The State of Missouri [pp. 481-489]

THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
miles. It is half as large again as New York, and more than eigqht
times the size of Massachusetts. It would make a score of German
principalities. Larger than England and Wales, or Scotland and
Ireland, it is equal to one-third of the area of France. The State is
318 miles long by 280 broad. Of its 43,000,000 acres, at least
35,000,000 are valuable for the purpose of agriculture or mining.
The geographical advantages of Missouri are peerless. The State
lies not only in the centre of the Mississippi Valley, but near the
heart of the continent. Its metropolis, lying upon the Pacific Railroad, will be the halfway station between the oceans, and the great
central emporium for the distribution of the productions of the Mississippi Valley. This destiny is inevitable. It is tl-he glorious necessity of physical geography.
DELIGHITFUL CLIMATE. —Missouri lies between the parallels of 36
deg. 30 min. and 40 deg. 36 min. north latitude. The climate is the
golden mean of the temperate zone. Its salubrity is proverbial.
The summers are long and warm. The winters are generally short
and mild. On the parallel of St. Louis the fall of snow is seldom
more than two or three inches deep, and. rarely remains on the
ground a week. Sleigh-rides are unfrequent and unsatisfactory.
They illustrate the pursuit of pleasure under difficulty. The balmy
airs of the Indian summer temper to delightful softness the tardy
approach of winter. The average temperature of November, 1865,
was 46 deg. 39 min. Semi-tropic fruits mature in Southern Missouri,
while the productions of higher latitudes flourish in the Northern portions of the State. The soil of the river-bottoms and rolling prairie is
inexhaustibly fertile, and even the mining regions are capable of supporting a large agricultural population. The surface of Missouri is
varied and undulating. Hills and mountains diversify and intersect
the State. The copious streams which flow from these elevations
fertilize the valleys, and afford a motive power which the level
prairie can never supply. Missouri invites manufacturers to her
borders, with the offer of rare facilities. If natural adaptation is any
index of destiny, then this State will ultimately become the workshop of the Mississippi Valley.
Missouri is heavily wooded. Her forests contain fuel and timber
amply sufficient to meet the wants of a population of 10,000,000.
The mineral wealth of the State is illimitable. Probably no equal
area on the face of the globe surpasses Missouri in the richness and
variety of her minerals. Her vaults are stored with almost every
kind of ore which the arts of men require. The key to all this
wealth is a spade. The lock which secures this treasure is earthany man can pick it.
The State, though rent and scarred by convulsions, is restored to
sanity and health. It is now ready to commnence an unobstructed
career of development. The motives of freedom, fertility of soil,
salubrity of climate, wealth of minerals, facilities for commerce and
manufactures, and ease of railroad and river transportation, are the
material advantages which invite the capitalist, the tradesnman, and
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