The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-03-31

fertile county is comparatively new and not half under cultivation, its sv- craze corn crop exceeds that of Rhode Island and Colorado combined, and it's yearly wheat crop is greater than the total wheat product of all the New England states. It annually grows more oats than Rhode Island and Delaware, is superior
 TO CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 for sorghum, millet, broom corn, rye, flax, barley, Irish and sweet potatoes, all the field and garden vegetables and is fast coming to the front as
 A ROYAL FRUIT COUNTRY. Its orchards have 1lo,639 bearing ap- pie, peach, pear, plum and cherry trees, and 232, ,250 young trees not yet in bearing. It has 300 acres in rasp- berries, 43 acres in black kberries, and 3S acres in straw berries. These fruits, with the exception of the peach, four ish as if ito the manor born" This county is
 A NATURAL VINEYARD,
 its woodlands abounding in wild vines of generous size and fruitage. The l20 acres of vineyard produce grapes of size, hue and flavor, equal the vine- yards of the Ohio and Erie islands. THE STALwART WILD GRASSES, which number more than 100 varie- ties, are grazing s,036 horses, 5l2 mules, 25,847 cattle and 16,650 sheep, and few countries have flocks and herds of better style and breeding. The farmers of the county annually feed 5000 pigs, and the yearly export of prime steers and pigs exceeds $780, GOO.
 BLUE GRASS,
 white, and red clover, timothy, orch ard grass and herds grass, make fine showing, and with the rye fields and mild, open winters, the fields of stall wart corn, the natural shelter of the woodlands and the succulent wild grasses, make
 A CAPITAL STOCK COUNTRY, than which better is hard to find. l know of no region west of the great lakes that is better suited to that sur est and most profitable of all rural in- dustries,
 VARIETY FARMING,
 than Marion county, whose rich black l flexible soils are abundant in humus, easily worked, and range from one to three feet in depth on the high prairies, and in the valleys and bot toms from four to ten feet in depth. Everything grown in the middle lati- tudes flourishes here with half the care and labor required in the older states and the seasons of seeding, i growth and harvest are so much longer and more friendly than in the older countries, that the variety" i farmer finds his calling invested with more pleasure and less hurry and con- fusion than in any other country Of my knowledge. Inexhaustible quar- ries of
 THE FINEST MAGNESIAN LIME STONES of the blue, gray and cream colored varieties of free stratification, abound in the central and southern portions of the county, and while they are used in every form of building and for multitude of other local uses, thous- ands of car loads are annually shipped to other portions of the state, where they are used for the finest public and private buildings. The climate is very like that of middle Kentucky and Virginia, and is alike healthful and enjoyable.
 THE LANDSCAPE
 is peaceful and pastoral, abounds in numberless lines of grace and beauty, gives no sense of weariness or monot- ony, and under the mellow haze and genial skies of this sunny southwest is quite beyond criticism. Considering the location, farm development, rail- way and market facilities, social and intellectual advancement and natural wealth of the country, Marion county LANDS ARE CHEAPER
 than in any other portion of Eastern Kansas. Wild lands are selling at $6 to Sl5, and improved farms from s12 to S35 per acre, according to soils, location and improvements. Choice highly improved farms, near the larger towns, are held at higher fig ures. It is patent to the dullest visi- tor from the older states that these rich Marion county lands
 WILL DOUDLE IN VALUE
 within the next five years, and that the years are not distant when they will rank in value with similar lands in the most favored districts of Iili- nois and Ohio. It is only twenty fl ve years since Marion county was a beau- tiful wilderness, on the eastern border of the buffalo range and to-day it has
 TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE bright, intelligent, progressive and enterprising people, representing the best brain, heart, worldly experience, skill and working power of the older states and Europe. They have within the county 131 miles of railway,