Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-03-15
GRAIN TRADES GAIN.
DEPARTMENT ISSUES
HlsToRY or VAST TRAFFIC.
New Routes for shipments Wheas anu
E,our diverted from Lake Michigan
toLake Superior Ports and from FAST
ern to Southern Scaboard.

e : s j
.The Grain Trade OF the un..s '.
States'' il the title of monograph Just
published by the treasury bureau " s.a
t;st;cs ma the first Of series OF STUDIES
mon the production and transportation -
the great staples and upon the ih.el ezra
commerce of the country. Inc
noints out the immense increase ~ 'n
agricultural production or the county,. ~.
INC rand and continuous westward sniit-
;ro of the area Of population ana the
chanyes In the routes by which western
Grain reaches the eastern consumers ana
The European markets. The develop
mont Of the grain production and trace
10 traced from colonial times to the open
mo nm of the Mississippi route by the pur-
chase OF Louisiana, when the snaiioW
I'm rres and later the steamboats, descend
cd the Mississippi and New Orleans snip
ned grain to New York and Boston.
After the completion Of the Erie canai
in 1926 and the settling OF the Lake
Michigan territory, the great bulk OF the
western grain traffic moved eastward
over the lakes and the canal, and New
York became the great grain-shipplns
port of the country The discussion shows
how from Chicago a network or railways
radiated to all points and acted as Urdu
+aries To the lakes, and later how the uni
fed and amalgamated railways competed
with the lakes for the east-bound freight.
The traffic in corn and -four was diverted
from the lakes to the railroads, ana,
while the lakes rcgained part OF TINS iost
traffic later. the Erie canal was unable
to compete with the railroads from Bur
folo. and grain which formerly reached
tidewater at New York is now largely al.
verified to Philadelphia, Baltimore and
more southerly ports.
Two New Grain Routes.
The monograph also presents what APP
near as the two most recent developments
Of the grain trade of the United States:
Firstly. the partial diversion of the wheat
and -four trade from Lake Michigan to
Lake Superior ports and the rise of a
great milling industry at Minneapolis and
Duluth-Superior; secondly, the increased
movement of grain, and notably OF corn,
to the gulf ports, partly by river, to
greater extent by rail, from st. Louis
and nearby points, and to an ever-grow-
ing extent by direct rail routes from
cities in the southwestern corn belt.
The statistics contained in this report
throw light upon the present grain land
more especially wheat situation Of the
United States. They show that the ex-
nortation Of grain is increasing with
greet rapidly, that both the production
and expectation of corn are assuming
greater volume and that constantly
growing portion of our wheat is exported
In the form Of -four. During the last
thirty-two years the amount of corn pro-
duced has increased from S6S00O,000 to
1924, 100000 bushels, an increase of l22
per cent, while the exports Of this cereal
increased from 100000 to 171,0O0,0OO
bushels, or over 1000 per cent. During
the same period our production Of wheat
increased from 152 100000 to 675,000,-
600 bushels, gain OF 344 per cent, while
our exports increased from 1875 to 222.6
millions Of bushels, or almost eighteen
fold, and our net exports Of this grain
increased at a still more rapid rate.
The United States Lead.
The year 1893 shows the United States
to be easily the first wheat-producing
country OF the world, our production
amounting to 675,000,00O bushels, or
nearly one-fourth (23.4 per cent? Of that
OF the whole world. Russia Doth Euro
pean and Asiatic) is second with 17.3 per
cent; then France with 1919 per cent;
British India with S.4 per cent, and Aus
tria-H Hungary with SO per cent. Our
precedence in wheat production is largely
due to our immense tracts Of available
fertile land, our admirable transportation
facilities, the remarkable system of hand
ling the grain, both physically and COM
mercially. and the exceedingly low freight
rates which obtain on our railroads and
lakes.