138 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



York City through the Erie Canal and the tidal 

 Hudson River, are thus linked with the two east 

 coast cities of greatest exporting importance. 

 They serve to bring the markets of Europe nearer 

 American producers since water freight rates, even 

 where canals are used, are much cheaper than 

 those of the railroads. This is clearly shown by 

 comparison : for instance, the all rail rate on a 

 bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York City 

 in 1912 was 9.73 cents ; by lake and canal it was 

 5.38 cents. 



The Mississippi River. The Mississippi River 

 is the only other inland waterway in the United 

 States of any great commercial importance to the 

 wheat industry. It has, however, not been able 

 to enter into very serious competition with the 

 railroads. This is probably due to the facts that 

 a comparatively short haul is involved, an in- 

 direct route is necessitated, and a considerable 

 railroad haul is at any rate necessary in order to 

 bring the wheat to river ports. In other words 

 lack of navigable tributaries reaching into the 

 wheat districts has proved a serious drawback to 

 the commercial importance of the Mississippi River. 



Ocean Routes. For wheat, as for other agricul- 

 tural products, the ocean is the great highway of 

 water transportation. Since Europe furnishes the 

 market for the greater part of the wheat exported 

 from the countries of the western hemisphere, the 



