Excerpt from Dodge's Geography of Wisconsin: Part I. Wisconsin as a Whole; Part II. The Growth and Development of Cities; Part III. Statistics and Aids to Teachers

In a text-book of geography we study the relation of one state or group of states to the whole country of which our home region is a part, and our commercial relations to the world as a whole. It follows that in such a treatment the characteristics that distinguish our own home regions must largely be lost to sight in the consideration of the great features that distinguish the country as a whole.

In a special text-book devoted to one state or group of states we can learn more about our own region, its important surface features, its climate, the occupations of its people, its products, its local commerce, its history, its chief cities, and many other features of great interest to us. Hence we need to make a special study of our home locality after we have studied the larger region of which it is an important part. A local geography is not only valuable for study in school that we may know well the region about us, but it is valuable also as a reference volume to which we can refer for facts about our own state in our homes whenever in our reading or conversation some question arises concerning our own state which needs to be answered at once.

In this text-book the surface features, the climate, the soil and other natural resources which determine the occupations of the people are studied first because they are the large features which determine the distribution and success of industries. One of the great lessons the student learns in geography is Man's absolute dependence upon Nature for his existence. In this state, as in other regions, topography and climate pointed out the path of development that communities must follow in order to make sure their existence within its borders. In the pages that follow, the student finds traced the fundamental conditions that have moulded the life of the state. After these come the historical events that are landmarks in its growth, and then the study of the industrial and commercial features is taken up. To these, which explain the reasons for the development and growth of the larger cities, and which show us why our own region is important to the country as a whole, careful attention has been given.

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