412 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the Bessemer steel industry, and the considerable increase, 

 though on a scale of lesser magnitude, of the figures of pro- 

 duction of open-hearth steel. 



As before remarked, the corresponding figures for 1877 

 must be omitted, as the very rough approximation that 

 mitrht be ventured would have but little value. 



THE IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1877. 



From the most recent statements that have appeared in 

 the Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Association, it 

 appears that while the year 1877 has proved to be the most 

 disastrous of any since the panic, the demand for our iron 

 and steel products was greater than during the year 187G. 

 The secretary estimates that the production of pig-iron dur- 

 ing 1877 exceeded that of 1876 by about ten per cent., and 

 thinks that it will approximate to that of 1875, which was 

 2,266,581 tons. The production of Bessemer steel during 

 1877, he affirms, will fully equal the product of 187G (525,- 

 99G net tons ingots, and 412,461 tons rails). The production 

 of steel rails in 1877, he believes, will not vary greatly from 

 450,000 net tons. In iron rails, however, he anticipates that 

 the year 1877 will show some falling-off. The secretary no- 

 tices that the imports and exports of iron and steel in 1877 



