Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-02-05

building a. hopeless one ana nave gone 20
seek othe< locations. A few have hung on
by sheer tenacity OF purpose and intend to
''stick until actually pried loose" It ID i'm
portant that such people A. these be given
chance to remain in the country.
They have learned the lessons which en-
perience alone can teach, and they can
teach others who may come after them.
They are seasoned timber, ready for use
In building up the "west wing" Each Of
them Is worth to the country his compile
ment of half dozen in newcomers They
ought to stay. Only show them how to get q
little water and they will stay and draw to
themselves from abroad, and will develop
from within, ON the former arid wastes such
riches to add to the treasures and resources
OF our State as IL has not yet entered into the
imagination of the most sanguine and
copious boomer to conceive.
Let the State, then, give us few carefully
and encourage and aid by all reasonable
means the people of Western Kansas in the
great work upon which they are but enter
Ing These among the first things
needful. And let all Join in insisting upon
our receiving that just and prompt attention
from the National Government which they
simply must receive sooner or later, how
ever long the duty may be shrked. Nation
al legislation to provide for settling inter-
State irrigation questions is an urgent primal
necessity.
In conclusion, I only wish to add that if it
has occurred to you that there are herein
enumerated great many "first" things tic
do, can but insist that the term is used adj
visedly. The irrigation interest of the United
States Is immensely. Circumstances have
made it, though an infant in age, a giant in
proportions, and there are indeed many
things, coordinate in Importance, which
need doing at once.
Hot Winds VS.. Irrigation.
Mr.. w. III. Pagan, a prominent citizen
who has been a close observer of the
climatic features of the State, in a re-
cent interview published in the Attica
Advocate, gave it as his opinion that
our destructive hot winds Tin Western
Kansas) are caused directly from the
buffalo grass which, growing SO thickly
on the hard unbroken prairies, forms a
mat which will admit no water pene-
trating the soil to any extent and, as
the grass begins to cure and brown, it
abSOrbS the suns rays, which it again
reflects as from a hot stove; this heat is
carried on by the gentle winds. and on
passing through any green field will
virtually destroy it in a few days. He is
positive that the hot winds do not come
from Texas, as generally supposed, but
are caused right at home, and in sup
port Of this theory says that in the past
eleven years he has noticed the hot
winds blowing from the north about as
often as from the south; another reason
he gives is that if this hot wind blew in
on us from Texas the air would
be heated to a considera BILE height
from the ground, while he has practical
ly demonstrated time and again that the
heat does not arise to greater height
than twelve to fifteen feet, and any one
standing on the roof of a cottage during
these blows will ascertain for himself
that the air is so much cooler and pleas
anter that he can not but be convinced.
The only remedy we have to rid our
selves of our worst enemy is to plow
under every acre of buffalo grass and
keep it in subsection.
In the meantime he advises farmers
who plant large fields of corn to try the
plan of the successful farmers in Ford
and other western counties. who plow
deep, and in planting, begin with sew
eral rows of cane, then several rows of
corn, alternating this way throughout
the entire field; cane generally retains
it's strength and moisture sufficient to
make sure crop and by its aid in keep
ing the hot wind from the corn the
farmer will be more than satisfied with
his yield, while his neighbor may pos
sibly lose his entire crop.
Mr.. Pagan is an enthusiast on the sub
ject of irrigation, and has personally
examined the bitches in Western Kan
sas and Colorado, and owns consider
able land under these bitches, which he
says will soon make the country bios
som as a rose; heretofore the trouble
has been that when Kansas was dry and
noo1a1 hov folds ho lifohoc
tapping the rivers in Colorado had
drained the streams dry and, conse-
quently, late maturing crops suffered
for water, but the new year will wit
ness change in that particular. Every
one who has had a we'll dug in Western
Kansas will admit that on reaching a
certain strata extending on line with
the bottom of the nearest river he finds
an immense body of what is called
sheet-water, which he has never been
able to pump dry. This supposed sheet
water is simply the underfow so
much talked of at present and which is
inexhaustible. The Gilbert Bros, of
Dodge City, have associated with them
a party of English capitalists who have
demonstrated the underf1ow of bitches
20 be success, as evidenced by their
south side canal at that point These
gentlemen have spent large sums of
money on the Eureka canal, which en-
tiers the Arkansas river at Ingalls,, and
have furnished the farmers along its
route with plenty of water to raise
grain and small crops, but the river
would generally fail when corn needed
water the worst. They are now en-
gagged in changing the dam and en-
trance 70 the Eureka canal and make
it head into the underfow, which viii
give them all the water needed at
all seasons. The irrigating question is
being discussed more and more as light
is being thrown on its immense capa-
bilities and, as the Government has re-
ceived S1.25 and, in many cases So. so per
acre, for nearly all the land lying west
of Wichita and Salina, it is only reason
able 60 suppose that Congress will make
a liberal appropriation to carry on what
has been so ably proven at Dodge City.
Canada Responsible.
OTTAWA, Ont, Jan. 27.-Considerable
surprise is expressed in official circles
here over the receipt Of a cablegram