126 



COMMERCE (INTERNAL) OF THE UNITED STATES. 



owing to general contraction and economy. 

 The extreme western country has made great 

 progress in wool-growing. Oregon produced 

 5,000,000 pounds in 1877, against 3,000,000 

 pounds in 1876. The Territory wools, those 

 of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Montana, show a 

 marked improvement each year both in quan- 

 tity and quality ; they possess a long staple, 

 and are without burr. The Colorado product 

 has been so increased that the carpet-makers 

 rely entirely on that State for the softer kinds, 

 instead of on Spanish, Mediterranean, and East 

 Indian sorts ; Colorado produces combing and 

 filling wools at 35c. per pound, scoured. The 

 Southern wools, Virginia South Down, Geor- 

 gia, Lake, etc., are also improving in quality 

 and increasing in quantity. It is well adapted 

 from the length of its staple for medium grades 

 of cloth, and commanded 55c. per scoured 

 pound in 1877. The Texas wool increases in 

 quantity, but shows a sad lack of improvement 

 in blood, and is only adapted for the poorest 

 work, owing not only to its underbred quality 

 but to the pernicious practice of shearing twice 

 a year which obtains in that State. The price 

 for washed Ohio fleeces at the beginning of 

 1877 was 45c. for fine wool. In the summer 

 the price rose to 50c., but weakened later, and 

 at the close of the year there were large stocks 

 of XX Ohio in dealers' hands and no buyers at 

 44 to 45c. per pound. The price for American 

 XX at the beginning of January, 1878, in New 

 York, was 38 to 45c. ; in February, 37 to 45c. ; 

 in March, 35 to 43c. ; in April, 34 to 42c. ; in 

 May, the same ; in June, 32 to 38c. ; in July, 

 30 to 37c. ; in August, 30 to 38c. ; in Septem- 

 ber, 33 to 38c. ; in October, the same ; in No- 

 vember, 30 to 36c. 



In the iron industry, the means of production 

 have been enlarged within a few years to a great- 

 er extent relatively than in any other branch. 

 The extraordinary demand during the rapid ex- 

 tension of the railroad network of the United 

 States gave the principal impetus to the move- 

 ment. The high price of iron which prevailed 

 made it profitable to work furnaces and forges 

 whose location and facilities would be exceed- 

 ingly disadvantageous in times of ordinary de- 

 mand. Since the demand for railroad iron con- 

 siderably declined, the prices, owing to the ex- 

 cessive increase in the exceedingly expensive 

 works necessary for iron production, and to the 

 large accumulation of stocks to be disposed 

 of, declined in a far greater ratio ; so that no 

 branch has been in a worse financial position 

 for a year or two back than the iron trade. 

 The rapid growth of the iron and steel indus- 

 tries has been much more beneficial to the na- 

 tion, however, than the large losses of capital 

 sunk in useless works by over-sanguine under- 

 takers has proved detrimental. The iron in- 

 dustry is now, and will remain, the largest in 

 the country, not counting agriculture. The 

 American consumption is entirely emancipated 

 from its former dependence on the English 

 producers. The American demand for railroad 



bars alone is still large, and will long remain 

 so. The railroad construction for the last four 

 years, 1874-'77, has been at the rate of 2,224 

 miles per annum. This demand is now satis- 

 fied altogether by the native product. In the 

 year 1872, in which $350,000,000 were invested 

 in new railroads, and 5,720 miles of track laid, 

 the production of rails in the American mills 

 was a million tons, and the imports from Eu- 

 rope about half a million. In 1877 the con- 

 sumption had diminished 60 per cent., and the 

 total supply had decreased 50 per cent. ; but 

 that portion of the supply which came from 

 abroad had ceased altogether, while that from 

 American works had declined less than 25 per 

 cent. The falling off in the imports of iron and 

 steel rails between 1873 and 1877 amounted to 

 about $20,000,000 ; the import is now as good 

 as nothing. The railroad network is likely to 

 be extended in its smaller ramifications for 

 many years to come, and it is probable that the 

 25 per cent, decrease in the native production 

 will be recovered, and the demand will be con- 

 stantly equal to or greater than the supply of 

 the year of largest production. The rapidity 

 with which foreign rails have been displaced 

 by the American product, after the domestic 

 works had been increased sufficiently to satisfy 

 the demand, can be seen from the following 

 table, which gives the number of miles of rail- 

 road constructed and the number of tons of 

 rails produced for the eleven calendar years 

 1867-'77 and the number of tons imported for 

 the eleven fiscal years 1868-'78 : 



Simultaneously with the displacement of for- 

 eign rails by American in the home market, 

 the old iron rail has been rapidly supplanted 

 by steel rails converted by the Bessemer pro- 

 cess. The rate at which this change has taken 

 place can be seen in the following statement, 

 giving the relative quantities of iron and Bes- 

 semer steel rails, which each year made up the 

 total annual product stated above : 



