1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
8i9 
tenths orjthree-tenths-ineh per annum. Even large 
objects, big stones and extensive pavements, are 
gradually buried by the worms, because their bur¬ 
rows extend underneath, and by their collapse let the 
overlying object sink, while their castings raise the 
surface around it. “ When we behold,” 
writes Mr. Darwin, “a wide, turf-cov¬ 
ered expanse, we should remember that 
its smoothness, on which so much of its 
beauty depends, is mainly due to all the 
inequalities having been slowly leveled 
by worms. It is a marvelous reflection 
that the whole of the superficial mold 
over any rich expanse has passed, and 
will again pass, every few years, through 
the bodies of worms. The plow is one 
of the most ancient and most valuable 
of man’s inventions, but long before he 
existed, the land was in fact regularly 
plowed, and still continues to be thus 
plowed, by Earthworms. It may be 
doubted whether there are many other 
animals which have played so important 
a part in the history of the world as 
have these lowly organized creatures.” 
Henson, however, believes that the 
importance of the Earthworm is not as 
much in the preparation of humus as in 
making passages for the roots of plants, 
and he describes the manner in which the 
burrows are utilized by plants. Indeed, we owe to him 
the demonstration of the relation of the worms to the 
fertility of the soil, increasing it as just mentioned. 
I find no instance recorded where Earthworms have 
noticeably injured a crop of anything. They are thus 
a direct benefit to the farmers’ soil, and thereby 
beneficially affect his growing crops. 
During the mating season, the Earthworm leaves 
his burrow, seeking a mate. The eggs are laid in 
the ground, and are about one-sixth of an inch in 
length. The shell generally contains several yolks, 
but only one of them usually develops. It was once 
erroneously believed that Earthworms might be 
multiplied by mechanical section, but although the 
front part of a divided worm survives, the back part 
dies, unless, indeed, when the front part includes only 
the head and a few segments, for then the survival is 
reversed, the tail end portion living on and manu¬ 
facturing a new head for itself, m. v. slingeri.and. 
HANDLING NEW YORK’S GRAIN SUPPLY. 
TAKING IT IN AND SENDING IT OUT. 
The increased demand for wheat and other of our 
grains for export, renders the methods of handling of 
more than usual interest. A number of different 
ports are engaged in the export trade in grain ; but 
New York leads in this industry, although it has 
lost considerably in favor of other ports. This loss 
is usually attributable to the manipulation of freight 
rates, storage and elevator charges at these other 
ports by interested railroads. When we speak of the 
New York grain trade, we include Brooklyn and Jer¬ 
sey City as well, for here, about all of the great grain 
elevators are located. There is now in contemplation 
by the National Storage Co., which has millions of 
dollars invested in a plant on 
New York Bay just south of Jer¬ 
sey City, the expenditure of 
many more millions in the build¬ 
ing of elevators and warehouses, 
the making of new channels, and 
other improvements necessary for 
successfully handling the grain 
trade. It is said that these ele¬ 
vators will be among the largest, 
if not the largest, in the worid. 
The projectors of this enterprise 
claim that the loss of New York’s 
grain trade was due to too high 
charges, and the inconvenience 
and expense of handling the 
grain. Some of the largest ware¬ 
houses are in Brooklyn, and this 
necessitated the unloading of the 
grain from the cars into lighters, 
transporting it to Brooklyn, and 
then elevating it into the ware¬ 
houses. This was tedious, ex¬ 
pensive, and the result was the 
seeking of other ports. This 
company is interested in a spur 
road which connects with the 
West Shore, the Delaware, Lacka¬ 
wanna & Western, the Erie, the 
New York, Susquehanna & West¬ 
ern, New Jersey Central, Balti¬ 
more & Ohio, and Lehigh Valley 
railroads, so that a car-load of 
grain or other goods can, in a 
few minutes’ time, be transferred 
fromlthe terminals of either of 
these roads to the elevators and warehouses, where 
they can be unloaded directly into the ocean steamers. 
The advantages of this arrangement are obvious. 
In 1896, 155,107,091 bushels of wheat were exported 
from the United States, and of this, 42,662,125 
THE GRAIN GOING INTO THE ELEVATOR. Fig. 346. 
bushels were sent from New York, or a little more 
than one-fourth of the whole. In 1892, the total 
export of wheat from all ports was 203,857 650 bushels, 
and of this, New York sent 75 363,965 bushels, or con¬ 
siderably more than one-third of the whole. Other 
A FLOATING GRAIN ELEVATOR. Fig. 347. 
leading ports in the export of grain are Baltimore, 
Newport News, Philadelphia, and some of the Gulf 
ports. The last have been making a strong bid for 
the grain trade of the Middle West, as they are much 
nearer that great producing region than are the 
other eastern ports, and in time, they may draw away 
some of this trade. But production is likely to in¬ 
crease, and if our export trade increase proportion¬ 
ately, there will likely be business for all. The past 
summer, some wheat was shipped from California 
directly to European ports by means of 
sailing vessels. 
Grain comes to New York both by 
rail and by water. Formerly a larger 
proportion of it came by water than 
at present. In 1896, out of a total of 
150 8 i7,120 bushels received. 78 07 per 
cent came by rail, and 21 93 per cent 
came by water. Of the latter, 37 per 
cent came from points on the Hudson 
River or by coasting vessels, and 21.56 
per cent was brought by the Erie Canal. 
The importance of the latter in the 
grain trade is easily seen. Most of the 
grain comes from the great grain-grow¬ 
ing States of the West. Along the 
railroads that penetrate these States, 
are the elevators and warehouses that 
receive this grain from the farmers’ 
wagons. From these, it is loaded into 
cars, and transported to the great dis¬ 
tributing points on the lakes, like Chi¬ 
cago and Duluth. Most of it is transferred 
to the steamers built especially for the 
grain-carrying trade. There are said 
to be 700 of these now engaged in this trade on the 
Great Lakes. The more modern of them have a car¬ 
rying capacity of more than 100,000 bushels, and the 
largest is said to have a capacity of 180,000 bushels. 
Most of this grain is brought by these steamers to 
Buffalo, which has become one of the greatest grain 
ports in the world. Here it is stored in the immense 
elevators, and from there distributed by water and 
rail to various points as required. 
Arrived at New York by rail, it reaches one of the 
great elevators on the Jersey City side of the Hudson 
River. A view of the landward side of one of these 
is shown at Fig. 346, and a view looking from the 
river at Fig. 348. The wheat is first inspected by the 
inspectors from the Produce Exchange. Then the 
cars are run into the elevators, several tracks extend¬ 
ing the whole length of the building. It is unloaded 
by means of steam shovels, two of which are used on 
each car, and 10 to 15 minutes are sufficient to unload 
a car. The wheat goes into a pit covered by a grate, 
and from here it is raised to the upper floors by means 
of an elevator similar to that on a thrashing machine, 
an endless belt with buckets attached, only much 
larger. It is thoroughly cleaned, and is weighed, a 
car-load at a time. From here, it is run by conveyors 
and chutes, as shown in Fig 348, directly to vessels, 
or into lighters in which it may be transported to any 
part of the harbor. The latter have a capacity of 
from 8,000 to 30,000 bushels each. 
We will suppose that the grain is to be loaded on 
an ocean steamer. The lighter is towed alongside 
the vessel, and a floating elevator is brought into 
play. One of these reproduced from the Scientific 
American, is shown at Fig 347 This is a steam vessel 
fully equipped with a complete elevator system— 
weighing hoppers, screens, clean¬ 
ers and elevator legs. In the one 
showD, the elevator machinery, 
which is located amidships, is in 
duplicate, so that two lighters or 
canal boats can be unloaded at 
once. The boilers and engine 
for operating the machinery are 
placed in the stern. Extending 
from each side of the elevator 
may be seen what is known as 
a leg. This is connected by a 
pivot, and contains an endless 
belt on which are fastened scoop 
buckets. The top pulley is driven 
by a chain and sprocket gear 
from a vertical shaft within the 
tower. The lower end of the 
leg is lowered into the grain in 
the hold of the lighter. As the 
belt travels around the lower 
pulley, the buckets scoop up the 
grain, carry it to the top of the 
leg, from which it falls through 
chutes into the weighing hop¬ 
pers. The same kind of an ele¬ 
vator may be seen in any country 
grist mill. After being cleaned, 
if this be necessary, the grain 
falls to the bottom of the “ship 
elevator ” in the hold, whence it 
is elevated to the top of the 
tower, and is carried by long 
pipes into the hold of the steamer. 
These floating elevators are a 
great help in handling grain, as 
THE GRAIN COMING OUT OF THE ELEVATOR. Fte. 348. 
