News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-11-04

CLAY CENTER, Kan, Oct. %. $50.
Ioee1.c Edifo,-o

CLAY CENTER, Kan, Oct. %. '86.
Messrs. Editors:
AS it has been some little time since
[ have written anything from this part
of the country, and having little
leisure time I will improve it by pen
ming few lines for the readers of
your excellent paper. We have been
having some fine rains here during the
past week and winter wheat is coming
on very rapidly liz consequence, and
considerable more wheat will prOba
bly, be put in the ground yet. The
corn crop is being harvested now and
some good corn is found on the
river and creek bottoms, but on the
uplands, as general thing, it is very
poor, and good part of it will hard
ly pay for the picking. [ took a trip
down the Republican and Kansas
river valleys as far as Manhattan last
week, and as far as saw, corn was
good deal better on the Kansas
river than anywhere 1 have been this
fall, some fields yielding close to so
bushels per acre, which is a good
crop. Business is rather dull here
now, but as corn, cattle and hogs be-
gin to come in from the country [ pre-
sumo it will be little more lively.
There seems to be a big trade in
apples, if one may judge from the
loads that are constantly passing from
the eastern counties westward. 1t is
an everyday occurrence to see from
four to a dozen teams loaded with
winter apples going farther west
to dispose of them. They have their
wagons covered with cloth, and sleep
in them beside of the road wherever
they may camp for the night. The
apples cost from so to 10 cents per
bushel, and sell for 81 and S1.25 per
bushel when they are as far west as
Saline and Ellsworth counties. Kan
sas is as yet in her infancy in the fruit
growing industry, yet the climate and
soil seem peculiarly adapted to near
ly all kinds of fruit growing, and es.
pecially apples and pears. 1t is only
a question of little time when Kan
sas will grow enough fruit for her own
consumption and large surplus for
export. There is an immense number
of young trees planted each year, and
you can hardly find farm house but
what has quantity of fruit trees
around the buildings. We had one or
two light frosts this fall and few
days of rather cool weather, but it
is now as warm and pleasant as any
one could ask for, and we expect it to
hold so till the first of January.
Clay Center is still on the "boom,"
and it looks as though it might con-
tinue to all winter, by the number of
new blocks and residences that are
being commenced every day. The
opera house is now up three stories,
and it is expected that in about ten
days the brick and stone work will be
finished ready for the carpenters to
begin the inside work.
The principal topic of conversation
is politics, and on almost every cor
ner you can find crowd engaged in
a discussion as to the merits of their
respective nominees for representa-
tive of the fifth district, there being
three, Lowe, Democrat; Wilson, Re-
publican, and Anderson, the peoples
choice, or the Independent candidate.
l think that week from next Tues
day will see j. A. Anderson elected
by strong majority. John Martin
is running for Governor by the Re-
publican party and Thomas Moon
light, or "Moonshine," as he is dubbed
by the Republican papers, as the Dem
ocratic nominee. w. A. DEMERITT.