The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-05-24


into bearing, and were full of young |
apples in their tops, and every apple
was knocked off by a severe hail
storm the day before the great lorna
do, which he fortunately missed. The
view of it to the north from his place |
was, he says, grand and terrible be-
yond the power of description. We
had almost forgotten the item of $500 |
grape vines In sowing blue grass, he |
advises it to be sown and narrowed in |
on any place on the prairie where the
grass has been eaten clean and partly |
killed by stock, and so sown it viii
take root and grow finely.
And now what we want the reader
of this to make note of, is the fact that
all the improvements on this 10000
fruit tree farm have been made in four
years. 1t was in 1874, the year of the
drouth, that Mr.. Graffenstein first
broke ground on his farm, and that year
he planted 10000 trees and watered
every one of them three times himself,
carrying the water to each one. In
four years, really in three, he has
made OF raw upland prairie one of the
finest and most productive farms in
the country. His buildings, fences,
and other improvements, show an al
most incredible amount of work. He
builds only of stone, and every struc-
ture is of the most solid description, to
last century without material repair.
The roofs are all anchored to the
heavy stone wall by hundreds of heavy.
iron rods, and the wall foundations
are deep and wide. The house is a
handsome and eommodioas dwelling,
comfortable inside and out, the main
building, two stories, and attic, is 22x
%, and the main wing is 1880. The
view from it is beautiful, both far and
near, and will increase in attractive
ness as the landscape is opened up
with cultivated fields and waving
groves and orchards.
A cordial invitation to stable the horses
and come to dinner was willingly ac-
cepted, and with appetItes sharpened by
the ride, the four visitors did full justice
to the excellent and bountifuI meal pro-
Vided by Mrs. Graffenstein. After din
ner mine host handed around his box of
cigars, and those who preferred pipes had
q stock to select from, including q quaint
old SaXOny shepherd pipe carved from
black locust, and a long stem, amber
mouthed Oriental pipe, purchased by Mr..
Graffenstein in Constantinople during the
4 vain, NJ
the suite of Prussian prince, on a man.
of-war, and among other curiositles secur-
ed at Smyrna, was piece Of white mar
BILE Clipped from a royal sarco phagus
which the ship took on board there to
convey to the museum at Berlin. It is
very line white marble, and the sarco-
phagus enclosed the remains of g king
noted in ancient history.
With hearty thanks to Mr. and Mrs
Graffenstein for their hospitality, the
party started for the homeward trip, Vot-
ing Graffenstein " staVer" for work or
anything else, and hoping the unremitting
labor Of himself and his equally energetic
wife, will result in a comfortable leisure
not many years hence, in the midst of
what will be one of the most beautiful
and productive farms in the United States.
The route home was the upland, past the
" section,'' between the heads of Dry and
Coal creeks, up Coal creek toEvan Davis
fine farm, which takes in half a mile of
water and timber, and thence home by
way Of the other Cottonwood bottom road .
We can say of the east bottom road that
it is, if possible, really worse than the west
one. MIR. Reese's sheep, near the head OF
Dry and Coal creeks, looked finely. They
were unsheared, and in care of boy on
horseback, assisted by a couple of shep-
| herd dogs. Mr.. Reese has been raising
sheep there for seven years with much
success.
The country south of the Cottonwood,
clear to Greenwood county, is excellent
land, the proportion of that too stony to
plow being very small, and the whole ex-
tent not now in cultivation is covered
with heavy growth OF grass for stock.
1t is better land over there than any one
who has not been over it, supposes, and
there are but few quarter sections that
will not respond luxuriantly to the eff.
forts of the husbandman.