Читать книгу History of the Beef Cattle Industry in Illinois - Frank Webster Farley - Страница 4

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"As a whole, the surface of the State of Illinois is nearly level. The prairie regions which cover a large part of the state are only slightly rolling, except in those places where streams have worn valleys. These are shallow in the eastern and the northern parts of the state, deepening gradually as the great rivers are approached. Nearly all the waters of Illinois find their way to the Mississippi river. Along this river, as also along the larger streams of the state, the lands are cut into abrupt bluffs or sharp spurs which, nearing the sources of the streams, gradually become softened into rounded hillocks, sinking at last into the low banks. Through such waterways as these form, flow streams usually gentle in current, often sluggish, and sometimes becoming even stagnant. Over a large part of the state, ponds and "sloughs", or marshes, formerly abounded. In these the water was renewed only by the rains that fell occasionally. Under hot suns these ponds, having neither inlet nor outlet, quickly became foul, particularly where stock resorted to them to drink and cool themselves, as they did almost universally throughout the state a few years ago, and do even now in some parts.

"For years such ponds furnished the principal, almost the only, water supply for stock in large areas of this state. The constant use of such impure water greatly injured the quality of the milk and butter of cows, and doubtless had a baneful effect upon the health of the animals that drank the foul water and those who used the milk and butter.

"With the drainage of the land and the introduction of a pure supply of water, came the disappearance of certain diseases of cattle and of human beings, particularly the so-called milk sickness and kindred maladies, and a marked improvement in the flavor and keeping qualities of milk and butter. Although the change thus far has been great, there are yet districts in which there has been little improvement in the conditions of the land, of the water supply, or of the people. Stock are still compelled to depend, for their water supply, upon streams and pools that almost invariably become stagnant in the warm and dry days of the latter part of summer each year."[1]

Inquiries addressed to hundreds of intelligent and careful observers, nearly all of whom were practical stockmen, elicited information showing the following:

Number of Counties	District	Chief Source of Water Supply
8	Northwest or Postal District	Streams and wells; springs furnish a considerable part of it; few ponds used; three instances of tile drains.
	Central Northern Counties	Wells chief source; springs, streams, and tiles used to a considerable extent.
	Northeast Counties	Streams, wells, and springs used about equally.
	Eastern Counties	Wells chiefly; streams next; ponds and tile drains follow in the order named; nine instances of springs.
	Central Counties	Forty-nine districts report wells; forty report streams; thirty-five tile drains; twenty-five ponds; twenty-four springs.
	Western Counties	Wells and tile drains equal; springs next; ponds in a few instances.
4	Southern Counties	Ponds and streams equal; six report wells; five report springs; four tile drains.
21	Central S. Counties	Ponds chiefly; streams next; wells next; springs and tiles in the order named.
	Southeast and Southwest Counties	A like condition: ponds, streams, and springs.

"From all parts of the state, correspondents wrote that the ponds and streams become stagnant in the warm months of summer, a few making exception of those years in which rainfall has been heavy during the summer months. Stagnant water is found more generally in the southern than in the northern part of Illinois; chiefly, perhaps, because the cultivation and drainage of the land has not become almost universal as it has in the northern districts."

In several counties artesian wells afford a most copious supply of water of good quality. In Iroquois and other eastern counties, such wells have been bored to a depth of from 150 to 200 feet and obtained an unfailing flow of water impregnated with minerals. Stock show a strong liking for such water after becoming accustomed to its use, and it is the belief of those who have had opportunity for observing the effects of its continued use, that this mineral water serves to keep the animals free from disorders which formerly prevailed in that region. This seems to be especially apparent in regard to malarial disorders.