Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-10-18
A NEW INDUSTRY.
Revelation Regarding the Future of Aria
Lands in the West.

neve1ation Regarding the Future of Aria
Lands ia the West.
The portions OF the west which years
ago were considered desert land, in
capable OF any utility to man, have
grown less and less in extent under the
patient. intelligent skill of the farmer
until to-day waving green and evident
prosperity reign where once the scorch-
ing sand proclaimed only a dreary
waste. In western Kansas, south
western Nebraska and the Cheroles
Strip. as well as Colorado, New Mexico
and further west. though by no means
desert waste, the land is still menaced
and harassed by protracted droughts
each summer which scorch and
burn vegetation and cause the
farmer to despair of elxing ont
bare existence. To the relief OF
this existing condition of affairs intel
Hgent thought and skill have come.
not In the shape of revolutionizing the
natural conditions but in successful
adaptation to those conditions. Where
heretofore the farmer has been Obliged
to struggle along with the discourage
ment of seeing his crops in part burn
up, he is now promised success and
prosperity. The conditions which,
mean failure to the raising of the Gus
tomary crops proclaim life and ma
turity to the plum, prune and tart
les, for these can be grown on
plains without irrigation water, sim
ply by intense cultivation, and these,
it would seem, will be the future crops
of the sections named.
On this point the president of the
leading Nursery company of Missouri
says:
ffnV- h. OBJ
| some years and noticing the fruit
| grown, not only on a commercial scale,
but trees here and there, I am con-
WINGED that there is great future for
western Kansas, southwest Nebraska
and the Cherokee Strip, as we'll as Col
oradO, New Mexico and further west,
in the growing of the stone fruits,
chiefly plumS, prunes and cherries; of
the latter such varieties as Montana.
Suda Hardy, Ostheimer, etc. the Lom-
| bard plum, the cages, prunes, etc.
Some of the advantages are, favorable
climate, soil wonderfully rich, fifteen
hundred miles nearer the market than
the Pacific coast, cheap land, cheap
rates, cheap labor, and the greatest ad-
vantage of all, in shipping green fruit,
is that it may be allowed to come to
maturity instead of picking green as
they do on the coast; this fruit will
for the same reason sell one-third high
er on the Chicago markets, as Colorado
peaches for the same reason sell one
third higher on the Denver markets
than California sorts.
1.-THE plum, prune and cherry need
little water compare lively; it is too
much rain that makes the growth OF
these finer sorts hazardous and uncer-
belongs to the arid region. Sufficient
rain falls there during the early spring
tOinsure crops, and the one thing to do
is to plant on commercial scale. Sue
cess will follow. Halfway work and
neglect will not insure success there
nor elsewhere. What has been done
on the plains of Colorado can be done
in western Kansas.
1.-THE apple and pear may also be
| grown in the same belt if enough
work is done, but not so successfully,
| for the reason more water is required
| than for stone fruits which come to
perfection in dry seasons. This year
the plums and prunes throughout Mis-
souri,, Nebraska and Kansas, in the
rain belts, are coming to maturity. If
there had been the usual summer rains
the fruit would have rotted more or
less, unless sprayed. These fruits must
have dry climate.
struggling farmers of western Kan
sas, who are trying to grow corn
burnt out with the usual annual
drought. should know and realize the
| possibilities in the culture of these
fruits. If they get a crop of corn it
may net them ten dollars per acre; the
stone fruit will net them several hun
dred dollars per acre, and a ten-acre
| orchard worth more than a quarter
section devoted to general farming.
Think of it; try it. But start right,
cultivate right, and be sure and plant
the best trees, the best sorts The ma
| jority of the failures are made from
planting wrong sorts, a mistake that
ought to be avoided The annual
drought that burns out the corn, is
just the weather needed for maturing
and insuring good crops of plums and
| prunes, especially for curing the
prunes- Some of our friends in these
very regions may be surprised to know
| that some of the finest fruit lands Of
the Pacific coast, only fewyears ago,
| were considered barren DESERT
Warning from the Past.
l.