Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-10-20
GREAT. BEND, KANSAS.
A GREAT COUNTRY FOR WHEAT, HIGI
WINDS AND BUFFALO GNATs.

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! WINDS AND BUFFALO GNATS.
PECULIAR METHODS OF FARMING IN
VOGUE THERE.
tors Post: This is nice town of some
400 or 500 people and takes it's name
from the great bend of the Arkansas
river as it runs near entirely around
the town.
was badly fooled in the river when
first came. The weather was very
hot and the first thing was for a swim.
l walked about half.a mile expecting
to find good. clear river, but it was
like Bill Nye's river, half mile wide
and one inch deep, and strange to say,
on the north side to the very edge the
soil is very black with a gumbo sub
soil, and one has to dig from 80 to 800
feet for water, while on the south side
the soil is sand beds for miles away
with water at any depth from feet to
so. All they do is to drive down an
iron pipe and attach wind pump
which never stops and water never
gives out or runs short.
Harvest is. a thing of the past, while
it looks like ali the steam threshers in
America have turned loose here.
Wheat is being shipped by train loads
and we can't get cars enough.
This country is country of eleva-
tors, every station is made up of them
to load the grain, and still they are
building new ones.
Yesterday 1 met Van Seymour here.
He is buying wheat for Kansas City
firm. "A few days since chanced to
meet Charley Bowling, once bartend
er in Nevada. He is now located in
Texas, in the saloon business.
It is very dry and hot here, not hav-
ing rained for several months.
It is strange to see how they farm
here. There is land farmed here Tor
the last Is years and never plowed.
They drill their wheat and let it 60.
If they should break their ground it
would all blow away. They don't
manure their land as we do, but haul
it out in the road to get rid of it.
This is the finest place for windmills
and turkey raising 1 ever saw. AL
mill will run every minute of the year
and turkey can get any sized grass
hopper he may wish with no chase
whatever. A man soon learns the
trick here not to run his. hat when it
blows off just face the wind and he
can catch two before be can overtake
his own.
People here seem to be doing we'll
and are contented, but Dutchman is
eontented anywhere. Have good
horses and fair grade of cattle and
hogs.
1 got my first Post today since
came here. It was gladly received and
read. Since harvest there are great
number of idle men and some very
tough looking fellows, too.
The wheat crop this year SO far is
yielding from 16 to "a bushels to the
acre aud selling from 46 to 4S cents
aud is of No. 2 quality. Grass is
about played out save the Buffalo
grass, which is better when dry than
green.
The great pests of this country are
buffalo gnats and red winged ants that
bite. scratch and sting, and when the
wind stops blowing hurricane they
take the country.
Col Green and Shsffer Bros. are
we'll and doing nicely. We buy ali
eatables here except -four. which is
shipped in. There are four big MILLS
here which ship train load after train
load to the Old World. Our days are
very warm and nights real cool, we
have to lie under two quilts. This is
about 200 feet higher than Missouri.
0 HARDING.