There are only two of the Southern States that raise enough grain for home consumption-Kentucky and Tennessee, in which the production exceeds one ton per inhabitant; the others subsist four months of the year on grain from the Prairie States. There is, meantime, a large meat surplus, at least 500.000 tons, part of which goes to feed the Middle States, the rest being exported. Texas alone produces 560,000 tons, and has no rival in the United States, being 110,000 tons ahead of Iowa, which holds second place. As regards dairy products the South has neither surplus nor deficit, the number of milch cows being just sufficient for a population of 20 millions. There is, however, a deficiency in poultry, the production of eggs allowing only 114 to each inhabitant, the average consumption in the United States (1890) being 160 per head. The Southern States produce some crops peculiar to themselves, such as cotton, rice, and sugar, besides which they raise three-fourths of the tobacco of the Union; there has been a notable increase in cotton and tobacco, but not in the other two items, viz. :

The cotton crop (of which one-third is grown in Texas) covers an area of 24,000,000 acres, which is equal to the aggregate extent of three European kingdoms-Holland, Belgium, and Denmark. One-half of the tobacco crop of the United States is grown in Kentucky. The value of crops and pastoral products in the Southern States is 26 per cent. of that of the Union, · the average for the years 1893-94-95 showing approximately as follows:

The above gross product gives an average of $10 an acre, against 814 in the Middle States. Whether the result of negro emancipation or other cause, the average size of farms is steadily declining, having fallen from 100 acres in 1850 to 68 in 1870, and 58 in 1890. Texas has the largest, with an average of 90 acres ; Florida the smallest, only 33 acres. The following table shows the agricultural wealth of the South in 1850 and 1890, as well as the average price of land per acre:

In 1890 the average capital represented by each Southern farm was $1,630, or one-third of that of a farm in the Middle States, but if we compare product with capital we find that farming is more profitable in the South, viz.:

The value of Southern farm products divided among the population gives an average of $50 per head, against $34 in the Middle States, and $56 for the Union at large.

Forestry-The Southern States include nearly half the forest area of the Union, being so rich in timber that they have 12 acres of forest to each inhabitant, viz.:

According to the Agricultural Report of 1894 the South produces one-fifth of the lumber of the Union, that is about 900 million cubic feet per annum, valued at 47 million dollars; but

if we include the timber used for firewood, fences, etc., the total cutting is supposed to reach 100 million tons, worth 200 million dollars, which is less than a dollar an acre, whereas the forests of the whole Union produce an average of $2.20 per acre.

Manufactures.-The census returns of 1890 compare with those of 1850 thus

The average product per operative has risen 54 per cent., wages 66 per cent., showing that the working classes are in every respect gainers by the advance in this branch of industry. Manufactures are, nevertheless, in their infancy, the output being equal to no more than 839 per inhabitant, against $253 in the Middle States. Kentucky is, meantime, considerably ahead of the other Southern States, showing a ratio of $68 per head. The inferiority of the South as regards manufactures is probably due to two causes; first, the lower level of instruction, owing to one-third of the population being colored; secondly, the fact that the average wealth per inhabitant is much less than in other parts of the Union, and hence the ability to consume manufactures less.

Mining. Before the Californian epoch it was customary to regard North Carolina as an auriferous State, its total yield in 50 years (down to 1850) amounting to 21 tons of pure gold. worth 15 million dollars, according to Professor Whitney. In subsequent years the yield has been insignificant, the Southern States collectively, in 1890, producing only 15,000 ounces of gold and 340,000 ounces of silver. Coal and iron are now the chief minerals, the last census showing as follows

The mineral output represents a value of only two dollars per

inhabitant; the average for the whole Union being nine dollars per head.

Commerce.-The Southern States possess no fewer than five of the eleven seaports of the Union which have commercial relations of any note with foreign countries, but they are of minor rank, the total clearances not quite reaching two million tons yearly, so that their aggregate trade is little more than that of Boston. The Southern ports are New Orleans, Savannah, Galveston, Mobile, and Charleston, whose official returns show thus.

The trade of the South with foreign countries has only doubled in 40 years, while that of the Middle States has quadrupled.

Railways.-In 1896 these States possessed 42,800 miles of railway, which represented a cost of 1,925 millions, say 45.000 per mile, or one-fourth less than the average cost of American lines. Although construction has been so cheap, the mileage is totally insufficient for the proper development of the South, being only 53 miles of railway to 1,000 square miles of area, whereas the ratio in the Prairie States is 108 miles. Thus it may be said that the South stands in need of double the length of existing lines.

Banking. So little is banking used in the South that the discounts in 1895 did not exceed 233 million dollars, or $12 per inhabitant, the average for the Union being $40. business is done in Texas and Kentucky, viz.:

The most

As for savings banks, the deposits hardly reach 50 cents per inhabitant, as against $5% in the Middle States.

Wealth.-In 1890 the components of wealth were:

Average wealth per inhabitant is much higher in Texas and Florida than in the other Southern States, which coincides with the fact that they are the only States of the South where the foreign population is considerable, showing what influence European settlers have in the increase of wealth. The other 11 States in 1890 possessed 7,433 million dollars, with an aggregate population of 15,800,000 souls, equal to $170 per head, or half the average that corresponded to the inhabitants of Texas and Florida. It may be observed that the value of house property is relatively small, only $155 per inhabitant as compared with $660 in the Middle States, which is partly explained by the small number of cities and of urban population, already adverted to. The increase of wealth per inhabitant in 40 years has been very great in Texas and Florida, but not so in the other States as shown in the census returns, viz.:

If Texas and Florida were excluded the average accumulation in the rest of the Southern States would be found not to have exceeded $10.80 per inhabitant yearly, while the average for the

* Including Indian Territory and Oklahoma.

VOL. CLXV.-NO. 488.

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