Secretary L. A. Goodman, of the Missouri State Horticultural Society writes The Prairie Farmer that on the 5th of January the mercury at Westport, Wis., indicated 26 degrees below zero, the lowest point ever recorded there. He adds: "The peaches are killed, as are the blackberries. Cherries are injured very much and the raspberries also. The dry September checked the growth of the berries and sun-burned them some, and now the cold hurts them badly. Apples are all right yet and prospects for good crop are excellent."
It may be of interest to many readers to know that the I. & St. L. R. R. will sell tickets from Indianapolis and intermediate points to St. Louis, to persons attending the meeting of the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society, at one and one-third rates. Mr. Ragan informs us that this is the only railroad line from central Indiana that offers a reduction of fare. The Missouri Pacific system of roads, including the Wabash, and embracing about ten thousand miles of road, extending as far north and east as Chicago, Detroit and Toledo, and as far south and west as New Orleans, Galveston and El Paso, will return members in attendance, who have paid full fare over these lines, at one cent a mile, upon the certificate of the Secretary of the Society. The Chicago & Alton, C., B. & Q., Keokuk, St. L. & N. W., Chicago, B. & K. C., Illinois Central, Cairo Short Line, and Hannibal & St. Joe roads will return members on the same terms. The Ohio & Mississippi will sell tickets to St. Louis and return at one and one-third fare, to members indorsed by the Secretary. The Louisville and Nashville will give reduced rates to members applying to its General Passenger Agent, C. P. Atmore, of Louisville, Ky.
THE WEALTH OF THE NATION.
The Census Bureau and Bradstreet's agency have made from the most accurate examination possible an estimate of the wealth and business of the nation: Aggregate wealth of the United States in 1880 was $43,642,000,000 (forty thousand and a half billions); the total amount of capital invested in business was $8,177,000,000 (over eight billions); and the number of persons engaged in commercial business was 703,828. Twenty-two per cent of all the business capital of the country is credited to the State of New York. Massachusetts ranks second, Pennsylvania third, Ohio fourth, Illinois fifth, and Michigan sixth. The aggregate business capital of these six States was $5,113,087,000, leaving to all the other States $3,063,923,000. The total recorded number of traders in the United States in June, 1880—those having distinctive position in the commercial or industrial community—was 703,328; a trifle over 40 per cent were in the Western States. For the United States as a whole the average amount of capital employed to each venture—as indicated by the aggregate of capital in the country invested in trade (as explained in the table compiled from the forthcoming census work) and the total number of individuals, firms, and corporations engaged in business—is, in round numbers, $11,600.
The wealth of the country is, or was June 1, 1880, distributed as follows:
| Millions. | |
| Farms | $10,197 |
| Residence and business real estate, capital employed in business, including water-power | 9,881 |
| Railroads and equipment | 5,536 |
| Telegraphs, shipping, and canals | 410 |
| Live stock, whether on or off farms, farming tools and machinery | 2,406 |
| Household furniture, paintings, books, clothing, jewelry, household supplies of food, fuel, etc. | 5,000 |
| Mines (including petroleum wells) and quarries, together with one-half of the annual product reckoned as the average supply on hand | 780 |
| Three-quarters of the annual product of agriculture and manufactures, and of the annual importation of foreign goods, assumed to be the average supply on hand | 6,160 |
| Churches, schools, asylums, public buildings of all kinds, and other real estate exempt from taxation | 2,000 |
| Specie | 612 |
| Miscellaneous items, including tools of mechanics | 650 |
| Total | $43,642 |
It will thus be seen that the farms of the United States comprise nearly one-fourth of its entire wealth. They are worth nearly double the combined capital and equipments of all the railroads, telegraphs, shipping, and canals; more than double all the household furniture, paintings, books, clothing, jewelry, and supplies of food, fuel, etc. The live stock is more valuable than all the church property, school houses, asylums, and public buildings of all kinds; more than all the mines, telegraph companies, shipping, and canals combined. It would take more than three times as much "hard" money as the nation possesses to purchase all these domestic animals. The farms and live stock together exceed the value of any two other interests in the country.