8 BULLETIN 74, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
far as Pittsburgh and down the Ohio and Mississippi to Memphis; 
up the Ohio and Great Kanawha to Charleston, W. Va. ; and an 
important line plies nightly between Cincinnati and Louisville. In 
addition to these, a number of other lines give regular service at 
Cincinnati. The longest route followed regularly from Cincinnati is 
the one to Memphis, 749 miles away. From Cincinnati to Pittsburgh 
the distance is 470 miles; from Cincinnati to Charleston, 263; and 
from Cincinnati to Louisville the distance is 128 miles. 
From St. Louis regular lines reach to St. Paul on the upper Mis- 
sissippi and to Memphis on the lower; and extend also up the Mis- 
souri Kiver to Kansas City, up the Illinois to Peoria, and on the Mis- 
sissippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers to Waterloo, Ala. 
Steamboat lines from Memphis reach points as far down the 
Mississippi River as Vicksburg, the up-river boats, as has been said, 
running from Memphis as far as St. Louis on the one hand and 
Cincinnati on the other. 
Another important steamboat center in the Mississippi Valley is 
New Orleans. From this port steamboats serve landings as far up 
the Mississippi River as Vicksburg, and at least one line of boats fol- 
lows the Mississippi, Red, and Black Rivers up to Harrisonburg, La. 
Various other routes are followed through the network of rivers, 
bayous, and canals in the traffic between New Orleans and numerous 
towns and landings in southern Louisiana as far west as Bayou 
Teche and as far north as Red River. The variation in distances 
traveled by steamboats between New Orleans and St. Martinville on 
Bayou Teche illustrates the intricacies of the bayou routes. The 
trip by way of the Mississippi River and the Plaquemine waterways 
is 257 miles. By way of Harveys Canal, Bayou Barataria, Lake 
Salvador, Harang Canal, Bayou Lafourche, a private canal, Bayou 
Terrebonne, Barrows Canal, Bayous Black, Chene, and Boeuf, Ber- 
wick Bay, and Bayou Teche, the steamboat route is 192 miles; and 
by still another but shorter series of waterways the distance is 
reduced to 178 miles between New Orleans and St. Martinville. 
Another group of steamboat routes from New Orleans consists of 
those reaching points on Lake Ponchartrain. 
Of the many products carried on these various groups of steamboat 
routes from New Orleans, cotton may be taken as the typical com- 
modity carried on the routes extending northward, sugar on the routes 
of the bayou region, and fruit and vegetables on Lake Ponchartrain. 
Of the Gulf slope, as distinct from the Mississippi Valley proper, 
Mobile is one of the principal river ports. From this city steamboat 
lines extend up the Mobile, Alabama, and Tombigbee Rivers to 
Montgomery, Selma, Demopolis, and minor landings. Cotton is 
one of the most important agricultural products carried on these 
waterways. 
