INTRODUCTION. clxvii 



of this it will be sufficient to adduce two or three well-known facts. The prices of flour and meat at 

 New York (estimating them at the gold standard) have not been reduced in the least, notwithstanding 

 the immense quantities of the products of grain imported into that city. On the other hand, the prices 

 at Cincinnati, on the Ohio, have doubled, and in some articles, such as pork, have trebled. The great 

 bulk of the gain caused by the cheapness of transportation has gone to the producer. This depends 

 on a general principle, which must continue to operate for many years. The older a country is, the 

 more civic and the less rural it becomes ; that is, the greater will be the demand for food, and the less 

 the production The competition of the consumer for food is greater than that of the producer for 

 price. Hence it is that Europe, an old country, filled with cities, makes a continual demand on this 

 country i or food. Hence it is that New England and New York, continually filling up with manu 

 facturers, artisans, and cities, must be supplied with increased quantities of food from the interior 

 west ; and hence, while this is the case, prices cannot fall in the great markets. Hence it is that the 

 cheapening of transportation inures to the benefit of the agricultural producer. New England consumes 

 more than a million barrels of western flour. The transportation is cheapened a dollar per barrel . 

 and thus, in New England alone, in the single item of flour, a million of dollars, net profit, is put 

 into the pockets of the western farmer by the competition of railroads ; for a large portion of this 

 flour is carried over the Massachusetts Western railroad. It is entirely true that the manufacturer of 

 New England shares, on his side, in the gain of cheap transportation ; but we are here considering 

 simply the influence of railroads on agriculture. 



In the western markets the gain to the farmer is palpable in the enhanced prices of every article. 

 At Cincinnati, in 1848 and 1849, (which was the beginning of the greatest railroad enterprises,) the 

 average price of hogs was $3 per hundred. In I860 and 1861 it was double that, and has continued 

 to increase. This was a net gain to the farmers of Ohio alone of from three to four millions of dollars. 

 In the entire west it was a profit of more than twenty millions on this single animal ; for, if there were 

 now no railroads, this product could not be carried to market except on foot, which would take away 

 half the value. No further illustration of this point need be made. Take the market prices of New 

 York and Boston, on the Atlantic, and of St. Louis and Cincinnati, in the west, at an interval of twenty 

 years, and it will be seen that the cheap prices of the west have gradually approximated to the high 

 prices of the east, and this solely in consequence of cheapening the cost of transportation, which inures 

 to the benefit of the farmer. 



3. By thus giving the farmer the benefit of the best markets and the highest prices, railroads have 

 increased the agricultural productions of the interior States beyond anything heretofore known in the 

 world. We have already shown that this increased production, or rather its surplus, could not have 

 been carried to market without the aid of railroads, more than two-thirds of the whole being carried 

 off by that means. Let us now reverse this operation, and we find, on the other hand, that railroads 

 have stimulated and increased production. The northwestern States are those in which the influence 

 of railroads on agriculture is most obvious. In the five States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and 

 Wisconsin there were comparatively few miles of railroad prior to 1850; but from 1850 to 1860 the 

 construction of roads was most rapid. In 1850 there were only 1,275 miles of railroad in those States, 

 but in 1860 there were 9,616 miles. Let us now examine the products of those States in 1850 and 

 1860, and see how the progress of railroads has sustained and stimulated agricultural production. The 

 following table shows the increase of the principal vegetable and animal production in the five States 

 of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin in the ten years from 1850 to 1860: 



In 1850. In 1860. Increase per cent. 



Wheat 39, 348, 495 bushels. 79, 798, 163 bushels. 100 



Corn 177,320,441 &quot; 280,268,862 &quot; 58 



Oats 32,660,251 &quot; 51,043,334 &quot; 50 



Potatoes 13,417,896 &quot; 27,181,692 &quot; 100 



Cattle.. 3,438,000 &quot; 5,371,000 &quot; 59 



