293 RURAL NEW YORK 



wheat-producing state and Eochester the chief wheat 

 market and milling center. With the change in the 

 producing center, Buffalo has gained the position as 

 a shipping terminal. 



With tlie saw-mill, the grist-mill was among tlie 

 earliest rural factories, the abundant water power of 

 the State being favorable for both. Both the first 

 grist-mill and the first saw-mill operated in America 

 were established in the new settlement of Xew Am- 

 sterdam on Manhattan Island soon after it was 

 founded by the Dutch in 1623. 



The smaller mills have more and more felt the 

 shift in conditions and the competition of the larger 

 mills, and many of them have been abandoned. 



Any summary of the possibilities of agriculture 

 in New York, assuming the basis of soils and climate, 

 must take account of the development of manufac- 

 tures based on the products of the farm. While 

 the tendency will always be to prefer sale for imme- 

 diate consumption, the manufacturing processes con- 

 tinually expand the range and period of consumption 

 and, together with improved storage facilities, tend 

 more and more to expand the season so that the 

 products of the farm are conveniently available the 

 year round and at a more uniform and stable price 

 both to producer and consumer than would otherwise 

 be possible. 



