2 BULLETIN 74, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Lakes was 876 tons of 100 cubic feet, while the average for vessels on 
the western rivers was only 78 tons measurement. The carrying 
capacity of river steamboats is increased by the use of barges. This 
is especially true in the shipment of coal from the Pittsburgh region 
to New Orleans. From 30 to 50 or more barges, each carrying about 
1,000 tons (of 2,000 pounds), may be moved by a single towboat. In 
ordinary river freight service, one or more barges may be taken, 
especially when a lot of lumber or brick is to be carried. The use 
of a large number of barges is not practicable in the Great Lakes or 
the coastwise traffic, because the rough water would make it difficult, 
if not impossible, to handle them. Towing is done on the Lakes and 
ocean, but the vessels towed are larger in size than the river barges 
and only a few are taken at a time. 
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF RIVER TRAFFIC. 
The relative importance of receipts by river as* compared with the 
total receipts by rail and water of various farm products at leading 
river ports is shown in Table 1 . A considerable fraction of the wheat 
and corn received at Baltimore, Md., comes from landings along 
rivers which are tributary to Cheapeake Bay and is carried partly by 
steamboats and partly by sail vessels. During the five years ending 
with 1912 these receipts by water at Baltimore ranged from 10 to 
nearly 30 per cent of the total receipts of wheat and from 3 to nearly 
15 per cent of the total receipts of corn. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, also has a large river trade in some products, 
notably tobacco. Of the total receipts of tobacco during the five 
years ending with 1908, from 10 to 20 per cent came by river boats. 
This applies to tobacco packed in hogsheads, which formed all but 
a small fraction, of the traffic in that commodity. For other articles 
the relative importance of the river trade was not so great. During 
the five years mentioned about 5 per cent of the total receipts of eggs 
were brought in by steamboat. Apple receipts averaged from about 
one- third of 1 per cent of the total to more than 12 per cent. Rela- 
tively little of the grain brought to the city came by river, the aver- 
age being considerably less than 1 per cent of the total. In regard 
to live stock, the river traffic in cattle constituted 1 to 2 per cent in 
each of the five years in question, while for sheep the average was 
between 2 and 3 per cent, and for hogs the average was about 4 per 
cent of the total receipts from all sources. Statistics of the river 
trade at Cincinnati have been given by the Cincinnati Chamber of 
Commerce for a long series of years, extending back at least as far 
as 1845. These statistics show the river trade when it constituted 
practically all of the commercial movements to and from Cincinnati, 
except produce hauled in wagons and live stock driven on foot; and 
