, 1877-11-12
bad storms which In winter sometimes sweep
over the prairieA.
A few wars ago, the who1c of Central aud
IL M cnFered Mltll

bad storms which In winter sometlmes sweep
A fow yeaes aao, the whole Of Central and |
Wcstcrn Kansas was covered With
huFFALO0HAHs,
a fine. thkk grass, growing not fnore than three
tnctses high, and coming into lay before my |
fafrosts, after which i IN even more nutritious
than when green. Atn'k winter on this Without |
but t'Iis hu1alo-Qrasa is telng steadily encr,acl,-
csi upon by tho common high prairie grass, calt.
ed there tho b'uc-jolnt, md tn few years. viii
be entirely driven out nf The State. Four years
nsH e. the a.. uHt s" E. tw5 1 te soansss
covered with butfalo-ernsa; now scarccly
patch OF II cnn In found; while, In 'lrtEo and
Ellis Counties, all The ra7inSs arc now taken "
the prntrieFrass, and on tho smooth prairie
Anrrrty a ten ncrcs can be found on which
patctcs Of It are not growing. ..
TIC fact IA, aA ] think. that tho buEao-Erass,
huElalos, md Indians were 'leslgned for zach
man, tho bltfaoes and Indians leave. The h1tt.
falo-Erass remains for a time, to *upplY INC
rnnchlnan who form. the connecting G.: LAX ne.
Wlycnt Of the farmer. be, too, leaves, antt the
psairie-grass comcs In to supp1y hay for feeding
tho domestic stock Of tho settler IN winter;
a th s,eF sT ysaq1 !: o
The bnfraio-grsa furnishes no hay that can
be cut; cattle rnust grub It themselves in all
WEALnGEk. lie FIh1fiE-HEhss lAs HaHGHNoHs. suH.
mer aud fall pasturage, and, where protected
from stock, will cut from one to TWO tons oil
nutritious hay To tho acre.
THE SOIL or WESTERN KANSAS n
10 uniformly dark. ch1coltte-coorcd lOht1s very
fine and r1ab1c when brought under rcullfyatfon.
It has good dcnl Of sand, but 60 lne as TO bc
| hardly perccptible, being loan rather than
aand. think It Is she most comfortable 9 aoli TO- TO-
it. 1t ts loose and frfable, dries ont quickly
after rain, does not break in Ary weatilcr, nn!i
ls rot unconfor.abiy stieky In. wet
o ous t's e two Ggsnaa sss ae.D !et esFsi
eli sub-so'l, Of which tle basc is clay. On the
upper bottoms OF which have spoken, It is
| very deep. l never could find out how dccp, ~
k;gG show The same color all the way down.
| with nothing to slow where tho surface soil
ended and tho subeol commenced. These
bottoms hare been formed BY tho washl,'g;s r;
the best lands, though, u.s. far as coiiid sec,
growing no better crops Of grain than THO up
land uratrte. They probably will prove better
for corn, Eariennr, and frusf' than tho hlsh
praltte.
! Tho whole soil, from the surfacc down, Is
! SOLID AND FIRM
90 much 80 that wells dug can be lclt Tithont
walling, except above tho water. 1t ts eeperial-
ly adapted to the construction Of tho Kansas
Uug.C .Cut, OF first dwelling Of many Of the l,oor-
er settlers, of which will speak more fully
hereafter. The first breaking Is don. to the
depth Of ahout tTo usnss ana ea 10 ooe nmS
OF July. The bufIalo-gTass sod Ia easy to break.
4 medium pair OF horses Oil twelYc-inci, pow
will break one and = half acrcs day. a. good
pair Ut oxen on tho same slzed piow Will bseak
| An extra pair Of hurBcs or mu'ea Will
break from two 10 two anl half acres day.
Three good horses abreast ot1 slxtcen'incl'
md make tho best breaking team, sncc they
rcunirc no moro tuat,.poxtr than tho yoke ol
oxen or paT OF plug horses breaking only one
to one aud hall acres day.
The breaking ia
GOWN in WHEAT IN TIE FALL.
being narrowed before sowing, and thoroughly
narrowed two Or three times after, and yfcids
II nothing intcrfeEcs with Us maturity m q
sod.crop At the next blowing utter tho wheat !.
below the breaking. and a little. lower at cacs
subsequent pl0wing, TIL sufficient depth o
mellow soil has been secured.
: now reacll subject Of Vital Importance q.
regards this country, slnce upon II dcpchas tht
wilole question vi ite atlaptabEtty to gcncra
agriculture; and that Is tho climate and water
sapply, ns shown By temperatures and rainfall
II, III treating upon this question, Wo wcro da
: pendent upon popular testimony, il could ncsc
b. satisfactory settled, stnce, as hsyu beio!
: ly, however, wo have evi'lcncu upon these qncs
lions whose correctness and tmpnrtlalLty canno
10 questioned, and this Is furniahcd by tho
: OFFICIAL METEOROLOGICAL NHC0HDs,
= which have been kept ut Fort Hayes, pcr
i matent military post Of the Unftod States, ID
o cuted In Eills County, and about thsrty mile
cast OF tho Tooth Meridian. Through tho kind
r. meas Of tho commanding officer Of tho post,
> was allowed FREQ access to tho ,er
;. tfFe recorl, commenting with Jul
= i. lB7U, and continued, wlthou
tio omission of day, to tho present ttmv. I'll
+ observations arc made at tho samc times and
n thu eatnt manner a. ut al signal stations Of IL
q iJuffcl etatrs, anl transmitted daily to til
@ hoad Of tic Bureau at Washington.
taso o. first In Importance tho question {
rn{nfalt. A. bcIorG stalled, 1t ia claimed thu
fmportant1 clirnutlc changes llayc taken plat
a during tho past ten years; anti this Will
II clearly shown to be thu casc though tho recor
r only reaches back seven anu Il half year
r Ennco will mt permit to give tic rainfall Of
y month corscclltlvely, though hayo such
8 record, copied fron the original. can, how
% ever, Cvo all analysts which will probably bc
Is Tho record of rainfall Includes melted $40,
u hail, aud slcet'
Il TAnLH
Il showing tho yearly and avcface monthly rainfall
u In iuchcs and 1N0ths OF an Inch, at Fort llaye
from July !, lB7D, to Nov. ], ls7?,
n. TaI4falL per mont
n Y+cy iHchss. l4ehf
y 1870 thalt.year} }......".-...iA4h r:
~ 1K71 71,.....,....+.,..+..s ..''...'st' IL ~