Page:Maury's New Elements of Geography, 1907.djvu/66

62 Often a whole family packed in a wagon everything that they had, and traveled on and on through the pathless forests and over the grass-covered prairies, sleeping in the wagon at night, and continuing their journey the next morning, until they reached a spot that seemed a suitable one for their new home. Other settlers joined them, and more and more were added, until the little settlement grew into a town; and in very few years some of the towns, like Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati, became large and prosperous cities.

1. Surface.—The Central states are generally level. A large portion of them consists of treeless prairies, covered with a deep, rich soil. (Describe a prairie.)

The only mountains in these states are in Eastern Kentucky, Southern Missouri, and South Dakota.

2. The mammoth cave in Kentucky is the largest cavern in the world. It has been explored to a distance of ten miles.

Beautiful shapes of limestone, that glisten like diamonds when the torchlight of the visitor rests upon them, hang down from the roof. It is like a little fairy world.

In the cave are three rivers and a fresh-water lake, the home of fish that have no eyes.

3. Agricultural Products.—The prairie lands are the great agricultural region of the United States. Enormous crops of wheat, corn, oats, flax, and tobacco are raised.

4. Wheat.—The northern part of the Central states is one of the greatest wheat-growing regions in the world. It supplies almost the whole of the United States with wheat, and sends large quantities also to the countries of Europe. Much wheat is made into flour and exported.