The values of other crops for 1916 were: Molasses S4,826,630 Syrup 4,315,900 Hay 4,813.980 Oranges 127,460 Tobacco 175,000 Vegetables 2.310,000 Strawberries 1,750.000 Stock The importance of the State for stock raising is receiving recognition and large increases are shown in statistics for 1918: Horses 207,000 Idilchcows 324,000 Other cattle 578,000 Sheep 209,000 Swine 1,568,000 The parish fairs have been highly success ful.
Fisheries.— Louisiana ranks next to Florida among the Gulf States in the value of its fish catch. As a whole, however, the industry seems not to be increasing largely; the statis tics for 1917 show fresh fish, $1,141,259.33; salt water, $750,000. The oyster fishery is second only to that of Chesapeake Bay. It produced in 1917 2,310,972 bushels employing 680 boats. The oyster reefs extend almost unbroken from the mouth of Atchafalaya Bayou to the State line. Large canneries have been established on the Gulf. The seine fishery is declining; but Louisiana is still the chief source of shrimps. The catch of shrimps in 1918 was 23,160,f31 pounds, value $850,000. The alligator industry is decreasing with the gradual exhaustion of the supply; at the same time the scarcity of hides constantly enhances the market value.
These are chiefly repre sented by the working up of the large natural resources and are principally carried on in New Orleans, by far the largest of the six cities of the State. In 1914 the manufactured products were valued at $255,312,648, and those of New Orleans $69,814,081. The industrial tendency is to increase production, but to reduce labor. With the exception of sugar the chief industries of the State show a steady increase in value accompanied by a regular decrease in the num berg of wage-earners, a proof of a growth of labor efficiency. The number of laborers in 1910 was 84,243. In 1914 it was 77,665. The largest industry in the State was concerned with the utilizing of the immense timber re sources. In 1914 516 establishments turned out products valued at $66,656,268. The sugar and molasses produced in 1914 were in value $57, 948,322. The manufacture of cotton-seed oil and cake holds third place in 1914; the products were 5,910,907 gallons from 37 mills. This in
dustry is fostered by the immense facilities for export and import afforded by the Mississippi River. The cleaning and polishing of rice gave a product of 391,728,722 lbs. from 24 mills. A wonderful increase occurred in the manufacture of food preparations, which starting in 1900, in the year 1914 attained the value of $11,714,543. War conditions largely influenced manufac turing in 1918. One of the principal effects has been the erection of important shipbuilding in dustries in and about New Orleans and the digging of a wide and deep canal connecting the Mississippi with Lake Pontchartrain.
Commerce and is the richest State in the Union in total length of navigable streams, 3,771 miles. Its lower part is a vast web of paths to the ocean, aggre gating 2,500 miles. The entire 600 miles of the Mississippi's length in the State is navigable and largely navigated; the jetties have trebled its value and made New Orleans a far greater corn and cotton port than before. A canal from the river to Lake Borgne has greatly lessened the distance from the city to the Gulf and to the coal fields of Alabama, hence reducing the cost of fuel for manufacturing purposes. The railroad facilities have not been very extensive till the last decade, when they increased from 1,739 to 2,801 miles and are now 3,221. The growing importance of New Orleans has led a number of trunk lines to make a special effort for its business; owing to the nature of the Gulf coast all turn away many miles from it. The chief lines are the Southern Pacific, the Texas Pacific, the Louisville and Nashville, Queen and Crescent and the Illinois Central. Many others are laying plans for entering the city. As with most Western and Southern States now, rates are fixed by railroad com mission. New Orleans is the third port in the United States in amount of foreign commerce, next to New York and Boston. For the year ending 30 Tune 1909 its imports and exports (principally the latter) amounted to over $190, 000.000. For the year ending 30 June 1917 its imports were $104,517,000 and exports $303, 510.000. In the year 1917 there were entered ships of a tonnage of 2,883,117 and cleared 3.018.989.