NEBRASKA (ante), was originally a portion of the Louisiana territory ceded to the United States by France in 1803, and it formed successively a part of the Louisiana and Missouri territories until 1854. During the winter of that year Stephen A. Douglas suc ceeded, amid much political excitement, in having congress pass what was widely known as his Kansas-Nebraska bill, which resulted in the establishment of Nebraska as a territory. It included a part of Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and the n.e. portion of Colorado at that time; but in 1861 and 1863 it was reduced to its present limits. Up to the summer of 1854 it had had nb civilized residents except the soldiers sent to keep the Indian tribes in order, the missionaries, and the fur traders; and until the construction of the Pacific railroad the population increased very slowly. The principal growth has been since its admission to the union as a state, and during the past ten years it increased at a rapid rate. The pop. in '80, was 452,432-855,042 of American birth; 2,627 colored. Nebraska has also within the past few years begun to take a prominent place as an agri cultural and stock-raising state. The soil in the eastern part of the state is deep and fertile, and the whole region s. of the Platte river and e. of the 99th meridian is a rich black vegetable mold from two to ten ft. deep, slightly impregnated with lime, free from stones or gravel, and easily plowed to any depth required. The agricultural region embraces about 30,000 sq.m., extending 150 in. w. of the Missouri, and in the valley of the Platte 300 miles. Wheat, oats, sorghum, flax, hemp, and all vegetables may be raised; and below lat. 42° the common small fruits grew in abun dance. The grazing regions comprise about 23,000,000 acres, and is generally well watered. The wild grasses, of which 150 species have been classified, yield on the bot tom and table lands from to 3 tons an acre and are very nutritious. Large number; of cattle are brought from Texas and Kansas to be fattened on the grasses of Nebraska preparatory to sale; and the cattle drives which pass through the state are a growing source of material prosperity. The drive of 1879 from Texas and the south-western ranges is reckoned at 250,000 head, and that from Montana and Oregon at 100,000. Formerly Kansas was the northern limit of the drive; but the great rendezvous of le drovers, which used to be at Abilene on the Kansas Pacific road, is now to be found at Ogallala on the Union Pacific road in Nebraska, which point, it is believed, will soon become the greatest stock thoroughfare on the continent. Up to June, 1873, about
29,951,200 acres had been surveyed, and the number of acres of improved farm land in 1870 was nearly 700,000; number of farms, 12,301, of which 787 contained less than 10 acres each, 1,541 from 10 to 20, 5,096 from 20 to 50, 3.379, from 50 to 100, 1,487 from 100 to 500, and 11 from 500 to 1000. Their cash value was estimated to be $30.242,186; and the value of the farming implements and machinery to be $1,549,716. The esti mated value of all farm productions was $8,604,742. Chief among these productions were: spring wheat, 2,109,321 bush.; winter wheat, 15,765 bush.; rye, 13,532: Indian corn, 4,736,710; oats, 1,477,562; barley, 216,481; buckwheat, 3,471; peas and beans, 3,332; Irish potatoes, 739,984; sweet potatoes, 762; grass seed, 133; flax seed, 404; tobacco, 3,988 lbs.; wool, 74,655; butter, 1,539,535; cheese, 46,142; hops, 100; honey, 28,114; sorghum molasses, 77,598 galls. ; wine, 470; hay, 169,354 tons. Of the live stock, there were 30,511 horses; 2,632 mules and asses; 28,940 mulch cows; 5,931 working oxen; 45,057 other cattle; 22,725 sheep; and 59,449 swine. The greatest obstacle that the farmers have to contend against is the visitations of grasshoppers or locusts, and Nebraska seems to be more subject to devastations of this kind than most of the other western states. Active measures, however, have been taken to exterminate these insects, the legislature in 1879 having authorized road supervisors throughout the state to order out all voters in their respective precincts to do twelve days' work each in killing grass hoppers, for which each person will be paid $2 a day in county warrants. The climate is mild and dry, but drought rarely damages the crops, for the soil is such that it withstands extreme and prolonged heat. The mean temperature during the winter months ranges from 22° to 30°; that of the spring from 47° to 49°; of the summer from 70° to 74°; and of the autumn from 49° to 51°. The beat of the summer is tempered by the prairie winds, and the nights are usually cool. The greatest amount of rain falls in May and Julie. A weather-record, kept from 1863 to '69 at Nebraska City, gives the mean annual rainfall as 30.36 in., of which 20.87 in. fell between the first of April and the first of October, and only 9.49 in. between these dates reversed.