400 STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS IX THE UXITED SIATES 
ideal conditions — of perfect adaptations — and so to understand 
their essential relations, each to its particular product, that the 
result of the slightest departure therefrom can l)e accurately fore- 
told constitutes one of the ])rincipal duties of the new division. 
The distribution of cultivated products cannot, however, be 
restricted to the localities in which the conditions of growth are 
exclusively favorable, and it maybe presumed therefore that we 
shall see not merely a definite localization of the various regions 
of perfect develojmient, l.)ut also an exact graduation of the mani- 
fold conditions of all reasonably successful cultivation. 
A natural complement of these important investigations will 
be the introduction of new species of economic plants from 
abroad and their allocation to congenial climates and suital)le 
soils, a jn’ocedure that will open u}) enormous possibilities of 
usefulness in a country possessing so great a diversit}^ of soil 
and climate as does the United States. 
All this, however, will call for the exercise of scientific attain- 
ments of the highest order, and its accomplishment will be a work 
of years. It is to be hoped that neither changes of administra- 
tion nor mutations of congressional majorities will interfere with 
it, hut that its maintenance will be as liberal and uninterru})ted 
as befits an investigation of such vast economic im))ortance. 
J. H. 
STATISTICS OF RAILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES 
From an advance copy of Statiitiics of Railwai/s in the United States, fi'oin 
the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission for the year ending 
.Inne .‘10, it appears that tlie total railway mileage of the country at 
that date was 180,().)7 miles, an increase during the year of 1,949 mile.«, 
or 1.09 per cent. This is the smallest annual increase for nearly a genera- 
tion. It is, however, very generally distributed over the country, being 
I)articipated in by nearly every state. As to railroad equipment, the 
numher of locomotives has been increased by 207 ; the number of pas- 
senger cars also shows a slight increase, but the number of freight cars in 
use has been reduced by 9,0-^0. The numl)er of railroad employes was 
78o,0:}4. This is a tritle larger than in 1894, but is a great reduction from 
the preceding year, when high-water mark in raihoad transportation was 
reachefl. The reduction is quite uniformly distributed among all the dif- 
ferent clas.ses of employes. It is a notable fact that while the pay of the 
ollicers and clerks of railway corporations has been materially reduced 
during the recent depression, that of other employe's remains practically 
the same as at its commencement. The total amount of railway stock 
stands at nearly 5,000 million dollars, anel the total indebtedness is 4,641 
