The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-08
The One Hundredth Meridian Myth.

The One Hundredth Meridian Myth.
The negro exodus to Kansas has provoked
much discussion regarding the natural re-
sources and prospective development Of that
state. No doubt the volume of actual pro-
ductlon and the extent OF arabic area have
been sometimes exaggerated by Interested
spectators; but, on the other hand, deroga-
tory statements have been made upon
very inadequate basis Of fact. Some au-
thontic data on the subject were desirable,
and we have found them in report cover
ing the first quarter OF this year and now
published by the Kansas State Board Of
Agriculture.
The notion that the limit OF production ie
marked by the hundredth meridian seems 10
be only the latest formula OF the old theory
which ascribed sterility to the soil Of the
plains and affirmed the existence OF
Great American Desert. Formerly tho
so-called drought line or limit Of fruit
full tillage was PLACED much further to
the cast, but 1t has moved steadily west
ward with the progress Of knowledge and
experiment. For some time after the settle
ment OF Kansas Territory the arabic portion
was supposed to reach no further than $50
miles west OF the Missouri River. and twelve
years afterward the county OF Saline, some
sixty miles beyond was supposed to mark
the border OF cultivation. SO late, indeed,
as 1870 the Kansas Pacific Railway was max
ing agricultural experiments with no great
success in Russell County, fifty miles west OF
Saline. Last year, however, Russell County
produced 227,OO0 bushels Of wheat, and Ellis
County, only eighteen miles east OF the one
hundredth meridian yielded %, 900 bushels In
the same twelvemonth. What Ia still more
significant, the county OF Norton, which
stretches twelve miles west OF the one hun
dredth meridian, was credited with moro
than 100000 bushels OF wheat in 1873. Pass
ing from single counties to broad sections,
we may note that the western half OF that
portion of the State now cultivated. which
in 1868 was entirely unsettled, produced last
year upward OF 29, 100000 bushels OF wheat.
This was 70 per cent. Of the whole product
of the State, or over 100000 more bushels
than was, according to some estimates, re-
turned by Ohio in the same year.
In connection with these statistics, which
seem to indicate that soil productiveness
keeps pace with civilized settlements, the
report goes on TO compare the wheat pro-
ducts OF Ohio and Kansas during the past
thirteen years. In 1866 the yield OF the for
mer State was 10 that Of the latter as 40 to
/ /; In 1869, as to /; In 1873, as A TO / (; and
In 1876, as 1t TO 1. For 1878 the wheat
product OF Ohio has been variously COM
puted at figures ranging between 100000
and 100000 bushels, but even the latter
estimate was exceeded by nearly one-third
OF a million In Kansas, which thus took its
place at the head OF the list Of wheat-grow-
ing States. The amount OF wheat produced
in the western half OF Kansas alone was
| larger by 100000 900 bushels than that ofNew
| York for the year 1877, or over 100000 bush
els greater than the aggregate wheat crop
OF all the New England States with Penn
sylvania, Delaware, and Mississippi In
cluded. Indeed, the single county OF Nor
ton, cut by the one hundredth meridian,
yielded more than twice the quantity Of
wheat returned by Massachusetts. Connec-
ticut, and Rhode Island In the last named
year.
1t appears that the soil OF western Kansas
not only becomes tractable and fruitful
when subjected to tillage, but that the av-
erage rain fall is increased under these con-
ditions. Considerable evidence 10 this effect
Is adduced in this report; but however this
| may VI, IL 10 demonstrated lIhb Aht hlo0N
productive wheat section in the United
States lies in the vicinity of the one hun
dredth meridian. That arabic section
moreover has already ovcrlapped the line
and is still moving westward. The unor-
gained counties OF Decatur, Rawlings. and
Cheyenne, stretching To the western boun
Diary OF the State, from twelve TO hundred
miles beyond the supposed limit Of produc
ton, are being rapidly settled, and. accord
ing To this report, embrace on an average as
good land as any in the Commonwealth. Al
present the advanced posts OF settlement
are over three hundred miles west Of th'
Missouri River and it Is affirmed that the
whole area TO the east OF that frontier II
available for farming purposes. No doub
the section beyond the general sottlemen
line is, under existing circumstances, bes
suited TO stock raising. But the point made
by this report is that the line represents IL
inexorable law Of nature, and that 1t Is con
stantly pushed onward by the wave OF i'm
| ant nd opltura