[47] Under ordinary circumstances about two tons of coal, or three-quarters of a ton of coke, are required to produce a ton of pig-iron. [48] Terne plate is sheet-iron coated with an alloy of lead and tin. [49] Heredity is likewise a factor. The seeds of knotty, scraggly trees are very apt to produce trees of their own kind and _vice versa_. [50] This sum represents more than ten times the amount of gold coin now in existence. Less than five per cent. of the business of the great industrial centres is a cash business. Even if the money existed, the transfer of such immense sums would greatly retard commerce. In order to effect a speedy settlement of payments, clearing-houses are established. At the clearing-house the representatives of the various banks meet daily and liquidate the checks drawn against one another; and although the total yearly volume of payment aggregates the sum mentioned above, the _balances_ for a year are but little more than two billion dollars. Even this does not always represent cash payment, for a bank that is a debtor to another at the close of one day may be a creditor for an equal sum on the next. [51] These roads are financed by the Northern Securities Company and form a link in the Hill-Morgan lines. Their intercontinental traffic is large. [52] Their dividing line is the centre of a street. [53] The brand consisted of any specific device, such as an initial, a monogram, or a conventional form that might be easily recognized. The device was registered and imprinted with a red-hot iron on the flank of the animal. Ear-marks, such as notches or similar devices, also indicated ownership. [54] In many cases Government land, not owned by the rancher, has been fenced in. No objection was made, however, until the sheep-grazier came. He demanded the removal of the fences, claiming that he had an equal right to graze his herds on public lands. But inasmuch as a range once grazed by sheep is ruined for cattle-growing, the quarrel between the grazier and the rustler has become one in which both the grazier and the rustler turned upon the sheep-owner. [55] It is one-third of their capital stock plus the bonded indebtedness. [56] The high latitude of the wheat-region, which in most cases is too cold for the growing of food-stuffs, in this region is tempered by occasional warm winds known as "Chinook winds." These winds are the saving feature of wheat-growing. They prevail also in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. [57] Freight rates from Coatzacoalcos to San Francisco are already fixed at $6.50 per ton; by the transcontinental railways they vary from $12 to $15 per ton. [58] The entire Cuban crop is comparatively small, being but little more than one-eighth that of the United States. [59] Vegetable ivory is the seed or nut of a species of palm (_Phytelephas macrocarpa_). The kernel of the nut gradually acquires the hardness and appearance of the best ivory, for which it is employed as a substitute.