13,980,700 Indian reserves; 17,645,244 pri- ers, the supply becomes superabundant and vate claims; 47,875,246 swamp lands, granted must find distant markets only at rates so to states; 27,453,522 to railroads, etc.; re- low as to leave little to the grower. Two served for individuals, companies, and corpor- local demands are created for it. The most ations, 8,955,394 acres; and there remain important of them is to feed hogs, and pork unsold lands on hand, the trifle of 1,396,- becomes a leading staple export; the other 286,164 acres. is for distillation, and whiskey is largely The population of the land states had in- exported. The quantity of corn required creased, it appears, from 2,233,880 in 1830, to make a certain quantity of pork becomes to 17,217,610 in 1870, during which period accurately known, and the price of meat of forty years, 174,451,784 acres of land rises and falls with that of the grain, as does were sold by the Government. These whiskey also. Thus out of the great staple land sales and population are the ground grain Indian-corn come directly the three work of the national trade, which grows with great articles of export, corn, pork and its the surplus produced by the land settlers. manufacture, and whiskey. Lumber in most Those people at first make few purchases of new countries is also an important export, goods, but increase them as their surplus As the settlements progress, beef, wool, produce sells and enables them to do so. wheat and other grains, soon follow, and The people who seek new lands on which trade increases. While Indian corn has been to rear their future homes and fortunes, are, largely the instrument of settlement at the for the most part, not possessed of much West, the nature of the country and the capital, and under ordinary circumstances fertility of machine inventions have been no much is required for a family to perform a less necessary in securing a surplus for sale. distant journey, locate and prepare land and If the corn grows readily it could not under wait until the crops are grown. Neverthe- the old system be so readily harvested in a less, pioneers have ceaselessly pushed for- region where land belonged to every man, ward into the wilderness and battled with and every man's labor could be applied only to nature in the shape of forests, animals and his own service. At the same time no savages, until twenty new states and millions man's labor more than suffices for the wants of wealth have been added to the Union. of his own family. Here machinery steps The great instrument of this progress, has, in, and favored by the level nature of the under Providence, and in the hands of skil- soil operates to a charm. A man who could ful and determined men, been Indian corn. with the scythe cut from one to one and a half That grain has been the poor man's capital, acres of grass per day, may ride round a enabling him to conquer the wilderness. It field and cut ten acres in a day without needed on his locating his future home but fatigue. Instead of a gang to rake and turn to drop the seed in the fertile soil, and and cock, his horse and himself may with a while he busied himself with his new dwel- patent rake perform all that labor and more ling, a sure crop grew up, which in a few effectually when driven by a shower of rain, months became food for his family and his than any gang. His grain is cut by the animals. The husks furnish his bed and same means and light labor as his grass. It the cobs his fuel. He is thus by the gift of is threshed out by a similar process; his nature furnished with capital for the coming corn is husked and shelled by machines; year, until his other crops and young ani- and when drawn to the railroad depots it is mals have grown. Indian corn has thus elevated into vast receptacles to be transgiven the pioneer a hold upon the land and ported rapidly and at small cost to the best' made his footing firm where otherwise he market. All these machine aids enable might have been compelled to succumb to the man whose own labor would scarcely hardships. With every such remove on to new supply the demands of his family to turn land the circle of trade has increased. A out a vast surplus. This surplus seeks the few months only suffice for the settler to river and lake cities by rail, canal, and steam, furnish a surplus of production in return for to be transported to the Atlantic markets comforts that he desires. For this reason for consumption or export, or may now leave chiefly corn figures so largely in the agricul- Chicago and Milwaukee on the lakes, or St. ture of the west. The prolific soil throws Louis and Cincinnati on the rivers for Liverout quantities far beyond the wants of the pool direct without breaking bulk. The planter, and in a region where all are plant-table of land sales above gives a very good Lake. 1850, $22,525,781 1851, 1853, 31,889,951 31.889,951 1852, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1870, indication of the accumulating force behind BUFFALO, on Lake Erie, was laid out originally in 1801, but was of small importance until in 1825 by the opening of the Erie canal, it became the gateway from the great valley to the Atlantic states. Its population was then 3,000. As the "great valley" at that time had, however, but little to spare, the importance of Buffalo was to swell with the growth of the west which was rapid indeed. In 1832, thirty-one years from its settlement, Buffalo became a city with 8,653 inhabitants. In the twenty-eight years that have since elapsed the population has risen to 117,715. In 1825, the tonnage belonging to the port was 200 tons. It has grown to 87,243, valued at $5.588,175, besides 474 canal boats. The steam tonnage running to Buffalo is 53,147 tons. The exports of Buffalo by canal are $54,000,000 and by railroad considerably more. The opening of Dunkirk to New York over the Erie road created a rival to Buffalo, and the Welland canal round the falls permitted vessels to go to Oswego, where they take either canal or railroad on a shorter route to New York, also rivaling Buffalo. It is obvious that a few miles longer trip adds little to the cost of a loaded ship, and by reducing the canal and railroad transportation the cost is diminished. Hence Oswego has an advantage over Buffalo. The imports into Buffalo by lake and railroad, showing the relative and aggregate values, indicate the gain of "rails" over "sails." They were, for a number of years, as follows: 87,419,381 OSWEGO, settled in 1820 on Lake Ontario has been mostly the creation of the Oswego canal and of the railroad communication since established, which makes its position on the lake with reference to the Canada and lake trade very desirable. The canal was completed in 1828, and the Oswego and Syracuse railroad in 1848, when Oswego, having 10,305 inhabitants, was incorporated as a city. The modification of the English colonial trade system, and the admission by the United States of goods in bond under the warehouse system, laid the foundation for a great development of the business of Oswego on the occasion of the famine of 1847, when the trade of the place took a sudden start, which it has since sustained. The Welland canal, connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario, gave Oswego a line of communication with the west, by which freight coming thence to the east, would have, via Oswego, less canal navigation than by other routes. In May, 1857, the Welland railway, running along the banks of the canal, was projected, and completed in 1860, thus giving a communication all the year round. By these means Oswego draws its supplies from every western state. imports from Canada in 1870 were $7,399,035, and the exports $1,043,200; the tonnage of the port amounts to 17,833 tons exclusive of 772 canal-boats, measuring 84,411 tons. Pop. in 1860, 20.910. The CLEVELAND. The place was settled by one family in 1799, but its population did not increase beyond 500 in 1825, when the Erie canal was opened. Its greatest impulse was derived from the construction of the Ohio canal, connecting it with Cincinnati, the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, connecting it with Pittsburg, and the Welland canal in Canada, connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. Since that event a considerable Canadian trade has sprung up in Cleveland. The canals of Ohio brought down the increasing quantities of produce that were then exported in exchange for the merchandise that was delivered by lake for the consumption of the interior. In 1832 there were 26 sail vessels and one steamer belonging to |