NORTH AMERICA. 



In 1885, the acreage of maize was 73,000,000 

 acres, and of wheat, 34,000,000. The cereal crops 

 of 1884 were unprecedentedly large. The pro- 

 duction of wheat in 1884 was 512,000,000 bushels, 

 in 1885 it was only 257,000,000 ; of maize, there 

 were 1,795,000 bushels in 1884. The advance 

 in production between 1870 and 1880 was unpre- 

 cedented, amounting to about 100 per cent. The 

 production of cotton advanced from 1540 million 

 Ibs. in 1870 to 2773 millions in 1880. More than 

 two-thirds of the world's cotton crop is grown 

 in the States. Till 1859, the United States used 

 occasionally to import wheat from Europe ; now 

 they produce one-fourth of the world's crop, and 

 have a vast yearly surplus for exporting. The 

 shipments of cattle and meat from the United 

 States exceeded, in 1880, the value of $25,000,000. 



Manufactures. 



The manufactures which are followed with 

 most advantage in America, and without fear of 

 English rivalry, are those which produce articles 

 too bulky or too heavy, in proportion to their 

 value, to bear the expense of a long carriage, or of 

 which the materials are found in the country, and 

 can be wrought up there at less expense than by 

 carrying them to cheaper tradesmen at a distance. 

 Some of these branches may be mentioned such 

 as the making of soap, candles, and hats ; tanning 

 and working in leather, particularly bulky articles ; 

 building of carriages ; making of all kinds of 

 agricultural implements ; carpentry, sawing, and 

 turning of most descriptions ; constructing and 

 putting up of mill- work and machinery; distilling ; 

 the employments of goldsmiths, tinsmiths, and 

 printers. 



The cotton manufacture was introduced in 1790 ; 

 and at the census of 1870, there were in the United 

 States 956 cotton manufacturing establishments. 

 The States having the largest numbers were 

 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and 

 Connecticut. The mills employed 448 steam- 

 engines, of 47,117 horse-power; and 1250 water- 

 wheels, of 102,409 horse-power. There were 

 I 57)3 l looms, 3,694,477 frame-spindles, and 

 3,437,938 mule-spindles. The hands employed 

 numbered 47,790 males above 16 years of age, 

 69,637 females above 15, and 22,942 under those 

 ages. The woollen factories amounted to 2891, 

 Pennsylvania possessing the largest number ; New 

 York came next ; and then Ohio, Massachusetts, 

 Indiana, Missouri, Delaware, Kentucky, Illinois, 

 Connecticut, and Maine, in the order specified. 

 These factories used 1050 steam-engines, of 35,900 

 horse-power ; and 1092 water-wheels, of 59,333 

 horse-power. The hands employed numbered 

 42,728 males over 16 years of age, 27,681 females 

 above 15, and 9643 children. In 1880, there were 

 253,840 manufacturing establishments, 2,738,930 

 hands employed. The cotton mills had 230,223 

 looms, and employed 181,628 persons. In 

 addition to the cotton and woollen industries, 

 agricultural implements, machinery, india-rubber 

 goods, oil-cloth, paper, carriages of all sorts, 

 musical instruments, soap, candles, and various 

 sorts of spirits, are extensively manufactured. 



In the southern states, there is little manufactur- 

 ing : the inhabitants there depend on the northern 

 states, or on foreign countries, for their supplies, 

 and their exports are cotton, sugar, and other raw 

 materials. 



Commerce. 



The wealthiest class in the United States are 

 generally the merchants of the large towns. Of 

 late years, more particularly since the outbreak of 

 the civil war, and still more particularly since its 

 close, swindling on a gigantic scale has been ram- 

 pant in New York and elsewhere ; but it would be 

 a foul slander to insinuate that Mr Jay Gould or 

 his confreres in rascality are a fair sample of 

 American ' business men,' or anything more than 

 an ugly excrescence on the surface of commercial 

 life. Among the merchant-princes of the New 

 World are to be found men as honourable as any 

 in England or the world. The subjoined table 

 gives the total value in dollars of the imports and 

 exports for various years: 



T 

 Imports. 



Years ending 

 June 30. 



18 68 .................. 337,436,44 



1869 .................. 417, 506,379 



1870 .................. 462,377,587 



1875 .................. 553,906,153 



1880 .................. 760,989,056 



1882 .................. 767,111,964 



Exports. 

 476,902,839 

 439,134,529 

 529,519,302 

 643,094.767 

 851,482,804 

 776,720,003 



The principal items of export were wheat, flour, 

 cotton, tobacco, pickled pork, hams, butter, cheese, 

 and fresh meat. More than half goes to Great 

 Britain and Ireland. 



The mercantile shipping of the United States 

 has greatly declined since 1861. The carrying- 

 trade is passing into the hands of other countries, 

 and mainly into those of Great Britain. Only 

 241,500,000 tons of American imports and exports 

 were carried, in 1882, in American bottoms, and 

 1,241,350,000 in foreign vessels. 



The growth of the railway system in the 

 United States dates from 1827, when the first line 

 was opened for traffic at Quincy, Massachusetts. 

 Three years later, there were only 23 miles in 

 operation ; in 1840, there were 2818 ; in 1850, 

 9021 ; in 1860, 30,635 ; in 1870, 53,399 ; and in 1882, 

 104,324. Railways extend from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, intersecting the republic in every direc- 

 tion. The total amount of capital expended on the 

 various lines at the close of 1 88 1 was i , 1 1 5,600,000. 

 The number of telegraph offices, on the ist of 

 January i88r,was 1 1,320; the length of lines, 120,000 

 miles; and the length of wires, 395,000 miles. 



MEXICO. 



Mexico, occupying that portion of the North 

 American continent which lies between 16 and 

 32 north latitude, and 95 and 1 1 5 west longitude, 

 was conquered by the Spaniards, under Cortes, in 



319 



