CHAPTER III.

TOPOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES OF NEBRASKA

POSITION--AREA--ELEVATION--CLIMATE--SOIL--RESOURCES--INTELLIGENCE OF THE PEOPLE.

EOGRAPHICALLY Nebraska is situated near the center of the United States. It lies midway between the two oceans, and between latitude 40^o and 43^o N. The extreme width of the State from north to south is about two hundred and ten miles, and its extreme length about four hundred and fifteen miles. It has an area of seventy-six thousand eight hundred and ninety-five square miles, or forty-nine millions two hundred and twelve thousand acres, almost every acre of which may be cultivated. It is almost twice as large as the State of Ohio. If England and Wales were placed on top of Nebraska, they would not carpet it by sixteen thousand eight hundred square miles. It has eight thousand four hundred and thirty-one square miles more than all the New England States combined. If the great State of New York were set down in the center of Nebraska, there would be twenty-nine thousand eight hundred and ninety-five square miles untouched. It has been said, "Nebraska

is an empire in itself." Its soil is fertile, its scenery beautiful, and its climate as healthful as its area is large and its scenery charming.
     A Boston minister once went to Europe to rest and recuperate. While in London he was called on to make a speech. He rose before the assembly and said: "My home is on the third planet from the sun. The Western Hemisphere is the center of the planet; the United States is the center of the hemisphere; Massachusetts is the center of the United States; Boston is the center of Massachusetts; my Church is the center of Boston, and I am the center of my Church." I might not claim for Nebraska all that the Boston preacher claimed; and yet the rich soil, balmy atmosphere, undulating prairies, thrifty towns and cities, cultured, live men and women, make it one of the most desirable of places in which to live. The atmosphere is clear and pure. The average elevation is 2,312 feet above the sea. The almost constant motion of the air, the perfect natural drainage, and consequent freedom from all low, marshy lands, combine to give the State the purest, the most healthy and exhilarating atmosphere. It has been said, "The atmosphere of Nebraska is as clear and much purer than the far-famed skies of Italy and Greece."
     The winds are very strong, and sometimes blow for three days in succession with such tre-

mendous force that the pedestrian must struggle hard to keep his feet. While tornadoes are rare, gentle zephyrs and winds are almost constant. A gentleman after visiting the State said to a friend: "The air of Nebraska is purer, and there is more of it, than in any other country I was ever in."
     Samuel Aughey, late professor of natural sciences in the University of Nebraska gives the temperature of the State as follows: "The mean temperature of the summer months in Eastern Nebraska is between 72° and 74°, or, more accurately, close to 73°, Fahrenheit. During the winter months it averages 20°; during the spring months 47.8°; during the autumn months 49 5/6°."
     The soil is a black, sandy loam, very rich, and producing grains, vegetables, and fruits in great abundance.
     An estimate has been made by competent and thoroughly posted men, and the conclusion has been reached that the two Dakotas are capable of supporting a population of 50,000,000. Nebraska is more than half as large as these two States, and her soil equally as good, hence she is capable of supporting a population of 25,000,000 souls. And the time comes on apace when that number will be within her borders. The average annual growth of the population of Nebraska for the last nineteen years has been sixty-one thousand. During the

past few years, one hundred thousand people have come into the State annually.
     Nebraska is one of the best corn-producing States in the Union. The rate of progress in Nebraska from 1880 to 1888, in the production of corn, was more rapid than in any of the adjoining States, as the following statistics show: "In 1880 Illinois produced 326,000,000 bushels of corn. (Round numbers are used in all these illustrations.) Iowa produced 275,000,000 the same year; Kansas, 105,000,000; Nebraska, 65,000,000. In 1888 Illinois harvested 278,000,000 bushels of corn; Iowa, 278,000,000 bushels; Kansas, 158,000,000; and Nebraska, 144,000,000. Here it will be seen that Illinois did not maintain her record. Iowa gained a very small percentage, Kansas improved her record by a little over fifty per cent, and Nebraska leaped forward at the rate of one hundred and twenty-one per cent. Here Nebraska soil meets and overmatches the giants in her rate of progress."
     Nebraska soil is well adapted to wheat-growing. The striking superiority of Nebraska soil and climate is shown in the subjoined table comparing the wheat-crops of 1880 and 1888 in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Nebraska was the only one of these cereal-producing States that made progress on the record of 1880. Here is the exhibit of that fact, taken from the tenth
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census and report of the Washington Bureau of Agriculture for 1888:

     In a similar way it can be shown that Nebraska is in the front rank of the world's most progressive States in the production of oats, hay, potatoes, and other farm grains and vegetables. Being one of the best corn and hay producing States in the Union, she is also one of the best stock-producing States. At her age, Nebraska has had no superior as a stock-growing State. Then, the dairy resources of Nebraska are unsurpassed.
      Look at the following figures of the "Nebraska Dairymen's Association" for 1889:

     "In no state in the Union can milk, butter, and cheese be produced at less cost per pound than in Nebraska."
     At the American Dairy Show, at Chicago, in

1889, Nebraska took the first and second premium on creamery butter, first on granulated, and the diploma for the best and largest collection on exhibition.
     As a fruit-growing State, Nebraska is abreast with other States. The flavor of her fruits is unsurpassed. Nebraska carried off the first premium on fruit at the meeting of the American Pomological Society, Richmond, Virginia, in 1870; again, at Boston, in 1873. At Chicago, in 1878, and at the Exposition in New Orleans, in 1884, she presented the largest collection of fruits, and would, without doubt, have taken the premium; but none was offered.
     In popular intelligence Nebraska is at the front. By the census of 1880 Nebraska had the lowest percentage of illiteracy of any State in the Union, and Wyoming Territory alone had a better record in all the United States. A few years ago one of our most intelligent ministers had an appointment in a sparsely settled neighborhood on the prairies northwest of Omaha. The meeting was in a private house, and it was made of sod. The congregation consisted of about twelve persons. The minister was very much discouraged when he looked upon his audience. The men looked rough and hard. They were sunburnt and shabbily dressed, and, from their general appearance, he felt that he had an illiterate

congregation before him, and greatly feared his sermon would not be at all appreciated. Ho preached, and the most profound attention prevailed throughout the entire discourse. At the close of the service, all remained to greet the preacher, and he learned that seven out of the twelve who had listened to him were graduates from Eastern universities. According to the number, this was one of the most, if not the most, intelligent congregations he had ever preached to in his life. The wonderful possibilities of the rich soil and charming climate of Nebraska brought into the Territory the most intelligent class of settlers at the very commencement. From the organization of the Territory, in 1854, to the present time, not only in the cities and villages, but in the rural districts, all over our broad prairies, in sod-houses and dug-outs, might be found the most highly educated men and women. To the push and energy of these cultured, live men and women are we indebted, to an extent at least, for the wonderful development and rapid growth of the State.
     The soil of Nebraska is peculiar. It retains its moisture with wonderful tenacity, so that long periods of dry weather do not materially affect the crops. On the other hand, the heaviest rains retard the farmer but little in his work. In a few hours after the heaviest rain-storms the farmer

may be seen in the field with his plow, cultivating his crops with as much ease as if no rain had fallen. This peculiarity of the soil guarantees to the faithful husbandman a good crop every year. A failure in crops is rarely ever known in Nebraska.
     The autumns are remarkably lovely. They are usually long, mild, and dry. The "Indian summers" are delightful, even beyond description. To understand and rightly appreciate them, one must be present and enjoy them. I have lived in Ohio, Indiana, California, and Nebraska, and have traveled quite extensively through other States, and it seems to me that Nebraska combines more natural advantages than any other one State of which I have any knowledge.