Geography Of The North Central States (1956)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] if we were to fly over the north central states we'd see something like this many fields of corn wheat soybeans and other crops at intervals over the countryside we'd see agricultural towns and villages whose tree-lined streets resemble patches of forest amid the outlying croplands we'd see industrial centers such as gary indiana with its great steel mills we'd see great lakes freighters with cargos of iron ore and coal networks of railroads lead the way to big cities cities such as chicago and in this city we'd be at the center of the great region called the midwest which includes most of the north central states within the great central lowland of the united states is the area we call the north central states the north central states consist of ohio michigan indiana illinois wisconsin minnesota iowa missouri kansas nebraska south dakota and north dakota tying the region together is a network of waterways including the mississippi river and its great tributaries the ohio and missouri perhaps the most important waterways are the great lakes most of the central lowland is generally flat there are hills in the southeast and forests in the north here is a region that was greatly affected by continental glaciation thousands of years ago during the great ice age vast continental glaciers slowly advanced over this part of america several times the moving ice carried great quantities of earth material from some areas such as the great lakes basins and deposited it elsewhere thus a deep layer of gravel clay and other earth materials were left as the ice slowly melted uncovering the central lowland today the central lowland is the most productive region of the united states immense stretches of both level and rolling land the north central states include the great corn belt of the united states with its center in illinois and iowa as well as most of the wheat belt which extends westward into the dakotas and nebraska and south into kansas and missouri this is part of the great food basket of the united states in north and south dakota farmers grow spring wheat now in august this wheat is being harvested with a reaper this wheat farmer is running a threshing machine that picks up the cut grain and threshes it often reaping and threshing are done with a combine in one operation the hired man is loading wheat into a truck on the field like most farmers they're eager to see what the harvest is like so they take a close look at the wheat at the same time other farmers elsewhere are doing other jobs here is a dairy farmer of wisconsin his fine herd grazes on rolling hills green with grass most of the milk from this herd is sold to factories where cheese a famous wisconsin product is made in another part of the state at the university's college of agriculture the farmer's son is studying the latest methods of scientific dairy farming a different farm and another farmer tell us more about the central states this is a corn farm in iowa most of the corn is used to feed a herd of fat hogs as well as fine beef cattle this iowa farmer is telling his sons that the cattle he bought from a western ranch have now been fattened enough to sell and he explains that these fine herefords will soon be on their way to the big stockyards of chicago or perhaps to kansas city or omaha from such packing centers comes most of the meat supply of the nation the wheat we saw on the dakota farm is also sent to cities from the grain elevators where it is first stored it usually goes by rail to such milling centers as minneapolis this city is one of many important distribution centers most important distributing center is chicago centrally located city of the midwest chicago is one of the great transportation centers of the world through this city passes much of the nation's food especially grain and meat these are some of the railroads that carry foodstuffs into chicago and also carry manufactured goods out to almost all parts of the country just as the railroads bring produce from the farms they take back to the farmer the machinery and other goods he needs the farm machinery made in chicago and other industrial cities is only one of the many manufactured products of the north central states for the midwest is also an important industrial region cedar rapids iowa makes cereals and cattle feed grand rapids michigan is a furniture manufacturing center in toledo ohio glass products are made in another ohio city akron the manufacturer of rubber tires is a leading industry one of the most vital industries is the making of iron and steel in such cities as gary south chicago and cleveland from the mills steel is shipped to be used in the huge plants in detroit where automobiles are made on an assembly line many products are combined to produce well-built efficient and handsome cars automobiles that are one of america's most famous products here is a skilled worker in an automobile plant in detroit at the end of the day he and his son who also works at the plant go home his family is one of many thousands of families that depend on the automobile industry for a living the cars they make are shipped all over the world again we see the importance of transportation cars go by trailer truck as well as by lake freighter these ships carry a steady stream of manufactured products as well as raw materials a vital raw material is iron ore this freighter at duluth minnesota is being loaded with iron ore for the steel mills of gary or cleveland ore being loaded here at duluth comes from another place in minnesota from the famous open pit iron mines of the masabi range as the high grade iron ore is gradually being used up a low grade ore called tachonite is being mined and processed from minnesota and wisconsin comes lumber another raw material often transported by lake ships appalachian coal comes by rail to lake erie ports especially cleveland and toledo where it is loaded in ore boats to be shipped north over the lakes not only raw materials but finished products are carried this is newsprint from canada being unloaded at chicago during the summer many lake freighters passed through the sault ste marie ship canal between lake superior and lake huron the sioux locks handle more tonnage than the panama and suez canals combined great lakes shipping has stimulated the growth of many cities among them are duluth chicago gary detroit toledo and cleveland shipping lanes tied together these cities around the lakes around these lakes too is a region of diversified farming this is a celery farm in michigan there are many truck farms specializing in growing vegetables the great lakes region is also a fruit growing region these are peach trees in michigan this is a cherry orchard in wisconsin wisconsin and other lake states are also famous vacation lands to the lakes of minnesota come many fishermen in the summer the forests of michigan are another favorite recreation place to reach these scenic lands people often drive using highways like this one these highways like the railways and lake ships help transport the many products which this great region the north central states produces remember what we saw in the region the north central states region is the food basket of the united states providing wheat corn beef cattle swine dairy products and fruit the region includes many centers of industry steel automobiles furniture farm machinery rubber glass and many others these things are distributed through a system of transportation do you remember what some of the distributing centers are can you tell what role the great lakes play in transportation what are some of the foodstuffs and products shipped by rail we saw that the north central states was a region of vast and productive farmlands do you remember why parts of it are level like this or hilly like this there's much more to read and learn about this region and about the people who have helped make the north central states one of the richest and most productive areas in the world