ortation, and its effect on the future
economic activity of the West could already be seen.

Naturally the difference in price of the same commodity in two different
markets was dependent in large measure on the ease or difficulty of
transportation. In the latter part of 1817, corn was $0.24 to $0.30 and
wheat $0.75, in Illinois, while corn was $0.50 and wheat $0.75 at
Cincinnati.(432) In 1825 wheat was worth hardly $0.25 per bushel, while it
sold for $0.80 to $0.87-1/2 in Petersburg, Virginia, and flour was $6.00 per
barrel at Charleston, South Carolina, and was scarce even at that price in
Nashville, Tennessee. At the same time corn sold for from $0.08 to $0.10
in Illinois, and for $1.75 to $2.00 in Petersburg, Virginia.(433) In 1826
wheat sold in Illinois at $0.37-1/2, and in England at $2.00 (nine
shillings).(434) In 1829 flour was scarce at Galena. A supply from the
more southern settlements in Illinois sold at $8.00 per barrel, and the
farmers were urged to bring more.(435) This was in October. In November
flour was quoted at Galena at $9.00 to $10.00 per barrel, while it sold at
St. Louis for $4.50 to $5.50. In December, Cincinnati flour was from
$10.00 to $10.50 and Illinois flour from $8.00 to $8.50, at Galena,
whereas in the succeeding August they were $5.00 and $4.00, respectively.
In November, 1829, the one article of food that was quoted as cheaper at
Galena than at St. Louis was potatoes. They were $0.25 per bushel, at
Galena, and from $0.37-1/2 to $0.50 at St. Louis. Butter was $0.25 to
$0.37-1/2 at Galena, and $0.12-1/2 to $0.20 at St. Louis; corn, $0.50 at
Galena, and $0.25 to $0.31 at St. Louis; beef, $0.03-1/2 to $0.04-1/2 at
Galena, and $0.01-1/2 to $0.02 at St. Louis; whisky, $0.62-1/2 per gallon at
Galena, and $0.30 to $0.33 at St. Louis.(436)

Life of the People.

Of the 13,635 persons who were following some occupation in Illinois in
1820, nearly 91 per cent (12,395) were engaged in agriculture.(437) To
this pursuit the state was naturally well adapted. One of the most
observant of German travelers in America wrote that the meaning of
"fertile land" was very different in this region from its meaning in
Germany. In America fertile land of the first class required no fertilizer
for the first century and was too rich for wheat during the first decade,
while fertile land of the second class needed no fertilizer during the
first twelve to twenty years of its cultivation. Bottom-lands belonged