Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1868-12-10
IOWA.
Han RrsoJncEs AND DEVELOPMENT
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION. FROM COVER
NOR Merrill.
STATE OF Iowa, }
Executive DErA RTMEST,
IA ~ % AEN

Association of New \ ork:
SHY our communication Of Sep
tember :22d, asking information as I,
the resource and advantages Of Iowa
with a view OF inducing immigration
to the State, has been received. o,
suggest that an official statement o
scma oi' the leading interests be mad,
cut by rae, that You may translate lii:
sam, INTO ether languages for dlstribu
ton III ether countries. | checrt..lly
comply with your request, bu> have L
ie9rct that we have no State Board OF
En- grafton, aor any .approprlat. &c
aid you i'll Nc laudable enterprise,
The State OF Iowa is situated cen.
! tre,l.y in the Union, bounded east and
west by the two greatest rivers OF
North America. Its area is 51,o45
square miles, nearly rs grea: rs that
OF all Eugland, much greater than
tia. u; ireland, and nearly twice As
! large rs Scotland. Its surI:.ce is over
ninety per cent. prairie, nearly all
rolling or unaula,ing; only small
part being what is denominated fiat
prairie and while Thee are no noun
tains there is q constant Succession OF
gentle el vat;ons and depres>ions, and
along the Mississippi and Missouri
rivers, bold emlnences and picturesque
valleys hcighten the beauty o. the
scenery. The table lanls between
The waters of the two great rivers, ac-
cording to the report OF our State
Geological survey, attain i'll the north
ern part o; the State an altitude OF
I,4OO feet above the level of the sea.
The State has many fine streams
The Dcs Mo!ncs river, over three hun
dred miles long; the Iowa, the Cedar,
and other streams, flow into TIE Mis-
s;ssippi, Vile numerous tributaries OF
the Missouri drain the western coun
ties. Tnese streams are almost lnvarl
ably s,irted " tn timber, some of them
heavily wooded. This timber consists
OF elm, black walnut, oak, linden, Coz,
tonwood, blackberry, sycamore, poplar,
ash, and other varieties ct forest trees.
Coal, which is found in many parts
OF the State, is a source otvast wealth,
which IS being rapidly developed. In
1866, 81. State census shows there
were ,320 tons taken out; against G6,
664 in 1854. Peat has also been dis
covered within few years i'll many
parts OF the State, in quantities which
promise an abundant supply of fuel.
This part o; the republic is favored
with delightful climate, eminentiy
conducive to health and longevity.
Pulmonary complaints, in particular,
are comparatively rare, This fact is
especially worthy of consideration by
the immigrant from the old world.
A soil of surprising richness affords
an abundant supply OF all the neccs-
saries and many OF the Injuries OF life.
The character OF this soil is thus dcs-
cribed by an eminent geologist who
examined it with the critical eye OF
science-Dr. jams Hall, OF Albany
New York. IL" says;
The upper portion of the material
constituting the superficial covering
of the prairie is always finely commin.
uted, and usually has a few loose boul-
ders or fragments OF rock scattered
through it, although they some times
lie upon the surface in insolatel crops
or singly. Upon the great prairles in
Central Iowa one may frequently
travel over a large extent OF surface
without seeing single stone, not even
so 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 praries
it is usually from one to two teet. The
subsoil is almost invariably a quite
argllaceous loan, and there is grad
ual passage downward into a material
which though containing sandy por-
tons and occasionally pebbles, the ar
gillaceous element greatly predomin,
ates."
A few statistics of the crops Of 1866
and other years willg i've some idea of
our resources.
Wheat Is grown in every county Of
the State, and no part seems unfavor-
able to its production in generous
quantities. Spring wheat is the yari-
ETY. mostly raised. As 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
eighth-while in the former it was
the twenty fifth in the number OF
acres improved. and in 1860 was fiji.
teen. The following are the figures OF
the productions OF wheat tor = series
of years:
1864 15.0a1,149 b,,
1866 l4G35,52O bu
1867 (estimated) 20,000,OO0 bu
1868 25,OOOOOO b,,
The next Federal Census $50 Will
probably show yield in the State OF
at least 5000, OJobushels of wheat
Such is the opinion OF intelligentiy-
ricuiturists.
III lsio Iowa stood eighteenth in
the States in the production OF corn,
coming next to the old State Of New
Jersey at that early day. In 1859 it
was the seventh, raising about five per
cent, Of all the corn produced in the
country, and now ranking next to
Tennessee; the other States standing
above her being, in their order, Hi
nois, Missouri, Ohio, I..diana and Ken
lucky. The census OF 1870 will very
probably place Iowa third in the order
Of the States in the production Of this
grain. We give the figures for a
series of years:
1864 4s,47!,133 bushels
1866 5C.92S.93S ;.
$50 tetsimated) 100000
1868 9O,000,OOO
1t is not improbable that the yicl,,
shown by the next Federal census
Qs7O will exceed Que hundred and
twenty millions.
Thn fnllnw1n4r fal,la e.;, A.