The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-01-06

amount of vapor in the air, during such
hours, Is but little less than the usual
normal saturation of the air during such
heated period. Perhaps it would be
more accurate to say that during such
hours that the temperature of air the was
few degrees greater than before and
hence demanded more vapor 10 saturate
it. One fact is obvious ON this point.
viz: That as the temperature of the air
becomes less the destruction ceases.
Therefore we may safely conclude that
the temperature is the highest and that
the additional vapor needed is an
amount equal to the difference required
by the increased temperature of the air
for a few hours or from two TO five
days only.
That such an amount IS not great can
be shown from facts. This Is apparent
in the yield of corn on the high and the
low land. Corn growing on the Repub-
lican river and other streams
in the years of 1887, 1888 and 1890,
along the stream gave a yield of from
fifteen to thirty-tive bushels to the acre.
On the Republican river, this year. the
yield was from twenty-five 10 forty
bushels to the acre. while on the upland
there was less than five bushels 10 the
acre, Why such a difference: The
moisture of a stream of less than 500 feet
in width, the moisture of the land more
or less shaded and the earth covered
with grass and leaves, caused the main
difference in the yapOr. The moisture
of the corn life on the upland passed 10
the air TO assist in the saturatiOn! Had
there been ponds and moisture on the
surface of the earth on the uplands,
would not the air have been better sup
piled with vapOr without absorbing it
from the corn life?
Is it impossible for human effort 10
place on these rich and very productive
lands an amount of moisture equal To the
sma II amount found IL our small creeks
and river bottoms:
With the waste water from the noun
tains and the June freshets thrown
with some lakes on the south part of
this sub-arid belt, and with some small
lakes or ponds on the small branches of
the creeks and farms and the land kept
half covered" there would be more
vapor in the air than could have been
found in the air in which the corn of
1890 grew in western Kansas and on the
streams.
The laws of our physical globe are
well adapted TO the necessities of man.
We are not called on 10 supply the air
in celestial space with vapor. Much
lower in temperature than the lowest
Strata with which man has to do, the
air in space is already saturated. The
Strata or air which rests on the earth is
the only one we can influence, and the
law of qualification, the law of gravity,
and the law of saturation, come to our
aid to keep the more dense air the near
est to our earth and crops.
If these propositions are correct then
we should be willing to put forth most
vigorous effort to secure some additional
surface moisture, to the end that the
lower strata of our air be better satura-
ted during the crop season.
To accomplish an object so desirable
to success on the plains, three things are
absolutely Indispensable:
First-That there be unity of action.
Second-That the uncultivated p rtion
of the land has a better covering from
the scorching rays f the sun, than it has
had in the past.
Third-That such appliances he put
into requisition as will directly tend to
increase the amount of surface moisture
on the earth.
On these propositions we shall submit
some additional thoughts in the second
article S. d. Houston.
Kingisher, Ok, Jan. 3, 1891.