FOXJR DAYS AT ROCHESTER. 173 



Falls, it again descends eighty-four feet, which brings 

 the stream to the level of Lake Ontario, into which 

 it enters. 



The immense water-power thus afforded in the cen- 

 tre of one of the finest wheat-growing regions in the 

 world, with the facilities of transportation aiforded by 

 the Erie Canal, Lake Ontario, and the several rail- 

 ways, have given a vast impulse to the prosperity of 

 Rochester and it has, in consequence, become one of 

 the most important manufacturing cities in the East. 

 At the period of my visit, there were eighteen flour 

 mills in operation, grinding annually 2,500,000 bush- 

 els of wheat. The manufacturing interests are im- 

 mense — ready-made clothing being the most extensive, 

 and boots and shoes ranking next. Other leading 

 manufactures are those of iron bridges. India-rubber 

 goods, carriages, furniture, optical instruments, steam 

 engines, glassware and agricultural machinery. Of 

 flourishing industries may be mentioned breweries, 

 tobacco factories, blast furnaces and fruit canning. 



The largest nurseries in America are found here. 

 Thousands of acres within a short distance of the city 

 are devoted to the cultivation of fruit trees, and 

 millions of these trees are annually shipped to other 

 States and foreign countries. Over $2,000,000 is the 

 annual product of these prolific nurseries. 



The city is fast becoming a great distributing centre 

 for coal, which is conveyed in vessels to all points on 

 the Great Lakes. Rochester, being the business centre 

 of the fertile Genesee Valley, shows a steady growth 

 in business and wealth. It has a magnificent system 

 of water-works, constructed at a cost of §3,250,000, 

 the water being supplied from two sources — one from 



