194 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



and to New Orleans 914; St. Louis to Mobile 644, and to Balti- 

 more 930; and Kansas City to Galveston 873. The railroads 

 which cross the Allegheny mountains are not as level as those 

 which follow the shores of the great Lakes, or as those which 

 extend down the Mississippi valley, and as a consequence it 

 costs them more to carry grain. The Gulf ports have a disad- 

 vantage on account of the tropical character of their climate, 

 for flour and wheat, especially if northern grown, are more apt 

 to deteriorate there than in a cooler climate. 



Wheat Grown on the Pacific Coast passes into the export 

 channels through the Pacific ports. This trade is very distinct 

 from the rest of the wheat trade of the United States. It 

 formed about 33 per cent of the total export trade in the ninth 

 decade, but the amount fell to less than 25 per cent by 1900. 

 Under abnormal conditions in 1905, however, the Pacific coast 

 exports were 92 per cent of the wheat, and 41 per cent of the 

 wheat and flour. It is probable that the development of Orien- 

 tal commerce and western transportation facilities will increase 

 the wheat exports from the Pacific coast. 



Lake Shipments. In 1867 the iron steamship was rapidly 

 replacing sailing vessels on the Great Lakes. In 1900 the largest 

 class of lake vessels, known as ''whalebaeks," carried 250,000 

 bushels of wheat in a single load. This amount rose to 380,000 

 bushels in 1906. At 12.5 bushel per acre, one shipload repre- 

 sents the wheat harvested from 30,400 acres of land. In point 

 of tonnage, Duluth, on Lake Superior, was the second port in 

 the United States at the close of the nineteenth century, hav- 

 ing been exceeded by New York only. The Sault Sainte Marie 

 canal carried 2.5 times as much tonnage in eight months as the 

 Suez canal in a whole year. During October, 1902, 14,971,318 

 bushels of east-bound wheat passed through this canal, and 

 also 1,298,751 barrels of flour. 



Statistics Pertaining to Rail Shipments. An empty car 

 weighs on an average about one-third of the gross weight of a 

 loaded car. Twenty years ago 1,020 tons net weight was the 

 best load of grain that could be hauled in one train in the 

 United States. The maximum weight (dead and paying load) 

 hauled by the New York Central in ordinary grain practice is 

 at present from 3,300 to 3,500 tons in a train containing over 

 60 cars of 30 tons of paying load each ; 80 cars having a gross 



