SO ton and Niobrara formations are well developed in the central and northern part of the State, but seldom appear along the eastern border. They are principally composed of blue clays and shales, and immediately overlie the Dakota sandstone. The Pierre group is found throughout the centre of North Dakota and its debris forms much of the soil and subsoil and of the glacial deposits which are scattered over the eastern half. The Pembina Mountains, called, are merely an eroded edge of this formation, and it is also everywhere found in the Turtle Mountain region. The Fox Hills group is to be found almost entirely under the Laramie and later deposits in the western part of the State, and, in portions of the Turtle Mountains and near Dickinson in Stark County, develops into an excellent building stone. The Laramie and its overlying Tertiary extend over a large portion of North Dakota west of the Missouri River. It consists principally of clays and shales, some of which are of great value for brick and pottery uses. In the same formation also are found immense beds of lignite coal. In addition to these deposits is the so-called Drift which is mainly to be found east of the Missouri River. This drift is composed of sand and clay mingled with gravel and boulders, and is merely the rock refuse which was carried along by and created by the glaciers of the past and which was deposited as the ice melted. It, however, has formed a soil which is of great depth and of great fertility. Minerals. About 32,000 square miles of the western portion of North Dakota are underlaid with lignite or half-made coal. The total production of this coal is hard to estimate as it is so abundant that the farmers often dig their own supplies from the hillsides. It is safe to say, however, that the annual output is at least 600,000 tons, and the government geologists estimate that the total deposits of the State are equal in heat units to the present total consumption of the United States for 99 years. Lignite is a free burner and an excellent gas coal, and the cheap fuel to be derived therefrom is destined to be of great value not merely for household and heating purposes but in the development of manufacturing centres, which are certain to arise. Together with the coal, indeed, and in the same areas, are to be found valuable and inexhaustible deposits of various kinds of clay which are of the highest grade and capable of almost any brick and pottery use. have also been found scattered throughout the Bad Lands, large quantities of paint rocks, of various colors, which only need the addition of oil or water for use. Antimony is also found in varying quantities. Natural gas is also found in more or less extended areas throughout the State. There There is in North Dakota comparatively little building stone that may be quarried, but large boulders are scattered everywhere throughout the western area. There is also limestone of excellent quality, as well as large quantities of cement material and glass sand. Flora and Fauna. The forested area of North Dakota is very small, and is mainly to be found in the Pembina, Turtle Mountains and the Devils Lake regions, where grow oak and ash, poplar and birch, willow and boxelder, plum and bullcherry and other deciduous trees. Along the Missouri are large cottonwoods and along the Red River some elm. The characteristic wild animals are timber and prairie wolves, panthers and wild cats, gophers, prairie dogs and deer. Trappers also find otter, mink, beaver, raccoon and badger. Sportsmen shoot much grouse, prairie chicken, wild geese and wild ducks. Climate and Rainfall. The mean annual temperature for the State is 39° F. At Bismarck, in the south centre, it is 4° in January and 67° in July, with extremes of -44° and 106°. At Williston, in the extreme northwest, the extremes are - 49° and 107°. The dryness of the atmosphere makes these great extremes not only bearable but healthful. The average annual precipitation for the whole State is about 17 inches, and decreases from 20 inches in the Red River Valley to 14 inches in the extreme west. As only 2 per cent of this, however, falls in the winter months, not only are the needs of agriculture fairly subserved but the suffering incident to humid cold is not present, and the winters, though cold, are healthful and stimulating. Soils and Agriculture.- Few States in the Union have a larger percentage of tillable land than has North Dakota, and though the character of the soil, the climatic conditions and the rainfall vary to a greater or lesser extent over its vast expanse, there are but small areas which are not marvelously fertile. Even the so-called Bad Lands from an economic standpoint are bad only in that they are broken and difficult to travel, and the richness of their valleys and the abundance of the coal, clay, argillaceous limestone and glass sand deposits there to be found more than counterbalance any drawbacks which may come from difficulties of road building. The soil is no doubt the richest in the Red River Valley, which is a wonderful bottom land where a black rich top soil of decayed vegetation overlies alluvium and glacial drift to a great depth and down to a clay subsoil which is itself rich farming ground. The marvelous fertility of this region, its ease of cultivation and its freedom from rocks and stones, for many years prevented a proper appreciation of the western area of the State, but there the mineral rescerces and climatic conditions are more to be desired and the agricultural possibilities, though at first less apparent, are almost as great. The soil in the western portion of North Dakota, indeed, though thinner than in the Red River Valley, is almost everywhere rich in the elements of plant growth, and, though more sandy, is on that account more friable and quicker. The climate, too, in the trans-Missouri region is perceptibly warmer than in the northeastern portions of the State, and this fact is of great importance, especially to the maturity of corn which is now an established crop. Perhaps, indeed, in no other State is the Creator's marvelous policy of compensation better illustrated than in North Dakota. The seasons for instance are comparatively short, but the days are proportionately long, and the hours of sunshine in the growing months of April, May, June, July and August are unusually high. During these months the total number of hours of possible sunshine at Springfield, Ill., is 2,174, while the number at Bismarck, North Dakota, is 2,269, and this fact is augmented by the rapidity with which the atmosphere clears after rainstorms. So, too, though the weather is severe in the winter, the frost often goes from six to eight feet beneath the surface of the ground, thus preserving the moisture which, during the growing months, gradually thaws and rises to the surface and feeds the crops during periods when the rainfall might otherwise be inadequate. Not only is this so, but the cold and extreme depth of frost over the great snowless plains (for on account of the rarity of the atmosphere North Dakota is comparatively free from snow), destroy countless millions of the larvæ and eggs of the predatory worms and insects. Though the average rainfall decreases toward the western portions of the State, the data of many years has shown that all but 2 per cent of this rainfall falls during the growing season, and if properly conserved is adequate to the needs of diversified farming. Crops. The greatest crop of North Dakota is wheat, of which she raised in 1915 no less than 155,845,963 bushels, and for which her farmers received the sum of $135,585,988. This sum, however, represents but a little over onehalf of what was received for other agricultural products, the total being $226,218,053, and being made up as follows: Wheat, 155,845,963 bushels, value $135,585,988; oats, 102,856,040 bushels, value $27,711,131; barley, 57,331,328 bushels, value $25,225,784; rye, 3,675,165 bushels, value $2,903,380; flax, 5,233,071 bushels, value $9,314,866; speltz, 2,744,160 bushels, value $1,042,781; potatoes 7,775,910 bushels, value $3,188,123; corn, 11,120,872 bushels, value $7,450,984; tame hay, 527,002 tons, value $4,216,016; wild hay, 1,670,000 tons, value $9,519,000. In addition to this were cattle, hogs and sheep fattened and killed for home use of a value of $3,609,956, and 600,000 hogs, 339,000 dairy cattle and 515,000 steers and other cattle, which were sold in the eastern market and were of the value of $9,058,180, also dairy and creamery products of the value of $5,000,000. In all a sum $243,886,189, or a total agricultural production of $381 for every man, woman and child within the State. In this estimate no allowance has been made for the wool clip, which in 1909 was 2,457,000 pounds, nor for the garden products, poultry, eggs and small fruits, the amount and value of which is rapidly increasing every year, but concerning which no accurate data can be obtained, Manufactures.-The enormous coal deposits and their close proximity to the fine pottery clays, which are to be found in inexhaustible quantities in the western part of the State, are destined in the near future to make a manufacturing centre of that region. At the present time, however, agriculture and cattle raising are the paramount industries and, with the exception of flour, creamery products, fire and pressed bricks, harnesses and candies, the factories of the State may be generally termed neighborhood manufactures. Of flour mills there are upwards of 60, with a daily capacity of 10,000 barrels. In 1914, the creameries consumed 13,462,000 pounds of cream, and in addition to this 10,000,000 pounds of butter were made in families. There are numerous brick plants and potteries, the largest of which are at Hebron and Dickinson, and whose pressed brick is marketed as far west as the Pacific Coast. In 1914, the capital invested in manufactures was $14,484,000, and the value of the products was $21,147,000. Banks and Banking.-All private banks are compelled by law to take out charters as State banks. In 1915, there were 650 State banks and 151 National banks, carrying total deposits of about $116,062,027. In addition to these institutions there were numerous building and loan associations, trust companies and other similar institutions. Transportation.- The Missouri River is navigable throughout its length but needs a clever pilot. The Red River is navigable from Fargo to Winnipeg, but boats run only from Grand Forks, The total railroad mileage is 6,281 miles. There are three principal railroad systems and several small local lines. The principal systems are the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific and the Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Sault Sainte Marie. The two former cross the entire State from east to west, the first mostly north of the parallel of 48°, and the latter a little south of the parallel of 47°. The Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Sault Sainte Marie cuts the State diagonally through its centre and connects with the Canadian Pacific at the northern boundary. The Chicago and Saint Paul and the Chicago and Northwestern railroads also enter the State with short branches in the south. All of these roads have numerous branch lines. Education. The public schools have a land endowment valued at $64,000,000. One-eighteenth of the lands of the State were reserved for their use in the outset by the constitution, making 2,531,200 acres. In addition to this some 500,000 acres were reserved for the support of the technical schools and schools of higher education and for the support of the charitable institutions. There were also set aside 50,000 acres for the use of the State capital. None of these lands may be sold for less than $10 an acre, and the State is obliged to make good any shortages. In 1915 $7,000,000 were expended for the support of the public schools. Of these there were 6,800 employing 8,000 teachers, and possessing sites and buildings of a value of $14,736,247. There are in addition to these schools the following institutions for higher and special education: an agricultural college at Fargo, State University at Grand Forks, with a School of Mines in connection, State Normal Schools at Valley City, Mayville and Minot, a Normal and Industrial School at Ellendale, a School of Forestry at Bottineau and a Scientific School at Wahpeton. There are also numerous agricultural experiment stations scattered through and supported by the State, and a large experiment and tree distributing station_at_Mandan, which is supported entirely by the Federal gov ernment. There is a college at Fargo, which was founded in 1887 by the Congregationalists, but which is now nonsectarian, a Methodist college at Grand Forks, which is affiliated with the State University, a Presbyterian college at Jamestown and a number of academies and parochial schools. The State also maintains a legislative reference bureau and an educational reference department. During 1915, the latter department ministered to the needs of |