98 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



unprofitableness during this period, more than anything else, 

 which brought about this condition of instability and discontent. 



Railroads. The period which we are now studying was 

 also one of rapid railway development. The substitution of 

 steel for iron rails and the greater carrying capacity of the rail- 

 roads which resulted, the development of the great trunk-line 

 systems, the building in connection with them of the granger 

 roads, and the construction also of the great transcontinental 

 lines, all contributed their share toward creating a condi- 

 tion under which the farmers of the Far West could compete 

 on almost equal terms with those of the east in the supply of 

 eastern markets. The building of the transcontinental railways 

 in particular, stimulated by land grants by the federal govern- 

 ment, has contributed to this result. They were built in ad- 

 vance of the demand, and tended, in turn, to stimulate a rapid 

 settlement of the Far West. 



Along with these improvements in railroad transportation 

 there was developed a remarkable system of handling grain and 

 live stock. The refrigerator car was brought into use in 1869, 

 and gave an impetus to the meat-packing industry, which could 

 now run continuously throughout the year. This led, beginning 

 with 1876, to the exportation of fresh meats to foreign coun- 

 tries. The system of grading and classifying grain enables large 

 amounts of grain of any specified grade to be handled in bulk 

 at a very small expense per bushel. The building of immense 

 elevators where grain can be handled and stored, where cars 

 can be loaded and unloaded in a few minutes, and where 

 ships can be loaded at the rate of 10,000 bushels per hour, 

 these and a number of other improvements contributed their 

 share in the general expansion of trade in farm products and 

 the opening of a world market to the American farmer. But 

 this tended to produce an agricultural disturbance in Europe 

 similar to that which took place in our own country. 



