The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-09

to turn eight furrows of buffalo grass al
 a time and in short order transform the prairie into a wheat field The coyotes and prairie dogs watched the smoke
 belching monster with awe and wonder, and the owners of the lands had bright dreams of wealth. But the water in the canal and the rainfall alike failed, and the wheat yield was small. The compa- ny failed, and the steam plough will be sold for scrap iron. The cowboys are again in control and money is being made out of beef instead of wheat.
 Not much effort at irrigation by the old methods of canals is now made.
 The most considerable one is near Great
 Bend, where a company is digging a
 large canal about thirteen miles to a
 depression known as Cheyenne Bottoms.
 It is the bed of former lake and has
 been the favorite hunting ground for
 many years. The American Coursing
 association used to hold it's meets there,
 and lovers of the greyhound went from
 New York and Philadelphia in private
 cars to see the cport. Live barOns and
 earls came from their cattle ranches in
 Montana and Wyoming, and excited
 much interest on the part of the prairie
 population. This depression is sur
 rounded by bench ten to forty feet
 high, and once when a water spout filled
 1t six feet deep the waters remained for
 a year It is proposed to take advan-
 tage of the high water in the Arkansas
 and fill the lake, the rainfall, natural
 sources, and occasional freshets in the
 river being depended on to do the rest
 until the following seasons big flow.
 Besides furnishing a supply for irriga-
 tion it is believed that the presence of
 body of water forty thousand acres in
 extent will have distinct modifying ef- feet on the climate of the vicinity. The
 consummation of the plans for this in land lake is yet far off. and it is possi- b1e that the project will never be com pleted as its promoters anticipate.
 Fresh paint and new roof are not
 common until central Kansas is reached. There the rainfall makes the farmers independent of the ditches, and the favorable seasons of the past three years have given new hope and courage. The towns are brightening up and the farm houses show the effect of better crops and prices. The valley widens as the great stream turns southWard, and the bluffs are far in the distance. A rich, closely hedged farming section stretches east and west of the river, and brick blocks and street cars appear.
 Wichita, which always refers to the Arkansas as "the Kansas Nnle," and itself as the Peerless Princess of the Plains,' no more boasts of it's boom. That has passed into history. The acres of addition houses and lots are be- ing turned into farms, and the houses not needed for farm dwellings are be- coming inside property by being moved nearer to the business center None of the western cities did such extravagant building as Wichita, and none set about recovery with greater vigor The re- suit is apparent in stronger realty val ues, a more hopeful spirit, and better appreciation of the possibilities of the country. Wichita gathers a large trade 1 not alone from the Arkansas valley north and south, but from the whole | Oklahoma and Indian territory section. It is the chief city of southern and l southwestern Kansas. and bids fair to | maintain its supremacy.
 The valley of the Arkansas losese | some of it's individuality as it pushes on eastward into a country not so much | dependent upon it's waters for crops as Kansas and Colorado, but the river it. | self never loses it's character as a wan ] dering waste of water apparently un- certain as to it's direction or purpose | Soc one has defined the Arkansas river | IS being two thousand miles long half | l mile wide, and six inches deep. For a | portion of the time it's i lepth is by this definition grossly eXag- | serated. It has been the center of agri- | cultural development on the plains be- ,ause of the ease with which it's broad l valley was followed. The trails of '49 | md later led through the level lands be- side it. The railroad next sought it, | md limited trains swiftly glide where | once prairie schooners tediously toiled
 t is a study in natural selection and a picture of plain development.