Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-06-02
OPENING FOR AoR1cuLruRR.
Dodge City the Commercial Center
of the Finest Body Of Agri-
cultural Lands in
the State.


OF this vast unoccupied Southwestern
Kansas have been kept in Obscurity-hid.
den. as it were under bushe!, while tba
fact is no grander country for the farmer
can he found in the world than this
Watered by running streams and natural
fountains, rich in soil and plentiful;v
supplied with timber, it preseuta advan-
tages and Inducements upexcelIed .nr-
where. The soil varies from ten inches IN
eight feet in depth and is in nearly all
cases sufficiently sandy to make it friable
and mellow after it is once broken. Il !.
OF such nature that water is very ouick-
ly absorbed by it, and is largely retained
Its capacity for withstanding dry
weather being really surprising.
The bottom lands of the Arkansas
river (which stream flows through Dodp,
City,, although very fertile the whole
length and bredth of the valley. are
superior in Ford county and west OF it. to
those IN the counties east of us, the pro-
portion of sand being much smaller than
IN Rice and Reno--counties with which We
are quite familiar and which are among
the hest for agriculture in the developed
portions Of the State. These lands are
mOistened by natural system of lrriya-
ton. The water of the river permeates
the sandy subsil on either side to an in
definite distance and is carried upward
toward the surface by capillary attrac-
ton, tins forming steady supply with
no danger of OVERLOOKING. This fact also
enables our people to have good wells at
a small expense by driving a pump tube
down from ten to twenty feet.
The surface of the country tributary to
Dodge City extending south to the Indian
Territory, west to the State line. north
over sixty miles. and east about twenty.
five miles. is quite varied. Some locali-
ties are quite billy. but never so much 20
as 10 be untillabIe. Others are quite level,
but never subject TO overflow. However,
the great bulk of the land is of a gently
undulating nature.
Pat Ryan was the first to test our soil
and climate as TO its fitness for agriculture,
and his experiment resulted in an cmintly
satisfactory manner. He has raised three
heavy crops in succession the last three
years, with comparatively little cultiva-
ton. Three years ago his large field of
corn averaged over sixty.fiye bushels TO
the acre. Mr.. Ryan's farm is located in
what he regards the garden spot of the
world, on the Mulberry near where it
empties into the Arkansas, about twelve
miles southeast of Dodge. This stream is
hedged in on both sides by forests of tim
Der, with broad, beautiful prairie lands
adjacent. very little of which is occupied.
The finest varieties of fresh water fish
may easily be taken in large quantities
from its limpid waters. Here Mr.. Ryan
has amassed fortune in three years, and
any other industrious farmer can do the
same.
Last year several farmers com>
menced opening farms about seventeen
miles east of here, on the level table
lands. and although the rainfall was
smaller than usual, a plentiful harvest
rewarded their efforts last autumn. This
season every variety of cereal and vege-
table promises fabulous yield. Winter
wheat. which is believed to be an unfail-
ing crop in this country, is over three
feet high and heavily headed. Rye Is
over six feet high and will Weld immense
ly. Spring wheat has made a luxurlant
growth and a heavy crop is already assured.
Tho future of such a magnificent section of
country cannot be aught but bright and
prosperous. RAPIDLY settling mp with .
wide awake. go-ahead class of citizens,
fond OF schools and churches, eager to
improve their farms and uniting in their
labor towards improving the country.
failure is impossible. Already school
house mas been erected of which their
diafrict may wall ha r,orI Z. .-h:.h .