60 CHAPTERS IN RURAL PROGRESS 



most marvelous opportunities for the progres- 

 sive farmer. Specialization brings out the best 

 that there is in the locality and the man. It 

 gives a chance to apply science to farming. Our 

 transportation system permits the peach growers 

 of Grand Rapids to place their crops at a profit 

 in the markets of Buffalo and Pittsburg; the 

 rich orchards and vineyards of Southern Cali- 

 fornia find their chief outlet in the cities of 

 the manufacturing Northeast — three thousand 

 miles away. During the forty years, from 

 i860, the exports of wheat from this country 

 increased from four million bushels annually 

 to one hundred and forty million bushels; of 

 corn, from three and one-third million bushels 

 to one hundred and seventy-five million bushels; 

 of beef products, from twenty million pounds to 

 three hundred and seventy million pounds; of 

 pork products, from ninety-eight million pounds 

 to seventeen hundred million pounds. And not 

 only do the grain and stock farmers find this 

 outlet for their surplus products, but we are 

 beginning to ship abroad high-grade fruit and 

 first-class dairy products in considerable quan- 

 tities. Low rates of freight, modern methods 

 of refrigeration, express freight trains, fast 

 freight steamers — the whole machinery of the 



