The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1908-08-28

Belt mnSt Tor all time lie III NISSlS-
sippi, Louisiana and Texas Our
corn crop is three times as great as
for the rest Of the world com bined,
and, though corn is widely grown
both north and south, the chief
Corn Belt naturally centers in the
upper Mississippi and Ohio Val
legs. For example, five States,
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska
and Missouri, raise over half the
total for the cruntry, or, astound-
ing as it may seem, nearly 40 per
cent Of the entire world 5 crop.
Wheat, cattle, hogs, vast quani-
ties Of oats, hay, potatoes. lumber,
coal and other mineral products
come mainly from the Mississippi
Valley, each one in point Of quaint
ty leading all other nations Of the
world, and yet no one denies that
the limit Of productivity is far from
being reached. Out Of this list,
cotton, meat products and bread
stuffs make up a large part of our
foreign commerce, with half the
world 5 mileage Of railroads requir-
ed to get the products to the SEA
ports.
As might be expected, by far the
thickest railroad net is in the Mis-
sissippi Valley, yet the roads there
have found their facilities increas-
ingly inadequate to handle the pro-
duce of the region. Shortage of
cars" has become a familiar com
plant in the wheat fields of the
Northwest. Corn and cotton in the
States along the Mississippi have
been kept out Of the markets be-
cause of increased rates on rail
shipments.
On every side the farmers have
raised the cry, Better freight ia
cilities, but the railroads have
steadily failed to meet the demand.
Conditions have gone from bad to
worse until now the harassed pro-
ducers see that their only salvation
lies III the development Of the
routes 50 bountifulIy supplied by ma
ture, with coordination Of rail and
water facilities to prevent disas-
trous opposition.
The Mississippi Valley has TWEEN
ty thousand miles Of natural water
ways navigable for steamboats,,
part % the way for all seasons Of
the year, and for the balance, dur
ing the high water period, which is
for several months. But if the
deep water channel from the Lakes
to the sea can be accomplished
first, the improving of the tributar-
les will follow. The great problem,
then, is to secure a permanent nav
igable channel of fourteen feet in
depth from Lake Michigan to the
Gulf Of Mexico.
The first part of the proposition
. Is to secure a channel from the Lake
at Chicago through the Illinois Riv-
er to the Mississippi above St. Louis.
That is partly completed, and pre-
sents no serious difficulties. From
st. Louis southwark the only real
difficulty is the caving of the river
banks furnishing material which is
transported by the current to be de-
posted in the form Of sand bars in
the channel
There Is much caving Of banks
and transportation Of sand and mud
in low water as in high water sea-
sons. This can only be prevented
by revetting the banks. That is a
big problem, but it can be done OF
the tributaries, the Missouri fur
nishes the greatest amount of such
mud, but in time all its waters will
be taken up for the irrigation of the
Western plains to convert their ar
id wastes into farms and gardens.
Flood damage, once a most seri-
Gus evil, has been largely prevented
by a great system of dikes or levees
constructed first by the States along
the river In later years they have
been assisted in this work by the
National Government. In due
course flood danger will be entirely
eliminated, and all energies can be
concentrated on the revetting of the
banks. Then the problem viii be
solved.
How'S This?
We offer One Hundred Dollars Re-
ward for any case of (safarrb that can