IOWA 



3036 



IOWA 



I I5QO TO 1000 FEET 

 ^1000 TO 1500 FEET 



H500FEETandover 



ELEVATION ABOVE SEA LEVEL 



tributed through the year in the most favor- 

 able manner. That is, over seventy per cent 

 of the rain falls during the growing months, 

 from April to October. The northern part 

 of the state frequently has very heavy snows, 

 which drift before the northwest winds. 



Agriculture. Iowa is one of the leading 

 agricultural states in the United States; for 

 years, indeed, it has ranked first in the value 

 of its farm products. Over ninety-five per cent 

 of its land area is in farms, and of this amount 

 eighty-seven per cent is improved. The Iowa 

 farmers have had comparatively few discour- 

 aging circumstances to contend with; no irri- 

 gation has been necessary; no forests have had 

 to be cut down, no stony ground to be worked 

 over, and practically everywhere the land is 

 level enough to make machinery practicable. 



One who travels straight across Iowa in the 

 summer months needs not to ask what the 

 chief crop is, for there stretch away on every 

 side, as far as the eye can reach, endless fields 

 of waving corn. Most years Illinois produces 

 more corn than any other state, though Iowa 

 runs it a close second and sometimes leads. 

 Almost one-third of the cultivated area of the 

 state is planted to corn, and the yield is over 

 300,000,000 bushels yearly. Next in importance 

 are oats, hay and wheat, in that order, and 

 there are also each year considerable crops of 

 barley and potatoes and other vegetables. In 

 oats, over 160,000,000 bushels, Iowa is second 

 only to Illinois. Orchard fruits, especially 

 apples and grapes and strawberries, are success- 

 fully grown, and the flower-raising and nursery 

 industries are of importance. 



Stock Raising. Grass-grown prairies, streams 

 of clear, pure water, and abundance of corn 

 and oats are the conditions needed for suc- 

 cessful stock raising, and in Iowa these are 

 admirably combined. As a result the state 



CZDLESS THAN 25 1NCHESEM30T035 ^i INCHES 

 30 INCHES H35 INCHES and over 



ANNUAL RAINFALL 



ranks first in the Union in the total value of 

 its live stock, far surpassing all the other states 

 in its number of hogs, and having more cattle 

 than any other state except Texas. It leads 

 in the number of chickens, too, and in its 

 yearly egg output, and stands among the fore- 

 most dairy states. Only New York and Wis- 

 consin surpass it in total dairy products. In 

 the number and value of its stock, as in its 

 farm area and crops, Iowa has remained fairly 

 constant for several years. 



The Chief Minerals. Coal occupies, among 

 the minerals of Iowa, the same preeminent 

 position that corn does among the crops, about 

 three-fifths of the total output of the mines 

 being coal of the bituminous variety. More 

 than one-third of the state, it is estimated, is 

 underlaid by coal beds, but some of the coal 

 exists under conditions not suitable for mining, 

 so that the workable area is only about 13,000 

 square miles. Iowa exports little of its annual 

 yield of 7,500,000 tons or thereabouts, finding 

 ample use for it within the state. 



Next in importance is clay the kinds 

 whereof drain-tile and common bricks are 

 made; and in the production of these Iowa 

 ranks high. There is also a large output of 

 cement, and the state is second in the produc- 

 tion of gypsum. Years ago the lead and zinc 

 mines were valuable, but to-day they seem 

 almost exhausted and the yield is very smalL 

 See map for location of minerals. 



Manufactures. For many years the manu- 

 factures of Iowa were decidedly limited, just 

 because the agricultural advantages were so 

 great, but gradually manufacturing industries 

 grew out of the agricultural, and within the 

 last two or three decades they have become of 

 very considerable importance. Sioux City is 

 the chief industrial center of the state, Cedar 

 Rapids and Des Moines ranking next. 



