The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-05-06

coal lead, zinc and salt, making a total
of 1853, 345,000 for one year, we certainly
But even that total was surpassed in
1885,, when the product of our farms
sold for the enormous sum of $151, 923, =
S2S, which is an average of $110 for
every man, woman and child in the
state. After selling all this, our farm
ers reserved, in the shape of live stock
poultry and other farm products, $113,-
227, 1913, which is a per capita of $40 and
makes a total of $265, 900, 900, or an aver
age per capita of s191 in farm products
alone. Then add to this $50, OOO, 900 as
the output of the mines and you have
something like the value of our labors
last year. The total value of all the
precious metals produced in the United
States was considerably less than that
of the farm product of Kansas"
The rainfall in eastern Kansas is suf-
ficient for ordinary crops, but when
you pass the center of the state irriga-
ton is absolutely necessary and a
farmer who depends upon the clouds to
anything to brag of. Scattered all over
the western section of Kansas are the
pitffu1 remains of a class of early set
tiers who are Familiarity known as dry
farmers They came in early, took
up" government homesteads or bought
railroads lands and endeavored to dig
fortunes out of the prairie. Some of
them were lucky enough to get a good
rainfall the first year or two and that
only increased the evil, for it tempted
others to defy fate and made the grand
total of disasters the larger when the
verdict was finally rendered
1t is impossible to say what has be-
come of these pioneers, but few who
had money enough to maintain them
selves through the drouth and build ir-
rlgation bitches are now richly paid
for their confidence and patience
Wherever the people can get water in
the western end of the state the land
produces crops that surpass all COM
parlSon. Wherever a reckless farmer
attempts to grow anything without an
artificial supply of water he invariably
fails. The irrigation arrangements un-
der the state law are admirable. An
irrigated farm costs considerably more
per acre, but the crops never fail and
ten acres will produce as much as a
hundred where the natural rainfall is
relied upon. You can buy good irri-
gated lands at all the way from $40 to
$50 an acre, according to location This
price usually carries with it a perpetual
water right, but the farmer is required
to pay an assessment of from 25 to so
cents an acre annually for maintenance.
Each farmer is entitled to thirteen
inches of water per acre, to be used
whenever needed.
Irrigation has become an expert
science 1t is very easy to spoil a crop
by irrigating too often, and this fact
must sometimes be learned at a large
cost by amateur farmers. Scientists
water year applied with good judg-
ment at the proper time will produce a
better crop than twenty-one inches of
rainfall hit or miss. The rain falls on
the just and the unjust in the eastern
states and both can profit by it as they
please. But an irrigating ditch within
reach of a fool is a dangerous thing.
One of the most attractive irrigation
schemes is just now being completed
in central Kansas. near the town of
Great Bend From the looks of the
landscape people believe that there was
plenty of water all over this region at
one time, and that for some reason
or other it dried up and ran away. There
are frequent evidences of large lakes
that have gone dry in past centuries
One of them, known as the Cheyenne
bottoms, is found near the town of
Hoisington, about fourteen miles long,
five miles wide and about forty feet be-
low the level of the surrounding cOun-
try. The soil is too heavy for cultiva-
ton, but by a curious incident the idea
was suggested of utilizing it as a reser-
voir for irrigation purposes.
Some years ago the American Cours-
ing association would hold yearly meet
ings at this place and chase hounds up
and down the bottom of this antedilu-
Wan lake. A handsome club house was
built on the edge and all the appurte-
nanceS of pleasure and comfort were
introduced. One day dark masses of
clouds came rolling up from the north
a
body of water several miles long and
five or six feet deep on the cOursing
grounds 1t remained for nearly three
years until it gradually evaporated. 1t
was perfectly apparent that the bottom
was water-tight, and that all the waste
would be in the sucking up of moisture
by the dry air. Then it was proposed
to make a permanent lake by digging
a canal and bringing water from the
Arkansas river, thirteen miles away
The work has been so far completed
that the water will be turned in in a few
weeks and furnish a source of supply
for about 40, 900 acres of adjoining land,
which is now practically worthless but
will then have a value of 81, 600 900 or
more.
The old club house is to be used as a
summer resort, and will be enlarged to
accommodate the pleasure seekers of
central and western Kansas, who have
now no body of water within two days
travel. Bathing houses will be erected,
steam launches will be introduced and
other attractions will be contributed by
the projectors.
The ladies of Kansas wear sunbonnets
and calico dresses when they go out on
their wheels. They look comical in that
sort of a costume. but it is the most
appropriate and comfortable that could
be devised for this kind of a country.
There is a bicycle in nearly every farm
house, and the women use them more
than the men. When they want to do
a little shopping in town or go to the
postoffice or attend a meeting of the
sewing circle, it is no longer necessary
to take team out of the field. The
feminine portion of the population of
Kansas has thus been emancipated from
the shackles of farm life. Except for
few weeks in the spring, when the
frost is coming out of the ground, the
roads are tolerable and even when the
mud is deepest a Kansas girl can go to
town and back before her father can get
half way there with team and wagon.
The calico costume and the sunbonnet
obviate the only other great difficulty,
which is dust.
A great poet was sacrificed when Paul
Morton went into the railroad business.
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