CEREALS IN COMMERCE 577 



639. Grain centers. The principal grain markets of 

 North America are Chicago, Minneapolis, Winnipeg, 

 Duluth, Buffalo, New York, St. Louis, Kansas City, and 

 Portland (Oregon). Chicago, centrally located and on 

 the Great Lakes, has a general business. Minneapolis, 

 the greatest milling city, has special interest in wheat, 

 and its out-going trade is chiefly in the form of flour. 

 Duluth and New York, connected with Europe by water, 

 are great export points. Buffalo, also on the Lakes, is 

 of importance in export, but mills a large percentage of 

 its wheat. Winnipeg is chief headquarters for Canadian 

 wheat. St. Louis, a central interior point, handles all 

 classes of oats and corn and both soft and hard wheats. 

 Kansas City, at the edge of the Great Plains cereal dis- 

 tricts, has a large grain trade, and has export connections 

 with Galveston and New Orleans. Portland is important 

 as a Pacific export point. 



640. Transportation. As it is desirable to get large 

 quantities of grain from one point to another promptly 

 and with the least expense possible, the question of 

 transportation is important, and it is of the greatest 

 advantage that a grain center be also a railroad center. 

 The availability of water transportation adds greatly to 

 a city's advantages as a grain market, as water rates for 

 carrying are so much lower than rail rates. The farther a 

 farm is located from a railroad station, and the farther 

 it is from a terminal market, the smaller is the net profit 

 to the farmer, on deducting freight charges and cost of 

 hauling to the railroad. Because of the latter, 5 to 15 

 cents a bushel may be lost. In addition to railroad 

 charges, farmers in new settlements have sometimes been 

 obliged to haul grain 50 to 100 miles to the railroad, in- 

 creasing the cost. 



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