The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-08-27
a GARDEN sPor az KANsAs

a GARDEN SPOT or KANSAS.
For The News:
Less than twenty years ago all that
portion OF Kansas lying west Of the
Tooth meridian Of longitude was desig-
mated on the maps az the 'EGreat Ameri-
can Desert" and was described as beng
without vegetation, save an occasional
sage bush and totally unfit for agricul-
tural purposes" Scarce q decade OF
years have elapsed since the iron horse
first snoFted ACROSS this barren waste, to
the disgust ofthe buffalo and his meaner
companion, the red man, and the trans
formation has been wonderful indeed.
Now, instead Of the bison. thousands of
cattle Craze. grow fat and are shipped
without being fed an ear Of corn, and
instead of poor Lo the husbandman pur-
sues his avocation on the rich prairie
where 1t Is possible for him to plow q
furrow from the rising of the sun to the
going down thereof without turning out
for stone, stump or obstacle OF any
kind.
Certainly western Kansas has q great
future before it as an agricultural and
grazing district-the plains affording a
soil already as good as any to be found
in the west, and the hills along the
rivers teeming with nutritious grasses.
The question OF rain, however, and while
there has been an abundance of that
article for three years past, the expert
ence of eastern Ksnsss teaches that q
drought Is to be expected al
any time. But 1t seems as though nature
intended from the general lay of the
ground that it should be irrigated, and
several large canals are now IN operator
to bring the murky waters of the Kan
sas Nile over the hills and on the broaC
plateaus. Thus it is that rain OF shin
the farmer is happy, for in the dr.,
months when water is most needed, tn
Arkansas Is always brIm full from tn
melting snow on the mountains of Co
orado. This year without any irrigatio
all kinds of email grain are looking wei
, and corn will make a good crop. w
have not yet The great fields of corn I
found in the eastern part of the state, BIT
in few years Kansas corn will be on
} of our chief product.
/ Garden City is busy BUSTING tow
D of thousand souls, which q year az
. scarcely numberaa 400. Many larg
buildings are going up and real estate
advancing every day. Its people al
quiet and orderly and for western tow
lisa marvel of prosperity. We are L
longer on the frontier; a dozen towr
: have sprung up west of here, each OF
striving for the mastery. Trail Cit
which is being started Just across Il
line IN Colorado is just now sltractII
. considerable attention, and it is expec
. cd to rival Dodge City IN woke
. ness. 1t Is being extensively advertis,
: as "the cowboys earthly paradise-On
1O5 miles from Kansas prohibitioD"
K AT the present rate of entry all OF Il
! public domain in Kansas will DC TAX
= up by the settler and speculator. Al
e person of lawful age may take 1G0 acr
il of land under the timber culture a
a without any residence thereon, and 1t
n difficult to get such claims within tive
It ty miles OF Garden City, while thr
y months ago they could be lad tour mil
n from here. A presumption claim can
b proved up in six months by paying t
n necessary $1.25 outside of railroad lii
its or 81 so per acre within the IA
road limits. Nine-tenths of the timt
claims taken by other than actual settle
are as q matter of speculation, and not
q means of developing the country,as &
also the presumption entries, and 1t
the general opinion that the next &C
gress should so modify the land laws
to reserve the public lands for actual s
; tiers and therefore prevent the system
,, speculation which Is now going on.
" The climate of western Kansas cam
= be surpassed. During the day the III
40 mUmeter ranges In the nineties, hut
the evening it is almost as cool as c
q Orado. II is never sultry, and the b
OF Is not felt as it is in the east. With
10 soil as fertile and climate as mild
7e 1t is possible for one 10 obtain, what
" TO prevent the Great American Des
a becoming a garden spot? {
a Garden City, Kan, August "A.