1850, a decrease of 25
per cent., while the Indian corn in the same State increased during
the same period from about ten to twenty millions of bushels. The
harvest of 1859, found several parts of the country entirely destitute
of flour, and the farmers with a fixed and firm determination never
again to allow themselves to run out of the staff of life.

The number and capacity of the flouring mills have increased
considerably since 1853, so that it is probable that there are at
present more than three hundred of them at work in the State, and the
number of hands employed by them cannot be much less than twelve
hundred. It is probable that they are now capable of manufacturing
1,25,000 barrels of flour annually, and this quantity would require
5,625,000 bushels of wheat. Add to this the large quantity of seed
required for sowing an increased breadth of land, and the portion of
the crop kept for domestic use, and the result will be sufficient to
explain the reason why so little wheat has been exported from Michigan
this season. There are about 50,000 families in this State who depend
on agriculture for subsistence; all of these had suffered more or less
inconvenience from failure of the wheat crop, and the high price of
flour for the last few years, and it is no wonder that they should
endeavor to secure a full supply of wheat or flour of the produce of
the late harvest, and a very large portion of the crop was disposed of
in this way.

Since the Reciprocity Treaty came into operation, there has been
considerable exportation of flour from Detroit to Canada on account of
the repeated failures of the wheat crop in that country, and thus a
new market for Michigan produce has been opened near home.

Some of these sources of demand are trifling when standing alone, but
the aggregate makes a very large amount. It is considered that about
half the produce of the wheat crop still remains in the hands of the
farmers and may be expected to reach the market gradually.

Michigan wants woolen and cotton, and various other factories to
provide employment for the over-crowded population of her cities and
villages, and to open a market for all her produce. The farmers of
Great Britain and Ireland could not pay the high rents and taxes which
are imposed on them, were it not for their proximity to the great
manufacturing cities of England. The cotton factories of Manchester,
the woolen factories of Leeds and Huddersfield, the hardware