The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-11

famed skies Of Italy. There is a gentle breeze
from The south. and all kind OF outdoor labor
can be performed as well as In October look
out 1.-THE window. and behold carpenters work.
Ing upon buildings. children playing In the
yards, and II my vision reached to the country
should see farmers ploughing In their fields.
There was furry Of snow here on Thanksgiv-
ing Day, followed by three or four dsagreeable
days, but aside from this episode, the weather
has been most charming since September. I have
known this kind of weather to last more than
half the winter. In 1857 8 there was a success
sion OF these warm. brilliant cloudless days,
from the LIST Of December to the 23d OF January.
On the other hand, have known some severe
winter weather in Kansas, and in the winter
of l9eO-6l there was heavy snow which re-
mained on the ground for weeks. The cold
here, as In all prairie countries, is very much
intensified by the terrible, unbrOken sweep of
the winds. The thermometer, under such cir
cumstances, Will speedily run down to below
zero. and have known the Kansas river to
freeze over in a single night. March and April
are about the most disagreeable months in the
year, being attended by almost constant high
winds from the west, generally raw and chilly.
The later spring is charming, with its afIluenoe
of flowers and its rich abundance OF all kinds
of vegetable life.
But is not Kansas subject to terrible drouths9
is question very frequently asked. The State
has now been settled by white men for about
fourteen years. During that period there has
been but single season in which there was
any general failure of crops from dry weather.
Missionaries who have lived with the Indians
for thirty years, and the inhabitants of the
Missouri border, who have known the country
an equal length of time, unite in saying that
that: year was an exceptional one There Is
probably, on an average, a smaller fall OF rain
in Kansas than In the States east of the Mis-
sissippl; but from my own observations both
at the East and the West, 1 am satisfied
that with deep, careful tillage farmer in
Kansas will lose fewer crops from dry weather
during period of ten years than q farmer in
Ohio or New York will. One reason for this is
the deep retentive character of the soil here,
which enables it TO absorb and retain large
quantities of water, and which is a safeguard
both against wet weather and dry. The top soil
is rich black loan, underlaid by a porous
black clay subsoil four five feet in depth.
Into this the water descends during heavy
rains, and is held in reserve for the demands Of
the crops during dry weather. Even
during the great drouth of 1850, the soil
was moist a few inches below the surface
and some farmers VINO had ploughed their
| land to an extra depth, succeeded in raising q
fair crop of corn, with almost literally no rain
| from the time of planting to that OF harvest
With deep, thorough, subsoil culture the Kan
sas farmer may make himself almost Indepen-
dent of the weather. 1t must not be inferred,
however, that the rain fall is slight here. The
records kept by the Government authorities at
Fort Leavenworth show that It's nearly as large
that of the States east of the mississippi
Last spring there was an excess OF rain all
through this section of the country, and the
| highest water ever saw in the Kansas river
was in August, 1858, caused by rain. Taking
! one year with another, there is as much rain
| here as the country needs.
find that some of the topics prepared for this
letter must be postponed for my next.
| Il. D. T.