Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1901-02-16

/ When President Nichols of the
State Agricultural college visited
the Reservation f. NJ CottreIl,
the Professor of Agriculture and
Superintendent of the Farm ofthat
College came along and thorough
~ inspected every part of the Res
ervation. And now that the State
has Accepted it, If they pass the
law locating it here, he tells In the
| College paper this week what they
propose to do with it. Here is his
article:
| TIE Fort Hays ReserUat'0n,
THE 1900 acres of land in the Ft.
= Hays Reservation includes
land characteristic of all the various
kinds of soil In the western half of
the United States, The stream on
the north RUS for 7 miles within
the bounds OF the reservation and
Is lined the entire ienght with the
best growth of timber to be found
between SalIna and the Rocky
mountains. A wide rich bottom
follows the stream and from this
bottom the land rises In an easy
slope to the southwestern part of
the reservation, where it forms
high upland, in some places rough
and considerably broken. In the
quality of the land and in large
areas ,tsss is the finest body of
land ever made available for farm
experiments, The Fl. Hays reser
walton g5Ues the finest opportunity
eve1' altered for field tests on large
scale that are applicable for the far
mers of the entire a0esteupa half of
the state.
Most of the Reservation is cover
ed with a good growth of the gras
ses peculiar to western Kansas.
Near the town, this has been Sc
verely pastured by the town herd.
This Grass land offers, on large
scale, an opportunity to show by
public tests the high feeding value
of the ''short grasses. the best
methods of handling them to Sc
cure heavy pasturine. and at the
same time keep up the vitality OF
the grasses. Such experiments
aCOuLG increase IN U0Iue eveyu acre
Of grass land in the entire short
grass" region The over -pastured
land gives an opportunity to devel
ope the best methods OF renovating
and renewing native meadows 1t
is needless to speak of the value
OF such work as everyone familiar
with the conditions of Western
Kansas knows that that the i'm
prOvement ard renewal OF native
pastures is a most vital question.
In almost every county in the
western half of the state, thousands
of acres are under pillow that the
owners would seed to grass if this
could be successfully done at a
reasonable cost There is no place
in the state at present, nor in the
q. S, for that matter, where prac
teal tests of grasses can be made
under the conditions prevailing in
the short grass region. The Fort
Hays Reservation e6fters ideal con
@Std0aas for developing grass grow,
ing IN western Kansas and the area
IS sufficiently large to permit a est
large enough to make it accept 4bie
to the farmers of that part OF the
state, Promising wild and tame
grasses could be grown, seed ing IL
acres to each variety; the success
ful sorts IN this trial could then be
| seeded in fields of 100 to. 90 acres
each and thorough tests ID ade with
each sort in regard to- its worth
for pasture and hay anc the best
methods of seeding and maintain
ing it, The reservation affords the
oppol tunitY of making these tests
on soils ranging from rich, level
bottom land to high an d broken
upland. The results obtained BY
such trials would be apr ,licabIe tc
the entire Western hqZf of the state
and the cost Of making them only
would be fraction of what is now
| being spent IN single counties III
the effort OF individual farmers.
and as rule these private ex
Iperiments on hmil3ed SCALE br;he
Esmall results.
| Experiments made at the Kar
sas Experiment station indicat,
that we have drought resisting
crops, that properly raised and fee
will produce as mach beef, port
and milk per acre IN that part o
the state where the rainfall Is ligh
as is now produced. in the eastern
part OF the state Nth the heay'
RAINFALL, A thou sand acres @
these crops raised and fed yearly