From the New York terminals to the Canadian line is 321.5 miles. On sections of this route in Canada mule towage is still necessary. The trip from Quebec to New York usually takes from 3 to 5 weeks. The season for these canals is from about May 1 to .December 1. Among the important cargoes carried on the New York canals arc coal, lumber, wood pulp, grain, flaxseed, sugar, salt, petroleum, sand, cement, and general merchandise.
Grains travel from the west via Buffalo and the canal to New York.
Sand and cement were handled to a considerable extent in the vicinity of Syracuse. Not only the greater volume of traffic, but also the diversity of cargoes, differentiate the situation in New York from that in Maryland and in Pennsylvania, where coal is the one important cargo. Moreover, while the history of the latter canals shows a steady decrease in tonnage, the traffic on the New York system has increased every year since 1918, when the improved canals went into operation. Whereas the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Lehigh, and the Delaware Division Canals wore privately owned and in each case the company operating the canal owned most, if not all, the boats, in New York the canals are owned and operated by the State and navigation is free. While the State has furnished some towing facilities in order to bridge the period of change from the use of mules to the use of steam.