Mexico weekly ledger., 1890-10-23
MEXICO AND
Some Facts of Interest Con-
corning Our Community
Inducements to I'm.
migrants.

What has heretofore appeared in
the LEDGER concerning Audrain
county has created demand for in
formation regarding its present con-
dition, and to meet that require
ment, we have compiled the fol
lowing statement of it's natural and
acquired advantages and resources,
which will be used also in the an
nual report of the State Board of
Agriculture.
Audrain county, as every one
familiar with the State of Missouri
knows, lies on the divide between
the Missouri and Mississippi riv-
ers, and adjoins Rails and Monroe
counties on the north, Galloway
and Montgomery on the south,
Pike on the east, and Boone and
Randolph on the West. Its great
est length is forty-seven and widest
breadth nineteen miles. It en-
braces six hundred and ninety Sec
.tions, or four hundred and thirty
six thousand, Jour hundred and
eighty acres. 1t is i~ntersected and
watered from south to north by
Salt River and its numerous tribu-
%taries, skirted with fine timber and
frewood, and from north to south
by Cedar, Seven Mile and Loutre
and their tributaries and from west
to east by Cuivre and it's adjuncts,
Hickory and Sanders, similarly
wooded. 1t is centrally situated
on the highest elevation of that
zone which traverses the American
continent between the thirty-ffth
and fortieth parallels of North lat
itude, and is noted for the longev-
ity and vigor of its men and ami
mails, and lies on the most direct
route of railroad communication,
travel and traffic between the
Eastern and Western and Northern
and Southern portions ofthe Union.
Two railways, the Chicago & AL
ton and the Wabash, intersect one
another at Mexico, its county seat,
the one connecting that place with
the Atlantic and Lake cities on the
East, and Kansas City, Denver and
San Francisco on the West, and
the other stretching out to st. Paul
on the North, and to New Orleans
and Galveston via St. Louis on the
South, thereby furnishing its mer-
chants, mechanics. manufacturers
and agriculturalists rapid transit to
the best markets of the country.
With an attitude of about eight
hundred feet above the ocean Au-
drain county is freer of malarial
and lung diseases than lower dis
tricts. Neither its winters nor
summers are of extreme duration,
but are shortened by delightful and
temperate springs and autumns.
Its SHOWS are light and transient
and It's heated terms, of which there
are usually two of about a tort
nights duration, are modified by
pleasant prairie breezes. Its an
nual rainfalls are from thirty to
forty inches, and its surface, gently
rolling, Is drained by deep bedded
streams that carry all surplus
water rapidly away. Its soil is
rich and deep, of easy culture and
admirably adapted to the produc-
ton of all the grains, cereals,
grasses, fruits, vegetables and
flowers that are usually cultivated
in its latitude. Its subsoil of
strong clays and mari abounds in
lime, organic matter and other
productive constituents that with
careful cultivation will require
| centuries to exhaust. Thus far
the soils of the most of its farms
have improved with tillage and
pasturage. 1t is only those of a
small number that have been i'm
paired by n%eglectful and exhaust
i've management. Nearly three
fourths of the county is prairie and
almost it's entire expanse is avail
able tor agricultural purposes. In
deed, the whole county is now
made to contribute to it's produc-
tions, through cultivation or pastur-
age; but most of it's farms are too
large and can therefore be divided
and converted into small ones
with great advantage to both old
settlers and newcomers. Already
there has been some progress in
this direction, as is evidenced by
the new dwellings, barns and
fences that have been recently
erected. But much in this line
remains to be done before the ag-
ricultural resources of the county
can be developed to their utmost.
The present agricultural products
of the county are corn, wheat, oats,
barley, hay, tobacco, sorghum,
linseed, potatoes, vegetables and
fruits, with horses, jacks and jen.
nets, mules, cattle, sheep and
swine. The prairie grass has en-.
tirely disappeared. Everywhere
it has given place to blue grass