Still, shipping by canal was cheaper. Improvements have been made in the Erie Canal from time to time, and in 1903 the state voted $101,000,000 for the enlargement of the Erie, Oswego, and Champlain canals into the 1000-ton-barge canal. When this is completed it will be 12 feet deep and will float much larger barges than did the Erie Canal. But to return to Buffalo. The city's location naturally made it one of the great centers of the country. Only the Niagara River separates the city from the most thickly settled part of Canada, and it is therefore a most convenient meeting place of the two countries. Already Buffalo's trade with Canada amounts to over $50,000,000 a year. Besides being one of the chief commercial centers of the country, Buffalo is an important manufacturing town. Three things are necessary to success in manufacturing--raw materials, power, and a market where the finished goods can be sold. Buffalo has all of these near at hand. The country round about is singularly rich in natural resources. Forests, fertile farm lands, and rich iron and coal deposits are all within easy reach of the city and supply it with raw material at small cost for transportation. No city in the world has greater advantages than Buffalo in the matter of power. The Niagara Falls furnish an unlimited supply of electric power, which is a substitute for coal and, for many purposes, more convenient. Buffalo's nearness to the coal fields of Pennsylvania makes the cost of both hard and soft coal low. Natural gas and oil furnish about one fifth of the power now used in the city. Both are found near Buffalo, stored in the pores and cavities of rocks. Holes are bored into the rocks, and the petroleum or rock oil is pumped into huge tanks. The gas is carried by underground pipes to the city, where it is used in heating and lighting thousands of homes and factories. Lastly, Buffalo does not have to ship its products far to find a market. Within 450 miles of the city live almost 50,000,000 people, and lakes, canals, and railroads offer cheap and rapid transportation to all parts of the country. Thirteen steamship lines and 18 railroads enter the city. There are 2 trunk lines from New England; 5 from New York; 1 from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington; 1 from St. Louis; and 4 from Chicago. [Illustration: LACKAWANNA IRON AND STEEL COMPANY]