80 
STATE AGKICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
“From table No. 2, it appears that the quantity of wheat 
and flour for shipment east in 1866, was about 89,000,000 
bushels, while from table No. 3, it appears that the quantity 
actually shipped from the ports upon lake Michigan, was as 
follows : 
In 1862 
In 1863 
In 1864 
In 1865 
In 1866 
Wheat and Grain^ including 
fiour. wheat andjlour^ 
43,505,848 bushels. 
36,597,715 ...do... 
30,253,699 ...do... 
31.082,357 . .do... 
38,269,316 ...do... 
77, 767,599 bnshelS^ 
.74,464,808 ...do...’ 
.61,909,073 ...do... 
.69,342,752 ...do... 
.87,421,681 ...do... 
“ It is submitted that these tables verify substantially the 
accuracy of the statements in table No. 1. 
“ While it is true that a quantity of grain is raised upon 
the immediate shore of lake Michigan and does not require 
transportation across the state, it is equally true that a quantity 
of the grain crop of the five states referred to, is shipped to 
the west and south, and another quantity to the east by chan¬ 
nels other than the ports of lake Michigan. With water 
channels opened and freights reducerl, thereby stimulating 
shipments, it is thought the yearly crop is now, and possibly 
as far back as 1866 was, sufiiciently large to make the ship¬ 
ments eastward from points west of lake Michigan not less 
than 50,000,000 bushels of wheat, and of grain including 
wheat, not less than 100,000,000. 
“ This quantity in weight, estimating for the different kinds 
of grain, is about 2,500,000 tons. The average distance from 
the Mississippi river to lake Michigan by rail, 170 miles, and 
by the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, 278 miles. To the distance 
by rail must be added the average distance to the head of lake 
Michigan, opposite Green Bay, estimated at 150 miles. The 
charges for transportation over 170 miles of railway, at thirty 
mills per ton per mile, and over 150 miles of lake at three 
mills per ton per mile, amount to $5.55 per ton, and with the 
cost of transhipment at the Mississippi added, to $6.21 per 
ton; while the charges over 278 miles of river, at seven mills 
per ton per mile, amount to $1.95 per ton. The saving of 
$4.26 per ton, upon the whole quantity for shipment, would 
