THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



41 



or " handling," of grain is very moflerate. " To receive 

 and sliip grain from cars or caual-boats to lake-craft 

 costb one-half cent, (a farthing) per I)uslicl ; while to 

 receive, wnrohouse for fifteon flays, weigh, and ship 

 grain costs one cent, (a halfiicnny) per bushel," ike. 

 Such arc the extent and facilities of the grain trade of 

 Chicago 



The " provision trade" is equally in a progressive 

 state of development. The number of hogs, live and 

 dressed, shipped in three seasons, was as follows — 



18.54-5 54,15G 



1855-0 170,181 



1850-7 103,074 



The falling oft" in the last season is accounted for by 

 100,000 hogs being sent alive by railways early, which 

 produced a scarcity when the f-eason commenced. 



The number of catt'e killed and packed in seven 

 years, with their weight, was as follows : — 



Year, No. Weight. 



1851 .. 21,806 .. lbs. 



1852 .. 24,663 .. 13,367,346 



1853 .. 25,431 .. 14,010,905 



1854 .. 23,691 .. 13,402,223 



1855 .. 28,972 .. 16,932,137 



1856 .. 14,977 .. 8,130,496 



1857 .. 19,127 .. 10,354,500 



A large butler trade is growing up, as will be seen 

 by the following table : — 



SHIl'MENTS OF BUTTER. 



1854 2,143,569 lbs. 



1855 2,473,982 



1856 2,668,928 



1857 3,149,387 



A rising trade in mines, wool, and stone — the latter 

 quarried at Athens, Dcsplaines, and .loHet — are likely 

 to increase largely the resources ol Ciiicago. ]5ut the 

 lumber trade e.xhibits an enormous development. 



KlIIl'MENTS OF LUMBER. 



1865 306,553,467 ft. 



18.'J6 453,673,169 



1857 4.yj,639,198 



The shipping by which this large tiaftic is carried 

 on is thus stated : — 



Number and tonnage of vessels arkived 



AT the port of Chicago for four seasons. 



Year. Number. Tonnage. 



1854 5,021 1,(«!)2,644 



1855 6,610 l,cm,8io 



1856 7,328 1.545,379 



1857 7,557 1,753,413 



These vessels employ from 60,000 to 70,000 seamen. 



We have no room to speak at large of the railway 

 traffic and its extension, centering in Chicago ; and 

 can only say, that there are upwards of thirty lines of 

 rail connected with this city, of which eleven are trunk 

 and twenty-one branch and extension lines, the total 

 earnings of which for the year 1857 were 18,590,520 

 dollars. The whole of the-e lines, extending 3,953 

 miles, have, with the exception of about forty miles, 

 been began and completed in six years. 



Such are the details of the rise and progress of this 

 extraordinary city, which has risen out of the wilder- 

 ness with a rapidity that sets all our Old Country 

 notions at defiance. 1 he firmness with which Chicago, 

 after the first season of dismay, withstood the panic- 

 shock, sjieaks volumes for the present .stability of her 

 institutions; whilst the rapid peopling of the neigh- 

 bouring Slates, and the increasing facilities of inter- 

 communication with all parts of the Union, guarantee 

 to her a continuous prosperity— possessing, as she does, 

 a position at the head of the Lake navigation the 

 nearest and most accessible to the " far west" of any 

 other port. 



SHOEING: ITS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. 



The connexion which has so long existed hetvveen 

 the science of veterinary medicine and the art of 

 shoeing ought to have insured the improvement of 

 the latter, however it may degrade tlie former ; hut 

 from all accounts, the system of shoeing is very 

 much what it was at its commencement — hy no 

 means free from grave objections, on the score of the 

 injury that it does to the animal's feet. Notwith- 

 standing the science that is hrought to bear upon 

 the question — notwithstanding all that Coleman, 

 Bracy, Clarke, Turner, and others have written — 

 horsemen constantly comjilain of bad slioeing, and 

 its effects upon their animals' action. It seems 

 pretty well decided upon what principles we are to 

 proceed ; still, the practice does not keep pace with 

 our theory, and the reason of this we believe to be 

 found in the absence of tlie proper knowledge in 

 the proper quarter. The men who know how horses 

 should be shod are not the men who shoe them, or 

 in any decided way interfere witli the work. 



The absurdity of connecting the treatment of the 

 horse's diseases with the shoeing of his feet is not 



even relieved by the advantage of superior care of 

 finish in the work ; the veterinary surgeon can only 

 leave general directions, which may not even be 

 noticed, or probably not be applicable to numerous 

 cases ; his pprsonal superintendence being of course 

 usually out of the question, although by it alone 

 could he insure the carrying out of his intentions. 

 To educate the workmen, as has been suggested, 

 by the formation of schools for this branch, is an 

 idea altogether out of the pale of feasii)ility. The 

 country farrier who could afibrd to send his son 

 to such a school can at the same time send him to 

 the Veterinary College, wliere he studies, among 

 other things, the anatomy of the foot, with especial 

 reference to the application of shoes ; he comes 

 back probably with his diploma, and thinks of 

 something beyond his hammer and anvil. And 

 who shall blame him for it ? Educate craftsmen in 

 the science of their craft, and you destroy them ; 

 they seek instinctively for others less knowing than 

 themselves to perform the drudgery they nave 

 learned to despise. We are not condemning popu- 



