Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-12-20
HOW FARMING WILL EFFECT IRON.

We nave seen tlaJ from GallToduS
alone, upon the estimate above given,
which the best informed experts Judge
is, if anything, below the mark rather
than above it, the demand for iron dur
iny 1880 will be i'm round figures not
less than 2,460,0O0 tons. This is of it.
self more than the American prOduC-
ton of pig in 1877, and about as much
as the production of 1873, But there
are still other sources of demand which,
when aggregated, are greater than the
railroads. Thus, the great impetus to
farming operations and their vast in
crease indicated in a preceding
paragraph, causes corresponding
demand for agricultural imple-
meuts, in all of which iron will
be consumed. II would of course be
impossible 10 calculate with certainty
upon the quantity OF iron required for
this purpose, yet few illustrations may
help the reader 20 general idea. One
Pittsburgh firm, We are credlbly INFORM
ed, has entered into contracts 10 supply
Western manufacturers during the next
year trimmings for 10000 wagons. I'm.
plements and machinery for turning the
ground, putting in the seed, reaping the
crops, moving them, threshln" and put
ting in shape for home use or transpOr-
tation-the whole list will involve de-
mand for iron on such a scale as could
only be accounted for by the wonderful
activity that lately sprang mp in the
West. Nor is yet the end. For Struct-
ural purposes, it is reasonable to assume
that material will be in prOpOrtiOnately
active requirement.
PROSPECT Of A BRISK MARKET.
From all the signs it becomes fairly
apparent that whatever, ii any change
i'm the present price OF iron occurs, il
must be upward. The fact that almost
as many miles of road will be built in
1880 as during the whole four years pre-
ceding, considered simultaneously with
the extension of farming and revival Of
other industries, show that the con-
sumption OF iron will be fIr in excess OF
past figures, while the real available ca
pacitv of the furnaces will be little
greater than before. These are the con-
ditions under which prices would adj
vance. \ few points will serve to illus
trate. There was produced in this cOun-
try 1872, about 2,S5i, 600 tons OF pig, and
247, sessions wereimpOrted the same year.
The price ran up to S53.S74 per ton. 1t
is certainly true that there will be a
greater demand for iron the coming year
than there was in 1872. Yet the capac-
ity for production has not very much
increased; and though there are many
furnaces which could light their fires, a
very large amount of capital is required
for that purpose, and while in numer-
Gus instances they will resume opera
tions, i'm numerous other instances the
owners or parties contemplating invest.
ment will be likely to wait longer for
practical evidence that the boom has
come % stay. But meanwhile, it will
be seen that under conditions which,
upon the whole, are positively more
favorable for the market thon those
which prevailed in -, there is still
margin OF nearly S25 per ton to 90 upon,
taking the difference between the price
of iron to-day and its price in ~. or
course, after certain point in reached,
importation will set in to equalize prices
but the English market is also on the
rise, and every ton ordered from it by
Americans will stiiIen the price there.