Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-07-18
A FAVORED SPOT.


that the advance In the near future
will be more rapid than In the
past. Our belief Is founded on the
fact that the tide of emigration has at
last turned. The exodus to Iowa,
Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas and
the far northwest, during the years
between 1875 and 1890, caused a de-
cided falling off in the population Of
three of the richest and most produc-
tive counties of Wisconsin, namely:
Grant, Iowa and Lafayette. In llf-
teen years the population of these
counties showed a decrease Of more
than two thousand. We believe that
the census of the present year will
show gain over 1890, in the counties
named. While q continued drouth,
such as the one of the present season,
Is exceptional in this section of the
country, it Is the rule, and not the ex-
ception, for the greater portion Of the
west and far northwest. Ours Is in
deed favored spot Of the earth,
when compared with the great region
which lies west of the Missouri river
Mr.. Eugene V. Smalley, editor of the
The Northwest Magazine, and one of
the best posted writer's In the country,
contributed to The Forum, for June, u
very interesting article upon the re-
sources and development Of the Great
West. About one third of our national
area, he says, including Alaska, Is too
arid for cultivation, except where
water can be put upon the soil by arti-
fetal means, and General Sherman's
danger line, the hundredth meridian,
defines pretty closely the western limit
of safe farming by rainfall. The
western boundary of the arid region is
marked by the Sierra Nevada noun
tains in California and Oregon and the
Cascade range In Washington. The
only exception, worth mentioning, to
the generally arid condition of this
area is n crescent shaped section in
Guiding the eastern part OF Washing
ton and tapping over n little into Ida
no and Oregon. The proximity of
mountain ranges causes this country
to receive local rains from the Pacific
winds that have not been wholly rob
bed of their moisture A large part
of Southern California west of the
Sierras is desert, except where mar
row strips of valleys have been artiIl-
cially irrigated and turned into orange
groves and vineyards.
The eastern boundary of this vast
arid space, though approximately
marked by the hundredth meridian, rs
before stated, cannot be accurately de-
fined, AS no mountain wall exists to
cut of the rain bearing winds. The
country is u great plain from beyond
the Canadian frontier to the Gulf of
Mexico, and the rainfall steadily de-
Creases rs one goes west. A belt of
debatable ground where successful ag
ricultural operations are carried on
year after year, called the sub arid
belt, extends through the Dakotas,
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Indian
Territory and Texas, with width va
rying from one to two hundred miles.
All through this belt years of drought
follow years of exceptional rainfall,
and the population tluctuates accord
ingly. The country is only 1T for a
judicious combination of stock raising
and grain growing on n moderate
scale. One finds on every side aban
doned farms and half deserted towns,
Some of the Kansas counties lying in
this region have been practically popu-
lated and depopulated two or three
times.
The records of meteorological obser.
vations, made with unbroken regulari-
ty at the Western military posts, in
some cases for period of forty years,
show temporary variations Of climate,
but permanent stability.
The vast domain of unquestioned
aridity may be divided into four sec,
tions: the great grass plains, the
mountain ranges, the enormous desert
area occupying most of the country
between the Rockies and the Sierras,
and, tlnally, the valleys, where lie the
only possibilities of future develop
ment in the arid region outside the
mining districts. The meaning of the