Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-11-19
Correspondence Columbus Journal.
KANSAS.
Its Topography, SOils Climate, AgFi-
culture, and Internal Development.
ToPEKA, Kansas. Nov. 10.

The State Of Kansas is about two
and a half times the size of Ohio. A
territory so vast, and tWo-thirds Of
which Is inexhaustibly rich in its age
ricnltural resources, may we'll afford a
large unproductive section. Such is
properly considered that portion of
the State known as the plains, the ap-
proximate western boundary of which
is a north and south line passing
through the sown Of Ellsworth on the
Kansas Paeifc
Beyond this line the long matted
grass of the prairie degenerateS into q
short plush like carpet, and the sur
face, sloping upward toward the noun
tains, changes considerably in its topo-
graphical features. The undulations,
sometimes abrupt but usually gradual
alternate with q series of dry raVines
meanderiDg toward the nearest river.
The climate Of this great plateau is
miid and the atmosphere light, pure
and inVigorating. Gentle weather Of
ten lasts till January, and the snow,
though frequently piled in immense
drifts BY the wind, usually disappears
a few days after falling.
This wild country through seeming
~ sterile, and impracticable for agri-
culture, IS by no means a desert.
Sometimes, espe eially on the ridges,
the underlying gravel crops out
through the black loan, and here one
may frequently pick up beautiful speci
mems Ofquartz moss agate and cOFne-
lian. But thousands of acres are
thiekly coated With rich vegetable
mould which, with suitable irrigation
and culture, would scarcely fail to re-
ward the farmer. The question how
this irrigation is TO be supplied many
believe will be solved by tho climatic
changes to be brought about BY the
settlement of the country. There Is
no doubt but the breaking up of the
soil and the growth of trees and Yege-
tation will Increase the rain fall not
only here but throughout Kansas. 1t
is not impossible therefore that the
Great American Desert of the geog-
raphers may yet be made TO blossom
as the rose and bless the husbandman
with golden harvest.
Going eastward from the plains one
crosses in the order named the valleys
Of the Saline, Solomon, Republican
and Big Blue rivers, each an lmpOF-
tant tributary of the Kansas. The.
country adjaceRt to these rivers em-
braces some ofthe choicest sections Of
the State, and is certainly magnificent
in its agricultural advantages. Though
comparatively thinly settled yet. en-
igraRts are pouring in, and these rich
valleys Will no doubt TEEN ere long
with we'll cultivated farms and thriy-
ing villages. Only a few days since
an English colony purchased thirty
tWo,thousand acres lying north OF the
railway and beIdered by Chapman S
Greek and tho Republican. Another
colony will soon take an adjacent slice
and convert the raw prairie almost IN
a twinkling into a populous settlement
The rapidity with which the lands in
these valleys and In other sections Of
the State are changing hands may be
realized from the fact that the sales Of
the Natiohalhand Company of Topeka
amounted IN September last to 10, ,l02,
and In October to dS, $50 acres. Add
to this the sales of dozen other pFOmi-
nent firms equally aetIVea and then the
private salesand those OF the swarm
of small spectators, and some con-
ception maybe had of the magnitude
of the real estate business in Kansas.
OfcOuTse these sales are not by any
means to be considered a correct in
measuTementoft the purchases by ac-
tual settlers. Large amounts of land
are bought solely for speculation, and
put ih the market again at small aj=
vance fer the next comers. Yet, at the
outsidee these splendid lands are cheap
and no one who desires farm for ac-
tual culture, need fail in securing a
suitable and profitable Investment
There are large tracts yet open to pre-
emption, and.otheFs in all the great
valleys, of which even the railroad
companies and spectators have not
yet gained possession. It is not the
difficulty but the facility in finding a
desirable and attractive locality, from
which he who comes to till the soil
realizes embarrassment In half-a-
dozen Of the great valleys, adding to.
those already, named, those Of the
Usage aud Neoshe, the settler cannot
go amiss. Ali are very beautiful, in
exhaustibly fertile, and destined soon
to be well cultivated and populous.
Tickle our soil with a hoe and it
will laugh harvest, exclaimed
Kansas statesman In a recent speech,
and one OF the papers of this vicinRge,
supposiDg the remark to be original. de.
clared that Horace Greeley himself
never got off better thing than that
and none of Gen. Grants choicest brew
tiles suFpass it in strength and pithi-
ness" All of which shows how rich
the soil is and how much may be made
here on borrowed capital.
It IS a common remark. and an Obvi-
Gus truism, that the larger towns of
Kansas are a good deal in advance of
the eOuntrv. and one of the results is
that town property is proportlonateiy
higher than farming lands. The State,
goodness knows, has people enough
who desire to make a livelihood by
anv and every other means than that
of hard labor, mental or physical
Kansas has her share-What State has
not ?-of these lily fingered drones,
and what sheespecially needs just now
Is not the speculating but the pToduc-
ing immigrant Her virgin prairies
lanRuish for the brRWny-aTmed tiller
Of the soil, whom they invite TO home
and fortune and to whom as rightful
her belongs this splendid heritage.
The valley of the KaW, favored with
the stimulus of railway enterprise, is
already sprinkled with lively and pleas
ant looking towns and villages, some
of which, as We 60 eastward. deserve
more than a passing notice. EllsWoFth
the 6rst of importance east OF Hays,
was a few years ago the terminus Of the
railway as Sheridan is now, and had
MANY Of the peeuIiarities of that love-
" metropolis. 1t is now the dividing
point between the eastern and western
divisions Of the road and the starting
place for all trains going in either di-
rectien. 1t is located on a bend of
the Smoky Hill river, surrounded by
: good grazing country. and is being
With extensive stock yards.
Society is still ia the rough but busl-
ness is said to be lively.
q ~ ,r,aw4Sanahlo town