“ Stock-raising is naturally associated with the raising of corn, oats, and forage crops. Compared with other States, stock-raising holds a still higher rank than the raising of crops. Texas alone rivals Iowa in the value of live stock, and is the only State which exceeds it in the number of cattle. Iowa is far in advance of all others in the number of swine, and leads also in the number of horses. A very low rank, however, is taken in the number of mules and sheep. The number of neat cattle, horses, and swine has increased for every decade between 1850 and 1900. ”

“ It is only where the rivers have eroded their channels through the glacial drift, forming steep bluffs, and in some places rocky cañons, that the country is at all rugged. The greater portion of its area, though not perfectly level, is so free from natural obstructions that the country roads are laid out in squares, crossing at right angles with the absolute regularity of a checker-board. The State is divided into two hydrographic systems, the eastern two-thirds being drained by the direct affluents of the Mississippi, and the western third by those of the Missouri. ”

“ Iowa's prosperity is based upon agriculture and not manufacturing. Notwithstanding the excellence of the transportation facilities and the abundant coal-supply, the State depends upon the East in a large measure for its manufactured supplies, and a large portion of the farm products of the State are shipped to outside points to be manufactured. In the decade 1880-90 the number of wage-earners engaged in manufacturing increased 79.9 per cent., while in the following decade the increase was 14.7 per cent. ”

“ The county system of superintendents is at the disadvantage of being made a political matter, and the popularly elected superintendents serve for only the brief term of two years. With one exception, Iowa pays the lowest average monthly salary to both male and female teachers of any State west of the Mississippi. Before 1900 the State provision for normal training was inadequate, and but a comparatively small per cent. ”

“ Education. According to the census of 1900, no State has a lower per cent. of illiterates than Iowa, the figure being only 2.3 per cent. of the population over ten years of age, as compared with 10.7 for the whole country. This showing is noteworthy in view of the fact that there is no compulsory school-attendance law. In 1899 76.2 of the population between five and twenty-one years were enrolled in public schools, of whom 65.6 attended ‘regularly.’ The average length of the school term in 1900 was 158 days, which was lower than it had been before for more than a decade. ”

“ Bituminous coal is extensively mined in the eastern part of the State. An average of over 10,000 men are employed annually in the industry. In the early part of the decade 1890-1900, the production averaged a little in excess of 4,000,000 tons annually, but in the latter years of that period it exceeded 5,000,000 tons annually. The value of the product at the mine in 1900 was $6,968,866. Only one State west of the Mississippi River, Colorado, exceeds Iowa in the value of its coal output. ”

“ While the Catholics have the largest number of members of any Church, the membership of the Methodist Church, together with its adherents, is much stronger, and is almost twice as great as that of any other Protestant denomination. ”

“ Forest areas are small in Iowa; they are chiefly confined to the faces of the bluffs along the river-courses. The most common trees are the oak, elm, cottonwood, hickory, and maple, while scanty forests of pine and cedar are found on some of the bluffs. Grasses are the predominating feature of the landscape as well as of the flora of the State.
AREA AND POPULATION OF IOWA BY COUNTIES.
Climate and Soil. ”

“ There is no large centre of population in Iowa, and the percentage of the urban population is resultingly small as compared with most of the North Central States. In 1900 the 33 towns having a population exceeding 4000 each, contained 20.5 of the total population. ”

“ The decrease in the number of dairy cows, as shown by the census for the decade 1890-1900, is probably due to the change in the method of making the count, and is therefore more apparent than real. Much attention is given to the improvement of the breed of stock, and the effect of this is shown in the high average of the per head value. ”

“ A proposed amendment must receive a majority vote of the members elected to each of the two Houses at two consecutively chosen Legislatures and then be approved by a majority of the State electors at a popular election. Male citizens who have resided in the State six months, and in the county sixty days, and who are accounted of sane mind and have not been convicted of any infamous crime, are allowed to vote. ”

“ Iowa lies entirely within the great central prairie belt. Its surface is a plateau with an average height of 1000 feet in the northwestern corner of the State, the highest point, Waneta in O'Brien County, being 1562 feet above sea-level. ”