538 



NEBRASKA. 



Statistics of the distributable school fund for 

 1877: 



From interest on bonds $18^75 69 . 



From interest on certificates'. 16,584 20 



From interest on private securities 145 00 



Unpaid principal of school lands 64,457 21 



Kents of school lands 21,95889 



One-mill State tax 66,68409 



Normal school endowment fond . . 827 28 



Fractional remainder 3 75 



$179,735 56 

 Deduct sundry appropriations 10,453 68 



Total amount apportioned in 1877 f 169,281 88 



The receipts of cattle at Omaha during the 

 past two years are shown in the following 

 statement : 



SUMMABY. 



Nebraska embraces an area of 75,995 square 

 miles, and has a population of about 260,000. 

 The general surface approximates to a vast 

 plain rising gradually from the Missouri River 

 toward the mountains. The bottoms are level ; 

 the prairies, of which the surface mostly con- 

 sists, are either gently undulating or broken 

 into low hills and ridges. There are few hills 

 of magnitude, and no mountains except at the 

 west and northwest, where the land rises into 

 the Black Hills and Rocky Mountains. No 

 large lakes have been discovered, but lakelets, 

 rivers, and streams are numerous. The only 

 navigable river, however, is the Missouri, which 

 forms the northeast and east boundary line. 

 Entering the State near the northwest corner 

 is the Niobrara, which, after forming a part of 

 the northern boundary, empties into the Mis- 

 souri near the northeast corner of the State. 

 The Keya Paha, a tributary of the Niobrara, 

 also forms the boundary line for a short dis- 

 tance on the north. The principal river is the 

 Platte, which, rising in the Rocky Mountains 

 in Colorado, flows east through the central 

 part of the State, and empties into the Mis- 

 souri. It is wide, rapid, and shallow, and 

 passes through a valley which is remarkable 

 for its fertility, and which for 200 miles west 

 from Omaha is from 8 to 10 miles wide. The 

 Platte has numerous tributaries on the north, 

 the chief of which are "Wood River, Loup Fork, 



and Elkhom Eiver. It has no important 

 tributary from the south, but that part of the 

 State is well watered by streams flowing into 

 Kansas, the chief being the Republican, Little 

 Blue, West Blue, and Big Blue Rivers. The 

 Great Nemaha and Little Nemaha are small 

 rivers in the southeastern part of the State, 

 flowing into the Missouri. 



Excepting that made in 1867, under the di- 

 rection of the United States Geologist, Dr. F. 

 V. Hayden, there has been no geological sur- 

 vey of Nebraska. But four of the principal 

 geological formations are represented in the 

 State, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and 

 Tertiary, Of the Carboniferous strata, only 

 the upper members occur, and these are over- 

 laid, from the longitude of Lincoln west, by 

 the Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary deposits. 

 Minerals have not yet been found to any con- 

 siderable extent. Thin beds of bituminous 

 and block coal exist in the southeast counties, 

 and of lignite in the Cretaceous and Tertiary. 

 The scarcity of coal renders more valuable the 

 extensive beds of peat found in some parts of 

 the State. Some iron ores occur, but the coal 

 yet found is not sufficient to utilize them. 

 Stone for building purposes is found, including 

 limestone, dark yellowish-gray-sandstone, and 

 a dark-red freestone. Clay for the manufac- 

 ture of brick is easily obtained, and good pot- 

 ter's clay is abundant. In the southeast part 

 of the State are extensive saline deposits. The 

 principal basin is in Lancaster County, near 

 Lincoln, and embraces an area of 12 by 25 

 miles. These springs contain by weight 29 per 

 cent, of remarkably pure salt The salt is ob- 

 tained by solar evaporation, which is facilitated 

 by the marked dryness of the atmosphere. 

 Alum has also been discovered. 



The eastern part of Nebraska is a rich agri- 

 cultural region, while the western half is well 

 adapted to grazing. The line of division is 

 about longitude 99 west, although there is a 

 large amount of fine agricultural lands west of 

 this line, and some grazing lands east of it. 

 The agricultural region embraces about 30,000 

 square miles, extending about 150 miles west 

 of the Missouri, and in the valley of the Platte 

 about 300 miles. It is divided into bottom and 

 prairie lands. The soil of the latter is a rich, 

 black vegetable mould from 2 to 5 feet deep, 

 slightly impregnated with lime, and withstands 

 great extremes of drought. The bottom lands 

 along the river banks have a rich alluvial soil. 

 "Wheat, corn, barley, oats, sorghum, flax, hemp, 

 and all vegetables flourish, and below latitude 

 42 sweet potatoes are easily cultivated. "Wild 

 plums and grapes are found in great abundance, 

 while raspberries, gooseberries, cherries, and 

 other small fruits are common. Tobacco also 

 finds a congenial soil and climate. Apples, 

 plums, and pears are cultivated, and peaches 

 succeed south of the Platte River. The wild 

 grasses, of which there are upward of 150 

 species, grow luxuriously on the bottom and 

 table lands, yielding from 1 to 3 tons per acre ; 



