The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-09-09
LETTER FROM COLORADO.
Special Correspondencc.

DENVER, COLORADO, Aug. %, 1882.
The great event for Denver this
year is the Mining and Industrial
Exposition now in progress. Prepa-
ratiOns were made for it on a grand
scale, commencing months ago, by
the erection of a fine building and
gathering up complete exhibit of
all the various mining interests, not
only of Colorado but of the neighbour
ing States and Territories. 1t is,
therefore, chiefly mining affair, and
there is an endless display of ores from
various sections, together with all
kinds of machinery used in the bust
ness of mining, from drills to reduc-
tive works and stamping mills. l
Shall not undertake to give detailed
description of the exhibits for l do
not think it would be of special in
terest to the general reader. To any
one rot interested in mines or mining
there IS nothing especially handsome
or attractive about lot of ores,
though where the different fOrma-
lions Of mineral are comprehended
and the processes for extracting the
precious metals are understood it be-
comes a subject Of greater attractive
ness. In this Exposition agriculture
occupies a secondary position, lust as
it does in the State. The best agri-
cultural display is that presented by
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad of the products of the State
of Kansas, through which that line
runs. 1t is a very complete repre-
sentatiOn of the wonderful resources
of a State concerning which a great
deal has been said and written.
Agriculture in Kansas is necessar-
lily different from that of far Eastern
States, owing to the marke ed differ
ence in climatic influences. The
method of farming that gathers
wealth from almost barren hills and
circumsclibed acres of valley land,
does not succeed in the rich and vast
pralrieS Of the West, where ten acres
is hardly as one farther east. Hence
there arises the system of working
large farms with the most improved
machinery and large force of men.
1t is no unusual sight in the valleys
mentioned to see cOrn-tieldS of 900
or 1000 acres, stretching away from
the railroad in one unbroken mass of
green and yellow. Corn and wheat
are kings. From Mr.. Pliny l.. Bart
lett | learn that the value of the for
mer product in 1880, was S25 ,000,000
and of the latter sd 900, 900, which is
more than tWo-thirds Of the total
valuation of the crops of the State for
that year. Two other crops, now i'm
portant features of Kansas farming,
are sorghO-sugar cane and rice corn.
StOck-raising and wool-growing are
also rapidly taking a front rank. OF
the soil and general characteristics of
Kansas as an agricultural State,
L could say nothing not already
known to those of your readers who
are interested in the subject. 1t is
certainly great State and there are
still opportunities in it for earnest
men who are willing to work and
begin at the beginning. The geograph-
ical position of the State is such as to
exempt it from the extreme and pro-
tracted cold of the North, as well as
the intense summer heat of the South.
The average temperature is about SO
degrees Fahrenheit. There is little
wind in winter, but in summer time
there is prevailing breeze from the
South, usua ly cool, dry wind. The
comparatively high altitude of the
State, together with its perfect system
of river drainage, and the entire alb.
sence of sWamps, or marshy land,
renders the atmosphere at all time
times electrically dry and invigorat-
ing. The expression "as windy as
Kansas" has become a bye word in
some places and undoubtedly there
it has peculiarities of this character.
A citizen of the State, now a U. S.
Senator, once wrote concerning it:
"Kansas is all antithesis. 1t is the
hottest, coolest. dryest, wettest, thick
est, thinnest country of the world.
The stranger who crossed our borders
for the first time at Wyandotte and
travelled by rail to White Cloud
would, with CONSERVATION, contrast
that uninterrupted sierra of rugged
and oak-cad crags with the placid
prairies of his imagination. Let him
ride along the spine Of any of those
lateral divides or watersheds whose
Level leagues forSaken lie
A grassy waste, extending to the sky
and he would be oppressed by the
same melancholy monotony which
broods over those who pursue the |