With respect to her commerce and navigation, Chicago has already projected a new enterprise, which, if executed, as no doubt it will be, taking into consideration the indomitable energy of the west, must astonish the world; nothing less being intended than to place Chicago, an inland city, situated in the far west, 1500 miles from the seaboard -in possession of direct communication by sea with all the sea-port towns of the world, by shortening the eastern water-passage from Chicago some 500 miles, and avoiding the dangerous St. Clair Flats. Using Georgia Bay and several small Canadian lakes, it is contemplated to connect Lake Huron with Lake Ontario, thus opening for the commerce of Chicago a free access to the Atlantic.

The commerce of Chicago was also favorably affected by the Canadian reciprocal treaty, her lumber trade receiving a considerable impulse from the Canadian imports, in consequence of that treaty. While pushing her railroads far into the interior of the pine forests of Wisconsin, Chicago at the same time sends her fleet to the Canadian hickory forests, paying with the luxuriant grain of the fertile Illinoisian prairies, for the timber which the people of Illinois require for building their houses, or fencing their lands.

We will now review the state of the Chicago market, as far as regards the various staple articles:

Flour.—While in 1853 not more than 18,247, and in 1854, 158,575 barrels of flour were imported, the quantity of flour imported in 1855 reached the colossal amount of 240,662 barrels. Besides these, three mills of Chicago turned out 79,650 barrels, thus making an aggregate of 320,312 barrels for the year 1855.

Owing to the increased European demand, prices ranged higher in 1855 than in 1854, as may be seen from the following table:

Wheat. The wheat import reached the already very considerable. total of 3,038,955 bushels in 1854, while in 1855, more than double this quantity was exported, viz., 7,535,097 bushels. No other market on earth can boast of such a traffic; and the facts, that the harvest of 1855 was by no means one of the best, and that, in every new year, many additional thousands of acres are subjected to culture, cause us to conjecture such a development and progress in this branch of business, in Chicago, as would startle even the boldest calculation. The following table shows the prices as they ranged in 1854 and 1855:

Indian Corn almost everywhere failed in 1854, in consequence of the wet season, so that the importation of 1855, it was supposed, would scarcely equal that of the preceding year; and yet, while the maize import of 1854 amounted to 7,490,753 bushels, that of 1855

amounted to 8,532,377 bushels, being an increase of 1,031,624 bushels. The prices in 1854 and 1855 were as follows:

Oats. In 1855, the importation of oats had diminished by 1,247,197 bushels, in comparison with the preceding year; this may be ascribed to the fact, that the cultivation of this species of corn proves least profitable to the farmer. The imports in 1854, amounted to 4,194,385 bushels, and in 1855, to 2,947,188 bushels, and the prices were as follows:

Rye. The rye imports had also diminished, partly owing to the indifferent demand, it being less cultivated than other species of

corn, and partly because considerable quantities of it were used for distillery purposes. The imports of 1854 amounted to 85,691 bushels-those of 1855, to 68,086. The prices in 1854 and 1855, were as follows:

Barley. The imports of 1854 amounted to 201,764 bushels, and in 1855 to 201,895 bushels, or about the same. The price of barley ranged considerably higher in 1855 than in 1854, as will appear from the following:

The imports in 1854 and 1855, of the various species of grain, amounted in the aggregate to the following totals, respectively:

Grass-seeds; chiefly timothy-grass, less of clover, or flax. The imports of 1854 amounted to 3,047,945, and of 1855, to 3,024,238 pounds. The price of timothy-seed varied between $2 and $2 371 per bushel.

Butter.-Imports in 1854 amounted to 2,143,569 pounds; in 1855, to 2,473,982 pounds. Although the excellent pasturage grounds, of which the prairies of Illinois consist, offer great advantages for the preparation of cheese and butter, but little attention is directed to it. The market prices of butter, in 1854 and 1855, were as follows: