Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, W.T. [i.e. Wis.]) 1843-1844, 1843-10-21
THE UNITED STATES.

The surfare OF the United States compre-
hends space OF about two hundred and fifty
Thousand square miles. and is about one tween
risIh pan Of The land su,fdce If the earth.
More Than one halt ,hs lies between the Ssh
and Ash degiees of latitude. 10 the very hear.
OF the temperate zone. where nature brings
men and fruits 10 The highest measure Of com.
paraiive excellence. or the whole two mil.
lions Two hundred and fifty thousand miles Of
square surface. only abount two hundred and
hiiy thousand liz 10 the Atlantic slope. and
two thirds Of The whole lie in The valley Of the
the Mississippi. To estimate rightly the pop
ulail6n which under the natural laws Of in.
crease. will arise and be readily maintained
on this surfece. IL is proper 10 consider The ard.
biiIiy and fertility Of the great American Basin.
as the valley Of The Mississippi has been styled.
; In This vast region there is very little space
occupied by mountains, marshes or lakes, in
capable OF production. Almost The whole sur
face is arabic. Ito rivers are remarkably long.
The main stream Of the Missippi rises near
latitude forty eight, and joins the Gulf Of Mex
leo abou. twenty -nine, lhns running through
about twenty degrees Of latitude. The Red
River, of Louisiana. Is one thousand miles in
length: the Ohio ascending 10 the heads Of the
Monungahela and Allegheny. 10 also one thou
miles long. The rains and melted SHOWS
which occasion The annual floods fall on dis
tant mountains. and rise these streams TO great
heights, pouring forth vast volumes Of waller.
which irriga,e and ierlilize their banks. These
great facts taken into consideration with ito
locality in The nids, Of temperate zone. deter.
mine The conclusion ,ha, this great basin is e..
Pable ofproducing more grain. and consequent
ly Of maintaining more people. than any other
equal space on the face of the globe. II is
gratifying 10 know, too that 50 far as culiiva-
ton has extended, The practical facts cores
pond with the theory deducted from geograpb.
iraI facts.
The circumference or border line Of the
United States is about nine thousand five hun.
dred miles in length. II may be divided thus:
Boundary in common with Mexico, 1900;
coast Of The Pacific. 700, coast Of The Gulf Of
M xco. 1000: and coast of the Atlantic, $40.
The Territory thus enclosed includes also
nearly ten thousand miles Of river and lake
nav gai"n. nf which iwo-ihirds are the val lev
oil the Mississippi. Geographers of foreign
counties have admitted thai this extensive
country has the most varied soil. climate and
productions of any country on the face Of the
earth. The inevitable consequence Of this is.
Wst ~ cdPdOiitice WI auo WcditU
are correspohdingly great,
number Of estimates of the progress of
American population have been made. 1.-The
writer is Of the opinion that Two of ,hess-.,he
one by Darby. the other by professor Tucker
-..srs particularly worthy Of notice. Compar.
ing the estimates Of these gentlemen. and ts-
king the mean. j, may he considered certain
CONTINUES the wrl,rr) thu, withou, Divine in
ierposi'ion 10 the contrary. one century will
inrrease the population OF the United TO three
hundred millions! We must confess that, 70
our mind, the mean estimate here given %.
pears BY far too great.
Estimates have heen made which render 1,
certain that the Uni,.d States have an n.iims,c
rapaciiy # con aiming eigh, hundred millions
Of people. ~hi,h is more than The entire popu.
laiion Of the globe