The Milking Shorthorn in the Corn Belt 



By J. L. Tormey 



A glance at the history of the Great American Corn Belt re- 

 veals a page in the Agricultural Evolution of our country that is 

 almost romantic. Here in the central part of our great country, 

 almost midway between the two great oceans of the world, is a 

 scope of country unequalled for natural resources in the world. All 

 the natural conditions for food production to feed an Empire exist. 

 Blessed by nature with rich soil, a topography that makes work- 

 ing the land an easy problem, watered by the tributaries of the 

 Great Father of Waters, that are fed by the snows of the two great 

 back bones of the nation, and traversed by the greatest trunk- 

 lines of railways and waterways to be found anywhere in the 

 world, is it any wonder that the American Corn Belt is the 

 envy of the world? 



In the history of nations there is perhaps no parallel to the 

 marvellous growth that has taken place here in less than a cen- 

 tury of time. It is easily within the memory of many, when the 

 Red Man travelled unmolested over much of the fertile prairie 

 land of the Mississippi and the Missouri. The tepee has given 

 way to the beautiful home. Large, comfortable barns and silos 

 without number have supplanted the great open, and providence 

 against the elements has supplanted the reckless methods of a 

 former generation. 



Many changes have taken place in this great territory in the 

 past few decades. Early inhabitants of Central Illinois and Iowa 

 found cattle grazing lucrative. This, however, was only tempo- 

 rary. Following the Civil War came a period of expansion. 

 Our friends in the North Eastern part of the country remember 

 this period as one marked by great activity in manufacturing and 

 commercial lines. Increase in population called for greater food 

 production. The native American has been noted for his nomad- 

 ic inclinations. In the words of Horace Greeley, they "went 

 West and grew up with the country." 



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