308 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITOEIES. 



partially sui)i)lie(l when the railroads haAing connection with thetimber- 

 districts ol" JMinnesota are extended into this regiom ; bnt these will 

 scarcely snpi)ly fuel at a rate that will meet the wants of the farmers. 

 It is true that coal can be brought in, but this will be a heavy tax on 

 the farniers of small means, who live far back on the prairies, and are 

 exhausting all their means and energy to start a farm into active opera- 

 tion ; yet this will probably be the only method of meeting this neces- 

 sity, unless corn is used for fuel, or forest-trees are timely planted and 

 in suflicient quantity. What is said here on this point also a[)i)lies to 

 portions of Nebraska, and to some extent to the southwest i>ortion of 

 Minnesota,* 1 know there is in the mind of the farmer of the States 

 who has labored hard through the hot days of summer in plowing his 

 corn, and in the fall in gathering and garnering it, a very strong dis- 

 like to the idea of using it for fuel ; but the true method of testing this 

 question is to count the cost. If, for illustration, sixty bushels of corn 

 in the ear — about thirty shelled — will equal, as fuel, one ton of coal, (I 

 do not know that this amount is correct; it is but a guess,) will it pay 

 to sell this corn at 20 cents per bushel (shelled measure) and buy coal 

 at $8 or $9 per ton, besides the hauling to and from a depot"? It is 

 a simple question of figures and not of fancy, and it would be well if 

 some one properly situated to do so would give us some practical infor- 

 mation on this subject. 



A kind of soft-chalk rock is found near Yankton, similar to that found 

 in ISebrasUa and Kansiis, which is used as a building-material. This 

 can be easily cut into blocks of any shape desired, but there is some 

 doubt about its durability, yet most of those who have tried it for a 

 number of years say it stands the test of experiment. 



In closing this brief account of the agricultural resources of Eastern- 

 Dakota, I should state that, after carefully weighing all the data I have 

 been able to obtain, together with my own observations, I am satisfied 

 that all west of James Iliver Valley must be counted as in a district 

 not sufficiently supplied with rain. 



Taking all the records of the rain-fall which have been kei)t in the 

 Territory for the five years from 18C7 to 1871, inclusive, we find the 

 average yearly amount to be only 14.09 inches, less than half that of 

 Minnesota, Iowa, or Eastern Nebraska. This entire amount is not 

 more than barely sufficient for the production of the cereals, and just 

 so much as we take from this general average to increase the amount 

 in the more favored sections, just in proportion do we lessen it in the 

 others. And that this average is not far from correct is shown by the 

 fact that there is no very great variation from it in either of the years 

 included: 1867,13.78 inches; 1868,11.03 inches; 1869, 14.17 inches; 

 1870, 15.12 inches ; 1871, 13.35 inches. The records, which are now 

 being kept at Yankton, Fargo, and Pembina, will doubtless increase 

 this average somewhat, but if an equal number of stations were made 

 in the drier sections of the interior and west, I am satisfied there 

 would be no increase. The meteorological data, therefore, so far as 

 obtained, corroborate the opinion I have advanced on this subject. 



NEBRASKA. 



I regret that I am compelled by want of time to cut short my proposed 

 account of the agricultural resources of this young State, which is so 

 rapidly filling up and rising to importance and influence, and which the 

 late census shows as standing at the head of the list, so far as the ratio 

 of common-school education to the population is concerned. 



