Another way to make this region more useful is to find new crops suited to dry land. Plant explorers sent out by the United States Government have found in the dry parts of China a cousin of the corn plant called sorghum, and in dry South Africa they found another cousin called Kafir corn. (Fig. 109.) Both of these grains make crops in seasons in which the corn of Illinois would fail because of drought. The crops are not often sent to market but are used for feeding farm animals where the crops are grown. New drought-resistant kinds of winter wheat are being grown in western Kansas and Ne braska, in eastern Colorado and Wyoming, and northern Texas.
109. The Black Hills.—The rock layers of the Great Plains are usually flat except in the Black Hills. (Fig. 114.) These mountains are forest covered and have many rich gold and silver mines.
Fig. 118. The five lead ing cattle-raising states in the United States, 1919-20. Milch cows and cattle. (Number) 110. Cities.—Would you expect to find many cities, or any large cities in such a region? The largest city is Denver, a great trade center. The location of the city is beautiful be cause the Rocky Moun tains. tower above it. A few miles to the south, at the foot of Pike's Peak, is Colo rado Springs, a f am ou s health resort. • Denver and Pueblo stand on the western edge of the plain. They Ire gateways from the plains into the moun tains, and from the mountains into the plains.
These cities draw support from both mountains and plains. They have many smelters, which melt ores from many moun tain mines, and they have stores which keep supplies for the mining towns in the moun tains as well as for the ranches and farms A the plains. The other towns of the Great
Plains are much smaller, supported by rail road repair shops on the several lines that :.,ross the plains, and by stores which often mpply people living many miles away.
111. Coal.—In several places coal is found beneath this plain. (Fig. 44.) The quality is not as good as that of the coal of Pennsyl vania and Ohio, but the quantity is abundant. If France had all the coal of the Great Plains, she would be richer in coal than all the rest Df Europe combined. Will this coal make manufacturing cities in the Great Plains? 112. Population.—This large region, which is from 300 to 400 miles wide and 1500 miles long, i slarger than England, France, and Germany combined, but it now has fewer people than Chicago or Philadelphia.
113. Devel opment.— Plainly, this will be a land of large ranches for many years, but it may easily pro duce butter and dried milk if need arises.
The cool nights that come with high elevation make the climate gOod for potatoes. If the demand should arise, the irrigated sections, which can be considerably enlarged, might grow great quantities of potatoes. Enormous quanti ties are now grown at Greeley, Colorado.
By the use of the tractor and of the new drought-resisting crops, such as Kafir corn, sorghum, Turkey Red wheat, and barley, large areas of this country may be cultivated and made to produce great quantities of food.
This land should always be the home of those who love animals, the out of doors, the wind, the sunshine, and the wide spaces of the earth.