4 Western Live-stock Management 
an altitude of 2000 feet or more. The 2000-foot contour 
line runs north and south through the United States fol- 
lowing almost accurately the one-hundredth meridian and 
it is only a short distance west of that line to the 3000-foot 
contour and east to the 1000-foot contour. (See Fig. 1.) 
Fie. 1. — Altitude Map of United States. 
A high altitude, however, is about the only feature of topog- 
raphy which is nearly universal in this region. There is 
every possible variation of surface; immense plains almost 
absolutely level, rolling hills, and the wildest and most 
rugged mountains. The soil varies from the richest and 
deepest to solid rock. Generally speaking, however, the 
soil of the West, wherever the country is not too rough and 
rocky for tillage, is of extreme richness, whether it be in 
the lower valleys or on the rolling hills. 
