The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1871-04-04
For The Bloomfield Times.
Letters Descriptive of Kansas-Its CHI
mate, Productions, &c.
tContinued from las week. ]

l will next say little about the water
for household purposes. This article is
nearly everywhere cold, clear, and good
in taste. 1t can, in nearly every conmu-
nifty of Eastern and Middle Kansas, be
obtained by digging from fifteen to forty
feet. There are some springs there, but
they are not one-fifth as numerous as in
the Keystone State. The timber is toll
erably scarce, but had it not been for the
numerous fires, it would be much plen-
tier. Where these have ceased new
growth of timber is springing up TAX
ing this in connection with the fact that
a great amount of it will be cultivated,
we are safe iA saying that there will be
an abundance of it in less than twenty
five years. The following probably en-
braces the principal varieties of trees
Blackjack, white oak, red oak, burr oak,
black oak, water oak, white or American
elm, red or slippery elm, black walnut,
white walnut, cottonwood, box elder,
blackberry, honey locust, willow, she'll
bark hickory, pignut hickory, pec6hut
hickory, sycamore, white ash, sugar ma
pie, red mulberry, linden, crabapple,
wild cherry, and coffee tree. These are
the chief varieties of shrubs and vines,
viz Elder, sumac, greenbrier, goose
berry, hazel, pawpaw, prickly ash, rasp-
berry, blackberry, prairie rose, grape, two
or three varieties. 1t is very well adapt
ed for stock-raising Plenty of grass de-
Gays every Fall and Winter to support
many thousand more cattle, horses, mules,
and sheep, every year in addition to the
number already. These can he improved
to a condition suitable for market at
comparatively little expense. All these
animals thrive well in that country The
native grains are excellent for the pur-
poses referred to- The staple crops are:
corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat,
sorghum, hungarian grass, potatoes, and
all varieties of garden vegetables grow
with luxuriance, and commonly ripen
large crops. Hemp and fax also do pret-
ty well. Small crops of cotton have al
so been raised. Winter wheat does we'll
AS much as upwards Of thirty bushels to
the acre have been produced The i'm
proved varieties of apples, pears, peaches,
cherries, and grapes usually cultivated in
the West do well. The small fruits,
such as currants, gooseberries, and straw
berries are also cultivated with admirable
success. The climate is that of Southern
and Central Missouri, of Kentucky and
Virginia. Tho winters are usually short
and cold, especially those of Southern
Kansas This State is liable to great and
sudden changes of heat and cold, but
this is true to greater or less extent, of
the whole interior or valley of North
America. This is probably due, in great
part, to the Winds These, on account of
the great influence upon temperature by
the large and lofty mountain chains West
of it are liable to great variations in short
spaces of time. The entire absence of
mountains, and the fact that timber is
tolerable scarce in many parts, account
for the average force of the wind being
greater than that of most of the States
East of the Mississippi. They are also
more constant; some mag infer from this,
that many people suffer greatly from dis
eases Of the respiratory organs, such as
inflammation of the lungs. But, although
these ailments prevail to some extent in
Winter, they are not more prevalent
than in other portions of the Mississippi
Valley. The prevailing winds in the
summer are from the Southwest, South,
and Southeast. A continuous wind for
three days in succession is almost invari-
ably followed by rain. For the Eastern
half of the State, the amount of rain,
except for the Winter, is fully equal to
that Of Pennsylvania or New York. The
Northwest wind is dry one, and the at
mosphere is usually essentially pure. 1t
has been discovered that moisture, either
in the soil or air, has hidden influence
in developing consumption. 1t has been
known for a long time that certain locali-
ties, prominent among which are regions
far North, and the elevated regions of
the Rocky Mountains are remarkably ex-
empt from that disease; therefore the
natural inference is, that dry, cold at
mosphere is preventive of it. Kansas
has pure, dry atmosphere, and, is in this
respect, more iayorably circumstanced for
preventing the development of that dis
ease than any portion of the =" Great Val
ley" East of the Oath Meridian, and
South Of the 45th parallel of North
latitude. 1t is, in short, healthy State,
and bears favorable comparison in this
respect to any Of Middle States,
DsS" To cure felon, take half gill Of
vinegar, dissolve in it teaspoonful of
salaratus-heat ms long as the flesh can