clxviii INTRODUCTION. 



This increase is decidedly beyond that of the population; showing that the products of agriculture 

 are, in those States, profitable. The aggregate of grain products in those States was : 



In 1850 - *255, 240, 444 bushelo. 



In 1860 *422, 369, 719 



What part railroads have had in carrying this product to market we shall see byf ascertaining the 

 surplus, and the manner in which it was transported. The commissioner of statistics for the State of 

 Ohio, in his report to the legislature of Ohio, estimates (in the actual carriage of railroads and canals) 

 that three-fifths of the value of agricultural products of Ohio are exported, excepting, of course, pas 

 turage, fruits, garden products, &c. In 1859- 60, twelve millions of bushels of wheat were exported 

 from that State, and an equal proportion of corn, reduced into other forms, such as fat cattle, hogs, pork, 

 lard, whiskey, cheese, &c. Three-fifths of the aggregate grain production of these five States (1860) will 

 give two hundred and fifty millions of bushels of grain. This is vastly greater than the whole tonnage 

 of canals and railroads, and would, therefore, seem incorrect. This, however, is not so. The heaviest 

 article (corn) is reduced to a fourth, perhaps, less weight by being changed into whiskey, pork, and 

 cattle. The same is true of oats, and thus the ten millions of tons represented by the canals and rail 

 roads may cover all the surplus which finds the extreme eastern markets. A large quantity of the 

 surplus products of these States is consumed in way-markets. We see now, that, since railroads carry 

 twe-thirds of this immense export, they represent nearly or quite the same proportion of the capacity 

 of those States to raise any surplus, and therefore two-thirds of the profit made upon it. If we now 

 consider the question of the profits of agriculture, the case becomes still stronger. The actual cash 

 value of the products carried to market from these five States (that is, the surplus) is two hundred 

 millions of dollars, and it is safe to say that one-half this sum is due to the influence of railroads. 

 There are some interesting facts on this subject, to some of which we will briefly allude. Take, for 

 example, the prices of both products and lands in the interior States, and compare them at different 

 periods. Forty years ago (1824- 25) the surplus products of Ohio had already accumulated beyond 

 the means of transportation. In consequence of this fact, wheat was sold in the interior counties, 

 for 37 cents per bushel, and corn at 10 cents. After the New York canal (Erie) was finished, 

 in 1825, and the Ohio canals several years later, these prices were raised more than fifty per 

 cent. ; but when two or three of the main railroad lines were finished in 1852 53, the rise in prices 

 and the amount carried forward to the eastern markets were even more increased. To show, in some 

 measure, the effect of the improved means of transportation on the value of produce in the interior, we 

 make the following table of prices at Cincinnati at several periods: 



In 1826.t In 1835. In 1853. In 1860. 



Flour $3 00 per barrel. $6 00 $5 50 $5 60 



Corn 1 2 per bushel. 032 037 048 



Hogs SOOpercwt. 312 400 620 



Lard 05 per pound. 008 08 Oil 



We find that in 1860 the price of flour was nearly double that of 1826 ; the price of corn nearly 

 four times as much; the price of hogs three times as much, and the price of lard double. From 1835 

 to 1860, (when the railroads were completed,) under the influence of railroad competition with canals 

 the price of corn advanced 50 per cent., and that of hogs 100 per cent. Perhaps no articles can be 

 selected which furnish a more complete test of the value and profits of farming in the States of the 

 northwest than that of these staples, corn and hogs. 



But there is another respect in which the influence of railroads is almost as favorable to agricul 

 ture as that of cheapening the transportation of produce. It is that of cheapening the transportation, 

 and therefore reducing the prices of foreign articles and eastern manufactures consumed by the farmers 

 of the interior. We need not adduce tables to illustrate this ; for it is quite obvious and well known 



Includes wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley, and buckwheat. t Edward D. Mansfield, 



t The prices of 1820 are from &quot; Drake & Mansfield s Cincinnati, 1826.&quot; 



