit charges on lean stock would not be much less than those on fat stock ; they would obviously bear a greater proportion to the value of the low-priced store than to the higher-priced fat beast. The food to prepare the animal for the butcher costs besides more than double the price in England which it does in America. The transit of the living beast is moreover double that of the meat in carcass. Such considera- tions must limit the importation of American lean stock, which certainly would not be required if British and Irish cattle-breeders generally devoted themselves, as they must do, to the rearing of larger numbers of profitable young stock. Nor should there be much difficulty in developing British agricultural capabilities in this direction, inasrnuch as breeding has for years admittedly paid better than feeding. American flocks have not generally received so Improvements in Mutton and Wool. 449 much attention as the herds. Sheep require for their successful management more care and skill than cattle. Until recently they have been cultivated more for wool than for mutton. The 40^ million sheep of the States are now not only increasing at the rate of a million annually, but are steadily improving in weight and quality both of wool and mutton. Hitherto they have not averaged much more than half the weight of British sheep : they have not clipped much more than two-thirds of the wool. The little, narrow, coarse-woolled Mexican sheep, not weighing alive, even when three years old, more than 70 lbs. or 80 lbs., and clipping 3 lbs. to 4 lbs. of rough wool, until the beginning of the century were the in- digenous and only sheep of America. Beef and pork being the animal food hitherto preferred throughout the States, the mutton-producing capabilities of the flocks have been almost entirely ignored, and the lean, poor scrubs usually killed and cooked certainly have not encouraged the taste for mutton. The first sub- stantial improvement was the introduction, early in the century, of Spanish and French Merinoes, which speedily raised the weight and value of the wool, which gradually became finer and softer, adapted for superior clothing fabrics, and for combing purposes. More recently, as in England, the demand for worsted wools has favoured the crossing "alike of Mexican and Merino grades with Leicesters, long-wools, and Downs. To use the American phrase, this has more rapidly ' muttonised ' the flocks. Such crossing is widely adopted in the Eastern and Middle States, where G G 450 American Competition. mixed husbandry prevails, and where, moreover, there is greater demand for good mutton. Hitherto instead of being dearer, mutton in America has been 25 per cent, cheaper than beef; legs and loins have ranked with the fore-quarters and second-rate parts of the ox. Like other enterprises, crossing the indigenous thriftless native sheep with superior imported rams is proceeding west. In Minnesota and Western Kansas I saw capital Leicesters, Oxfords, and other Downs. In the pastoral districts of North-western Colorado Shrops and Oxfords are largely introduced. Weight, quality, and surplus supplies of mutton are thus created and increased. In Great Britain, notwithstanding recent losses, there are still forty sheep on every 100 acres, or three sheep on every four acres of cultivated land, exclud- ing heath and mountain. In the Un,ited States there is but one sheep on 34 acres. An enormous area is nevertheless adapted for sheep husbandry. In many regions where it has been tried it has answered admi- rably. Proving profitable it promises to extend, furnishing still more food for the American people, sparing still larger supplies for exportation, growing the wool wanted in the many manufactories extend- ing in most States and in some of the Territories. American sheep management is of many different types. In New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Penn- sylvania, flying flocks are often kept, bought in during autumn, and fed out during winter and spring. Me- rino grade ewes from Ohio and farther west are some- times purchased during autumn at I3J-. to 25.?., for Flocks of the Middle States. 45 1 raising early' lambs. Frequently they are placed with Down or Cotswold rams. Mated with Merinoes, they produce a slower-growing lamb, which does not bring so much money. They are well kept on hay and Indian corn, not many roots are grown or can be spared. A few lambs are dropped in February, but in this keen, cold climate they require housing, with a good deal of care, and even at is. to i.s. 3a?. per lb. they scarcely pay. Most of the lambs fall in March and April. Mother and offsprings besides hay and corn, have a few oats and bran. The lambs looking as big as their dams, averaging 90 lbs. to 1 10 lbs. live weight, are turned off in May and June at 20J. to 35J. The ewes, leaving a fleece of 5 lbs., worth \s. per lb., shortly follow, usually making 50 per cent, more than the price at which they were bought in. With cheap provender, and allowing nothing for the manure left, 20J. to 30.1. is earned for ten months' keep.. Several tarmers engaged in this trade assure me that they make 200 per cent, gross return on the original cost of the ewes,, and that half this is dear profit. In the Northern and Middle States many more sheep might be profitably reared and fed, paying fully as well as dairying or cattle-feeding, and raising moreover, the fertility of the soil, exhausted by years of continuous corn-growing, without any restitution of plant food. Flockmasters constantly volunteer the statement that their crops have doubled in weight since they kept sheep ; but the system of recuperative sheep-farming, perhaps from insuflacient capital and want of labour to provide suitable attendance and gg2 452 American Competition. fodder crops, is not yet fully carried out on these arable farms. At no season are sheep penned in hurdles over the land as they are in many corn- grow- ing districts in England. Ohio has about one-tenth of the sheep of the United States, or about one sheep for every six acres ; but even in Ohio the flocks generally might be improved ; better provision of successive crops upon the arable land might secure more continuous thriving, and a better yield might be obtained both of mutton and wool. The undulating, well-watered limestone soils of Kentucky are as well adapted for sheep as for cattle. They grow and feed mutton as good as is to be obtained in England. At New York and Boston, Kentucky sheep realise id. per Ik more than the poorer sorts reared under less favourable circumstances. A special breed of wide, shapely, useful-coated sheep, at twenty months readily weighing 130 lbs. to 150 lbs. gross, and possessed of considerable fixity of type, has been raised in Ken- tucky by crossing .native ewes with Merinoes, and sub- sequently with English Leicesters, Downs, and Cots- wolds. By such judicious selection of the ewes of the locality, and by careful crossing, the profitableness of the sheep stock generally might be much improved. Between the Mississippi and the Missouri through- out many parts of Minnesota and Iowa are capital sheep grazings on the natural prairie, in open, parks, amongst the woodlands, and on the readily grown artificial grasses and clovers. The climate is dry ; there is no necessity for yarding the flocks for more than a few weeks during snow, or specially severe Sheep Cheaply Raised in the West. 453 weather, nor is there much cost for providing winter food. Prairie hay costs \os. per ton ;. bran, 25^. a ton ; and Indian corn u, a bushel. Between the Missouri and the Pacific, from Mexico to the British Dominions, and beyond, is an area of a million and a half square miles, not includ- ing Alaska, many parts of which are eminently suit- able for sheep husbandry. On the Laramie plains of the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of 6,000 to 7,000 feet, are fresh and abundant pastures, often well watered. Wyoming and Northern Colorado are specially well adapted for sheep-raising. In some of the higher elevations, where the better cattle do not care to range, there is fair herbage for sheep. With the native Mexican and grade Merino ewes American Merino or English-bred bucks are run. The latter are preferred where the sheep are to be disposed of for mutton. Hay is provided for occa- sional deep snow, or continued hard frost, which may be expected during two or three months. In some districts yards are prepared for protection against sudden storms. Sheep walks can be rented at two or three cents an acre, bought at So cents, and some- times grazed without any charge whatever. The taxes of the state or territory range from three to five cents per head on the number of sheep returned over one year old. Twenty to thirty cents per sheep is estimated to provide for all expenses. A shepherd receiving 30 dollars, or 61. per month, with rations, and the use of a couple of horses, aided by his dogs, attends to 1,000, and occasionally 2,500 sheep. The 454 American Competition. other expenses of the station consist mainly of hay- cutting, salt, and shearing, much of which is done by travelling hands, paid 14J. to i6j. per hundred. Washing now generally precedes shearing, 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. of wool is got, and is expected to pay for the twelve months' expenses, leaving as profit the increase of the flock and sales. Smaller flocks well looked after have generally paid better than large ones. One hundred ewes produce 80 to 90 lambs ; the three-year-old sheep weighing 100 lbs. to 120 lbs. gross are worth three dollars to five dollars. Mr. Post, of Cheyenne, informs me that the yearly cost of keeping sheep on the Plate River ranges from 30 cents to 50 cents. So satisfied is he with recent results that on his own behalf and that of his firm he is steadily increasing his stock. The sixteen Southern States embraced in the wide area between Delaware and Missouri, between Ohio and the Gulf of Mexico, including about one-fourth of the national domain, have large areas thoroughly adapted for sheep-raising. In the South, sheep have seldom, however, received the attention they deserve. Over these four hundred million acres the flocks amount only to ten millions ; they are usually divided into small lots, are generally unimproved natives, receive little or no care, are often greatly injured by drought, storms, starvation in winter, and attacks of dogs. The moderate estimate of official reports collected for the senate, indicate that over this Southern area 1 50,000,000 sheep might be carried in spring and summer, and more than one-third of these Fbckmasteri Troubles^ 455 numbers during the mild short winter. Even in the dead time of year this fertile region, it is believed, would keep twice the total number of sheep enu- merated in the United States. The main cost is attendance for marking and shearing, salt, and a little hay, to which some good managers add a small allow- ance of cotton seed. The annual cost per head is variously estimated at 15 to 25 cents. The profits are said to range from 30 to 40 per cent, on the capital invested. The waste of unpastured grass in these regions is very great. Agricultural enter- prise is not so great as farther north or west, and wide areas of good grazing lie unused. The grass fre- quently is burnt by accident or design. Sheep might with good profit be greatly multiplied. The cost of growing i lb. of wool in Georgia is stated to be six cents, whilst cotton costing four times the amount of labour cannot be produced for less than jd. per lb. Throughout these Southern States, about one thou- sand establishments are engaged in making woollen goods, and using up annually ten million pounds of wool, for which the demand is steadily growing. In the States bordering the Mexican Gulf, the climate appears to be less adapted for English crossed sheep, and the best authorities prefer to run with the native Mexican ewes, bucks one-half to one-fourth Merino. Although his grazings are cheaply stocked and his flock cheaply kept, the American sheep-breeder labours under certain disadvantages, and has expenses and losses from which his English riyal is exempt. In most Northern States the sheep require to be 456 Americaii Competition. housed and fed, and of course demand extra attention. In the Southern States housing is unnecessary, plant- ations, unused sheds, or tobacco houses afford the occasional shelter needed. During two or three months fitful feeding with cheap hay is needful. Winter and summer, in the yards and on the plains and prairies, it is important to supply all sheep with salt. Although the herbage is fresh and succulent, and during spring and early summer the sheep have abundance of capital food, in some regions and in some seasons drought proves most disastrous. Sheep do with somewhat less water than cattle : owing, however, to continued scarcity of water a wide ex- panse of such plains as those in North-west Texas prove uncertain and of low value for sheep-walks. During the summer of 1880 in Texas, Western Kansas, and other Territories, losses both of sheep and cattle from want of water have been serious. The percentage of lambs on which the American flockmaster can count is smaller than with us. The British shepherd is culpable, or the season untoward, in which a lamb is not secured for every ewe, whilst amongst Down flocks greater returns are obtained. Merinos in the North and Eastern States seldom pro- duce their first lamb until they are three years old. Storms, winter snows, thefts, and disease also cause heavy losses amongst ewes and, indeed, amongst all sheep. From disowning, exposure, and attacks of dogs and wolves many lambs are lost. From these preventible causes the Texan sheep- master estimates his losses at 15 percent. Even in Great Multiplication of Hogs. 457 an old State like Delaware they reach 19 per cent., and in Kentucky, Alabama, and Missouri they exceed 21 per cent. About one-half this serious loss is ascribed to prowling dogs, which in Georgia, Missis- sippi, and other States are numerous, starved, and untaxed, causing a loss of 9 per cent, in Kentucky and Texas, and 8 per cent, in the Carolinas and Georgia. American farmers must be even more long- suffering than those at home to stand such preventible wholesale slaughter. Expanding settlement, the destruction of prairie wolves and roaming dogs, and closer attention to the flock will greatly lessen these losses. Provision of winter food, besides being of benefit in this way, is also enhancing the value of the mutton and wool. Judicious crossiiig is further greatly improving the flocks and increasing both the weight and quality of the mutton, while washing is adding to the value of the wool, which for many years will all be required in the growing manufactures of the States, which now use up nearly three times the quantity which they produce. The hogs of the United States muster 35,000,000, or nine times the number enumerated in the United Kingdom. The abundance of the Indian corn crops of the past few years has stimulated their production at the rate of one million and a half per annum. They quickly convert the corn and oats, worth about \s. per bushel, and grass, clover, and other cheap, bulky, unsaleable vegetable food, into the saleable animal which readily runs to market. The state of Illinois makes a muster of 3,330,000 pigs ; Iowa and 458 American Competition. Missouri each have nearly 3,000,000 ; Indiana and Kentucky each contribute 2,000,000. Berkshire and Fisher Hobbs, Essex, large and middle-sized whites, and a useful China hog are reared. All are well-grown and profitable. I did not see a thriftless pig while in America. Abundance of room and exercise, with varied food while growing, develop size and more lean meat than is exhibited among our more artifi- cially managed, closely confined grunters. As at home, the contagious fatal hog cholera occasionally occurs, spreading from the great markets to the premises of breeders and feeders, and sometimes causing great losses. The average value of the American hogs set forth in the agricultural statistics is only 16^. ; but in Colorado and other Territories they reach 305-., and in Massachusetts amount to 45J. 9. each. Lecky'B Leaders of Fublio Opinion in Irelansl. Grown 8vo. 7a. Bd, Life (The) and Letters of Lord Maoanlay. By his Nephew, G. Otto Trevdyan, M.P. CabinetEdition, 2Tol3.post8vo. 12j. Library Edition, 2 vols. 8vo.36«. Marshman's Memoirs of Havelock. 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