Western Nebraska has a considerable area of land that needs to be irrigated and which will be developed either by private enterprise or by the national scheme of irrigation now in progress. With irrigation, this section of the state seems specially adapted to sugar-beet culture, small grain and alfalfa, and land has risen rapidly in value. The

Fig. 69. A farmstead in the Nebraska country. development of the agricultural resources of the state has been rapid for the last eight years, and will continue until the farms are broken up into smaller areas, assuring better care and attention to live-stock and better cultural methods in the production of crops.

Four trunk lines of railway traverse the state from east to west, and other lines enter the state. These railways center at Omaha, St. Joseph and Kansas City, furnishing excellent markets for livestock and for general farm products. Omaha stands third as a packing-house city in the United States, and second as a sheep market. The Missouri river, acting as a basing point for freight rates, is favorable to the marketing of the farm products. Through rates from the Missouri river to the seaboard are also favorable.

The total land area of Nebraska is 49,177,600 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 29,911,779 acres are in farms, 18,432,595 acres of which, or 61.6 per cent, are improved land. There were then 121,525 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $747,950,057. The total value of the farm products was $162,696,386. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $142,769,629; hay and forage, $11,230,901; dairy products, $8,595,408; cereals, $75,730,442.

The land grant college is one of the five colleges constituting the University of Nebraska. The federal Experiment Station is a part of the Industrial College in the University. There is a state substation at North Platte, founded in 1904. The farmers' institutes are operated by the University. There is no regularly established state department of agriculture outside of the State Board of Agriculture. The Governor is legally at the head of the dairy and food inspection, which is in charge of a commissioner as his assistant. The state veterinarian is also assistant to the Governor in charge of livestock, sanitary and police regulations. The state fair is permanently located at Lincoln, in charge of the State Board of Agriculture. This Board consists

of twenty-nine regular members serving two years, and of all presidents of county societies and all delegates, increasing the membership to between fifty and seventy. The leading agricultural societies in the state are as follows: State Board of Agriculture, Horticultural Society, Poultry Association, Dairymen's Association, Improved Live-stock

Breeders' Association, ShorthornBreeders' Association, Swine-Breeders' Association, Duroc - JerseyBreeders' Association. Veterinary Medical Association, Corn-Improvers' Association, Park and Forestry Association, Bee - Keepers' Association.

KANSAS. (By J. T. Willard.) The four-hundred-mile stretch of Kansas from the Missouri valley on the northeast, with an altitude of 750 feet above sea-level, into the great plains on the west where an altitude of over 4,000 feet is attained, gives the state a diversity of climatic conditions that materially affects its agriculture. The rain-fall varies from forty inches per annum in the northeast corner to less than fifteen inches on the western border. Irrigation is practiced to a certain extent, chiefly in the Arkansas valley. The valleys of the Arkansas and Kansas rivers and of many of their tributaries are sandy, yet fertile; the uplands are usually clayey loam and very productive under proper tillage. Large areas in the southwest are extremely sandy, and vegetation is scanty.

The state has no navigable rivers, but has about 9,000 miles of railways, having excellent communications with Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Lake ports as well as with the interior. The principal market is Kansas City. Numerous milling establishments and packing-houses are located within the state.

Nearly all the staple crops are grown. In acreage and total production of corn and wheat the state ranks among the highest and is only less prominent in respect to oats, rye and barley. The wheat is principally hard winter, famous for flour production. Durum spring wheat is gaining in favor in the western part of the state. Ordinary spring wheats are but little grown because of poor results. The cultivated grasses and red clover are, in general, restricted to the eastern third of the state, though Bromus inermis promises to meet the need in parts farther west. Alfalfa, kafir corn and sorghum are very largely grown. The two latter are grown both for seed and roughage, and are highly esteemed in all parts of the state. All kinds of fruits do well on suitable soil in the eastern half of the state. Potatoes, sweet-potatoes and vegetables generally are grown with success. Other crops raised in sufficient quantities to be included in the statistics of the State Board of Agriculture are: Buckwheat, castor beans, cotton, flax, hemp, tobacco, broom-corn, millet, several tame grasses, and non-saccharine sorghums.

The region of greatest production of corn extends

from the east line to the 100th meridian on the northern boundary and the 98th on the southern, approximately. The winter wheat belt crosses the state from north to south somewhat diagonally, lying between the 98th and 100th meridians on the north line and between the 97th and 99th meridians on the south line, though some counties of large production lie outside this area. Barley is most extensively grown west of 98 degrees 30 minutes longitude, but not in the southwestern counties. Oats are produced in largest quantities in the counties along the northern border of the eastern half of the state, and in counties extending across the state between 96 degrees 30 minutes and 98 degrees 30 minutes and in certain ones in the southeastern part. Potatoes are grown most successfully in the northern counties from Phillips, in the central northeast, and in the river-bottoms of the Kansas and Arkansas. Certain areas of these river-bottoms are unexcelled for sweet-potatoes, and thousands of acres are devoted to their production.

Western Kansas is preeminently a grazing country, rough forage being grown for winter use. Range cattle are fattened in large numbers in the corn and alfalfa regions farther east. Dairying, poultry and eggs are important interests. Many swine and good horses and mules are produced. Climate, feed and markets are favorable to all kinds of stock-raising.

The future progress of the state will show a greater diversification of crops, more intelligent utilization of legumes in maintaining soil fertility and balancing feeding rations, more universal combination of one or more lines of animal husbandry with crop production, and intelligent adoption of systems of crop rotation accompanied by better tillage, especially with reference to moisture conservation in the western part of the state.

The total land area of Kansas is 52,288,000 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 41,662,970 acres are in farms, 25,040,550 acres of which, or 60.1 per cent, are improved land. There were then 173,098 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $864,100,286. The total value of the farm products was $209,895,542. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $186,317,248; hay and forage, $18,499,287; dairy products, $11,782,902; cereals, $83,622,109.

The land grant college is the Kansas State Agricultural College, located at Manhattan. The Experiment Station is a department of this institution. A branch experiment station, having at its disposal over three thousand acres of land, is located on the abandoned Fort Hays Military Reservation in central Kansas. This is supported entirely by state appropriations. There is a State Board of Agriculture, which collects statistics and publishes agricultural matter of special value to farmers, part of this consisting of addresses given at an annual meeting. The Secretary of this Board is charged with the enforcement of the fertilizer law. Farmers' institutes are organized and assisted by the State Agricultural College. There are two organizations holding state fairs, one at Topeka, the other

at Hutchinson. The leading horticultural and agricultural societies are: State Horticultural Society, State Board of Agriculture, Kansas Improved Stock-Breeders' Association, Kansas Swine-Breeders' Association, State Poultry Association, State BeeKeepers' Association and Kansas Corn-Breeders' Association.

MISSOURI. (By F. B. Mumford.) The agricultural industries of Missouri are greatly diversified. The leading types of farming are breeding and feeding live-stock, grain-growing and orcharding. On most farms three types are practiced together, one or more of them being emphasized in order to conform to peculiarities of soil or climate or the tastes of the farmer. The state has been particularly famous for the production of fine cattle, saddle-horses and mules. The staple crop is corn, of which Missouri produced in one year one-eighth of the total product of the United States. There are many large farms, the largest of these comprising 30,000 acres.

The soils are deep and fertile, and high yields are common. The average annual rainfall is 39.05 inches. This rainfall is distributed throughout the growing season in a way highly favorable to the farmer. Excessive and long-continued droughts are very rare. The mean annual temperature is 54.3 degrees. Snow rarely falls before November 15 or later than April 15. The climate is therefore mild, humid and peculiarly favorable to the production of high-class domestic animals.

The state is divided into two great divisions, the Ozark region in the south and the prairie region in the north. There are large areas of allu

Fig. 70. Kansas, to show chief crop distribution.-A, counties which have grown over 5,000 acres of alfalfa per annum, in last seven years; B, those which have grown 1,000 acres of barley in same time; C, those which have grown 1,800,000 bushels of corn; K, those which have grown 5,000 acres of kafir corn; O, those which have grown 460,000 bushels of oats; P, those which have grown 80,000 bushels of potatoes (Irish); W, those which have grown 700,000 bushels of wheat. vium in the northwest and a smaller area in the southeast. A very rich deposit of brown loess extends from the extreme northwest corner of the state, parallel to the Missouri river, to the extreme eastern borders. Fertile black prairie soils are characteristic of the northwest-central part, while level prairie occupies a large district in the north

east.

The Ozark center is principally flinty, clay limestone of moderate fertility. The Ozark border is

The total land area of Missouri is 43,990,400 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 33,997,873 acres are in farms, 22,900,043 acres of which, or 67.4 per cent, are improved land. There were then 284,886 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $1,033,121,897. The total value of the farm products was $219,296,970. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $154,295,363; hay and forage, $20,467,501; dairy products, $15,042,360; cereals, $79,574,841.

The College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts is a department of the State University, at Columbia. The Agricultural Experiment Station is a department of this college. The State Fruit Experiment Station is located at Mountain Grove. The State Board of Agriculture is composed of the dean of the Agricultural College and the Superintendent of Public Schools ex-officio, and of one member from each congressional district, appointed by the Governor. This Board appoints a salaried secretary, and has charge of farmers' institutes, control of infectious diseases among live-stock, and the enforcement of laws regulating the sale of imitation butter and skim-milk cheese. The Board of Agriculture is also a Board of Directors for the state fair, which is permanently located at Sedalia. The leading agricultural societies in the state are: Breeders of Improved Live-Stock, Swine - Breeders' Association, SheepBreeders' Association, Horse-Breeders' Association, Corn-Growers' Association, State Dairy Association, State Poultry Association, Missouri Horticultural Society, Grange, Farmers' Institute Societies.

MICHIGAN. (By C. D. Smith.) The types of agriculture in Michigan are largely determined by location with reference to the great lakes, which divide the state into two peninsulas. The upper peninsula contains approximately two-fifths of the area, and is still covered with virgin forests, largely of maple, elm, cedar and spruce. Menominee county to the south, and Chippewa county at the extreme east are cleared and well settled. The proximity of the great mines affords a good market for all kinds of farm produce. The soil is a heavy clay and clay loam, with a large area of sand in the middle of the peninsula. The principal productions are garden vegetables, hay, especially clover, and in the southern part, sugar-beets and general farm crops.

In the southern peninsula the soil is glacial drift to the depth of twenty to a hundred and sixty feet. All types of soil prevail, from the heaviest clay in the southeastern part to the lightest sand in the northern central. The surface is gently undulating,

with low hills and many lakes. The annual rainfall approximates thirty-two inches, well distributed throughout the season. General farming prevails, with large productions of butter, cheese, hay and potatoes. The special crops are peppermint on the muck lands in the west and southwest, furnishing one-third of the oil used in the world; celery on the muck lands in both peninsulas; sugar-beets supplying twelve factories in operation, with total slicing capacity of ten thousand tons daily; peaches along the western coast, yielding five thousand car-loads in the average season; apples over most of the southern part; flax for fiber in the eastern central part; potatoes in the northern and central parts; and tobacco in the southeastern part.

Owing to the proximity to the great cities and the network of steam roads and trolley lines, large areas are devoted to truck crops or to the production of milk for the city trade.

Although one-third of the farmers were born in

Canada or in some foreign country, as a class they own the farms which they operate, and carry forward the growing of crops in rotation-corn, oats, wheat and clover-except in the areas devoted to special crops. The growth of the common school system has kept pace with the increase in population, and much attention and money are expended on education. The growth of farmer organizations is especially noteworthy.

The total land area of Michigan is 36,755,200 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 17,561,698 acres are in farms, 11,799,250 acres of which, or 67.2 per cent, are improved land. There were then 203,261 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $690,355,734. The total value of the farm products was $146,547,681. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $75,997,051; hay and forage, $21,792,987; dairy products, $16,903,087; cereals, $41,819,042.

The land grant college of Michigan is the Agricultural College situated at Agricultural College. The federal Experiment Station is a department of it. There is no state department of agriculture. There is, however, a State Dairy and Food Commission, which looks after the creameries and cheese factories and city milk supplies in the state. The state fair is located permanently at Detroit, and is in charge of a State Fair Board incorporated under the name of the State Agricultural Society. It consists of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, four former presidents, and twenty mem

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Fig. 72. Michigan, to show leading regions.-A, butter; B, cheese; C, milk; D, clover: E, peppermint; F, sugar. beets; H, flax; K, celery.

bers of an executive committee. The leading agricultural societies in the state are as follows: State Dairymen's Association, Michigan Breeders of Improved Live-Stock, State Horticultural Society, State Swine-Breeders' Association, State Merino SheepBreeders' Association, State Shorthorn-Breeders' Association, State Association of Farmers' Clubs, State Millers' Association, State Bean-Growers' Asso

ciation. The farmers' institutes are under the control of the State Board of Agriculture, in whose hands is placed the management of the Agriculture College. The Experiment Station has two branch stations, one at South Haven, in the southwestern fruit belt, and the other at Chatham, in the upper peninsula, both maintained by state funds.

WISCONSIN. (By A. R. Whitson.) There are four chief types of agriculture followed in Wisconsin, dairying, raising of potatoes and other truckcrops, tobacco-growing and general farming. The principal areas of these types are shown on the accompanying map. Their distribution is determined largely by the character of the soil, but in part also by the nationality of the people and the nearness to large markets and railroads.

Dairying is the chief industry on the clay loam soil of the southern and eastern part of the state. Special mention should be made of the Swiss cheese industry of Green county, in the central south.

Raising of potatoes and other truck-crops is chiefly followed on the sandy soils of the central part, and also to a considerable extent in the northwestern part of the state. It is in this region that the greater part of the potatoes raised for export are produced.

Tobacco is grown chiefly on the rich warm prairie-loam soils of Rock, Dane, Columbia, Vernon and Crawford counties, in the southwestern part of the state. The large product of these regions and less important areas of the state makes tobacco-raising one of the chief agricultural industries of Wisconsin.

General farming is, of course, practiced throughout the state, forming the chief basis from which the above-mentioned special lines have been developed, but it is followed especially in the newer sections of the originally timbered areas of the northern part of the state. The raising of sugarbeets, and of peas and corn for canning purposes, and of cranberries are important local industries. The large markets of Chicago and Milwaukee materially affect the agriculture of the southeastern part of the state.

The rapid rise in value of the improved agricultural lands is chiefly the result of large yields, following the careful methods of farm management practiced by the large German element of the population. Dairying is the chief agricultural industry, largely as the result of the encouragement and fostering care of the agriculture college, dairy societies, and the superior natural conditions of the soil and climate. The lands of the north-central section of the state will undoubtedly develop along dairy lines as a result of the excellent pasture and pure water which are characteristic of that region.

There are few states that have a greater variety of soil than Wisconsin. Physically, these embrace large areas of distinct sandy, humous and clay soils. The clay soils are residual from limestone in the southwestern section; glacial on limestone in the southeastern and eastern section, and glacial on crystalline rocks, chiefly granite, in the northern section.