Climate.— The climate of Missouri, lying as it does far from the ocean and unprotected by mountain ranges, is one of extremes in heat and cold, moisture and drought. The Ozark range is high enough to influence the climate locally, but not to affect that of the whole State. The mean summer temperature for the ten years 1870-80 ranged from 75° in the north-west of the State to 78° ’ 5 in the south-east; but the thermometer has been known to rise to 104°. The winter temperature averaged 33° ’ 87 for the whole State, varying from 28°'5 in the north-west to 39° '5 in the south-east. In some winters the temperature hardly falls to zero; in others 20° below zero have been registered. The Mississippi at St Louis freezes over once in four or five years; but this is partly caused by the accumulations of floating ice coming down from the north. The river has closed as early as the first week in December, and, again, has remained open until the last week in February. It is in cold seasons sometimes passable for the heaviest teams. The Missouri river is often closed during the whole winter. The mean annual temperature of the State varies from 53° to 58°. The climate is, on the whole, dry ; for, in spite of the abundant rains, especially in the spring, evaporation is so rapid that the atmosphere is rarely overloaded with moisture. April is the driest month. The greatest amount of rain falls in the south-eastern part of the State. An unusual amount of fair weather, prevailing clearness of sky, general salubrity of soil and climate, are chief among the natural advantages of this great State.

Geology. — The stratified rocks of Missouri belong to the following divisions :—Quaternary, Tertiary, Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian, and Archaean. The Quaternary system comprises the drift, 155 feet thick; the bluff, 200 feet above the drift; then the bottom prairie, 35 feet thick · and on the surface the alluvium, 30 feet in thickness. Clays with strata of sands, marls, and humus form the alluvial bottoms of the two great rivers of the State, and make up a soil deep, light, and incomparably rich. Beneath the alluvium is found the bottom prairie, made up also of sands, clays, and vegetable moulds. This formation is found only in the bottom lands of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and more abundantly in those of the former. Numerous and well-preserved organic remains are found in the bottom prairie, including the shells found in great quantities in the bluff and remains of the mastodon and many trees and plants. Below this formation, resting upon the drift, is the bluff. This rests upon the ridges and river bluffs, and thus is topographically higher, although geologically lower, than the bottom prairie. It is composed chiefly of a grey siliceous marl, coloured sometimes to a deep brown or red by the stains of oxide of iron. This formation extends along the bluffs of the Missouri from Fort Union to its mouth, and is found capping those of the Mississippi from Dubuque to the mouth of the Ohio. It is sometimes 200 feet thick; at St Joseph it is 140, at Booneville 100, at St Louis 50, in Marion county only 30 feet. This formation has interesting fossils (Elephas primigenius, <fcc.). The drift, the lowest of the Quaternary system, appears in the altered drift, the boulder formation, made up largely of the igneous and metamorphic rocks, with rocks from the Palaeozoic strata upon which the others rest. Large boulders, five or six feet in diameter, are found, usually of granite or metamorphic sandstone; no fossils except a few logs in the altered drift have been found in this formation. The Tertiary formation in Missouri is composed of clays, shales, iron ores, sandstone, and sand, and extends along the bluffs and bottoms of the south-east part of the State. Iron ore is found in this formation in great abundance; sand of the best quality for glass-making and clays for pottery and stoneware also abound. Below the Tertiary bed are found rocks which strongly resemble Cretaceous beds found in other places in the United States. These strata are in such a state of irregularity and disturbance as to indicate the occurrence of some great movements after their deposition and before the formation of the Tertiary strata. The Upper Carboniferous system, or coal measures, made up of sandstone, limestone, marl, coal, and iron ores, covers an area of more than 23,000 square miles in Missouri, occupying the western and northern portions of the State. The supply of bituminous and cannel coals found here would seem to be well-nigh inexhaustible. In the Lower Carboniferous rock are found many varieties of limestone and sandstone. Among these are the Upper Archimedes Limestone, 200 feet; Ferruginous Sandstone, 195 feet; Middle Archimedes Limestone, 50 feet; St Louis Limestone, 250 feet. The Devonian system is represented by limestone in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Callaway, Saline, and Ste Genevieve counties, among which occur the Chouteau Limestone, 85 feet; Lithographic Limestone, 125 feet; Onondaga Limestone, 100 feet. Of the Upper Silurian series are the following formations:—Lower Helderberg, 350 feet; Niagara Group, 200 feet; Cape Girardeau Limestone, 60 feet. Prominent among the Lower Silurian formations are the Trenton Limestone, 360 feet; the Black River and Bird’s Eye Limestone; and the Magnesian series. The last-named series is valuable both in a scientific and an economic sense. It covers much of the southern and south-eastern portions of the State, and in it are found vast deposits of lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, iron ores, and marble. The Archaean rocks occur below the Silurian deposits, and contain siliceous and other slates in which no fossils are found. The porphyry rocks of this formation also contain iron ores.

Coal.— The exposed coal in Missouri includes upper, middle, and lower measures. In the first are about 4 feet of coal, and the area of exposure is about 8400 square miles. The middle coal measures contain about 7 feet of coal, and cover an exposed area of about 2000 square miles. The lower measures have five workable seams, varying from 18 inches in thickness to 4 A feet, and also some thin seams of only a few inches. In 1880 556,304 bushels of bituminous coal were raised in thirty-five counties of Missouri, the value at the pit mouth being $1,060,225. $642,772 were paid in wages to 2599 persons. The Missouri coal mines are easily worked.

Aon.—The iron ores are red haematite, red oxide, specular iron, brown haematite or limonite, and clay ironstone. Manganiferous and siliceous specular ores occur in the porphyries of the Archaean rocks, and in the granites. The greatest exposure of specular iron yet discovered is Iron Mountain, the purest mass or body of iron ore known. Analysis shows it to contain from 65 to 69 per cent, of metallic iron. The ore of Shepherd Mountain is not so rich as that of Iron Mountain, but is uniform in character, free from sulphur and phosphoric acid and on the whole superior to any other yet developed in Missouri. Pilot Knob ore gives 53 to 60 per cent, metallic iron, and has few deleterious substances. It is fine-grained, light bluish grey in colour. The ore of the Scotia iron banks and Iron Ridge are much alike in appearance and character, being specular boulders imbedded in soft red haematite. In some of these boulders are cavities in which the ore has taken botryoidal form, and upon these peroxide of iron crystallizations are so formed that a gorgeous show of prismatic colours is presented. The above are the chief deposits of iron ores, but limonites are found mostly in the southern parts of the State. The counties of Ste Genevieve, Madison, St François, Capo Girardeau, Bollinger, Wayne, Stoddard, Washington, Reynolds, Shannon, Carter, and Ripley have the greatest exposures of these ores, although they are found in many others. The supply of iron ores is, indeed, practically inexhaustible.

Lead.— Second only to iron among the metals of Missouri is the vast deposit of lead found in the southern parts of the State. The great disseminated lead region occupies about one-half of the northern portion of Madison, and about as much of St François county. It is in the magnesian limestone that the largest quantities have been found. In Franklin county galena is found in abundance in ferruginous clay and coarse gravel. In the great mammoth mine in Washington county is a succession of caves in which millions of pounds of lead were found adhering to the sides and roofs. The central lead district of the State comprises the counties of Cole, Cooper, Moniteau, Morgan, Miller, Benton, Maries, Camden, and Osage; the southern lead region the counties of Pulaski, Laclede, Texas, Wright, Webster, Douglass, Ozark, and Christian. The western lead district includes the counties of Hickory, Dallas, Polk, St Clair, Cedar, and Dade; the south-western the counties of Jasper, Newton, Lawrence, Stone, Barry, and Μ‘Donald. The two counties Jasper and Newton produce fully one-half of the pig lead of Missouri. The lead mines of Granby are among the best-known in the State, and millions of pounds of lead have been taken from these lands.

Copper deposits have been found in several counties, chiefly in the south-western part of the State. Zinc is found, in the shape of sulphuret and also silicate of zinc, in nearly all the lead mines in south-western Missouri. It has often occurred in such masses as seriously to hinder mining operations, and until very recent years, when railroad facilities have given this ore a market, it was thrown aside as worthless. It is now an important and profitable adjunct of the lead mines of Missouri. Cobalt and nickel are found at Mine La Motte and in a few other places. Silver is found in small quantities in lead mines in Madison county, combined with the lead.

Clays for the manufacture of ordinary brick for building purposes and for fire-brick exist in quantities beyond computation, and kaolin has been found in a few places. Marble of various shades and qualities abounds in Missouri, and is an important item in its mineral wealth. Limestones and sandstones suitable for building purposes are found in many parts of the State.

Agriculture.— Indian corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco are the staple products; but cotton, hemp, and flax are also raised to some extent in the southern counties. The average yield of wheat to the acre is 30 bushels, and that return is often far exceeded. No flour is of a higher quality or more in demand in foreign as well as home markets than that made from Missouri wheat. Indian corn is especially used in fattening live stock. Blue grass, timothy, red-top, and red and white clover grow luxuriantly, and favour stock-raising. In some parts of the State pasturage can be had all the year round, and the cheapness of corn makes the raising of pork, in particular, a very profitable business. All varieties of fruit can be very successfully cultivated. The more tender fruits, such as apricots, nectarines, figs, and many choice kinds of grapes, grow here as well as the more northern fruits—the apple, the pear, the plum, and the cherry. Apples and peaches do well in all parts of the State. Six native varieties of grapes are found in luxuriant growth, and many cultivated varieties have been successfully introduced. No State, not even California, can hope ultimately to rival Missouri in the production of both red and λvhite wines. Sheep-raising has proved remunerative in the southern counties chiefly, where the mild climate, the fine grasses, and the abundance of good water are especially favourable to this branch of agricultural industry. There are in Missouri, in round numbers, 10,000,000 acres of improved and 13,000,000 of unimproved land, including 9,000,000 acres of woodland. The cash value of the farms is estimated at $90,000,000. In 1880 there were on the farms in the State 667,776 horses, 192,027 mules and asses, 9020 oxen, 661,405 cows, 1,410,507 other cattle, 1,411,298 sheep, and 4,553,123 swine. Missouri is the fourth maize-producing State of the Union; it supplies more wine than any State except California, and is a rival of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Maryland in the culture of tobacco, which is a staple in the rich counties in the northern central part of the State, bordering upon the Missouri river. No State raises so many mules, asses, and hogs. The production of cereals in 1880 was—corn, 202,485,723 bushels; wheat, 24,966,627 bushels; rye, 535,426bushels; oats, 20,670,958bushels; barley, 123,031 bushels; buckwheat, 57,640 bushels. The production of tobacco for the same year was 12,015,657 tt> from 15,521 acres, valued at $600,256. Three-fourths of this amount was raised in Chariton, Marion, Randolph, Howard, Callaway, and Saline counties.

Wild Animals.— Red-deer are found in every part of the State, especially in the thinly-settled and mountainous districts. Venison, indeed, in its season, is as cheap as good beef in the markets of St Louis. Wild turkeys are numerous in the swampy and mountainous districts, and are found in all parts of the State. Prairie chickens, or pinnated grouse, are found in the prairie portion of Missouri, and are shipped in great numbers to Eastern markets. In all parts of Missouri are found the quail or Virginia partridge, thousands of barrels of which are shipped from the State each season. The rabbit, a species of hare, is so common as to be considered a pest. The grey squirrel and the red fox-squirrel are also found in large numbers all over the State. Black bass, perch, catfish, buffalo fish, suckers, and pike are the leading varieties of native fish.

Manufactures.— In 1880 Missouri had about 20,000. manufacturing establishments, in which a capital of about $125,000,000 was-employed. The products of these establishments were valued at upwards of $300,000,000. The leading manufacturing counties outside of the city of St Louis are Jackson, Buchanan, St Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Cape Girardeau, Platte, Boone, and Lafayette; but more than three-fourths of the manufactures are produced at St Louis, which is the fourth manufacturing city of the Union. The chief manufacture is that of flour, which employs about 900 mills, and is rapidly increasing. Twenty-four mills made in St Louis, in 1880, 2,142,949 barrels of flour, having a daily output of more than 11,000 barrels. St Louis millers and dealers sentin 1880 to Europe and South America 619,103 barrels of flour; and at the world’s fairs at Paris, Vienna, and Philadelphia, Missouri flour received the first award. The iron industry, which stands second in importance, is yet only in its infancy, and St Louis seems destined to be one of the great centres of iron and steel manufacture. The amount of iron made in Missouri in 1880, in twenty-two establishments employing 3139 hands, was 125,758 tons. St Louis made the same year 102,664 tons of pig-iron, steel, and rolled iron and blooms. The yearly values of a number of other industries are estimated as follows:—meat packing, $20,000,000; lumber, $10,000,000; bags and bagging, $7,000,000; saddlery, $7,000,000; oil, $6,000,000; printing and publishing, $5,500,000; furniture, $5,000,000; carriages and waggons, $4,500,000; marble and stone, $4,000,000; tin, copper, and sheet-iron, $4,000,000; agricultural implements, $2,000,000. The manufacture of glass and glass-ware is carried on to a considerable extent, especially in St Louis. At Crystal City, on the Mississippi, 30 miles below St Louis, is a very large deposit of sand suitable for the manufacture of plate-glass, and a company has been organized and is now in successful operation, with a capital of $1,000,000.

Commerce.— The extensive commerce of Missouri centres at St Louis, between which city and the ports on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers steamboats are constantly plying. Railroad transportation has, in recent years, furnished superior and cheaper facilities for much of the trade which formerly depended upon the rivers. The trade in cotton especially has been greatly increased in Missouri since 1870 by the use of railroad transportation, which has made St Louis one of the great cotton centres of the United States. Extensive cotton presses were built in St Louis in that year, and the receipts of cotton from the more southern States has increased rapidly—from 12,264 bales in 1869-70 to 457,563 bales in 1879-80. Railroad connexions have made the interior portions of Arkansas and Texas more accessible to St Louis than to the southern ports of shipment, and the trade with the south-west, with the Indians, and with Mexico is constantly increasing. In 1870 St Louis was made by Act of Congress a port of entry to which foreign merchandise could be brought in bond. The value of the direct imports for the year ending 30th June 1882 was $1,934,342.

Population.— Missouri is divided into 114 counties. The following table gives the number of inhabitants since 1850 :— [table]

In 1880 the foreign-born residents numbered 211,578, or 9’7 per cent., of whom 109,974 were Germans and Scandinavians; there were also 145,046 of African descent. The early settlers of the State were French, and their descendants are still found in St Louis and Ste Genevieve and a few other smaller towns. Many Germans have recently settled in all parts of the State, while English, Irish, Scotch, and Swedes have also made Missouri their home in considerable numbers. The native American population is mostly descended from immigrants from the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. During recent years there has been a large accession to the population from the eastern and north-western States.

St Louis, the chief city of the Mississippi valley, situated upon the Mississippi river about 12 miles below the mouth of the Missouri, has a population of 350,518; Kansas City, a thriving town on the western border, situated on the banks of the Missouri, has 55,785; St Joseph, in the north-west, has 32,431; Hannibal, in the north-east, has 11,074; and Jefferson City (the State capital), in the centre, has 5271.

Education.— Missouri has a public school system of education first adopted in 1839. There are district schools, elementary and ungraded; city schools, graded, with high school courses; four normal schools, and a State university. Free public schools for white and coloured children between the ages of six and twenty years are required by law for every district in the State. Besides these public institutions supported by the State there are many private schools and colleges for both sexes. Chief among these are the St Louis University, an institution managed by the Jesuits; the College of Christian Brothers, also under the control of the Roman Catholics; and Washington University, a non-sectarian endowed school,...