Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-11-30
RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES
Of IOWA.
Letter from Gov. Samuel
Merrill.

SfAr1 - IswA,
Exscv1rvs DfPAsSnsNs,
Des 4einss, New. %, 1868.
Peter Cooper. Esq.,, Pfeadent Cvtiseas' IL.
ssciatioH Of Ntse York.
Sra Your communieation Of Ssptem-
Der 233, asking information % 10 the 70
sources Of advantagss Of lows, With view
81 inducing immigration TO the State, has
been received You suggest that an official
statement Of SEINE Of tho leading interests
be made cut by ms, that you may translate
the same into other languages for distribu
tion in other countries. cheerfully com
ply with your request, but have to regret
that We have 90 State Board OF Emigration,
nor any appropriation to aid you in .hs
laudabls enterprise
The State Of Iowa is situated centrally in
the Unisn, bounded east and west By the
two greatest rivers Of North America. It's
area 10 81. .045 square miles, nearly - great
~ that Of oil England, much greater than
that Of Ireland, and nearly twice ~ large -
Scotland. Its surface 10 over ninety per
cent prairie, nearly oil "rolling" Or undu-
lAting only . small part being what 10
dsnominatsd FIAT prairie - and while
thsrs are no mountains, there is . constant
succession Of gentle elevations aud depres-
sions, and along the Mississippi and Mis-
souri, rivers, bold sminsnces and pictur.
ssqus valleys hsightsn the beauty Of the
scenery. The table lands between the
waters Of the two great rivers, according TO
tho report Of our State Geological survey,
attains in the northern part Of the State an
altitude Of 400 feet above the level Of the
sea.
The State hss many 6ns streams. The
Dee Aoinss river, over three hundred miles
long the Iowa, the Cedar, and other large
streams, few into the Mississippi, while
numerous tributasies Of the Missouri drain
the western counties. These streams are
almost invariably skirtsd with timber, some
Of then heavily wooded. This timber con
sists Of elm, black walnut, oak, linden,
cottonwood, blackberry, sycamore, poplar,
ash. and other vasistiss Of fersst trees.
Coal, which is found in many parts Of
| the State, 10 , source Of vast wealth, which
is being rapidly developed. In 1865, our
State Census shows there we're %. 800 tons
taken cut, agsinst 66,664 in 1864. Peat
has also been discovered within few years
in many parts Of the State, in quantities
which promise IN sbuudant supply Of
| fuel.
This part Of the republic 10 favored with
delightful climate. sminsntly conducive
to health and longevity. Pulmonary com.
plants, i0 particular, ere comparatively
rare. This fact 10 especially worthy Of esn.
si isratien BY the immigrant from the old
| world.
A soil Of surprising richness affords On
abundant supply Of all the nsssssariss and
many Of the luxuries Of life. The charac
| ter efthis soil 10 thus described BY an smi-
nsnt gsolegist who examined 10 with the
critical eye Of science DIR. James Hall, Of
Albany, New York. He says: "The up
per portion Of the material constituting the
| superficial covering eft the prairie 10 always
finely somminuted, and usually has few
loose boulders Or fragments Of rock scatter
| ed Through il, although they sometimes lie
| upon the surface in isolated groups, or
singly. Upon the great prsirss in Cen
tral Iowa one may frequently travel over .
large extent Of surface without seeing .
| single stone, net even 30 much as the
smallest pebble. In the swales and in
some Of the bottom lands. especially in the
southern part Of the State, the rich black
vegetable mould is very deep, but on the
prairies it is usually from one to two feet.
The subsoil 10 almost invariably . quite
argillaceous loan, and there 10 . gradual
| passsge downward into material in which,
though containing sandy psrtiens and oc
casienal pebbles, the argillaceous element
greatly preponderatss'
A few statistics Of the crops Of 1866 and
other years will give soms idea Of our re-.
| sources.
| Wheat is grown in every county Of the
State, and NO part seems unfavorable to its
production in generous quantities. Spring
wheat 10 the. variety mostly raised. A early
as 1850, Iowa was the fifteenth Of the
States Of the Union in the production Of
this invaluable cereal, and in 1860 it stood
eghth-while in the former year it was the
twenty fifth in the number Of acres improv-
ed. and in 1860 was fifteenth. The follow
ing are the figures of the productions Of
wheat for . series Of years.:
Bushels.
| 1854. ,o2l ,1s
| AoVp ,o-V
L