Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-12
A STOCKMEN'S PARADISE.
Secretary +. ID. COburn Tells "Why
Kansas Should Excel in Stock
Growing


night before the Improved Stock Breeders
Association. his subject being why Kan
slS Should Excel in Stock Growing
"A friend in Western Kansas who be
licves the state has not been and IS not
entirely absorbed by the chinch bug. the
octopus and the great red dragon. sends
me this card. the back of which he utiliZes,
like loyal citizen. for making a few cheer
full remarks. praiseful of the land of his
adoption and the people who live therein.
Among these remarks is the statement
that If YOU will look on any map of the
United States you will find that Kansas
is the bulls eye.
after thrty-one years of residence, ex-
perience and observation in Kansas and
among her people, /. for one. am perfectly
willing to concede the correctness of his
proposition. 1t by 10 means takes a bulls
eye, however, to discover that Il large
measure OF the future wealth and greatness
of Kansas must come by and through her
meat produCtS-meats evolved from the
grasses and grains which her soils yield in
II maximum of abundance for less tickling
than any others of which agricuturistS,
biologists and other wise men have knowl-
edge.
We have the highest authority for the
statement that All flesh is grass. and the
goodness thereof is as the flower of the
field Nature and men, cooperating. have
made Kansas Il marvellous blending of pas
ture and corniield-the domain OF grasses.
III luXuriance. prOfusion, nutritious quail
ties. and economy of production. hers are
nowhere surpassed; this, whether applied
to the corn, blue-Stem. timothy. clovers
ana bluegrass of her eastern half, or sor
Shums. millets. alfalfa and unpretentious
grammaS of the fertile and higher attitudes
beyond. The prince of all these is Indian
4, ..l.,,i ir,,.-
evolved a hundred commodities that the
Werld hungers for with an unappeasable
appetite, which only grows greater by feed
ing. Commodities that, when ready for the
buyers, do not have to be bartered at the
crossroads for salaratus, kerosene and
Horseshoe plug, but are as staple in the
markets of civilization as are pounds ster-
ling or California bullion. always good for
liberal advances on conslgnmcntS.
The foundation OF the profitable animal
is pasture. Where else are better pastures
ed Kansas? Wher' else can Il greater or
more continuous .-..iety be found, avail
able from the opening OF April TO the close
Franklin county has his bluegrass. no less
has the grazier of Haskell or Sheridan his
gramma. and either stockman will make
affidavit any day in the year that his is the
best that ever grew. II the stockman OF
Eastern Kansas boasts of or becomes rich
by his generous growths of clover, millet
and blue-stem for hay, his competitor from
the less humid. coyote counties VIII dem
OnStrate that five to ten tons OF better
kaftir corn per acre or three or four cut
tings of alfalfa in a season make his end
of the state about the only part OF IL IN
which 1t man VINO Is in the business for
real profit or wants to raise stock costing
almost nothing, can afford to locate. II
the meatmaker in the eastern half OF the
state is sure of himself because corn grows
in such abundance and Is of such unques.
toned value furnishing the streak OF
fat. likewise is the gentleman from the
short grass country self-contained by his
NH tn
sometimes more bushels of sorghum seed
per acre, which our experiment station has
making. as Indian corn. If for beefmah-
ing. why not for porkmaklng. poultry
making, mutton making, miikmaklhS;
If wholesome water is of value have
rot the geological and photographic sur
Neys shown that the state is we'll nlsh
crystal water, and are not the tireleSs
winds. full of self-renewing energy, avail,
able for its drawing wheresoever ana
whensoever we will?
Given abundant grass. a variety OF
grains. low priced lands and a mild eli
mate. it is easily demonstrated that the
region having these can produce beef at
an advantage nowhere surpassed.
With these and her dry soil. Kansas
should be the sheepman's paradise, and
some day will be. One stumbling block.
which has thus far been and still is in
the way of such a consummation. is that
much time in dog culture. Sheep and
the average Kansas dog do. to be sure.
frequently lie down together in peace, but
very rarely except when the sheep is IN
pieces, inside the dog. and the only whole
thing is the dog outside the sheep. This.
CT course, is fun for the dog. have made
life study of this quadruped and am fully
persuaded that his sphere of usefulness is
not in animal husbandry nor agriculture.
but in pomology. The same as to the coy
ote. If planted early land it is never too
carly. nor too latel. half dog beneath
a pear tree will aid its growth and bear
'ng prodigiously: and the books give no
CT anything the matter with Its bark. the
wolf makes superior fertilizer. and dog
is worth even much more: There isn't a
quarter section farm in Kansas that not
only would be the better and cleaner there
by. but more profitable. If it supported
from fifty to 200 good sheep. Their owner
would need to understand finance very
thoroughly If he was ever able to discover
that their keep and increase cost him any
thing.
"As to our possibilities in swine growing.
suggestion is found in the records of the
Columbian exposition: For that wonderful
worlds show all Poland-Chinadom was wa;
raked for the best that experience. skill.
the secrets of their originators. and money,
sugar and sweet oil could produce. Won
from Ohio Indiana Illinois and Iowa. and
all the benefits of combination. acuuaint-
ance and nearness to home We're invoked TO
beat the world. They had it beaten until
Gresham to drive out first one and then
another of their Kansas pigs. Then Il
sneering Indifference gave way to lively at
tention. then to deep concern: defeat soon
followed defeat in quick succession for
their supposed inYincibles from the valleys
of the Miami. the Wabash and the Sanga-
mon; panic and rOut set in and after that
1t was devil take the hindmost. the
mercilesS juggernaut of the Jayhawkers
rode them down. To this day when two or
more of those Buckeyes and Hoosiers or
Suckers are gathered together they will he
found trying to explain TO each other about
that Kansas cyclone of 1893. with which
they got tangled up in Chicago and which
they had previously had no idea was load
ed.
I'm every respect Kansas should be the
ideal region for raisinss horses of size.
sounIness. speed and bottom. This is
branSh of the stock business which, eN-
in., been persistently and continuously de-
veloped as its merits would have justified.
Yet even under such circumstances some
very noted and notable specimens have had
a Kansas origin. For instance. in speed
horses the wonder and well nigh world
heater. John r. Gentry. came from SedG-
wick county: that remarkable flyer. Joe
Young made famous by Charles r.. West
brook was q Marion county development:
the whirlwind Joe Patchen. sprung from
Marion county. and there are others.
In no department of stock husbandry
are we likely to have greater length of
| reach than in the cultivation of the COW
and all she is capable of in enhancing the
comfort, health. wealth and happiness of
| mankind from the cradle to second child