The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-01
800 HARVEST HANDS
Wanted in Pratt County June
18th to Reap the Crop.
WHEAT IN GOOD CONDITION
Effort to Get Rates on All Rail-
roads for Hands.

The wheat yield in sedgwick and sur
rounding counties will be so large that
| already farmers are making arrange
ments to obtain harvest hands. D. w.
| Blaine, a prominent resident Of Pratt
who has 400 acres in wheat. was in the
| city yesterday and announced that Pratt
county wants 500 harvest hands by June
| Is, and an effort is being put forth TO
! induce the railroads to give rates to
! workmen who come from here and from
| other parts OF the state to work in the
| wheat fields./ Good wages will be paid
| to competent men and as all the extra
hands will have to come from eastern
Kansas and Missouri, they cannot afford
| to pay full railroad fare for the length OF
time they will be given employment
Mr.. Blaine is in the hopes that the
| railroad companies will grant the re-
quest, and If so he believes there will be
but little difficulty in getting plenty Of
hands, although some of the farmers are
somewhat alarmed over the fear that
they will not be able to get in their crop
before the scorching sun of July burns
it UP.
Wheat in Sedgwick county this year
will average twenty-five to thirty bushels
to the acre. Ordinary years the average
was about fifteen bushels. 1t is esti-
mated that from the 10000 acres of wheat
now in the fields 100000 bushels will be
yielded. In Sumner county the estimate
is placed at 100000 bushels.
Confirming reports come from all over
Oklahoma and western Kansas that the
prospects were never brighter since the
big yield in 1890. Mr. Blaine says the
farmers in his locality are rejoicing over
the present outlook, and the only appar-
ent difficulty is the fear that enough
hands cannot be employed to get the
wheat safely in the elevators and bins.
The danger of chinch bugs was removed
by the visitation of the recent cold rains
and no alarm is caused by the POSSIBLE
ity of rust
S. 3. Amidon, who has been in Pond
Creek on legal business, returned from
there yesterday, and he is free to con-
fess that he never saw such fine looking
wheat
why" continued the county attorney,
1.-THE heads are so large and full that
whole fields seem to bend under the
heavy burden. The fullness of the heads
is something wonderful This is not only
true at points. but all along the line it
is the same In this county there is no
difference. Out at Colwich it would not
be surprising to see wheat go thirty and
thirty-fve bushels. Oh, it's a record
breaker, and there is no doubt of it. The
good rains which we have been having
are worth millions Of dollars to this part
of the country
A recent report was published from
Oklahoma to the effect that that coun-
try was infested with the Hessian bug
pest and that swarms of the insects were
gathered about the heads and stalks and
were sapping the life out of the wheat.
This bug is not the Hessian insect that
causes 50 much damage to wheat, as was
first supposed.
Mr.. Blaine. who has had considerable
experience with the Hessian bug, in
conversation with a reporter for the
Eagle yesterday said:
There is nothing in the report that
Oklahoma is being visited by the Hes
sian fly From the description read in
the Eagle of the insect now prevalent in
that territory. I would think that the
pest was developed from the marshes.
as there has been lots of rain down there
The actions of the Hessian fly are entire
ly different The eggs are laid on the
stalks in the fall when the wheat is
young, and in the spring and early sum-
mer when the grain begins to ripen the
eggs hatch and the young insects absorb
the sap substance from the stalks and
kills them before ripening. The wheat
being so heavy. 1t bends 10 the ground
and dies. I don't exactly know what
kind Of a bug Oklahoma is bothered with
but it is safe to say that it is not the
Hessian nYn