The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-01-14


Productions of sedgwick County This
Year-Kafir is All the Rage and it is
Regarded as a Winner-It Beats its
Rival Three TO One on Up-Lands Be
People Talk About the Hope of Kansas
and sedgwick County.
There Will be an agricultural revolu-
ton in this county this spring and in
all likelihood King Korn will be dethron
/ ed by King Kaffir.
Today corn is selling for 10 cents a
bushel while kaffir finds a ready sale at
25 cents bushel. This increased price
means a demand and the demand
means an immense acreage Of kaffir
next year People are not paying %
cents a bushel for kafir for feed; they
are buying it for seed.
/ There was quite a number Of farmers
UP at the court house yesterday 10 see
the new officers installed and nearly all
1 OF them predicted an immense kaffir
! acreage next year.
| Deacon Wilson, the new county COM
/ missioner, knows thing or two about
farming if he is a POpulist. He ex-
perimented with it last year and the re-
suits We're highly satisfactory. Mr..
Wilson thinks there VIII be a big acre
age of it this year.
/ For upland, Mr.. Wilson thinks, red
kaffir is just the thing. He thinks it
would be foolish to raise il on bottom
land. The reason is that more corn
can be raised on bottom land than kat
fir. On the contrary, ne says, that
he'll Of L - h Sc = IN,
upland to one bushel Of corn, providing
the season is not unusually moist. He
says that from a standpoint Of feed
ing, six bushels of kafir are equal 20
about five bushels of corn. but taking
the fodder and everything they are Of
I about equal value for feed. The aver
age Kansas year he thinks upland viii
produce about fifteen bushels of corn
and about forty or forty-five bushels
of kafiir. Ut can be seen then that
kafTir is the crop and thar it Will be the
upland crop this year. AN the farmers
VINO sat around the table in the COM
missioners' room agreed that of all the
varieties Of kaffir the red was by far
the most successful Mr.. Wilson said
that it is a great mistake to plant kat
fir corn too early The ground should
be warm and he thinks that the last
week in May or the first week in June
B
man said that the best results attained
last year We're from kaf1ir corn planted
in field after the wheat was cut. Mr.
wilson said that as a feed kaffir corn
IS not as good for work horses as Indian
corn 1t is not as strengthening, but
for driving and light work horses it is
, better as it puts on flesh and gives the
animal a, smooth appearance.
When asked concerning its qualities
as table food he smacked his lips and
said that bhe kaffir cake beats every
! thing. He thinks, however, that il
would be well to mix TT with buckwheat,
but buckWheat or no buckwheat, he
thought that his wife could make a kat
fir corn griddle cake that a princess of
the blood royal might relish.
Mr.. J. L. Howard of the Union mills
did not know much about the practical
part of raising kaffir corn, but he did
know whole lot about the value of the
crop from what people told him. He
thought it would be the salvation OF
Kansas. Oklahoma and Nebraska. He
thought, however, that the increasing
use Of kaffir flour is a fad although he
likes the cakes first rate.
GAS 1 say" said he, "I don't know
much about the practical part Of KAT
fir growing but I viii introduce you to
Mr.. HansfOrd, my partner, who knows
all about it,
Il raised kafffr down in the strip last
season." said Mr.. Hansford. land Il
was a great success. think the acre
age next season viii be largely ii ex-
cess Of the acreage Of Indian corn. KAT
fir is almost a sure crop Of fifty bushels
per acre. 1 have made tests between It
and Iidian corn on the same ground and
under like circumstances and kafir
was much more successful. 1t is q bet
ter feed by far for young stock and for
all kinds of stock except heavy working
horses. You take pigs for instance. a
pig two weeks old viii eat kaffir and
live and grow fat and thrifty or il. It
is just the thing fer young pigs
Several other persons grew enthusi-
astic over kaffir It's great feature IS
that 1t defles the drouth and that is the
kind Of a crop Kansas and Oklahoma
wants. Corn viii do very we'll until
the drouth comes and then II withers
up and dies. When the drouth comes
kaffir corn Will stand still. II will not
grow any but VIII keep healthy When
moisture returns ii will start in where
1t left off and grow on TO maturity as
if nothing had happened. As Kansas
gets plenty rain annually only fo- a
short time in the autumn the kafir
tides over the dry spell, watches the
Indian corn die beside IT. and starts out
after the trouble has passed over.
Some people say thar the kafT1r IS not
good for milk yielding animals, but
King kaff5r submits evidence in denial .
Mr.. Moss a farmer down near Winfield
has made a thorough experiment along
this line. He took two mich COWS Of
the same breed, age and other equal con