SOUTH CAROLINA 



SOUTH DAKOTA 



1691 



adapted. The cherry, peach, pear, grape, small fruits 

 and apple afford a tempting variety. The succession of 

 fruits spans the seasons, the winter apples lasting until 

 strawberries are ripe. While little has been done in this 

 great region towards growing fruit and vegetables for 

 shipment, tlie cotton mills, so numerous in this section, 

 have converted the farms in their vicinity into market- 

 gardens. The typical mountain wagons, hooded with 

 white canvas, laden with luscious apples, mammoth 

 cabbages, mealy potatoes and fragrant onions, products 

 of the rude methods of the inhabitants of the highland 

 region, are only suggestions of the possibilities of the 

 fertile valleys and mountain coves under the manipula- 

 tion of skilful hands guided by the trained head. 



J. S. Newman. 



SOUTH DAKOTA, HORTICULTURE IN. Fig. 2356. 

 South Dakota, the twenty - seventh state admitted into 

 the Union, lies a little north of the center of the con- 

 tinent, between lat. 45° 57' N. and 42° 28' S. and long. 

 96° 26' and 104° 3' W. of Greenwich. Its shape is 

 approximately a rectangle. Its extreme length from 

 east to west is 386 miles; extreme breadth north to 

 south 240 miles; area 76,815 square miles; population 

 (in 1900) 401,570. The Missouri river divides the state 

 into two nearly equal portions. With the exception of a 

 small area in the northeast corner, the southeast part is 

 lowest and all the streams flow in that direction. The 

 state may be divided into three sections: (1) the Black 

 Hills; (2) the Table-lands; (3) the Eastern Section. 

 The Black Hills in 

 the southwestern 

 part are outliers of 

 the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and the ex- 

 tensive and very 

 rich deposits of 

 gold, silver, and 

 other minerals are 

 important sources 

 of wealth. The 

 Indians early knew 

 of these gold de- 

 posits, but they 

 were not known to 

 white men until 

 1874. The Black 

 Hills, so named by 

 the Indians because 

 of the heavy forests 

 of pine and spruce 

 covering the moun- 

 tains, include an 

 area of about 5,000 

 square miles. Con- 

 siderable fruit is 

 now being raised in 

 this section under 

 irrigation, as the 

 local market is a 

 profitable one, and 

 it has been found 

 possible to raise 

 many varieties not 

 hardy upon the 

 open prairies of the 

 state. 



The Table -lands 

 ■comprise the entire 

 section of the state 



west of the Missouri river, with the exception of the 

 Black Hills. Five branches of the Missouri flow from 

 the western part of the state across these lands from 

 west to east. These are White, Bad, Cheyenne, Moreau 

 or Owl, and Grand rivers. The rainfall in this part is 

 too light to make general farming feasible, but the 

 native grasses are very nutritious and stock-raising 

 is profitable. Cattle, horses and sheep are raised in im- 

 mense numbers and feed the year round upon these 

 ranges, the dry climate curing the grass into the best of 

 hay as it stands. 



"rhe eastern section contains three river valleys that 

 cross it from north to south, viz., the eastern half of 



the Missouri, the James river valley and the Big Sioux 

 river on the eastern border. In the southern part the 

 valley of the Vermillion traverses the region between 

 the Sioux and the James. These river vallej's are all 

 very fertile and blend together as they reach the Mis- 

 souri at the south. Diversified agriculture flourishes in 

 these rich valleys, especially in the southern and entire 

 eastern part of this section. In the higher ground in 

 the northern and western part, stock-raising and dairy- 

 ing are the main industries owing to the lesser rainfall. 

 Since the defining of the artesian-well basin, general 

 agriculture has been encroaching upon the grazing areas. 

 This basin reaches from the Missouri river eastward to 

 some distance beyond the James. The pressure and flow 

 of these artesian wells varies from a few pounds to 200 

 pounds per square inch. A flow of more than 3,000 gal- 

 lons per minute has been obtained from an 8-inch well. 

 These wells are from 100 to 1,500 feet in depth, and 

 afford a valuable means of irrigation and cheap water- 

 power. The water is supposed to come from the Rocky 

 Mountain region. The amount of this supply which can 

 be used has been roughly estimated at 326,805,600,000 

 cubic feet annually, an amount of water sufficient to 

 fill a river-bed a mile wide, 20 feet deep and nearly 600 

 feet long. When this water is more generally utilized, 

 it is confidently believed that the horticultural area 

 shown on the map will be extended to include the en- 

 tire state east of the Missouri river. 



Horticulture in South Dakota is to a considerable ex- 

 tent still in the experimental stage. Most of the plant- 



23S6. Map of South Dakota. 



Showing areas favorable to fruit-growing, the broken-shaded portions being the most favorable. 



ing of orchard fruits has been done since the last "cru- 

 cial test" winter of 1884-85, hence it will be difficult to 

 give a safe list until after the next test winter. A 

 glance at the map will show that the state extends well 

 below the north line of Iowa, and as a matter of fact 

 we find that the South Dakota fruit list partakes of both 

 Iowa and Minnesota in its characteristics. The southern 

 tier of counties in the southeast corner of the state can 

 raise varieties of the apple which are not at all hardy 

 northward in the state. It is interesting to trace the 

 orcharding belt along the great river from far down in 

 Missouri northward between Iowa and Nebraska and 

 northward into South Dakota. In the Sioux and James 



