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.