STATE HORTIOULTURAL SOCIETY. 393 



all other trees. According to Prof. Sargent, Forestry Bulletin No. 

 5, 10th census of the United States, the total amount of standing 

 pine, May 1880, in Minnesota, was 6,100,000,000 feet, board 

 measure; while the amount cut during that year was 1,550,000,000 

 feet. 



Tlie original limits of the pine area upon its southern and wes- 

 tern sides was nearly as follows : Beginning at the eastern 

 boundary of the state a little above Taylors Falls, the line extended 

 westward through Isanti, the northeastern part of Benton, through 

 Morrison, Todd, Otter Tail, Becker, Polk, Marshall and Kittson 

 counties. At the present time, much of the pine bearing land 

 within that area has been cut over, and the above figures of lum- 

 ber yield will give one of a speculative turn of mind an opportunity 

 to calculate for himself how soon the practical exhaustion of onr 

 pine will occur, — an event which will throw upon our state large 

 tracts of land generally considered of but little value to the agri- 

 culturist, but which will nevertheless exert their influence upon the 

 climatic conditions of the state. 



Three grand drainage systems take their rise in Minnesota; the 

 Hudson Bay, the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. The areas 

 drained by these basins through their several tributaries are as 

 follows : 

 The Hudson Bay — 



Rainy Lake River 11,347 sq. miles. 



Red River 18,106 



Tiie St. Lawrence — 



The St. Louis river and other streams 7,689 " 



The Mississippi — 



Minnesota River (in Minn.) 15,706 " 



Tributaries of the Missouri in Southwestern Minnesota 6,399 " 



Des Momes River 1,639 " 



Cedar River 1,209 



St. Croix River (in Minn.) 3.669 



Other tributaries of the Mississippi below St. Paul 6,399 " 



Mississippi river above Ft Snelling 16,596 " 



Total 84,286* 



The state is not high above the sea; the four corners give re- 

 spectively the following altitudes: The Mississippi at low water 

 mark is at La Crosse 626 ft. above sea level, Lake Superior 602 ft., 



♦The above areas were computed with niucli care from the last edition of Warner & 

 Foote's map of Minnesota, and are believed to be veay nearly correct. 



