SOIL SURVEY OF BANI^ER COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 9 



The transportation facilities in Banner County are inadequate, 

 and this condition is largely the cause of its slow development. 

 There are no railroads in the county. One passes tlirough Kimball, 

 about 11 miles south, and another through Gering, 8 miles north of 

 the county. A stage line from Kimball to Scottsbluff crosses the cen- 

 tral part of the area from north to south, passing through Harris- 

 burg. The wagon roads in the south-central, southwestern, and 

 northwestern parts of the county are good and follow for the most 

 part section lines. In the Pumpkin Creek Valley the roads are not 

 so well established, and in the areas of Rough broken land in the 

 southeastern and northern parts of the count)^ they are few and poor. 

 All are earth roads. The county is not supplied with rural mail 

 delivery routes, though rural telephone lines are fairly well dis- 

 tributed. 



There are no markets in Banner County for any of the farm pro- 

 duce, the nearest ones being along the railroads in Kimball and 

 Scotts Bluff Counties. Most of the grain is hauled to the elevators 

 located at Kimball and Bushnell, in Kimball County. Live stock 

 is generaly dri^^en to Gering or Scottsbluff for shipment. The 

 heavy hauling required to get grain over the steep escarpments bor- 

 dering both sides of the Pumpkin Creek Valley, together Avith the 

 long distances to market, has had a tendency to discourage commer- 

 cial grain growing in the valley. 



CLIMATE. 



The climate of Banner County is typical of the High Plains 

 country. It is characterized by cold winters and short summers, with 

 great extremes in temperature. The rainfall, which is always low, 

 generally comes in the form of local showers, which occasionally are 

 torrential. Hail sometimes does considerable damage over local 

 areas. 



The following table, compiled from records from the Weather 

 Bureau station at Kimball, covering a period of 25 years, gives the 

 normal monthly, seasonal, and annual temperature and precipitation, 

 and the precipitation for the wettest and driest years . 

 29367°— 21 2 



