MISSOURI

MISSOURI, an American State on the right bank of the Mississippi, between Iowa and Arkansas, is half the size of the British Isles, and is traversed by the Missouri River; N. of that river the country is level, S. of it there rise the Ozark tablelands; the soil is very fertile, and the State principally agricultural; immense crops of maize, oats, potatoes, cotton, and tobacco are raised; there are large cattle ranches, and dressed beef and pork are largely exported; the climate is subject to extremes; coal, iron, lead, zinc, and other minerals abound, while marble, granite, and limestone are quarried; the rivers afford excellent transport facilities; the educational system is very complete; admitted to the Union in 1821, Missouri was divided in the Civil War, and suffered terribly, but since then has been very prosperous; the capital, St. Louis, is one of the greatest commercial and manufacturing towns in the Union, does a vast trade in grain and cotton, and has hardware, leather goods, and tobacco factories; Kansas City, has great pork-packing establishments and railroad iron-works.