As a live-stock market it is no less important. The National Stockyards, located on the Illinois side of the river, contain several hundred acres. Though packing houses and slaughtering houses occupy some of this land, the main part is covered with sheds, pens, and enclosures for the reception and sale of live animals. Millions of cattle, hogs, and sheep are handled here every year. St. Louis also buys and sells hundreds of thousands of horses and mules, being the largest market for draft animals in the world. Just as the frontier trading post of the eighteenth century grew into the thriving river port of the nineteenth, so the river port of the nineteenth century has developed into one of the leading railroad and commercial centers of the twentieth. And the fourth city of America in size is now St. Louis. =ST. LOUIS= FACTS TO REMEMBER Population (1910), nearly 700,000 (687,029). Fourth city according to population. Well located; center of the Mississippi valley, between the mouths of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. Important shipping point by rail and water. A great railroad center. The leading market in the world for furs and draft animals. One of the greatest boot-and-shoe-manufacturing centers. One of the chief markets in the United States for grain, flour, and live stock. QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY 1. Why did Jefferson buy the country included in the Louisiana Purchase? 2. Give a brief account of the Louisiana Purchase; from whom purchased, the cost, the territory included. 3. Tell what you know of St. Louis before the Louisiana Purchase. 4. What brought about the sudden and rapid growth of St. Louis after the purchase? 5. What effect did the railroads have upon St. Louis' water transportation? Why? 6. Describe the St. Louis Union Station. 7. What three bridges were built across the Mississippi at St. Louis, and why? 8. To what does St. Louis owe her importance as an industrial center? 9. In what lines does St. Louis lead the world? 10. Name some of the products sent to St. Louis from the neighboring country. 11. What are some of her most important industries? 12. Name some of the things which St. Louis supplies to other sections of the country. 13. In what business has St. Louis held an important place from its beginning? 14. By consulting a map, find what great railroad systems run to St. Louis. BOSTON Let us take a trip to New England and visit Boston. Boston is New England's chief city in size, in population, in historic interest, and in importance. It is the capital of Massachusetts and the fifth city in size in the United States.