New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-08-04
KANSAS FARM LIFE


FARMER.
,,,ay SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TSisoNs'
ns-,,cr Kan. July 15.--The past year has been
s,,r,nr and tumultuous season 1or 1ne hans'S
80 Dron,h has parched him. winter mas
,Ss h;s narro w. cyclones have buHeted him,and
bsaten upon his house with an enthusi-
'ai'' 18Th hs ron j0cred entirely misplaced Never
20 Ia had faith as O grain OF wheat since
i's- s~a hos MT vet been added TO the Kansas
ms end the result shows that tsith mas again
80 ;ust;6ed by works. Gaunt angular anu
uarthv as the farmer is be wonid hardIy De CHOSEN
.s.txnical Gaaymede, vet the cup WHICH he ocaio
t,;s rear is crowned with an oferng more precious
uns.-vith between twenty-seven ana thirty
million bushels of wheat.
p.rbaps after all, the Infinite variety OF weather
,,cb has been let loose in the last year upon Nam
eos from some mischievous Pandoras oox mas
boen intended o means OF grace Tor'
So, The enormous crop of 1882. the farmer was
- n think no small beer" of himself, and
hn night have become so unduly exalted as. like
Io,h,mn 10 wax fat and kick But before this
..,s,rophe arrived there came the time OF plough
;,ard nlaniing In the autumn. Then there SGT IN
r;ayons drouth The heavens were brass and
an oartb offered abundance of dust and ashes Tor
,he farmer TO heap upon his humbled head. Unoer
+bess conditions it was inevitable that the prepara-
4;ons previously made to increase largely the wheat
earsaee of the State should be suddenly checked.
a,er in the autumn the weather became more
fsvorahe. and an additional area was sown, a
Hh.rtv which was promptly resented by the advent
~ an extremely severe winter This proved disas-
.rous TO ISL 931 acres nearly 10 per cent OF the en-
tire winter wheat of the State. and the land
was ploughed up the spring and utilized for other
purposes
THE WHEAT CROP.
There were left for harvesting 1889 acres. or
zs24O moro than lest year. The loss from the rig
orouspess and sudden changes of the winter fell
mos; heavily upon the southeastern and extreme
western counties. amounting to % per cent in the
Former and ii per cent in the latter. Then
the farmers withers were further wrung by back
ward spring cheeriully diversified with tornadoes.
hailstorns, cloudbursts and floods. But these, not
withstandng their prominence in press dispatches.
have been chiefly local in their effects and have in
jured comparatively small area.
The elements seem TO have conspirad to keep the
farmer in state of continual anxiety and alarm,
Int Nav aud June brought moro propitous days.
Now the harvest time has come, aud the crop OF
winter wheat is better than the most sangune
would have predicted three months ago. The
wheat grow whom l have seen in Eastern and
Central Kansas, in the Cottonwood and Arkansas
valleys are well contented with their crops. They
feel that their wheat lands have been put 10 a
severe test and have emerged successful Certainly,
considering everything, there seems TO be little
ground for complaint By the Secretary OF the
State Board of Agriculture the average yield or
winter wheat is estimated at 17.o6 bushels acre.
This gives a yield for the State OF 26,7O1.439
bushels His estimate is, as always, conservative,
and is the lowest that / have heard. Another CAL
culation also based upon reports from different
sections of the State is that the average yied per
acre will be between twenty and twenty-one
bushels, which would make the entire crop
over 100000 bushels According to the
Secretary's reckoning. this years yield
falls short By 7.241. $50 bushels OF that of 1882
Nor is this surprising Last season brought one of
the greatest wheat years in the history of Kansas
1t was not to be expected that her crop should
always reach high-water mark. Yet this years |
yield will be fully three-fourths that of last
SOIL AND FARMING METHODS
For tho falling off there are some compensations. |
The chances arc essened that enthusiastic new
comers will seek certainly disastrous fate by at
tempting to raise wheat on tho high dry plains in
the western part of the State 1t is unlikely that
Kansas will witness repetition Of the experiences
which followed the great wheat yield of 1873. And |
the farmers are conducting their operations moro
thrifty with less of the laissez all spirit which
IS SO apt TO appear any new land of great thnga
IL Is less common to burn the great mounds of
straw left in the fields. The most confirmed wheat
farmcrs recognize the wisdom Of keeping some
stock to consume the straw at least OF spreading
It upon the ground that the soil may receive back
Of its elements.
How long will the Kansas wheat lands remain
apparently Inexbaustiblei This would be an ever
present bugbear to the New-Engiand farmer. accus-
toned Q to yearly use of fertilizers upon
he atI pot ksr~ he |
question is confidently set aside. have
neveryet heard any definite prediction NJ time
when the land would become worn out Yet IL its
elements taken out year bv year and nothing
returned. surely that time must come. In the up
land praries the soil is usually deep black loam
underlad with porous clay ID the bottom lands
q sandy loan. Between this town and Great Bend
on the west the surface soil is dark sandy loan,
beneath which is mari clay. while the gently roll
ing contour of the ground Is a ready aid to drain
age This kind Of soil is excellently adapted TO
general farming, and 1t would seem that this min
gled with stook-raising would prove less exhaust
tng to the soil than exclusive wheat raising. THIS
s problem, however, which must be worked out
for itself
WHAT THE HARVEST MEANS.
In travelling across the State there Is hardly a
spot east OF Hutchinson where rich fields Of wheat
and corn may net be from the car WINDOWS,
yet there vast stretches of grass lands still along
Che track which have never known the plough.
Just now thanks to the lateness Of the spring. this
grass country Is looking Its best The growth Is tall
snd luxuriant and Of q vivid green. doubly
eehghtful by contrast to tho sober
brown Of late summer and autumn. But grass
suggests cattle, and ct present write of wheat.
What does this crop mean TO the Kansas farnerf
u brings him the chief supply of ready money
which comes to him during tho year. II he raise
only 100 acres. the clear profit should be- accord.
ing to proved estimates. about 800. The total
cost of an acre of wheat remains in the neiebbor.
hood of 81 Take eighteen bushels to the acre at
% cents bushe and the calculation la ensilu Md