Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/192

 184 ILLINOIS is called the Grand Prairie, but is properly a combination of small prairies partially sepa- rated by tracts or groves of timber. The bar- rens, or oak openings, as they are here called, have frequently a thin soil. In the bottoms or alluvial borders of the rivers the soil is chiefly formed from the deposits of the waters during floods. In some cases the mould so formed is more than 25 ft. deep, and of inex- haustible fertility. One fifth of the alluvial land, however, is unfit for present cultivation, but is productive of timber. A tract called the American bottom, extending along the Mississippi for 90 m., and about 5 m. in aver- age breadth, is of this formation. About the French towns it has been cultivated and pro- duced Indian corn every year without being manured for nearly two centuries. In every part of the state the plough may pass over thousands of acres without meeting even so much as a pebble to impede its course. The native animals are now almost extinct, but Illinois still has abundance of game, and its northern rivers abound in trout and other fish. The kinds of timber most abundant are oak, black walnut, ash, elm, sugar maple, locust, linden, hickory, pecan, and persimmon. In the south and east yellow poplar and beech are the peculiar growths, and near the Ohio are clumps of a yellow pine and cedar. The bot- toms produce cottonwood, sycamore, &c. Il- linois indeed is abundantly supplied with tim- ber, but it is unequally distributed, and im- mense tracts are entirely bare. The fruit trees embrace the apple, peach, cherry, plum, &c., and the grape is largely cultivated. The pre- vailing winds are N. and N. W. and 8. and S. ~W., the former in the winter months, and the latter during the remainder of the year. The evenness of the surface allows of their free passage, and the atmosphere is in constant mo- tion. Hence the winters are excessively cold, and the summers more than usually hot. The summer heat, however, is greatly modified and refreshed by the ever present breezes ; and on the whole the climate is favorable for outdoor occupations, the proportion of clear and cloudy days being about 245 of the former to 120 of the latter. The mean annual temperature on the 40th parallel is about 54, that of summer 77 and that of winter 33J F. These figures, however, will vary considerably N. and S. of the parallel indicated ; at Beloit on the N. line the mean temperature is 47, and at Cairo, the S. angle of the state, 58. Vegetation begins with April, and the first killing frosts occur near the end of September. The general salu- brity of the climate is well attested; but fe- vers and fluxes are frequently prevalent in the river bottoms and in the swamps which cover a large part of the southern section. The up- land prairies are almost free from endemic dis- orders. Illinois is in the front rank of agri- cultural states. According to the census of 1870, it contained more acres of improved land, and produced more wheat, Indian corn, and oats, than any other state. In the pro- duction of barley it ranked next to California and New York ; of flax, next to Ohio and New York ; of rye, next to Pennsylvania and New York ; and of wool, next to Ohio, California, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. In the value of all live stock on farms it was sur- passed only by New York, and contained more swine and horses than any other state, more milch cows than any other except New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and more sheep than any other except Ohio, California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The state contained 10,329,952 acres of improved land, 5,061,578 of woodland, and 1,491,331 of other unimproved land. The total number of farms was 202,803, including 53,240 having from 20 to 50 acres, 68,130 from 50 to 100, 65,940 from 100 to 500, 1,367 from 500 to 1,000, and 302 containing 1,000 acres and over. The cash value of farms was $920,506,346 ; of farming implements and machinery, $35,576,- 587 ; total amount of wages paid during the year, including value of board, $22,338,767; total estimated value of all farm productions, including betterments and additions to stock, $210,860,585; orchard products, $3,571,789; produce of market gardens, $765,992; forest products, $1,087,144; home manufactures, $1,408,015 ; animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter, $56,718,944; value of all live stock, $149,756,698. There were 853,738 horses, 85,- 075 mules and asses, 640,321 milch cows, 19,- 766 working oxen, 1,055,499 other cattle, 1,568,286 sheep, and 2,703,343 swine. The chief productions were : 10,133,207 bushels of spring and 19,995,198 of winter wheat, 2,456,- 578 of rye, 129,921,395 of Indian corn, 42,780,- 851 of oats, 2,480,400 of barley, 168,862 of buckwheat, 115,854 of peas and beans, 10,944,- 790 of Irish and 322,641 of sweet potatoes, 10,486 Ibs. of clover seed, 153,464 of grass seed, 280,043 of flax seed, 2,747,339 tons of hay, 465 bales of cotton, 5,249,274 Ibs. of tobacco, 5,739,249 of wool, 36,083,405 of butter, 1,161,- 103, of cheese, 104,032 of hops, 2,204,406 of flax, 136,873 of maple sugar, 1,547,178 of honey, 146,262 of wax, 1,960,473 gallons of sorghum molasses, 10,378 of maple molasses, 111.882 of wine, anfl 9,258,545 of milk sold. In 1872 there were 2,093,308 acres of wheat under cultivation; Indian corn, 7,087,040; oats, 1,817,463; meadows, 2,178,237; other field products, 886,166; in enclosed pasture, 3,807,082 ; in orchard, 320,702 ; and in wood- land, 6,289,236. There were 930,947 horses, assessed at $48, 790,933; 2,014,801 cattle, $35,- 742,563; 98,316 mules and asses, $5,809,494; 1,092,080 sheep, $2,140,474; hogs, 3,560,083, $11,285,464. In manufacturing industry, Illi- nois is also classed among the first states of the Union. According to the census of 1870 it ranked sixth both in the amount of capital in- vested in manufactures and in the value of products. In the total amount of capital it was surpassed by Pennsylvania, New York, Massa-