The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-03
SOUTH AND CENTRAL KANSAS.

The valley lands of southern central
Kansas possess more solid advantages
than any other well known locality.
They produce per cultivated acre of
corn and wheat in decade as shown by
the government statistics more than do
the great agricultural states of Illinois
and Iowa, or of Nebraska and the Da-
kotas, and this, be it remembered, while
depending wholly upon the natural rain
fail, without drop of irrigation water
While this is true, and as important as
true, and must not be ignored by any
one seeking information on the subject,
yet we possess other advantages over
the states TO the east and the north that
are of but little less importance. which
are that our valley lands can be irrigated
more cheaply than the lands Of southern
California, and which lands being of
greater average fertility, and lower in
price with cost of irrigation included,
produces more per cultivated acre OF
vegetables and fruits, and being within
the borders of the great consumDtive
market of the country saves long and
expensive transportation with a saving of
freight charges that adds to our profits
over and above that which is now or
probably ever Will be realized by the
Pacific coast producers. For no matter
how much the West may increase in
population, our position is the geograph-
ical center and all increase OF the West
will only place us nearer the center of
population.
Having thus outlined the facts
that while without a drop OF arti-
fetal water we easily stand at the head
of the agricultural states, as well as
touched upon the ease and advantages
of irrigation to supplement- our advan-
tages and increase an hundred fold the
profits derived from the soil, we will
now endeavor to show some figures
of the cost of the valley lands which
overlie the great sheet waters of our
streams. To do so we quote from the
Irrigation Age an article on irrigation by
wind mills, which, under the heading
Things Actually Done," SAYS: "Now
we have seen what in theory ought to be
accomplished with pump and reservoir
of the capacity named; let us see what
our farmers reports show as actually
being accomplished. John Simon of
Garden City, Kan. reports wind mill
pumping a inch stream Of water into
reservoir 100 feet square by four feet
deep, raising the water twelve to fifteen
feet, and irrigating ten 10 fifteen acres.
The entire cost of his plant was $40,
with comparatively no outlay for oper-
ating expenses. j. L. Diesem
Of Garden City, Kan, is jrrigating fifteen
acres from we'll thirteen feet deep by
means Of a pump throwing 5000 gallons
of water per hour into a reservoir 14O by
153 feet and four and one-half feet deep.
His plant cost $3.50" These two exam
Piles afford very conservative estimate
OF the cost, and the locality mentioned
has only about one-half the average
rainfall as this part of the state.
The capacity of the appliances to ac-
complish the same result here could be
much less and the cost be reduced COR
respondingly.
Let no one imagine that we under
estimate the ability of our state to pro-
duce the staples Of life in competition
with any section, for we do not. "a Nor
do we intend to underestimate the ad-
ded value of intelligent irrigation of
lands for the production of the great
vegetable and fruit crops, which Will
with as much certainty as that the sun
shines by day, soon fill our fertile val
leys with its teeming thousands of
thrifty people, supplementing the nat
ural rainfall by irrigation and doubling
the productive resources of our state.