Area of the United States in 1783, 326,378 square miles.

Area of the United States in 1910 (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), 3,026,789 square miles. (Including Alaska and Hawaii, 3,624,122 square miles.)

The five largest States in order of size are Texas, California, Montana, Nevada, and Colorado.

(Compare

The three smallest States in order are Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut. in population.)

Swamp and overflow lands (1908), 74,541,700 acres.

Estimated coal supply (1908), 3,135,708,000 short tons; iron (1908). 76,395,070,000 long tons.

Petroleum area (1908), 8,850 square miles; natural gas area (1908), 10,055 square miles. Irrigated farms (1910), estimated, 178,500; number of acres irrigated (1910), 14,000,000. Population of continental U. S. (1860), 31,443,321; population of continental U. S. (1910), 92,174,515; population of U. S., total (including all possessions), 101,883,657.

Five leading States according to population in 1790 were Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, New York.

The ten leading States according to population, 1910, are New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia.

The ten most important cities, according to population, 1910, are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Cleveland, Baltimcre, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Detroit.

School population (1908-1909):

Area under cultivation-Acres.

ProductionBushels.

Farm value, Dec. 1.

Coal, bituminous

When the first chartered railway in the world was completed, in 1801, Croydon and Wandsworth, two suburbs of London, were connected by parallel wooden stringers surlaid with iron straps. On these, a team of horses could pull a load more than twice as great as they could pull on a dirt road. Other tramways had been built and operated before that date, but they were either private affairs or else unauthorized ventures.

The tramway in question, however, was authorized by the Parliament-that is, it received a lawful possession to exist by virtue of a franchise, or charter. It is hardly necessary to add that the "interests" objected strenuously; that is to say all the 'bus companies lined up against the bill. So, when the charter was finally granted, it was carefully safeguarded to prevent injurious competition with the 'bus companies.

In spite of the opposition of the "interests," the tramway was successful both as to operation and investment. Two things were accomplished -namely, time and power were saved; and these are about the only things that humanity is born short of. The "interests" were beaten at every point, and in less than fifteen years similar franchises had been granted "by the score and by fifties."

All the railways built under the franchises granted by the Parliament were interurban; indeed, the only idea prevalent was the desirability of connecting two or more adjacent cities or towns. None of the problems of trunk-line transportation existed and it is doubtful if they were conceived at that time.

For several years the public were wrought up over the question of common use. "Everyone," it was said, "has the right to drive his own vehicle over the public highways; why should he not use the tramway similarly?" But the opponents claimed that a chartered railway was not a public highway and therefore it should be used only by those possessing government permits. To this the reply was: "If anyone may operate his own craft on a public canal, either for pleasure or for profit, why should he not have the same privilege upon a chartered tramway by paying a small fee to the company holding the charter?"

The question, important as it seems, was not to be solved, for the reason that the steam locomotive put in an appearance about the time the discussion had reached its greatest warmth.

George Stephenson began his business life as a cowherd. At the age of thirteen he drove a ginhorse in the colliery; at fourteen he was assistant foreman to his father at a shilling a

day; and three years later he was put in charge of a power pump in the coal mine. At that time he could neither read nor write, but the inventive genius within him burned strong, and he found his way to a night school. At the age of twenty-one he was put in charge of an engine at Willington Quay, and three years later was placed in charge of all the engines at the High Pit collieries.

During the next few years he became convinced that stationary traction engines for use in the collieries were economical neither in time nor cost of operation; he therefore turned his attention to the possibilities of a locomotive engine. His first venture was not the Rocket, as is frequently stated, but a locomotive designed for hauling the coal cars from Killingworth colliery to the port of shipment, nine miles distant. It was successful from the first. This locomotive bore the somewhat questionable name, "My

The management of the Stockton and Darlington Railway saw the value of the steam locomotive and made Stephenson their chief engineer, with full power to carry into effect such plans as he might deem wise in the construction of motive power and rolling stock. As a result, in September, 1825, passengers and freight were carried for the first time over a railway. The success of this work led to his appointment as chief engineer of construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The work of construction accomplished, the question of motive power remained to be decided. The directors of the railway favored stationary engines and cables, but Stephenson persuaded them to try a locomotive engine. The first to be completed was the famous Rocket; and when it won, over all other competitors, October, 1829, the fact was recognized that the locomotive engine was the motive power of the future on railways.

Eight others were built at once.

The problem of the locomotive engine was a difficult one. The first requisite was to make steam rapidly. Before that could be accomplished it was necessary to construct a firebox that practically was surrounded by the boiler; it was also necessary to extend flues longitudinally thru the boiler in order to increase the heating surface. A strong draught thru the firebox was also necessary. In a stationary engine the draught is created by using a high chimney. A fifty-foot chimney would be rather inconvenient, to say the least, on a locomotive; but the difficulty is more than obviated by allowing the exhaust steam to escape thru the smoke

stack, thereby creating a strong draught thru the firebox. This, the "forced draught," together with the tubular boiler, enabled the engine to make steam very rapidly.

After the invention of the locomotive it was very apparent that private wagons, or coaches, had no place on the chartered railway. Incidentally, the desire and demand for interurban railways quickly spread to all parts of the United Kingdom. Within twenty years not far from three hundred railways had been chartered and built-and most of them were bankrupt. At the present time there are about a dozen. The evolution of railway organization is an interesting study and it has been much the same in the United States, France, and Germany as it was in England.

From the extreme caution manifested in the Wandsworth-Croydon charter, the Parliament quickly became overgenerous with them. Almost any corporate body could obtain a railway charter for the asking. The Parliament did not even stop to ask if the charter sought covered a new territory or competed with a line already in existence. The result was demoralizing. In some instances two and even three lines were built between small commercial centers, whose railroad business was sufficient for a single line only. What was still worse, there were various gaps between cities which, had they been traversed, would have made very fair trunk lines with seaport terminals.

The first effort to correct this chaotic condition of affairs was wisely made. Good business organizers reached the conclusion that if two parallel competing lines were placed under a single management the cost of administration of the two would be scarcely greater than the administration of a single line. The operating expenses would also be lessened. What was still

more important, rate-cutting could be stopped and original rates could be again put in force.

The

As a result, the consolidation of competing lines went almost with a rush, and railway financial heads began to extricate their roads from a bankruptcy that at first seemed hopeless. The restoration of rates to a paying basis seemed also to restore all business depending on transportation to normal conditions. English people had begun to learn the lesson that must be learned by every people whose business depends on quick and efficient transportation rate-cutting below the cost of transportation demoralizes all business requiring transportation.

With the air somewhat cleared and the railways at least meeting operating expenses and fixed charges, it became apparent that a consolidation of connecting lines was quite as necessary as the union under one management of competing lines. This consolidation was not accomplished without difficulty. In many cases there was fierce rivalry, and very questionable measures were practiced to coerce the consent of a railway to the merger. The squeezing process which Standard Oil used to absorb its competitors was used freely by the English railways during the period of consolidation.

When the consolidation of connecting lines had been accomplished and the various gaps had been filled, trunk-line problems began to present themselves. Long before these questions vexed the Americans the English people were compelled to solve the problems of the long haul and the short haul, terminal charges, export rates, and the adjustment of rates for thru and for local. Frankly, they have brought these problems to a rather more satisfactory solution than have the Americans.

So far as their roadbeds are concerned, the English railways are probably the best in the world. Even the roadbeds of the New York Central and the Pennsylvania, between New York City and Chicago, are not better. Fabulous sums have been spent to eliminate curves and to avoid steep grades. In these two respects the roadbeds have been unnecessarily expensive. But the construction of them is superb. Once built according to English standards, the section gangs have mighty little to do. English railway tracks do not require to be "shimmed" when freezing weather comes.

The heaviest English locomotives are scarcely half the weight of the heavy freighters on American railways. Twenty-five cars on a level is a heavy load for the best of them. Several English locomotives have been purchased by American roads, but they have not proved equal to the task. As a New York Central engineer said to his superintendent of motive power: "Put a load on her, Jimmy, and she'll sit down and cry."

English locomotives built for English railways do not have the bogie, or truck which turns on a king bolt, thereby allowing the locomotive to take curves at high speed. But as there are very few sharp curves on English railways, the bogie is not needed. The locomotives are admirably adapted to the service demanded, but they are not at all adapted to service on American railways.

In excellence of workmanship and durability they are probably unequalled. It is not uncommon to find a locomotive that has been in express service for twenty-five and thirty years. It is doubtful, however, if such long-continued service is in the interests of economy; the American locomotive usually goes to the scrap

English passenger coaches have scarcely half the weight of the large day coaches of American railways. Transverse partitions divide them into compartments that extend across the coach, the two rows of seats facing each other. The compartments of first-class coaches have seats each for four passengers. The seats are upholstered so as to be rather more comfortable than the Pullman parlor car. Second-class coaches carry six in each compartment; but several railways have abolished second-class coaches altogether. Third-class coaches are marvels of discomfort for long trips. For the greater part they are not heated and on some of the railways the seats are not upholstered. Until recently the lavatory had no place in an English railway coach.

Passenger fares are rather higher than on American railways. Thus, the fare from Liverpool to London is about $7.50 first, and $4.12 third class. The ton-mile rate for freight is very high as compared with that on American. railways, the former being about $2.30 per hundred miles, the latter $0.70. The great difference is due partly to the fact that the distance hauled is comparatively short. It is due also to the fact that the American locomotive will have about ten times as much load.

In spite of the criticisms which American travelers vent upon English railways, they have many that commend themselves even to the most critical traveler. During the past ten years the coaches have been made much more comfortable. Train service is frequent, and women traveling alone have their own compartments.

English people taking short trips usually ride third class. Twenty years ago it used to be said that no one but Americans and fools

The great genus Narcissus, which includes such varied forms as the Trumpet Daffodils, the Jonquils, the Poet's Narcissus and the Paper White Narcissus, furnishes a large number of varieties of bulbs which serve admirably for fall and winter exercises in school gardening. The Paper White Narcissus is one of the easiest of all these to grow and it is also one of the least expensive. One should be able to buy the bulbs by the hundred for less than two cents apiece.

The Paper White Narcissus belongs to the Polyanthus or many-flowered group, the members of this group having several flowers arising from a single stalk instead of only one flower from a stalk, as in the case of the Daffodils. The individual blossoms are much smaller than in the various Trumpet sorts, but in its structure each resembles a miniature Poet's or small-crowned Narcissus.

The various varieties which are listed under the name Polyanthus Narcissus belong to the species Narcissus Tazetta. Originally this was a widely distributed flower, occurring from southern Europe and northern Africa to China and Japan. Under cultivation a great number of sub-species and varieties have been developed. In all of these there are many flowers breaking forth from a single spathe at the end of the flower-stalk. They are arranged in three principal groups, namely, the White Tazettas, in which both perianth and crown are white; the Yellow Tazettas, in which both perianth and crown are yellow; and the Bi-colored Tazettas, in which the perianth segments are white and the crown is yellow. All of these come under the group of small-crowned narcissi. The principal varieties listed by American seedsmen are the following:—

WHITE TAZETTAS

Paper-White Grandiflora.-The large-flowered Paper White Narcissus is the most commonly grown of all the Tazetta varieties. It is perhaps the easiest flower to bring into bloom of the whole group of spring-flowering bulbs. In our experience the bulbs planted by pupils November 2 and brought to the light December 16 came into blossom December 24, the flowers remaining in good condition for two weeks. My only objection to this blossom is that it lacks character and distinction on account of the pure whiteness of all its parts, relieved only by the inconspicuous yellow of the stamens. It is particularly desirable to select the so-called "singlenose" bulbs which will develop better leaves and vield much better trusses of flowers than the "double-nose" bu bs. $1.25 per hundred.

Mont Cenis.-This is said to be one of the best sorts for forcing. The prianth-segments are pure white and the crown is citron-yellow. Price per hundred, $3.00.

In forcing these bulbs it is only necessary to plant them in good garden soil in ordinary flower pots, in bulb pans, in paper flower pots or in shallow boxes, watering freely and setting away in a cool basement or closet, where they will not freeze, for about six weeks. A good root development will then have taken place and the plants may be brought to a moderately warm room, preferably not too warm, where the leaves and flowers will rapidly develop. If the schoolroom is not heated at night the plants may be carried home by the pupils as soon as they are brought from the basement or closet, in which case the pupils should be encouraged to report progress at frequent intervals.