The Driftless Area: Physical and Cultural Variables

Transcription

1 The Driftless Area: Physical and Cultural Variables Geography 326 Holly Johnson

2 INTRODUCTION Wisconsin has a very distinctive physical region called the Driftless Area. The location of the Driftless Area can be seen in Figure 1. The entire state, except for this southwestern corner, was covered by continental glaciation as recently as 10,000 years ago. The Driftless Area has a different physiography than the rest of the state; it has a terrain that was shaped by stream erosion rather than ice. This paper will attempt to understand how the Driftless Area is different from the rest of the state by looking at the regionalization of place names (toponyms) and by using the Comparable Area hypothesis to look at road patterns and agricultural variables of the Driftless Area. TOPONYMS One question we have about the Driftless Area is whether the European settlers of the area recognized the landforms in some special ways. We can figure this out by determining if they gave the area distinctive names. Toponyms are cultural traits and can help determine the distribution of people and ideas at certain times (West, 1954). By plotting the occurrence of toponyms that might be associated with the Driftless Area, it can be determined if the settlers gave the features of the Driftless Area special names. The Atlas of Wisconsin can be used to calculate the number of landforms named hollow, valley, and coulee. These terms are used to describe features found in a landscape shaped by stream erosion. The frequency of these toponyms can be mapped to see if they correspond with the Driftless Area. This comparison is shown in Figures 2 and 3. As the figures show, the regionalization of landform toponyms corresponds very strongly to the Driftless Area. There are an especially large number of toponyms in the counties within the Driftless Area found along the Mississippi River. 1

3 WISCONSIN S AREA Figure 1 The outer limits of the Driftless Area in southwest Wisconsin are indicated by the green line. 2

4 COMPARISON OF TOPONYMS AND THE AREA TOPONYMS TOPONYMS Figure 2 Nearly all of the toponyms fall within the Driftless Area. 3

5 TOPONYMS BY COUNTY COUNTIES COUNTIES NAMES_ NAMES_ Figure 3 The number of toponyms within each county is shown here. 4

6 As illustrated by the distribution of the toponyms, the Driftless Area is a physiographic region; it is defined by the physical geography of the area. The toponyms are present where there was no glacial drift and absent where glacial drift occurred. The distribution of toponyms shows that the Driftless Area is different than the rest of the state. There should be other variables that can be used to outline the Driftless Area that are not primarily physical but rather a reaction to the physical. We will look first at road patterns and then move to agricultural variables to determine if either is a reaction to the physical geography. ROAD PATTERNS The road patterns of Richland and Washington Counties are shown in Figure 4. As the figure shows, the roads in Richland County appear to follow a stream pattern. The roads actually follow the ridges of streams and rivers. In Washington County, most of the roads follow a rectangular pattern. This data indicates that road patterns are an example of a reaction to the physical environment. The stream erosion in the Driftless Area has affected how the roads are built in the area; they follow the streams. In the Drift Area, the roads can follow a logical grid format without facing the same problems as the Driftless Area. COMPARABLE AREA HYPOTHESIS It is possible that there are agricultural variables that are also a reaction to the physical environment. In order to consider these variables, we need an area with which we can compare the data of the Driftless Area. In the United State, going poleward shortens the growing season so there is not enough time for crops to mature. Going west results in a lack of the precipitation needed to keep crops healthy. 5

7 ROAD NETWORK COMPARISON VS DRIFT RICHLAND COUNTY WASHINGTON COUNTY Miles Miles Figure 4 The road patterns within the Driftless Area compared to the Drift Area. 6

8 Growing Season Within Wisconsin, the area north of the Driftless Area has a marginal growing season, meaning that the growing season is not always long enough for the crops to mature. The southeastern portion of the state has a growing season similar to that of the Driftless Area, as shown by Figure 5. The average length of the growing season in northern Wisconsin, the southeastern Drift Area, and the Driftless Area is compared in Figure 6. These two figures provide evidence showing that the southeastern portion of the state is comparable to the Driftless Area. Therefore, the Driftless Area will be compared to the southeastern portion of the state in determining how the Driftless Area is different in terms of agricultural variables. AGRICULTURAL VARIABLES There are many agricultural variables that could be examined to determine if agriculture is a reaction to the physical environment. We will be looking at the average value of agricultural products sold per farm, the farm size, and the harvested cropland as a percent of total farmland. Then we will look at some crop value ratios. The data from the Driftless Area will be compared to southeastern part of the state to determine how the Driftless Area is different. Average Value per Farm A comparison of the average value of agricultural products sold per farm in the Driftless Area and the comparable region can help us determine whether agriculture is a reaction to the physical environment. The data for this comparison was obtained from the 1980 Census of Agriculture. One display of this information is shown in Figure 7. Although it is hard to tell for sure, it appears that the Drift Area has a higher average value. This data can be seen more clearly in Figure 8. This figure proves that the southern Drift Area has greater value of sales in agricultural products than the Driftless Area; it averages nearly $10,000 more per farm. 7

9 GROWING SEASON COMPARISION VS DRIFT GLACIATED NORTH GROWSEASON DAYS UNDER OVER 160 Figure 5 The growing season of the Driftless Area and the southeastern Drift Area of Wisconsin. 8

10 AVERAGE LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON AVERAGE DAYS NORTH DRIFT SOUTH REGION Figure 6 The average length of the growing season in the different regions of Wisconsin. 9

11 VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS SOLD STUDY AREA data1.ag_prod Figure 7 Comparing the value of agricultural products sold per farm in the Driftless area to the southern Drift Area. 10

12 VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS SOLD AVERAGE PER FARM ($) DRIFT REGION Figure 8 The Drift Area has a higher average value of agricultural products sold per farm than the Driftless Area. 11

13 Farm Size The average farm size in the Driftless Area and southern Drift Area can also be compared. The average size of farm (acres) by county is provided in the 1980 Census of Agriculture and Figure 9 displays this data. This figure shows that the Driftless Area has a larger average size of farm. As shown in Figure 10, the average size of a farm in the Driftless area is 239 acres while the comparable region in the Drift Area has an average of only 191 acres. Harvested Cropland as a Percent of Total Farmland Harvested cropland as a percent of total farmland is an indicator of how the farmland is being used. This information was obtained from the 2002 Census of Agriculture. Figure 11 shows that in the southeastern part of the state harvested cropland makes up a large percentage of total farmland. The same cannot be said about the Driftless Area. This information is shown in another form in Figure 12; this shows that the in the Driftless Area, only 47 percent of the total farmland is harvested cropland while in southeastern Wisconsin the percentage rises to 71 percent. As shown in Figure 6, the length of growing season for the Driftless and south Drift Areas are approximately the same, with the Drift Area having an average of five days more. However, the more dissected the Driftless Area became through stream erosion, the more marginal its growing season becomes. Also, Figure 3 shows that the Driftless Area contains many features with names that indicate valleys or other steep features. Steep surfaces are not good for planting crops; the machinery is not made for steep surfaces. Therefore, the farmers in the Driftless Area find other uses for their farmland. Livestock as a Percent of Total Agricultural Products Sold Using data from the 2002 Census of Agriculture, we can determine what percentage of 12

14 AVERAGE SIZE OF FARM STUDY AREA data1.ave_farm Figure 9 The average size of farm by county is shown here. 13

15 FARM SIZE AVERAGE SIZE (ACRES) DRIFT REGION Figure 10 The Driftless Area has a larger average farm size than the southern Drift Area. 14

16 HARVESTED CROPLAND AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL FARMLAND STUDY AREA data1.h_crop / data1.farm_acre Figure 11 The Drift Area is shown to have a much greater percentage of harvested cropland as a percent of total farmland. 15

17 HARVESTED CROPLAND AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL FARMLAND PERCENTAGE DRIFT REGION Figure 12 In the Drift Area, harvested cropland accounts for 71 percent of total farmland. That percentage drops to 47 in the Driftless Area. 16

18 total agricultural products sold is made up by the sale of livestock, poultry, and their products. This data is displayed in Figures 13 and 14. These figures show that farms in the Driftless Area are more likely to be raising livestock than to be growing crops. This verifies the data found earlier indicating that harvested crops are not as large a percentage of total cropland in the Driftless Area as the comparable region. CONCLUSIONS Based on the data shown in this paper, we can conclude that the Driftless Area is different from the comparable region within the Drift Area. The Driftless Area has place names that indicate it was shaped by stream erosion rather than glaciers like the rest of the state. Road patterns are one reaction to the physical environment, with roads in the Driftless Area following stream patterns. The agricultural variables we looked at show that the physiography of the region affects the farming patterns. Farmers in the Driftless Area must farm differently than those in a comparable area of the state because of the physical environment. The lack of continental glaciation in the Driftless Area made it different from the rest of the state in ways both cultural and physical. BIBLIOGRAPHY Atlas of Wisconsin (pp ) West, R. C., The Term Bayou in the United States: A Study in the Geography of Place Names, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 44 (1954), p

19 MARKET VALUE OF LIVESTOCK, POULTRY, AND THEIR PRODUCTS AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL AGRICULTRAL PRODUCTS SOLD STUDY AREA data1.val_live / data1.ag_prod Figure 13 The Driftless Area has a larger percentage of sales from livestock than the Drift Area. 18

20 MARKET VALUE OF LIVESTOCK, POULTRY, AND THEIR PRODUCTS AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL AGRICULTRAL PRODUCTS SOLD AVERAGE PERCENTAGE BY COUNTY DRIFT REGION Figure 14 A large portion of the Driftless Area s sales are made from livestock, poultry, and their products. 19

21 ADDITIONAL READINGS Faulkner, D. J., Spatially Variable Historical Alluviation and Channel Incision in West-Central Wisconsin, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 88, No. 4 (1998), p Gibson, L. E., Characteristics of a Regional Margin of the Corn and Dairy Belts, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 38, No. 4 (1948), p Halverson, L. H., Borderland of the Wisconsin Driftless Area, Economic Geography, Vol. 18, No. 1 (1942), p Trewartha, G. T., Some Regional Characteristics of American Farmsteads, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 38, No. 3 (1948), p Trimble, S. W., Changes in Sediment Storage in the Corn Creek Basin, Driftless Area, Wisconsin 1853 to 1975, Science, Vol. 214 (1981), p