The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-11-29
TnE ARKANSAS vALbEr.

1.-THE Valley vi tile Arkansas i<tveI
has been y seated book TO the or
binary Traveller. flainsmen anu
cattle traIlers knew THAT there wa.
a great valley that grew nutritious
| grasses, that was pleasant to look
at, and that Was surely fertile, blu,
| its great distance from railroad
and markets would, in their opin.
ion, prevent its being settled fol
years. 1920
Within the past ten. days We
rode over two hundred miles up
this valley in a palace coach, and
found young and thriving towns
at intervals OF fifteen or twenty
miles for the whole distance, and
for a considerable portion of the
way we saw farm-heuses dotting
the landscape, and the valley pre-
pared by the pillow for a future use
fulness.
This trip was made upon the in
vitation Of S. T.. kelsey, Industrial
Agent of the Atchison, Topeka d
Santa Fe r. R., and we propose to
tell our readers briefly OF what we
saw, and the impression that the
trip made upon our minds.
This Raairoad Company. or
more properly MF. d T. Lakin,
the Land Commissioner of the
road, with. shrewdness saw that
the quickest way to settle the vast
tract of land owned by the Compa-
ny was to demonstrate to the pub
lie that it was capable of growing
anything and everything suitable
to the latitude, and to this end Mr..
Lakin and Mr.. Peters, the General
Manager, engaged Mr.. S. T. Kel-
sey to undertake the task of dem
onstrating these facts. A section
OF land t640 acres) at intervals of
ten miles, for the whole distance
from Hutchinson to the west line
of the State, is set apart for Mr..
Kelsey's use, and upon each of
these he is to plant one hundred
and sixty acres OF forest trees, and
to experiment with all the differ
ent grains and vegetables, This
work has already commenced, and
be will prosecuted with vigor.
The road follows the Arkansas
Valley to the Colorado line, a dis
lance from Hutchinson of about
two hundred and fifty miles. The
track is completed and cars run
ming at this date (Oct. 24th) with
in abOnt seventy-tive miles of the
west line of Kansas, and the track
is being extended at the rate of
three miles. a day. ..a-.E
The Arkansas Valley as far
west as we saw it dodge City, }, is
one of the most beautiful tracts of
land we ever saw. The whole sur
face is perfectly. smooth, sloPihg
slightly toward the river.
From Great Bend westwards the |
Valley has been covered with buff
falo grass, but we see that the
"blue stem" prairie grassJiS grad
ually encroaching upon it, and at |
no distant day will entirely, occu-
Ply the ground. The latitude; of
this valley is principally in 38 de- |
grees, and the climate that of Cen |
trail Kentucky or Southern Virgin
ia. ..-..--- -a.-... + s-.s..
The soil, which we examined |
closely, is q sandy loan, rich IN |
silicates and carbon, and we doubt |
not, rich also in heterogeneous ele-
but for the most part this |
for future experiments to |
The subsoil varies |
considerably. In places it is stiff,
heavy red clay, in other places
sand, and still others gravel, with
a strata of clay below it. In one
place We found what appeared to
be kind of cement, in which was |
bedded some gravel, and when exr
posed to the air becomes almost |
as hard as stone. ,-2 |
Water is reached the whole |
length of the Valley at depth of
from six to fifteen feet, and the |
quality. of the water is excellent. |
The great want of the Valley is |
stone. With the exception Of two
or three points, We saw no build
ing stone at al, and al
though it can be transported by |
rail, it is a want that win be felt |
for all time. Unlike timber, it
cannot he grown, although the new
process Of manufacturing stone |
may supply the deficiency i
( There is no timber OF any con-
in. this Valley. west of |
Walnut Greek, but, timber can, be |
quickly grown, that this disadyan-
tage is greatly lessene6. Pine |
lumber lis sold 81 the, different
towns alta very slight advance
over what it can be bought for in |
Eastern Kansas. The prices are
$28 to $55 per thousand! feet, Cow- !
ing to the kind and quality. Il
Coal is furnished at from.$7 to
So per ton at the different stations.
The railroad, appreciating the val
ne of cheap fuel to the rapid Bet
Element of the country; agree to
transport it at two cents per ton
per mile. The supply is now OBJ
tanned from Carbonate, but it is
believed that good coal win soon
be obtained much nearer. !
The class of people that is set
Ting this section is unexcelled. In
the organization and building up
of most of the towns it is a. prime
consideration THAT no intoxica-
ting liqHors should be sold. At
Peace, some fifteen7or twenty miles
west of Hutchinson, we found
quite q large settlement of Qua
kers, and fifty miles farther west .
colony of Ohio penple have boright
a large tract oflaud, ndwiHmove
on it this winter or early spring.
AS we have stated, the grain
producing qualities remain in e.
good measure to be proved; but we
believe it will prove the equal of
any other portion Of the State.
AS a fruit growing section re
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