248 RURAL MJW YORK 



and London. Added to tliis are the ports of Boston 

 and Philadelphia that are among- tlie first five in the 

 country. In 1910 the freight tonnage that cleared 

 from jVew York for foreign ports was approximately 

 (;52,O()0,000 and the imports amounted to 9;)(;,000,- 

 000 tons. From one-third to one-half of all the for- 

 eign trade of the United States passes through the 

 port of New York. The cost of freight a gross ton 

 of staple commodities from New York to Liverpool 

 before the war was from two to four dollars, which 

 was equivalent to the average railway freight for a 

 distance of three to four hundred miles, say from 

 New York to Buffalo. There are, of course, many 

 differences in the make-up of transportation charges 

 by ocean freight and by rail, but these figures will 

 serve as a general basis of comparison and indicate 

 the way in which local, in the sense of home, markets 

 are expanded by facilities for foreign shipment. 



The consuming capacity of this territory is im- 

 mense and it only remains properly to direct it and 

 provide the means for efficiently and economically 

 reaching the market. This involves among other 

 things the means of transportation and communica- 

 tion. 



TRANSPORTATION AND MARKETS 



The transportation facilities may be divided into 

 three groups: highways, railroads, and waterways. 

 The first determines the access to the local shipping 

 point. The latter two are the means of reaching the 

 more remote centers. These different agencies co- 



