Wisconsin

Manufactures.

Manufacturing, as the result of a remarkable growth, has become the chief industry of the State. The value of its products in 1900 was $360,818,942; in 1914, $695,172,000; in 1929, $2,152,382,000; and even in the depression year of 1933, it was $824,039,868. Despite this general increase in the value of products, the number of manufacturing establishments decreased from 9,104 in 1914 to 7,415 in 1929 and to 5,409 in 1933, reveal ing a clear trend toward fewer and larger factories. The number of wage-earners increased from 194,310 in 1914 to 264,646 in 1925 and was 158,73o in 1933. The total of wages paid rose from $112, 193,000 in 1914 to $352,383,000 in 1929 and stood at $132,845,521 in 1943. Between 1914 and 1931 Wisconsin consistently held the rank of tenth among the States in the value of its manufactured products but dropped to twelfth place in 1933 (being overtaken in that year by North Carolina and Missouri).

Wisconsin's chief branch of manufacture is that connected with its great dairying industry. In 1933 its butter, cheese, and condensed milk products were valued at a total of $110,427,572, an amount giving it the leader ship among the States in dairy products. Something of the growth of this industry prior to the depression may be seen by comparing the amount of product in 1914 ($72,859,000) with that of 1925 ($209,260,384). The in dustry is the most widely diffused of all manufacturing industries in the State, its factories being small and close to the supply of raw material. Of the 5,409 manufacturing establishments in 1933, more than one-third were creameries or cheese factories. Next in the order of the amount of its output was the paper and pulp in dustry, which in 1933 produced goods valued at $78,001,123. Mo tor vehicles, manufactured to the value of $155,944,640 in were not separately listed in the census of manufactures for 1933 although motor vehicle bodies and parts worth $22,024,648 were produced. The output of malt and malt liquors in 1933 amounted to $64,899,307. Other major manufactures in the same year were: meat-packing products, sausage, sausage casings, etc., $42,027, ; foundry and machine-shop products, $37,086,063; boots and shoes (not rubber), $34,118,612; printing, publishing, $29,691,049; knit goods, $20,424,293 ; electrical machinery, apparatus, and sup plies, $17,923,103 ; canned and dried fruits and vegetables, pre serves, etc., $17,883,899; paper boxes, envelopes, and other paper products, $17,579,780; bread and other bakery products, $16,989, 181; tanned, curried, and finished leather, $15,653,430; furniture, $11,803,126; engines, turbines, tractors, water wheels and wind mills, $11,751,115; aluminium products, $10,788,839; railway re pair shop services, $10,031,091; clothing, $9,643,556; lumber and timber products, $8,359,490; manufactured gas, In 1910 Milwaukee was responsible for more than one-third of the State's manufacturing output and she is still the chief indus trial centre of the State. Since 1914, however, other cities have

developed considerable manufactures, especially Kenosha, Racine, and Janesville. Racine and Janesville are famous producers of farm implements. Important enterprises are also located at West Allis, Madison, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Beloit, Green Bay, Superior, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Fond du Lac, Eau Claire and Appleton. Madison, Beloit, and Janesville are all in the Rock river valley, which is the route for two of the leading railroads from Chicago to the north-west. A more notable concentration of manufactur ing cities is in the Fox river valley, including the shores of Lake Winnebago. Here are Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Appleton and Green Bay. Their location makes them the centre for the paper-making and wood-working industries. This is also the region of greatest development in water-power. It is noticeable that only one of the important cities, La Crosse, is on the Mississippi river, and one only, Superior, on Lake Superior.

Mines and Quarries.

Wisconsin's mineral products are varied and though in value they fall below the farm, forest and fac tory products of the State, they nevertheless amount to about $10,000,000 per year. During the decade, 1920-30 the annual pro duction ranged close to $20,000,000 and in 1929 exceeded $24,000, 000. Mining activity, however, diminished in 1930 and subsequent years until 1933 when production stood at the low mark of $7,154, 000. Thereafter, a slow recovery began, and in 1935 the State's mineral output was worth $11,815,933.

The lead mines of south-western Wisconsin were the earliest developed and they reached a peak production in the decade 1840-5o since which they have slowly declined. In 1918 there were produced 4,533 short tons, valued at $643,686. In 1936 the pro duction was hit 9o4 short tons, worth but $83,168. Most of the lead is now only a by-product of zinc mining which has become of main importance in the same region. The zinc-bearing ores are chiefly found below the water level and their production was not stimulated greatly until the rise in price of zinc about 1900. The production of this metal amounted to 27,285 tons in 1920, 10,952 in 1922, 26,800 in 1926 and 8,126 in 1936. The value of the 1936 output stood at $812,600. Whereas early lead mining was largely carried on by individuals in shallow mines, the deeper zinc ores are mined almost exclusively by large companies using modern power machinery for mining and milling.