. The story of corn and the westward migration. es in the world. Before the railroad entered the West, corn formedonly a small part of the foreign trade of had been difficult to ship corn to any great distancebecause it molded so rapidly when stored in largequantities. This grain, so important to the earlysettlers and so valuable as a food for cattle, hogs, and 1 The following table shows the number of miles of railroad built in each decadefrom 1820 to 1900: Year Miles Year Miles 183018401850i860 23 2,818 9,021 30,626 1870188018901900 52,,703194,262 Railroads and the Cor
. The story of corn and the westward migration. es in the world. Before the railroad entered the West, corn formedonly a small part of the foreign trade of had been difficult to ship corn to any great distancebecause it molded so rapidly when stored in largequantities. This grain, so important to the earlysettlers and so valuable as a food for cattle, hogs, and 1 The following table shows the number of miles of railroad built in each decadefrom 1820 to 1900: Year Miles Year Miles 183018401850i860 23 2,818 9,021 30,626 1870188018901900 52,,703194,262 Railroads and the Corn Country igj horses, was necessarily consumed on the farm, anda surplus crop was practically a waste. Our earlyreports on trade and commerce had little to say ofthis grain that has become so important to thewelfare of the nation to-day. Before the railroadentered the West the chief value of corn was insupplying a primary and very necessary food forman until the land would produce wheat. Then itbecame of secondary importance as a food for Photograph by Wm. Baylis A modern freight carrier. Through the development of the locomotive corn became the national grain of America and an important part of our foreign trade although still of primary importance as a food forstock. We have already seen how the trade in livestock added materially to the wealth of the West. After the coming of the railroad, however, largequantities of corn could be moved quickly, andhogs and cattle could be shipped with but little lossof weight. Such great quantities of corn and meatwere shipped from the West that the East almostceased to grow its foodstuffs and relied chiefly upon iq6 . The Story of Corn the western farmer for food. The corn of theIndians now became the great national grain ofAmerica, and for a time contributed more to thewealth of this-country than did all the cotton of theSouth, and all other cereals combined. For morethan half a century the West has been the granaryof the world. Fro
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidstoryofco, booksubjectcorn
