most rapid in its development is Chicago, whose first warehouse lot
was sold in 1834, and which, in 1857, is said to contain near one
hundred thousand inhabitants. Let us, for a moment, compare the
_material advantages and resources_ of that place, with those of
Mackinaw city. Dean Swift said, that a large city must combine the
resources of agriculture, commerce and manufactures. Cities have
risen, however, to large size almost exclusively on commerce. Witness
Tyre and Palmyra. But commerce, we concede, when left to itself, is so
fluctuating, that the cities it builds, like Tyre and Palmyra, may, in
the decay of commerce, be left to ruin and desolation. Cities may,
likewise, be built up almost exclusively on manufactures, such as
Birmingham and Sheffield; and it is quite remarkable that the oldest
and most stable cities have depended largely on manufactures.
Damascus, the oldest historical city--which has resisted all the
destructive influences of time and revolution--has always been a
manufacturing town. Paris, Lyons, Lisle, the great interior towns of
France, depend very largely on the manufacture of fine and fashionable
articles, distributed throughout Europe and America. Of the great
elements of civic success, we consider manufactures the most
important; but, to make a city of the first magnitude, it is obviously
necessary to have all the resources of food, industry and commerce.
Chicago is remarkable chiefly as a grain city--like Odessa, on the
Baltic. But, whence is the grain derived? By the construction of
railroads, at that point, from Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin
and Iowa, the whole mass of surplus grain in that region--amounting
to more than twenty millions of bushels per annum--has been exported
from Chicago. But, this is the drainage of three hundred thousand
square miles, two-thirds of which will not export through Chicago when
railroads extend directly east to Milwaukee, Superior and Mackinaw,
from Wisconsin and Iowa, and connect, from the south, at Cairo, with
Missouri and Illinois. Reduced to its own proper limits, the
agricultural resources of Chicago must be confined to half the surface
of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, or about one hundred thousand square
miles. This is but little over one-third the surface drained of
agricultural products toward the Straits of Mackinaw. Will it be said
that this new region of the Northwest is less productive in
agriculture? The contrary, for the great element of breadstuffs, is
likely to be true. Attentive observers of agricultural production have
remarked, that the different grains _produced most on the northern
edge of the belt_, in which _they will grow at all_. Is it not so in
Europe? The _isothermal line_ of Mackinaw passes in the midst of those
countries which alone produce the surplus grain of Europe, viz.,
Prussia, Pomerania, Poland, Southern Russia. As if to place this
beyond a doubt, the crops of Canada West have, in fact, failed much
less frequently than those of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In regard
to agricultural production, it will be difficult to show that the
country drained by Chicago, has any advantage over that which will be
drained by the Straits of Mackinaw.
In regard to commerce--the natural position of Mackinaw is far superior
to Chicago. Mackinaw is at the _head_ of Lake Michigan--Chicago, at
the _foot_. Mackinaw is at the junction of _three_ great lakes;
Chicago at the foot of one. Mackinaw will concentrate the navigation
of _eighty thousand_ square miles of water _surface_; Chicago of
_twenty-four thousand_. Mackinaw is three hundred and fifty miles
nearer the Atlantic by water; three hundred miles nearer the upper
extremity of the lakes, and as much nearer any of the Eastern Lake
ports which are points of distribution. The comparison need be made no
further, for whoever looks upon the map will see, that, while Chicago
touches one end of a single lake, a world of waters gather round
Mackinaw. For an internal water commerce, it has no equal.
It will be said, that railroads now carry commerce. This is true, but,
railroads do not carry commerce over the surface of lakes, and the
multiplication of vessels on the lakes proves that _that_ commerce
will ever be great and increasing. But what railroad commerce can be
greater than that which will concentrate at Mackinaw, when it
connects, in a direct line, not only with the cities of the Ohio
Valley, but with those of the far South. To Cincinnati, to Louisville,
to Charleston, Savannah, and Pensacola, will the cars move, laden with
the people and products of the North. Lastly, neither Chicago nor any
other point can be superior to Mackinaw in the elements necessary to
support manufactures, the great support of cities, these elements we
have already exhibited in detail. Copper, iron, lead, coal, wood,
timber, bread, in fine, everything which can feed machinery, give
material for its work, or feed the people who gather in the great
workshops of industry, and distribute the products of labor. Here
materials all lie near enough for the purposes of either work or
distribution. Birmingham, Manchester, Lyons, and Cincinnati, have
their materials no nearer. There, if anywhere, is a site peculiarly
proper for a manufacturing town.
But, neither agriculture, commerce, nor manufactures are the only
things necessary to build up a large city. Healthiness is more
important than either. Here again, Mackinaw has more advantage over
Chicago. Mackinaw has been proved by two hundred years experience to
be one of the healthiest points in America. Chicago is generally
healthy, but is subject to more severe epidemics. The cholera visited
it in 1832 and in 1849, with fearful force; while its very low
position and muddy streets expose its inhabitants to those diseases
which arise from damps.
The Legislature of Michigan, recently passed a bill to provide for the
drainage and reclamation of the swamp lands of the State by a system
of State roads, accompanied by a lengthy and able report. The bill
provides among others, a road from Ionia north to the straits, and
thence to Saut St. Mary.
They also passed a bill entitled the "Forty Acre Homestead Act." This
act requires the commissioners of the State Land office to issue a
certificate of purchase to every settler on the swamp lands belonging
to the State, for forty acres of said lands, whenever such settler
shall have resided upon it for five continuous years, and when he has
drained the same so as to comply with the provisions of the Act of
Congress making this grant to the State. Before the settler can
acquire the right thus to occupy and drain any of the swamp lands, he
is required to file with the commissioner his application, accompanied
by an oath of his intention to settle upon and drain it for the
purpose of obtaining a title thereto. And he must also make oath that
he is not already the owner of forty acres of land in any State of the
United States. It is also expressly provided that he shall not cut or
carry away any timber from said land, unless it be to clear it for
cultivation, under such penalties as are now prescribed for
trespassing upon State lands. It will be seen, therefore, that the
object of the law is to provide homes for the homeless, and at the
same time promote the actual, _permanent_ settlement of the northern
portion of the State. No man who possesses forty acres of land either
in Michigan or anywhere else, is entitled to the benefits of the act.
It is emphatically a law for the poor man. To all such it secures a
_home_, without money and without price. All it requires of him is to
settle upon and cultivate it. How many are there in Detroit and other
portions of the State, who will avail themselves of this beneficent
republican measure?
CHAPTER XII.
The Great Western Valley -- Its growth and population --
Comparison of Atlantic with interior cities -- Relative
growth of river and lake cities -- Centre of population --
Lake tonnage -- Progress of the principal centres of
population.
The following chapter on the population and growth of the Great
Western Valley is taken from De Bow's Review:--
The westward movement of the Caucasian branch of the human family from
the high plains of Asia, first over Europe, and thence, with swelling
tide, pouring its multitudes into the New World, is the grandest
phenomenon in history. What American can contemplate its results, as
displayed before him, and as promised in the proximate future, without
an emotion of pride and exultation?
Our nation has the great middle region of the best continent of the
world, and our people are descendants from the most vigorous races.
Western Europe, over-peopled, sends us her most energetic sons and
daughters, in numbers augmenting with each succeeding decade. Asia is
beginning to send forth a portion of her surplus population to our
shores. Though of inferior race, the Eastern Asiatics are industrious
and ingenious cultivators and artisans. A large influx of these
laborers, though it may lower the average character of our people,
will, it is hoped, in a greater degree elevate theirs; and thus, while
adding to the wealth and power of a nation, do something toward the
general amelioration of the race. While, then, we contemplate with
patriotic pride the position which, as a nation, we hold in the
world's affairs, may we not indulge in pleasant anticipations of the
near approach of the time, when the commercial and social heart of our
empire will occupy its natural place as the heart of the continent,
near the centre of its natural capabilities?
New York has long been, and for some decades of years it will continue
to be, the necessary chief focal point of our nation. But, in all
respects, it is not the true heart. In its composition and dealings,
it is almost as much foreign as American. Located on our eastern
border, fronting the most commercial and the richest transatlantic
nations, and of easy access to extensive portions of our Atlantic
coast, it is the best point of exchange between foreign lands and our
own, and for the cities of the sea border of our Republic. As Tyre,
Alexandria, Genoa, Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam, in their best days,
flourished as factors between foreigners and the people of the
interior regions, whose industries were represented in their markets,
so New York grows rich as the chief agent in the exchange-commerce
between the ocean shores and the interior regions of our continent. As
our numbers have swelled, since we became a nation, from three and a
half millions to thirty millions, so New York, including Brooklyn and
other suburbs, has increased in population and wealth still more
rapidly, to wit, from twenty-five thousand to more than one million.
While the nation has increased less than tenfold, New York has grown
more than four times tenfold. In 1790 the city of New York contained
thirty-three thousand, and the State of New York three hundred and
forty thousand--the city having less than one-tenth of the people of
the State.
Believing that this most prosperous of the Atlantic cities will be
eclipsed in its greatness and glory by one or more of the interior
cities of the great plain, we have selected it as the champion of the
Atlantic border, to hold up its progress during the thirty years from
1830 to 1860, the most prosperous years of its existence, in
comparison with the progress, during the same period, of the aggregate
cities and towns of the plain. The result of our investigation, the
summing up, will be found in the following table. It will be seen that
many of the items are put down in round numbers--no document being
accessible or in existence to furnish the exact number of many of the
new towns, in 1830. The estimate for 1860 may, in some instances, be
above the figures which the census will furnish, but the over-estimate
for 1830 is believed to be in a larger proportion to actual numbers at
that time. Making a liberal allowance for errors, the result of the
aggregate cannot be materially varied from that at which our figures
bring us:
1830. 1860 Est. Increase.
New York, including Brooklyn
and other suburbs 234,438 1,170,000 5 times.
Cities and chief towns of
the great plain 270,094 2,706,300 10 " nearly
Leaving out the exterior cities of the plain, to wit, New Orleans,
Mobile, Galveston, Quebec and Montreal, the comparison between New
York and suburbs, and the interior cities of the plain will be shown
by the following figures:
1830. 1860 Est. Increase.
New York and accessories 234,448 1,170,000 5 fold
Interior cities and town of
the plain 172,000 2,346,000 13 "
The five largest cities of the Atlantic border exhibit a growth, as
compared with the five largest cities of the plain, as follows:
1830. 1860 Est.
New York and dependencies 235,000 1,170,000
Philadelphia " 170,000 700,000
Baltimore " 83,000 250,000
Boston " 80,000 200,000
Charleston " 31,000 60,000
599,000 2,380,000
Cincinnati and suburbs 28,000 250,000
New Orleans " 47,000 170,000
St. Louis " 6,000 170,000
Chicago " 100 150,000
Pittsburg " 17,000 145,000
98,000 885,000
This table shows the five Atlantic cities to have quadrupled, and the
five cities of the interior plain have increased nine times. Is this
relative rate of increase of the exterior and interior cities to be
changed, and, if it is to be changed, when is the change to commence?
We can foresee no cause adequate to that effect, or tending toward it.
On the contrary, it seems to us certain as any future event, that the
rate of growth of the interior cities, compared with those on the
Atlantic border, will be increased.
The proportion which their present numbers bear to the numbers of the
rural population does not exceed one to six, whereas the urban
population of the Atlantic border is not less than one to three of the
rural. This disproportion of city and rural population will hereafter
change more rapidly in favor of the interior than the Atlantic cities,
because of the greater fertility of soil producing more food from an
equal amount of labor; and also, by reason of the more rapid growth of
the general population, of which an increasing proportion will prefer
city to country life. Will it not be so? Will not the general increase
of population be greater in the interior States? Will not the
productions of the soil increase faster? And can there be a doubt that
the large disproportion in the distribution of the population between
city and country, in the interior, will be lessened, so that, instead
of being, as now, only one to five or six, they will rapidly approach
the proportion of one to two or three? Here, then, are the sources of
superior increase so obviously true, as to need only to be stated to
insure conviction.
Let us now compare the growth, for the thirty years since 1830, of the
five largest Atlantic cities, with the five largest cities of the
plain, and, by its side, extend the comparison to 10, 15, and 20 of
the largest city of each section:
1830. 1860 Est.
New York and accessories 235,000 1,170,000
Philadelphia " 170,000 700,000
Baltimore " 83,000 250,000
Charleston " 31,000 60,000
599,000 2,380,000
Increase 4 times.
1830. 1860 Est.
Cincinnati and suburbs 28,000 250,000
New Orleans " 47,000 270,000
St. Louis " 6,000 170,000
Chicago " 100 150,000
Pittsburg " 17,000 145,000
98,000 2,885,000
Increase 9 times.
Let us now compare the _ten_ largest of each section.
_Atlantic._
1830. 1860 Est.
The aggregate of the five
largest as above 579,000 2,370,000
Providence 17,000 55,000
Lowell 6,500 40,000
Washington 19,000 60,000
Albany 24,000 65,000
Richmond 16,000 35,000
------- ---------
661,000 2,625,000
Increase 4 times.
_Interior._
1839. 1860 Est.
Aggregate as above 98,000 885,000
Buffalo 9,000 100,000
Louisville 10,500 80,000
Milwaukee 50 75,000
Detroit 2,000 80,000
Cleveland 1,000 70,000
------- ---------
120,550 1,290,000
Increase 10 7-10.
Aggregate of the ten, with five more of each section added, added, to
wit:
1830. 1860 Est.
Aggregate as above 661,000 2,625,000
Troy 11,500 35,000
Portland 12,500 30,000
Salem 14,000 25,000
New Haven 10,000 30,000
Savannah 7,500 15,500
------- ---------
716,500 2,760,500
Increase 3 8-10 times.
1830. 1860 Est.
Aggregate as above 120,550 1,290,000
Toronto 1,700 65,000
Rochester 9,000 50,000
Mobile 3,000 30,000
Memphis 1,500 25,000
Hamilton 1,500 25,000
-------- --------
137,000 1,485,000
Increase 16 7-10 times.
Aggregate of the fifteen, with five more added in each section:
1830. 1860 Est.
Aggregate as above 716,500 2,760,500
Springfield, Mass 7,000 24,000
Worcester, " 4,500 24,000
Bangor, Me. 3,000 23,000
Patterson, N. J. 5,000 22,000
Manchester, N. H. 50 22,000
------- ---------
736,500 2,875,500
Increase 3 8-10 times.
1830. 1860 Est.
Aggregate as above 137,250 1,485,000
Dayton 3,000 24,000
Indianapolis 1,500 22,000
Toledo 30 20,000
Oswego 3,200 20,000
Quincy 1,500 20,000
------- ---------
149,700 1,591,000
Increase 10 6-10 times.
From the above tables, we see that the city of New York, with its
neighboring dependencies, will have made in growth in thirty years,
between 1830 and 1860, increasing its population 5 times. During the
same period,
The 5 largest Atlantic cities and suburbs,
including New York, increased 4 1-10 times.
The 10 largest Atlantic cities and suburbs,
including New York, increased 4 "
The 15 largest Atlantic cities and suburbs,
including New York, increased 3 8-10 "
The 20 largest Atlantic cities and suburbs,
including New York, increased 3 8-10 "
And that the 5 largest cities of the great plain,
during the same period, increased 9 "
And the 10 largest cities of the great plain,
during the same period, increased 10 7-10 "
And the 15 largest cities of the great plain,
during the same period, increased 10 7-10 "
And the 20 largest cities of the great plain,
during the same period, increased 10 6-10 "
If the number of cities and towns of each section were increased to
twenty-five, thirty, and thirty-five of each section, the disparity
would increase in favor of the interior cities, most of these to be
brought into comparison, having come into existence since 1830.
We commend the comparison between the old and the new cities so far
back as 1830, to give the former a better chance for a fair showing.
If a later census should be chosen for a starting point, the
advantages would be more decidedly with the interior cities.
In the article on the great plain, in the May number of this Review,
we gave prominence to the two great external gateways of commerce
offered to its people in their intercourse with the rest of the world:
that is to say, the Mississippi river entrance into the Gulf of
Mexico, and the outlet of the lakes through St. Lawrence and Hudson
rivers. These constitute the present great routes of commerce of the
people of the plain, and draw to the cities on the borders of the
great lakes and rivers the trade of the surrounding country. Between
the cities of the great rivers and lakes there has of late sprung up a
friendly rivalry, each having some peculiar advantages, and all, in
some degree, drawing business into their laps for the benefit of their
rivals. That is to say: river cities gather in productions from the
surrounding districts which seek an eastern market through lake
harbors; and lake cities perform the same office for the chief river
cities. Each year increases, to a marked extent, the intercourse which
these two classes of cities hold with each other; and it may be safely
anticipated that no long period will elapse before this intercourse
will become more important to them than all their commerce with the
world beside.
In comparing the interior cities of the great plain, situated on the
navigable rivers, with those located on the borders of the lakes, two
considerations bearing on their relative growth should be kept in
view. The river cities were of earlier growth, the settlement from the
Atlantic States having taken the Ohio river as the high-road to their
new homes, many years before the upper lakes were resorted to as a
channel of active emigration.
This gave an earlier development to country bordering the central
rivers, the Ohio, Wabash, Illinois, and Lower Missouri. The States of
Kentucky and Tennessee, also, had been pretty well settled, in their
more inviting portions, before any considerable inroad had been made
on the wilderness bordering on the upper lakes. Owing to these and
other circumstances, the river cities, Pittsburg, Cincinnati,
Louisville, and others of less note, were well advanced in growth,
before the towns on the lakes had begun, in any considerable degree,
to be developed. Another advantage the river cities possessed in their
early stage, and which they still hold; that of manufacturing for the
planting States bordering the great rivers. For many years, in a
great variety of articles of necessity, they possessed almost a
monopoly of this business. Of late, transportation has become so
cheap, that the planters avail themselves of a greater range of choice
for the purchase of manufactured articles, and the lake cities have
commenced a direct trade with the plantation States, which will
doubtless increase with the usual rapidity of industrial development
in the fertile West.
If we claim for the upper lake country some superiority of climate for
city growth over the great river region, we do not doubt that the
future will justify the claim. More labor will be performed for the
same compensation, in a cool, bracing atmosphere, such as
distinguishes the upper lake region, than on the more sultry banks of
the central affluents of the Mississippi, where are the best positions
for the chief river cities.
Refraining from further comment, let us bring the actual development
of the interior cities--on the navigable rivers and on the lakes--into
juxtaposition for easy comparison. As our comparison of Atlantic
cities with the cities of the plain has been made for thirty years,
from 1830 to 1860, we continue it here for the same period, between
the river cities and lake cities. We select twenty cities, now the
largest of each region, and put down the population in round numbers
as nearly accurate as practicable. That for 1860, is of course, an
estimate only, but it is certainly near enough to the truth to
illustrate the growth, positive and comparative, of our interior
cities.
This table exhibits a growth of the interior cities on the navigable
waters of the Mississippi and its affluents, which brings their
population, in 1870, up to 11-1-10 that of 1830. This is,
unquestionably, much beyond the expectation of their most sanguine
inhabitants, at the commencement of that period, being three times
that of the chief cities of the Atlantic border. Yet even this rapid
development is seen, by our figures, to fall far behind that which has
characterized the cities created by lake commerce during the same
period.
Interior River Cities 1830. 1860.
Cincinnati and dependencies, 25,500 250,000
Pittsburg, " 15,500 155,000
St. Louis, " 6,000 180,000
Louisville, " 11,000 80,000
Memphis, " 2,500 25,000
Wheeling, " 6,000 20,000
New Albany, " 1,500 20,000
Quincy, " 1,000 19,000
Peoria, " 800 18,000
Galena, " 2,000 18,500
Keokuk, " 50 16,000
Dubuque, " 100 16,000
Nashville, " 6,000 15,000
St. Paul, " 15,000
Madison, Ind., " 2,500 13,000
Burlington, Ind., " 12,000
La Fayette, Ind., " 300 13,000
Rock Island, " 8,000
Jeffersonville, " 800 8,000
81,550 914,000
Lake Cities. 1830. 1860.
Chicago and dependencies 100 150,000
Buffalo, " 8,663 100,000
Detroit, " 2,222 80,000
Milwaukee, " 50 75,000
Cleveland, " 1,047 70,000
Toronto, C. W., 1,667 65,000
Rochester, " 9,269 50,000
Hamilton, C. W., " 5,500 25,000
Kingston, C. W., " 2,500 20,500
Oswego, " 3,200 20,500
Toledo, " 30 20,000
Sandusky City, " 350 14,000
Erie, " 1,000 10,000
G. Rapids, Mich., " 300 10,000
Kenosha, " 10,000
Racine, " 10,000
St. Catharine's, C. W., " 400 10,000
Waukegan, " 8,000
Port Huron, " 100 8,000
Fon du Lac, " 20 8,000
32,408 764,000
These, according to the table, exhibit a growth which makes them, in
1860, more than _twenty-three_ times as populous as they were in 1830.
This is double the progress of the river cities, and more than five
times that of the cities of the Atlantic coast. In the face of these
facts, how can intelligent men continue to hold the opinion that New
York is to continue long to be, as now, the focal point of North
American commerce and influence? Yet well informed men _do_ continue
to express the opinion that New York will _ever_ hold the position of
the chief city of the continent. Every one at all familiar with the
location and movement of our population, knows that the central point
of its numbers is moving in a constant and almost unvarying direction
west by north. An able investigator, now Professor of Law in the
University of Michigan, Thomas M. Cooley, five years ago, entered into
an elaborate calculation to ascertain where the centre of population
of the United States and Canadas was, at that time. The result showed
it to be very near Pittsburg. It is generally conceded that it travels
in a direction about west by north, at a rate averaging not less than
seven miles a year. In 1860, it will have crossed the Ohio River, and
commenced its march through the State of Ohio. As our internal
commerce is more than ten times as great as our foreign commerce, and
is increasing more rapidly, it is plain that it will have the chief
agency in building the future and permanent capital city of the
continent. If the centre of population were, likewise the centre of
wealth and industrial power, other things being equal, it would be the
position of the chief city, as it would be the most convenient place
of exchange for dealers from all quarters of the country. But this
centre of wealth and industrial power does not keep up, in its western
movement, with the centre of population! nor, if its movement were
coincident, would it be at or near the right point for the
concentration of our domestic and foreign trade, while traversing the
interior of Ohio. If we suppose our foreign commerce equal to one
fifteenth of the domestic, we should add to the thirty-three millions
of the States and Canadas, upward of two millions of foreigners, to
represent our foreign commerce. These should be thrown into the scale
represented by New York. This, with the larger proportion to
population of industrial power remaining in the old States, would
render it certain that the centre of industrial power of our nation
has not traveled westward so far as to endanger, for the present, the
supremacy of the cities central to the commerce of our Atlantic coast.
Until the centre of industrial power approaches a good harbor on the
lakes, New York will continue the best located city of the continent
for the great operations of its commerce. That the centre of wealth
and consequent industrial power is moving westward at a rate not
materially slower than the centre of population, might be easily
proved; but, as those who read this article with interest must be
cognizant of the great flow of capital from the old world and the old
States to the New States, and the rapid increase of capital on the
fertile soil of the new States, no special proof seems to us to be
called for. The centre of power, numerical, political, economical, and
social, is then, indubitably, on its steady march from the Atlantic
border toward the interior of the continent. That it will find a
resting place somewhere, in its broad interior plain, seems as
inevitable as the continued movement of the earth on its axis. The
figures we have submitted of the growth of the principal lake cities
plainly show great power in lake commerce, so great as to carry
conviction to our mind that the _principal city of the continent will
find its proper home and resting-place on the lake border, and become
the most populous capital of the earth_. A full knowledge of the
geography of North America will tend to confirm this conviction in the
mind of the fair inquirer. The lakes penetrate the continent to its
productive centre. They afford, during eight or nine months of the
year, pleasant and safe navigation for steam-propelled vessels. Their
waters are pure and beautifully transparent, and the air which passes
over them exceedingly invigorating to the human system. Their borders
are replete with materials for the exercise of human industry and
skill. The soil is fertile and very productive in grains and grasses.
Coal in exhaustless abundance crops out on or near their waters, to
the extent of nearly one thousand miles of coast. The richest mines of
iron and copper, convenient to water transport, exist, in aggregate
amount, beyond the power of calculation. Stone of lime, granite, sand,
and various other kinds suitable for the architect and the artist, are
found almost everywhere convenient to navigation. Gypsum of the best
quality crops out on the shores of three of the great lakes, and salt
springs of great strength are worked to advantage, near lakes Ontario
and Michigan. Timber trees in great variety and of valuable sorts,
give a rich border to the shores for thousands of miles. Of these, the
white oak, burr oak, white pine, whitewood or tulip tree, white ash,
hickory and black walnut, are the most valuable. They are of noble
dimensions, and clothe millions of acres with their rich foliage.
Nowhere else on the continent are to be seen such abundance of
magnificent oak, and the immense groves of white pine are not
excelled. Heretofore little esteemed, the great tracts of timber
convenient to lake navigation and to the wide treeless prairies of the
plain, are destined soon to take an important place in the commercial
operations of the interior. Already, oak timber, for ship-building and
other purposes, finds a profitable market in New York and Boston. The
great Russian steamship "General Admiral," was built in part from the
timber of the lake border. A great trade is growing up, based on the
products of the forest. Whitewood (Diriodendron tulipifera), oak
staves, black and white walnut plank, and other indigenous timber, are
shipped, not only to the Atlantic cities, but to foreign ports. The
lumber yards of Albany, New York, Philadelphia, as well as those of
Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland and Buffalo, receive
large supplies from the pineries bordering the great lakes. Cincinnati
and other Ohio river cities, receive an increasing proportion of pine
lumber from the same source. These great waters are also, as is well
known, stocked with fish in great variety, whose fine gastronomic
qualities have a world-wide reputation.
As before stated, these lakes penetrate the continent toward the
northwest as far as its productive centre. They now have unobstructed
connection with the Atlantic vessels of nine feet draft and three
hundred tons burden, by the aid of sixty-three miles of canals
overcoming the falls of the St. Mary, Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers,
with a lockage of less than six hundred feet. By enlarging some of the
locks and deepening the canals, at a cost of a very few millions,
navigation for propellers of from one thousand to two thousand tons
may be secured with the whole world of waters. The cost is much within
the power of the Canadas and the States bordering the lakes, and will
be but a light matter to these communities when, within the next
fifteen years, they shall have doubled their population and trebled
their wealth. The increase of the commerce of the lakes, during the
last fifteen years, is believed to be beyond any example furnished by
the history of navigation. A proportionate increase the next fifteen
years, would give for the yearly value of its transported articles,
thousands of millions. According to the best authorities it is now
over four hundred millions. In 1855, that portion of the tonnage
belonging to the United States was one fifteenth of the entire tonnage
of the Union. During the same year the clearances of vessels from
ports of the United States to the Canadas, and the entrance of
vessels from the Canadas to ports of the United States, as exhibited
in the following table, show a greater amount of tonnage entered and
cleared than between the United States and any other foreign country:
Clearances from ports in the United States to ports in Canada in 1855:
Number of American vessels 2,369
" Canadian " 6,638
Whole number 9,067
Tonnage American 890,017
" Canadian 903,502
Total cleared from the States, 1,793,519
The registered tonnage of all the States, the same year, was
2,676,864; and the registered and enrolled together, 5,212,000.
The value of lake tonnage was, in 1855, $14,835,000. The total value
of the commerce of the lakes, the same year, was estimated, by high
authority, (including exports and imports) at twelve hundred and
sixteen millions ($1,216,000,000.) This seems to us an exaggerated
estimate, though based principally on official reports of collectors
of customs. Eight hundred millions would, probably, be near to the
true amount. It will surprise many persons to learn that the trade
between the United States and Canadas, carried on chiefly by the lakes
and their connecting waters, ranks third in value and first in
tonnage, in the table of our foreign commerce; being, in value, only
below that of England and the French Empire, and in tonnage above the
British Empire.
American goods to Canada $9,950,764
Foreign goods 8,769,580
$18,720,344
Canadian goods to the States, 12,182,314
$30,902,658
We here append a table showing the progress, from decade to decade, of
the principal centres of population of the plain since 1820. It has
been made with all the accuracy which our sources of information
enable us to attain. There are in it, no doubt, many errors, but it
will be found, in the main, and for general argument, substantially
correct. For future reference, it will be valuable to persons who take
an interest in the development of our new urban communities. Included
in each city are its outlying dependencies--such as Newport and
Covington with Cincinnati, and Lafayette with New Orleans.
1830. 1840. 1850. 1860.
New Orleans 46,310 90,000 130,565 180,000
Cincinnati 21,831 47,000 130,739 250,000
St. Louis 5,852 16,469 82,000 180,000
Chicago 100 4,650 29,963 150,000
Pittsburg 12,568 25,000 71,595 125,000
Buffalo 8,653 18,213 42,265 100,000
Montreal 30,000 40,000 55,000 90,000
Louisville 10,341 21,210 43,194 89,000
Detroit 2,222 9,162 21,019 80,000
Milwaukee 50 1,730 20,061 75,000
Cleveland 1,047 6,071 19,377 70,000
Toronto 1,677 13,500 27,500 70,000
Rochester 9,269 20,191 36,409 50,000
Quebec 26,250 32,500 41,200 55,000
Columbus, O. 2,450 6,671 17,882 40,000
Mobile 3,194 12,672 20,515 35,000
Hamilton, C. W. 1,500 4,200 13,000 25,000
Memphis 1,500 3,500 8,839 25,000
Nashville 5,566 6,929 10,478 25,000
Dayton 2,954 6,067 10,977 25,000
Indianapolis 1,000 2,692 8,034 22,000
Wheeling, Va. 5,221 7,885 11,435 20,000
Kingston, C. W. 2,500 5,500 10,000 20,000
Lockport, N. Y. 3,800 6,500 12,323 20,000
Oswego 3,200 4,665 12,205 20,000
Toledo 30 1,229 3,829 20,000
Zanesville 3,000 6,000 12,355 20,000
est. est.
New Albany 1,500 4,000 9,895 20,000
est. est.
Peoria 800 2,000 5,095 20,000
est. est.
Quincy, Ill. 1,000 3,000 6,902 20,000
Galena 2,000 4,000 6,004 20,000
Dubuque 200 1,500 3,108 16,000
Keokuk ... 1,000 2,478 16,000
Davenport ... 500 2,478 12,000
Burlington, Ia. ... 1,000 1,848 12,000
Columbus, Ga. 1,000 4,000 5,052 10,000
Alton, Ill. 250 2,500 3,585 10,000
Steubenville 2,964 5,203 6,140 9,000
Chillicothe 2,840 3,977 7,100 9,000
Grand Rapids, Mich. 300 1,500 3,148 9,000
Huntsville, Ala. 1,200 1,500 2,863 6,000
Adrian, Mich. 200 1,800 3,006 9,000
Ann Arbor 200 2,000 4,868 9,000
Sandusky City 350 2,000 8,500 13,000
Fort Wayne, Ia. 100 1,600 4,282 13,000
Madison, Ia. 2,500 4,500 8,508 13,000
St. Paul ... ... 1,012 15,000
Lafayette, Ia. 200 2,000 6,129 13,000
Maysville, Ky. 1,800 2,741 4,256 9,000
Terre Haute, Ia. 600 2,000 4,900 9,000
Evansville, Ia. 300 1,500 3,235 9,000
Jeffersonville, Ia. 500 2,000 3,487 9,000
Portsmouth, Ohio 1,000 2,000 4,011 9,000
Marietta, O. 1,200 1,815 5,254 9,000
Springfield, Ill. 800 2,579 4,553 9,000
Rock Island City ... 400 1,711 8,000
Chattanooga, Ten. 500 1,000 3,500 8,000
Bytown, or }
Ottawa, C. W. } 500 2,000 5,000 10,000
London, C. W. 500 2,000 5,000 10,000
St. Catharines, do. 200 800 4,000 10,000
Galveston, Texas 1,200 2,000 4,177 10,000
Houston, " ... 500 3,000 10,000
Erie, Pa. 1,260 3,500 5,858 10,000
Lexington, Ky. 4,500 6,997 9,180 10,000
Ogdensburg 1,500 3,000 6,500 10,000
Natchez, Miss. 2,000 3,000 4,434 9,000
Three Rivers, C. E. 800 2,000 4,000 8,000
Racine, Wis. ... 1,000 5,111 9,000
Waukesha ... 200 2,313 8,000
Marshall, Mich. 200 1,200 2,822 8,000
Pontiac, " 150 1,300 2,820 8,000
P't Huron " 100 400 2,313 8,000
Jackson " 150 1,000 3,051 6,000
Kalamazoo " 150 900 2,363 6,000
Mineral Pt., Wis. 500 800 2,584 6,000
Kenosha " ... 500 3,055 8,000
Fon du Lac, " ... 1,000 3,451 6,000
Janesville " ... 1,200 2,782 7,000
Beloit " ... 500 2,732 6,000
Madison " ... 100 1,500 7,000
Elgin " ... 100 2,359 5,000
Oshkosh, " ... ... 2,500 6,000
Monroe, Mich. 400 2,000 2,813 5,000
Lansing " ... 100 1,229 5,000
Columbus, Miss. 800 1,500 2,611 5,000
Jacksonville, Ill. 800 1,500 2,745 5,000
Waukegan " ... 800 2,949 6,000
Lasalle " 50 1,000 3,201 6,000
Joliet " ... 1,000 2,659 6,000
Jefferson City, Mo. 1,000 2,000 3,000 5,000
St. Joseph " ... 1,000 2,557 5,000
Independence " ... 500 3,500 6,000
Iowa City, Iowa ... ... 1,582 5,000
Muscatine " ... 400 2,540 6,000
Springfield, Ohio 1,080 2,094 5,108 8,000
Newark " 1,000 2,705 3,654 7,000
Hamilton " 800 1,409 3,210 7,000
Lancaster " 1,000 2,120 3,483 5,000
Akron " 800 1,664 3,266 6,000
Mt, Vernon " 800 2,363 3,711 7,000
Tiffin " ... 728 2,718 7,000
Urbana " 400 1,070 3,414 6,000
Massillon " 600 1,300 2,697 5,000
Lawrenceburg, Ia. 600 2,000 3,487 6,000
Richmond, Ia. 500 1,000 1,443 5,000
Knoxville, Tenn. 1,800 ... 2,076 6,000
The preceding table is instructive, showing, as it does, the steady
and rapidly increasing tendency of the people of the plain to seek a
home in cities and villages, notwithstanding the great temptation
which fertile, cheap, and easily-improved lands hold out to become
tillers of the soil and growers of cattle. Stock farming is largely
remunerative, but our western people--wild and uncultivated as they
are supposed to be by those unacquainted with their true
character--prefer homes where the advantages of education and social
intercourse is a constant enjoyment. Nowhere in the world are
educational establishments on a better footing or more universally
accessible than in some of the new States of the centre, as in Ohio,
Michigan, Wisconsin and other States.
CHAPTER XII.
Michigan Agricultural Reports for 1854 -- Professor Thomas's
Report -- Report of J. S. Dixon -- Products of States --
Climate -- Army Meteorological Reports.
From the Agricultural Reports of the State of Michigan we take the
following:--
"From old Fort Mackinaw to the Manistee River, the land immediately
upon the lake shore, and not unfrequently extending back for many
miles, is considerably elevated, and occasionally rises very abruptly
to the height of from one hundred to three or four hundred feet. The
country (more particularly the northern portion) continues to rise as
we proceed into the interior, until it attains an elevation equal to
any other portion of the peninsula.
"This is more particularly the case in the rear of Traverse Bay, where
this elevation continues for many miles into the interior, giving to
the landscape a very picturesque appearance when viewed from some of
the small lakes, which abound in this as well as in the more southern
portion of the State.
"The tract of country under consideration is based on limestone,
sandstone, and shales, which are covered, excepting at a few points,
with a deposit of red clay and sand, varying in thickness from a few
inches to more than four hundred feet. The interior of the northern
portion of the peninsula, west of the meridian, is generally more
rolling than that on the east. It is interspersed with some extensive
cedar swamps and marshes, on the _alluvial_ lands, and in the vicinity
of heads of streams and some of the lakes. The upland is generally
rolling, has a soil of clay, loam and sand, and is clad with evergreen
timber, intermixed with tracts of beech and maple, varying in extent
from a few acres to several townships. Several of the most extensive
of these tracts are in the vicinity of the Cheboygan and Tahweegon
rivers, their lakes and tributary streams. There are also large tracts
of beech and maple timber lying between the head of Grand Traverse
Bay, and the Manistee and Muskeegon rivers.
"The elevated portion of land on the shore of Lake Michigan, known as
the 'Sleeping Bear' as well as Manitou Island, (see latitude 45)
which, when viewed from a distance, has the appearance of sand, is
found to be composed of alternate layers of highly marly clay and
sand. The clay is of a deep red color, and in many places its strata
are much contorted.
"The hilly region, to which allusions have been made, is mostly
heavily timbered with beech, maple, bass, oak, ash, elm, birch, etc.,
interspersed with an occasional cedar swamp. In the vicinity of Grand
Traverse Bay, this character of country extends into the interior for
many miles, bordering on a series of small and beautiful lakes, which
vary in length from two to eighteen miles, and are generally free from
marsh and swamp. This country, as also that in the interior from
Little Traverse Bay, is well adapted to the purposes of agriculture.
"Passing south of this rolling district, the country becomes less
elevated and more variable, the soil assuming a more sandy character,
and being generally clad with evergreen timber. There are, however,
exceptions to this in some fine tracts of beech and maple near the
lake coast, also, in the vicinity of some of the streams in the
interior.
"It is nevertheless true, that there are many extensive swamps and
marshes in this part of the peninsula, but it is doubted whether, upon
the whole, they exceed the quantity or extent of those of the more
southern part of the State.
"In point of soil and timber, this portion of the State is not
inferior to the more southern--and such are the advantages it offers
to the settler, that the day is not distant when it will be sought as
a place of residence by the agriculturist.
"The beauty of its lakes and streams is not anywhere surpassed. Such
is the transparency of their waters as to permit objects to be
distinctly seen at the depth of more that thirty feet.
"That part of the peninsula situate north of Grand River is usually
regarded by many of the inhabitants of the more southern part of the
State, as being either an impenetrable swamp, or a sandy barren waste,
and as possessing too rigorous a climate to admit of its successful
application to purposes of agriculture.
"This is an erroneous opinion, and one which will most certainly be
corrected, as the facts with regard to this part of our State come
more fully to be known. The inhabitants of Flat, Royale, Muskegon and
White Rivers, and the Ottawa Indians, living on the Grand and Little
Traverse Bays, and on the Manistee River, have extensive cultivated
fields, which uniformly produce abundant crops.
"The country on Flat and Royale Rivers is generally rolling,
interspersed with level and knobby tracts; but none is so rough as to
prevent it from being successfully cultivated. The timber in the
vicinity of the streams consists of black, white, and burr oak, which
is scattering, and forms what is denominated openings and plains;
small tracts of pine barrens, beech, maple and oak lands, interspersed
with tracts of white pine.
"Settlements are rapidly advancing in this part of our State, and much
of the land under cultivation produces excellent crops of wheat, oats,
corn, potatoes, etc., and so far as experience has been brought to the
test, is not inferior to, or more subject to early frosts in the fall,
than more southern counties of the State.
"The soil varies from a light sand to a stiff clay loam.
"The country on the Muskegon is rolling, and may be considered as
divided into beech and maple land, pine lands, pine barrens, oak
openings, plains and prairies. Small tracts of the latter are situated
near the forks of the river, about forty-five miles from its mouth,
and between thirty and forty-five miles north of the Grand River.
"Crops of corn, oats, wheat, etc., were here as flourishing as those
of the more southern part of State. The soil of the prairies and
openings is sandy, while that of the beech and maple lands is a sand
and clay loam.
"The Indians on Grand and Little Traverse Bays and vicinity, also
obtain good crops of corn, potatoes, squashes, etc. Some of the most
intelligent Indians informed me that they were seldom injured by
frosts in the fall or spring. They also have many apple trees which
produce fruit in considerable quantities.
"The soil is strictly a warm one, and, exposed as the whole country,
bordering on Lake Michigan, is to the influence of the southern winds
during summer and parts of spring and fall, it seldom fails to be
productive."
Professor Thomas, Geologist, has placed in our hands the following
report of the Geology of Mackinaw, Michigan:
"From the site of old Fort Mackinaw, at the very extremity of the
peninsula, south to the Manistee River, a direct distance of about one
hundred and forty miles, the immediate shores of the lake are almost
invariably considerably elevated, sometimes rising abruptly to a
height of from three to four hundred feet.
"The soil of the vicinity, in consequence of the large amount of
calcareous matter which enters into its composition, possesses a
fertility that a superficial observer would scarcely ascribe to it.
"The limestone chiefly consists of an irregular assemblage of angular
fragments united by a tufaceous cement. These fragments usually appear
at first sight to have a compact structure, but a more minute
examination shows them to contain _minute_ cells, sufficiently large
to admit water, which, by the action of frost, subjects the rock to
rapid disintegration. Portions of the rock may, nevertheless, be
selected partially free from this difficulty, and which are possessed
of sufficient compactness to render them of value as a coarse building
stone; horn-stone, striped jasper (imperfect); hog-toothed spar,
calcareous spar, and fluor spar, are imbedded in the rock, although
the latter is of rare occurrence.
"Lime rock again occurs at the Straits of Mackinaw, and in the
vicinity, it appears upon the Island of Mackinac, together with the
Bois Blanc, Round, and St. Martin's Islands, as also upon the northern
peninsula north from Mackinaw.
"Gypsum occurs on the St. Martin's group of islands, and also upon the
northern peninsula between Green Bay and Mackinac.
"MACKINAW LIMESTONE.--The rock is of a light color, and the fragments
of which it is composed frequently contain numberless minute cells.
These were undoubtedly once filled with spar, which has been washed
out of the exposed part of the rock by the action of water. The upper
part is unfit for building purposes, but the lower is more compact,
and has marks of regular stratification.
"COAL.--The coal is highly bituminous, a character in common with all
that has been seen in the State, and it may safely be said, that none
other may be looked for in the peninsula.
"From the facts now before me, I am led to hope that coal will be
found in the elevated hills of the northern part of the peninsula,
easterly from Little Traverse Bay, a circumstance which, should it
prove to be the case, will add much to the value of that portion of
the State."--_Houghton Geological Reports of Michigan._
"Foster and Whitney, United States Geologists, in their Reports to the
Government, laid down the Onondago Salt Group of rocks as extending
over a portion of the southern part of the northern peninsula of
Michigan, not a great distance from Mackinaw, and also as existing on
the St. Martin's and Mackinaw Islands.
"ONONDAGA SALT GROUP.--As a whole, it is an immense mass of
argillo-calcareous shaly rocks, inclosing veins and beds of gypsum;
hence this has been designated by some as the 'gypseous shales.'
"Four divisions have been distinguished in the description of the
Onondaga Salt Group, though the lines of separation are by no means
well defined.
"1. Red and greenish shales below.
"2. Green and red marl, shale, and shaly limestone with some veins of
gypsum.
"3. Shaly, compact, impure limestone, with shale and marl, embracing two
ranges of plaster beds with hopper-shaped cavities between.
"4. Drab-colored, impure limestone with fibrous cavities; the
'magnesian deposit of Vanuxem.' Of these, the third is the only one
that has yielded gypsum in profitable quantities. The included masses
of gypsum, though, for the most part, even-bedded at their base, are
usually very irregular at their upper surface, often conical. The
plaster beds are supposed to be separations by molecular attraction
from the marl.
"This third division contains not only the gypseous beds, but is most
probably the source of all the salt so extensively manufactured at
Onondaga, Cayuga, and Madison; at least Vanuxem informs us that,
except in these gypseous beds, there is no evidence of salt existing
in the solid state in any of the other divisions of the Onondaga Salt
Group.
"The fourth division is remarkable for a fine columnar structure, or
needle-formed cavities, dispersed through the mass.
"In the middle counties of New York, the entire thickness of the
Onondaga Salt Group must be from six hundred to a thousand feet.
Notwithstanding its great thickness, this formation is very barren in
fossils. The corals and shells of the Niagara group suddenly ceased to
exist, perhaps, as Hall suggests, being overwhelmed by a sudden
outbreak of a buried vulcano at the bottom of the ocean, by which the
waters became surcharged not only with argillaceous sediment, but
became contaminated, either with free sulphuric acid, or sulphate of
magnesia and soda.
"The country through which the Onondaga Salt Group extends, is usually
marked by a series of low, gravelly hills, and clayey valleys, on
which a stunted growth of timber prevails, known by the name of 'Oak
Openings.' Small portions of sulphate of strontia, galena, and blende,
with rhomb spar, occur in the upper portion of the group. Gypsum and
salt are, however, the only minerals of economical value: of the
former many thousand tons are excavated. Several acidulous springs
issuing from these deposits, have been found to contain free
sulphuric acid."--_D. D. Owen's Review of the N. Y. Geological
Reports._
Jules Marcou, in his Geology of the United States, places the northern
portion of the southern peninsula of Michigan in the Terrain Devonian.
Report of J. S. Dixon and others, on Grand Traverse Bay, p. 523, in
Michigan Agricultural Reports for 1834, says:
"The atmosphere is moist and wholesome--no disease, and healthy as any
portion of country. It is a well established fact, that water cools
first on the surface, then sinks while the warm water rises, and
consequently ice never forms till the whole body of water has been
cooled to thirty degrees. Now, from this fact, the philosopher will at
once deduce the climate of this region. Traverse Bay is from one
hundred to nine hundred feet deep and the water never cools to
thirty-two degrees till the middle of February, and in Lake Michigan
in the middle never, and so long as the water in these continuous
reservoirs is warmer than the air, the former must obviously warm the
latter.
"It is accordingly well known that in England, on the east side of the
Atlantic 7 deg. or 8 deg. farther north than Traverse Bay, the climate, as it
regards cold in winter, is about equal to that of Washington City,
and so it is on the east side of the Pacific ocean, in Oregon. Hence
it is evident that the seasons on the east side of Lake Michigan must
be uniform.
"Around Traverse Bay the frost seldom kills vegetables till in
November, and seldom occurs in spring later than the 1st of May. In
November it gets cold enough to freeze. The vapors arising from the
lake and bay fall in snow and cover the ground before the frost has
penetrated it at all; it accumulates several months till it is two
feet deep, sometimes deeper, and remains till April; and when it goes
off; cattle find enough to eat in the woods. This region is much more
sunny between the middle of March and December than southern Michigan,
and every vegetable physiologist will at once state that the influence
of this on vegetation must be very great, and accordingly spring crops
grow with such rapidity that corn is fit to be cut by the 1st of
September. From December to March, as above, the atmosphere is hazy,
cloudy, and frosty, though the thermometer never sinks so low as in
the south of Michigan by ten or twelve degrees (8 or 10 degrees below
zero, being the lowest yet known), and a winter thaw is unknown here.
Hence we never have mud in winter, and but little at any season.
"With the very defective cultivation hitherto used here, yield of
crops are as follows:--Potatoes, free of rot, 150 to 300 bushels to
the acre; oats 25 to 60; corn 25 to 50; wheat (spring) the largest yet
raised 27 bushels. Wheat raised here is much more plump than in
southern Michigan, and there is no instance of its being smothered or
injured by snow, because the snow never thaws and alternately freezes
into a hard crust, or ice, so as to exclude the air from the wheat, as
in other places.
"We confidently predict that this will become the most prolific wheat
region in the west; rust and insects are unknown. All experience goes
to prove that this will be a great fruit country. The Indian apple and
peach trees, although few in number bear well every year; and as to
wild blackberries and raspberries, both as to size and flavor, there
is absolutely no end. They serve all the inhabitants and millions of
pigeons for several months."
United States census, 1850, shows products of States.
Average per acre of
Wheat. Oats Corn. Potatoes.
Michigan 10 Bushels 26 32 140
Illinois 11 " 29 33 105
Indiana 12 " 20 33 100
Iowa 14 " 36 32 100
Average per acre of
Wheat. Oats Corn. Potatoes.
Ohio 12 " 21 36
Wisconsin 14 " 35 30
Pennsylvania 15 " 20
New York 12 " 25 27
CLIMATE.--Council Bluffs is in latitude 41-1/2 deg., Dubuque 42-3/4 deg.,
Green Bay 43-1/2 deg., and Mackinaw City about 46 deg.. By reference to the
following tables of temperature, it will be seen that these points are
about on the same isothermal line, practically removing, by these
tables, the prejudices generally existing against the climate of
northern Michigan--see Blodgett's Climatology and Army Meteorological
Reports of United States.
Quebec, Canada. average in January above zero, 13 deg.
Montreal, " " " " 16
Hampden, Maine " " " 17
Portland, " " " " 21
Cannel, " " " " 15
Burlington, Vt. " " " 19
Deerfield, Mass. " " " 21
Granville, N. Y. " " " 22
Potsdam, " " " " 18
Plattsburgh, " " " " 20
Gouverneur, " " " " 20
Lowville, " " " " 22
Oneida, " " " " 22
Buffalo, " " " " 23
Silver Lake, Pa. " " " 22
Concord, N. H. " " " 22
Boston, Mass. " " " 28
Albany, N. Y. " " " 24
Chicago, Illinois " " " 24
Ottawa, " " " " 23
Muscatine, Iowa " " " 20
Detroit, Michigan " " " 27
Pittsburgh, Pa. " " " 29
Philadelphia, " " " " 32
Cincinnati, Ohio " " " 30
Green Bay, Wis. " " " 19
Dubuque, Iowa " " " 20
Council Bluffs " " " 19
Mackinaw City " " " 19
These extremes of latitude of Philadelphia and Mackinaw include the
principal agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and commercial
interests of America, elements naturally pertaining to Michigan, and
second in their variety and extent to no State of the Union.
Archangel, Russia, in January, averages above zero 6.60 deg.
St. Petersburg, " " " " 15.70
Christiana, Norway, " " " " 21.30
St. Bernard, Switzerland, " " " " 14.40
Moscow, Russia, " " " " 13.60
Erzeroum, Turkey, " " " " 18.
Taganwa, Sea of Azof, " " " " 20.70
Astracan, Caspian Sea, " " " " 21.30
Kasow (Volga) Russia, " " " " 3.50
Stockholm, Sweden, " " " " 24.30
Cracow, Poland, " " " " 23.40
Pekin, China, " " " " 26.00
Odessa, S. Russia, " " " " 25.20
Berlin, Prussia, " " " " 27.70
Extremes below zero, 1835.
Bangor, Maine January 4, below 40 deg.
Bath " " " 40
Portland, " " " 21
Boston, Mass. " " 15
Salem, " " " 17
Chicago, Ill. February 8, " 22
St. Louis, Mo. " " 22
Cincinnati, O. " " 18
Lexington, Ky. " " 20
Nashville, Tenn. " " 10
Huntsville, Ala. " " 9
Philadelphia, Pa. " " 6
Lancaster, Pa. " " 22
Washington City " " 16
Clarksville, Geo. " " 15
Army Meteorological Reports for 1854.
January. Range. above below
Mean. Max'm. min'm. mean. mean.
Fort Hamilton, N. Y. 31.49 deg. 50. 12. 18.5 19.5
Fort Niagara, " 25.04 48. 6. 23. 19.
Alleghany, Pa. 29.08 64. 5. 34.9 24.1
Fort Delaware, Md. 32.38 54. 10. 21.6 17.4
Cincinnati, Ohio 31.78 54. 1. 22.2 32.8
Fort Snelling, Min. 1.30 45. 36. 43.7 37.3
" Leavenworth, Kan. 24.68 67. 8. 32.3 32.7
" Mackinaw, Mich. 13.09 34. 15. 10.9 28.1
Blodgett's and Army Rain Charts, showing rain and snow in inches for a
series of years.
Jan. Feb. M'ch. Dec. Total in year.
Mack'w Island, Mich. 1.25 .82 1.14 1.24 23.87
Fort Kent, Maine. 3.73 2.60 1.77 3.36 36.46
Portland, " 3.37 3.39 2.92 4.17 45.25
Jan. Feb. M'ch. Dec. Total in year.
Charleston, Mass. 2.66 2.22 4.08 2.27 35.83
Montreal, Canada 2.84 1.84 2.69 2.58 47.28
Fayetteville, Vt. 3.93 3.91 4.07 3.55 53.99
Cincinnati, Ohio. 3.35 3.51 3.93 4.29 46.89
Green Bay, Wis. 1.19 0.87 1.70 1.30 34.65
Detroit, Mich. 2.18 1.38 2.86 1.30 30.07
St. Louis, Mo. 1.93 3.37 3.82 1.99 41.95
Fort Hamilton, N. Y. 2.98 3.67 3.65 3.84 43.65
Pittsburgh, Pa. 2.18 2.17 2.70 3.13 34.96
Philadelphia, Pa. 3.09 2.94 3.43 4.03 43.56
CHAPTER XIII.
Agricultural interest -- Means of transportation -- Railways
and vessels -- Lumber -- Vessels cleared -- Lake cities and
Atlantic ports -- Home-market -- Breadstuffs -- Michigan
flour -- Monetary panics -- Wheat -- Importations --
Provisions -- Fruit -- Live stock -- Wool -- Shipping
business -- Railroads -- Lake Superior trade -- Pine lumber
trade -- Copper interest -- Iron interest -- Fisheries --
Coal mines -- Salt -- Plaster beds.
We copy from the Detroit Tribune of 1860, a somewhat elaborate and
lengthy article containing recent and highly important information in
regard to the industrial interests of Michigan. Though there are
portions of this article which we have to some extent anticipated in
some of our previous chapters, we consider it highly important to
extract largely from it, because of its more recent date. To all
interested in the development and future growth of the Northwest, it
will prove most valuable. The writer, Mr. Kay Haddock, commercial
editor of the Tribune, says:--
"We know of no similar extent of country on the globe so highly
favored by nature as our own State, which but twenty-three years since
emerged from the chrysalis condition of a territory, but which to day,
by the quickening influence brought to bear upon her natural
advantages by an enterprising and enlightened people, possesses
elements of wealth and greatness that might well be coveted by
empires. The characteristics for which she is pre-eminent are neither
few in number nor ordinary in character. She occupies the very front
rank in respect to important minerals, as well as in the extent and
quality of her forest products, while her fisheries are altogether
unrivaled, and, like her mines and forests, are the source of
exhaustless wealth. With regard to the extent and diversity of her
natural resources, it would indeed seem difficult to over-estimate
them. Predictions that seem visionary to-day, are to-morrow exceeded
by the reality, as some new treasure is revealed. A glance at the map
is of itself the most eloquent commentary that could be presented with
reference to her geographical position. As nature does nothing in
vain, the shipping facilities afforded by the noble inland seas that
clasp our shores, are a sign and promise of the commercial greatness
that awaits us in the future. We may well be proud of the condition
of our agricultural interest--that great interest which underlies
every other; which alike gives to the wealthy his opulence and the
beggar his crust. Our farmers have unmistakably indicated their
determination to accept of no secondary position in the quality of
their wheat, and their wool is not only rapidly gaining the first rank
as respect the amount produced, but is sought for with avidity for its
superior quality by all the principal manufacturers of the country.
Pomona, too, has thrown her influence in the scale. The region that
has thus far been devoted to the culture of fruit, in proportion to
its extent, cannot be surpassed in the Union, if indeed it can be
equaled. Such is a faint picture of the 'Peninsular State.'
"The snail-like progress hitherto made in the settlement of a large
share of the State, is an enigma to those not versed in our early
history. While occupying the position of a dependent of the central
power at Washington, we were so unfortunate in some instances as to
have men placed over us with whom personal interests were paramount to
the great interests of the territory, which, at the critical period
when the seeds of prosperity should have been planted, was fatal to
our advancement. Next came the era of Utopian projects of internal
improvement, by which our people were saddled with an onerous load of
debt. In the mean time immigrants were misled by false reports
concerning the character of the soil in the interior of the State, and
there were no roads by means of which they could satisfy themselves of
the true character of the country. They therefore passed on to find
homes upon what then seemed the most attractive prairies of the far
West. But there is at last a great change in the tide of affairs. The
value of our timber is justly regarded as greatly overbalancing the
doubtful advantage of settling upon prairie land, and the active
demand that has recently sprung up for it must constantly make a still
greater difference in our favor. Lands long held in the iron grasp of
speculators are rapidly coming into the possession of actual settlers.
Our State is being intersected by a system of roads, which will ere
long demonstrate the necessity of an extension of the system. Our
course is indeed onward and upward.
"Having seen a statement, given upon the authority of some gazeteer,
to the effect that about six million dollars were invested in this
State in manufacturing, which we felt assured was a libel upon the
State, we have taken steps to procure statistics of the more important
industrial establishments throughout the entire State. We find that in
the manufacture of pine lumber alone, there are about seven million
dollars invested, exclusive of the standing timber of proprietors,
which perhaps might properly be included as part of the capital."
Such indications of thrift, enterprise, and prosperity in a region
that twenty-four years ago was a howling wilderness, it may be safely
said, is without a parallel. The other counties, we are tolerably safe
in estimating, will swell the amount to $10,000,000, making, with the
lumber manufactories, and the $2,148,500, invested in the iron
manufacture, more than twenty million dollars!
The apathy of the citizens of Detroit in availing themselves of the
magnificent advantages possessed by the city for prosecuting
manufacturing upon an extensive scale, is wholly inexplicable. There
is a mine of unproductive wealth in our midst that might at once be
placed at compound interest. It now lies dormant in the sinewy arms of
men and the nimble fingers of women and children. There is thus a
moral aspect in this question that addresses itself with peculiar
earnestness to the philanthropic. But it were a philanthropy that
would lay up treasures on earth. Daily, almost hourly, raw material
takes its departure from our city destined to be received at eastern
manufactories, there to be worked up and returned to us for our
consumption, by which we are taxed with the freight both ways, in
addition to losing the profit of the manufacture. Every property
holder has a direct interest at stake. If a liberal sum were to be
subscribed to-morrow for investment in this important branch of
enterprise, the direct benefit that would accrue to the real estate of
the city would be at least double the amount invested.
The Western States look with deep interest to the Grand Trunk Railway,
and are hopeful that it may prove a great benefit to them in enabling
producers to reach the markets of European consumers at a cheap rate
for carriage. Unquestionably great benefits will grow out of the
opening up of the great thoroughfare. At the same time there are
questions of grave importance to shippers which will soon have to be
met, and nothing can be lost, while something may be gained, by
meeting them at the outset.
We set out, then, with the proposition that the bulky products of the
West must be carried by water and not by rail, and will state a few
facts that in our humble opinion will place this proposition beyond
all cavil. So for as figures can be obtained, and correct calculations
made, it has been demonstrated that freight cannot be moved on
American railroads for less than one cent per ton per mile. This is
actually the _first cost_, even in the coal regions of Pennsylvania.
It is therefore fair to presume that the Grand Trunk, with conceded
advantages of superior and economical management, cannot move freight
at a less cost, and that the figure named will yield nothing to the
stockholders in the shape of dividend. It is true that freight has
been carried at an actual loss, and, as we are about to show, the same
thing will to some extent be done again, but if persevered in this can
only result in ruin, and no one will assert that it ought to be taken
as a legitimate basis for future calculations. It follows, then, that
$8,80 is the lowest sum for which a ton can be moved from Detroit to
Portland, the distance between the two cities being eight hundred and
eighty miles. This showing may not be relished by those most
immediately interested in the Grand Trunk Railway, nor may it be
palatable to the producers of the West, who have built high hopes on
this road as an outlet to the Atlantic, but it is useless to attempt
to shut our eyes to obvious facts. The West has for years possessed
shorter and consequently cheaper routes to the seaboard, and in winter
the cost of reaching-the Atlantic cities has always been and now is
from 100 to 200 per cent, greater by rail than during the navigation
season by the cheaper mode. This is easily proved. Let us look at the
distance by the old route by the way of Suspension Bridge:
Detroit to Suspension Bridge, is 232 miles; the Bridge to Albany, 300;
Albany to Boston 200; total 732.
Thus we see that the whole distance from Detroit to Boston is seven
hundred and thirty-two miles, or one hundred and forty-eight _less_
than from Detroit to Portland. As regards shipments from Detroit to
Boston, via the Grand Trunk, the matter is worse, for we have to add
one hundred and three miles from Portland to Boston, making the old
route two hundred and fifty-three miles shorter to that point than by
the newly opened road. It is evident therefore, that the West is not
likely to gain anything permanently by the new route, except in so far
as it may open up some local trade, which, inconsiderable at first,
may eventually assume considerable importance. Of course, what is true
regarding Detroit, is also true with respect to every point west of
us.
Every one conversant with trade must admit that goods can be carried
as cheap from any port in Europe to New York as to Portland. The
distance from New York to Detroit, _via_ Albany and Suspension
Bridge, is six hundred and eighty-two miles, or one hundred and
ninety-eight miles less than from Portland to Detroit. Goods ought
certainly to be carried cheaper from New York to Detroit than by a
route near two hundred miles further.
We learn that the New York Central Railroad Company are now perfecting
a plan for ticketing passengers and goods from any point in the
Western, Southern, and Southwestern States, and _vice versa_. Thus at
least one important advantage to the West is already apparent, growing
out of the comprehensive action of the Grand Trunk managers, while the
action of the New York Central is the sure precursor of a momentous
era in railroad annals. The present year is likely to witness the
first battle in a war for the European and domestic trade of the West,
that may in the end turn the entire current into other channels. It
will be a strife of giants, and the prize the most magnificent ever
battled for, either in the tented field or in the nobler contests of
nations for commercial supremacy. That prize is the carrying trade of
an empire fast rising into manly vigor, and destined to attain to a
point during the present generation that will dazzle the world with
its vastness and grandeur. On one side will be arrayed the Grand Trunk
Railway, with its sixty million dollars of capital, backed by the
government of Canada, and sustained by every merchant of the British
North American colonies, aided by powerful friends in Europe--men of
character, standing and capital, who will strain every nerve to supply
their darling road with business, in which they will have the sympathy
of the whole English people--for in both England and Canada the Grand
Trunk is looked upon as a great triumph of national engineering skill,
while at the same time it gratifies the national pride, as it gives
the world one more convincing proof of that indomitable pluck that is
the chief secret of the great celebrity attained by the merchants of
the "fast anchored isle" for commercial enterprise.
On the other side will be marshaled the forces of the "Grand Trunk"
lines of railroad leading to the Western States from the Atlantic
seaboard. The most prominent on the list is the New York Central
Railroad, with her natural allies, the Great Western of Canada, the
Hudson River Railroad, and the Western Railroad of Massachusetts. Next
in order, as parties in the struggle, are the New York and Erie, the
Pennsylvania Central, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, not to
speak of the local roads in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, that will be
affected more or less in the contest for supremacy.
The Grand Trunk will fight under one banner, and that banner will
carry on its broad folds the commercial prestige of the British
Empire, and will have the sympathy of the British people. This, which
will probably carry with it, as a coincident, plenty of the "sinews of
war," will be decidedly a vantage ground to stand upon.
The American interests will come into the field under different
leaders, having no unity of action, and hating and fearing each other;
who have never had confidence in each others' words or actions; who
have never displayed any generosity toward each other; whose dealings
with each other have been marked by cheating and bad faith, as the
breaking of all convention treaties has proved. Under such a load of
demoralization, all of them combined are perhaps not more than a match
for the Grand Trunk. One of the American roads will have to stand in
the van and sustain the first onset, and the elected one will be the
NEW YORK CENTRAL. In every point of view it is the one best able to do
so. It is managed and controlled by men of large experience and iron
will--men who do not know what defeat is, and who, come what may,
will show that their metal has the true ring.
The result of such a contest none can foresee; albeit after the smoke
of the battle is cleared away, the wreck will only show that it has
been a costly and useless fight for the stockholders, and the
conviction that God's highways are superior to man's will gain
strength, insomuch as to assume far more practical importance than it
has hitherto attained. The only method of carrying on a successful
trade between the Western States and the seaports of Europe, is by
water, and to this conclusion all must come, in the end, on both sides
of the Atlantic.
In order to make the trade productive of substantial benefit to all
interested in it, the West must have free course down the St.
Lawrence, and an enlargement of the Canadian canals, so that vessels
of say eighteen hundred tons can pass down to the ports of Montreal
and Quebec without unloading, and continue on their way to Europe
without breaking bulk. A depth of fourteen feet water, with locks of
corresponding capacity on the canals would accomplish this important
end. The multifarious and rapidly increasing products of the Great
West, her timber, flour, wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, pork, beef,
butter, lard, cheese, meal, and every description of agricultural
produce could then be laid down in the ports of England so cheaply
that it would greatly reduce the cost of the necessaries of life, and
give a new impetus to the manufacturing interest of Great Britain. At
the same time it would directly tend to cheapen every article that the
West requires to import, thus proving of double advantage to our
producers. In both cases the producer and consumer would be brought
face to face, to the obvious advantage of all concerned. The
manufacturing prosperity of England depends upon an unlimited supply
of cheap labor, and that supply cannot be had unless she can supply
such laborers with an unlimited supply of cheap food. The West has the
capacity not only to furnish an inexhaustible quantity of cheap food,
but it can purchase and consume a larger amount of the productions of
English skill and labor than any other section of the world. Why,
then, cannot both parties hit on some scheme that will bring them more
closely into the fellowship of trade? It can be done, if both will
unite to obtain an unimpeded outlet via the St. Lawrence for vessels
and steamers of heavy burden. So far as Quebec and Montreal are
concerned, it is very difficult to say whether the consummation of the
proposed enlargement would redound most to their benefit, or to that
of our Western lake cities. In both cases the gain would be beyond
computation. The two important Canadian cities named would become at
once important seaports. They would become two of the depots for the
vast commerce of two continents, and would derive great benefits from
the opening up of a local traffic with the West, which at present
amounts to but very little, so far as they are concerned. Our lake
cities would all become large commercial centres, and would supply the
population of the region tributary to them, respectively, with dry
goods, crockery, hardware, paints, oils, and all kinds of imported
merchandise, at a cheaper rate by a considerable per centage, than
they could be purchased at New York, or any city on the Atlantic.
Detroit would be much nearer Liverpool than Buffalo now is by the
usual route, and Chicago and Milwaukee would be almost as near,
practically.
A few figures will show the decided advantage of water over rail as a
medium of transporting the bulky products of the West to market.
It has already been shown that a ton of any kind of freight cannot be
laid down at Portland from Detroit, by rail, under $8.80, without a
loss to the stockholders, nor to Boston under $9.65, except with the
same result; nor at New York _via_ the Great Western, New York
Central, and Hudson River roads under $6.82, without actual loss to
those roads, so that the case would stand thus:--Detroit to Portland,
per ton, _via_ G. T. R., $8.80; Detroit to Boston, do. do., $9.85;
Detroit to New York, $6.82. Add $4.00 per ton for ocean freights, and
we have in each case respectively, $12.80, $13.85, and $10.82 per ton
to Liverpool.
Now we maintain that a screw steamer of 1800 tons burden, costing,
when completed, $150,000, can carry much cheaper than a road like the
Grand Trunk, costing $60,000,000, or the New York Central and its
connections. A steamer of that capacity would carry 1,500 tons of
freight; 600 tons of coal would run her across the Atlantic, and she
could coal from Chicago or Detroit to Newfoundland, and from the
latter point to Liverpool. By doing this, she could carry 300 tons
more freight than if she coaled for the entire voyage from Chicago to
Liverpool. All the principal exports and imports of Michigan, Indiana,
Western Ohio, Kentucky, &c., would find their way to Detroit, and this
point would of necessity become the great centre of the direct trade
between Europe and the States above mentioned.
Two steamers per week could be run with profit on the route during the
season of navigation; each steamer would make two round trips and a
half per season of seven months' navigation, allowing two months for
each round trip. At this rate sixteen ocean steamers would be required
to make up a semi-weekly line, and were the Canadian canals enlarged
and ready for use by the middle of next April, there would be at once
sufficient trade to sustain them, at much cheaper rates for freight
and passage than is now charged by any route or combination of routes
in existence, as the following will show conclusively:
Each round trip would give the following sums for freight and
passage:--1500 tons of freight at $6 per ton, $9,000; 40 cabin
passengers at $50 each, $2,000; 50 steerage do. do. $25 each, $1,250.
Total for the trip out, $12,250. Inward bound:--600 tons freight at
$6, $3,600; 75 cabin passengers at $60, $4,500; 300 steerage do. do.,
$30, $9,000--$17,100. Add outward receipts, $12,250. Total, $29,350.
The total cost of the trip, including insurance, would not exceed
$14,000. Total net profits, $15,250.
It will be seen by the above figures that our staple products can be
carried to England in the right kind of vessels, at one half the cost
that railroads and connecting steamers can perform the same service,
even when the latter carry at a rate that brings no profit to the
shareholders, while the former would pay large dividends. At the rates
named for passage (but little more than one-half the present cost of
going from Detroit to England) crowds of the European settlers in this
country would flock to the mother country to see dear friends and
relatives, and tens of thousands of the American people would embrace
the opportunity to behold the tombs and temples and wonders of the
land from whence their ancestors came. A feeling of friendship of the
true stamp would spring up spontaneously between the Anglo-Saxon races
on each side of the Atlantic that never could be severed, and which
would alternately shed the blessings of Christianity and civilization
to every corner of the world. Such free intercourse would show that to
be appreciated by each other they only need to be better acquainted.
And it is our firm belief, that the day that beholds the commencement
of direct trade between the old world and in the inland seas of the
Great West, by vessels of the class named, will see a day of glory and
promise brighter and greater than has ever yet dawned on any efforts
put forth to subdue the world by human means, to peace and universal
brotherhood.
Our readers are aware that a trade of great importance has sprung up
within two or three years between Detroit and other lake ports, and
the leading seaports of Europe. The particulars of its inauguration
are already familiar to the public. Of the vessels which cleared hence
in this trade in 1858, one was owned and sent out by a merchant of
this city; another was loaded by a Cleveland house; the others were
all owned or chartered by Capt. D. C. Pierce, the enterprising pioneer
of the trade. His first venture on the _Kershaw_, notwithstanding some
few incidental circumstances that worked to his disadvantage, was
productive of some direct profit, but a much greater profit inured to
himself, and those who followed him in this important commerce, by his
becoming well versed in the European trade, insomuch as to be enabled
to avail himself of the peculiar advantages offered by each market, as
well as in determining the character of freight most profitable to
carry. The cheapest, best and safest means of transporting the
diversified products of the West, and particularly the region of which
Detroit is the centre, to the European markets, returning with foreign
fabrics in exchange, had long challenged the attention of capitalists,
who saw in it the germ of a mighty commerce, but seemed to lack the
practical knowledge and tact to put the ball in motion. Last year
twenty-one vessels cleared from the different lake ports, mostly from
Detroit.
Another important point which is now in a fair way to be gained, is
the making of European consumers acquainted with the fact that their
wants can be supplied to any desired extent. When this information
becomes general the consumption must be vastly stimulated, affording
one of the most inviting fields for enterprise known in the commercial
annals of the world. The resources of the State are amply sufficient
to afford employment for half a century to a tenfold larger number of
vessels than have yet engaged in it. By a carefully compiled estimate,
it has been ascertained that in prosperous times the annual product of
our _pineries_ is hard upon TEN MILLION DOLLARS. Large as this sum is,
it is the opinion of those who are well qualified to form an estimate,
that it may easily be surpassed by the product of our hard timber.
Take for example the region around Saginaw Bay, which is perhaps the
most remarkable locality in the world as respects the quality and
variety of hard wood timber. Here, for near a hundred miles in extent,
upon streams debouching into the bay, are dense forests of the
choicest oak, with a profusion of hickory, black walnut, white ash,
whitewood, and other desirable varieties. The manufacture of
agricultural implements, as well as many other articles that afford
employment to the toiling millions of the old world, must receive a
new impetus when it is found that wood admirably adapted to their
construction can be had direct from our forests at the moderate rate
at which it will bear transportation. So of birds-eye maple for
cabinet ware, red elm for carriage hubs, and other varieties
applicable to specific uses. We have designated only such as abound in
great plenty. The profusion of the growth is in fact equaled only by
its accessibility, the whole country being so permeated by streams
that it can be floated off with very little trouble.
The Saginaw District, important and extensive as it is, comprises but
a small portion of our hard-wood lumber region. In addition to
numerous almost interminable forests in the north, equally accessible
and almost equally valuable, there are extensive regions in the
interior where timber abounds of such choice quality as to abundantly
warrant railroad transportation hither. Although some of the shipments
last season were of the far-famed Canada oak, shippers all concur in
assuring us that the Michigan timber was held in as high estimation,
if not higher, than any other offered in the foreign market. A most
significant fact, coming right to the point, came under our
observation a few months since. In the summer of 1858, five passenger
cars for the Michigan Southern Road were built at Adrian, which
unprejudiced judges pronounced the finest ever built in the United
States. Every foot of timber in them--as well as every pound of
iron--was of Michigan production. Last spring, after being in use some
twenty months, these cars were for the first time overhauled for
repairs, along with a number of eastern cars which had been in use for
a like period of time, when it was found that the latter, owing to the
inferior quality of timber, cost for repairs nearly as many dollars as
the Michigan cars did cents! We have the authority of gentlemen of the
highest respectability for stating this as a literal fact.
The following is a complete list of the vessels which cleared for
European ports the past year, together with the character of their
cargoes, respectively, and the port to which they sailed:--
Bark D. C. Pierce, Staves, Liverpool.
" Allies, Lumber and staves, Cork.
" W. S. Pierson, Lumber and staves, Greenock.
" Massillon, Lumber and staves, Liverpool.
Brig J. G. Deshler, Staves, Glasgow.
" Caroline, Lumber and staves, Liverpool.
" Black Hawk, Staves, London.
Schr R. H. Harmon, Staves, Liverpool.
" J. F. Warner, Staves, Liverpool.
" Gold Hunter, Staves, Cork.
" Dousman, Staves, London.
" Valeria, Lumber and staves, Liverpool.
" Vanguard, Staves, Liverpool.
" Grand Turk, Lumber, Hamburg.
" St. Helena, Lumber and staves, Cork.
" Chieftain, Lumber and staves, London.
" C. H. Walker, Lumber and staves, Liverpool.
" M. S. Scott, Lumber, Hamburg.
" E. Bates, Lumber and staves, Liverpool.
" H. Barclay, Staves, London.
" Republican, Lumber and staves, Cadiz.
" Messenger, Staves, &c. Calais.
Of the above, Messenger cleared from Buffalo; the Pierson and
Republican hailed from Milan, Ohio; the Massillon and Valeria from
Cleveland; the Scott loaded at St. Joseph, and was sent out by a
Milwaukee house; all the others either loaded at this port, or were
owned or chartered here. Eight of the number were chartered by Messrs.
Aspinwall & Son, and two of the others were owned here.
The following is the aggregate amount of lumber and staves shipped to
Europe the past year, exclusive of the cargoes from Cleveland, Milan,
and Buffalo:--
West India staves No. 692,057
Standard pipe staves, No. 142,662
Lumber, feet 474,693
[A Quebec standard pipe is equal to four West India staves.]
The Lily of Kingston, was the first vessel that ever passed down from
the lakes to the ocean, bound to an European port. Her destination was
Liverpool. This was about the year 1847. She afterward sailed in the
Quebec and Liverpool trade, but was lost, we believe, on her third
ocean voyage.
As collateral to this trade, an important commerce has sprung up
between the lake cities and the Atlantic ports which promise to
increase rapidly. Prior to 1857, the passage of vessels from the
Welland Canal to the ocean was of very rare occurrence. As a matter of
curiosity, we present a complete statement of the vessels which have
passed through the canal bound for Atlantic or European ports, with
the year of sailing, avoiding a repetition of the list above given.
The Dean Richmond, and those clearing in 1857 and 1858, all sailed for
Europe. Those designated in this list as having sailed in 1859, all
cleared for Atlantic ports:
1847 American steam revenue cutter Dallis.
" Canadian barque Arabia.
1848 American barque Eureka.
1850 Canadian schooner Scotia.
1854 Canadian schooner Cherokee.
1855 Canadian bark Reindeer.
1856 American schooner Dean Richmond.
1857 American bark C. J. Kershaw.
" English schooner Madeira Pet.
1858 American brig Black Hawk.
" American schooner R. H. Harmon.
" American schooner Col. Cook.
" American schooner Correspondent.
" American bark D. C. Pierce.
" American schooner D. B. Sexton.
" American schooner John E. Warner.
" American bark H. E. Warner.
" American bark C. J. Kershaw.
" American schooner C. Reeve.
" American schooner Harvest.
" American bark Parmelia Flood.
1859 American bark Magenta.
" American brig Sultan.
" American brig Indus.
" American brig Kate L. Bruce.
" Canadian schooner Union.
" American schooner Kyle Spangler.
" American schooner Muskingum.
" American schooner Adda.
" American schooner Clifton.
" American schooner Metropolis.
" American schooner Energy.
" American schooner W. B. Castle.
" American schooner Alida.
" American tug Uncle Ben.
" American tug Cushman.
" American schooner Typhoon.
" American schooner Sarah Hibbert.
Presuming that those who may hereafter become interested in this
commerce, would like the benefit of the experience of those who have
already embarked it, we have procured some valuable information for
their benefit. First, as to the kind of timber most profitable to
ship: Although black walnut appears to be growing in favor, and where
once it has been used is again inquired for, yet a decided preference
is given to oak, with the qualities of which all are entirely
familiar. Choice, selected oak commands more money for cabinet
purposes in all the foreign markets than the same quality of black
walnut. Contrary to previous expectation, it is not likely that the
latter can ever be brought into general use in Great Britain. It is
the greatest mahogany market in the world, and that wood is in
universal use, particularly the common or cheap kind. If ever so
common, it is not liable to warp, which cannot be said of black
walnut, although, as we have before intimated, those who have worked
it, praise it very highly. Beech, elm and ash, are used for a great
many purposes, and are in good demand, but oak commands more money
than either of them, and is therefore the most profitable to ship at
present.
The fact is not generally known, but the information has been
purchased at a dear rate, that the purchase of lumber for the foreign
market by board-measure, instead of cubic, involves a heavy loss. In
European markets all lumber is sold by the cubic foot, so that the
cost of sawing is completely thrown away. Black walnut, for example,
cannot be laid down in Detroit, or any lake port, under $18 to $20 per
M., while the lumber can be obtained for $125 to $150 per M. cubic
feet, 1,000 feet cubic measure being equal to 12,000 feet board
measure. Thus in purchasing by cubic measure, the buyer pays only $125
to $150 for an amount that by board measure would cost $216 to $240,
making a clear difference of _ninety dollars_ upon only one thousand
cubic feet, equal to $900 upon a cargo of some of the vessels engaged
in the trade last year. The same rule would apply substantially to
other kinds of lumber. Independent of this, a decided preference is
given to lumber in the log, owing to the good condition in which it
can be delivered. There is one more point which manufacturers as well
as shippers should bear in mind. The value of much of the lumber sent
out was greatly impaired by being attached to the heart, which is the
most porous part of the tree, and therefore most liable to crack. To
obviate this objection the saw should pass upon each side of the
heart, thus leaving the whole of it attached to a single piece of
timber, instead of one or more pieces, and thereby making only one
cull. By observing this rule a difference will be made in the market
of thirty or forty per cent.
Are staves or lumber the more profitable to ship? This depends upon
circumstances. Last year it was very dull for both. For staves
especially the season could not, for various reasons, have been more
unfavorable. In the first place, the grape crop was a very short one,
not only in France, but in all the vine countries, including the
Canaries. This, of course, greatly lessened the demand for staves, and
there were consequently very few taken from England to France,
although French vessels are in the habit of taking them for ballast at
a merely nominal rate, owing to the difficulty they experience in
procuring return freights from England. The short crops in Canada and
the great scarcity of money, forced an unusual number of laborers in
that country into the stave and lumber business. Under advices that
heavy shipments were in prospect, coupled with the general check upon
business on account of the war, prices became depressed.
Notwithstanding all this, the shipments hence, being early in the
market, sold to advantage, and may therefore be considered as a signal
success, under the circumstances. The smallest vessel going out from
here netted a freight of $3,500.
The most striking feature with regard to Detroit, in a commercial
point of view, is her admirable location, which constitutes her the
metropolis of a vast region, than which no city off the seaboard can
boast one equally grand or important. The region embraces a circuit of
some three thousand miles, composed of land and water, which both seem
to vie with each other in contributing to the material prosperity of
our city, while every interest involved is benefited in some degree by
her. In the far north, where the rugged coast of the upper peninsula
is lashed by the waters of the monarch of lakes, Detroit enterprise
assists in redeeming the hidden treasures of the earth from their
state of profitless inertion. There is not a hardy delver in the mines
who is not familiar with the skill of Detroit machinists, nor an echo
in all the majestic wilds skirting that noble expanse of waters, that
has not been awakened by Detroit steamers. Further down upon the
limpid waters of Lake Huron, where the army or rather the navy of
fishermen set their nets for the capture of the finny tribes, here,
too, our city possesses an interest almost as direct as if the canvas
of their tiny crafts were spread within sight of her spires, the
product comprising one of the most important staples in her multiform
commerce. Last, but not least, is the great lumber region with which
the prosperity of Michigan is so largely identified. The population of
this region, as well as of the others we have referred to, raise
almost literally nothing for their own consumption, their respective
pursuits being inconsistent with that of tillers of the soil, so that
in addition to the usual stores required by farmers, they have to
purchase their breadstuffs and similar supplies. The bulk of these are
bought of our dealers, this being not only the most convenient, but
the cheapest and best market, as is amply proven by experience.
Under the appropriate head will be found a complete and authentic
statement of the commerce of the Saut St. Mary Canal, by which it will
be seen that the aggregate value of the upward-bound freight is
estimated at $5,298,640. The up-freight nearly all carried by
steamers, of which the number running the entire season was seven,
three from Detroit, one from Chicago, and three from Cleveland. The
Detroit boats have generally been loaded to their utmost capacity,
while we have the word of the Cleveland captains to the effect that
two-thirds of their cargoes are usually taken on at this port. We
must therefore be clearly within bounds in claiming that
three-fourths of the above amount is part and parcel of the commerce
of our city which would show our Lake Superior exports to be
$3,960,000. In seasons in which the crops of our Canadian neighbors
partially fail--a common occurrence within the past few years, but
which we hope may never occur again--they naturally become our
customers; and since the partial destruction of the wheat crop in Ohio
last summer by frost, there have been considerable shipments of
breadstuffs to Cleveland, Toledo, Sandusky, etc., which may very
properly be included in the home traffic.
The shipments of flour and grain for the supply of our home trade by
lake craft, from the opening of navigation for the year 1859, as
appears by the books of our Custom House, are as follows:
Flour. Wheat. Corn.
Port Huron 10,885 253 6,916
Saginaw 3,790 30
Cleveland 6,155 28,057 1,146
Thunder Bay 106
Green Bay 175
Northport 175
Sandusky 705
Huron, O. 660
Toledo 665 616
Lake Superior 11,321
Other American ports 245
Malden 1,289 160 14,548
Chatham 3,671 1,736
Wallaceburg 705
Goderich 318 1,274
Saugeen 168
Bayfield 200
Other Canadian ports 1,330 95 749
There were also 7,446 bushels oats to Port Huron, and 588 bushels do.
to other ports, beside 3,400 bushels corn, and 11,962 bushels oats
which were included in the heavy shipments to Lake Superior. We give
the places for which vessels cleared; many of the shipments were for
intermediate ports. Besides the flour and grain there were large
shipments of pork, butter, lard, meal, etc., etc.
The above were all by water. There were in addition large local
shipments to various points on the Great Western, the Detroit and
Milwaukee, and other roads, that may with equal propriety be regarded
as pertaining to the home trade.
The article of corn is one to secure customers, for in Canada it is
not essential there should be short crops there. Large amounts are
taken for the supply of the numerous distilleries on that side. A
single house in our city has sold the past year 100,000 bushels for
that purpose.
During the year commodities have been interchanged by lake craft
between Detroit and no fewer than sixty-three lake and river ports, to
say nothing of the hundreds of towns and cities on the various
railroads that are daily trading with us. We have not included those
ports to which the bulk of our surplus produce is forwarded, but only
such as come strictly within the scope of our subject. There are few
places where trade develops statistics of similar character, or
anything approximating thereto, while there are plenty of cities of no
inconsiderable pretensions, and even great advantages, that would
think themselves made if they possessed one-fourth the commercial
facilities we enjoy.
Within the past year, by the opening up of new and most important
channels of railway communication, our position with respect to the
great railway system of the continent, is rendered all that could be
desired. In that regard it is indeed difficult to point out how any
improvement could be made. With respect to our local advantages,
however, admirable as they are, there is yet much in store for us. The
signs are far more favorable than at any former period for the rapid
settlement of the State, as well as for the more adequate development
of her resources. We are constantly receiving intelligence that some
new source of wealth has been revealed within our borders, or that one
previously discovered is likely to surpass the expectations at first
entertained. These events must not only tend directly to hasten the
settlement of the State, but also add in a still greater ratio to her
commercial importance and her wealth.
If we were to fail to refer, in this connection, to the law passed by
our legislature last winter, providing for the reclamation of the
"swamp lands," technically so called, and inaugurating an admirable
system of State roads throughout all the upper portions of the State,
we should be ignoring decidedly the most pregnant of the signs of
promise. In adopting so well-timed and beneficent a measure, our
law-givers have proved themselves worthy guardians of a commonwealth
whose interests so plainly bespeak a much greater degree of wise
legislation than has heretofore been wielded for her benefit. Next in
importance to these wholesome measures, is the law providing for the
appointment of Commissioners of Emigration--one resident here, and the
other stationed in New York. Those seeking homes in the West have only
to be made aware of the unequaled inducements presented by our
State, to secure immense accessions to our population.
Detroit does not alone reap the benefit of her advantageous position.
It is shared by all interests, but perhaps by none others to so great
an extent as the tillers of the soil. It is a most significant fact
that breadstuffs and provisions not unfrequently bring as high prices
here as in New York, giving producers all the advantages at home of a
seaboard market, and virtually putting the cost of shipment into their
pockets. Thus a farmer whose land possesses a nominal value of ten or
twenty dollars per acre, can enjoy all the pecuniary advantages of a
location near one of the largest eastern cities, where farms are
valued at one to two hundred dollars per acre. This fact alone should
go very far toward transforming our northern wilderness into
cultivated fields.
As a matter of interest, and to some extent of curiosity, we present a
comparative statement exhibiting the ruling prices of extra Michigan
flour twice a month throughout the year, in Detroit, New York and
Liverpool, and also the prices in the latter market, for the
corresponding dates in the year 1858:
Liverpool, '58. Liv'L, '59. N. York, '59. Detroit, '59.
Jan. 1st. 5 76a6 74 4 80a5 04 4 95a5 15 5 00a5 12
" 15th. 5 76a6 24 4 80a5 04 5 60a5 85 5 00a5 12
Feb. 1st. 5 76a6 24 4 80a5 04 5 90a6 40 5 75a6 00
" 15th. 5 52a6 00 4 80a5 04 5 90a6 25 6 25a6 50
Mar'h 1st. 5 52a6 24 4 80a5 04 6 30a6 50 6 25a6 50
" 15th. 5 52a6 24 4 80a5 04 6 50a6 75 6 50a6 75
April 1st. 5 28a5 52 4 80a5 04 6 30a6 75 a6 75
" 15th. 5 28a5 76 4 80a5 04 6 00a6 60 a6 50
May 1st. 5 28a5 52 5 04a5 28 6 25a6 75 a6 50
" 15th. 5 28a5 52 6 00a6 24 7 30a7 85 a8 00
June 1st. 5 04a5 28 a5 76 7 00a7 40 a7 50
" 15th. 5 04a5 28 a5 76 6 70a7 05 7 12a7 25
July 1st. 5 04a5 28 a 6 00a6 50 a7 25
" 15th. 5 08a5 40 5 04a5 28 5 45a6 00 7 00a7 12
Aug. 1st. 5 28a5 40 4 80a5 52 4 90a5 50 4 75a4 87
" 15th. 5 04a5 28 5 04a5 52 4 30a4 65 4 50a4 75
Sept. 1st. 5 16a5 40 5 04a5 52 4 40a5 00 4 62a4 75
" 15th. 5 16a5 40 4 80a5 52 4 65a4 85 4 25a4 50
Oct. 1st. 5 04a5 28 5 28a5 76 4 75a5 10 4 62a4 75
" 15th. 5 04a5 28 5 28a5 76 4 80a5 20 a4 75
Nov. 1st. 5 04a5 28 5 52a6 00 5 00a5 30 a5 00
" 15th. 4 80a5 04 5 76a6 24 5 24a5 45 a5 12
Dec. 1st. 4 80a5 04 6 76a7 00 5 45a5 65 a5 12
" 15th. 4 80a5 04 6 76a7 00 5 48a5 65 a5 12
The Detroit mills manufacture excellent flour, and it is to be
regretted that they are not capable of making a much larger quantity
of their well-known brands. There are six flouring mills of different
capacities in the city, and although they are generally at full work
such is the demand for flour they make, that they are very often not
able to supply their customers. These mills ought to be enlarged, or
others built. Detroit, the commercial metropolis of a great
wheat-growing State, should be capable of manufacturing an immense
quantity of flour. The increased expenditure of money, in the purchase
of wheat, would be very beneficial to the trade of the city.
For the last fifteen years, the exports of breadstuffs from the United
States have fluctuated very much. In 1846 they amounted to nearly
twenty-eight millions of dollars, and rose in 1847 to sixty-nine
millions. In 1848 they fell to thirty-seven, and in 1852 to twenty-six
millions. In 1853 they amounted to nearly thirty-three millions, and
in 1854 they rose to about sixty-millions, but fell in 1855 to about
thirty-nine millions, and again rose in 1857 to seventy-seven
millions. In 1858 they again declined to about fifty millions. We
cannot accurately detail the exports of 1859, but they have been very
light on account of fall in the European market, after the termination
of the war in Italy. During these years there were various causes for
the remarkable fluctuations which we have noted; namely, famine in
Ireland, the Crimean war, and the failures of the harvest at home and
abroad, nor have these exportations been regularly divided or spread
over the various months of each year. They have increased or
diminished according to the European demand, governed by the supply at
home and regulated by advices from the other side of the Atlantic. It
is likely that the export of breadstuffs in 1860 will be very
considerable.
Michigan possesses many advantages over her sister States, and these
enable her to bear up against monetary panics better than they. Her
immense length of lake coast is indented with excellent harbors, which
invite commerce from every quarter, and furnish excellent outlets for
her surplus produce or mineral wealth. The great and diversified
resources of the State support her in the evil day, and bring her
through a commercial crisis in safety. From the ushering in of the
year to the close, there is not a day in which the marts of commerce
are not enlivened by the contributions of grain or live stock from our
fields, fish from our lakes, lumber from our forests, or ores of
various kinds from our inexhaustible mines.
According to the census returns of 1840, the State of Michigan
produced 2,157,108 bushels of wheat, there were 190 flouring mills at
work, employing 491 hands, and producing 202,880 barrels of flour
annually. In 1853 this State produced 7,275,032 bushels of wheat,
there were 245 flouring mills at work, employing 604 persons, and
manufacturing 1,000,000 barrels of flour in a year. It will be seen
that the flouring mills have increased greatly both in number and
capacity since 1840, and that very large quantities of flour are now
manufactured in the interior of the State, a circumstance which partly
accounts for the comparatively small quantity of wheat that is now
exported. The number of flouring mills have doubtless increased since
1853, and as steam power has been applied in many instances their
manufacturing capacity must now be very great. Farmers are beginning
to understand the importance of disposing of their produce near home,
and having the surplus exported in a manufactured state, instead of
sending away the raw material; the bran and "shorts" being very
valuable for mixing with the food of horses, cattle, and swine. A
flouring mill is a great benefit in a rural district, it furnishes the
farmer with a home market, and when he receives the price of his
produce, there are many domestic wants which must be supplied, and on
this account we always see stores and mechanics' shops clustering
around a mill, and villages springing up in places where the solitude
of the forest was, until lately, unbroken by a sound. It is evident
that the mill power of Michigan is increasing rapidly, and that in
future the greater part of the surplus grain crop will be exported in
a manufactured state.
In former years the prices of grain in the United States were
controlled by the European markets, and consequently the grain trade
of the Western States was governed by the produce merchants in the
Atlantic ports, but lately the whole order of things seems to have
been reversed, as breadstuffs of every kind were dearer in the Western
than in the Eastern markets. There were several reasons for this
anomaly. On account of the ravages of insects, and other causes which
we have alluded to, farmers were induced to place very little reliance
on the wheat crop, and many were driven into other branches of
husbandry, and in some places wheat became scarce. Add to this the
rapid increase of the population which created a local demand for all
kinds of food, and caused immense quantities of breadstuffs to be
required in places where a few years before there was no market for
anything. The rapid and extraordinary growth of Detroit and all the
Western cities, and the formation of new settlements, created a home
market for Western produce, for the population of cities being
consumers of the fruits of the land, instead of producers, have
always a wonderful effect on the markets of their localities, and the
pioneers in the forest or prairie must for a time depend on the older
settlements for subsistence.
From a defective system of agriculture the soil of the old States has
been deteriorating for several years. In Massachusetts the hay crop
declined twelve per cent. from 1840 to 1850, notwithstanding the
addition of 90,000 acres of mowing lands and the grain crop
depreciated 6000 bushels, although no less than 6000 acres had been
added to the tillage lands of that State.
In 1840 the wheat crop of New York was about twelve and a quarter
millions of bushels, and only nine millions in 1850, a decrease of 25
per cent., while the Indian corn in the same State increased during
the same period from about ten to twenty millions of bushels. The
harvest of 1859, found several parts of the country entirely destitute
of flour, and the farmers with a fixed and firm determination never
again to allow themselves to run out of the staff of life.
The number and capacity of the flouring mills have increased
considerably since 1853, so that it is probable that there are at
present more than three hundred of them at work in the State, and the
number of hands employed by them cannot be much less than twelve
hundred. It is probable that they are now capable of manufacturing
1,25,000 barrels of flour annually, and this quantity would require
5,625,000 bushels of wheat. Add to this the large quantity of seed
required for sowing an increased breadth of land, and the portion of
the crop kept for domestic use, and the result will be sufficient to
explain the reason why so little wheat has been exported from Michigan
this season. There are about 50,000 families in this State who depend
on agriculture for subsistence; all of these had suffered more or less
inconvenience from failure of the wheat crop, and the high price of
flour for the last few years, and it is no wonder that they should
endeavor to secure a full supply of wheat or flour of the produce of
the late harvest, and a very large portion of the crop was disposed of
in this way.
Since the Reciprocity Treaty came into operation, there has been
considerable exportation of flour from Detroit to Canada on account of
the repeated failures of the wheat crop in that country, and thus a
new market for Michigan produce has been opened near home.
Some of these sources of demand are trifling when standing alone, but
the aggregate makes a very large amount. It is considered that about
half the produce of the wheat crop still remains in the hands of the
farmers and may be expected to reach the market gradually.
Michigan wants woolen and cotton, and various other factories to
provide employment for the over-crowded population of her cities and
villages, and to open a market for all her produce. The farmers of
Great Britain and Ireland could not pay the high rents and taxes which
are imposed on them, were it not for their proximity to the great
manufacturing cities of England. The cotton factories of Manchester,
the woolen factories of Leeds and Huddersfield, the hardware works of
Birmingham and Sheffield, and the potteries of Staffordshire, employ
hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, who consume the
fruits of the soil, and create a steady demand for the farmer's stock
and grain. All these manufactures were fostered by protective laws
until they had attained a magnitude and importance which enabled them
to protect themselves by the wealth of their proprietors and the
excellence of their products. Large cities always afford a market for
farm produce, and on this account exert a very beneficial influence on
agriculture. The population of London is about two and a half
millions, and they are possessed of so much wealth, and are so
fastidious in their requirements, that almost every part of the world
contributes to supply them with the necessaries or luxuries of life.
The rapid growth of the cities of Michigan afford a home market for
the fruits of the soil. A great deal of land in the old
settlements of this State has been exhausted by a too frequent
repetition of the wheat crop, and is now being employed as pasture for
sheep and cattle. After remaining in grass for a few years, this land
will be in excellent condition for producing wheat, especially when
fertilized with that plentiful supply of barn-yard dung which the
raising of stock always produces.
There are some varieties of wheat which are much better suited to the
climate and soil of Michigan than others, as they are in a great
measure able to withstand the combined attacks of wheat insects and
the various diseases to which the plant is liable. These are now fast
supplanting the worn out grain, and as every malady has its cure or
preventive, it is probable that the introduction of the best kind of
seeds, the alternation between grass and tillage, and the supply of
rich manure which the raising of stock creates will have a very great
tendency to improve the wheat crop of this State.
It is remarkable fact although the wheat crop has rather declined in
the majority of States, the corn crop has steadily increased in all of
them. Thus in 1840, the entire corn crop of the United States amounted
to 400,000,000 of bushels; in 1850 it was nearly 600,000,000, of
bushels. The crop of 1855 was between 7 and 800,000,000 and that of
1858 was fully 800,000,000 of bushels. Taking into consideration
the large breath of land planted in 1859 and the damage by frost, we
might with safety set down the crop as amounting to 800,000,000
bushels.
Last year our importations from Indiana were large, but since the new
crop came in, that State has been shipping largely toward the Ohio
river, and we get comparatively little. The immense distilleries of
Cincinnati consume a very large quantity of corn annually, and Indiana
is beginning to find a good market in that quarter. The demand for
Michigan corn is always active on account of its excellent milling
qualities, and on this account it generally sells from wagons as high,
or a shade higher than the outside figure for Western corn from store.
The corn crop of Illinois has been much injured by the frosts of June
and July, and on this account the receipts in Chicago up to this date
have been much lighter than usual. The European potato crop has been
greatly damaged by rot, and it is probable that a large export of corn
will take place from this country in order to supply a deficiency
occasioned by this failure. It is said that several New York
capitalists have gone west and purchased corn and provisions, storing
them up until next spring, anticipating at that time a considerable
advance in price. The generality of farmers have sorted their corn
carefully this year and used up the unripe and inferior part for
feeding hogs and cattle: there is a large quantity of very good corn
in the country, which will no doubt command a good price in the
spring.
Indian corn is one of the staple productions of Michigan, and can be
raised with success in any suitable soil in the lower peninsula.
According to the statistics of 1850 this State produced nearly
6,000,000 of bushels that year. It is probable that the census of the
present year will show a vast increase in the amount. In 1850 the
value of this crop in all the States amounted to nearly $300,000,000,
being about equal to the united values of the wheat, hay, and cotton
crops, and it has perhaps doubled since that date. In fact the value
of the corn crop to Michigan and all the other States can not be
estimated, as it is much used for the food of man and all the domestic
animals, and to it the American farmer is indebted for much of his
prosperity, for without it he would not be able to bring his cattle
and hogs into the market at the right time and in proper condition.
Heretofore the amount of pork packed has always been insufficient to
meet the demand, and the deficiency has been supplied by importations
from other cities, chiefly from Cincinnati. This season not only has
there been a considerable increase in the number packed, but the
market opens a great deal duller than last year, when the Canada trade
and the building of the Detroit and Port Huron link of the Grand Trunk
Railway induced a fair demand.